At the edge of sanity

We have moved..

2007-11-15T11:24:00.000-05:00

here

Why i write about trains..

2007-11-14T20:13:00.000-05:00

I have often wondered what compels me to write about trains. I just went over some of the material I have written, mainly prompted by this, and I realized that they seem to pop up in the strangest places. Odd enough as it may seem to you, it has never been a conscious choice.If i delve little deeper into the weirdness that lies within, I could probably come up with flaffy psycho-analytical

Life is beautiful..

2007-09-03T11:00:00.001-04:00

My favorite flavor of ice-cream

2007-08-28T19:56:00.000-04:00

Stalagmite, Postojnska Jama, Slovenia (August 2007)

Amongst other things..

2007-08-08T16:08:00.000-04:00

A suspected confirmed tornado hit the houses on my block this morning. You can see a report here. I live about a hundred feet from where the reporter is standing.I was awake and in the loo. It roared for about a minute and water poured in through the bathroom window like someone was spraying it in with a hose. The house shook.A few houses on the street lost their roofs. My roof is intact.I went

Overheard in the elevator

2007-08-06T15:55:00.000-04:00

"Hey, I see you a lot around these days. What are you working on?""Something completely useless""But publishable?">Laughter<"You know, when I was at Lehigh, we used to say that a drug is something that when injected into a rat, produces a paper"

A story for PGP

2007-07-24T20:23:00.000-04:00

Here's one that I first told the night before Holi eleven years ago, at a tin-roofed chai shop, over hot chai and chhota gold flakes. At the time, I was a sophomore at SWITBEI (Somewhat Well-known Institute of technology in Bumblefuck, Eastern India).**SWITBEI is located, amongst other things, at the site of a former political prison where freedom-fighters were tortured *and* the place where the

Lightwebs

2007-05-21T22:42:00.000-04:00

Minimal symbolic art

2007-05-15T14:35:00.000-04:00

* ^ ) & > :Untitled (2007)By randomly choosing symbols from an array of special characters, the artist becomes a selector - a mere agent of nature - thus breaking

Once by the pacific

2007-05-11T13:28:00.000-04:00

The shattered water made a misty din.Great waves looked over others coming in,And thought of doing something to the shoreThat water never did to land before.The clouds were low and hairy in the skies,Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.

Tag-tag

2007-05-06T12:33:00.000-04:00

In response to BM's this here tag, and after a lot of coaxing1. I talk in my sleep. Not just babble, but carry out entire conversations in seemingly logical ways. It's cause for much consternation amongst people who attempt to do it, especially gfs attempting pillow talk.2. I am mentally playing some beat or the other, and consequently tapping my fingers on something all the time, or tapping them

A time to act

2007-05-02T12:23:00.000-04:00

This thing - it has gone on for too long. It makes me disgusted of myself and irritable all the time. Every day when I look into the mirror, it's not the bloodshot eyes or the stubble that hasn't been trimmed for weeks that bother me - its this thing i have to face as I stare at my reflection.It happens to me from time to time, you know. It's easy to not watch out and keep track of what you are

My first ever, ever tag (I lie)

2007-04-26T17:25:00.000-04:00

In response to the tag by revealed:1. Pick out a scar you have, and explain how you got itScar across my chin. Picked up in a fight that involved an argument over the color of a pumpkin. After much debate about whether a kaddu is orange or green, was decided to settle the issue with a fistfight. Tables were overturned, bottles broken - all Amitabh Bachhan and Vinod Khanna in Amar-Akbar-Anthony

how to ruin a good picture..

2007-04-17T16:18:00.000-04:00

XYZ: When are you posting? Heh heh: Can’t think of anything. How about a pic? XYZ: fine Heh heh: ok, i'm sending you a pic. please to suggest a suitable caption. And i want it done pronto XYZ: ok i'll try and think up something dirty :) Heh heh: i doubt you will, once you look at it XYZ: oh no is it something deep? Haven’t we discussed my allergy towards all things deep? Heh heh:

Precipice

2007-04-17T14:16:00.000-04:00

This is one my favorite pictures, taken about half-way down smith's rock (the rock-face to the left), a volcanic formation in Oregon - a lone climber standing at at a cliff-edge directing his friends who are climbing up this 800 foot free-standing spire of rock called monkey face (what you see here is the head - the 'face' is to the other side). Monkey face, the rock and the climber are framed in

Service Interruption

2007-04-05T15:58:00.000-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,I'm off to another one of my week-long hikes - will come back with pictures. Blogging will be restricted for the next week or so.Meanwhile, you can enjoy this pic of her royal highness.

