Celebrate with abandon..

..not just yet.

Last week, I had an experiment that I had been working on for 8 months or so culminate in pretty much a picture perfect result. Predicted results, even. Might I add that this almost never happens?

A little bit of background. I have now been working in my lab for a little over two years, and most of what I have been trying to do has been towards generating reagents, as there are none available for my project in my field (One of the few instances when I envy fly and yeast labs). The feeling of gratification that is experienced when we design and execute a hypothesis-driven experiment is an unparalleled high (for us labrats only, of course), and one that keeps us going despite the subsequent failures we are sure to encounter while we keep chasing after that high.

My consistent experimental failure has ensured that I am extremely skeptical of any non-negative result, and I went back to look at some controls for my experiment. My heart sank as I discovered that my experiment was a success only because of non specific reactivity.

My first impulse was to think about dumping this project entirely and come up with alternate projects. The results on this project have been few and far between, and this is pretty much the last straw. I am dejected and my heart is utterly broken (I wonder if I will ever be this heartbroken about a guy). I am finding it hard to stay motivated. Any pointers?

For now I am trying to distract myself by working on other stuff that may or may not move my project ahead. I just need to work on something to not go mad.

/ me is sad.

The long awaited update is finally here!

I will soon complete my third year in New York city. NYC OMG! Is it ridiculous that I still think is it awesome that I made it here and am living in Manhattan? I love Bombay to bits, but within a year of moving to NYC I had embraced it as my hometown.

New yorkers intimidate, inspire and enrapture me, and I could never see myself as one of them- but I find myself getting increasingly comfortable in this sea of pretty people. I had never thought I would fit in, let alone be comfortable here.

Sometimes while walking around the city I suddenly notice something on the street that reminds me, almost like a slap across my face, that I'm not in Bombay anymore. A designer shoe, a dog in a bag, a bright red sports car. Couples kissing on the street. Women in calf-length skirts and headscarves, walking next to women in hoodies and short shorts. Biracial couples. People breaking out into spontaneous song on the street. The fruit vendor who always gives me one free banana. :)

The last four months have deprived me of these sights and sounds (and some smells). Now that spring is here, I can't wait to step out of the house and reclaim my city!

No apologies

for the delayed update. I have a life. :P

First things first- Have a wonderful birthday, my dear Soupy! :-)

Miss you loads, can't wait to get back to Bombay and have cold noodles with you, to go with the chinese dubbed movie on star gold. Or we could watch football if you'd prefer that.

Oh yes, I'm coming home. Can't wait. Mailed everyone I know in Bombay the day I bought my ticket. Couldn't sleep that night. Spend all my free time thinking about Bombay and its awesomeness. Not that New York isn't fabulous and all that, but nothing compares to Bombay.

My third rotation should officially end on the 13th of June, I'm off on the 16th. I'm so done with rotations. Fed up! My three bosses have all been very different from each other, as have been the focus of their labs. My first lab was a fly development lab, the second a Malaria lab, and my current lab is a protein trafficking lab- with a human cell line model system. I think i've poked around enough in Biology.
For the most part my rotations have been good- for the most part. I'll write a post on the unpleasant bits once I pick my PhD lab.

Belated V day wishes

What I love about this song is how it ends.

I can't take my mind off you

'Til I find somebody new

Story of my life.

When a girl will break a boy just because she can..

How did it take me so long to discover Fiona Apple?

I couldn't embed the video in this post because its copyrighted. Just hop over to youtube.

The single life in NYC

is overrated. Seriously. The city is full of nightclubs, bars, pubs, and other such places deceivingly conducive towards meeting new, interesting people. But somehow, for most of us, it doesn't really work out like that. I don't see any sort of future with a guy I meet at a bar. But here's the best part. That doesn't stop me from getting all dressed up and heading out to check out different nightclubs every two weeks.
I have no idea what I am trying to achieve. Maybe its just for the attention. Who doesn't like being told they're gorgeous by three different people on the same night? It's great for the self esteem, but at the same time it makes you feel kinda pathetic that blatant flattery can be so effective in cheering you up. Makes you question just how crappy your self image is.

And why not? I personally believe that NYC has a gazillion smart women, but I fail to see the same level of attractiveness in the guys here. Maybe its just me, but I had rather deluded expectations of meeting interesting, fun and let's be honest, economically stable guys here. Clearly I had a misguided impression of the NYC single life.

