Monday, October 31, 2005

If my BOC lecturer read this...

I wrote this small piece in my bio-organic chemistry (BOC) class...and it was a
beginning. It became a habit. I guess BOC classes can do more than lull you into slumber
or get you into the mood of playing 'tic tac toe' or 'hangman'.

DESTINED TOGETHER

A mouth moves...two hands gesture...
Several pairs of eyes gaze...stare...as if in awe...
Their eyes truly looking into some place far...
Looking beyond the mouth and hands,
Their mind miles away...
Where life treats them better...
Where things go their way...
Places only the mind can reach...
Only the curtained, veiled eye can see...veiled by false concentration.
Seeming charmingly concentrating, however fake...
satisfying both sides.
Unfortunate enough to happen...by the hour, by the second.
Misty eyes that stare beyond...beyond the object,
beyond the stars...beyond reality.
Minds that travel further away from the present than can ever do...
The window to the mind - the eye remains,but well veiled...delusive.
They go hand in hand...and they will as long as the wind blows...
Forever....

Lectures and daydreaming!!

Signinig off....

Sunday, October 30, 2005

The story that turned out to be what it wasn't supposed to be

I wrote this short story for a competition held by the British Council, chennai. It came out of sheer boredom during my library hour. And i sent it. It obviously didn't win anything, but since am running outa stuff to post....

Another thing...some of you might have already read this... u don't need to read it again, but pl leave your comments. And alot of u may not have read it....do read it and tell me how lame u thought it was! And please don't take any of the 'names' seriously, i wrote the names that came to my mind at that point of time....and they jumped out of books, and movies.



THE HUES OF A SUNSET


There was no possibility of taking a walk that day… Charlotte wasn't in bed and Mia would have to tend to all her necessities. Charlotte had just woken up...and Mia wasn't sure whether she had the colourful images of her children in her mind or the feeling of being sucked out of a black hole with a fatigued body and bone deep pain. She was too old to move around freely...she could just walk short distances. After a mid-day nap such as this one, she would want to sip a cup of hot, extra strong black coffee in bed and watch the sunset...she admired the hues of red, blue and purple as if they were her own creation and as if they filled the voids within her...the voids that were overflowing with emptiness and nothingness...She felt strangely complete. Mia sometimes wondered how something as small as the sunset, something that happened every single day, could play so big a role in the life of a woman so old and fragile. What she didn't know was that that time of the evening was when Charlotte’s brain was like a wheel barrow in a garden...filling itself with flowers, like her children, their visits to the park, their late night story telling sessions or occasionally, with weeds, like the arguments they had and how the past and present were so inexplicably different. And when the red twilight gave way to the purple of the night, her mind would be too heavy with thoughts that she felt like her head was jammed and the weight on her neck was becoming unbearable! She would stop there...it was just too much for her to take in. Then, Mia would come in with a tray, wearing her favourite blue apron with orange flowers, and pour her more coffee and make her eat those hateful figs...Oh, why were such unpalatable fruits supposed to be good for her deteriorating health? Sometimes, she felt like she'd prefer an early death to forcing those dark, dry blobs down her poor throat. But she still ate them, everyday. Then she would say "Mia, take me to my children honey!” her eyes sparkling and looking double their size behind her thick rimmed spectacles. And Mia would ask "which one do you want - the seaside, the park, Melanie's 8th birthday...which one?" Charlotte would choose one of them...Mia always gave her ma'am lots of choices. She knew it was always better for her to pick one than think of one herself. Mia would then pull out a large bound album of photographs and place it on Charlotte's bedside.
"Oh look at my Melly! Her green eyes look like two olives!"
"Yes...they're very pretty, aren't they?"
"But now she has brown eyes...she calls them 'lenses’. Apparently, green doesn't suit her complexion any more. How ridiculous I say!"
"Oh ma'am, let it be. Look at the beautiful cake that you'd baked."
"No Mia...I can't let it be. My children are gone...my little Cole is now a big man with a beard! The sight of him gives me goose bums...he always has a sly look in his eyes which makes me feel he wants me done away with as soon as possible...he no longer resembles the ginger-bread man he loved so much! And Ivy...whose face always looked so happy...like she'd just gulped down a Thanksgiving meal of turkey and tart gives me this feeling of wanting to run away and never look back when she looks at me! And the three of them huddle together in a corner and whisper like they’re plotting a conspiracy against me!”
"Ma'am, your children are all grown up...and they left like all the children in the world do." Mia said, dusting the crystal dolls on the corner stand of the dimly lit room. Charlotte sighed and gazed at Mia. This woman had become such an essential part in her daily routine. She would probably be resting in her grave in some cemetery if it weren't for her. Mia caught her gaze and gave out a hearty laugh that sounded as warm and brown as her own complexion...
"You stop throwing such looks ma'am. I'll fix you dinner and tuck you up in bed. I have to rush back to my Porky."
Another child that's going to turn into an ungrateful brat...thought Charlotte. Mia did as she said and hurried out into the freezing night. The moon was up and throwing a silver light on the pathway as if to guide her home.