Another railroad story

2007-03-31T23:08:00.000-04:00

Down by the gates to a well known institute of technology in eastern India is a railway line with a single track. It is not used much - two or at most three sluggish freight trains tugged by a couple of straining engines pass by every day. But this is a special railroad - going beyond the shacks that line it to the left and a crumbling wall to the right, you are transported into a land of paddy

Old Pictures

2007-03-26T01:56:00.000-04:00

Do you ever wonder about that place-where-forgotten-memories-go? I imagine it to be like an old age home where the elderly sit around the dining table - complaining about children who never visit. Elated when we revisit them after years of neglect, only to have their hearts broken again as we, unable to resist the seductive pull of a future full of uncertain possibility, leave for a place far,

Please tell me I'm not losing it..

2007-03-23T04:44:00.000-04:00

Cricket and an old man

2007-03-19T19:31:00.000-04:00

Cricket is the only sport (apart from basketball) that I actually *care* about. Part of this has to do with the fact that like any self-respecting Maharashtrian, I grew up playing gully-cricket. (I bowl a mean googly, and my straight drives are quite respectable). But a large part comes from many years spent with my cricket crazy Nana (maternal grandfather).On days on which India played a game,

you can't teach them no tricks

2007-03-13T16:21:00.000-04:00

inspired by revealed and TR's comments on this post.

gaaah

2007-03-11T17:48:00.000-04:00

A new amigo's joined over at my bagelerie. As bagels go, my place makes some of the best and finest bagels in Noo-Yawk city. It's a sunday ritual for me - i wake up all bright-eyed and head over for breakfast. Now, if it's a normal sunday, steve-o behind the counter knows what I want, so as I a make a light and sweet coffee for myself, he slices a freshly made bagel down the middle and chucks it

the most beautiful girl in the world

2007-03-09T00:02:00.000-05:00

Meet L, my foster-dog. She loves nothing more than having her chin scratched and her tummy rubbed. Apologies for the crappy picture quality. It's a camera-phone snap.Ok, now, collectively, 1... 2... 3... "Awwwww"

a post with the picture missing

2007-03-06T03:09:00.000-05:00

at the foot of the wall, a figure sits hunched over a paper-plate containing some rice and daal. Impossibly thin, sinewy arms poke out of a threadbare blanket thrown around its shoulders to keep the winter morning chill out.He has a stubble and a bony head that makes him look ancient. A few tattered rags cover his wispy white hair. Thick dirty glasses dominate the face - their frame held together

remembering rsj

2007-02-23T19:21:00.000-05:00

This blog is all about the nonsensical. We have talked about troupes of dancers seducing mongooses, tricks you can do with a kielbasa, and spitting cobras turning up on power-point slides. We have sung ditties from 80's indian television commercials (with translations to boot!), and we have described strange nightmares full of howling dogs and hummingbirds. We have even prescribed optimal bender

happy indi-bloggy to me

2007-02-19T16:17:00.000-05:00

Oh, and one of the things that got missed out in the last few days was that I got nominated for indi-blog of the year at the indibloggies. (Thanks, Nitin)Now, not to disparage the judgment of the jury and all that, but hey, all the other people on that list are heavy-weights like falstaff, Amit Varma, and Manish Vij.I expect great things to come about because of this.Resume value: ("You blog? Oh

an old friend

2007-02-15T17:55:00.000-05:00

At the international terminal at Bombay airport, once you have gone through the arduous process of getting your bags screened, checking them in and going through emigration clearance, you come to an escalator that takes you to a holding area down below. Across from the escalator is the airport bar, which serves fine and expensive foreign liquor at fine and expensive foreign prices. And since i

when the beer taxi does not take you home..

