10 Day Challenge: Seven Wants

Oh, this is an easy one. I want everything! See so simple. No? Okay let me try again. I want world peace and eradication of  poverty and sickness from the world (an excerpt from my Nobel prize speech. What? I am more likely to win the Nobel prize than win a beauty pageant!) Okay fine, I will write down seven things. Here it goes;

1. Hassleblad H4D-60

For uninitiated, it’s a medium format camera with 60MP sensor. I can’t even start to describe all the features of this beautiful camera. The only two cons of this camera: 1) it weighs about 1.8 kg and 2) it costs about $40,000.

2. Server and accessories

I would like to build a server from scratch one day. I don’t really need it but I do want it. Oh yes, I do. It will be nice to have one for post-processing my photographs faster as well as storing them in the server. Oh yes, while I am at it, I would like the Eizo FlexScan T2351W monitor and a Canon Pro9000 Mark II printer.

3. House

I want to buy a house with about 5-6 bedrooms, a game room, a dinning-room, a breakfast area, a living room, an entertainment room, a sun room, a big kitchen along with a basement that I can convert to a gym and a nice backyard. Also enough money to decorate my house exactly the way I want it, without cutting corners. Hey, you are the one who asked what I want!

4. Vacations

Oh there is a whole list for this section: all the places that I would love to visit in my life time. A cross country drive in US and Canada, drive across/train trip Europe, to visit Egyptian pyramids and river Nile, Peruvian country side to Falkland islands and it goes on and on.

5. A New Wardrobe

Oh, how I would  love a new, stylish wardrobe. An outfit for all occasion, whether its casual or formal, evening or business. Instead of me standing in my closet (oh yes, I have a walk-in closet in my apartment) with multiple clothes and yet nothing right for the occasion.

6. Health

This one is pretty important to me. I don’t like being sick. I don’t like having back pains. Anything that stops me from exercising or going out, I don’t like. I like to be mobile at all time. So being healthy is really important to me.

7. Happiness

Yet again, the obvious. Like every one else, I do want to be happy.

That’s all for today, All the images are linked to their source.

Previous posts on 10 Day Challenge: Eight Fears, Nine Loves, Ten Secrets.

10 Day Challenge: Eight Fears

Hmm..I think this is going to turn into things I don’t like instead of actual fear. I am not really afraid of many things in life. I am uncomfortable of quite a few things, so that’s what I am going to enumerate today

1. Claustrophobia

The fear of enclosed space. I am not sure but I think I might have always had it but I didn’t know it. However, the half an hour that I spent in an MRI machine brought it out. I had never like the elevators but now I try avoiding them completely. As a result, now I know that I can climb up to 8 floors of a building but that’s pretty much my limit.

2.  Breaking-neck-phobia

As I mentioned earlier, I have a big phobia of breaking neck for as long as I remember. I don’t know what was the source of this phobia but as a result I have never been able to do somersaults or a headstand. If you think you never need to do one as an adult, then I recommend never to join a martial art club. We had to learn to roll which was one of toughest thing I had to learn during Kenpo Karate. I almost cried a few times.

3. Financial dependence

I am completely and totally scared of becoming financially dependent on any one. As a kid I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grow up except that I will be working and be financially independent. That was a big deal for me then and as it is now. Not that I think being a house-wife or stay-home mom is bad, its simply I can not do it. May be I have some trust issues…

4. Flying Insects

I wouldn’t say I have a fear of insects but I don’t like insects that can fly, especially if they fly straight to my face. Even if it’s a butterfly or a lady bug. I don’t like insects flying towards my face. Period.

5. Horrifying showsNo I am not talking about horror movies and shows. I am talking about shows like Criminal Minds, Law and Order SVU etc. It also includes most of ID (Investigation Discovery) channel shows. The reason these shows scare me is that they are usually based on some real life criminal case. It can actually happen to me or someone I know. That scares me a big deal.

6. PredatorsI have a decent amount of respect for all types of predators. Whether they are big cats, or prey birds, I admire them and keep a safe distance from them. They are after all capable of tearing me apart, if they please.

7. SpeedI don’t like fast speeds. I am kind of scared of driving too fast. You will always find me in the right most lane driving either at speed limit or below it. If I will ever get a speeding ticket, it will be for driving too slow.

