Hmmm....

We think we have it all figured out.
Have we actually figured out everything?
Are we living a perfect life?
If we are, why aren't we happy every minute of it?
If we aren't, what are we doing about it?

Is perfect life about doing everything perfectly, or is it about enjoying your errors and goof-ups as much as your successes?

We do everything with the ultimate goal of happiness and contentment.But how many of us realise that and tell ourselves that at the start of each day?

As we go along life, we keep focusing on end goals which will make us happy, and forget to enjoy the journey to the goal. We get aggressive, competitive and egoistic. We are all jealous of one another for some reason or the other. We can't even play a game of cards or scrabble without feeling bad about losing, and desperate about winning. We are high-strung 24 by 7. Where will it finally lead us to? A nervous breakdown for missing a goal in a football game? Or suicide for a lay-off?

Isn't there place for everyone in the world? Place enough for all of us to live peacefully, do what we enjoy doing the best? All of us don't want the same things out of life. Then why get into the "dog eat dog" mindset and mental attitude?

The day I finish my PhD, hear the magic words "Congratulations, Dr. Sruthi Muralidharan ", will certainly be one of the happiest days of my life. But that happiness will not be meaningful, if I feel tortured and unhappy for 4 long years of PhD.

Enjoy what you do. If you are not happy doing something, you are probably better off doing something else.

Leave polarization alone!

About the last post, no queries on Polarization please!!!!

Its meant to be a story, not a lesson in science....

Ppl who want to know about polarization, refer to optics texts, not me!!

Polarizing out poor magnets

I ve been out of the blog for sometime, because I have not done anything even remotely funny...

Except asking a guy whether I knew him, and why he was sending me a friend request on Orkut, just a month after spending an hour talking to him...Yes, I totally forgot.. I thought the name rang a bell, but that is all I could recall...

Why I suddenly came online to post a blog?
Not to bemoan my diminishing memory powers, but because something else rang a bell...

I was studying (Ahem.. yes, I do study at certain critical times, such as the week before exams) polarization.

I was reminded of my lab partner in MSc. She was asked, "What is Polarization?", to which she answered, " Polarized waves are those which have no magnetic fields."

HUH!! An electromagnetic wave loses its magnetic field when it is polarized, and manages to be a electromagnetic wave after that???

All her knowledge of physics came from the books she read... and she read inhuman numbers of them... Thinking, logic and analysis almost never entered the picture, just memory...

All books begin with talking about light being an electromagnetic wave, and when they start about polarization, they begin to talk about components of electric field, and what direction the electric field should be in, for various kinds of polarization.

This woman, dint see mentions of magnetic fields, so she thought, no magnetic field in the polarized waves!!!!

In case any of you are thinking that she is right, please realize that we can talk about components of magnetic field in polarized waves and mean exactly the same thing, without banishing the poor electric field into non-existence...

I know, most of my readers are utterly unsympathetic towards physics...

I have a post coming up for you ppl soon!!!

So, hang in there!!

Horizons Apple Picking

Jane Havis, our self-proclaimed "overprotective nosy mother", a sweet but very voluble lady from the International Students Office at RPI, took us on a "Welcome Picnic", near the end of our Student orientation. This Picnic was at a Church nearby, the church members had all gathered to welcome us, and ensure we had a good time. The people from the church gave us a warm welcome, and chatted with us, and made us feel so at home.

Then we had some fun activities to get to know everyone better, and then... yummy food!!!

Taking into account the needs of vegetarians, many of the church members had made veggie food for the picnic. That was probably the only time when we got to see so many veggie options in America. We had great food, and delectable desserts. I love the emphasis on desserts in America... I would love to be a "Dessert-a-rian" like Calvin... :-)

Anyway, after the food and friendly talk, we were led into the main chapel, where a Group called "Horizons" introduced themselves. They work with international students, and introduce them to American Culture. Ahem... Lots of you are wondering what American culture is about, and lots of you have a notion that America has no culture...except parties, and hi-flying consumerism. This is no place for those debates and cynicism.