2007-02-10T12:13:00.000-05:00

*groan*my head hurts. this has to be the worst hangover of the century. it might have something to do with the two liters of beer, several shots of tequila, a bottle of red, and several rum and cokes that were consumed, in that order over a period of three hours yesterday.to those of you who made my evening special, thanks.you know who you are.

mera bharat mahan

2007-02-06T15:11:00.000-05:00

i'm posting this from inside my plane. apparently the mumbai airport wifi is good enough.wow.color me impressed.

notes from b'bay

2007-02-03T02:19:00.001-05:00

There is something about NYC's superficial, hyper-excited, antiseptic club-scene that puts me off, so I am quite comfortable spending weekends at home there. But Bombay is different. When I am here, a certain people-loving part of me acts up, and gets troubled if I'm not doing 'something cool' over weekends- something that happens much more often on recent trips to India, since the fellowship has

scratch a rock, and a legend springs

2007-01-30T08:14:00.000-05:00

In a small room tucked within the stone walls, a cat lies curled up on the stone tiled floor. Three kittens play about her. One of them is fascinated by the twitching tip of her tail, while another investigates an ant crawling along the edges of a stone tile. The scene reminds me of the lines - "A mongrel bitch has found a place/for herself and her puppies /in the heart of the ruin /May be she

da mudderland beckons

2007-01-13T23:32:00.000-05:00

i'm going to be out of this country and back in my favorite city by the sea for the next couple of weeks. blogging might be restricted.this trip promises to be one where i get subjected to other people's discoveries - the scientist mother has recently discovered astrology and the grouchy father has recently rediscovered his talents as a hindustani classical vocalist.there will be visits to the

addendum to list of comics

2007-01-09T15:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a couple more strange 'uns.The tao of geek : It features geeks and talks about, amongst other things, grad school, non-replicating artificial intelligences, and unemployment - all of which are to my mind, one and the same. It's along the same lines as Phdcomics, just a lot more twisted.And while we are still on it, you might want to check out "The doppler effect", based on a story by

Three comics from the far side

2007-01-07T17:41:00.000-05:00

I seem to be doing everything in threes today. And i am also posting a lot, but that is probably because i am terribly bored. Some of this is regurgitation, but anyway here goes1. FleepWho could not love a series with a name like Fleep? Imagine that you wake up in phone booth encased in concrete. You have three unrecognizable coins, some dental floss and what appears to be a dictionary in two

another random memory

2007-01-06T23:54:00.000-05:00

amongst the many rituals that take place at IIMA is something called the talent nite (t-nite for short.) it is ostensibly a cultural contest (music, skits and the like) between various sections of the freshie class, but in truth it is an excuse for newly graduated alumni to go back to campus and indulge in behavior they could never have while they were there.and so it was that a bunch of us,

i used to be wiser

2007-01-06T10:58:00.000-05:00

I started writing a journal when i first went to college, back in 1995. It started off as a way to deal with homesickness and all the new experiences. While in college, there were occasional times of misery, but i was aware they would pass and that i would fondly reflect upon those times one day- and for that, i am thankful. Originally it was written in a leather-bound notebook. Some time, about

come over to the dork side

2006-12-29T02:16:00.000-05:00

i was a bad kid in school. not "mischievious but makes up for it by doing well academically", because that makes you popular. i was plain-bad. mediocre as far as grades went, and not particularly liked by either the other kids, or by teachers. although i played a lot (basketball and athletics) and hung out with some of the sporty sorts, it was a tenuous affiliation at best, because i never really

An alternative holiday music list

2006-12-27T11:07:00.000-05:00

december is an annoying and depressing month. as if the fact that the sun sets by the time i wake up in not enough, stores and delis in are full of the tra-la-las and la-di-das and the hallelujahs of irritatingly chirpy christmas music.it is an especially trying time if you, like me, believe that having to listen to Handel's Messiah even once is one time too much. but worry not, for there is a

a classic minderbender

2006-12-19T02:16:00.000-05:00

there i two thinks i dont normally do on this blog.a. i don't blog drunk.b. i've forgotten what it was.i'm going to resort to my book of cliches and say that there is a first time for everything. so here's me, writing a post, accompanied by a glass of macallan 18 year old cask strength with one ice cube to turn it just a tad bit cloudy and condense those aromatics (thanks S, for the bottle, in