Charlotte lay in bed...she was replaying the conversation she had had with her children 3 days ago. Apparently, they had searched the attic for some old crystal pieces and found a few missing. They accused Mia of stealing and wanted Charlotte to send her away...What right did they have? Mia was the only person she had now...She was racking her brain trying to recall if she'd moved the crystals...but how did it matter even if Mia had taken them? She never used them, or even saw them in 9 years now! But it mattered to the law...her children had said so. Instinctively, she hunted for her will… She found it in a messy stack of documents at the bottom most shelf of her rusting bureau and read it...the dim yellow light fell on the parchment to the intricacy of her signature as if signifying something she wasn't able to fathom...She wanted to make changes. Lots of changes. She wanted to leave everything to Mia, everything that had ever been in her possession, including the crystals. With that thought filling her head and heart, and her will by her bedside, she drifted into blissful slumber...

She was awoken by the sun rays filtering through her blinds...touching her wrinkled skin. Inch by inch they moved further sending spasms through her spine. All was silent and still. The morning seemed so unusually dead with deafening silence...She hummed softly...her song seemed to silence the silence... there was something terribly wrong in the air. Mia hadn't come in yet. What had happened to her? Then, as if to answer her question, she heard a click on the door and footsteps entering the kitchen. She heard eggs being placed on the rack, milk being poured into a kettle, vegetables being thrown into the vegetable tray as if the person throwing them was fuming with rage…and before she realized, she could see the silhouette of a lady at her doorway…unmistakably, Mia.
“Tea or coffee?” she asked, her voice uncharacteristically cold. Charlotte’s eyes rested on the tray. Yet again, Mia was giving her a choice…how very different from her own children.
“You send her away mama, and the three of us will take turns to looks after you. You cannot object mama, you don’t have a choice.”
The words were still ringing in her ears…mean minded children.
“Ma’am, do you want tea or coffee?” Mia repeated patiently holding a sugar cube at the tips of her sweaty fingers. Charlotte saw tears filling her eyes…Mia’s words faltered.
“Oh! My dear, What in God’s name is wrong with you now?”
A stream of tears was running down Mia’s cheeks…
“It’s my Porky ma’am…he helped his father smuggle in opium for a local organization. Hateful man my husband…why can’t he leave me and my child alone? They’re going to arrest Porky ma’am, I have to leave the city before it is too late…And besides, it won’t be long before those children of yours find out that I sold two crystal pieces from the attic to save my wretched husband….I’m leaving ma’am!”

