ups and downs..

I'm a borderine facebook addict! I read my news feed at least thrice a day and it never bores me... in fact there's always something that apalls me, something that makes me smile, something that leaves me clueless and something that makes me really happy.. Today's pick, however was extreme enough to be blogworthy..

The low point:

One of my closer fb friends' response to a random blog rant about Sania Mirza's wedding to Shoaib Malik...

Well written - "it is down right disrespectful to your motherland for someone to embrace her sworn enemy whose only aim in life is to destroy her. Shoaib may not represent the Pakistani establishment or the terrorists who carry out bomb blasts in India but let’s not forget that his country does."
Superb!!!

None of my nevermind that the post itself was quite ordinary and echoed one of the million 'news' reports that are undoubtedly still running at primetime back home.. but the quote that he's praising.. It's a ghastly thing to realise that someone you've looked up to would be so narrow minded as to condemn someone as 'disrespectful to (her) motherland' just because she's marrying a Pakistani.. way to stand up for the 'tolerance' that India prides itself on... and more importantly..way to see people as a mass enemy rather than as individuals... one word to say: Uncool!

The high one:

A link posted be one of my favourite people (even before this post)

whoa.

This lifted my spirits after the previous post.. mostly because I'm something of a science junkie and this was one of those over the top things that you're not quite sure you should believe that make science so irresistable... but also because it reassured me that my closest friends are actually who I think they are- progressive thinkers who appreciate real news and things of actual importance enough to post them... folks who wont shatter my illusions with blind declarations of hatred against a nation stemming from a piece of gossip that should be found in some gossip rag. A, dude.. sooperu!

The things that made me smile were some routine silliness by way of status messages.. I ought to do a post on those...i know some very witty folks.. today's pick..

V with Kasab's still alive ? Shoot him already. followed by some typical responses..some corny some politically aware..some both!

What has me confused... 4 peeps that suddenly put up 'married' statuses.. T- you've been married 6 yrs and on FB 2yrs, boss.. Rip Van Winkle syndrome aa? S- engaged is not quite married...wait for it ma. V- you're in high school...this some mad teenager thing? R- whaaa?!

The §$&#*~ing limit!

I've been in the bleak and absolutely disheartening situation of having application after application rejected. I've despaired more than once of the seemingly futile attempts to contact professors, programmes and universities for PhD positions and yes! I know the desperation of the aspiring PhD student. But I had the sense to write proper letters, if and when I wrote to people for advice.. I also had specific questions and tried my best not to be a waste of time... so I really think people that don't extend the same courtesy to me deserve their emails deleted.. and posted here before that..

Here is the pick of the ridiculous emails that have been flooding my inbox the past month..I've changed the names (though these idiots would deserve their names publicised!) I kid you not..this is the kinda crap I've to put up with!

Hai R,

myself thomas i am gladdy that you are pursuestering your phd in the bsrt i do the master in science in botany from mysore university third sem. i want some halp in the knowledge of the application to the bsrt kindly formulate the needful


-hi R....i am glad to know that u r pursuing ur phd over there...i need some help from urside if u can....actually i wanna to make an impressive sop.... bt i dont know the formate....can u tel me ur formate...bye best of luck


Dear madam,
while surfing through net for PhD; i got ur ID and being an indian too i would like to first congrgulate u for ur high ambition and superior mentality and achievement. mam, i  Dr dash, done my graduation in veterinary science and post graduation in veternary pharmacology, presently doing PhD in vety pharmacology and toxicology at westbengal  veterinary university. i am in first semestar of PhD programme. mam, may i request u  do give any idea abut the subject , university, and requirments for applying a PhD progrmaame that wd be suitable to my profile.


I am Y.S from INDIA, completed my Masters in Bioinformatics with 70%(2006-2008), and also did my advance course in bioinformatics at Indian Institute of Chemical Technology. I have one International paper publication too. Actually I have applied to so many Universities in Germany for PhD...but always my application is getting unsuccessful.. I have been trying from APRIL 2009..I am trying very hardly but I am not getting PhD..I have keen interest to do PhD...I send more than 65 applications....But still I am getting failures....so...could you please please help me how to get PhD....Please  please  help me friends......


Myself CV. I am CV, currently pursuing M.Sc (Drug discovery) from Univ of London. I am about to complete my Masters in sept - 09. Presently carrying out research project at UCL. My bachelors is in medicine from India.
I am currently working on Biological project and want to continue to stay in the field of biological science. I came across ur university and im quite interested to know more about it.
So how is it wortful to apply as they may think i am from different backgroung and what may be the chances to get in to the programme.
Awaiting for your kind reply. Please provide ur respectful suggestion or advice.

Respected Mam..

I am BIOTECHNOLOGY postgraduate searching for Ph.D in your LABORATORY . I have well hands on experience in BIOTECHNOLOGY Laboratory skills

and i am interested in any field in your LABORATORY. i have registerd in your WEBSITE so please help to find the ONLINE application form

So please see MAIL me..