the house

2006-12-15T00:47:00.000-05:00

The house straddled an entire block and faced a park to its north. It was bounded by streets on all four sides. over to the right, across one of the streets, was a giant well, used by the municipal corporation to supplement the town's water supply. It was more a water tank and less of a well, originally built by my great-grandfather when the properties beyond the street were also his. They had

this post does not make sense

2006-12-06T19:12:00.000-05:00

I found a mouse in my closet. I thumped him against the wall and he died.In case you are wondering about how i knew he was a he, male mice have large 'nads. Anyone can tell.I also discovered that i make a couple of appearances (four, to be precise) in a book a friend has written.In the wider scheme of things, i wonder which is cause and which is effect.

Geeks, poets and fink ployd

2006-11-29T21:11:00.000-05:00

One of the things that i have been wondering about, and I'm a deeply inquisitive sort of a person that way, is pink floyd. you know, the english rock band. specifically, I have been thinking about why the hell they were so loved, some twenty years after they stopped producing good music, by those of us belonging to a certain subculture on engineering campuses back in the homeland. We listened to

a sandwich for epicures

2006-11-22T10:09:00.002-05:00

the next time you decide to drop by at the friendly neighborhood deli for a sandwich, here's a suggestion for what is arguably the best sandwich in the world, especially so because it was concocted by me.it consists of hot pastrami, melted provolone, lettuce, tomato, onions, regular mayo, and (here's the special ingredient) lots of hot sauce. You may ask the guy behind the counter to use any hot

weee-heeee

2006-11-10T18:55:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while, when a blogger runs out of stuff to blog about, he puts up a list of random searches that lead to his blog. i've avoided doing it so far, but maybe now is the time.Some searches that lead to your blog are completely understandable. You cannot get away with posting silly posts about random early 90's movies like "Jaan tere naam" and not have losers who come searching for

Musings

2006-11-06T22:07:00.001-05:00

Have you ever noticed how the trees in a forest sway about when a gentle wind blows? It's not exactly a synchronized sort of a movement. Even though the wind drives it, it has little rhythm.Occasionally there is a thunderstorm, accompanied by flashes of lightning and claps of thunder, and somewhere deep in the forest, the crashing of trees.Once there was a storm and our little forest was

round and round

2006-11-04T01:18:00.000-05:00

I'm back in all my grouchy glory, in case any of you are still around, and this time i promise to post regularly.First, hearty congratulations to Falstaff, for this post. Its not everyday that you have Steve Levitt linking to you and Steve Sailer commenting on your post. Well done, sir, well done indeed.*clears throat*When I was contemplating a career in academia, I was under the impression that

Huffin' Puffin

2006-09-18T21:39:00.000-04:00

For those of who keep wondering, no, i did not really mean all that I said in that previous piece of demagoguery. One of these days, I'll try to come up with an equally half-arsed piece on why everything comes from India.That's what happens when you eat too much fish. Picture taken in the frigid waters off the coast of the Kenai peninsula, Alaska.This little thing here is called a marmot. Harding

It's camembert

2006-09-02T21:24:00.000-04:00

The late eighties and the early nineties were tumultous times - the soviet union collapsed, the berlin wall fell, and the Scorpions, in all their honest to goodness campiness, sang 'Winds of Change'. Bad hair ruled, Saddam invaded Kuwait, and over in India, Mithun Chakraborty released 'Nambri Aadmi'.I have fond memories of this period - cable had yet to make its arrival in most indian homes, and

Nightmare

2006-06-28T21:52:00.000-04:00

I am in a two storeyed building, at the end of a long passage-way that seem to stretch into the distance. Tiny cell-like rooms open on to one side of it. The rooms are musty, the doors decaying. My friends lived here once, and happy times were had. The other side of the passageway has a railing overlooking a twenty foot drop, a railing that I remember walking on while drunk. Out on the grounds,

The last time i tried to be a romantic..

