Squash, lemons, life...

It all started with a mail. It was a long rally of mails but it was like a rally in squash, I was the sole player in the rally. Anyway, I played a shot and waited, then another shot and then waited again. In the end I slept off with my racket(cellphone) in hand just in case the other player decides to come in. The other player hit a shot and waited for me to wake up, of course riding on a time difference, so not practically waited up just for the rally but anyway, it’s not the point here. The point is that in a rally, you never kill the ball, you always keep it up, I was asleep and lost the rally...Oh yes, I did lose it but I had played well, and I know it, I was slowing down a bit but that was more due to fatigue than lack of intent. So the other player calls of the match at 0600 hours, on a chilly morning! Never have I felt such a shiver run down my spine, I was sweating and shivering at the same time, partly due to the cold and wholly due to the match being called off. The ball was well worn and at the kill shot, the ball just tore up, the rally was over once and for all and no more balls left to continue that rally sic.

I talked to my friends, wrote the declaration of ending the rally, did both simultaneously. You see, the promise to continue that rally was one I held too dear to my heart and hence needed strength. But as they say in french c'est la vie (that's life). Life gives you lemons and sometimes want you to chew them, no lemonade, no tequila but the hard and sour way you do it slowly, excruciatingly blaming all the time to the other player, to the ball, to God and to oneself. But when you chew a lemon, you don't realize that at this very moment for the same mass you are getting more sugar than strawberries. Sometimes the God doesn’t want you to hydrate yourself with a lemonade or get it done with a bottoms up via tequila, he wants you to chew that lemon. To get that extra sugar to not lose another rally and to win the match eventually.

In Paris I walked over a bridge they call as the Pont des Arts, they say if you attach a padlock on the railing and throw the key in the river Siene below, then you would never falter in the rally and it would go on forever. But I did not put a lock there, the idea of relating a lock with a rally sounded preposterous. You see being in a rally doesn’t mean you are bound with the other player, in fact its the exact opposite, the real rally makes you feel free, the smooth court  movements are as if you are floating, gliding doing waltz on the court, its zen. Am I sorry that I did not put a lock there? No.

I will however go to the Pon des Arts once again may be to remember, may be to forget my first rally. The view from the bridge is not that bad either...   

The court is empty, the player is gone but the sweat drops from the rally remain. Someday some other player will come, it will take time though, Squash is not played by many but the good thing is that by that time the last remnants of the sweat drops would also have gone.

C’est la Vie

P.S.- V and V

Roti, kapda, makaan...

As yet I am struggling to find all three of these. Roti- is not available here, makaan- I would be leaving the guest house tomorrow and kapda- bloody windy out here, so the traditional Indian winter clothing doesn't work. 

Its dark outside and I am yet have a ray of sun, hope and warmth.

The work is good, the hot chocolate cup is 0.25 Euros, and you get warm water for free!!! So I am working on a new technology, the Bluetooth low energy transfer and I have to find out and pin point where exactly the sensor falters and try to rectify it. MATLAB and MS Excel and not to mention, perseverance.

Another striking thing here is that pedestrians are not considered as the have nots, the destitutes and the disposables like in India, where you get that Angry Young Man look from the driver whenever you try and cross the road. Here the people stop for you and smile back if you smile at them as a sign of gratitude for letting you pass!!! They don't honk horns and I have yet to see a Cow that is not roasted or in sauce...

So far so good brrr...cold

Ethiopian food- smack smack :)

Belgium

Which Beer would you like to have sir? The time was 0800 hours. I smiled, I was indeed in Belgium , the land of many beers. As of 2013, there were 1150 original Belgian Beers, quite impressive for a country with an area about 1/8th of Uttar Pradesh.

My place of work IMEC, an R&D company based in Belgium and Netherlands is in Leuven, a University Town, about 20 mins from the capital city of Brussels. The student population in Leuven is about 50000, that's more than the non student population of this place. The age range here is mostly the young crowd 18-30 or the old Grand pas and Grand Maas.

The weather is so cold that people tend to pick up their drinks straight from the attics! The first day at IMEC and my God, I was surprised by the sheer size of the place, its gigantic. I was picked up at the reception gate by my Guide. I was a bit intimidated by the Security Arrangements though, appeared as if I was entering some Defence research facility, reminded me of my days at the Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory. Its funny how the work being done for the wellness of general public is being so heavily guarded, thank you Global Competition and Bin Laden (Rest in Jannat sic). I was taken for a security tour and was given a brief about the fire drill, it was fun. Technology apart, it was really inspiring to see so many fitness crazy people in the facility. There were more cycles than cars in the facility! I was given a brief account of the research by Walter, my in-charge. He had an urgent meeting and I was left to explore the place. Everyone was so "into research" even while eating, it was like sitting in the Sheldon Cooper's House with Penny also a PhD!!! :D

After IMEC I went to the Leuven City Centre, towered by a big Gothic Cathedral with a mini Carnival going on. As happens with every European City the centre had more bars then any other shops and even during a Thursday afternoon, people were there on the street. People really know how to dress here and look good! They are so casually and carefully good looking. A few Belgian Waffles and a Belgian beer later, I was on my way back home, it was cold and it was dark at 5 pm and it started to rain and i forgot my way home...phew

The first day ends, drenched, tired and supremely excited!!! I M E C...