things to wonder about...

Today's newspaper brought along some news of the rains. Thankfully the clouds haven't forgotten to take the crucial U-turn and head towards mainland India. I'm mighty glad and thankful to whoever gives them their geography lessons. They never lose their way, the Bay Of Bengal is huge enough to get lost in i say.

Asafa Powell broke the 100m sprint world record yesterday becoming the fastest man in the world. They say the conditions were ideal and he capitalising on the fast track and the ideal wind conditions did what people like me dream of. I've always been sprinting, since school. The best i've ever managed to clock is a 12.70 seconds, at my level it was good enough to unofficially make me the second fastest guy in college in my first year. Crouching over your starting boards, bending over at the perfect angle, the agonising wait to hear the gun off. Its like a million things compressed into a few milli-seconds. The feeling of the tension wanting to burst out of your body, everything being focussed on one simple clear bang. The world comes to a standstill, and then begins in slowmotion all over as soon as the moment of freedom comes, you hear the gun go off and shoot off like the possessed wind. A 100m dash is like no other adrenaline rush. The margin of error boils down to actual milli-seconds. Its the harshest race i've ever known. Some of my most vivid and pleasant memories of school surround the sports days. I'll never forget the day we (Gonzaga house) won the 4*100 mts relay and smashed the previous records by atleast 2 seconds! Being the underdogs it was even more emeorable at having thrashed all the heavy weights.

Finally got to see Bunty and Babli after a long while. Mediocre was what i would say critically. But good enough if you just want to go and enjoy a few laughs and ogle at Aishwarya Rai. I still maintain on an absolutely serious note that Ash makes you want to jump into the screen and join her- "Kajra re" is absolutely brilliant.

Last week I had my first IndiaMike meetup. As a first time experience i must say it was novel as all first time experiences are wont to be. Now i count myself to have gained a little experience and am sure next time round it'll be better. The most amazing thing that has come out of this whole thing is that i have finally found actual people who totally share my passion for mountains. Its a shame that i have to miss my first trek to a glacier!! Its during the pujo's when i get a measely 7 days off from college and thus can't accomondate the 2 week trek. But maybe the rock climbing exercise won't be missed in late Jan.

Malli has been making the news for sometime now. One of dad's students, Malli, is on his way to do the seven summits. The first solo Indian on such a venture. We flagged him off officially from home a few months back. It was my first meeting with him. He keeps sending us pictures of his adventures. Last i heard he was making his way to Alaska. He's all ready covered South America and Africa. Sent us this lovely tribal art painting of the tribes inhabiting the slopes of Kilamanjaro. Stuff of dreams ain't it??

And finally, Jadavpur is burning over. Till a few days back i knew from first hand sources that the Arts section wasn't affected. Considering themselves to be far away from the epicentre it didn't bother them much. But now even the union room has been shut down, no more carroms, no more cards. Meetings are the order of the day now. Buddha babu i think now finally realises that it has spun out of control. The police lathi charge has done the trick and its everybody's turn to indulge in some student politics. I think you should stick to the newspapers though for more current and comprehensive coverage of these latest events.