2006-06-16T17:02:00.000-04:00

Stellar thoughts

2006-06-07T06:38:00.000-04:00

When the core of an interstellar molecular cloud of hydrogen becomes gravitationally unstable, it collapses, gaining in density, and pulling more material inwards. If the cloud is large enough, it forms a large star many many times the size of our sun.Much like gas-guzzling SUVs, large stars run out of fuel quickly (in a cosmic sense). When all the hydrogen is burnt up and fused to helium, they

mmmm.. I want me some roast ducky!

2006-05-30T14:50:00.000-04:00

These pics were taken during a weekend hike. and puhleeease don't you all go "awwwww" on me.Oh, and i'm back from Pommieland. So watch this space .

break

2006-05-17T15:44:00.000-04:00

mes amis:i'm off to pommie-land for the next few days. blogging will be light (as if i blog a lot, otherwise)

crash

2006-05-13T23:41:00.000-04:00

By the time we arrived at the scene, the firemen were already there - their fire engine parked across the Brookly Queens Expressway. A lone cop car had stopped all traffic, and as we waited, the firemen went to work on the car.It was a regular new york yellow cab. A tractor-trailer had rear-ended it, the force of the impact crumpling its rear half, flipping it over, and leaving it pointing in the

gagging on a tag

2006-05-03T18:26:00.000-04:00

So, the other day, i was tagged by Brown Magic, who, rightly, thought that I would not follow through with it. I would not have, except for the fact that she actually stated it in her comment. That and the fact that I couldn't possibly let go of an "eight different points you want in the perfect lover" tag without having my say in the matter.The first time I attempted to put down eight points was

Mother goose's rotten egg

2006-05-01T00:03:00.000-04:00

Little Miss Muffetsat on a tuffet,Eating her curds and whey.Along came a spiderwho sat down beside herand she beat the crap out of it.

Sorry for the lack of updates..

2006-04-28T17:48:00.000-04:00

And to compensate for it, I will recite to you a ditty I learnt when I was a leeeetil kid.Sorry Sorry, Gadhey Ki Lorry,uspar baithi Meena Kumari,Meena Kumari ka laal dupatta,us-se nikala ullu ka paththa,ullu ke paththe ne khaayi amrood,us-se nikale Mr. Mehmood,Mr. Mehmood ne lagaayi aawaaz,Mahatma Gandhi Zindabaad!* Apologies to the non-Hindi Speakers amongst my (mostly hypothetical) readers.The

Happy Easter from mentaldeviation!

2006-04-17T00:17:00.000-04:00

*Inspired by cheery "Happy Easter" posts like these.

My reservations post

2006-04-13T23:07:00.000-04:00

Since every self respecting blogger has made their voice heard in this brouhaha about reservations, I thought I would chip in too, being a self-respecting individual myself. :) The point I make might appear pedantic. Nevertheless, do hear me out. (Hello. Is there anybody out there?)There is an important assumption made by proponents of reservations (and occasionally, this is a point conceded by

Eulogy for a friend

2006-04-06T15:00:00.000-04:00

My first encounter with Chris was on a hurried monday morning. I had picked up a bagel (cinnamon-raisin, toasted, with butter) at the bagel shop near the subway, and was on my way out, when I ran into an old gentleman slowly shuffling his way in. I excused myself, only to be greeted with a cheerful, "How are you doing today?" When I muttered the expected grumpy New York response ("Good. You?"),

WTF?

2006-04-03T21:53:00.000-04:00

The remaining five

2006-03-30T17:51:00.000-05:00

Okay, so here are the remaining five, typed in from a public wifi at a busy train station (Work related travel, what can one do?). And to satisfy Falstaff, I'm including a couple of classical pieces that are (to me) big turn ons. In no particular order again:1. Besame MuchoIts sung by everybody and their grandmother. And that includes an extremely drunken me, in a karaoke bar in NYC, only to be

I have been eating chips and salsa all night...