Hi
I'm ss ,
I'm applying to XYZ for PhD.
Im feeling application form as well.so can u guide me which 3 research projects i prefer,
I get to know about u from PhD students link from XYZ.
Kindly waiting for u r reply
faithfully,

hellow mam My self T.R completed my M.S in Biochemistry, working as a project fellow, sir i wan to develop my self in research so please help me,. sir please find the attachment file for further need full action. sir my two papers are in prosses to sent to article or jorunal.mam can please help me. plzzzzzzzzz

Regards

--

Yup! the average PhD student's woes go far beyond the frustrations of failed experiments. A response to all these guys.. I feel for you..I really do! but if you want any help, you'd do well to improve your language and pick a better recipient!

food forage..

Right! I'm not too happy with that title, but since I can't do better, we'll let it slide. Anyways.. it's now 22.40 hours on a Saturday.. and my most recent blog-worthy incident is 40 minutes old and in the process of being digested.. here's the recap...

So.. I surfaced at 22.00 hrs (from a long and gruesome paper involving horrific cruelty to mice) acutely aware of my rumbling tummy.. A quick survey of my supplies turned up one large potato and a small onion. A quick wack on the forehead and 'Renu, you fool! you were supposed to do a grocery run today!' later I'd pooled my resources and gathered the makings for Kartoffelpuffer..german potato pancakes.

Here's a pictorial of the process...

 

..And in a record time of 15 minutes, the above progress was planned, executed and in a further 10, consumed!

The verdict: Burp!

Growing-up pains..

I hate being an adult!

I resent the responsibility, the sudden sense of emotional isolation, the change in interpersonal dynamics and all the bizzare expectations that go with being one.

I can't believe I always wanted to be one and that some perverse part of me likes it!

Glory Glory LEEDS united!!

All right! Jermaine Beckford!!

I'll admit I've only watched a few of Leeds' games..and only because I lived there and the guy I was then (embarassingly) semi-crushing on was a die hard fan and kept inviting me along. I'll also admit my knowledge of football..esp. current football is limited to snippets from the newspaper and heresay from friends.. but I am absolutely thrilled by this.

Write it off as you will..to recovering players, injuries, bad luck, planetary transitions..whatever! Fact is the red devils were beaten...by a league one side. While ManU losing always gives me a perverse thrill (a ten year long peeve, that) what really pleases me is the attention Leeds is now getting.. I always thought they deserved better than tier 3.. hopefully this goes some way in changing that.Naievete and foolish optimism? probably..but where would one be without them?

cooking up storms..

It's winter! (mostly) fake yuletide cheer time.. All the stupid potluck things have started..and those of us with the gift of brown skin in vella-kaaran land are expected to come up with 'exotisches indisches' celebration food. One such do is happening later today and my friend V in all his enthusiasm volunteered us to make something... We decided on 'Suji ka Halwa'..'Kesri Baath' to me..because it was easy to make.. and pulled it off pretty well in the end.

The process, however, was a traumatizing experience..for me and my me-accustomed kitchen. V is what I now refer to as a method retard.. he messed up my kitchen..stirred the suji so it slopped all over the stove..and burnt itself in place.. sent some of it flying to the previously clean, mopped floor, used all the clean utensils and ladles he could reach, dumped the drippy stirring spoon on every available clean surface and generally forced me to enter a state of suspended conciousness just to keep from braining him with a suji coated saucepan.. and I repressed my homicidal side by alternately shoving him out and stirring for a bit till he popped back in..and spacing out to other times I've cooked with someone else while he abused my poor kitchen..

Amma... I imagine my mother feels a similar horror and remorse for her kitchen when I decide to cook. Cooking sessions with Amma were and still are (to a lesser extent now) revelations.

 I'd start off thinking 'that looks simple..and I've watched her make it for..like..ever..I can handle this' two minutes into the recipe.. I'd be like 'maaa!' and she'd turn to me looking resigned, encouraging, proud of my effort and a smidgeon smug (as only mothers can) and tell me exactly what was amiss..it's scary.. I really hope someday I'm as good at her..at my job if not cooking. While it's fun kitchening ( prepping, cooking, cleaning up) whith her, her inner management-conscience doesn't permit her to not-correct..she'll try really hard to let me muddle through it on my sloppy own but will eventually cave and offer some ( usually credible) suggestion. I pretty much always feel a bit embarassed and a tad disgruntled and react to it in one of 4 ways- I'll silently do what she says and leave it be; - I'll glare and continue doing it wrong; - I'll dump it down and say 'you do it!' and storm out or I'll pause, demand she let me do it on my own, throw in some crap about not having her experience, and do what she asked me too, with one part of me smirking at the other..
That made me sentimental and goofy, but I still wanted to cry with my kitchen... so..onto the next..

Sandy.. Cooking with Sandy's one of the funnest thing to do on the domesticity list... from childhood 'chinese' cook-fests to baking trials that almost ended up in electrocution.

