this is what happened...

life in back in India is a sweet experience that cannot be found anywhere else. after all how often can we look back and say, "this is what happened" and relate amazing stories of fun-filled moments...not very often i say. but well, this is the truth and i exaggerate not when i look back upon the memorable times i have had since i have been back from the island...

the first 2 days...unpacking, drunken night out with the girls (Sallu and Michelle), movie with didi and family and popcorn war with the kid sitting behind me.

first night back in Baroda...mela (i.e. local fair) and giant wheel rides and Bhaskar almost pissing in his pants after a particular rough ride. clucking like chickens while walking through the University campus towards our hostel at midnight and being chased by the guards.

the next day...attending the english lecture and sleeping through the class cause i hadn't slept the night before. finding out about the Mood-Indigo intercollege festival at IIT-Bombay and getting my arse into the MSU team by sheer bossiness even though i had missed all due dates for the form filling.

the day after...smoking hookah at Selven's and chewing coffee beans.


and the next day...classes, dinner at Rajan's (who happens to be my lecturer) applying for a job at Sterling-Hoffman.

and then...getting a call and clearing two interviews at the job place, more hookah at Selven's. chai with Angshuman at mausi's.


and the last two days...smoking up at Angshuman's, Saad's heartbreak over K and our subsequent teasing him, me and Saad going for ice cream and singing and dancing on the streets with Rajan in tow, catching a cold and spraining my lower back, spending a night alone in excruciating pain all alone in my room thanks to absent roomies who are partying in Diu, injections and medicines, practicing late into the evening for the Mood-Indigo play and the other University play.

...well there's a lot more. but this internet place has to close down and i am to be kicked out...

:) ...good night friends...

aalvida mere pyaare taapu...

...am leaving tomorrow

but i have no sorrows, cause i am eager to be back in the grind of life that entwines me back in India. life on this island has been good to me.

...far too many memories attached to everything and i have realized that to relive them alone is a folly. you can't be in Kenzi alone and neither can you set up a Braai without the big bru...so the only thing left to do is to create new memories, such as the one that involves Bananna Bar, Phoenix, Vodka and me n Yashraj yapping away to glory...

in any case, the strings that bind me to India are much too stronger and the only thing that keeps me coming back to this island is my family. but soon even that last thread may be severed once dad makes up his mind to leave. still, i shall remain an islander to the end of my life. the spirit of Mauritius lives somewhere within me.

...so even though i am saying goodbye as of now, i am pretty sure that i shall be back!!

philosophical debate...

...Sometimes there comes a time in life when a man must wear his "stretchy pants"...

(i.e. when he must sit back and contemplate on the more serious stuff; such as the meaning of living one’s life and this world at large. the term 'stretchy pants' being the idiomatic expression for all such major analytical and physical tasks in the lingual communicado that i share with my sister)...

anyways, so here’s one such healthy philosophical talk between L and me in its entirety:

L: "this world is an attempt to catch you with your pants down!"
Me: "thank heavens i'm not going commando!!"

...cause i certainly can't presume to change the plans that the world has for me, but the least i can do is to make sure that i don't come out of it looking like a fool exposing his arse for all to kick!!

:)

am back...am back...AM BACK...in MAURITIUS!!

hey!!

so i gobbled dholl puris, downed a can of Phoenix, went and slept on the grass at the Uni, played with RP & saw the most amazing sunset while i walked barefoot on the beach...

and only 24 hours have gone by yet!!

...i love this island. :)

2 weeks...from today...

it’s finally done. i got my it nary planned and i shall have my tickets in my hand in 2 days time, and from there on, if everything just goes on according to plan (ok...even if everything just goes on as usual and nothing new and unexpected happens) i shall be flying over the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean in 2 weeks time on my way to the island.

Mauritius here i come!! :)

well, now that i am certain that i am actually going, the very thought of being back on the island seems to have sent my entire thought process into a spin...till date i fail to understand how in the world i managed to survive for 3 years on that island?? i was so eager to leave and i am quite enjoying my time out here in India...but still, i miss my 'second home' so much. somewhere along the course of 3 years, amidst all the fun times and shitty times & through the upheavals in my life, in between Ramgoolam's election as the PM and the walks along the beach with my dad, somewhere somehow the island managed to sneak into my heart. you know how it is!

anyways, i am sure going to be reliving the good ol' memories of yonder days and raise a toast to them!! Buddha Beach Bar at Flic n Flac, Kenzi, Tamarin Falls, Mont Choisy, Reduit, QB, Saxo, Grand Bay, PL, Steers...and all that!!

...and of course PHOENIX follows me everywhere i go...

*update: well i just had to do this. Gordon's gift to me, and now my gift to you all. enjoy!!*

feels like a hangover...

i usually have a pretty effective means of dealing with problems/issues that affect me.

"i close my eyes and go to sleep"

knowing that i shall be able to tackle them with more vigor thanks to a rested and rational mind when i wake up. it sure is a rare occasion when i have lost sleep over some problem, but last night sleep eluded me. i stayed up half the night worrying and being annoyed; the other half was spent being annoyed and contemplating. all-in-all, the wee hours of dawn saw me quite a bit disappointed over certain matters.

...and now i feel like shit!!

alternative identity...

most of us manage to go through life without any identity, and living in India only makes this fact obvious to me. it is so easy to get lost in the vastness of this country and the culture of the billion Indians who wake up each day to a life that is in many ways changing and yet unchanged. the countless hordes of man allow for the complete engulfing of the individual identity, and this is what is referred to as Karma. we are bound by our fate. the same fate, for some, dictates the world to be at their feet and for others complete anonymity...

and what is the identity of the anonymous?

...but then, it is the same fate that entrusts upon us a particular responsibility that comes from our unique talents, one that we sometimes refer to as our "calling". it comes to us in mysterious ways and once it has given us a glimpse of itself, we become powerless puppets who are constantly lured by the enchantments of our "calling". that is the reason why Clark Kent was Superman, Peter Parker turned into Spidey, Bruce Wayne became Batman and the reason why i doubt my sister (i.e. Noella) to be the evil HB. similarly we all have our share of hidden powers, but they are suppressed beneath the mask of our hidden alternate identity. and my hidden (or henceforth revealed) identity is Ramabhai!!

...(keep reading for more on the Ramabhai saga)

aapko janam din ki bahut baadhai!!!

Happy Birthday!! dearest Heathcoat...love you ...*muuuaaaah*....and miss ya!

...have a fabulous year and don't forget to party hard in the true island spirit...miss ya all the time!! :(

~ cheers :)

the little dodo needs to sleep...

