Facing the reality of life...

I have been sleeping all these days,letting the books pile on my table. Now the stack has reached epic heights!!  

Kavalur Trip

It all began with a visit to the planetarium, inspired by the 'night sky' We wanted to experience it first hand. The nearest place one could think of was kavalur. So the planning began, Obtaining permission for our visit was an easy task, sorted out the dates.. and thus we started out on a cloudy Sunday morning. Travelling in the unreserved compartment was an experience in itself. The number of people crammed into a single compartment seemed to be growing exponentially with every passing station, so much so that we had to vacate our seats early, well before our destination just to make sure that we have enough time to get to the door. Having skipped breakfast, we were starving by the time we reached Vaniyambadi,our half way point at noon. The bus depot there was a scene of chaos just like any another bus depot you could find in India, There wasn't a single corner where we could sit and chew our food in peace, So our starvation continued. We then boarded the bus that took us straight to the observatory. The bus ride was pleasant.We got a chance to see the 'Real India' as the bus  roared through the little known villages. There was plenty of natural scenery too. It was quite difficult to take in all those beautiful sights at one go. Soon we were dropped at the gates of the observatory. We were shown our rooms,We plunk our bags and hurried to the dining hall. The lunch was served hot and it was all too delicious for we were ravenously hungry.

The mess

After lunch, we set out to explore the campus, Located in the forest area, The place is amazingly serene, For a city dweller it feels like being transported to another world. No blaring horns or loud speakers, no pollution whatsoever,You could dance down the middle of the road without the risk of getting run over by vehicles. To be surrounded by mother nature, with the wild flora and fauna is a surreal feeling. It took time to realise that the so many different colours we could see weren't artificial dyed!

Courtesy: Harish S

Courtesy: Harish S

Courtesy: Harish S

We were then taken on a guided tour to the 43 inch and the 90 inch telescopes. The view from the top was breathtaking to say the least. Just standing there, besides these engineering marvels is inspiring! Imagine working high up in the observatory all alone on a dark moonless night,staring at distant planets and stars  which are light years away through these giant instruments. It makes you feel connected with the vast, ever expanding universe. Sounds too romantic isn't it??

Lost in thought!!

What a view!!

After the tour, It was time for fun. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with silly little games.It would be embarrassing if I listed out the games we played, After all we are M.Sc students!!

In the evening we were shown a movie on cosmic dust pollution. It was a short movie, after which we were left to ourselves, we had nothing to do except to wait for dinner and the night sky watch. We finished the breakfast our friend had brought along. Still some of us were hungry ,we decided we would go to the nearby town and buy some essential snacks. It was already 7 pm and the security guards warned us about wild elephants and other animals lurking in the dark so we had no choice but to turn back.And before we knew it, it was time for dinner and soon after that the night sky watch. It turned out to be a cloudy night much to our disappointment. We managed to sight Jupiter and three of its moons. That was all we could see. We retired to our respective rooms to catch up on some sleep. We were quite exhausted by then but there was no let up in the excitement. We set our alarms for mid night. We wanted to go for a walk at midnight!!

It was bitterly cold at midnight, yet we didn't want to miss out on a beautiful experience. So we trudged along the slope, spooking each other with ghost stories. I must say, It felt good to inhale the cold mountain air. We came back to our rooms at 3 am and snuggled into our beds. It was already 9 am when we woke up , had our breakfast in the mess,quickly got dressed for a yet another photo shoot! And finally it was time to leave. This is where we screwed up, with no proper arrangements in place, we had to hop from one bus to another to get to Chennai.

We went from Kavalur to Alangayam, Alangayam to Ambur, Ambur to Vellore and then from Vellore to Chennai. We went back to our homes elated and refreshed. This was a welcome break  for all of us. The trip turned out to be truly wonderful and I cant wait for the next one!! Let the planning begin...

                                          My Beloved... Anna Nagar!!

