avi's blog

The BEAN....

"The bean forever remembers its birthplace: the terraced hillsides, the equatorial rains, the lilac-blue shade of the jacaranda. The bean eternally harbors the nurturing touch of the farmer deep within. The bean gives back blessing each warm cup with the mysteriously inviting flavor of its coffee-land origin."

...Written on Starbucks mug packaging. And kind of true. Left coffee 3 months back, but the quote seems like one last attempt aimed at putting me back to being a coffee connoisseur for the last time... and they almost had me...

 

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The snow covered path to hec _06/01/09, 11:30AM, -2 Cesius, Paris.

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New wine glasses.:)

To accompany my piano practice, nice glasses filled with the elixir called vin...

My first purchase of real wine glasses in Paris... :)

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First snowfall of 09. Sending picture from cellphone.
- Taken at 10:12 AM on January 05, 2009 - cameraphone upload by ShoZu

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Places to visit before I die...

1) Mouth of Truth, Rome

2) Times Square, Madison Square Garden, New York

3) Harry's Bar, Paris ( Have a Bloody Mary there )

4) Sunset Boulevard, California

5) Rio Carnival, Rio

Staying Connected...

Talk... In the morning. At midnight.
On a highway. On top of a mountain.
On a whim. In the shower.
Uninterrupted. To your heart's content.
In a whisper. For just 5 seconds.
For 5 hours. Forever. On Airtel.

Well, this is what the manual of my cellphone service provider says. It's right. See the power a small device has. The freedom it brings along, the connectivity, anywhere, anytime. This is what attracts one into having a phone.

Today, three years down the line... its a different story. Its not me who is the master, its the phone that is my master now. If you answer the call, the other party has a reason to call and you have to do a favour or make a lame excuse... If you dont answer, its kind of contempt. If you turn it off, you miss all important calls as well. There's no easy solution to this problem.

Suddenly, it makes you realize how many times you started lying since cellphones came.... Lying about where you are.. what you are doing... and so on... Its a device that takes you away from the close ones and brings you closer to the distant ones...

Wish I had no phones... just email. At least you are not obliged to reply as soon as you get an email. Rather, not a problem even if you dont reply. Plus check it as infrequently as you want to. No phone, no tensions....

Feels like a Doctor...

Many times I have seen in movies... the doctor is operating on a patient in the operation theatre/ ICU... And some family or friends of the patient are waiting eagerly for a word from the doctor...
...Suddenly the doctor comes out, and all are trying to guess from his expression and want to hear each word that comes out from his mouth... Its a matter of the life and death of the patient...

Well, the last 1 month, I felt the same. Being the Placement Co-ordinator at my university, I along with the other Co-ordinators used to co-ordinate the placements the whole day and night... Everytime we used to come out from the Interview rooms towards the area where all those who either had given the interview and were awaiting the results or those who were waiting for their interview sat, we were looked upon by all who judjed our expressions to know if we had good news for them. Although not a matter of life and death as in the case of a doctor, but a matter of the next most important thing- of livelyhood or not! A smile plus eye contact with someone meant that person was through. And people expectedthe phone calls from the Co-ordinators. A call with the first word "Congrats!" from the Co-ordinator meant the called person got the job. Else it used to be the word "Sorry!" or an sms saying the same!
Those were the last 2 months! And it might sound like a good responsibility, but giving bad news was and is the hardest part. But again, it is to some extent compensated by the fact that you give the good news also, which has its own fun. And finally at the end of the month you give away a big phone bill!!
Those were the days.....

Doctor