Charlotte felt like her insides were twirling in a hurricane. She was hanging on every word that she’d just heard . It was difficult to tell the intensity of the feelings she felt. They were too contradicting…she couldn’t decide whether she was more affected by the idea of Mia leaving or the fact that she did actually sell the crystals…She felt that familiar weight on her neck and her head jamming up with thoughts. What would she do without Mia?
“No Mia! You cannot leave.” She yelled, her voice hiccupping in tears.
“No ma’am” Mia objected, “I’ve had enough of this monotonous life…I want to run away from all these responsibilities…they’re becoming too heavy a load on my breaking back. I can’t take care of you anymore; you wouldn’t want me after what I’ve done. Allow me to leave ma’am, the morning breeze calls my name…it leads me to a promised land.”
“Then you must take me with you…” Charlotte cried, with an expectant look in her eyes…like a child waiting eagerly to be picked up and carried by her mother. And her voice trailed away…as she broke into soft sobs.
“It doesn’t matter to me Mia…I don’t care about the cry…crystals.” She said, her voice hiccupping again. “I couldn’t live without you…I can’t live my routine without you. Every night, when you leave me tucked in bed, I long for the morning when I can see your chubby face, and your blue apron and hear your hearty, brown laugh. I would never have come so far without your nursing…will you not heed one of the last wishes of this dying, old maid?”
Before she could finish, Mia had raced out of the doorway. She came back holding a small purse…
“Ma’am, look around you.” she said “This is your home… What good will a journey to some place we don’t know help you?”
“Mia, if you aren’t there, I wouldn’t know who I am. I would prefer knowing myself to living in a house that my wicked children are waiting to take away. They’re waiting
Mia…like scavengers…vultures.”

With that, there was no more talking…the twosome walked out of the gate with the little money they had. Charlotte had stuffed her photographs into a handbag which seemed non-existent in the past nine years and Mia had taken a good deal of figs…When they just stepped into the front porch, Charlotte turned back and stared at the house…suddenly, she started into a half run that almost broke her legs and made Mia feel like she was holding her heart in her hands…She walked into her bedroom and looked at the parchment that was lying at her bedside. She folded it neatly and stuffed it into her bag. Things were going to change. The dawn wind was taking them to a promised land…and probably, something new would fill her voids that were overflowing with emptiness. But the sunset would always remain her ultimate comfort. She looked around her room, her blinds, her crystal dolls and the unwashed tea cups and sugar cubes that the ants were now relishing…and she smiled in final farewell. “I’m coming Mia,” she whispered, “I smell freedom.” She turned her back, squared her shoulders, and walked out…allowing the dawn rays to rejuvenate her spirits.


If you are still reading this line, am happy you didn't sleep through!! Yipppeeeee
The title has a significance....in relation to the story, and myself.

Signing off.....

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Deafening Silence!!

Am already running out of ideas for a post. Makes me wonder what my blogger friends do when they don't know what to write. Well. Its been quite an eventful day.... My friends, lavanya and nitya have come down from hostel.....was nice meeting lav again.

Ok this is something wierd. For the past 2 days, its not been very hot. Thats not very common in chennai....but hell, its true. So, i've been sleeping without the fan switched on ( wats the world coming tooooo!! ). I find it very difficult to fall asleep...not because i can't feel the fan's 'air' but because i can't hear the sound!! Ain't that the most silly thing u heard today? I never knew things like this make such a difference..... hell.......!! Its like deafening silence..... wow, an oxymoron! k.... i'll post later. And bharat.... thanx for asking me to update. I know i already told u this, but i want to mention it again. It made me feel like 'yiiipppeeeee someone wants me to update'!!!!

Signing off....

Friday, October 28, 2005

IF.......

One of my friends once told me that people around me see my poetry as a medium to express my languauge skills, and as a form of true art. But she thinks its an expression of feelings, a medium for me to bring out my thoughts, and help myself adjust to the people around me. At that time, she said she was 'sorry' if what she said was wrong.... I would like to say this. To Padmaja. I don't think you should have apologised for something that couldn't be truer. I think poetry is something difficult to be appreciated, even by people who do write it. To all my friends out there, who take the pains to read all the crap i write, and say its good, whether they like it or not...its a big thankyou! And to those who tell me their interpretations,and discuss them with me, and read it more than once to understand it, its a bigger thankyou! Its great to listen to the way different people look at words u know....u wud never have thought of so many possibilties! This blog may have a great deal of my work posted in the future. Thats one reason i started this blog (tribanga, i took your advice!). Well, this kinda means that some posts are going to be really boring! Sorry abt that.... Well i just indirectly said that poetry's considered boring. I think so too...unless you can relate to it. Once something gets through u and strikes a chord, aaah, you'll definitely like it. Maybe thats why i don't mind reading my poems...Gawd that sounded so silly...its me who writes them! But the poem you will be reading in this post, is one such piece. I didn't write it, but i can relate to it.Like hell. And i think many many people can. Its one of my faves.