What is happening to you??  You are not the same any more.Your alluring charm seems to be missing these days. Ever since the metro rail work started, the beautiful tree lined avenues of yours have turned nightmarish. I thought I knew you so well,  But am mistaken...The numerous take diversion sign boards has left me scratching my head. The once calm and peaceful streets have become glutted with vehicles of all sizes, pedestrians who scurry hither and thither trying to get across the road for no one knows where the zebra crossing is.Pollution and dust seems to have enveloped you from all sides. It sure is becoming hellish for all of us. Initially I didn't realise the large scale of your transformation and now that I do, am not able to digest the so called transitional changes! I want you to get back to being the endearing and the adorable Anna Nagar You once were! With Your land mark arches due to be pulled down in a week, I cant help but shed tears..One look at the arch and I knew I was home. Am going to miss that feeling. I know its not easy for you either. I hope you become your usual self soon.

With Love,

Your resident of 20 years.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday So glow.
Thanks for being with us and listening to all our stories!
You are such a wonderful friend!!:-):-)

A dose of nostalgia

Wouldn’t it be wonderful when you get a chance to meet your classmates after 30 years since you finished schooling? I just attended one such get together along with my mother at Sri NKC Hr.Sec School, Kurusukuppam. A month ago, when I and my mom went for shopping, we met one of her school mates. As they were talking, they got a plan to trace back their friends and organize a get together. At that moment, it sounded insane- to trace back 51 students and organize a party! Impossible! 

Today, it has come true in the form of PEARLS (Pondicherry Experienced, Active Reunion of Living Students). It was not just an alumni meet but a revolution and milestone in the history of government schools in Pondicherry. A team of six students took the initiative to trace back, not just their friends but their teachers and Principal. It was a simple yet wonderful meet! It started with an invocation song followed by inaugural address, speech by the teachers, tree planting, silent prayer in memory of their lost friends, self introduction by the students, presentation of mementos, vote of thanks and a grand buffet. One of the teachers rightly pointed out this meet as a new mode of Social Networking. It proved to be a definite treat for the nostalgic memories.

IMGRAVITATING FLICKR PAGE

www.flickr.com/photos/imgravitating/

Bon Voyage- A journey into art

Butterflies in stomach,
Thudding  heart,
Sleepless nights!!
Crush??
No!
These are the symptoms that I am experiencing right now due to an entirely new atmosphere over here. Its almost a month since college started. Right from my first class, I ve been put to various tests either directly or indirectly by the people around .I never imagined post graduation to be so different from under graduation. At times, I get the feeling that I have not understood anything in Physics. What soothes me is that there are quite a few people in class who feel exactly like me and we have become very good friends.Though the faculty members are soft, every time a professor enters the class, there would be a sudden rush of adrenaline in my body. Our Mathematical Physics professor is a mobile alarm reminding us about GATE and JRF every time he writes a differential equation on the board. In electronics class, I start feeling ravenously hungry even if it is the very first class of the day. Numerical methods is fun and that is the only class, I keep my mouth shut and ears wide open. Today, We had Freshers Party which was so beautifully organised unlike what we expected. There was a formal session with the professors followed by an interaction session with our seniors.  It started with a song and then we had to pick chits and perform whatever was written on it- It had absolutely everything- Dance, Mock Cookery show, Cat walk and JAM and during my turn I got to talk on 'Tubelight' for a minute.I tried making it as funny as possible with absolutely no sense in it and the best thing is that they all loved it.It was definitely a refreshing day and I also got new friends after interaction.Hope everything goes on well from here for the next two years !

Hopeless in Chennai!!

I will have to say this is not the best time for a chennaite. Incessant power cuts, fuel crisis,the sweltering  heat and to top it all CSK not winning the IPL. And add to that list my personal woes! Just out of college and looking for master's admission. Once the semester exams got over, I was hoping to relax for a while, but no it wouldn't happen! Preparing for the innumerable entrance exams and interviews leaves you with very little energy to do anything else! And if exam preparation doesn't sap your spirits then the cumbersome admission process of the universities will! A friend of mine once remarked as you grow older you get very little time to do nothing and even if you do, you would probably become sick from the guilt of doing nothing. Where is the time to stop and stare?? And when I see the the neighbourhood children playing merrily,It seems like they belong to a different world. Iam confronted with one question. Why do I have to grow up?? Ofcourse being an adult has its own advantages but at the moment I would prefer to be the little girl riding the bicycle with her arms wide open!

