While sleeping on a redeye last Sunday night, I was woken up by a heave. The lady across the aisle from me looked to be having a nightmare in her sleep at first look. It happened again, but this time her body sunk in the seat, her head dropped off to the side with her mouth open. I first called out to her, then tapped her arm, then her face, but she was unresponsive all the while her face looked as pale as I have ever seen one. It was getting more evident by the second that she was unconscious and her body was forcing itself to breathe with the heaves. I alerted the stewardess and stepped back while they involved a couple of EMTs on board, and with the help of that portable oxygen tank you see in the first overhead cabin, they first had her come to consciousness. The lady hadn’t realised what had happened but then start responding to a barrage of questions from the stewardess, who I presume was making an evaluation to see if the aircraft had to land for this medical emergency. They had her drink some ginger ale while the EMT tried to take BP/Pulse. The EMT mentioned that it was tough for her to take an accurate pulse reading because of the aircraft noise, something that I’d never have imagined would be an issue. Slowly but surely the lady’s condition improved and in due time they got her off the tank, and her face had done an about turn. The flight landed, and she was all set to deplane on her own. She thanked me for alerting the emergency. Barrons teaches you some obscure words, but if there ever was a face to depict sanguine, it was hers right then.
At this point, I stepped out of the plane, but Amma called me to give me the news of Atthai’s passing. It was around the same time that I’d woken up on the flight at the start of the story. She’d been battling the aftermath of tumour treatments and had been in hospice care at home for about a year.
I sat down in an eatery to compose myself but started thinking about all that had just transpired on the flight. I typically take redeye flights so that I can sleep through and I always do sleep through. Don’t wake up for anything but the landing.
For the most part of my late teens, we’d been dealing with Appa and Thaatha’s cardiac issues, which meant late night attendant duties. These times had gotten so ingrained in us, that we’d always be on the lookout for breathing irregularities whenever they were asleep. There wasn’t any fear associated with that check, it was always routine, and we did catch it early sometimes to call attention early enough.
Over the past decade, I had completely forgotten that this was something I did day in day out for close to a decade before that. It was only after R was born, during his first week’s stay in the hospital, that that memory was rekindled. This night was another one where the training kicked in.
Then my thoughts switched to the stewardesses. There they are serving drinks all day primarily, but when medical events such as this occur, they are drawing from their training to get everything in line. And boy did they get it right. It was quite an experience watching professionals do what they do under pressure, but it just shows how vital training procedures must be.
It’s been a week since, I’ve gotten to talk to a lot of the extended family, assimilate the feelings and get some perspective. The coincidence is still perplexing, in spite of all the rationalities and the memory of that face still haunts me.
As amazing as it was to go up Mount Hamilton, scout a secluded spot , get up on our car to lie under the expanse of the visible universe above us to witness the Perseid Shower, the best sight of the night was the view of Moonset over South Bay. The waxing gibbous burning bright orange thanks to city lights was a sight to catch.
I discovered Kate Sessions a couple of months ago when I was avoiding the I-5 when heading from UTC to Ocean Beach. There’s a do-it-yourself car wash place on Garnet Ave that I take my motorcycle for a bath and thats when I found it. On my way back from the wash, I headed out there.
This place probably has the best view in San Diego. I felt totally at peace being there and it is a dog-friendly park which I am totally down with. Ever since I moved to this country 7 years ago, I miss Blackie so getting to play with a few free spirited friendlies was very refreshing. Mt. Soledad gets a lot of tourists and locals, but this park seems to be a local community secret.
When I took my wife the next time around, there was a swing set up by someone on one of the trees by the parking lot. After haggling with a couple of kids we got our chance with the swing and that is when I captured this.
This song has been on an infinite loop since I first heard it in December 2013. The lyrics weren’t available anywhere on the internet. Thanks to @ShravanDathS for transcribing this for me in his increasingly scarce spare time.
Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away to the next room. I am I and you are you. Whatever we were to each other, That, we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name. Speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effect. Without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same that it ever was. There is absolute unbroken continuity. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you. For an interval. Somewhere. Very near. Just around the corner.
A colleague of mine recently jailbroke his iPhone because he could and didn't know how to put it to use. Cydia's discovery mechanism isn't that great so I made him a list of tweaks I had on my device ( using another app, AppInfo ). I am sharing the same here.
UI/UX
ActiveDock : Mac like dock with active app indicators
AndroidLock XT : Pattern Unlock on Lockscreen
*appslide : Intuitive interface : Mix of Android,iOS and Windows back button flows. App 1 link opens App 2. After consuming content in App 2, returning to App 1 involves pressing Home Button. No more need for App switcher.
