Images

I have a project submission, a midterm as well as a tape-out in a few days from now. But, I don't quite feel like doing anything: just stare at the mirror in front of me or lie down on my 6' by 3' bed with my eyes closed allowing my mind playing it's unique Flicker/Picasa slideshow of some images.....

Images which started at a F-127 with some people reading some lines from longish monologues, images which initiated a month-long habit of some maddening tempo leading to bloody noses and a few substitutions in the final hour, images of a "wow..stud..wow" with a near 9.5GPA in the 1st semester with hardly a few hours gone into academics, images of a few wonderful cycle trips in the wee hours of Mahalaya, images of chicken gluttony at occasional feasts, images of thumkas and jhatkas on packed buses to the tunes of lechreous C-grade songs, images of some wonderful saves under the goalpost bar, images of some breathtaking dialogues with a supremely powerful voice on stage, images of long night-outs at Chhedis over Tinkus and tea, images of the most novel cheating modes during exams, images of a vehement protest over the superiority of "Partner" over "Raincoat", images of a name-tag suited to personality, images of group-mails with the weirdest of languages, images of virtual GPL's, images welcoming Las Vegas with a 13-strong group, images which put the rowdy fellow-passengers of a Greyhound bus to shame, images of eating every single item of the about 50-course dinner at the MGM Grand Royal Buffet, images which captured the frailties of sweet rom-coms like "Jaane Tu.....", images of posing in front of the Pacific Ocean in a Baywatch coast-guard car, images of cold water on a fainted me coming out of a LA metro bus, images of erogenous adventures at places-your-mom-wouldn't-allow-you-to-go, images of carrying cheap handbags/laptops from the US robbing the Indian customs of some sizable declarations, images of a name on my caller list 8 days ago, images of a gmail chat 10 days back staring at me on my........

I am sweating so profusely......

Images of a sudden call on a Saturday morning at a Ikea store with the Ikea cart balancing my almost free-falling weight, Images of checking Facebook/Orkut in 15-20 minutes for discovering all this to be a big lie.....

Images of a younger brother......

My bed is all so wet now.....

Images of voices/laughs/tempo shouts/monologues (Oh...these can be so real). Believe me, the world would be a bit smaller without all these even if we have more bombs, AK-47, mines trying their level best at substitutions.

But, why do you care?...in your usual nonchalance, you will still exclaim, "Orom hoy" (Shit happens)

Spring

Lets ignore the third part of my India-bound travelogue for the time-being. We have better things to discuss. Standing at the 24th winter of my life, it is natural that I discuss a few things that should matter to a 23-winters-experienced guy. The allusions should be clear by now. If it is jump to Para 3. If not read on.

Well career. Hmmm, by God's grace and my parents' untiring efforts and inspiration, I have a degree and am pursuing a few more :P (don't know for how long though). In fact, with all modesty, career has never been a very big cause of worry for me.

However, (the more intelligent guys were asked to come here) even though 23 winters have passed (the 24th one is in passing), 23 (?) springs have always been far behind. Or should I say that spring meant simple harmonic motion, Op-amp design for my spring semester examinations, getting my cycle seat-spring repaired from Gopalda, having a spring in my step (God knows why), Kempty Falls in Mussourie and the list is endless. Well, I would be lying if I say that I haven't tried my bit to appreciate "that" nuance of spring . Believe me, I have.

Probably during my 12th winter, Amitabh Bachchan preached that to sense "that spring" once you see that very special girl of your life, bells start chiming in your head (Amar Akbar Anthony). The preaching was iterated during my 14th, 15th, and 17th winters. For a considerable period of time, I was under the impression that that chiming was the true essence of "that spring".I stared at beautiful girls for long (I mean until they noticed), but not even an insect buzzed, leave alone bells. Amitabh Bachchan is a BLOODY LIAR.

There have been a plethora of preachings after that from several father and mother figures in numerous facets of life, but I could implement none of them. Imagine this: one of my endeavors was to feel a "sweet pain" in my heart if I want to embrace "that spring" during my 18th winter, but again I had a minor chest pain out of a breathing trouble, but believe me I couldn't associate my taste buds with it :(. In another instance, I attempted to live life in a dual mode. In other words, I tried to empathize with "that spring" in my 22nd winter but still, when that girl adored fried eggplants, while the empathizing me simply abhorred them, I had another liar in picture.

But the final nail in the coffin came in the present chilly winter from one individual whose truthfulness was exemplary for me till now. Mr. Shah Rukh Khan enunciated that one has to see God in the girl of your choice to experience "that spring". I was so moved by the sermon (well at least this was something new), I won't lie but I really started looking for God in the girl to have "that spring" in my step. I tried different locations but no. no, no.....although it did occur to me if I could see God in the girl, we would have Varanasi, Vatican City, Mecca vying for the top honeymoon locations...never mind, I couldn't see even a vahana (transport, generally animate forms) of God (no offence intended, hihi I can at times though), leave alone God. My idol even Mr.SRK turned out to be a BLOODY LIAR.

