Island Express

• Had a very proud moment – when someone tapped my shoulder as I was out yesterday and told me that I am one of the best tutors/teachers he’s had in the uni.
  
  
• Had a very funny moment – when someone said “It’s not you… it’s me” to me – I have heard that only in films (lover saying to lover). It was funny to have such a filmy situation in life. Of course, the situation was ‘romance’ related, but definitely not a break-up or heart-breaking event. :)
  
  
• Had a “Wow, I’m getting old” moment - Having 20+ year old memories… I remember, not understanding the significance of the fall of USSR, Berlin Wall – as a 7 year old. Unbelievably enough – I remember the day IndiraG died. Many of the people I know weren’t even born then.
  
  
• Had many cinematic situations in life – too many of them to describe.
  
  
• Had an “Am I really nerdy” moment – when I was standing in the dance class and when the teacher said about walking in circle and choosing a partner, I thought about Josephus problem.
  
  
• Had another “Am I nerdy” moment – when I was trying to picture an N-dimensional space related question, while watching a TV program, which was trying to make fun of it all.
  
  
• Having “Why am I so happy” moments – especially while listening to songs. And almost all hours when I am awake.
  
  
• Having “What is wrong with me” moments – when I find snow and winter so cool, but not cold; when I am with German friends who are shivering in the cold and I am just normal.
  
  
• Had moments of laughter – when different people said that I look like Alan_Davies, Prithvi_Raj (in Island Express), Zakir_Hussain, a famour Opera Singer, or someone from Spain/Latin-america – all because of my curly/spiral hair.

Additional: Falling in love is a very complicated and lovely thing to happen, a very frustratingly sweet thing to happen.

My readers may get a bit curious… and I’ll let you stay curious. Or you may very well give wings and freedom to your imagination.

Signing off, Sands.

Winter; The other anthem.

I am loving it. It seems that my body also has accepted the winter. So far, there had been only one day on which I thought “hey, it is cold today”.

And to make it even better, I never really caught even a cold. Neither did I have stiff neck – which used to happen a lot nor did I have slight headaches.

Lately, I am walking a lot at night – more than usual. Walking in the snow-covered sleeping city on a cold winter night is very enjoyable. 

All you need is some decent warm clothing and a wonderful state of mind to enjoy the walk. My black mantel, red shawl(left), woodland shoes and on top of all my cowboy hat (above) – we make a good team. :)

Even though I prefer walking alone, it is sometimes good to have someone by your side. You can claim that the city is yours. If it is a lovely she with you, you could even claim the city for yourself and offer half of your kingdom to her. She’s bound to like it when treated like a princess. :P

Topic Change: Your tune and my tune join to make OUR tune. (Remade)

Perhaps there is only one song which has its lyrics in 14 languages. And that is possible only in India. With her diversity in languages and culture and stupid caste systems etc, India need(ed) some national integration effort.

The song which was made for the same is the very Mile Sur Mera Tumhara which every Indian of our age knows. Even now, it gives me goosebumps when it reaches its climax (despite my non-patriotism : Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam).

And now they have remade it:

The Other Anthem

~The Original One~

~~NEW: Part One~~

~~NEW: Part Two~~

Some of my observations/questions:

• No woman from Kerala? (are mallu guys really chauvinists? Even the old one didn’t have any Kerala women)
• The skiing bit – I liked it
• Muscle flexing Salman – pathetic
• Old one’s theme was pride and unity. In the new one, it is more about “We are strong”. (the next version will have the theme arrogance, for sure)
• I was afraid that they left SRK out, until he appears at the end with Swadesh style.
• Less cricketers than expected?
• Too many instruments – doesn’t it make it less sing-able by us? - Toms, Dicks and Harrys (or Tamannas, Dagnis and Harinis?)
• Too long? who has the patience to watch/listen to it for 16 minutes?
• I think, they could have had a clip of SoniaG.
• I don’t think the new one is great. Okay-dokey, that’s all.

Signing off, Sands.

PS: I am afraid, I am flirting a lot lately! Some write up about my dance classes sleeps in the drafts. To publish or not to publish?? :P

Simple Nothings

Woke up earlier than usual – some bad dream I think (cannot recollect the details). My room was too warm and couldn’t sleep afterwards.

I am sitting here with my tea and listening to some Ilayaraja hits. I need some soft-melodies to slow me down – and what could be better than Ilayaraja’s music and SPB’s or KJY’s voice? (Not to mention the beautiful lyrics)

A hectic day ahead.
You all have a wonderful day. :)

Ilayaraja + KJY

And of course a great week too.