"sanedo re sanedo"...

and the people went crazy and danced like madmen. no not mad, that's not the right word to describe the atmosphere that night. it was more in the tune of crazy, extravagent, wild, exhilirated, jubiliant...i guess it's just a mixture of all that and more. and i witnessed it all.

as all my dear readers are aware, i have taken time off from my classes at MSU-Baroda and landed my 'home-made food' sick butt in Ahmedabad. actually, spent the better half of Wednesday with Bhaskar (my Assamese roommate) and helped him move to his new apartment and went and shook up his work place at Azure Management as well. now that turned out to be a good thing since i ran into dear ol' Yash Lodhiya (my classmate from High School) while we sorted out the contract details for Bhaskar

...cause i got hopelessly lost on my way and thanks to certain misdirections from certain rikshawalas, i showed up an hour and half late for lunch (by which time the girls had already got done with the 'lunch') sporting a very silly grin that said, "i am an idiot to get lost and go around in circles in my own city". :D

well, went down to Shahibagh to my masi's (i.e. maternal aunt) that evening and caught up with my masi and masa (the one's who live in Mumbai and were in A'bad on some work)...hogged on some homemade food played with my little dodo and slept...zzzzzzzz...

the Navratri bug bit me late that night and i decided to go down to Shila Lekh (i.e. stone inscription. what a funny name for luxury apartment complex!!) for the garba. my cousin had managed to get hold of passes and apparantly a certain Sanedo (a traditional folk-song form that uses satire) singer was to perform that night. well, i didn't dance that night. couldn't muster energy to keep up with the pace of the crowd. but i surely enjoyed seeing the people dance that night...

forget Ibiza and Bali, if you want a real party, then come to Gujarat during Navratri.

...well, i got lots more to say, but kya kare, my sister needs to feed the baby and i am missing my movie at 9...

but i promise to be back with more Navratri sagas. still got 3 more nights of dancing to go...

Cyber Cafe musings...and "Badalta Jism"

"never wanna see the sun go down..."

haha, that's the track playing in the background as i sit here in a cyber cafe and type out this post on a Sunday morning (actually this is one of those rare Sunday's when i am still in Baroda and not down in Ahmedabad listening to people who are concerned over my direction in life give me lectures on good living while i live life the way i always do)...OK...so i am in Baroda, but that does not mean that i give up on my fun. call it luck or maybe just my natural flair of making friends really fast, caue i already got me a great bunch of fellas who are equally up to the task of having shit load of fun, if not more.

so work is happening finally, i still don't have a permanent hostel room. the room that i have at SJ Hall really doesn't count since it is way far away from the college and i have only been there once (that too for not more than 5 minutes). on paper that room belongs solely to your's truly, but in true Indian style i already got me 5 roommates. so that's 6 guys in a room meant for just 3...

not that i mind, but they are all a bunch of sissy Gujjus, who chew tobaccoo all day and consequently have really stained teeth (gasp)!!

...so i still hang out with my Tibetian/Nepali/Saudi/Keralite/Haryanvi pals at TKG Hall and am desperately hoping that i finally get my own room by Monday evening (that's what the warden promised)!!

apart form that, Navratri has just begun. and that means 9 days of dancing garba and raas late into the night...though i missed out on the party last night thanks to (a) no passes to any of the garba venues and (b) lack of traditional attire without which we would be shooed out of any garba. so instead of dancing late into the night, Jerry, Bhaskar, Amrit, the Jat and me decided to go watch a movie instead. we made our way across the MS University campus towards Natraj (a really old movie theater that even my dad remebers visiting during his college days here in Baroda). the journey included jumping over closed gates and climbing walls, but finally we made it in time to catch the last show of 'Slither' dubbed in Hindi...now English movies dubbed in Hindi are always an assured laugh riot. if not due of the bad translation then definitely thanks to the terribly innovative titles that usually make even the most sane movies appear as wierd B-grade flicks...so we watched Slither or better put "Badalta Jism"...bad choice...terrible movie...

the only good part about the entire movie was Jerry whistling everytime the blob like alien creature gobbled up humans.

...now we want to watch "Saap Machaye Dhoom" (aka Snakes on a Plane) next. ;)

well apart from that, i really haven't got much to say. no one even tried ragging me in college or even at the hostel. kindda pissed at that, cause i really was looking forward to that. but i have done my share of pulling the legs of quite a few folks, including my seniors... :D

also, am gonna take up this job at this MNC based BPO here...got a job offer from ICICI-Prudential but they are trying to impose too many conditions. and this new BPO offer looks kindda good. so let's see...i got plenty of time on my hands here after my classes. so i guess that it would be wise to put it to some money making use. also, am intrested in doing a sort of internship or a part-time thing with a NGO/Social-Community work based Organisation. have spoken with a few in my faculty who are involved in such work. so anyone, who knows anyone who needs someone like me, you know whom to hire.

all right then, me gotta get going now...have to work on cutting down on my ciggarette smoking...it really has gone up since i moved to Baroda. i assume that the best way to do that is to buy myself a hookah!! :)

until later my dear readers...

PS: going to Ahmedabad on Wednesday...its then that i crank up my Navratri fever and indulge in late night dandiys-raas!!

busy-bee...

hah!! it's been a while since i've had the opportunity to blog...but kya kare (what to do), have been really busy all this time. and things just don't seem to be getting any easier on the timetable. life's certainly not the same as it was in Mauritius. no more lazing around at the beach all day with my can of beer and certainly no more 24 hour internet service in the hostel!!

but not to worry my dear readers...i shall be back to blogging once i have things under control...until then...adios...

and like always, have fun!! ;)

Kidnapped!!!

i could go on and apologize for not being as regular as before in my blogging, but then i am not in a very apologetic mood at the moment. :)

so finally i made my move to Baroda and to MSU. how do i like it there?? can't really say much yet, since i have only managed to spend like 2 days there...but in general i suppose that i am pretty excited and happy to be where i am. the good part is that there are a lot of non-Gujarati students in my class (especially a lot of cute Manipuri girls). ;)

anyways, currently i am back in Ahmedabad and that too not by any common-place turn of events. to be more precise, i am currently kidnapped and am being held hostage in Ahmedabad. i am completely powerless in front of my kidnapper, who i cannot even turn over to the cops (though i have threatened to do so on innumerable occasions over the last 2 days) and am counting the days to my release. now, there is a part of me that wants to stretch this episode into a melodramatic story as in Ekta Kapoor serials, but then there is this other part of me (and presumably the stronger one) that is too lazy to undertake any such effort. so here are the facts laid out bare and for all to read.

no masala...no twists...no melodrama...in short, no Ekta Kapoor.

so i committed the ultimate crime when i failed to call up my buddy Mohit before i came to India. and then, i failed to surprise him by crashing at his home or office over the course of the past week as i had planned to do (actually that was Ronak's idea and i hold him responsible on all accounts). now, that, my dear friends is the silliest mistake that i have committed in my 21 year old life. i was silly enough to think that i could hide something as big as a 65 kilo person from a guy whose father runs a newspaper (so what if he was in Delhi all of last week). in short Mohit found out that i was in India (how?? i don't know), and so he did something very unlike him. he waited for me to call him and tell him i was in India...and i did something so very unlike myself as well, i forgot to call him. but all these pretences went down the drain last Wednesday when i got a call in the afternoon:

cell ringing and disturbing my mid-day siesta

Me: hello!!