8. Losing

Yes, like all humans, I am also scared of losing people I love. Again, it’s a given, isn’t it?

That’s all for now. See you tomorrow.

Previous posts on 10 Day Challenge: Nine Loves, Ten Secrets.

10 Day Challenge: Nine Loves

Okay, the second day of 10 day challenge and it doesn’t get easier. So here goes the list of my nine loves:

1. Photography
Well number one is no brainer. If you know me, you know I love photography. It has been a passion for a long time, even before I had a camera. As a teenager I used to quote photography as my hobby with added subtext: “I don’t have a camera yet.”


2. Exercising
No honestly. I go into depression if I can’t exercise. It can take any form though, swimming, biking, playing badminton, practicing martial arts or simply working out in a cardio class. I love the sweat after exercising and that feeling of being completely physically exhausted along with all the aches and pains of a physical activity.  Its so exhilarating.

3. Studying
Again, I am not kidding. And I am not talking about reading books/novels (which, incidentally, I also like) but actual course books. Call me a geek or a nerd or whatever, I have always always loved studying. I have known to forget to eat or even to sleep (no seriously, that has happened to me) while studying.

4. Musicals
I am a big sucker for musicals, both in movies and on theater. From The Sound of Music to Chicago, I love them all. From Fiddler on the Roof to Rent, I adore them all.
 

5. Peanut Butter
Actually scratch that. I love peanuts. Period. The warm nice peanuts (with shells), with chutney or lemon-salt-chilli combo on a cold winter day. I love peanuts and anything associated.

The peanut butter (crunchy) means same to me what chocolate means to most of the people around the globe. I simply can’t resist it. The peanut butter is the reason I love Snickers and Cold Stone creamery Mud Pie (thanks Rachna for introducing me to the second one!). I can even tolerate chocolate if it has peanut butter in it.

6. Stanford
The beautiful beautiful campus of Stanford and plethora of activities it offers, for me Stanford is and will always remain the best, the most beautiful place to live in the entire world. It was the first place I ever felt home after leaving home. I spent six years of my life, and I must add few of the most challenging years of my life, in that place. It holds a special place in my heart.

7. Geophysics
I love being a Geophysicist. I love my subject. It’s a fascinating world. Did you know Geophysics consists of multiple disciplines like volcanology (study of volcanoes), meteorology and climatology, seismology (study of earthquakes), oceanography (study of oceans), hydrology, glaciology (study of glaciers), Geomagnetism (study of magnetic field of the Earth), Planetary sciences (study of physical characteristics of other planets)? It’s a diversified field with a lot of different applications. It’s a humbling experience to attend the American Geophysical Union conference, the largest Geophysical conference in the world, and meet people working in completely different fields.

I guess it’s the same for all the fields but some how I find it very fascinating to see so many varied application of a single subject.

8. Napping
I love to sleep. I can sleep for days, only waking up to eat and drink and then go back to bed again. That would have been my summer holiday routine, had it not for my mom. She wanted the beds made up and rooms tidied up every day for some reason.


9. Family and Friends
Well last, but by no means, least, I, of course, love my family and friends. It’s a given, isn’t it? Still, to make the list complete, I am mentioning it…

That’s all for today folks. All the images are linked to their source, unless, of course, they are taken by me. Hope you liked the list!

The Ten Day YOU Challenge - Ten secrets

Borrowed straight from Aathira’s blog, I am taking up the 10 Day you Challenge. This challenge seems pretty challenging. Let’s see how will I fare. So here goes the ten secrets:

1. I am very stubborn. Surprisingly though no one pegs me for being stubborn unless, of course, they get to know me. Apparently, being introvert and being stubborn don’t go together. 

2. I absolutely hate being pranked. Call me a bad sport or whatever, but I don’t get the fun of making fool of someone who trusts you. You see, most of the prank wouldn’t work if your “victim” does not trust you. So basically by pranking them you are telling them not to trust you. People actually enjoy doing that?

3. My most common nightmare involves being late for something, usually an exam or interview. In real life it means that if I am running late in real life, its like a nightmare coming to life. Needless to say, I don’t like getting late. Usually, I have to make efforts to be late.

