I just got back from a nomadic field trip.
Woke up every single day in a new place. Looking forward to a new adventure. And not just cities. Forests. Everyday a new forest type, even. I saw everything from dry forest to lowland evergreen to wet evergreen to mid elevation to cloud forests to high elevation shola-grassland mosaics. I have never felt better, never felt so much love for what I am lucky enough to be doing, never been so interested in every beautiful thing around me. I even handled frogs and toads, for God's sake. It was fun. All the myriad emotions and experiences still sinking in.
Now in blore. I have to do standardise conditions for a particular PCR. I have already done about 80 PCRs trying to make it work. It is working till the purification and sending out stage, and then it has never worked. I dont know what is wrong. I have a list of 3 more things that I can do, and then Ill be even more stumped.
I ordered all the necessary chemicals for a new procedure. AFLP. I have no idea how much trouble I will face with that! I am going to NCBS to get a primer on it tomorrow. I will need to raise money for it.
I have some meta-analyses to do for YETI, the students conference from 23-26 Sep. Of which, did I mention, I am part of the organizing committee. Lots more to be done. A lot of interpretation to be thought about. I am planning to write it up after that.
I am going for a butterfly india group meet at Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa, from 26th to 30th Sep. I am planning to learn as much as I can from experts there.
From Oct to Dec, I have to cover as much area and collect as much samples as possible for my pilot run study. Then do all the (hopefully standardised by Jan) lab work on them.
So much to learn, what I feel is absolutely no time. And a boss who thinks I am generally wasting my time around here; who does not realize the value of field experience.
I still want to hang out with friends (especially those leaving soon) and meet my parents and relatives when I can.
My PhD has just begun! Bring it on.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Wonder why clouds wander so much across the skies?
Is it because they have lost track of where they belong?
Maybe they cry because they are so lost...
Maybe that is what rain is!
This is just a short excerpt from a movie song called "Ilaya Nila" (Young moon) by Kaviarasu Kannadasan, which I have traslated to the best of my ability. It sounds much better in Tamil, of course, and to complete the beauty of the song, it is sung by a lilting, young SPB, who kinda plays with the words. The way in which Kannadasan has taken off from something as simple as clouds scurrying across the sky caught my imagination.
Kannadasan has been heralded as one of the greatest and most influential writers in the Tamil language. He is best known for his song lyrics in Tamil films and contributed around 5000 lyrics besides 6000 poems and 232 books, including novels, epics, plays, essays, his most popular being the 10-part religious essay on Hinduism.
This is from his official site, but it captures his essence very well:
"He is supposed to have 'dipped into' everything that Tamil Nadu could offer - wine, women, drugs, politics, polemics, atheism and religious sanctuary. After enjoying everything, what he did was remarkable - he composed verses about all his experiences, with reflective self-deprecating humour, irony, and biting sarcasm".
He had 3 wives and 13 kids.. Phew!! No wonder he could write so much about women!!
:)
Is it because they have lost track of where they belong?
Maybe they cry because they are so lost...
Maybe that is what rain is!
This is just a short excerpt from a movie song called "Ilaya Nila" (Young moon) by Kaviarasu Kannadasan, which I have traslated to the best of my ability. It sounds much better in Tamil, of course, and to complete the beauty of the song, it is sung by a lilting, young SPB, who kinda plays with the words. The way in which Kannadasan has taken off from something as simple as clouds scurrying across the sky caught my imagination.
Kannadasan has been heralded as one of the greatest and most influential writers in the Tamil language. He is best known for his song lyrics in Tamil films and contributed around 5000 lyrics besides 6000 poems and 232 books, including novels, epics, plays, essays, his most popular being the 10-part religious essay on Hinduism.
This is from his official site, but it captures his essence very well:
"He is supposed to have 'dipped into' everything that Tamil Nadu could offer - wine, women, drugs, politics, polemics, atheism and religious sanctuary. After enjoying everything, what he did was remarkable - he composed verses about all his experiences, with reflective self-deprecating humour, irony, and biting sarcasm".
He had 3 wives and 13 kids.. Phew!! No wonder he could write so much about women!!