Waiting eagerly for the next sermon and a bit of truth for "that eternal spring"!!

Travelogue-2

It has been a long wait in the airport once I declined to brave the Manhattan chill. After the Jamaican girl left for her flight ( God is Great!! ) , I continued with my "shitty" wait (refer Part-1). I had a hearty breakfast comprising of breadstick, chicken noodle soup and an orangeade. 6 more hours. I took the Air-Train to roam through the airport from one end to the other a couple of times. Bored of that,I called up home in India and also a few friends. What now? I downloaded JJWS for my 14 hr long settling time over a few land and water bodies.

And then, started the fun.....

I fortuitously spotted the typical squatting Desi queue in front of the Air-India counter. I joined in. I was joined by 2 Indian families, presumably both settled for quite some time in the US. The male protagonist of one of these families hails from Ahmedabad and his counterpart in the other was half Goanese and half Mumbaikar. Their accents and attitudes, however spoke volumes to oppose their genealogical loyalties. The volumes , nonetheless underwent a contraction when a few typical Gujarati "Deddy, Boll, Holl" were blurted out (no offence intended ). Another family was a typical Punjabi family hailing from where Aditya Chopra ended DDLJ, that same "smell of the earth, that rustic appearance, that sarson da saag accent". Add a prototype Telugu amma, appa, anna to that with their phonetic convolution (again no offence intended, just my inability to appreciate Dravidian languages). I was surprised to find that almost 50% of the assembled crowd did not have the quintessential "Satyameva Jayate" on their passports, but had the US emblem (don't know what it is called).

NRIs....they are huge

I took a couple of snaps in the airport and lazed about with my laptop. Sitting in the boarding lounge , with the "Entera, Tere naal, bhalo achhi, majha naam, kemches" resounding everywhere my AI-102 flight seems to be an excellent precursor of the celebration that is to come: INDIA!! (to be continued)

Travelogue-1

Its my blogging anniversary again!! Well, the pace at which I blog puts Aamir Khan movies at shame. Anyways... this blog is quite significant in its own right. I am penning this blog at John.F.Kennedy International Airport , New York waiting for my flight to New Delhi in about 7 hours time. I am being accompanied by a girl from Jamaica who goes to Princeton and is brooding over the "fucking hard questions they set in Princeton" and is contemplating choosing "history of science" over psychology. To stave off this overtly friendly lady's bickerings, I have my head-phones plugged in listening to some rhythmic hindi numbers!!
Anyways, I am excited to say the least. I am excited like anything. I AM GOING BACK TO INDIA. I am going to my motherland, to my very own Calcutta, to those serpentine lanes, to those tram lines, to those never-ending jams, to those fish curries, to those rashogollas and above all, be again with my ma-baba. Dying to eat the Hilsa Bhape cooked by my mom.

The first flight from LA to NY was quite drab , me getting the middle seat compressed on the window side by an elderly lady who never lifted her eyes from the 173rd page of her paperback novel (I read the entire page through my peeking eyes, but could not find anything so worthwhile to be mesmerized for 2hrs) and on the aisle seat by a middle-aged guy who swore at somebody throughout the entire flight. American domestic flights do not offer you food, so I had to be content with a cup of orange juice and a cup of water. I have always had problems with head-eye-ear aches while landing and this time it was no exception. The 2 degrees Celsius chilly NY greeted me with a literally cold shoulder. I wore gloves for the first time in my life. I had originally decided to go to Manhattan and enjoy the famed skyline, but the continuous drizzle accentuating the chill even more , forced me to decide against....oh no this girl will drive me crazy, now she's hell-bent on comparing the slumber party standards between Princeton and UCLA.Never mind, at least I have somebody to talk to.
Anyways, the JFK airport is bustling with life now. I hope to have something to eat now, and yeah definitely attend to nature's call. That has been a peculiarity of my air travels: I have attended to nature's call in all cities I have gone to: Frankfurt, Atlanta, LA, Singapore, Tokyo and NY is to be no exception!! :p

Now she wants to discuss about a lady's husband who "seems a bit weird in his behavior and why is he carrying 2 phones on him?"

Air travel is enjoyable...