Exotic ECR Express

I have been travelling in the East Coast Road for three years now. It is an exotic stretch of 166km of roadway running between Cuddalore and Chennai through Pondicherry. Here is an account of the journeys that I have enjoyed while travelling from Chennai to Pondicherry. After College closes on Friday for the weekend, I take the bus from CMBT or Government Bus Stand at Koyambedu. Being in a hostel, visiting home is allowed only once every month. So there is a lot to take home- Dirty Jeans, Shoes and a whole lot of stories, mostly about my fellow hostelites sneaking away. Usually the bus is not full when it starts from Koyambedu promising a relaxed journey throughout. With so much anticipation about the much awaited weekend of the month, the only question that lingers in the mind is “How long will it take to reach home? Usually three, sometimes four and rarely five. Inside the city, the bus takes a jam packed, bumper to bumper route through Vadapalani, Guindy, Taramani and Tiruvanmiyur. Though it is badly hot and profusely sweating, you can still be in peace.

Once the bus stops at Tiruvanmiyur, a whole lot of pandemonium kicks the peace out of you. The bus gets jam packed- IT Professionals with classy laptop bags each bearing a name (Cognizant, HCL, TCS…), School and College students drenched in sweat from head to toe with their load, elderly couples with cloth bags and trembling feet. While some are drunk, some others travel with the very motive to drink at a Saturday night party (You can make this out from their conversations!-a bit of eavesdropping is a lot of fun). A few might smile at you every time your eyes screen the passenger crowd. Some might recite their history and expect yours in return. The best of all, some might be on the phone the entire journey, giggling at times to make you realize that someone is sitting next to you. At times, when the camaraderie works out well, they even share their food-mostly a packet of Brittania Milk Bikis and a bottle of soft drink (A perfect trademark of every Indian traveler). So when you travel you are sure to make some strange encounter.  

ECR has something for everyone in the family. MGM and VGP Universal Kingdom has always been the favourite landmark for any kid travelling by ECR. For a wildlife enthusiast, The Madras Herpetology Centre is a great treat and for the diehard Grand Prix fan, there are a number of tracks to give Car Racing a try.

If you are an aesthetic, ECR has a lot in store for you. Very near Tiruvanmiyur is Cholamandal Artists’ Village. It is a haven for those exceptionally inclined towards artistic works. The next hot spot is Dakshin Chitra, an irresistible hangout especially for those with an interest to understand and enjoy culture,traditional lifestyle and architecture. It houses a plethora of building models, each symbolizing a definite culture. There are eateries to give you the taste of different culinary styles.

As the journey continues, a debate on a hot topic, usually politics might slowly rise between two co passengers who are completely strange to each other. The debate would slowly catch fire as more and more people add fuel to the flames. After intense and rigorous arguments, they would settle only for an another to start.

Something remarkable about buses is they promise you Point to Point Service. And yes they stop at every possible point driving you to inexplicable restlessness and exasperation. Alright, there is no other go. It is better to look out and enjoy nature than bothering about the clamorous passengers. A number of trees on either side provide ample shade from the blistering sun. Slashing waves and the cool breeze will simply lure you to sleep. But I have always made sure not to sleep for the only fear that someone would kidnap me!

ECR is the best getaway for our Romeos and Juliets offering those cinematic and dramatic backdrops for their duet- lonely road, rusty bike, long paddy fields, a little stream on one side and a vast shore on the other. Every now and then, a bike would ply past (Whooshh!)leaving one in absolute envy.

Set in the lap of nature is Mahabalipuram or Mahabs, as everyone loves to call it. It is undoubtedly a major tourist spot that draws thousands of tourists every day. Get nostalgic and smell History! Even today, a number of temples and chariots are found that were once built by great Kings Centuries ago.

The bus usually stops at small hotels for a break of 10 to 15 minutes. These hotels are mostly thatched huts with urinals that stink like any other public urinal in our country. Looking at the M.R.P is of absolutely no use in these hotels. You pay twice. For a man travelling with his kith and kin, his wallet would weigh only half of what it would have weighed before. And the food, one bite and you will decide whether to dump or throw.

Edakazhinadu, Uthandi, Panaiyur are little villages that dot the scenic ECR. Most of the houses are lit by traditional lamps.There are little rivers and streams that run through these villages. Being estuarine, they are ideal spots for fishing and prawn hatching. If you are lucky, you will spot evening markets selling fruits and vegetables fresh from the farm, fancy stores, candies and definitely fish(juicy and fresh for dinner).

