Thought crucible

Well it turns out that satisfying trips to Mangalore can be made, even without a Twister at Cherry Square. We took one such trip last evening to witness the 'Mangalore Dasara' celebrations being held at Kudroli in Mangalore. Roads upto 3 kms away from the main venue were lit up and festivity could be felt in the air. The main celebrations were happening at the Kudroli Gokarnanatha temple. It turned out that we didnt know much about Navrathri celebrations or it's significance. All I could connect were hazy dots about Durga Matha slaying Mahishasura, 9 days of festivity, proximity to Deepavali and that was pretty much it. Oh yes, also there was this one day on Saraswati Puja when the Resnick and Hallidays and the Parkersmiths would take a jaunt out of their dusty shelves and be wiped and worshipped. So, as I rode the supercrowded Express to Kudroli, I made up my mind to gain some knowledge about Navarathri. The lane leading upto the temple was thronged, with the usual peddler...

Leaving the world behind, Rediscovering the self, Attempting to make complete sense out of something at the least, Justifying held ideals and discovering new ones, Remaking the boundary between triviality and profundity.... Our recent trip to Gokarna was an unintended quest for some form of clarity. Four hours along the Konkan rail, Rickety ride to Kudle, Delightfully secluded and truly multinational shack, an all the more satisfying sizzler, Warm soft sands, the cool and clear sea, the blazing hot sun and the chilling drizzle - and that delectable interplay among them all. Eeriness of dead fish at the sea, Raw force of the almost divine waves, Little trek up a hillock, One of nature's endlessly beautiful endless panoramas, Adverted to the insignificance of all that was important, Frantic descent in the fast-receding twilight, Silent tea by the shack, Well deserved Russian Salad, The bizarre "Gokarna Lights", Deep slumber as crashing waves lullaby, Pancakes as in Pancake...

A post on similar lines was intended for quite some time, but I could never really get myself to putting it down. Before entering NITK for a degree in Electrical Engineering, there was no clear idea as to what I wanted to do and what I needed to do. Like anyone else, most of the learning that happened involved gigantic tomes of pointless reactions and formulae. After all, it was sacrilege to not enrol yourself to a prestigious JEE coaching place. What was all the more disappointingly ironic was the fact that some of the finest ideas of science and mathematics were being introduced during this period, including calculus, linear algebra and quantum theory and the only thing that mattered was how an MCQ could be posed and what could be the best possible way to go about answering it. The most prime of time was lost in such meaningless exercises. So, for me the usual typical story followed - an almost worthless JEE rank and I had to 'compromise' with an EE seat at NITK Surathkal. Ah...