Recursion

My heart leapt in rapture as he sang whilst my eyes gleamed in his presence; the very presence that haunted my dreams back at the institute during lengthy dreary nights, but alas! he vanishes, fades away just like in the dreams I have at the institute where I am while I speak thus.

Update: This is to clarify any doubts regarding the post. It is a line from one of my entries for Creative Writing at Saarang '08. The entry conforms to the constraint that it does not contain the letter 'o'. As regards the matter, it just came up by itself. As mentioned, it is tagged under fiction with the valid reason that well, it is fictitious.

A Brand New Look

Voila! My new personalized blog header. I love it.
Created on Jan 12th 2008 using Adobe Photoshop.

Whose tikka is it anyway?

There is a considerable amount of defiance in the air when a nineteen year old girl goes all by herself to a real family restaurant. Tifanys is, clearly, not counted. I called up my parents to let them know I had reached home (others call it IITM) safely. I made sure they realized how grown up I was. It felt good. I ordered something and decided to set my eyes on my television till the time my phone stopped bulbing. That's when I noticed them; the family. Well, I noticed the guy in the family first. Typical goody goody boy - I don't behave indecently - I don't eat nonveg - I smoke not - I drink not and so on. And then I saw the rest of the family; all glued to the television. "Wow! A Samsung plasma TV. I have never seen one before. Beta, dekh lo. You might not get this chance again." I did not technically hear this, but this is pretty much what they would've said, if they did talk that is. I decided then and there that I was going to sit back and watch the show. ( And I did not mean the one on TV, in case you are a total moron.)

A plate of mouth-watering paneer tikka arrived on the table. They kept worshipping the television. What an insult! It was the son who ventured to set his eyes upon the impudent foreign object that had dared to intrude into his life. The look of disgust on his eyes went well with the scorn on his face. A classic example of the 'look before you leap' category of people. Note that the others had not so much as looked in the direction of the solitary plate on their table.

Somewhere between then and now my order arrived and it felt luxurious to have something to munch as I was getting entertained. As far as the paneer tikka goes, the dad, the 'leap and then look' category, was the next in line. His hand shot and grabbed a piece of onion. Onion! Raw onion! Was the paneer part invisible or was I hallucinating?

Daddy then asks daughter to have a look. She, the 'don't look, don't leap' category, carried on her disturbing admiration for the particularly irritating comedian on the flat screen. Of course, mummy was not to be left out of all this action. She consults daddy, "Do you think it is eatable? Is it a part of the table deco.." only to be intruded by daughter, "Mummy, talk softly. I'm watching TV." That served as the cue to bring all those who were distracted by that lowly dish (or was it a table decoration?) back to what they did best. "All hail the Samsung Flat Screen."

December, Poor December

Well, December sobs because there is no post up. So here's to a blast of a December. Cheers. I'm off to spend a vague night filled with dynamic plans. It's New Year's eve. Happy New Year.

That 3:11 thingy

This is where I was at 3:11 pm on 03/11/07. Thanks to Amrit bhaiya for the information. I know the write up cannot get any more cliched. I thought just the picture would be sufficient but the 50 word description was too tempting to ignore. Besides it seemed like those limited-word English precis writing assignments back in school. Anyway, here's the link to more of what fellow-Chennaiites were upto.

PS: Maybe I should have put up a post informing you people about this but let's just interpret my laziness as my first attempt at RGing.

The picture was taken inside IIT Madras campus. The campus is built inside a lush green forest. The trees symbolize Nature and the scooters symbolize human intervention into Nature. The picture, thus, stands testimony to the fact that even in a busy metro city, Nature can exist in perfect harmony with man.

Underworld

“There’s a car waiting. See to it that those girls are dropped wherever they want and get yourself a free ride home.”

He walked towards the car and noticed the girls his boss was talking about.

“Is that an E-60?”

He looks around for the owner of that excited, impulsive voice. It was one of the girls in the group. She seemed far younger than the others most likely in her late teens. He sees no harm in talking to her although in a land where conversations were strictly restricted to business.

“Yeah, it is. Do you like it?” He has a warm smile on his lips and an innocent sparkle in his eyes.

“Yes. It looks lovely. I have never seen one this close before.”

He asks her to keep the file he had with him in her bag.

It was a monotonous journey except for occasional bikes vrooming past. She was visibly bored and started yet another abrupt conversation.

“Do you like working there?”

“Well, yes. I get a good salary but it’s a nasty business that they do. I can do nothing about it though. Anyway, here’s my stop.”

“Oh, where do you stay?”

“Starry Heights Apartments. I don’t feel comfortable at the office quarters. It’s a small apartment but I like it. Goodnight then. Nice meeting you.”

She finds his file in her bag. The following day, she goes to his apartment and hands him his folder.

“Oh, thank you so much. I was wondering how I would trace you without so much as a name.”

She sports a satisfied smile. “Are you always alone? Don’t you have any friends?”

He admires the spontaneity in her questions. “No, I generally don’t entertain here. I retire to this tiny apartment to get away from the monotony of work.” She leaves. He feels the presence of a caring soul. She feels the presence of a soul to be cared for.

Work goes on as usual. He and his monotonous work – neither cribs. 1 message received. Please fill in for me at the Interview hall today. I am down with fever. Thanks. Selection for shipping – 11 pm.

11 pm. He was right on time. He was briefed in on what to do – ensure that the candidate is on the list and mark those worth shipping. “Candidate?”, he wondered. His eyes fell on a skinny waif being dragged by a well built man. It all made sense now. He could do nothing. Each girl was led into the room; one more pathetic than the previous. He looked up to see who was next in line. Their eyes met. She felt energized while he felt stoned. He had to do something. He couldn’t just stand there and watch her go through such humiliation. She was pretty. She would easily be chosen. He knew he had to act. Something, anything. He went up to his boss and said it was getting late and there was some important business to be taken care of. The boss thought over it and gave him a suspicious look. The selection process was halted till further notice. He looked at her from the corner of his eye and felt good.

