Altered Egos

Two weeks of bliss

2011-12-04T04:42:00.000-08:00

What joy to wake up with the incessant 'kotroo..kotroo' of the barbets on a mint green campus... seeing familiar, smiling faces all day, getting loads of work done and getting good food and eventually dozing off amidst the occasional shrieks of the loris. One more week of this bliss.

Fence eating the crop

2011-10-31T03:18:00.000-07:00

Why am I not surprised by this? http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/panna-s-poaching-nexus-exposed (not to forget the Sariska Scandal) In my own experience in Kudremukh (with relatively low large mammal and big cat densities), the forest department (district forest office) was always rather 'difficult' to deal with when it came to us getting permits to work in the forest, in spite of us

Tram and music lessons

2011-10-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the excessive joblessness in my life these days and multi-touch technology, I am attempting to resurrect a dormant talent in me which was long back lost to Mahabharat episodes (aired on doordarshan) and to the speed of tram. As a nine year old (I think), I was sent off for singing and harmonium lessons along with my sister and cousin every Sunday morning. The tutorial centre was

A battle won

2011-10-06T00:33:00.000-07:00

After a 10 months long battle (where practically little was happening, except my manuscript being incubated by a certain busy man) my paper got an acceptance. I really needed this paper to be out soon and ah! the sweet taste of victory :) However, I was so close to giving up and I realised in these 10 months how helpless we can be in academia. How much lethargy there can be (reminds me of a book

Missing the mossy green

2011-10-02T18:08:00.000-07:00

There are too many things to write and I had enough time as well. I think I am just out of habit. I don't think I am ever going to be able to catch up on the backlog. In fact, I thought about closing down the blog for good. It seemed like a good time for it. Much to my surprise (and delight perhaps), I obviously did not. Today as I lay wide awake in my bed in an ungodly hour, trying in vain to

13th July 2011

2011-07-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

It was a wonderful Wednesday and I saw some watery firework in my balcony. Managed to capture some moments so posting them here. (apology to posts in queue, waiting to be published for several weeks now, sorry for this intercept.. couldn't resist this one) Watery Green Little drops from heaven Waterwork, shall we say? The twins :) Disclaimer: this is not to celebrate the birthday of

I'll leave the sun behind me

2011-06-03T03:53:00.000-07:00

Got my passport with my visas few hours before I was supposed to fly out. I could do with a little less adventure in my life .Anyway, left my den (LR 60) and IISc in a hurry. Had no time to feel upset or to look around for one last time. Reached airport too early, immigration was uneventful, as was the security check and then a long boring wait for boarding. What about dinner, said my tummy. I

Saying goodbye.....

2011-05-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

is so hard.... it hits you after s/he is gone! I am leaving on a jet plane John Denver (all time favourite) All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go I'm standin' here outside your door I hate to wake you up to say goodbye But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn The taxi's waitin', he's blowin' his horn Already I'm so lonesome I could die So kiss me and smile for me Tell me that you'll wait

For the love of two letters and a dot!

2011-04-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

We put in the best years of our lives into it, we strive, we fall, we get up again, dust ourselves and continue the race...we learn, we explore and sometimes get lost and then somehow find our way back.. Ah PhD! Its been a long love-hate relationship. And all these years we worked our @$$ off not really for the two letters and a DOT to be added to our names but for things of much greater value.

Feb 17th :)

2011-02-16T23:13:00.000-08:00

It is a happy day today!

Home is where the heart is: Day 1

2011-01-05T05:21:00.000-08:00

21st December 2010 After so long i am home and it feels like nothing has changed here. this place was as if frozen in time when i left and now that i am back the ice is melting and the place, the people, the city is just the same..... nothing has changed standing in the queue of the taxi counter at the airport i saw my dad bouncing up and down outside the glass separator of the taxi counter. I

Bumper Offer for underpaid grad student ;) Live and let live

2010-07-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

disclaimer: the opinion expressed here are my own. it is not the intention of the author to defame anyone, this one is just for laughs :) Yay! July is here and IISc campus gears up for fresh faces. This year 850 new student will join IISc. So we have admitted so many more people, that is great, more the merrier they say. But oops! we forgot that these people also need to be accommodated in the

Thesis Colloquium! yayyy!!!!

