So - another 5 days and I'll be done with my second stint at NASA this summer. But the next few days will be far from dull - I have to write two papers, participate in a JPL-Team-X-like mission design exercise, make a final presentation, write a couple of articles, and worst of all - pack.
Is it weird that all this feels normal? Probably not - seven semesters at school have prepared me well for something like this. I complain and whine out of habit - one of my friends, after listening to my tirade said, 'So - what's new?' Another one claimed that I always made my life sound like I was fighting demons and dragons.
I think it's natural to want some drama in one's life.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
City-trotter
I'd never understood what falling in love with a city meant.
Lucknow was a harsh, hot city, with too many cars on the roads, too much dust in the air, not enough trees to hide the the murkiness and poverty all around, too many eyes that I learned to pretend to ignore while taking the buses to and from school. I loved it because in the sea of dirt and dust and sweat, I could usually spot a familiar face from my childhood, or have the best ice-cream for two rupees, or just think about the people I cared for most who were not very far away.
Ann Arbor was nice. When I think back though, there is little of the city that I remember - other than the trips between school and home, home and school, my first memorable snowfall, halloween, hunting for gypsy moths, puberty, the pretzels at briarwood mall, and the 'oh-hell' card game I learned.
Austin...was not the north-east. Perhaps I had dreams of the east coast with its magnificent old architecture, the smart-looking people, the cool weather - when I first came to Austin, having seen little else in all my time in the country before. I liked the little neighborhoods, but the buildings on campus were awful, and I the absence of snow and boots and heavy jackets was disappointing. It took a while - to appreciate the oddity of the place, the live music, the lethargy, the sunny weather - a nice escape from the sub-zero temperatures maintained indoors.
Cleveland was one of those cities that I wondered about - I wondered why people would decide to live here all their lives. People over 65 probably made up the bulk of the population, the city was old and windy, rated one of the poorest cities in the United States, and also one of the coldest - because of the lake effect, and no Sun for 4-5 months.
People complain too much. I remember this animal crackers comic strip - the gnu had just had a brainwave - he declared that he knew why the grass was greener on the other side - because they dyed it!
Cleveland's awesome. A visit downtown is like walking into a movie-rental place - there so much to see, all around. A string of parks surrounds the city - known as the emerald necklace. A river runs through it, called the Cuyahoga (which literally means crooked river) - which caught on fire several times in the last few decades. There are several old houses with secret quarters where sympathetic owners hid slaves prior to the civil war. The Cleveland Clinic is really an art museum or classical music paradise.
And when I go back to Austin now, I can smile while wearing summer clothes in January, enjoy the local artists performing in coffee shops, smile when a random stranger passes a compliment on the street corner.
Lucknow's become exquisite too - with the parts of it that are changing, and the parts that remain endearingly the same - the driveway, the garden, the campus gate.
Likewise, Delhi, Manipal, Allahabad, Cincinnati, Philadelphia have some special spots. They all are the same under all the layers of an onion - places that some people decided to call home, and where civilization took over.
The secret to loving anything is the impermanence of it. The secret to loving anyplace is to go away - and keep coming back.
Lucknow was a harsh, hot city, with too many cars on the roads, too much dust in the air, not enough trees to hide the the murkiness and poverty all around, too many eyes that I learned to pretend to ignore while taking the buses to and from school. I loved it because in the sea of dirt and dust and sweat, I could usually spot a familiar face from my childhood, or have the best ice-cream for two rupees, or just think about the people I cared for most who were not very far away.
Ann Arbor was nice. When I think back though, there is little of the city that I remember - other than the trips between school and home, home and school, my first memorable snowfall, halloween, hunting for gypsy moths, puberty, the pretzels at briarwood mall, and the 'oh-hell' card game I learned.
Austin...was not the north-east. Perhaps I had dreams of the east coast with its magnificent old architecture, the smart-looking people, the cool weather - when I first came to Austin, having seen little else in all my time in the country before. I liked the little neighborhoods, but the buildings on campus were awful, and I the absence of snow and boots and heavy jackets was disappointing. It took a while - to appreciate the oddity of the place, the live music, the lethargy, the sunny weather - a nice escape from the sub-zero temperatures maintained indoors.
Cleveland was one of those cities that I wondered about - I wondered why people would decide to live here all their lives. People over 65 probably made up the bulk of the population, the city was old and windy, rated one of the poorest cities in the United States, and also one of the coldest - because of the lake effect, and no Sun for 4-5 months.
People complain too much. I remember this animal crackers comic strip - the gnu had just had a brainwave - he declared that he knew why the grass was greener on the other side - because they dyed it!
Cleveland's awesome. A visit downtown is like walking into a movie-rental place - there so much to see, all around. A string of parks surrounds the city - known as the emerald necklace. A river runs through it, called the Cuyahoga (which literally means crooked river) - which caught on fire several times in the last few decades. There are several old houses with secret quarters where sympathetic owners hid slaves prior to the civil war. The Cleveland Clinic is really an art museum or classical music paradise.
And when I go back to Austin now, I can smile while wearing summer clothes in January, enjoy the local artists performing in coffee shops, smile when a random stranger passes a compliment on the street corner.
Lucknow's become exquisite too - with the parts of it that are changing, and the parts that remain endearingly the same - the driveway, the garden, the campus gate.
Likewise, Delhi, Manipal, Allahabad, Cincinnati, Philadelphia have some special spots. They all are the same under all the layers of an onion - places that some people decided to call home, and where civilization took over.
The secret to loving anything is the impermanence of it. The secret to loving anyplace is to go away - and keep coming back.
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