Shitty things that happened to me this week...

- my first mouse practical... involved murdering, skinning, disemboweling, dismembering and gouging out the eyes of BABY mices ( sob)

- I watched a scientist work with an undead (killed but flapping and flailing) chicken (i'm scarred for life!)

- two of the experiments for which we murdered the mices ( I know the plural of mouse is mice.. this is said meeses...it's personal..see?) screwed us over

-sauce from my falafel dripped all over my pants this morning..looked like the undead chicken had diarrhoea on me...or worse!

- We fought!

- The darn cells from the month long experiments were't enough!!

- it started to pour just as i got out of the station to walk 10 min to lab... I was late! and i didn't have an umbrella!!

- The Feta ruined my falafel... I paid 30c more for it!

- The darn store was out of lemon tea... have to make do with peach.

-My timer died..in the middle of a a very time dependent experiment!

- The mensa (cafeteria..geez!) at the practical course place sucks! I had to eat mashed potato with herbed curd for lunch..three days in a row.. yeuch!

- I had to shop! for clothes!!

(old unpublished posts 3)I admire and super-like people who....

- do nice things without expecting anything in return

- really listen without interupting

- talk softly

-are genuinely sad when things go badly for others

- can be uninhibited anywhere ( think making cuckoo noises in forum food court or singing the hokey pokey in the elevator)

- that are there for me even when they aren't physically there.

-say things straight out instead of hinting

-don't need the spotlight all the time

-can appreciate Vadivelu comedy as well as Wodehouse

-see the appeal of a rainy day

-dont mind being dopey when the occasion calls for it

-enjoy feeding the ducks at the park, playing with stray puppies, smiling at unsmiling passers by and dont pretend otherwise.

-dont mask their enthusiasm for silly stuff..like cotton candy and fake basketball

Amma, Appa, Sandy, Snup, Mil, Rats... big fat hug!!

(old unpublished posts 2)I absolutely hate it when people....

- sip (shlurp, drool backwash) from my water bottle.. no really.. it's gross! besides.. i'm carrying it for me..get your own! if it's a life and death situation then the least you can do is pour it in your mouth the way pakkathu veetu maami drinks filter kaapi.

- ask for a 'bite from my ice cream' or stick their forks in my food.. would you like it if i spat in your food?! because thats pretty much what you're doing!

-Are over familiar...woman! just because you think you're 'close frennds' with my folks doesn't mean it's ok to ask me about my 'baay frend' and alcohol preferences at family events.

-act like they know things to get info out of people.. ' so, what's going on with M (aside: there's a huge juicy scandal there!! tell!!)'... me: he' ok ( aside: miner alert!!)

- drag me shopping and expect me to have an opinion on the texture, shade and style of pink pleather bags... really..all you're gonna get from me is 'It's pink!'

-work/walk slowly and ask me why i'm hurrying... buck up..the sooner we finish the sooner i can go home and rant on my blog!

- use my stuff and tell me later..' oh D..i used those reagents you made... i hope it's ok!'.. well..they're gone now aren't they? make me more!

- describe me as cute..listen, fool.. little dogs, cats and monkeys are cute..if you cant think of a better word, shut up!

- who dont really know me badger me about my love life!!

Random person (RP): "so, D any thing special going on? "

me: " yeah.. we did whole skeletal preps today and my viral system's wor.."

RP (cutting me off): No no..i mean anything speshhul..y'know (wink, grin) anyone?

me ( knee jerk coldness): umm.. not really..oh sorry..i gotta go..

- say 'I'll call you back' and never call... if you want to end a conversation say 'bye'..it's wrong to lie..remember?

Phew...all done!

(written earlier, never published series...part 1)'Breaking news?!' gimme a break!

I spent a few hours checking out indian news channels online during the recent swearing in ceremony of Dr Singh.. and seriously.. if I hear/see one more ' Singh is King' in connection with our prime minister I will.. well.. I'll want to stomp really hard on the resposible party's foot.. but I'll probable just continue to seethe..
Seriously people.. stop! firstly.. why the obsessive use of some crappy, not-really-worth-remembering movie's name? It's just irritating to have that stupid phrase and even more stupid picture tossed in one's face, just as one starts to think it'll stay in the dim distant past where it belongs! Secondly.. The 'Singh' in question here is our prime minister..a little respect, please! Those ridiculous photoshopped pictures are plain revolting. Third.. ripping off movie titles and using them is just lame..how come news channels use them? aren't our journalists above using ridiculous movie titles for headlines? seriously.. who'd actually go for that nonsense?

