The weather in Bangalore is just perfect-blue cloudless skies and glorious glorious sunshine and you can see Jupiter and Venus almost everyday,only a bit farther away each day.The azure afternoons diffuse into golden evenings and then the sky becomes indigo once the sun sets .I just discovered that there are a lot more colors with names out there which I was totally unaware of.There is cream which is like dirty white and there is beige which is the color of very milky coffee and there is scarlet which is like bright red and is almost pink :-) How did these colors escape me? Quite long ago in the middle of a serious discussion- somebody(you know who you are!) talked about Turquoise blue and I was pretty confused.So all you men(women usually don't have problems with such things right?) who have problems with these things Wikipedia comes to your rescue here and here and here.So now you know why all these paints have corny names for shades even though they all look the same to you.Talking about Wikipedia,you can make contributions to the Wikimedia foundation here and cmon all you Wiki-junkies you have credit cards right?Wonder what I would do without Wikipedia.

Anyway,so what I really wanted to talk about was some of the lyrics of The Doors.Some of you might remember a Gtalk status message that I had once-"Mute Nostril Agony-carefully refined and sealed over" and DC had even asked me what it meant and I did not know then,but did a little research of my known.What I found out left me in awe of Jim Morisson's abilities as a poet and just how deep and beautiful his lyrics can get.These lines and the lines below are taken from a Doors song-Horse Latitudes-a spoken word piece from the album Strange days.

When the still sea conspires an armor
And her sullen and aborted
Currents breed tiny monsters
True sailing is dead

Awkward instant
And the first animal is jettisoned
Legs furiously pumping
Their stiff green gallop
And heads bob up
Poise
Delicate
Pause
Consent
In mute nostril agony
Carefully refined
And sealed over

Horse Latitudes are the latitudes on both sides of the Equator close to it where winds drop to a bare minimum and is a geographical term but is a terribly frustrating place to be when you are in sea as there is no wind in the sails to push you forward at a brisk pace.Hence Spanish sailors in the 18th and 19th centuries would have to resort to some very desperate measures to offset the prolonging of the voyage which would include killing and eating the horses on board or throwing horses overboard and this is precisely what is captured in the lyrics above.It just gets to show that most of Morrison's lyrics are still very under-appreciated .Because Horse Latitudes is a spoken piece it was usually included in the middle of an even more mysterious song-'Moonlight Drive' and it was inserted between:

Come on, baby, gonna take a little ride
Goin' down by the ocean side
Get real close
Get real tight
Baby gonna drown tonight
Goin' down, down, down, down
Goin' down
Goin' down, way down
Down, down, down, down, down
Down, baby low
Children of the caves will let the
Secret fires glow

and

Easy, to love you
As i watch you glide
Yeah, we're falling through wet forests
On our moonlight drive
Moonlight drive
Moonlight drive
Moonlight drive

Quite impressive considering the fact that Morrison wrote these lines when he was still in school.

It's been ages since I wrote anything about me self here. The last six months on ICISIF read like a news website.I wouldn't say nothing's been happening but at the same time not a lot :-).I realize that in a fortnight I'd be one and a half years old here in office;that seems like a lot of time only the nagging feeling that you have not learned much.Damn, I did not even want to talk about my work but it just creeps in .I switch off completely once I get home from work.This year has been nice to me(alright,this is not the year end post there is still time for that)So that's that and see you around. :-)

PS:Five points to anyone spotting a small attempt at recursion above ;-)

