Its that time of year again

One of my friends recently told me she read my blog and then went on to add as an afterthought "your chiclet blog". Nice name and highly appropriate. Have decided to rename the blog with immediate effect. That is, as immediate as possible. I mean, if this post took a couple of weeks to crank out, imagine how long a name change will take. Yeah..it could be years.

So anyways, its raining in Mumbai. Its not raining hard. Just a little bit. The weather's equivalent of light petting. But already there is panic. What is it about the rains that make my fellow drivers start driving like lunatics I ask. Most of them look like they are afraid going at more than 40km/h will cause a 10 car pile up. Furthermore, they change lanes devoid of the usual gusto and sort of meekly and slowly go from one lane to the next, causing me to impatiently honk and give them the finger (after I have gone about a mile away).

The funniest part - was driving with a close friend of mine the other day. As a mark of extravagance I had switched on the air conditioning (nothing but the best for my pals). Suddenly she puts the window down and demands that I do so as well. I was like, "why?" Her response "to save us from drowning". It took a minute for that statement to hit and then of course screams of laughter broke out (in my head - my face remained poker straight). I smile sweetly while explaining that in case the rains got too heavy, and the car was stuck in 15 feet of water, I would surely roll down the windows to ensure our escape.

People die everyday. In quite normal fashions. Its the fear of dying in a noteworthy fashion that seems to impell my fellow drivers and friend to be extra cautious. Give me noteworthy any day!

Underwater Pyramids

Link

A STRUCTURE thought to be the world's oldest building, nearly twice the age of the great pyramids of Egypt, has been discovered. The rectangular stone ziggurat under the sea off the coast of Japan could be the first evidence of a previously unknown Stone Age civilisation, say archeologists.

The monument is 600ft wide and 90ft high and has been dated to at least 8000BC. The oldest pyramid in Egypt, the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, was constructed more than 5,000 years later.

My Take on the whole thing:
Its a fact that humans have been around for around for at least 195,000 years as a species (Link). Our own recorded history is at most around 8-10,000 years. Its quite ridiculous to think that humans were hunter-gatherers for 90% of their years of history and then suddenly reached the moon in the last 10%. Surely we are smarter than that. Its quite possible that at least 10-15 civilisations as or more advanced than ours has existed in the past. So why dont we find traces of these now?

The fact is, life is fragile, and cataclysmic global events happen more frequently than we think. These events reset civilisations to a zero point and the survivors have to start from scratch. If our civilisation were to fall tomorrow, nature would erase all traces of us within the next 200 years at most. The only things that would withstand the test of time would be massive structures like the pyramids. And these are precisely the kind of structures we keep unearthing.

Analysis of the pyramids in Egypt as well as the Sphinx based on weather erosion shows that these structures are also much older than what was previously thought. By some estimates these are dated back to 16,000 BC! According to conventional historians we were cavemen back then. So who built the darn things? The only logical explanation is that another, previous more advanced civilisation built them.

Kinda makes you think in a fresh light about things like Atlantis, The Adams Bridge, etc.

Bai Bai!

Long time since I posted anything about the Bai. Mainly because I have'nt ever been awake when she's been in the house. But now, I have some fresh material to post largely because of stuff I do find she's done while I've been asleep.

Water Waste
For one thing, I think she's in cahoots with the water guy. Let me explain. Ever since I got jaundice last year, we switched to bottled water delivered from a shop downstairs. Now, that stuff aint cheap. So it used to surprise me no end to find that the big ass bottle of water gets over in just a few days. I discovered that she was flinging out all the water from all water bottles within reach and then refilling them. After I put a stop to that and told her to fill only empty bottles, she started filling all the 7up bottles with water (I mentioned this in a previous post). After a couple of nasty experiences with watered down 7up, we implored her to stop doing this. Strict instructions were given - goddamit bai, if the bottle is green, dont fill it. If the bottle hisses when you open it, dont fill it. If the bottle feels tight with gas, dont fill it. If the bottle has a label on it, dont fill it. JUST QUIT WATERING DOWN OUR 7UP!!!!

But sad to say, none of these implorings, stern warnings, or even passionate requests have had the slightest dent on her. With the result that we have to drink any bottle of 7up we open within the same day. When we have a party, its especially hard cos its like she's a kid loose in a candy shop. Soooo many green bottles to fill!!

"A Good Catch"
Apart from the water shenanigans, the Bai has been informing Nidhi that I am a "very good catch" and that she is lucky to be married to me.

I was thrilled the first time Nidhi told me, but after the 3rd time realised she was saying it because:
a) I gave her a raise
b) I am asleep whenever she is around.

Asleep=unable to comment on standard of work done.

As a mark of appreciation for her compliments, I have started sleeping in later and later. And Nidhi gets to try and terrify her. Don't think she manages tho..