Random Musings

and life meanders on. I thought things were looking up, but sigh, it’s deja vu all over again.

Refusing to surrender to melancholy, however, is a hallmark of the new age man. As an aside, I’ve always wondered what the heck that term “new-age” really means. I mean, is it like the opposite of “old-age” or something? So a puppy would be a new-age dog? Or a MacBook Air a new-age Mac?

Whatever.

I think of writing everyday, but these damn bunnies just don’t let me do anything. Dust-bunnies, people.. what were you thinking?

Working hard is no fun. Sometimes it is, but I keep getting the feeling that I’m going to wonder where the years went. You can’t keep putting things off. At some point, you really do have to go sky-diving and forget about the exams and the stress and the fact that 11000 miles really was too much to handle.

So, who’s coming jumping out of aeroplanes?

Some of you may be wondering what the heck happened to me. I’ve never been this quiescent for so long (with one exception, in 2006). I’ve always managed to put up a post a month at least, so what’s been going on?

Well, let’s see now. Many, many things. I’ve been accepted to business school in the US, and am trying hard to get all the various ancillary things done so that I can go there. I had LASEK eye surgery, late in November ’09, so no more spectacles. This is by far the biggest change in my life. Most of you who read this will know that I wore specs; what most of you don’t know is that I’ve had specs since I was 6 years old. I’m 27 now, so for more than two decades, I’ve have my eyes obscured by two places of glass (later plastic, what with Crisal, and Carl Zeiss, and what not). Not anymore, though.

I’d been thinking about getting the procedure done for a while, but the last straw was in Delhi, when I broke my specs. My high power meant that I was practically blind, and had to somehow get a pair of specs made right then.

I came back to Jaipur, and immediately went to see a doctor. I went on Friday, and had the procedure performed on Tuesday. Zap!

Three days of agony, since LASEK takes quite some time to heal. Unlike LASIK, which is supposed to be pain free within a day, it took me ten days before I was able to sit in front of a computer, or read a book. My eyes healed slowly, but now, almost two months later, it’s simply amazing to be able to play tennis, or fly a kite, or just wake up in the morning and look around and see everything in sharp focus. It’s the best thing I’ve ever gotten done.

I was also in the process of applying to some colleges, and early in January I got the news that I’d been accepted to some. I don’t want to jinx things, so I’m not going to talk about it too much just yet, but keep your fingers crossed for me, gentle reader.

So things seem to be looking up, and getting clearer (literally, even).

There is a fine place to be, on a winter’s eve. With the wind outside raising merry hell, merrily. And the ioutsides of your insides shivering away, trying to be inside your outsides. Steam rises from a warm cup of tea, and the fragrance of cookies fills the air. Rootie Kazootie peeks at you from a corner, and you catch a glimpse of Gala Poochie Pup running down the corridor.

The magic in the air is palpable, almost, and it’s a moment frozen in time.

But now, it’s a day later (No time travel, I just saved a draft), and it’s time to think about the elements of the periodic table. Why the Periodic Table? Well, dummy, it’s a periodic table, which implies periodicity, and that period of periodicity has come to its periodic end, right now, this instant. So get with the program, huh?

Yes, so looking at the much maligned periodic table, I can see all you history geeks cursing it. Well, you know what, I know this guy who had the whole damn thing memorized! Yes, Mama, I’m talking about you. And here’s the cue for all you chemistry geeks to snigger and say, what he only had the periodic table memorized? For us, organic chemistry was a walk in the park-blindfolded, lame, and with wild dogs chasing us. (Yes, you punctuative pedants, I know that should have been an em-dash in that last line, but I’m typing this on my laptop, so gimme a break, huh?)

Geeks, geeks, everywhere. Here a geek, there a geek, everywhere a geek geek.

Yes, it is that time of day/year, when I write about whatever my fingers type. They, like, have this mind of their own, like, y’know, like..ummm..whatever.

Good day, and all we need is for the X360 price to drop by a few gazillion Zimbabwean dollars, so us poor tech analysts can afford it again.

Berry, why berry? Berry bold, that’s why. Coldplay is cold, but it plays nevertheless. It ain’t a playa though. Who da playa? How the heck would I know? I can’t even understand this thick accents.. you kids better get the heck off my lawn!

