Another blogger rides the bus

Oh Mali, no!

2012-04-11T21:30:00.001-07:00

I first heard of the Tuareg when a band of musicians calling themselves Tinariwen came on Stephen Colbert's show. Well guess what, the Tuareg just declared they want their own country! Mali, a landlocked country in Africa, has been in the news recently, for the wrong reasons. The military took over the country in a coup, claiming the government was a bunch of incompetent wussies (which government is not?). While news about the coup was percolating through to other parts of the world, the Tuareg rebels in the north declared independence.

The map above highlights the northern breakaway part, named Azawad. Azawad does seem to be bigger than what is left in "Mali" (the southern third). In fact much of Azawad is barren endless desert, and all its big cities, like Timbuktu, are closer to the southern border. I remember reading about Ibn Battuta - the great Moroccan traveller, who passed through Timbuktu during the course of his travels. Timbuktu was known to be great learning centre and a gold trading post in those times - now its just another town in the Sahara.

Like most countries in Africa, Mali is ethnically diverse, though apparently everyone speaks a language called Bambara and a majority are Muslims.

When you talk about rebel groups, there usually are competitors. The two main players in Azawad are the MNLA and the Ansar Dine. The MNLA were the ones who declared independence, and the Ansar Dine appear to be a Islamic group with somewhat contradicting aims.

From this Al Jazeera article:

"Our war is a holy war. It's a legal war in the name of Islam. We are against rebellions," Ansar Dine military chief Omar Hamaha said.
"We are against independence. We are against revolutions not in the name of Islam."

So they are a rebel group who don't support rebellions not in the name of Islam. How quaint. And of course, they just had to kidnap some Algerian diplomats, as per custom. Hmmph.

The situation is complex and has multiple players and facets which I don't really understand. Does creating a new state improve the conditions of the people living there? Will Azawad be officially recognized, like South Sudan was last year?

I do think that getting to know more about Mali culture may help us in improving our understanding of the situation. I highly recommend the troupe Tinariwen for some soulful music. Tinariwen apparently supports the MNLA and the creation of Azawad.

References

The Al Jazeera article that caught my eye
The map was made by Wikipedia user Orionist
Al Jazeera has a "stream" covering the Mali crisis - featuring interviews with Tinariwen and others discussing the crisis
A couple of other Malian musicians on NPR
An interesting Haaretz article that nicely summarizes the situation

The joy of nothing

2012-02-20T22:40:00.001-08:00

Once in a year or so I rant about how technology is taking over our lives and we ~~are becoming~~ have become a slave to machines. In fact, reading one of my old posts makes me feel like a broken tape recorder. However the time has come to remind the world, once again, about the joy of nothingness.

Remember the phrase "staring into space"? Whatever happened to that? Right now one would probably say "staring into his/her phone to avoid awkward moments". Or to pass time. Or whatever. But staring into space is amazing. I don't have any statistics to back me up - but you can trust me on this. I stare at a screen for around 10-12 hours a day. How can society except me to be strong and do the same the other precious few hours I have?

Anytime I am not looking at a screen (shoo, not now) - I pounce on it with the eagerness of a hungry rabbit. In this world, doing nothing has become an art. One needs to attend meditation classes or "go outside" to learn it. Bull shit I assure you. Every time you feel the need to do something that involves you looking zombie-like at a screen - shake your head vigorously, turn away, pick an object...stare at it until your mind goes blank - and enjoy the beauty of nothingness. I have heard it is not easy - but what do you have to lose? Nothing.

Long ago, when the Indian subcontinent was full of bustling kingdoms and zillions of gods were competing with one another... one prince had had enough and decided to "fuck it all". This was none other than Buddha who in modern times has become the universal symbol of simplicity and nothingness. The fact that there is even a religion that advocates this idea clinches the deal. What more do you need?

Log out. And do nothing.

Notes
1. I have recently learnt that there exists a term for one who is skeptical of modern technology - a neo-luddite
2. The Buddha reference was randomly inserted.
3. Yes, I wrote this using a computer. Also duly shared on all the internets.
4. If you are desperate read How to Do Nothing
5. Do log back in to comment #hypocrisy

Rig Veda to Particle Physics

2011-12-21T19:13:00.000-08:00

Recently there was a news story going around about a physicist named Vivek Sharma who is part of the international group hunting for the Higgs boson. The story mentions that one of Vivek's inspirations was a Rig Veda hymn that talked about the origin of the universe. I smiled to myself when I read that.

Here is what I think may have inspired him

In the beginning,
There was neither Being nor Non-being
Neither sky, earth, nor what is beyond and beneath.
What existed? For whom?
Was there water?
Death, immortality?
Night, day?
Whatever there was, there must have been one
The primal one
Self-created, self-sustained, by his own heat,
Unaware of himself
Until there was desire to know himself.
That desire is the first seed of the mind, say seers
Binding Non-Being with Being.
What was above and what was below?
Seed or soil?
Who knows?
Who really knows?
Even the gods came later.
Perhaps only the primal being knows.
Perhaps not.

I have taken these lines verbatim from Devdutt Pattanaik's "mithya" - a collection of Hindu mythological stories - quite fun to read. This verse is a translation from the original Rig veda which was written in Sanskrit. I am pretty sure this would leave an impression on most of us - knowing that this verse is probably more than 3000 years old. The fact that men were thinking about the origin of the universe so long ago makes me feel warm inside. The sheer number of ways this could be interpreted blows my mind.

A news story like this one often leads to some common opinions. Some might say this is a sign of how advanced Indian civilization was in those times. Some might lament about its relevance in the current state of affairs in India. Some may use it push their own propaganda. Some may wonder how this influenced other Hindu philosophies.

I fix myself a drink. And immerse myself into the wonder this universe is. Some day...we just might know the answers to Life, the Universe and Everything.

Additional information

Vivek Sharma is a Professor of Physics at UC, San Diego
Devdutt Pattanaik is a mythologist and author

Symbiosis

2011-11-30T22:04:00.000-08:00

The Moshichuna division of the army was riding to the battlefield. It was pouring in cartloads. The men were brimming with enthusiasm, having had an uneventful ride all the way from home. The Captain had the most magnificent mare, but of course. Her hair glistened in the rain and when she galloped in the forest the trees parted away for her.

A young soldier, named Ougamugu, was having visions of himself in a death metal band. Each gallop of his horse was in sync with an insanely fast guitar riff. It was his first trip outside his town. His veins throbbed with youthful zeal and his mother's blessings.

