Pitter patter...

Last week, I was going around asking everyone if it's supposed to be this warm in February. Today, (well, yesterday, really) I was asking everyone if it's supposed to be raining this time of the year.

You see, the thing about the weather is (as my wisdomous fellow blogger pointed out some months back), you never really know for sure what kind of weather you're supposed to expect, particularly in the between-season months. I mean, yes, we in the NCR know that May & June will be blazing, July & August will probably see some rain, and December & January will be freezing. What about the rest?

It's those in-between months when you don't really know what to expect. When the weather starts fluctuating like it has been for the last couple of weeks, are we experiencing a warm spell in cold weather or a cold spell in warm weather?

The last couple of days have been my favourite kind of weather - cool, breezy, the hint of rain in the air... Bliss! It's the kind of weather that makes you want to curl up with a good book, or go for a walk (with someone other than your utterly spoilt and indisciplined dog), or go for a long drive with the windows open, or just sit facing the wind with your eyes closed.

It rained off and on all through yesterday, in varying degrees, from drizzling to downright pouring. Have you ever stood under a building at dusk and watched the lights shine on the rain as it falls to the earth? Isn't it one of the most beautiful sights ever?

No, rain doesn't come without bringing its share of pitfalls. Lightning for example. And the fact that currently (and I quote) my "beloved friend is grievously ill because of it." But I refuse to get into those. It takes a lot to ruin my mood when it rains.

Oh my!

As a Harry Potter fan (what, you didn't know?!?), it was but obvious that I wouldn't take kindly to this article. I'd say more, but the 197 comments already there seem to have to said it all.

I wonder if there were people who did agree with Ms. Reid but didn't dare say so considering the kind of reactions she's got?

PS: In case you're wondering, I'm working up to a couple of rants. Thank you.

Lookit that!

Whoa. Katrina did that? Imagine what the tsunami did to dozens of towns along the coasts then... Made phonebooks nonexistent perhaps.

Although a comment left by one of the visitors does make sense... It could partially be due to the fact that an increasing number of people are getting mobile phones, which are typically not listed in phonebooks. But still... dude!!!

[Link courtesy India Uncut]

Update:
The picture's been deleted from the linked page for some reason; too bad for you if you didn't visit my blog in time to see it! (13/02/07)

Snippets from sundry sources...

There are so many fascinating things you come across on the World Wide Web that just spur you to say something about them at times. When blogging began, way back in the 1990s (seems like a lifetime ago, dunnit?), it was used mainly as a list of websites any given blogger was in the habit of visiting, and his/her opinions on the same. These "Web-logs" soon evolved to become "blogs" which began to used as various other purposes than just as links to other sites. Yet, even today, many bloggers do use this pattern; they come across something interesting on the Internet, post a link to it on their blog, and add their own comments or opinions on the topic. Which, if you think about it, is a very effective way of dealing with the problem I very often have of not having enough to write about on any topic that catches my fancy.

It is one of the ironies of my life that people think I am a very well-read person. Reading all of Austen's works at the age of 16 just because I had nothing better to do with myself does not an intellect make. Yet, if you look at this article, I can honestly state (unlike 33% of the respondents) that I have read 5 and 1/3rd of the books named on this list. I ain't telling which though.

I am fascinated by the kind of patterns people are actually observant enough to pick up on. Did you know, for instance, that nearly every time Al Gore visits a place to talk about global warming, the temperatures in that place actually drop? Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself. Although Mr. Bolt is smart enough to deny any attempt to propose a theory or any such thing!

"You have a piece of bread and you are full enough to give it to someone else. In front of you, 10 guys are waiting for your charity. You can say only one sentence to them. But with only this one sentence, you need to find out who is the most hungry guy. What are you going to say?"

Reading India Uncut made me come across this article, which made me stop and think a bit. I stopped thinking once I read this. That pensive, I'm not.

5 things...

*sigh* I got "tagged". So here go 5 things you didn't know about me...

1. I can't cut vegetables to save my life. They come out all weirdly shaped.
2. I feel perpetually cold. Including in the summers with the fan on.
3. I don't like coffee. The smell itself makes me feel queasy.
4. I like to organize everything into labelled folders, be it my mail, bank papers or study material. Problem is, I'm too lazy to put them into their respective folders when i get them, so everything ends up messy anyhow.
5. All through my teens, it was completely instinctive for me to look at any vehicle on the roads and immediately add up its number to check if it was divisible by 3!!!