2006-03-29T09:52:00.000-05:00

Another list

2006-03-28T22:38:00.000-05:00

I have a much stronger emotional to response to music than I believe is normal. There are musical pieces that will drive me to despair in the happiest of moods, and others that elevate me when I'm miserable. Music elicits every concievable reaction from me - from sorrow to outright laughter. It makes me contemplative, it makes me disdainful - in some ways it is almost like a remote control to my

No sympathy for the devil

2006-03-28T06:25:00.000-05:00

This post originally started as a comment on Falstaff's blog. And precisely when I hit the submit button (after duly entering in an inordinately long word for the sake of verification) blogger chose to go down, and this was left unsaid.While I agree that the Rolling Stones was one of the greatest rock bands ever, I am a bit leery of nostalgic characterizations of all bands from that generation as

Pictures that are worth a thousand numbers

2006-03-24T22:25:00.000-05:00

Years ago when I held a *real* job, I had to deal with a MS application that I hated with a passion. Widely used by corporate types, bankers, consultants and techies alike, it has become ubiquitous in the *real* world. Yes I am referring to powerpoint, a piece of software that, to me, is the strongest piece of evidence that Bill Gates plans to take over the world through mind control -by making

A Room with a View

2006-03-23T10:39:00.000-05:00

Those of you who know what we do for a living (and are in similar situations in life) will be pleased to note that we recently moved offices to a room with a window. For the moment let us abuse our notation a little bit and loosely use that term for a smallish hole in the wall that lets you see outside. Gone are the days when we had to look at a clock to figure out if it was day or night. Yes

And the time is..

2006-03-16T16:00:00.000-05:00

Communication

2006-03-07T00:20:00.000-05:00

I am talking to you about poetryand you saywhen do we eat.The worst of it isI’m hungry too.~ AliciaPartnoyThis poem is part of the poetry in motion series on the New York subway. You will see it rather frequently, and having had the opportunity to ask people what they felt about this poem, I have realised that it is like a Rorschach test of sensibilities. Different people react differently to

Nihilistic demonstrations

2006-02-28T18:28:00.000-05:00

I live in an incredibly messy room. I always have. Back in the days when i was getting a real education, as opposed to a pretend one, i was renowned for having the messiest room at WIMWI (Well known institute of management in western India). This probably reflects the fact that I am a Nihilist at heart, as opposed to those pseudo-intellectuals who live well organized lives in spick and span

"the spirit of freedom"?

2006-02-20T09:27:00.000-05:00

I am on a flight from Delhi to Mumbai, having attended a rather dear friend's wedding - tired, bored, depressed and somewhat lonely. Two successive weddings, two more friends who will never hang out with me without making statements like, "I'm sorry I have to go. My wife is having a bad day." Or, for that matter, without talking about the chest of drawers they plan to buy. I feel strangely empty

bagel bagel

2006-02-16T18:53:00.000-05:00

a street full of people, scurrying around. is sheher mein har shaks pareshaan sa kyon hai, the song plays. i miss my mp3 player now.it snowed a a few days back. the largest snowstorm in the history of New York, they tell me. Not that it matters too much. the snowmelt leaves telltale puddles everywhere on the street. i see glimpses of myself in them.he sees me approach and immediately picks up a

some adbhaice on garlls

2006-01-31T06:24:00.000-05:00

Long ago in the hallowed portals of a certain hostel of a certain IIT, dwelt an unremarkable little man called bongu. his name belies the part of india that he came from, but a post describing the remarkable qualities of his ilk does not belong here. bongu-da was a pretty average man, albeit with something in his credentials that few IITians have - an ex-garllphrend. in the process that resulted

God-damned Vessels

2006-01-27T09:44:00.000-05:00

"It's a vessel", the voice at the other end of the transatlantic call said.It was a south indian acquaintance of mine. I was on my way back to the US and he wanted me to carry something for him. He had seemed a bit embarrassed to ask and the revelation had come about after some needless hemming and hawing."What vessel?" I asked."A pressure cooker vessel.""Dude, I'm sorry, I don't have space to

In the fair city by the sea..

2006-01-18T03:31:00.000-05:00

The insanity is back in the motherland these days, and busy with family and friends. It's been somewhat of an experience overload, and hence the delay in corresponding with all of you, my dear listeners.To the north of the drive along the Worli Sea Face, home to Bombay's (yes, Bombay and not Mumbai) rich and famous, lies the little known and even less visited village of Koliwada. In what can

The question..

