The definitive guide to things I think about

I was going to write a blog about the rain but then something far more interesting happened. Or not, depending on how you look at it. An ant walked across my laptop screen. It started at the bottom and made its way north. Big deal, except that as it reached the dark frame of the laptop screen it seemed to disappear. I didn’t think too much about it at first and continued filling the page with lines of ‘asdf asdf asdf’ which is what I do when I have starting problems with anything I write. But then it happened again. This time it came from the east end of the screen, suddenly materializing like it had been beamed into this world by two mischievous 10-year-olds in a passing spaceship. It crawled southwards and vanished as it reached the bottom part of the frame right above the DELL logo. Five seconds later it reappeared on the top-right corner and made a diagonal path towards the bottom left, walking with dogged (or anted?) determination. Midway it changed its mind and headed east, doing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odsuv8x67dk&feature=player_embedded

This is going to be a long long story, so be prepared. It started seven years ago. 2003 was as good a year as any I suppose. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I was about to end my tryst with college and having got that speed-bump out of my way I drifted into a period of restlessness. I wanted merrymaking and lawlessness and in that spirit I boarded a train to Goa. Two days later I was sitting on the balcony of a crudely-made shack on Palolem beach sipping port wine, kissing the breeze, and watching the sun die. The adventures that followed form the substance of another story which I will tell in the due course of time, but suffice to say that the memory of that beautiful evening lingered in some dark crevice of my mind until very recently. A couple of months ago, wife and I decided to do Goa one more time this year. And yes, it is possible to do Goa – if you have been there recently and seen plastic bottles on the beach you will know what I mean. So anyway, wanting ...

This one's a no-brainer. You have the shadowy, presumably profit-hungry, conglomerate. I am imagining people in dark suits sipping scotch in a golf-course-sized boardroom. Then you have the myopic government bureaucrats who are hand-in-glove with the men in the dark suits. And finally, you have the underdog - a few lonely crusaders who have nothing but conviction and placards on their side. Who do you pick? Common sense and Hollywood dictate that the lonely crusaders are right. The suits and the bureaucrats are wrong. But in any case, since the suits are in power the thing of destruction will be unleashed. People will turn into zombies, bats will turn vicious, grasshoppers will turn carnivorous, etc. The problem of course is that this time it is for real. And the thing of destruction (possibly) is a mutant vegetable. So what is so scary about BT Brinjal? To me a brinjal by itself is scary enough. A brinjal modified to include a toxin gene from a soil bacteria called Bacillus Thuri...

Not that it was the defining moment of our anniversary. In fact, to be perfectly honest, it wasn’t even our anniversary really. It was the weekend before. I ended up having it quite by accident, huffing and puffing, while my wife watched in silent disgust. She is an animal lover you see. Now, I hope you don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t like sheep with lipstick. Allow me to explain. January 28 is a day that I am not likely to forget, or be allowed to, for all the years to come. This year Suchita and I decided that since we were most likely to spend the big day at work, we should pre-pone the celebration by a few days. So off we went, husband and wife, in a little blue car, to Aromas of China. There is one thing I feel duty-bound to say about Aromas of China. This Chinese restaurant in City Center has never failed us. There is always a place for two, and we always come out feeling fat and happy. The quality of any dish served is exactly proportional to the strangeness of its name. And i...

So here I am finally. I am not sure what to do with this blog but I guess I will learn soon enough. The first question anyone reading this blog will probably ask (if such a creature ever exists), is why now? The only answer to that is another question - why not? Now is as good a time as any. Better late than never as the Income Tax department says. Besides, as has been pointed out innumerable times by friends and wives, I have an exceedingly weak memory and a blog presents a fascinating opportunity to document my life and times, making a record of everything and providing alibis when needed. Also, it makes it easy for me to track my own opinions on issues as and when they change (the opinion as well as the issues on which they are based). But enough said. What is a good word count limit for a first blog? 176 seems to be as good a number as any so I will stick with it. Until next time.