On my desk...

I feel like writing but don't have anything to say!

So here is some useless information...

Books currently on my desk:

"Execution" by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. I have no idea what this book is about. I used it yesterday while palying Cluedo to have something to lean on...

"Mumbai - Tourist Guide and Map". I got this from the lovely people at Grant Hyatt, Mumbai. They did their best to make me feel at home. "Thane" is pronounced "Tha-ney" not "Thain"!!!

"A Malgudi Ominibus" - R.K. Narayan. I still haven't started reading it!

"Cloudstreet" by Tim Winton. I was halfway through this book, then I lost it. I found it again yesterday!!

"Oliver Twist" Charles Dickens. I don't think I will ever be able to read it fully - it is tooooo depressing!!

Other Random things on my Desk:

Gold Coast Postcard - Yumna sent it to me!
My Hospital Swipe card - should put it in my bag before I forget!
My wallet - Should put that in my bag too
My phone - I don't think it works anymore!
An almost empty tube of "Fair and Lovely".
Tissue Box
Almost dry Metallic Markers
Bottle of Water
An empty journal that was a birthday present from two years ago.
Scissors
Lots of Pens that probably don't work.
Hair slides
A mouse that I should connect to my laptop.
A few credit card bills (PAID!!)

Hmm... So what does this say about me??? It says that I should clean up my desk!

3 times in 4 days!

YAAYY!!! Everyone is home!! It is great to have everyone back at home!

Rama arrived on Friday, then my Dad on Sunday and Srini on Monday! This means that I have been to airport 3 times in the last 4 days!

I love the airport. When we used to live in Fiji, my dad would take the three of us to Nadi airport. My brothers used to love watching the planes land and take-off. After watching the planes for a bit, my dad would buy us a little treat. I would go for chocolate (Milky Bars or a Crunchie Bar) while my brothers would buy icecream. Now, I just buy myself a hot chocolate and almost always burn my tongue. (:P <- see!)

I love watching people at the airport - especially at Arrivals. I can remain amused for hours just watching people meet and greet. Departures is always more depressing though.

Yesterday, as I was waiting for my dad to arrive, I realised just how multicultural Sydney is. You know Sydney is multicultural when you can't distinguish the visitors from the residents. People from all sorts of countries were there and almost all of them were met by Australians.

I hope I won't have to go back to the airport for a while now though because the next time I go it will mean saying "Bye" rather than "OI! HERE!!!" (followed by a frantic above-the-head wave).

On another note: Is anyone else upset by yesterday's cricket as much as I am?? Come on Sri Lanka! I am counting on you guys for tomorrow!!! Lanka Lanka Lanka - OI OI OI!

A productive day!

I said:

"What is it about empty cardboard boxes that compels people to place them over their heads??"

"I may as well get excited about binding other people's thesis, as I will probably never have one of my own to get excited about!" (BTW - if I ever publish a thesis, it is going to be black with gold embossing.)

I learnt:

I wrote the following on a piece of cardboard that I put through the photo developer yesterday: "This is NOT a piece of film!".

There are two sides to plain A4 paper - a side that will curl up once it has passed through a printer, and a side that won't! Did you all know that??? It is a piece of knowledge that has truly revolutionised my way of life forever! (A bit like when I first discovered that it is often better to draw graphs on landscape rather than protrait. Or like when I was taught how to re-use latex gloves... or how to find the centre of a page by folding it in half before placing it in the hole puncher thingy...)

Thoughts:

People who care, often show that they do by pretending not to care.

I am ashamed to admit that I have been indulging in far too much self pity lately - sometimes I need to reminded as to just how lucky I am! The world is how you see it.

The day the neighbours stopped by...

My title is just keeping with the style of my previous title... As it suggests, our neighbours from when we were living in Fiji stopped by last night. They have moved to Canberra from Auckland and decided to spend the night at our house. It was really lovely to catch up. I haven't seen them since I left Fiji!

I was speaking to our neighbour's daughter-in-law today and she was telling me how it was so good to just have someone to talk to. She is from India and got married about two years ago and moved to Auckland. She was telling me how apart from her in-laws, there wasn't that many people to converse with. Now that she has moved to Canberra, apart from her husband and her 1 year old, there was really noone for her to talk with.

I was wondering how I would be if I was to take on the role of a housewife in a country where I had noone! I would find it very hard to meet people if it wasn't for things like work and uni. I would probably have a lot of acquaintances but I think it would be really hard for me to talk to strangers. It would be terrible!

I then started thinking about times when I have spoken to strangers. Usually it is because I have to - like when I was in Sweden, or because strangers have spoken to me. I don't see myself as someone who is unapproachable but I find that I can extremely hesitant to break the ice with even the most approachable of people. I don't know why it is because often with strangers you have nothing to lose! I can't start conversations... but I find it hard to end them as well!

I am going to the cricket tomorrow!!! Watch out for me on the telly!!! (RSA vs AUS at the SCG)!! Let me know if you will be there!!! SOOO EXCITED!!!

The day the lights went off...

I was walking back from the caffeteria with a friend this afternoon. We were were going up the stairs when all of a sudden the staircase became REALLY dark! We looked at each other and my friend said, "I am glad we didn't take the lift!". When we stepped out on to the corridor for our floor it was all looking very freaky. All the fire doors had closed and there was limited lighting. All the exit signs were glowing and that was about it. We saw a few confused faces on the corridors but nothing too alarming. By the time we got to our labs we were hearing faint beeping noises and all the labs were really dark. All the doors were unlocked and it all felt very strange and eerie.

There was havoc in the labs - everyone was peeping out of their offices and we had all gatheredaround in the tea room. People were discussing the documentry that was on last night about the London bomb blasts and how this reminded them of that... It was slightly amusing (and slightly worrying) to see some anxious faces...

Everyone was waiting for the lights to come back on. We have had powercuts before, but they they never lasted more than a few seconds - sometimes a few minutes. After about 5 minutes, everyone had their own story to tell. One of my colleagues has been working on a really MAJOR experiment, she had put her samples in the ultracentrifuge, and then she couldn't do anything about it. Another person was just about to press "go" on a machine when everything turned itself off - that was lucky! Someone else was working on a grant application - due in tomorrow and the computer turned off.

We were all starting to worry about our freezers. As we were discussing this, we were told that the powercut was actually hospital wide rather than being limited to our building. The generator apparently wasn't working and people were desperately trying to get it to work because we have sick children on operating theatres and accidents and emergency was out of power! Our problems were nowhere near as major as that. We were told to go home because we weren't going to get any power till much later in the evening anyway. So here I am!

I thought about the experiment I was doing. I thought to myself "I don't really need any electrical equipment to do some cell staining." All I need is a pipette, some slides and some reagents. However, it isn't all that easy working in the dark! I am sure it will be ok till tomorrow... I hope...

The Perfect couple

My grandparents decided to go to the city to watch the Chinese New Year festivities. I dropped them both of at the station and couldn't help thinking what a great couple they were.

They aren't exactly the loving caring kind of couple - not in the traditional sense anyway. They yell at each other constantly, they drive each other CRAZY, they say the worst things to each others faces and fight constantly! They don't travel together, they like to stay away from each other and always buy two of everything because they don't like sharing. However, whenever one needs the other, they know that they have someone to count on.

I think that is what makes a perfect couple. It is none of this romantic stuff - all those things like remembering birthdays and anniversaries, buying gifts, saying cooey-pass-me-the-bucket things are all things that eventually fade away. While they are all nice, it is all very temporary. What becomes lasting is simply knowing that the other person is there for you. I think you must get to this stage where you realise that you are stuck with them, so you may as well tolerate them. You get used to having the other person around and I think that is romantic in its own way.

After 50years of being married... my granddad still calls my grandma "Papa" (baby)! :D

I am also seeing my parents evolve into a much better "couple" now that they are both growing older... or maybe I am just seeing it now as I AM growing older!

Happy Australia Day!!!

Wishing the nation a very Happy Birthday and the people of the nation a great public holiday! For those of you in India, Happy Republic Day!

Is it just me or was there a much bigger deal about Australia Day this year than ever before? I mean, its always been a great day but have we always had big fairs, concerts outside the parliament house and live TV coverage? I thought there was a lot more hype this year... it is possible that I just missed it in previous years...

I was going to say stuff about patiriotism, the recent riots, making it compulsory to sing the national anthem in all public and private schools and other issues. However, I have come to the conclusion that I don't really have anything to say about any of that. So I will end this post by wishing everyone a lovely day!

Qu: Is it possible to be a racist, patriotic individual in a multicultural country?

Looong week...

Will this week neevverrr end???I just feel like its dragging on and on and on! I know I say this now, but once the week does end, I will say, "Now where did that week go??" Isn't that strange?? I think it is because I don't do enough during the week, and when it ends I find out that I didn't do nearly as much as I should have!

I am parked in a side street behind the hospital today and in order to get to it I have to walk through a car park, over a bridge, through the bushes by the creek - where I can wave hello to the ducks* and the one lizard..., up a mini hill and down a residential street. Normally this is a lovely walk, however, it is past 7:30pm now. Despite it being summer, I just looked out the window and it looks quite dark! When it gets dark like this, I normally turn on my mobile phone and use it as a sort of torch - but my phone has just died on me! I want you all to pray that I get to my car in one piece!!!

