Exam week

I hate exams. Its the dead week right now. But since I am going to India next week, I am taking my final this week on Friday. I have been really busy and hardly found time to study. I just looked at my book and panicked. When did the professor teach all this stuff ? Looks I have slept through a lot of lectures. :-( And since its a comprehensive final, I've loads to study.

The most important task (other than studying) is making the cheat sheet; which I consider an art form by itself. I am allowed to take one A4 size page. And I think I have atleast 150-200 equations to squeeze in. I better start the miniaturization process soon. The book for this course ( Statistical Mechanics) is difficult to read and so very boring. A remedy for insomnia. Looks like I have night-outs to do. Sigh !

And if all this was not hard enough, I have to make a question paper i.e., give a test for my Astronomy class. That's a pain too ! Now I know why profs repeat questions. :-)

I know my prof would probably repeat questions from last time; unfortunately I don't have any old papers. Boo Hoo Hoo. I wish I had some desi seniors. They are better informed and more helpful than non-desis.
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Update on Friday after Exam:

The Exam went well...not bad not good....I am happy that I am done with it. Yipee.

Time Pass videos.....

I came across these funny videos; chk them out :-)

This one is in tamil/english with subtitles :

Grandma ad

This one is a little old but still very funny, a desi version of Hollaback girl:

Curry and Rice girl

Have fun !

S*A*L*E

This is a word that attracts me like a magnet. I am a shopaholic, I love to shop. All I need is an excuse to goto the mall ( and some money ofcourse). So, this thanksgiving I decided that I would not give-in to temptation and stay put at home ( Last year, my friends and I had stood outside BestBuy all night, we had a gr8 time). So this Thursday night, we watched Flight Plan and then I went to sleep. My roomie, Prathi woke up at 5am to go shopping. I told her that I was not shopping and went back to sleep. She called me from the mall at 11am on Friday and asked me which store I was in. I was fast asleep and blabbered something. She told me that aeropostale had a 50% off sale. This just woke me up in a second. Aero is one of my fav stores and I had been eyeing a brown coudroy pants there. I was up and ready in sometime. I woke up Karuna and dragged her to the mall. So much for a resolution not to shop !

I was in the mall and some other stores for nearly 7 hours ! I did not buy much and did a lot of window shopping. Visited my fav stores: Gap, Aero and American Eagle. I lost control in Aero as expected. I bought yet another handbag (apt 9) from Kohls. I could finally afford something from Abercombie ! All the clothes in this store are designed for really small people, I felt like a giant ! Then, I bought some more creams ! I don't know why I have such a big weakness for handbags, shoes/slippers, perfumes, jewellery, clothes, cosmetics and creams (esp bath and body works). I don't have place to keep my handbags and shoes :-(

Sometimes it is good to go shopping with others (they can help with carrying the shopping bags) while it is good to be alone at other times. Not everyone has patience to do window shopping. I like to go shopping with other equally avid shoppers who would not get bored with it and would not crib about being in the stores for more than 7 -8 hours !

I like shopping here because normally no one disturbs you with a ' Can I help you'. It was strange to go shopping in India after getting used to this style; there people are just waiting to pounce on you and give no privacy to look around. I still remember last year when I was in Health and Glow on Brigade Road in Blore; the store had more sales girls than customers. They came with a ' can i help you' and I told them I was ' just looking' . The girl gave me a weird look and kept following me ! I finally got so irritated that I left the store without buying anything.

I see another growing trend these days, normally shopping used to be a girls favorite hobby. Guys would normally stay away from shopping. But recently all my guy friends seem to love to shop like crazy too ! They are no longer just obsessed with electronics and seem to have switched to other things like clothes, house hold stuff, etc. Interesting change....

I am waiting to go to India and shop for the wedding. :-)

My experiments with hair color....

Sometime in 2002, I was fascinated with changing my hair color. I went to the nearby walgreens and picked up a brown shade from Revlon. Picking the color was not an easy task; anyway I tried it and lo....nothing happened. It did not even look like I had applied a hair color; remained as black as ever, except if I stood under some halogen lamp :-( But I did not give up so easily. Tried again after a couple of months and was a little more successful; turns out these colors take a while to show up.

