Radiance

The core of anything in the universe is love.


Anjana, the chimpanzee has played the role of a mother not only to these twin tiger cubs, Mitra and Shiva, but also to quite a few leopards, lions and orangutans. She lives in the Miami zoo and helps out with the care of many baby animals from time to time.


There are a zillion pictures of her with different animal babies, but these two were my favorites. I'm amazed at the immense love that shines through their eyes.. you can literally see them glow!

Solar Eclipse - limelight or ill omen?

While the world marveled the total solar eclipse 2009 earlier today morning, my Japanese workmates in Tokyo were least interested to know anything about it.

Occurring for the first time in 46yrs, the next predicted to be in 2132, the sun, moon and earth aligned themselves for 6 mins 39 secs to create near darkness after dawn in Asia and the Pacific regions.

I was thrilled to receive constant updates in Japan from my twin sister who watched the eclipse in our hometown of Patna (India), which was one of ideal cities to view the occurrence. She told me that her excitement matched nothing compared to that of one of our helpers at home, whose small village of Taregna was the BEST spot to view the eclipse.

With more than two lakh researchers, astronomers, scientists and people from across the globe descend in Taregna to view the event, the villagers didn't know what they had done to deserve the sudden limelight. Taregna (means "stars" in the local language) and nearby Khagual (derived from khagshastra which means "astronomy") are the places where the 6th century astronomer-mathematician ARYABHATTA* had camped and built his observatory at the Sun Temple for his studies.

*ARYABHATTA found the notion of zero and also proposed that the earth rotates on its axis.

It gave me a kick to think that in India, where superstitions sometimes takes the excitement out of people's lives (like the eclipse being a bad omen i.e. a triumph of the evil over good) people, even in a rural areas, were more concerned whether they would get a view of the eclipse more than anything else.

For me this a positive change in the mindset and I don't think there are any ill omens to it. Moreover, it is inspiring to see people be in awe of the universe unlike my workmates in Japan who don't seem to care about anything.

Life is to enjoy, celebrate and be happy about and not just stare at a screen 24/7.

Spiders, not as good as Mr.Spidey

The itsy bitsy spider, crawled up the water spout,
Down came the rain, and washed the spider out
Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider, crawled up the spout again.

theres smth about spiders that freaks the living begeeses out of me.
i have a common dislike for all creatures crawly, slithering, slimy, posessing-tenticles like snakes, lizards, roaches, grasshoppers, crickets, octopus, crabs and the kin. no matter what you call them or how sweet the name may sound (like cockroaches are called gokiburi-chan in japanese!) i mean, WHATS IN A NAME!!! it still crawls and makes you climb up that chair/bed/ or the highest place from ground where its crawling!!
but spiders - shiverrrrsss & my teeth clatter.. brrrrrrr ($%^#*^) there is NO OTHER insect or slithery thing that can make me 'feel' yucky for as long as i can if, like today, i came in contact with a spider!
i know i know.. there are much terrifying things oon earth, but who cares.. even though i killed by spraying insect-repellant on it from a 3feet distance, picked it up by a looooong stick and threw it down my balcony, i can still feel all scratchy and i keep dusting/ brushing/ scratching myself as if i am surrounded by thousands of them in a locked room (T-T)
i mean, arachnophobia is all fine. but im going nuts here!
WHAT IF it crawls its way back up like the Itsy-Bitsy spider and comes for revenge. WHAT IF it attacks me when im getting out of the building. WHAT IF it informed all the spiders in the surrounding area of its death right before it died - in a wavelenght deaf to humans, and told them of being sprayed and thrown off a balcony.. AND WHAT IF they're coming to avenge him.. buhuhuhuhhuhuhuhu.. im DOOOOOOMED!!

Summer Solstice 夏至

The event of Candle Night began on June 22, 2003 as a volnteer event organized by many Japanese environmental NGOs. With its lil-too-cheezy-slogan of "Turn off your lights, and take it slow," calls for a two hours of complete 'lights out' and spent in the serene atmosphere of candlelights.