Soooo hungry! I feel like chocolate, but its a loooong walk to the cafeteria and I am too lazy to do that. I also could be microscopying right now, but I just turned everything off and locked the door.

Why does everything have to be so hard???

Soooo over it all!

Have a meeting with my supervisor tomorrow - I should probably prepare for that...

All I want right now is a bar of chocolate, a comfy cushiony chair, a fluffy pillow, my grandma's strong filter coffee (without sugar) and a good book!

* Where do the ducks go when it rains? I walk past this creek almost everyday and when it rains, these ducks disappear! Te minute the rain stops, they miraculously reappear! HMMMM... I wonder...

Cross-Speciation...

Kaaka pidi vechaein, (One for the crow)
Kannu pidi vechain, (One for the cow)
Kaaka-kum kurivi-kum kalyaaaanam (The crow and sparrow are getting married...)

(I don't think that I have the translation quite right!)

Wishing everyone a very happy Pongal, Ugadhi, Sankaraanthi, Lori and any other festival that I may have missed!

So Me!! :P

I bought a t-shirt yesterday that says, "I know I am not perfect, but I am so close, it scares me!"

:D

AND

Boghi / Pongal Nalvazhthukkal!

Pongaloo Pongal x 3!

Horror-Scope

I find it very amusing that even today, my parents - and several other Indian parents, still think that seeing how well two pieces of paper match is the best indication of how compatible two people are! "That paper seems to be yellowing... too old!", "Ooooo... A5! Classy!!".

I got to see my own horoscope today. I have never really seen my own horoscope before, so I was interested in some of the things it contained. There were a series of grids (3 X 3), which apparently indicate the positions of the different planets and stars and what they were doing when I was born.

Here is a list of interesting things I picked up from my horroscope...

Caste: "Vaishnava Vadagalai Iyengar"
Date Born (Tamil): 13th day in the month of "Ayppasi"
Time of birth: 9:32 pm
Star I was born under: "Magam" (My grandma often says, "Maga-thin penn Jagathai-ye aaluva" meaning, "A girl born under the star, "magam", could rule the world"... Exxxcceellaant!)
Zodiac (In accordance with my Star): Leo
Zodiac (In accordance with the Sun): Scorpio
Ruler of my Indian Zodiac: The Sun
Ruler of my Western Zodiac: "Bhudhan" (Saturn or Mercury...- I find it hard to remember the Tamil names for the different planets!)
The EXACT Co-ordinates of my place of birth (Tirupati): 79 Deg. 20 Mins East, 13 Deg. 40 Mins North.
Day: Sunday
Sunrise on that day: 6:06am
Sunset on that Day: 5:46pm
"Thidhi" (I don't know what that means): "Dasami" - 10th day after a New moon...

Apart from the above, I also happen to know all the co-ordinates of the different planets at the time of my birth! HA! BEAT THAT!

What I want to know is, who sits inside the hospital with a compass and a telescope and says, "Right...40.376 North...22.465 East...Did you get that??". How acurate do you think the bearings are? What if the person taking down the measurements was really not feeling upto it and so just made up the numbers?? Do people go back and check?? Can I blame him, if I end up with the wrong person??

What I find really amusing is that, despite all that information, there is no indication as to how much I measured or weighed, nothing to say whether it was a normal pregnancy or if I was born with any genetic disorders! I am sure that a prospective life partner would be more interested in knowing about the horn on my head than the co-ordinates of Haley's comet at the time of my birth! (Unless of course he happens to be an astrophysicist. Let's not even get into how wierd they are!) "She has below average intelligence and is missing a lip - but look at the coordinates of Saturn!! When you add her co-ordinates to yours, you can almost spell "prefect" which happens to be an anagram of "perfect"!". Match made in heaven indeed!

I find it hard to believe (but, easier to accept), that the course of my life - and that of several others, ultimately comes down to some Trigonometric calculations...

"All Psychology is Biology.
All Biology is Chemistry.
All Chemistry is Physics.
All Physics is Maths."

- Some Mathematician...

The by-gone year

Well it is here! 2005 is gone FOREVER! A whole 365 days - where did it all go? What did I do last year?? Lets See...

January: Bludged my way through Jan. I was waiting to see if any Uni would be willing to have me in their lab - and pay me for my presence:P

February: My old lab said "We will take you!!". Being only 20minutes from home, I couldn't refuse!

March: Offcially started a "PhD in Medicine"! Spent the whole month trying to explain to people that it had nothing to do with me being a practicing doctor! "Yes I will be a Doctor of Medicine...but don't come to me if you think you might be having a heart attack!!!"

April: Got plenty of wonderful results!

May: Brother turned 20. Continued to get plenty of wonderful results!

June: Dad got back from India, and told us he was planning to go back for good! Found out that all my results meant absolutely nothing!

July: Dad left for India. Mum went with him for a few weeks. Started to stress about Annual Presentation. Got my first publication!

August: Annual Presentation!! Dad settled in India. Decided that I wanted to go to India too! Planned to visit collaborators in Perth.

September: Worked hard on PhD thing. Tried to organise a trip to Perth. Organised to leave for India in October!

October: That was a BIIG month! Rama turned 18. Went to Perth - got exciting results. Went to India - didn't get married - YAAY!! Played with fire crackers. Turned 22!

November: Spent time in India. Rama finished his HSC. Came home. Met loads of people!

December: Approached family about something that had been bothering me for years. Sorted things out and learnt to let go! Rama got his results! YAAYYY!!!

Now I am ready to face 2006 with a smile, a shrug and for the first time, even a fist should I need it!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a truly Happy New Year!

2005 has been a year of new found friends, new found comfort in old friends and a deeper understanding of my family. The year has been much like a chromatogram. Lots of ups and downs in red, black, green, and blue with errors at the start and the end - but when you look at the whole, it is still a beautiful, meaningful result...

I hope that you all enjoy the last few days of 2005 and I hope that 2006 brings with it all that is jolly and nice!

Be merry, party hard, "stop, revive, survive", don't drink and drive, (because "it's not bad luck...its a crime!"), wear your seatbelt, swim between the flags, "slip, slop, slap", "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle", look before you cross, keep to the speed limit, don't send me petition forwards, keep smiling and BE GOOD!

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TASH!!!!! :D:D:D (28/12/05)

99.35!

My brother scored 99.35 in his HSC!!!! He also managed to come second in the state for Information, Process and Technology!!!

VERY HAPPY!

"...as white as Swedes..."

As I was writing an email ysterday, I thought some of the things I was saying was sounding vaguely familiar. I then remembered an article I wrote for a student magazine in Sweden. I was plagiarising my own work! :P

I don't think I have posted this up before... This was written over three years ago now - Oct 2002 I think. I was still a teenager then - I feel sooo old!

"Why Sweden?"

Why Sweden? A question I am sure all exchange students can relate to and one which was probably answered with something along the lines of, "I am not sure really...", followed by a lot of mumbling about Sweden, Uppsala, the weather, blah blah blah. Perhaps I should start by answering, "I was fascinated by your colour coded milk, and well, I wanted to meet Abba...". Actually, the meeting Abba part does have a degree of truth to it.

To be honest, I have no idea why I chose Sweden or Uppsala, but I am glad I did. I came here expecting it to be snowing in the middle of summer with people living in igloos, and ofcourse, blonde hair and blue eyes. I happened to arrive on a day measuring 27 degrees C - it had been colder in Australia when I had left. Being my first time travelling so far - alone, I did have doubts as to whether I was in the right country...

Everything was different - and "different" to me at first was synonymous to "wrong". The cars were on the wrong side, the water spins the wrong way, the stars were making all the wrong constellations and "oranges" were called "apelsin". I saw no logic - except of course in the colour coded milk!

I also had a very grave image of Swedes. I remember reading my "International Student Guide" and was particularly scared when I read the following, "During the first time in Sweden you may experience loneliness" (pg 33- last paragraph). That sentence somehow set the image of Swedes for me. I was convinced that Swedes would be the quietest lot and wasn't even expecting to make eye-contact. Perhaps I was just preparing for the worst, so that when I was here, even a grunt or burp would satisfy me.

It would be a complete lie if I was to say that I experienced no "loneliness", however, that was attributed to being so far away from home, more so than anything.

I am glad to say that my expectations were all proven wrong (and this time truly WRONG!), and am almost ashamed of having had such preconcieved ideas in the first place.

My image of Sweden aside, I was more than a little surprised at what the Swedes had to say for Australia! "All I know is you have dangerous animals!"????? I am probably not your average "Aussie Crocodile-hunter" but I think I speak for the majority of Australians when I say that no, we do not share our homes with deadly snakes and yes, Arachnophobia exists in Australia too. Also, NO! We do not ride on kangaroos to uni and we deffinetly don't cook wombats for Christmas!

If there is one thing to be learnt from all this, it is that we can not help such stereotypes. Forming such images is probably beyond our control, however, if we were to avoid certain places or events because of such notions, then we are probably missing out on more than we truly realise.

Vidya Vasudevan.

(This was followed by a quarter page picture of me with a cheesy grin :D )

AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!