:)
Monday, August 3, 2009
A Bubble called Faith
Belief in God, in supernatural forces, in astrology (and other numerous -ologies I won't bother listing), all bewilder me at some level.
I had gone to Sringeri and there is this belief that doing a Puja at a temple near Sringeri, called Kigga, will bring rain to the place which was invoked in the puja. Balderdash, says my mind on one side. On the other side, I am absolutely baffled by educated people who have such a strong belief in this whole phenomenon that they regularly do the puja, every year. Including my parents!! There is so much faith, that the poor isolated process of the annual South West Monsoon is not given its due credit.
When I was younger, I had accepted all this without saying anything, without allowing my mind to have the slightest doubt. I am different now, after 2 years trying to be critical about things around me. Maybe this trait of mine is an occupational hazard that my parents did not quite bargain for! But I love the level of understanding they have; mom quite simply said, "faith is something that cannot be forced, it will happen naturally if it has to".
Completely 'antonym' to all this is the feeling I had on the bus back.
It was a Volvo with its characteristic high windows, through which you can look up at the sky. A silvery orb of a moon suspended dreamily in a cloudless sky, just above the tree line of the Agumbe ghat. As the bus wound around hairpin bends, the moon swam in and out of my field of vision with a periodicity that was mesmerising to say the least.
The world is so different at night; silvery streaks of moonlight fill the earth with a mysterious enchantment, "felt in the blood and felt along the heart" as Wordsworth would say. Everything looks surreal; everything on grayscale; nothing is clearly defined; beautiful silhouettes that leave the true form to limitless imagination; there is a pleasant sense of anticipation that wells up deep inside about what is going to unfold next - a mercurial lake, a shimmering stream, a rustic wooden bridge, an owl, the simple, clean lines of a tall tree; every thought is laced with wonderment, with awe, about the inexplicable beauty of things.
I was listening to some good music and my mind was filled with a kind of peace that made me involuntarily inhale deeply; I could feel a wave of relaxation start at the core of my body and radiate outward to the very pores of my skin, ending in a contended laugh that convinced the lady next to me that I was, absolutely crazy.
A different kind of faith; a deep faith in the enduring beauty of Nature, in the ability of the odd human mind to allow her to enchant and hold sway.
I had gone to Sringeri and there is this belief that doing a Puja at a temple near Sringeri, called Kigga, will bring rain to the place which was invoked in the puja. Balderdash, says my mind on one side. On the other side, I am absolutely baffled by educated people who have such a strong belief in this whole phenomenon that they regularly do the puja, every year. Including my parents!! There is so much faith, that the poor isolated process of the annual South West Monsoon is not given its due credit.
When I was younger, I had accepted all this without saying anything, without allowing my mind to have the slightest doubt. I am different now, after 2 years trying to be critical about things around me. Maybe this trait of mine is an occupational hazard that my parents did not quite bargain for! But I love the level of understanding they have; mom quite simply said, "faith is something that cannot be forced, it will happen naturally if it has to".
Completely 'antonym' to all this is the feeling I had on the bus back.
It was a Volvo with its characteristic high windows, through which you can look up at the sky. A silvery orb of a moon suspended dreamily in a cloudless sky, just above the tree line of the Agumbe ghat. As the bus wound around hairpin bends, the moon swam in and out of my field of vision with a periodicity that was mesmerising to say the least.
The world is so different at night; silvery streaks of moonlight fill the earth with a mysterious enchantment, "felt in the blood and felt along the heart" as Wordsworth would say. Everything looks surreal; everything on grayscale; nothing is clearly defined; beautiful silhouettes that leave the true form to limitless imagination; there is a pleasant sense of anticipation that wells up deep inside about what is going to unfold next - a mercurial lake, a shimmering stream, a rustic wooden bridge, an owl, the simple, clean lines of a tall tree; every thought is laced with wonderment, with awe, about the inexplicable beauty of things.
I was listening to some good music and my mind was filled with a kind of peace that made me involuntarily inhale deeply; I could feel a wave of relaxation start at the core of my body and radiate outward to the very pores of my skin, ending in a contended laugh that convinced the lady next to me that I was, absolutely crazy.
