oxymoron?

heard this from an NDTV news reporter as he was covering the bus service from Srinagar-Muzaffarabad that started off.

"....the security as usual remained unprecedented...."

now 'unprecedented' ought to imply something that has never been paralleled. something that hasnt happened before. and 'remain' implies that something hasnt changed, or rather stayed the same. so we have a security cover at a level that has never been paralleled, but stayed the same. hmmm.

rain on my window

in continuation to Aartz's poem.

droplets dance across the window
as i race down the road
cling to the leaves
as they bend from the load

atop the hills
smell the earth
feel the sting
span the girth

smile at the rainbow
stare at the cloud
hear the banter
they laugh out aloud

pardon my rambling
i'm just not the same
there's rain on my window
there's rain in my head

the return

it feels really stupid. but looks like it was meant for me to do what i am learning to do best. observe. the blimp seems soaring high, but all is not hot air.

recount of returning to india. a first trip to a foreign land has its merits. it has semblence to infantile nature. look at just about anything wide-eyed trying to absorb everything lest something might go amiss!

day 1 attempt 1. reached the airport well in advance, nothing could have gone wrong. well, murphy (no. not my client!) struck and everything went belly up. weather was horrible and could not have been crazier. could see the cargo carts on the tarmac shudder in the wind. one could rather call it a gale! then came the rain. making foot-long marks on the glass. how could anyone possibly fly in this weather!! thats right. flight cancelled and i was put on "standby" for the next one due for the day. it was like one of mumbai's suburban stations. flight timings were mere references bearing no relation to their departure time. the courteous ticketing girl tried her best to put me on a 9am flight that was to leave at well, 11:30am. but murphy wasnt done yet.

day 1 attempt 2. now the flight i "stood by" hoping to get onto was to reach houston at 2:45pm. practical sense pointed out that it would be cutting too close to the 3:40pm connection to frankfurt. hmmm. point. was in a fix but murphy came to my rescue once again :) he went ahead and delayed that flight too. so even a mere attempt of having a go at the flight was wiped out. no sweat! out i go to get me on another flight for the next day! i love these tickets that let you keep changing the dates at no extra cost! lufthansa said i had changed it 5 times already. i had lost count. all said and done, i am still in lafayette.

a minor episode worth mentioning here though. every time i reskeduled my flight called for going through security check. why? thats a long story. but by the third time the TSA chap would've assumed me to be a proven naturist! now whenever i see a conveyor i am driven by a morbid excitement to get the laptop out of its case and my shoes off! (oh boy!!) pure thrill! have enough expertise now to do it all under 30seconds. beat that!

day 2 attempt 1. day 2 wasnt off to a pleasing start either. i was put back on the 1:45 flight. murphy still wasnt happy. but on the advice of the airline staff (they said they would do it, it was my prerogative if i was prepared to subject myself to the same bout of lunacy) to put myself on standby (once again) for a 6am flight to houston. i decided to subject myself to that bout of lunacy. i unbelieveably made it on the 6am flight. the airline staff had whispered that people were lazy to turn up that early in the day. sweet lady. was looking prettier than on day 1. will drop a word of praise for her :) but Lafayette TSA took special interest in my baggage as well as me this time.

so there i was at houston airport at 7am waiting to catch a connection to frankfurt that leaves at uh... 3:40pm. kwel! had great plans of scouting houston knowing little that by the time i reached anywhere close to the city, it would be time to get back to the airport! it was a pleasant site to see the runway uh... running over the expressway below. so spent time picturising how it would have been were i to play the lead role in The Terminal.

houston airport security was just as surprised at my eagerness to strip.

a rather hasty post. to be continued....