Houston

One of my Dallas roomies hails from Houston. 1 more roomy and I visited her over the weekend.

Our trip started with running out of office early and going by the train to "karda kutra" bus service's terminal. Now Dallas has 4 train routes- Red, Orange, Green and Blue. Lesson 1:  dont assume that only the Red train comes to your station, check colour code before entering the train!

At the bus terminal - even the most crowded terminal in india is better organized and less smelly. There are 6 logical gates that serve arrivals and departures, but only 2 physical glass doors that open out from waiting room to terminal. Hence the mis-organization, long winding queues and overall confusion. Our roomy adviced to reach and form queue early. The bus was supposed to be there at 7.00 pm. Come 7.45 and the arrival is declared- at different gate than what was displayed on a rolling display. We hustle from the queue that we had formed to the bustle at the different gate. In the subsequent chaos and crowd, the bus left without us. There is no customer service, the customer call centre closes at 6 pm. Wow. We were told that 7 o'clock bus had broken down. The 7.45 bus left with few 7.00 bus folks who paid 5$ extra to get in. The next bus is at 10.45 pm. Some moments of "what-to-do-nows", without even a disembodied recorded message to vent your frustration at. The people in the queue stay put. Finally another bus arrived, and we left for Houston at 8.45 pm! Reached Houston around 2 in the night.

Inside Mission Control Centre

The day in Houston started early to get to NASA on time. We headed to tram tour, which took us around the mission control centres. To get to speak to an astronaut, to get to know about the roles of Flight Director and Comms astronaut; the badges for the 65 space shuttles- successful shuttles have their badges on LHS wall, to see a shuttle (Saturn) close up- mindblowing. 

Badges of successful shuttles

Then another tram tour to see the astronaut training facility. Each participating country in the International Space station has its own module. The Russian ones- sunrise(Zarya) and star(Zvezda) are coupled by a US module called Unity. This nomenclature especially strikes a chord when the guide told us- if you want to confirm that US really went to the moon..ask the Russians. (Russians had to keep syncing their locations so that they wont collide with Apollo.)

Next stop- Galveston beach- played frisbee in warm water, frolicked in ocean a whole year after Cummins trip to Konkan. A short jaunt to Kemah boardwalk, a bollywood movie and back to "karda kutra" terminal. The story literally is back to square 1. This time the bus left without us thanks to the overbooking. We again got into 8.30 am bus instead of the 7.15 am one. The bus driver is like, good morning ladies and gentlemen, today we are going to..a HUGE pause..I was sure he was impromptu assigned the bus and he had no clue what the destination was! But thankfully, he collected himself..and..to Dallas, TX :)

A Dialogue with art

I love art n works of art. You meet an art work down the lane, look at it without any prejudices, it smiles back at you, and thus the conversation begins. Each person sees a different aspect of its personality.

I was fortunate enough to visit museums in San Francisco and Dallas. My friends are museumophobic and preferred to watch a goody goody bollywood movie. I set out on my own to the museums, later joined by a couple of friends and a bunch of other interns. My friends definitely dont know what they missed. :)

The 1st museum I visited was Nasher museum. My personal conversation starts here. While others entered a room full of balloons, I spent time trying to figure out what's written on this (classic example of characteristics of Dan Brown fan)   

Plytanuum..ok who cares about the spelling :P

While I was exiting Nasher museum, a fountain mesmerized me, and here comes a chance discovery of Crow Museum of Asian Art. The museum had a loaner collection of Tibetan art from NY's Rubin Museum. I have never seen more vivacious yet enigmatic artworks before. Since it was a loaner display, photography was not allowed.

My tryst with Tibetan art started with this- http://teachartwiki.wikispaces.com/My+Identity+-+Gonkar+Gyatso.

The peaceful environs of prayer room, complete with flowers, an artist who tries to keep up with the world in changing times- the wall is now plastered with newspapers, Tibetans period of exile subtly hinted at by the use of suitcase as prop and a tin shed as studio, and finally an artist who embraced his new world, as suggested by the gladioli which look strikingly like 2 hands..

