Nature's Stairway

My famous last words

2006-11-05T13:11:00.000-08:00

I took a personality test that deduced what my famous last words would be. From the result I can tell ( and so can you) that there is no chance , absolutely no chance that these words are going to be famous.

Results of this test were:

***Your Famous Last Words Will Be:***
"I can pass this guy."

"I can pass this guy"??? * Eyes wide open with disbelief*
The only other thing that I can deduce from this is that, by the time I die i would be totally insane and senile spending my last few days in a mental asylum surrounded by my loved ones.

Quarter century

2006-10-29T14:25:00.000-08:00

I turn 25 next month. When I think of what I have gained in the last 25 years, the only significant thing that comes to my mind are some extra kilos.
This step from 24 to 25 seems so large. Seems like this huge huge step. A giant leap. 24 seems like, oh i'm just 24! 25 seems like oh my god! i'm 25 years old!!! And now im also rambling. Senility sets in pretty early these days I hear.
Some things I hope to achieve by then:
1. Graduate
2. Lose some weight. Without exercising.
3. If 2. does not work, exercise and lose some weight
4. Come up with a plan of action for the future. That would mainly comprise looking for a job and
5. Travel a little bit.

Anybody reading this post, dont forget to wish me on my birthday. Otherwise i ll not only be 25 but I'll also be sad.

The story of M and me.

2006-09-23T18:09:00.000-07:00

I met M the first time five years ago. He most definitely did'nt seem too happy to meet me. Just raised his eyebrows as a sign of acknowledging my presence, gave me the most half hearted smile and turned back to the boys. The message was pretty clear, the only thing missing was a placard which said "I'm not interested in conversing with you. Have a nice day. Good bye".

Met him a couple of times in the next few months after our first introduction. But our man, refused to say anything apart from "Hi!". Atleast he had progressed from raising eyebrows at me. Maybe it was the way I looked that he did'nt like, or maybe I had body odour. Whatever the reason he insisted on ignorning me.

About two years down the line, somehow , somewhere, the right chord struck. We talked endlessly, laughed incessantly, and allowed the telecom sector to grow rapidly. The bonding got better when he allowed me to steal his SOP for an application that I wanted to send to an university in the United States of America.

I also found out that I didnt have body odour and neither did he detest me, but only that our hero was a little shy. He said " I was meeting you for the first time, what did you expect me to say". Understandable. I was the one jumping to conclusions.

There is one very strange thing that comes to my mind when I think of M. His grey floaters. I have no clue why.

M, if reading that didnt make you too happy, I hope the next statement will.
You are on the list of the most favourite people in my life. Taaa...daa!!

People and memories

2006-08-13T10:03:00.000-07:00

There are some people that I have met once,through common friends and acquaintances. Managing to find just enough time to exchange some pleasantries they just faded away in the hustle bustle of mundane routines. But, technology happened to get us closer. Thanks to Y! messenger and the likes. A friend once told me that " Every stranger is a friend that you haven't met". These "strangers" wove themselves so quietly around my life that I failed to notice when they became a part it.

There have been some that I have known for the best part of my life and have not managed to keep in touch. They just drift away and no technology can ever repair that. No matter how hard you try. Sometimes you try so hard that after a while it really doesnt matter. They leave behind lots of memories and lots of emails. Some good, some bad. These are the kind you wish stayed on. The kind you wished werent so far away. Physically or otherwise.

There is another kind that you can never let go off. Which needs no technology to keep the bonding going strong. Needs no effort to keep it going strong. The kind where every conversation however rare or often, as the case might be is interspersed with giggles, loud laughs, silly jokes, an unnoticed hand in hand evening walk, chinese food, old memories and meaningless abuses.

I dont know which kind I like the most.

Linguistic inclinations

2006-08-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

I have been living in Germany for two years now and its almost impossible for me to converse in German when the total time of the conversation is more than 60 seconds.
People tell me that women learn languages more easily than men. I'm the definite exception to the rule. I am at a phase in my life where the linguistic domain of my brain is non-functional.

I even attended classes in German, with the hope that my linguistic inclinations would improve. All I learnt at these lessons were dictionary meanings of words. What else do I need to know?
The grammar. The godforsaken language has the toughest grammar ever in the history of languages. I tried, believe me I did. I discovered after a year that it was an impossible task to construct a grammatically correct sentence in German without looking like I'm performing a Herculean task.

Living in a student town does not help. Almost everybody speaks English, leaving me no chance to make an effort. The thought that always occurs to me when I attempt to converse in German? Everyone speaks English, why should I bother struggling my way through in a language that is so hard to comprehend. I had the opportunity to learn a foreign language and I let go of it. And the worst part is I have no regrets.

Shameful.Pitiful.

Why I haven't been blogging?

