A conversation with a friend in class today led me to write this post.
It started with a remark on the professor's style of writing.(He pressed the chalk so hard that I felt sorry for the poor board.)This got us to wade into a stream of reminisces about the different teachers we'd had since school, the way they wrote, the way they intoned certain words......(This friend actually adopts the same tone as his teacher when he's trying to remember a formula and vouches for the method.)
Later as I reflected on the conversation I was struck by how vividly we remember a few chosen incidents or (for lack of a better word)facts and forget the rest. I don't count "memorable days" which I'll return to, but later. These are ostensibly unremarkable days. I can't even give an example here, because they truly have nothing worth remembering. Or do they? I mean, the fact that we remember them proves that there is something to them, after all.
Other things (like remembering the way some teacher wrote on the board or the way they signed in your notebook)leave me equally baffled. Is it about how long you are exposed to a phenomenon? Just what is it about things that determines whether we remember them or not?
Coming to the "memorable days" in our life - there too, we really don't remember each and every single minute of the day. Only the important bits.Maybe like how the toothpaste fell off the brush in the morning?!
Then again, there are other things. Listening to a new song the other day, I tried to sing along and play it till I knew all the lyrics by heart. Five repetitions later, my patience ran out. But I know of several songs, advertisement jingles (intentional memory adhesiveness) and such like that I've memorized (mostly sub-consciously)having only listened to them a couple of times.
It would be wonderful if we could come up with a solution to this mystery. Imagine- no student would forget anything (s)he read before an exam. Court witnesses would have perfect testimony.Phone numbers, car license plates, events witnessed,you name it!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Teleporting Woes
Hey, have u reached?
Me, I’m still at home! I’m just KNEW something was gonna go wrong! And now I’ll be late!
I mean, when I got that new teleporter, I thought wow! This is cool! No more disorientation problems, no battery issues……..………….. and ALWAYS REACH IN TIME!!
And now this. I called the service center and the guy has the audacity to tell me that the warranty lasts only for the first 50 teleportations! Now it’ll take me a whole 10 nanoseconds longer. Even the arrival pads will be jammed at this hour!
I HATE the thought of spending SECONDS together without a body. And I hurt my arm when I fell off yesterday. Some kid landed a nanosecond too soon and knocked me over.
Apparently the new model T11235 gives an auto stability feature so you’re always standing straight when you land. I’m sure there are morons who’ll buy it too! I mean, why can’t you learn to land properly on your own? Guess it’s good for kids and senior citizens though. They should put some cushions instead, like planes had parachutes.
I’ll leave now. Grab a seat for me.
C ya!!
Me, I’m still at home! I’m just KNEW something was gonna go wrong! And now I’ll be late!
I mean, when I got that new teleporter, I thought wow! This is cool! No more disorientation problems, no battery issues……..………….. and ALWAYS REACH IN TIME!!
And now this. I called the service center and the guy has the audacity to tell me that the warranty lasts only for the first 50 teleportations! Now it’ll take me a whole 10 nanoseconds longer. Even the arrival pads will be jammed at this hour!
I HATE the thought of spending SECONDS together without a body. And I hurt my arm when I fell off yesterday. Some kid landed a nanosecond too soon and knocked me over.
Apparently the new model T11235 gives an auto stability feature so you’re always standing straight when you land. I’m sure there are morons who’ll buy it too! I mean, why can’t you learn to land properly on your own? Guess it’s good for kids and senior citizens though. They should put some cushions instead, like planes had parachutes.
I’ll leave now. Grab a seat for me.
C ya!!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
In wait
I lie, frozen glacial
Impassive, dreary and still
I lie choked and stifled
Stationary against my will
I seem a mere ghost
To the wandering casual eye
Unable to discern the tiny trickle
That despite all, refuses to rigidify
The sun sends its compliments
But it'll take more than a few rays
To strike a chord
With my crystal carapace
Someday the water will gush forth
Unfettered, free at last
To surge, to breathe life
Into the sands I flow past.
