Break the Mould

An article by Reema about breaking the mould. Contains some pics I've taken out.

'Phone'y Toons

I called up a friend a couple of days back. He just had a baby and was naturally pretty excited about it. I was talking to him about the baby and then we started talking about a project for AID and some code that had to be written for it... suddenly I abruptly cut the flow and said, "What about the name?". And then I think I heard him say 'Minnette' or 'Minute' at the other end... I'm not sure how the name 'Nilay' was perceived as 'Minute'... well lets just blame the rain... it was raining and I was outside the the front door :-) yes thats it... so I wondered how to react and thought he had mentioned the project's name and so I went, "[Ha Ha Ha] not the name of the project". And he went,"I was talking about the baby's name". Then in those milliseconds that followed, I went into collateral embarrassed mode and immediately unplugged some synapses at random places and hoped things stopped functioning...


come to think of it I had got a missed call on the 26th of July, which happened to be my b'day... and then I looked at the name on the phone and somehow felt it was from my cousin's aunt in kolkata... I talk to my cousin in pune every week... so I return the missed call and start talking to this aunt about things and the weather in kolkata... and when my cousin will be going there for a visit... and how she is doing in her studies; always mentioning my cousin in the third person... and then I said something and a voice from the other end said,"Alistair!!! you're joking right. Are you alright. This in Janelle.. From Pune"... and I wondered what to say and went "Yeah I'm joking..."

this was when I was back at home studying hard for some exams and my sense of night and day had gone for a toss... I was sleeping and then the phone rings... I jump out of bed to realize that blood is not flowing properly in one leg and I fall down and then with the other leg I get up and hop to the phone... They tell me they are from MSEB and are checking the phone connection. Then they ask me if the voice quality is ok and tell me to blow into the phone...
I go "phuuuuuuu"
"Blow Louder"...
and I go "PHUUUUUUUUU".
"Louder"
and I go "PHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"
then I hear some giggles at the other end and I decide to hit the bed again, realizing that MSEB is the State Electricity Board !!! I guess blood had not reached my brain either :-)

Volver (Return)

VOLVER (RETURN)

Music by Carlos Gardel
Lyrics by Alfredo Le Pera
Translation by Coby Lubliner
Title song of the Movie Volver
Click here to see the video


I can almost see the flicker
Of the lights that in the distance
Mark the way of my returning…
They’re the very ones that lit up,
Their reflections pale and misted,
Many hours of deep pain.
Though it was not what I wanted,
First love makes one always come back again.
The quiet [age-old] street where once the echo told me:
Her life is yours, her love is yours to earn,
Under the stars that mockingly look on me,
And now in their indifference see me return.

Return… with my forehead all wrinkled,
My temples turned silver by time’s falling snow…
To feel… that one’s life is a twinkle,
Twenty years hardly reckon,
And two fevered eyes beckon,
In shadows forestall you
And seek you and call you.
To live… with the soul firmly clinging
To one sweet remembrance
That makes me weep so.

I am frightened of the meeting
With the past that is returning
To confront my life all over.
I am frightened of the nighttimes
When my dreams are linked and fleeting
And old mem’ries come to stay.
And yet the trav’ler who’s fleeing
Sooner or later must stop on the way…
And though oblivion, which destroys all being,
Has killed my old hopes, ripping them apart,
Yet I keep hidden a humble hopeful glimmer
That is the only fortune there is in my heart.

Half Baked Recipes

It was that time of the year and so I decided to bake some chocolate cake. I have tried my mom's recipe and then her version 2.0. But there are more to recipes than what just meets the eye. Her recipes don't mention the part where she is sometimes hounded by kids wanting to dip their finger into the batter or lick a little bit of icing; claiming that they are the master tasters...

Well here is version 3.0
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Ingredients:
- Same stuff from the previous version.
- Kids... Lots of them.

Method:
- Visit a lot of kids. It turns out that they are practicing some dance sequences for a performance in the evening. Amuse yourself by admiring their timing in spite of being pretty small. The other kids who are sitting down mimic the actions of the ones who are performing and giggle and laugh at their friends. Some of them who are pretty small decide to have a conversation with you; They shake their heads to the beat and you do the same, while looking at each other, exchanging smiles.
- Visit some more kids. 5 of them.
- One of them hides your keys. She is the smallest from the lot (about 2 years old) but takes pleasure in worrying a boy who is elder to her. She doesn't really want certain toys but takes it in her hand and waves it around and says its hers; cause she knows it belongs to the little boy.
- Take them for a walk to pick up the ingredients mentioned in the previous versions. They promise that they will help you carry stuff. However as soon as you start one of them says she can't walk and wants to be carried and she uses this sad innocent look on her face to get her point across. In the shop they run around and try not to drop things down but manage to drop a little bit here and there. Then one of them claims that he can't carry stuff and just wanted to come for a walk.
- Back at the base you start following the method from the previous versions.
- Then 5 of them want to know whats happening and when you are not looking put their fingers into the batter to taste, while my cousin (mother to 2 of them, aunt to the other 3) tries to yell at them and restore some discipline. They listen... well at least for a couple of minutes, and then they try their luck again.
- You make the icing too but decide to hide it someplace cause otherwise it might not last till the cake gets baked.
- Finally its done and you put it into the oven, and decide to take a nap while they run around, fight, make up, put a pillow on your back and decide to take a nap on you, put your hair and tell you to wake up and give them some cake.
- Chocolate icing is put and the master tasters give their expert opinions. Some of them want to taste a bit more before they can part with their thoughts.

The Abstract

Often the abstract is done by the undisciplined, sold by the unprincipled and shown to the utterly bewildered --- Albert Camus

Schrodinger's Happy Feet

A friend asked me why I like watching depressing movies. Depressing? He was referring to some of the foreign films that I watch. Well I watch them cause they are realistic (I watch comedies too). We had seen this movie called 'Central Station', which he felt had a lot of depressing things in it. On the other hand I felt it was overall a very warm movie. He then mentioned that he likes to make people happy and thats why he likes watching happy movies. Which I feel is fine and yes thats the way it should be. This friend is a nice chap and I like hanging out with him. But then again if you really want to make people happy then you need to understand their unhappiness, however depressing it may seem. You can't have one without the other..

Which leads me to my variant of 'Schrodinger's Cat'. Confused, here is an explanation for a sixth grader. A sixth grader ???? Ah well someone even wrote a poem about it :-)

So here it is, the "Schrodinger's Happy Feet" paradox:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Take a pair of Happy Feet and put them into a glass shell (chamber), along with a device containing a vial of life-changing quantum events. In that chamber are also a few radioactive atoms. If even a single atom decays, a relay mechanism will be triggered which will in turn trip a hammer which will break the vial and the quantum events will be realized, resulting in the metamorphosis of the 'Happy Feet' to 'Sad Feet'. Before an observer looks into the glass chamber, no one knows the state of the feet, cause we cannot know whether the atom has decayed, the vial broken and the quantum events occured. From the outside the feet appear happy. So at that point the feet are in a kind of nether state; because of a superposition of possibilities; simultaneously happy and sad. According to the "many worlds" interpretation, Schrodinger's experiment splits the universe around those feet into two parallel worlds; one happy the other sad. Each subsequent quantum event resulting in those imaginary lands; darklands, never never lands, wonderlands and real lands. Its only when an observer opens the chamber and looks deeper into it would they realize if the feet are happy or sad.