4. I love to sing. However, it doesn’t mean that I am a good singer. It also doesn’t mean that I can sing in front of other people. When it comes to singing, I have a big case of stage fright. Even though I can now manage my fear of public speaking (actually I rather enjoy giving presentations now), yet I absolutely can not sing in front of other people.

5. I have a mental block against all the commerce subjects i.e., economics, finance, marketing, etc. (the only exception is statistics). I absolutely can not understand or retain anything related to any of those subjects. 

6. I like to eat ice-cubes. It can get very embarrassing in a restaurant but I simply can’t resist it.

7. I can’t grow my nails. Ever. No matter how cool it is or how much fashionable, I simply can’t tolerate long
fingernails. If I can’t find a nail-cutter soon enough, then I will bite them (as in nail-biting).

8. I am scared of breaking my neck. Apparently, there is no name for my phobia. The closest I could find was giraffeophobia: the fear of sticking your neck out. But I am not scared of sticking the neck, I am scared of putting wait on my neck, like when you do a somersault. 

9. I have been known to sleep talk and very rarely, sleep walk (only once). It usually happens when I am very stressed. But I do not snore.

10. I am secretly very proud of myself for finishing my PhD. No really. It was a rough journey and I almost quit it on several occasions. Thanks to my friends, I did make it through.

Phew…glad that’s done. Any other taker for the challenge?

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset on Summer Solstice

The sunset on the longest day of the year was at 9:53 PM. It’s weird to take the photo of sunset, come back and go to sleep directly.

Travel Diary: Spring in Ottawa

As I said in one of my previous post, Ottawa in Spring is beautiful. Like all the big cities of the world, Ottawa is also situated on the shore of a river, the river Ottawa. The river actually forms the state line between two Canadian states Ontario and Quebec. So in the photo  below you can actually see the two states and the bridge that connects them. The boat or as we photographer like to call it, the foreground of the photo, is in Ontario while the red building, or the background, is the state of Quebec. Neat, eh?

Anyway, topic of the post is Spring in Ottawa. This spring in Ottawa was slightly different as there is currently a water ban in place in parts of Ottawa. As a result of this ban, this part of Ottawa had “weeds” everywhere.

But this unwanted weed made Ottawa even more beautiful. Don’t believe me? Here is my proof:

Sometimes, bad things aren’t bad after all, eh? 

Spring also means beautiful days awesome days. The blue skies, the white clouds, and perfect temperatures.

Add a bicycle to it, and we have a perfect day:

That’s all for my travel diary today! Hope you liked it..

P.S.: I started writing this post a while ago. I finally finished it off. Hope you like it.

My Life in Films Meme

Well, I am breaking the dry spell of the blog using, what else, a meme. So if you want to know some more useless facts about me, dive in:

Films That Remind Me of Childhood

Do aur Do Paanch: My earliest memory of a TV is of the Sunday evening movies. One of the first movies that I remember on the TV is Do aur Do Paanch. The movie was my first introduction to the superstar Amitabh Bachchan. I don’t think I understood the movie or even watched it completely (I was about 3 or 4) but I remember everyone around me laughing a lot which mesmerized me. As I grew older that impression of Amitabh and the movie remained with me. I have watched that movie quite a few times ever since and still think its hilarious.

Mr. Natwarlal: Yeah, I know another Amitabh Bachchan’s movie. What can I say, I grew up in 1980s. This movie was my first introduction to Rekha. I vividly remember the song Pardesia. I think I used to be very happy whenever they played that song on the radio (yes, we had a radio at our place when I was young that we used to listen to). I think seeing Rekha on the screen before I understood the social discrimination against dark skin in India was a very positive thing for me. I guess clanged on to that one every time someone pointed out to my skin color.

Qurbani: Talking about songs and radio, one of the first song I remember from my childhood is “Aap jaisa koi meri Zindagi”. Actually its one of the first song I memorized and used to sing as a kid (about 3 year old). My parents and acquaintance used to think it to be so cute. Honestly!

Masoom: I was about 6 or 7 years old when Masoom was released and with it came the song “Lakdi ki kathi”. I watched the movie because of that song. I didn’t understand it a bit except that my mom cried and my dad tear up. I decided to stay away from any Naseeruddin Shah’s movie after that (that didn’t work out though, thankfully).

