The eye of the sun...

Whats the common between archimedes, tintin and me?
.
.
(here's a hint...)


If you still didn't get it,,,then go ahead and read the story!

Dateline - Summer 2001
Place - Hyderabad (School 10th class)

In school we had something called a Geo-Map quiz, where we were given detailed maps and had to find things and answer some questions using the maps..An interesting (and famous) quiz, i enrolled.. Pre-requisites - A pencil, rubber, scale and a magnifying glass!
So,, i bought a small magnifying glass(wanted a big one, but didnt have enough money), wrote the test and came back.. But now i had a magnifying glass,, and nothing to do with it..After the general time pass with it (looking at peoples writing, window sills, dust particles, little insects, people's ears etc...).. I had nothing to do with it..

I wasn't willing to believe that my new toy had lived its life.. Then, I remembered that I read somewhere that we can burn things using the glass..Never seen it, so i obviously, i had to test the claim!!

During one lunch break, i sat in class trying to figure out how..Focusing the light to get a single spot, was the general idea.. To test if that was actually and good ,,i focused sunlight on my hand! If it makes me jump,,then thats the way to go! Needless to say, after a couple of attempts, i was jumping around class holding my hand... 5 minutes later, back to business...Tore a paper from the book, focused sunlight, and waited (me watching closely).. and waited..and waited (classmates getting curious as to what i was doing)... and waited(thinking what i'm doing wrong).. and waited( getting irritated)..and waited(started loosing focus, looking here and there..) ...A couple minutes later,, i just left it..Nothing seemed to happen!! The paper just seemed warm at the place that i was focussing on for the last 10 min..A few seconds later,,even that went back to normal... Lunch break over - Experiment failed....
Outcome

1. success - 10% - (would've been zero,, but i atleast burned my hand.)
2. interest of friends aroused..Ideas started coming in!
   

Next day, some class, teacher not come yet.. There was time to kill, so out came the glass.. Friends around me, who were bored too, now had something to do!! 5 (unsuccessful) minutes later, people lost interest... I knew i was doing something wrong... So, taking ideas from friends(gillu, makhi and sriram),, i changed the paper to an old newspaper, tried burning an edge instead of the center and kept my hand as still as i could... And just when i was about to lose hope,, a faint line of gray, seemed to appear in front of me for an instant.. I was doubtful of what i saw, but i tried again anyway.. This time,, i had a nice and clear line of smoke coming off the paper!! Mission Success!

The following lunch, a burning session was in order! papers were burned, benches were burned, water on the bench, caused bubbles to be created from inside the water! The following few days, my mark was created on the table i sat, and on my seat in the bus.. With my name engraved, eternally by the heavenly flames, no one could contest the seat!! :)
Whenever we had free time in class,, some talked, some read, some slept.. i burnt !!

Coming back to the question, what is common Archimedes and me? He used the sun to fight of romans,, i used the sun to fight of boredom!
(what i fought was the more eternal of the two!)

2nd question...
Whats common between tintin and me???
For this, we go back to 10th class,, to the class of the great teacher, who's the reason i got into the habit of sleeping in class...Satya maam, social studies (history, civics).. The slooooooow speed of talking, reinforced by the multiple repetitions and a few boring history chapters, was as strong as any sleeping pill you'll ever pop!!
With lots of time to kill in her class, magnifying glass came to the rescue again! I used to sit beside the window and burn stuff while she was teaching.. One class, i was playing around with the glass, focussing and things on the bench, and she calls my name.. I look up,,and keep a straight face,, she continues... No more burning for this class,, i thought..Just then,
makhi ( sitting to left) whispers : " abe, stop burning things !
me: "i'm not burning anything!!"
makhi(abt 10 seconds later): "Abe, stop burning things in class!! I have asthma, i can't breathe with it.."
me: "I'm not burning anything!!"
About 10 seconds after that,,i felt something piercing my leg,,startled,, i jumped.. After the giggles in class subsided, i tried to figure out what happened... There was a nice royal hole, straight through my pants!! What felt like a needle,, was actually the sunlight that burnt through my pant !!! Only then, did i realise that my hand was on the window-sil, and the magnifying glass was hanging in a way as to focus light on me!! Makhi was not wrong after all !! If only i had listened to him,, i would'nt have had to wear those air-conditioned pants for the rest of the year!!
The light made a clear hole, unlike any scissors or worn out stuff i've seen.. This was a very nice, clean and precise hole! I almost patted my back for it ! And then, for the rest of the year tried explaining people why i have a black colored hole, in my gray pant !

