Fac ut vivas

Uparwala knows :)

jedijanakin — Thu, 27 May 2010 12:15:51 +0000

It’s for real. We keep hearing people say you start believing in God once you’re in India and miracles do happen – cos there’s no other way things get done within the system in place (what system?)

1) Just yesterday, for example: I was waiting for 333P at the bus-stop BECAUSE the other bus which goes directly to Richmond, 335E, doesn’t come to that particular bus-stop. I would have to walk to the next stop to get it. BUT, for some unknown reason, a 335E decided to come by my way and the funny thing is, no one seemed to think it was wierd. Or at least they didn’t show it. And I did get back home properly.

2) This morning, wi-fi at home was having some problems. We couldn’t access any site although the network strength was good, etc. Again for some unknown reason, I could somehow still access Gmail and reply to the emails.

I’m inclined to think there’s someone looking out for me

112th day mark

jedijanakin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:57:45 +0000

I still remember my first night in vivid detail – finding myself all alone in a terrifying place, overwhelmed by what I had dared to do and at the verge of losing it all. I had felt the same panic briefly the night before, while packing my luggage, when it suddenly struck me that I was about to leave the comfort of my home and family to some place I had heard but knew nothing about. Definitely of my own doing. And this came flooding back as I perched at the edge of a lumpy mattress with a equally lumpy pillow by my side. Everything was foreign, a language which made just a little sense, not a friendly or familiar face in sight. It just made me want to hop on the next flight home. What I ended up doing though was call home in the middle of the night and descend into hysterics (which prompted a like response.)

So this was how the other exchange student found me, with tear-filled eyes and the ear glued to my mobile phone. Did I want to join the rest for a night out to celebrate New Year’s? It seemed a much better alternative to being stuck in that dingy room which I preferred to think of as a dungeon so I agreed. And as I stood at the roadside with the group trying to decide our destination, I was attacked by another somewhat panic bout where I ironically wanted to return to and just hide in the same dingy room than be faced with what seemed like a long night ahead.

…

Things turned out somewhat decently. (If there’s one thing I’ve learnt here, you can count on things to work out somehow even if you have not the slightest idea.) It’s been 4 months now (exactly 112 days!) and I must admit I had loads of fun along the way. I recently had dinner with PK and HM who commented that students like to describe everything as fun but it is true This has turned out to be the longest period I’ve been away from family (more specifically my mum) and I’ve reached the stage where I’ve had just about enough and miss everything about Singapore. But returning after the semester is not much of an option with nobody at home, which means that I’ll be proceeding directly for my internship! Now that’s something I’ve been pretty excited about (and my mum did come for a visit so I’m less homesick), I just want to skip the entire part involving exams.

I’ve realised it’s so easy to fall into a routine and not stir things up. But here I go, uprooting myself yet again, when I could jolly well have continued my stay with a locally based internship. Then again, I did want a change, so definitely my own doing. And I don’t regret it, well, except that I’m not entirely looking forward to the logistical nightmares about to befall me.

That said with a couple of more weeks to go, here’s to another 3 months or so in a new city, doing exciting things, meeting new people and just livin’ it up!

Anywhere is – Enya

jedijanakin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:35:59 +0000

I walk the maze of moments
But everywhere I turn to begins a new beginning
But never finds a finish
I walk to the horizon
And there I find another
It all seems so surprising
And then I find that I know

You go there you’re gone forever
I go there I’ll lose my way
If we stay here we’re not together
Anywhere Is

The moon upon the ocean
Is swept around in motion
But without ever knowing
The reason for its flowing
In motion on the ocean
The moon still keeps on moving
The waves still keep on waving
And I still keep on going

I wonder if the stars sign
the life that is to be mine
And would they let their light shine
Enough for me to follow
I look up to the heavens
But night has clouded over
No spark of constellation
No Vela no Orion

The shells upon the warm sands
Have taken from their own lands
The echo Of Their Story
But All I hear are low sounds
As pillow words are weaving
And willow waves are leaving
But should I be believing
That I am only dreaming

To leave the thread of all time
And let it make a dark line
In hopes That I can Still Find
The way back to the moment
I took the turn and turned to
Begin a new beginning
Still looking for the answer
I cannot find the finish
It’s either this or that way
It’s one way or the other
It should be one direction
It could be on reflection
The turn I have just taken
The turn that I was making
I might be just beginning
I might be near the end

Only Time – Enya

jedijanakin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:32:59 +0000

Who can say where the road goes,
Where the day flows, only time?
And who can say if your love grows,
As your heart chose, only time?

