Irony, Rest

"Its like a rain on your wedding day... its a free ride when you have already paid" - Alanis Morisette.

Well... I don't get to experience the ironies of life so much really. Been really very fortunate to keep sailing and stay afloat without hitting an iceberg even when probably navigating myself directionless in the polar regions of the world. Then struck an experience which to be honest, I might probably keep looking back at and laughing out aloud..!

I am a big time car buff. Every other time, I used to keep renting cars and go out driving almost every weekend. Having toured all states in the northeast of the USA except Maine (that would be for the next visit, whenever that is!!), the last thing that I was expecting was a day to come when I would be buying my own car and drive it for less than a 100 miles in a span of 3 weeks time and give it off on grounds of taking more rest..!!

It was a good old manual Subaru Forrester. I cherished its "all-in-one" kind of a build. It was like the Egyptian Sphinx - It had the windows of a convertible (there was no frame), the look of a SUV and the ride of a car.

***

Some people talk of taking rest and doing nothing as the easiest thing. I would ever wonder if that is as simple as it sounds. It was a humbling experience I must admit, when I had to spend close to ten days just taking absolute rest - doing nothing, in a very literal sense! For me, the concept of rest has always been synonymous with probably lying down an reading a book or newspaper, listening to a song, taking a relaxed walk along the lanes in a park etc and never about doing nothing and just lying.

Plan A Plan B

The plan for Saturday was rather neat. Praveen would come over to my place and help me get my broken spectacles fixed (of course, by driving me to the optician..!) Then we would move onto check a car in one of the local dealerships. Then, per his plan, we would proceed to go for the movie - "ஆதவன்", the show timing being 06:50 PM.

My spectacles were fixed. It was lunch time. Lunch time also meant decision times - especially if you are out traveling. "Why not we check out the greek restaurant in Milford?", I suggested. Praveen obliged. We drove all the way up there, only to find that it operates only for dinners..! A complete bummer..! What neither of us realized is - we just started our day.. all is not over yet...!

We would then want to settle with checking out "Liquid Lunch" and "Sammiches". He settles for a Santa Fe and I for a vegetable lentil soup. This is probably the best decision that we could have ever made. The food tasted great. I couldn't leave without a ton of thank you note to the lady who recommended these dishes for us.

Next comes the car dealer part of the day. We land up in Beaconfalls, which looks like a one-road town to us. The keys were given to us and the good old Subaru Forrester was all us for a good 30 minutes. I felt there was more problem with the way I drove than any problem with the car itself. However, Praveen's keen sense of hearing did ensure he got hold of some noise while doing a full-right forward or a full-right reverse turn. He advised to check that with the dealer. The dealer drove the car with both of us. We could "hear the silence" of a pin being dropped..! "Issue not replicable / Root cause unknown", I thought to myself.

We drive along CT-8 North, I-84 East and then onto I-91 North before exiting on CT-178 West. That was a terrific drive, I must say. The fall colors were awesome. While crossing the city of Hartford, I call up my friend to ask if he can join us for the movie. He responded stating he is moving to another apartment but added, "I don't think the show that you guys are trying to go even exists for today"  Do I care to check? Definitely no. We had supposedly done our "research". I tell him, "you are missing this today!". And does my friend stand by what he said? No, he would have me go and get SIX tickets for tomorrow's show..!

We land up in "Bloomfield Cinema 8" to find that the show was on yesterday night and it would come only by next Thursday. Wow..! Another bummer for the day. Oh - but we didn't target the movie, did we? We were out to see the fall colors in the "All American Valley" region and along I-84/I-91. That was supposed to be our initial plan anyways. We are always good at the art of consoling ourselves for something we didn't get.

The next question - where do we go from here. I suggested we eat out and go to the temple in Middletown. Praveen suggested it would be very odd thing to do, coupled with the fact that it isn't too late for dinner yet.  So, temple first - eat next. The spiritually inclined Praveen and Ravi, for God's sake, land up in the temple during Diwali day..! They are now surely good boys in the books of the elderly. They goto temple without fail, keep up traditions and values even when they are far removed from their hometowns ;-) :-) Well.. it wasn't all that bad.. the only thing is - we couldn't make it in a little earlier to grab that nice "rava kesari" at the temple.

A funny wake-up call on a weekend

"Hi, can we know if there are any tickets available for the Cog Rail?" - thundered a voice on the phone. I was a little confused in the beginning. I knew who it was but quite stunned with the formal tone and sense of authority in the voice. I responded calmly - "Can you please hang on for a moment while I pull the details?". "Sure", went the reply.

I cannot have customers wait ;-) I quickly grabbed my Macbook and logged onto google. Searched for Cog rail. Got onto their webpage and saw only 2 PM tickets were available. I continued on the phone, "2 PM tickets are available..!" The voice at the other end went, "Okay, thank you. 2 PM would be pretty late for us though".

The caller was about to hang-up when I yelled on the phone, "டேய் கார்த்தி.. என்னடா பண்ணிட்டு இருக்க?" It was a long pause. Then came a response, "ஒ நான் உன் நம்பர் அ டயல் பண்ணிண்டன்ன.. ச.. சரி விடு.." We were laughing. I thought my friend was making a ploy.. he has genuinely called me in lieu of Cog rail :-) A funny wake-up call on a weekend..!

Everything cannot make sense..!

