Balderdash: some random rantings
Sunday, 22 April 2018
Sunday, 31 December 2017
The cost of a Subway sandwich
Holding
an Indian passport brings along with it a lot of fuss, especially if
one intends to travel to the West. I had a travel coming up to Europe
and UK soon and had to apply for both the visas separately. While I
did have my Schengen visa with me, this was my second trip to New
York from State College to get my British visa. I was already very
irritated at the whole process and towards the end of the day when
everything was done and I managed to catch the last bus back home, I
felt a sense of relief.
It
will be worth dedicating a few lines to this last bus that I boarded.
The service is provided by Shun Feng Inc, I had booked my ticket from
GotoBus.com and the date of my travel was 20th Sep 2017.
Everything was fine during the first half of my travel. Once we had
drove past Bloomsburg, I was feeling closer home. The thought of
reaching home and sipping in some hot milk (with saffron, honey)
while my feet was soaked in warm water calmed me down immediately. It
really had been a long day in a longer week.
The
bus stopped at a place called Miffinville. There was some
announcement in Chinese but I did not ask for an interpretation. I
had travelled by this bus before and knew that they stopped here for
sometime. Hungry that I was, I decided to deboard the bus and use the
restroom and grab something to eat from the Subway. Once I reached
the ladies restroom, a co-passenger had already entered the loo. As
far as my memory had it, I knew that this restroom could hold
multiple users. So I grabbed the door and tried to get in. The door
seemed locked from inside. I had no option but to wait for her to
exit from that door. I waited long enough and when she did finally
come out, she looked a little confused to see me waiting outside. She
was seated in front of me in the bus and we had exchanged a few
pleasantries in the form of smiles earlier. She said something to me
again in Chinese (sometimes I pass off as Chinese, sometimes Spanish
and I never understood why) which I guessed was something like, one
has to push the door harder or something. I smiled and she left.
As I
happen to reach the Subway counter, the staff there was already
attending an old man ahead of me and asked me to wait. Very well, I
thought and grabbed a few chips from the rack. When my turn came in
some minutes later, I ordered for a regular veggie pattie and a coke.
This is where it gets interesting. After I grab my sandwich, I exit
the doorway to board in the bus and I realize that I don't see any
vehicle remotely resembling a bus! The first thought that came to my
mind was that maybe I had missed the spot where it was parked. I look
around and see nothing in sight. Seeing me confused, a man who was
entering the Subway asked what was wrong. It was the first time I
realized as I was talking to him, that the bus must have left without
me. He chuckled and said “Oh, that will be a nightmare”. I
agreed, but in my mind I was already thinking of how to go about
dealing with this situation.
I
went inside the building and told the Subway man what had happened.
He seemed unfettered as if to suggest a subtle “So?”. Almost to
get him out of that indifferent state, I offered the solution myself
and asked if they have a phone that I can use. Now, it so happens
that all of my luggage, including my laptop, mobiles and all the
stuffs (including a Korean beauty treatment kit I was keen on
experimenting) that I had bought from New York were left in the bus.
I only had a small sling with me that included my bus passes and my
debit cards. Frankly, I do not even know why I had asked for a phone.
I remember none of my friends number and the only number I remember
is my own and my home back in India. Both useless. I was pointed to
another stall, Burger King and there were a few guys there who happen
to show some concern about this whole incident. I tried calling my
own number from somebody's mobile hoping that someone in the bus
would notice. Did not happen! I called some of my friends in State
College via somebody's Facebook messenger application but not a
single friend happen to receive the call. In the end, I dropped them
a text or two asking them to get back to me in this man's Facebook
account. We also tried calling the GotoBus services but to no avail.
I knew that was it. It was around 10 pm at night and I was an hour
and a half away from home. There was nothing that could be done that
night and any attempts to travel should be done the next morning. I
was in the middle of nowhere stranded, cold and tired but nowhere
close to worried. I asked if there was an Inn nearby where I could
put up that night. Thankfully, there was. I walked towards the Inn,
thanked those guys for the help and decided to check in the hotel.
When I reached the hotel, I asked the receptionist if I could use the
internet. She told me that I could but only after I check in the
hotel. I did that and went on to use a 1990s computer placed in the
hall. The first thing that I looked up was my location from the Hotel
address – just for the sake of it. After Googling about ways to
reach State College the next day, I was suddenly reminded that my
stuffs are all in the bus. (How could the driver not notice a pile of
bags in an empty passenger seat is really out of my understanding and
especially the aforementioned girl right in front of me with whom I
had made some association earlier, not show slightest amount of interference at my disappearance from the bus is something I cannot
understand till date!). I had to find a way to reach my friends in
State College and ask them to collect my luggage. Frankly, I had lost
all my faith in the bus operators.