So whats the difference between Tintin and me ??
Tintin (in The prisoners of the sun) knew he might get burnt...But he escaped the power of the glass,,and lived to tell the tale...
Me : I didnt think i could,, but got burned by the sun,, and still live to tell the tale!!


Pointers for those who wanna try-
1. The bigger, the better! (magnifying glass,,i meant)
2. Use old newspapers/recycled paper..Burns much more easily
3. Burn paper at the edges
4. Burning ease : Rexine> unpolished wood > new paper > notebook paper
A steady hand ,,focusing on the same point for a min is enough in any conditions to burn some paper!!

Excellent !! Keep it up!!

As far as i can remember, I've been always been drawn to sports and games. To this day, I never miss a chance to go out and play. Maybe its the love for outdoors, maybe its the feeling that i always want to be active, maybe its the love for the game, or maybe its plain instinctive competitiveness. Different reasons for different times. I've also won lots of prizes in sports, in fact, most of my prizes are sports related..But there's one that I'll always remember,,for the prize, for the aftermath, and for what it taught me....

Timeline--> Jan 1994
Place --> Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi
Event --> All Delhi roller skating championship

If you read carefully, you must be thinking that i got the date wrong... If i were you, maybe i would think so too.. But few people around me know, that one of the first things i learnt to do in life was skating. (The second thing was chess, which took me places!!).

I learnt to skate when i was 4-5 yrs old. It must have been a very funny sight, to see me walking around on skates way back then..I was stick thin, and used to walking around with those big skates on my legs everyday after school. I weighed a bit more than a feather,they must've been as heavy as me!! Soon i got pretty good at it.. The meek, puny little silent boy in school, used to turn into a rowdy with the skates on.. There were even incidents when i whacked a few people who irritated me while we were skating...The moment i put my skates on, i was ready to fly..Nothing could stop me, cos to stop me, they first had to catch me!!! My skating sir realised this, and soon i was going to skating competitions...

And so, we reached Talkatora stadium.. It is this huge place in Delhi where the National games (or maybe asian games) took place a few years ago..I'm not sure, but basically, it was this HUGE place with sports facilities of all kinds.. But those two days, it was all about roller skating..There was figure skating, couple skating, roller hockey, and the most anticipated event, speed skating!!

I was 6 yrs old (in 2nd class) and was taking part in the under-8 category. Most of the people who came there (including the kids of my age) came with coaches, and all fancy imported shoe skates, with flashy skating gear and helmets and elbow pads..It was all that a little kid could dream of! Though, inline skates weren't popular back then, so it was all normal flat skates...On the other hand, i was in my normal skates (the extendable types, into which you put in your shoe and tie it)...I went there with my grandfather, and was the only person who didnt have a coach around! It got me all nervous for the whole thing, thinking about all the fancy stuff they had!!

On the first day, were the heats. The qualifying rounds for the competition. In both the heats, i did very well, and qualified without any trouble. The next day, we went back, and the morning round was also not much of a problem. I had already reached the finals!!!

Between all this, were the other competitions of figure skating and stuff which were very nice to watch! But then, i was never really the graceful type, so i sucked at it..I still cant dance if my life depended on it!! Then came the roller hockey....That day, i saw this guy from my school break 6 hockey sticks in one game!!!!! This show of violence led to hockey being the only game I've never tried, and never wanted to try!!! The game is tooo bloody dangerous!! you have mad people wielding sticks and whacking the ball all over the place with nothing even close to any safety equipment! As if its not bad enough that you can get whacked by a ball,,people can even break a stick on your head!! After the violence, came the speed skating events of the 'big' kids. It was very exciting to watch, with the skaters zooming around the track, almost in formation(the competition was so close), and the screech of skates at every turn.. All you could see were flashes of fluorescent whizzing by!(Strangely, most of the skaters used to wear bright coloured slacks while skating!! maybe it is so that the shorts don't rub against each other slowing them down.)..In short, a treat to watch!