8 AM on a Sunday morning. My little kid was crying aloud - and rather very aloud this time. Probably he was very hungry. I had not fed him for almost quite a time. Half the time I don't hear him when he cries out aloud. The more vocal his cry,  the lesser seems the chance of me taking care of him. But when his vocal levels start coming down to a shrill, I sense it immediately and take some appropriate action.

I travel wildly. My child doesn't complain. He just accompanies me, often silently. But what I keep forgetting most of the time is his feeding bottle. His feeding bottle is like a bottomless chasm, I must say..!  Never I know what amount of food satiates his hunger and how long he eats.. what I do know is this - when he is eating, I don't disturb him. He will start crying and cribbing if someone disturbs him while he eats. But as a principle, I don't try to join them and disturb him more... I just allow him to eat and rest and then catch-up with anyone who was trying to disturb him much later. He has a clear and distinct memory of who disturbs him... giving me the complete list to take action on :-)

My kid is often ridiculed as a "one-eyed jack". I don't care. I know the many things he does with his one eye has helped all the "two-eyed geniuses" share some good time and reminiscence on many a things vividly. And I never miss an opportunity as a proud parent to flaunt his capabilities as a "one eyed jack" amidst these "two eyed geniuses".

My kid is a little heavier for his size. But what the heck - I am heavy myself for my stature. He is as much exposed to the wild outside world as he is protected by the comfort of my clothing - resulting in his rather red face and cheeks.

Naughty kid that he is, he would many a times slip out of my control and fall down - often injuring himself with minor scratches. I guess he has it all over his back. But luckily, they have never hurt him much. It was only once when he had my heart skip a beat - when his heart almost stopped ticking and I was thinking he is almost dead. I had to quickly do the emergency operation myself - turned him on his back and pressed him a little on the same side of his heart. He was back ticking and I heaved a sigh of relief..!

It might not be a long time before my kid might leave me to find his own ways, however caring a parent I am And I realize it. And in those times, I am sure, I can still look at what this one-eyed jack did and remember the good times.

QGM - Quite Good Movie

First things first - don't look around for too much in terms of a movie review from me. I have never written one before and never felt like writing one too - until the time I happen to watch a quite good movie called Quick Gun Murugan :-)

Simplicity always attracts. This movie had everything very simple in it. No high fundoo stardom. Not much of a heavy logic or message. The idea seemed pretty simple and very very appealing to say the least - how to merge multiple movies that are new and old, with a variety of stars, into one single one, capturing the essence from everything. Of course, when we want everything, we do tend to lose on many things.. but that is not something a movie should be concerned about anyways? Or should it? I don't know, given that I am not  a movie buff as such.

It was really a very well-thought out one I say ;-) Connecting the fact that Indians tend to love hot food with the dabbawalahs and then moving onto project the water scarcity when a lady under arrest shouts "It is time for the water lorry to come. I need to fetch my pail of water" - all within a few screens and spaced a few minutes apart, would certainly leave your mouth wide open and gasping for more..!

I think I am quite unable to do complete justice to this movie since I must admit that I also slept for sometime when the movie was on - but that is something I would've done in any case for any movie and hence Quick Gun Murugan cannot be blamed for that phenomenon. And I know I did miss on probably a few more enchanting numbers to which I could have probably set myself on my feet.

All in all, a highly recommended watch for anyone who likes a time-pass with some serious thinking behind the scenes - on whatever topic they would like to :-)

Professor, of another kind

***

I was out to my uncle's place in Ohio for the Labor Day weekend here in the US of A. We went to the temple in Dayton on Sunday evening. The temple has an entrance from the basement, where devotees need to leave their footwear before proceeding upstairs. When it was time to leave after the darshan, I just walk out of the exit gate towards the car, totally unconscious about the fact that I never went to the basement to put on my footwear again :-) My aunt reminded me about it and I did it.

***

After quite a drive, I reach home from my uncle's place around midnight. I pull myself out of the large Chevy Impala that had taken me back and forth safely for almost 1700 miles in a span of three days time. I take great pains to ensure that I don't leave anything in the car seat pockets, trash all the cups and bottles, pick my mobile phone from the power window socket etc and head home. I sleep well. Morning, while getting ready for office, I frantically search for my wallet.. and where do you think it was? In the car front seat..!!

***

I always appreciate my roommate's observation and consciousness. He hopped onto the car and finds that other than leaving my wallet on the front passenger seat, I have also dumped a good deal of quarters near a socket close to the power window controls on the front door. He tells me I would need them for the laundry and asked me to pick them up without fail before dropping-off the car. And what do I land up doing? I carefully shred and trash the gas station receipts lying on the floor, trash the empty Starbucks Mocha and large Dunkin Coffee, leaving the quarters were they were..! It was late in the evening when I realized I needed quarters for the laundry that it stuck me about these.

***

My mobile phone battery had gone down considerably due to the fact that I was on speaker phone, talking and driving for the most part of the time last night. I reach out to my travel bag to pull the charger to re-charge mobile battery. I realize that I had left it at my uncle's place in Ohio.