Then I went home in Dec that year; hair color craze had just started in India. My mom is totally against coloring my hair ( I've heard long lectures about how it would spoil my hair etc). So it was a quite a challenge to do it under her nose and get away with it. I changed from brown to a reddish-brown. While that sounds nice; it was quite different. It looked like I had put henna on my hair. So thats exactly what I told my mom (plus the fact that henna is good for the hair). I don't know if she bought the story; I was back here before she could think about it. The color improved (thankfully) and I had a nice reddish-brown shade for a while. Ofcourse, nothing good lasts forever. I had a short boy-cut hairstyle and so as the length grew; the color change became more obvious. I tried a few more bolder red shades after that; one could say that I always had some strange hair color hehehhee. This was a constant source of amusement for all my friends.

I had a weird bright red shade this May. I still remember the first time I looked at myself after I tried this color; I was alone at home, I toweled my hair and looked in the mirror and almost fainted with shock. Whose reflection was it ? I hoped that the mirror had some dispersion problem(or watever). I promptly saw my reflection in another mirror under a different light, I looked worse. Eeekss....It looked like I had a red wig on. I panicked and finally went to meet a friend. My friend was ROFL after looking at me. I was almost in tears. Then I calmed down and decided to carry it off. :-) Unfortunately this was the time I was visiting Archana in California. I avoided standing under bright lights and took pictures carefully. Ofcourse I was always with a cap ( it was very hot hehehe). Everyone I met would ask me about the shade; I know deep inside they were collecting info so that they never buy that shade ( It was a L'oreal F'eria Red Highlight). The color seemed to grow on me and faded quickly. After a few months I changed to a light brown shade.

I also sported a color contact lens (amethyst) last year; which meant my origin was not so easy to guess. I have been mistaken to be a hispanic many times. I have fun changing my appearance and confusing everyone; especially when desis are around and they would speak in Tamil/Kannada/Hindi assuming that I would surely not know what they were speaking. :-)

Using my upcoming wedding as an excuse, my mom asked me to start growing my hair and stop coloring. Apparently South Indian brides don't sport red hair. Sigh ! So, my hair length is quite long now compared to how it was. Most of my friends would not recognize me now ! Funny how much difference hair length and color can make !

Now its back to square one; went to a salon on friday and colored my hair back to black. I feel weird when I look at myself in the mirror. Well, lets see how long this lasts..........

HP and the Goblet of Fire...

I was very excited about watching HP and the GOF. We went to the theatre an hour earlier. We had the last show on Sunday night at 9:45pm in the IMAX theatre. There was a long line as expected. While 3 of our friends stood in the line, Karuna and I went to look around the theatre. It was more crowded and noisier than usual. The screen was not as big as I thought. But it was surely better than the normal theaters. Some of the scenes were truly awesome ! I enjoyed the movie completely. It was Paisa wasool :-) This HP was better than the older ones.

K and I were very excited and kept talking about the movie on our way back. After coming home, I kept talking about it with my roomies and convinced them to watch it soon. Slept very late and woke up on time by some miracle ! I spoke about it with my students too and whoever watched it seemed to have liked the movie :-)

I would surely recommend to watch this movie; non-HP fans may be a little lost in the fast-pased narration. If possible, see it on IMAX.

Potter Mania...

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is releasing today; the reviews have said that the movie is very good. I am a big Potter fan and I'm waiting to watch it. Sadly, with the Potter Mania raging everywhere, it is difficult to get tickets ! So, I am not watching a First Day First Show :-(

I am watching a late show on Sunday night in the IMAX theatre (I booked the tickets a week in advance). Looking forward to it ! Looks like we have to go early and stand in the queue just to get a good seat inspite of having tickets in advance !

I miss watching movies in India; College days were so much fun....We used to bunk classes just to watch a movie ! And if the movie was popular, we had to stand in the queue just to get the tickets. Would end up with Gandhi class tickets leading to a bad head-ache and neck pain. It was still fun ! And there was always the concept of black tickets....

Imagine how chaotic it would be if there was no seat number concept in India ! There would be a mad rush for the seats.... !

I am experimenting with a new hair color today...more details abt that later !
:-)

Love, Relationships and Expectations.....! ?

