I have been frequently getting minor electric shocks every time I get out of a car and try closing the door behind me. It has been such a frequent affair that nowadays my hand sub-consciously goes for glass window or the plastic handle.
It didn't intrigue me much, for it was always with the same car and I thought there must be some earthing problems leading to a small leak, and hence the tiny electric shocks. But then, it started happening when traveling in some of my friends' cars. And it also started happening with random metallic things like the fridge, the steel plate and what not.
Now it did intrigue me a lot. It was like the feeling spider-man must've got when he realized that he had superpowers. Ok, I may be exaggerating, let me try again. Its like the feeling, the mutants in x-men must've got when they realized that they had special abilities. Ok, I am lying, one last try. Its like the feeling Newton must've felt when the proverbial apple fell on his head. Really, that was how I felt, or probably that was how I felt I felt, or probably I am lying again, again. In any case, it was a weird feeling with a reasonably happy air of achievement around it.
And then one day it all came crashing.
A colleague of mine who travels by the same vehicle to office as me, casually remarked that he has been getting those shocks too. I was ready to believe that he too was gifted like me and is having the same realizations. But that was not to be. He continued, saying that these are because of static electricity and that the combination of dry skin and woolen garments in winters lead to such electric shocks.
So that was the sad story of how I became the "electricman" from a "normalman" , or probably its the reverse. Nevermind
ElectricMan
Buffalo Buffalo Had Had Had Had
1. Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
2. James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher
The two sentences you see above are grammatically correct ( except for missing punctuation marks ! ).
Surprised??Unbelievable??
Check out the Wikipedia links then
The Buffalo One The Had Had One
So much for lexical ambiguity !!
P.S: It took a while before I could comprehend the wiki entries :D
Of Democracy & Intelligence
Just came across today's (1st July, 08 ) news article on CNN-IBN regarding the nuclear deal with the US and the UP chief minister, Mayawati's reaction ,titled : Maya lashes out at UPA, calls N-deal anti-Muslim
Her logic , as the article states .... ‘‘the deal is being made at the cost of cheaper gas from Iran and the Muslims are vehemently opposed to it.” ...
She took a stand on the n-deal, and is now giving reasons far more worse than what a 5 year old kid might give. I mean, the only Muslims who "might" be affected in an adverse way would be the ones in Iran.
Take two hot issues ( in this case, the n-deal , and the Muslim vote bank ), use them in a sentence and you've got a nice press statement. Way to go !
Deft Hands & European Pickpockets - Part Two
For first time readers, just scroll down a few posts down and you can get the first part of the story.
For my other readers , Sorry for keeping you long :)
********
So, there we were in the middle of the night facing the predicament of spending the night at the Brussels railway station. We were tired after the long journey and badly wanted to sleep. But more importantly, we wanted a warm place. This was a problems as the station had no heating. It was closed yet it was so cold outside that even with your complete winter gear, you felt the chill.
To go out in search of bars, pubs was certainly out of question as we were in no mood for it after such an exhausting journey. We decided to spend our night in the station.
Unlike the Indian railway stations, the Belgian railway stations close at night from around 1 in the night to 4 in the morning and the station is cleared for this duration. This was another added tension.
Thus we waited, sitting on the ultra cold metallic chairs. The station was practically empty, hardly 10 people. A Moroccan guy, some blacks, some Europeans( looked east European ) a Chinese/mongoloid couple and we Indians. The cold was getting to me. I thought, its better to keep awake and warm by walking around the station. So I beckoned my friend ( Rahul ) for a stroll around.
We walked around, checked out the huge railway timetables pasted on the boards, discussed some vague things and lamented on our bad luck.
As we loitered around we saw a few north Africans ( Moroccans perhaps ) sitting in one corner with shabby bags. We looked at them, they looked back. And suddenly one of them started singing Ram Jaane,Ram Jaane ( the song from the SRK movie with the same name ) and asked us if we are from India. We said yes. I was not so enthusiastic about the guy. There was something sinister. Looked like a junkie you often encounter in games. After a little exchange of words, he stood up and came over.I backed off ( Had heard stories of mugging in railway stations ) while my friend was still continuing with them. After a while I turned back to see what was happening. I saw my friend surrounded by two other guys along with the first guy.
Thats all for tonight :D
Minutes Before The UFO Landing
But then, UFO draws attention.
Just like the Times of India newspaper headlines.
