Spatial dumps

I am back in what should provide the ideal settings for all my explorations,Namma Chennai[not that I am as spatially gifted as some other Chennaiites,and Amma talks glowingly of a particular one,GMama. And all such people deserve widespread public acclaim,and not just from their close relatives!

Today's events uphold this sentiment rather distressingly exactly!!Amma told me the report of the blood test she had today at Venkateswara diagnostics,which is 100 m or so away from home,would be ready this evening,and dreamer that I am,I agreed to go and get it.

What happened next?A long time,meaning clueless diversions and aimless wandering later,I called Appa,after dutifully not answering multiple calls from Amma and Appa,and I did it with the proud reason,'I was lost',and in my backyard!!

Appa thankfully came to pick me up[thankfully I made out a dental centre{Parasu's} nearby,and helpfully plopped down on the sidewalk so I wouldn't get LOSTER[not a word,but I don't know how to convey "more lost"]while waiting for him.Thankfully Appa[and Amma] came and picked me up and I came home to blog about one of my worst passages of time at home.

I sure hope nothing occurs at least in the near future,which further lowers my opinion of myself[I never was self-opinionated,meaning I was modest always].How much lower can the opinion be of oneself,unless it moves to self-hatred?

Soundarya Lahari

This morning,I went for a jog of 2+ rounds at the IITM grounds,but I also did what given me a huge sense of achievement for years on end when I've done it,chanted verses of Soundarya Lahari(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundarya_Lahari),which gives any devotee a tremendous feeling of wellness and raises his self-esteem immeasurably(there are 100 verses,but I told the first quarter:25),its is chaste Sanskrit.

Again,it did what it always has,bless it(classic oxymoron??:"bless a collection of religious verses).

Fortuitous jog

So this morning,I was of a mind to go to the nearby IIT grounds and do my morning exercises(walking,jogging;its been long since I did muscle-related activities,well,at least since I was in Turkey),so I went there with my dad by car.I walked a bit around and jogged 2 rounds,captured by dad on his mobile.We sat down on a ledge by the ground,and I removed both my mobile phone and purse,which were in my pockets.The mobile would have been way more ideal than his,for video-recording my jog,but it doesn't matter.I left them there after getting up,and we returned home.I came home and then the question arose,"Where were they,it was unlikely such an error would go unpunished in our country?"

So my dad gallantly volunteered  to go and check again at IIT(thankfully a quarter hour away by road),and,our country being the birthplace of the Mahatma,both my items were at the ground.

I've rarely felt so proud of my nation as now.This could never have happened in a place abroad,period.

Location confusion[for me,or the other person strongly associated with this post:M]?

What and when are these changes happening?

I woke up this morning to attend early-morning needs,and I was awestruck!!!Immediate recognition:I am home in India,but when did this geographical truth get realized:I was in Turkey (Istanbul) just recently,but now I'm in namma Chennai???As happy as I am to return to my roots,this had to be sorted out,but hopefully other people would see what their desired (and correct,no correct,only) orientations were,without being prompted.Sadly,this latter happened this morning,when there was a brief discussion of what certain technical terms meant in my thesis[Active Control of Performance and Vibratory Loads using Leading-Edge Slats],which encapsulated thy research work I have done in the field of helicopters(rotorcraft),to add active surfaces to the blades [called slats],to achieve a certain goal.

So why am I so cut up this early in the morning?

There was an extended discussion,led by(maybe sole participated by)my brother,who studies(and teaches,in Istanbul) mathematics.I just felt,if the queries were related to my field,I'd answer them,and try to give as extensive an explanation as needed,and considered proper in academia.Now if the carping(sorry this crude word is used,but happening as early in the day as it does and is as representative of disbelief as it is)stops and correct (and acceptable,dealing with the same subject,at least tangentially) {technical}questions are posed,I'd be propelled to clarify any legitimate queries,no matter how early.OK,he went through the draft of my thesis and had formed an opinion,but the manner of conveyance was self-defeating.It came across as bitter and rudely expectant.Those stay my words on the subject.

Return to roots: a significant rediscovery

Now,I am back in India[woohoo!] after a brief sojourn in Turkey,highly enjoyed,as it should be.

A critical difference,not a discovery,because I knew it was so all along,my parents being models of perfectionism that I have imbibed something of ::the BIDET SHOWER[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_shower]in the toilet is in the correct order,as opposed to my stay in Istanbul.[there was enough to stumble on in the bathroom,not just this,but the bidet shower was out of order,said to be worked on by the plumber,who would be called TODAY,YESTERDAY,........meaning....WASN'T CALLED,so a traditional bucket,with a mug was used,as was the most obvious way so many years ago,but sane people know that as potentially hugely messy,because you miss a mugshot :)[http://publicdomainarchive.com/public-domain-images-1920′s-vintage-mugshots-nswpd-special-photographs/, although the mugshots here are of those incarcerated in a prison in US]],i.e. the stream of water from the mug would not find its correct target.

So what of my own home?Is it hard,at all,to readjust to a familiar past?{how could it be?When helpful Appa and Amma are lovable guides every step of the way;hopeully I turn around and give them a shoulder to lean on,not the other way around,as the case was in a foreign land}.

I,meanwhile,have a target to achieve: find a way to link photos from my trip[the photos are more than half the story in this case]to this blog,because my Google Photos library is chock-full of images from a distant land (and culture,for most people).

Memory fail:Turkey[possibly the culmination of this blog]?

            So have I progressed to the point where I can proudly claim I've overcome the side effects of an incident of TBI(http://memorylane2956.blogspot.com.tr/2016/04/history.html)?

             I am now in Istanbul,Turkey,visiting my brother who is on the faculty of mathematics at Mimar Sinan university.Thing is:Turkey is a land of a multitude of new experiences,even for someone from the mother of all such utopias,India. Every time you step out onto the streets in Istanbul,there is a heady mixture of disparate entities assailing your senses:cultures,sights and vocalizations.So should be the ideal spot for a holiday to plan after a TBI,right?
             Sounds like it could be the beginning of paradise,as long as your intentions are not crushed and discarded.

                Having been here for a few weeks,I naturally looked to my brother for directions in a foreign land,where he's spent 8 years running[hopefully he'll be able to give directions to his students in a subject he's for years on end spent time researching AND teaching],and I have spent less than a month;I'm going to leave soon,and as much as I enjoyed it,there's no crucial necessity for me to find my way here,or in any place where I'm only a visitor.As is his nature,he made me feel inferior,but I forgive him,because that is who I am,and he is who he is. 

                 In my native language Tamil,you'll say that he,having spent all that time here,has karachchu-kudichchufied[a bad transliteration to English from Tamil,given how gifted Tamil is in terms of sounds and the impossibility to convey the complexities exactly in staid English]the geography of Istanbul,and a visitor shouldn't be faulted for stepping wrong in one of the many streets,even after being here for a long time,but that's me just wishing into empty air,meaning the wish is likely to go unfulfilled.

I just wished Mohan,my brother,wouldn't rail at me on the streets like he does when I take a misstep.People would think I was a bandit if they watched for a minute or so.

Challenge:I'd like to see how spatially gifted he is when he comes to India,and tries to find his way among the labyrinthine streets of a nearby place in Chennai[leave alone Mount Road,which he has evinced a dying wish to navigate].