By Rudiyard Kipling.

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

A few of you may recall that the last few lines were on one of our prose pieces in 12th std....

So...this post...is a tribute to the writer of the Jungle book...which made him famous. I guess there are more of his subtle works that need to be appreciated.....

I'd like to close by repeating Kipling's words.... If you can meet with truimph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same.....
Maybe we all think life would be better just IF...... loads of things happened. What an apt title.... And this brings me to a quote that says 'you should be the change you wish to see in the world....' Don't know how true it is, but it makes sense in a few situations.

Signing off...

ONE FINE DAY.....?



Venice - the sinking city....Venice - the water-logged city. Isn't that what people say?
Well, Our good old chennai seems to want those titles for a while... This again reminds
me of the lines 'water water everwhere, not a drop to drink...' by Coleridge (am sorry am always quoting some poet...). Maybe it should be 'water water everywhere, not a drop that doesn't stink...' (and that isn't dirty brown)Well, atleast Coleridge was under opium when he wrote those words...i don't think i'm under anything of that sort, maybe just some water that i may have accidentally taken in! Ok...i didn't do that!Well, for those of you who don't know, Chennai's having a very very funny weather pattern this year...meaning, the cyclones and the 'depressions' which are always predicted by the metoerological department every year, are ACTUALLY taking place this year...wierd huh? Blame it on the tsunami, or on some silly positions of stars and the sun, or on the beginning of the end of the world......Hell, the fact that chennai has recorded the maximum amount of rainfall in the shortest period of time in history remains fatefully unchanged.

Its funny how residents of this city keep complaining that there's just not enough rain
ever, and that the Rain God is just not showing mercy ( my grandmom keeps saying it..).
Its true in a way. He's still not showing mercy...but this time its no-mercy to the 'excess rain' factor. Broken dams, and over-flowing Cauvery river -how long is it since we even heard of such things? I guess all the jokes of Chennai having just 3 seasons - mild summer, summer, and peak summer - just don't make sense to today's scenario! Hell's been pouring down since 26.10.05 afternoon...And it stopped close to 2 hours back... which is say about 9.30pm on 27.10.05. And its been CONTINUOS. No breaks...and almost at constant intensity. Wow, is this chennai? We're all surprised.....

I'll tell you my side of the story. Funny though it may sound now, i assure you that it
was one of my worst experiences ever, and has made me realise that scorching heat is way
better than unleashing rains. Atleast in a place like Chennai.

