About me: Well, I woke up this morning, and I got myself a beer.
Wow! I simply love it! Doesn't it sound enlightening? I can think of atleast half a dozen traits that the line can convey. And yeah, "All hail the Lizard King!" [Note: You can find that line here]
I'm off the net for quite some time, and till then,
- Thanks to those dumbasses in the DoT, bloggers seem to be on vacation.
- The Lizard King will come alive thanks to....
- Atta boy Wally! Now, you're talking
- Ladies and Gentlemen...from Los Angeles, California.... The Doors!
- And yes, I promise to elaborate upon the taste of cyanide, in case I go into a mental depression before the next post and commit suicide.
- And as to why I'll be off, ahem!
...so, asked RC yesterday. And as suggested by him, here's the reply.
Dad and me, were once travelling from Bangalore to Mysore. Midway, we'd stopped for a break at a shack. And Dad orders a 'by-two kaapi'. Suddenly, my mind was blown by a flurry of thoughts. Everytime Dad used to order a by-two kaapi, it had never struck me, but that day, was special. It suddenly occured to me that a by-two kaapi is a pure symbolic representation of brotherhood, of friendship, of love, of care.
Sharing a cup of coffee is so beautiful! And as CCD puts it 'A lot can happen over coffee'. The sad part is that nowhere else do you feel that love, not even when you are sharing a Grande Mug with your girlfriend at a CCD/Barista/wherever. It's when you hit a shack, order a by-two kaapi, sit on the wooden bench, stretch your legs, pour that coffee into the saucer-like cup, sip, and talk - that you feel the warmth of love, and yeah, the coffee too.
And I'm a self-confessed coffee junkie. And I like the desi spelling of coffee as kaapi.
Ergo, By-Two Kaapi!
Skip this post. I urge you to skip this one.
I hate to agree with Paulo Coelho's "The-Universe-is-trying-to-tell-you-something-my-boy" philosophy, but it did just happen when the random playlist here on my computer just threw up songs, that in their lowest common denominator were the same, linked at higher abstractions, transforming into feelings of Power. of Pleasure. of Pain.
Jim Morrison said it best:
This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again
And yes, the scarlet rose has died.
[Didn't I tell you that this won't make sense! You dolt!]
Barely 48 hours ago, I was munching a pizza with Sin (sorry for the name distortion, Sin!) and talking, as usual, about everything under the sun. She was telling me about this theater guy who impressed her with his comments on feminism and male chauvinism. I've been pissed off with these feminist--anti-feminist--male-chauvinist debates in the past. And quickly after correcting her definition of a male chauvinist, we dropped the topic.
And guess what I read today morning! The SC delivers a landmark ruling that a woman cannot be prosecuted for rape, and I quote those judges:
A woman cannot be said to have an intention to commit rape.
I spit at this ruling!
Call me a anti-feminist or a male chauvinist or any other neo-word-created-by-an-irrational-bastard! I don't care!
20 months.
200 posts.
2 titles.
That's been the story so far.
Looking back, at what By-Two Kaapi (or Alien Ponderings, as it was known) has come to:
What's the blog for?
Just for the memory, mate! (Read answer to next question, as well)
Who's the blog for?
This blog was never intended for any other reader except myself. So, I have been at my esoteric best at times. Coming to think of it,
- Almost every post has had a hidden meaning. A meaning that is understood by me alone (almost always).
- Every post has been inspired by the not so obvious.
- Every post carries a watermark of some event/incident/memory of mine.
How's the blog doing?
People do come, read, rant and go. And this blog needed an editor. My spellings & grammar, as always, has been pathetic. Someone even volunteered to be an editor! But then, this blog is meant for me, and I don't give a shit about the grammar. So, who cares!
What have I blogged about?
A piece of the underlying chaos in me. I've blogged about life, pain, love, philosophy, movies, coffee, games, books and the usual mumbo-jumbo.
Where do I see this blog in the future?
Evolving gradually, with me. And so has been the case till now.
What's my most memorable post?
Based on my earlier answers, I think, this question is tantamount to me answering the question - "Which is the most memorable moment of my life in the last 20 months?". Something that can't be answered.
Reading this post of Amruth, I felt a sting in my head. A hard sting.
It was spring. The desert spring. Late one night, I was sipping my night dose of kaapi at ANC, and cribbing my heart out. Things weren't that smooth. Sam was at the other end of my ramble laced with profanities and sighs. And that urge to get away from the maddening crowd, from civilization, from hypocrisy, from pain, was building up. That instant, we decide to trek to Pahadi and sleep there. (Pahadi is just a small hill. Hill is an exaggeration, itself!)
An hour and a half later, we were on top, looking at the expanse in front of us, and of course, above us. The city lights blinked. The red dot on the towers stood tall. The stars shone in all their glory. And the moon floated in gay abandon.
The mattress was spread. And as we lay silently looking at the night sky, my thoughts wandered. Back to the time when I was 15 and I'd experienced the same joy on my Uncle's terrace. And then, as I stared blankly at the night sky, the space clustering into 3 dimensions, I saw it. A shooting star.
The child in me stood up. I closed my eyes. I made a silent wish. One wish that I so fervently hoped would come true. And I fell asleep with a small smile on my lips.
Two weeks ago. The wish went bust.
Tonight, I shall hunt for one more shooting star.
And cry, at it cheating me.
And laugh, at the child within me.