Well I could write a novel about this topic which is always great to debate on. It was triggered by Rahul yesterday evening. He asked Karuna and me about what girls expect from a guy or rather what would impress a girl a general. Then later on the night, I had a long discussion with my roomies and Karuna; general girl talk and we all came to the same conclusion: men and women have different expectations from a relationship.

First I need to define what I mean by a relationship here; having a bf/gf is one thing while life long commitment i.e., marriage is different. Its ironic how a man's expectation from the woman would change drastically depending on this. When he is looking for a gf, he is just looking to have fun and have a good time. When it comes to marriage, most expect a Sati-Savitri ! I am not saying that all men are like this, but most are quite hypocritical ! Something even more ironic is the fact that most of the so called Sati-Savitri types are the most dangerous type of girls, cos they look innocent but are very different in character.

What do guys look for in a girl ? I think its looks, looks and looks ! And most people are obsessed with skin colour; what is the deal with fair skin ? The girl might be ugly, fat or have absolutely no features; yet as long as she is fair, she is considered ideal ! A fair and good looking bride is considered a great catch. What about her intelligence ? What about her character ? Does it matter if you are just not able to relate to each other ? How much importance is given to that ? What is the extent to which a guy is willing to compromise if the girl is good-looking ? This is something that always bothers me. It is the greatest disadvantage of an arranged marriage; because just talking to the person a few months would not reveal much. Looks would fade out in a few years and then the most important factor in any relationship would be character and interests.

What do girls look for in a guy ? Well there are many answers to this question. Personally, his character and personality would be the most important factor for me. I need someone with whom I can converse and not just talk ! Looks do matter for girls but they are not as obsessed with it the way guys are. Most girls would be happy with a decent looking guy; height would matter too. Another factor is financial security. When it comes to marriage, I would say girls are definitely more practical. They seem to looking at companionship and a good future.

Where does love fit in amidst all this ? I would say that it is very easy to fall in love; its being in love that's harder. I think time is a good test. If feelings do not change with time and distance, then it is probably something worth treasuring ! Being open-minded and frank would lessen a lot of misunderstandings. And ofcourse trust is very important too.

It seems that everyone around me is either married, getting married, looking to marry or are in a serious relationship. I think we all need to introspect about what we expect and what we are getting....Do they match ? How much can you compromise ? Is it worth all the trouble ?

My views are pretty biased; I would love to hear what others feel about this !

You have lost weight !

These are the magical words that I love to hear from anyone. A person who tells me " you have lost weight" becomes my best friend ;-) hehehehe

Life is indeed unfair; some people are so thin inspite of eating a lot. Then there are girls like me who would look well-fed even if I have been starving for a month ! Sigh ! I realized this truth more than a decade ago; tried many kinds of dieting and even starving; guess what ? Nothing gave remarkable results. So, I gave up dieting. Ofcourse I watch what I eat....which means avoiding fatty foods, sweets, fried stuff...Bottom line : avoid anything tasty !

Then I started working-out and then some finally there was some noticible change ! No, I am not one of those health freaks who jog 10 miles everyday; nor do I jog on the treadmill for an hour everyday; I joined an aerobics class ! I simply love this form of exercise; I guess the music and seeing others in the group keeps me highly motivated. And its a stress buster ! There are days when the instructor makes us work so hard that I think my heart would give up and pop out ! There are days when I am so exhausted that I feel like calling an ambulance to take me home. But I enjoy it anyway....

The only glitch is when you take a break and lose momentum; which means becoming lazy and finding excuses to avoid going to the gym; then it takes a lot of effort to get back into the groove. I am in that phase now....But I started going from last week and should be back in form soon :-)

It always inspires me when I see people working out; one of my cardio instructors is an old lady, she must be atleast 50 ! Yet, she teaches very well and her energy level puts us all to shame...I wonder if I would be able to move at her age !!

What started with a goal of losing weight has turned into something I enjoy doing; losing weight/being healthy seems like an incentive !

Anyway, this is my favourite prayer:

" Oh God, if you can't make me thin, please make others fat"

Ethiopian cuisine....

When Santu suggested that we try a new Ethiopian restaurant on saturday, we agreed unanimously. The restaurant was called Kereje and is on Greenville Ave in Dallas (near Al-Amir). It was the first time that we were trying this cuisine (except Santu).