2010-07-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

The day that I have been waiting for so long is almost there. My thesis colloquium :) Being a pessimist bad news surfaces on my mind easier than good new...but in response to a gentle nudge by hasta, let me formally share the good news I am finally giving my thesis colloquium: As I rejoice in this tiny achievement of mine, I will be glad if you join me in the celebration after the talk (you can

Status update

2010-06-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

1. Bored to death by doing piles of stats, then redoing, then re arranging, then redoing!! grrr!! 2. Colloquium date fixed for the afternoon of 14th july (it would have been nice to have it on the 13th though, seemed like a nice day). OMG less than a month to go and I am still doing analyses :-o 3. Delayed by a huge margin for my next paper draft write-up :( 4. Annoyed beyond measure by the

FIFA fever: Distraction during submission.. sigh!

2010-05-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

Like i was in need for more distractions when I am so close to submission! Ah! the thought of it makes my heart race! Memories of the fun during last world cup will not fade easy :) What fun it was..... ^ A few matches watched at the then favourite restaurant.... apna good old Vikings... ^ A few others at Hypnos (the staff would give me and Hasta knowing smiles when we would arrive) :) I even

New find: Methods Journal.. yipeee!!!

2010-05-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

New find for me, hope it will be useful for several others who find it hard to publish methods papers. It is strange that only a handful of journals seem to be interested in publishing methods stuff. One would imagine that its the method (apart from the question, of course) that forms the foundation of the quality of science! Anyway, here's the link: http://www.methodsinecologyandevolution.org/

Unfairness in science: will using Fair and Lovely help?

2010-05-02T02:07:00.000-07:00

I want to take a week off, my sis is here and she is nagging me to come along with her to a massive trip to kerala... I should get an award for refusing every time she made the offer sound more irresistible! Kollam, Kanyakumari, Trivandrum, Eravikulam, Munnar, Wyanad :( booohoooo ): I have a meeting with boss on tomorrow , i have to do some stupid copy paste arranging of data (millions of

Rainy nights and Wednesdays always get me high

2010-04-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

I am not sure if I have been just imagining or was it was because of the natural tendency of most people to sympathize with themselves, that the past couple of years I felt that Bangalore weather had transgressed from bad to worse. I have been in this city for just 6 six years and in this short span of time I have witnessed this sharp meteorological metamorphosis of Bangalore, it is incredible!

How i feel

2010-04-12T05:02:00.000-07:00

oh so true :)

Auto menace

2010-04-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

I am tired of autowalas in this city (and chennai of course)! I wonder sometimes if they have no morals at all! If it is not a well paying profession then maybe they should think of other means of making a living. Every other guy wants you to pay them an insane amount! At 8pm they want 1 n 1/2 meter (did you know that the official time for it is after 11pm?); at 9 it becomes their fundamental

Even the monkeys know it!

2010-03-20T04:42:00.000-07:00

It is no surprise that the mother is regarded as the first teacher. Female teachers seem to be preferred over males in the monkey world. Research by Erica van de Wall and colleagues have demonstrated in the wild that the Vervet monkeys seem to prefer females as tutor :) The work was published in Proc Royal Soc B (March 17th 2010). Selective attention to philopatric models causes directed social

Neurons to Keratin

2010-03-10T11:06:00.000-08:00

When you are unhappy and you know it CHOP YOUR HAIR! When you are unhappy and you know it CHOP YOUR HAIR! believe me this really works! It is like all my stressed out nerves have 'transmogrified' into a certain protein and grow wildly in tangles and frizzy, wiry chaos! (Symptoms of me being closer to thesis submission) All this stress is miraculously relieved by a fine hair cut. Try it next

Wonderful Wayanad (1)