I am an idiot! I told a colleague that I would turn off his water bath and I only just remembered that I completely forgot!!! Its 10:20pm now - I was supposed to turn it off at like 4pm!! I hope someone else from the lab saw that the water bath was left on and so turned it off before leaving! AIYOO!!! I feel terrible now! I hope I haven't ruined his experiment for him!

KILL ME!

Mumbai - Part 1

I know I am updating "much too quickly" and that my posts are getting extremely long!! However, I feel bad if I leave out anything. Like I said earlier, these posts are more for my own benefit than anyone else's. This next post is also going to be long - so I warn you before hand!

In-between

Between my time in Mysore and Mumbai, very little happened. My brother arrived on the Monday, our driver stopped turning up from Tuesday, my brother and I bravely ventured out to Vasantha Nagar on an autorickshaw (got ripped off), and spent the rest of the time within the confounds of our apartments.

My dad and I left for Mumbai on Monday night, and got back on Thursday night. We were booked into the "Grand Hyatt" at Santa Cruz - a 5 star hotel experience which I enjoyed very much! On Monday night, my dad showed me around the hotel - the people at the hotel seem to know him better than our neighbours at Banglore! That night, I saw Manisha Koirala at the hotel and she was the only big "star" I saw. the only other person I saw was Anil Kumble at Banglore airport on my return flight...

I spoke to Shobha on Monday night and we planned to meet on Tuesday at 7pm outside the Barrista Cafe - according to Shobhs, this is where she meets everyone! If anyone is interested in meeting Shobhs, then please head to the Barrista Cafe and give Shobha a call!

After planning things with my dad, we walked around the Grand Hyatt Plaza and met shop keepers with fake American accents. I don't know why they do that!!!

*Smile*...

On Tuesday morning, I had breakfast with my dad, dropped him off at his work, and came back to the hotel to get my phone problems sorted out. Apparently they needed my passport to issue a simcard! I honestly don't think that I look like a terrorist - a little wierd and at times a tad suicidal, but deffinetly don't look like a terrorist!!! Anyways, I also practiced my hindi with the driver and the owner of a photo studio...

Banglore vs Bombay

I was totally blown away by the contrast between Banglore and Mumbai. In India, it seems that when you move from one state to another, EVERYTHING CHANGES! The language, the roads, the billboards, the people - just everything. Its more like changing countries than cities!

I then asked the driver to take me around, and so he showed me around Juhu. He showed me various houses that were apparently owned by film stars - my hindi got a real workout!! It was heaps of fun though, cuz the driver spoke a wierd kind of hindi and used words like "apun" and let little English words enter the conversation without me realising it because I couldn't tell whether he was speaking Hindi or English! When I didn't understand, I just smiled and nodded...
After picking up my dad from his work place (and spending some time with his colleagues), I headed for Bandra to meet with Shobha. While waiting for Shobha outside the cafe, a girl who was probably no more than 7 or 8, came up to me.

A girl named Anita

She asked me for money (or I think that's what she asked me), and after I gave her a few rupees, she started talking to me. About the only thing I could make out was "Mein jhoot nahi bolti" ("I don't lie"). She then told me all the English words and phrases she knew - obviously assuming that I would speak English... I taught her a few more phrases and in return she told me a few jokes in Hindi. I can't say that I understood much, but I smiled and nodded. I have discovered that I am a real sucker for people who call me "didi" ("sister")!

Her name was Anita. She was a really lovely child - extremely bright, energetic and full of smiles. In other words, she had all the right ingredients to con me! As Shobha was still nowhere to be seen, I let Anita entertain me. Anita then taught me a few rhymes in Hindi and Marathi and then proceeded to tell me about herself. As I couldn't really contribute to the conversation too much, I was more than happy to listen to her speak.

She told me that she was an orphan and that she lived on that very street. She had been wearing the same set of clothes for over 19days (obviously keeping count) and that people would often give her clothes but they would never fit! She also told me that she would love to go to school and recounted the time she lost lots of money because someone had stolen it from her when she was asleep.

After all this, she asked me if I could buy her a new set of clothes. She had entertained me for quite sometime and I felt like I owed it to her. I told her that I was waiting for a friend, and that once I was done talking to her, I planned to go shopping. I promised her a new set of clothes. To this she said, "Didi, yeh bina maa baap ke ladki ka ashirwaad aap ke saath rahega" ("the blessings of an orphaned child shall always remain be with you!"). A part of me wanted to cry, another part of me wanted to laugh and there was this part of me that thought, "How scripted does all this sound??". I would be lying if I said that I wasn't moved. Whether she was telling me the truth or not, it was still a horrible situation for a young girl to be in.

My driver saw me with the Anita and asked her to leave me alone. I told him that it was ok. He then pulled me aside and said, "Is jaise log se aap nahi baath karna, yeh tho Mumbai hai!" ("Don't talk to such people. This is Mumbai!").

Finally Shobha arrived!!!

The infamous Shobha!

First impression: Shobha was taller than I thought she would be! I had called her earlier and given her my car registration and said, "I am wearing blue jeans and a navy blue top!". To this she said, "Loose-u aatam pesharai! I will be able to find you!". I told my dad what she had said and he said to me, "She is right! You have a "I am not from Mumbai" look on your face!". Whatever that was supposed to mean!

It was really good seeing Shobha! I had spoken to her a few times since I had arrived in India but we both spoke like we had known each other for years! There were no awkward pauses or "What do I say next?" moments. Shobha has a great talent for not only speaking non-stop, but also for allowing others to speak. Now when I think back, I don't think we ever stopped talking. We decided not to buy anything at Barrista. Shobha's logic being, " You can get coffee anywhere! I will take you to a better place."

We stepped out of the cafe (without buying anything), and crossed the road. Anita found us, and I told Shobha that I had promised to buy Anita a dress. Shobha suggested that I buy her food instead. However, as Anita said that she would prefer clothes to food, we decided to buy her a new set of clothes. We took her to a shop and Shobha said to me, "Nee onnum peshaade. Naan paarthukiraen" (You don't say anything. I'll do the talking!"). I was more than happy to leave the bargaining to the expert! We ended up buying Anita a top, which she happily took from us and ran saying, "Thankyou. Bye didi!!".

Shobh's then walked around and crossed the roads like a pro! With me walking behind her screaming "Auto!" and "Ayy! Car!", she lead me to a restaurant (ofcourse getting lost on the way), where we ordered "pao bhaji". After more talking about how fast this year was proceeding and how all the other bloggers we knew were doing, I noticed that at one point almost all the eyes in the restaurant were turned towards us. I looked at Shobha and said, "Am I speaking too loudly?". Shobhs replied with, "Yes-just a touch... but I am glad there is someone else like me with a loud voice!!". Very diplomatic indeed!

After our pao bhaji, we ordered malai kulfi slices. I think I broke Shobha's heart by not finishing my share... "I can't beleive all that ice-cream is going to be wasted!". I made a feeble attempt to comfort her by saying, "Don't worry, it will melt and then it will only be milk that we would have wasted!" . Somehow, I don't think that it worked!

We headed back and found our driver "Sanjay". In the car, I spoke to Shobha's mum as I was feeling really bad about keeping Shobha out till soo late! It was past 9:30pm by then and it would have taken her another hour and a bit to get home!!

Our short and sweet meet came to an end with me getting out of the car to give Shobhs a hug and my driver starting to drive away without me!

Thanks Shobhs!!

Mysore

After a week in Banglore, my dad, his aunty and I went to Mysore for a weekend.

I met some truly great people in Mysore. A rather old man - he must have been atleast 70 served as our tour guide. He was extremely learned, and took us to a land he had bought by the Kaveri river - a fair distance away from the city. In that piece of land, he was getting a small house built.

The house consisted of a single room - a study, a bathroom with an olden day style heater (you needed to feed it firewood) and a kitchen with a stove that also used firewood. There was a small toilet and an extra room for visitors. The surrounds were gorgeous! There was a river out the back with peacocks, and other exotic birds. There was all sorts of wildlife around. He had plans to build a small landing by the river, where people could bathe. Talk about living the life!

I asked him if snakes were likely to inhabit the environs. To this he said, "Of course - we are invading their space so it wouldn't be right for us to complain about that." Somehow, that stuck to me!

We visited Sri Rangapatnam on the way. Sri Rangapatnam is home to two major things. An ancient temple that is supposed to be very much like the one at Sri Rangam, and remains a fort built during the reigns of Tippu Sultan.

We got to Mysore in time for lunch and after a short break, I went to Chamundi Hills with my new found friends. On the way back from Chamundi Hills, we made a short visit to the Lalitha Mahal. The Lalitha Mahal was apparently the King's summer house - which was later occupied by the Princess. When the Monarch fell from power, this building was handed over to the government and is currently a 5 Star hotel.

The next day, my dad, a few friends and I went to the Mysore Palace. Mysore Palace was simply magnificent! I would like to add that I went on an elephant ride - so YAAYYYY!!! It was rocky...

