Out of the Blue

Imagine a thug-like shape skulking in a dark alleyway behind a shady pub, with a proverbial baseball bat in one hand and a broken bottle in the other: Waiting for some little innocent chap to enter it's lair so that it can be trapped, beaten up and then left alone just before the cops arrive.

Imagine a shadowy creature lurking behind tall blades of grass. Waiting, watching, hidden, neatly invisible. And then, suddenly, as the poor prey passes by, helplessly unaware, it JUMPS out and leaps on the unsuspecting victim!

What is it you ask? A cheetah? The alien from Predator? A Physics Professor? No! It's The First Day of Work!

And to compound matters, it was a MONDAY. Yes,
Monday, Dreaded Monday (to be said in a deep, sinister, slightly-Irish accent).

I could never get the hang of Mondays. And after 3 months of continuous Sundays, this Monday was particularly severe. It began at 6:30 AM - and to all those who've never sighted this un-daily hour, yes the Sun is up already. Damn Sun. Can't even let it be - all bright and shiney even before the day has begun. Gah.

On the bright side, the commute wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. I'll be ready tomorrow to wrestle the damn creature to the ground! Hahah!

Gnite :)

Thach Weave

Red Soulstone

Who will dare scale that peak? Only the Princes of the Universe.

[You'd better like this: It took me all day to make :P... and now my head feels like it's seen too many shades of blue and red for a single day :-/]

Best viewed fullscreen on a black background.

Irrational Gods

Thunderbolts, they say
Origniate in God:
Zeus, Indra or Thor,
The Gods of Rain and Thunder.

Thunderbolts, they say
Are the wrath of the Gods:
Directed upon erring souls
Who dare tempt their anger!

Yet, why do they fall
On mountains, on seas,
On trees and innocent rocks?
Is God angry with them?

Leh-gendary

Meeeeeeeee!!

Skiing at Rotang Pass

On the way to Leh

Morning at Tso-Moriri

Pangong-Tso (Something strange? :P)

Deep at Khardung-La (at 13830 ft!)

See! What a nice line of trees!

View from the Japanese Stupa

Inside the Japanese Temple

Go go Buddha! :)

Julley! :)

A green patch in the midst of a desert at Nubra Valley

Pangong-Tso (Tso means Lake)

Gateway to Leh!

More Pangong-Tso :)

I love these Buddhist Flags :)

Tso-Moriri

Bubbling Geyser!

More Tso-Mororiri (in the evening)

Same place as last pic (this time it's morning)

Rotang Pass

Paragliding near Manali

Perfectly Normal

It's a rather familiar anxiety: sitting upright in hard cushion-less chairs, waiting for the expert at the lighter end of the table to pronounce his judgment. Whether it's a medical test or a school examination or a something else, the feeling is the same.

Life remains paused as he deliberates and considers, the data spread out in front. You try to peer and make sense of the upside-down bits of writing.

Then comes the relief - the words "absolutely normal".

Normal. Standard. Conforming to norms. A very common phrase in modern life. But if looked at, isn't it non-nonsensical? Insulting? Is every deviation from the average "abnormal"? It's like all the individuality of humanity has been taken, and stripped away with a fine wire-cutter.

Normal is safe. Normal is desired. Normal is cherished.

Normal is unexceptional. Normal is boring.

Why be normal?

The World is _evil_!

Do you remember the advice given to you by your parents as you joined college?

Try and recall it. A friend of mine was just being packed off to a hostel and I did overhear the overture to the fantastic advice that parents shell out constantly.

Firstly there's the don't drink. Don't smoke. Don't do drugs. And most important of all, stay away from all those people who listen to The Devil's Music!

"Booze makes you do all sorts of stupid things. God knows, you might jump off a building. Or into the lake! God forbid, you shouldn't drink. Drinking is _evil_!"

"Don't smoke. Smoking is injurious to health." Yes, we didn't know that. "Smoking kills you. I know peer pressure is easy to succumb to, but stay away from cigarettes. Smoking is _evil_!"

But, the kicker here is: Rock music. "Stay away from all those degenerate kids with long hair who wear black shirts. They listen to very disgusting songs. They're dirty and unkempt! Rock music is _evil_!"

Honestly, we've turned into the ones our parents told us to stay away from.

A Frozen Vibratey Feeling

The feeling of self-enlightenment induced by ethanol.
The business of making faces at babies.

The bullshit with which a guest speaker is introduced.
The diseases of artificial plants.

Women who only talk to each other at parties.
Geek speek, 1337-speek and Peanut Butta Jelly.

A cartoon character screeching to a stop before running the other way.
Mentally incapable of speech thanks to a hangover.

They give you a Frozen Vibratey Feeling.

Ode to the Coffe Shack

A saviour of many
For there are so varied
Is the humble shack
of Maggi and Coffee

A refuge from boredom
And brown coloured Core-Dump
Is the sweet smell
Of stolen, fresh-brewn coffee!