The observer's paradox lies in the fact that the feet are happy or sad if and only if an observation is made in the first place. The observation affects an outcome. If the observation is not made, you will never know if the feet are happy or sad.

In between darkness and light, sadness and happiness.



White support

Overshadowed

Said the old feet to the young feet

Happy feet, sad feet... seen it all.

Alma mater... one of them

I studied in St Francis De Sales (SFS) in Nagpur. I've heard that our school has its first female principal starting this year. The principal before this, Fr Ivan Lobo, spent nearly 30+ years in SFS starting from his schooling. I was the principal's right hand boy and blue eyed boy :-) He is a good person. I still keep in touch with him and visit him even now. He has moved to mumbai. During my first interactions with him in my school days he once told me, "I am disappointed, I expect a lot more from you. These ranks and merit lists don't matter much and with time you will realize that too. There is a lot to learn and its not just studies."

Talking about female principals, we did have a female principal for the primary section. I was kinda her blue eyed boy too :-) Then there was teacher LaxmiNarayan, who smiled and made the world smile with her. She was the blue house (to which I belonged) head mistress. Our school motto is "Dare to be wise".

Got this forward from a school friend. Posted it as is.

The Fountain near the cycle stand...

This the area where we played Basketball


This is the entrance of the School.... Where the samosa wala used to sell those heavenly SAMOSAS



Grotto of Mother Mary



Classes near our School Park...


Corridors...


More of them...


The Chapel of our School...


This is the view of our Cycle stand where we use to keep our cycles Locked like it was our PORCHE... and yes it was much more precious at that time....


View from the main entrance, where its written "Dare to be Wise".



Our School Playground and the place where the assembly was held every Saturday... I used to be up in the shade cause I was in the school choir.



The school bell that we heard over the years.


The fourth playfield at an elevation from the other two


Just Check the 1978 Staff some of them we don't know but look at the Retro look of our School Teachers...



Our School Staff in the Year 1985....



School Staff members in the year 2001....




School Staff members in the year 2006....





"DARE TO BE WISE"

To Treat or Not To Treat

"The treating game is always complicated", I once told a friend who had just made that mighty shift from a student to a working professional. She complained (maybe secretly bragged) about how she felt a bit guilty and how it hurt her big ego, when her working friends were always openly willing to treat her. And now that she had started earning she was ever ready to treat friends. I added, "About treats, I have this thing with some friends wherein if I visit their city then its their treat and vice versa. With others its a whole new set of unstated stuff. But the basic rule to follow is, to 'treat' ppl well. And you can 'treat' ppl well irrespective of whether you are working or not. And maybe in a way ppl were 'treating' you back too."

But then again the treating game is always complicated when it comes to 'treating' people well. Some do it cause they are happy and just want to share the joy. But then there are those who do it to be a part of society, some who do it as an obligation just because it is 'their turn', still others who do it cause they want something in return, some who do it cause they are trying to 'woo' you, others who are forced to do it cause they are related to you, and some who do it cause they have to live their lives with you.

The treating game is indeed always complicated when there are those who decide to treat others based on how that person would treat some unknown person; irrespective of who that unknown person may seem to be. Would I treat you based on such observations ? Would I ? Would you ?

To keep things simple, the basic rule to follow is to 'treat' people well.

The Price of Art

"Do you have any music I can buy ?", I asked. "Ah. Yes. I have some. Come.", he gestured, trying to communicate in the language I chose as a medium, and I followed. "How much is it", I queried. "Err... I don't know. Err... the price is... well the CD costs about 10-15 pounds... so its about 1000 Rs... err or 800 Rs is ok..". I have never bought music for that much but I looked at how much I had and decided to pick up the CD.

I had gone for this free concert of Regis Gizavo. He is a musician from Madagascar who plays the accordion and sings some amazingly soulful music. He couldn't talk in English too well so he spoke in French about each song before he began and someone translated what he wanted to convey. The concert turned out to be pretty amazing and so I decided to buy his CD.

My friend heard the music at home and loved what he heard. So when I told this friend that I had paid 800 bucks for 11 songs he looked at me and said, "I never pay for songs. I get all my music from the net. I like listening to music but I have never paid for music in my life". I looked at him as he continued," You know I can get his songs from the net for free. There are so many places I can download it". And he smiled, feeling proud of the fact that he doesn't pay anything for music. Music that he agreed, calms his nerves and clears his mind when he has the need for it. So I reminded him that this was their only source of livelihood. And to choose music as a profession takes a lots of guts, where you are not sure if you will be able to sustain yourself with the amount that you make. A cousin, Adrian D'souza, decided music was his profession at a very young age. He is doing pretty well but I have always wondered about the thoughts that went through his head before he decided that music was it. You can hear some of his music out here. He used to be compared with Sivamani before he decided that he wanted to explore Jazz and went in that direction.

Well I have downloaded, shared mp3 with friends but when I hear musicians playing live and I enjoy their music, I usually end up buying their CDs. Maybe its just a way of making sure that I hear them again cause they too need to survive. Art needs to be given support from society otherwise young people will not even think of exploring those avenues, even if they have the talent.

Regis Gizavo's albums.
Listen To Samy Olombelo
Listen To Stories
Listen To Mikea

Bottled Water

The ambience was splintered with withering cigratte butts, cajoling menus, and warm sunshine; as dusk lingered in our subconscious. And to touch the glimpse of that new dawn all we had to do was pass through the night and dream a little, maybe also just live and let live a little.

"Dream a little dream with me", said one, as another took out a pen and connected with the scrap of paper as she added form and color and diction to an abstraction; a story that wanted to be told in 35mm. He had been learning the tricks of the trade; the flow, the angles, the lighting, the graphics that speak a thousand words and the words that speak a thousand pictures. He apprised us with the thoughts that had emanated from his mind and how he was trying to figure out about adding structure to it. 'Thoughts', an intermingled quagmire that had a silver lining and all we had to do was place our finger on it.

But instead of placing my finger on it, I was playing the silent listener that I am so adept at. And in the moment I decided to create a common portfolio for each one of us sitting at that round table. And as an after-thought I captured a picture of 'Bottled Water'. The water level was not high; infact it was almost empty, filled to the brink with air. But there was some water, as little as it was. We had to uncap the bottle and if we used it properly maybe one day we could spring up new life with it.

As Natalie Goldberg says, "Form alone will not create art. Form is important, we should learn form, but we should also remember to fill form with life. This takes practice."

