E.clips.us

This one wasn't printed in The Spirit because they had so many articles for that issue that I guess they forgot about this. Nevertheless, I am putting it up here.
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As the old wives tale has it, pregnant women shouldn't go out during an elcipse (no specifications on partial or total). Also they shouldn't touch their belly during the eclipse else their child would be born with cuts on its body, or without a cleft lip, or the child would be blinded. Well what about the children who are born with cleft lips and their mothers did not go out during eclipses? There are many who do not really believe in these stories, but "just in case" follow them. All I can say is that these pregnant women have missed out on some good solar eclipses.

In India, they say eclipse is a time to ward off the evil (Rahu and Ketu swallow the sun). So people pray for release of the sun and then, for some reason, have to take a bath, a dip in holy waters if possible. No eating food till the eclipse lasts, no getting out of the house, no lookig up in the sky. Okay, they justify not eating food by saying that the atmosphere gets polluted because of no electromagnetic radiation for those 2 minutes. But whatever happened to the 12 hours of night which have none of the electromagnetic radiation either? And why starve when it possibly can do you no more harm than Mumbai's air?

Many believe that an eclipse is an omen of some natural disaster or the death or downfall of a ruler. Another pervasive myth involves an invisible dragon or other demon that devours the Sun during an eclipse. Many cultures have also developed superstitions about how to counteract the effects of an eclipse. The Chinese would produce great noise and commotion (drumming, banging on pans, shooting arrows into the sky, and the like) to frighten away the dragon and restore daylight. In India people may immerse themselves in water (cases have been seen with sand too) up to their necks, believing this act of worship will help the Sun and Moon defend themselves against the dragon. In Japan, the custom is to cover wells during an eclipse to prevent poison from dropping into them from the darkened sky. And as recently as the last century, the Chinese Imperial Navy fired its ceremonial guns during an eclipse to scare off the invisible dragon.

Incidentally, temples have been found closed during the eclipses as sadhus chanted mantras to ward off the evil energies of the eclipsed sun or to avoid catastrophes. Clearly the Gods being out of bounds, business deals have been seen to be put off, and people staying back at home to avoid “going into negativity”. A couple of years back, even a State Assembly closed its business well before 4:45 pm, the time when the eclipse started.

How can people be so ignorant in this age… What are schools doing?

A lot of superstitions come from the difficulty of telling the difference between something happening at the same time or one after the other, and there been a true correlation. That is why we have scientists after all. But science is expensive; both in time and materials, a hunter gatherer would be unlikely to have the free time to test repeatedly if say scaring a pregnant woman would harm the baby. That and the power of gossip and language and you have the makings of a myth.

Supersomniac

This one was for Vihar, a magazine for the hostel.

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I love to sleep. And to dream. All you have to do is fall on your bed, close your eyes, and its paradise. It is so cosy, lying in your warm bed, comfortably thinking away into oblivion.People say sleep is giving rest to your mind and body. Body, yes it does rest, but mind, I don't know, I think it works furiously fast when you are not doing anything else. I'll say I work better only because I sleep so much. I just can't stop thinking about weird things when I am sleeping.

Sleep has mainly two stages, Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and Non- Rapid Eye Movement (NREM). Most of the memorable dreaming occurs in the REM part of the sleep, while night-terrors, bed-wetting, sleep-walking and sleep-talking occur during NREM stage. REM and NREM came in cycles of 90 mins, and you end up having some 4-6 dreams in one night's sleep. Try recalling what you dreamt, and I can bet you won't remember more than two dreams. Dreaming is another spectacular occurrence. Seeing things that you have never seen before and have no relation to you whatsoever, and de-ja-vu happening, it's got to be a miracle of God. There are times when I see meaningless series of events, yet they are so comforting later when you recall them. There are times when I feel I should just keep sleeping and dreaming on and on and on.

I can sleep in any given place, any given time of the day, any position under the sun, for any length of time. Sleep during classes, its too good a lullaby to resist. Sleep under the open sky, with stars twinkling all over you, the sky is so wide that you can't look at it for long. Sleep in fields, there is so much green around you, the fragrance filling your nostrils, you can't help hoping never to leave that place. Sleep when its raining, you can't help smiling at the rhythm of the raindrops.

Sleep can be the most private time of your day. No one can interrupt you, no one can intrude on your thoughts, no one can adulterate them. Sleeping is a time which you give all to yourself, and only to yourself. Seldom do you get so much privacy otherwise. I can feel my heart go thump-thump-thump. I can feel the blood running heavily through my fingers. I can feel my pulse beating hard against my throat. I can feel my eyes moving rapidly when they think. It makes me feel vibrant, makes me feel alive.

It has cost me my attendance in classes, but I would still love to sleep, forever.

The UD I thought and the UD that is!

This was the first article that I wrote for The Spirit, our college magazine.

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It was called UDCT. University Department of Chemical Technology. Sounded big! Sent chills through my body...? -no. But definitely forced the respect out of me, oh yes! I had heard of precocious students getting in and prodigies coming out of UD, of intellectuals and entrepreneurs born out of it. After admission, i had prepared myself to go into a crowd of scholars, something compared to Russel Crowe in 'A Beautiful Mind'. After coming here, there was no doubt about what it was.

UD was simply cool! There is no other word for it. The buildings though old, the ground though crude, the canteen flooding with people, the graffiti in the rec centre, the innumerable books in the library, the beautiful greenery, all of it is simply cool.

And UD is so small! The professors are approachable, the seniors are nice and it might so happen that the Director might know your name. The faculty, they are a class apart and yet are such simpletons. you might just find one of them with trousers folded, boots in one hand and an umbrella held above the head, walking through the puddles that rain makes in UD!

The seniors are interactive in the literal sense. There is always a two-way flow of information. And my colleagues, they are supercool! They make you feel at home. For me it was not going to be a college, rather it was to be getting lost in the big outside world. But it is not like that! It is like small tributaries joining into a big river. It is no longer "they make UD", but its "we make UD". We are going to be the technologists of tomorrow. I am proud to say that!

And we have looked up a beautiful place in our insti to study. There is our auditorium building outside which they have built good granite benches where you feel wonderful to just sit an go on reading. Its all surrounded by trees and you can get so nostalgic that its overwhelming. I used to go there read novels, and now we go there to study during exams. There beside it, is the largest tree of UD, and damn its so huge! And considering that it has so many trees around it to hinder its spreading; yet it stands there, tall and huge. You look up and you can see nothing other than sky through the branches and leaves of that tree. I so love that place.

I haven't seen all of it, but I would like to live in UD for ever. It is just so beautiful. And in the morning, I feel every moment should be conserved, every inch of UD should be captured and should be always be kept in front of you. Every small leaf after it is touched by water, every stone turned after they have swept the floor in the morning emits a maddening scent which makes you feel this was the best moment of your life. The birds in the morning can make you feel you didn't have these human fellows around. After staying in UD I seriously won't mind going and staying in a forest. I wish I get all of what is here in the next three years I have to stay here.

It is called ICT. Institute of Chemical Technology. Sounds big!