Hong Kong musing

Hong Kong is known for its sea food. A vegetarian sure has a tough time out there.

You do get vegetarian food if you know where to search. But for a south Indian chap like me, it seems a bit incomplete. I once ordered Spicy mushroom and exotic vegetables in noodle soup. What I got was broth with noodles floating in it and a luxurious serving of steamed vegetables and sauteed mushrooms to go with it. I also got a rice bowl with this. Now I am used to drinking soup, munching veggies and having my rice with gravy. But I had never had all of these served together as a whole ever before! (It tasted good though mind you, I had my rice with lots of sauce).

The other time I ordered a veggie burger and was given a hamburger with lots of veggies stuffed between the buns. Then there was this occasion where I ordered a veggie pasta with fettuccine only to find it served with pork. Some of my friends couldn't quite comprehend what that piece of beef was doing messing around with their veggie sandwiches. Coming to the non vegetarian options, you get anything from squids to Ox's tongue to Shark's fin to other what nots!

Then there are the chopsticks - some people fail to understand that not all of us are experts at handling that simple-looking-yet-tough-to-handle tool. Plus the fact that almost no Chinese guy uses a fork while eating made it really tough for me, when I once had to draw a fork on paper to tell the waiter what I needed (I tried writing F-O-R-K first, but that was of no use at all). And there seems to be severe water shortage in the country, as I didn't find a single wash basin in all of the restaurants and canteens that I visited there, and very few water fountains in the eateries. Seems you have to strictly drink your soup while eating your food. No water allowed.

But one thing that struck me - a whole week spent there, yet I didn't see one fat Chinese guy! And all those I met (I met a lot of them folks in their homeland) looked much younger than they actually are! Turns out that most of their food is either boiled or steamed, and with very little to no saturated fats - as healthy as it can get! I respect their food now, although I was never quite able to come to terms with actually eating it - squids, ox tongue, Shark's fin for God's sake!

Hong Kong is known for its sea food. On most occasions though, I had to be content with a see food diet.

Away for a week

Tonight I leave for Hong Kong. There's a conference on Information theory and Theoritical Computer Science being organised by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, from 21st Jan '08 to 26th Jan '08. As an effort towards furthering their collaboration with IIT Bombay, they are sponsoring the visit for 4 students for this event, including yours truly.

Frankly speaking, I have never quite appreciated the said topics throughout my brief stint in Electrical Engineering here in IIT (now that I am moving into management consulting, it's Bbye Engineering! for me) I hope this week long conference may help me look at these fields in a more appreciative and open minded manner. Although the main motivation for me still is all the sightseeing and the shopping that awaits me in the coming week, I hope I can somehow fit in some enthusiasm and have a good learning experience this time.

Only catch - a vegetarian usually has a tough time fooding in Hong Kong; and to top that, one of my molars died a strange death last week (read last post)! I hope I don't have a miserable time on the edible side of the trip; pray for me!

Adios for a week!

Fraction of a tooth

Today I lost half a tooth. Again. Well, I had lost that very half about four years ago, courtesy some tooth decay or something, and today I happened to lose the filling that was very well concealing this gateway into my oral cavity. It was a soft dismissal, considering that the said debacle happened over a measly banana, that I was munching on happily until my tongue noticed hitherto unexplored territory in my upper jaw. A few minutes later, the missing filling was found lodged in a tricky corner in my lower jaw, which I suppose should have been occupied by some tooth that never was. I called up my dentist, whence I came to know that he was just out of the white thing used for filling such holes, and said I could have been lucky had I called about an hour earlier. Perfect timing!

As such, I now have to live a day (night actually, as I shall get this fixed first thing tomorrow) with 31.5 teeth. Well, make that 29.5 actually; I never got all of my wisdom teeth. :P That would be those in the lower jaw. :|

Accident!

I have been doing stupid things of late, but today I really crossed all limits when I decided to ride pillion with my dear friend (whom I shall not name :P) to wangle our way into H 13's laundry room to collect his clothes, 20 minutes past closing time. I was amazed at how we did manage to reach H 13, unharmed and unscathed (a distance of about a km from our hostel - too much to demand for a safe ride, with our dear friend being the driver in question and with IIT roads being the stage for his whole driving dramatics) and I did indeed compliment him on his driving, and even foolishly hinted that I would like him to teach me to ride a bike (Haa Haa, okay so I don't know how to ride a bike......... 'yet'...... big deal!)

