A day in the life..

6:15 Irritated by the phone alarm ringing. Hit snooze,and promise to budge out of bed ten minutes later.

6:43 Having switched on snooze three times since, stagger out of bed cause the incessant yelling gets intolerable. Look at watch and realise there's no time for a bath today. or breakfast. Demn.

7:17 Run to the bus stop, and watch three consecutive empty double decker 338 buses pass by you. @#$%! Miss out on the air rushing through your hair on the upper deck of the bus. Again.

7:26 Get your daily darshan of open gutters and men at um, work next to them. Atleast the cows floating in the gutter ( after 26^th July) have been cleared.

7:47 Wonder why there are a zillion people waiting to get onto a train at a quarter to eight in the morning! Assorted abuses and a few pokes later, manage to get onto the train. Barely. But that’s ok. You enjoy hanging out of the train.

8:25 Look at watch and panic. Twenty minutes to your next class. No time for breakfast. Sprint towards the bus stop, elbowing people out of the way on the subway.

8:42 Finally make it to TIFR. Rush to class, as being late for a class taken by your thesis advisor is not an option. Grin sheepishly as you realize you are the first to arrive.

8:44:50 The advantage of working in a lab right next to the seminar room is that you can always drop in to check mail.

8:56 Get glowered at for entering the class late. Make mental note to curb incessant mail checking.

9:00 Fall asleep. Bob from side to side until your friend pokes you. Thank her, and resume bobbing.

10:05 Look at watch. Realise that with every passing minute your chances of catching a decent breakfast (or any breakfast at all ) are greatly diminishing.

10:45 Breathe a sigh of relief and push people out of the way to the canteen, only to find out that the last cheese sandwich was taken by the person three spots ahead of you in the line. Decide to make breakfast out of chocolate cookies. Notice your advisor entering your canteen. Pray he isn’t going to spot you and join your table.

Phew. That was close.

11:13 Rush back to the lab, having suddenly remembered that you started a culture last night (of bacteria/yeast/insert appropriate model system here). Rush to the culture room to realize that some moron switched off the shaker. Again. Oh well.

11:14-11:45 Tell everyone who passes by that your experiments are always sabotaged and that’s why you never get any work done.

11:46 Look at watch and realize the canteen wont open for another forty five minutes. Damn.

11:47 Realise that you are alone in the lab with your advisor. Panic! You could be spotted and asked about the status of your work. Try to sneak into the adjoining room of the lab without being noticed. Tough luck.

“ So, Bob. What’s happening? How are things?”

*unhappy face hidden under a stupid grin*

“Things are , um, okay!”

“ Come in, let’s discuss a few things”

1:07 Your one-on-one was interrupted by a timely call from the Dean’s office. (Thank you God!)

1:07:50 Scurry off to the canteen, only to be met with a disappointing Menu.

MAXICANE- a TIFR creation, that doesn't taste remotely like a mexican dish. It has brinjal, for heaven's sake!
THOU IS POT- Thousand Island Potato.
METHI MALAI MUTTER- Ugh.
VEG CLEAR SOUP- Brown water.
and other unappealing items.
Decide to make lunch out of dessert and fruit juice.

1:33 Head off to the TIFR seaface for a refreshing walk. Hang around and take in the fresh air until your senior labmate reminds you that some of them have real work to get back to.

1:47:50 Check your mail. Notice that your invitation to dinner has been accepted by Sagar. Realise you forgot to sign out of your gmail account the last time, and one of your labmates has been naughty.

1:59 Realise you are alone in the lab again. Grab a couple of books and decide to work on your assignment in the library. The perfect sleep inducing temperature and tranquility overcome your sincere will to work on the assignment, and you plonk off to sleep, only to be poked by the librarian ten minutes later.

2:01 Decide that you can never get any work done in the library and trudge back to the lab. Remember that you had frozen some earlier cultures and you can work on them instead. Also remember your advisor's subtle hints on Multitasking and the average no of experiments that should be carried out in the lab everyday.

3:35 Teatime! Yay!

3:52 Get back to the lab, and work sincerely on your experiment. Decide to do two experiments together( both of which you're doing for the first time) so that you can impress your advisor with your sincerity.

6:52 Still working hard at both experiments. You've passed your 6:30 extreme hunger pangs timepoint without noticing it because you were working like a sincere child. Decide to take a break and go to the glass corridor. Watch the sunset and get depressed about having to spend evenings at the lab when you could be out enjoying a perfectly nice sunset at the seaface.

7:42 Labmates try to convince you to catch dinner before the canteen shuts. You tell yourself that small sacrifices have to be made for the love of science, and keep going at your experiment. which is beginning to get on your nerves, btw. Textbook protocols are a scam! Everything takes four times as long as is mentioned in the protocol, and you realise you'll have to stay over at TIFR to get the experiment done.

7:43 Notice your advisor is about to leave, and loudly ask your labmates to have dinner without you, as you are busy with your experiment.

7:44 Move into happy place. Your advisor has left the building! But today you are a good child.Keep working.

10:44 You want to sit on your slides, and throw the beakers of culture supernatant out of the window.Why did you think you could handle both experiments together? Your neck is about to fall off, and Just, chill, chill, just chill! on the computer is not helping.

10:45 You have an hour long incubation, and decide to spend that time checking mail and playing Chuzzle, the latest mindless downloadable game you have discovered on yahoo.

12:15 You have exceeded your incubation time, thanks to yahoo messenger. Tell yourself that it's okay, as long as it doesn't happen again.

12:16 Everyone's heading off to MacRajan, a late night eating joint that is run by a man called Rajan. Terribly creative, you tell yourself.

12:46 Having wasted enough time at Mac consuming CHA and Akka's fresh Parotas, you trudge back to the lab.

1:48 You are now getting increasingly distracted from your work. On one computer, some labmates are watching Joey. Others are watching (for the fortieth time) videos from the last party held in your department. Two metres away, you're slaving away at your experiments.

3:02 Finally done with your experiments. Now to head off to the microscopy room and check if they have worked.

3:04 They haven't. Weep.

3:06 Back in the lab. Start laughing hysterically. Labmates get worried about you, and ask you to head off to the room.

3:10 Calm down and pack your stuff. Make your way to the flat to realise your favourite bed is occupied. Swear under your breath and choose another bed.

7:10 Wake up to find a Pigeon on your leg. Yelp.

(repeat)

Shamelessly inspired by this.
I hope that's okay, Nitin.