Impassive, dreary and still
I lie choked and stifled
Stationary against my will
I seem a mere ghost
To the wandering casual eye
Unable to discern the tiny trickle
That despite all, refuses to rigidify
The sun sends its compliments
But it'll take more than a few rays
To strike a chord
With my crystal carapace
Someday the water will gush forth
Unfettered, free at last
To surge, to breathe life
Into the sands I flow past.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
The Minimum Energy Level
It seems to me that there are two phases in which we all exist.
One – where everything is proper, where one moves about with check valves highly active in the brain. One stifles yawns, sits upright on chairs, politely declines third helpings (even if it’s a favorite dish) and resigns to second (for fear of insulting the cook).
And the other – where one sits with one leg thrown around the backrest of the chair (my pose as I type this), gluts on chocolate cake, whistles out of tune, jumps on newly made beds; etiquette be damned.
Most of us would say the second happens when one is all alone. Or maybe when one is with family. And a few close friends to whom one has nothing to prove. Or when one is working or too engrossed in something to care.
So why care the rest of the time? It seems to me that for every act of “good” behavior one tries to accumulate credit in the onlookers’ mind. Just so that one is taken seriously by them later. Then there are others. Those who appear to do anything they want to do. Why some of them still retain their claim to good opinion while others are alternately ridiculed and despised remains a complete mystery.
And there are still others. Those that are so saturated with genuine sophistication that it seems inconceivable that they could be otherwise. Wonder if they’re missing out on things or the other way round.
One – where everything is proper, where one moves about with check valves highly active in the brain. One stifles yawns, sits upright on chairs, politely declines third helpings (even if it’s a favorite dish) and resigns to second (for fear of insulting the cook).
And the other – where one sits with one leg thrown around the backrest of the chair (my pose as I type this), gluts on chocolate cake, whistles out of tune, jumps on newly made beds; etiquette be damned.
Most of us would say the second happens when one is all alone. Or maybe when one is with family. And a few close friends to whom one has nothing to prove. Or when one is working or too engrossed in something to care.
So why care the rest of the time? It seems to me that for every act of “good” behavior one tries to accumulate credit in the onlookers’ mind. Just so that one is taken seriously by them later. Then there are others. Those who appear to do anything they want to do. Why some of them still retain their claim to good opinion while others are alternately ridiculed and despised remains a complete mystery.
And there are still others. Those that are so saturated with genuine sophistication that it seems inconceivable that they could be otherwise. Wonder if they’re missing out on things or the other way round.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Teetotaler Anonymous
Nights on end without a wink
Days full of empty marooned time
Now and then, a feeling of hope
A sense of despair in the mean time
‘Have one, just one before you leave’
‘Never have, besides, I’ve brought my car’
‘Really, I insist, have one for the road’
‘I’ll down the cola and hit the tar’
Amidst screeches and tears
The ambulance wails its way on
They stare at me full of rage
Verdict announced; conclusion foregone
Trying to remain sane
But I’m on the brink
One thought persists
What if I’d taken the drink?
Days full of empty marooned time
Now and then, a feeling of hope
A sense of despair in the mean time
‘Have one, just one before you leave’
‘Never have, besides, I’ve brought my car’
‘Really, I insist, have one for the road’
‘I’ll down the cola and hit the tar’
Amidst screeches and tears
The ambulance wails its way on
They stare at me full of rage
Verdict announced; conclusion foregone
Trying to remain sane
But I’m on the brink
One thought persists
What if I’d taken the drink?
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Epics of the Kalyug
There is either inordinate reverence or deplorable scarcity of originality or simply the lack of courage in the minds of filmmakers who find they must resort to the Ramayan or Mahabharat to make a saleable flick.
I strongly suspect the latter.