2010-02-24T11:30:00.000-08:00

The much postponed trip to kerala was finally done over an extended weekend. This was my visit to Kerala after 5 years. Last trip made was to another beauty, Silent Valley National Park, when i was still chasing birds and not crickets :) The details of the trip will have to be posted in parts because I have to jot down every detail of the trip for record, it will come handy for the next trip I

1402 a happy coincidence

2010-02-15T12:16:00.000-08:00

went for an extended weekend trip to God's own country. will post the details of wonderful wayanad soon. It happened to fall during the valentine's day weekend. A friend called and remarked at our alleged thoughtful planning of making the trip to coincide with V day. We exchanged glances and shrugged our shoulders... Vday it seems! That was definitely not the purpose of the 3 day visit to wayanad

What's in a name for a rose that smells so sweet

2010-01-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

Discovered just yesterday that there are several people who cannot recall or relive a familiar smell. Olfactory memory, if you like, is not as common as i imagined it to be. well not really olfactory memory per se. these people do remember the smell in the sense that if they close their eyes and a smell is presented to them, they can recall what it is of. eg. that of a rose, or a mint leaf. they

Happy days ahead

2010-01-19T18:21:00.000-08:00

back in familiar territory now. doing my acoustics as opposed to foilage density, vegetation structure BS! The first two chapters took away a lot of time for me both in data collection, analyses and in the struggle for publication. it was not very rewarding. The paper corresponding to the first chapter did not even manage to get published in an international journal (not to mention how like a

An eclipsed new year

2010-01-16T02:16:00.000-08:00

Very rough last couple of months. bad year ending (but i am glad it ended) and an eclipsed new year, literally. It has been a very rough ride and the storm is still going strong, though I have managed to scramble and resurface. Sick of reading about WHO reports on the internet, tired of visiting hospitals and doctors, taking close ones for X-rays, operations, PFTs, MRI, physiotherapy...... 2009

Where did Jimmy come from?

2009-12-06T01:33:00.000-08:00

This one is for you Mithun da and Lahiri Babu :) Dedicated to the song i loved since my childhood days.... was stuck on 'Jimmy Jimmy' ..... still am (so what if it was shamelessly lifted from a country far away) :) Plagiarism is an art my dear, you need to have a certain skill to do it well, Lahiri Babu.. aap apne khane pe dhyaan dijiye! For more on plagiarism in Indian cinema look at

A plea to the speaker or listner (as applicable)

2009-11-24T11:32:00.000-08:00

The past few months I have been attending too many conferences and symposiums I realised how 80% of the talks are either outside your field of interest or you capability of understanding or are based on sloppy, repetitive science! I learned a few lessons that I shall try to keep in mind when i am on either side of the dais For the speaker: Never let people switch off lights while you are

Food glorious food .. thats what we live for :)

2009-11-21T06:28:00.000-08:00

My first ever rasam endeavor was a success :) Rohini told me that her mother would say.... those who like to eat good food will learn to make it :) There is no words to describe my love for rasam it can only be challenged by my love for calvin n hobbes and another food item that will feature in this post :) So here it is (can;t stop smiling.. feel like an artist showing off her masterpiece or

United we stand, divided we fall

2009-11-15T04:45:00.000-08:00

What society are we talking about? Posting this reluctantly, not for you to read the news item, you must be knowing it anyway but for you to read the comments!So much hatred in this society, complete disrespect for women, total disregard for freedom of thought and action.... and a nation that is such a slave of our ancestral relics of glory!something just needs to happen and people start pouring

November 14th

2009-11-14T09:36:00.000-08:00

To all my students who would not forget to wish me on teacher's day.... wish you a happy children's day! (Ya i know none-of you are in this category anymore :)went to meet a friend's sister. They have a 4 year old at home.... a really hyperactive one... so we were looking forward to some good entertainment but the poor thing was down with a stomach upset...I tried in vain to lure him with the

Kadu Papa :) Bush baby.. bacchu :)

2009-11-13T08:17:00.000-08:00

was returning home as usual, a bit late though around 7ish in the evening...dipto was walking with me and we were discussing how sloppy science gets so easily published....that is when i saw it, hanging upside down from a bamboo twig stretching its body like a rubber band and then a swift movement and it caught the flying food :)(picture courtesy dipto; acknowledge if you use it :-})I tried to