I don't know if it was fate which intended to pull a nasty practical joke on me, but the moment I said this, it happened. Skid, slip, slide, 'Abey', and a 'Kya faart hai!' later, the bike came crashing down. The mighty pulsar, fell to the ground with my rider friend still holding on to it. Luckily, my common sense came to its senses when it mattered most and I jumped away to avoid landing below the bike. The H 13 watchman saw us thus collapsing, and came running to us. He was pleased to find that no one was hurt, and we were relieved to see that the Pulsar too was 'unhurt' (or else we pay the compensation to the owner you see) He then looked at my friend and said - 'Arey baba, tum to parso bhi yahin isi jagah bike se gire the, aise hi style mein!' (You had fallen off from your bike in the same manner a couple of days back). This remark hit us, and we felt it is important to determine the cause of such a snafu, which always goes wrong the same way! Turned out that the culprit was a frickin tazo. Such a small and insignificant toy could prove to be such a huge problem - well, all credit to fate and my dear driver friend. No more bike rides for me for the time being please! :)

P.S. 20 mins past closing time + 10 mins drama with the tazo = shop closed = all efforts in vain. Also, it is yet to be known if the tazo was the miscreant a couple of days ago as well.

The triumph of the Underdog

Underdog. Someone who enters a competition supposedly just as a filler, someone without any hopes of making it beyond the opening round. Wikipedia says an underdog is a person or group in a competition, frequently in electoral politics, sports, and creative works, who is popularly expected to lose. Yes that's what an underdog is - a supposed no hoper.

There are times though when the underdog decides to snatch away some of the limelight from his more illustrious counterparts, leaving behind utter shock and surprise and awe in his wake. It's at these times that they realise how much they underestimated that underdog. The victory is never seen coming. It takes on everyone by surprise. Everyone, but the underdog. He always believed he would win some day. He never lost hope, ever so perseverant, no matter how hostile his status quo may seem. He always respected his failures, learning more from them than the joy that he derives from his victories.

There are occasions though, when the underdog has an added onus of taking his one off win forward towards reaching the pinnacle. He has to some how sustain his confidence and his will power to take him that one step forward, where lady luck may not always be at his side. It's time for him to humble the champions. He knows he has had a bit of good fortune in getting to where he is now. Few are such chances that he gets, rather this may be the only chance he'll ever get, and it is upon him to make this a memorable moment for him to cherish forever.



And so the underdog decides to fight on. He has nothing to lose anyway. Rather there's an incentive here to enjoy the war, the competition. The result of defeat shall be no different from what his situation is now - he'll still be the underdog. But victory will bring a respect, an admiration, a sense of wonder from his contemporaries, hitherto unimaginable. His little known skills make him an intimidating adversary. He knows he doesn't have what it takes to be a champion. But he damn well knows how to create an upset.

Behold the underdog.

Back from Hiatus

Been busy for a long while now, with lots of things actually, reading some wonderful books, preparing for the inevitable placement interviews, strumming my guitar and a host of other activities. A pity that I neglected my blog all this long. Nevertheless, I think I have rediscovered my blogging passion, now rejuvenated with a new vigour.

Before I start penning down words on more tangible issues, I felt I should present this wonderful poem I came across, introduced to it by a friend, when I was once brooding over my chances of cracking a job in one of the top companies coming to campus this year. The poem is titled 'Ithaca' (not the Cornell Ithaca, this refers to the island near Greece). I know not of the origin of this poem, so I am sad I cannot give due credit to its author here. I will appreciate it if someone could furnish me that information :)

Ithaca

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what these Ithacas mean.

As my dear friend Sasik tells me, "Enjoy the process and not the destination........ It's not where you start, but how you start that's more important."

Visualise

If I ask you where do you see yourself on your 50th birthday, what would you have to say? Well, for one you cannot comment on what/where you will be (given you are about my age now), as 29 years is a long way into the future. I will share my views on this soon, but meanwhile I will like you to think on this for yourself, and maybe share your views with us all here.

Good bye.