***

Well... while my father never forced any of us to take or do what he wanted, he would always talk about the goodness of the academia and how he likes being a Professor and how he enjoys teaching and  research very much. He would keep suggesting that we should also probably try to see if we might want to get into such professorial role. I can definitely tell him, head straight-up, "Dad, you son is certainly a professor - of a different kind though, absent minded" :-)

***

Between You and Me - II

*****

One of our friends in our group decided to take all of us to a park nearby Manchester in Connecticut. After walking a few yards into the park, he said, "I have also not actually been to this park". We walk another 100 yards. He said, "You know, this is the place where we had our last cricket match". Another 100 yards of walking and he continues - "This is where they used to have a meet and greet kind of an event from our organization". A few more yards of walking and he was talking more about the park. We all just paused for  a moment, and said in a sarcastic tone, "I think all of us are in agreement with your statement that you have never been to this park..!!!" :-)

*****

Sometimes, truth is very funny. I was in all smile and laughter for at least a day's time for an introduction that I can hardly hope to have once more in any other place. It was a birthday party to which I had been - and with one rather insistent guest, the host didn't have any choice. She had to properly tell who I was . Which means, she had to introduce me as her "husband's uncle's daughter's brother-in-law". And out came another voice, "Say that again and you get another ice cream" :-)

*****

While I look as majestic and imposing as an elephant, my memory about the most necessary things aren't necessarily elephantine. I often prefer traveling in as light a mode as possible - often times just bothering to carry my office laptop and nothing else with me! One day, when one of my friends came visiting me, I decided to leave my office ID card on the tea table at my home so as to avoid the situation wherein I forget it and leave it elsewhere. Looks like my friend was doubly careful than myself. He had not only picked up his office ID that he got along with him, but thought he had missed his ID and took my ID card also with him when he left. The next day, the time when I was frantically searching for my ID card, he called me and said, "Ravi, I mistakenly took your card also along with my own card. I will get it posted to you shortly" That's when I thought - however careful you are, if you are destined to miss something, you miss it, whatever be the case!! :-)

A night to remember..!

To be afraid or not to be afraid is a very hard decision to make. In fact, it might not even be something that we think on and decide. It would definitely be more spontaneous than anything else.

This was an incident that happened tonight while I was walking down the road enjoying the changing weather condition, which sure, is slowly pulling the screen on summer and setting the scene for the fall.

There were a group of people outside a Burger King outlet. It was all dark as I think the cost cutting measures from the municipality in these grim economic conditions is ensuring that the road lights are never getting turned on ;-)

"Kill him. Kill him", went a loud thunderous voice breaking the silence. I was too stumped and scared to even turn but when I did, I saw a set of faces staring at me. My brain didn't surely pause for a minute to think and react - down went the can of olive oil, box of rice and sugar and my sandals started to transform into a horse hoof :D

After 11 long years, I just couldn't believe that I did run, more so on a steep slope, for almost a little less than half a kilometre or so. I enter near the home premises and was gasping for breath. I try hard to relax but just couldn't.

After a few minutes, my brain starts to think a little more logical. If I were the target, what's the big deal? The group of people could have pulled out their car and hunted me down in no time? They were just probably plain drunk and didn't knew what they were talking? 911 if I felt SO scared? Phew... I think the saying "growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional" seems to hold good in my case :-)

I am just hoping that the hidden horse hooves don't come onto my feet the next time something like this happens..! lolz..

Childhood incidents - I

The first thing that anyone who sees me would notice about me would invariably be my size. And there is good enough a reason for it - I just don't eat food. I LOVE food. People say learn as if there is no tomorrow. I am capable of eating as if there would be no tomorrow :)

Well.. for some reason, potatoes have always been my favorite in just about any form - french fries, wedges, chips, small cut and deep fried with skin, small cut and deep fry without skin, spicy, salted, baked - whatever..!

There is a rhizome called "ginger mango" - whose botanical details is something I am not sure of. All I do know are these though:

i. when cut and spiced up, I can never distinguish between potato and ginger mango

ii. ginger mango, when you bite it, would be tasting like a cross between a ginger and a mango

So, now you must be sort of understanding where it is all leading to - one day, my mom had pickled up ginger mango. I entered the dining room. I opened the vessel containing ginger mango pickle. With my love for potatoes and wanting to take a lions share of it before my brother, i conveniently took 3/4 of it and dumped it onto my plate with curd rice. I mix up everything, place it in my mouth and chew. Oops.. it hurt badly. It was ginger mango pickle and not really potato cut finely and fried with spices as I thought it to be.

Everyone in my family had a hearty laugh about my "competitive" sense of eating with my brother.

Pearls of Sarcasm

*********

"Tap on my window, knock on my door - I want to make you feel beautiful" - so sang the Maroon 5 in their "Beauty Queen of only eighteen..." This was so absorbing a tune for me that I put the verses in my orkut update. What did I get as a response from one of my friends?

"Tap on your window, knock on your door, pat on your back and bang on your head..!!"

Can things get any more sarcastic than this? I wonder..!!

*********

Last weekend, when I was returning from my friend's place in Scranton, I missed my mobile charger at Scranton. Wrote a mail to people stating that my charger is @ Scranton, PA while my mobile is with me @ Shelton,CT. A friend of mine who got my message wrote "Ravi, you should not be doing this. You should have gone to Dallas in Texas, left your mobile there. Then, you could have written a nice and neat blog titled Charger @ Scranton, PA, Mobile @ Dallas,TX, Me @ Shelton - struggles of the separated trio"

*********

While shopping for items at a grocery store, I picked up a few boxes of sweets - all soaked with ghee and made with pure milk. My friend's sense of sarcasm couldn't stop him from asking - "Why aren't you taking more of these malnourishment tonics?" He was obviously referring to the fact that we are a bit overbuilt and shouldn't ideally be feasting on sweets.

*********

I will post more such pearls of sarcasm down the line.