Many groups such as the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, businesses, governments & public facilities as well as artists in a variety of fields across Japan have shown their support for this event.

The website www.candle-night.org even gives you "quidelines" on how to enjoy two hours in a candle lit environment. From DVDs and CDs sets to play on the event, to the kind of music you should listen (punk rock, jazz, electronic), the sort of activities you can do: read a book, have a quiet dinner, games you can play such as hide-n-seek, even take a bath, have a party, or sleep!!
The event is organized in almost all over Japan, with CandleNight special talkshows over the radio in Tokyo, and candle-lit temple visits in Kyoto.

This year's 'Candle Night Summer Solstice' will be held from June 22 to 24, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
No matter where you are and how busy your work might be, take out 2hrs on either of these 3days and be relaxed.

EARTHQUAKE shakes Beppu, Oita

so basically we came home after watchng "pirates: AT WORLDS END" and we had the biggest earthquake (in my experience).

the building shook with small tremors at first and we thought it was the wind, cuz the apartments are made from wood and it usually shakes from slightest winds.

but then it came again, and this time for a good 40seconds!
i remember rajat screaming at the top of his lungs to get out of home. i tried to unlock the main door with trembling hands and him screaming, and managed to twist my right foot. i was shaking badly the whole way as we ran down from the 6th freaking floor.

there were more students that met us on the street. with the japanese families who live in our building driving off with packed bags and calm expressions.. i couldnt understnd what made them remain soo bloody pacified in life. after about 15mins of waiting, we walked all the way back up the 6floors, and came home. i packed a bag with some chocolate bars, our wallets, Id cards and some medicines. we could hear cars moving around the neighbourhood, and bikes zooming across as well with ppl looking fr open spaces. while i admired the shampoo, soap, conditioner bottles fallen in the bathtub wondering 'that quake shook us, eh" and filled a bottle of water to be kept in my emergency bagpack, it came again!

i looked at my face in the mirror and it was swaying. this time as we ran down again i felt a lil better cuz we were ready for whatever happened next (and mostly cuz we were wearing shoes unlike the first time). we sat on the roads for another 20mins, and whenever we got ready to go back in, we felt another tremor and decided on the contrary. and THIS happened atleast 7times. by the end of it ppl had collected in a huge games feild near our home, and everyone was out of out our building.

when we came home finally, we kept 'feeling' tremors in our heads. shibi, prashmu and megu came over. petrified as we all were, we stayd up till late feeling the quakes in our heads. finally at 2am, we called it a day and crashed at our place. 6ppl in 2rooms.. and we already felt safe knwing tht all those who matter the most were right there with us, leaving no scope of uncertainity of the whereabouts of the others.

throught the night the tremors kept coming and ish n me were up everytime the earth trembled. we kept 'refreshing' the japanese website to check out the magnitude of the EQs that cme. the probabilities showed 80% to the predictions for the EQ that we kept tonight. they ranged only from 3 ~ 4.8 and we were shitting in our pants. now comes the scary bit...
there are predictions for the NEXT one - with my city, Oita, as the epicentre again!! - for 28th June, with a 100% probability is a 5.8 !!

wonder how we re going to survive that eh!

session blues

splat! splat! splat! and it started to rain like crazy on the 14th morning as i woke up.

there was nothing special abt the day, as i'd always thought of it to be :(

pretty casual.. and i managed to get a lot of work done.. hehe
covered-up for the winter session classes that am taking these vacations, after which i went to teach english to two japanese ladies. one of their daughter's made me "cashewchocos" which were YUMMMMMM as heaven (on the other hand, the woman whom i teach, gave me 2japaaneeezu apples!!!!) and i went on to teach the other lady - kimiko.. who, as the dear ol' helpful japanese that she is, introduced me to another friend of hers who's looking for an english teacher!!
a long dinner at our favourite Kuuta-ramen followed the english lessons and meeting with my new student. it was ashmas birthday, and was a lil funny wishing her happy valentines (and birth) day in the same breath.
all in all, the day was fruitful and i got tons of HAPPY n GOOD news.. it will be told to ya all in a couple of days.. justo waito a momento!!!!!

