CLAIRVOYANCE

English memories

2010-02-15T04:31:00.000-08:00

Although i am into biotechnology and the likes now, i was once a literature student. i believe it was 2001-2002 when i completed my masters in English literature. now after almost 8 yrs i am compelled to take the journey back into a long lost study which i must admit was then ........ awesome. (this need was brought about by the recent SLET exam opportunity).
the year was 2000, somewhere in the month of June. i walked into my first ever English literature class and i was late. i was a Bsc. zoology major and applied for an M.A. in English just out of curiosity and boredom with science. the class started of with "the age of Chaucer" and since i was late i stood on the doorway waiting to be let in.
"excuse me sir, may i come in?", the teacher continued to ignore me.... I remember standing there wondering what i got myself into. i wished i had come straight to class instead of oogling at those Tibetan girls, maybe i shouldn't have gone to the canteen, i should have been early atleast on the first day...damn! just then the teacher finally turned to me surprised " oh! young fellow what are you standing there for, come on in" i was pleasantly surprised and hesitated a bit. one of the students then spoke on my defense. "is that right? I'm sorry young fellow at my age my eyes often fail me, besides how did i ever miss a big fellow like you" he said grinning mischievously. He was short, not too thin, frail although not too frail for his age, as he walked he wore a sweet smile and radiated pure intellect, he was never alone...always surrounded by admirers mostly his students, that was his trademark. he was our dept H.O.D Dr. Bhatt, and he said " you're the science fellow right? good good, welcome to my world"
i had always been enamored by the subject. the most common response when a person says he is a literature student was "wow! then you must be a romantic fellow" or "read me a poem please" or "you must be really smart, very clever" i can't justify all these comments because i find them all so funny. i loved the way my teachers taught Shakespeare. they'd show such enthusiasm when they told those tales, they'd roar excitedly or croak with weakness aping each scene, each character's story. they'd throw their hands up in triumph or despair mimicking the hero's joys and anger, love and hate. I'd listen so inquisitively when Milton talked of the clouds resting on the mountain slopes after a long days journey, the intrigues and suspense filled life of the prince of Denmark in Hamlet, the tragic love stories of Romeo n Juliet, the history in king Henry or the love of a daughter for her father in king Lear. I was fascinated by the existence of a world hidden deep within the crevices of what we believe to be our reality. a writers freedom and depth of imagination in creating new worlds, new tribes, new culture, new languages as in Tolkien's LOTR, political episodes written as rustic events in an "Animal Farm". I could go on and on but i think i must stop here atleast for now.
I get asked a lot if my wasting two years on English literature was something i regretted. Of course not, i 've never regretted it one bit. i think literature has infact opened my eyes to a whole lot of experiences, a whole lot of ideas, ideologies, personalities, cultures old and new, philosophies and even science and technology. This opportunity that i have been given, i shall take it as my second chance to read and witness the wonderful world of English literature ....... just once more! :)

who's that girl?

2010-02-12T23:35:00.000-08:00

I wrote a post a few days ago, that i realized was too ..... RAW! i guess i can be forgiven for being too discrete back then. you feel that don't you? especially when your comfort zone has been compromised. i deleted that post as three days of continuous drinking has shown me... that nothing is worth spoiling yourself. yes that and the sight of this new gorgeous lady that i met recently.

she is, like moi, working in a research project ... her name? ... starts with A. lets just leave it at that. she's tall, fair, noisy and very very pretty. i first saw her at the university canteen. i was deep into my sampiau (a porridge) slurping away when those sitting next to me whispered "did you see her?" "who is she?" i looked up and there she was near the doorway talking to one of the bus drivers.

she wore one of the cutest smiles i had ever seen. her hair was black, about shoulder length, glossy lips, not much make up and that nose, sharp as Cleopatra's. everyone wanted to talk to her. sometimes it was a simple "hello, how are you?" sometimes "taking a break?". she greeted every gaze, every comments with a simple nod and a sweet smile followed by a soft "hello" (now that i've mentioned she always did wear a smile every time i saw her). i looked around and saw every eyes in the canteen glued to this angelic beauty. she walked to the counter, ordered her stuff and stood there talking to the canteen lady.