The Captain inspected his division and felt appropriately arrogant. He was leading some of the finest men in the country and was confident of a victory. It was to be his last battle.

As they entered the forest, Ougamugu burst into song.

aMamui was laughing to herself. She knew she was getting old. Her legs were not as nimble as they used to be. But she didn't mind. Her life was, as she recited frequently to her peers, full of surprises.
She knew that it was the Captain's last time out. She knew that he knew too.

Neehaw and Neehui were singing and making a general ruckus. They knew the gods had ordained this night. It was prophesied that one who died in battle went straight to horse heaven. Having feasted on some fresh hay at the morning camp they were jubilant.

"Men are so stupid man! They think they rule us lol", neighed Neehaw.
"Hahaha lol rofl!", neighed Neehui, throwing his head up in the air. "I love me some rain!".

And then they sang the "We are the champions" chorus the umpteenth time.

In the same forest a Queen bee and her daughter were scouting for food. The Princess was undergoing some basic training. They found a juicy flower next to the edge of the forest and the Queen started sucking up some nectar like there was no tomorrow.

The young one saw the grand division passing by.
"Look Ma!"

The Queen stopped sucking and looked up, irritated with the impatient one. Then she looked at the gang of men and horses passing by.
"Hmmph. Things are not what they seem to be". And the Queen went back to getting her shot of nectar. The Princess looked at the men. Then she looked at the horses. Then she looked at the state of ecstasy on her ma's face. And finally she looked away, towards the mountains.

5 ways to write a post titled 'X ways to do...'

2011-04-14T01:02:00.000-07:00

You have seen and read these posts all along. They have a title that says something similar to '5 ways to to climb Mount Everest' and you think to yourself, 'Hey! Now thats something I have always wanted to do!' Yeah right. The minute you see a number in the beginning of the title you just have to read it. Every time you finish reading such an article you take an oath never to fall prey to such stupid marketing techniques ever again. And the very next day you are reading 6 Terrifying Ways Crows Are Way Smarter Than You Think. Do not despair, for I am part of the very same crowd. And today, I am going to describe 5 ways to write such an article.

The value that X takes in 'X ways to do...' is of utmost importance. Statisticians have spent copious amounts of NSF funds trying to find that elusive sweet spot which would send the most number of morons on the internet to your site. The most common ones use 5 or 10 - a nice whole number which everyone knows about. 5 fingers on each hand. Counting to ten, anyone? Then there are those who choose numbers related to time periods - 7 (days), 24(hours), 30(days in a month), 365(days in a year) and so on. And finally there are those who truly stand out by using prime numbers!
What do you write about? The crux of the matter at hand. Technology, politics, love, movies, sports - it could be any of the mundane things on this planet. Maybe you had that epic nirvana moment when you felt you fully understood something? You could talk about that. Exactly what I am doing right now
Pick a verb. It has to be one. 'X ways to...' could be followed by do, have, kick, kiss, spoof, run, anything you want - as long as it is a verb.
Do some background research. Has someone already blogged about your chosen topic? How best can you put that person down? Go for it!
If you are reading this last step, you are one of the chosen few who will ~~live~~ be interested to witness Dagor Dagorath. The last 'way' in any such article is filled with so much BS even the author gets repulsed when he/she rereads it.

The above ways are intended to launch a new wave of 'Y ways to write a post titled 'X ways to do...'' articles. The day the internet ends will be the day bloggers hit a recursion stack overflow error. And that day is Dagor Dagorath.

Cheers.

UCSB Ducks lend a hand to Tulsa

2011-02-22T00:02:00.000-08:00

I had a chance to interview the UCSB ducks this time (they were last featured here) about the upcoming controversy surrounding the recent mass genocide of blackbirds in Arkansas. Featured in the picture are the Guy duck and the Girl duck.

Guy duck: The problem with our society is that ducks are too lazy - they are too complacent and don't want to speak up. When was the last time you heard about ducks revolting eh?
Me: Being from California, an environment-friendly state, aren't you much better off than your cousins in the deep south?
Girl duck: More rights does not mean better rights. Look at Bahrain. Ducks had free healthcare there and they are still protesting.
Me: Hmmm...you do have a point....
Guy duck: The problem with you humans is that you think you are so clever...we have been in America way longer and we know better
Girl duck: Hmmph. You couldn't even catch that fish I wanted.
Guy duck: yaaaaaaawn. Boring.
Me: So do you think its right to be paranoid in this situation? What do ducks think about Obama?
Guy duck: Hope rulz man! We voted for him in '08. Still waiting for my bills to be cleaned off though.
Girl duck: Ducks gotta change with the times too. The internet is great - hella lot of nice quackers at dukkit you know...but you know what, I think the mallard is a perpetrator too....
Me: What do you mean?
Girl duck: He is one of those guys who stays in the news by dropping bombshells all the time...do you think the CIA cares enough about birds to go around killing them? We ducks ain't that stupid!
Me: That was pretty insightful. Do you have a final word to say to the world?
Guy and Girl duck, together: Ducks of all lands, unite! QUACK!

In case you have no clue what this post was about, read this

Avenue of the Giants!

2011-01-15T21:24:00.000-08:00

So last week me and Fahad made a road trip to the Avenue of the Giants. Neither wikipedia nor any photographs can do any justice to this place - it has to be seen to be believed.

   What is it? The Avenue of the Giants is an avenue through the Redwood forest in Northern California. Redwood trees are some of the tallest trees in the world and there are many trees here that are taller than 100m. The forests are around 270 miles north of the Bay Area and our plan was to go and come back in a day. The avenue is around 32 miles long and used to be part of US 101 in some bygone era.

   We headed out around 7 AM in the morning from Sunnyvale (30 miles south of San Francisco). We were going to have coffee near the Golden Gate bridge but armed with my amazing driving skills, I missed an exit and we had to scout for the nearest coffee shop. Lo behold, we ended up in a beautiful town called Sausalito right on the banks of the bay! Just the road down there is breathtaking and we ended up having breakfast right near the water. We felt like we had landed in a quaint old village, untarnished and untouched by mankind. You cannot believe this place is 20 minutes from Downtown San Francisco! It is the ideal location to have breakfast on a Sunday morning.