My
Facebook account has remained deactivated for very long. I tried to
log in just hoping that I remember my password and viola! It did
work. (My gmail uses a double security measure and when I try to
login from unknown device, it will send me a code in my mobile
number. So of course, that was useless then). I then sent off
messages this time from my own account to three friends back in State
College. When the first one responded, I asked him for a contact
number. It was simpler from that point onwards. I asked one of my
friends to collect my luggage from the bus when it reaches State
college, which he later told me he did by simply walking inside the
bus and grabbing my stuffs from the seat I had specified. No one
noticed or cared that!
I
entered my hotel room and called up friends in State college. Some of
my friends had already called up Handy Delivery taxi services and
asked how much would it cost to fetch someone stranded in
Miffinville; 500$ was the estimate. Anyhow, since I would be able to
best specify my location, I decided to call the Handy Delivery
services myself. As soon as I explained the situation, the man on the
other side of the phone was “I just received a call about a pickup
from Miffinville, Are you the one who is left there on this dark
night?”. I laughed and agreed that it was me and that I would give
him a call next day if I find absolute no way to reach State College.
So
far I had gathered a few ways of getting back home (This whole
incident occurred before I owned a car and had a license to drive in
the US):
1.
Wait for the same bus that MAY stop at the same place after 24 hours.
2.
Board another megabus from a Pilot stop nearby where I MAY be allowed
to board.
3.
Travel through a series of amtraks, bus and train journey next day –
included a lot of risk with no Google maps to help me.
4.
Go to the nearest bus stop in Bloomsburg and check out options
5.
Book a taxi to come back home.
My plan of action! |
When
I woke up the next day, I had meticulously ruled out the first three
options for each had their own non feasibilities associated with it.
The fourth option seemed the most plausible but before that, I had to
call Handy Delivery like I had told them I would. It was around 7 am
that morning and I told them my situation. Probably a different guy
received the call and I asked for an estimate for this situation. He
gave the same amount 400-500$ since this pickup would mean that they
send a Taxi to Miffinville from State College and bring me back as
they did not have a branch there. Since I did not want to wake up my
other friends that early morning, I decided to ask the same guy what
he thinks is the best option to be back since I could not make
contact with anyone else that time. What he said falteringly still
makes me smile till date. “Book an Uber”, he said.
I
could not book an Uber since I did not have my phone with me. Just
for the sake of it, I decided to stroll around and see if there is
anything at all nearby that could give me pointers. A few minutes
later as I was just lingering on the roadway, a police car stopped
behind me. He asked me where I wanted to go, I explained him the
situation briefly. He humored my by saying that State College is far
and I could not reach there by walking if I intended to do that.
Provided me a few alternatives – all of which I had already
explored and eliminated. He also warned me that I was not allowed to
walk on the freeway like that. I smiled and nodded. Just before he
drove off, he flirtatiously smiled and said “By the way, State
college is that way” and pointed to the opposite right angled way
from where I currently was standing. Both laughed.
I
came back to hotel and grabbed some breakfast. The hotel also
arranged for a shuttle to reach me to Bloomsburg bus stop. I got down
near a Unimart in Bloomsburg and walked in. The store was run by two
Pakistani brothers, one of them was named Asif. I explained to him
the whole situation and told him that I needed a bus that would reach
be to Allenwood, Williamsport and some names in between which I
cannot recall now. He paused and asked me where I actually wanted to
go. I told him that I need to reach State College but since I want to
reach by daytime, I have to make break journeys to reach there. “But
there is a direct bus to State College in three hours”, he said. I
ignored what he said and went on explaining. “Yes, but I believe
the other bus..., oh wait! Did you say State College!” He smiled and
said that he could arrange the ticket for me. I thanked him and we
chatted for sometime. Then it dawned on me that I should call my
friends in State College and let them know of the whole development.
I
had three hours to pass so I decided to visit Downtown area. I really
needed to get some sunglasses since the glare from the sun was
feeling too much to take. I explored around a few places and decided
to rest in a park in front of a courthouse. After a while, an old man
came up to me and asked if he could sit beside me. Of course he
could. We then chatted along – me how I was lost, what I was doing,
He – his old days in the army, horses, farms and his knee
replacement operation next day. A charming old man, Jim was his name.
After
what seemed like an hour or so, we parted ways and I then went on to
visit the Bloomsburg University. I entered Columbia hall but could
not get through the second gate which asked for card access. I needed
to enter the hall so that I could wash my face and get a drink of
water. It had been really hot that morning. Soon a sweet looking girl
walked towards the hall. I approached her and told her that I needed
to enter the hall but I do not have a card and if she could use hers
to let me in. Even before I could complete the sentence, she let me
in and I later realized that there was probably some religious
programme going on there. I loitered around the library inside the
hall and when I decided to go back, I was hoping I do not have to
swap any card again which would entail asking another favour. It was
not required since at the apt moment a man entered from outside and
held the door for me. I thanked him and he replied by saying “May
you incorporate the lesson you learnt today and may God be with you”.
I bowed to him and walked towards the bus stop to catch my bus.