The restaurant was not very crowded; the decor was quite different. Each table seemed to be inside a hut. It was dimly lit. The music was different ( I din't like it too much). I din't have difficulty in deciding what to eat; there was only one veggie dish. Both the Rahuls ordered some lamb dish. Everything arrived on an injera bread; which was just like rava dosa, only it was cold. The dosa oops injera tasted good with all the toppings ; there were 2 kinds of chutneys; some beans and cabbage curry (tasted very Indian). Could not see too many details about the food cos of the dim lights (were they trying to save electricity bills? ). The Veggie combo was pretty good. The lamb dish on the other hand turned out to be not so easy to chew. :-)

Flying Escapades - Part 3

We were inside the Bahrain airport soon. There was a security check and we finally got inside the lounge for transit passengers. We had a long halt in that country, almost 14-15 hours ! I don't remember the exact duration. We were told that the airlines would give us accommodation.

The Airport was empty. We were the only two unaccompanied women. We got a lot of curious glances. Anyway, we found someone who spoke a little bit of English and he directed us to the place where we would be given a visa. We got the stamp and were asked to go the Gulf Air Kiosk. We were greeted by lots of desis just as we got near that lounge; it was like a market and they all seemed like hawkers ! We refused their help and quickly went to the help desk. The person there told us that a bus would take us to the hotel soon. While, we waited there was a desi guy who also came there; we started talking. Turns out he was also going to Bangalore. Then another desi guy came there; both of them were also students. They suggested that we look around the city as we had a lot of time. Suchi and I refused saying we were tired and just wanted to crash.

Then we boarded a van that took us into the city. I was really amazed at the place. It had a lot of beautiful buildings. This was not like what I imagined. The place was rich ! We then went to our hotel which was very beautiful. It had a very nice ethnic decor. I think it was a 5 star hotel. Everyone right from the watchman to the manager was an Indian ! Surprise Surprise ! Most of them seemed like mallus. The watchman had the characteristic big veerappan type mousche. We got very nice rooms which opened into a patio where there was a big balcony and pool ! They told us that the lunch buffet would close soon and so we went to have lunch. There was lots of food for even a veggie. We ate happily and then slept peacefully. Then woke up in the evening, freshed up. By then it was time for dinner. Had another nice dinner. Then it was time to leave. The van took us to the airport; the ride past the city was beautiful as it was decorated with lots of lights everywhere.

We checked in and had some time to kill. We decided to do window shopping. The stores were very nice. They seemed to have all the latest things available. There was lots of gold and electronics stores. I was enamored by the perfume stores as usual. I found some to be cheaper than US ! And saw some European perfumes which are difficult to find here. I was quite impressed.

It was time to board the air-craft, we went to our gate. Most of the people around us were desis. Most seemed to be from the poorer section of the society. We were asked to go down via some dingy looking stairs to board the plane. I was quite surprised to be asked to down to ground level. We entered some big room which looked quite shady and it was filled with people. It was just like a bus-stand ! Only it was covered. There was the usual plastic chairs all around. Suddenly someone called out my name. I turned to find Jini sitting there. She also goes to our school and was travelling to Mumbai like us. She told us her story with the airline; we swapped stories and were all quite amused.

Suddenly there was an announcement for our flight. All passengers were asked to board. There was a sudden mad-rush like a mela. Everyone was running towards a small gate ! The three of us were shocked and stood rooted at the same place. We were like, what the hell is going on ? Why is everyone rushing ? Is nobody going to call out the seat numbers ? What was the rush for anyway ? The flight is not going to take-off obviously. The sight reminded me of a bus-stand; where people run and put their handkerchief or some other object to reserve the seat; only instead of a bus it was a plane ! Ha Ha Ha. I was greatly amused.

By now, the people were standing against a gate; when they asked the passengers to come to the gate; I did not think they literally meant a gate ! It was a grilled shutter gate ! With people pressed against it ! Then someone opened the gate and everyone rushed out. The 3 of us stood there gaping at the sight ! We could see the runaway from there. Where was everyone running to ? I was like, Don't tell me that I had to run/walk till the plane ! Then some van came there and started taking the passengers till the plane. As expected, we were the last passengers to board.