Then came the finals. My race started, it was 10 (or 15 laps, i don't remember exactly). I started of decently, with only 2 guys ahead of me. Over the next 2-3 laps, i overtook them. Soon, i was leading the pack and gaining! I was getting all happy that i might actually win this!! There were 1 left, and i almost had 3/4th lap lead. I was pretty sure i would win this and started enjoying the cheering of people around. But just then, my right skate opened up!! The nut which holds the skate in size had gotten loose, and the skate expanded. The front part of the skate came off my leg!! I was left there, dragging the skate on my strong leg, and pushing along on the one skate that i had...Halfway through the final lap, i was overtaken. When i was about 10 feet from the finish line, i was overtaken again...It took all my effort to get to the finish line before loosing even 3rd place...I finally came in 3rd..And there would never have been an unhappier kid who came 3rd in an all-Delhi championship..I couldn't believe i had lost..Despite clearly being the best, i lost, just because i didn't have the fancy shoe skates that the others had!!

After the race, my grandfather and my skating sir congratulated me and then tried to console me. During the prize distribution, i stood there, smiling cos of the attention i was getting, but sad cos i lost. But when the chief guest gave me the prize, he said "You'll win next time. Best of luck!". That made me feel much better, that even the chief guest thought i should've won. Looking back, I'm pretty sure he said it to everyone who didn't win! But then, thats the beauty of innocence of a kid!! I got this BIG medal!! This was an actual medal. It was very heavy, seemed like it was made of proper bronze. It had Delhi roller skating inscribed on it, and to date, it still looks as good as it did the day i got it.

But then,,,there is one thing, that made this day, a day that i will never ever forget....
On my way back home my grandfather bought something nice to eat for me. And I came home, proudly showing off my first big prize to everyone! Everyone was very excited about it. Then i went to and showed it to my dad. He was under heavy cancer treatment, he was very very weak, bedridden and couldn't even talk. But when i showed him the medal, his face lit up, he smiled, picked up a paper and pen that was beside him, and on it, he wrote in capitals, (in huge letters, filling up the whole page)

"EXCELLENT!! KEEP IT UP!!"

A few days after that day, he passed away. Its been 15 years, and this was pretty much the last thing i remember him saying to me. The memory of the great man saying those words to me, is still crystal clear in my mind....I try to live up to it, in whatever i do....
He will never be forgotten....

"Overcome your sorrow,
Never forget to follow your dream to gain the smile that comes with victory..."
- Seishi Kishimoto

Adventures of .....Goa!!

With christmas around the corner, i thought i might as well right a post about the best place in India to be for Christmas,,,,yes,,,it is obviously,,Goa...Now everyone will talk lengths about how nice the place is, and the awesome beaches, and the natural beauty ( and of other types too... :D)..The ultra-bindaas atmosphere, adventure sports and cheap daaru make it one of the best places in India for a holiday. Christmas time makes it better, cos Goa celebrates Christmas on quite a large scale. And if not anything else, the place acts as an escape from the chills of North Indian Winters...

As you would've made out,,even i love the place.. But everyone knows how awesome a place for a Vacation Goa is and all. So i wont go there. This post about the adventures we had, when i went to Goa as a kid..Here's the story...

Dateline--> December 95 (Christmas/New Year time)
Place--> Goa

We made a family trip(Mom, sis and me) to Goa from Delhi. We had relatives there, so we planned to spend the week or so at their place. We were very excited, cos we ended up in Goa for christmas, and we would get to see some full scale christmas celebrations. Not the way they were in Delhi where in some place there would be a lone santa standing in the middle of some store. This time, there would be proper celebrations!!

The vacation was going like any other goa trip that you would expect, (keep in mind, we were kids, so no big adventure sports or daru). But still,,being Goa,, it was loads of fun. Christmas in Goa is an event i still remember! The vacation was coming to an end. We were to leave from Goa on 2nd January, by the train which left at around 6 in the evening. At this point, my mom got a great idea. She had a old friend of hers in Karwar. Karwar is place in Karnataka near the Karnataka-Goa border. After some quick verification, we found out that the place is about 3-4 hrs by bus. So the plan was made, and we decided that we'll all go visit this old friend. It would be easy, take abus from Goa at 6, reach karwar by 9 or 10, spend 2-3 hrs, and take the bus back, to reach back to the Goa station easily by 4-4:30 leaving an hr in hand as buffer. It was the perfect plan for optimum utilisation of time!! If only the world was so perfect......