Ronak: hi! where are you?

Me: at my uncle's apartment. i just got back from college.

Ronak: ok, somebody wants to talk to you.

Me: huh!!

the Somebody: you bloody c$%T, Madad C#@d, @##@%...(a five minute barrage of gaalis ensued)...you think that you are smarter than me eh?? well too bad, now you are going to die..you little prick. try and save your ass if you can...

Me: hi Mohit!

Mohit: saala, C@#t...hi bolta hai?? where the fuck are you??

Me: Baroda..

Mohit: ok.

(he disconnects the phone and i am actually rolling on the floor laughing. i know that my arse is in big trouble, but i cannot but help laugh. he just sounded soooooooo mad). three quarters of an hour later...cell rings again.

Mohit: so where does your uncle live in Baroda?

Me: why?

Mohit: just answer my question kutte (dog)...

Me: so and so place...so and so building...

Mohit: ok...be down in 10 mins.

Me: what?? what do you mean be down?? you don't possibly mean to say that you are in Baroda? are you?

Mohit: yes i am...aab baachke baata (now try and save yourself).

Me: OMG!!

Mohit: shut up...just be down in 5.

so i wait for 5 minutes and then make my way down the apartment building. and wait as a white Toyota pulls up next to me and a mad Mohit jumps out, chases me around the parking lot, catches me and lands a nice punch behind my ears and bundles me into the car, and the next thing that i know i we are speeding down the Expressway towards Ahmedabad. i am very curtly informed that my indiscretion and failure to contact Mohit is the reason behind my abduction and now i only get to go back to Baroda on Tuesday after spending the weekend at Mohit's.

well folks, so that is the short and sweet story of my kidnapping. i don't have a toothbrush, my wallet holds only 100 bucks, and i am still wearing my house slippers...

well folks, life can't get more spontaneous and 'on-the-spur-of-the-moment' than this, can it?

ps: i managed to find some clothes that i had left back at my Granny's place in Ahmedabad, so thankfully i have a clean pair of underpants and better footwear.

pps: (American half of my parivar) Ba reached Ahmedabad today morning. i was at the airport to receive her. so rest assured that she had a decent flight and made it!!

and now i must go...i am hungry and the food smells delicious!!

overheard...

ok...so i am taking Sallu out to lunch today and as ususal i had to drag her out of bed and as of now am waiting outside her room for her to get ready...women!! nah...just Sallu!!

anyways, i kindda left the story halfways yesterday since i was running out of time and the Cyber Cafe guy was also quite keen on kicking me out just so that he could close shop. so let me yap on futher...

did i ever tell ya all that i really enjoy travelling in the local trains that connect the different cities in India (basically within the same state). it really gives me immesurable joy to be able to sit back and observe the people in their day to day walk. the incessant banter, the laughter and the fights, the grumpy man and the tiny beggar kid. they all are a source of observatory delight. i really have done my best to try and push myself into the daily grind of what is the Indian Life. the very second day back on homesoil and i was already sitting on my arse on the hard wooden seat of the general compartment of the Ahmedabad-Baroda memu (local train). the landscape outside was one immersed in water and the floods ravaged the various districts of Gujarat. Surat was badly hit and totally cut off from the world for almost 4 days, Baroda had just had its share of the calamity with the Vishwamitri river overflowing. the various dams across the state had to be opened due to increasing fears of the water pressure buliding up to the level where they would burst the entire bloody dam...in short...Gujarat is one fucked up place at the moment. anyways, sitting there in the compartment i couldn't but help over hear the following conversation:

(i have translated the entire conversation into English for the benefit of my readers, but there is no doubt that i have failed completely in capturing the essence of the conversation that took palce in 3 different accents of Gujarati)

man 1: (to a couple sitting across him) so where are you from?

man 2 (the couple): we are from Surat...going to Valsad.

lady 1: oh, Surat!! that city really got the burnt of God's fury this time during the floods. so how is the local situation now? i saw in the news last night that there are carcasses stuck in the mud till date.

lady 2 (the couple): oh yes, the situation is quite bad. but not that bad. the carcasses can only be seen near the river bank. the rest of the city is full of mud but they are trying to clean it up.

man 2 (the couple): the mud is almost 2 feet deep in some areas of the city.

man 1: yeah, the rains this year have been like never before. and its still not over. they say that there is more rain to follow in the next few days.

man 2 (the couple): yeah, even i heard that. but i tell you, the amount of damage done by the floods is already unimaginable. wonder what would happen if the rains don't stop soon.

lady 1: (directed to lady 2) but tell me, with all this rain and floods, all the sarees must have got spoilt??

lady 2 (the couple): yes, most of my sarees got spolit. but i did manage to save a few.

man 3 (the guy standing): bah!!! people are dying and all the ladies can talk about is the damage done to sarees!! women!!

by this time everyone who was listening to the converstation that took place amongst totally anonymous strangers, who never even asked each other their names, were laughing and even i couldn't but help sport the ear to ear grin....

anyways, Sallu is ready now and i gotta go. so until later folks!!

;)

i got no jet leg....

i have been sitting in front of the PC in the Cybercafe for over 5 minutes, wondering where to start. saying that the last 6 days were eventful is an understatement in the perfect dictionary sense. but yes, i have been having a shit load of fun...so here we go, just some random insights into my life 'India' ishtyle!!