Anyway, they organize Hikes, Fruit-Picking, Hay-Rides, Thanksgiving Dinners, Skiing trips and so on. The events always have 50% Americans, and 50% assorted international students, which gives the international students chances to interact with Americans in fun and social settings.

I went apple picking with Horizons a few weeks ago... I can see your raised eyebrows at my increasing "Americanisms", so I will rush to explain. Apple orchards here invite people to walk around in the orchards, pick apples off trees, taste them, and have a fun picnic. Economics works out for them, since you can eat only so many apples before feeling sick, and you have to pay for the apples you want to take home. Their assumption is that people will buy some apples to take home, not just eat them off trees.. A very unsafe assumption that, but it seems to work here, no clue how.

Anyway, to get on with my trip...

The day was clear and sunny, but very chilly winds were blowing. They gave us a map of the orchards, detailing the varieties of apple trees... Golden Delicious, Macoun, Macintosh and so on... I obviously had no clue which apple would taste good, or for that matter whether two apples taste any different from each other... Well, time for some apple education..

Golden Delicious was superb-juicy, crispy and huge. You can eat one apple and your dinner is done, atleast mine is, given my huge appetite. Macintosh was small, red, shiny and crispy. These two were the reigning favorites of all "pickers"... When in doubt, Sajjanon ke peeche peeche chalo...

Apple trees are small, and you can pluck them off while standing... One tall gentleman told me: "The highest apples are the sweetest." This gave me a good excuse to jump and reach for the higher branches. They were sweeter probably, but anyway "Mehnat ka phal to meetha hi hota hai ".

One variety of trees had sturdy branches, so I climbed up a tree and began plucking the highest apples. I was showing off my talents inherited from arboreal ancestors, and asking for pics to be taken of me on the tree, but a old lady put my feat to shame.

She must be 60 yrs old, has had a shoulder surgery, and she climbed a higher tree, with many more apples. She works with kindergarden kids, so she knew lots of apple picking poems, which she sang along while picking apples. Her enthusiasm and zest for life was truly infectious.

Soon, we had bags full of apples, which were getting too heavy to carry around. So we wrapped up our trip, paid for the apples and proceeded for the picnic, which was in a family home. The venus was so beautiful... The backyard opened out into woods, and beyond the woods, there was a huge lake. I had befriended an american teenager at the orchard. She and I walked around in the woods, talked about her school and mine, and soaked in the beauty of the place. The backyard had swings too, which I thouroughly enjoyed....

You see, Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional. :-)

The tree climbing lady was also walking in the woods, collecting leaves, for some activities in the school. She educated me on American Flora, and also showed us how to whistle with an empty acorn... She whistled quite well, the american could whistle tunes, even without the acorn shell.... and my trials were a damp squib, as usual...

All in all, it was a fun day, and I look forward to more such events....

Manianic Goof Up

This post is in apology to a certain individual, who is unlikely to read the blog, but it's here, anyway...

This is a Classic Manianism Goof up...

Once upon a time, we were new to Troy, still navigating around RPI with the Map, calling up prospective landlords who spoke in inscrutable accents, and din't start telephonic conversations with hello.

After a long search, we zeroed in on a nice apartment, which was wonderful in all ways but one.. it was a 3 bedroom, while we were just 2 of us. By that time, everyone else had found homes and roomies... So, our all hopes were on latecomers.

Just then, a mail came.... "I am an MBA student, looking for accomodation. Arriving soon."

Too bad that I cant tell you the name, but the name was quite ambiguous, though you might all disagree.
"
I applied the name to sentences in hindi, and figured out the usage was always "meri ......" and not "mera ....."

Even I realized that this test wasn't foolproof, given my questionable hindi proficiency.

But, we did need a roomie...

So I wrote back :
" Me and my friend here, are looking for a female roomie. I am sorry for not able to understand your gender from your name. Do reply if u are interested(and a female)."

And.... it turned out my guess, my hindi and my luck were all rotten...