   Having had a satisfying breakfast we set off again. After a long drive with more coffee stops we reached this town called Miranda on the Avenue of the Giants. Google had suggested a place called Avenue Cafe here and to our chagrin they were closed. Their timings for Sunday was 9am - 1pm (weird) and we reached around 1.30. The gas station there looked like it had stopped working in 1950. Talk about bad luck. Not seeing any tall trees pissed us off more and we took off again, scouting for gas stations. And suddenly the trees grew taller and broader.

      Oh my god, the trees were so big we couldn't believe our eyes! You have to actually see them to believe. There was a river running through the forest which we would spot from time to time, sometimes going over it on a bridge. The road is crazy narrow and curvy and half the time I was scared I was going to bash into a huge tree! These trees are so big they can hold probably 2 cars side by side. We went past the avenue to a town called Rio Dell to buy gas and get some lunch. I had one of the best burritos in my life there - maybe cos I was hungry - but it was homely too. And then we came back, replenished with fuel for both the car and ourselves, and hit the Avenue again. We had an hour of sunlight left and made the best of it. Near the town Miranda, there is a drive through tree - a tree so broad you can drive your car through it! This was so crazy we did it twice!

   After taking some customary snaps with the trees, and a few crazy videos, we started out for home around 5 pm. After an exhausting drive we reached home around 10 pm and promptly crashed.

   So to summarize, we covered almost 600 miles in one day, saw some really tall trees and had fun. Crazy, eh?!

Afterword
The photos are on Facebook (yes, we HAD to take some)
Shall upload the videos soon.

Here is a sample!

When Jhumpa Lahiri came to UCSB

2010-10-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

On October 13, Jhumpa Lahiri came to UCSB to give a talk. Having read most of her books, I decided to go. I was surprised to see the hall fully occupied with well dressed people, while I plodded my way through with my huge bag and scruffy beard. I managed to reach my allotted spot without stepping on anyone's toes, patted myself on the back and observed my surroundings. There were a lot of old people - I even saw a few ladies who looked like Charlie's mom from Two and a Half Men. There was a buzz in the air as everyone waited for Jhumpa. A couple of people introduced her, one of them providing a short biography.

   And then she came. She read out one of the stories from "The Unaccustomed Earth". The story, "Once in a Lifetime" is written from the POV of a young bengali girl in New Jersey. You would have read it if you were a fan, I guess. Am I a fan of Jhumpa Lahiri? I still do not know. I have read her books but most of her stories left me feeling weird and kind of empty inside. So when Jhumpa was done with her reading, we had a QA session. She came out as very aloof, cold and unwilling to talk more than required. She never smiled or made jokes. No sarcasm. A lady asked her why her stories were so negative and, if Jhumpa had heard about positive psychology. I know, lol. Jhumpa said she wanted to write more about the realities in life and interpersonal relationships, etc. Someone asked her what she thought when people reviewed her work. She replied saying that she never cared for other people's opinions of her work, and that she was very private and felt uncomfortable in public situations, like the one she was in right then! That sounded brutally honest, though it made me think - why does she have these "readings" at all? Weird!

   I had a couple of questions I wanted to ask but I was in two minds whether to go ahead or not - and finally decided not to. I am not sure whether I was scared or I felt I would be intruding on her "space"! (I am pretty sure she is NOT going to read this!). Her mannerisms were not unlike that of an ice cold evil queen ordering her minions of orcs to bring down all of mankind. Maybe that was too harsh? But then she said the authors who inspired her were Thomas Hardy and Leo Tolstoy. Gulp. Now we know why!

   Puns aside you can give Jhumpa Lahiri a try. Especially if you want to know about how Bengalis feel when they move to the US from India and how they miss Calcutta and how their kids don't really like India and blah. Even though I will bracket her in the NRI category of Indian authors, I would say she isn't half as bad as the others - especially the ones who are in a race to inform the world how screwed up India is (don't we all know that already? Ho hum.)

Why do Indians nod the way they do?

2010-08-26T00:57:00.000-07:00

I was in LA for the weekend, visiting people at USC. Now because USC is not in a very safe area, they have this thing where you can call up a cruiser and someone will drop you home or some place, for no cost. I was with a friend and we called the cruiser cos we didn't want to walk. As soon as we get into the car, the person who was driving said she wanted to ask something about Indian culture. She wanted to know why Indians nod the way they do - in practically every direction! She said that Americans nod from up to down for a 'yes', and left to right for a 'no'. I was laughing in my insides! Yet another American confused with our nods! The reason she asked this was because, before I got into the car, someone had nodded at me (the Indian way) and I had understood the nod!

To me this was a refreshingly honest question - probably the first of its kind in America! When she said Indians nodded this way so that Americans wouldn't understand them I was in splits :) She was joking, of course. So me and my friend, we tried telling her how to decipher the nod, you know, look at the face, and not the direction. And then I decided it was my turn! I asked her if Americans actually meant it when they say "how are you doing" or some other similar phrase. She said, "Almost never", confirming my hypothesis. This was something that had puzzled me for ages, lol.

I remember reading about Americans' confused interpretations of the Indian nod sometime back. I believe its more common now because of the IT industry and all the junta flocking here. But does anyone have any idea why us Indians nod the way we do? I for one don't!

As I expected, people have blogged about this too. This is an interesting post and here is a forum where people actually discuss how to master the nod!

The History of Rasam

2010-08-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there was a cook called Anna. His wife was called 'Thayir Sadam'. Anna had two sons, Rasam and Sambar. Sambar was the elder one. Anna loved them a lot and fed them the best food possible, for he was the number 1 cook in Tamil Nadu. His wife used to work in the king's court while he would be busy taking care of the 10 cooks who worked under him. Anna was in tremendous demand for any marriage that took place in Tamil Nadu. His dream was that when his sons grew up they would join his business. The last dish in any meal prepared by Anna's crew would always be Curd Rice, a recipe invented by his wife, Thayir Sadam.

Sambar gained notoriety when he prepared a dish for his third cousin's marriage which was attended by Prince Chola XIII. He had just turned 18(Sambar, not the prince). People started bugging Anna about Sambar's dish and soon enough Sambar joined his father's troupe. Anna's business grew tenfold and he could not have been happier with his life. When people learnt that Sambar's preparation could be had with rice, idli, dosa and curd rice, they went mad with happiness. The next few years were a glorious period for Tamil Nadu. Prince Chola XIII sent envoys to Indonesia to export Sambar's dish and Sambar became world famous. Anna started trading with other countries in South East Asia, China, Egypt, and Rome.