Between You & Me

One of my acquaintances narrated this incident to me. When he had come over to the US for the first time and went to an eatery outlet in one of the rest areas along the expressways, he met with a rather very fast spoken version of "For here or to go?". And he has responded rather cooly "To eat" :)

***

When I was hit by a car a few days back, one of friends (no, not that he isn't a serious person!), asked me in a lighter vein, "Is the car and the occupants of the car safe after hitting you?"

***

Sometimes, I find the amount of precaution that is being put in place on roads here to be really commendable. But what I do wonder is this - whenever there is a "do-no-enter" board on some way, there would also be a "Wrong Way" board beside it. And the same set of boards would have been placed repeatedly for every 30 to 40 feet or so until the end of the road..!! Is that for purposes of calculating the fine/damages for violators? I wonder..!!

***

I inadvertently laid hands on the recipe book maintained by one of my friends. And what do you think I find under the heading "Aloo Fry"? Just two sentences - "Put Oil. Put Aloo. Let them fry"..! Simplicity beyond imagination - I am sure you would agree!

***

Meda(walk)am..!!

There is an area adjacent to the Pallikaranai marshland area in Chennai called Medavakkam. And there lived a great soul called Ravindran Chellappa ;) into the winding inroads of what has now become a jungle of concrete and was earlier no better as a vast plain and dry stretch of land with conditions of extreme weather - but that is a saving grace from the heartland of Chennai which knows only of heat heat and more heat..!!

Great people are bound to get associated only with other great people... and it can't be anymore true..! That's how I probably got hooked up with Sabesh Sundaram (a.k.a Sab), my colleague and friend who was residing in the same area. And folks, Sab is really great... If I should say in Tamil - avar romba nallavaru..!!

We were not aspiring to participate in any walkathon competitions. All we wanted to do was - find sometime each day when we can walk as much possible. From there stemmed the very many "memoragraphed" 'walk-the-talks' with the role of Shekar Gupta alternating between myself and Sab.

We often never knew when we started to walk in day and lesser said about the end time, the better..!! And what did the walk-the-talks cover? Just about anything - it could have been how I managed to get something accomplished in a two line awk program to an extensive analysis of how and why trains always find a place in any dream that Sab gets to wake with ;) But this was a routine that I am sure both of us loved growing with. So much so, whenever we meet in the office amidst our other friends and colleagues, we were nicknamed "Medawalkers!"

There are some days which remain firmly etched on my mind... Sample this - there was a time when Sab had a call requesting him to return home within the next 1 hour. And we had already walked off a cool 8.5 KM away from Medavakkam and positioned ourselves facing the Madras Christian College entrance, all set to walk back.

What do you think we decided? To the take the bus? Call an auto? No..!! We challenged ourselves to walk back 8.5 KM in the hour's timeframe..! We started at 10 PM and it was a sharp 11 PM when we hit the "Medavakkam Koot Road" junction.

I offered to accompany him to his house before heading towards my own. And guess what was the argument for the heck of it? I would be covering "more" distance than him if I accompanied him to his home and then head back to mine and thereby our records wouldn't be equal..!! :)

Well, that was just for the sake of an argument... Sab knows that during the nights, the way to his home would be like treading in the equatorial rainforest for the first time... dark and dangerous... ;) And the stray dogs in and around his place would love to howl at their highest pitch only during the times I enter their street in the night, giving a feel as if I am getting into some haunted locality..!! ;) And given his knowledge about the extent to which I like horror movies, haunted places and the darkness, he would advise that I carry on to my well-lit brighter side of the planet..!! :) A true and good friend would always lead you from darkness to the light, won' he? ;) :)

Now, when I get back to Chennai, I wish I find a place somewhere again in Medavakkam and that I can continue my walk-the-talk shows with Sab..!!

20th June 2009, Saturday

The Fray was in the fray at Chevrolet Hall, Wallingford, CT on the 20th June. My friend Venkat and I couldn't be more excited about listening to a live version of "How to save a life..!!". Very honestly, neither of us knew too many songs from The Fray. If anything, I knew one song and he knew two of them thoroughly. I had listened to them several times in the past on star99.9 - 99@9

As always, I went to Enterprise to help myself with transportation arrangements - I had to pick up Venkat from Worcester in MA, which was about 120 miles away from where I stay in Connecticut - the tiny, hilly, serene little town of Shelton. Got hold of a decently new Volkswagen Jetta which had around 24ooo miles on it. It had a powerful engine which would surely get one a speeding ticket if he is too hard on the gas pedal. Luckily, for such folks it also comes with a very nice cruise control feature too.

My journey starts at 10 AM in the morning on Saturday. I stop over at East Hartford,CT to pick up one of my friends and drop him to his office in the downtown area. Don't ask me why I go north east and then come south west only to head back again on the north east... I know I wouldn't have thought twice about it even if it was 50 miles distance from his place to his office. Apart from the predilection I have towards driving ever since I came over here, he is quite a down-to-earth kind of a friend of mine to whom I always love giving tough times and pulling his legs publicly with such captions in photographs on orkut and picasa etc.

We go and pull over near a traffic light adjacent to his office building... I wouldn't want him to go and he wouldn't get off immediately too. We keep talking for a while, turning on the hazard lights on the car, shutters down. After a while, we realize a need to get going with our respective work and he gets off wishing me a safe drive and a happy time at the concert. And yes, not before asking me to drop by once again, either the same day or the next day on my trips back and forth from Conn. to Mass.