For HE replied:

"I apologize for being a male."

And no prizes for guessing, I am too embarassed to face him, so I run away whenever I see him anywhere in Campus. He is an MBA student, so I have about 1.5 years of running and hiding to do...

Good luck to me, and good running shoes too...

RPI in Fall

Fall colors are wonderful at RPI.

This is the ivy covered back-wall of the library.. ain't it pretty??

Now ofcourse, winter is setting in, and Fall is falling...

:-)

Life is so beautiful, I love living...

:-)


Photo Credits: Vasu [His pics are so beautiful, that they are going around the entire community's albums]

Analogies

This is about a professor I TA for. He is Swiss, and teaches in a very interesting way. He jumps about the class, and explains everything with lots of actions, but that won't probably be effective in words, you have to see it...

His analogies are out of the world too. And I being the TA, can actually take notes on anything I want.. So here, I present his brilliant masterpieces almost verbatim.

Topic: Stress, Strain and Elastic Limit

Prof: "I am sitting on this table and the leg of the table is getting pushed down."(He swings his legs wildly, sitting on the table)"Now, if I eat a lot and weigh twice as much what happens?? "(This while making actions of stuffing food in his mouth with both hands)

A student says: " The table leg gets squishes more".

Prof: "Yes, this squishing is called Strain. "

"Now if I eat too much, and get too fat, I won't remain in the elastic limit. If I am still eating a lot, a lot of chips and cheese and icecream, and become an elephant, the table wobbles, and the leg breaks and the elephant is scared and runs around the room."( And he actually ran around the room with scared expressions!!!!) " This is called fracture, not of the elephant's leg because of the running, but of the leg of table."

:-)

Topic: Ferroelectric Domains and Curie Temperature

Prof: " We are all holding hands and looking at the sun, since it is a bright sunny day. As it gets warmer, we get restless, and our palms get sweaty. So we let go off hands and start moving about, talking to our friends in the chains. "

"This is exactly what domains in iron do, when they are heated up, they loose their orientation."

Topic: Bending of light, Refraction

"Suppose you want to shoot the sun, you pick up a rifle, and aim at it through the closed classroom window. Since the light bends due to refraction in the window glass, your aim would be off. But the sun is so big, that you might hit it anyway, so the sun is a fantastic shooting target."

This guy's awesome, if you get so entertained in a Physics class, you are unlikely to ever forget the concept.

Am I homesick yet?

I have been here for 3 months. I like it here, the place, the school, the new life, new ppl, everything...

I have largely been happy, not really missed home or family. I guess I have still not accepted it in my mind that I have come away for ever, my heart still escapes the fact, and pretends as if this is just a holiday away from home, and I can return any time I choose.

What happened today?

Home-made sweets arrived from the aunt in Texas, and a card from my parents, for my birthday. Just the opposite of usual. Mother used to make sweets for me, buy me a new dress, and even get me flowers... but never a card... card was something ppl far away sent....

Now my mom's sent me a card, and written it exactly the way I used to write cards for her, complete with the "open with a smile" and smiley on the flap. I saw it, and my mom's feeble attempt at drawing a smiley, and tears filled in my eyes. I could not do as instructed...

I held the card in my hands, and silent tears kept falling. have never felt so alone in life, as I did when I held that card in my hand...

I just can't picture my mom looking for a card in Archies. I can't, since I have always bought all cards for everyone at home.

I used to buy cards, give them to everyone on their birthdays, have them admire it for sometime, and then leave it on a table, which I quietly picked up and preserved.These small mementos on birthdays were my introduction to our austere South Indian household, where payasam was the only celebration for birthday. Now, my family is BUYING cards, and sending them to me. And they are doing it, because they feel I value cards a lot... but today I wish, I was with them, instead of recieving cards in the mailer....nothing can occupy the void created by absence of dear ones... not phone calls, not emails, not cards...

Life is great, but not so easy sometimes...

Physics of deja vu !

Lets begin from the beginning.