Something strange happened one day. A strange astrologer from a distant land visited the King's court. He named Sambar's dish as simply 'sambar'. However he predicted that there will come a day when sambar's fame would diminish and give away to a new dish. The Prince, although disturbed by this statement, ignored him as he did not believe in harming peaceful travellers.

During Sambar's rise to glory Rasam was away in Gujarat learning the art of making Kadhi and sampling some amazing aam ras. In Ahmedabad he met a girl called "Mor Kuzhambu" whose family had migrated from Tamil Nadu generations ago. He married her and decided to settle down in the same town as his father and elder brother. However, when he came back things seemed a little different. All everyone did in Tamil Nadu was eat Sambar's dish. The Prince had ordered that everyone in Tamil Nadu had to start a meal with sambar rice and end it as always, with Curd Rice. And his brother was totally changed. Fame, money and power had consumed him and Rasam could not recognize him. Saddened by the situation, Rasam moved to his own place (which was unknown in those joint-family days) and started his own small business, separate from that of his father's. Angered by this, Anna used all his influence to prevent Rasam's business from getting a foot-hold.

A few years passed on. Thayir sadam did not like the ensuing state of affairs. She sneaked out one day to visit her younger son. Rasam was slurping away the last of his meal off his banana leaf when his mom came in. He immediately got up and ran to offer his respects to his mom.
"Amma! Its been so long. Please come in. Mor Khozambu, look who has come! Put one more leaf next to mine!".
"No, no, I just had lunch....", Amma protested.
"But this is your first time ma, just sit down..."
And so Thayir Sadam ate. She ate so much and for so long, the world seemed to pause. "This is so awesome! So simple, yet tasty. What do you call this?"
"We call it rasam ma. Mor Khozambu named it after me. I wanted to call it something else but..."
"I know this is weird, but can you give me the recipe?"
"Ofcourse ma. Its in the public domain."
"What!!!", gasped Thayir Sadam. Since Anna's time, all recipes were proprietary and patented under his name. The last famous recipe in the public domain was Thayir Sadam's own recipe: Curd rice, and that was before she got married.
"You are my true son da. God bless you"
"Poo, its nothing ma. Its right under your recipe in the temple near Prince Chola's palace." All recipes under the WTFPL were written on that temple's walls in those days.
"You mean its been there all along? How long has it been there?!", asked Thayir Sadam.
"13 years. Since I came back."
"Your time has come son.", said Thayir Sadam and she took her leave.

When Anna came back from work his wife offered him a new dish. The moment Anna had scooped a handful of the preparation into his mouth, he was transported back to his childhood (when his mom used to make awesome dosas). Yes, it was his mom who had invented the dosa, and who was his inspiration. This dish was so good tears started flowing from his eyes (after he had finished everything on his leaf, but of course!).
"What is this heavenly thing, Oh Thayir Sadam?", asked Anna.
"Its a dish made by our Rasam."
"Hmm. I should have guessed. There is something I should have told you long back."
"Huh...? What?"
"Sambar is an idiot. That dish he 'invented' was made by Rasam when he was 10 years old. Rasam gave me the idea of passing it off as Sambar's dish because you know..."
There were tears in her eyes. She had no idea how much her younger son had sacrificed.
"But...why?"
"Rasam is an avatar of Lord Krishna. He told me what to do, and how can I refuse?"
Thayir Sadam: "Boo. Don't give me poppycock. There is no god. You never did like him a lot did you?"
"Damn! Can't fool you. Well, he told me Sambar would never get along with him."
"Pthoeey. Sambar! Come here at once."
"Yes ma. What happened?", said Sambar.
"Do you have any problem with your brother?"
"Me? Na. Thought Appa did."
"Ok, shush. Taste this."
Sambar tasted Rasam's dish and shook like a leaf in the wind!
"What is this heavenly thing?"
"This, my son is rasam. Just like you made sambar."
"This is better than anything you have ever made!"
"Yeah, I know."
"Since my invention is called sambar, let my brother's be 'rasam'!"
("Your invention my foot", muttered Thayir Sadam under her breath)

Anna then took the dish to Prince Chola (XIII). He was so overwhelmed he gifted Anna an island in the Indian ocean. There were even talks of overturning the Prince's earlier decision to start every meal with sambar, and instead start with rasam. But the Prince's wife would have none of this.
"All our sons start eating their meals with sambar... how can you suddenly make them eat this rasam, however delicious it might be?"
Being weak and henpecked, the Prince relented.

Rasam however did not care for such wordly matters. He moved to the Udipi region in Karnataka with his family. It is said that he was influential in creating and propogating the Udipi style of cooking.

To this day, rasam is eaten after sambar in Tamil Nadu. All because of a crazy woman.

Epilogue:
As you may have guessed, Mor Kuzhambu was instrumental in making the south indian version of Kadhi, named after her, as mor kuzhambu.

Author's note:
I started writing this story after making rasam yesterday. I wondered about the history of rasam but could find nothing on the net apart from its name in all the south indian languages. Hence, I decided to write my own history. As historical accounts usually are, this one is prejudiced against sambar, cos I am a rasam fanboy. If you are from Tamil Nadu, you will know that rasam is always eaten after sambar in any meal. However, I always make it a point to eat rasam at least 3 times before I move on to curd rice. Go Rasam!

The Case of the Missing Servant : A book review

2010-07-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

Some days back I was killing time on the net hopping from one blog to another, as I often do, when I found this - a review of a Detective series set in India! The reviews sounded good and I jumped to ebay to buy it off.

The Case of the Missing Servant is the first book featuring Vish Puri, a middle-aged Punjabi detective who lives in Delhi. He self-proclaims himself to be the best detective in India and has an uncanny ability to solve mysteries bested by none except his mom, known as Mummyji. The book starts with him eating delicious onion pakoras (it literally made my mouth start watering!) and the first few pages give you an insight into the kind of character Puri is. The book is littered with Hinglish, the occasional gaali, and common Indian delicacies while Vish goes snooping around trying to solve multiple mysteries. What I liked about the book is that it tickles your inner sense in a way that few books do these days (Wodehouse is like a rising crescendo of nudging and winking that almost always ends in spontaneous laughter!). And I could also relate to Vish, who like any other middle class guy in India cribs about corruption, poverty, etc but is also kind to his driver and servants. (Did that come out feudal?) And I have realized that mysteries still rank top in my list of preferred genres, especially after being tricked into reading the Harry Dresden series by a scheming friend :) (it is an awesome combo of Fantasy + Mystery set in Chicago)

This is Tarquin Hall's first book and he released the 2nd book last month. I am hoping to grab the 2nd one soon; until then, go and buy "The Case of the Missing Servant"!