Now, both of us being wiser, we have this pattern. We discuss, start to cook..improvise to include cravings, continue with discussions, screaming and maniacal laughter and end up with a fairly decent meal..normally comprising corn, chilly, fried stuff and cheese... and leave the kitchen a mess that neither of us want to think about. Then her OCD makes her go back and clean..and I end up helping...which means I clean out a space on the counter for my butt and talk/tease/sing while she does the cleaning.

I never got out of the cleaning in the winter cooking sessions with T and S back in Yingland, though. T and I were alike..cooking temperament wise.

 We'd get things started and clean up while we cooked..and us being housemates..that was a good thing all round. Our sessions always ended with a hot and usually brilliant meal and a clean kitchen and even tempers (I'm making this sound like something else now..damnit y'all..focus!) but sometimes S would show up.. she was one of those people that literally and metaphorically sticks her finger into every..well.. subzi, sambhar or payasam... throw in a pseudo friendly, incessant high pitched chatter and you had the perfect murder scene. T and I stayed outta jail though..just shows the power of a homecooked meal.

I was beginning to think V's low score on my kitchen compatibility scale was a result of the y chromosome but my most recent cooking experience..with R who's visiting me for new years..forces me to reevaluate..

not only is R extremely efficient in the kitchen..he's so bloody darn good, I could fall back on the old setting the table and doing the dishes routine.. code for Renu's patented wriggling out of work and doodling..

So all in all..my best cooking experiences amount to me either being alone..or not actually cooking!

Lab-rats in the Caribbean

Yo maan!

I just got back from the Caribbean...and can't seem to sleep.. since that's very disturbing..me being me, who's normally able to sleep anywhere and anytime irrespective of jetlag or prior napping. I've decided to take my mind off it and write this out...besides, there's the added benefit of reliving my week of absolute beach-bum bliss!

So.. it all started when my labmate Karolina and I decided to apply for a travel grant to attend this stem cell biology conference in Antigua. We didn't really expect to get it..being only a few months old in the field and all..but figured it was worth a shot.. so a few hurried experiments, data compilation and 2-page long essay application later we were informed that we'd bagged the grant. A lot of jumping and screaming, high fives, jealous colleagues, reams of visa and ticketing paperwork (the crappiest thing about being Indian is that you need a visa to visit even a tiny little speck-on-the-map island) more hurried experiments, piles of data, a ridiculously time consuming poster, hurried shopping and packing and 3 months later we were on a plane headed to the V C Bird international airport, Antigua.. 4 days before the start of the conference.

Antigua's hot and humid as can be expected of a sub tropical island- Air so humid it's like inhaling steam, the faint tang of salt water, fish and seaweed, heat that weighs on you so you feel like you're dressed for winter, and the cacophony of insects, birds, lizards (bleah..shudder) and frogs. There was a ridiculous number of horrid, leaping lizards..and Karolina was so taken by them she took a million pics!
                                                                         
 The people were laid back and relaxed..it took a while to get used to the accent and cadence but once we learnt to ignore the ' oh mah lordy' and 'sweet gawd' and 'darlin' and 'lurve' that appear several times in a sentence, the english was pretty easy to understand. They're quite friendly and helpful and we never felt unsafe and had a really good time.

The Capital- St Johns had a definite Indian small town feel to it... in fact I felt like I was back in Adugodi or someplace. Narrow roads half blocked because of parked vehicles, random vehicles of different makes and sizes...awful drivers, roadside vendors selling pirated DVDs, confused looking  tourists, public buses that drove you to your destination..be it your resort or the closest vegetarian restaurant.. if you fluttered your eyelashes and looked bit helpless. We visited the local fruit and veg market and tried out the famed Black Pineapple- major letdown- it wasn't even remotely black and I've definitely eaten sweeter ones back home! But Karolina was enchanted! Europeans..bah!

We hit a new beach everyday.. sometimes several..Antigua's supposed to have 365 beaches, so there was plenty to choose from.. each was different..in the texture of sand, type of shells, the presence or absence of birds, the colour of water, the depth, the waves..the clouds, the shade,the foliage, even the way sun hit the water!..you get the picture..several subtle differences adding up. Naturally we had the time of our lives just laying about, talking to the occasional passer by, wading, lazing.

 

 Apart from taking advantage of the beach and ending up " browned like breakfast bacon" as an amused friend pointed out, we took full advantage of the unlimited food and drink included at the resort where the conference took place. The rooms were great and  had a great view of the sea.. we faintly regretted the fact that we only used them to sleep in. We attended..very reluctantly.. the talks and grudgingly stood by our posters for 3 excruciating question and mosquito filled hours a day.. I visited the secondary rainforests where they have 'zip lines'- steel ropes spanning gorges, ravines and such, at canopy level, to which you're harnessed and can..well zip across. Had the best time.. was a pity I couldn't take pictures..but there was the danger of being distracted taking pictures and smashing into a tree.. also, I FINALLY tried jet skis..was so much fun! definitely a repeater!

All in all a brilliant trip..looking forward to the rest :D