Mauritius!! ah well, i left that lovely island behind last Thursday and my i did that in some style. Yash had coem along to drop me off at the airport and we even managed to get ourselves a speedig ticket enroute.

just five miles away from the airport, after cruising at 120 kms for the best part of the drive we get booked at the last roundabout before the airport. hah! :)

anyways, i should have taken that as a sign of things to come. cause in true Air Mauritius style they did their best to make sure that the flight back to India was the damn most uncomfortable experience ever. 6 hours and i couldn't take a single wink! the seat was as hard as an execution chair and the food was something that would put the Bollywood marketed burnt roti and watery dal in the Hindustani Jails to shame!! but i had a pretty good time thanks to a chatty guy in the seat next to me (ok, true fact, he actually went and served me water cause the air hostess was too busy to even notice our buzzer buzzing for over 15 mins) and Phoneix!! hell yeah, i stacked up on my Phoenix quota in order to survive the flight....and cracked jokes about the Italian/ Russian mafia with my flight buddy. and then i saw the lights of Mumbai city and i almost cried with joy. they were beautiful. simply beautiful.

so a breezy "1:00 am" walk at Mumbai International airport after a grouchy man waved me through a gap in the barrier cordoning the Green Channel and Customs & after a lovely lady at Jet Air waviered my excess luggage with a smile and after i immediately got a seat on the bus connecting the International and Domestic Airports, i realised that a breezy walk is not the best thing always. i ended up having to sit on my arse for over 4 hours at the Domestic Terminal waiting for my connecting flight to Ahmedabad. next to me sat a South African couple (albeit of Indian descent), also waiting for their connecting flight to Jaipur. so i took the opportunity to yap a bit more.

anyways, i finally got on to my connecting flight to A'bad and ahhhh!! man it was soooooo good. i just flooped on to my seat (oh yes, the lovely lady had given me the window seat next to the door so that i could strech my legs) and asked the pretty airhostess for an extra pillow and slept. yes, i slept through all the turbulence and everything else...well i did run into my cousin at the arrivals terminal on landing. you see, she works at the airport and had specifically asked to be stationed at arrivals that day just so that she would be the first to meet me. haha...it was so funny, she didn't recognize me until i walked right up to her and picked her up!

oh a FYI note: i shaved my long curly tresses a day before i flew out of Mauritius!!

and then she ensured that all my luggage was fast tracked and that i didn't have to go through any formalities and escorted me out to the main gate. anyways, this is turning into a mother of a post!! phew, i just have so much to share and say...but all in due time. today's Janmasthami (the birthday of Lord Krishna) so i gotta go see the 'matka' ceremony on TV. but i shall be back later with more stories...

PS: i saw my little niece, and my my she is the most beautiful little wonder i have ever laid my eyes upon. they call her Rushika, but for me she is my tiny little DODO. and i love her sooooooooo much. she's an absolute darling.

PPS: got my admission in MSU-Baroda, am moving on Monday. ;)

stuck in traffic...

its messed up all right and there are so many times that i wish that it wasn't the way it is...but then i stop and ask myself, "are we having fun?" and most often than not, the answer is "Yeah!" cause after all the debates and discussions on life, philosophy, spirituality and what not, i have kindda figured out that life's a crazy thing & you gotta have fun. you owe that to yourself...

anyways, as everyone knows, lately my life has been a total bore. now, i enjoyed it while it lasted but the fact remains that sitting at home with nothing to do, adding to the pool of the literate unemployed, setting the daily time-table in accordance to the cat’s feeding time and watching the distressful situation of our world on TV is something that i have gotten accustomed to. its like...

sometimes in life you get stuck in traffic. you are surrounded by people and yet you are alone in your car. at first you take it calmly. you just sit back and tune in to the radio. pretty soon your mind starts to wander. the incessant blabbering of the RJ are of no interest to you. so you start to look around you. you check out the car behind you in the rear-view. you read the bumper sticker on the socially in adept punk in front of you. you smile at a humorous incident that crops up in your mind as if from nowhere. but then you slowly start to loose patience. your planner starts to beep and remind you that you have an important meeting at work that afternoon for which you still have to prepare. you have a million other things to do and none of them can wait. you start to tap your fingers on the steering wheel...slowly the laid back behaviour that you had earlier is turning into a mild annoyance. you try and figure out what the hell is it that has you stuck here in this spot? must be one of those bloody overloaded trucks/tempos that must have overturned. or maybe it is just some road digging expedition by the municipality/road development authority that has ended in the road being converted into a bottle-neck instead. damn it! now you are getting annoyed. you have been stuck in the same spot for almost an eternity. the guy behind you has resorted to honking. the bloody F#@$er thinks that honking like mad will get you moving. despite the heartfelt annoyance at him you feel like doing the same. you want to honk. you want to let others know that you are angry...and before you know it you are just one among millions of frustrated individuals stuck in traffic on the third rock from the sun. now you wish that all those whacko sci-fi writers were right and that they in reality had those interstellar hyper ways...so you just sit there and honk. time flies while you remain stuck and by now you are tired of honking. you are late for half of all the stuff that you had planned for the day. now you are going to have to work during lunch hour for that meeting. the frustration is at its peak and the non-stop ringing of the cell phone doesn't help either. you are tired. the amount of energy that purposeless sitting requires is astounding. and then suddenly, just like that, you give up. that's it. Alles Klar. Fin. you make up your mind that you are going nowhere today. you are destined to be stuck in traffic all day and maybe you will even grow old sitting here in you car. you give the steering wheel a last big thwack and you curse out loud. and then you recline that seat as far as it goes and close your eyes. soon everything begins to fade away and you start to imagine yourself in your happy place. you are no longer annoyed. you begin to relax and let the feeling sink in...and then suddenly you are abruptly shaken out of your siesta by a sharp honk from the guy behind you. you sit up and rub your eyes only to see the guy who was in front of you fading away into the distance. still groggy, you rev up the car and step on the gas. you find yourself on the Freeway and zooming at 100 km an hour as you try to catch up with the others. you also become one of those people who are trying to catch up on lost time while at the same time trying to come to terms with the sudden change of going from standstill to driving at 100 km/hr.

...and then you notice the time on the dash board and realize...all that...the eternity that you just spent stuck in traffic had all but lasted 20 min...

well folks, 4 days ago i got a call from dad. my admission at MSU in Baroda has been confirmed and i have to report in person before the 15th of this month. so, a new city to live in, new friends to make, new stuff to study. and all this within 10 days. it seems i got my 0 to 100 km/hr jolt. have spent the last couple of days running around the sland trying to say my goodbyes, buying stuff to give to folks back in India, making sure i have all the papers i need from the University here and trying to book a ticket. almost all is taken care of and i today morning i got my tickets as well. i shall be flying out of this island on the 10th evening.

i'm not sure how i feel about all this. i am excited no doubt. but also kindda nervous. don’t' know how this is all going to end...so just wish me luck.

if everything happens right as of this moment, my next post shall be from India...