Bye bye, rock a bye bye, feel it, heal it, reel it in, reel it in! Don’t let it get away, oh no, you did, you did you did, run run run, head for the hills, don’t leave your pets behind, hold on to your hats, women and children first, first is the comma of timely intervention, invention is the mother of my aunt’s uncle who has a beard and isn’t my aunt, since he has a beard, and I’ll take a breath and stop now!

Phew!

Why no new entries, someone asked. Well, I have my reasons, and I don’t want to go into that here. In any case, here is the new entry, so that ought to answer your question.

I’ve finally moved into my own place. It’s a very nice place, and the best part is the fact that it’s walking distance from work. And in Bangalore, that’s something wonderful. Heck, it would probably be wonderful anywhere in the world. It takes me about twenty minutes to walk to work.

On the other hand, setting up home is an arduous process. Everything needs to be purchased, from spoons and knives, to a gas range. I need to take out the trash, make sure there is water in the tank, remember to buy drinking water; or boil it, and sweep out my room. This is all fun in its own way. I like to set up things the way I want, and it’s always nice to have your own curtains. Choose wisely, since curtains make all the difference.

The post above this was originally part of this one, but I have password protected that. Sorry

Yes, coming off the back of my previous post about the joys of the actual written word, this may seem contradictory, but what the heck!

I’ve been using computers since 1992. That’s fifteen years, for those of you who are counting. The early years did not consist of much typing, but what little there was was done on those old style mechanical keyboards. You know, the ones that weighed a ton, and made an almighty racket, but were lovely to type on..

Later on, when we bought our own computer, we started using the rubber-dome keyboards. These are the most commonly available keyboards, and while they work fine, and are cheap, they are rubbery, and squishy, and just do NOT feel nice. I used these keyboards from 1997 to 2003, when I bought another computer.. This time, I made sure I picked up a TVS Gold Keyboard. While it’s not as heavy as the old style ones (you could KILL someone with those), it’s reassuringly hefty, and the keys were works of art.

I use the past tense, because, after using this keyboard for four years, I managed to kill it while bringing it back from college. Moans, groans, and lamentations. Doom and GLOOM. Especially since the only backup keyboard I had was a P-O-Shit Samsung that my dog had peed on a while back!! Ewwww you say, and EWWW!! said I! Still, what was there to do, except grit my teeth, disinfect the keyboard, and use it. So I did, for the past three weeks.. till today!

Yes, kids, I have a TVS Gold again! And this time, it’s in black The keys caress my fingertips, whispering promises of “forever”.. I feel like writing the great Indian novel, figuring out the Theory of Everything, coming up with a scathing attack on organized religion, writing love letters and poems to the great unknown woman in my life..

With a shrug and a smile, I look at what I’ve written so far, say “The hell with it!”, and click on the publish button.

Ah, where do I begin? I’ve been real busy over the past few days. Let me begin at the beginning, eh? I’ve divided it into days, for your convenience.

Regular readers know that I was going to go for the Iron Maiden concert in Bangalore. So on the 14th of March, I left college, all excited and all. The 15th was Mom’s birthday ( GO MOM!) so I was home for that, and we had a great time. Usual wandering around, eating, and talking lots kind of thing. Home was as always, wonderful.

16th March 2007

My flight to Bangalore was on the 16th, at 6:30 PM, so I caught the morning bus to Delhi, getting more excited. I land up at the airport at 1530, and am told that my flight has been delayed till 8 PM. Sigh and oh well, but not terrible yet, right? Flights get delayed and all that kinda thing. So anyway, I went up to the airport restaurant, and ate. Then I wandered around, read a book, and generally bummed around till 5:30 PM. I was trying hard to get free Wi-Fi, but was not able to ( this led to certain other events.. more on that later) Anyway, I finally decided to go check in.

At 5:35 PM I presented myself at the Air Sahara counter, and politely asked for an aisle seat. Imagine my face when the lady says politely, “Sir, this PNR has been totally cancelled.”
..
…
!!!!
WHAT??

For half a sec, I just stood there. Then, as the import of what she said began to sink in, I stammered out, “B..b..but, there must be some mistake.” Not a very snappy retort, but I was in shock! She told me to go to the reservations counter. I RAN there, through the crowded concourse, with my suitcase on my shoulder for optimum aerodynamic effect. When I reached the counter, there was one chap there asking for a ticket to Bangalore, only to be told that there were none available. My turn came, and I showed the agent my ticket, and asked what the heck was going on.