When i was going to bed on 26th night, after studying very scantily for my university practical exam to be held on 27th, i said a small prayer - that the rain should stop -PLEASE! All i remember after that, is my grandmom's wailing voice...telling me that all colleges and schools are closed cuz of the rain. But wait a minute, i have a UNIVERSITY exam, i have to go. Just imagine, she hadn't even boiled milk or anything thinking I'm definitely not going anywhere! Aaah...i was going mad. It was Cold like hell, and my teeth were clattering - though i think that was more out of nervousness after i saw my terribly flooded street. I was ready in a jiffy and by this time, my cousin who was wandering in slumber-land, had woken up and had taken a good look at the street, and even estimated the water level! We decided i had to go, cuz i had no choice...and he said he'd drop me on his bike. So we left - i was wearing a blue wind-sheeter with a cap and an umbrella and he was wearing a football jersey (they're water proof!) (and after seeing him wear it, i had this great urge to play football in the rain!), his helmet and was
holding an umbrella. When we got down, we realised how grossly we had under-estimated the
level of water. There was no way a bike could get out without getting water into its silencer and coming to a stop hardly 10 feet away from its point of ignition.Cars were stranded in the water. The only way to get to the bus stop was to WALK. So, we 'waded' into the water...literally. And suddenly, i got transported to the year 1912...it felt like i was on the titanic! Hell, it was like a 1000 needles were pricking my skin everywhere. COLD (very very cold), BROWN, STINKY water. The water at first reached my thighs. There was no point in turning back, now that we were already royally in some sort of a swamp (actually, swamps never have water to such heights...but i think they're as dirty!). We walked, my cousin held my hand and was literally pulling me forward... cuz a) i was damn cold and b) i was scared to wits end. As we walked on, or waded on, floated on....whatever, the water got deeper...and by the time we were half way across the street, the water reached my waist.A very important point to be noted is that we were walking in the middle of the street...And at this juncture, we heard some sound behind
us...sort of like a car or something....SHIT!!! It was a tata sumo!! I screamed... that was the first time i realised i actually did have a real high pitched, girlish, scream. We forced ourselves towards the side...and the merciless driver drove fast...what a pig. And so the ripples came onto us! And for a minute, the water was even higher! Damn, that was lousy. Life had to be so unfair! It was getting late...so we walked faster. As we reached the end of the street, the water became shallow...thank heavens for that, or thank the drainage system dammit. So we got to the main road, which also had a considerable amount of water, but seemed like nothing compared to what we had been through. My bus came...and didn't stop for a while cuz i was dressed like a clown...then i removed my cap and waved...and aaaah, the driver recognised me! I told my cousin to get home safely...i was damn worried for him, and i got onto the bus...

END OF PART ONE!!!

Whatever happened during the bus journey, i will not elaborate... but i kept thinking of what the hell i would have done if my cousin wasn't there, and whether he got home alright. Basically, i didn't study. The vision in my mind of the morning's happenings, and the sight my eyes were digesting... of a devasted city just didn't allow room for any crappy cell biology theories to get in. We reached college...and i got off at my lab block. All my classmates were huddled in a group...and most of us were wet till the waist, so YIIIPPPEEEE i wasn't alone and everyone had a tale to tell! We waited a long time for our profs to come... but no one did, and so...we just assumed there would be no exam. Our assumptions usually back fire really badly, but not today...since everything from morning seemed to be going the opposite way. Our exam got postponed.To 29.10.05. And may the vice-chancellor of Anna uni Mr. D.Vishwanathan rot in hell for making the announcement at 9.00am instead of 7... We had to leave college. Another elaaborate procedure which did nothing more than get us DRENCHED from head to toe... now the previous wetness just had to blend with the fresh dirty water! So, after alot of cursing and laughing, we boarded our buses again...and i started to panic...thinking of re-doing the whole wading process! But this time there was something else that was nagging... i was thinking of "Anniyan". Anyone who saw it, wud remember the electrocution scene!Not like in a chair and all...but a live wire in the water... How come i never thought abt it in the morning? I was too pre-occupied. How come i thought abt it now? I was even more scared (if that was possible) than i was before. I got off the bus at the edge of the same street that i had left abt 4 hours back...but now, the water was flowing out of the street! For a wild moment, i thought i was at the marina beach...damn! I plunged into the ocean of garbage...YUCK! I tried to shut my mind from any thoughts...it was more difficult cuz i was waking alone! I walked...and this mega-huge truck was coming in the opposite direction! AAAAAAH... But he was a little considerate, kind of slowed down...but hell, the ripples still raised the water level! There were a number of people on the road...one told me to be careful with the 'pallam' or portholes...I felt a rush of victory when i saw the green-grey gate of my flat...aaah, the feeling!HOME!!! I instinctively looked up, and my cousin was looking down...I ran through the gates...a dirty girl dressed in something that was blue in the morning...I was dripping wet... each inch of my body covered in water.... who cares. I was HOME. Thasall...!