A good number of birds with beautiful plumage can be spotted along this road. The best places being Muttukadu (Boat House), Kovalam and Marakkanam.

Even as a beautiful sunset awaits in the west, there is something in the east as well. Tall chimneys and power stations form the landmark of Kalpakkam, which houses MAPS (Madras Atomic Power Station). It is in this power packed township, a lot of research is being carried on for the development of nuclear energy in India. There is just one more place left on ECR before entering Pondicherry and that is Marakkanam, a stretch of land that is covered with large heaps of salt, as white as snow. Ever enjoyed the beauty of salt? A pinch from these big heaps is what makes a dining a fine dining.

As in the beginning, there is very little crowd in the bus. Enter Pondicherry and the first thing that welcomes is Auroville, an international settlement started to spread peace in the lives of everyone. Again this stretch of ECR is dotted by a number of small villages like Kalapet, Puthupet, Bommaiyarpalayam. The bus turns right to enter the city limits and Pondicherry embraces me in its full glory. The much awaited weekend is set to start. The next two days are going to be absolutely spectacular. Whatever, a travel through ECR is exotic enough to show you everything-Nature, History, Science, Culture and what not!

Gourmet

This vacation, I decided to try my luck at cooking. It did turn out really well except for a few. So here are three recipes that turned out well.

 Maggi Cutlet

Ingredients

Maggi-1pkt

Potato-1 boiled

Onion-1 finely chopped    

Cream of tomato

Mint leaves finely chopped

Salt

Honey- 1tbsp

Chilli Powder

Method

Boil Maggi and drain excess water. Add finely chopped pudina leaves, onion, salt and chilli powder. Mash well and keep aside. To the cream of tomato, add honey and little salt and mix well. Make small balls and flat the maggi mixture for shallow fry. Fry both sides in medium flame. Crispy cutlets are ready to serve with cream of tomato.

Veggie Rollz

Ingredients

Maida-2 medium cups

Carrot-1 diced

Cabbage-Few leaves finely chopped

Potato- 1 boiled and mashed

Coriander finely chopped

Garam masala

Salt

Chilli Powder

Oil/ Butter

Method

Mix maida with little butter and water and knead well. Set aside for half an hour. Heat oil in a pan, add carrot, cabbage, mashed potato, chopped coriander, salt, garam masala, chilli powder. Sauté well for two to three minutes. Make small balls with the dough and roll out. Place some stuffing in the centre and fold evenly and deep fry until golden brown. Serve Rollz with tomato ketchup.

Chicken Fried Balls

Ingredients

Chicken-1 cup minced

Coriander chopped

Salt

Pepper

Oil/ Butter

Maida

Potato-1 diced

Method

Mix minced chicken with chopped coriander leaves, salt and pepper. Cook for five minutes in medium flame. Prepare dough by mixing maida, butter, water and salt and set aside. Make small balls with dough and flat out. Place the stuffing in the centre ,collect the edges and twist at the top. Deep fry in a kadai. Serve with mint chutney.

When Life is a Tremor

Yesterday, after the tremor of Sumatra shook parts of Chennai, there was hustle and bustle everywhere. All the private and public sector companies including those ever open IT companies closed owing to the Tsunami alert. Life is priceless! Jam packed roads, crowded pathways and the booming vehicles added to the tension. Life is priceless!  Amidst such a boisterous environment, sat a man in torn clothes scratching his head, unnoticed, uncared, ignored by all and indeed unware of the life saving TSUNAMI WARNING. His hair curled down his wrinkled face. His eyes were fixed upon those feet which hurriedly passed by (that literally ran for life!), hoping for someone to drop a penny into the broken bowl beside him. What is life for a man like him? A thousand dollar business? Or a multimillion share in the stock market? No. His life is all about the penny that you drop into the bowl. His life is all about saving money for a meal. This is the state of mentally retarded people in our country. Such a shame!  When you see someone really suffer, extend your help. Ignore the grumpy and cruel society behind you! I did not help the man yesterday but I am in such guilt. It hurts now. For all those who read this, however rich you are, however talented you are, have a little concern for the people around you. Life is priceless not just for us but for everyone !