& then there are some...

the night before last, i just lay in my bed unable to sleep...maybe it was the 'Khichu' i had for dinner...in any case it was one of those nights when sleep is the most elusive of things & all you can do is lay in bed with eyes wide open, listening to the clock in the living room tick away in the silence of the night. i always find the silence most conducive to my thoughts. yes, the regular ticking of the clock soon fades away into the background as your mind takes over and plunges you into the deep recesses that only it can possess. and as you are falling you see glimpses of your own life...

sunny days spent lazing around in the grass at the University...nights of incessant fun and dialogues with friends on the porch...the day out at McDonald's with the gang after the HSC exam...the night time visits to the 'chai wala' during those exams...the games that i played with the cousins during the summer holidays...my mother's smile every time i ran into the kitchen saying i was hungry only cause i wanted a piece of the cake she had just baked

...they all flash by in your fall.

yes, that night i just lay there in my bed falling.

but then there were these three images that for a moment stopped my free-fall and held me there suspended in mid air while i relived them. images of 3 very distinct people. images from 3 very distinct phases of my life. a life that i had left behind...but one that i lived each day in the memories from those moments.

the first of these images were that of Brother Thomas. Brother Thomas came into my life when i moved to Jamnagar with dad when he got transferred there. mom was still making her career in fashion and hence she did not move with us. she lived in Ahmedabad and visited regularly from time to time, but for most parts it was just me, my sister and dad.

the Jamnagar days are reminiscent of my time as a Xavierite and the echo of those days still dwell in the halls and grounds of St. Xavier's...or maybe just in our classroom of 5-B, Brother Thomas's class. for a boy at the age of 10 everything is a source of immense destructive joy and chaos. so just try and imagine 60 such individuals put together in a room...ahh, sweet memories. i still remember, 5th grade was the grade in which we stopped using pencils and picked up our first pens. now, it is very essential that a child's first pen-handling experience be that of an ink/fountain pen. it does wonders to the child's handwriting and comes highly recommended by the missionaries at St. Xavier's Jamnagar...but handwriting-shandwriting sheemish...

ink pens are also the source of raging ink throwing battles, stained walls and desks, books that resemble blotting paper, white shirts that will never be white again and ink stained hands that go in the mouth and you end up with blue teeth grinning back at the teacher

...and amongst all that, stood the towering Brother Thomas. Brother Thomas (brother since he vehemently refused to be called a father like we called the other teachers), must have easily topped 6 feet tall. most likely he was 6'4" or something. somewhere in his late twenties...but for us 10 year old boys he was the tallest man ever. our heads almost fell off every time we tried to look up at him while standing in front of him. he was the English teacher in addition to being the class teacher. i still remember him as the tall and dark Brother Thomas, dressed in white, the gentle smile on his lips as he spoke of grammar and diction in his smooth voice. he demanded strict discipline from all his students with the same smile and voice. one that we all were only too eager to provide in fear of the frown that never was there, but always a threatened to surface. still he always taught in the same mellow tone. in fact i can never remember him as being flustered or angry about us not understanding, i guessed that even he realised that all we cared about was when the recess bell would sound and who would climb the tree and who would fall and what was in out lunch boxes. English grammar was the last thing in our minds. still he persisted with his teaching. always patient and persistent. that was Brother Thomas.

but the one memory of him that i remember most vividly is that of Christmas. or more specifically, of Christmas Eve. i still remember, we boys had stayed back in school that day. we had all taken special permission from our parent's to do that. we all wanted to help decorate the school hall for Christmas. we ran around following orders from the older boys, carrying stuff and holding chairs and ladders as the older boys worked at the real decorating. we carried the straw for the crib of Baby Jesus and we dragged the props for the Christmas play. oh, we all put in our own 10 year old's worth of effort. and then, someone asked for Brother Thomas. and so Akhil (or was it Priyank) & I, were promptly dispatched to the residential quarters of the teachers at the very end of the campus to go tell Brother Thomas that he was needed. i still remember the long walk across the grounds. it was forbidden territory that we were about to step into. we were about to trespass on Brother Thomas's privacy. no student was allowed to do that. he couldn't have been more clear in that matter when he strictly forbade us to disturb him or any other teacher after school hours on the very first day.

but it was Christmas Eve, and so when we told the watchman that we were there to tell Brother Thomas that he was needed, he just waved us in and in passing said, "don't bother going up to his room and knocking. in the evenings you'll find him down in the garden with his rabbits." RABBITS!! we couldn't believe our ears and our feet hurried across the grass to the other end of the garden, & sure enough, there was the figure of Brother Thomas crouched over a cage. he had a little bucket next to him. i still remember how we just stood back, neither of us having the courage to walk up to him. we just stood there and called out to him. he turned. saw us and smiled. and then asked what was the matter. we told him that he was needed and that so-and-so had sent us to fetch him all in one breath. he just nodded, still smiling. and then he spoke, "Ok, we shall go. but first, don't you want to see the rabbits? there is this baby rabbit you know."

that minute he stopped being a young missionary who refused to be called a father and whose duty was to teach his students grammar. the discipline demanding, distant, mysterious and awe-inspiring figure of Brother Thomas no longer existed. he was Brother Thomas. just Brother Thomas.

...a simple man of God who loved teaching children & who loved his rabbits. that's the image of Brother Thomas that i cherish the most...

and that's where i start to fall again...i really can't remember much about Brother Thomas since he never really spoke very openly about his own life to the students. i remember he once mentioned that he had grown up in Kerala. but that was all. and then i moved. i stayed in Jamnagar only for a year, or maybe a little less before i moved back to Ahmedabad. i lost touch with everything that i had left behind...but one thing remained. the image of Brother Thomas, always patient and persistent whether it be in his duty of imparting knowledge to his students or caring for his rabbits...

oh, there are many that we encounter in this journey of life. some are forgotten with the next step. some linger on for a while and some become milestones in our journey. the one's we remember for being that 'extra' bit special. the one's who mark a definitive point in our journey and the one's on whom we look back with fond memories.

...and then there are some...and they are the one's like Brother Thomas...

(my free falling continues and then once again i am stopped in mid-air...but that story's for another time)

Chicken Soup for the Sick!

one of the quirks of life that i have managed to unfold so far has been the seemingly irrational, but very true, relationship between my sister and my ill health. ever since she got introduced into my life at the age of 5, she has been the forerunner in the horde of millions of parasitic organisms that harbour the sickness inducing viruses who later on go on to destroy my immune system.

it's a warning from the Viruses!! your sister got sick. now you are next.

no matter what amount of precautions i take, my sister somehow manages to pass on her virus to me. i can survive being imprisoned in a cell teeming with sick people and i wouldn’t catch anything. but i rest assured that if my sick sister is within the distance of sight/hearing, i shall be the next victim of whatever sickness it is that she is down with. i think that all this has a bit of scientific twist to it. i guess that with our matching DNA and Gene Pool, my sister's body is the perfect host for any virus to mutate to the level that they are able to bypass all the defences that my immune system has built up. she certainly plays the role of the virus host admirably.

some of you may find it amusing, but it truly is one of the lesser wanted quirks/jokes that life has in store for me.

anyways, so after having spent most of the night tossing and turning, with my body temperature levels going haywire. i waged an endless battle against runny nose. my sister did come in once into my room only to give me some pill that i had forced her to take at knife point just 2 days back when she was sick, and tell me to hang in since the worst was yet to come!! and then she gave one of her trademark sweet & innocent smiles and reminded me how she had threatened to pass on the flu to me if i kept on pestering her...

oooo, how i hated her at that moment in time with all the intensity that my flu ridden soul could muster up.