2006-08-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

1. Been busy as hell.
2. Been busier then ever before. Did I mention being busy already?
3. Had my mom visiting me. Too much bonding happening to find time for my blog.
4. Don't know what to write about. What do I do when I don't know what to write about? Publish a post titled " Why I haven't been blogging?"
5. Lousy lousy weather till a couple of days ago. Humid, hot, sweaty,uncomfortable, lethargic overall the worst summer of my life.
6. Orkutting is eating up my time. This also explains why I m busy. The other question being: Why is orkut so addictive?
7. The times that I am not busy, I have been hopelessly and irrepairably lazy. My grey cells seem to be getting too much rest these days.
8. All of the above.

On the other side of my life, things I have to start doing:
1. Exercising
2. Start swimming lessons
3. Work on my thesis report.
4. Try and maintain a better sleeping pattern.
5. Get online more often. Popularity has its consequences.
6. Cook more often. Eat outside less often.
7. Stop being redundant. Cooking more often obviously implies eating outside less often.

Graduation

2006-06-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

I`m going to graduate in November 2006. They are going to award me a degree in procrastination. I'm considering a Ph.D too.

I got tagged

2006-05-30T04:16:00.000-07:00

I got tagged by h. So here goes my list.

Five guilty pleasures:

1. Catching up on "the two minutes more" sleep at 7:30 a.m. when I know I have to be somewhere at 8 a.m.
2. Spending the "extra penny" when I know I should be saving it.
3. Missing work because I`m too lazy to get there and then calling in sick.
4. Taking the lift to get to the first floor
5. Grabbing some chocolates when my dentist advises me to stay away from them. [For those who didnt know I have an abundance of caries]

Things I never want to forget:

1. Set dosas at SLV/Adiga's and the times I spent with R.
2. Train rides to Cologne and my days in Aachen with M.
3. Late night conversations and chinese food with G.
4. Money saving "by two" FFJ ( our acronym for Fresh Fruit Juice) with K.
5. My first salary.
6. Shopping sprees with Mom.
7. Dhaba hopping with H.
8. Yahoo conversations.
9. School.

Things I wish to forget:

1. A trip I made to Coorg.
2. A terrible fall on my butt in an all boys college.
3. Nasty fights with Mom.
4. 8 th semester in college.
5. Some lies I wish I hadnt told.

Unforgettable exotic dishes:

1. Spinach lasagne and stuffed capsicum at Pallas
2. Triple schezwan at Continental
3. Burgers at Fire and Ice
4. Chilli potatoes at Rice Bowl.
5. Egg pakodas at Eden garden.

I'm a vegetarian, which makes the definition of 'exotic' very limited.

Crushes:

1. My neighbour from school days.
2. A basketball player at college.
3. A quizzer at college.

Close brushes with death/danger:

When I stepped on to a tram pathway in Zürich too engaged in conversation with H that I didnt notice it speeding towards me less than 10 cms away. Two seconds later two hands from either side grabbed my arm and pulled me on to the sidewalk. Was so close to death...just a couple of centimeters away.

Strangest dream:

I'm lying dead in my living room and I'm surrounded by sobbing parents, a couple of friends and strangely my principal at school. I know in my dream that its a dream and I m not actually dead and I can see all these people around me grieving and I have no idea how to tell them its a dream. Was strange.Really strange. Wierd actually.

Preferable modes of suicide:

*Rolling eyes in disbelief* This is not even a question. I love myself too much to kill myself and I dont think anybody should.
Maybe this is the only life where I'm born as a part of the human race, who knows. In my next birth , if I'm born as an ant somebody would stamp to death or butcher me and make me an 'exotic dish' if I reincarnate as an animal.

Favourite characters:

I'm not too much of an animation person. But from the little animation that I'm aware of:
1. Daffy duck has to be my favourite.
2. Calvin (sometimes). Calvin jokes are boring me these days.
3. Spiderman.
4. Mowgli.
5. This doesnt classify as animation. But I loved Remington Steele. The series on Star Plus featuring Pierce Brosnan.

People on my hate list:( these are more traits of people I hate)

1. People who cant forget unpleasant conversations and hold a grudge all their lives. I'm not saying I'm Mother Therasa. But you have to let go someday.
2. Unreasonably bad tempers.
3. Sarcasm( especially when its uncalled for).
4. Disrespectful people
5. Nymphomaniacs and consequently rapists.

Prized possesions:

1. A tiny mug that I got in college on my birthday. It said " you are a little bit of sugar and a little bit of spice". Giggled like a school girl when I saw it.
2. Snail mail my Mom sent to me at Aachen. She just sent them to me randomly, for no rhyme or reason. The feeling of home that it ellicited*nostalgia*
3. Memories.

Phew! I'm done. There are not many people who know about my blog. So when they do know and start having blogs of their own, I ll come back here edit my post and tag them.