A different kind of faith; a deep faith in the enduring beauty of Nature, in the ability of the odd human mind to allow her to enchant and hold sway.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Chance encounters of a travel kind!
In this book called Celestine Prophecy, the author floats the idea that if two people have a chance encounter, it may not just be by chance, it could mean that they have “unfinished business”. If they keep meeting, it means they have not finished off that unfinished business! I find that idea very intriguing.
Have you not had these strong feelings, these déjà vus about people you meet while travelling? In Bombay on local trains I have had the most interesting conversations with random people I met, and connected with, during the span of 45 mins.
A hijra who happened to be Tamilian – we had a deep conversation about society and she shared with me all the hardships she has to face. We were the center of attraction for the whole compartment. Nobody else would even let the hijra sit next to them, that’s why she landed up sitting with me! Many middle aged working women about whom I ended up knowing more than about some of my aunts. Many fellow college goers (well I was younger at one point in time) with whom I have spoken about everything from fashion (!!) to how our respective colleges were. It was fun.
Of late I have not done it that much, simply because I am hardly alone! I am always with someone. Which is also nice, but I sometimes miss travelling alone. It is so great just watching small details about people - and letting your mind take its course and wonder about what gave rise to a particular change in expression, or who was behind a smile soft as a white cloud.
Have you not had these strong feelings, these déjà vus about people you meet while travelling? In Bombay on local trains I have had the most interesting conversations with random people I met, and connected with, during the span of 45 mins.
A hijra who happened to be Tamilian – we had a deep conversation about society and she shared with me all the hardships she has to face. We were the center of attraction for the whole compartment. Nobody else would even let the hijra sit next to them, that’s why she landed up sitting with me! Many middle aged working women about whom I ended up knowing more than about some of my aunts. Many fellow college goers (well I was younger at one point in time) with whom I have spoken about everything from fashion (!!) to how our respective colleges were. It was fun.
Of late I have not done it that much, simply because I am hardly alone! I am always with someone. Which is also nice, but I sometimes miss travelling alone. It is so great just watching small details about people - and letting your mind take its course and wonder about what gave rise to a particular change in expression, or who was behind a smile soft as a white cloud.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tick tock, tick tock...
This is the clock I got for my parents for their 25th wedding anniversary. A really rare antique piece, which I thought deserved a write up. I love the finish - the bronzed gear mechanism, roman numerals, the pendulum, the polished wooden base - the whole piece is just so very classy!
Look at the side view – you can see the ‘gong'. The sound it makes is really nice and pleasing to the ear – kind of a chime, not loud at all. Which is really good, because my home is so quiet that the slightest sound can shake my parents awake. Or worse still the dogs, who could create a mayhem!
The way the clock works is interesting. No key (and obviously no battery). You see the chain with a weight dangling at the end, just in front of the pendulum? It’s a one kg weight that starts off with being suspended close to the gears on the face of the clock. The weight takes about a week to descend slowly to near the floor. You ‘rewind’ the clock by pulling the chain up and resuspending the weight in zero position!
Isnt it lovely?
One's home...
... is like a delicious piece of pie you order in a restaurant on a country road one cozy evening - the best piece of pie you have ever eaten in your life - and can never find again.
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Hinduism
I continued reading the book, because (surprisingly) I found it very interesting. Many of us find it convenient to rubbish Hinduism as a whole without knowing enough about it. I think we should equip ourselves with enough knowledge before coming to a conclusion.
Firstly, it was more a way of life than a religion. Secondly, this 'religion' has no name! In early days, it was the only religion here in India. Everyone followed it right? So there was no need for a name. When the first ‘invaders’ came in, they came over the Sind river; so the country became Ind-ia, and the religion Indians followed, ‘Indi-ism’ which became ‘Hinduism’. This was the fact that bowled me over and made me continue reading.
Society at that point consisted of people who could be grouped into (the now famous) four groups – Brahmins who studied the Vedas and Upanishads and conducted pujas; Kshatriyas who went to war, Vaishyas who were traders; and Shudras, who did all kinds of community services. The kind of group a person belonged to was NOT determined by birth - it was determined by their interest. At no point do the Vedas, Upanishads or anything else mention which group was greater; there is no hierarchy mentioned anywhere. In early gurukulas, children learned things according to their liking – the Vedas and Upanishads, or archery, or trading principles – and NOT according to their birth.