with everyone doing somethin fun away from sad beppu.. ive been having dreams if running over to somewhere during the weekend. aditis going skiing on sunday (swear, if she din, i would have visited her in Mie-ken!) rajat and ankur are having a good time in tokyo with dave. home being home, isha's having a helluva blast too.

as for me... hmm.. ppl have promised to mail me list of parties and events for the weekend, but lets see what happens.
this post has been like writing a (s)crappy journal entry.. will write more later, cuz i have to read 282pgs of World Politics for tmr's exam!!

upcoming post... love n bright-global-warmed sunshines

noooooooooooo not again

pissed pissed pissed is what i am right now, on ME more than anything/one else.

so, i set the alarms at night, like a zillion of them, and think that im all set to wake up for my one-and-only class 'japanese' and guess what - I DO NOT hear the alarm when it goes off in the morning!

the goood look from Mizukuchi sensei yesterday on the fact that i should be careful abt attending my japanese classes was traumatizing enough for a long time, and here i was staring at my bloody phone at 9.35 when the class started off at 8.45.
pissed as i am at my warm bed in this winter weather, there is nothing i can do about it today except feel bad and come to school to tell him the truth.

but its difficult to wake up at 7am (wonder what am gonna do when i have to wake up for wrk at 5am or smth.. sheeeeeeeeet)and with no one else around at home, except shibika who's sleeping like a log in the other room (counting on me to wake her up) things just didnt seem to go right :P

neways..
to top things i hear the freaking pigeons on my balcony again. but this is their LAST day cuz theres gonna be something frm tmr onwards thats gonna stop them from comming.. muhahahaha.. will talk abt that later.

gotta go right now.
much love :)

another day in paradise

I got no idea why this happens, but its been prevalent for almost all my winter semesters here in Japan.

It in this particular time of the year, when nightfall seems to happen at 5pm, one starts to get bugged with the whole “go to school-work-come home-eat-sleep” routine.

For no reason, things that appear to go well seem to go out of their way. Out of the blue, there's a WHAM-n-a-BAM and then a spiral tunnel that takes you low into this abyss of unknown anxiety.

The mind goes round and round getting you worried for nothing, or simply makes you think about what you're going to do in the future (which gets everyone worked up without a doubt!!)

and I wonder:
Does it happen in other parts of the world, or is it just an APU phenomenon??

i hate it i hate it i hate it

It's the end of autumn and a glimpse of winter right now. and its always in these first few crucial weeks of the *not-too-warm not-that-cold* confusing weather that i get pissed about this stupid country. so this year ive decided to put an end to getting bugged and let it out loud.

WINTER back in India and in JaPan are poles apart yet some days are similar enough to make one nostalgic about home sweet home. heres an insight on the lil differences that i could come up with. incase you got more, feel free to add them on.

firstly...
at home we have foggy mornings and nights BUT HERE a couple of foggy days and for the rest you practically live in clouds.
secondly...
indian wind is warm and drouzy with dust toppings BUT HERE winds only blow with one objective - to freeze your bone marrow.
thirdly...
home's winter sun makes you want to *plop* down in your bed with a hot chocolate mug BUT HERE the miGHty wind takes all the glamor and attention of the sun away.
fourthly...
we get all the yummy goodies which makes us experts in laziness BUT HERE you're hungry?? get out of bed and make yourself smth to eat $&(%$@)&^
last but not za least (and by far the touchiest topic for me)...
mornings dawn with faint sparrows chirping in the garden/courtyard to tell you winters here BUT HERE burping pigeon sounds next to your bed (a glass door away) say, "wake up you lazy bum!"

poop in the bag

i saw the yuckiest thing today.

i was on my way back from school when i saw a japanese lady on her daily walk with her dog at its pooping-time.

but this was different than the usual expeditions we witness around the globe.
as soon as he (or she) took the dump, i saw the lady sweep down and almost like the flash of lightening... the poop was gone!!! when i came back to my senses, i realized that the lady had skillfully taken it in her custody in a white poly-bag. after her swoosh-n-swish she casually twisted the bag shut tight, and walked away with her dog!

i was under shock and disgust. but moments later, i was in awe of the Japanese awareness and determination to keep their roads/society cleanl!!

