Just got back from Indonesia. Will post soon.
It's good to be back and re-establish my buttprint on the sofa in the good spot in front of the tv.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The Sardinha Festival
At six in the evening my father calls me. "Where are you?"
"On the way home."
"Don't go home. There's a parade and some festival here. It starts at nine."
Ok...
So my tired brother and I step off the metro and sit and wait for our dad. We have already visited the Gulbenkian museum that day. Then taken a bus to see the ancient Roman aqueduct. Then tried to walk back to where we started from and realized that the bus had been faster than we'd understood and trudged a long way uphill. We make our way to this viewpoint near downtown and sit down on a bench. A man with a dog asks me for money. I pretend not to speak any european language. Yes, not even english.
To add to our misery, there is a freezing wind blowing.
Dad arrives a little later and we're on our way to Alfama, an old neighborhood in Lisbon. And the festival starts right from the metro station. The streets are festooned with streamers and lamps. There is music blaring out of every store. There is a grill outside every store where they are frying sardines. Beer and sangria flow freely. People in the thousands are flocking to the party, swaying to the music. The whole neighborhood IS one giant party!
We taste the sardines. Sardinha no pao. Or sardines on bread. It's yum and there's also a dog sniffing us and trying to get in on the goodies. Dad and I take flight. Then dad and bro buy a beer. One sip each and they are ready to donate the rest to me. Ah the kindness! I refuse point blank. "I shall need to pee." What is it with my family's belief that I will be there for them to finish their beers? Of course, I do finish it for them with a quick chug and then pay to pee at the train station. My brother says its against his principles to pay to pee! I later have to persuade him to run into a restaurant and use the WC. The guy has principles about not paying to pee and also about not peeing in a restaurant where he is not eating/paying. What? Isn't that contradictory?
At some point past midnight we stagger back home.
Pictures shall be added later. :)
"On the way home."
"Don't go home. There's a parade and some festival here. It starts at nine."
Ok...
So my tired brother and I step off the metro and sit and wait for our dad. We have already visited the Gulbenkian museum that day. Then taken a bus to see the ancient Roman aqueduct. Then tried to walk back to where we started from and realized that the bus had been faster than we'd understood and trudged a long way uphill. We make our way to this viewpoint near downtown and sit down on a bench. A man with a dog asks me for money. I pretend not to speak any european language. Yes, not even english.
To add to our misery, there is a freezing wind blowing.
Dad arrives a little later and we're on our way to Alfama, an old neighborhood in Lisbon. And the festival starts right from the metro station. The streets are festooned with streamers and lamps. There is music blaring out of every store. There is a grill outside every store where they are frying sardines. Beer and sangria flow freely. People in the thousands are flocking to the party, swaying to the music. The whole neighborhood IS one giant party!
We taste the sardines. Sardinha no pao. Or sardines on bread. It's yum and there's also a dog sniffing us and trying to get in on the goodies. Dad and I take flight. Then dad and bro buy a beer. One sip each and they are ready to donate the rest to me. Ah the kindness! I refuse point blank. "I shall need to pee." What is it with my family's belief that I will be there for them to finish their beers? Of course, I do finish it for them with a quick chug and then pay to pee at the train station. My brother says its against his principles to pay to pee! I later have to persuade him to run into a restaurant and use the WC. The guy has principles about not paying to pee and also about not peeing in a restaurant where he is not eating/paying. What? Isn't that contradictory?
At some point past midnight we stagger back home.
Pictures shall be added later. :)
Saturday, June 16, 2012
The Museum of Natural History....
Dinnertable conversation last night.
My brother is telling my father about the mathematical exhibit he saw at the museum. The solid shapes of different geometries were on display. My father listens, then asks what museum we went to.
"Museum of Natural History and Science"
"Oh. Your sister left out the Science part."
Me-"I didn't know the science part."
Bro-"So you looked at the maths exhibit and thought math part of natural history?"
Me-"I kind of zoned out after the dinosaurs."
There is a sudden flurry of rolling eyes.
One of my oldest memories is looking at a giant dinosaur skeleton. I am not very sure if this memory is real. But I definitely went through a dinosaur phase.
The Natural History Museum in Lisbon has a wonderful dinosaur exhibit. Allosaurus skeletons, T-rex skulls. Overall a great evening, till we had to leave because it was closing time.