Growing older and wiser ( I hope)

2009-11-06T04:22:00.000-08:00

Got a full check-up done, a few small tests that need to be done tomorrow.. i am growing old you see need to do medical check-ups once in a while... i will soon hit the mark that I had marked as the point when I would have achieved something in life 'coz i will be old by then (thoughts of a teenager).I was young for a long time and I thought I have a lot of time and then one day you wake up and

Rusty brown

2009-11-01T17:50:00.000-08:00

Often people remark about my hair colour... hey it is so red!I correct them: it is rusty brown. Only yesterday I discovered why it is so....Went for the landmark quiz y'dayVenue: St John's Hospital auditorium!The team: Two IT guys cum ex-quizzers and a PhD student who has never attended nay quiz outside school!Quiz pattern: 40 questions of which 10 were *ed questions (tie breakers)Overall results

Chef for thought

2009-10-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

As we walked in a state of semi shock due to enzyme overload in our stomach and having walked through the park in English garten in Munich, Germany, we couldn't help missing good vegetarian food. Much that we enjoyed Munich, food was a problem for sure. By the time we reached the Chineese tower we couldn't stand it any longer. We got two massive bowls of potato wedges, one plate of inedible apple

Completely insane!

2009-10-10T05:45:00.000-07:00

Potato prices shy rocketed and I bought it at Rs 42/kg!!! Can u believe it?If that was not strange enough they go and give the nobel peace price to OBAMA!! why? why? why?:-/

:)

2009-10-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

As a punishment for losing 2 laptops in less than two months he was given a MacBook from office........yahoooooooooooo!!:) (ear to ear grin)

This time tomorrow

2009-09-11T21:13:00.001-07:00

This time tomorrow where will we beOn a spaceship somewhere sailing across an empty seaThis time tomorrow what will we knowWell we still be here watching an in-flight movie showIll leave the sun behind me and watch the clouds as they sadly pass me bySeven miles below ma I can see the world and it aint so big at allLeave the sun behind me, and watch the clouds as they sadly pass me byAnd I m in

What should we be? Happy or worried?

2009-09-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

Had finished cooking dinner, cleaned kitchen and we were watching Varanam AIyaram at home.Volume was quite high, and we suddenly heard a huge shattering sound! rushed to the kitchen found glass pieces in all sizes and shapes, all over the place.The kitchen windows were all closed so there couldn't have been some animals tht jumped on the vessels cabinet glass and caused it to fall apart from the

Incurably Curious

2009-09-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

Curiosity kills the cat.... I sayWhat happens to a researcher? anyway!Time has come to explore the worldthe other side of darkness that holdso many stories told, untoldin a different cast in a different mouldAnd travel through time oh! we mustfor sake of love for sake of lustof newer places and people to seesands of time beyond the sea!........ to be continued! yawwwwwwwnnnn!!get me my permit to

On bended knees is no way to be free

2009-09-01T03:34:00.000-07:00

On bended knee is no way to be freelifting up an empty cup I ask silentlythat all my destinations will accept the one that's meso I can breathCircles they grow and they swallow people wholehalf their lives they say goodnight to wive's they'll never knowgot a mind full of questions and a teacher in my soulso it goes...Don't come closer or I'll have to goHolding me like gravity are places that

Down the memory lane.

2009-08-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

I had a good weekend. Spent time with my MIL (imagine living alone in a different city from your family after some 55 odd years..,, not something I would want to do). I decided I will visit her more often than I had thought. I really wish I could give her some company in those evening to come when she will come back from office to an empty house with no one to talk to. I really wish.Also

2009-08-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

Weird day today!!get out of my head!!Oh my data is so abnormal!!phew!

Quick Update

2009-08-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

I am very tired, moderately sleep deprived, excited for the trip, a little worked up for my VISA applications etc, happy that I got travel grants :) , a bit ashamed coz I am not working enough, a little exasperated of the series of bad luck... he lost his second laptop in 6 weeks :(

Swine Flu paranoia!!