Childhood Films Where Removal was Necessary

Oh well, I grew up in India in 1980s. I actually watched almost all the movies, except the late night movies. That has more to do my inability to be up so late then anything. But there were a few movies that scared/affected me.

Sholay: The scene when they cut off Thakur’s (Sanjeev Kumar) arms haunted me in nights for a long long time. It was a shock for me. And then Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) dies in the end leaving Radha (Jaya Bhaduri) all alone again. It was a sad, scary movie.

Deewar: Yes, yet again an Amitabh Bachchan’s movie. I watched this movie for the first time as a kid. I couldn’t watch the ending of the movie. The thought that Amitabh will die in the end was unbearable for me. I have watched this movie 5 times ever since but have never been able to watch its ending so far.

 

Films that Defined My Teens

My teens were the time when the three Khans (Aamir, Salman, and Shahrukh) started their successful journey in Bollywood.

Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak: My journey to my teen years started with this movie. I was about 12 when this was released. My best friend at the time, Srilipta, was a great fan of Aamir Khan. She was the one who actually introduced to him and the movie. It was about a year later that I got a chance  of watching the movie. (Did I mention that I grew up in a small town which meant we get to watch a movie about 4-6 months after it was released). Unfortunately, the movie didn’t have the same effect on me as my other friends. I didn’t like Aamir Khan much. Actually I didn’t like him during  most of my teen years. Do you remember the movies he did during his early years? The first movie of his that I actually liked was in movie Baazi that came towards the later years of my teens.

Maine Pyar Kiya: Believe it or not, I was a fan of Salman in my teens. He used to be a good looking guy back then. Maine Pyar Kiya was the first movie of him that I saw and liked him. I was never a die-hard fan of him though. I just preferred him over the other two Khans.

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge: This is my all time favorite movie even though I have never liked Shahrukh Khan as an actor. This is the only movie I can tolerate him in. Actually I liked him in this movie. The movie was released during my late teens. I have watched this movie so many times that I have lost count.

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro: There is one more movie that reminds me of my teen years, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. I watched this movie at a friend’s place on VCR (we didn’t have a VCR player at our place). I don’t remember laughing so much in my life. Over the years, it remains the funniest movie I have ever watched. The Mahabharat scene is one of my favorite scene. I laugh every time I watch that scene.

 

Films Seen Multiple Times at Theatres

That would be Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. As I said, I have lost count the number of times I have seen this movie. I can’t even tell you how many times I watched this one in theater but its more than two.

First Date Film

I never had a date that involved a movie. I have watched musical on a date (and my date actually slept during one such musical but that’s another story) but never a movie so I don’t have a first date film. (BTW, if you are looking for a nice musical for a date, try the Sound of Music).

Nightmares from Films

That will be Sholay. I think that was first movie that exposed me with so much blood. Gabbar Singh did strike fear in me.

Films that are Guilty Pleasures

That will be Disney movies. Actually, scratch that, I think its all the kid’s movies. That includes Shrek, The Princess’s Diaries, Ice Age, Monster Inc., Princess and the Frog etc. etc. etc., you get my gist.

   

 

Last Film I Saw at the Theatre

The last movie I saw in the theater was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, the day after it was released. This was the first movie I saw in Houston. Actually, it’s the only movie I have seen in Houston. Now you also know the next movie I will be watching in theater.

 

That’s all from me tonight. Hope you liked it!

P.S.: All the images are linked to their source.

Ignored

My blog’s Indirank went from 80 to 68. I didn’t realize I have ignored my blog so much in recent past.

Well, this was supposed to by tweet today when the twitter site started giving me trouble. But I digress. My point being being I have ignored this space for a bit. Not sure if any one is checking this space anymore or not.

So what have I been up to, you ask. Well, I can rant on this one for days. So let me give you a nutshell version: Nothing in my life is working as it should. I miss the things I used to take for granted. And before you feeling bad about me: its not bad bad, its just unexpected. I know things can be a lot worse.

No, I am not going to give you details of my miseries at the moment. May be some other day.

For today, I will give you a photo of sunrise in the morning and a promise to be more regular with my blog. Until next time…