He tells me that my connecting flight from Hyderabad to Bangalore had been cancelled. Of course Air Sahara cares for it’s passengers, so they put me on the 5 PM direct flight to Bangalore. Sweet of then, no? Except that they forgot to tell me of this. Heck, I actually saw that flight take off, oblivious to the fact that I was supposed to be on it.

So I tell the guy this, and start thinking of alternative plans, along with framing a consumer complaint ( Sue their ass!) in my mind. Outwardly polite and earnest, like a little kid asking for an orange bar, in my head I was decapitating him. He tapped away on his console, and tells me that they can just about fit me on the 8:30 flight to Bangalore. He picked up the phone and called someone and explained the situation. Then he gave me a printout, and told me to hurry back to the check-in counter and speak to Geetanjali.

So back I run, huffing and puffing, and wishing I could blow the house down. I went and asked for Geetanjali, and she finally gave me my boarding pass. Phew!

Of course, after all this excitement, my (new) flight was delayed till 9:30. So I sat in the departure lounge, where finally I had a stroke of luck. Someone, somewhere had setup free Wi-Fi access. I blessed that unknown hero, and browsed the net for an hour or two, reading up on how to hack Wi-Fi networks, just to learn about it.

The flight was uneventful, and I landed at Bangalore at 12 AM. A short taxi ride later, and I was at my Uncle’s place, where I would be staying. We chatted for a while, about science, religion, philosophy and other such high-brow stuff, and then I hit the sack.

17th March, 2007

Woke up bright and early, all set for my interview with a major publishing company. I changed into my formal trousers, and headed out. On the way, I noticed yet again that Bangalore is a beautiful city. It’s the weather, y’see. It’s sunny and bright, but not hot. It makes you feel glad to be alive, and all rearing to go.

My interview was in the office building close to the Taj. I was asked to wait for a while, so I opened my laptop just to see if there was wireless access anywhere. Surprisingly, I was able to connect to the Taj’s network! I could not browse, since they had a MAC address based security setup. I knew that I could get in, but I had forgotten the command to clone a MAC address in Linux. While I was trying to figure that out, the guy I was supposed to meet came out.

The interview was rather fun. He was friendly, and obviously interested in finding about about me, and what I was all about. It was a very relaxed interview, and I liked the place. Apparently, they liked me too, cause he said that they will make me an offer. I haven’t got it yet, so I don’t know yet if I am potentially employed.

So after the interview, a quick auto ride back home to change into appropriate attire.. Black T-Shirt, and scruffy jeans. Then off to MG Road to meet the guy who had my ticket. At 1:30 PM, I had it in my hands.. A rectangle of cardboard, with a shiny hologram. My ticket! To IRON MAIDEN. I still could not believe that I was going. And I’m not even a fan

Since there was still some time left, I went to this pub called Styx, which is close by. I met up with a couple of good friends from Jaipur, and we headbanged there till 3.

And then, we left for the venue.

Arrived there to see thousands of black t-shirts streaming in. Everyone and their dog seemed to be there, and we joined the teeming hoards. Inside the main gates, we stopped to wait for some guys to catch up. As we stood there, observing, I was hailed by a familiar voice.. “Aditya?”

I looked at the guy, not recognizing him for a moment, mentally flipping through my catalogue of people I know in Bangalore. Then the penny dropped! It was Prateek Kuhad, all the way from jaipur, bunking his exams to come see the show. heh heh heh. The two of us were equally surprised to see each other, but it was fun. Haven’t met him for a long while.

At about 3:30, we were finally in! The Palace Grounds in Bangalore is like a big dusty field that had mats laid, and a big stage at one end. The stage was divided into two parts. The front bit had a couple of drum kits, guitars, mic stands and the like, for the opening acts. Behind this, there was a mysterious black cloth covering some manner of strange setup. It looked like a small mountain range covered with a black cloth..

We sat down, about 30 feet from the stage. And the, barring a brief trip to the loo, which by the way were nice clear portable toilets, and to purchase the official T-Shirt, we sat there till five thirty. The crowd kept on growing, and it was clear that if we had moved, we would have lost our places. And that would be a calamity beyond imagining, oh yes. Worse than Nuclear War, Armageddon and Ragnarok all put together. So we sat there, occasionally shifting weight to stave off cramp and pins and needles.

I was supposed to write more, and I am, but read this at least.. more very quick, I promise