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO SAY GOOD BYE??

As my time in WCC draws to a close,I cant help looking back at the three years I have spent here.How i wish i was in a relativistic space ship travelling at the speed of light,Time would stand still or if anyone builds a time travel machine I would certainly want to go back to the first day I joined WCC.Treasure trove of memories!What a lot we have learnt,How well we gelled together as a class.Of the three years,the last year was the most exciting and the most memorable.Though the schedule seemed hectic and strenous,6 hours of regular lab+3 hours of microprocessor lab in a week.Now I Know I had loved every moment of it!Sitting through the theory classes wasn't easy either.Sometimes I have felt completely lost,baffled by the humongous equations! (Always wondered how could an Hydrogen atom so teeny tiny be so complicated and difficult to understand)Neverthless I managed to scrape through the tests.Now I know quite a bit of physics too! including quantum mechanics.(Hope my QM teacher doesn't read this).We had wonderful professors ever willing to guide and encourage us,sometimes strict, sometimes easygoing.Its hard not to get smitten by their passion for the subject! Iam obliged to thank them all! Dr Anna Siromoney,Dr Mercy Rajasekhar,Dr Usha Desai,Ms Sabitha, Ms Kalavathi Shanthi,Ms Joice,Ms Christina Nancy! How lucky we were to have You! I wouldn't get another chance to sit in your classes.I cant believe its all over.And to all my friends(Shakthi,Anjaly,Sharmila,Nivea,Suganya,Grace,Prathyusha,Jennifer,Charis.. and the list goes on...) who made my time in WCC unforgettable.Thank You! I will miss you all! Though I wish We didn't have to leave,Life offers bigger and better opportunities, so keep moving on and stay true to spirit of WCC 'Lighted to Lighten'. God bless.

                                                                                          

Stand out of the ordinary!!

Be unique!!

Stress Bursterrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

Mr.Schrodinger and Mr.Newton completely confused by the way Kepler behaved.Higgsy Bossy and Messy and dont believe, hard work and hardly any work.Superstitious beliefs and supreme success over a cup of hot vanilla icecream.Make no sense.just words.Rubbish if you want to call it.Idiot,Chuck out of life. No,I can and i ll do it.Partiality and nothing else.a piece of paperrrrrrrr and a long long looooooooooooong report. no use, no listeners and yes life is a boon to all those who do not grrrrrrrrrr or gurrrrrrrrrrr or murrrrrrrr with it.entrance examinations and travelogues, crazy and mess it up.Love all. live and let live. Over flow of thoughts.piano, instrumental in a approchable yet unapproachable way to decide whatever is happening to the great indian economy in producing the arithmetic of the logical formulae of the romance of music..aiyo!Bessel functions of all types is none of my type..enthralling and always exalted about the universal phenomena involved in the metamorphosis of a dead butterfly.. Sing and let it throw on you the influence of highly talented optimistic people with the highest degree of pessimistic approah in life.miss you, love you and yeah hate you in a way history and geography made their way into civics examination and finally became lawyers at the nearby hospital to investigate criminal cases in the department of food management and water crisis.
 Truly, Physically, chemically, blogically, historically, geographically, anatomically, astrologically, physiologically, astronomically, fully, completely, hardly, shortly, bravely, psychologically, enduringly, cinematically, mathematically, lovingly, faithfully, honestly, surely all the above furnished details are true to my knowledge except for the fact that Chief ingredient Mr.coordination is out of the coverage area!!
Please try again later!!!
Insanity overload!!!

Life is all about living.

Kharagpur,Here we come!

