Certified crazy

Another update on life. Random points jotted down at various points in time.

• Its a bad idea to try to open the door with the same hand as the one that holds an egg or more.
• Always, always, always keep a scarf handy. Especially in Paris. You never know when it starts to get real cold.
• Try and have an extra bath the evening before an important event. If Murphy strikes, the chauffage will go dead the morning you have the important event. And deo or parfum (more than normal) makes it obvious that you have skipped the bath.
• Buy croissants between 8 and 10 am. Most bakeries make them fresh around that time. You can not miss the smell of the butter anyway.
• Dinners have turned into a snack + dessert thing for me these days. Oh I so detest getting used to new electric plates for cooking. Food ends up raw or overcooked.
• eePhone has helped keep up with tweets. I also have tried that thing called twitpic.
• It is also a bad idea to try and tear off a piece of kitchen tissue from a kitchen roll when you have an egg in the same hand.
• A few months ago, my kitchen saw me baking more often. There are yet a few dishes that I would like to try before I leave France. Time will tell.
• I have fallen in love with the butter that you get at Pascal Beillevaire. Démi sel, croquante. And it shows.
• It is better to travel alone than with company that you will probably feel uncomfortable with, later.
• Do not try lenses if your eyes are on the dry side. (That is when you use too much of computers and too less of your brain.)
• DO NOT EAT ANYTHING OUTSIDE YOUR OWN KITCHEN 3 DAYS BEFORE YOU HAVE TO MAKE A LONG JOURNEY. No matter what. Even if you do not get to eat Paneer or Pani Puri for a long time to come. That includes dabheli, sev puri, bhel and dahi puri too. And dosa. And Kulfi. I ended up taking 3 injections within 26 hours. The last one 3 hours before my flight.
• It is a bad idea to read food blogs when you are hungry. And especially when you do not have quick access to good food.
• Its a pleasant surprise to listen to a French or a Spanish guy to say a few words in Hindi now and then.
• Letting go one hour of chatting with friends per day gives you more time to spend on other things in life. Try it. And besides sending and receiving a personal email is always such a good feeling.
• Himesh Reshammia and his songs are funny. No matter if he changes his hair style or his singing style.
• Either plan your travels very well or dont plan them at all.

I hope I put up more of these notes. More for my reference than for that of others.

Isn’t anyone tryin’ to find me?
Won’t somebody come take me home?
It’s a damn cold night
I’m tryin’ to figure out this life
Won’t you take me by the hand?
Take me somewhere new
I don’t know who you are
But I’m, I’m with you
I’m with you.

– I’m with you by Avril Lavigne.

• Exams are done. Should pass in most of the papers. (Note the “most”)
• Made Pani puri, pav bhaji at home in the last two days (including the puris - damn cool the way they pop up - if they do) and called in some French friends to taste some ethnic Indian cuisine - rotis et al.
• Project needs to be worked up - I’m putting most of my time on it, now that I have one week of vacations.
• Evenings are spent watching movies with friends. Fun.
• Cleaning up two weeks of mess after exams are done gives a really bad backache.
• Cut a friend’s hair for experimenting - results were not bad at all.
• I’ve grown to admire the brilliant way some geniuses think - Markus Kuhn is one such man.
• I need to catch up on my to-read books.
• I like lying down in the afternoon under the Sunlight in my room these days. Can make one sleepy in a matter of seconds.
• Found a place in Antibes which sells awesome Falafel. That, plus a double scoop gelato (tiramisu, rocher) = heaven.

जाने काहां मेरा जिगर गया जी
अभि अभि यही था किधर गया जी
किसी की अदाओं पे मर गया जी
बडी बडी अखीयो से डर गया जी |

Eu não existo longe de você
E a solidão, é o meu pior castigo
Eu conto as horas pra poder te ver
Mas o relógio tá de mal comigo…

Por quê? Por quê?

Its a wonderful feeling, when, in a random city, at a random place, a random stranger sings out loud one of your most loved songs, to the whole restaurant. And that too, beautifully.

Amazing, what such small things in Life can do to you.

can be as naive as “forgot to put the brackets” to as buzzy as “left the scope undefinied”.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,

No longer blown hither and thither;

The last lone aster is gone;

The flowers of the witch hazel wither;

The heart is still aching to seek,

But the feet question “Whither?”

Ah, when to the heart of man

Was it ever less than a treason

To go with the drift of things,

To yield with a grace to reason,

And bow and accept the end

Of a love or a season?

The teacher gives not of his wisdom, but rather of his faith and lovingness.

- Khalil Gibran.