It
went on pretty uneventful after that. The bus stopped at Williamsport
where I stumbled upon a nice dress shop and bought a few stuffs for
myself. On my way back from Williamsport to State College, there was
a fire in some townhouse and our bus got delayed for half an hour or
so. These were all trivialities now as I pulled down the shade and
smiled away when reminiscing the happenings of the previous night.
That
was the cost of a Subway sandwich.
Saturday, 30 December 2017
Europe/UK 6-17 October 2017
The first
six months of my postdoctoral course was pretty typical here: work,
weekends, work, weekends. My first out of US travel after May 2017
happen to again revolve around conferences and visits. This time the
consortium was in Poland. While I was at it, I thought that I should
also visit some old friends in Europe and UK.
English Gardens, Munich |
As
usual, this trip began with something going wrong. Feeling heavily
reluctant to go on with this trip, I anyway checked in to the
University Park airport in State college. Half an hour prior to our
departure, we hear an announcement that there is a radio failure of
the aircraft and the pilot is trying to reboot the plane to check if
the signal can be received thereafter. I was amused to begin with.
After all, have not all of us tried the method of rebooting when
things stop being functional! Then it amused me even further. Is this
rebooting a reliable way to test if something is wrong with the
aircraft. Anyway, after a few minutes, we were asked to board the
flight since the reboot had worked! Well, we did. Five
minutes into the plane, we were again asked to deboard the flight
since the pilot was not allowed to take off without a maintenance
team having a thorough look at the aircraft which could take anywhere
from five minutes to an hour. I had a connecting flight from Detroit
but could still afford a couple of hours of delay. There were many
others who could not! They started to get fidgity and calling the
customer care services. I decide to wait another hour. As it
happened, in less than an hour, the maintenance team gave off a green
signal for take off.
I
boarded the flight from Detroit to Munich. It was an eight hour long
flight and by the time, it was 1 am in State college, I had reached
Munich where the local time was 8 am. Thankfully, I had managed to
get a short nap in flight. I had a friend who was coming over to
receive me at the airport. We were probably meeting after two years
and I was very much looking forward to it. When we did, it was like
old times again. We had a lot of catching up to do and did not
realize when we had already changed two trains and a tram to reach
her apartment. Our conversation did not end there. Once at her
apartment, it was way past an hour before I freshened up and gobbled
up the delicious lunch that she had prepared. After an hours rest, we
went out to explore the nearby areas of Munich. That evening was
windy and dizzly, thanks to the storm last evening. We went for a
walk to English Garden, Mariannenplatz went past Old Townhouse and
grabbed dinner and some beer at HofbrÀuhaus am Platzl. Next morning,
we left early to her Institute where we spent the rest of the day.
Towards evening, I had to leave for Warsaw, Poland.
Once I landed in
Warsaw and instructed the taxi driver where I wanted to go, I
realized of a potential problem: language. Thankfully, another friend
in Poland had texted me the address of the institute I was put up in.
All I did was show the taxi driver the same address. He understood
exactly where he had to go and was kind enough to help me with all
the luggage till I entered the Institute premises.
Lazienki Park, Poland |
Consortium dinner |
South Sea, Portsmouth |
Meridian Line |
London's eye |
The next day, we travelled to Greenwich via London waterloo station. My friend was down with fever the same day (thanks to the cold breeze last evening) but determined to show me around. We visited the Greenwich Royal observatory and the merdian line ending with a planetarium show. On our way back to Southampton, we also visited the London's eye and manged to get a panoramic view of London in the merry-go-round.
Next
morning, it was cold and dark – an effect of the hurricane Ophelia.
We went to her University in the morning and after the day was over,
came home early to chat. Later at night, we both decided to visit a
temple nearby– probably a Jain temple – but realized that it was
closed by the time we reached. We still loafed around the premises
and came home early to pack since I was to leave the next day.
Early
morning I boarded the flight back via the same route through
Amsterdam, Detroit and State college, this time again reluctant but
to be back.
Friday, 22 September 2017
Niagara Falls
The
seeds to this trip were sown sometime during the last trip to
Kentucky. Over some dinner, we casually talked about visiting the
Niagara falls before winter hits off in State College.
And
there we were, one cold morning, on our way to the Niagara falls,
exploiting the long Labour day weekend. We boarded the early
Fullington bus and got down at Buffalo. From there, we booked an Uber
to reach our hotel in Niagara Falls Boulevard.
It
was around noon on a Saturday when we checked in to the hotel. The hotel
provided us with bus passes valid for a day that would allow us
access to the Shuttle service to the Niagara falls. One of my friends
had already booked online tickets for around five events and our
strategy was to complete them in around two day's time.