The next was a winding maze of houses with chinese flag at the top of the highest point. Dont give up your sovereignity so easily dear Tibetans..what is rightfully yours should not be given up so easily..

There were some collages..1 had buddha's skin made out of map of USA and background from newspaper ads; 1 was made out of stickers.. http://asianart.com/exhibitions/aalondon2007/48.html, others had very intricate clothing made out of real fibres, 1 depicted Ann San Syu Ki as Green Tara.

Compared to this vibrant and innovative Tibetan art, collections from India and china were pretty stereotypical. Oh by the way, how come these masterpieces from India are lying abroad? No issues, our politicians have no qualms about exporting India's national heritage, nor do we Indians bother to do any background search about our leaders. http://janataparty.org/soniaisthemodern.html 

My 3rd visit of the day was to Dallas Museum of Art- which housed Native American artefacts, arts from ancient civilizations etc. Returned with 3 GB pics, many ideas, and most imp.- the satisfaction of a day well spent.

The Wiccan Witch

My crosslink hopping took me Dil to Bachcha hai jee (2011 hindi movie)--> Shruti Hassan (an actress in the movie) --> Sarika (her actress mom who played Ipsita in a movie) --> Ipsita Ray Chakraverti, the lady who declared herself to be a Wiccan witch.

Yes, I have read Brida- purely as a work of fiction. While I do believe in deja vu; claiming to have knowledge of your previous birth is too much. And so is her so-called awakening of women branded as "dayan" in rural India. Its those superstitious villagers who need to be made to see light. Going the other way round will only add fuel to fire.

Its okay to make fat claims having the security of a royal birth and a sorta-royal marriage. But for those poor women for whose cause she claims to be fighting! May god help them. Afterall, lets face it, witch or no witch, even the world's fastest, strongest and smartest woman is no match against a crowd of angry ignorant stone-pelting fools.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipsita_Ray_Chakraverti

Watsapp

I made my colleague count the # apps on his android..his count is 150. My shocked expression.. He tells me people have 1000's of apps. Pat is my reply..do people use even 50 regularly? Do I even need to iterate his answer?

Few days back, I suggested another blogger to have a compiled page which has links to his blogs scattered on myriad of different websites.

I was chatting with a friend today, who asked if I have this app or that app..I dont have an android :) ..managing life without it very well. Tech-back-ed? Ok! no issues..Its my conscientious decision of staying clear of all addictive stuff, taken when Facebook had a stranglehold over my life. Just a month of deactivated facebook left me with so much time at hand, to do stuff which paid back big time.

With Google + opening a new chat corner, its seriously getting difficult to get your virtual social life in place. Its really heart warming when some survey reports that youth still prefer face to face talk. We had a potluck at our place. Got to meet people whom we know through roommates, but hadnt interacted much (before the potluck). Its good to meet up in an informal setting..feels lively to have a full house.

The girl who forgot her shoes :)

Haha, the title sounds straight out of Enid Blyton's..

My work team practices running on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; I run with the team on Thursdays. The coach is great, my 200 m running timing improved by 3 secs on consecutive thursdays thanks to the drills. (I wont quote the time, because its 7 years after I passed out of school and was in touch with anything remotely athletic...I now think its a different set of muscles for long distance running Vs sprints :P) The drills remind me of my stint as a swimmer kid. I even count my "runtime" in head accurately, same way as I used to time swim laps. While I was in awe of my swimming coach, the running one is a cool dude. The team is very supportive too. Whenever I am timed, someone runs alongside to cheer me and give that boost. If someone is running a 800m, 4 people with run with him/her in different laps.

Track at J.J.Pearce High school..running on a synthetic track after 11 years..