i quickly gulped down what remained in my bowl, got up and walked to the counter to pay my bill. she was writing something on a piece of paper and when i stood next to her she looked up and smiled. i smiled back very awkwardly but just as i was about to open my mouth to say something she looked down at her paper and continued to write. with my mouth still half open i looked up to find the canteen lady waiting for me to talk, so....... i just pretended to whistle.

i forgot i was still smiling when my friend asked me what was so funny. we were now outside and walking towards the dept. i looked back towards the canteen one last time with a smile still on my face and said "naa nothing just something i remembered"

A Job At Last: Part 1

2009-09-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

Having finally completed my second master's degree, I've landed me a job. It's not that great a job but a job none the less. Actually it's not even a permanent one but Hey! who am I to complain eh?.....atleast I'm not staying back home, looking after the neighbour's kids again...Come to think of it how the hell did I do that for two straight years? Love them to bits though but they always kept picking on me:( Anyway back to my new job hehehe....

The designation is project fellow/PF 'Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility' I think....or something like that but it's abbreviated as B.I.F (ignorance is bliss hehehe). I am "supposed" to be incharge of the 10 computers and two servers assembled in the BIF lab and I am "supposed" to carry out some high funda computational calculation work, atleast that's what my report stated.

The first few days were fun...I did'nt have much to do...I either just chatted on the net and when that got boring I'd sneak next door to annoy Mimi at the P.T.C lab (for those biologically challenged P.T.C lab stands for Plant Tissue Culture lab, again ignorance is bliss hehe) which often ended up with her chasing me and I srceaming my lungs out for me dear life hehehe just kiddin....but now with the formal appointment and stuff, things have started to look up (or down, depending on how you look at it). I have to be on my toes now, literally...not because I have been ordered to do so but rather because the dept in all its infinite wisdom has employed an equally lost soul....(she was asked what DNA was and she replied Deoxy Nucleotide, they should have continued "forget the 'DN' what did you do with the 'A'?") .....For the post of a Systems Administrator they had hired a software engineer but then again who am i to complain eh? I got me a paying job.

So there you have it, two equally lost souls, sitting opposite each other, in a room full of machines, the technical operation of which we knew only the basics. So what do we do? we browsed......no! actually we brain-stormed for a few seconds and then we browsed...Our first aim was to familiarize ourselves with what our jobs involved..so she typed into google "role of a systems administrator" and i typed in "what is Bioinformatics?":)........ the scene is now set, the lab's a stage and my partner and I ...mere actors...and so.... the journey begins.....(to be contd)

Blogging

2009-05-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

Bonjour!! Impressed? well don't bother because that's probably all the french i know....lame eh? i know i know, it's just that i've never blogged before and i really don't know how to start. I mean unlike you bloggers of the world i'm not an avid or habitual writer, i don't jote down things that come into mind, i don't keep a dairy either, i am infact gramatically challenged( please feel free to correct my use of commas and hiphens) but that does'nt mean i detest writing. Infact i do like to write and i have written a couple of articles, albiet for some lesser-known regional paper, down south in Chennai. I wrote one for the college magazine when i studied Law, another when i was in Delhi for The Times Of India, that however did'nt see the light. I wrote a lot when studying M.A in Literature so i'm not new to writing, just that i'm not passionate about it.

I got introduced to blogging a couple of years back and immediately opened an account. However it's almost two years after my first sign in that i'm posting my first blog. I still would'nt have done it if it were'nt for Rita and Mimi. O' by the way they are new to blogging too, although i signed in way way wayyyyyyyyy before them HUH!!

Anyway, now that i've started i seem to be really enjoying myself. The thought process one goes through before the fingers hit the keys....the power of putting thoughts to words....the sound of my knuckles cracking, as if i've typed in a thousand words. I am now oblivious of the extremely hot weather outside, i am undistracted by my sister's annoying singing, i choose to shield away from the traffic noise, the clanging of steel from the nearby workshop....i punch these keys like a man possessed... Now that would be something....if it were true eh?

Hahaha i have rambled on needlessly for sometime now, have'nt i? but seriously jokes or annoyance apart ( however way you take it) "blogging" does seem a whole lot-a fun and i promise to put in more effort to post in more meaningful and far interesting blogs from now on. Till then "a bientot"