The quiet summer afternoons,
the stillness of the atmosphere,
punctuated by the tick tock of the clock,
the calm whirring of the fan,
the twittering of the birds,
and the shrill honk of the autorickshaws.
Nothing to interrupt my time of solitude,
as I bask in the warm afternoon sunshine,
with my magazine strewn across my lap,
waiting to be read,
while the reader stares blankly into the sky.
I can make out some familiar faces in the sky,
one cloud reminds me of me, and another,
resembling a damsel waiting to be found, drifts away lazily.
I divert my gaze over to nearby terraces,
briefly pausing upon the pretty girl in red,
moving to the monkeys leaping across rooftops,
before resting on the gentle sway of trees far away.
My serenity is rudely broken,
I hear my phone ringing,
Ignoring it, I shut my eyes,
and enjoy the sounds of this glorious land,
a land I’m proud to call home.
Been just over a week since I’ve got home. The daily routine has mostly consisted of eat, read, watch TV, check teh interwebz with a considerable amount of sleep between these activities. Other stuff included were catching up with lots of friends which was quite nice, definitely good to see some old faces again, have some good meals at our old favourites, and the likes.
On a sadder note, the world has lost two things this week, both of which/whom I have respected. The first one is the legendary Kodak film, Kodachrome, a transparency film which has been manufactured for nearly 75 years before Kodak took the decision to stop production earlier this week. From the point of view of Kodak, it seems reasonable since it accounted for less than 1% of its sales and there is only one lab left in the world which has the capability to process this film since it is quite complex, and Dwayne’s Photo in Kansas has said that they will continue to process the film until late 2010. However, it will definitely be missed by many film enthusiasts including me, who revered the film like a god. It was the same film used to capture the world famous Afghan girl photo by Steve McCurry in 1984. And this momentous calls for Paul Simon’s classic song ‘Mama, dont take my Kodachrome away’.
The other loss was a man, although some say otherwise, nevertheless, known as the ‘King of Pop’. I must admit his death came as quite a shock to me, I somehow took his existence for granted and regardless of all the controversies he has been in, I’m sure everyone agrees that he made some pretty damn awesome music. My playlist for today has simply been all of the King’s albums on shuffle. May his soul rest if peace.
On a more positive note, I got my exam results earlier this week and I somehow managed to scrape a 70.7% overall, which is a 1st Class and all I wanted. Next year will be tougher, with a 10,000 word dissertation and all, but it’ll be the test of my mettle to score a 1st Class next year too.
Watched Terminator: Salvation today, barely worth the visit. Just 2 hours of mindless violence and action wrapped around a weak excuse for a story. Christian Bale is a normally a good actor but he doesnt come close to Arnie as the classic Terminator, and Terminator 2 still remains my favourite of the series.
Also played Max Payne 2 today, such a beautiful game to play, I do hope Max Payne 3 doesnt turn out as a bad as it looks.
And thats all for now folks, more updates on life and the world soon!
My heart feels right at home in India. I cant really point out at one specific feature of this glorious country which fills the void in my otherwise great life, its a combination of its beautiful sights, sounds and atmosphere,
The plane journey was long and uneventful, which has its positives and negatives. On one hand, atleast we didnt have an Air France but on the other hand, I had absolutely nothing to do during the 10 hour journey. Although the selection of movies for the on flight entertainment was decent, the tiny screen was of horrible quality. The food was barely edible, and I tried to sleep for most of the journey but kept randomly waking up. Overall, hardly a journey I’d like to repeat, and I dont think I’ll fly British Airways next time unless they give me a massive discount.
However, the journey was precisely that. Just a journey towards a destination, and I’m glad to be home. I do have the occasional pangs of Essex now and then but over the next few weeks, things should settle. However, one thing I think I will always miss from Essex, apart from the people of course, would be the fast broadband internet. It is painfully slow here and it will be awhile before I accept the fact that I cant stream music/videos anymore.
The next couple of weeks will involved catching up with friends and the likes, I hope to travel for a bit after that otherwise boredom may overwhelm me.
In other news, Olympus have announced a digital version of their famous ‘Pen’, the E-P1 which has resulted in me updating my Wishlist after a long time, you can take a look at the new camera here and my wishlist here.