Screw you believers

2010-07-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

The other day someone knocked at my door and I found a couple of old ladies. I was kinda surprised to find an Indian lady introduce herself and start speaking to me in Gujarati! I muttered something and she gave me a couple of magazines and left. The first magazine was about Jehovah's witnesses. Now under normal circumstances I don't have anything against Jehovah's witnesses. The only time I have heard of them was when my dad told me the Williams sisters were Jehovah's witnesses. But the minute you start trying to convert me I am gonna holler. I am sick of people telling me to believe in their god(s). First of all, I am an atheist. I have been agnostic for a long time and somewhere along the way I guess I stopped having my doubts all together. But even if I were religious, I don't see the point in going out and shouting in the streets about it. And guess what the wiki article for Jehovah's witnesses says: "Jehovah's Witnesses are best known for their door-to-door preaching......but they consider secular society to be morally corrupt and under the influence of Satan, and limit their social interaction with non-Witnesses." Enlightening.

There is an old man who stands outside the university center at UCSB at a certain time of the day. He tried giving me and my friends a bible in Hindi. That would have been fun. "An eye for an eye..." in Hindi eh? Not my cup of tea. I remember back in Bombay when the Ganpati mandal guys used to bug us almost every day for donations. Go set up your own mandal, jackass. You know what? I think we atheists got to get more organized. Almost become a religion even. Only thing we need is...a god....sorry, leader.

I hate missionaries of any kind. They may have done a lot of good but the whole idea reeks. And priests too. If you have seen a Hindu brahmin priest you will know that he is one of the most useless guys ever. All he does is mutter some random sanskrit slokas and grab maximum paisa from the janta. Hell, atleast he doesn't play around with boys like those Catholic priests. And Swamis too. India probably has like a million new Swamis every year, all competing in the market for people's devotion. How bad can it get?

I always thought religion was meant to be a personal thing. And I believe someone created god cos he must have realized that most people are bloody insecure and need to believe in some almighty power just for the hell of it! There were whole countries in Europe who embraced Christianity all because their kings told them to do so. How dumb can you get? Imagine if people still believed in Norse mythology! Instead of gold or diamonds the world would be obsessed with finding mithril! I was introduced to Hindu mythology as a kid - and I still love it. I just don't believe in it! There is a difference. I still think Mahabharatha is the greatest story ever. And we have a gazillion gods! I think the guys who were gonna write the vedas had had too much beer(or maybe soma?) and thought - "Lets have 330 million gods! No way India is gonna have more people than that." They were so wrong. But hey, we now have 1 god for every 3.5 people. Not bad. Apparently Hinduism allows for atheists too. I somehow don't dig that.

So wait, what was I saying again? Oh ya, atheism. I kinda feel the whole idea of atheism is to shun the world of religion and faith-mongering people. But it looks like we gotta do more now. Maybe I should say that the guy who made vada pav was an atheist and so everyone in Bombay should be one? ;) But we shouldn't let atheism in itself become a religion. Then there would be no difference between us and them!

Let me cite an example from the past that has been hurtful to atheists.

George Bush Senior once said: "No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."

This from a guy who ruled the most powerful country in the world for 4 years. Amazing. And India has Karunanidhi, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu - a self proclaimed atheist. He once asked the BJP dudes - "Which engineering college did Ram study in?" and I can tell you, they were shocked beyond belief. They tried protesting in Tamil Nadu but they got as much attention as Sarah Palin did. Jackasses. Though I heard his wife (which one? must check index...) frequently prays for him whenever he falls sick. Who is the jackass now?

Mind you, I am not trying to make you stop believing in your god. In fact, I have no interest in doing so. As long as you keep your religion to yourself, I am happy. God save the world. No pun intended.

For the hungry atheist, here is something to buck you up : Ted Talk by Richard Dawkins on Militant Atheism

The great bong's article is worth a read too.

Here is a humorous take on the future of Atheism

The Summer Solstice

2010-06-27T23:43:00.000-07:00

I had never seen so many people in Santa Barbara before. State street is usually full of people on Fridays & Saturdays - but 100,000 people? That was something new and crazy, for a city whose population falls below that figure!

Yesterday, Santa Barbara held the Summer Solstice Celebration. Its an yearly celebration and the parade is the crux of the event. There is music, color and atmosphere - all you need in a festival.

It apparently began in 1974 as the birthday celebration of some local artist. Now its a full blown festival with a parade, live music, and loads of food.

Does this picture remind you of something? These girls are getting ready to dance. To me, it was very similar to a Bollywood dance sequence. In fact, the music was so lively with all the drums and tribal themes that it seemed very familiar to me!

All in all it seemed like a family event with a lot of resident attendance with bedsheets, foldable chairs and the works. After the parade everyone headed out to the park to get some grub and passively listen to the music ( felt sorry for those guys, was anyone listening? ) The food options were unfortunately a bit limited - I was hoping there would be more street food kinda stuff.

It was a fun event and I would definitely hope there are more similar events in the future(looking forward to Fiesta)

How would I, being someone from India, compare this event to our numerous festivals? Well, there could be multiple responses. India has so many festivals which people would celebrate even after an Armageddon. Most people in India don't care why they celebrate it. (Don't tell me you like Diwali cos Ram defeated Ravan or Krishna defeated Narakasura - Duh! Its the firecrackers, dumbass!) And so we see an event here which again, is celebrated again and again every year - the only reason being to get people together and have fun. Amazing na :) Maybe people could start celebrating Holi here. Whaddaya think?

|Photo Courtesy of Manik|

A Tribute!

2010-06-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

We have fought an endless number of times. We chat almost incessantly whenever we get the chance. We start every sentence with "Abe..." suffixed with some harmless gaali like "dakkan", "dumbass", "idiot", etc. She gives me BPL, Hutch or Vodafone T-shirts from time to time, depending on which company currently owns the company she works for! She makes amazing alu tikki!

She got married 5 years back. I remember when I was sitting right in front of the mayhem, dreaming about when the food would be served, and people starting congratulating me. I was like what the hell. "You have a bro-in-law now, you idiot!", said the junta. I said, "Hmm. Ok." And someone sent me off to fetch some coffee or what not for some old relative. The pains of being the bride's brother!