Every once in a while a tag salvages the blog from utter obscurity

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
No one.My parents wanted a small and a simple name and they wanted a name which would start with an 'R' like my sister
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
About a year and half ago
DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
I hate it.People have problems understanding it.I have trouble reading it sometimes.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Do not have meat for lunch or for any other meal.Strict Vegetarian.
DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
No
IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Definitely, though I would have problems breaking the ice.
DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
Not a lot but a little.I usually hate sarcastic people.Sarcasm is good for British Sitcoms and nothing more.
DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes,I do and I also retain all of my vestigial organs/parts most notable my Appendix
WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Yes,I'd love to.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Have not had much other than Kellog's corn flakes,Chocos and oats.Like Kellog's Banana flavored CFs
DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
No. I untie them when I have to wear them again :D
DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
strong-headed but not strong particularly otherwise
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Choc-a-Mocha of Corner House.I like Coffee flavored ice creams
WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
The first thing that I notice about women is usually their hair.The first thing about men that I notice would usually be shoes or watches if they are wearing any.
RED OR PINK?
Red,I abhor pink.Pink is my least favorite color
WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
My tendency to pack in the pounds :D
WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
I miss my friend Dipayan and the long rambling discussions we used to have about music
WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Denim trousers and white shoes
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
A Pizza (I am still at work and it is pretty late) :D
WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Light My Fire-The Doors-a song which I think is ethereally beautiful(as DC would put it)
IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
I would be blue.
FAVORITE SMELLS?
Any aftershave,the smell of freshly grounded coffee,banana
WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Ankita
DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO TAGGED YOU?
Yes
FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH?
Tennis
HAIR COLOR?
Black
EYE COLOR?
Hazel Brown
DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No
FAVORITE FOOD?
Mom's Rajma :-)
SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Scary movies though I have watched very few.
LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Rock On
WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Red&White
SUMMER OR WINTER?
Winter
HUGS OR KISSES?
Hugs
FAVORITE DESSERT?
Apple Pie
WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
The Black Book- Orhan Pamuk
WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
I have got David Villa and Michael Ballack(It is a Euro 2008 promotional mouse pad)
WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT?
Don't watch TV at all these days
FAVORITE SOUND?
I absolutely love drum solos and Tabla solos
ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Beatles
WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Paris
DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Yes, I can hold my breath for over two minutes :-)
WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Hyderabad,India
PS:I know this blog has been flagging off a bit these days.I,as usual, blame work.I guess the rest of 2008 would be like this.

At home now and technically 'chilling' out though it is quite muggy here in Jam.People tell me that it is pretty cool now but all I know is that I start sweating if I don't sit under a fan.You really appreciate ACs here.Maybe I have become the extremely sensitive to weather asinine Bangalorean.I was wondering why we don't have power cuts here in Jam,then the power went off yesterday and it dawned on me-its impossible to breath without a fan or an AC here.At the steel plant here during most of the summer,all work is stopped between 11AM to 4PM because even the sheltered portions of the plant become as hot as 50 deg Celsius or more.

So all that can be done is done in the evening and the rest of the time is spent reading or sleeping indoors.I have been reading Moby Dick,Gravity's Rainbow and Beyond Belief in turns so that I don't get bored of any one book.I somehow always end up concurrently reading two or more books and this might seem strange to people who swear by one book at a time but somehow I end up finishing books faster this way.I am also very desperate to read Paradise Lost but unfortunately all these fancy bookshops in Bangalore do not bother to stock it.All I could locate was a massive 'collection of Milton's works' or something of that sort which was anyway beyond the price range.So,whoever you are,please mail me a copy.

Spain won in style and quite decisively.They broke their jinx of not having any silverware for the past 44 years.For me the find of the tournament would be Fabregas-his passing is beautiful and elegant and he created that vital space on which the likes of Villa and Torres thrived.The penalty taken against Italy was very clinical too.With this win I broke a personal jinx too.It would so happen that every team I supported lost in the football world cups or Euro championships.in '94, the first I remember seeing; I was supporting Germany being a fan of Klinsmann.They lost in the quarterfinals.Then in '98,it was again Germany and they lost again. in '02,I switched to Argentina being now a big fan of Batistuta,they were in some 'group of death' and didn't even make it to the second round.That was enough for people to start saying that I am jinxed and that whichever team I support is gonna lose. With Argentina out of the way,I supported Spain and they lost to South Korea in the second round.Then Italy collapsed in the quarterfinals.I started getting taunting calls from all my friends.(you know who you are) They supporting the safe bet- Brazil.Then in '06,it was Argentina again and they were playing some amazing football right throughout the tournament.This time,watching the world cup in the hostel common room was amazing.Unlike cricket in which there would be a collective mourning after an Indian loss,hostel had this different groups of people supporting different teams-the German supporters,the Brazilian supporters,the Argentinian supporters and that would spice things up.The '06 world cup ended in July coinciding with the exams and it was pretty tough concentrating in that almost carnival atmosphere.It seemed as though the jinx would break when 80 mins into the Germany-Argentina Quarterfinal Klose headed in a winner and all was lost. Consequently I bungled up my Digital Communications paper.Yesterday was weirdly familiar with Klose still at the helm of the German attack but thankfully there was no equalizer and I could finally after a 14 year wait see my team win :-)

PS:the only thing better than tennis under lights is probably swimming under lights

Copy-paste from Dreamcatcher's blog.