2009-08-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

this one must be the billionth post on the current paranoia on swine flu.... but i really need to vent this one out!MY MAID!!! she came home today and lazily picked up the broom and was sweeping the house, shifting furniture, buzzing around, leaving behind fingerprints on the walls amongst other things.... She had not mopped the house for 4 days since the mop stick had broken ( my gawd! I sound

Introduction

2009-08-07T23:21:00.000-07:00

Writing the 'Introduction' section of the paper, according to me, is the most boring, time consuming and disheartening part... when you start off with your project and are doing the literature search you never get to see all those papers that somehow out of the blue come up in 100s when you are writing up your results. And then you feel.. oops! looks like half the scientific community is working

Last day of five years

2009-07-31T03:37:00.000-07:00

It has been exactly 5 yrs since I joined IISc. phew long time... time with wingsFrom tomorrow onwards I will be called a sixth year student. We were a batch of 9 students (+1 integrated PhD). 1 girl dropped out in her 3rd year, the remaining lot are still arnd.... and none of us have submitted on time :-/but as our dear Jorge Cham defines.. a PhD is just work Piled Higher and Deeper! and then

2009-07-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

..,,and i was thinking- what else can go wrong NOW!

crash!

2009-07-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

as i was typing the previous post... while readying stuff for making masala dosa at home, he had a terrible accident 10 mins away from home. the front part of his bike is missing, front wheel twisted in the shape of '8', the metal handle bar has 'broken' and the dome apparently flew along with him and was lying next to him on the road. he was carrying his bag with important papers and laptop...

I Do, I Will, I Have-Ogden Nash

2009-07-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

I indulge in our similarities and shall always celebrate our differences....... this post is in recognition of our first-post-marital-fight :)p.s. thanks to my friend who send this to me with her wishes :)Ogden Nash said: How wise I am to have instructed the butler to instruct the first footmanto instruct the second footman to instruct the doorman to order mycarriage;I am about to volunteer a

From leech socks to lehnga..So far so good

2009-06-18T06:41:00.000-07:00

These have been crazy two months and I still feel tired even though it is almost 10 days past the rush and madness.. and joy. All these months of planning, organizing, stress, emotional outbursts and meticulous calculation for those three days... i guess it paid off finally and it was good fun.I have not been ( fortunately) brought up in a family where the women train the daughters from early age

A desire for 'A God of small things'

2009-04-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

My life is changing rapidly.. i am growing older and i desire to have a comfortable life. I realised it today. We went house hunting today and I am so lured to this apartment that is fully loaded with all amenities and is really comfortable though it means that hasta will have to cough up a huge sum of money as rent (i am still unemployed and soon i will have no scholarship so i can't afford it

For her mentor

2009-04-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

A wonderful scientist I knew always, but a wonderful person too. With all the disagreements and attitude still intact, she is still a wonderful person...I have realised this on and off in the past but here is a case in point.She wrote the following for her mentor who just passed away, and only a person so beautiful at heart could have written this: For Otto, in fond memory - Rohini March 2009Otto

Yahoo!!

2009-04-15T03:51:00.000-07:00

Too soon to say? Maybe not.Only now can the two of us really justify owning so many Yahoo goodies.. some of which probably many current (or previous) yahoo employees may not own, includingYahoo bagsYahoo T-shirtsYahoo walletYahoo jacketYahoo blanket!! (yes we have that too):)When you're happy and you know it say Yahoo!!

सतपुड़ा के घने जंगल

2009-03-13T23:24:00.000-07:00

I loved this poem as a school girl and i remember badly wanting to see such forest.. that is my earliest memory of my desire to do ecology :) सतपुड़ा के घने जंगल। नींद मे डूबे हुए से ऊँघते अनमने जंगल।झाड ऊँचे और नीचे,चुप खड़े हैं आँख मीचे,घास चुप है, कास चुप हैमूक शाल, पलाश चुप है।बन सके तो धँसो इनमें,धँस न पाती हवा जिनमें,सतपुड़ा के घने जंगलऊँघते अनमने जंगल।

The slump!