Howto curb the Middle Finger version 2 dot Oh my gawd

Slang has it that the middle finger is shown to people to express contempt for by or as by the obscene gesture of pointing the middle finger upward while folding the other fingers against the palm.

Ever thought of ways to restrain people from flashing their middle finger.

Version 1 dot Oh no it won't work.
------------------------------------------------
Wish that they were born with six fingers instead of five and then they wouldn't have a middle finger. Naah that won't work in most cases.

Version 2 dot Oh my gawd (will work on men only)
----------------------------------------------------------------
1) Catch unsuspecting man in the mall. He may be moving around with some other girls who are
busy shopping cause a sale is on.

2) Ask him, "Could I show you something". To which he would reply out of courtesy, "Err ok", Courtesy and just to kill time.

3) Take his hand and ask him his name and then tell him, "Can I call you Alice". To which he starts to try and calculate the probability of that happening. He is pretty much amused and says, "Sure".

4) Say, "So Alice have you noticed how rough the top of the finger tips are. I can make it smooth". He is still trying to calculate the probability of some unknown person calling him Alice and doesn't know what he says yes to.

5) Remove some tools and brush his middle finger and then put some liquid on it and then wipe it. All the while keep him distracted with questions about how many sisters he has and if he has a girlfriend to which he tries to give a diplomatic worldly accepted answer, "Errrrrrr hmmmm".

6) Finally ask him how it looks to which he replies, "Its shining. Could you take off the liquid and get it back to its original look. I can actually see my reflection in it".

7) To which you reply, "Err well it will be smooth and shiny for a couple of days". To which he replies in horror, "Oh my gawd".

8) He is too ashamed to show anyone his middle finger.

9) Somehow the girls who he was with see it and go 'Oh my Gawd" and laugh and wonder what he did. Which makes him keep the middle finger under wraps and not flash it to anyone.

Crocodile Dundee

And on the 18th day of the fifth month, when the sun was at its highest point in the sky, the creature reappeared. Previous sightings were reported but the People refused to believe. "Nay", they said, and the People rejoiced. But on the tenth second, of the eleventh minute, of the twelth hour of that faithful day a voice was heard, "Oh soooo sweet", and the silence was broken. The door was swung open, 'swoosh', and through it emerged two ladies as they thought to themsleves, 'Blessed arth those who saweth and still didn't believeth cause otherwise they might have skwished it'. And the People rejoiced.

Then a 'fat boy slim' who had just travelled 'far far away' to an unknown land crossed their path. He sensed that something was not right (studies have shown that hindsight is more accurate). He had just attended nature's call when he heard another call, "Are you afraid of lizards ?". The reverberations of that question spread far and wide and touched the very bearings of his soul. Should he say YES or should he tell them the truth; but the truth was something which he had not thought of till this moment. And so he giveth himself the benefit of the doubth and exerted no resistance as the words were formed from carefully uttered syllables. "Nope", he speaketh as he wondered, 'Which God fearing man would tell a girl that he is afraid of reptiles". And the People rejoiced.

"Cometh with us then oh fearless one. You have to catcheth a lizard". Oops! For that one second time stoppeth as he sensed that something was wrong (studies have shown that foresight is more valuable). To prepare himself for the task at hand he thought of previous encounters. Like when he brought down a bat with a badminton racket and a fast moving ceiling fan to confuse its radar. And the time earlier in the day when he shot (with a camera) a snake in the desert. And then there was also the time he stood faceth to faceth with a lion; but that was in a zoo and so he shrugged off that thought. And the People rejoiced.

"Oh its a baby", and he was handed a piece of folded paper. 'Thats a baby', he wondered as he wondered even more, 'Holy cow. How big does it grow'. But then he realised where he was; in a ladies toilet! He had seeneth a movie in which a lizard was flushed down the bottomless pit and it became a big crocodile cause of toxic waste. He flushed down that thought as the big little one wriggled from one spot to the next, inches away from his hand. He had also always wondered if a ladies toilet was kept cleaner but he shrugged off that thought as he began to admire the beauty of nature. This lizard was nice and colorful, not like the grey dull ones back home, though it was similar in size. They stood there mesmerised as the azure stars floated across the yellowish sunlite raindrops that cavorted their way to the moist earth that sprung up green flaura. And the People rejoiced.

He realised that the tool to transport the big little one was inappropriate as it was unwilling to accept a free ride from strangers. 'Its mama thought it well. This won't worketh', he thought, as he summoned his senses to come upeth with a planeth. By Jupiter! plan plan not planeth, it started to get confusing!!!! The result of which was a container to cover the reptile and the unfolded paper to slide under it and cover the opening. He was commended for his quick analytical skills as he carried that entity to the outside world to fit it back into the huge jigsaw puzzle; stars to stars, raindrops to raindrops, sunshine to sunshine, earth to earth, flaura to flaura. And the People rejoiced.

And the news spread far and wide and people began to appear from the East and from the West and from the Land of plenty (the cafeteria). His praises were sung which made this 'fat boy slim' cool for an ephemeral second; inspite of his tight pants and his geeky haircut. Which was indeed a miracle. And the People rejoiced.

Videos of the 2004:Har Ki Dun trek

I found some amateur video clips from way back in 2004, when we had gone trekkig to Har Ki Dun. A writeup of the trek can be found out here. Listen to the audio too.

Children of Osla
-----------------
The village 'Osla' is situated on the way to Har Ki Dun. I took out some clips of the children out there. Its a nice cosy little village neatly tucked into the mountain sides. I decided to capture all those little kids; the 'Children of Osla'. Majid Majidi style ? Not even close :-)




Cradled Amongst Mountain Peaks
-----------------------------------
Har Ki Dun is situated at a height of about 11200 feet, picturesquely cradled amongst mountain peaks. We trekked thru rain and snow and sun soaked skies for around 7 days. Trekking in snow is both tiresome and exhilirating. Loved the trek.




Folk Songs from the mountains
---------------------------------
Nehra who was a local sang us some folk songs on our trek to Har Ki Dun. One of the songs was about this guy who was in love with this girl from his village and how he broke the news to her...




The Loooooooong Walk
---------------------------
I've patched together clips of us joyfully frolicking along the path to Har Ki Dun.




The Killer Tadpoles at Mystic River
---------------------------------------
We took a days rest at Camp Mystic River wher we bathed after around 5-6 days. The next morning we went to some natural pools tucke in the mountains.




Blair which project ?
--------------------
We camped in tents on the way back from Har Ki Dun. This video is taken at night, inside one of the tents.

I always wanted to quit on a monday morning

Its a Monday morning. The Director of Engineering comes up to me. We go back a long way. We've built some pretty good bluetooth consumer products as a team. He is known for his pragmatism and is one of the people who I expect to be brutally honest with me. Glances are exchanged and I see a white envelope in his hand, his fingers follow a rythmic motion as they point to the issue at hand. The expression on his face is hard to decipher, and so is mine. We decide to go to a quiter place to talk. He hands me the envelope and tells me to read the contents before I sign them. I remove the paper from within. "Thats the resignation letter. All you have to do is sign. Take your time." The expression on my face is still hard to decipher and so is his. We talk about life and the livin of it in general. About the options we have and the choices we make. Expressions are decipherable, we smile. I dump the envelope in my bag.