Random Thoughts on Republic Day
I was watching 300, the adaptation of Frank Miller graphic novel yesterday and couldn't help reflecting on the way history has been taught to us, through books and other popular media.
The moot point - how did the small army of Spartans led by Leonidas lose against the mighty Persian army of Xerxes. It was a traitor who betrayed the secret of a goat's trail which helped Xerxes surround Leonidas's army from all sides.
Doesn't it sound similar to all that we have read about our Indian history? Be it Rani Lakshmi Bai, Siraj-Ud-Daula of Bengal, Tipu Sultan, Prithvi Raj Chauhan and countless. Why is it always that people lose because of a traitor. And I think , if there was no traitor could they have won the wars ? Why is the failure just attributed to the betrayal of some confidante? or will their bravery be lessened if we were told that they lost because the opposite army was just more powerful, more sophisticated and had better weapons ? I really don't know the answer.
But I feel happy that I could question that which is almost a given truth.
I've Got Taxi Power
One thing I will surely miss when I leave Calcutta is the ubiquitous yellow taxis. There's nothing great about them. Normal Hindustan Motors Ambassador models painted yellow with a black stripe running along the sides, with electronic meters and more often than not a Bihari driver.
But then, its the whole experience.
Standing at the bus stop, still undecided whether to wait for the bus or opt for the more lucrative taxi waiting at the corner. Pacing up and down the bus stop, letting a few empty taxis with drivers craning their neck in search of passengers , pass by and then finally deciding to call out for the next empty taxi that comes by.
Sometimes that "next taxi" never comes ( the bus arrives earlier ), and sometimes the taxi does come but the driver isn't ready to go. And sometimes when you have not even decided about your journey ( the choice of bus vs taxi hasn't cropped up yet ), pop comes an empty taxi, you raise your hand, the taxi stops, you alight the taxi and thats it.
Funny. The way things happen.
To think of it, the whole process of hailing a taxi, opening the door, and giving out instructions to the driver to take us to a certain place has some different feel to it. Perhaps a combination of power, expectation, and hope.
Mind & Body
One of those moments, when you get transported in time.
It happens to me quite often. I wake up, disturbed and heavy in the mind .. and in that heaviness listen to some song playing somewhere faintly ... and I get transported to some other time ...
My body, my mind starts feeling strange. As if I have been transported to some other dimension. Not just the mind even my body reacts to it ... The body remembers the sensation ...
Sometimes its the other way round. The heat of the summer, the smell of the rains, getting wet in the rains take me back in time ...
Maybe its just the emotional baggage that I carry( which I still believe is sub-conscious :O ), or maybe its just a disturbed sleep cycle.
Say Cheese & Die!!
Well, certainly not a nice thing to say if you are photographer.
To rest the confusion, Say Cheesse & Die is a book/novel in the goosebumps series by RL Stine ( never heard of him?? same here :O ) . The story revolves around two kids who get a camera which when used depicts terrible events which eventually occer. Quite a premise.
No, I haven't read the book and this post is not about it either.
Remember standing in a group ready to be photographed, when we were kids ? Yes, you get the picture right. Saying Cheese, and holding on to "Saying Cheese" till the photographed clicked away was one of the most arduous and unsurmountable things to do during schooldays.
I mean, the act was so unnatural, that I always dreaded the day when the school group photographs were to be distributed. Trust me. And during the photographs, that itchy feeling to either widen it, skew it .... and God knows what ... certainly scary ...
I dont remember when i stopped "Saying Cheese", but I am happy I did and I hope I dont do that to others :)
More on saying cheese :
"By saying "cheese", most people form their mouths into what appears to be a smile-like shape. Additionally, the absurdity of saying "cheese" for no apparent reason can incite glee in some persons"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Say_cheese
Help!!!
No matter how much i try to bundle up the wires, tie them up, i end up unbundling them when moving the laptop from the table to the bed, or when the ups line goes offline for a while, and i have to plug the laptop charger to the more distant plug point.
So much of my real 'desktop' space being eaten away by these black ,snaky wires. And I thought having a laptop would make life easier. Somebody Help Me!!
This life at IIM Calcutta
Two years, and it will be over.
It cant get sadder, it cant get happier.
Life at IIMC has been life.
Winning is everything. Getting drunk and making your life steady. Smoking and making the vision of your life clearer. Winning.
Come to experience.
IIMC. Its all about Life.
Posted here are some pics of the 'Flash Gordon Trophy' won by my wing. Footer Volley.
The Champions- Studfarm. E300's. We.