2009-03-10T02:08:00.000-07:00

I am a bit down today. The reasons are as follows:1) My field trip is getting delayed due to reasons beyond my control.2) My paper is still hanging around, being passed from one table (of a co-author) to the other...with minimum improvement to the quality. The first draft of the paper was done in Oct 2007..yes! believe me.3) I am going to be in my 6th yr of phd from July :(4) I will have no

Last Spring

2009-02-18T02:03:00.000-08:00

So many things have happened in the past few months that it is obvious that I have had no time to write anything. This is just to let you know that things are happening and happening so fast that I barely have the time to catch up with myself.. if you know what I mean….. even before one thing sinks in, the other has already started. It is almost like the last few seconds of the sprint when you

Chash is back

2009-01-06T08:12:00.000-08:00

The saviour is back. Was away for a long time and had left many of us crippled and in a complete mess when it comes to signal processing (fancy term for whatever little we do in it). He started collaborating with our lab during his grad days and when I joined lab I found that most of the codes that we used everyday for our analyses of calls were written by him. They had been altered a bit here

The sense of doom ;)

2008-12-25T23:55:00.000-08:00

As you can imagine, since i did not immediately post abt how my meeting went, it must not have been gr8. It was annoying and left me more confused than ever before. It usually happens after these ' lets discuss how to analyse your data' meetings. It was bad not because i was bashed up or rebuked, that did not happen ( thank god for small mercies). It was disappointing for the following reasons:1.

The 'bashing up' lab meet

2008-12-19T06:19:00.000-08:00

They usualy start with boss telling us how she has been noticing a 'slack in the lab for the past few months'. If the meeting doesnt start with that then you are safe-so it does not matter... else everyone is doomed-and so it doesnt matter either!Finished a marathon session of 'bashing up' lab meets. Past few days lab has been more morose than ever, people more grouchy with fluctuating adrenalin

Canopy climbing- Day 2

2008-11-10T06:27:00.001-08:00

I woke up and got ready much before time in the hope to out do Xavier. Went down to the courtyard. Gosh! he was there playing with this kid deepu! Dipto was still in the loo. Argggghh!!Reached the forest. This time Sudhakar supplied us with Nassi powder ( tobacco powder....basically snuff). I was used to this ceremony so i quickly accepted it from him and started applying generously on my shoes

Canopy Climbing in a Rainforest

2008-11-04T06:40:00.001-08:00

This story has really waited too long....This October when i went to field i had to make some decisions about the fate of my work in the months to come. I had to take a decision whether some experiments that i had in mind are logistically possible or not. So basically as part of my PhD work i need to do some recordings in the forest canopy. Now, i work in an evergreen forest and if you have ever

Happy Teacher's Day

2008-09-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

My school My CollegeMy Current Institute; My Current Dept;To some of the most important people in my life- my teachers.... Thank you very much. For all that you have done to shape my personality, chisel my thoughts, chip-off the unwanted edges and paint a character, I can never thank you enough!My teachers, at all stages of my life, have always been the most influential people for me. The ease

Kudremukh- a wilder life

2008-09-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

I work in Kudremukh National Park. We have a nice field station outside the national park in a village called Kadari. past couple of years, I am the only student working in Kudremukh from my Institute. My only companion there is Raghu who has joined my lab as a post-doc. However, I have many visitors to my field station. None of them, thankfully, are human. Visitors across various taxa. I am

Gulzar@IIsc

2008-08-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

28th Aug, Hindi Samity@ IISc as a part of the centenary celebration invited gulzar for a talk : " Saahitya ke Jharokhe se Vigyan ki Rangoli" which was followed by a question answer session and a poetry recital by the legend.I missed the talk as I was in a meeting with my boss. However, I did attend the recital. Is there any need to mention that it was very good?This man has a lovely sense of

A broken piece of a poem i wrote and one by someone else

2008-07-18T02:39:00.000-07:00

We have not been friends since childhoodNor did we wander alone in the woodsWe never waded in the dark green pondNor did we play in the fields of corn;No, we never caught fireflies and watched them light up summer skies-Yet, I trust him, I believe what he saysYet, his thoughts fill up my daysEach moment with him is a memory to keepEnveloping me silently, pulling me in deepAnd I am drawn to

This one is just to cheer myself up

2008-07-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

Liked it when i first saw/heard. I still do. Most often than not, my taste does not change with time. I don't shed my skin as I grow up... nor do i disrespect those who do.. I like snakes :)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0o7bTbdin8do mail me the song if it is available somewhere.