Of turtle pies and a few lies

Well....bunking lab classes to dance in the rain did have its consequences....I caught a terrible cold, I couldn't blog for 8 months!! (well so long a hiatus....ahem....my cold might have caught a cold itself)....neways, to cut a long story short...I didnt blog for 8 months!! But you would be surprised to know, that I have been not taking benadryl and paracetamol only over these 8 months.
I also had 3 servings of Chelo Kabob at Peter Cat, I had 7 courses of Fried Crispies at KFC, City Centre (miss you really), I had innumerable helpings of Bhapa Hilsha (a fish delicacy) cooked by my mom, and to be indicative at last ;), I had grilled salmon, I had baked lamb and sushi flying in an elongated contraption 35000 ft above sea-level....!!!

And now, 8 months after I last blogged, I am having a king's share of a turtle pie .

Well, I have justified the first part of the blog title....now for the second part :p

When my dad first took me to little nursery, I promised him, I won't cry anymore: True

When my mom told me that academic excellence is the foothold of everything in life, so "Pritam, Try"....I tried: True

When my drawing teacher told me that male fingers are more muscular than female fingers...so pay careful attention...I did: True

When my recitation teacher told me that Alliteration metric has to be recited in a specific tune to bring out that soporific effect, I complied: True

When my class teacher told me that unless I study biology for my boards, I wouldn't pass....but...I did :P : True

When Dr.Ganguly said, if I do not have a rank within 100 in JEE, he would take special attention to thrash me....well I almost did....but would have still liked the thrashing if only.... :( : True

When Dr. Rajakumar said ," You do not know the Bit error rate of a pi/4-offset QPSK channel?? : Batches 10 yrs before yours were so extrapolatory" , well believe me I tried my level best to extrapolate the BER from all my knowledge of QAM, QPSK etc....but maybe I am not that extrapolatory :( : True

When Dr.Narayanan asked, "What special analog circuit design would you learn at UCLA, which you cannot at Kharagpur ? "...I provided lame excuses as everybody else does....but he quashed each one of them with logical justification: True

When all of my relatives used to ask me , "Pritam, when would you return?? ", I told them all "Aare just next year: 5 yrs will pass in a wheeze": True (??)

When my mother was inconsolable at the airport, I embraced her and asked her ...."You wanted me to excel, right....so please do not cry ma....Time will pass in a jiffy" : True

When I suddenly wake up in the morning listening to that sweet baritone of my dad...."Wake up Pritam, its already 9"....and realize that it was just that urge to complete the folded cascode design for my 215a project, I feel sad: True

When I hear the death news of my dearest uncle one Friday night and can only trundle back home in a heavy shower with my eyes helping the ensconced clouds in the sky, I feel sad: True

When I celebrate a Durga Puja with Ma Durga in front of the stripes and the stars, I feel sad: True

When I study sample and hold trackers instead of firing crackers on a diwali, I feel sad: True

.....But as they all say it here, "Heretogo....Maan....I am having a turtle pie now....so I am happy"

Heyy....when did I lie???

I never justified the second part of my title.....

See...you missed the lie!! ;)

Rainy Languor

What if you start flunking lab hours to dance in the rain; what if you forget(?) an important assignment and doze off to glory; what if you don't "feel" like studying even the night before your exam; what if you wrap a shawl around your legs like a "lungi" and dance (ahem ahem) to the foot-tappings of "masti ke pathshala"; what if you recite poetry at 4 am in the morning with a lazy guitar strum at a roadside shanty; what if you lie on a bed of pricking grass at 3 am in the night and .....just lie down; what if you booze at night at your institute rooftop and get chased by security guards only to scale a 6 feet high wall; what if you are after your friends' undies to show your fervor in "holy" festivals; what if you can dismantle a 20 feet high pyramid of about 7 tiers of table with people atop them in a matter of a few seconds and unveil the most astonishing display of lights at a single cry of RKSPLIT; what if you can smell of "poltu" and sabotage in each event you lose and of triumph,glory and fair judgment in every event you win; what if you can guzzle 12 pieces of chicken tandoori at one go; what if you can ride a bike at 120kmph; what if you can only wistfully wish that the opposite sex was a little more considerate ; what if you can climb on top of each other to break apart a pot full of curd amidst incessant showers from hose-pipes; what if you can debate hours on about the futility of a PGM's popularity over Vinod Gupta; what if can learn to "fly" on road; what if you rue your lack of fundae when you continue losing circuit design competitions by the narrowest of margins; what if you can showcase your dance talents and perp up people's lives in the finest of frenzies; what if you at times think of joining professional theatre instead of designing low noise amplifiers; what if you.......

what if...if what......

what if you alight from a train with all the trunks, the bags, the baggages, your papa the busiest man ....(his son has come to study na)....holding your parents' hands.....

what if you board that train again with all the trunks, the bags, the baggages....your parents' hair a shade greyer....you calling the coolie and all with your papa's hand on your shoulder.....

nothing....told u na....just a few musings on a rainy afternoon when I bunked lab hours to dance in the rain......