If I were a beginning, I would be: The dawn
If I were a month, I would be: December
If I were a day of the week, I would be:Saturday
If I were a time of day, I would be:Three am
If I were a planet, I would be: Uranus(A planet which rotates with its axis on the side-Punster's keep away)
If I were a season, I would be:summer
If I were a sea animal, I would be: a Great White Shark
If I were a direction, I would be: East
If I were a piece of furniture, I would be: a couch
If I were a sin, I would be: lust
If I were a liquid, I would be: Petrol
If I were a fraud/scare, I would be: making headlines by now
If I were a gem, I would be: a Lapis-Lazuli
If I were a tree, I would be: a Banyan
If I were a tool, I would be: a Swiss Knife.
If I were a flower/plant, I would be: an Aloe Vera
If I were a kind of weather, I would be: a bright blue sky on a winter morning.
If I were a musical instrument, I would be: a tabla
If I were an animal, I would be: a tiger
If I were an emotion, I would be: joy
If I were a vegetable, I would be: spinach
If I were a sound, I would be: the sound of a didgeridoo
If I were an element, I would be: Calcium
If I were a car, I would be: a Ferarri
If I were a song, I would be: The end by The Doors
If I were a food, I would be: apple pie
If I were a place, I would be: Goa
If I were a material, I would be: Velcro
If I were a taste, I would be: sweet-sour
If I were a scent, I would be: scent of Pulao
If I were a religion, I would be: Hinduism
If I were a sentence, I would be: All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players
If I were a body part, I would be: the shoulders
If I were a facial expression, I would be: a grin
If I were a subject in college, I would be: Algorithm design and analysis
If I were a shape, I would be: a spiral
If I were a quantity, I would be: a carat
If I were a colour, I would be: black
If I were a thing, I would be: a garden
If I were a landmass, I would be: a mountain
If I were a book, I would be: Ulysses
If I were a monument, I would be: The Colosseum
If I were an artist, I would be: Dali
If I were a landscape, I would be: a valley
If I were a watch, I would be: showing EST
If I were God, I would be: laughing
If I were a vowel, I would be: u
If I were a consonant, I would be: r
If I were a formula, I would be: The Fourier-series expansion formula
If I were a Science, I would be: Organic Chemistry
If I were a theory, I would be: Post-modernism
If I were a famous person, I would be: Salman Rushdie
If I were an electronic equipment, I would be: a super-computer
If I were sport, I would be: tennis
If I were a movie, I would be:the Casino
If I were a cartoon, I would be: The Simpsons
If I were an explorer, I would be: Magellan
If I were a scientist, I would be: Alan Turing
If I were a relation, I would be: elder brother
If I were a river, I would be: The Amazon
If I were intoxication, I would be: marijuana
If I were alone, I would be: content
If I were a question, then I would be: why don't I have enough time?
If I were a hobby, I would be: reading
If I were a habit, I would be: being generous
If I were in an atom, I would be: U-235
If I were an end, I would be: the end of the solar system.
If I were you, I would be: laughing by now.

A random conversation at work:

Female 1:but the J2EE trainer was good.
Male1:No,was bad.I did not understand much.
Me: Me neither!
Female1:but he was very helpful.
Me:You have been afflicted by the Stockholm syndrome.
Male1:but thats when........
Me:Yeah but it's similar to that.analogous.
Female1:what's what syndrome?
Male1 and Me:you wouldn't understand-you need level for that! bwahahahahaha!!
*Female1 grimaces*

And this featured in our conversations too. Wikipedia fascinates always.


Also innumerable Homer Simpson conversations......... with Male1 being a Springfield resident-almost but Male1 has been sufficently irradiated.(I will have names for my co-workers soon)


D'oh!!!!-just look at his expression here!!.LMAO :D

I love my job.