Outside the palace, there were lots of shops. One of the shopkeepers asked me where I was from. Before I continue, I dont know how they can tell that I am from elsewhere! I look Indian, I was dressed Indian, and I wasn't even trying to look like a tourist! Yet, people seem to be able to tell! If anyone can enlighten me on this, then please do! Anyways, when asked where I was from, me being the Harichandran that I am, I blurted out , "Sydney". This was recived by a "Ohhh" and the Pen which the seller was trying to sell to me for Rs 15, shot up to Rs 30!

I seriously wanted to try the sundal, vellerikai, and other such food being sold on the street. My dad wouldn't allow it, telling me that I would catch some deadly disease and so I had to be content with "Ellaneer" (tender coconut water). We got ripped of for it and my aunty said that it was probably because news had travelled that I was from Sydney:P

The next day, we visited Mellkottai. The elderly person I mentioned earlier lived there. We visited his house, tasted various herbs that grew in his backyard and we pestered him to tell us stories about the place. He explained to us the significance of the temples at Mellkottai and why the idols were depicted the way they were.

Mellkottai is home to Lord Chellapillai. Chellapillai literally translates to "darling son". I had heard the story of Chellapillai when I was much younger and had always wanted to visit this particular temple. We also climbed some 300 steps to another temple on top of a hill. Apparently this is the place where "Prahaladha" meditated on Lord Vishnu. The temple was ancient - and I was totally amazed by the architecture. It was sooo cold and windy inside the temple while it was relatively warm outside! The idols in this temple were apparently not chipped by hand but are beleived to have formed on thier own - they were "salingramams"... (A type of naturally occurring polished stones)

After visiting the temples, I even got to see a temple procession - with a band and all. It was all literally like stepping back in time. All the pujaris spoke a wierd kind of tamil and I felt like I was spoiling the temple sanctity by wearing something that was sleeveless. I was probably the only woman there who wasn't dressed in a saree!

India truly suprises me. You have all sorts! Mellkottai was a step back in time. The houses were old fashioned with a "thinnai". There were little shelters all around the town that had apparently been built hundreds of years ago for travellers from far away lands who would come to visit the temple. It was all beautiful!

I enjoyed picking henna leaves from the backyard, pulling water out of a well, eating off a leaf and walking down to the "kolam" and seeing women in 9-yard sarees and the Iyengar marks on their forehead! My ancestors probably looked like that...

The other thing I saw there was a "modern" restaurant - with a picture of Lord Ganesha with a full stomach! I found it quite amusing...ONLY IN INDIA!

Idea Mani: How to Cross the Road in India

My dad's apartment in Bangalore is opposite a restaurant. Both my dad and I being not such great cooks, we would often trek across the main road and down the some 50meters to eat fantastic food at a groovy vegetarian restaurant. When my dad wasn't around, my brother and I were totally lost as to how to cross the road! We both came up with several ideas on how it could be done. Some are listed below.

Idea Mani-yin idea No: 5
Look left. Look Right. Continue to look left and right. Once you have looked both ways, go back inside, pick up the phone and order takeaway.

Idea No: 4
Approach the security guard at the gate and ask him to accompany you across.

Idea No: 3
Look totally lost (not hard to do!). An auto-rickshaw will find you. Ask the driver to drive you to the otherside.

Idea No: 2

Wait for someone else to cross the road. Slowly inch towards them and as soon as they start crossing, cross the road with them - using them as your safety shield.

Idea No: 1 (apparently this is how it's done)
give yourself the honorary title of "traffic police". Stick your hand out so as to order all traffic to stop for you and nod your head authoritatively. Close your eyes and walk across.

Pat yourself on the back for making it alive once you have reached the otherside!

First Impression

NOTE: I typed this up on my first day - after which I didn't have as much time. I did however, take notes on most days and so will write up a complete summary of my holiday. As I took absolutely NO photos, I am going to have to make up for it with words. The next few posts will be more for my benefit than anyone else's! Shobha: Your post will be appearing soon!

Day 1:

Well I am alive and well in India!! First impression: India is full of Indians! As silly as that sounds, it is completely true!

I arrived in Bangalore at around 11:00pm but didn’t actually step out of the airport till 12:30 am! Something about how they were scanning the bags before sending them out – don’t ask me why they had to scan it all again once we stepped out though :P It was hilarious watching all the men yelling in English in their strong Indian accents about how this wouldn’t happen anywhere else in the world! I can amuse myself for hours here – just listening to people talk!

I was picked up from the airport by my dad and his friend and I drove home thinking, “This isn’t so bad!”. The roads are obviously more empty at night than they are during the day!

On my first day here, I went and met a few of our family friends here and two of my cousins from Chennai came over to see me. The train my cousins took (Brindavan Express), had apparently run over some guy who had tried to cross the rails, and so it was delayed by some 1½ hours. I also visited my grandparent’s bookshop – the guy who looks after it now was telling me how late trains are the only way his bookshop survives and he said, “Accident case-na engalukku unnum jolly!”

The Drive…

I also had a lot of “fun” watching my dad drive – we only had two “small” accidents. One with an auto rickshaw and another with some other small car. For both, my dad stopped and yelled at the drivers in Kannada – they did the same back to my dad. There was no exchange of licence details and still more, they didn’t even pull over for their verbal outburst! They each rolled down the windows and yelled things that I can’t say I actually understood! I’ll just say that it was all very interesting! People – including my dad, honk for no reason! The other thing I noticed is that almost 50% of cars seem to have no side mirrors!!! The other 50%, just turn it inwards and prefer to not use it.

Apparently the way the roads work is that “You check your front, the person behind you will check your back for you!”

My friend Roopa was telling me, “If you are alive on Bangalore roads, its not because you are good driver. It is simply because everyone else has been driving well on that particular day” Good to know!

I know I am rattling on about the driving, but it is only because I spent much of my first day in the car. The only other thing I need to mention is the look of absolutely no alarm, distress, worry, sympathy or anything apart from perfect calm when two vehicles (this includes {herds of} cows) come face to face on a REALLY narrow stretch. I will leave the rest to your imagination.

The Pyormaniac

The evening was spent playing with fire crackers. I initially spent some half an hour watching little kids (about 5/6), playing with explosives, fire and other flammable goods without any supervision. I then decided to join them :P What really worried me was when kids would light a cracker, than go back to check whether they had lit it properly. If only I had a rupee for everytime I yelled out “WATCH OUT”!

However, as soon as I lit my first “Atom Bomb” all fear vanished and I unleashed the pyromaniac in me:P The evening was only slightly spoilt by two kids saying “Aunty can he have your stick [meaning the sparkler]”, but I am over it now – sort of! I should have burnt a whole in their new clothes and said “You will call me Akka dammit!”

“Saaka? Baeka?”

Also, I cooked yesterday! I made pavakai kari, dosai and polangai kozhambhu. So we ended up eating out…

For dinner, my two cousins, my dad and I went to “Adighas” for dinner. I was totally blown away by the food – and the service! I ordered a “naan” and some “malai kofta” (Tash – yes the cheese stuff:P), and “masala papadam”. I couldn’t believe the number of waiters they had. I found it really funny how they didn’t supply you with any cutlery – just the plates and the food. Once we were done, they place a bowl of warm water by your side so that you can wash your hands! Our food was ready in less than 5minutes and we had people constantly filling up our glasses with water and actually serving things onto our PLATE rather than just leaving them in bowls in front of us! What really threw me in the end was how much it cost. All four of us had a full meal (including dessert), and it came to $8! I said to my dad, “I hope you are going to tip the three waiters who have been serving us – I feel bad eating for so little!”

I then asked him “So is this the average price of food? Or have you just bought me to a cheap restaurant??” My dad looked at me and said, “Its slightly on the more expensive side.”

We are getting a driver today. Appa has bought lots of sweets, so we are going to play Santa and visit families with Diwali sweets. It should be fun! I am also hoping to do some shopping – with glass bangles right at the top of the list!

Bangalore is surely a land of contrasts. Only here can I feel like I am in Sydney – or any other developed city when I am within the confounds of these apartments, and then feel truly guilty for what I have as soon as I step out.

After a very eventful first day, I am looking forward to a more exciting second!

In summary – I am enjoying every bit of Karnataka!

Travel bug!

I am soooooo excited! Yesterday I met this lady in the tea room and she asked me how I was. A friend of mine took the liberty of replying with "She is going to India!". The lady goes to me, "I thought something was up! Just look at how big her smile is!".

I have like a permanent smile on my face - that's how excited I am! 4 more sleeps and I will be on my way to India! I can't beleive it! I had pretty much given up on the idea of me ever going back - I was just so busy last year thatI didn't think I would have the time. Now I am just brimming!

In other news, I think my trip to Perth was most valuable to my research. I have made some great progress and not only that, I think I am onto something! Everyone is really excited and I was sooo excited about it that I even considered postponing my trip to India - Goodluck with research comes only once and I think I am a tad worried that just as luck seems to be comming my way, I am saying "No thanks, I prefer to do it the hard way!". I don't know if I am more excited about India or my results...

To add to all this, will be meeting up with Khush, Tash and Rids this Friday! REALLY looking forward to that too!!!!

Also, Perth was fantastic! It's such a beautiful, quiet place. While in Perth, I went out to Freemantle and also up north to see the Pinnacles and went Sandboarding at the sanddunes near Lancelin :D Had plenty of fun - and my experiments actually working was a real bonus!