We stopped fighting physically when I became too big to get hurt, lol. And then I stopped being the cry-baby that I was :P The fights became intelluctual now (instead of "you took my toy/some useless thingy" or fighting for the remote, it was about who finished Lotr or the latest HP first!)

And after her marriage, she went away to make her home, and I went away to college. We grew apart, a little. But we still kept in touch (atleast I did!) We still fought from time to time. But hey, what is in a bro-sis relationship without fights? Nothing! But she is been my best friend from god knows when. We usually tell each other all the irrelevant crap people can talk about. Here is a sample.
Me: Did you know that 4000 bucks = 800 vadapavs?
She: I had *some random* chaat today or I saw the latest Bollywood chick flick...and it sucked! (obviously!)

But hey, what is the point of this post? Tomorrow is her 5th wedding anniversary and I wanted to give my sister a little gift. But since we are continents apart this is the least I could do. Here is hoping Radhika/Neelu/Akka and Ashish/Jiju live happily everafter!

Cheers.

Quack Quack!

2010-05-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

I had just got my coffee and was on the way to the library when I spotted these two guys. It was a Saturday, the sun was nice and warm, and they were slowly quacking. "Quack........Quack", mind you. Not "Quack Quack".

I was plainly feeling a bit too jealous :) So I decided to savor their moment and captured them on my new HTC Evo (Aha! I totally had to bring it in :P )

Well, do you think that was the last I saw of them? Nope! Today, I saw the same two ducks (am sure they are the same) and this time they were waddling behind the library. I started thinking about how these ducks have it made. I am sure these guys are a couple! I don't know why, but there are certain living species that I can totally connect to. They are ducks, walruses, pigs, sloths and the Indian cow - in no particular order. Every time I look at one of these guys, I feel this inner urge to join them - in doing nothing.

Ducks. Not the flappy swimmy ones (I can't swim!). But the ones who just waddle around all day in the pond. Pigs can fit right in too. Love their oinks! I am afraid I have never really seen a walrus or a sloth in real life - but I have heard enough about them! But no animal can beat the Indian cow. Ever tried honking away one of these big, black, dumb ones away from the road only to get the worst response ever? Here is the scenario: you are driving/riding on a very, very busy road and suddenly in the middle of the road, there is this big, black, dirty cow chewing away on some piece of grass. You screech to a halt and honk loudly- irritating everyone except the cow - who doesn't give a damn if you run over her (cos you can't!). Talk about confidence.

Thats enough work for the day....am gonna laze now!

One step closer @ Dadar station

2010-05-08T23:39:00.000-07:00

This is the third part of a series. If you haven't read the first two parts, read them here and here. We left Popat and Rohan prancing around Dadar station two years back. They have now grown up and are in college.

"Dude, pour me one more drink." Rohan stared dreamily at the skies. The sky was pitch black. There was no moon, and whatever stars were in the sky were obscured by Bombay's healthy atmosphere. Popat silently refilled Rohan's glass. Business was going good now. Popat was the first vada pav seller to attend college. Some obscure indian news channel called "TimePass TV" had interviewed him making him famous amongst the locals in Bombay. So much so that Shiv Sena had offered him a seat in their party - but he had politely refused, saying - "Politics and vada pav do not go together." Popat was content with his life. In fact, he always was. It was Rohan's state that was disturbing him.

"You remember that girl outside Dadar station?"

"How could I not!", replied Popat.

"How I wish I could see her again. Sigh."

"Fat chance. Get a life!"

"Fuck you."

"Fuck you too."

"I'm blue da ba dee da ba die..." (Rohan starts humming)

"I sold 420 today."

"What the hell are you taking about?"

"I sold 420 vada pavs today."

"Who gives a damn. Pass me that cigarette."

"No. You have had too many already."

"Screw you. "

Rohan lit another cigarette and let out a wisp of smoke. This had now become a weekly affair. Having nothing to do in the weekends, they would go to the terrace, lie down and start dreaming. After all Ambani did say - "Dream big". Popat was dreaming about setting up a vada pav stall in the US. Rohan was....well, you know.

"Abe, did you know vada pavs sell for $3 in the US?", said Popat, shattering Rohan's mushy dreams.

"Uh huh."

"Imagine the profits I can make! I could move there and and sell one vada pav for 30 times the price here!"

"Get a life ass. There is more to life than vada pavs."

"I know that."

"You do?"

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

A strong wind blew in on them, from nowhere. The matchbox started moving with the wind, making intricate patterns as it did. Popat observed the movements keenly.

Popat flipped out his iphone. He wanted to update his status on Facebook to "drunk & disorderly :P".

"Rohan! Abe! Look here."

"Don't shout, bitch. What?"

"Isn't this the girl you were after?", said Popat and thrust the iphone into Rohan's face. Rohan grabbed it. A strange gleam came into his eyes. "Whoa! Yes, she is the one. How on earth is she on your Facebook?"

"I dunno....it looks like she is Rita's friend!"

"Get her number, quick!"

"It is 9324567819."

"I am dialing.......there is no answer."

"Hey....her status says that she is going to Chowpatty tomorrow!"

"Whoa! Ok....plan of action...we catch the 5.10 Churchgate local from Dadar tomorrow...lets hit the sack now."

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

The next day, at 5.05 on Platform 1 (or whichever is the appropriate one, @ Dadar station)

"Damn this Rohan...he is always late..."

Rohan came running, huffing and panting heavily. "Did you see her?"

"Huh?"

Someone poked Rohan's back.

He turned angrily ready to hurl his finest expletives - and lo! It was the girl he was looking for!

"Hey Rohan!", said she, with a big smile on her face.

"umm....glug...glug....", mumbled Rohan.

"Something wrong with you? And hey why did you never call me? I did give you my number didn't I? Achcha I gotta rush now, the train is here! Bye!"

And she left Rohan gaping open mouthed at her. Popat had to shake him thrice before he regained his senses. "Dumbass! What are you doing? Why didn't you talk! You had her number and you didn't call her? What is going on?"

"umm...I don't know..."

"I need to go....somewhere...", said Rohan, and ran inside the next train...

"Oh no...that is a Virar fast..he is gonna get clobbered!"

To be continued

Where am I?