Doodle gyaan

2006-05-26T07:25:00.000-07:00

Doodling is said to be an extension of the subconscious mind. A subconscious art form. By that definition my subconscious is highly creative and often works over time. I noticed a couple of days ago how the rate at which I doodle is directly proportional to the importance of the task at hand.
By the definition of Wikipedia: A doodle is a mindless sketch, an aimless drawing, while a person's attention is otherwise occupied.
That's a fairly logical explanation to my doodling inclinations. More the preoccupied, more the doodling.
Doodling analysis is a science by itself. I wonder what its called. Doodlogy??. Analysis of doodling patterns is said to reveal a lot about the doodler. A colleague at work gave me some doodle gyaan today. He says doodles can be interpreted like dreams.
Some of my common doodling patterns are curvy lines, numbers (usually even) in all sizes, circles with closely spaced horizonzal lines, sunflowers and a very bad representation of water ripples. Dont really know what these patterns say about me.
Page placements of the doodle indicates
a. That you are self centered if you start from the center.
b. Practical and unobtrusive if you start from the bottom.
c. Nostalgia, regret and future anxiety if you start from the left side. The left side is also known to be hub of doodling.
d. Strong urge to communicate inner hidden feelings if you start from the right side. This side is statistically the least doodled side as its mostly reserved for writing.

Where do you start doodling? Notice it carefully the next time you pick up a paper and pen to doodle and let the creative juices flow!

P.S Have you ever noticed how Google changes its logo to keep in pace with an important national event or festivity. This Google symbology is now apparently termed as "Google Doodle".

Airplanes and airports

2006-05-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

Its not very often that I fly. And the few times that I have, I have had an uncanny inclination to do it the wrong way every single time. On different occassions I have almost missed a flight due to a mix up of dates, missed a flight due to a train delay and waited at the wrong terminal till ten minutes before departure , this time having nothing to blame except my own stupidity.

My dad is overly cautious (read paranoid) when he has to board a plane. He leaves home atleast five hours prior to departure of the flight to reach an airport that is half an hour away. He takes into account delays induced by traffic jams, unforseen breakdown of transportation and half an hour for his customary coffee and cigarette stop at the airport before he boards the flight.

Ever since I remember I have always laughed at his paranoia and made stupid jokes on him urging him to sleep over at the airport a day before his day of departure.

When I missed a flight I was scheduled to take to visit a friend in Sweden, my dad wrote to me. In his typical calm and learned ways the email read:
"I m sorry for what has happened. Take the lesson. Though very disappointing, this is not a serious mishap. Now you see why I am anxious to reach airports and stations as early as possible. Forget about the nightmare and get on with your work. Believe that most things have a silver lining. Do not know yet, what good will come out of this. Plan a short trip this week so that you can put the matter behind. Recover from this bad experience the soonest.Papa"

From the experience I learnt
a. not to laugh at anybody who's paranoid/anxious about getting to the airport well ahead of time.
b. to get to the airport on time
c. that I still prefer to take a train.Its far simpler.
d. to believe in the following Murphys laws
- No flight ever leaves on time unless you are running late and need the delay to make the flight.
- If you are running late for a flight, it will depart from the farthest gate within the terminal.
- If you arrive very early for a flight, it inevitably will be delayed.
- Flights never leave from gate#1 at any terminal in the world.

Bon voyage!!

Hydrophobia

2006-05-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

Most children are encouraged to learn swimming at an early age. For some reason, my parents never even considered that I should learn the art of swimming.
Not until a few years ago did I discover that I have hydrophobia.
Moving water scares me to death. I just have to look at the ripples in the water and I feel like an outstrechted hand would just spring out of the water and pull me in and I would die without getting famous. Sometimes, I see faces in the water that seem like they are mocking me. My head starts spinning when I look at the ripples for a long time( long time= 1 millionth of second). Hydrophobia is like a cheap way to get high.
I live in Europe now, and people look at me with the biggest question marks on their foreheads if I tell them that I dont know how to swim. " You dont know how to swim???? Really?" They make it seem like " You don t know how to breathe??? Really?".
I`m now determined to get over this phobia. My first ever swimming lessons start next month.
Wish me good luck.

Stockholm syndrome

2006-05-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

I found something interesting on Google today.I was always under the impression that the Stockholm syndrome and the Helsinki syndrome were two different things. Google just told me otherwise. Apparently, Helsinki syndrome was sometimes erroneously used for Stockholm syndrome because some people thought that Helsinki was the capital of Sweden!!!

For the benefit of those who dont know how the syndrome derived its name:
The Stockholm syndrome is a pyschological response sometimes seen in a hostage, in which the hostage exhibits seeming loyalty to the captor.
The syndrome is named after the Norrmalmstorg robbery of Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm in which the bank robbers held the bank employees hostage in 1973. The victims became emotionally attached to their captors, and even defended them after they were freed from their six-day ordeal.

First Blog

2006-05-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia says that the first blog ever created was in 1994. I'am just a little behind the rest of the blog world and trying to catch up.