The
main tourist destination was typical – busy. There was sun, simmer
and long stalls of food, clothes and drinks. We visited the
Information Centre to help us optimize the plan for that day and the
one after that. Thereafter, we decided to complete the “Cave of the winds” that day and started walking towards the Trolley point that
would take us to our destination. During this walk, we could get a sense of the Falls nearby. There was an ascent in the chill in air, the lyrical flow of water and an air of excitement. The rails bounding the
Niagara falls were lined with people and in a situation like this, I
have long ago learnt how to give up peeping through the gaps. So I
just walked along till I could get a vacant spot from where I could
have a glimpse of the water. I was around half a
mile ahead of where the Falls actually begin and so the river was more
tamed. I stood there for sometime just gazing into the water and
gradually the magnificence started to sink in. The first few minutes of my encounter in this quieter
terrain is difficult to justify in words. The
hustle-bustle in the background grew distant and all I remember is one
particular rock where the water was swirling in the same fashion repetitively. This was hypnotic and I simply could not gaze away from that. Amidst so much of opulence, I felt quieter and
without any reason sadder, hypophrenia. Despite that, I was magnetically attracted to this motion. I do not know how long this stupor
lasted (I am guessing not very long) and I am not aware of how
this spell ended but in no time, I was walking closer towards the
Falls.
The drop is thunderous to begin with. The untrammeled motion
is in sharp contrast to the quietness a few inches back as though it
has suddenly decided to let go and how!
After
a few photo shoots, we continued to the Trolley point (which
resembled a mini version of Toy train) that took us to the "Cave of
the winds". None of us had any idea what the Cave was about but seeing
people coming out all wet, we had our guesses. We were given yellow
ponchos and slippers. We descended a lift and walked downhill to our
destination and lo and behold! we were just at the end of the Falls
gazing up above at the mighty Falls. For safety, there were wooden
fences and it was frenzy there. There were spots where one could just
gaze at the Falls but we decided to anyway go closest to where we
could and the result – a mighty shower from above draining us to
our veins. I gave up any attempts to protect myself from the water as
there was absolutely no point. No matter how hard one screamed there,
it was drowned beneath the gusting of water and the howling of the winds.
Cave of the winds |
Ah! The
nomenclature - “Cave of the winds” now made so much sense. While
heading out, I still felt overpowered by the water which made me speechless (Good relief to my friends who were relieved from my blabbering at least for a short time). We grabbed some hot drinks after that and boarded
the Trolley back. During dinner, a friend suggested that we visit the
Seneca Casino. As we entered the Casino, it was not very different
from my imagination. We decided to play in one of those machines
for the sake of it. I borrowed a 5 dollar bill from one of my friends
and just randomly selected a Game. This Game was to bring as many
Cleopatra pictures as possible in one row an all-in-all luck game.
The only input it took from you was how much higher stake do you want
to take. I started with a low-risk input. We won 35
cents after which my friends joined for a few more trials. After a few
minutes, we had lost some money and got down to some 2 dollars. It
was then that I took the seat again. We won some cents in the first go and
by that time, I was tired of this puny play and therefore decided to take the risk. I maximized
the stake and then in a matter of seconds, we heard loud clanking of coins. The counter on the screen started continuously rolling and at
the end of this, we had made a clear win of 20 dollars. We got a
receipt for that and ecstatic as we were, decided to cash it. Imagine
the look on the Cashier's face when I walked in all-smiles and
claimed mere 20 dollars! He double-checked to make sure it was indeed 20 –
sure? but what makes you so happy?
Maid of the mists |
Next
day, we had a lot to do. We first decided to venture into the “Maid
of the Mists”. This time, we had an idea of what was coming up. We
would be taken over to the American side of the “Horse shoe Falls”
- the other is the Canadian side – in a ferry. That day too, we
were given blue ponchos. The American side was blue and there was
another ferry on the Canadian side – the red one. We went as close
to this Falls as we could and as the ferry took a turn, one could
view the entire Horse-shoe shape of the Falls engulfed in mist!
Our
next task was helicopter ride over the Niagaras. That morning owing
to weather conditions, the helicopter ride had been suspended. By
afternoon, it had resumed. At the Helipad, what was
impressive to me was that people of all ages were readying for
the ride. I especially noticed an elderly woman accompanied by a man
(extremely cute and quiet – dangerous combination) probably in his
late 20's. And then there was another group of white-haired men. It
makes me content to see people not having their fun-spirit dampened
with age.
Helicopter view |
Inside
the Helicopter, we were now summarizing the entire landscape from
this panoramic view. I was in the front seat of the helicopter just
next to the pilot and my legs were reaching this strange looking box
in front of me. The Herculean task for me was not to kick any button
by accident which, given the excitement, was very likely. The pilot
also maneuvered the helicopter to take sudden steep drops which added to the rush we were in and finally after a
15-20 minute ride, we deboarded and moved for lunch. After lunch, we
went to a theater and a site where there were some geographical
goodies on display - some Discovery Centre. We ended our day with another theater (that
featured fables – my type) and finally had a sense of completion
about the trip. Phew!