2010-04-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

As one more wasted weekend comes to an end, I wonder what I am doing with my life. Is this what I want to do for the rest of my life? Will life always be like this? Should I be passionate or dispassionate? Happy or sad? Will I always be dissatisfied? I long for the days when I was small, and all I cared was about coming back from school, playing and food. And books. I want to move some place far away, which is totally disconnected from the world. Guess what - I just got a Droid. Talk about connectivity. To go away from this world of laptops, pdas, mobile phones, ipads(?) and what not seems like a distant dream. The sooner the world becomes a global village, the sooner people seem to stop talking to one another. I hate checking my mail - but I can't live without doing that. I am fed up.

So listen up now! Pay attention! Throw away that Ipod that is perched on your head. Talk to the person sitting next to you and not on your stupid phone. Wake up to the surroundings! Wake up to who you are! Become who you are born to be. And start selling vada pavs outside Dadar station. Cheers. Hic.

Hmm. Manowar???

2010-03-13T23:58:00.000-08:00

Guess who came out of Peter Jackson's closet recently- Eric Adams. Eric is the lead singer of a band called Manowar(मनोवर!) - a band that claims to be part of the "heavy metal genre".

Seen this guy? Yep, he is the orc general from LOTR3: Return of the King. Now scroll down.

Notice any resemblance? Apparently Peter Jackson's computer generated orc was not distorted enough to satisfy him and he was totally pissed with the way things were going. On his way back home from the studios he saw some teenager watching this video on his ipod and.......Voila! Eric Adams joins the cast to play one of the dumbest looking villains in history- the orc general in Lotr Part 3 (this character wasn't even in the book!)

So what makes Eric so special? He is the frontman of a band which since 1980, hasn't changed its style. This band continues to look like a wannabe 80s style epic power metal band - though they are an epic fail. Their current videos are full of band members wearing leather jackets, eerie choruses and the frontman singing his "epic" verses in full form. I agree that they have good drums and guitar work, but come on, you watch their videos- and listen to the lyrics- these guys were born to be made fun of! I am surprised no one has done it yet!

Here is a sample of their lyrics:

"Gather my horse and weapons......." - from Warriors of the world

"Cos I need metal...in my life...Just like an eagle needs to fly"

and

"I walked inside so I could hear

and the guy beside me gave me a beer"

- from Die for Metal

You should try reading their complete lyrics when you are feeling down - if these guys think they are a serious heavy metal band - you could be king of the world!

"in February 2007, the band's bassist Joey DeMaio lamented that "these days, there's a real lack of big, epic metal that is drenched with crushing guitars and choirs and orchestras... so it's nice to be one of the few bands that's actually doing that."

LMAO!!!

You have to give it to them though - how can such a band go on like this for 30 years?! They have sold 9 million albums in 30 years - Metallica probably sells 9 million records in like 30 minutes or something.

But wait - I am not done yet. Here comes the best part - this Eric Adams- he is an accomplished bow hunter and bow instructor!!!! Now I know why he played the part of that famous orc!

Note: To my loyal readers(if there are any, that is) - this post is a departure from my usual writing style - but if you didn't like it you can buzz off & come back later!

If you liked this and want more, here is an earlier sample of the mastermind in action (The Birth of Andrew Symmonds)

I will be visiting some book stores in the next two weeks - look for an update soon!

PS: You may also want to look at Dave Mustaine & Lars Ulrich crying like sissies here

-haha am I sadistic or what!

PPS: Latesht Update - Eric Adams has claimed to be a direct descendant of Azog - one of the fiercest orc chieftains of Moria!

Paperback Alley

2010-01-31T19:45:00.000-08:00

Guess who is back again! Its been a looong time since I made an update here and yesterday I felt this desperate need to pour out my feelings. I was coming back from a visit to the bank and was stuck midway with the next bus scheduled a good half an hour away. I was in Old Town Goleta - there are many old shops, eateries and restaurants here. I was strolling mindlessly when I saw this store named "Paperback Alley" and a lot of old books on display. The store pulled me to it like a magnet! I went inside and found myself browsing through an amazing collection of second hand paperbacks! I didn't know such things existed here- what with Borders/Barnes'n'nobles everywhere...it took me back to the numerous times I visited Flora Fountain in Bombay to buy second hand books from the roadside- something I used to do atleast once a year. I was so completely mesmerized by the store that I spent a whole hour there (missing two buses in the process) and staring in awe at all the books like a villager who stares at tall buildings. Let me get things straight - this store is a tiny store, with probably one-tenth of the number of books available in any of those big chains. But the atmosphere was totally different - somehow, old books give you this feeling of awe and inspiration - you wanna read them all!

I always read a lot, but since I have been stuck with my laptop, my reading habit has gradually been decreasing over the years. Two of my friends have even accused me of having given up books all together(how could they?!). So yesterday I decided, The show must go on! I cannot and will not give up books, and however hectic my life may be I shall always find time to curl up in a cosy corner and read a book!

So, anyway, I bought 3 books yesterday - all by authors I haven't read yet. I phoned up a friend (one of the two that I referred to above) to ask for suggestions. I now have on my table Carl Sagan's Contact, Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Terry Pratchett's The Color of Magic. I have started reading "Contact" now as I saw the movie a long time back and I love comparing movies to books that they are based on (and bitching about how bad the rendition is)

So well, I am planning to visit the store once every month, starting yesterday! Its upto you guys (my readers, does anyone read this blog) to ensure that I do not abandon my books! Expect a review of what I read soon!

The Udipi Palace!

2009-11-30T08:01:00.001-08:00

I was visiting my Aunt and Uncle in Fremont for the Thanksgiving holidays and had a great time there. One night my aunt took me shopping to a Gujju store called Kumudh in this place called Newark and there was this restaurant called Udipi Palace right next to it. Having had amazing vada pav the previous night at Chaat Bhavan, I did not let my expectations go too high.

We entered the restaurant and spotted the buffet sign - we were pulled to it with this unknown powerful force! It was only me, my aunt, and my younger cousin(Sri Ram). Now, I shall describe the various courses which I partook(hehe!)