And tonight was the worst. I don't understand my friends sometimes. We went to three different clubs until they finally decided there was enough dancing, and according to me the music was the most atrocious at the last place. The way I see it everyone wanted to go to the last place all along.
Its so sad. There are two different rooms at that club, one which plays contemporary hip hop, and the other larger one that plays eighties happy-happy songs (such as "Cecilia", "I love rock and roll" and other such incredibly un-dance-able hits). I kept trying to drag people to the hip hop room, where the music was catchy, had some sort of beat, and people were dancing normally. But my gal pals wanted to hang out in the other room, where all the older, suited blokes were. The oldies room was packed, with a zillion drinks on the floor, to the point where i was reminded of Bombay's local trains. It was unbearable. If people (i.e. normal sized guys and women) push up against me, i just fall..i don't seem to have any sort of strength. I don't like dancing that involves getting punched every three minutes, and stamped every thirty seconds. And it sucks all the fun out of the experience.
Tonight everything seemed to get on my nerves.
There was an old (paternal, even) creepy guy we recognized from the last time we were there. He kept hovering around us, and everyone was cribbing about him, but nobody did anything to drive him away. Finally i got annoyed (more with my friends than him) and went up to him.
"Look, can you just leave us alone? None of us is interested. "
And he just walked away, not before calling me a bitch.

The tragedy of the night was that I turned away the cutest guy- he asked me to dance with him. I regretted it deeply, the minute he walked away, cause he was really good looking and a great dancer.
He slid up to me and asked if I would dance with him. Idiot that I am, I said, sorry, I don't dance with other people. He responded with "I'm a nice guy", to which I said that I was sure he was, but I just didn't dance with other people- I'd probably stamp him.
He said it's ok, I respect that. And walked away. Without haunting me, giving me stupid grins, and abusing me. waah, why do i have to be sensible about these things!

And then later, he was dancing with another friend of mine. aaaaaa
Anyway. Must rethink strategy here.

Another shocker was that some guy actually noticed my friend's earrings- she was wearing American football jersey earrings (Patriots), because there was a match involving the Patriots today that we saw at the bar.
I didn't realise that there are still guys out there who will notice earrings.

A low point of the evening was that some old dude bought drinks for the four of us. I was disgusted that I accepted the free drink. But I was quite a bitch about it- he tried sidling up to us after that, and two of my friends danced with him, the poor souls. I just gave him a look of disgust and walked away.
I think the right thing to do is just not accept drinks at all- the next time I should tell myself that!

Wow

It been ages since I updated. This is an unexpected slump, considering I just spent the last three months in one of the most exciting cities in the world.


It's been good for the most part. I have discovered new addictions, while struggling to shake off old ones. My lifestyle has been decadent, yet typical for a New York grad student.

Shoes have filled the void of people in my life.

Living in the Upper East side is tough. Everything is over priced, and the people are snazzily dressed 24X7.

But I love the location, and the fact that my classes and lab are less than four buildings away from my apartment.





The street is primarily dominated by various university and hospital buildings, and you would think that it would be quiet and serene around two huge hospitals.
Think again.

The lovely Rockefeller University is right opposite my apartment, and it offers the refreshing sight of more than two consecutive tall, green trees in a landscape dominated by red and gray.


Our apartment does offer a lovely NYC view, though.

New York is all about fabulous options- great places to shop, wine and dine.






Obscure little karaoke bars in Korea Town

And sometimes we just like to dress up and party at home. :)




There are always things to do or see- Like the Halloween Day Parade...


Tamilian restaurants in Manhattan are always a welcome sight for sore eyes.


The Arthur Ashe Stadium



A cruise around Manhattan island is the perfect way to kick start life in this city.


Central Park in all its splendour- Summer, fall or winter









Even just walking around the city is a lot of fun




And I have a nice little pad to myself (and a roomie- but we have separate rooms)


My room is pretty small, but I can't complain- the other occupant doesn't take up quite as much space as I do.


There have been numerous attempts to cook, with the odd success. I was surprised to find that I quite enjoyed cooking for one. :D




It's safe to say that this city excites me on a daily basis (thankfully).