The
next day, we went to the Aquarium in the morning. While other sea
animals like seals, sea lions and starfishes were regular to me, what
was new to me was this long Pinocchio-like nosed turtle. Pretty cool
genes I must say that made this adaptation. This visit got over
quickly and in the end, as it always happens, I could not help but feel sad for all the
animals in captivity (topic of another discussion). We then grabbed
extensive lunch and headed on our way back to State College. In my
mind, promising to watch the movie featuring Marilyn Moore and
apparently shot in the Niagaras (which of course is yet to happen).
Tuesday, 12 September 2017
Great total eclipse 2017
After my arrival to Penn State
University, I almost immediately heard about the Total Solar Eclipse
of 2017 bound to cross some parts of US three months later. The
Physics department of PSU was organizing a trip and I instantaneously
wrote to them expressing my interest for the same trip.
Months passed by and when one fine Saturday afternoon I realized that with three weeks in hand for the total eclipse, we still had not heard back from the department, I thought of chalking out an independent plan with a few of my other friends. While we had made a considerable progress in the detailing for this separate venture, the organizers from the department returned to our emails about the trip the same week and we decided to scrap our own plans and instead join them as originally planned. With probably a fortnight left for the trip, our lives were suddenly very busy as we went around making plans. The plan of the trip was that we were supposed to drive all the way to Kentucky and camp at Mammoth National Park for 18-20 August. The early 21st morning of the eclipse, we were to drive to the huge playground in a community school nearby in Adairville and view the totality. The organizers had done a commendable job of taking care of every single details right from organizing the carpool to checking the weather for perfect visibility and all we, as individuals had to do was take care of our own stuffs. The fun part was that in my friend's circle, none of us had camped. Since it was a new experience, we had to literally refer to a spreadsheet in the group that detailed all the necessities that we may need to have. Thankfully, my supervisor was kind enough to allow us borrow his two tents, along with all the nitty-gritties of laying out a comfortable camping and we were all set for the trip. Three of us (that included two of my friends – let's call them S, R and me) were supposed to travel in one car to be driven by A. There were definite hiccups around this plan since the three of us would actually not be able to help A with driving and it would be too long a distance for A to drive alone. Eventually, the night before the travel, we get the information that A has managed to find someone help her with driving and that meant we three had to travel in two different cars. After a few permutations, we decided that I would travel in another car while R and S would continue in A's car. This way, they would reach the campsite early and set up both the tents while I would reach the campsite around midnight on Friday and just crash off to sleep.
Months passed by and when one fine Saturday afternoon I realized that with three weeks in hand for the total eclipse, we still had not heard back from the department, I thought of chalking out an independent plan with a few of my other friends. While we had made a considerable progress in the detailing for this separate venture, the organizers from the department returned to our emails about the trip the same week and we decided to scrap our own plans and instead join them as originally planned. With probably a fortnight left for the trip, our lives were suddenly very busy as we went around making plans. The plan of the trip was that we were supposed to drive all the way to Kentucky and camp at Mammoth National Park for 18-20 August. The early 21st morning of the eclipse, we were to drive to the huge playground in a community school nearby in Adairville and view the totality. The organizers had done a commendable job of taking care of every single details right from organizing the carpool to checking the weather for perfect visibility and all we, as individuals had to do was take care of our own stuffs. The fun part was that in my friend's circle, none of us had camped. Since it was a new experience, we had to literally refer to a spreadsheet in the group that detailed all the necessities that we may need to have. Thankfully, my supervisor was kind enough to allow us borrow his two tents, along with all the nitty-gritties of laying out a comfortable camping and we were all set for the trip. Three of us (that included two of my friends – let's call them S, R and me) were supposed to travel in one car to be driven by A. There were definite hiccups around this plan since the three of us would actually not be able to help A with driving and it would be too long a distance for A to drive alone. Eventually, the night before the travel, we get the information that A has managed to find someone help her with driving and that meant we three had to travel in two different cars. After a few permutations, we decided that I would travel in another car while R and S would continue in A's car. This way, they would reach the campsite early and set up both the tents while I would reach the campsite around midnight on Friday and just crash off to sleep.
All smiles! |
The next day, I left in another J's car and we drove past Columbus, Cincinnati and Louisville stopping midway for lunch at Ohio and for dinner at an extremely friendly house in Kentucky. The trip was fun especially towards the end when it had got really dark and spooky and we started talking about all the possibilities that could happen in any horror/Final desintation-type movies. Unfortunately, nothing like that happened and we reached the campsite safe. While I was spreading out my sleeping bag in one of the tents, we get a cautionary message to keep off food stuffs away from the tent lest raccoons attack them. We then hid them away in one of the car's bonnet.
I was a little scared when I put myself inside the tent. Feeling trifle claustrophobic, I decided to leave a small netted section of the tent unchained. Furthermore, I had read in a signboard nearby that there may be snakes and one ought to be careful. Amidst all these scary thoughts and overhearing arguments between R and S in the next tent about whether one can sneak a protein bar in their tent and hide them from the raccoons (what were they anyway!), I felt sound asleep!