From Hartford downtown, I was crawling at 65 mph towards Worcester. I must admit that if I hadn't got my speeding ticket a month earlier, I would have definitely been at least at 80 mph on I-84 East. What an adorable road, neatly paved along the hills, with lush greenery overlooking every foot of your travel from either side. Since it goes up to Boston, it is a three-lane all the way too.

I had the GPS with me. But my ego and half-baked sense of geography and topography wouldn't just allow me to use it. A nice green huge board announces an exit to RT 20 towards Worcester and I gleefully hop onto it. I don't know what would await me on that road. My plain trust was - Worcester is too big a place not to be having any kind of sign boards. And yeah, when I took on I-290 towards it from RT-20, I realized how big a place it was - I had to call Venkat to find out which exit I would need to take to come over to his place :-) There were a total of 9 exits spanning around 10 miles, each with speed limits ranging from 40 mph to 55 mph with a note that the speeds are tracked through the radar.

"Take the exit onto Burncoat and Lincoln Street", he said, over the phone. I take the exit, hit a traffic light, where I turn left - only to find pretty much later, after driving into the town for more than two miles, that I should have actually gone straight in the first place. But anyways, it was worth the diversion, with a scenic valley view embellished with grassy patches (which O presume, should be some kind of golf courts)

Once more, my egoistic geographic and topographic senses wouldn't allow me to pull the God darn GPS out and set his address on it. I meticulously take a K-turn and come back to the traffic light where I swerved off to the left. I take a left and I got going in the right direction. I hit another traffic light where I turn right. I drive a few hundred feet and pull over. I call Venkat to find out how do I reach his place from there. He struggled to answer my question. At last, with such a great hesitation, I take out the GPS. And what does it say? "Drive 100 feet. Take a U-Turn. Drive 0.6 miles. Arrive at destination on the left..!!" :) I curse myself that I was so close and so correct but wasn't able to make it properly..!! :(

We play a short game of tennis for sometime in the afternoon and later set out on our journey towards Wallingford. I got to the theater at 06:45 PM. The concert was to begin at 07:30 PM. The gates were slated to be open by 07:00 PM. What do we find? It starts pouring cats and dogs :) And what do we do - keep the umberalla safely locked in the car and head out getting wet in the rain.. lolz..

The concert begins. Another funny thing happens - we got our tickets by just looking at "The Fray". There was supposed to be one more performer whom we didn't know. And he was the first person to perform, starting around 08:00 PM or so. He goes on until around 09:00 PM. Not that his singing wasn't good. He gave a few decent numbers as well. However, we were more looking forward for "How to save a life".

After quite a wait, we have The Fray come on stage. There was an upbeat mood everywhere. The tone was set by some fabulous guitar. Then, he announces that he is going to get to his piano.

We knew what was coming and a pulse of excitement ran through our bloods. It had to be "How to save a life..!!" After a few seconds of listening to the "opening notes" for the song, I was already on my feet, clapping my hands and raising myself balancing on my toes and popping my head to see him play the piano. I don't think I would ever be able to do justice to the ecstasy I had through words. And I believe Venkat shared the same too as well as he was equally enjoying the whole thing.

The whole concert ended around 11 PM. We move out slowly - in the rain, towards the car. We get partly drenched. We need to drive south and get to Shelton as Venkat was supposed to stop over at my place for the night and get dropped off at Worcester the next afternoon. We had planned a boating trip on Sunday (which didn't kick off with both of us sleeping only by 03:00 AM on Sunday and never managing to get up until 09:00 AM in the morning).

"Dei.. CT-15 south should keep right. CT-15 north should keep left. You are on the left lane. Pull over the right as quickly as possible", Venkat said, as we were getting out of the theater. Though I did see cars which kicked down the traffic cones and shifted lanes, I am way too safe a driver to do all that stunt.. ;)

I managed to get onto the right lane. And what do we find? After driving nearly 3 odd miles, there are no directions to CT-15. With a good deal of cop lights flashing that I could see from a distance, a K-turn was surely ruled out :D Venkat pulls out the GPS and tries to fight with it to get the route. By the time he gets to see something, I already saw a sign towards I-91 south and I hop onto the ramp in that direction. I tell him I have been on I-91 many times over and I wouldn't need the GPS any longer. He would insist that he finds out why this GPS is useless.

It was already a very heavy rain by now and I was driving on the road more by the virtue of knowing it by the mile than seeing it and driving on it - there was hardly any visibility whatsoever..!! But I still offer to help him sort out the GPS thingie.. Due to the bad weather condition, the satellite wasn't quite getting picked up and the antenna had to be adjusted. And yep - it shouted "Drive 4.5 miles on I-91 South" lolz..

We reached home safe and sound at 1 AM in the morning. And got going to sleep by 3 AM after some pep talk, chatting, listening to more music etc.

All in all, it was quite a Saturday I must say!!

Row row row your boat gently down the stream :)

"Row, row, row your boat - Gently down the stream - Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily - Life is but a dream."

Well, when we were taught this nursery rhyme, we were not on any real boat. We just use to just sit opposite to each other, hold each of our hands and pretend as if we were clasping an oar and steering a boat through some limpid waters.

It has taken almost a complete 20 years before this turned a reality for me, when I visited the Bethany state park in Bethany, Connecticut. This park has something unique to it, I feel. Other than being associated with the memory of the veterans, the sense of serenity here is simply unthinkable elsewhere - probably because it is not any closer to any of the Interstate highways which keep the northeast busy and connected with a heavy traffic volume.

