In dodo's head

Dawg, noble and wise soul that he is opened the dialogue with a - The first thing and perhaps the most important part which most people don't get about how not to do is.. You don't buy the egg.. You wait for the hens outside to gift wrap you one ?, asked the naive Pig. To which the wise Dawg replied-  No...You'd think so.. wouldn't you... well no.. because once u have an egg.. u know.. u've got to bake it.. The Pig thought a while and remembered- baking an egg is singlehandedly the toughest task at hand for mankind, ranking far ahead of climate change and poverty according to the 2011 Phoney survey. Dawg shook his wise head and ignored the irrelevant words of the Pig- the second part is..you always mix the baking powder with the egg, because after that no matter how hard you'd try.. you'll end up with a cake.. and not a baked egg.. But sire, the pig butted in- how can we bake an egg with baking power and not end up...

So this weekend, I stumbled upon this program on TLC called Fabulous cakes. Now if there's one thing in this world that gets me going and motivates me to live each day is the thought that there's cake (a bit of an exaggeration but that's what artistic freedom is about, right?).. So anyway, this show is about famous bakeries around the US and each episode focuses on a handful of bakeries in one city and how they design massive show-stopping cakes for events.. A cake from one of the episodes-The cake was made for earth day. It's unbelievable how much hard work goes into it, it's art, it's architecture, it's engineering, it's so scientific.. And the passion with which these designers handle each project.. The look on their faces when they get a design right.. I would be the happiest person in the world if I could do a job that could give me that much of satisfaction.. I know I talk about this a lot, about the future, about what I want to do in li...

It has been a rather intense few days finishing up my first assignment and hence I have not been able to update you about how I re-found the love of my life (Read  http://insideoutsight.blogspot.com/2011/11/ode-to-my-lost-card-holder.html  for further details.. lol).. So a little recap in case you can't be bothered to read it. This is the position in which I found it! I went to the Birkbeck (the University a few steps away from my College) Library to study as I was going nowhere with my essay and just getting constantly distracted. Of course as it happens to me, I got fascinated by the books they had in their library (related to the essay topic of course) and found myself wandering a little (important point) around where I was sitting with a friend. Come six p.m and I was ready to head home, when I realized my card holder which contained my newly issued Birkbeck library card along with my SOAS ID and Oyster was not in any of my pockets. Now those of you who know me wil...

It's true I took you for granted, There I was thinking,  You were safe in my coat pocket, And oh yee, I have lost you. If you came back, I swear I would treat you right. I would make a place for you In my possessions, And never let go of you again. Absence does make the heart go fonder. The whole way I walked home, Since you had my Oyster, And all I could think of, Was how I should have cared for you a bit more. I recall the last time I saw you, And I only wish I could turn back time, And keep you zipped up in my bag. You had in you things that were so important to me, Now I wonder how I will visit those places again, The Library, The JCR, Damn my carelessness. You know I repent it already, Forgive me just this time. Come back to me. I need you now.

I am afraid of dying. They say those who are afraid to die are the people who have not lived life at all. I disagree. Those who have a life worth living are those who are afraid of how it can all end in the blink of the eye. We do not know how far away we really are from our destination..  Just outside King's Cross Station, a young 24 year old cycling to university was hit by a lorry..Now every day as I cross the site on my way to university, the white painted bicycle at the pedestrian crossing with bouquets of flowers and messages for her remind me of how fleeting life is. She was just like any of us, rushing to get to her classes, How fast it all ended for her, how fast her life became a full stop.. and now all that remains in her memory in London is a white bicycle laden with flowers.. My friend just yesterday told me of her class mate who died in a road accident in Manchester. It is disturbing to think of death lurking around us all the time. The lives we ...

As I delve further and further in Development Studies and actually get the opportunity to hear wise souls like Ha Joon Chang speak about the issues that the world faces today, the more I realize just how complicated we have made our world.. We have tangled up our feet among all the strings and ropes we have created to support a system which increasingly churns out new problems and challenges. Ponderings while writing my essay. This picture was taken in Chester in April 2011 The result is that students who attempt to dip a toe or two to get a hang of what these issues are all about are sucked into a whirlpool of complications from which there is no escape.. The smart ones do understand that the best way to score good marks is to begin and end every thesis is: 'The *insert thesis topic here* is faulty and has many drawbacks. There are not many mechanisms to address this challenge. *Insert dysfunctional options here* are also unable to address this issue. Therefore a solu...