Is that what I am?

2008-06-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

My friend tells me most people in my dept find me "Intimidating". (. That is the last thing I wanted to be or thought I would be. This is what intimidating is:http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=intimidatingSynonyms 1. frighten, subdue, daunt, terrify. See discourage.OMG!!And when I asked why do they find me intimidating he says because that is how my personality is!I would even intimidate

Coorg-MangaloreTrip May 2008

2008-06-15T04:33:00.000-07:00

One trip that I so enjoyed, after a real long time. I think the last one was with Gattu and his friends to Hoggenekkal. This trip was planned as follows:1) Coorg -base camp-Cauvery home stayTrek to brahmagiriIrrupu Falls2) Nagerhole National Park3) Madikere- Talacauvery4) Mangalore/Suratkal5) Kaup lighthouseThe team:Day 1: We were supposed to reach the base camp at cauvery home stayLost our way

yesterday once more

2008-05-12T17:01:00.000-07:00

last trip to coorg was a disaster and the trip to mangalore, after one.I hope this one will be different. looking forward. if all goes well gattu and ganchoo deserve to get the gory details of the fun we have!! ;)

Cheerleader saviours- cheers to them!

2008-05-09T05:14:00.000-07:00

This Monday, 5th may I went to see the T20 match ( IPL series) between Bangalore Royal Challenger and Punjab XI. My first time in chinnaswamy stadium, first T20. The match was to start only at 8pm but the stadium was jam packed by 6.30pm, not to mention all nice, strategic seats (closest to the field or the camera) were already taken. With great anticipation we waited for the match to start.

It is not monsoon yet

2008-04-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

It rained all march and all april. And Kudremukh looked more beautiful than ever. Today it poured in Bangalore and the view outside CES was breath-taking (pity i didn't have a camera, the curvy entada glistened with loveliness). Everything has a fresh coat of green, thanks to the mosses that are spreading their velvety carpet. Here are some snaps of Kudremukh- Rain in April!Yes it is not monsoon

A wilder life

2008-03-29T04:30:00.000-07:00

It was a new moon night in Kudremukh. My colleague Dr. Raghu , my tracker Sudhakar and I set up the mist net to catch bats inside the forest. It was a new area, unfamiliar to me. We were into March and it was still quite cold. We found a nice patch under a tree away from the path. We decided to sit there to avoid causing any disturbance to the bats.This patch of forest was a degraded one and

Research In India (?)

2008-03-11T22:59:00.000-07:00

More and more I realize how easy it is to sit in your room and design your experiments and how difficult it is to actually carry them out especially in the field. Moreover, I am flabbergasted when I realize the various undertakings (read obligations) of a research student. The kind of tasks s/he has to carry out in the name of research. It is no one’s mistake because it is an unsaid understanding

Ah spring!

2008-02-22T05:54:00.000-08:00

Another day by the window. The time is different though- it is the height of spring. The window is different as well. I am in Kudremukh, lying on my bed, which is alongside the window.I can see the azure sky being combed by the palm leaves. Slowly, deliberately.And I see the Peltophorum flowers hang in bunches. The ground under the tree is a carpet of these papery yellows.This tree is a haven for

For Anuja

2008-02-09T20:47:00.000-08:00

From her childhood Right to her teens-A charmer, a lover An angel in jeans;A dreamer, a dancer A hoarder of phone;A giver of hugs for reasons of her own;A storehouse of energy And brand-new songs;A rectifier of anything That is going wrong;My dream, my pleasure, my life's surpriseMy sister, my friend- the star of my eyes.