Bye, Bangalore

The visa's arrived, most of the shopping's done, all the arrangements are in place, my room's in the process of being cleaned out (and resembles a burglary-site) and the sight of the huge black suitcases on my bed and floor are setting off these happy-apprehensive-sad waves in my stomach! I'm leaving Monday... this is probably it.. the point where I cross into the complete independence and resposibilities that go with being an adult. And as I formally grow up, it seems only right that I acknowledge all the folk that made my journey thus far worth it! So here goes..
Amma.. Thanks for being there, no matter what. For lifting me when i was down and grounding me when I started to be an ass.. For the security of knowing I'll always be able to laugh or cry to you and not have to explain. and for never ever letting me doubt my worth.
Appa.. Thank you..for being my rock. For never pressuring me. For backing me no matter what. For spoiling me rotten..and never giving up on me..even when I was being a self absorbed jerk.. For giving me everything I needed before I realised I needed it.. for being you!
Sandy.. For being friend, sister, confidante, shoulder to cry on and the bestest funnest ever company whenever I needed!
Kannan and Anand.. for being the ferpect 'gang mates'
The rest of the family.. For all the lurv!
Gerry.. For all the odd, even and aww times..
Ani, Rats, Mil, Friya and Vibs.. For being there even when you're not.. y'know..
Ravi n Goobe- for the same thing, only much much longer
Ini, Bin, Flo n Nit.. For a special brand of fun..
For everyone else that deserves mention but hasn't been on account of my laziness..

PS.. no..I'm not dying..and neither are any of these folks.. just a bizzare need for drama and sentiment!

IT WAS QUICKSAND!!!

To all the horrible pseudo-realists I know,

The watery muck that I stepped in, that looked solid but turned out to be calf deep and sludgy was in fact quicksand! First off.. I stepped in it, I saw it and sank calf deep in it..so I WOULD KNOW! Second.. read the definition of quicksand (oh, wikipedia it or something!) IT EFFING FITS! Third… humor me will y'all?!

spirituality...erm..

Just got back from one of them extended family things in the land of my roots (a fourth of them at least). I'm still in shock! However did those roots of mine manage to cram that many temples..and each with a history and a significance ('Visesham' for those who have mothers/aunts/grans like mine) into one tiny 200 sq km area? And WHY?! Why respected forbears why?!! Could you not make do with one or two humongous temples for worship n'all?

The stay in Tiruchirapalli resurrected..and killed my spiritual side! We’ll start with the resurrection.. I absolutely loved the temple in the mallakottai fort. It wasn't at all crowded, the cross ventilation was brilliant, the view awesome, and the silence..dear god! The silence. I jSo while Amma and Periamma whizzed around looking at deities and telling each other of the miraculous phenomena that had happened at each spot, which I'm absolutely sure they knew before, I wandered around looking at the carvings, the pillars, the windows, the view from them. Tried to read the legends that were painted on the walls..some of them stories paati'd told me while I was still in 2-pigtails and frill frocks..some new ones that I'm gonna hit the nephews with if they ever ask for stories. Eventually I ended up in front of the main 'sannidhi'- Maybe it was the low tamil chanting and the breeze and the smell of incense, maybe it was what periamma refers to as 'vibrations' maybe it was just me, but something changed there. In that time I could actually believe, without qualification, without the smallest doubt that there is a god. Not that I can justify my reasoning..but just then there was no need..there was just me and this comfortable awareness.

But all that died a violent death in an hour when we went to the Srirangam temple. The architecture and the artwork was magnificent… but the crowd..it was a circus! It's just beyond me how people can believe that taking a look at the deity..after stepping painfully on countless feet, elbowing people, shoving kids around and generally risking asphyxiation in the sweat/elephant dung/rancid coconut/bat smelling crowd.. is going to benefit them..really!

So.. in retrospect.. I think my spiritual side's there.. it's rather reticent..but there nevertheless!