Reached home at 11.30am....Even after jumping into a pair of jeans, a t-shirt + a full hand shirt (that once belonged to my bro), i was shivering...and for the first time in the history of my stay in chennai, i wore SOCKS on a cold day... There was no electricity...it had been purposefully cut off to prevent electrocution... which left us all in a very jobless state. The rest of the day was lazy, but fun...cooking and dirtying the kitchen for my poor grandmom to clean! Once u're out of the mess, u can enjoy it!

The on-going sms joke in chennai says... in the USA, they had Katrina, Rita and Wilma...
in chennai, its going to be Kuppama, Karupamma and chellaathaa!! LOL...
A rainy day...It made me realise alot you know. The first thing being that natural calamities (like floods) are the worst things that can ever happen...THEY SUCK. Second- sometimes u wonder wat the hell u'd do without a few people. Third - Even though things seem hilarious at the end of the day ( for example, i thot my cousin looked like an astronaut with his helmet...cuz he wasn't riding a bike, but walking/wading), u can never ever forget the deep shit u were in! One wrong move...and heaven knows where the devil i'd be.

That brings me to the end of this very eventful post. I just checked the water-level outside
(its 1.16 am now). And i can see the road....yessss!!!
The water's draining out, the
rains have stopped, but the wind's blowing hard... One last thing... anybody who says
chennai's suffering from acute water problems is going to have dung stuffed down his/her
thraot..........................
Do you believe a word of what you just read? Difficult ain't it? ;-)

Well, the photographs at the beginning of the post...were taken from my balcony hardly 16hours ago... am off to sleep, and all i hope for is that i should NOT dream of the days happenings.... Nite all...
Yours "i've had one hell of a day"ly
Signing off.....

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

The Canine Factor!


Ever read the poem 'This is going to hurt just a little bit' by Ogden Nash? Anyone who did their 10th Std under a CBSE board would definitely remember. Personally, i found it very very funny at that point of time.Especially that little 'pun' at the end that my English teacher used to keep pointing out. But now, i realise how true Mr.Nash's words are...Dentists!Even though i visit that clinic so frequently, the tickle down my spine when i sit on that flexi chair with a million buttons to press just doesn't change or vanish!! Well....Its a long story.

"Clippu potundu irrukeya?" (oh u're wearing 'clips'aah?).Can't somebody just use the word BRACES? what's it there for? Oh my, I'm TIRED to my bones listening to that question. But
all i do is just smile... kind of symbolically telling people 'can't you see for yourself?'Restraining myself from screaming. Can't blame them though...they wouldn't know how it feels like to try closing your mouth after your teeth are freshly 'wired', sort of like forcing your lower lip higher and higher so that it touches your upper lip and covers your teeth within with much difficulty, but u realise that if u DO close your mouth, it pricks your inner lip, and your cheek muscles, wanting you to leave your mouth permanently open like aaaaaaaaa!! or in a eeeee position! Just that it would leave u looking like a vampire with smiling eyes...the mouth trying hard to smile (when its closed)!

The easiest way to lose weight without being on a diet, or working out, is wearing braces! My dentist told me that the first time i met him ( but that was way back then...nowadays, he's boring.Nothing funny... just "your next appointment will be on ..blah"). Well, that did turn out to be true for the first few months...but i guess it wears offff!! NOt any more!! One thing about wearing braces is that you are not supposed to use your front teeth to bite ANYTHING...yes, however soft! Ofcourse, unless you don't mind a terrible ache in your mousy incisors...! So, if u have to eat a banana or an apple, u have 2 options -

a) You could slice it up and use your back teeth to bite ( which is a very boring thing
to do u know...Get knife, peel, cut...neah!) OR
b) Force the whole fruit into the insides of your mouth by opening it wide
and..BITE!(with your back teeth obviously..).