The next morning we were up early and decided to venture nearby in search of tea. There was a grocery store nearby that took care of the necessities. We also discovered that there was a Visitor Center nearby wherein one should book the tickets to visit the caves. As we entered the Visitor Center, we realized that all the tickets for the privileged guided tour were sold out. Nonetheless, on request, we were given three tickets to view the “History Tour” that day.
We rushed back to the camp to get
dressed and we left for the day. The History Tour started with some
rote anecdotes and on the verge of entering the cave, we were giving
precautionary warnings about the visit. While the rest of the
warnings were general, I was a little worried about claustrophobia
creeping to me in the caves but decided to try. In my mind,
the worst case scenario would be that I may have to leave the tour
incomplete for which I was prepared anyway.
I was a little scared when I put myself inside the tent. Feeling trifle claustrophobic, I decided to leave a small netted section of the tent unchained. Furthermore, I had read in a signboard nearby that there may be snakes and one ought to be careful. Amidst all these scary thoughts and overhearing arguments between R and S in the next tent about whether one can sneak a protein bar in their tent and hide them from the raccoons (what were they anyway!), I felt sound asleep!
The next morning we were up early and decided to venture nearby in search of tea. There was a grocery store nearby that took care of the necessities. We also discovered that there was a Visitor Center nearby wherein one should book the tickets to visit the caves. As we entered the Visitor Center, we realized that all the tickets for the privileged guided tour were sold out. Nonetheless, on request, we were given three tickets to view the “History Tour” that day.
Just some drama |
Right: Notice a man fighting with a bear? |
Fat man's misery |
Towards the end of the Historical tour, we were
then brought back to current time by the growling in our stomachs. We
grabbed quick lunch in a restaurant nearby and for the afternoon, we
joined the rest of the group for hiking along the river trails.
Evidently, we came across the Green River and while the rest of them
jumped in the river, a few of us decided to stay in the banks with a
promise to come back another day. The three of us headed back uphill
and decided to explore. After all, walking along the known trails
would not justify the experience of hiking. At one point, we thought
we heard a bear but decided to disbelieve it anyway. (As we continued
to walk uphill, we chanced on an old dilapidated cottage which I very
much like to believe was inhabited by a witch from the Disney
movies). And while there is little doubt that we three were among the very few to have walked along that way, the challenge was to find our way out with no GPS and
no-one else in sight. We did what our ancestors must have done: Just
followed the now-dried river ways till we reached near the source
from where was almost a vertical climb (oh, did I mention spiders
along the way whose webs were brushing our face) till we reached the
familiar terrains. Once back to the camp, we decided to celebrate S's
birthday in three timezones (Indian, Pennsylvanian and local) in a
traditional way with cakes and candles. By evening, two of our other
friends had reached the campsite. What an end to a great day it was,
when after dinner all of us explored nearby to open fields and had
excellent sightings of the Milky Way arm coupled with intermittent
meteor showers. Time froze by as we lay on our backs and gazed at the
stars stupefied.
Well, looks like this way |
The next day began early as well. While loafing
around the Visitor center, we luckily chanced on tickets to the next
guided tour to the caves as well. This time, it was called the
“Frozen Niagaras”. Needless to mention, this cave tour was
aesthetically appealing as we literally froze surrounded by
stalactites, stalagmites. In the end, we also had a chance to see the
crickets on the cave rooftops. Interestingly again, these crickets
had not learnt how to chirp (probably none cared to listen to them in
the caves!). Towards the second half that day, we went hiking and
exploring the other trails. We also visited the Green river like we
had promised the other day. The river was not very deep (but enough
to scare me) and after initial trepidation (and much more insistence)
I got in the river and stayed till the sun was down. That night, we
barbecued by the fire and slept early since the next day was going to
be a long one.
When stalactites and stalagmites meet |
The next morning was the final day of the tour and
all of us got up early to pack the tents (in the dark) and head
towards Adairville from where we intended to view the eclipse. We
reached early in the community park and had a fun time while we
explored around playing games and swinging! There were so many people
around distributing eclipse glasses, pamphlets. There was also a
make-shift store nearby where people were selling food at an
extremely nominal rate. As the eclipse first started to appear,
excitement started to creep in. We noticed the Sun being slowly
reduced in intensity. Gradually it started to get eerier and the
temperatures started to drop. There were a “thousand splendid suns”
literally on the roads as the tree leaves formed pinhole cameras to
bring the sun down to Earth. To me, it was like a science fiction
(ironically) as we saw the Sun being consumed. Then the totality –
cold and numb and silent.
Totality. P.C: Jacob Luhn (PSU) |
After two minutes, the temperatures started to rise. Everything was as though just a figment of our imaginations. The hustle-bustle continued and as we drove along the huge corn fields, the Sun reclaimed it's lost glory and shone again with all it's fiery.
