Long Overdue

My last few attempts of putting something up here have proved futile. And so, several unfinished starts later, I start (yet again) to write, with the hope that this will go public. I suppose this post should be about my new life over the last four months. But first, a bit about grad school.

Quite simply put, grad school has changed is my perspective of science and how one approaches it. I love the research I'm doing (which is on acoustic streaming due to oscillating bubbles), and I've been lucky enough to find an awesome advisor. But maybe more about that later. Something that's appreciable here is that there is focus on learning rather than doing well in examinations, as far as coursework is concerned. A stark contrast from what I've been exposed to so far; this fact coupled with the variety of courses on offer means that one can learn exactly what one wants to. This is possible, of course, only after one scrapes off some of the rust that inevitably accumulates through engineering, but once that's done, it feels great to have a bit of the shiny old steel back again.

At a personal level, things have been far more dreary, and emotionally quite intense. For one, I sorely miss the company that made NITK what it was. I also know why 'long-distance' is such a big deal, and trust me it is, Skype being the only saving grace. Public transport in the US is absolutely appalling, which means one is more or less restricted to the limits of Chambana, which is fairly dry in general. The weather doesn't make it any better of course. Not having a guitar here is somewhat vexing as well, and not being much of a reader doesn't help. 'You never know what you have until you lose it' is probably a nearly accurate description of my life here, except that there has been no real loss, just a very large extent of dilution. The things that one takes for granted at home - from the people that make you who you are, to the street food - are all sadly quite out of reach.

On the brighter side, things seem to be looking up from here onwards. I'm packing to Florida for a couple of weeks, a welcome change of place and weather. A guitar should follow suit if all goes well, and my restlessness should be assuaged for the greater part. Hopefully I will acquire camera too, sometime the coming semester. And then I can find my solace in technological goodness, if nothing else. Of course, the trip back home I've almost decided upon in Summer should do me loads of good.

But right now I am content with the strange peace I feel finally writing this, just having watched Yojimbo, Blackwater Park currently playing in my ears, and confident that for the most part, the next semester will be much more fun that the last.

Mamidi Pachchadi

How I've missed home!

Persistence of Vision

The landscape slides beneath him
The sky stays marvelously pinned
To a canvas unseen by human eyes
Whilst he gazes from within
A frame, inertial
Inertial, it seems.

In his state of pondering
A vision was just but wrought.
A momentary breach of vigil
An intrusion of thought.

The landscape yet slides beneath,
But the speckled sky now swings
On the canvas unseen by human eyes
Whilst he gazes from within
A frame, inertial no more
No more inertial, it seems.

Ah, finally! The painful procedure of applying is done!
Now I wait.

On routine

A month into summer, it dawns on me that things have not been the same since it started.

There has been a somewhat astonishing shift in mindset and in focus over the last few weeks, reputedly funded by ominous thoughts of the future. Not completely unexpected; astonishing nevertheless. A memento of how organised I can be if I need to. A reassuring revelation.

My activities over the summer have regressed into what one might call a 'routine'. A stark contrast from my usually desultory thought processes. That is, of course, excluding the rigorous effort invested in planning and executing hours ( years maybe?) of DotA, ritually performed on a day to day basis. That being said, it seems that a routine is not necessarily a bad thing, particularly if there is an underlying impetus. Very enjoyable in fact.

All in all, I seem to be more content with myself and my quotidian activities. Disappointingly enough though, I cannot help but feel that I will return to my usual self, squandering away my time on frivolous pursuits. (Which I will enjoy, nonetheless.) In any case, there's a little over a month of summer left, and I intend to exploit it thoroughly.

O, Human Karma!

Qweeeeeeee!
Like the call of a nightingale
Only worse
Bleed in the nose
(And the eardrum).

Enters belly
Follows human
Fat-fingered
Abominable snowman
(Sans snow).

Drone
Unfinishing
(Un)like a bee's
A wounded beast
(Pooh at best).

Stubby arms wave
Unfinishing
Powerful
Tension in the air
(And elsewhere).

Enters boredom
Lots of
Drives most to vice
Amidst a sea of slouched backs
(Unfinishing).

Whacking day

This is about a particularly miserable day at IISc.

Come quick!
The Dark Lord does beckon.
Relocate your slothful self.
Mercy he shall show today, I reckon.

Chapter one
Idiots! What have you done?!
Shabby comebacks,
Bruised ego.
(Mumble mumble)
Off with their heads!

Persons few,
(Precisely two)
Thou asketh who they be?
Can't say. Won't dare!
Alright here's a hint:
One of them's a friend of someone who's a friend of me.

A day killed,
Well, half at least
Meandering, disguised mostly,
Away from watchful eyes.

Noon comes, not alone though.
Brings Him to us for good
And come with Him does His minion,
Watching, waiting,
Ready to strike with taunting tongue.

Crack! Crack of the whip.
A forked tongue tastes the air,
"He treats you well",
The minion doth quip.

Noxious fumes, vision spiralling.
'A drink would do good, perhaps'

Deluded thought, that might have been,
Tasted not-so-bad, but it still stings!
Sardonic snigger, sadistic.
Nearly choked, he did!
Hope, momentary deception
"Slave away!", the Dark Lord sings.

The sun has gone down,
'Tis time to rest,
Lest the Devil
Puts them to another test.

Pleading tones.
Relentless scoff.
(With orders for next morn.)
And as his slaves, obey they must.

And obey they will, (willingly almost)
And go to sleep.
For know do they,
(Like most today,)
That as they sow
So will they reap.