I'm alone. The envelope commands an audience. I remove it from its covering. It lies there naked, open to the elements as the words communicate their intentions. The pen feels heavy as I gulp down nostalgia. Its done.

Ok time to sign the other document. The offer letter from the parent company. Just some paperwork and legal stuff :-) I was wondering if I should sign the resignation letter first or the offer letter. Or sign the resignation letter then relax and be jobless for sometime and then sign the offer letter :-)

How Alice Got laid, Got sleepy and Got a haircut.

This article is an attempt towards understanding precipitants of anxiety experienced by a child when he gets a haircut. The danger posed by this experience is compared to a surgical procedure and seen as unique because unlike surgery, a haircut is not actually painful. Nonetheless, haircuts can precipitate great anxiety in children. Some sources of the anxiety caused by haircuts across libidinal lines of development are considered, and examples are presented. Ways to help ease the anxiety of this experience are discussed.

ok ok.... the above paragraph was picked verbatim from the third dimension. Public apology and all that :-) The content from here on is mine. First 'The Haircut'. [click on the picture to see the enlarged version]

A brief history of time and my conversations with barbers.

Age 7: The discovery of Hair
Barber: "Kaise ?"
Allaboy: "chota!!! mujhe kangi pasand nahi hai.... bahoot chota.... baal bahoot jaldi bade ho jate hai yaar!!! ek mahine tak cutting nahi karni hai... utna chota karna...", and then I would leave it to him, closing my eyes, relaxing in the chair.

Age 10: The discovery of The Mirror
Barber: "usual? short?"
Allaboy: "Errrr... hmmm."

Age 14: The discovery of Girls
Barber : "usual? short?"
Ali: "Naaaaa.... short from the sides. This much length out here.... like this out here.... blah blah blah blah".

Age 17 : The discovery of Women
Barber: "Aaj kaisa ?"
Alice: "Voh jo movie hai na..... blah blah blah.... parting left side pe hai... "

Age 21: The discovery of Ladies
Barber: "Sirji aap pe ye style accha lagega".
Alice: "Aajkal style kya chal raha hai.... blah blah blah... parting right side pe hai...".

Age 24: The discovery of the receding hairline.
Barber: "Usual ?"
Alice: "Haaji.... yahan se chota... aur uppar se lamba rakhna.... especially ye side walla part.... idar se baal aise aana chahiye.... ye part lamba hi rakhna haan... setting theek se karna... blah blah blah.... middle parting hai ..... "

Current Age: The discovery of global warming and the new effects of gravity.
The barber asked me, "Short?". I groggily mumbled, "Err, hmmmm.... hmmm...", almost ready for a siesta. And well, yeah.... thats about it. He cut my hair. So here are some of the reactions from friends:

The feminine gender
1) AAAgggghhhhhh !!!!!! what happened !!!!!
2) What did you do.... Sheeeeeeeee!!!!!
3) You look like Caesar... hehehehehehehe
4) oh my Gawd !!!!!
5) you look like those little naughty boys.... hehehehehe
5) [Silence. Just stare]
6) [Talking to me with rapid eye movement, checking out the sudden change in geography]

The masculine gender
1) hmmmm so as I was saying blah blah....
2) summer crop. nice....
3) just like your school days. You look the same.
4) you look like Sid in 'Dil Chahta Hai'

My reason: well wanted to see how I looked in a very short crop. Losing weight from the top anyway :-)

Glossary:
Got laid: rested behind on the chair in the saloon
Got sleepy: felt sleepy
Got a haircut: Got a haircut

Who is Priya Sharma !!!!!!!

This incident took place sometime back. I have been itching to blog about it but then again was wondering how to break the story. Anyways here goes.

I was at a friend's place the night before, where we played cards till 5 in the morning. We did take a break inbetween at around 2am and had coffee on the terrace, watching planes land and take off. The next morning I went to church where I prayed for clarity, something which is often elusive, denying me its company. I battled with rational from the heart and the mind and decided that today was indeed the day to make declarations. And so I called up my mother aka Mamamia aka Mumzee.

"Hello baba... how are you ?", her voice taking on an overtone of delight. "I'm ok", I replied in an undertone. "The little fellow is making so much of masti. He is soooo cute.", and then she told me about all the things at her end. "hmmmm", I replied every now and then, as if trying to punctuate the dialogue with subtleties of another one that lay in the darkness, begging to break free. "What happened?", my actions directed her question in the right direction. "Nothing", I replied. "What... your just saying hmmm, hmmmm. What happened?". It was a tone I recognised. The stage was set, her complete attention was captured; heart, mind and soul.

"Errr..... I wanted to tell you something", I paused as I let thoughts metamorphise and anxiety and curiousity tap emotions. Silence tiptoed, only to be broken by, "What happened?". The rhetoric of tones strengthened my choice of words, "Err.... here... just talk to her", words that transferred the burden of dialogue to the girl standing next to me. "Hello Aunty. This is Priya Sharma, I'm Alistair's friend. How are you?". I stood there as I imagined my mother's response. "How is Sydney and how is the little fellow. Alistair told me all about him. He also got me this Easter egg today. Easter is next sunday na." A smile brimmed my lips finding its way from deep within. "I'm working in Bangalore. I met Alistair a year back". The conversation between the two carried on for 10 minutes and then I took the phone back.

"So", the voice from the other end had reached even higher overtones. "So", I replied in rhetoric. And then I spoke about work and things I've been upto and went on for sometime. "So baba", the voice from the other end beamed. "Errrrr...", I interrupted, "Talk to her brother". And so that conversation went on for a couple of minutes and the phone found its way back into my hands.

"So", the syllable repeated itself. "Err... so what else is going on out there". My mom then talked about the Mr Bean movie that had just been released and tried to talk about things, all the time being preoccupied with the question that finally beamed forth, "So, do you want to tell me something?". And then I decided to let her in on what she wanted to hear all along, "April Fool!!".

Addie, Richa, Shyam and I then went through our phone contact list to find new bakras. We used the name 'Priya Sharma' each time. First we called Pallavi, Ayush's wife. Ayush is an ex -flatmate and a colleague from work. Some background first. Another ex-flatmate had morphed this picture of Ayush and this girl during his jobless days. It was a pretty good piece of morphing I must add. Pallavi hasn't seen the picture yet. A very decent picture with Ayush smiling to glory. His moustache giggling with joy :-)

So Richa told Pallavi that she was a friend of Ayush and that there was this photograph that someone had morphed with the two of them together. Richa then went on to mention that she was getting engaged soon and that the photograph somehow had found its way to her to-be inlaws. The picture seems to be causing some tension and it would be nice if Pallavi could talk to her in-laws. Pallavi then told her that she would call her back. She then called me up and tried to see if I knew anything about it, which of course I didn't. But I did ask her to ask Ayush about Priya Sharma. And then I could only imagine the scene as Ayush replied, "Err.... But her name was not Priya Sharma".