Sunday, 1 January 2017
Japan 03-11 Dec
With every new trip that I make, I make a promise to myself to write
down the travel facts – for documentation. This time finally, I sit
down to write – thanks to the long haul return flight and a cold
New Year eve.
My trip plan to Japan materialized in less than two week's time. In no time, I was on a Japan rail on my way to my guest house at Takashimadaira.
My trip plan to Japan materialized in less than two week's time. In no time, I was on a Japan rail on my way to my guest house at Takashimadaira.
My first photo in Japan |
My guesthouse was named Pallete Takashimadaira.
I was led into my room with a total of six
beds in bunk style. I had mine as an upper bunk. When I entered the
room, there was nobody but the strewn clothes elsewhere, food packets
(and I think human fragrance) indicated that someone or maybe more
than one was already occupying the room. (I was to find out later that I would be staying with one wonderful Japanese roomie, whose name I never asked). After satisfying myself with
standard queries like Wifi password, any specific house-rules etc
with the receptionist, I fell asleep without even bothering to
change. I had not slept for one bit during my last night flight since
I never manage to find a comfortable position to sleep in flight (or
even buses). I guess my feet falls just short of touching the floor
and it is impossible to sleep with feet dangling. I should mention
here that the whole flight journey was made pleasant by a very
hospitable flight attendant – damn! I never looked at his name
plate. He was unlike any other flight attendant – chivalrous but
very warm. Time and again he would specifically check on me and also
invited me for a midnight tea in the flight cabin along with the
other attendants. Of course, one should rightaway refuse if asked by
a good looking and that sweet a guy with a husky voice. I did just
that and evidently regretted the rest of my time.
My bunker |
"Taipo" at display |
It was only next morning that I discovered that the tea bags I actually brought was some very weird Japanese tea which to me smelt like shrimp!
The next day was usual. I walked around 6 km to reach my conference
venue at RIKEN. It was a conscious decision since I wanted to see
places around on foot. I reached the institute with ease – thanks
to Google maps. The difficult thing was now finding the right hall.
With 15 min in hand for the conference to start in which time, I had
to put up mine as well as my friend's poster that I had been carrying
along, I struggled with the boards and their directions. Finally, a
Korean student managed to understand what I was looking for and
dropped me till the conference venue just in time. It was called
Suzuki Umetaro Hall. I made it a point to pin down my location in
Google Maps so that I can come there easily the next day. It was
intended well. Alas, I was oblivious to the error radius in location
that this pinning can have. Consequently, next day I reached Suzuki
Umetaro Hall on the backside with no gate to enter and again 10 min
in hand for the conference to start. I was mentally planning to climb
up a wall (yes, I am fully capable of doing that) when I spotted a
back entrance and entered it through some random student's pass. I
think it was illegal.
I will not write down the details of the three day conference. It was
like any other conference – talks, discussions, collaborations.
During the last day of the conference, one of my friends attending
the conference and I made a plan to visit some place nearby. His
friend suggested that we go to some Renkoji temple where the remains
of S.C Bose was kept. I did not (do not) have very special interest
in visiting it but nonethesless agreed. By the time we reached the
venue, it was already dark and of course closed. We are even not sure
if we actually reached the temple as the signs outside the gate were
written in Japanese. We peeped through and managed to see nothing
since it was not lighted inside. The guy whose idea it was to visit
the temple looked devastated for that. My friend - his name is
Gaurav – and myself somehow convinced him that perhaps we had
reached the temple. No questions were asked further.
The next day we had our entire day planned. The same three of us
visited Ueno Park where we had planned to see Panda, penguins, seals
etc. On mid-day, the three of us split. Gaurav and I decided to visit
Kamakura and Enoshima islands, suggested by my Ph.D supervisor. We
took a train – I think two – and reached Kamakura. We googled our
way to reach the Great Buddha and on our way also witnessed a
Japanese marriage in a temple. The bride was carrying a sword like
thing around her – much similar to Tibetan marriages in Darjeeling
where the bride carries a long wrap of clothes slung around her
shoulders. It was during this visit that I finally managed to get a
good cup of tea through Gaurav's choice of restaurant. I bless him till eternity for that.
Kamakura |
Fuji mountain |
One of the picterisque sights I have ever seen which is forever etched in my mind.
Needless to explain how Enoshima island must have seen. It almost felt like we have reached the end part of the world. By the time we returned, it was very late – perhaps near midnight.
Enoshima Island |
Pork in display |
The next day was a visit to holy Asakusa shrine in the morning.
In the evening was again another talk at Rikkotto University. Gaurav and I were taken to a Sushi joint for dinner that night. Again, here I should thank Gaurav for suggesting this idea to the host given that it was my last night in Japan and I wanted to try good Sushi.
In the evening was again another talk at Rikkotto University. Gaurav and I were taken to a Sushi joint for dinner that night. Again, here I should thank Gaurav for suggesting this idea to the host given that it was my last night in Japan and I wanted to try good Sushi.