2006-01-08T21:18:00.000-05:00

The crew of the USS enterprise gets stranded on an alien planet and is captured by an evil king who lives in a medieval castle. He imprisons them all, agreeing to release them if they suceed at a game he wants to play with them. The conditions of the game are as follows:1. He will, at any random time, choose a random person from the crew and bring the person to a chamber that has two switches,

Free!

2006-01-06T20:10:00.000-05:00

I lay curled up in the fetal position, in a windowless dungeon that lay deep in the bowels of the medieval castle. This was a place unknown to light, a place where loneliness was your only friend. Somewhere outside lay a whole world, where days changed to nights and nights changed to days. But here, time had reneged on its duty in the war against nothingness and had lost all meaning. Here, more

the other point of view

2006-01-02T23:16:00.000-05:00

the R train runs shuttle late at night. it connects upper brooklyn with lower brooklyn. as i stood waiting at the station, it announced its arrival by a rumbling in the rails and a distant squealing of brakes. the doors opened, and i got in. there was the usual warning to "stand clear of the closing doors please". A ding-dong sound announced that the doors were closing- a sound that, if you

A subway story

2005-12-27T23:34:00.000-05:00

I work late nights. It's less distracting, and the gloominess of a new york night suits my taste a lot more than the garishness of sunshine. A consequence of this is that I spend a lot of time late at nights at subway stations, waiting for trains running off-peak schedules. It can be an interesting place to be at night, primarily so for the people you run into.Take the other day, for instance,

On torture..

2005-12-14T23:45:00.000-05:00

if you have been catching up with current affairs over the last couple of weeks, you would be aware of the stand-off between Senator John Mccain and the Bush administration over the torture of detainees by US government entities. McCain spent five years being tortured in rat-infested vietnamese prisons and he knows a thing or two about torture. Which is why, in this case, we have reasons to

doing g-d's work..

2005-12-12T09:34:00.000-05:00

So I went through a bout of the *cough cough* and the *sniffle sniffle* last week, because of which I missed my regular post. Apologies hence and a promise, mes amis, that I will make up for it. on to regular programming.I hate happy people. Happiness is an unnatural state. If God wanted us to be happy, he would have filled the world with sunshine, hot women and reshmi kebabs. (replace 'woman'

Friends and their worse halves

2005-11-29T15:55:00.000-05:00

So its that time of the week when I spout nonsense on this page. And todays little nugget of a rant is about idiotic friends who used to be normal till they hooked up with random people you cannot get along with. These worse halves, or significantly bad others, so to speak, come in different flavors. Since some of these are unique to genders, they will be presented as such:1. Mrs. "You never

Radha

2005-11-25T00:22:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer: This is based on a true story. If you do not believe in ghosts, it is not my problem. Deep inside a national park in Central India is the tribal village of Belkund. Belkund means the pond of the Bel tree, named so for obvious reasons. The pond itself is located at the base of a cliff: it is a watering hole frequented by tigers, deer and other big game. at the edge of the cliff is a

Oooo Oooooo!

2005-11-16T22:32:00.000-05:00

I'm scared. Scared of those of you who threaten me with bodily harm for not putting up posts. Besides i like to keep my dear readers happy. So here's a new one on how you can have fun at interviews. This is for all those of you who have a fire in their belly (no, not the kind that comes from eating too much spicy food) and are ambitious and motivated and other such things.Oh, and don't feel too

How to make effective presentations

2005-11-13T22:55:00.000-05:00

Here's an almost foolproof plan for making excellent presentations:1. Go in with a sheep and a goat. For effect, have pens ready to hold them, one to the left of the audience and the other to the right. If someone asks a question, say:"All questions will be directed to..">gesture towards the sheep< "My sacrificial Lamb or.." >gesture towards the goat<"My scapegoat"2. Go in carrying two baskets:

on being reality-challenged

2005-11-04T14:20:00.000-05:00

A gloomy evening, grey skies and people burrowed deep into their Manhattan-black overcoats and jackets make my heart sing with schadenfreude. Happiness is relative. In a world where everyone was sad, a chronic depressive grump like me would be the happiest person around.There are seventeen of us who share this body. It is a singularly warm feeling, in a very "Let us all hold hands and sing