My brother is telling my father about the mathematical exhibit he saw at the museum. The solid shapes of different geometries were on display. My father listens, then asks what museum we went to.
"Museum of Natural History and Science"
"Oh. Your sister left out the Science part."
Me-"I didn't know the science part."
Bro-"So you looked at the maths exhibit and thought math part of natural history?"
Me-"I kind of zoned out after the dinosaurs."
There is a sudden flurry of rolling eyes.
One of my oldest memories is looking at a giant dinosaur skeleton. I am not very sure if this memory is real. But I definitely went through a dinosaur phase.
The Natural History Museum in Lisbon has a wonderful dinosaur exhibit. Allosaurus skeletons, T-rex skulls. Overall a great evening, till we had to leave because it was closing time.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Parent-less in Portugal
It is 3p.m and my brother and I are staggering around the statue in the centre of the 'Praca do Comercio' or 'Plaza of Commerce', Lisbon, Portugal......
Dad is working at an institute here and bro and I have tagged along for the fun.
Mom has decided to stay at home. She's used the oldest excuse in the book. 'I have to study'.
Every day we set out for a new adventure. The two of us have never been left to our own devices in a foreign land before.
Neither of us speak any portuguese and lunch is ordered by stabbing at random lines in the menu. In the absence of both our parents, we've managed to drink a leeetle too much wine. We keep weaving into each other and then we stand to take pictures and my brother has to use me as a camera stand because he can't keep still enough to use a camera which autofocuses!
After a while we consult our map book. I shall not be able to understand maps until 3D maps hit the market. My brother, thanks to years of NFS, turns the map round and round and predicts which direction we should walk in. Sometimes he's wrong. So then we just walk downhill because its easier to.
The other day we ended up at a museum in an old ruined convent. The collection included the creepiest little mummified children. And while entering the museum I asked for student tickets. The lady asked for student ID. My brother started searching his wallet for his card. Me, am I even technically a student at the moment? I definitely don't have any student ID. I started flapping my wallet back and forth and wondering what to do next. Before I took any action (I'm sorry I'm a liar/cheapo/idiot who's lost her ID) the lady got bored and just let me in.
Later that day we tried some pastry at a 180 year old 'pastelaria' or pastry store. On the way back in the train we both fall fast asleep.
Another day's adventure shall be another post.
Dad is working at an institute here and bro and I have tagged along for the fun.
Mom has decided to stay at home. She's used the oldest excuse in the book. 'I have to study'.
Every day we set out for a new adventure. The two of us have never been left to our own devices in a foreign land before.
Neither of us speak any portuguese and lunch is ordered by stabbing at random lines in the menu. In the absence of both our parents, we've managed to drink a leeetle too much wine. We keep weaving into each other and then we stand to take pictures and my brother has to use me as a camera stand because he can't keep still enough to use a camera which autofocuses!
After a while we consult our map book. I shall not be able to understand maps until 3D maps hit the market. My brother, thanks to years of NFS, turns the map round and round and predicts which direction we should walk in. Sometimes he's wrong. So then we just walk downhill because its easier to.
The other day we ended up at a museum in an old ruined convent. The collection included the creepiest little mummified children. And while entering the museum I asked for student tickets. The lady asked for student ID. My brother started searching his wallet for his card. Me, am I even technically a student at the moment? I definitely don't have any student ID. I started flapping my wallet back and forth and wondering what to do next. Before I took any action (I'm sorry I'm a liar/cheapo/idiot who's lost her ID) the lady got bored and just let me in.
Later that day we tried some pastry at a 180 year old 'pastelaria' or pastry store. On the way back in the train we both fall fast asleep.
Another day's adventure shall be another post.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Unsent Letters..