From Einstein's special relativity, we know that velocity of light is same in all inertial reference frames. An inertial frame is anything that moves at a constant speed, a car, a space ship in orbit etc. To find position, speed etc. of a system moving w.r.t. to another system, we use transformations, which are basically math equations. If a space ship moves at a definite velocity w.r.t. earth, a meter stick in the ship will look shorter than a meter when measured from earth. Time also changes, to keep the velocity of light constant. One second in the spaceship will appear to be greater than one second on earth, when measured from the earth. This concept is called time dilation.

Now, if a pin takes 1 sec to fall from your hand in a SPACE SHIP, it takes less than that on a video taken from earth. So, earthlings can predict where the pin will fall, before it does... Why? because time moves at different paces in different frames…

These different frames in metaphysics could be referred to as "dimensions". So, what has already happened on earth will happen 2 yrs later in another dimension. Closer to light velocity, the velocity of the frame, greater will be the difference in time. The same way some dimension can be 2 yrs earlier than us.

This concept can allow one to conclude that what will occur on earth tomorrow has already occurred in another dimension. It is also the basis of the fantasical time travel.

We are trapped in this dimension, so even though there is this possibility of knowing what will happen, we are no better off.

But this discovery, that in another dimension we have lived out our lives, and we can’t walk out to that dimension to change it, can lead to the conclusion, that everything about our life is "predetermined". So, all the conscious choice, "I make my own choices" goes poof, and in a scary way.

Whatever is happening, there is no way to change it, if you have to be at a certain place at a certain time, that’s where you will be, irrespective of whether you want it consciously..

I don’t want to believe that we are picked and placed, and that we have no free will... But the math points that way, and I have not been able to find faults with that logic yet, though I am trying hard, and that’s the point of writing this blog.

What does this imply?

You are not even thinking today where exactly you will celebrate your 63rd bday...But in some dimension, you might have already blown out 63 candles... and had a mast party...

At some instant, what happens to you, the dialogues you say, the setting of the room, reaction of people etc.; basically a short trivial scene, do they sometimes ring a bell? That you have played it in your mind before…That kind of a thing??

Doesn’t this give you a slight apprehension that things might be predetermined after all??

If not, then what does this cute little intuition mean to u??

Is it just random play of nature, or some inherent cerebral activity?

If it is some inherent mental process, what triggers it?

Because most of these scenes are totally trivial...you would never plan them or worry about them with your conscious mind.

Why should nature be so random in some aspects and so precise in others is what puzzles me, and makes me delve into whatever theories seem to explain something.

Keep wondering, and if you have any ideas, do let me know… would love to discuss it and clear my head.

DISCLAIMER: Kindly don’t scold me for obtuse thinking, I am not the founder of this theory, though it is an assimilation from various sources, including my cerebrum. I would be grateful for any lapses in the theory, which makes me revert to the “Free Will” system, that I would prefer to believe.

CREDITS: Anirudh Maitra, this blog post is mostly lifted from a conversation I had with him on this. He asked the questions, I developed my philo to answer them.

Postscript: I am not the only one thinking of physics of deja vu, ppl have written books on it.... sure gives my independent idea atleast an iota of credibility...

http://www.manyuniverses.com/WhatIsDejaVu.htm
http://dailymull.com/1229/The-Dead-Book-13-frag-2

Latest Goof-Up

Midterms underway, so time for only a quick story...

I was proctoring a Mid-Term exam yesterday, since the professor was out of town. Stood very seriously and stoically for 1 hr and 10 minutes, getting dreadfully bored.Just 10 more minutes to go.... I could have finished the day with dignity, but the Email-Obsessive Graduate Student inside me called to me, and I walked to the the computer in the room. Logged on, checked mail in RPI inbox, moved on to gmail. A friend had mailed, scolding me ( with nice expletives) for never calling her. I started typing the reply, but suddenly looked at my watch.... It was alomost time to finish. Then I heard smirks and giggles from the students... To my horror, I realised that the projector was on, and my mails were up there on the projecter screen for everyone to see...I panicked and switched off the monitor, but the mail was still on the screen.... I fumbled a little more, and finally found the button to switch off the Projector.