Who can say why your heart sights,
As your live flies, only time?
And who can say why your heart cries
when your love lies, only time?

Who can say when the roads meet,
That love might be ,in your heart?
and who can say when the day sleeps,
and the night keeps all your heart?
Night keeps all your heart…..

Who can say if your love grows,
As your heart chose, only time?
And who can say where the road goes
Where the day flows, only time?

Who knows? Only time
Who knows? Only time

tujhe pata nahi hai main kaun hoon

jedijanakin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:25:07 +0000

I’m getting my chronology of events really mixed up. But anyway, the day after the LHC lecture, we went in search of Dadar Emporium, Crawford Market and Chor Bazaar. One would think that after this long a time, we would have learnt to tone down our expectations, but alas.

There’s a whole row of streets selling traditional costumes like salwars, churidars, kurtas and sherwanis at Dadar. But the Emporium we were looking for (a huge mall according to the map) turned out to be a little shop (occupying two or three lots) selling just sarees. So we ended up visiting another mall nearby, where Eddy was stalked by a few schoolgirls =) It’s really quite amusing how everyone gawks at the Germans in our group and want to take photos with them (or even just say hello ), wherever we go.

We then took the train to CST and walked in search of Crawford Market. It was a pretty long walk but after a while, we realised that the market was really a market and not like a bazaar, so we continued on to Chor Bazaar/ Mutton Street. Lonely Planet offers a pretty interesting history but when we arrived after following a series of directions (straight, 2nd left, straight, straight, left, straight, 2nd right, no, straight, next right… and so on), we came upon spare part dealers. We continued deeper in search of the ‘arcade’ and found a few antique/ 2nd hand shops (where Tesh bought a telescope).

Along the way, we entered a shop selling bags where Eddy wanted to buy a Diesel bag. The owner had already filled out the sales receipt but Eddy wanted to collect it on our way back. “At least, pay me some advance…” “No, I will not pay you now but I will return later…” “Look, I’ve already filled out the receipt so even if you don’t buy it, I still have to pay VAT tax…” the verbal argument escalated and Eddy ended up plucking the receipt and tearing it into shreds. Which obviously infuriated the owner who started swearing and told us to get out of the shop “You know who am I? Huh? #@?! I’ll F— u! Just get out!…”

And incidentally, the title is a phrase sthg that is often repeated at club entrances too.

You don’t know who I am.

maxi@vodaphone

jedijanakin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:29:45 +0000

after visiting vodaphone for like the seventh time and still stuck with a disconnected phone line, maxi refused to be appeased by the service staff… he decided he didn’t want to be a customer anymore.

Can I get a refund?

I’m sorry sir, the money’s already charged to your phone.

Do you have scissors?

I’m sorry sir, you can go back and discard it anyway you like. (she caught on pretty fast)

No, then I’ll just have to do this *removes the sim card and snaps it into two*

and so we left, leaving behind a really pissed off lady behind the desk. we burst out laughing at the somewhat amusing and surreal situation, when we heard her calling the next queue number. I’m pretty sure this doesn’t happen everyday, or actually, never.

public lecture on LHC

jedijanakin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:27:19 +0000

I attended a public lecture on the LHC quite accidentally. I was supposed to go the lab but the lab tech had another TA duty, so I ran into Prathamesh and learnt about the lecture in south Mumbai. and by south, I mean, REALLY south. we boarded a blue bus (which reminded me of the magic school bus for some reason – must be the yellow bars inside) and the driver took a wrong route, going through (or VERY close) to the port. we passed by loads of dock gates with names like cheetah, lion, elephant and various colours before entering the Navy Nagar, and finally getting to TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research).

The lecture itself was moderately interesting but I’ve got a more interesting problem regarding the identity of the lecturer. I’m pretty sure it was John Ellis, but according to the TIFR website, it’s Rolf-Dieter Heuer…

So when I meant REALLY south, TFIR is located on the Colaba coast, if I’m not wrong. The sea/bay was exotic and we almost caught the sunset…

Returning to campus was a total disaster though cos we were stuck in the traffic and driving all the way up took 2 hours. During which everyone was conversing in Hinid so I gave up trying to be interested and just bored myself to oblivion.

