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!!!!!