And similar to last time, feelings are mixed. Thoroughly excited to go back home. Depressed to say goodbye to all the final year students whom I wont see again for a very long time. But that is how life moves on…
Last week has been reasonably relaxing, I’ve been catching up with as many people as possible to bid farewell to them. I suppose next week might involve a similar exercise of catching up with many friends, not to say goodbye, but to welcome a summer of fun.
I went down to Chelmsford a few days ago to watch Guthrie Govan play live at The Bassment and it was an absolutely amazing experience. He plays the guitar like no one else I’ve ever know and its quite a sight to watch him work his magic on the guitar. The Bassment is a lovely place as well, small, simple, cosy and just the way I like it.
I’ve ensured that I did my usual activities last week, Fish and Chips from Henleys, plenty of meals at the Bengal Spice, relaxing lunches at Sizzlers/Top Bar, and just sitting by the lake enjoying the sun.
My first lunch in India will be, as anyone who knows me can predict, Chicken Biryani at Paradise. It is something my heart has truly longed for the past six months and I’m immensely looking forward to that memorable meal. I must crack on with packing now and my next post will be from India!
The two major events celebrating the end of the academic year at University, ‘The End’ and the ‘Summer Ball’ were held last friday and saturday respectively and the last term of the year is now over.
The End was immense fun. It involved about a 1000 odd students in the main squares of the University and tons and tons of alcohol. As you can expect, the outcome was definitely an experience not worth missing. The Summer Ball is pretty much the same thing, except its held in a large fancy tent and everyone is dressed in tuxedos.
Summer Ball this year was fantastically better than last year, primarily because the weather was dry. The new tent was unique, and since I got a VIP invite to the event, I also got a good free dinner. I didnt bother watching the acts, I was too busy with my friends going on the fairground rides. I ended up going on the infamous Dominator about seven times and got bored of it by the end. The general atmosphere of the night was positive and you could feel the fun all around you. I had an absolutely brilliant time and came home by 5AM after 12 hours of partying away.
Alcohol was flowing freely and excessively over the course of the 2 days, but I suppose its permissible given that it is only 2 days in a year. I know that both the days wouldnt have been half as fun had I been sober and hence the slightly generous consumption but it was well worth it and I’m going to go cold turkey for the next few months.
I’m going to miss all the final year students terribly during the next year, both these events were a huge goodbye and thanks to all of them who hung out with me over the past 2 years. Time sure has flown at an insanely fast pace and I cannot believe I am already finished with two years at Essex. It feels like it was just yesterday when I walked into good ol’ Flat 13 with my bags at midnight to meet up with my fellow flatmates. One more year, or maybe two more, but then it’ll be off into the real world which only exists as a myth within the university bubble.
I’ll be leaving for Hyderabad in a week’s time. I cannot wait to get home, its been too long since I’ve laid my taste buds upon some Paradise Biryani.
Roughly 6 months ago, I decided that I wanted to grow a beard like Jules Winnfield, played by Samuel L. Jackson in the legendary movie, Pulp Fiction. After about a month of not shaving and some careful and precise shaving earlier today, I can confidently say that the result has been achieved. I’ve posted a step by step visual guide of the transformation of the beard below. (Click on images for higher res)
The original beard before the shaving began.
Looking like Sabretooth after the first shaving session
Yes, I am reasonably drunken right now so please forgive any spelling/grammatical mistakes. Perhaps my first time doing drunken blogging as far as I can recall right now.
And the funny part is we all got drunk playing the Dr.Horrible Sing Along drinking game. It was immense fun and Koppaberg Mixed Fruit is quite divine. And it is the first time in the history of our house that all four of us got simultaneously drunk.
Coming to life, exams have been going on splendidly well, I’ve finished four of them successfully, and just one remains on Monday. The other extra curricular activities have decreased slightly but not ceased completely, I went Gliding last weekend and was allowed by the instructor to do everything from launch to landing, pretty much like a solo flight but with the instructor behind me to ensure that all was good. That was brilliant fun as always. Photos are up on Flickr.
Weather has improved to a nice, warm and sunny situation but with occasional showers now and then. The sun sets at around 9PM and rises by 5AM which gives us quite a lot of sunlight during the day.