My dear bhindi
there is a lot i know u know. like the fact that i loved u. like the fact that those days with u in class eight are an integral part of my growing up memories. and school magazine every year was our thing. our article every year. and the newsboard was our thing. we the editors. and how what we started never ended how we intended it to. which was fun.
and then our lives bifurcated. but i had a corner for u always and i know u did for me too.
but u came last month, december to visit. and for a brief two days we were happy. so happy. so we made plans to make our lives intersect again soon.
and then some incalculable factor, some inhuman person, some bakery table underneath which there was a bomb..... and then u were a face on a newspaper for many and a reason to light a candle for many more.
for me u are the girl who gave me a shoebox on my birthday with a bhindi and a potol stuck inside it. to potol from bhindi. and a lot of glitter. because u cared enough for ur friends to spend ur time doing crazy things like that. and a book inside the box which said to me from u on the first page. and to ankik from kaushik on the second. and u burst out laughing when i told u and said u had given me ur brother's book by mistake.
and now u and ur brother are gone. and in the hostel lawn is a ghost of a memory of u and me sleeping in the sun. and then there is me. sitting here wondering why, and what to do, and knowing that this pain will never go. what would i not give for u too call me and say ur coming tomorrow.
i'll do those things ok? and i dont know how i'll let u know. maybe i'll blog again. i'm sorry i dont know what else to do. i've never believed in god or afterlife. right now i wish i did.
u would have been very critical of this letter. u would have made me rearrange it.
and i'll finish here today coz im sleepy. coz i havent slept much coz every time i close my eyes the tears try to squeeze out.....and im signing of like i always do, always did in emails, and bhindi its too true......
"love, always."
yours
....
(something i found in drafts. dated december 2010)
there is a lot i know u know. like the fact that i loved u. like the fact that those days with u in class eight are an integral part of my growing up memories. and school magazine every year was our thing. our article every year. and the newsboard was our thing. we the editors. and how what we started never ended how we intended it to. which was fun.
and then our lives bifurcated. but i had a corner for u always and i know u did for me too.
but u came last month, december to visit. and for a brief two days we were happy. so happy. so we made plans to make our lives intersect again soon.
and then some incalculable factor, some inhuman person, some bakery table underneath which there was a bomb..... and then u were a face on a newspaper for many and a reason to light a candle for many more.
for me u are the girl who gave me a shoebox on my birthday with a bhindi and a potol stuck inside it. to potol from bhindi. and a lot of glitter. because u cared enough for ur friends to spend ur time doing crazy things like that. and a book inside the box which said to me from u on the first page. and to ankik from kaushik on the second. and u burst out laughing when i told u and said u had given me ur brother's book by mistake.
and now u and ur brother are gone. and in the hostel lawn is a ghost of a memory of u and me sleeping in the sun. and then there is me. sitting here wondering why, and what to do, and knowing that this pain will never go. what would i not give for u too call me and say ur coming tomorrow.
i'll do those things ok? and i dont know how i'll let u know. maybe i'll blog again. i'm sorry i dont know what else to do. i've never believed in god or afterlife. right now i wish i did.
u would have been very critical of this letter. u would have made me rearrange it.
and i'll finish here today coz im sleepy. coz i havent slept much coz every time i close my eyes the tears try to squeeze out.....and im signing of like i always do, always did in emails, and bhindi its too true......
"love, always."
yours
....
(something i found in drafts. dated december 2010)
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Poet vs Physicist
Staggering up the stairs with two really heavy bags.
Thought process...
1st floor- This is a total work out. Weights.
2nd floor- Graaavityyyy. Working against meeee. (My brother is a huge John Mayer fan)
3rd floor- As I struggle against gravity, gravity pulls me in. As I step higher and higher, the bag gets heavier and heavier. It's a battle between nature and me. What chance do I stand?! (The inner poet in full flow)
4th floor- According the law of gravity, there is an inverse proportionality to the square of r. So as I'm climbing up, the bags are getting lighter. (The inner physicist kicks in. And wins...)
Thought process...
1st floor- This is a total work out. Weights.
2nd floor- Graaavityyyy. Working against meeee. (My brother is a huge John Mayer fan)
3rd floor- As I struggle against gravity, gravity pulls me in. As I step higher and higher, the bag gets heavier and heavier. It's a battle between nature and me. What chance do I stand?! (The inner poet in full flow)
4th floor- According the law of gravity, there is an inverse proportionality to the square of r. So as I'm climbing up, the bags are getting lighter. (The inner physicist kicks in. And wins...)
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Mother's Day Ispeshial
The first day I went to school, I apparently ran in, screaming with joy at the sight of so many more children to play with. All the other kids stood there bawling because they had to leave their moms. My mom went home feeling a little hurt. Does my kid not love me and miss me, she wondered. She called her sister. My aunt, a doctor, explained to her how she had brought me up to be confident and secure enough to manage that super cool walk to my first classroom.
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