Signing off, Sands.

PS: Here it is – one of my favourite songs: ---===>

What am I? (or Am I bad?)

According to the age old saying, I am what I eat!

Then I should be a terrific, amazing fellow. Because I have a very healthy and tasty diet. I am a decent cook and most of my friends are great cooks.

According to what I (want to) believe, I am what I read!

In this case, I should be a modern, classic, and witty man. I do read from a wide range of choices. Books, blogs, news – I read all these with such a joy!

According to some Malayalam saying – my friends define me!

That should make me even more wonderful. Because there are times when I even wonder whether I deserve such great friends.

But… But……..
Some people are saying now – I am what I wear!

That suddenly makes me an old fashioned fellow who is unaware of what is going around. :(

(old fashioned indeed – who else has 14 handkerchiefs in a world where every one carries around little napkins?)

All I care about clothing are cleanliness and comfort. Conforming to the norms was never in my blood – my parents also don’t really believe in conforming to the standards. But I lack something which they have – the thought that “what would others think/say”.

So, armed with the non-conformance and not caring what others think, I am stuck with the most comfortable wear, which might be less fashionable. I’ve been to Opera/Ballet/etc. wearing jeans, t-shirt and sports shoes.

People may frown now! So what? Beauty or fashion is only skin deep. What I care or what I want people to care is a lot deeper than that. And I don’t buy much stock with the superficial ones.

I am not saying that one shouldn’t care. You have got only one chance to make the first impression. Your attire shows how much you attend to the fine details of daily life. So, it has its own significance.

Wear comfort wear and style is bonus. But don’t go for clothes which are too tight around <wherever> and pinches your <whatever>.

Anyway, two of my friends are bent up on making me an Armani! They are going to fix my wardrobe insufficiency. God help me! (and the Goddess of lottery could help me too – it’s expensive).

Lately, I find myself complying with my demanding friends. So, within a month, they are going to take me for shopping!

Anyway, I came up with something which I shall not dare call a poem. Still, here it is. :P

Am I what I eat, or what I drink?
Am I what I read, or what I think?
What I eat, drink, read or think
None of these is anything junk

Am I what I wear, or is it my style?
Or is it more about my lifestyle?

Some seem to care about what I wear
And now I know why some do stare
If you thought that I was not aware
You're wrong, the reason is I don't care

Imagine a world a different world
Where clothing is to fight heat or cold
Oh my friend, you need not be told
That it would be a lot better world

So, with that little torture, I put my pens down. :)

Signing off, Sands.

PS: How often do you speak about Oscar Wilde? Very infrequent, right? Should you see it a coincidence, if you buy an Oscar Wilde book and the next day a friend tells you about him/his stories? May be not a coincidence at all, for such things seem to happen a lot.

Google and Tiananmen Square

I asked my Chinese apartment mate's opinion on the present Google vs. china issue. The conversation became interesting and we soon moved to Chinese communist government, people's freedom and related things.

Guess what? – that girl hadn’t even heard about Tiananmen square protest! Didn’t even know that something like that ever happened. So much for the freedom of press in China. Not that we thought it was a paradise on earth.

The Johanna joined us and fuelled the talk about communism (Poland and communism go well together, right?)

Almost 3-4 hours of nice discussion(s) about so many things – all in German. Until the new fellow from Greece joined us (he can’t speak German yet) and we started speaking about German (in English).

I am in love with the situation at my shared-apartment. Five multinational, multicultural, multilingual, multi-faculty (department@uni) people living in harmony. All are more or less equally clean/dirty and not so strict about roles/rules - life is easy that way.

Anyway, I was planning to make a picture post. And here it is. All the photos are from my nocturnal walk from Friday night. I was in good company – my own – I enjoy being in my own company, to let my thoughts wander, and nobody to bug me! :P

Lovely piece of cake from Coffee Fellows!

My golden pen and moleskine book – always in my pocket – for recording random thoughts! :P

Snow on chairs… Midnight @ Munich centre.

Decoration @ Coffee Fellows.

And the next picture is from this evening: I came home and saw this notice.

Do you see that? German, English and Chinese! CHINESE! The Chinese population is quite big here and they have it on the notice. Pretty good! (Request: Please do read the English text )

Good night and signing off, Sands.

Load heavy loads

I would so like to gloat/brag about the wonderful weekend I had. I also can go on about how energetic I am and about my excellent mood. Instead, I shall tell you what I plan to do with this teaming energy. 