I started out with alu chat, naan and chole. Then the server fetched a new sizzling dish and I went to check it out and guess what- it was Pav Bhaji! And the pav bhaji was really good :) Then there were these mini uthappams and two different chutneys- coconut and an orange one. The coconut chutney was bad but the orange one made up for it. There was medu vada and a type of cutlet. I had noodles and gobi manchurian. While I was eating something else, the server got freshly made dosas for us! My cousin was overjoyed. There was a guy making dosas at a counter and all the kids who hadn't seen it were gawking admiringly at him. There were not that many north-indian dishes available though. There was bisi-bela baath(sambar rice, dunno how to spell it) and raitha. And there was this whole sub-section of south indian dishes- sambar,rasam,mor kozambu(khadi),kootu,paayasam(kheer),2-3 poriyals,etc! I would technically call this section a buffet within a buffet- as it was equivalent to the south indian 'meals' we get back in India. I could not do justice to this section - my stomach had already reached its above capacity limit.

So anyway, I could eat no more. But wait- there was buttermilk too! Yup! I had 2 cups of that :) and when we went to settle the bill at the counter there was paan too! I am in love with udipi palace!!!

Halloween, some interviews, and a mid term!

2009-11-06T18:54:00.001-08:00

Phew! The past three weeks went past me like a dog whose tail was on fire! Lets see...previously I was bitching about how much work I got to do in grad school. Lets chuck that, this blog is become too much of a whiner's blog :)

So lets start with the happiest, most recent memory- Halloween! This being my first Halloween ever, I had no idea what to do....I got a stupid mask but hardly wore it cos it was too suffocating. IV looked like some Indian railway station/bazaar that day! People thronging up and down, in a colourful array of costumes, all high with booze,dope and what not! I kinda didn't fit in though...I mean I dig Diwali, Holi, etc...but this? Maybe next year I will get a decent costume :) And guys, the girls were just a feast for the eyes. My friend Urmish literally thanked me for having dragged him to IV!

I also had a few interviews! The most high profile one was with Microsoft- I had to answer three open-ended questions...keeping my fingers crossed! Then I had an interview with Novacoast - a Santa Barbara based company- the interviewer asked me 7 questions from 7 different languages! The day I had my microsoft interview I also had a midterm- one of the toughest ones I have ever faced :(

I also got a bike! But its kinda rickety and old, so I gotta tune it up a bit. And we got a diwali function this weekend- so I am looking forward to some Indian food and Urmish's guitar playing :) (Diwali2009)

Grad School is tough!

2009-10-16T00:46:00.000-07:00

Phew! Every week I wait with bated breath for Thursday night...cos that is when my 3 day weekend starts! I know...you must be thinking...this guy has a three day weekend? His life is made right? No way! Cos the other 4 days are so engaging and there is so much going on in Grad school you literally have no time to stand and stare! And since this is a Thursday night I thought , hey, let me empty my head a little.

So what happens in Grad school? Well, I read papers. I work on assignments. I work on projects. I try to keep up with what the Prof is talking about. And since I am in the hellish quarter system, I just try to get by. And since I am a Masters student, I am totally confused :)

But hey, its fun. I am finally learning stuff. Hadn't done anything in years! Am working on this project for one of my courses- its a web application for the cloud and we are gonna make it using Google App Engine, Python and Django- all of which I gotta learn! But hey that is cool-how about the weather? I still don't get California-one day it rains, one day its sunny, and one day its cold! Crazy! And you gotta come back after a long day in this crazy weather & make yourself some food before you drop off! Welcome to grad school!

Life in the US

2009-09-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

Hiya folks! Its been a long time since I blogged...probably cos I was busy adding numerous layers of fat while I was at home for 3 months! Now that I am in the US, and I finally have a laptop I was like hey, lets start blabbing again.

Ok, so before coming here I was like- "Wow! I am finally going to the US of A!" and everyone around me was behaving as if I was gonna go to a different planet! Well, I have been here for a little over 2 weeks and let me tell you, life is not that different.

Everyone is polite here. Now that is something weird when you come here the first time. Especially if you have roamed around in Mumbai where people only have time to curse you.

Vehicles stop when you want to cross the road! This is again a bit scary cos a line of vehicles is waiting for you to cross the road!

Now a bit about the place where I am. I am staying in this real small city(lol) called Goleta. Its a city of 10,000 people. I am sure there are housing societies in India with more ;)

Goleta is actually kind of like a small, rich village. Everyone either has a car- or a bike! That is probably cos we're close to UCSB. One more crazy thing- bikes with gears are cheaper than bikes without them! And if you accidentally call a bike a cycle- you are bound to get no response (it happened to me in Kmart,hehe)

Some things are still different for me. I haven't yet got used to seeing vehicles drive on the right. Every time I am waiting to cross at an intersection, I would think-"That vehicle would turn left" and then it wouldn't and I would be stumped! Guess it would take a while for my tiny little brain to get adjusted to.

And ya, we simply HAVE to cook here. Eating out on a regular basis is pretty expensive, especially if you involuntarily end up converting dollars to rupees. Luckily one roomie of mine is a Gujju, so he got tons of masalas :) The tough part is using them.

As I am in Southern California, the weather is pretty much the same as that in India. In fact its been really hot for the past few days. Nights are pretty cool.

A bit about the university. UCSB is a beautiful campus. Its surrounded by beaches and mountains on all sides! You have to watch out for bikes rather than cars! Loads of skateboarders too. There is a beach right opposite my department!

We got our memberships in Costco & Albertsons (departmental chains here). We are still in the process of setting up our apartment. We had to buy and fix our own tubelights(called fluorescents here :) ) And well, we gotta laze some time too! This is currently my ~amazing~ life here!

A new day has come

2009-05-28T05:16:00.000-07:00

And so finally the day came when we left SASTRA...the place where I lost my soul and regained most of it. The past 4 years have been crazy...the place which I hated the most in my life became the place where I made some friends I will never forget...some I might never meet again(sob :( )...but its been one hell of a ride! And so when I look back now...all those times we sat vetti in hostel doing absolutely nothing...sleeping,eating,drinking...bunking classes...eating crappy mess food..avoiding mess food(!)...bitching about the management...taking digs at the dumb ass teachers...skt's bajjis...I guess there won't be any of that now.

For all the people who helped me survive these four years, cheers to you, and I hope you have a blast for the rest for your lives :)

PS: Shit, I'm actually senti!

Another Limerick!

2009-03-27T04:33:00.000-07:00

I was sitting in class getting real bored. Our HOD was boring us to death, as usual. And so, I wrote this limerick, dedicated to her:

In this hour of darkness there is no time
As we all wait for the bells to chime
The dragon drones, plunging us into sorrows
With words from here and there that she borrows
Oh! Gone is the youth of prime

If you don't know what a limerick is, read this old post of mine: ClickHere