This plane was worse ( I never thought anything could be worse than the one we had come from London to Bahrain) ! It was smaller ! It was bluer ! Even the curtains had the same shade now ! I felt claustrophobic. I got the aisle seat in the 3 seats at the center. Suchi got the middle seat and there was a shady looking guy next to her. The whole plane was filled with a lot of shady looking men. They looked really cheap and dirty. They were only desis ofcourse. Most of them had the bata hawaii chappals. They had small suitcases which they kept on their laps ! We were quite shocked. I called the air-hostess to confirm if we were on the correct flight.

Jini was sitting in some other place and wanted to sit with us. We asked the air-hostess if she could swap and she told us to ask the concerned passengers. I then asked the guy next to Suchi if he would kindly move to another seat. He simply kept nodding his head and said no. I was quite irritated. Then I realized that he did not understand English. Here is where dumb charades helped. Finally, he got the idea and agreed. Phew. So the three of us sat together.

Then the flight finally took off. As usual it was scary. Everything wobbled. Then we had a nice dinner. The three of us were very happy to be going home and were in a very enthu mood. We felt that the plane was at a weird angle and was not straight. I asked at the steward and he assured me that it was straight. Anyway, we found that very amusing and kept laughing. We were a bunch of giggling girls again. The ride was short and we reached India !

The plane reached the ground; started taxiing; suddenly most people leapt to their feet and started removing the overhead baggage. The plane was still moving ! I was flabbergasted. There was an announcement from the Captain asking everyone to sit down. No one paid any heed to him. The air-hostesses tried to explain to the people to sit down. Finally they gave up ! The plane was still moving and by now people were thronging to the exits ! Another rush again ! This was crazy ! I was so shocked at their behavior.

I was so happy when my feet touched the ground....I had managed to survive Gulf Air ! I thought that my baggage was probably lost and was quite surprised to find that they had not. We cleared immigration and proceeded to the domestic airport to catch our flight to Bangalore.

What an experience it was !

Flying Escapades - Part 2

The mystery of the destination was finally revealed to us. It turns out that Gulf Air is like a town bus. It stops in many destinations and picks up truck loads of people. Gulf Air fools people into thinking that it is a world class airline. It is in fact just like traveling in a local bus; only it flies. And ofcourse they do not print all the destinations on the ticket and fool people into thinking that it goes only to one destination.

The four of us boarded the same flight. I was mystified when I entered the plane; it was one of the oldest and dirtiest planes I had ever seen. All seats had a peculiar blue colour. The seats seemed to be more than 1000 years old. Suchi and I got the worst seats ; in the four seats that are usually in the center; very crammed. There was an elderly Indian couple next to us. When we sat down, the seats seemed to be fixed. There was no concept of push-back seats ! Both of us were so shocked. Anyway, we settled in ( or atleast tried to).

There was a big TV hanging in front of us ( 2 seats away). When I say big, I don't mean a big screen, it was one of those relic picture tube TV's which was just big and bulky. We hoped that they would play some good movie. Suddenly someone started taking in some strange language using the microphone. It us a few minutes to realize that it was something in Arabic. It was the usual welcome note. It was followed by a welcome in English ( sounded like Arabic though). Then the pilot told us that we would be flying to Bahrain. The flight would then continue to Muscat. Mystery solved. The Air-hostess were dressed in a strange dress. They had a hood and some weird clothes. Most of them had a middle-eastern look; they looked like models. They gave me a you are fat and ugly complex (sigh).

Then there seemed to be an earthquake ! The whole plane began to shake and wobble. We got terrified ! The lights went out and there was a deafening noise ! It took us a few minutes to realize that it was the plane taking-off ! The loud noise was the engines ! On the brighter side, atleast there was an engine ! After what seemed an eternity, the wobbling finally reduced. I guess we had reached cruising altitude. I stopped clutching the seat and quickly confirmed to see if there was a life-jacket below the seat. That was a very difficult task to do, considering the fact that there was hardly any space.

Then the giant TV was on; something in Arabic/Urdu was displayed. Then some ad started. We quickly fished out the headphones from the pouch in front. The headphones had the same blue colour of the seats( hence forth I will call it GulfAir Blue). It us 10 minutes to find the socket for the headphones on the seat. I had never seen anything like it. There were so many buttons on both the arm-rests. It was like some space ship. Finally, we found the socket. The audio was in Arabic. Only one of Suchi's headphones was working. Then they started playing some Hindi movie (Naye Padosan). We found a Hindi audio channel and started to watch the movie. That's when I realized something was wrong with the TV. It seemed to be shaking too much. In fact, I thought it was going to break-off and fall down on the passengers' head. I felt very sorry for the person sitting under the giant TV.