Located behind the hills through which the CT-8 northbound cuts across, this park is a perfect blend of synthetic tennis and basketball courts, set amidst sprawling woods - where man meets nature so simply and wonderfully..!! There is also a mini soccer / football field out there on the grass, with some trekking/hiking trails and horse riding too.

Now, that's for getting into the setting. Coming to the best part - the boating on the lake. First thing - there are free boats available (though you could get one too I believe). They are of three varieties. One is like a kayak. The other is a pedal based boat. And the last one is the oar-based boating.

I was with two of my friends - Zakir and Gosa, who had been courteous enough to come down all the way from Hartford, CT to Shelton, traveling for about an hour, believing my words that they can get ample enjoyment in this small state park - My many a thanks to them, again..!!

Gosa was pretty excited about the whole idea of rowing a boat in the still waters. We get to it - there are three lifeguards on duty to assist should you be in any kind of trouble with the waters. Zakir and Gosa get onto the boat. I get on. The lifeguard struggles to push the boat into the water. She was well built, no doubt. But she couldn't surely move a 260 pound rounded object which is 6 feet and an inch tall single handedly :) I leave my sandals in the boat and step out. Asked her to leave and I pushed Gosa and Zakir into the water and jump in all by myself when the boat was just on water but not so much into the deep waters yet.

"Row, row, row your boat - Gently down the stream - Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily - Life is but a dream."

Well, it didn't sound all that rhyming when we were gone into the waters. Gosa rows. Zakir rows. But in opposite directions. The boat starts to turning and I was thinking we would head somewhere... no - it was turning in a circular fashion :) I suggest that I jump over and try to coordinate things when Gosa reminds me that Zakir is a married guy who had a kid recently and I cannot think of doing any circus business in the middle of the lake :)

With much difficulty and pretty much a tiring stint with the oars, Gosa and Zakir managed to redirect the boat to the shore. Gosa signed off stating he would prefer doing it individually or taking out a pedal boat. I wasn't all that interested in pedaling as opposed to rowing using an oar.

Using the oars to row the boat meant many things to me at that point in time:

1. Nursery rhyme come true :)

2. Principles of refraction in physics - we had always been told how an oar would appear bent/broken.. I have NEVER got an opportunity to observe that phenomenon from a boat myself.

3. The sheer pleasure of putting something into the water and creating waves and see myself getting propelled

and so many other things which would take paragraphs for me to keep writing about :)

I was with Zakir now. We were sitting in the opposite directions and trying to get the boat going somewhere. It was an absolute fun experience for me. I dip my oar into the lake, first using my left hand - on the left side - which meant myself and Zakir were in the same direction - but we were rowing in the opposite direction of each other. Second time, we had our ours in a different direction and rowing pushing the water in the same directions.

Many a thoughts ran through my mind during all this - thoughts on literature, physical laws etc. We could see Gosa had long retired happily with his Canon camera in one of the benches in the park by the lake shore, watching us row and steer throughout the lake and crossing over into the swimming area too, frightening some of the kids there who were out swimming :)

Ask me another time - I would still say I want to row a boat gently down the stream, whether merrily or other wise. Whether life is just a dream or real.

With this, I am signing off abruptly :)

Quarter Dollar's worth - Thank you series - II

Long time ago, I remember reading a short story titled "One Dollar's Worth". This has nothing on similar lines. This is just yet another thank you note to well.. I cannot really say as a stranger since she has been my bus co-passenger for almost more than 2 months.. but yet - not that she is so close to me that I cannot term it that way too.

The bus is at 5:05 PM from my office. Miss that - and I get stuck for the next one hour in the ten-storied building which is floored with nice, smooth and green Italian marble - at least in the reception area, watching the statues of David surrounded with Tulips underneath and a fountain pool with the statue of a man spitting out water.! Not that I don't love talking geography with the security during that time - just that I don't want to do it too frequently either! :)

It was 5:03 PM when I rush out of the 4th floor south-side entrance towards the elevator lobby. I keep hearing "ting" sounds but nothing comes. And the one that opens up is actually a one that was going up all the way for 10 floors. I rush towards the staircase and make it to the ground floor security area within a minute. After taking a deep breath, I exhale in all happiness that it doesn't become like a "death row pardon two minutes too late" (yeah, I borrowed this phrase from Alanis M Ironic - which has become my favorite song too).

What do I have is a minute time for the bus to come. And what do I realize? I am falling short of a quarter..!! Automated ticketing system in the bus can only swallow your money. It cannot give you a change if you pay excess. Which means - I now have a choice to lose $5 or ask for a quarter..!!

I look around quickly. I almost made up my mind that I need to lose the $5 to learn a lesson or two to do it right the next time when this lady who commutes from New York to-and-fro on a daily basis to Shelton (I once did ask her what makes Shelton so special, especially when you can't even move around quickly here without a car!) was near the entrance waiting for the bus too.

The chill weather well into the summer beginning always use to be a good topic to talk about for us, if we did pick up any conversation at all during the transit between Bridgeport to Shelton or vice-versa.