Back to the shoes. This thursday, I carried sports shoes and wore formal ones to work. As usual I also carried my backpack and tiffin bag. I placed my shoes on the shuttle's floor, and forgot to take them off the shuttle. Realized something was amiss in like 2 minutes. But the same shuttle comes around after every 20 mins. There goes half an hour of a busy week..

P.S: This feels great. Marked improvement in stamina and speed in just 4 thursdays. Plan to take "fly"1 lessons once back to university. Parents have been prodding to get me back to "circuit" for long, but its running that will take me to my "element". :)

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_stroke 

Friends by birth

Granny's elder sister and 2 younger sisters visited my india home, another younger sister skyped on her birthday. I shared my skype Desktop to show them the pictures of all the get-togethers they have had in the past. Thanks to my granny's sisters and the love that they shared, I always had a fascination for sisters of nearly the same age.

I used to love the synchronized souls of Enid Blyton's school series twins and Francine Pascal's sweet valley twins. Its like having a best friend by birth. What I specially liked was that each twin had an individuality. Several friends, like me, equally smitten by Enid/ Francine wished to have a twin, and maybe a bollywood inspired twin-reunion story :)

Sweet Valley twins were "psychic" twins- if one is in trouble, the other feels the pain and rushes to help. With time, I realized that you dont need to be born twins to share that special bond with someone. For unexplicable reasons, I used to feel like calling up my close school friend, when she would be down with fever. When a friend's trek went awry, I felt as if someone has set my world on fire.

I spoke to twin friends- to know how is it to be on the other side of the grass. While they do share a tuning, as kids they could not avoid comparison- and hated that. My school had a policy of not putting twins in the same class division so that they would be friends with other kids too. Appreciate the gesture :)

We keep you in our hearts, always

Some movie link featuring a marathi actor Vrushasen Dabholkar took me back to good old days in Ahmednagar- to Dabholkar Sir, (Indian Dumbledore, with his flowing white beard). Dabholkar sir is my father's childhood teacher, our family friend and a father figure.  It feels great to visit his home and get his blessings. Was wondering if today's teachers have the same love for their pupils, and whether pupils have the same respect towards their teachers.

My Dallas roomies and I were chatting about the role our teachers have played in shaping our lives. A roomy told that her 1st standard teacher had called to wish her luck for her 10th standard public exams. I had also got a call from our school Principal, Mrs. Pai, on the eve of my 12th std. public exams, another turning point of Indian education system.

We roomies unanimously thought that language teachers were among the best teachers we had. A roomy reasoned that its because language teachers can teach about diverse things and inculcate appreciation in us. All of us had excellent maths teachers for engineering entrance exam coaching classes, and all the Universities have a renowned Analog Designing Professor.

Family is my 1st teacher. Mom, for everything, for inculcating the love for books; granny's passion for maths and languages; bro's support and dad's uncannily correct perspective. Kudos to my swimming coach who used to throw the 3 yr old kid in 25 ft water sans floats- today the streamlined shape is attained reflexively per stroke. Language teachers - Mrs. Ballal in MIT, Mrs. Bayas in Abhinav, my Sanskrut and English teachers (who were generally our class teachers), and the most favourite teacher of all the pupils of Abhinava Vidyalaya- Inmadar teacher. History teachers, Mrs Damle, and Phule ma'am who never restricted history lessons to textbooks..Mrs. damle once gifted me Diary of Anne Frank. Primary school math teachers Mrs. Kulkarni, Chitnis Sir who encouraged mental maths :) School sports captains, who taught volleyball, perfected marching and encouraged throwball. My brother's Science teacher, Mrs. Akolkar who bravely faced life even with an amputated leg......

We all share a concern if the coming generation will be lucky enough to get teachers like ours... amen!

Space is the limit?

        Watched Transformers-3 last Friday, and Avatar yesterday. I am really bugged by the attitudes of characters in such movies. As if ruling over humans and earth was not enough for them..they now want to rule over the space. Oh, and if Cybertron usurps all earth's minerals to rebuild itself, earthlings fiercely protect darling earth. That is termed bravery, and all. But if humans wish to usurp minerals off a lush green Pandora, and those humanoids object to it..they are called savages, and need to be burnt down!