Come Jan 2nd, we were all packed and ready before time, and caught the 6:30AM bus. Off we went across the western ghats, enjoying the great view along the way. The bus was nice, the journey was good, wether was pleasant, in short, everything was perfect. We reached Karwar a bit late, around 10:30. No problem, we would spend a bit less time there,,we thought. But to our surprise, my mom's friend, was waiting at the bus stand! After we got off, she found out what our plan for the day was, and when we were to return. When she got to know of our train from 'Londa'(place in goa, where our train was departing from), she got all worried, and said we might not make it back to the train in time!!!!

A rough knowledge of Goan geography is required here to understand the scenario here. Goa lies between the western ghats and the sea, and has a bunch of islands formed by many rivers flowing there, like Zuari and Mandovi. Because of the geography, the reach of railways is very limited, and even the capital(Panjim) has no railway station. Even the capital, Panjim, the capital, is an island. The place where we started, Panjim(West Goa), was not anywhere near where we had to board the train. Londa(Railway station) is at the East end of Goa. Refer to the Map.

Coming back, when we set out, we thought, that the station must be close to panaji somewhere, so we calculated the same amount of time to return. Little did we know that they'll be at different ends of the state!! And whats more, if u noticed in the map, unlike the Panjim-Karwar stretch, which is a National Highway, there is no direct road from Karwar to Londa!! This valuable knowledge,,like in most cases with me, we learnt the hard way!!

Puzzled at the whole scenario, we asked a few people around to confirm, all of them looked at us like mad ppl when we said we needed to be at Londa by the evening!! Then we asked around for the next bus to Londa,,THERE WAS NONE!!! We didnt even leave the Bus stand, we bade goodbye to mom's friend and hurriedly got on to the next bus which was going in the general direction of Londa.

After the bus ride in the rickety bus, we got off at this small town.It was already 3PM. This place didn't seem to have a decent bus stand, atleast, there werent more than 2-3 buses standing there, none of them in a hurry to move..With 3 hrs left for the train, we weren't gonna sit around waiting anywhere..We set out to look for other means of transport.

Some distance away, we came across someone shouting out that they're going to Londa. Slightly relieved, we went along with him. He took us some distnace, and pointed out to a bus. As we were getting in, he said, that that wasnt it,,it was the vehicle beside. But at first sight we saw none! When we went around the bus, we realised this royal means of transport was an old Tempo!!! The kinds they used to show in movies, IN THE 70's!!!

So we got in, only to see that the tempo was almost full, and only the front seat was empty. There was a lot of stinking fish in the last seat, and a few people sitting in the middle one. " Beggars can't be choosers", as the saying goes, and so we decided to go anyways! Soon after, i was sitting on an elevated block between the driver and the front seat. Soon after, i realised, that it was just above the radiator, with only a one of something layer seperating me from it!!!

We were moving at a decent rate, so for a while i was to adjust with my ass burning..The journey home was at stake. At a time like this, we passed through the "Dandeli wildlife sancutary". I dont really understand how, but we were getting all enthu seeing monkeys and deer on the sides of the road!!! We started looking and pointing out other animals we saw...We forgot all about the train and fact that we were in a rickety old Tempo, with stinking fish in the back!!

The tempo reached its destination, everyone got off. We got off too, only to realise that we still weren't at the station! And it was already 4:30. We found out soon enough that the station was 4-5 Km away, on top of the next hill. With no auto's around, this was another problem. We somehow managed to find a jeep guy willing to go in that direction and got on.

Finally, at around 5:15, we reached!!! We made it in time!! We even had time to go have something to eat at the station. It was only now that we realised we hadn't eaten all day!! We got on the train and returned to Delhi remembering all the madness,,all on a single day!

All in all,,one of the wildest and most unplanned trips ever! Maybe ignorance IS bliss, and because we were kids we enjoyed it.. Had we been a bunch of adults, being stuck in that situation, i'm sure there would be tempers flaring all around, not helping the situation at all!!