I prefer the second option...simply cuz it makes me feel like i've achieved something!Disgusting though it may sound! But...it may leave you with a tooth ache for over a day...but i guess its worth the laziness...gettin a knife n doing the blah....! Now you're not supposed to use your front teeth, right? It turns out, u're not supposed to use your back teeth either....umm, for a few things.Which would mean that these food stuffs are literally out of the scope of your diet for the 1 or 1.5 years that the sacred wire clings to your teeth, as if your white ( or off-white or yellow), odd-shaped (or square?) structures are the most important of things to them in the whole, wide, wasted world and their main purpose is to make sure your teeth don't run away further from your jaw, or fall out of line! And under this lousy list of goodies comes something we southies call 'murukku'....damn it hasn't touched my tongue for 5 months! Basically, anything thats hard, n has the probability of breaking your brackett ( the small, square metal thing that holds the wire) is not advisable. They're not advisable, so who said we can't eat them? Unless the dentists are jobless enough or rich enough to hire goons! (actually, they do get richer... Mine got new name boards all over the place...beginning n ending of my street, new bright blue one outside his place...even these damn rains couldn't bend the board! damn!) We still eat them...but hell,the brackett breaks. And this inititates a chain of events that u'd rather avoid - Starting from u directing your tongue towards n rubbing it on the 'tooth with the missing brackett', n feeling how rough the cement has made it, and how yellow and dirty, n u having to call up the dentist and
give him/her the good news, to him/her giving u a disappointed/disgusted/'why the hell can't u be more careful' reply, n u going back to the dentist to get it fixed, n him/her putting more cement on your already rough tooth ( cement which he grinds with a mortar and pestle which makes u think of the fish/goat-liver u'd ground for biochemistrypracticals), n then him/her removing the whole goddam wire cuz the whole thing has to be re-done, and all this time, you'll be sitting with your mouth in the aaaaaa position (wanting desperately to catch hold of the gloved hand and bite it), and then he'll tell you to bite, and u'll come to the eeee postion (biting nothing but your own teeth..). Then he'll turn to his assistant and say "its still in open bite, isn't it?" or some kinda crap like that just to discourage you or to show you that he knows something you don't... So, my point is - why eat 'murukku' afer all?

The next thing is the rubber bands...that come in various colours n sizes....they're cute, but hell i'd rather have them on a package than on my teeth! Dentists usually ask u which colour u want ( mine was a total pig and just put on a dark blue one without asking.. :-(.... n they became pale blue by the time i went to him again, and the one in the lower jaw actually snapped! haha) , n then they attach it to your bracketts. These rubber bands are supposed to PULL your teeth inward....but all they seem to do is get
themselves deposited with all the food suffs that pass through the passage-way called the
mouth, n just resist the removal of these particles from their midst! Highly irritating!
There was a time when the 'indian flag' was a very fashinable rubber-band type... I
don't think they make it anymore... :-(...spoilt my chance to exhibit patriotism! But
Quite frankly, i think the whole procedure's very mechanical. I have hence come to the
conclusion that dentists, in their own way are just mechanics...even the tools they use
resemble cutting pliers n hammers! What the hell!

These are just a few aspects of wearing braces...there are more, but i'll stop writing
more for 2 reasons.... a) i think am boring u to death and b) i have an exam tomorrow!
But before signing off, i'd like to say something. First, a big "YOU ROCK, THANKS SO
MUCH" to my friends Nidhee and Shruti and to my Prof Ms. Priya. Wondering why? Well, they
all got braces after i did! So we're braces buddies...n when we run out of topics to chat
abt, u know wat we discuss! Yes, even with my prof! Second, another friend of mine -
Nikhil - said that he thinks braces look cute ( obviously, only on particular people).
But hell nik, if one guy can think that way, they're definitely more! Thanx! And third -
Anu - i remember how she reacted when i first told her abt the braces...she was the first
person who totally understood! And we were braces buddies till she got hers off recently,
and Anu, u look lovely! And fourth and last- I'd like to thank 2 of my college friends -
Rekha and Sandhya. Reks - Thanx so much for checking my teeth for 'particles that love
lingering around and resist the flow of water' after every lunch hour!U're really patient
with me! And Sand - Thanx for taking all the cribbing i do over the phone, and laughing
at all the stupid rubber-band pics i send u!
Thats all for now...


Signing off....