Forts will crumble

2008-02-06T22:21:00.000-08:00

Why do people build a fort around themselves? why are they scared of doing/saying things that they want or believe in? why do they keep their thoughts/feelings to themselves?if you are angry be that. dont pretend as if nothing is wrong. if you are happy let the ones who make you happy know it. does one get some pleasure in being frustrated? if you tell someone that you care no one will think that

Not for all to see

2008-01-28T03:27:00.000-08:00

Never in my life had i imagined that there will come a day when i will be annoyed by bird calls. It was a usual day in forest. was making my recording. stopping now and then for the birds to shut up.Then i hear them.... WUAAK WUAAK UUK UUK and a horse, deep and throaty HUUMPH HUUMPH!!What can it be i asked Sudhakar. My tracker was confused himself. May be the Lion tailed macaques are fighting. .

2007-11-03T00:57:00.000-07:00

From sandy beaches, salty water and birds in the clear blue sky…… To evergreen forests, waterfalls, It was a bright, sunny Sunday morning. I was to take some kids to explore the campus and find animal homes of different kinds. I had asked them to assemble at the faculty building main tower and I was, for a moment, taken aback when I saw a crowd of 25-30 kids of different sizes (non of them above my elbow) giggling and chattering excitedly. I started by telling them how

A child

2007-08-09T02:47:00.000-07:00

Playing in the fields Climbing the trees Racing across with the summer breeze Raising the arms to touch the stars Dancing merrily in the monsoon showers Gazing silently At the grass hills Collecting wild flowers And daffodils Grazing the cattle chasing the hens- A child….. in the world of men!

Harry Potter's Last Spell

2007-07-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

After much frenzy and linger, the harry potter series has finally come to a close. One could have just said 'Avada Kedavra' with a swish of his/her wand and saved many unsuspecting muggles of the disappointment awaiting them at the end of the fastest selling book in history!The first book was released, as we all know, way back in 1997. I was still in school then and was blissfully(?) unaware of

Angel Eyes

2007-07-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

I love to travel by the train...specially for long distance journeys....but not in the suffocating ac coaches. they make me claustrophobic.My favourite is the side lower seat. I can sit beside the window and gaze at the palm trees rushing by at a distance.On my way to Chennai in Brindavan express I experienced something really troubling. I was sitting by the window, lost in my dreams

My Window

2007-06-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

I love the music that comes from my window, from the trees and the lantana bushes. The sunbirds and tailorbirds chasing each other, shrieking, complaining - that’s music to me. The flock of white eye hopping from branch to branch, updating each other with the day’s

THE BOSS!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-06-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

One of the most difficult days to pass in office is a friday (not that any day is easy to pass in office). You are waiting for the eight hours to fly by before you can begin the weekend bash. But as usual, when you want things to fly by, they dont even crawl by!! Last friday was going to be infinitely more difficult at office because of the fact that superstar's much hyped movie was going to

Some days are diamonds

2007-06-14T04:29:00.000-07:00

Some days are diamondsSome days are stonesSome times the hard times wont leave me aloneSome times the cold wind blows a chill in my boneSome days are diamonds Some days are stones!! - John Denver

But for one Graph!!

2007-06-13T00:55:00.000-07:00

Entering data is a ritual, so say many. But for me it is a colossal task prone to continuous confusion. 4550 data points so far, it is a huge number. My heart breaks into pieces when I see them collapse to minuscule numbers after performing various obligatory statistical tricks on them. Mean, mean of means, standard deviation, standard error etc etc. In the end what your are left with is ONE

What a day!

2007-06-10T06:22:00.000-07:00

oh! what a lovely day to wake up to!!with the sound of a bird or two,the dying summer's sun, reduced in glory,prancing on my face but not in furyoh! what a lovely day to wake up to!brimming with energy, unbeknownst ere,neither pain nor stumble, no folly nor feardawned it upon me, that days suchare rare, so do ye in it useful muchoh! what a resolve to wake up with!but alas, of the resolve, all