Rocket science..

Everyone loves to fly..Everyone loves the way of rockets fly..Its an event in itself..Though,,i'm not gonna write abt chandrayan-1 or something like that..People are going all ga-ga over the mission and are raving about the rocket science used in it and all.. But I am not rocket scientist in the true meaning,,so i'd rather talk about the other, more contemporary type of rocket science most Indians know abt!

Yes, i'm talking abt the 'rockets'(firecrackers) that pretty much every Indian is aware of..You'll get them in flashy boxes usually with a pic of some actress/sportsman with some fancy/deadly name and sky filled with explosions or colors above their heads...Make no mistake,,the pictures are in no way related what the rocket actually is..I dont even know how many types they are called now,,but i like to keep it simple and i classify them as - rocket bomb, the light-walla rocket, the siren rocket and the (lesser known,but super cool) parachute bomb!

Snippet from history-->
Rockets were not always used for diwali..They used to be used in India during street-fights/gang fights!! The rockets used to be made in a way so as to fly horizontally above the ground and go and explode at a certain distance!!
Source:- My grandfather!! He's seen these fights first hand and His elder brother apparently was an expert at making these rockets!!

Despite how wild this claim may sound,,there is a funda behind the motion of these rockets..This info comes straight from my grandfather, after the above stated point, there's no way u can dispute it!
Funda-> Place the rocket horizontally on your finger, in such a way that the head (the explosive part) lies on one side and the stick on the other side of the finger. Sort of like a scale. If it balances, then the rocket is supposed to go straight ! simple!

But coming to the actual fun of diwali rockets..They tend to be very temperamental..You never really know what they'll do..Usually, a whole box of rockets behaves in a similar way..Its more fun to talk of rockets based on the way they fly (or not)..I suppose i could divide them into a few types,,like->
1. The zoomers-> Go straight up, very fast and do whatever they are supposed to (siren,light,bomb etc..).Safe, not very interesting or eventful,,unless fired in a direction other than up!
2.The fizzers-> They dont rise, they'll just fizz out all of their stuff in the bottle,,not moving an inch..Its more like opening a cold drink bottle than firing a rocket..
3.The Turners-> they come out at hyper speed, and with the same speed turn towards some side and zoom away until they hit something (or someone)..Run and hide when u get a batch of these..Will scare the living daylights out of unsuspecting junta around..
4.The twisters->They'll go up a little,,and start going round and round in really tiny circles..And most of them keep ascending while doing this!! They are the most puzzling of the lot,,and also the most fun to watch!!
5.The U-turns-> They use power to go up, they use power to come down..And they land less than 20 feet away still spewing out sparks..All in a nice little shape of an upside-down U..
6.The thinkers-> These are the most interesting of the lot,,they'll slowly rise a couple of feet high,,maybe even float in air for a couple more seconds,,and at once choose one of the above behaviours, gain a high speed and zoom away!!
7. The fat-asses-> Nothing can get these guys to move out of the bottle..No amount of fire will propel them upwards, their asses will be firmly planted in the bottle..An even worse case of this is when they dont even send out any fire,,they just explode knowing that its no use trying!!
8.Tussssssssss->This is one category that applies to almost every cracker..They're stubborn and wont fire up even if u light them..They'll just eat up the wick and sit there doing nothing..They are the most dissapointing..

The maddest rockets ever!!
place-> hyderabad - Duttasai apts
dateline->1998-99(diwali)..
Karthik's and his brother left some crackers over from the earlier diwali..This contained a few boxes of rockets too..As they are the most fun to watch, with great anticipation the rockets were brought forth..Now, noone reailsed that they had gone soggy in the time and noone dried them in the sun..The rockets,,as they seemed weren't too happy abt it..They were at their moody best..Every rocket was more innovative than the last..They each tried to outdo the madness spread by the earlier rocket..After every rocket,,ppl used to run and hide,,cos noone was safe from the ire of the rockets.Some went along the ground, some into the postbox, some into karthik's house (which was right above),some just went tuss or died, the best and most faithful ones performed a hyper-speed U turn and landed in the 'kanjoos marwadi's' house(The house beside our apartments where they never used to return the ball if it fell in..They must've been the most hated characters in the colony, thus the name..), much to the pleasure of everyone there, who even applauded the rockets for expressing our dissent..Eventually,,every rocket became an adventure with the anticipation reaching phenomenal levels and the reflexes of every person their being tested as they performed daredevil acts escaping the rogue rockets!! Never was, or never will be a box rockets as much mad and as fun as that !!