...well, to carry further in less hateful terms, i have been consuming chicken soup all day long. now that is one thing about the flu that i don't mind. chicken soup, mmmm, any day!! so it was imperative that my jobless/aimless/sick with flu mind wander off in the direction of researching chicken soup on the web. well actually i just wanted to put up a yummy picture of a steaming bowl of chicken soup for the benefit of all my readers without having to get my camera and take a snap of the bowl in front of me.

well for all my troubles i just managed to come up with a million chicken soup for the soul/ husband/ horse lover/ crazy teenager/ chiropractic/ gardner/ whatever it is books that the publishing houses come up with nowadays (it would be interesting to compile a list of the entire chicken soup book series. maybe i could do that once i feel a bit better) ... and then my tired flu ridden body gave up!!

now i need to go sleep some more. but first, i need some more chicken soup.

tag along...

well i suppose that i have always been diligent in my homework and assignments. or maybe i have too much time on my hands and too little to keep me busy all day long. take your pick folks...anyways, Scribblez tagged me and pleaded her case exceptionally well. so here i am, doing my very first picture tag. i really didn't have to do a very in depth search on the web to make up my mind (i guess that sarees and kathakali are not my forte). i just picked certain things right out of my daily life. so we got something beautiful, something cultural, something i did today and something i so bad wish i had right now!!

something beautiful... i have always loved flowers. i love having flowers around the house and daisies are my favourites. so daisies it is.

something cultural... well being an incorrigible Bengali that i am (i am just humouring myself here...i'm 50% corrupt Gujju), festivities = Durga Pooja. they simply make the most amazingly beautiful sculptures of the Goddess, plus i always loved that festival. will tell ya why later!! :)

something i did today... ok. so i watched Rose Red today. the 'Stephen King' printed in big letters on the DVD cover was enough to entice me to rent it from the video club. but seriously folks, 4 hours & 12 minutes later i was ecstatic over having somehow surviving that one without having to gnaw off one of my limbs. the ultimate drag-a-thon as far as i am concerned (my sister reserves that title for LOC).

something i desire so very bad... can anyone blame me for this one??

ok..ok...i shall be a bit more reasonable. maybe i'll settle for this instead. Vodka always works for me!!

so this is my picture tag post!! now its my turn to tag somebody....let's see, whom would i love to see do a picture tag???...hmm...Beks, Wishnew, Gordon, Dhwani (my Surti gf) and Me.

be good you all and do your homework well!!

Outrageous!!

so much for my happy day...my daily routine is definitely going to be messed up with high doses of anger and outrage. the same happened with the Mumbai train blasts earlier this month. and now again today reading this report has revoked my ire.

Indian Government censorship on blogs

what is this???...

I DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION!!

freedom of speech is one of my Constitutional Rights and it cannot be taken away so easily for any reason whatsoever...i don't want to go into a lengthy discussion right now cause it shall only make me more outraged at the entire issue. just remember draconian government and Caesarean plutocrats, i also have the right to ensure that my Constitutional Rights are protected at all costs. this right allows Indian citizens (i.e. me) to stand up for their rights against anybody, even the Government of India.

maybe i am better off on this island. at least no one here is censoring my rights...now i gotta go make myself some breakfast. all this ranting so early in the morning makes me hungry!!

ps: thank you wishnew for the link to the article.

Blogger Warning!!!

hey folks, have any of you come across this problem wherein one is unable to open any blogspot blogs??? if you have, then my asking such questions on my blog is just me being plain old stupid. anyways, apparently this is happening quite a lot. also, heard from somewhere that people with Yahoo! messenger are having such problems...

it sure scares the willies out of me (arrrrgh...the world is about to end!!!)

...knowing that i can get cut off from the blogger world. *shudder* maybe Beks' shifting to WordPress wasn't such a bad idea after all...

got more stories to share...had a great weekend...but i'm not so sure i wanna say it all. i don't know if my dad reads this blog or not!! ;)

the Rhythm to this Nach...

its a known fact that i have spent most of my life surrounded by women. being the only male sibling until the age of 17 in the brawling bunch of 10 cousins on my maternal side, i have had a lot to bear. things were slightly better on my paternal side thanks to a few male cousins whom i could regard as my allies. but even there the sisters outnumber us brothers. in my family, the scales have always been very heavily tipped in the favour of the women folk. no wonder that male chauvinism is something that i grew up to regard with disdain and contempt.

MCP...definitely not me!!

anyways, what i am really hinting towards is that this post is for one of my very special cousin sisters. this one's for you Rhythm. well what can i say about her?? she's the 4th eldest (she beats me to that spot by 2 years) & the bookworm of this crazy bunch (actually i lay claim that position thanks to my insatiable appetite of consuming readable material). but she was the first to be diagnosed with that malady. we both read a lot. but she's the one who hid under the blanket to read her story books, shunned most outdoor activities and eventually ended up with em' specks. plus she ended up studying to be a dentist. so i guess that she fulfils the bookworm criteria far more than i do.

dear didi, i know that life is a bitch. but that's how things are here on this planet. so i just wanna say that you need to chill a bit. stop trying to please everyone. you do not have to live up to anyone's expectations...

just make sure that you live up to your own.

...you are an amazing and beautiful person and if people can't see that, then i have to say that they need to see an Ophthalmologist (do we have one in our family?? maybe Mithila should study that branch of medicine).

i'm so glad that you are doing so well in life. and always be assured that i got your back covered. after all i gotta start paying my dues for all those Rakhis that you have tied to my wrist all these years. i absolutely love chatting with ya & i know that its been a long time since we've met. but that just means that we have so much more to talk about. so be assured. once i am back in India, we gonna party hard.

you rock!! totally!! :)

now proove to me that 4 years of dental school were not a waste...go break some teeth for me...

ps: Palak and Rujuta are done with...now we have Anuradha next in line before we marry you off!!

...so make hay while the sun is still shining (*evil grin on face*).

Cow Story!!

well i know that this has been doing the rounds of the internet for quite some time, but come on, who doesn't love the bovine mooo?? and as it is i don't have anything better to do today. so here we go...

SOCIALISM: You have 2 cows and you give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM: You have 2 cows. The Government takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM: You have 2 cows. The Government takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM: You have 2 cows. The Government takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM: You have 2 cows. The Government takes both, shoots one, milks the other and throws the milk away...

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow dropped dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION: You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called Cowkimon and market them World-Wide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You reengineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. But you don't know where they are. You break for lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION: You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION: You have two cows.You have 300 people milking them. You claim full employment, high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the numbers.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows.You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION: You have two cows. Both are mad.

AN IRISH FARMER: You have two cows. You claim government subsidies for eight cows.

