What a coincidence

Last weekend was probably one that registered the highest level of coincidence in my life.

2 of my childhood buddies came to Chennai. One of them lives in the US and the other in Bangalore. I had met them separately in 2005-6, but the last time that all three of us were in the same coordinates, was in the previous millennium!

The friend from US - Dr.Bulb, Ph.d and 2 post graduate degrees - landed in Chennai last Friday night (27th Nov). The guy from Bangalore - Papsu, an M.S from I.I.Sc - came to Chennai that same morning. And we all met up at Dr.Bulb's house.

And as part of the catching-up routine, this is what we did!


Papsu had earlier come home with his mother, wife and son (baby). His sister, BIL and nephew joined a little later. He left that same evening back to Bangalore. Bulb is still here in town till end of this year.

Squirrels at home

I may have mentioned in some earlier post of mine about how there are a lot of squirrels in my house. They have been roaming around in our house just like how a bunch of squirrels would roam around (sic) when they have full freedom.

On many a weekend, I have been woken up in the mornings by some squirrel that used my body as a launching pad to jump from the middle of the room to the window on its way out. My parents have had their siesta disturbed for similar reasons.

We have found squirrels building tiny nests all over the house. Give them a gap in the lofts for more than 3 days and you can bet your life's earnings that they would have occupied the place.

We have had to put a specific wired shield around the A/Cs in the house (on the outer side) just to keep these animals out of the A/C. This was a lesson learnt after we switched on the A/C after a long break and heard shrieks and wails emanating from the unit. I don't exactly remember if they were killed or they escaped, but we were being cautious nevertheless.

But as a sign of adaptation, the squirrels have started new ways to get into the A/C. As you all should be aware by now, the standard window A/C has a vent to blow the cold air inside the room. This vent is providing enough space for one of the squirrels that visits my room, to enter and exit the main A/C unit. I have been hearing noises from the unit for quite some time now. And last week, I actually saw a squirrel come out of the unit through this vent and a couple of days later, I also saw it enter the unit through this vent.

Now, I am not sure if it was the same squirrel or if they were squirrels belonging to the same family and building a nice house for themselves or if the squirrels were simply using the A/C as a hotel. In effect my A/C unit has once again become a place for squirrels to take rest.

I wanted to catch them in the act of entering or leaving the A/C. So, I spent some 40 minutes of Monday night at a strategic position from the vent in the desperate hope that i would be able to capture the squirrel that was inside, come out for fresh air. The squirrel actually got camera shy and whenever I saw it near the vent and pointed the camera at it, it used to run back inside. I even switched off the lights in the room and waited for 5 minutes hoping that it would come out of the unit thinking that the coast was clear.

I even went to the extent of asking my father to stand in the room, when I needed a water break. This was to ensure that the squirrel wouldn't run out since it saw someone near the vent. But all this effort went in vain. I felt like the camera person in a Discovery Channel program who waits for hours together hoping to catch a lion make a move to kill a zebra, but ends up facing a lion resting after a hearty meal!

Anyways, when I returned from work this evening and entered my room, I heard the by now familiar noises coming from the A/C vent. I was able to detect the presence of a squirrel near the vent. I quickly setup my mobile camera and sneaked up to the vent. I took a quick picture before the squirrel could escape and my friends, I present it here. Look carefully around the left hand side of the vent between the 2nd and 3rd horizontal bars from the bottom and you should be able to spot the body of the squirrel.

We'll not be calling the A/C mechanic until the painting job completes, so I have one more weekend at the minimum to get a better quality picture of the squirrel. Wish me luck....

My first photograph

Yesterday, I finally took my official matrimonial alliance hunting photograph.

The ordeal was very much on the lines I anticipated it to be. I obviously got very self-conscious facing the camera. Not just facing, it was actually posing for the camera.

While standing, the photographer went about asking me to put one foot partially forward, turn my body slightly away from the camera, tilt my head below and face the camera. All this at the same time.

The next pose was even more interesting. He now asked me to turn the other way and then face the camera. The key difference this time though, was that he asked me to stand with my hands crossed - kinda like the standard Vivekananda pose. Even here, there was a lot of attention to detail in terms of where the fingers had to be positioned on the arm and whether it should be gripping the arm or simply letting it lie there.

He then took a regular close-up version too after making me sit on a cushioned stool (which by the way has not been cleaned since threthaayugam).

He then showed the 3 pictures on his camera itself and asked us to choose two. We had to go in for the full length one by default and so the decision was narrowed down to the crossed-hand or the close-up. My dad and I agreed that the crossed-hand one was better than the other one.

Now the package deal is that I pay them Rs.225 and they give me one copy each of the two that were identified and I would also be given a CD with these two pictures. I would have liked the deal if it involved paying this amount and getting some 10 photos taken. Then, they can charge the printing separately - like they do when you give them the negative (or soft copy for that matter).

Anyways, I have to go and collect them in another one hour. And then brace myself for the "comments" that would be made at home!