This is India!

jedijanakin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:37:18 +0000

I saw the solar eclipse! two days ago, that is. I was walking from the hostel to the physics department, when I saw a bunch of people holding up wierdly shaped black objects and looking around… I had no idea what they were doing though. I continued to the classroom where I waited for about 10 minutes with another girl, before a guy came and said class was cancelled. Yay, so I walked to the main building, along the way which I met Kislay and gang. At which point I realised there was actually a solar eclipse going on. o.O yea but anw, I managed to get a look at it

back to the issue about classes, I met another coursemate along the way who imparted some useful advice. Basically, if no one else turns up within 10 minutes, you can assume class is cancelled and just walk out! OK.

We visited the National Park this weekend and guess what, more caves! 109 Kanheri caves to be exact. they’re part of an ancient buddhist monastery but they were a lot better than the elephanta caves. a lot less crowded for one. cheaper entry (hah that’s cos another guy and I managed to pass off as locals) and just really nice scenery. the view from the top is quite pretty too… we could see the Global Pagoda at Gorai Island, supposedly the 8th wonder of the world. there was also a tiger/lion safari but nothing much that I can say about it. they were in enclosures; we were in an enclosed reinforced bus… oh, but walking to the caves weren’t probably a very good idea. After walking for some time, and walking some more we realised the caves were still half an hour away. We stopped to have lunch – basically the breakfast from the guys hostel: hardboiled eggs, bananas and bread the guys tried to hitch a ride from the passing cars but none of them stopped. Finally we squeezed into a bus that runs from the main gate, with barely enough head room.

ah but point of this post: on the way to the park, we took the express train to Borivali. As were trying to get off the carriage, a huge group of people tried to enter and we were caught in a struggle. One of the guys got a little angry and shoved his way in, while that agitated Feodor who cried out ‘Let us get off first’…

and this is what we got as a reply.

“This is India!”

Indeed.

when wires go poof!

jedijanakin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:58:36 +0000

did I mention that my laptop AC adaptor burnt through, a few days back? first, there were ticking noises, followed by sparks then smoke. after which I unplugged it and called up the toshiba service centre. In the first call, the service guy took down my details, correctly identified that I had bought the laptop in Singapore but somehow, he didn’t know the date of purchase. Obviously, I didn’t bring the receipt or whatever else along… so I had to call back home, my mum couldn’t find the receipt anw, and then I miraculously remembered that it was sthg like the 13 sept. I checked the online warranty site and confirmed that I had an international warranty for 3 years to the 14 sept. so I just assumed it was 14 sept and called back the service centre. I had to give my mobile number after which they correctly identified me and then the call got disconnected. So I called a third time (and I was attended to by different personnel on every occassion), IDed myself yet again and the guy told me that my warranty wasn’t actually registered. but he was kind enough to do it for me and then gave me a case ID for the complaint. oh along the way, one of the guys told me that physical damage would be an out-of-case warranty while another said oh yea, u have a valid international warranty.
In any case, I went down to their authorised service centre where the guy behind the counter refused to acknowledge my case ID. So I had to fill in all my details again…. after which he informed me that they don’t stock adaptors and will have to call me once they get it in. How long would that take? oh, 10-15 days.

WTH? anw, so now, I’m using my roomie’s laptop temporarily till I get the free warranty replacement. I mean, I suppose I could go buy one but I might as well just wait. been managing fine thus far although I hope I get the call pretty soon.

So anw, one of the other international students commented on how everything here tends to take on a combination of 1, 0 or 5. like oh u want to photocopy? that will take 10-15 mins. u want a coffee? 5-10 mins. the documents to be verified? 5-10 days. LOL. oh and the others had a trying time at Vodafone and the FRRO too, but it’s a whole story on it’s own. =)

Mumbai day 6

jedijanakin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:03:04 +0000

So here I am at IIT-B, finally with access to the internet after 5 days, having changed from dismal hostel room conditions to really decent accommodation and still floundering with respect to the somewhat annoying and frustrating admin systems and regulations….

but i hope to settle down soon enough… right now, my mind’s just abuzz with random thoughts and information filed away like names and offices and course codes and mapping approvals etc etc but they don’t make much sense now that I finally have access to the internet! the system administrator’s on leave till the 18th so I’m on borrowed access which makes it slightly difficult but hey! i still have internet!!!

oh dear. Anw, I watched Avatar in 3D and it was AWESOME!!! lol. and oh the fiasco on the 31st night to celebrate new year. stranded on the highway in a taxi which first ran out of gas and then the second taxi had a flat tyre…oh well.

i’ve got to record everything down so that I can laugh at everything some time later when i get back