Come to think of it, is it even right to call it rocket 'science'..Cos even after so many launches and billions of dollars and years of calculation, if even NASA can't properly launch rockets,,Then maybe it is more of a probability function or a game of luck than an actual science..

Characters-->
Karthik-> One of my oldest friends..Was the first person i met in my apartments..When i was in school,,I think i spent more time in his house than mine!!The only person who ALL of my friends in hyd know regardless of how i know them.. He loves the phrase "lite le " and shows the same attitude in pretty much everthing he does! Though I wont go into the nicknames here for his sake...
:D

Tales of spects..

To most people, my spects have been my identity as far back as they can remember me. I'm sorry to break it to you, it wasn't always so. Right up till 7th class, i had 20/20 vision..
When we used to play cricket in the apartments, and the ball used to land in the under construction apartments beside ours frequently. I used to take great pride in the fact that my "Eagle Eyes" used to be able to spot the ball in night or day, at any distance, in any tiny hidden place. The irony is that soon after i called myself that, while watching cricket on TV and i wasnt able to clearly read the 'Star Sports' sign. Maybe it was the world's way of telling me the eagles weren't ready to give away the title of their famed eyes so easily!! Well, i then had to swallow my words when i realised that my vision wasnt perfect, I had to get spects, and soon people might start reffering to me with names the likes of "chashmish" and "soda-buddi","four eyes" etc etc..But all the same, i was excited at the prospect of seeing everyone's surprised faces when i went back to school after the holidays!

My first pair of glasses, were inherited from my sis. She got a new pair, and i got her old brown rectangular spects. Though, at that time, I was looking forward to going to school with them too much to mind it! The first few weeks of 8th class, everyone used to comment only on my glasses and most conversations revolved around how i 'realised' that i needed them! The old frame soon gave way cos i used to play around with my new 'toy' too much..
Then came the "Gandhi spectacles". Yes, i chose them! No, i didnt think they were so big that my face was barely visible behind them! The 'actual' reason i bought them was that i wanted a silver frame, but my mom flatly refused to spend much on the glasses, so i got the cheapest silver frame there!! The general reaction of everyone around was on the lines of "What is that?? Gandhi spects or what? Who chose them?" and i had to come up with some or the other lame excuse to cover up for the whimsical choice!!

The first thing i did when i was about to enter junior college, was to get the spects changed.(the fact that my power was increasing and i had to change the glass every year helped!)..So i proudly entered my coaching cum college with my new glasses, and well,dozed off in the first class and got picked up for it too! Talk about publicity for me in my new avatar!!!!
(Though i got famous for sleeping, not my spects..But a little Fame is never bad!! And more sleeping in class episodes later..)

Somewhere in the start of 11th, i met one of my school friends(Sharan). He saw me and just passed by without stopping. When i called out, he looks back and says "bharre??its you or what?? i didnt recognise u be!"..
"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!", i thought and smiled to myself, knowing that i left behind the tag of the "gandhi spects"!

Well,,the new spects lasted me through intermediate, in college through the tough times of ragging, and lot more times while playing, with footballs whacked straight at my face close range quite a few times(me being the goalkeeper)..

Though halfway through college(2nd year),,i shifted to a more dignified half-framed spects, which i'm still wearing till today!
Though, these glasses are not without their own story, and give me the look of "you displease me and i will smite u in a flash!!" in all passport size photos..Some cant believe that a person like me who's smiling most of the time can actually get angry,,and after seeing that pic,,noone wants to even try getting on my nerves!!
:D


The passport pic...

To be continued,, with more vision aids....

Characters-->
Sharan-->"abe joker" being his favourite dialogue..In one word, Sharan can be summarized as mad!!
There will be specific blog posts describing his madness..with us being parts of it quite a few times...so no more here...