PS: The title has canine in it cuz i got 4 molars (YES 4) extracted for this process,
which left my canines to take the centre stage n look all prominent..dracula!!

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Nature's Spectacle....



For those of you who don't know...I'm crazy about a few silly things...and in that list
features something called the sunset. How lame...how dum!!? Big deal...! I read somewhere
that every sunset is different, but never less breath-taking. i don't think i'd have to
explain the depth of truth those words hold to anyone who enjoys this spectacle as much
as i do. As for those of you who don't....i would suggest u take some time off one
day...stop a while....a few minutes....n look west as the day closes. It won't change
much, but aleast you won't be missing something in life. There's hardly anything that can
be more beautiful....there's this phrase i love that says the sunset is " Sort of like
God's putting a shiny copper penny into a slot to buy a skyful of stars" .....ain't that
nice? DAMN.... i think this aspect of nature has some character. That's how i look at
it...The sun's going into hiding in one direction...n the stars come up before all light
has totally vanished...aah twilight, dusk they call it. Whatever...to me, its just utter
beauty. People say - the sky is God's painting...Hell, then God's one hell of an artist!!
The last light of the day before the sky is swallowed by the inky darkness of the
night....come on, stop n look around....

As a tribute to the most wonderful creation of the whole wide world, i wrote
something.... the sunset....that has a different interpretation in physics....different
in music...different in poetry....different in the minds of observers....


FACADE?

Hues of the horizon...entwined like a facade of life...
engulfing the wide expanse of open skies...
As the master remains hazy... behind a thin curtain of blurry clouds...
Each one cries out in diverse adversity...lofty illusions...
Jarring the gaping heavens out of their subtle reverie...
Filling in voids echoing with emptiness...where something lay amiss..
Casting a spell on a wretched pair of eyes...hooked in overwhelming wonderment.
Emanating new reasons...tender misconceptions...
Hiding the ominous truth...deceiveng with vivid colours...
Calling out to the craving soul...disguised by fake placidness...
To break barriers of inauthenticity...and exhibit utter genuineness,
In the rising spirit of the setting shades...
Unfeigned by the colours of the world,
Untouched by the exorbitant thirst of humanity.
The hues give way to shadows...taking away the light of the day...
Stealing reason and rhyme...from an unfinished ode,
Robbing an innocent mind of the pleasantries of the eye...
Looting a poet's heart lost in splendid brilliance of blend...
Raising hopes in an expectant heart...absorbed in a bond of trust...
Spreading darkness into the evening...knocking at twilight's doors.
While the silver slowly seeps into existense...in studded blackness...
As if barring the gates to the heavens...
Leaving behind hollow deprivation...Changing mood, spirit and meaning...
Lulling the world into slumber...
Uniting them with their destinies...in far off lands...promised lands...
yet another facade...
forever a facade.


Have a nice day!!

PS: The picture of the sunset at the beginning of the post...is a photograph i took!! yiippppeee!!

Monday, October 24, 2005

Inspiration? neah...just for fun!

The past 2 months have made me realise a few things...

a) Blogging helps people kill time.
b) Blogging helps people get to know more about others.
c) Its nice to have a page that's totally yours to write whatever crap u want, n no one's goin to question u abt it!

This post...my 2nd one...is dedicated to 4 people.... in no particular order....
Anu, Nikhil, Bharat an Nilesh... all my former classmates, and present bloggers.

I guess i learnt from them, how u can make a blog interesting, and very very funny. This made me start 'Rhapsody'. Am sure it cant be as funny as theirs, or as interesting.....but its still goin to hold my thoughts...comin from in there! So, for the 4 of you... Thanx for being one reason I'm writing this post today..... n may u keep blogging, and making all of us laugh.... God bless u all!!

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Genesis....

And God said 'Let there be light...' Was that how it all started?
Or was it with dear blue green algae....that managed to possess colour even before the hues of the world were named.....
Or was it the big bang of the universe that blew a single piece into millions....
Who cares? This is the beginning of blogging for me....n it began when i typed my first word!

The beginning......