The next on the list was Himanshu. He had asked me to touch up an article that he wrote, which finally manifested itself in its final form out here. Read his article and you will understand which avatar Priya Sharma was transformed into this time. He knew we were fooling and played along. It turned out to be a fun day for him and his friends as it was for us.

We then called up a couple of other friends and Priya Sharma or her father or brother spoke to them :-)

Finally we decided to end the day with our meeting with Himanshu at Cafe Coffee Day in Forum :-)

On the way I felt a bit guilty of playing with emotions a bit too much. Apologise for any harm done and hope that everyone took it in the spirit of April 1st.... till the next April 1st.

Reflections: The road ahead

Reflections: The Road Ahead
-----------------------------------
Speed. Heat. Beauty. Light.
Ephemeral windows.
Burning bright.

Shrieking silence. Shifting load.
Wandering minstrels.
Banking road.

Earth. Water. Wind. Fire.
Past continuous.
Renewing pyre.

Multiple refractions. Certainty bled.
Full circle.
The Road Ahead.

----- Alistair D'souza (24th April 2007)

Went biking to tamilnadu sometime back and got radiantly burnt. We zoomed past the banking on the road, the expansion of the elements and the refraction at various levels; which laid out before us those ephemeral reflections on the road surface.

The road is nice throughout, 2 lanes on either side. Kinda like a bloggers day out... Reema, Maddy, Goli and moi. The place is called Yelegiri. We did a total of about 350+ kms that day. Real nice ride, especially the reflections.

Breaking News!!! from the frontlines

The air was calm with no one in view. Weird voices were heard in the distance, a foreign dialect. He slowly moved his head above to widen his range of sight and then he ducked. Heart beats accelerated; it was now or never!

Heart pounding. Unknown waters. Outlines of objects. Deja vu. Spirit of adventure. Moving ahead. Conquering territory. Inch by inch. Conquering fears. One by one. The boy on his very first reconnaissance mission. A whiff of the Winds of Change and the wild duel that lurked in his mind. He looked up to where eagles dare. Stripped to bare necessities. Nothing to bare.

The choice was his and his alone. So he slowly and cautiously moved above the first obstacle. Fear again. Unknown thoughts. Unknown sights. He stopped for a moment to breathe in the ambience and regain his composure. Paper Monsters, all of them. Inertia finally took charge. He moved again and climbed to the top and slowly looked over the edge. Panting prose. Vast canyon. Razor's edge. Overwhelming triumph. And finally the war cry," Goo. Goo. Boo. Ech. Oiee. Goo. Goo. Gee Gee Geeeeeeeee. Eeeeeee. Boooo."

Flight of the phoenix. Dare to try. Nothing to lose. Maybe I'll fly. "Whiiieeeeeeeeeeeee". PLOP!!!!!!

War cry again!!! And this time till the fat lady sang.

Credits: (in order of appearance)
Cliff jumper ------- My little 5 month old nephew
Fat Lady who Sang -------------- Fat Lady who can sing.

Prequel:
I was told that I had a sling when I was below 1 year cause of some similar exploits.

Sequel:
Conversations with 'The Godfather'.

Burning Bridges

There is a thin line between arson and a friendly fire starter, between burning bridges and setting them on fire; and the difference is crucial. One destroys, the other builds; but the line is often blurred.

The First Mile

Click the picture to enlarge

It was just a random pic from the 2005 bangalore half marathon, sometime during May. It was my first attempt at a half marathon. The picture appeared in 'India Today Simply Bangalore April 2007 Edition'.

my body looks all contorted and stuff... and I look like I'm huffing and puffing.... it was just 1.5 kms from the start.... :-)

And so I began to wonder about the possible reasons that could have put me in that state:
1) ran too fast initially cause the crowd was moving too fast. And so I got syked, got touchy and decided to keep up with everyone else or atleast with the front runners and then realised I couldn't.
2) ate too many bananas/jam sandwitches before the start of the run :-)
3) was listening to a song with a fast tempo. My brain converted the tune into beats of 8 and subconsciously I tried to maintain that tempo.
4) saw a beautiful girl running ahead and was trying desperately to keep up.
etc etc

pick one or add a new one :-)

Madness, Fireflies and Chocolate mint liqueur

The fireflies festival this year was from 14th april 6PM to 15th april 6AM….

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireflies_Festival_of_Sacred_Music

the wikipedia link contains the list of performers for this year… the Jazz guy you see out there is the one who operated on Dhruv’s knee…. i.e. Dr Chandy…. They had have some sufi, qawali, jazz, gypsy and Hindustani classical stuff….

I have been religiously going for it over the past two years…. The first year we had pillows … the second year we took mattresses…. My accounts of previous years are below….

2005: Madness, Fireflies and Chocolate Mint Liqueur
2006: Madness, Fireflies and Chocolate Mint Liqueur

2007: Madness, Fireflies and Chocolate Mint Liqueur

I was considered as a veteran and was consulted about the route, the timings, the directions, the cushioning mechanisms (for which I gave details examples :-) ), the type of music, the food, the ambience and blah blah blah....

Lakshmi, Srujana, Vinod, Simmi and Sunny joined Dhruv and myself. Relevant things were picked along the way and a matress and cushions were shoved into the car. As we arrived near the place I pointed out to the right; the deviation we had to take from the main road. Oh and with so much certainty!!! "Thats the turn. See I remembered it. It may be dark but I somehow remember the turn", I boasted, being the veteran that I was.

Oops!!!! wrong turn!!!!

So we retraced our path and went ahead on the main road and then found the right 'right' turn :-) So now we needed some manuveuring amongst those intersecting roads. "Turn there!!!!", I said again with so much certainty; trying to regain my post as navigator.

Oops!!!! wrong turn!!!!

Lost is translation yet again..... Sigh!!!!!

Lucha de Gigantes - Amores Perros

Got this from a movie called 'Amores Perros' that I had seen sometime back. I heard the song in Spanish lyrics and liked the tune, while I read the subtitles. And then it turned out that I liked the lyrics of the song too :-) The song is in Spanish and I have put down the translated lyrics.you can hear the song out here. The acoustic version is here.

For Luciano, because we are also what we have lost.

