Day 1 in Delft

A part of Delft as seen from my Lab

So after much deliberations, I reached Delft. I had to carry more than 40 kgs of luggage in different forms from the airport to the railway station, board a train, change trains from Hague, and then get down at Delft. It was f**king tiring!!

I'll be living at 51, Casper Fagelstraat. Its one of the easier-to-pronounce streets here. The apartment is really nice, and so is my room. I would have posted pictures, but I littered my room sooner than expected, and I dont want my housekeeper to accidently discover, while surfing the net, what I have done to their room. My housekeepers are really nice people, and they have given me a bike (its what they call a cycle) which I can use for 3 months.

The Dutch take thier cycling very seriously. Its the most common form of transport here, with seperate lanes and traffic lights for them. And everybody here cycles-bachche, boodhe, aur jawaan. Its one of the reasons for almost zero pollution here.

The Electrical Engg building is the tallest building in Delft, and as there arent any other tall buildings, it towers above everything else. So its not that difficult to make your way towards it. The tricky part is when you have to come back. I got lost bigtime, and it took me an hour and a half to reach back to my place(whereas, it was only a 15 min journey in the morning). Now its a really pleasant experience to get lost in an unknown beautiful city, when you are on a bike, but its a different thing altogether when you are cycling with a full bladder.

Its so beautiful and green out here, that I dont feel like taking pictures. All I want to do is to absorb the beauty surrounding me. But still, I'll try and take some pics, and post them for everybody's benefit.

zoooooooooo!! (sound of an airplane taking off)

Its 4.15 in the morning.

On my right, Sun was making a sheepish appearance, rising from a blanket of clouds, probably to steal a last glance. The sky was blushing pink, and if you tried you could hear a faint chirping. Passengers were slowly filling up the plane, lugging at their bags wistfully, drowsiness creeping from the corners of their eyes. They somewhat resembled the last benchers sitting in a Microwave Ckts Class. But not me.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the moment had finally arrived. It was to record the journey from this moment onwards that this blog was created. The previous crap was like a drumroll or in Chandler Bing's words " The Magician before Pink Floyd came in to play".

I cant remember being more excited in a long long time (the last 5 mins of the aforementioned Microwave Class being an exception). My upper paddock was flooded with possibilities, inundated with things. Things I'll see, Things I'll do, and Things I'll learn.

My quest for a pretty airhostess finally ends, as Turkish Airlines dishes out some really nice fare here. Even the stewards are kinda cute (I'm just saying!!).

Chalo, the signs are lit. Its time to fasten your seatbelts. And brace yourself for the takeoff.

I stare out of the window, and notice a reflection smiling back...

The Adventure of the Missed Flight

Though I ranted about a very desolate existance till now, there have been a few bright spots here and there. The last one happened in Dec, 2006.

The Adventure of the Missed Flight
Starring - Nihit Bajaj, some nameless Indian Airlines official, a couple of extras and yours truly.
Location - Kuala Lumpur International Airport

I was lying at a beach along with a beautiful chinki bandi. A gentle breeze blew through our hair as wave upon wave crashed on the sand, the water sneaking up to our feet like a child, tickling them and then rushing back. As I stare at the sun, setting behind the swivelling curtain of ocean, I take the hand of the chinki bandi and a feeling of eternal bliss spreads through my body.

The chinki bandi leaned towards me, her hair smelling of sea shells and lavender, and whispered sheepishly in my ear. A chuckle escaped me, as I registered the import of her words. She took hold of my shoulders with her hands, asked me to close my eyes and started gently massaging them, making me shiver with pleasure. Her hands started moving faster and faster, building up the anticipation in me. Then suddenly something jolted me. I opened my eyes to see her rocking me with an urgency. She suddenly starts wailing, surprisingly in a very masculine voice. As I try to comfort her , she cries - "Sehgal Bhai! Yeh kya ho gaya yaar!"

"Sehgal Bhai! Uth saale, f**k ho gaya yaar!" laments a voice now I slowly seemed to recognize. As I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, I tried to piece together a picture by looking in every direction, while coming to senses. Fortunately, it doesnt take much time, as the first thing my eyes fell on was my watch. It showed 11.30 A.M.

Now watches have always been unkind to me-during exams, boring classes, etc. But this was something different. As I started planning out how to rip out those ticking needles in excruciating detail, a sickening and more pressing realisation suddenly dawned - we had missed our flight. I started cursing the watch for showing that time, the person who created these instruments of precision, Malaysia for not being at walking distance from India, Nihit for his incessant wailing and myself for being in such a screwed up situation.

Next 15 minutes were a flash. We dove towards our luggage, got dressed, cursed time for denying us our ablutions, packed up, checked out, got scolded by both sets of parents, and created a scene in the hostel. We took a taxi and begged the driver to take us to the airport as fast as possible, still hoping that the flight being an IA, might get delayed due to a flat tyre or a pilot with an upset stomach. It didnt.

I think it was during our journey to the airport, that we lost it. While Nihit started discussing ways of saving up money so that he could make up for the loss we were going to incur, I resisted a strong urge to howl - "Bhaag Dhanno Bhaag!!"

We reached the airport, got 2 bills signed by the taxi driver and gushed over our first steps towards repaying the money. In the meantime, Nihit's dad had called up a few people, and told us the plan - call in sick in front of the IA authorities. Fall to their feet and beg for forgiveness. Continue begging till the desired result is obtained.Period

So one of us had to pretend to be very very ill. We both looked out of sorts that time, but we choose to strive for perfection. We started evaluating each other's theatrical prowess and past experience. While we were looking at the capabilities of both the applicants, the person we were supposed to meet, strolled in. Seeing that we still hadnt decided upon our roles, fate decided to take its own course. Something made me sneeze, and voila - My shoulders suddenly drooped, eyes became heavy and I started coughing vigorously (Surprising what a sneeze can do to you! )The official for once thought I was terminally ill, and offered me a seat. Taking my cue, Nihit soon got into his elements and started begging for mercy, wtih me puncuating from time to time with a cough or a sneeze. And within 10 mins, we walked out with our tickets for next day's flight, free of cost!!

While people around me were getting crazy about blogs, I fought the temptation to take the leap. And the result is that after spending half an hour, feverishly typing and pressing check repeatedly, I found to my dismay that all cool names were taken. Apparently, individuality is overrated.

Joining the herd!

For reasons unknown, i resisted starting a blog for quite some time. And for reasons unknown, I finally gave in...

Everybody around me started posting their day-to-day musing & millings online and felt very smug about it. I wondered why?? I wondered what needs of a human being, tangible or intangible, were being satiated by a thread-bare, public online journal. And when I couldnt come with any "un-indecent" reasons, I decided to test the waters myself.

To be frank, my life hasnt been interesting enough, before this point of time, to be worthy of a blog. I havent been to many cool places. I have neither seen any UFOs nor been visited by any gross aliens. I havent grown up in a war-torn country (all mine manages to get is "bilateral diplomatic dialogue", no action stuff). I dont work as a life guard in a red chaddi with a red surfboat in one hand and a hot chick I just saved, in the other! And the most disappointing fact- I havent seen any pret, chudail, khoon ki pyaasi aatma, etc which seemingly reside in every nook and corner of this country.

No GFs. All I could manage was a rumour and the gurl asked people to consider linking her to someone else, to protect her honour and dignity.

To sum up, all i have to show for my first 21 yrs on this planet is a hint of a paunch, an Engg degree, and a few random thoughts. C- !!

This is when i decided to take things in my own hands...