After crossing innumerable hurdles,We boarded the shalimar express from chennai on the 27th morning at 9.30.We were on our way to Kharagpur to participate in IIT's ksitij.Annual techno-management fest of IIT Kharagpur.The train journey was uneventful,we hadn't prepared anything for our event'Disha'.So much of our time was spent in brainstorming for ideas.We could just manage to prepare a 2 page document.Hadn't even started preparing the ppt.We reached Kharagpur,the following morning at 11.30 tired and famished(blame the eastern railways for the awesome food they provided!)It took another 45 minutes by auto to reach IIT.Once inside IIT we had to hunt for the registration desk,the campus was a sprawling 2000 acres!There was a long queue at the registration desk,finally after an ardous 30 minutes in the afternoon sun we registered for accomodation.We were provided lodging at Transit hostel.Roughly a km from the registration desk.In a hurry to get to our 'rooms' (i had no idea what was in store for us)I left my borrowed digital camera on the desk.Fortunately for my friend, from whom i had borrowed it i remembered it just in time before we got into the rickshaw,ran back to the desk,it was lying where i had left it.We reached our hostel soon and were made to wait in the lounge(If you can call it that) for a volunteer to officially check us in.I was hoping for some sort of a small room just for the two of us.Instead we got a small room attached with a bathroom to be shared by 22 participants.Already half starved to death(we hadn't eaten since the previous night)We didn't have much energy left to even complain.Quickly we got dressed and left for a meeting for the participants of DISHA.Before that we had to refuel ourselves.We saw a canteen on the way to registration desk.Thinking it would be good,I ordered dal,rice and curry.My friend wisely opted for noodles.One mouth of the rice i had had enough!There was a strange not so good smell emnating from the Chawal and the dal curry was hopeless to say the least.Having been used to hot sambar rice from down south,this felt utterly inedible,yet people were queing up to get their meals.Cursing myself for having left the comforts of home,We went to the main building for the meeting.It turned out it was not a meeting at all.The organisers wanted to take a look at our solutions( ppts).We had none!We set to work immediately.By the time we finished it was close to 2.00 am!Outside it was bitterly cold,thankfully i had my jacket,my poor friend forgot to bring hers.Together we walked back the two kms in silence. We were too tired to talk,but my mind was reeling with questions. I was feeling lost. What on earth was i doing in this strange place at this unearthly hour when i could be sleeping in my bed?! There was very little space available in the room but one corner of the bed was unoccupied.We had to squeeze ourselves to fit into the little space.We had to be up by 7.00,that would give us sometime to rehearse before the actual event at 9.00 am.The light was turned on,someone was watching a korean teleserial on the laptop, non stop chitchat, there were no clean blankets or pillows available but nothing bothered us.We slept like logs for the next few hours. We woke up at 7.00,already feeling claustrophobic we went downstairs to the waiting room to practice our presentation.Honestly we didn't have any hopes of winning.We just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.Back in the room it was still very cold and no way we were going to take bath in the freezing water.Who knows one could even catch pneumonia or tuberculosis! We dint want to risk it. we washed our faces and set out to the auditorium for our presentation.There were 10 finalists but 3 of them couldn't make it to Kharagpur.So Seven.The Judges arrived.All eminent personalities from the social sector.The presentations began.We were 4th or 5th team to present.We were getting restless sitting and watching other teams on stage.Finally it was our turn,though we had rehearsed considerable number of times we couldn't do our best.Much of what we wanted to say were left unsaid.Ours was the briefest presentation,lasting just about 6 minutes while the other teams went on to exceed the time limit of 13 minutes.We were asked 3 or 4 questions by the judges.I must say We managed quite well.We had no intentions of watching the rest of the teams. We left the auditorium, very glad that it was over.We had figured out that were better restaurants available on  campus. So we walked to one such open air restaurant and ordered greasy food.

We ate to our heart's content,the food wasn't great but atleast not inedible(Looks tempting though!)After the heavy luch,We trudjed back to the auditorium just in time for the results.Lo and behold !we were adjudged the winners!!The first place was a tie,so we shared the honours with another team from Tamil nadu!The rest of the time was Spent in basking in the glory of success.Quite literally I was basking in the sun the whole of next day.It was a huge confidence booster for us,having come this far from home.(1547kms to be precise)We weren't expecting it so it was all the more sweeter!The train journey back home was wonderful.We weren't worried about the food this time.We were going home!.Learnt three bengali words from our co-passengers.After a 26 hour journey,the Kanyakumari express reached chennai!There were intense expressions of joy and happiness written on our faces!We couldn't hide it! We won in IIT!I went home to enjoy a sumptuous meal prepared by my mom and slept that night dreaming position and momentum operators!I had quantum mechanics assignment test the next day in college!

Nature and Serenity.....