A giants' joust turns the air into natural gas
A wild duel warns me
How close I am of going into an outrageous world
I feel my fragility
Some nightmare running away
With a beast after me
Tell me everything's a lie
Just a silly dream and nothing more
I'm afraid of enormity
Where nobody hears my voice
Stop the deception
Don't try to hide
That you've never tripped while moving around
Paper monster
I don't know who I'm up against
Or is there somebody else here?
I believe in the terrible ghosts
Of some strange place
And in my foolishness to make you burst into laughter
In an outrageous world
I feel your fragility
Stop the deception
Don't try to hide
That you've never tripped while moving around
Paper monster
I don't know who I'm up against
Stop the deception
Don't try to hide
That you've never tripped while moving around
Paper monster
I don't know who I'm up against
Or is it that maybe there is somebody else here?
Or is it that maybe there is somebody else here?
Or is it that maybe there is somebody else here?

---- From the movie 'Amores Perros'

Wanted: A Bride

Marriages are made in Heaven, and broken on earth. This is probably my tagline for my perpetual state of bachelorhood. But then again there are many realities. They say wisdom comes with age, but in my case age has just showed up all of a sudden. Not to say that women don't find me attractive. No, no, no, no, no.... and let this be inscribed in the third dimension. As I was reiterating, I have 'dated' all the beautiful women in my neighbourhood, and their neighborhoods for that matter. The only problem is 'Then I wake up'.

Being a computer engineer, aka 'a geek', I have always been preoccupied with the idea of starting something on my own; thinking, copulating the next big thing. Sitting day after day in solitary dimensions, spinning my cocoon, enveloping all. After a string of false starts my finances dwindled to the tune of a discharged amplifier; further affecting my listings on the matrimonial stock exchange. Aha! Maybe thats why I have had no luck with cupid. I had just proved the fixed quantum theory of love. Aha again!!!! I was just this free radical with an unpaired electron. Highly reactive and ever ready to help out with random chemical processes.

Realising that something was missing in my kingdom, I decided to become proactive. And so in the pursuit of the unknown, I started a blog so that women could 'hit' on me. Well I did get a lot of hits but that just got my blog rating up. I then started jogging and at times had 4-5 women running after me. But then I realised that I was pacing random alluring paths, losing sight of the task at hand. I finally decided to consult my more experienced engineering friends. Pierced by the nakedness of my plight, my electrical engineering friend, nicknamed Spark, said that when you get married you discover what real happiness is, but then its too late. Its better to have a mistress. The very thought 'electrified' his senses. My architect friend totally disagreed and said it was better to start a family in order to build a 'strong foundation' for the future. I, on the other hand felt it was better to have both. Then either one would think I'm with the other and that would give me more time to spend doing my own thing. My friends then suggested that I try out the trial and error method. you know, if you find that you'll are not compatible, divorce her. The thought of having more than one wife was ok, but more than one mother-in-law. NO WAY!

The next evening I graced the wedding of my neighbour; for the free food and some rampant ogling. Then it happened; in between ecstasy and dessert, my wandering pupils were stunned to discover how old the bride was. At first I thought 'Love is blind', 'Age is no bar' or 'Maybe cause he is an archeologist'. But later when I learn't that she was the heiress to a large fortune, everything became clear. I met my wise neighbour after a couple of months and requested him to shower me with words of wisdom to which he first thought for an hour. Finally breaking his meditative silence he looked at me and uttered, "Marriage is a mistake we all make." He then thought for another hour and said, "For me marriage is a means to more important ends, it is not an end in itself". So with those words of wisdom and thoughts of marriage as a means to more important ends I put an ad in the paper which read,

Wanted a Bride,
For a Computer Engineer, 27.
Girl must be rich and beautiful.
Those interested can also contact me at my website www.wantedabride.com

The next few weeks were quite hectic. As I browsed through the many letters I had received I came across one which was quite appealing. It was from a girl named Monica who worked as an intern in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The letter said that she had excellent oral communication skills, was a cigar smoker and her favourite movie was 'Kill Bill'. After trying to find patterns out of randomness I decided otherwise. By now I had received over a hundred letters including those from the opposite gender.

Finally I struck gold and I mean King Solomon's gold. We were to meet at her mansion which was situated in the most luxurious part of the city. On the fateful day I went to her house completely suited and booted; my decision already enjoying its intercourse with grandeur. At first her mother came to welcome me and I said, "So where is the bride", to which she replied, "I'm the bride". Looking at her imperfect figure and looks I thought to myself, falling in love in not about finding the perfect person, its about learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. But that is falling in love; love is whats left when all the falling in love part inevitably withers away. I was in search of the perfect woman but then again I was willing to make a few exceptions. Though she was the perfect picture of imperfection at least she had a perfect bank balance; something that would complement, if not uplift my resources.

After flashing my credentials, a date was set and I finally tied the knot. Tight! I then took my wife to her new home. Seeing my humble dwellings she looked at me with a puzzled look on her face. Trying to retain my composure I told her about the financial mess I was in and how I would soon be starting my private enterprise with our (her) money.

Knowing that I had just pulled off the scam of the century I began dreaming of my bright future. she then looked at me with a smile on her face and said, "You know, that house where you met me wasn't mine. I was just a maid servant working there".

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer:
Thats something I wrote a long time back, in the past present continuous; during my early engineering days when I was part of the magazine committee. Since we were not getting articles I was forced to write one :-)
However the article goes back even further to my elocution competitive days in school. The article was written by a person named Prof Zade which we found in the newspapers. I then modified the words and content to fit the 5 minute limit we had. I have mentioned about that competition out here.
However in engineering I did not remember the words and the content but just the outline of the ending and so I sat down and added flesh to the skeleton using quotes/jokes that I remembered from the reader's digest. I changed the article yet again before putting up this post.

Who Moved my Phone

I have moved to our new office building and am already feeling nostalgia wistfully take form outta unknown unassuming crevices. I miss the quaint house we called an office [sigh…. sobbing sound effects out here].

Being in my element, it suddenly hit me that amidst the cube farm and the prairie hopping I wasn't receiving a mobile signal at the place I had parked my derriere. Then it hit me again, what if you desperately need to get in touch with me and your life depends on it, or you are craving to talk to me [sigh…. sobbing sound effects out here again], or you want to just get some work done through me being the nice guy that I am, or want to hire some manpower to beat up someone, or want to invite me out for a treat/trek/play/musical concert/movie/free lunch… ooohhh free lunch... nooooo I can't miss that.

So after a bit of playing detective I was apprised about the places in office where I can get a mobile signal. We do get signals close to the window but the voice breaks cause of multipath effects. You also get good signals near the flat screen in the cafeteria. Then someone told me that we get good signal reception in the loo. Invariably when you enter the loo the phone rings cause the person who was trying and trying and trying to get intouch with you finally gets through. Err so basically I take a seat out there and talk to glory and discuss about that free lunch??? And if you do hear some unusual background noise then please don't ask me,"What was that!" [flush sound effect out here].

Fixing Broken Flowers

I've played the messenger boy before and I must say its a nice warm fuzzy feeling, just to be there; in the moment, as it unfolds :-) I have carried messages when mobiles didn't exist, have packed and parceled a house made of ice cream sticks and have roamed the streets of bengaluru in the rain, searching for 12 red roses.