        I remeber a story in a Marathi sci-fi magazine- note: it predates Transformers-3 or Avatar by atleast 20 years. A scientist, whose every prediction about future has turned true, has cryogenically frozen himself alive. Another group of scientists decide to "de-frost" him. Now this group of scientists are exobiologists, with 4 failed missions on some distant planet. When awakened, the old era man's reactions on finding his turned-true-predictions are much publicized. He starts making few more "politically incorrect" predictions. One of the predictions, which hit the nail bang on spot is: the exobiology missions were not to search for life on the planet. In fact, those missions were to destroy the primitive life on the planet, so that there could be a opposition-free human settlement on that planet. The scientists wanted to divert media attention from their project, and hence all this ruse about waking up the old era man. Following the bitingly true prediction, the scientists decide to put the old era man "back to sleep". 

        Thank god that Pandora (of Avatar) had an atmosphere not conducive to humans, I am sure earthlings would be thinking of colonizing Pandora next.

Hammering memories in..

I was visiting my cousin over the weekend. Every alternate saturday her kids go out for "thak thak". The kids are too young to call a hammer by the name, and hence the unique name to the activity: toy-making at Lowe's.
Kids are given kits, (made in China, of course), apron, a hammer to be returned after the activity, a badge and certificate of participation. The kits have perfectly cut edges, and laser-bored holes for the nails. There's a graphic instruction sheet that comes with the kit. Kids build up toys with their parents' help. Its a great family activity and enhances eye-hand coordination.

This is one memory of America that will be chiseled in my mind, and so far my most favourite view of American life.

7 August

The feeling when you enter the airport, and suddenly realize your parents wont be in beyond this point..
When you want to linger at that gate just a moment longer to see the 2 most loving faces of your world..
You see your travel mates after you finally turn your back to the gate.. the smile when you see your friend with an air hostess, when you dint know she was his sister :)
The sms that you get from your mom, who learnt to sms the day you got your visa..

When you see your close friend's newly married sister and her husband at the airport, as they embark on their new life together..

When your cell phone runs out of battery from all "bye bye calls" and the airport in India supports only US type sockets!
The decision to switch off the phone, to conserve battery to call your parents..
Immediate switching on the cell, waiting waiting and waiting for one last phone call from a long lost friend..
When you pour out the last remaining indian water from your bottle..

Knowing that your cousin too will be starting her new life, and is somewhere just a few gates away from your plane's gate..

The feeling when your cabin luggage rolls from the airport carpet to the corrugated metal of what gets you inside the plane..the realization that you are completely on your own this point onwards..
The call from plane to your parents..
Seeing your travel mate teary eyed..
You wish to start your new life with cheer not tears.. There's excitement and joy for the experiences you are about to have, and for the rebirth..

Having marathi speaking guys receive you at the airport..
Having Indian Grad students association arrange for temporary accomodation..
Seeing the collage of your temp. host's friends' pics..and you feel completely at home..

2 am in the US, your 1st night in the US, alone in the room, and suddenly you can no longer hold up yourself..

When your temp. host's parents leave for NY, you stayed with them for 2 days..the feeling when the dad kisses your teary forehead..

After staying 2 days with 2 other temp. roomies, your temp. host and her parents..everyone just leaves, and you are alone in the apartment..

You are alone, down with fever, your friend offers to stay overnight..college senior gets you dinner..

When you return late and find your sleepy roommates in the same temp. accomodation :)

The friends, especially the guy who's played all roles- project guide, GRE study partner, univ. application mate, the euphoria when he tells you he will be in the same university, and eventually who becomes almost like your elder bro...

And when you no longer feel that the water tastes weird, have settled in your new apartment, have struck a chord with your roomy and your new friends..when you finally celebrate your REBIRTH..