And smile, at life's nuances.
Today is World Tibet Day. Also the Birthday of the Dalai Lama. And why am I, suddenly blogging about Tibet? The answer traces back almost a decade ago, when I first visited Bylakuppe, a Tibetan settlement in Karnataka. I thought I would recount my memories of that place, when I read Jyotsna's entry on her visit to Bylakuppe, which is so heartening.
Pity, is one emotion that I don't feel for our Tibetan brethren. For I know, that they don't ask for it either. It is their courage that I admire. The love for their country that I admire. The reverance for their tradition that I admire.
I just can't imagine myself in a situation wherein my ancestors have lived in a certain region, and my family is driven out of that place, and I tread in to neighbouring countries as a refugee. As a man with no home. And being a helpless spectator of ruthless vandalizing of my culture. And yet, silently, through peace and whispers, dream of that sweet country of mine.
I mutter a Tibetan prayer
"For as long as space endures
And for as long as living beings remain
Until then, may I too abide
To dispel the misery of the world"
To Tibet, its people and their spirit!
When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
COULD IT BE WORSE?
At times, everything looks bleak. You feel unconditionally sad. Everything seems to be going against your wish and will. Ideas go bust. Dreams crumble. People fade away. Memories of good times haunt you. The feeling of impotence creeps in. And you wonder - could it be worse?
And then, with tears in your eyes, you smile; or rather, try to smile.
Reading between the bars
2 comments Published by Abhilash Ravishankar on Tuesday, July 04, 2006 at 2:24 PM
Here's a graph of pageloads vs time of By-Two Kaapi (w.k.a Alien Ponderings).
Inspired by Freakonomics, here's my take on the graph.
See the two spikes during the Apr-Jul period? How do I account for that? Plausible reasons:
- More number of posts: Yes, I've posted more often during these times. But how can that translate to heavier traffic? Does that mean, I post more - I get more traffic? [And to clear a few things - the unique/returning visitor graphs show the same trend too!]
- Break: April has been a peak, and guess what BITSians have a damned Comprehensive Examination in May! And this never happens in winter (Dec). So, this can't be the reason. To a certain extent, people may browse blogs at home rather than in the hostel. But, April?
- Promotion: I post more, implies I do something more for people to read. Maybe, put up the link as an IM status message. Maybe, add the link in E-mail signatures. So, posting more indirectly translates to better visibility
- Barbarian at the Gate: It's the beginning of the financial year and buoyed by heavy budgetary allocations, people spend more time browsing aimlessly and hence read By-Two Kaapi.
- Device Physicist: Is Kaapi good in summer? Yes. Kold Kaapi. But, By-Two Kaapi came into existence recently! Ha...probably the rise in temperature may adversely affect the resistances on silicon on the Statcounter server thereby throwing up corrupted info.
- Objectivist: You post more, implies you read By-Two Kaapi more, just to give a boost to your ego. Ergo, all the spikes are due to yourself hitting 'refresh' every minute.
- Existensialist: Dude, There is a spike. Period. It exists. Period. Why the fuck do you bother about its meaning, its purpose? Chill.
- Alchemist: It's a sign, my boy. The Universe is trying to tell you something. Follow the signs.
- Collectivist: You have been able to get so many pageloads, not becuase of your writing, but because the whole world chose to give it to you. Now, you shall rot away in their debt.
Insomnia leading to watching Legally Blonde at 2 in the night.
Drowsiness leading to skipping breakfast.
More drowsiness leading to a heavenly nap on the bus.
And now,
What's the force that a mouse can sustain? (I meant a goddamn computer mouse!)
Can I get away by crushing this keyboard and lying that a monitor fell over it? That way, I can punch this monitor in the face too!
What about ripping apart these wires and wedgie-ing them over the switches, which run a sensitive GPS system?
How about smashing this 3000 dollar-worth hardware card and saying - 'That's it! The squirrel broke the card, and now I'm going home!'?
Can I smoke a cig here, throw the unextinguished stub on a piece of paper, set the lab on fire, and run out yelling 'Fire' at the top of my voice?
Can I mail a 'Fuck You' to every goddamn person in the world?
Ha! Penning this post, believe it or not, has brought down the frustration. Feels so much more better.
And yeah, if you have read this post, then drop in a comment, and you won't get the mail that I just mentioned.
What does By-Two Kaapi mean?
9 comments Published by Abhilash Ravishankar on Saturday, July 01, 2006 at 4:05 PMKaapi is another word for South Indian coffee, made from dark roasted coffee beans using a filter. It is also called Filter coffee. It's particularly common in the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
By-Two Kaapi means splitting a cup of coffee into two cups, each having half the amount of coffee. This is widely prevalent in most coffee shacks and small restaurants/diners in Karnataka and neighboring areas. A By-Two Kaapi is ordered for, whenever two blokes meet up and want to have a quick chat over a cup of coffee, and one whole huge cup of coffee is not required (as they just had some coffee half an hour back!).
To me, ordering a 'By-Two Kaapi' is a symbol of having an intimate conversation about anything under the sun with someone who you would love spending time with. I remember the times when my dad and myself go to a diner, order a by-two kaapi and chat about politics or real-estate; I remember the times when I catch up with some old pal of mine, order a by-two kaapi and recollect the old times.
By-Two Kaapi, this weblog of mine is the kind of chatter that I would have with people over a by-two kaapi.