So there you go. You probably knew most of those. Ziggystrauss & Abhishek, I hereby "tag" you. Go on, what don't I know about you?!?

Epiphany - Part II

There are times, when you look around you and realize it's complete hypocrisy on your part to call yourself an idealist and wonder why things are the way they are, because the truth is, there's nothing you're doing to make things any better. Ranting about it on your blog doesn't really accomplish anything, now does it?

Today was one of those days for me. It wasn't some earth-shattering incident. It was a scene anyone on the roads of Delhi would have seen pretty much everyday of his or her life. Yet it suddenly drove home the fact that there is so much more misery in the world than I have ever experienced. And despite my opinions or cynicism or even ideas, there is nothing I have ever done in my entrie life that could possibly have helped to alleviate any of that misery. And that is what makes me a hypocrite.

There are also times, when no matter how much you love the people around you, you tend to wish they were a bit more on the same wavelength as you; that they would be a tad bit more accepting of the turmoil within you. I can almost predict what the comments for this entry are going to be like!

So yes, to answer a question asked in response to my previous post, it is one of those times.

Epiphany

I am an idiot.

I am incompetent and irresponsible.

I know nothing, I feel nothing, I deserve nothing.

I have no faith. In anything. Or anyone.

I'm clueless about my life.

I have no goals.

I don't see the point of anything.

I don't even know why I exist.

Ignorance isn't always bliss...

Over the years, my family has contributed to the bank accounts of several medical practitioners. Save for the really serious and scary illnesses (much to my dismay, I might add), between the four of us, we've managed to have pretty much every illness in the books. And managed to visit numerous doctors and hospitals to boot.

Which is why I was rather startled to discover a new side to Indian doctors some time back. Someone in the family is undergoing treatment for something (forthcoming, ain't I? it's not me, by the way) and has been visiting a new doctor (by new, I mean we hadn't honoured this particular place with our patronage previously).

So anyway, this particular chap has been prescribing medicines to us, and as our habit is, we've been coming back home and looking up those medicines on the 'net. (Have I not told you how useful the thing is?!?) And as it turns out, this doctor is not as forthcoming as we'd like him to be. He has prescribed two drugs, one which is for something entirely different from the presenting problem, and another one which can have serious side effects if used for a long time.

Now maybe these medicines are what is needed for our situation, but that does not mean he can give any freaking drug without even explaining to us why he's doing so or what possible consequences there could as a result of these drugs.

My father tells this is very typical of Indian doctors; they like to believe we're all ignorant buffoons and don't need to be told anything beyond the very obvious. I think it's utterly irresponsible of them to do so. Not everyone looks up their prescribed medicines like we do, and there is always the chance that things could go very wrong with the consumption of these drugs. And it amazes me that these doctors can be such idiots.

So I was wondering...

I woke up yesterday morning with a question on my mind.

One of the symptoms of schizophrenia is a "disturbace of thought content" wherein a schizophrenic may experience various forms of delusions or false beliefs.

Now, in the Harry Potter universe, there is potion called Veritaserum. For the uninitiated, Veritaserum is a 'truth potion', just a few drops of which can cause the drinker to spill his/her deepest secrets.

So my question was, if a schizophrenic is given Veritaserum, would (s)he speak the truth as we, the supposedly "normal" people of the world, see it? Or would (s)he continue to express the truth as perceived by him/her?

For the schizophrenic, these delusions are very, very real. So my guess is, even Veritaserum wouldn't be able to make him/her perceive reality the way others around him/her do. Because it would make him/her speak the truth that (s)he sees.

I wake up with weird thoughts.

The best laid plans of men and mice...

I found this really brilliant poem in a book I was reading; thought I'll post it here.

PLANNING

I had planned the meeting of us,
Glad beneath a starlit sky,
Swift compelling arms around me,
While enchanted moments fly.

I had thought of things to tell you,
Only you could understand,
As we walked together,
In a rare enchanted land.

But you came an hour too early,
And the kitchen floor was wet,
I was elbow deep in dishes,
And my hair was in a net.

As I wrung the soapy dishcloth,
My romance was all a wreck,
And for one hot bothered moment,
I'd have rather wrung your neck.

- Sonia Hardie

Ain't it perfect?!? =)