I’ve been taking more digital photos recently, primarily due to lack of funds to process film but after going over some old film photos, I once again realized that digital can simply never substitute the beauty and glory of film. Scanning a negative is simply not the same as seeing a true optical print. Each film has its specialized and unique look, all different but still wonderful, while all digital cameras, from tiny compacts to gigantic SLRs pretty much share a similar outcome without a decent bit of processing.
Nevertheless, I shall leave the reader in peace now and try and sober up for a night of photo taking.
Because two is better than one,
and one is better than none.
Because they say rocket science is hard to understand,
obviously they havent met women.
Because time and experience dont come together,
and neither do age and wisdom.
Because its easy to sit and complain,
but hard to stand up and take the blame.
Because every human has an opinion,
and every opinion has a reason.
Because respecting another’s opinion is for the learned,
and some people will never grow up.
Because no two people are the same,
and opposites attract.
Because there is nothing more fragrant,
than the sweet smell of victory.
Because its easy to lose hope,
but sometimes hope is all you have.
Because living for oneself is selfish,
a life helping others is honourable.
Because ignorance is bliss,
but knowledge is power.
Because there is no greater satisfaction in life,
than watching your children succeed.
A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by the BBC (Yes, British Broadcasting Corporation themselves!) to know if I would be interested in taking part in an exclusive preview of their new online creative programme ‘BBC Blast‘. Not wanting to miss out on revision time for my toughest exam, I was about to turn down the offer but thought twice and accepted it since I wouldnt really get a chance like this often.
Upon further research, I found out that I was one of fifteen people creative minds invited to attend the preview and have a fun day out basically. I was quite excited about it and lo and behold, I was not disappointed. On Monday, I headed down to London and after meeting up with everyone and quick introductions, we were taken to Topolski Studio at Southbank London, just off the London Eye.
Since the studio was not big enough to accommodate all of us simultaneously, we were taken in 3 batches. The place was definitely like something I’ve never seen before, different and fresh. It housed four different creative ideas, one was a set of four paintball guns, hacked to be controlled via computers, another was 3 glue guns, once again hacked to be operated via a computer, a couple of printers and fifteen coloured lights sync’d with sounds.
This plethora of instruments could all be operated via a computer there, and you can do it online as well over here. The paintball guns were pointed against a then white wall, now a mish mash of colours, and you can direct it however you choose. The glue guns are pointed vertically down upon a plastic dome and they hope to build a sculpture by the end of the month. The printers can print out anything you type in online on the website and if I’m not wrong, I think they’re going to be displayed eventually in an exhibition. The coloured tube lights can have a different tune assigned to each and glow when you hit the respective key on the keyboard.
The Backend
Overall, there was a decent bit to see, and we were also given booze and snacks which made the whole experience even better. After some tinkering around, we went to the park to do some sweeding, as can be seen in ‘Be Kind Rewind‘. There were a lot of ideas and thoughts being throw around but we eventually settled on the movie Hancock with some random robots thrown in, it was good fun and we’ll have to edit the clips before we can get the final result which should quite amusing to watch.
I’d like to thank the BBC for organising this interactive day, and 1000Heads as well for finding the me and guiding us during the day. It was definitely different, and new and hopefully, as the programme expands, it’ll get lots of people involved in it!
It has been almost 5 months since I’ve gone gliding. According to my log book, the last time was the 16th of December which is definitely not in the near past. I did go Gliding yesterday though, the last few flights of the day, and it was exhilarating and I’d forgotten what joy it is to turn a glider at the touch of a stick. The first 2 flights were as usual, although I did get to do a considerable bit of the taking off and landing. The third and last flight of the day was the exciting one. The sun was just setting over the horizon and my instructor said that this one was going to be a fun flight. When you are sitting in a glider, ten seconds away from take off, ‘fun’ is usually not the word you want to hear. But before I could protest, we were in the air, hit a nice high altitude and started off the so-called fun part.
3 loops one after the other. And before my head could level itself, 3 rolls one after the other and finally to top it all off, an insanely high speed low pass across the control tower at about 225km/h.
It was definitely fun, perhaps some of the craziest fun I’ve had to date, and I can honestly say I’ve caught the Gliding bug.