GORDON: You have 2 cows. You eat them both. :)

I know that i'm outta my mind, but feel free to comment!!

some things are just worth everything...

what can i say??? just saw Armageddon for like the hundredth time...

and every time...damn it, every time Liv Tyler takes my breath away!!

and no doubts to my masculinity, but i love it when Ben Affleck sings "leaving on a jet plane" to Liv before the take off.

sheesh...i need to stop!! maybe i'll make up for this movie mush by making tonight a beer and the World Cup finals night. i got me a bet as well. dad's cheering on for France & i got the back of the Italian Juggernaut.

may the Football Gods awaken and do justice to the slayers of Brazil & strike them down with the fury unleashed by Totti, Toni and Gattuso.

allez Italia...

UPDATE: it's Monday morning & got nothing to say...just doing my victory dance!! :)

pretty eventful day

so yesterday was pretty eventful as well. my normal holiday routine seems to have been hit out of the park lately & i really have been surviving on 3-4 hours of sleep at night. yesterday was Amresh's turn to show up at my door at 9 am and drag my sorry arse of out bed. apparently his mother woke him up early and so he decided that he'd return the favour.

for all those people who have no clue of who Amresh is, all i have to say is that he is like that long lost twin brother of mine (albeit born of a different womb). people usually mistake us to be real brothers while we are out on the streets in our many adventures together.

anyways, so he knocks on my door and gets me out of bed...steals my cup of coffee and also changes the playlist!! sonofabitch!!

anyways, we pretty soon decide that its no fun staying indoors and decide to go grab a couple of movies from the video club and also stop by at Super U to go replenish our stock of goodies & fill our tummies while we are at it. well plans made...we guys were almost ready to leave when Noella shows up. so she also hops into the car as we head out. to cut a very boring and long story short...we wasted almost half an hour at the video club while Noella, Amresh & i fought over the movies.

stopping by at Super U - Grand Baie, i manage to recollect the following extracts of conversation.

.........................................................................................................................................

scene 1: at the bread and baked stuff aisle. entry of girl in hot skirt while Noella and i fight over the choice in bread.

Me: sliced and whole wheat.
Noella: naa...i like plain bread.
Me: well, i don't care what you like. take that whole wheat bread. (shoving WWB into the basket)
Amresh: whoa! check her out...Noella you look in the other direction.
Me: hmm, what's up with that skirt??
Amresh: i know. but she's hot. must be a tourist. let's find out.

(standing and pretending to select bread while in reality just trying to eavesdrop on her conversation)

Me: that sounded like Creole to me.
Amresh: yeah, she's Mauritian.
Noella: go ask her number.
Amresh: you are supposed to be a good girl from a decent family. you should not be asking me to go up to her and ask her number. how dare you act like that in front of your brothers.
Noella: well i don't think that Shubu (i.e. me) minds & anyways i don't think she's that hot. bah!
Me: she looks too young. maybe 16...Amresh, you sure you are not a Paedophile??
Amresh: no i am not. hey! where did Noella go??
Me: eh!! who cares...let's take a look at the alcohol section. see if they got some booze on promotion.

(Noella ends up being the smartest amongst us as she quietly walked away with her plain bread while i stood distracted by Amresh. i never remembered about the whole bread thing until we got home).


scene 2: Steers. hogging on a King Steer Burger.

Noella: look at that girl behind you Shubu.
Me: hmm, she's pretty. (evil grin..thinking bad...very bad)
Amresh: which one??
Noella: the one in the white skirt with all that make up on.
Amresh: i think i know her. yeah, she looks familiar.
Me: really!!
Noella: what? taane nathi lagtu ke kaik vaadhrej make up laggau chee aane? (don't you think that she has a bit too much make up on?)
Amresh: no, i don't remember her exactly. but i think that she is a friend of my brother's. seen her somewhere definitely.
Me: it's a small country. i'm sure you have seen her before. haan, thodu vaadhare chee. khas karine kohl. paan chale. saari dekhaye che (yeah, she's slightly overboard. especially with the Kohl. but its ok, she looks good)

(by this point in time it is quite obvious that we are staring at her and talking about her and she also notices us).

Me: i think she knows we are talking about her. maybe we should go and talk to her. just so that we don't look like a bunch of creeps who just stare at women.
Amresh: Noella. you should not be listening to what your brother is saying. he is spoiling you.
Noella: i don't like my KFC fries.
Me: eh...i told you that the Steers fries are the best.
Amresh: yeah, but they make it a bit too oily.
Me: shut up and eat. or else i'll eat your fries. mmm, this King Steer is the best.
Noella: its beef.
Amresh: you should try it Noella. it's so good.
Noella: i don't think so. i eat only chicken.


(now the girl gets up and is about to leave. she walks towards the washrooms. comes out and walks right past our table, leaves her hand trailing and catches mine and Amresh's chair, pauses and smiles and then walks straight by)

Noella: Shubu, tein joyu? (did you see that?)
Amresh: cough..cough..sputter..choke...
Me: yeah!!
Noella: her hand touched your chairs and she smiled.
Amresh: (still choking on food)...cough..cough...(more sputter).
Me: haha..Amresh is choking on his burger...hahaha
Noella: she's gone.
Me: dude stop choking on the burger...hahahaha (laughing uncontrollably by now)
Amresh: Fcuk!!
...........................................................................................................................................

and that my dear readers was the story of going out to lunch with my sister and Amresh.

well the rest of the day was pretty usual. got home and Amresh & i watched a movie while Noella decided to go and sleep for a while before getting back to her books (her mock exams are on). half way through i lost all interest in 'Tom, Dick and Harry' and i decided to go online. Dhwani was there and i ended up chatting with her for the next 2 hours. had to go to Mr. Patel's for dinner & while there watched 'Bend it like Beckham'. once back home i tried to sleep a bit early for a change. but i guess that my body clock is still fucked up from the World Cup and i just lay there in bed tossing and turning. finally gave up on trying sleeping. watched 'American Pie' instead till 3 am. finally fell asleep after that.

and then a little chipmunk called me in the morning at 5 and made me the happiest man in the world!!