My Trip to India:
I leave this Saturday (29th)
Arrive in Singapore around 4:00pm and will be at Singapore airport for a bit.
Arrive in Bangalore at 11:30pm India time.

I think I am going to Madurai in the first week because my dad wants me to see all the special Tamil culture they have in that city - should be exciting! I think I might spend a week in Madras and a week maybe in Hyderabad. After that I should be back in Bangalore for a few days before I fly back here. I will try to get a sim card once I get to India and will send my contact number then :D I hope I get to meet or atleast talk to a few of you while I am there...

Hope everyone is smiling!!!

Travel Plans

I have been like super-duper good with my updating lately!

I am not too sure if I will be able to update as much over the next few weeks as I wont be home. However, I thought I would update you all on my whereabouts over the next few weeks.

On Sunday the 9th of October, I am getting on a flight to Perth and will be there till the 23rd. I arrive in Sydney at 10:30pm on Sunday the 23rd! I have just had the worst day trying to organise a way of getting some of my reagents to the other side of the continent - with very little luck! It is sooo difficult to explain to Airport staff that "antibodies" are not really blood-related eventhough they are! I seriously don't look like a terrorist - OR DO I???? :P

Anyways, I have also just discovered that I am not allowed to take any food into Perth - this means that I am going to DIE! One of my supervisors in Perth is Indian - I am hoping she will invite me over for dinner or maybe even give me enough food for a week...(I will be happy with a dinner though!)

I return from Perth on Sunday the 23rd of October. I am leaving for India on the 29th and will be arriving in India on the night of the 29th. I have a 3 hour stopover in Singapore during which time I can just tour the airport!

Once I get a number in India, I will let you guys know. If anyone needs to get in touch with me, please use my gmail address:D

The last time I remember feeling like this was when I was preparing for my trip around Europe with my family...

I am actually really excited about all this! I can't wait to get to India!!! SOOO EXCITED!!!

The world of TimTams

I was at Woolies over the weekend and the guy in line behind me was buying close to 6/7 packs of TimTams...

Me: You like TimTams?
Him: You see I am going to Japan in a few days. I asked them what they wanted and they didn't say anything. So I thought I might as well get them TimTams. I came here and there were so many different sorts! I thought I would get one of each! When you can't speak the language - just give them chocolate!
Me: Makes sense.
Him: All I can say is "Hello" and can count to 5 in Japanese. I have been taught that it is "Itchy, Knee, Sun, She, Go!" (The numbers read: ichi, ni, san, shi, go)
Me: I learnt Japanese for 7 years - and that is probably how much I can speak too!
Him: When you don't use the language its hard to learn it!
Me: That is soo true! As long as you can say "Thankyou" and "Where is the Toilet" I think you are safe!
Him: That's a good one to know!
(By this time I was nearly done with my stuff getting scanned)
Him: So many people learn French. We never use it here. I just say "Bonjour" and "Cava" and learn to say "I can't speak French!". That's enough for any arrogant French person! (That was tad random...)
Me: Well, I hope you have a good trip!
Him: I hope you have a great day!

I really like it when random people wish me a good day! It really makes a difference I think.

Today:

"Someone should make a sitcom about you... it would be like a cross between 'Seinfeld' and 'Scrubs'..."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY APPU!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY APPU KUTTI!!!

Wishing my baby brother a very happy 18th!!!!!!!

Love you heaps!

To add to it... HAPPY BIRTHDAY RIDHU!!!!!

Signing off

I am sure lots of people will sympathise with me over this!

I have been finding that over the last few weeks I have had to write a lot of emails to various people. I have been trying to get a few things organised and have had to submit various applications. I am finiding it very hard to find proper signing off signals!!! I find "Yours Sincerely" too formal and quite superficial. I don't like using "Cheers" because I never actually say "Cheers".

I end up using "Regards" or "Thanks" and after a while it really starts to get to me! I sometimes find that my emails read something like:

"Thanks for your immediate reply. I will look into it. Thankyou!!. Thanks, Vidya"... That is just weird!

Anyone have any proper signing off ideas that I can use???

Also, this problem is not restricted to the office environment! I find it just as hard to find proper ways to end emails to friends too! I guess that's why with friends, I no longer sign off...

Over and out,
Till later,
Bye now!
Tuduloo!
Ta,

Vidya

PS: FOr future reference, people who sign off with simply the first letter of their names like "-V" really annoy me too!

AIYOO!!! *forehead slap*

Sunday the 18th of September, 2005. Vidya goes to the Hospital. Starts an experiment. Decides to get something to eat. Locks lab door. Goes to tea room. Has breakfast. Comes back. Can't get back into lab as door is locked! I have locked myself out!

I called up security...

*TRINGG TRINGG*

Me: Hi. I am calling from the Clinical Sciences building. I have locked myself out od my lab... Could someone please let me in??
Sec: Sure *chuckle*. I will send someone over.

A few minutes pass.

A tall English man walks in.

EM: So you have locked yourself out have you?
Me: *nod*
EM: Ahh. It happens to the best of us. Everyone except me - cuz I am perfect.
Me: Yeaaahh...
EM: COuld I ahve your name?
Me: Vidya - V I D Y A.
EM: It's just so that I can say that I have opened the door for you...
Me: You mean so that you can add me to the "REALLY STUPID" list???
EM: Hey! That's a good one. We might start one of those! Nah. You aren't on the list yet - only if you do it a second time...
Me: Ummm I may have done this allready....

Thank god we got to my lab door by then! Otherwise I may have embarassed myself even more!

Anywys, my pellet should be dry by now! Going to book my tickets to India today. Will update you guys on the dates tonight! :D

Bullets

• My last post was written very badly...
• My PCR decided to work yesterday - but it wouldn't work today :S
• I have to hand in stuff for my annual review in about two weeks time *biting nails*
• I have been procrastinating with my Lit Review!
• I wish the people in Perth would hurry up and give me a date!
• I am leaving for India in about 5/6 weeks:D:D:D:D
• I am hoping to see a friend of mine from Sweden in India - go figure!
• Uni is getting "mildly" stressful
• I can lift my own body weight on the leg press now:D:D:D:D
• Thinking of joining some kind of a hobby course - preferably sketching or painting - any suggestions?
• Have to start buying pressies to take to India...
• Christmas in 12 weeks - where has this year gone???????
• This post is worse than my last one!

Hope you all have terrific day. KEEP SMILING! :D

Do you cry when you are hungry?

Honestly, DO YOU??? I do!

When I get hungry I get quite snappy and emotional. When I was younger (less than 10...), I used to cry because I didn't know how else to express myself. Even now, when I get hungry I find that I get quite down and I am really on the edge...

Is that normal?????

Is it seriously very wierd?? If it is, what is your wierd behaviour??? I dont want to be the only one!!! :P

I am thinking about the other wierd things I do...

- I don't like drinking softdrinks that are green in colour (usuallylime flacoured stuff)...
- I write with my book held at 90 degrees to my hand...
- My glasses sit about half-way down my nose so they only ever cover half my eyes...
- I always eat crust first...

Hmm... I am sure there are lots of other wierd things I do. I am sure everyone has little wierd things they do... please tell me I am right and that I am not just generally wierd!!!

Dumb moment of the week
At morning tea on Tuesday morning:

Heading of magazine article: "I used to have $2000 a week coke habit"

Me: How much coke would you have to have?? (Calculating in my head) About 270 cans a day! How can you do that?? That has got to be wrong...
(Everyone looks at me strangely...)
Me: Doesn't that sound wierd??
(Everyone still looking at me strangely. I do calculations in my head again to make sure I haven't done anything wrong...)
Me: They must be giving some away or something else...Imagine the caffeine! The sugar!
SW: Ummm... Vidya... its a different kind of coke...
Me: Ohh... (thinking) OHHH!!!! (finally clicks!)

Apparently "coke" is short for coccaine!

Seeing the Big Picture...

Went to a symposium last night that I had been looking forward to for a long time now. I got to listen to Sydney Brenner talk - again! I heard his Nobel Laureatte speech at Uppsala in 2002 and yesterday I heard him present a talk entitled "Humanity's Genes", in which he spoke of the new genome project.

Sydney Brenner is a great public speaker - he is not only extremely intelligent, but also VERY funny! I loved his Nobel speech and I had to skip a Microbial Genetics prac to listen to it... I told my Microbial Genetics Lecturer (another great but crazy scientist!), that I thought Prof. Brenner was soo humble. My lecturer laughed at me and he said "He is SYDNEY BRENNER!! HE IS NOT HUMBLE!!".

When I heard him talk yesterday, I kept picturing the Swedish Scientist saying "He isn't humble!!". Brenner isn't humble - but he has no reason to be. He has done amazing things for Science and has a lovely way of presenting his ideas and is critical about things most scientists take for granted and gets his views across in a truly charming fashion.

There were a series of talks yesterday - presented by various people I truly look upto in the field. I saw Robin Holliday present for the first time yesterday and while everyone else used flashy powerpoint slides, he used the good old over-head projector! He was like a teddybear and I just wanted to go down and give him a hug! (I didn't offcourse - It would have been a tad odd :P).

