A Room with a View...

Took these photos from my hostel room on Monday evening...
This time no converting to black and white...the magic is in the colours.

Sunscreen song

Chetana gave me this wonderful video....here are the lyrics.
Google for the Sunscreen song...you might find the mp3 somewhere.
Wonderful advice

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97

Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.

The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, ............
whereas the rest of my advice has no basis
more reliable than my own meandering experience.

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth.

Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power
and beauty of your youth until they've faded.

But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself
and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you
and how fabulous you really looked.

You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future.

Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things
that never crossed your worried mind,
the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts.

Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy.

Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind.

The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults.

If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.

The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives.

Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees.

You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't.

Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't.

Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken
on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either.

Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body.

Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it.

It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

"brother and sister together we'll make it through,

someday a spirit will take you and guide you there

I know that you're hurting but i've been waiting there for you

and I'll be there just helping you out

whenever I can"

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but with a precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle,
because the older you get, the more you need the people
who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths:

Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old.

And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young,
prices were reasonable, politicians were noble,
and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you.

Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse.
But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.

Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal,
wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

"brother and sister together we'll make it through,

someday a spirit will take you and guide you there

I know that you're hurting but I've been waiting there for you

and I'll be there just helping you out

whenever I can

everybody's free

everybody's free

to feel good"

Social Not-working

First there was Orkut...
Then a slew of others.
Apparently to keep in touch with old/long-lost friends.
Apparently to 'make' new friends.
Then the Brazilians and Despos took over orkut...there were infinite posts in Portuguese and as many 'fraandship' requests.
Lately there have been cases of identity thefts.

People like me got on to the bandwagon for its novelty...that has definitely worn off.
What is the use of having 500 friends if u can't really find one to speak to when you really are alone?
What is the use of having 500 'friends' when 5 really good ones should sufffice?
Bye bye Orkut and its ilk.

A fleeting glimpse...

There is an image from my Mumbai visit in June end that has endured in my mind. I was walking with my mom to Shivaji park I think when we passed a boy returning home from school. He wasn’t the cutest kid …but something about him caught my fancy.

It was drizzling and he had a raincoat on with a hood. He was carrying a school bag and had a water bottle around his neck.

What caught my attention was that he had his face turned towards the drizzle. The eyes were tightly shut and there was an innocent joy on his face, looked like he hadn’t a care in the world…I tried to remember when I had done something so simple so spontaneously last. I dearly wished I had a camera with me to capture that moment forever.

The joy on his face was indescribable…I have forgotten what such simple joy is and can’t find the words to describe it.

Maybe this is what PF were hinting at when they sang

When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse

out of the corner of my eyes…

He was having his glimpse of joy, a simple , guileless joy…let’s hope it is not a fleeting one.

R.I.P my friend

I was shaken out of the stupor that studying stochastic processes generates by the loud crying of some girl near my hostel. As I looked out from my balcony it turned out to be someone I knew.
She was mourning the death of one of her batchmates,Ajay, who committed suicide probably in the early hours of the morning of 27th August.
I must have seen this guy in the mess, though I never probably personally met him.
The reasons are as yet unknown (atleast to me), but the general feeling is there was too much pressure in his course.
He was an Integrated PhD student in his 2nd year, he joined IISc with me last year.
He must have been barely 21-22...did he find himself unable to resist the pressure?
It is said "No pressure, no diamonds" but what about the 'corundum' that might just be crushed under the pressure that is meant for only diamonds? Is it not equally precious?
Was there some other reason? We don't know, and we might never know.
Whatever the reasons the question remains:
WAS IT WORTH KILLING HIMSELF OVER IT?

Maybe he found what he longed for:
A little rest and some peace.

The solutions may not necessarily be very forthcoming.
A lot of soul-searching needs to be done...by every one of us.
The course load on the students could be reduced, a student mentor program could be started.
But really was it worth the one, very precious, very promising life that was lost.

And this is not the first time someone in one of India's 'premier' institutions has taken this drastic step.
As Bob Dylan asks :
n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?

Maybe this song by REM could tell us something:
EVERYBODY HURTS.
When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone,
When you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on
Don't let yourself go, 'cause everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes

Sometimes everything is wrong. Now it's time to sing along
When your day is night alone, (hold on, hold on)
If you feel like letting go, (hold on)
When you think you've had too much of this life, well hang on

'Cause everybody hurts. Take comfort in your friends
Everybody hurts. Don't throw your hand. Oh, no. Don't throw your hand
If you feel like you're alone, no, no, no, you are not alone

If you're on your own in this life, the days and nights are long,
When you think you've had too much of this life to hang on.

Friendship Day...

Making a friend is not a miracle.
the miracle is making a friend who will stand by you when a million are against you.


One of the many Friendship Day smses I got.

I had fun too...went to Domino's ...ALONE!!
So much for Friendship Day.

A year

A year ago I flew to bangalore to join IISc.
Full of hope yet pained to leave loved ones and the city I love so much.
A year ago I wrote Goodbye Blue Sky...in tribute to what I was leaving behind.

In this year some of my dreams were fulfilled, some remain yet unfulfilled and some crushed.
A year of growth, of hope, despair, frustration,excitement.

As is my common comment
so much has changed...yet so much remains the same.

Lesson for LIFE

The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.
- Napoleon Bonaparte

Deja vu??

FedEx makes it five in a row at Wimbledon but it was Raphael Nadal who won my heart.

In 1980, Bjorn Borg beat an extremely talented young left-hander in 5 tight sets to win his fifth Wimbledon title.
.I’ve seen the replay of that match and the young lefthander pull off that amazing 18-16 set 4. Today’s lefthander pulled off an equally stunning 6-2 set 4.
That guy had a permanent scowl on his face, and was constantly challenging line calls.
See the parallels? Getting a sense of the déjà vu?
I’m looking forward to this rivalry and sincerely hoping Federer does not pull a Borg with respect to retirement.

