Talked with Gaurav for 4 hours about nothing and everything. Sukanya is going
to kill me, because I was actually very sleepy, politics makes the body release
some nicotine, and it kicks you awake.


All excuses given, I still am culpable. sigh....

20% of all Americans suffer from obesity.

Obese people suffer from painful swollen feet.

60% of all American families are dysfunctional in some way.

Sometimes though, a swollen foot is just a swollen foot.

-Onkar Joshi

I have been blessed with a very vivid imagination. As a result of this, gross descriptions really make me barf. But there are good sides to it too. I can picturise people in far off lands doing their mundane chores, some with gaiety, some with wrinkles on their forehead.

As I read Sonal's post today evening after dinner, visions of home haunted me awhile and refused to go away. It's as if I can see the whole world sitting at my desk. It's a very very freaky feeling. I can imagine Baja sitting on Akki's comp, his tongue darting out of his wide mouth as he tries to evade the cops in the Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 game. I am an ace at avoiding and evading things [I am the NTU Indian champ for pod racing], naturally, and will now go there to rub the good old salt in. It feels good to be good.

I can imagine Aai at the granite cooking platform, taking the sizzling bhaji off the gas. I can imagine my sister sitting on the bed, a pillow on her lap, reading her zoology book, and practising amphibious cross section diagrams, almost burying her face in the notebook she is drawing in. Aai says it's going to spoil her eyes. She is going to look weird, a little like Elaine from Seinfeld if she gets those spectacles.

Dad has to be in the living room, checking out the newspaper, its a daily ritual before dinner. I've tried interesting him in watching BBC, but it seems that there is some pleasure in reading the news, as if the written word was somehow more meaningful than the spoken word. Maybe it is.

My friends must be out on Mithagar/Navghar road, for the daily evening walk. The real reason behind these pradakshinas around South-east Mulund [Look at the top right of the map] is ornithological. Sometimes it is also to gobble a couple of Balu's tasy vadapavs. Mac, friend in VJTI, is a major novice at ornithology, and usually makes the quarry aware that it is being spotted. There are some of them like that here too. Fortunately, travelling in Mumbai local trains' video coaches for two years, 5 days a week makes you an expert in the art of ornithography. Unfortunately, seems that ornithographers from Delhi aren't that discreet, and we have had trouble with that in the past.

Freud would have loved to have me as a patient. :P

Today is a glorious day, I have faced the irritating laryngeal bacteria and won. Nevertheless, I decided to eat porridge today, and a very nice chinese lady was gracious enough to make vegetarian porridge for me. To my great surprise, it cost very less too, and was delectable.

I came across this very interesting article by Alok Rai, the grandson of 'the' Munshi Premchand. He appears to be a Marxist, and has some articles on the CPIM website under the culture section. He talks about the Hindi and the Urdu languages, and argues how they have been used to deepen the Hindu-Muslim divide. It's listed in the links for today on the right. We talked briefly about it at dinner.

How is it so that a person who plays a sport well in real life sucks at its computer version? We were trying out Cricket 2002 at Cyph's place, and it's darn stupid. In real life, when you bat, the ball comes towards you. On the other hand, on the computer the ball goes away from you. Maybe it's just sour grapes, or maybe it really is weird to imagine you are the guy wearing the helmet wielding a bat when you are really just clacking at the keyboard.

I guess that's how an armyman will feel when he plays Unreal Tournament with a mouse and keyboard. How sad, no? Maybe computers should control our lives less. Why should children play cricket on computers? It just doesn't make sense to me. The whole idea of it. I can understand F1 2002 or strategy games like Red Alert, but field/court games like Cricket, Football or Basketball should be kept off the computer.

What say?

Musharraf says he didn't succumb to Indian pressure

K J M Varma in Islamabad

Asserting that he would continue to play his role as the country's president despite stiff opposition from mainstream political and religious parties, General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday said one of the main achievements of his government was its success in withstanding pressure from India.

I hate this man's guts, but I have more respect for him that I have for Subtle Bihari Vajpayee.

One of my all time favourite ghazals:

Bhogale ze du:khkha tyaalaa sukha mhan'aave laagale
evad'he mii bhogale kii maza hasaave laagale.
T'hevale aajanma dol'e aapale mii korad'e
pan'a dujaanchyaa aasavaanii maza bhizaave laagale

Sorrow that I have borne, I have to call it joy;
So much have I suffered that all I can do is laugh now.
All my life, I kept my eyes dry
but I got drenched with the tears of others.

Dedication - A very close friend was in this situation a few days ago, but not now.