It was a great day though - sometimes it is necessary to see the big picture. I am only working on one verrrryyy small protein and as excited as I can get about it, I can't and I don't expect the same amount of excitement from everyone else. When you get bogged down on all the little details of your project like primer design and Mg concentration in a PCR reaction, it is lovely to hear from people who have gone through all that and are now able to look back and see and tell you that that one PCR truly revolutionised the way they saw everything else.

Hearing a few people yesterday, reminded me of why I am doing all this in the first place. Why am I subjecting myself to low pay, long hours, dark labs, tedious experimentation and repeated failures?? As much as I can joke about it being the easiest way to avoid "real life" (although there is a degree of truth to it), there is another reason which I need to be reminded of once in a while.

The reason is simply that I actually do believe in what I am doing and I DO enjoy it!

Sound of Music!

Even the title looks out of place on my site! For a Tamil Brahmin it is very odd (and quite unacceptable) that I can't sing, dance or play a musical instrument!

I left India when I was 5/6 and so I didn't think it odd that I couldn't sing - until maamis started pointing it out to me. However, I am no longer finding questions like "Nee paaaduviyoo?" (Do you sing?) or "Dance kathinduirukiya?" (Have you learnt to dance?) neither odd nor rude.

I did learn Carnatic music for a few months - I got upto "Vara Veena" then stopped cuz the people I used to go with left the country (If they hadn't I may have become a second Sudha Ragunathan:P). TO be honest, I don't exactly have a great voice and I sing very badly - I guess its actually a good thing that I dont sing! I am also too uncoordinated to dance so its just at well that I didn't learn that either. :P

Despite all that, I do enjoy carnatic music. Especially in the last couple of years because I find myself going to recitals by various musicians. When I go to a kacheri, I love watching the crowds as much as listening to the music! It also makes me realise just how big music is for the Brahmin community because 99% of the audience are Brahmins and the other 1% are Sydney Uni Arts students...

I am helping organise a music festival for next weekend. Its for little kids and some of you might remember that I did the same last year. I guess all the discussion about the music festival that I had today got me thinking about how "unmusical" I am and has evolved into this rather pointless post!

Getting Healthy...

I work with some extremely health conscious people. By extremely, I mean people who ride their bikes to work and those that go for power walks during the lunch break. Most of them also play sport, go bushwalking and do cross-country skiing! In comparison, I am pretty much a bludger - but you all knew that allready :P.

I have never played much sport outside of school and while I used to go for walks, I did very little other exercise.

Today, one of the girls I work with decided to go bike riding instead of power walking. I just causally mentioned the fact that I cant ride a bike and of course now I have everyone in the lab volunteering to teach me! When am I going to learn??

So next week, I am going to learn how to ride a bike! I don't know why that is going to help me though - its not like I own a bike! :P

What was the point of the above?? Well, I guess that even if I don't learn anything or discover anything scientific over the next few years, I will at least have a healthier lifestyle!

PS: I can push almost 90% of my body weight on the Leg-press at the gym!!! Very proud of myself :D

Incompetant Scientist?

I gave my presentation today and I cant say that it went too badly. I was second up (I was supposed to be third, but the girl who was supposed to go second didn't turn up) and so everyone was still awake.

I had all the big-guns from the uni present at my talk.When I say "big-guns" I mean REALLY BIG!!! All the heads of the Department were there and the mode of titles was "Professor". Apparently my talk was VERY clear, and so I got asked HEAPS of questions! Most of the questions were "Why" questions! I despise "Why" questions! That's because my answer is usually "Cuz that's what my supervisor thinks I should do!".

I dont think I handled them too badly though. However, I was listening to other talks and I must say, I was starting to feel really bad. I think I am quite competitive by nature and I don't know if it shows but I was feeling very stupid by the end of the day!

I know I will get over it soon enough. Perhaps I am not being serious enough about my work...

Time for me to change my atitude perhaps?? I shall ponder my handling of this whole PhD thing late into the night...

One crash or two?

On my way home from the hospital I stopped over at a florist. After buying a bunch of flowers, I got back in my car and was about to drive off. It was around sunset and as a result it was very hard to see because of the reflection. I checked and rechecked and when I was ABSOLUTELY sure there were no cars, I swerved to the right to take a 3 point turn.

Anyways, this grey Commodore comes from out of nowhere and I hit it! I moved back to where I was parked, put on my yellow sneakers (note to self: dont wear yellow sneakers with lime green socks!), and walked over to the P-plater and apologized. I asked him to make sure his car was ok. He said it was fine and that I shouldn't worry about it. I yelled "SORRRYY" from across the road and he drove away.

Then! This old man came upto me...

Old Man: That wasn't your fault was it?
Me: Yes it was...
OM: I think you hit the car in front though...

There happened to be a dent in the car that was parked in front of me. It was a Nissan Skyline and a pretty old car... (Khush - I hope it wasn't your car!). I didn't think that I hit that car. I told the guy that I had hit the Commodore, but if he thought that I had also hit the car in front then I was happy to leave my number - in case it was my fault!

I was looking for a pen and not finding one, I decided to go back to the florist and ask for a pen. In the mean time, the old man was explaining what had happened to the florist. The florist then asked me what happened. I told him how I had hit the Commodore and perhaps it was my fault that the Nissan had also been injured...

By this time I was starting to feel really guilty!

He came out...looked at the damage and said, "Nah! It couldn't have been your car. Your car is too low. Its not your fault. Dont bother leaving your number!"

I asked him if it was his car. He said, "No. But I don't want you to pay for something you didn't do."

I didn't know what to do. The florist then said,"Just keep the pen..."

I thought he was giving me a subtle hint to have his pen back and so I said, "I am SORRYY!!! Please take your pen back..."

He goes to me, "Nah! Keep it! You might need it - just dont use it to write your details. That old man is a big mouth - don't worry about him."

I thanked him and apologized (I don't know why!) and drove off!

How wierd and confusing is that???

Did I do the right thing???

After possibly hitting TWO cars...I got a pen to keep!

*No Appropriate Title*

Before I say anything else, I would like you all to know that nothing even remotely exciting happened today! (Incase you were waiting for some nail-biting or heart racing goss:P)

I did however give a practice talk today. I have to present at the student conferance next week and thought I should practice in front of my supervisor - it seemed like a great idea at the time! My supervisor is sooo lovely! He has been all booked out for most of the week, and still he made time for us - despite having a really bad cold!

I thought my pictures were fantastic - I then did this silly thing of showing it to a post-doc who works in a different lab to me. He looked at my pictures and said, "Hmm... you seem to be getting some unspecific staining!". I said, "Ummm... I am?". Oh well - hopefully the pretty colours and funky powerpoint tricks will keep everyone distracted from the actual content of the slides!

I am noticing all these little things I say and do now that I never used to do before. Its just little things like the way I narrate things or the way I say little words like "maaaayybee" in a different way to how I would normally say it. Its a sure sign that I have been spending a lot of time talking to the people I work with and so I have picked up little things they do and it seems to have found its way into my own manner of speech and actions!

I am upto Page 130 with War and Peace! Its the furthest I have ever read and I do like it! Its just that I read it before going to sleep so I am often reading it lying down. The book is quite heavy and as a result, my arms and wrists start aching! Maybe I should invent something that will hold the book in place as I read it lying down...*brain thinking up several theoretically possible but practically impossible, simply stupid or majorly flawed ideas!* (Sounds rather like my experiments actually!)

PS: URL to Ridhish's blog for those of you who have not yet discovered it : oppiniongalore.blogspot.com

Early signs of Alzhiemers....

Let me now narrate a few incidents that have occurred to me in the last two days...

1) I completely FORGOT that I had taken my car to work and at the end of the day started walking towards the station to catch the train back home! (I realised after I was about half way to the station...)

2) I FORGOT completely to add a control tube containing my "vector only" for my ligations!

3) I FORGOT to put on my glasses in the morning!

4) I FORGOT that it was Jeans for Genes day! (Quite ashamed of that actually...)

5) I walked all the way to the station this morning, because I didn't want to wake my brother, then I had to ring him, wake him up and ask him to bring me my wallet because I FORGOT to take it with me before I left home!

Ok - is it crazy for me to worry about myself after all that??? That is seriously not normal - even for me!!! It has me quite paranoid actually and I was convinced this morning that maybe I am going slightly cuckoo!

Anyways, with that aside, I met my first ever Rett child today. We had some funding people come and they came for a tour of our lab. The girl was only 9 and she had a very mild mutation and so had a fairly mild phenotype. I wouldn't have been able to pick her out had it not been for her mum telling us...

Its amazing how distanced the lab environment is from the clinical setting - so much so that I sometimes FORGET (:P) that what I am doing is ultimately going to significantly change someone else's life. I guess I can only hope that this change will be for the better!

A few little things today helped put life in perspective for me - even if it was only for a short while!

PS: Rett Syndrome is the disease I work on for those who were wondering what I meant by "Rett child"...

My stance...

I did say that I would express my opinions about the two things I mentioned in my last post - so here it is!

