The time is gone, the song is over...

One day you turn your head around and find that its been a year already. Its funny how the days can disappear without a trace. People are lost, memories fade, new lines appear on your face, while the scars continue to prickle. Some of us handle it admirably well- adapt, adjust, while the rest continue to hang on in quiet desperation.

Teach our kids some science

Overheard this conversation on the train:
Teen 1: Brrr, it sure is cold today!
Teen 2: Ya, and on top of it, you're wearing something so soft (!?)
Teen 1: Its wool.
Teen 2: But wool has so many holes in it. How will it keep you warm?

Somebody needs to teach these kids how wool keeps people, and sheep, warm. Don't they teach physics at school any more? Or are today's kids too busy playing with their mobile phones to pay attention?

On changing jobs

A new job is like a new love - exciting, tempting, full of promises, but you have this strange feeling inside the stomach- nervousness, confusion. Will it work, or wont it? Will it make me happy, or throw me down into the dumps? And just like love, only time can tell.

Flirting sessions

Lonely heart bankers in Frankfurt are now attending classes to master the arts of flirting and seduction. When is Mumbai going to catch up?

I'm in love!

The new iPod Shuffle is simply amazing. As small as a stick of chewing gum, as light as a car key, says the site.

More movies

Took a day off from work to watch some more movies at the film festival. The first was "French Men", which was about 4 friends and their lives. Nice, but nothing extraordinary. The surprise package was "I am jumping over all the puddles", which was played instead of "The Quiet American". It is the story of little Adam, who wants to grow up to be a great horse trainer and rider, just like his father. His dreams are abruptly halted when he contracts polio, but the boy persists, and with the help of some loveable little friends, learns to ride the General. The film is beautiful and Adam is just superb. Worth taking a day off to watch.

Baby boy reunited with parents

The little boy who was found in Thailand has been reunited with his parents. Miracles do happen.

Movies, music and haircuts

Alexander turned out to be a singularly bad movie. What's with Hollywood and the clunky epics? And the background score gets cheesier by the day. Mr. Stone, if you want to show Hephaistion and Alexander in love, then show them in love, for God's sake. Why be a prude? Colin Farrell showed promise in Phone Booth, but he is simply pathetic as Alexander. Just before I entered the auditorium, I realised that I'd barely missed the screening of "Swimming Pool". Too bad.

Made up on Sunday by watching Paul Cox's "The Human Touch". I don't really think I have the capability to review the movie here. All I can say is that I've never seen anything like it. A journey of self-discovery and more, its simple and touching. Jacqueline McKenzie as Anna has the kind of beauty that mainstream movies heroines will never have. The film festival is on till Thursday, will take a couple of days off from work to watch as many films as I can.

Spent the rest of the Sunday wondering if the new age bands would ever make good music. Got a much needed haircut in the evening. If you have been suffering from bad hair days for months, then you'd probably realise the significance of a good hair cut. Makes you feel like a new person, doesn't it?

His head is just floating in the breeze, man

Someone at the office sent me an email about a baby boy who has lost his parents in Thailand. He must be about 2 years old, or less. The look of desolation in his eyes is... I have no words to describe it. No child is supposed to suffer like this. At the risk of sounding dramatic- this is enough proof that if there is indeed a God, then He doesn't care a damn!

Led Zeppelin finally gets a Grammy

Led Zeppelin and Janis Joplin will get Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Grammys this year. Long due? Definitely. But, does it matter? Considering the kind of music that gets people on the award list, and the number of really good musicians ignored over the years, I don't think so.

Starting the New Year at Goa

Took a last minute decision to go to Goa for the New Year's Eve. Got to have great fun, to say the least.

Day 1 - Dec 31
------------------
Reached Vasco at around 10, got dropped at the Naval base where I was to stay. Quick bath, breakfast, then went to the sailing club, where I had a great 2 hours sailing what they call an Enterprise boat. To glide across the water, with the sun on your face and the wind in your hair, water splashing all over the boat, soaking you to the bone... AMAZING! The New Year party after seemed an anti-climax after that.

Day 2 - Jan 1
------------------
Started off at 11 by local bus towards Old Goa to see the church of St. Francis Xavier, where the centuries old saint's body is on display to the public. And boy, it was the longest queue I've ever seen, stretching to almost 2 kilometres or so. Waited for over an hour to get in, and got to spend exactly a minute inside! The surprise package, however, was a beautiful church right next door, St. Cajetan's. Built in Corinthian style with massive pillars, and filled with beautiful paintings depicting the life of St. Cajetan, the place was simply breathtaking, and very peaceful.

3 p.m. - reached Miramar beach, 5 km off Panjim, only to pick up the next bus to Calangute - travellers would do well to skip Miramar. Calangute was better, a huge beach, good waves, lovely shacks that served a mix of Goan, Chinese and Continental cuisine. More than made up for the crowd on the beach. Stuffed my face with Goan fish curry and rice, sat and watched the waves and decided to head back. Window shopping at the handicraft stalls outside the beach was an interesting experience, with hawkers selling everything from Kashmiri carpets to Tibetan caps. Got a henna tattoo from a pair of women sitting by the road, who had to keep shooing away the unwanted male population that kept stopping by to watch. Said one of the women, " When a furrner is getting a tattoo done, its even worse. These Indian men are so bad. Only 50 out every 100 Indian males are good", and after a moment of thought added, "Nah, only 10 of every 100 are good. Even the older ones are lecherous these days". Ahem.

Got back to Vasco at 8 p.m., and started back to Calangute for dinner along with my cousin and another officer from the base. Gave the extra spicy Vindaloo a miss, and settled for King fish sautéed with butter and flavoured with garlic. Sat there enjoying the breeze and the sound of the waves. Calangute sans the tourist crowd is much more pleasant.

At midnight, we hit Ingo's Saturday night market, a really wild flea market where you can find a mix of Indian and foreign shopkeepers selling exotically carved chillums, hookahs, handicrafts, clothes, tattoos, photos of gods and goddesses, and everything else under the sun. The officer who took us there told us about an old white man who reads palms in a dark little tent, but we couldn't find him that night. At the centre of the market, a DJ played thumping music, while a live band broke in from time to time. And the crowd has to be seen to be believed. The spirit of Goa is right there.

Day 3 - Jan 3
------------------

Last day in Goa. Left early to hit the beach at Bogmallo, a 30-minute ride on a bus from Vasco. Heard some lovely Konkani music on the buses at Goa. Sadly, the shacks on the beaches only play the usual junk. Reached Bogmallo to be surprised by a small but beautiful beach, with almost no people around. Splashed about in the water, soaked up the sun on the clean sand, found my moment of peace. Made about a hundred resolutions for the New Year :). And when it was time to leave, I simply didn't want to. But all good things must come to an end, so went back and took the train back to Mumbai from Margao.

A trip to remember.