Then came dinner time. The food was unexpectedly good. Or maybe by then I was mentally prepared to eat horrible stale food. We got a lot of nice things to eat. The service was pretty good compared to the plane's standard.

I was very scared to close my eyes and sleep. What if the wobbling plane crashed ? How would I escape ? Plus the fact the seats were uncomfortable and there was no leg space added to my misery. We got matching GulfAir Blue blankets and socks (which were actually soft and wrm). I finally had a disturbed sleep.

My prayers' were answered and we reached Bahrain without any mishaps. Only when I came down the steps, I noticed the colourful plane. Its tail was splashed with all the rainbow colours. Looked like modern art. Or maybe they had some discount from the paint company.

Adventures in Bahrain and the flight to Bombay will be the next post.

Flying Escapades - Part 1

I always have something that gets messed up when I travel and always end up with some adventures. The incidents described here are specifically related to my flight trips to India. I have crossed the 7 seas every year from 2002 ( 02' - the year I came to US; 03' - my first trip back home; 04' - came back here in Jan, went back to India in Dec; 05' - came back here in Jan and will be going to India in Dec). That's a lot of trips ! Needless to say lots of adventures too....

I flew outside India for the first time in Aug 2002; luckily I was not alone and had my ex-roomies for company. We had booked our tickets together and so it was very useful ; especially while lugging around our baggage. The trip was quite uneventful, all I remember is that we kept laughing. We flew KLM; the service and food was good. We were surprised to see air-hostesses who were quite old. In Indian domestic airways, you would normally only see very attractive young people. That din't seem to be the norm elsewhere !

Then while going back the first time in Dec 2003, Suchi and I flew Gulf Air as it was the cheapest fare. Ha ! What an adventure it was !! It took us almost 51 hours to reach Bangalore from Dallas and this includes both flying and waiting time.

Our adventures began when we left to the airport; our domestic flight from DFW to Chicago was around 7:30pm. As the airport is very close, I think we left around 5ish. Kripa was dropping us to the airport. As he was not very familiar with the route (and neither were we), we missed the exit. Then ofcourse we had to get lost. So instead of reaching the airport in 20mins, it took us more than an hour. The situation was still under control as we had more than 1.5 hrs for our flight. Just then Suchi's phone rang, it was our travel agent, he told us that there was some confusion with the flights and so we had to take the earlier flight at 6:30pm !! We were like, are you out of your mind ? It was already 5:45pm when we got the call and we were still trying to find our way.

Kripa drove real fast and we reached the airport by 6:00pm. We ran to the first AA counter and told them our situation; more confusion; she said our names were not there ! We were almost in tears ! Finally she found seats for us and we almost hugged her with joy. Then we checked in quickly, cleared security and ran to the gate. I think they were even announcing our names. We just about managed to reach the plane before they closed the doors...phew ! We were the last to board the flight. So that meant no space for our cabin luggage. These flights were so small ! Anyway, we found place for the bags and for ourselves. The seats were small and uncomfortable. We settled in. Nothing happened. What was going on ? Ofcourse, the flight just had to be delayed. It stood in the damn runaway for more than an hour ! Grrrrr....we were so irritated and hungry after all the tension. Then the flight finally took off and we got pretzels to munch. :-( Why do they even serve it ? The packet is so small that it may not be sufficient to feed even squirrels. Plus the fact that it tastes awful does not help either.

We reached Chicago; got a connecting flight to London. This plane was AA Boeing and was not that great in terms of comfort. Ofcourse, we din't know what was in store for us. Looking back I would say that the flight was luxurious compared to what we got next. The flight was uneventful. We waited eagerly for the food as we were ravenous after pretzels and coffee.