The first instance involving the policeman annoyed me greatly. It annoyed me because to me it looked like the man was simply stopped because the policeman assumed he was a terrorist because he was a muslim. If that was true then to me it was wrong. Ofcourse there is every chance that I am looking at the situation totally out of context and that I am the one who is actually showing racial tendencies by assuming such a thing - it is just as likely that he was an old man who had just lost something on the train and was simply appealing to the policeman for help. I am quite ashamed to admit that I would assume such a thing. A point to work on...

On the second incident...

"Freedom of speech" and "racial villification" seem to be on either side of a blurry line. I haven't heard the whole story properly and so I don't truely have a stance. If Andrew Fraser says "I have proof that black populations increase crime rates", I want to see that proof. Statistically, his argument seems flawed to me. Sure, you might find a correlation between crime and race, but I am sure the correlation between poverty vs crime and poverty vs race are just as statistically significant. I just want to know if his research took all of that into account. As a former student from Macquarie, what embarasses me more than Andrew Fraser expressing his opinions, is the fact that he would base those opinions on very poorly conducted research!

Andrew Fraser is entitled to his opinion - he is 61 and I can excuse him for having opinions that are different from what most of us beleive in. My opinions differ from my parents! To me it looks like he is using statistics (and a poorly designed experiment) to reinforce his beleifs - this unnecessarily draws the university into the picture because now it looks as if the university is supporting such experimentation when in reality it may not be...

I guess my stance on the issue is still not set simply because I don't think that I know enough about it to say "I believe strongly that...".

Scary...

I have been noticing subtle things that are starting to worry me just slightly...

This morning as I got out of the train to get to the hospital, I saw two policeman at the station. They had with them a man who was dressed in an Afghani traditional dress - cap and all. To me he looked like a perfectly harmless citizen, however, he was stopped by the policeman and the policemen were on the phone.

The man looked extremely embarassed by all this and it made me feel extremely sad and not to mention annoyed to see this.

On a related but different note, I was listening to the talk about Andrew Fraser yesterday. Andrew Fraser (I think I remember his name correctly...), is a professor from Macquaire University who apparently expressed a few opinions that were quite different to those held by the general public. He claimed that the growing "black" population in Australia was not healthy and research shows that places with higher black populations tend to have higher crime rates. The University first allowed for him to express his opinions on the basis of "freedom of speech" and later asked him to tone it down a bit or retire as the university seems to feel that it's reputation is at stake.

Just two random things that have got me slightly worried... I am yet to express my stance on both these incidents and will do it later today once I get home!!

Finished reading "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley and "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" (by J.K. Rowling). Reading "Angels and Demons" by DAn Brown and attempting to read "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy (again!)!!!

Better get back to my cells!

Bye Bye

My parents are both in India now... and I miss them very much :'(

Update: 11:00am on Saturday morning... and I am at the hospital! This experiment had better work!

Caught Texting!

I chucked a Shane Warne last week! I have been having some problems with texting! :P

One of my students - Alan, is 50. I am teaching him how to read. The thing with my new phone is that if I lock it its a real hassle to unlock and so I don't lock my phone. The other thing with my phone is that once I send a message, it retains the last sent message in the display...

NOT A GOOD COMBINATION!

I got a call from my students coordinatior today and he said, "Hi... you have been messaging Alan. I am sure it was an accident. I justhought I should let you know..."

So basically I have been accidently sending all sorts of wierd messages like, "I need to buy Srini's pressie", "you should sleep on the photoframe" and "I'll take care of the lymph tom" to a person ho probably thinks I am testing his reading!

I felt like a complete moron! I called up Alan, and spoke to his wife and said, "I AM SOOO SORRY!! I have been accidently messaging Alan and I really didn't mean to!! I am really really sorry."

She was so nice about it! "Its ok Lydia... accidents happen. We are not worried about it."

How much of an idiot am I??? DONT ANSWER THAT QUESTION!

And this is for Shobhsie!

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
- Vidhu
- Gayu
- Veg
And there is many more! :P

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
- Veg_v
- "When you breathe you inspire, when you don't, you expire"
- "Banga Banga BAnga. OI OI OI!

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
- hmmm...is this a trick question??? :P
- I have been told that I have a "straight" nose - that cant be taken too badly!
- My teeth are white!!! (I brush them :D)

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
- Not so much "don't like"... but my eyebrows annoy me!
- My arms are weak :(
- I have frizzy hair

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
- I don't get what this qu means... I guess it means "Things that are one with me..."
- My uneven eyebrows, my glasses and my "pottu" / "bindi".

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
- I get scared by just about anything and everything!!! At the top of the list... Snakes, Babies and live animals...

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
-Watch
-Glasses
- Sneakers

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
This is a hard one!
- Want it to be lasting
- Ability to be myself
- and just be comfy...

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (in no particular order):
- I sleep with a teddy
- I was in this terrible accident that caused me to acquire selective amnesia, a high IQ and loose the ability to count...It also lead to several issues with with uneven eyebrows...
- I nearly drowned as a kid.

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
- Tall is good
- a smile that wont make me feel like the only colgate advertiser!!
- a straight nose! (Sounds like I am just waiting for a taller version of me doesn't it???:P)

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
- Go home!
- Have chocolate!!!
- Gather motivation to go to the gym!

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING:
- If this whole PhD thing fails, I reckon I wud just become a science teacher.
- If I get stunning results and my research is simply awe-inspiring and nobel prize winning then I might just become an academic. :P
- If the above two don't happen, then I'll just be a student for as long as the uni will let me.

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
- India - now that my daddy will be there!
- NewZealand
- Sweden - and actually travel around Sweden!

THREE KIDS NAMES YOU LIKE:
- I used to have a huuge list! I don't anymore.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
- GRADUATE!!! :P
- Learn to cook - properly!
- Construct a detailed Family Tree

The people I would pass this on to...

I would like everyone who reads this blog (all 4 or 5 of you:P) to do the above questionaire!

A moment in time...

I have been wanting to have a proffesional photo of the family taken for a very long time now. It finally happened yesterday!

We had a family photo taken with everyone, plus one with just my grandparents, one with just my parents and one of my two brothers and myself. My family is impossible in situations like this! They have to make every little thing difficult! I don't think that I am asking for much when I ask them to wear decent clothes! *Breathe in breathe out* - I have whinged enough about that... I will put that aside and move on now.

It was quite funny when the photographer asked my grandma to place her hand on my grandpa's shoulder and bring her face REAL close to his. My grandma simply wouldn't do it because it made her very consious. She was sooo embarassed! It was sooo cute to watch though! After finally getting her to stand as close as we could dare ask, we told the photographer that that would have to do!

After the photos were all taken my grandpa told the photographer, "After Forrty Eight years of marriage, this is our first photograph." I think she was quite shocked - as was I!

Overall, I was quite satisfied with myself for organising it :D - even if everyone else seemed to consider it a painful chore!

In news this week...

• I cooked stuff and noone died!
• My cheesecake was a hit!!!
• The stuff I did at the hospital last year is FINALLY going into a publication (eventhough I am like the 9th author in a 12 author paper!:P)
• Three out of four of my students cancelled on me this week - am I really that mean?? (The fourth didn't have a choice:P)
• I was intimately involved in the thesis binding process of a friend
• I know where to get my thesis "bound" (thanks Ashwin!)!!
• I am addicted to "hexic"
• Have a meeting with my supervisor tomorrow about my progress
• Both my parents are leaving for Bangalore in two weeks - my mum is going for two weeks and my dad for three years :(
• I am planning a trip to NZ and India at the end of this year
• Going to uni today
• Going out to lunch and dinner with family
• Started Cross-stitching again

AND FINALLYYYY

BANGLADESH BEAT AUSTRALIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I COOKED!!!

One of my friends at the hospital is leaving for Boston on Sunday and we are having a little farewell morning tea for her. I said to some of my lab members "One of these days... I am going to cook and suprise you!" - never say something like that! I have been asked to cook "from scratch" (i.e. - no packet food) and also been told not to ask for assistance from my grandma or mum.

I cooked today:D I have made TWO cheesecakes and a potato cheese pastry thing :D How good am I??? I tried the pastry - it is quite bearable! I haven't tried the cheesecake yet - but with that much fat in it I can't go wrong on the taste (the texture and shape is a whole other thing though!)

Anyways, I'll let you guys know if I get asked to cook ever again or if my colleagues just say "Ask your mum to make something!"

I also have to get some digital photos printed tomorrow morning and then make sure everyone has signed the farewell card then I am taking my colleague who is leaving for Boston to get her thesis binded!

Tomorrow should be a fun day!

Lab Wars

I have told you all before that I absolutely love where I work. I honeslty do love the people I am working with. I did however have a bit of an issue with one of my colleagues last week. I guess I am quite sensitive and so the issue probably seemed larger to me than anyone else.

However, things are fine now - I still get along with everyone in the lab and I have learnt that if you know you are going to have to spend the next couple of years with someone, then you might as well learn to accept them for what they are.

Its interesting how knowing how long you are going to be around certain people really affects the way in which you act towards them.

End of May allready???

WHAT IS THIS??? I can't believe that May is almost over! 2005 is half gone! Is the Earth spinning faster?? I sometimes think that I am part of some wierd experiment in which *they* are trying to work out just how fast they can make me go before I start to work backwards! I don't think I could cope with things going much faster than they are.

