It's A Small World

This is a fact superior to the technological advancements mankind speaks of. Today in the name of progress and evolution we have let inanimate and insensitive ‘things’ rule our world. And somehow they have started defining our existence; we have reached a no turn back point where we cannot do without what we call ‘gadgets’. Life is now easy and complicated at the same time, a tangled state of affairs. And only our gadgets can help us.

When it comes to gadgets everyone wants to own the best of them, but to be the best without them? A handful maybe! Gadgets reflect our personality they say, nothing is more true. But to prove that we need not have to cross our limits of liking and abilities and own them. Sadly many of us do that, we rush and buy the ‘IN THING’.I confess I have done that with mobile phones and after a month or so I have felt like changing them for no reason at all. Though late but for good I have realized that there is much more in calling a gadget life defining.I am writing here about mine.

When I think of gadgets which have made me feel ‘Change Is Easy’, the only thing which flashes before my eye currently is the MICROSCOPE.I know this may sound a bit eccentric. I could have ranted here about my watch, mobile phone, laptop, television, refrigerator, washing machine, toaster, iron box and whatever the rest of the world can come up with. These gadgets have of course made my daily living easy like the rest of yours, but what makes the microscope more special in my life is that I am a budding Microbiologist and that is why the obvious choice.

You see, I see life with the microscope. Tiny cells and organisms in all shapes, sizes and colors greet me all day. Sometimes they are too difficult to identify and we in the laboratory cannot diagnose what the patient might be suffering from. They are the best at mutations and variations; trust me when I say they are wittier than us humans. And all we do is speak of change and gadgets! I sometimes wonder how do they manage to live and in fact flourish without any of them, or maybe we should learn something.

These days I am spending a lot of my time with the microscope; this is one gadget which I cannot imagine myself without in the years to come. It has brought me closer to life, quite literally. My world has now started living under it. I call everything I see through it as frenemies actually, they look very beautiful but at times they can be a pain in the eye, I mean it. I must say that I am learning to focus the right thing in the right light, in life as well.I now can observe more than I can see.I now can face the minutest but toughest of all challenges.I now can understand that the most little things in this world are the most strongest.For many reasons else what makes me what I am and what I can be is only the MICROSCOPE.My heart feels for it and the rest is just secondary;-)

"Nothing inspires the caterpillar to turn into a butterfly but itself.

The best change is from within,change is easy only if you make it" 

PS:This post is written as a part of Change Is Easy Contest by Indiblogger and Dell India

-R.

A Bumpy Ride

An awful experience made me write this today,'The Universal Theories Of Auto Rickshaw Drivers'.It does sound pretty generalized and insane but that is the way how things are no matter where you live.If you relate to this do share your theories here,let the world know:-)

1.The Meter Down Theory-The Black Box staring at you in the left corner,it either runs faster than the auto or never runs at all.So please pay the roundabout.

2.The One And Half Theory-Before six in the morning and after ten at night these fellows are the best in their business,please note the timings may vary but the charges will not.

3.The Cut A Short Road Long Theory-Somehow these fellows will end up convincing you that they are on the shortest route,so be ready to be taken for a ride.

4.The Sorry No Change Theory-Mind you these are no chillar party,do keep enough in your pocket. 

5.The I Know You Are A Traveller Theory-They have a wonderful knack of identifying you if you are new to the town,so before you reciprocate to their cordiality and make a fool of yourself think twice about boarding one. 

6.The My Radio Your Call Theory-If you have not heard the latest and wackiest song take an auto and hear the man in front of you on the driver seat sing in sync.Do not forget not to make a call because he is never going to reduce both the volume,believe me.

7.The Sound Not So Sweet Theory-There is no better teacher to teach you the local lingo,you can call them a speeding dictionary of swear words for no hump or pothole can stop them.

8.The I Ride A Plane Theory-Many of them believe in this strongly,the sky is clear and the road is clearer is their idea.

Well I feel sorry for the odd decent ones here and there amongst these fellows,this post is definitely not targetted at them.The problem is there is too much bad to hide the little good,everything else thus goes unnoticed and uncared for.Wonder where these rickshaws or today's world is heading to,what say?Any idea?:-)

PS:I wish his bed catches fire.

-R.

In The Desert Of Dissertation

I am planning to write a book titled 'Know All About Your Thesis Before You Begin It'.The abstract of this book is here in fact form.Any takers feel free to contact me, the consequences of the advice however solely rest on the reader and his material, methods and applications.Do not blame the author for any  unavoidable troubles or undesirable results or for she is already getting ready to face her own.

Fact#1: Choosing your thesis topic is like choosing the best fruit from the basket, you do not know what it is like until you eat it.

Fact#2: The Guide is the God, bow down to him everyday.

Fact#3: Expenses are entirely personal, no reimbursements are to be expected.

Fact#4: References are life jackets, it is just that you do not find them when you need one.

Fact#5: No thesis is approved without modifications.

Fact#6: Thesis=Life, and the rest=Death.

Fact#7: There are high chances of your thesis turning outdated the next moment you are done with it, well before you reach the cloud nine.

Fact#8: The world gives you infinite things to work on, you can always begin all over again!