A friend, Goli, decided to start this thing where he would sing songs on ppl b'days and bake them a cake and stuff... would charge them something but wanted to do it just for kicks.. so he got a GIG sometime back... not sure what else to call it :-) anyways he invited some fellow blogger friends to provide moral support in his endeavour.. so four of us jobless ppl went to this particular place ... a café type place on 100 feet road in Indranagar.. this girl's sister was giving her a surprise for her b'day... Goli knew the girl through some common friends and the common friends knew about his b'day singing plans... so we went there and sang and made merry... Goli played the guitar and there were two girls (blogging friends) with us who sing decently... he also baked a cake and stuff and we improvised with the cake decorations... I had a lot of second, third and fourth thoughts before going but it turned out to be a really nice experience... :-) it was fun... like being one of those ppl who deliver flowers just to see the expression on the receiver's face... :-)

Will We Ever Rise

Excerpts from "The Fall", a novel by ALBERT CAMUS, Nobel Prize Winner

"THE FALL"

"In a certain way I am sticking to my subject with all that about friends and connections. You see, I've heard of a man whose friend had been imprisoned and who slept on the floor of his room every night in order not to enjoy a comfort of which his friend had been deprived. Who, cher monsieur, will sleep on the floor for us? Whether I am capable of it myself? Look, I'd like to be and I shall be. Yes, we shall all be capable of it one day, and that will be salvation. But it's not easy, for friendship is absent-minded or at least unavailing. It is incapable of achieving what it wants. Maybe, after all, it doesn't want it enough? Maybe we don't love life enough? Have you noticed that death alone awakens our feelings? How we love the friends who have just left us? How we admire those of our teachers who have ceased to speak, their mouths filled with earth! Then the expression of admiration springs forth naturally, that admiration they were perhaps expecting from us all their lives. But do you know why we are always more just and more generous toward the dead? The reason is simple. With them there is no obligation. They leave us free and we can take our time, fit the testimonial in between a cocktail party and a nice little mistress, in our spare time, in short. If they forced us to anything, it would be to remembering, and we have a short memory. No, it is the recently dead we love among our friends, the painful dead, our emotion, ourselves after all!" pp 32-33

“The day I was alerted I became lucid; I received all the wounds at the same time and lost my strength all at once. The whole universe then began to laugh at me. That is what no man (except those who are not really alive--in other words, wise men) can endure. Spitefulness is the only possible ostentation. People haste to judge in order not to be judged themselves. What do you expect? The idea that comes most naturally to man, as if from his very nature, is the idea of his innocence.” pp. 80-81

"Some people's problems is to protect themselves from men or at least to come to terms with them." p. 27

"It was not a matter, mind you, of the certainty I had of being more intelligent than everyone else. Besides, such certainty is of no consequence because so many imbeciles share it." p. 29

"Life became less easy for me: when the body is sad the heart languishes. It seemed to me that I was half unlearning what I had never learned and yet knew so well--how to live." pp. 42-43

"You know what charm is: a way of getting the answer yes without having asked any clear question." pp. 56-57

“Each of us insists on being innocent at all cost, even if he has to accuse the whole human race and heaven itself.” p. 81

“What we call basic truths are simply the ones we discover after all the others.” p. 84

“One plays at being immortal and after a few weeks one doesn’t even know whether or not one can hang on till the next day.” p. 105

“Yes, one can wage war in this world, ape love, torture one’s fellow man, or merely say evil of one’s neighbor while knitting. But, in certain cases, carrying on, merely continuing, is superhuman.” p. 114

“Sometimes it is easier to see clearly into the liar than into the man that tells the truth.” pp. 119-120

“But when you don’t like your own life, when you know that you must change lives, you don’t have any choice, do you?” p. 144

Children of Men

It was Sunday and I found myself in a grocery store, a short distance from church. As usual, I greeted this man with the warmest of greetings. Like me, he and his two young kids follow the Sunday ritual; church then the grocery store. I do not have a name to his face but we always exchange a few words and a warm greeting.

Amongst the bustle of people in the store, two young girls entered; the elder being around 6 and the smaller one, around 2 years. As they entered the little one bumped into someone and fell to the ground having lost her balance. People around her looked into each others eyes exchanging glances; searching for signs of claimant to the post of guardian of the young one. But as we were doing so, the elder sister picked the young one up and told her, "It will be ok". The two of them went about their business, as people started to smile and ruffle the little one's top. I asked the elder sister if they were ok and she replied in the affirmative, whimpers still emanating from the little one; the elder sister trying all that she could to cajole her younger sister. And then they left the store.

I then saw a lot of children at this other place; smiles on their faces, dark questions lurking in the twilight; like dormant volcanos on a mid summers dawn, waiting to erupt, waiting to be heard.

While on the road I came across some more little children at the back of a car. So I decided to wave to them and they returned the gesture through beaming faces; the smiles getting bigger with every subsequent gesture.

And then I got to where I was heading ? Well... err not yet.

An Ode to Sorpotel

AN ODE TO SORPOTEL

For the hotch potch known as Haggis
Let the Scotsman yearn or yell
For the taste of Yorkshire pudding
Let the English family dwell.
For the famed Tandoori Chicken
That Punjabi's praise like hell
But for us who hail from Goa
There's nothing like SORPOTEL!

From the big wigs in Colaba
To the small fry in Cavel
From the growing tribes in Bandra
To the remnants in Parel
From the lovely girls in Glaxo
To the boys in Burma Shell
There's no Goan whose mouth won't water
When you talk of SORPOTEL!

And Oh! for Christmas dinner
Don't you think it would be swell
If by some freak of fortune
Or by some magic spell
We could, as they have in Goa
A bottle of the cajel
And toddy leavened sannas
To go with SORPOTEL!

--- anonymous

Letters from Mt Everest

Gist: My cousin climbed till Everest Base Camp a couple of days back. I wanna climb Everest someday. Go till the top, sit there and take photographs :-)

What I intend to capture here is the excitement, fear and thrill that one feels when climbing a majestic mountain. Posted below are her emails, verbatim. She emailed from various places while on the trek.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Namaste
Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2007 20:21:42 +1100

Hello from Kathmandu!

Arrived here this morning (Nepal time) and am settling in to the familiar sights and smells of this region. On the way here, from the plane, we saw Everest poking through the cloudline - dwarfing peaks around it, with a plume of ice being blown from it's summit. Amazing.

The weather in Kathmandu is fine at present - a balmy 16C and sunny - not as chilly as expected. Spent last night in Bangkok. The new Suvarnabhumi airport wasn't as chaotic as the media reports lead you to believe. It looks kinda spaceage from the outside, particularly at night with all the lights on.

Have been eating my way through some culinary delights in the last 24 hours - will likely go vegetarian from here on in, just to be on the safe side and minimise a bout of the trots:).

Tomorrow there is a tour of Kathmandu on the schedule and then the trekking adventure begins on Monday with the flight into Lukla! Can't wait!