Rafa is the King of Clay and might well add grass to his repertoire.

As he pulled off shot after amazing shot,

Alan Wilkins said “This is grass not clay.This is not his surface.”

Well given the improvement he is showing, it very well may become HIS surface.

How many think that its unfair that its Federer and not Sampras who equals the IceBorg’s record? Would have been such fun to see those two go at each other.

Home, home again ...

I go back to Bangalore today.
Last year I put the lyrics of Goodbye Blue Sky.
This year its the Breathe reprise.

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
And when I come home cold and tired
Its good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells.

Breathe (reprise) Pink Floyd

Nothing better than the BEST...

an unbelievable change in the BEST buses I saw this time...
not only can you pay your Hutch bills in the BEST bus but u can even make calls from

A MOBILE PCO!!!!

Here's photo proof.

Words are beautiful things, perhaps the tongue is not the best way of using them.
- Ankur's first blog.

Walk the Talk

This quote on GMail got me started thinking about this

Bobby Knight - "Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win."

So many people I see or hear from can Talk the Talk but can't Walk the Walk.

Maybe that's why Morpheus tells Neo in the Matrix:

"One day you will realize just this one fact,

There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path"

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Recent events have made me wonder what this "friendship" thingie is all about.
It's not what you feel about classmates/batchmates in engineering that wears out the moment you step out of college.
It's what makes you spend a reasonable amount of money and a lot of effort to spend a few hours with a select few friends. Of course exceptions exist.(I couldn't meet everyone I wanted to meet the last, short trip).
I will still be friendly with my classmates, but with most of them I am not and was never "FRIENDS"
This quote I got on iGoogle summed it up for me wrt most of my 'friends'.

Contrary to general belief, I do not believe that friends are necessarily the people you like best, they are merely the people who got there first. - Peter Ustinov

Ankur said "Friends are the people you don't have to impress anymore."
friends are the people who have accepted your shortcomings and love you nonetheless.

These lines from the FRIENDS theme or whatever would sum up how I feel:

No one could ever know me
No one could ever see me
Seems you're the only one who knows
What it's like to be me

Someone to face the day with
Make it through all the rest with
Someone I'll always laugh with
Even at my worst I'm best with you

To tell the truth, there's very few such people in my life...and if anything I am thankful for them.

And he talks to the river of lost love and dedication
And silent replies that swirl invitation
Flow dark and troubled to an oily sea
A grim intimation of what is to be

There's an unceasing wind that blows through this night
And there's dust in my eyes, that blinds my sight
And silence that speaks so much louder that words,
Of promises broken

Sorrow ,Pink Floyd

Bittersweet Symphony

Love this song by the Verve. A part of it was used in Bluffmaster.

The whole song

Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to the money then you die.(True, very true)
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
where all the veins meet yeah

No change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mould
I am here in my mould
But I'm a million different people
from one day to the next
I can't change my mould
No, no, no, no, no, no, no,no,no,no,no,no(fading away)

Well I never pray
But tonight I'm on my knees yeah (not really)
I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now
But the airways are clean and there's nobody singing to me now

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
Trying to find some money (somebody) then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
where all the veins meet yeah.

Words' worth

Had posted this a few months ago...then took it off because it was adding too much entropy to the Universe.

There is a great deal of verbal communication in the world today. Letters,phone calls,emails,chats,blogs(:P)...an infinity of words.

I for one believe that the best communication involves zero or a minimal amount of words.

What a million words of commiseration could not do...a sigh and 6 words did.
It felt like an arm round the shoulder ...and all those wise men and women with their words did not realize that that was what I needed.

A few friends and a completely different topic had me laughing on the worst day of my life.

No amount of words can do what one look into the eyes of a friend trying desperately to hold back her tears did.

I went out for dinner once by myself...a couple sat on the table facing me.
The girl was trying to hold back her tears. The guy sat opposite her,not eating ...just looking into her eyes...almost soothing her...not one word was said.
I smiled.

The Grass was Greener...

Met Ankur, Prasanna and Paresh this last Saturday.
Had a lot of fun...but I must admit I was also a bit sad.
There is something about meeting old friends, exchanging notes on who is doing what, gossiping(if that is what you call it)...it makes you look back at how you were when you were with them.
It was great to meet them because very rarely do you get a group of friends together that can understand precisely what I am going through...undoubtedly my closest friends.
The same jokes were back, the mimicry, the leg pulling over how sincerely I attended 12th std classes while these ppl goofed off.
It reminded me of those days 6-7 years ago...the innocent belief that if you were smart, worked hard then luck would not play a role...that doing beautiful mathematics was the purpose of life, that physics was the highest in intellectual endeavour.
Where is that cheerful belief, that innocent confidence??

It takes old friends to remind you of who you were, who you are and what you are turning into.
Maybe I can prevent the cynicism from creeping into me any further.
Maybe I can find my 'Return to Innocence'

Last September Ankur wrote this.
I can identify with the emotion...Thanks for everything guys!!

An old song that fits the mood ...
"Koi lauta de mere beete hue din".

Time.

This is my life's song right now...wasting one day at a time getting nowhere.

TIME - Pink Floyd

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but its sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the english way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say

Coorg tripping...

Kanna planned a trip for us to Coorg with stay at the Club Mahindra resort in Kodagu valley.
Amazing 3 days...LOADS of FUN!!!!!!!

Won't write much since a picture is worth a thousand words...I'll let the photos do the talking.
A few B&W pics for "effect".
For the full album visit my Picasaweb page.