I was so embarassed...but I had to announce "Time up, Hand in your Sheets", and collect the sheets.

I hope most of them were busy writing their exam and din't even look up to the screen... This is optimism stretched toooo far, even by my standards....

Lol :)

Ah, the crispiness of life....

Life's Great!!!

I am loving my insanity!!!

:-)

Yo Health Services!

Now that I have settled down into my daily schedule of life of a grad student in a US school, some things have begun coming naturally to me.

I cook in huge quantities, when I cook. I happily eat old food, and conveniently forget how old it is. I wash utensils, I fish for quarters every week to put in the washing machine. Yes, I shop for groceries, and lug inhuman masses of groceries back home, in a hope that I won't have to go again for a long time. But I seem to be eating a lot, because I need to buy more veggies, milk and yogurt every week..

Oh yes, I check weather forecasts, before I leave home everyday!! Back in Delhi, we used to check the temperature of the day before, to reinforce our judgment of how hot or cold the day had been.... Life's sure changed a lot.

As a grad student, I take courses (not go to classes), take weekly quizzes (not give tests), do homework ( and hope some arbit form of plagiarism ( there are many kinds defined) may not plague it), grade homework and quizzes for undergrads (not check them), hold recitation sessions and so on... The week passes by so fast, and packs in so many to-dos, that by Friday evening, I feel victorious that I survived the week.

Friday evening is BIG here, party time... Everyone parties, except Indian Grad Students, who shop for groceries... :-)

Weekends are times for movies( watched online by live streaming), lots of sleeping, mass cooking for the week, potlucks, calling up family and friends in India; and yes, catching up on the week's studies, and homework.

The lectures here can be compared to Helicopter rides over Delhi for a geography lesson, and the quizzes would then ask for exact directions from Connaught Place to Paranthey Wali Gali in Chandni Chowk. So, lots of catching up to do over the weekends.

You can imagine that I would often goof up, what with so much at hand, and so little RAM. ( I refer to my extremely fickle memory here, that most of you have had trouble with at different times)

Now, let me come to the Subject the title promises, US health services.

I was in a tearing hurry last tuesday, not unlike the other days of the week, prone as I am to postponing essential activities till the last minute. I was putting on contact lens, when the one in the left eye just disappeared. I searched all over, as well as I could with one good eye, and one eye full of tears... groped stupidly all over the carpet and all.. 7 mins to go for the class, and I suddenly realised, that the contact lens has disappeared into my eye... I blinked hard, stared hard too, in hopes of coaxing it out, but to no avail.. I had no option but to run for the class, with my eyes...

I sat through the class, half shutting my left eye to get a clear, non-blurred view of the whiteboard. I shot an sms to my roomie, telling her the issue at hand... Poor girl, she got all worried and panicky... and advised me to rush to the Student Health Center, whose personnel gave us long and tedious presentations in our Student Orientation, as to how anxious they were to be of use to us. She was right ofcourse, but after hearing all the stories about medical processes in US, I was apprehensive of how seriously they would take this. If they referred me to a specialist in New York, and delivered me there in an ambulance, I would be too embarassed to return to school afterwards.

I nervously scanned all the possibilities, and fervently prayed to the lens to emerge out of its hiding place and save me a whole lot of trouble. The lens was obviously having fun at my expense, and did not budge from its place under my eyelid.

I finally decided on the Health Center. But I had a class to attend directly afterwards. I shot a mail to the professor, saying I was feeling unwell, and if my presence in the class was not indispensable(I am a teaching assistant in that class), I would like to visit the health center. The sincere Swissman replied promptly, asking me to take care of my health, and that he would pray for my quick recovery.

I never felt more dishonest in my whole life. But what was done was done, that too in middle of another lecture, where I was taking notes and asking doubts aside of my sidey activities.

We have still not reached the Health Center, and I can see many of you shaking your head...
"Classic Sruthi Tales"

Fast forward to Health Center now...