Thats school:DAV,Jawahar Vidya Mandir,Ranchi.its a bad photograph I know.Well the point is these are the 'hallowed portals'(as my senior in college so often used to say to refer to our dept. corridor and has made this phrase sound so horribly cliched) through which I first entered school life.This used to be the primary section's gate and there was just that door on the right(just beside the right shutter) which used to lead to it.Now instead of the staid and simple entrance we have this giant Greek acropolis-esque thing hanging above the gate.Not that I am complaining,makes the entrance seem imposing but most of my kindergarten playground and the swings and all are gone.The reason for this is that the three storey building we see here was not there before.The classrooms whose windows we see on the left now house the senior section(11th-12th).I wanted to go inside and have a look around and meet my teachers but the school was closed 'coz it had not yet re-opened after the summer hols.

OK all this was just to put the photo of my school up on my blog.bear with it. :P

general joblessness

At home and horribly jobless.Somehow the whole anticipation of holidays is the only thing worth experiencing.I have learned in this period of 1 week that it is very important to plan your fun too otherwise you end up regretting what all you could have done but didn't end up doing.So yesterday I made up a list of all the things I wanted to do and could cover almost 90% of the list.Since I have been sleeping late into the day....I get these nightmares....of having an exam and having not studied anything.....I mean five times in a row...is that a sign?Today I had the weirdest dream.I boarded a bus which was mostly empty except for my grandpa's brother and who else on the wheel but my grandma...who is not even five feet in height (she would have to stand to get to the foot pedals) and I see her expertly maneuvering the bus in narrow Market area by lanes (Bangalore) and then I end up in class where everyone is preparing for the OR paper and I am dazed as I have not studied a word.So I try to read through what everybody else is reading and then I wake up.Thank god.I have a very fishy feeling about the OR paper though.

Last weekend was fun,saw the Nadal-Federer French open final and it was great.The top-spin on the forehand just destroyed Federer and there was no way he would have triumphed even after he won the second set.Now I am pretty sure Federer is just another Sampras and there is nothing special about him :P.This was followed immediately by the Canadian Grand Prix which was thoroughly enjoying what with Hamilton pulling off a clinical win.The guy to cheer for.As I was telling a friend of mine,its no use supporting teams as you just don't have any control on who is going to drive your cars,so its better to support drivers and now with Alonso and Hamilton,Mc Laren is the team .The gap between Alonso+Hamilton and Massa+Kimi is widening with each race and it just gets to show that all of Ferrari's Dominance was just because of Schumi's brilliance as a driver and not because Ferrari was ahead of the field in terms of superiority of the car.As I write this,Hamilton has already taken pole in the Indianapolis race.yay!

The absolutely best show on TV is Scrips National Spelling Bee championship-ESPN,where 10-14 year kids spell words like Videlicet and Coryx and Ferresine. Its a very prestigious competition in the US and the surprising thing is the presence of so many Indian-American and Asian origin among the finalists.It is really tougher than what I initially expected it to be.These kids have to know how each syllable is spelt in each of the the countless languages that English borrows words from like French,Latin,German,Greek,Polish,Scandinavian languages to really make some headway. website here.

I am very sleepy and have nothing else to say.so ciao.

Playlist

Iris-Goo Goo Dolls
Free fallin' -Tom Petty and the heartbreakers
The reason-Hoobastank
Wonderwall-Oasis
The warning sign-Coldplay
Desert Rose-Sting


I keep trippin' on Iris...been listening to it continuously from the past 4 days, it just gets to you...feel happy/sad,hopeful.... listening to it
and I want to run away and never come back......


PS: went to the Iron Maiden concert this Sunday and it was crazzzzzzzzzzy....will post about it sometime in a few days....

Hols!

Exams almost over save for a stupid Constitution of India paper and I can already smell the food at home and the silent,tree-lined avenues of Jam enticing me into taking a long, solitary, peaceful walk to places I am yet to explore...maybe an early morning walk upto The River's Meet and down the Marine drive.....I look forward to catching up on reading,TV(Austrailan Open here I come!) and probably tennis and swimming....lazing around in the afternoon sun in the garden...and meeting up with old friends........after a month long ordeal ....I hope to make the most if the 19 day respite that I have been given... happy hols to all!