Another person who pretty much works in the same building as what I do and commutes in the same bus was also near. I first approach him asking if he has a change for $5 and tell him I need it for the bus. Most of my co-passengers did know that I was one of the few "weekly pass" guys and normally never dropped a coin into the bus for a ticket. But on that day, my pass had expired by the AM travel and I needed cash for the evening. He regretted he couldn't be of help to me. And our New Yorker happily takes out her bag and lends me a quarter. I offered the $5 to her asking her to give me the change later. But she refused it stating "Don't even worry about it"

The times are definitely tough and even the largest companies are counting every cent they spend. And here there was - a lady, who was traveling all the way from New York to Shelton (a travel time of almost 2 hours on one way) for her daily job, lending a quarter to a person whom she knows just as a co-passenger and nothing more!!

Many a thanks to that young lady, who lent me a quarter and saved me $5 alongside instigating quite a few insights on my mind.

Thank You Series - I

We all get helped several times without us really asking for it and at the right moment of time. Often, we don't get enough an opportunity to dwell on those incidents or thank the people involved enough. I decided to do it a a series - try recollecting as many such moments that I have had and put them into my blog. 

I land in the Hartford Bradley International airport. I pull out the quarters that my friend from Chennai had given me. She gave at least a $5 worth quarters (if I recollect proper!) primarily with a "been there, done it" kind of a look :) I find what is the purpose when I landed @ Hartford - coin phones. I need to make a call. I look around to see where the coin phones are located and find one. I am dropping in quarter after quarter and trying to call the number I had with me. Nothing worked. The coins were returned or got consumed without the actual call getting through. With a hopeless face, I look around. The airport was getting deserted by every passing minute. Only a pretty young lady was sitting on the chairs near the pay-phones. 

With much hesitance, I approached her and asked, "Ma'am, can you help me understand how to use this phone? I am new to the country and don't think I quite follow how to use it. While all I wanted was some help to use the phone, she took out her mobile, smiled at me and said, "You can use this to make your call..!!"  I took her phone with some hesitation too.. because I had the money to use the public phone but I just couldn't figure out how to use it..!! It was embarrassing that I had the money but didn't figure out how to use it for a pay phone. But anyways, could not do anything at that moment. Took it. Dialed my friend's number and spoke for split second asking him to come over as soon as possible. 

She gently smiled and told, "You needn't have been THAT fast on the phone.!!" I for one - do not know how expensive a call from a mobile can be. So, I blurted out things at a lightening speed to my friend. This wasn't the best part. She was with me until I told her I could really see my friend coming..!! Height of help that I got after landing in a foreign country. My many a thanks to that young and pretty lady (No, I am not using these adjectives because she helped me. She was young and pretty for real) 

The Highwayman

Sometimes, I think I should call myself as "The Highwayman". I don't ride up to an old inn door and probably lesser still is my chance of seeing the "landlord's black-eyed daughter, Bess the landlord's daughter"... maybe because I drive my car and not go "tlot-tlot" on my horse :p :p

 

During the Memorial Day (25th May 2009), I was driving on my way back from Ohio to New Jersey. Had to take a detour near a place called DuBois in PA. Good place it was, certainly. However, I believe we got stuck there at the wrong point in time. 

Given my not too past memories of getting a speeding ticket (more on that later!), it was an all out cautious drive. The speed limit for most part was 65 mph - a region where I might normally cruise at 80 mph. This time around, crossing 70 mph was a taboo. The already slow pace of travel notwithstanding, after a few hundred miles of travel, somewhere near the highest point on I-80, we hit a warning which said "Be prepared to stop. Roadwork for the next seventeen miles". Phew!! While every other vehicle was getting onto the left lane to merge and stay onto I-80, I gleefully touched the "detour" on the GPS.

"Recalculating", shouted that familiar lady voice, which would say "Drive ahead 100 ft and turn left" when I would have already crossed a mile from the point where she intends me to turn left :) There I was, taking an exit off to what seemed to me like a jungle. I had been at least two times earlier on I-80, both times driving from Ohio to Connecticut. But that was peak winter when the road to west was visible from the road to the east through those barren trees. Now, it was a bit different with the lush greenery. The west road was not visible from the east. And when I took the exit, I stopped at a signal where I couldn't even see the driveway.

"Turn left onto Pennsylvania 219 South" commanded the lady. I turned left. "Drive 3.5 miles and take left". And this was the place where the problem began for me. This is not a state highway. This didn't even look like a local road. It was all potholed and dusty. Mobile phones had already lost their signals - AT&T as well as T-Mobile.

I gently whispered to my friend Vinu, who seemed to be more lost in the winding roads to the woods than anything else, "Does 911 work from ANYWHERE in the United States??" That was the levels to which I was terrified. The road ahead was winding in all kinds of directions. We could see we were more like on a wild life safari. The headlights with a low beam just didn't help and I wasn't sure if I was allowed to turn the high beam on. We saw creatures (or should I say Vinu saw?) large and small crossing the roads.

I kept driving. I didn't know how much longer it might be before we hit some kind of a highway. The nearest town was something called "DuBois". I was in a state of despair and wanted to get there as quickly as possible. But that doesn't help. If it means that we need to be lost for a couple of more hours in this wilderness, nothing can be done about it..! 

After quite some time, I get in some township area. And what happens? I am again redirected - "drive 5 miles on so and so road"... I get onto the road, only to find that I am going from one wildlife safari experience to another. This road, I never even knew what was the speed limit. It had the dashed line markings permitting to pass which is a rarity as far as I know in my place at Connecticut. I was trying to keep myself to 40 mph when Vinu was stating I could try going at 50 mph at least. After quite a drive on the dark deserted highway, I hit some ramp for the I-80. All the while, thanks to my keen driving skills, I never noticed a truck was tailing me. I take the ramp to I-80 E. See a truck parked in the ramp. I stop. 