The nurse at the Health Center took me into an examination room, and returned with my file.

N:"Do you have TB?"
Me: ( showing last week's TB test spot on my hand) " No TB !"
N:" Tell me about your Alcohol and Drugs Usage"
Me: :" I don't take either, and I have something in my eye that irks and hurts. Can you help me with it?"
N: ( undisturbed) " How active are you sexually? "
Me: (still more perturbed) " I am not sexually active ! "
N: " Honey, If you ever change your mind, do come back here for tips on safe sex"
Me: ( What are you trying to do here?? ) " Sure, I will."
N: " Do you wear a helmet to ride a bike?"
Me: "I have no vehicle, I walk to school, and take a bus to farther places."
N: " Excellent. Do you wear a seatbelt when you drive your car ?"
Me: ( Lets try a proactive answer now) " I dont have a car, but when I buy one, I will surely wear a seatbelt when I drive it. "( one big smile)
N: "Excellent, wearing a seatbelt is a very good habit."
Interogation ended, but the lens was still lodged inside.

Me: " Aren't you going to anything about my contact lens?"
N: " Lets check your BP and vision first."

BP is checked by a automatic machine, and cross-checked by a manual instrument, and I am praised for my excellent BP.

We proceed for the vision test. I read right with my right eye, but not left with my left eye. She says: " This means your lens is not placed right on your eye." ( Aunty, I told you this as I came in, You spent half an hour more rediscovering it??? ) I meekly nodded and followed her back into the examination room.

Nurse: " Honey, I realise these are tough times for you, please be brave. I guess you would be in much pain, let me see if there are any doctors who can help you out. Please sign this form where I filled all the info you gave me."

Interesting part ends, but story must end happily, so here goes.

A doc came in, they switched off all lights in the room, shined a light into my eye, opened it a little wider, and the lens came out. I removed it, thanked them profusely and ran away, vowing never to "fall ill" again!

Yo USA!

I arrived in the US of A about a month ago, and I am loving it so far!

First 2 weeks were indeed tough, though I am now getting adjusted into the new lifestyle. This place isn't too different from India, except that they drive on the wrong side of the road. One month in here, and I still look on both sides of the road(sometimes even up into the sky, just for symmetry) before I cross,coz i cant remember which side to look. :)

Another big difference in my life is that I have to do a lot of shopping. Right from veggies to trash cans, everything has to be preplanned and bought. There are 2 big supermarkets which are 10 mins away by bus. One has food stuff and another has everything else. Bus has definite times, and is free for university students. We take a bus, and as soon as we reach, we decide which bus to return by and time our shopping accordingly. As soon as trolley is full, we take stock of how much we will be able to carry, which limits how much we can buy in one go. I have made endless trips to both the shops to buy just the essential stuff. I so loathe the fact that I will have to keep shopping every week, to keep the pantry stocked up, a thing I never worried about at home.

Univ is great, profs, staff and students are really friendly. The way treat students is amazing. If the professor interviews you, he also tells you all about what he can offer you, and also gives you the right to take the final decision of whether or not to join his research group. I like way these professors work with open doors to their offices.

Lots of chinese here, 8 in my class of 13. I am still struggling with chinese names and chinese english, both of which demand concentrated listening effort.

My roomie is really nice, and we gel well together. We are both crazy, and laugh a lot...

Troy is a really small place, uphill Troy has nothing except the university. The lone eatery is a Pizzeria, which has 3 veggie choices. But the pizzas are tasty. :)

A great place to live for 4 years.And attitude is everything, I realise... :)

Are We Living a Mediocre Life?

I met some of my old friends sometime ago. My class topper was also there at the meet. I was always in awe of her intelligence and ambitions, and knew that she would go places. She finished her graduation from a good engineering school, and joined a KPO. She admitted not liking her Job Profile, and also said she used to like her subjects and would have liked to study further. Somehow, her lack of ambition disappointed me.