We reached Heathrow, it was a cold, grey morning. A typical London weather ! We were greeted by Indians ! Duh....! The airport was filled with desis ! Right from the person who greeted us, the security personnel to the airport cleaners were desis ! Well, well, well, you never know. We had a 5 hour halt in the airport. Alec and another girl from our school was also in the same flight. We decided to do window shopping. The airport was crowded and had many stores. We quickly realised that everything in Heathrow airport was expensive. We got some starbucks coffee and continued our window shopping. Then we sat down and just did gupshup till we ran out of energy. I liked the airport, it was big and had nice stores. We could actually kill time easily.

Then while we waited to check-in; we got into a argument with Alec and the other girl. Their next halt was Muscat while ours was Bahrain. Both our flights had the same number ! And both our tickets said that it was direct flight. How could the same flight goto two places without a stop-over ? It just din't make sense. Puzzled ? I will reveal the answer tomorrow :-)

Pride and Prejudice

I am very excited about the release of this movie on Friday. I hope it does justice to the novel !

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is one of my favourite novels. The novel was first published in 1813. It is a classic tale of love mixed with all the ingredients for a great read. The Bennet family and all its eccentric members are very easy to relate to. The title referes to the initial misunderstanding between the quick-witted Elizabeth and the haughty Darcy. Elizabeth Bennet is one of my favourite female fictional characters while Mr.Darcy is one of my favourite male fictional characters. Mr.Darcy seems mysterious with his good looks, pride, style and quiet - nature. He is the kind of guy every girl would dream to be in love with. Needless to say, this is one of the best romantic stories that I have ever read. I have read the novel many times and have atleast three versions of it ( abridged, unabridged and a comic).

The Indian version called Bride and Prejudice was a joke ! The director murdered the beautiful characters; casting Aishwarya Rai as Elizabeth was the biggest mistake in the movie. Her portrayal of the character showed that she had never read the novel. It seemed like they had made a mockery of the novel and of Indian traditions. I can still recall a scene towards the end of the movie, where the newly weds parade on the streets on an elephant ! ROFL ! How stupid ! Gurinder Chadda seems to think that it is a very common occurrence in India !! These are the kind of movies that mislead and encourage misconceptions about India. No wonder most people have wrong ideas about India and enquire about elephants, maharajas and snake-charmers !

I hope the 2005 release is a better adaptation of the novel.

To learn more about Jane Austen and her novels visit this site
http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/janeinfo.html

To talk or not to talk ?

My mom told me that I was very quiet as a baby. I used to talk very less and that got them worried; so my parents apparently prayed to all the Gods for my speaking ability. Their wishes came true. After the age of 3, I started talking ceaselessly. As both my parents were working, I used to wait eagerly for them to come back so that I could tell them the days' events. My mom told me that I used to talk so much, that she used to fall asleep listening to my babble. Hehehehe.

Most people who meet me for the first time, think that I am very quiet. Which is kinda true cos I don't start chit-chatting till I know the person. There are exceptions ofcourse; I guess if I am really bored I can gabble with anyone. But sometimes, you can instantly click with a person and talk like buddies. I guess its all about wavelenght matching.

And there are those days where I end up talking so much that my throat aches ! Yesterday was one of those days ! It was Sunday night and I had already spoken to a few friends and relatives during the day. I was talking to a few friends for around 1.5 hrs over the phone from 8:30pm. Then just when I had made up my mind to do my research work, my roomie, Bhumi asked me something. Next thing I know, we had been yacking till 11:30 pm. Then we went to Sukruth's house to eat pani-puri; followed by more yacking. Came back home and had another session of gossiping till 1am where even Prathi joined us. Then I realised that I have a class to teach the next day morning (today) and decided to sleep. But I did not sleep, I was talking with Prathi till almost 2am ! Then I forced myself to shut-up and sleep !! Making it a grand total of yacking continously for 5.5 hrs !!! ( This exludes my day-time gupshup)

Its kind of hard for me to accept when people say that I am talkative; I guess I like to converse...and it makes it a lot more interesting when the other person also talks. I get bored with people who just cannot make conversation and answer in monosyllable ! Plus talking also depends on my mood :-)

So, do I talk too much ?

One of the days...

Have you ever had a day when everything right from when you wake up goes wrong ? Chaos is all around ?

Today was one of those days for me; not a bad day actually; just chaotic. It all began with me not hearing my alarm go off; so I overslept and woke up at 11am instead of 8am !! Good thing I din't have a class to teach today morning. I had planned to go to Walmart and get an oil-change for my car, do groceries etc. Instead I wasted all that time sleeping. It was also my cooking turn and so I spent some time in deciding what to cook (sigh !). Then I cooked, got ready and came to school.