Sushi bar |
Tokyo Skytree |
The next morning we had to leave. Gaurav and I reached the airport at
slightly different times and wandered around the airport. I had to
grab some stuffs from Duty Free and so did he. In the process we lost
track of time. The last part of our adventure in Tokyo was the
calling out of our names with “The last and final call for..”.
After I reached Delhi, I had my share of stories again. I had to
reschedule my flight for some reasons and given the demonetization, I
did not have much cash in hand. The Airport ATMs did not have money
and the card machine in the counter was not functional. It took me
three long hours to get rescheduled my flight, over IVR, after which
I gate crashed into my dear friend's house. (Imagine my surprise at
the chaos at Metro station at Rajiv Chauk). The next day I had a talk
at Delhi University and just an hour before my talk, I get a mail
about having to write a scientific proposal whose deadline was the
next day. It was perhaps nature's way of waking me up to my everyday
life. I spent the whole night at Bidisha's place writing and
correcting. It felt normal now.
Finally, the day after that, I landed in Bagdogra with a plethora of
memories that I have immortalized by jotting them here and oh, it is
already 2017.
Happy New Year.
Sunday, 4 December 2016
Pahare ko salla, kharani ko dalla
Look
again at that dot. That's here. That's home.
-Carl
Sagan
For once, Murphy should forget me.....
I
have never been a great planner. I live concentrating fully on the next step. There are exceptions when I do plan well ahead,
and for me this came in the form of another travel.
On
brushing across the advertisement for my research related conference in Istanbul (COSPAR 2016), eighteen months back, I knew I
had to be there. When the time for submission of abstract came
forward, I diligently submitted (two) my abstracts (20 min before the
deadline passed!), applied for financial support, which was a big deal since I had, for this phase, exhausted all my channels for international travel support
from funding agencies. And I waited..
Of
course soon, things worked as planned. Both my abstracts were
accepted and I was granted a full paid trip to Turkey. I got my visa
on time, booked tickets (and hotel) at great prices, slogged day in
and out for completion of the research work(s) that I was supposed to
present there and waited for the day when I would leave...on my
birthday. There was no better way to gift myself, I knew it
and I chuckled. Things were going pretty smoothly for me. More often
than not, it was too suspicious to be so smooth but I cast those
thoughts aside. After all, for once it was quite possible that Murphy
forgets me..Alas he didn't!
“If
you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can
go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for,
will promptly develop”. This
fifth way came to me just ten days before the date of my travel. I
woke up at 5 am that day, looked at the time and thought to myself
“ten
days to travel, can you finish your work? get that haircut? lose some
weight? buy a trolley?...I
dozed off. Two hours later, when I was back from my morning workout
and sipping a cup of brilliant tea, my dad comes to me. Hinged with
him, are his best efforts of trying not to look agitated “Things
are getting pretty bad in Turkey – all those firings..”
I
looked at him and said “Yeah,
but are you talking about France?”
“No,
you should come and see this”..
There
I was in front of a screen looking at my sleepless work-filled
nights, cancelled dinners, missed movies, my eighteen months of wait,
(not to mention so much of financial investments) evaporate away.
“Mmmmmm,
where is my cookie”?, I
asked mom. On the background was heard, “Turkey
on the brink of civil war, thousands of people....”
The
next few hours went away frantically, writing emails to the
organizers, sending messages to my friends, calling my travel agent
and undoing all that I had taken so much trouble to get done in the first place.
Everyone, except me (and my travel agent) seem silently relieved by my
cancellation. Amid every unfortunate happenings in
Turkey, this morning, it was not a choice. I was just left with no
option to go ahead. That morning I felt something that I do not
remember feeling anytime earlier – demented.
Obviously,
the current state of affairs today are not limited to the heartache
of a long-awaited but cancelled trip. People everywhere are demented perhaps. Unfortunately, as much as I try, I fail to
understand the necessity of much violence. Perhaps I am too simple-minded and
what is obvious, are not so to me. I don't obviously
understand
the importance of religion, colour, caste or any adjectives put in
front of a person. And along with it, I don't understand the
prejudice that these adjectives hold. I am ignorant and I am glad
that I am.
I
try to think of where we – as a human race - have failed what
resonates deeply in my mind are these words by Carl Sagan on
the photograph of Earth taken from Voyager 1 spacecraft:
“Look
again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it
everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of,
every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate
of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions,
ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every
hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every
king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and
father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of
morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every
"supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of
our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.The
Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the
rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that,
in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a
fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the
inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely
distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their
misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how
fervent their hatreds.
Our
posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have
some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this
point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great
enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there
is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from
ourselves.
The
Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere
else, at least in the near future, to which our species could
migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment
the Earth is where we make our stand.
It
has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building
experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of
human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it
underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another,
and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've
ever known.”
I
hope we all become ignorants too.
Image Courtesy: NASA/JPL
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