Raavan, following closely on the heels of Raajneeti just left me confounded. Why two obviously intelligent directors with excellent track records made films that were so obviously shallow, pointless and implausible beats me.
Agreed that these epics are deep wells to draw from, with intricately woven characters and social backgrounds relevant to all eras; but surely there’s a reason they were television serials, to quote Mayank Shekhar.
Exploring deeply into a particular character or relationship is always fascinating, as is depicting a particular portion of the narrative. But to reduce entire epics into two and half hours of banal travesties, well, that’s something else again.
All I can hope for is that others take a lesson and don’t go that way.
I strongly suspect the latter.
Raavan, following closely on the heels of Raajneeti just left me confounded. Why two obviously intelligent directors with excellent track records made films that were so obviously shallow, pointless and implausible beats me.
Agreed that these epics are deep wells to draw from, with intricately woven characters and social backgrounds relevant to all eras; but surely there’s a reason they were television serials, to quote Mayank Shekhar.
Exploring deeply into a particular character or relationship is always fascinating, as is depicting a particular portion of the narrative. But to reduce entire epics into two and half hours of banal travesties, well, that’s something else again.
All I can hope for is that others take a lesson and don’t go that way.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Just disgruntled, I guess
What happened? Why did you get so late?
Oh, I was just thinking of leaving when I found a new voice message saying that there was to be a meeting at 6:30. So I waited back n guess what? At 6:15 the guy calls to say that it’s been rescheduled for tomorrow. Man! I could’ve been home by then!
Ask someone what time will they leave from someplace and the reply you’ll get is “Can’t say. I’ll give you a missed call when I actually leave.”
Sound familiar?
The thing is, we’ve lost control of how our day will proceed ‘cause it’s too dependent on external factors liable to sudden changes. And if you are one of those “boring” people who like to stick to original schedules, you can bet you’ll be left out of everything. Or worse, be disgruntled about having to shelve other things abruptly, and you’re not committed enough to the current activity. Plans, in the unlikely event that they exist, rarely fall into place.
There is as usual another side to it. Back in the, say, 70s, you could have unexpected visitors. Housewives would cook extra meals just in case. People would travel across the country without reservations. Unimaginable!
The sheer lack of communication channels made people think ahead and be better prepared for “un”forseen problems, while we don’t know a bridge exists until we’re halfway across.
We’re also very commitment phobic because of this unpredictability.
But all of this holds true only for personal and everyday matters. Bands have their shows for at least the next 6 months chalked out. And while we’re at it, ask someone who got married recently how much in advance they had to book the venue.
As usual my post is dichotomous. And I leave it at that.
Oh, I was just thinking of leaving when I found a new voice message saying that there was to be a meeting at 6:30. So I waited back n guess what? At 6:15 the guy calls to say that it’s been rescheduled for tomorrow. Man! I could’ve been home by then!
Ask someone what time will they leave from someplace and the reply you’ll get is “Can’t say. I’ll give you a missed call when I actually leave.”
Sound familiar?
The thing is, we’ve lost control of how our day will proceed ‘cause it’s too dependent on external factors liable to sudden changes. And if you are one of those “boring” people who like to stick to original schedules, you can bet you’ll be left out of everything. Or worse, be disgruntled about having to shelve other things abruptly, and you’re not committed enough to the current activity. Plans, in the unlikely event that they exist, rarely fall into place.
There is as usual another side to it. Back in the, say, 70s, you could have unexpected visitors. Housewives would cook extra meals just in case. People would travel across the country without reservations. Unimaginable!
The sheer lack of communication channels made people think ahead and be better prepared for “un”forseen problems, while we don’t know a bridge exists until we’re halfway across.
We’re also very commitment phobic because of this unpredictability.
But all of this holds true only for personal and everyday matters. Bands have their shows for at least the next 6 months chalked out. And while we’re at it, ask someone who got married recently how much in advance they had to book the venue.
As usual my post is dichotomous. And I leave it at that.
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