As soon as I came to school, I had a message from my cousin telling me that NorthWest Airlines had cancelled its Bangalore flights !! What the heck ! ? ! This was a bolt out of the blue as I am flying to India in 4 weeks ! I called NW immediately and they told me to contact the travel agent. By now, the news that the flights had been cancelled was confirmed. For once, I thought I would have a smooth trip but looks like fate was laughing at me again ! Anyway, I called my agent and told her to re-route my trip. Luckily, she did it promptly and sent me the details. I would have to fly to Mumbai and then to Bangalore instead of a direct flight to Bangalore. Well, atleast I had the new reservation confirmed and so I was relieved ! I had to call NW again and confirm my seating and meal options. Phew, damage under control.

While all this was going on, Swati told me that my Prof was looking for me. I was like huh, I just met him yesterday. Was there more bad news on its way ? I din't have to wait for long to find out; my Prof came back and told me that he needed to talk to me. Oh oooo.... I was like, now what ? ! He kept speaking about the NSF grants and other things. I guessed by now that he had made up his mind about who he was going to fund next semester as a RA. Finally, he told me that he was going to fund me !! I was like whoa ! Yipee !! He told me that I will have a lot of work when I come back from India. I told him that I was very happy that I could finally do some research work. So, looks like no more teaching classes ! But I will miss teaching and interacting with students. But I will have time for research. Life is full of pros and cons....

Amidst all this, there was some confusion with the House rent; there was some fine about which no one knew. It was apparently for some fire hazard. What on earth is that ? As usual, I have been talking to people in Bursar's office, Housing Dept and no one knows anything. Finally I was asked to send an email.

After all this, I am stuck with grading papers for my class.

All in a days work...........

Happy Deepavali

The ancient story of how Diwali evolved into such a widely celebrated festival is different in various regions and states of India.

In the north, Diwali is the day when King Rama's coronation was celebrated in Ayodhya after his epic war with Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. By order of the royal families of Ayodhya and Mithila, the kingdom of which Sita was princess, the cities and far-flung boundaries of these kingdoms were lit up with rows of lamps, glittering on dark nights to welcome home the divine king Rama and his queen Sita after 14 years of exile, ending with an across-the-seas war in which the whole of the kingdom of Lanka was destroyed.

In the south, Diwali has two more legends connected with it. The first legend again concerns the victory of good over evil. Narakasura the demon of hell, challenged Krishna to battle. After a fierce fight lasting two days, the demon was killed at dawn on Narakachaturdashi.To commemorate this event, people in peninsular India wake before sunrise and make imitation blood by mixing kumkum or vermillion with oil. After crushing underfoot a bitter fruit as a symbol of the demon, they apply the `blood' triumphantly on their foreheads. They then have ritual oil baths, annointing themselves with sandalwood paste. Visits to temples for prayers are followed by large family breakfasts of fruits and a variety of sweets.

The second legend is about King Bali, the benevolent demon king of the netherworld. He was so powerful that he became a threat to the power of celestial deities and their kingdoms. Intimidated by his expanding empire and taking advantage of his well-known generosity, they sent Vishnu as the dwarf mendicant Vamana, to dilute Bali's power. Vamana shrewdly asked the king for land that would cover three steps as he walked. The king happily granted this gift. Having tricked Bali, Vishnu revealed himself in the full glory of his godhood. He covered the heaven in his first step and the earth in his second. Realizing that he was pitted against the mighty Vishnu, Bali surrendered and offered his own head inviting Vishnu to step on it. Vishnu pushed him into the nether world with his foot. In return Vishnu gave him the lamp of knowledge to light up the dark underworld. He also gave him a blessing that he would return to his people once a year to light millions of lamps from this one lamp so that on the dark new moon light of Diwali, the blinding darkness of ignorance , greed, jealousy, lust, anger ego, and laziness would be dispelled and the radiance of knowledge, wisdom and friendship prevail. Each year on Diwali day , even today, one lamp lights another and like a flame burning steadily on a windless night, brings a message of peace and harmony to the world .

Source : http://www.reachgujarat.com/diwali.htm