When I asked her why, she said she was comfortable here, and doesn't want to take the risk of leaving the job, getting admission into an educational institute, and facing job interviews all over again. Fair enough, you would say.... But, given her ability, none of the above is a daunting task, but she seems unsure of herself…

 

There are thousands of people like her, who choose the easier options, and escape the struggle of getting what they really want out of life. Why do brilliant people choose a mediocre life? When you have it in you to do better, I can’t see why you would choose not to put in your best effort and achieve what you deserve? Why is it a mediocre world?

 

A friend of mine answers: “Because the thing it takes to strike something out of the ordinary demands a lot from you. For starters, it means not following others in a queue, but starting one yourself. It also means you have to overcome the social issues, family pressure and most of all your inner fears.”

You have to step out of your comfort zone, and believe on yourself. You have to demand of the universe “I want it, and I WILL have it, whatever it takes.” The fierce desire to for something can work wonders, and that desire pushes you, goads you on and keeps you motivated in your struggle.

 

Satisfaction and contentment are good things, but if you choose to be satisfied with something lesser than what is your potential to own and enjoy, you slip into mediocrity. It’s all about going that extra mile…. 

At the end of the day, I want to be proud of my choices, and I want to feel contented about a life well lived.

 

This philosophical post is slightly out of the line in my humorous blog, and I promise to return to mainstream buffoonery soon. :-) 

Mouse in the printer!

Before you assume I am a Zany inventor of a mouse operated printer or a TC who managed to insert the mouse inside my precious laser printer, let me clarify..

A real mouse got into my printer!! A tiny mouse, which I would call cute if I wasn't Animal-phobic... My animal phobia encompasses all species of animals from rats to pigeons to dogs... I am just plain scared of them...

Anyway, back to the story of the printer....

I landed home yesterday.. and saw all things which used to lie about on the floor, propped up on stools. It wasn't a sudden cleaning spree, I was told, just a reaction to little mice, which were sharpening their teeth on our things.

There I digress again....

I woke up today, and switched on my computer and went off to brush my teeth... When I came back and logged on to Gtalk.. I heard thak-thak.. the sound that Yahoo Messenger makes when someone comes online... another thak-thak... and another one..
Subah Subah itne log online kyon hain.... its a Monday morning...

I know all of you have figured out that the mouse was knocking inside the printer, and all this build-up is wasteful...

So, I opened the printer cover.. and the tiny fellow peeped out... light brown, smaller in length than my little finger.I shut the cover again in horror, to collect all my courage to open it again and peep in.I had no option; it nibbled at something inside my mom's precious laser printer, my fear of the mouse won't count as a good enuff excuse...

The mouse had gone deep inside the printer, only its wagging tail was visible..

I made my next logical move... screamed at the top of my voice!!!! Our maid servan, Sarasa came to my rescue... You see, she knows my usual routine for animal emergencies, so her first question was.. "kahaan??"

By that time, I had pulled out the printer cords, and got as far away as I could from the printer and the mouse, and was standing up on my bed. Sarasa is usually very competent in such situations but she had never seen a printer before.

She lifted the printer and walked out, placing it on the floor outside the house entrance. As soon as someone takes charge, I get lots of courage. So I followed her.

Method 1: Cajole
We called to the Mouse in the printer, wishing all the while that it understands Hindi/Tamil, listens to us and gets out. Predictably, this method failed.

Method 2:Threaten
Sarasa decided to poke the mouse with a thin stick and coax it out. This only made the mouse search for and hide in unreachable depths inside the printer.

Method 3: Bait
I frantically searched the refrigerator for foods mouse would like. Only found a bowl of papaya. I reasoned, that I don't like papaya, so the mouse must love it. I placed a piece on the edge of the printer cover. I and Sarasa settled down, squatting on the floor near the printer, attracting weird looks from passersby. Unfortunately, mouse did not find the papaya too tempting, so it persisted in its hiding place.

Next food to be tried was Mysore Pak, which also met with the same result.