*Auxo : Enhanced recent apps drawer and quick settings access.
BytaFont : Change system fonts
Default HD SBSettings : Neat theme for SBSettings
Flowtation : UI animation for Notification Center
*LockInfo 5 : Access email, twitter, feeds, calendar, weather and handle notifications from Lockscreen. The only reason I Jailbreak my device.
SBRotator 5 : Use Springboard and all applications in landscape mode
ScrollingBoard : Scrollable dock
*Zephyr : Intuitive OS X like app switcher. Each app is treated as a full screen app and swiping from edge of screen takes you to the next app.
Utilities
3G Unrestrictor 5 : Removes download limits on app on mobile networks
Activator : Assign actions & gestures to functions
AdBlocker : Blocks ads
Browser Changer : Change default browser ( to Chrome for me )
iFile : File system browser
MapsOpener : Change default maps ( to Google Maps )
PushTone : Custom sound notifications for all apps
SBSettings : Settings drawer from Status bar
UnlimTones : Download or create your own ringtones from iTunes library on device
WinterBoard : Default Themer. Themes downloaded from Cydia will need to be made active here
Xcon : Fakes jailbreak status to apps that detect jailbreak before running
Non-scientist-journalists drawing their own conclusions from scientific papers might be the biggest root of misinformation. These observational studies are never intended to prove causation.
How many ever versions of Aaj Jaane Ki Zidd Na Karo I listen to, I keep coming back to Habib Wali Mohammed’s rendition as part of some cleansing process.
There were times when discoverers & inventors belonging to the Western world were executed for those very discoveries and inventions that they made. It just so happened that, that knowledge and their memory was preserved by those around and recorded as history.
Now we are in times where one such pioneer’s inventions are the very same medium we received the news of his death on. Lucky to be in these times.
+108 RT @prabhuferrari: Rajni should buy a team based out of Arunachal Pradesh and name the team as Arunachalam. #IPilim
Paapam pasi vaadu RT @mspraveen: Yuvraj becomes ‘bhai’. Not Dawood uncle types, but Preity Zinta’s bhaiyya. Ha ha.. http://bit.ly/bOWCeM
Just in case you guys did not know, for those of you who like to use Google Talk but end up using Gmail for the Invisibility ( aka feigning invincibility) factor, the Labs version of Google Talk allows for you to go invisible.And no, it doesn’t yet have the Video chat capability that came in Gmail a few weeks back. Seems like the Labs Edition has been around for a while but I noticed it just recently. Check it out if that is what you need and let me know how it goes. I found it getting disconnected and reconnected on its own quite a few times.
Update : Video clarity is awesome. Far better than Skype, which is anyway better than frame by frame slow motion replay video of Yahoo. But one problem I have found is that after ending a voice call with one contact, it takes about 2-3 minutes to allow for another call to be made.
Many of you may be still spending some money buying computer magazines. Here is an alternative from Warez–bb.org. I liked it and thought I would share it with you guys.
I am not talking about Bangalore and Ahmedabad. This is between the blast in Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad last year and today’s blasts in Ahmedabad.
The first pictures to come on all the news channels were from TV9. I’ll get back to the Hyderabad part in a bit, but for a local Andhra Pradesh Channel to be the FIRST one to air pictures from Ahmedabad, means either a record response time or a larger than national channels/ firangi money backed channels' ground network. I shall let you come up with your own options.
Now the Mecca Masjid blast, a TV9 cameraman was IN the Mecca Masjid, supposedly shooting the praying public at the mosque, for a religious program to be coming on the channel, with him at a safe distance away from the blast point, and the camera pointed at exactly the same angle as the blast. Strange coincidence ha.
In both the cases, I am sure TV9 made a quick buck with their feed being picked up by channels with larger reach. I cannot allude to the Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park Blasts in Hyderabad as I did not see the tv coverage.
I know it is a sick thing to come up with, but hey, with the kind of uncertainty we are living around in, there is a chance of anything to be right.
As far blasts are concerned, Kolkata and Chennai are the big ones which are left untouched, till now. Touch wood or whatever.
or so I would like everyone to believe, since I am about to predict the future by making the following announcement.
This blog shall be updated at a feverish pace till the end of this month and then, after the fever, cease to exist for a long time. At least a year I would like myself to believe. The reasons for this planned hiatus are pretty straight forward. Not burn-out, no way. I just want to concentrate on a few things which are lower down on the priorities-ladder, after climbing which, I shall get back to full fledged blogging like this again. Till then enjoy the flow.
