Ok, many posts are due, including, but not limited to, a trek tale, the second part of Haryana, and atleast one interview story. They're already written, more or less, in my mind, but articulating them needs effort that I'm not ready to expend as of now. Many novels await, you see. So I'll write a normal blog entry that'll hopefully interest & entertain you.

I went to a cousin's home a few days ago. Now my cousin's father, who is a vet, is very fond of gardening. Outdoors, indoors, on the roof, wherever you go in their home, you have to weave your way among potted plants. More on this later.
In the night, I watched the DVD of a movie titled "Everest". This was originally made as an IMax movie, but 7-storey screens being unavailable, I had to see it on a 29" TV. And very good movie it is too. It is the story of an expedition on Everest in the summer of 1996. The highlight of this summit attempt was its primary purpose, filming the whole climb with an IMax camera. IMax cameras have a resolution over 10 times that of standard 35 mm film, thus they can be projected on huge screens without loss of quality. IMax theatres are being developed in some southern metros in India, but I'm not aware of any such project in the Delhi region. The standard IMax camera weighs 100 pounds (45 kilos), and so could not be taken atop the mountain. The IMax engineers made a special camera weighing 42 lbs (19 kilos) for the purpose of this expedition. Another important feature of this trip was the diversity of the group that made the attempt. There were women from Spain, Japan, and the US. Plus there were highly-experienced climbers from many other nations. The Spanish woman, Aracelli Segarra, became the first Spanish woman to climb Everest. The most important participant, for the purpose of this discussion, was Jamling Tenzing Norgay, who's the son of the original Norgay. The 1996 season was special in many ways for Everest climbers. There was one stormy period when 8 people died or went missing in a single day. This was primarily due to highly-irresponsible advice given by their "tour guides". Climbing on Everest has become almost a business, with many experienced climbers opening some sort of travel agency, which takes rich people on a summit attempt, for a hefty fee. In this season, there were tragedies, some of them well-deserved, and daring rescue attempts. I won't talk more about it, watch the movie for that, or better still. Jamling Norgay wrote a book about this trip. It's part-travelogue, and part-autobiography. He also tells a lot about his father, and the bittersweet relationship he had with Tenzing. For those interested in adventure tales, and those who want a heady dose of Buddhist philosophy, this is a very good book. When I started to watch the DVD, I wasn't sure if it was the same movie whose book I'd read, but it turned out to be that one, so it was a deeply-enriching experience. The book is titled "Touching My Father's Soul", it's published by Ebury Books, which is an imprint of Random House. The author, as already told, is Jamling Tenzing Norgay. More reviews of both the book and the movie should easily be available online.

Some quotes from the movie (Not verbatim):
"This talk of defeating the elements, of conquering the mountain is all nonsense. You look for a short window of suitable weather, sneak on the top, and respectfully sneak out." - Ed Viesturs, expedition leader. He's considered one of the best American mountaineers of this generation.

"Getting to the summit is optional. Getting down is mandatory." - David Breashears, the movie's director and expert mountaineer.

Everyone else had gone to sleep and I was alone while watching it, so I could sprawl across a royally-padded sofa, with my feet on a rocking chair. To add to the spoilt-prince effect, there were some potted plants around me too. Then I went to sleep, with a money plant at each foot, and a Christmas tree (Fir) by my head. I must add that this was one of the more refreshing sleeps I've had in recent memory. It may be because of the plants, or probably because I'd gone to sleep in a happy mood. In the morning, at the wash-basin where I brushed my teeth, one has to poke her/his hand through leaves to reach the bar of soap. To complete the junglee picture, there's an aquarium too.

There were anxious moments in the morning, when my relatives had left. With my doc uncle going to some seminar, I had to receive a few phone calls like an impromptu secretary. One worried lady told me her dog had probably eaten a Kachhua Chhaap ('Tortoise brand', mosquito-repellant coil), was not eating anything further, and would I please tell her what could she do to make the furry guy vomit? I, sadly, expressed my inability to help her, advising her instead to talk to another vet. Why the heck did the dog have to eat a mosquito-coil? It's not even tasty (Presumably). As Bertie Wooster would say, dogs are asses. Actually I too had a pet dog till some years ago, before he died of an ear-infection. Though in his antics, he was as asinine as the best of them. To rip off a Churchill quote that I've been using too much lately, dogs are a riddle wrapped in mystery inside an enigma. Atleast they're lovable, furry enigmas.

+-------+

Now for some entertainment. I copied this stuff from the current issue (March 14-27) of Business India magazine, which in turn copied it from the net. This is the 27th anniversary issue, and is a mine of trivia. This is probably the first ribald entry on my blog, but it's too darn funny to miss.

According to a joke on the net, various generic names considered for Viagra include Mycoxafloppin, Mycoxafailin, Mydixadrupin, Mydixarizin, Dixafix and Ibepokin. The real name of the active chemical is the by-now-famous Sildenafil Citrate.

Cadbury's first advertisement appeared in the Birmingham Gazette in 1824, saying, "John Cadbury is desirous of introducing to particular notice 'Cocoa Nibs', prepared by himself, an article affording the most nutritious beverage for breakfast."

A sampler of headlines from the tabloid press:

Headless Body in Topless Bar - New York Post, 1982

Algebra Problem Causes Student's Head to Explode - WWN 2004 (Weekly World News. Look at their site, it's FUNNY.)

Female Bigfoot Breast Fed My Baby - WWN 2003

Man Sues for Custody of Wife's Breast Implants in Bitter Divorce - WWN 2002

Staring at Melons Increases Your Breast Size, Reveals 5-Year Study - WWN 2002

Russian Space Dog Buried Bones On Mars - WWN 2004


And I close with the obligatory George W. Bush quotes:

"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many obstetricians-gynaecologists aren't able to practise their love with women all across this country." - Poplar Bluff, 6 Sep 2004

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." - Washington DC, 5 Aug 2004

"Do you have blacks, too?" - To Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington DC, 8 Nov 2001

"For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it." - Philadelphia, 14 May 2001

"It is white." - After being asked by a child in Britain what the White House was like, 19 July 2001