Picture from the internet We often forget to thank the people who surround us and make our lives such a good one.. We forget to tell them how much they mean to us.. Birthdays are the days when you realize the value these people have in your life. When they take out time out from their busy schedules just to spend time with you, give you a phone call from across the seas, make an effort to send you a text message or even post on your Facebook wall, and hearing or reading them just makes the day that much more warm, you realize just how special a place these people hold in your heart.. So this is my Thank you to all those people in my life. Sometimes I hurt your feelings and say things I don't really mean in anger.. but when it comes down to it, I would not trade you for anyone else in the world..

So as the clock strike 12 tonight, a new chapter of Dodo's life will begin.. Hard to believe that another year has just flown by.. Losing count of the decades I have witnessed (well not really..).. Looking back at the past year, all I can see at the distance is graduation.. Of my efforts being rewarded with marks I was so proud of.. Graduating was also an important milestone in that it marked the end of a fun three years in Manchester- the good old KOM (friends), hardly any lectures a week, dissertation and how we spent the last few days just trying to live it all in that short span of time.. Lake district June 2011 Of course, in the past year I spent a lot of time at home, time which was greatly made worthwhile by the addition of two cousins into the family.. Reading the Bhagwat Gita with my grandmother and watch her light up also made three of the months a good one.. There was also the SOAS phase which began in September. It has been a hectic ride since, but I am copi...

There could be no better time than now to write a continuation to my article on Imphal ( http://insideoutsight.blogspot.com/search/label/hills%20fish%20and%20imphal ).. What better time to beckon people to look 'Northeast' towards this beautiful valley I call home than now when its people are grappling with blockades, development problems and what not..  The Loktak Lake May 2011 So in the first segment on Imphal, I talked briefly about the food, the roads, how money could get you anything you wanted there, and also why you must go there.. Well in this one, I will (*try to*) talk about the kinds of problems we face back home.. I add the *try to* because I really do not know much about the issues myself.. The only reason for me knowing a little more than some of you would be because I was born there.. I have not studied much about it.. Studying in Dehradun for eight years (in Central India) means you only read one line in a History text book about Imphal (that too alo...

I am not one of the more informed people when it comes to my knowledge about my hometown. Its almost deplorable how little I know about my people and the valley I call home. There's no excuse for this, except for the fact that since I have been ten years old, I have been studying far away from there and only visit during vacations. But I guess in the times of the internet and television, even that does not make for a valid excuse. Perhaps I could (slightly) blame it on the lack of national and international media coverage that Manipur enjoys (or rather suffers).. It seems Indians are more interested in how 'missed' international calls can rip you off and what advice Steve Jobs gave to Microsoft rather than how a small valley called Imphal has had a blockade for the past hundred days.. (the hundred the mainland Indians are anticipating more eagerly is Sachin's, it seems).. Despite of efforts made once a while by newschannels once a blue moon and tweets by well known c...

And here's my photograph of the day. Took this back in the beginning days of September when my mother and I went to Jaisalmer for the weekend. This was taken when our train was pulling into one of the Rajasthani towns. Just at first glance, I knew this old man would make a great subject of the picture. Made me wonder- what is he waiting for? Holding on for dear life, and looking bored at the same time...

So, yesterday while I was waiting by a set of traffic lights on my way home, two suspicious looking men stopped by and asked, 'Excuse me. Do you think God exists?'. On closer observation of these two revealed that they were holding on to a bunch of pamphlets.. one of those drives I guess to get more people to church. I of course mumbled something about being in a hurry and rushed off as soon as the pedestrian lights turned green. While I might have been able to dodge them and get home safe, their question did not leave me in peace. All day I asked myself- did I really believe God exists? Well, I think, we are all scared sometimes, or atleast I am, and I sort of think of God as this all knowing, omnipresent being who can save me from all things bad. I guess I am a little hypocrite sometimes in the sense that I forget to pray most days and only do so when I am scared or nervous. I pray each time the plane I am sitting in is about to take off or land, I pray everytime I have a ...