A Puritan's Thoughts!
A fling of Narcolepsy would do me a world of good, as I'm still pondering on how exactly I should justify my nocturnal avocation. Should I have spent the whole night, watching cricket? I'm always under the impression that when India plays Pakistan, the odds never come in, because they're probably already decided. If proven, it would be the most controversial piece of corroboration, in the history of my favourite game. Ind vs Pak's always something more than just a game...It's just that I just don't seem to get the pieces together. Had Dan Brown been as much of an aficionado as I am, I'm sure he'd have named the 'secret society'!! For now, you can choose between BCCI or PCB or ICC!! Now with that idea in mind, and with the neighbor taking the trophy in the test series, I was expecting a series victory in the ODIs. Though I realized the impasse pretty late, I felt cheated because at the end of the day, I spent 8 hours of my sleep on a, pretty much, unavailing match! The Pakistanis played cricket in the most unconventional way possible. It was a shame for the game and for all the fans across the globe. But for a team that's always thinking about winning a game, without having to use the bat or the ball, Pakistan wouldn't care less! Starting from the Pitch that the curator prepared...to the piece of metal that was thrown at Irfan Pathan, those guys sure, have a wierd sense of humor! Talking of humor, Inzy made sure I got a chance to see one more funny way of getting out! These guys are as fanatical as they are dumb. Pakistan should be dedicating their meek victory to Duckworth and Lewis, because I think if not for these guys, we'd be having a different result in the scoreboard! All said and done, Pakistani cricket won't change in aeons!! As for me, I'll be waiting for the next Indian win, which will be in a day's time!

APPLE 'n' SCIENCE?

Sometime in 1852

Of all the scientists, there were two

Newton and Pascal, both we know

Entered the Cambridge Agricultural Show.

Apples were what Newton grew

That's what Pascal was growing too

So these two had their pride at stake

A show to win and a name to make.

From the fall of that very season

Apples were experimented on, for no reason

They believed with their scientific touch

A triumph was possible, very much.

So they slogged, day and night

To grow apples, all red and bright

But only wormy apples had grown

OF trees that Pascal had sown.

So Pascal was a worried chap

But soon donned his thinking cap

Lotsa chemicals, he tried to cook

To make his apples have a better look.

But Pascal was never successful

And realised, he had to be more thoughtful.

All this while, Newton was bringin' up

Lovely, large apples to win the cup.

Pascal chafed with fury and pride

And it churned about his mind,inside

Coz unless he found a way to cheat

He knew he'd make an ugly retreat.

So Blaise Pascal, he sneaked northwards

To Newton's famous apple orchards

There fenced secure, wrapped with a cord

Hung the apples which expected the award.

"My! This is far too easy."

Snickered Pascal, snide and sleazy.

He clipped an apple. Alas! it fell,

Bouncing into the garden well.

But it didn't roll into Newton's well

Before making his head swell

Coz it hit him just above his brain

When he was chatting with his buddy, Einstein.

While Pascal hid, biding his time

Newton immediately realised the crime

But when things were to get chaotic,

Newton got absolutely ecstatic.

Newton had made a discovery of an invention

And called it the theory of gravitation

Now, there doesn't end the story

coz we can't give Newton all the glory.

And, Pascal, a great thinker, as we saw

Soon thought up his very own law!

A change in pressure, Pascal finished

Is transmitted everywhere, undiminished.

Well, who won? You may ask

That,actually, wasn't a difficult task

Neither Isaac nor Blaise,

It was an apple that won the final praise.

Coz it was that very fruit,

That made these people think to their root

And, since then, apples've come a long way

That today, they keep even doctors away!

© Karthik Dec 14th 2005 11:34 AM (PST)

The Wistful Odyssey!!
It's been nearly a month but the retrospection's quite lamentable. Cannot think of anytime, when I wanted the clock to work 'anti-clockwise', more! Can't the bookmen come up with some convincing technology to pack bags???
Date : 09/07/2005
Time : 7:15 PM
WARNING : This is no "my dear diary" stuff! I don't mind being opprobrious or scornful!
Jabbed my flight ticket into my shirt pocket, just after checking if I really was running late. Affirmative! The 22:00 printed on the ticket hadn't looked so ominous till then. Should've let my mom do the packin, as usual! It wasn't long before I was in the car but the long winding traffic would've made a blind snail reach my destination faster. I could've used the time to get more perplexed but chose to take it easy and gather my thoughts, instead! I had made plans of dedicating every minute of the last 24 hours of my 'India Trip', to family, whatsoever, but with me, the infinite spirit always comes up with different plans.
And so it happened that in festinating my packing and the start of my flight-catching chronicle, I almost never had time to let the thoughts of leaving home for the distant 'dreamland', sink in. Though it saved me from all the melodrama that would've haunted me, throughout my flight, I'd rather things just happened the conventional way. You've got to speak your emotions out, when you have to...after all, time, tide and International flights, wait for no man! I knew everyone was forlorn but they made no exception of letting me be a clumsy time-keeper. I was a little more relaxed, on my way to the airport, refusing to think about checking-in late. It suddenly felt like it was all a dream...a fading one.
I had mixed emotions running inside me! I could remember the day I stepped out, for quite the 'warm' welcome at Anna International Airport, and time just flew by. Now I was on my way back to the airport. Reminiscing the last fifty days was good enough to make me teary-eyed! I felt like a child having had it's toy snatched away! Know it's quite stereotypical, but hey, it's always better to bring in a child, when you are talking about you, with wet eyes! Suddenly, the fanciful american life and making big money, everything seemed so diminutive before home! I couldn't help wondering when I'd be in the roads of my hometown, again...when I'd be with the people I love the most, again. Felt like Alice, at the bottom of her fall...I knew I was at the end of it, but was yet lost!
Had one good look at the Nehru statue in Kathipara junction and started searching for the protagonist, in me. The last thing I wanted was, to worsen things for my folks and my sis. I closed my eyes and chose to rest on my favourite spot, mom's shoulder! Was finally at the airport, flaunting my boarding pass. Had all the time in the world, for the customary departure. I'm never comfortable doing it...who is?! Spent those last few minutes with family and walked towards emigration, turning back every few yards to wave a bye, until I reached the point of no-visibility! No exaggeration, but this is always quite an ordeal! I did eventually board the flight and watched with melancholy and utmost grief, as the plane lifted off the ground, making Chennai a bunch of lights, by the sea! I bade a healthy farewell to my homestead, looking forward to my next visit. Though I had three other good friends of mine, flying with me, I knew it would be one long flight that was going to give me enough time to noodle around my trip and drown me in emotions. I knew, then, that the gates of hell would've been a better place to be in!!