Am enjoying every minute and everything is going very smoothly.
Will sign off for now.
Take care,
Charmaine.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Hello from Namche!
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:36:12 +1100

Hi All,
Have made it to Namche Bazar. We were lucky to make the flight from Kathmandu to Lukla on Monday. No planes had been flying for the previous 6 days due to ice on the runway. The flight into Lukla appeared death-defying, as we decended onto an obscure airstrip nestled among monster mountains. When we landed we realised why there had been a cancellation of flights in the previous 6 days - snow was everywhere. The trek from Lukla to Padking took about 3 hours and yesterday's trek from Pandking to Namche, ascending 800m to 3400m in snow took 8 hours (abit more than the usual 5hours). Was pooped, tho slept well and am ready for some sightseeing in Namche today. Fortunately the weather has been clearing now - with the sun shining for the past three days - so the snow is melting, making trekking abit more easier. A week ago the route to Everest Base Camp and Gokyo Ri was impassable due to the weather. While things a looking alot better now weather-wise - the completion of this trek will rely on the weather staying good from here on in.

Anyways - that's about it for now.
Take care!
Charmaine.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Back from Base!
Date: Sat, 03 Mar 2007 20:14:59 +1100

Hi Guys!
Well, despite the uncharacteristic weather (i.e. snow, and lots of it) - the Gods have been shining and permitted a window of opportunity to allow us to reach Kalapathar (5545m) and Everest Base Camp a few days ago. The trek to Gokyo Ri is still unpassable, so here i am, back in Namche Bazar and ready for my first shower in Kathmandu in 2 days time :) I've climbed, trekked and walked through a snow blizzard - all in the name of a holiday (some one please talked some sense into me the next time i take leave). The weather has generally been below freezing and the trekking path icy, slippery and dangerous (are we having fun yet?!).
Nevertheless, it's been a big challenge and I'm on the home stretch as the weather begins to clear and i head back to Kathmandu in two more days time (i can hear that hot water running now:).
Anyways, hope all is well. Talk soon.
Charmaine.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Heading Home
Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 16:17:20 +1100

Dear All,

Well, am back in Kathmandu, where i have been shopping, eating, sleeping and roaming for the past two and a half days. The trek from Namche to Lukla was very different without everything blanketed with snow - and was alot faster.

The flight out of Lukla to Kathmandu eventually arrived once the sky cleared enough for the twin otter to land. As for that first shower in 2 weeks in Kathmandu....what can i say...you probably heard me singing!

The holiday is coming to an end as i am heading to the airport in 30 minutes to begin my homeward journey. (Am happy to report that all my fingers and toes are coming too:)

It's been quite a 'holiday'. Not sure i'd recommend the experience, as over the past 2.5 weeks there have been a number of times i've been completely out of my comfort zone. On reflection now though, it's something i am really glad i have done.

Anyways, i'd better sign off for now!
Take care,
Charmaine।

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blank Noise Project

Blank Noise Project is a blog for awareness about eve teasing in some of the major Indian cities and whats being done... I have added some stories below.

Here is a wish list of what many want to be able to do… One of them read...
[snip]
I want to be able to walk down the street naked. I want everyone else to be naked too. Stark naked. There will be no room for an issue.
- anonymous
[snip]
Reading it the first thought that came to my mind was,"I’m sure a guy wrote this… :-)". Ok I'm sure there were nobler intentions being thought but that one amused me. After the giggles settled down I thought about the person who felt that this is the only option. I was trying to think of why someone would even consider that everyone should move around naked and couldn’t come up with a reasonable thought flow… and then I just went yikes!!!! which only means that there needs to be a lot more awareness…

Whats the project all about ?
[snip]
share. talk. inspire. understand. tell. speak. hear. be heard. narrate. voice. throw open.

When did you flip a situation so you could resist, when did you give back as hard as you got? When and how did you choose to confront? When did you become an Action Hero?

Being a 'HERO' is relative . We are interested in knowing how you challenged yourself or didn't feel victimised?

This is an attempt to understand how different women ( across age groups/ cultures/ communities) have dealt with street sexual harassment in their everyday lives. Male bloggers are encouraged to share stories of women in their lives and how they have dealt with street sexual harassment.
[snip]

So I thought to myself why not. I'll tell you two stories from the few that I have.

Story 1: Walk the Night
This happened during my early engineering days, when I used to stay in a place with a lot of relatives around. We own this huge area with houses all around and a squarish ground in the centre. I have played on that ground since my childhood and at night we would sometimes have bonfires late into the night. Basically what I want to convey is that my sense of security was within that entire enclosure and not just within my home.

My mom would sometimes go for her walks even if it was late in the evening. Along the border of this enclosure there was some construction work going on and some workers were making merry and in high spirits. One of them threw a bottle from the top and it landed about 20-30 meters away from him, with the intention to startle or target my mother. My mother came home and told me about what had taken place; my dad was not at home at that moment. I then decided to confront them armed in a short pant, a baniyan, rubber chappals; with a baseball bat in hand. We climbed up to the second floor where the workers were and finally I stood face to face with them; about 7-8 lean, well-built men. The reality of the situation then hit us, with my mother standing behind me, and we froze. They didn't have weapons but there were rods/bricks lying around which could serve the purpose. They could have easily over powered us if the need arose and then through the fear in my throat, words started to flow, trying to make them realize their wrong doing and bring some sense to their actions. They listened while I spoke, the baseball bat ready for any eventuality.

But then things went out of hand. A third person who was living in that building came to the terrace and tried to get involved, having a previous history of friction with those workers. 'SPLAT!!!!' he slapped one of them across the face. Realizing that the situation was now out of hand I took my mom home and then people, relatives started to turn up from everywhere. In the minutes that followed three groups were formed; the other group on our side against those drunken workers and their friends. People phoned people and the crowd started to increase and after a bit of shouting and yelling, people decided to beat up a few people. We were arguing about the bottle, the workers were arguing about the 'SLAP' and the third party was also arguing for something. In the heat of the moment, things happened :-) as you didn't know some of the people who were on your side. Finally the contractor in charge of those workers arrived and we spoke to him and things were settled, our sense of security still stretched to the limits of that entire enclosure and not just our homes.

Story 2: Flash Light
I was out for a late night movie with friends at Symphony Theatre in Bangalore; three guys, including me and a girl. We were coming out of the movie and crossing the road heading towards our vehicle; myself and the girl behind the others. A car that was parked was heading home and he slowly moved towards the road as we passed in front of him. Then out of the blue that guy in the car increased the intensity of his headlights as the girl passed in front of him. I didn't realize what was happening... in fact I only thought about it when I saw her angrily stare at the guy in the car and the smirk he had on his face... she was wearing an ankle length skirt, made of cotton material. It took me sometime to figure out what had happened but by then we had already moved ahead. The incident took just 2-3 seconds, the others never noticed anything and the girl also chose not to mention anything to us.