Other important facts of grave concern will be addressed in the sequel of the book which I plan to write during the process of my thesis work if I find time, by the way I will be working on 'High Level Aminoglycoside And Vancomycin Resistance In Enterococci With Gene Detection' for three years and before anyone faints hearing the title or thinks of asking me what it is all about let me tell you something, I am as clueless and dumbstruck as you!.Hope I do not end up like this...

 -R.

Outside My Nest

Outside my room this is what greets me everyday.I find this view extremely serene yet energetic.The lush green coconut trees swaying with the winds and dancing to the tunes of rain,the countless number of  birds which come flying over the roof to pester me and that tiny building far away are a few things which interest me.I wonder about the people who live there.I wonder if their routine is like mine.I wonder if they are thinking about me just like I do about them sometimes.

Mangalore is a strange place, firstly the Kannada which I find totally perfect and entertaining.I am learning to speak like the people here, somehow this comes naturally to me! Then there is the inseparable umbrella, a Mangalorean's best friend.Lastly the speed with which things work here, even the tortoises will think twice before participating in a race with them.I am slowing down to get in pace with the folks here! Though I must say that I have not found an another town with such simple living but high thinking.Silent and resilient, not to forget that it is famous for all reasons.

Being here right now is kind of making me realize the sweetness and importance of my roots.The feeling of 'this is where I belong' is all the more good, very strange though for someone who has never been brought up here.I am loving this place and will so forever.So what say Mangaloreans all over the world,do you too?:-)

Pa

"I thank you Pa for what you feel for me is nothing but true

There can be nobody who can love me more than you do"

'Happy Father's Day' 

He is a difficult person to photograph,somehow managed a faint smile here in this one.This day is meant for him for my every day finds a new meaning because of him.But there is little that I can give him back right now because he stays in another town,thanks to his work.The nice but weird part is that he does not mind it.I am eagerly waiting to meet him this August.Today when I called him up to wish,the joy in his voice was enough to make my day when he said 'What all do you remember!Thank You Magale'.And then he adds on 'Are you studying or whiling away your time!'.That is how all fathers are,maybe.I will always love him for that:-)

Ice Cream For Life

Mangalore is giving me a heavy dose of the coastal weather as I had expected. The sweating heat of summer and the wetting hammer of monsoon in transition. Everything is in its extremes in this place, literally everything! The very thought of spending three years of my life  seemed to suck every colour out of my life until I came across something which I have come to believe is one of the most colourful things of this world.

Looks tempting and delicious, isn’t it? Believe me when I say this is equal to a tummy filling meal. A tall glass of  God-knows-how-many-flavors of ice cream scoops with slices of banana, apple and pineapple, chunks of dry fruits and nuts, a layer of jelly to dance on your tongue and a few tutti-frutti here and there to make you smile while you relish. This combination is popularly known as GADBAD, an exclusive delicacy of the ice cream parlours of this town.

Now this is something which I can never imagine to go colourless. All of us love ice cream, don’t we? If you don’t, well do try this out. I am sure you will fall for this one.What makes GADBAD one of its kind despite its ingredients being very simple is the pure pleasure of digging the glass with a long spoon and letting that big bite melt in your mouth.Aah, the feeling is priceless!

There is more to why I choose to write about this amongst the many bright and brilliant things that I know of. I feel GADBAD is very synonymous with life, the name as well as the content.Colours are filled up to the brim and spill down the sides of the glass. There is everything that I ask and do not ask for, things that can cheer me up like the raspberry jelly and things that I personally detest like the bananas. And very surprisingly I do not notice that I am eating them together! By the way a cautionary advice to those trying this out, only one person can finish a serving unless the other who has accompanied you has not ordered one! So if you decide to eat one, it is a tough but a nice commitment. Isn’t this so much like life? If we have enough things that can keep us happy any trouble will seem trivial. There are a hundred hues and shades within and around us but in the end what matters is the colours that we choose for ourselves. Nobody else will and nobody else can!

A word of thought who think otherwise, are not black and white colours? Isn’t a full moon in the darkest of nights one of the most beautiful things to see? According to me there is nothing called colourless, not even transparent. Colours are more a matter of perception and appreciation. To let our life fly in colours we first have to paint our hearts and then the world with every colour possible.Because each colour has a beautiful story and with GADBAD I relate to an epic called life, the only thing which I wish to see and make colourful.

You see, Ice cream [scream] for life;-) 

To know more about GADBAD visit:

• Ideal Ice Cream
• An Ice Cream Called 'Gadbad'!-Upper Crust India

PS: This post is written as a part of Take Flight With Colour by Indiblogger & HP.

From The The World Of Microbes

I know this blog has been in the stationary phase since the last few days, courtesy my post graduation course in Microbiology.And by the way microbes are now my frenemies!I must say that life has now turned quite colorful with culture medias,test tubes,reactions,reagents,antibiotic sensitivity,streaking,inoculation, identification,incubators, slides and the microscope.There is lots of learning to do and three years for this course is seeming too little to me.I never had thought that I would end up being a Microbiologist for all my life!The feeling is sinking in slowly.I am liking it.

This means blogging will be given less attention for obvious reasons and unavoidable circumstances:-(But I will make sure that I will hop in here whenever possible during my free time for this place is very special and so are you,the ones reading this.A confession of sorts,I missed you very much all these days and that is why I am back here blabbering.So what are you upto my dear ones?:-)