But what has happened today? Over the years, the true meaning of Hinduism has been modified to such an extent that what remains is a strife ridden admixture of belief in the wrong ideals and false hierarchies. A sad state indeed.
Because when the concept of this no-name religion took birth, an intrinsic character of the religion was its openness and its malleability. The various principles of Hinduism are always open to debate. In fact, the Upanishads are presented in the form of debates. The idea is that people read extensively, then debate about what they have read, and then are free to believe what they want to believe! So, you can be an agnostic and still be a Hindu! I think this is a great idea. The very same traits have allowed it to be wrongly interpreted. It seems that in Sanskrit, many words have multiple meanings. This has been an important reason for wrong interpretations. But, I still find the idea of Shiva and Parvati canoodling in Mount Kailash a little ridiculous. But why rubbish the religion and its underlying, very flexible principles?
I feel the reason why some people are ‘religious’ is threefold – one, if they blindly follow their elders; second, if they don’t have enough belief in themselves or if their circumstances are so bad that they need some straw to clutch. Third, if they have reached a stage in their life when there is nothing more that is new, they want to occupy their minds with something that allows them to set goals and work towards them.
My parents belong to the third category. Rather than judging them for being religious, I appreciate the fact that they are engaged in an attempt to improve their minds with the challenge of understanding the fundamentals of their religion after digging deep, instead of taking things at face value. And, I must mention, I appreciate them for not forcing me into any of this, and letting me be. All this I read up of my own accord, not because they asked me to! I asked a question and was given suitable books to read. I really, really appreciate that.
Firstly, it was more a way of life than a religion. Secondly, this 'religion' has no name! In early days, it was the only religion here in India. Everyone followed it right? So there was no need for a name. When the first ‘invaders’ came in, they came over the Sind river; so the country became Ind-ia, and the religion Indians followed, ‘Indi-ism’ which became ‘Hinduism’. This was the fact that bowled me over and made me continue reading.
Society at that point consisted of people who could be grouped into (the now famous) four groups – Brahmins who studied the Vedas and Upanishads and conducted pujas; Kshatriyas who went to war, Vaishyas who were traders; and Shudras, who did all kinds of community services. The kind of group a person belonged to was NOT determined by birth - it was determined by their interest. At no point do the Vedas, Upanishads or anything else mention which group was greater; there is no hierarchy mentioned anywhere. In early gurukulas, children learned things according to their liking – the Vedas and Upanishads, or archery, or trading principles – and NOT according to their birth.
But what has happened today? Over the years, the true meaning of Hinduism has been modified to such an extent that what remains is a strife ridden admixture of belief in the wrong ideals and false hierarchies. A sad state indeed.
Because when the concept of this no-name religion took birth, an intrinsic character of the religion was its openness and its malleability. The various principles of Hinduism are always open to debate. In fact, the Upanishads are presented in the form of debates. The idea is that people read extensively, then debate about what they have read, and then are free to believe what they want to believe! So, you can be an agnostic and still be a Hindu! I think this is a great idea. The very same traits have allowed it to be wrongly interpreted. It seems that in Sanskrit, many words have multiple meanings. This has been an important reason for wrong interpretations. But, I still find the idea of Shiva and Parvati canoodling in Mount Kailash a little ridiculous. But why rubbish the religion and its underlying, very flexible principles?
I feel the reason why some people are ‘religious’ is threefold – one, if they blindly follow their elders; second, if they don’t have enough belief in themselves or if their circumstances are so bad that they need some straw to clutch. Third, if they have reached a stage in their life when there is nothing more that is new, they want to occupy their minds with something that allows them to set goals and work towards them.
My parents belong to the third category. Rather than judging them for being religious, I appreciate the fact that they are engaged in an attempt to improve their minds with the challenge of understanding the fundamentals of their religion after digging deep, instead of taking things at face value. And, I must mention, I appreciate them for not forcing me into any of this, and letting me be. All this I read up of my own accord, not because they asked me to! I asked a question and was given suitable books to read. I really, really appreciate that.
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