A couple of days passed. 523, Starry Heights Apartments; a knock on the door. His fellow employee opens and gives her an unwelcome look. She searches for him and their eyes click. His friends hand him his jacket and he rises to leave. She presses a fleeting kiss on his cheek and whispers, “Thanks.” He puts his arm around her shoulder.

Beside the fountain outside his apartment, he realizes how happy he was with her and vows to keep her happy all her life. Her eyes well up as she feels elated. The next moment they shatter into a million pieces. It was a cruel world and he could do nothing about it.

PS: This was a real dream I had last summer. Every bit of this occurred in that freaking dream dated July 27th, 2007.

First time for everything?

Conventions in amino acids, it seems. How do I care which groups have what charge and what the abbreviation or symbol is for some –cine or some –gine? Get a life. I have one. Let me live it my way.

How many are interested, I wonder. Isn’t it a much better use of time to solve your A slot assignment out of a sudden outburst of interest in the subject than talk or doze or play?

I appreciate Life Sciences (that's the course). It’s a beautiful world and that’s where I leave it. Asking a fellow classmate who had deviated about 10 degrees from the normal to sit up straight! Oh come on! Whatever happened to the fundamental rights of students. Wait a minute… there aint any! We hardly got to choose what we wanted to study at school and the same situation continues through college.

If you are wondering why I put up such a post then read on. I had all the enthusiasm in the world to solve that assignment. There was no deadline, yet I was doing a Math assignment. That’s not something you see everyday. My book was confiscated by the sadistic TA. That’s a first and I didn't like it.

@Noldorim: I listen in most classes. This was an exception. :)

@Freakin’ E batch fellow on the next bench with the irritating guffaw: It was not funny.

I don’t want the book back; I didn’t write proper notes. I do miss the L&T book-cover which looks real pseud though!

Tagged Aaj Tak!

People actually took up my Tag! The 8RF Game. Here they are…
Abhishek
Kaushik
Saboo
Neethu
Rid3r

Let’s get Addicted!

It’s finally here. My first addiction! It’s the sole reason why I have breakfast, why I wait for tea-time every single day and why I don’t mind drinking milk. Ah! Just one spoonful of this heavenly powder and milk, the liquid I totally despise, turns into a divine drink. The colour, the smell, the taste… it’s a feast for the senses I tell you. It really is.

It was my good friend, Coke, who suggested this heavenly drink to me, being an addict herself. She is addicted to the vanilla flavour and gave me a sip of it one fine evening. I was on the verge of puking! Ah! An analogue to a smoker’s first puff. I would never have got addicted had I left it at that first sip. Fortunately, I ventured to try out another flavour, namely chocolate and the rest, as they say, is history.

She did warn that this drink might get the drinker addicted but who cares for silly little warnings when trying something out for the first time? It felt nice in the beginning. Protinex buddies! Or should I say Protinex addicts! I used to take one cup a day after breakfast or in the evening instead of my usual tea. Then, it became nicer; two cups a day. Later it became my breakfast. Just one big cup of Protinex chocolate. A happy meal! I’m luvin it! Thanks (?) to the fact that I was eating at a mess where milk was served only twice a day, the daily intake was restricted to two cups.

One fine evening, another good friend, CL, gave me a tempting offer-a perfectly made cup of Boost. I used to like Boost very much so I decided to give it a try. The dark brown colour and the aroma were too good to say no to. Besides, my Protinex was finishing fast and I wanted to save it for the desperate times a.k.a end-sems. I took one sip and it felt tasteless. Entirely tasteless. My reaction was surprising to me too. How can a chocolate-crazy person feel a cup of Boost as tasteless? Something was wrong somewhere. I felt that nothing could make a drink as tasty as Protinex did. That is when the seriousness of the addiction struck me. It convinces you that every other drink is insipid, tasteless, archaic, obsolete and only one drink exists that is worth drinking…Protinex Chocolate! and I stand by this fact.

Every addiction comes with the ultimate aim of taking over the world. Mine is no different. It makes full use of its victim; from preaching about its splendour to offering a free sip. A pity I haven’t been able to serve my master in a reasonable, leave alone remarkable, manner for every time I preach about this heavenly drink, I end up convincing nobody. Not a single soul. To make things worse, all I get back from my audience are disgusted expressions and appalling remarks. I quote a few instances.

“Protinex? Yuck!” – Mind your language! Insulting I say!

“Oh! that drink; it’s ok ok types” – Ok ok types? Oh! Come on…

“Ahem! ” – I wish she would’ve stopped with that Ahem.

“Tastes like sugarless Milo with a tinge of bitterness.” – Sigh! Maybe because it was her first puff!

“Eww! That was terrible. So bitter! I need some water to clean my mouth” - speechless

The comments are never-ending and it all leads to the same conclusion; Proinex == Yuck. What can be worse than that?

"Smells Boostish. Tastes real nice ya." - Finally! some ray of hope but you know what? I am not so convinced about the genuineness of this comment because this was from a guy and guys say many things.

Update:
"Nice" followed by a dorky smile. - Well, that was "nice" to hear until he said that he likes yeast on toast too.

Inexplicably grotesque expression. - What more shall I say?

Now that, my good friend, is a serious addiction but guess what… I have no plans of snapping out of it.

Devil Strikes Again!

And you thought I was out of the picture! Another feather in my cap and a highly treasured one at that. The Play under the Umbrella. evil laugh!