"Boooonk" came a sound. It was the truck behind me. I quick drive fast and get onto I-80 E. And thank God, it was SUCH a relief. Our mobile phones were still not having any signal. However, at least we are on a main road where we can pullover and seek assistance if need be.!!

After all these twists and turns, the lady in the car announced "Drive 125 miles on I-80 East" :) What a pleasure it was to merely HEAR TO IT after all these twists and turns through jungle pathways..!!

Musings from Milford - I

Sometimes, I feel I can easily take up one job - being the official ambassador for the Connecticut Silver Sands State Park in Milford. Don't get me wrong - many a times this has been a topic that runs through my mind - should I meet Gov. Jodi Rell and ask her if she can appoint me as one? Well.. I know.. if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride. Sigh!

It is not that I have too many visitors at my place. I have always been more out visiting people than the other way round. However, when people do come visiting me, I ensure they get two things for sure - food, a visit to the Silver Sands State Park..!!

Technically open until dusk, one might not able to come out of the place so easily..! The chilly breeze, the grassy patches, deers moving in and out (if you are lucky enough.!), the winding uphill and downhill country roads - all of them coupled with a sense of serenity would ensure that even the few moments you spend there would remain etched in your memory for eons to come!

There is a sandbar which helps one actually cross over to the island park. And of course, you find the long and short of it too - you better visit the place yourself to find out what I mean here than ask me! The sandbar supposedly gets flooded twice in a day and I am not entirely sure how - except for two times, every other time when I take visitors and friends with me, the sandbar would be invariably flooded..!! Probably, that is the way the big mighty Atlantic wants to show its love towards me - or so I wish to think!! :)

The next biggest attraction is a boardwalk - now, do not let imagination run riot. This boardwalk would hardly be a mile or so. Nevertheless, it is such a fine one I must say! Or at least, I am sure I cannot go over to the Atlantic City every other evening and it is certainly nice to find one right near your place! Neatly written on the path are boards which prohibit anyone from entering the area in their bicycles - something that has had me sad :( Or is it because it is supposed to be board"walk"? Whatever :p

There is something special about the car parking lot there I must say..!! It is a place where I managed to "coach" a few of my buddies how to drive and how to park ;) I would be a very demanding tutor - taking them around in mid-afternoon in the chilly winter and asking them to keep going round and round the lot and demand that they follow all the lane rules when it would be an open secret that one can hardly find someone loitering in the beach during a cold winter afternoon :) And they would promptly ask me - "What's the big deal about me driving when nobody is present,eh?" But my extreme self conscious behavior and a strong aversion to risk would only mean one thing - I got the license, so I can afford to mess up. Not you! Call it a concern or a far reaching and far fetched fear, whatever..!! :p

The ocean would always surprise me... On a bright day, it would be so blue that one would start wondering if there was some mass infusion of copper sulphate into the water! And during the evenings, at times, you would find quite an isolated section with such a flourishing growth of algae that it would transport me to the chemistry labs when I was fiddling with ferrous sulphate crystals that were given to me for experiments - more admiring the colour in it than thinking of the experiment that needs to be completed for the lab work! 

Ocean and waves are inseparable, aren't they? But instead of giving a picture as if it is beating itself and punishing itself for a grave crime, the waves on the water here are more like a soothing hands out to massage one's feet.  But beware, it shows its inner soul when its very touch would freeze you! :)

How can I miss to mention about how I get to the state park? Except for during the cold winters (when I had been there primarily as a driving coach than as a nature admirer!), I prefer walking down the road all the way - though it means it is almost a complete 1-2 miles off.

Signing off for now.

~ Ravi

Making a record with movies..!!

It should have been at least more than one and a half to two years by now and none of my ramblings are out yet on the blogspot. Decided to post one today..!!

I am not sure if I should really be thanking my roommate or cursing him for literally getting me into the path which would ultimately make me bear the title of a movie buff - something which I have consciously not got into until now..!

For the record, it has been something like a 20 movies in a span of 12 months for me. And believe me, that is a VERY VERY HUGE number by my standards. Add to it the ability of recognizing a Kate,Diaz or Ridley Scott..!!

Well, I have been fortunate enough to be getting only the best of the movies recommended for watching. I don't intend listing out the set of movies that I had managed to see, however, I wouldn't be able to do enough justice to the quality of recommendations if I do not list down a few of them.

Shawshank Redemption sounded so philosophical and moving. It had all the elements of a philosophical movie minus the boredom :) The dialogues are simply awesome.

Juno is another movie which was more oriented towards a social message of teenaged pregnancy. The very way it was depicted and carried through would definitely remain right through anyone who watches it.

The Holiday was something on a lighter vein. It was certainly a neat family story line, with the details spreading across into two different continents.

As good as it gets can only be what the name suggested - as good as it gets.! I would remember the actor more as Melvin Udall than his original name for more time to come..!!

The quantum of solace was the only bond movie that I saw and I must admit I am not a particularly big fan of bond movies. So, when I told my friend that the movie wasn't along expected lines for me, pat came his response "What was your expectation from a bond movie? :)"

I loved the 8 Mile for the kind of instant on the go rap. Eminem has always been a favourite of mine - especially with his one shot one opportunity.

Looking forward to post more of my rambles shortly.