Want to learn to draw? Take Science!

So I was sitting in the foyer of my college one day, my pencil flying over the pages of my Zoology journal, as I rushed to complete the seemingly endless diagrams. My classmates were sitting around me engaged in likewise pursuits. An Arts student, a friend of one of my classmates, walked up to us. I was introduced to him. He looked at my journal and said, "Whoa, nice! Are you an artist?" Bemusedly, I looked up at him and replied, "No.. I'm just a Biology student."

My father once told me, that his school teachers advised him not to pursue biological sciences. Apparently it was because he couldn't draw very well. People who could master the skill of drawing neatly on the other hand, were pushed whole-heartedly into it (which in those days simply meant medicine).

I believe, that even if you are completely rubbish at drawing, if you go into the Biology stream, you will emerge as a passable draw-er of diagrams.

The journals were always my biggest headache. I'm not too bad at drawing. There are even times when I enjoy it.. However, I am a chronic putter-offer. I may have a whole 3 months to complete the journal but I'll only begin when there's about a week left. In my first year, my Zoology journal was a combined effort. I somehow managed to get other people (from my sister to Arts students to my father to friends' parents) to draw at least one diagram for me. and 80% of my journal was completed this way in about 2 weeks. In the end, anyone who looked at my journal would have known it wasn;t all my work. Some diagrams were dark and huge; some were light and tiny; some were shaded; some were smudged. My professor was vastly amused..

Gotta post some of my (better) diagrams.. and for the record these are all 100% my work! Click on them if you want to see them bigger.. much bigger.

My Fraidycat

Lucky is a shy cat. Since she was abandoned as a kitten I always reckon her previous owners treated her badly. If you're a stranger in the house, she disappears from sight. Usually to a bedroom. If you follow her there, she runs to another room. Follow her again, she'll make a mad dash for whatever room is furthest from you.. even if she has to go right past the danger - you. Make a grab for her, and it's very likely all you'll have are scratches and some fur (yes she sheds, she sheds like her life depends on it)to show for it. So please don't try..

Stay in the house for a few days and Lucky usually gets used to you. She *might* even let you pet her. That is the highest honor she can bestow upon you because for Lucky, petting is no light matter. It's a serious job that can last from minutes to, well, hours if she can persuade you.

Early in the morning (by my standards) you can hear the impatient meows as Lucky follows you (and when I say 'follows' I mean dogs [cats?] your every step; 'you' implying anyone who is up at such an ungodly hour) around demanding that you stop and pet her. If you pause on your way, she immediately falls to her side and looks up at you imploringly. Continue on your way, and she's up and running beside you once more. It does not stop until you give in and pet her..

Usually this occurs even in the middle of the night. If, say, you get up to drink a glass of water, you'll find you have a little bell-tinkling shadow trotting beside you.. She seems to be of the opinion that we have awoken for the sole purpose of paying her a bit of attention. I must say, this cat gives the impression that she's affection/attention starved. Although its true we ignore her pitiful cries sometimes, that is anything but the case..

The utter bliss that comes over her as you start to pet her, simply cannot be described. She is enraptured by your hands. Try to lift them away and she's likely to grab them back towards her. And the purring.. never have I come across a cat that could purr so loud. In fact, I think it's something called 'trilling' that cats do when they are ve-e-e-e-ery happy.

Even if she doesn't ask (and when I say 'ask', I mean 'demand'), petting is always welcome to Lucky. Even if it means waking her from deep in kitty slumber..

Marxism

I have seen exactly one Marx Brothers movie. At the time, I had only vaguely heard of Groucho Marx - seen his caricatures here and there, seen the Groucho Marx disguise (you know, the one with the nose, moustache and shaggy eyebrows attached to a pair of glasses..although he didn't really have a moustache and eyebrows like that.. effect of grease paint!) on cartoons, etc. I didn't even know he was an actor, let alone a class-comedian.

The movie I saw was "A Night at the Opera". And it was brilliant! I recommend everyone see it atleast one time. I have never seen that kind of comedy before. It's hard to describe.. everything that comes out of Groucho's mouth is fantastic and they're usually insulting. He speaks so fast that for me, there was a delay of a second or two before my brain actually registered what had been said. I imagine thats how the person Groucho just insulted might feel as well...

Apparently, Groucho honed his wit as a result of being a middle child. It was his attention-getting gimmick. If he used writers at all, their contribution was probably at a minimum. His lines have a signature, unimitiable Groucho feel to them. His movies seem to be result of major ad-libbing. Even in his everyday life, Groucho was always switched on.

I don't mean to ignore Harpo and Chico Marx, but Groucho was always the star attraction..

Here's a few quotes from A night at the Opera:

• That's the fire escape. And, uh... that's a table, and this is a room, and there's the door leading out, and I wish you'd use it, I... I want to be alone!


• Can you sleep on your stomach with such big buttons on your pajamas?


• Was that a high C, or Vitamin D?


• Say! Now, how did those two beds get together?
  Well, you know how those things are, they breed like rabbits.


• Do you follow me?
  Yes.
  Well stop following me or I'll have you arrested!


• He couldn't come, so he gave me his ticket. He couldn't get dressed, so he gave me his clothes.

Since that first movie, I have searched high and low for another Marx Brothers movie but for some reason I can't find any. None of my VCD libraries seem to have them. It's a conspiracy I tell you! ..or something like that.

What's in a name.. chap 2

Us Indians sure do put in a lot of hard work into choosing names for children.. Here are some of the rules that seem to exist:

1. If the first child's name ends in 'a' then the second child's must too. Why? So they'll rhyme obviously..like Duh!
Ex: Varsha and Nisha
Mridusmita and Sushmita
Abhilasha and Upasana
Karishma and Kareena
Suresh and Mahesh
Amitabh and Ajitabh
Surabhi and Prachi
Sunny and Bobby

(My own mother wanted to name me Pallavi solely for the purpose of rhyming with my sister's name - Kundhavi. And she would have too, if not for my grandpa who studied the stars and insisted my name start with 'Bha'... Nowadays she regrets that she didn't name us Shakti and Jyoti.. such powerful names.. and they rhyme too!)

2. If your children are of different sexes, no problem. Make them have the same first letter(s). If you can somehow make them sound the same, even better! You probably get more points..
Ex: Kunal and Karishma
Nidhi and Nikhil
Akshi and Akshay
Richa and Rishabh

Ranbir, Reema, Rishi, Ritu and Rajeev (the Kapoors)

3. Sometimes the parents decide to ingeniously mix up their own names and bestow upon their progeny a completely unique name:
Prabhakaran + Revathy = Prabhavathy
Asha + Amit = Amisha + Ashmit

There was a movie "Om Jai Jagdish", where the mother names her three sons 'Om', 'Jai', and 'Jagdish' respectively. This was a well thought out plan because whenever she called to all three of them, she would be chanting 'Om Jai Jagdish' [- thats a mantra for all you ignoramuses (ignorami??)]. This woman would probably have kept having kids until she got 3 sons so she could carry out her evil plan to get in God's good graces.. It made me wonder if this was based on a true story... certainly seems nutty enough to be..