*big applause to the lil shorties*

Hope - The Reason to live (06:40am)

6am. All is misty outside my windown. Not a soul on the streets even though its early September and not that cold. Buildings in the nearby areas arent in view cuz of the pouring rain that makes the huge hills behind the town invisible.

With 'Somethings in the Air' by Thunderclap Newman playing in my mind, a thin copy of The Alchemist, and a mug of coffee i feel there's nothing more i could ask for.

Yet there is something that misses or perhaps starts to take a form in its real colours as I now close my eyes to the real world and awake to a dreamland of paints and canvases.

A boy smiles at me. His heart is pure and innocence, free of all the miseries of the world. He waits to get out there to prove his worth, show that he's strong to take anything that comes his way. There is no doubt he will succeed in everything that he takes upon himself.

So I tell him to stay calm and relax, but he doesn't listen and moves forward. I take another one behind him and tell him to wait just a little bit more. But he goes faster than I can walk.

I wait for one last smile from before he goes white with the mist, and I wait...He will be back, I tell to myself, if not soon.

There is the power of hope that gives us the reason to live.

A Midsummer Night's Tale

We got out of Beppu with our minds set for scuba-diving, unlikely to have a clue of what lay ahead of us for the two days to come…

White sand, palm trees, sunbathing n surfing, blue skies and crystal clear water – that’s the kind of beach we all expect to see and want to visit. But for unknown reasons, the beach that we went to in Saiki - a lil town out in the wilderness on the state borders of Oita and Miyazaki - had black sand, clear green water and perfect blue skies.

On reaching Saiki@4in the afternoon we realized our chances of going for scuba were zilch. But our minds were set to go out in 'the wild', so we took a bus to the nearest beach - Kamae. Now, when you hear 'near' you think it would take you 15-20mins to get there. In our case, the bus drive took 45mins, taking us the farthest away from civilization.

At the black beach, we swam to the setting sun. Fisherman ankur showed off his skills by catching a one-fin fugu fish with a stick! At a shack in the corner of the beach we found a bunch of boats, oars and lifejackets, thus concluding on going dark-water-sailing around midnight.

As nightfall came, we enjoyed beer n yummy food in the resort's Beer Garden. Since we were already high *with adventure spirit* and had nothing to hold us back, we decided to spend the night jumping in and out of the premises of the resorts swimming pool side, occasionally swimming in the sea and coming back to the pool to wash away the black sand that stuck to us.
This carried on for awhile until two of us were noticed (quite audibly) by the security guards as a can of coke fell from the vending-machine to quench the thirst of a man. After that, it was bub-bye too the swimming pool and hello to the steps on the black beach.

The night was cold, dark and beautiful. We pushed one of the rowing boats to the shore and decided to go for a bit of a row. Since the boat was meant for two, the Mighties got out for their first encounter with the sea. They came back concluding that we couldn’t be out for a long time cuz there was a hole in the boat that kept filling in water. Nevertheless, we took as many as five trips!

Florescent green plankton shone every time the oars hit the water. With the dazzling sky above our head n glittering plankton surrounding us, you can imagine the kick we were getting in our minds. How much ever I hate to say this word, it suits the situation perfectly - it was all ‘mindblowing’! The boys went as far as where they were left at the mercy of the sea, which was quite alarming cuz the water was almost half way up the boat!

Tired from all the rowing and fighting against the darkwater, we put evth back in its place, and slept for a bit. The wind blew its coldest around 3am, when we were woken up with ankur n isha getting a bottle of wine from a parked caravan nearby. Its believed that the dude who owned it had left the door open as (so it seemed by the manner in which his bag was left at the door) he'd ran out after forgetting smth.

So we popped it again again, only to wake up with the morning sun on our faces, eagles soaring up above us and people around us doing their morning walks.

to be continued...