Chomp! Chomp! Gator Chomp!

A lot has happened in the past couple of months, that I wanted to write about... Most of all about this new place- Gainesville. Well, its not that new anymore. Not that exciting to write about either at the moment. Mainly because the temperature is just not going down, and I am tired of the heat.

While I wait for the temperatures to drop, a lot of work is definitely being dropped on my shoulders. A constant in my life, as I sift through research papers, write project proposals only to redo them, try and concentrate on the lectures is Starbucks coffee. It is what they call the life of a graduate student. Even with all the work its not so bad out here. For one high speed internet is a boon - you don't really feel disconnected (and away from India) till the time you see an empty seat in the bus, the cars stop for you to cross the road and you shell out dollars on Indian spices.

Second, people of Gator Nation are mad about football- that too college football! Having experienced the cricket madness in India, it not surprising to see peole worship their sportstars. What really surprises you is the fact that these stars are freshmen and sophomores, really just college going kids. Its offensive if you talk about anything else on a gameday. Oh and God save you from the wrath of gators if you say you don't know Tebow! Another thing - the team mascot- Alligator. People actually love alligators. You can find one in this stream right next to my department building!

Being a small university town, its cosy in a weird way. My home, which is hardly 10 minutes drive from the university is considered to be outskirts! People are nice and relaxed, and their biggest tension is football. Ooh and obviously the crowd... being a university town, you meet students of so many nationalities... its a great cultural experience.

Right now the only thing that needs to be said - I am enjoying this leg of the journey...

The market that was

Well now that I am back in Delhi, suddenly there is so much work that needs to be done that I am unable to find time to write. I have my Visa Interview on 8th July and the prep is a big pain. If I list the documents that I need to carry to the American Consulate, it goes on to three pages... And they have their own specification of photographs etc. too. Pain!!

Shopping generally comes after you get your Visa and in my case I should seriously wait and not throw away all my money into new clothes and tit-bits till VI. I am not really sure of finances and it will only be prudent to wait. But you see all reasoning fails when you have money in your account and that too of own earning. So, two days back I dragged my mom to Lajpat Nagar. Its my favorite place to shop(and feast on lip-smacking chats!). Last time I came to this market was six months back, probably before I left for Bangalore, and it turned out to be really long time! And this time I was greeted by a crowd consisting mainly of small shop owners who put there stuff out on the roads and offer some really good value for money, and bargains. You see, Delhi government has set its goal to clean up the markets by removing these roadside shops. and police officers were busy implementing the orders in Lajpat Nagar. A good step to ensure citizen safety!


The market looks barren and unattractive for a shopper like me. All the roadside stalls have been removed. I know the drive to clean the market place is to make the shopping experience more orderly, easy and less chaotic, but I am a true blue lover of this 'chaos' in Delhi markets... Without these roadside shops, it just doesnt feel the same, it has become a desert and quite truly it lacks a lot of bargains, which I guess girls will appreciate more than boys ;)

Its over folks...

Its my last day as BITS student, last day in Bangalore, last day at HP Labs...

There was a nice farewell organised for the interns here. Very sweetly, we were told the important role that BITSians play in the research setup here. Importance of BITS and BITSians is obvious when you sit with 20 people out of which 9 are BITSians and rest are interns. I don't know if this is good or bad- the loss of individuality.

But BITS has given me a lot, and for that I am thankful. The thing about BITS is that it has shown me the path. It has been the guiding torch and the stepping stone. This is why it will continue to hold a special place irrespective of what the future holds for me. It has made me what I am today. I have learnt from my teachers and from my peers. I have made relationships I will cherish for the rest of my life. I have met some brilliant people. As I graduate, I carry with me a part of BITS. Right now, there are mixed feelings. I am proud to have BITS as my alma mater. But I will miss it a lot, at least in the near future.

PS: I am gonna be an Engineer, and a graduate from BITS Pilani - still can't believe it!!

Pros and Cons

While there are exceptions to the pros and cons that are linked with being a man or a woman, stereotypes generally spring from a version of reality and are believed to exist for a reason.

Pros and cons of being a man or a woman (Getty Images)

And it is based on these stereotypes that certain expectations are put on all persons, whether rightly or wrongly, in accordance with their gender.

Considering this, experts have now come up with a list of pros and cons of being a man or a woman, reports The Dominion Post.

The list is as under:


Pros of being a woman
1. Better legs.

2. After divorce, we hold up better.

3. Women can get away with crying.

4. Much more interesting clothing and accessory options.

5. Women can multi-task.

6. Higher pain thresholds.


Pros of being a man
1. Men can urinate anywhere they like.

2. Men’s bodies don’t give them weird mood swings.

3. Men generally get more social respect, and people often think them to be more intelligent than they really are.

4. Uncomplicated friendships.


Cons of being a woman
1. Getting paid 20 per cent less than men on average to do the same job.

2. Expectation that they’ll be manicured, primped and preened to a high degree at all times.

3. Menstruation.

4. Child birth.

5. When men gossip it's "networking", when women talk it's "bitching".

6. Pressure to have children thanks to a ticking biological clock.


Cons of being a man
1. Facial hair and its constant upkeep.

2. Expected to be manly. Those who are not spend their lives apologising for it.

3. Getting "man flu".

4. Not allowed to enjoy romantic comedies.

5. Men are expected to make the first move on dates, propose to their partners, make all the big decisions.

6. Not as socially accepted to get plastic surgery so often stuck with the hand you''ve been dealt.

7. Lower pain thresholds.



PS: I know this is a cliched one- the article appeared in Times of India a few days back and some of you must have read it. I laughed really hard on reading this and so decided to share it- just to spread some laughter :)

Peace

Not calling me often, forgetting my birthday, taking away my favorite ice cream, making me wait for an hour in the scorching summer of Delhi, interrupting me mid-sentence, bitching about a friend of mine, being rude unnecessarily, disagreeing with me etc. are the various reasons I have picked up a fight. On almost all these occasions I have felt that my anger is justified. But then two hours later, after I have had the time to think things over, I realize the stupidity in fighting over these issues. In almost all the cases, the other person has a valid explanation. There are always two sides to a coin and in the moment of anger I forget to look at the other one.

Result: unnecessary unpleasantness

Thus, this whole exercise is a waste of energy and unnecessary rise in my blood pressure. Great health risk if you ask me! For a short tempered person like me its even worse- it happens so often! There is a lingering feeling of anger till five minutes after the fight. Five hours later, the whole episode leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I cool down soon enough. The underlying reason for these fights are generally not worth it - rarely justifying missing out on the good times. And with so much at stake I am left with no option but to apologize. The kind hearted people that I fight with, forgive me most of the times. Well sometimes others apologize too, and then I forgive them :) So I have decided to avoid these episodes altogether. It might get boring like the too-good-to-be-true happy families from Sooraj Barjatya's movies, but I am trying to get there nevertheless. Forgive and forget is the new rule