Method 4: Shake Out
One passerby now stopped and began to laugh at our futile exercises, and decided to help out. He took the printer and started shaking it vigorously, face down, so that the mouse would fall out. I was damn scared, for the mouse (my friend by now), and the printer.. because he was holding the printer outside the second floor lobby of my flat.

The mighty mouse clung to the printer and hung on, till this fellow gave up.

Lest more people stop by, and try crazy tricks, we carried the printer into the house.

Method 5:Let It Be

We kept the printer in the balcony, and placed the Mysore Pak there too. then we went about our work. About 10 minutes later, the mouse peeked out cautiously. And being satisfied, it ran out of the printer, and began to devour the Sweet. By the time we reached to pick up the printer, it ran into the printer again!!!

3 more trials of "let it be" were performed, and 3 more pieces of precious Mysore Pak were placed at increasing distances. Distance optimization had to be applied here. Too far away, the mouse would not be able to sniff it out. Too near, we would not have the time to decamp with the printer, on which the mouse had by now, laid an ownership claim.

Finally, 2 hours after the discovery of the mouse, it left its snug quarters and we restoed the printer to its rightful place, covering it with 3 layers of plastic.

Phew!

Baggage Trouble

As i stood waiting for my baggage near the conveyor belt at Delhi, and saw a torn and dirty bag passing by.... to my horror i realized it was my bag, mutilated beyond recognition!!

I hastily retrieved it from the belt, and got my hands full of oil and mustard in the process.Yes, I admit I was carrying a weird medley of things in that bag, but I have done it umpteen number of times, and escaped without accidents. Don't most of us have one sturdy bag which holds all the things dropped in last?

I went numb looking at what had happened, since the bag contained most new vessels, supplies, and clothes i had bought in Chennai. I looked around for someone who would give me an answer.. and spotted a customer services counter. I dumbly stood in the queue there, until someone behind the counter saw my distress and beckoned me forward.

I showed them the bag, and they reacted as if people come there everyday with bags they have torn. I felt that moment like a naughty child, caught in my act... but suddenly i realised that it was their fault, not mine.. for God's sake, I was inside the aircraft,after handing over to them a locked, zipped bag. Ironically, the lock and zip was intact, and I had to hunt for the keys, to assess the damage.

By this time, I was getting angry about my own stupidity.. and this anger returned me to the world where behind a counter stood incredulous, indifferent but polite men, waiting for me to say something.

I finally found my tongue and launched a harangue about their mishandling of my baggage. As I opened the bag, millions of mustard seeds rolled out, all over their counter, in a pool of ridiculous smelling hair oil. The oil was a present for some relative in Delhi, from some relative in Chennai... but presently, it was causing a sticky-smelly mess at the airport.

After then, it was routine boring task, of making a list of all damaged items, and totaling the financial loss. The stocktaking was greatly helped by the fact that all items were brand new with price tags intact.

The funny thing was, Indian Airlines people took half an hour to find me a plastic bag to put these things. For me, the best thing about shopping is the glossy, colorful bags that stuff comes in. So I had lots of carefully folded empty bags in my luggage. All these bags were pressed into service, with things sorted as oily, not oily,broken and beyond redemption.

After all the mess up, these guys cleaned up their act admirably, settling the compensation claim immediately, and in cash. They filled out the forms themselves for finishing these formalities.

After everything was done, I began to cry, tears coming unbidden as usual...

All the shopping was for my US Trip in august. I am going to set up a new home there, and I had bought cute vessels, nice clothes, even some groceries with the enthusiasm of a child buying coveted toys. I started feeling bad about the inauspicious beginning to a new, ambitious project.

What was this incident but an "Apshagun"?? As soon as that word clicked, Came images of ridiculous K-Serials, where apshaguns happen all the time.. Photo frames falling, bangles breaking and the works...

I smiled instinctively at my my own crazy line of K-thought, and then the mist of worry and sadness cleared up, and I began to feel upbeat at the prospect of getting back home after 2 weeks, and giving everyone the gifts I had bought for them, and kept safe in the other suitcase...