:)

damn right we economists love to Tax...

all right, from yesterday onwards all plastic bags cost an extra Rs 1.15 all over Mauritius. even if you go to a huge super mall and buy a ton of stuff...you gotta pay Rs 1.15 for every plastic bag that you use to carry your stuff in addition to your mammoth bill.

yeah, the Mauritian government has finally concluded that plastic is degrading their environment and that they need to curb its use. so they figured out that the best way to do so would be to impose what we economist nerds call a Pigouvian tax on all plastic bags. but what really catches me at odds is the fact that it is really nothing as in a Pigouvian Tax if you look at the economic definition of such a tax. i really doubt if each plastic bag used inflicts a marginal damage of Rs 1.15 to the Mauritian society. as a Pigouvian tax standard, this tax on plastic bags is just a bag full of bullshit!! but, the environmentally friendly part of me does feel glad that finally steps are being taken to recognise and mitigate the threat that plastics pose to our environment. though i am concerned that this might just turn out to be one more in the plethora of initiatives that the Ramgoolam Govt undertakes from time to time with strong economic underpinnings and then back-tracks on. sometimes i do feel that politics as a whole makes sure that the purpose of economics is beaten to its grave, and that

we economists are in fact looking for a black cat in a dark room in which the politicians just let in a Puma. we find the cat, it rips us apart. we don't find one, well then we are just a bunch of morons with Phd's.

bottomline: don't hate the tax. hate the economist!!

so folks, just remember that the next time you go shopping...

DO NOT FORGET THAT WICKER BASKET!! crap...now i need to go buy me one as well.

well i kindda had a lot of other stuff in my mind for this post...in fact this was supposed to be a carry on post from my previous one...the one about when i'm in a contemplative mood and all....but i kindda have reached that point in the day where i no longer feel like racking my brains to come up with stuff to write about. i could go on and garble on about this movie that i saw during dinner. it's called Hoodwinked! and it is about Red Riding Hood, Granny Puckett, Bad Wolf, a Woodsman who is in reality an actor, a crazy hyperactive squirrel, a yodelling mountain goat and a suave detective Frog. but i'm sure that none of you want part of it.

well folks, so much for now...gonna go turn in early tonight. i didn't sleep last night thanks to the litre of cold coffee that i went through. was up and kicking till 7 in the morning...it's been all the way down hill ever since & now i am simply too exhausted. i still got the Germany vs Italy game to catch later tonight. but that's in an hour's time...till then it's plain ol' couch snoozing for me.

so that's it. Alles Klar!!

...maybe i'll come up with something a bit more interesting tomorrow.

the process of contemplation...

the past 2 days has seen me fall in and out of a contemplative mood. i have quietly resigned myself to the fact that whatever choices i have made in the past have been at most times worthwhile. and as it is, i really cannot see a way of undoing the past. and every time i felt like blaming the family or anyone else for that matter, i have turned to the internet. yeah, try reading all the blogs out there and then maybe you start to see things in a lighter vein. makes one realise that you definitely aren't the most fucked up person in the whole wide world (www). there's always someone to top you to that position, which in my case is the entire www. hence i definitely recommend the internet to all the sad and "my life sucks" motto peeps...once you go out there and see; you find that you actually got it all pretty good in life.

so i stayed in bed till 3 today reading Emma. i kindda always enjoy that book. i like the interfering nature of Emma Woodhouse. plus the fact that it is so very inevitable for her to meddle in other people's affairs always reminds me of the many relatives that i have been blessed with who, in true Indian style, are more than a match for Emma's inquisitive and meddlesome nature.

quite interestingly today my thoughts were more drawn away from the actual plot of the book and bordered more in the realm of reflections on past readings. my thoughts were more reflecting of the Napoleonic era and the finding of the Rosetta Stone. wonder why that happened, but something in the reading of Emma triggered off a chain reaction of thoughts that went back to this one article that i had read quite a few years back in the Reader's Digest regarding the Rosetta Stone. it is amazing how the finding of one tableau led to the ability to decipher the lost language of hieroglyphics and shed such insight into the lives of the ancient Egyptians and unravelled the mysteries of the Pharaohs.

what can i say? i have always been fascinated by history.

anyways, one thing led to another and my thoughts kept on flipping through the pages of memory. it is an exceedingly refreshing experience i must say. the Rosetta Stone to the Egyptians to the Incas & the civilization lost in the Cambodian forests then to this one book i had read, titled 'Through the Jungles of Brazil' or something like that...the human capacity of storing information is astounding. and i am always amazed by all the little tit bits that i manage to remember.

...needless to say, pretty soon my thoughts turned to economics and i lay there in my bed contemplating on the sense that competition makes in markets. all this was triggered by the current situation of a competitive surge in the Indian markets and the rampant rise of consumerism. how much more competition can the market take before it bursts at its seams and we begin to feel the after-effects of too much competition in the market. and on a passing note, it's interesting as to how economics as a science has turned more towards the usage of math to define it rather than the process of intellectual thoughts and in many instances of common sense. i like to base my thoughts on a more liberal level where contemplation is possible and the seemingly mathematical process of trying to rationalise everything with the help of figures is not for me. no wonder my supervisor was aghast at my refusal to make use of mathematical proofs in my thesis. anyways, i don't want to bother you all with all this shit.

...so in general, i have been contemplating.

and yes, i have a new friend...she's my age & she's married and has a kid and is amazingly beautiful and is my friend's cousin and is a fellow beer lover & i just had a delightful chat with her.

life and thoughts sure are funny. from Emma to the Rosetta Stone to the Incas to the jungles of Cambodia to the significance of math in economics to a new friend.

i say today was good. :)

lost...

i must have mentioned, lately i have been tweaking up my contacts back home in India just to make sure that i do not become yet another victim of the 'pardesh se lauta dude' syndrome...

its a hard task trying to acclimatise yourself to an environment that has changed drastically in the last 3 years...blame rampant globalisation & economic growth...damn all the potential benefits to the masses, having a country surge forward at this rate is simply disastrous news for all the gentry who are far flung from the land and who are trying to make a comeback...well i guess i'm exaggerating a bit, but for heaven's sake they shut down the ice tea place near IIM and opened this amazing cafe called Mocha instead...now i never get to relive those moments of late evenings spent at the Ice Tea Shop (aka Noon to Night). it's all gone. forever!!

apart from my 'oh so miserable' tale of woe, the one thing that has kindda dawned upon me is that the last 3 years on this island has seen me loose something. i seem to have lost myself in everything that has been my life so far. don't know how and when, but that certainly has happened...i take a look at all my friends and acquaintances back home & how well they have moved on in life and where they are right now, and then i take a look at myself...i see that i certainly have floundered. i seem to have lost that unbeatable aura that i used to have & my competitive spirit that ensured that i top everything that i set to do...i no longer strive, i just flow along.

it's just not like me. it doesn't feel like me...these three years are like this hazy mist that has engulfed me. it's neither a dream nor a nightmare, but it certainly does feel something between the two & at times i am left wishing that i wake up and find myself the way i was. but that would be waking up in a utopian land. cause these three years is as real as my fingers as i type this out. but i do wish that i would wake up and find myself back the way i was.

there are a million thoughts running through my head right now. but i can't seem to put most of them into words that would make sense to anyone but me!!

do i have any regrets in coming to Mauritius? ...maybe...

but, would i do it all over again? ...maybe...

do i feel lost & confused? ...yes, definitely...