I am going to load myself with so many things…

• Thesis work – needless to say how hectic it (c/w)ould be
• Teaching (exams are getting close)
• A French course (starting soon, longing for it since long)
• Continuing my dance course (starting today, now since I am healthy)
• Reading/Films (also some random trip to somewhere?)
• Quite a number of spieleabends / meet-ups in the pipeline

(spieleabend means evening-gatherings and having games/fun/etc)

 

It’s going to be fun for the coming two months. But don’t worry, I’ll have time for all of you.

My sleep is going to suffer a bit.. but that’s ok. My sleep control is not that bad.

I’ll get back to you soon…. going to the dance school. :)

Signing off, Sands.

PS: You all have a wonderful time. :)

Grrrrrrr

I am angry.

I went to the doctor to remove the stitches/thread. The doctor’s assistant did the job so pathetically that there are still a few pieces of that plastic thread inside my body – which can be neither seen nor removed easily.

That stupid lady started doing it wrong and I told her this is not the way to go. She ignored me and continued. There were 6 different places where I had stitches. In the first five, she did only one – JUST ONE – the way it had to be done. All the rest, there is some half-one centimetre plastic thing in my body (forever?).

When it came to the last one – which is TWO INCHES (5cm) long thread, I realised she’s going beyond the limits of stupidity. I forcefully stopped her and asked for someone who knows the stuff.

This stupid arrogant lady was sure that she needed to cut the end of the thread… doesn’t she know that a cut is stitched not only at the ends, but also where the cut is? The thread is all inside… you don’t see that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

The doctor came and pulled the two inch thread easily. And guess what, the assistant didn’t even show a bit of “oops, I am sorry” feeling. She still hung on to the “I know it all” attitude.

Only because the doctor is a nice one, I didn’t shout (after all, what good is shouting?). Doctor looked into the wrongly-treated-cuts and said “I cannot do anything right now. But when(if) it starts to hurt, please come back”.

The turning to the assistant she said – “I’ll have to show you now how it is done.”

A small thread won’t kill me, I know. But I am wondering – how many patients would have had such ordeal with such stupid assistants?

I happen to be a quite healthy person. Except for accidents, I never went to a doctor in past 3+ years. But I know enough of the German health care system (personally and through friends). And German healthcare system simply sucks – for the simplest reason that many of them don’t know what they are doing!

I can’t imagine the plight of not so healthy people in this country, who have to depend on this system often.

Today’s incident was just another silly incident in the list of stupidities I’ve seen – and triggered this rant. I shall not let this spoil my day. I think of making a big issue of this whole thing. People in healthcare shall not be assholes. They should know what they are doing.

Signing off, Sands.

PS: Probably the post wasn’t very coherent after all. I don’t bother to sit and edit to make it more coherent.

Where should you have born?

How do I always get very nice apartment mates? Audrey, Osman, Ludmila, Redgirl, Hooman, and finally the Chinese girl – all of them are very nice. Especially when I consider the fact that I am not the cleanest person, I am indeed very lucky.

All the Xmas vacation, the Chinese girl was my company. Not that we spent a lot of time together, but did speak a lot. A very friendly, talented young girl – plays violin, flute and piano, sings well, paints very well, cooks terrific, very organised and sweet. (And learns programming/java from me)

If you want to be hard working, learn it from the Chinese. I could have born there, then I would have been at least working  if not hard-working. :P

Sometimes I feel that I should have born here in Europe. It is just the opportunities and facilities available here. Even a small fraction of it is not in India. Lucky that I was born into a decent well-to-do family.

Anecdote: A friend of mine, fell in love with two guys. She said - “G is German and K is Indian. They seem mostly equal financially/morally/functionally/etc./etc. K had to fight all those lack of opportunities and social stigma to be as good as G is, where as life was lot easier for the German. Hence I should choose the fighter”. And she did.

My dear (third world) readers, you and I have made it against all those odds. Could have been great(er). But still we deserve “Hats off!”. And most of us are full of energy too. I am not talking about just career.. but life as a whole. Even though we may not have had many hardships, we’ve seen enough.

The post became longer than I wanted. 

I am not a make-resolutions-for-new-year person. But yesterday, for no reason, I folded all my clothes clean and kept them arranged. Won’t be a bad habit to follow. Will be a hard habit to make? Let’s see! :)

Signing off, Sands.

PS: “Grow-your-hair-long-league” gets new members, valuable ones. :)

PPS: Nice.. girl, her eyes and so is the SONG. Song of the week.