I think Mondays and Tuesdays are the only days of the week that I am actually conscious off. After Tuesday, I seem to skip right on to Monday again!

I should just calm down now...

It was Srini's Birthday yesterday:D HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARI-LU!!! I can't beleive that he is 20! Both my brothers stopped growing for me from when they were about 12. They will always be 12 for me. I woke up a few minutes before him, avoided looking at him and dashed off to the shops to buy him a pressie!! PHEW!

Yesterday was a busy day - but busy in a nice way. Lots to do this week...

Drained!

Have had a really busy week at the hospital. Apart form being busy, I have also been showing people how to do stuff.

I have been showing people how do certain things in the lab. Where things are kept, how to use the different equipment and so on. It feels really wierd because I don't by any means feel like I know enough to be telling anyone else what to do. My pet phrase this week has been, "I don't know why I do it like this... but this is the way I was taught...".

I remember a few years ago, I wanted to do a PhD - but not do any lab work. I just didn't think that it was my kind of thing. Lately I think I have completely switched!!! I prefer hands-on lab work to reading papers and writing Lit Reviews!

Also, I am no longer the "new kid" in my lab and I am starting to feel more comfortable with the people who work in the same building as me. It takes me a while to truly mingle...but I am slowly getting there...

Star Wars - Episode 3

Yesterday I watched my first ever Star Wars movie. My dad wanted to watch it so he made the three of us plus two of our family friends watch it with him! He took us on a guilt trip, "I always watch movies for you guys [which I would like to add is absolutely not true!], you guys cant even watch one movie for me." It worked!

Srini, Rama, Vidya (another Vidya), Nitya and myself have never seen a Star Wars movie before. We were told that this was the one in which "Annikin Skywalker" finally moves to "The Dark Side" - which basically meant nothing to any of us, but my dad assures me that the connection was needed and that it was "well-handled".

Apart from not understanding a word for the fist half of the movie (we had keep asking my dad who were the good guys and who were the bad guys), and seeing tubelights (or a "saber") swinging for the majority of the second half, the movie was actually enjoyable towards the middle. We got there at 7:15 for an 8:45 show (I didn't even wait that long for Harry Potter!!!) and had to sit right at the front! I now have a stiff neck!

Now I have to watch the rest of the Star Wars episodes to know where this one fits in!

The girl from "Felicity" plays Annikin's wife "Padme", and she really annoyed me! For someone who was so crucial for the plot, I thought her character was handled awfully! She was made to look like a stupid woman and there was not even a speck of nobility or strength in her character. the fact that she couldn't act probably didn't do that much good for the movie either!

I would have enjoyed it more if there was slightly better acting and less tubelight fights - especially when you know that most of them are not going to die (because they feature in later episodes). I just did not see why you needed all that action!

I am going to buy the complete Star Wars episodes and watch it. I am going to understand it even if it means having to sit through hours of inter-galactic wars and wierd hair styles! I will not let terrible acting and hard to pronounce names get in the way of me understanding what the fuss is all about!

Random words of wisdom...

The following things are random things people have told me over the years. I don't think that the people who said these things actually realise how much it has influenced what I am as a person today...

"Death was hard to deal with - until my dad died. After that, it stopped bothering me..." - Technical Drawing Teacher at High school. I don't even know how that topic came about!

"If your eyes hurt... squeeze some lemon juice into it..." Science teacher in Fiji - I must have been 6 or 7 when I heard that! It was the most ridiculous thing I have heard - but I came home and shared this new found knowledge with my mum. Se called my teacher an idiot... I think her exact words were, "Seriyaana loose-u teacher!"

"I am only asking you act this out because I have never seen you angry." My General Studies teacher, asking me to act out "anger" using symbols and facial expressions. It made me realise how other people saw me.

"You have to finish studying before you get married - once you get married you won't be able to study anymore." My friend's mum while driving me to school. I think about this almost everyday.

"The older you get, the faster it goes." The lab technician at my last lab on how fast the year was progressing. It is sooo true!

"You are a truly beautiful person - outside and inside" A girl I went to school with. It really suprised me, because I hardly knew her! It was just a sweet thing to say.

"Your talk was great! You should consider becomming a lecturer." My professor at Uppsala Unversity, Sweden. I think I decided that I wanted to be a lecturer after that.

"You should become a teacher!" when I was 7, I taught an 8 year old the Hindi script. I remember wanting to become a teacher after that! I still do!

"I think everyone is beautiful in their own way." My 14 year old friend on our way home from school one afternoon. It taught me to look at the good in people.

"She should be encouraged to read lots of literature." My Year 7 English teacher on my report card. I think that single comment is responsible for why I am still reading today!

"Her only fault is that she lacks self-confidence." My Year 7 Art teacher to my dad at Parent-Teacher night. I hated her for saying it, but now I realise that she was probably right.

"I am glad we haven't lost you to medicine!" My supervisor last semester. He was glad that I was going into research rather than medicine - and was slightly dissapointed that I had chosen Medical research over Evolutionary biology...

"Oh! I thought you were in high school!" A 11 year old a few weeks ago - it truly made my day!!!

All I can think of at the moment... Its amazing how much influence most of the above comments have had on me.

I wonder how many times I have said things that have truly changed a person's perception of life and themselves...

My great-grandmother passed away this morning... my grandpa left for India today evening. She has allready been cremated and my grandpa will be dispersing her ashes once he gets to India.

It feels odd being told that we can't do certain things for the next few days - I seem to have escaped much of the stringent rules of mourning that the rest of my family are required to follow.

It is all very strange...

I do not understand why we are not allowed to visit a temple, light a lamp or enter our pooja room. While this may not apply to me, is this not the time when people need GOD in their lives the most? To take that away from people somehow seems wrong to me.

Perhaps 10 days of mourning without prayer or solace is the way in which to pay respect to those who have left us...

Family?

Appa came back on Friday night. Wish he wouldn't talk about leaving for India again though!

Yesterday we heard that my great-grandmother (my grandpa's mum) is apparently really sick and my grandpa is thinking about going to see her.

I don't know many of my relatives back in India. As a result I don't have a true attachment to any of them. Its not to say that I dont like them - I just dont know them well enough. As a result I always feel very odd when I hear about close relatives being ill and even wierder when there is death in the family. I don't know what is the right way to react...

It is a wierd feeling when you hear that your grandma is sick or that your cousin is getting married. You know you should feel sorrow or happiness but its hard to when you don't know them. I know my family back in India mainly thrugh what they cook and how they cook and in some cases, what kind of matresses they have - because all we have time for when we go to India is to visit EVERYONE, eat and leave.

I don't think I am emotional about it - just something I realise and I wonder if this is something that most people living away from relatives feel or is particular to my family. It could very well be particular to us because we have never had relatives outside of India and at the same time we haven't formed any "new" relationships (either through marriage or immigration) to anyone overseas.

At times I crave relatives - then I just think that in place of family we have extremely close family friends who are probably just as good or perhaps better than "family"...

In fact, my whole family is just about to go to dinner with really close family friends...

Compliment of the day:

My mum: Gayu...Coffee super-a potuirrukae!
(Vasishtar vaayaala Brahmarishi!)

Its rather sad...

I got a mail from "George Frances Photography" today. However it said that it was from "GFP.com.au"... and I thought it had something to do with a gfp-tagged protein... and was very confused for a few minutes! It was a mail containing my graduation photos... will post those up soon too!

Also, today I microscoped the picture that I am going to use on the coverpage of my thesis. When I said this to a fellow PhD student, he said, "Theses don't have coverpages...". I told him that mine was going to have a coverpage and that the picture I got today would be on the cover of it. When I showed him the picture, he said that I should put it on the front of my thesis.

I'll post the picture and you will all agree with me!

Another PhD student who is writing up now was doing her "fake acknowledgements" today (height of procrastination??)... in it she wrote "I would like to thank Vidya for limiting the places we can go for social gatherings". This was in reference to taking me to "Yum Cha" last year and all I could eat was bean curd and sticky rice! Some of you might remember that episode.

Interesting fact for the day:

If you google "Vidya Vasudevan"... you can look at the number of times I have booked the microscope...

N.B. I have just gone through this post and substituted most of the "!" for "." !(.) I am banning myself from the use of "!"! :P

Q & A

I encounter the following questions on almost a daily basis!! I am providing you with the answers... so don't ask me:P (I am just feeling colourful!)

5) How come you speak such good Tamil?
4) Why don't you have an Indian accent and why do you have an American accent?
3) When is you grandma/grandpa/dad/mum comming back from India?
2) "Medical Science"... does that mean you are a doctor?
1) How did you turn out so "normal"???

My answers to them...

5) My parents and grandparents speak Tamil at home - so I guess I do too...
4) I left India when I was 5... I don't have an American accent!
3) My dad is comming back on Thursday and my grandma in a few weeks!!
2) Ummm... its more of a research degree...I am "Geneticist / Molecular Biologist"...
1) Who said I was "normal"???


An aside...
At the lab meeting
Supervisor: I was given 15minutes to summarise the work of my 6 PhD students that have submitted in the last 5 years!
PhD Student: So what did you do with the rest of the time?