Came to know about this hitherto unknown phenomena as a kid when I saw my ever active dad sleep through the day after returning from the other part of the globe. The lexicon blabbered that it had to with the circadian rhythm of the body trying to keep pace with the different diurnal cycle in different parts of the world. But since last week, I have realized that it is a phenomena that doesnt rest at the body alone...as they say, it's all in the MIND!!
The immigration department required me to put down details of teh things I was carrying with me - plants & plant products were an option; being the innocent truthful Indian whose honesty turns a degree higher once they leave their own country, I put down yes as my friend's at Delhi had fared me well with a beautiful bouquet. The officer asked me to show my plant products, I presented my bouquet..he rambled "Those are just a bunch of flowers, they aren't plant products!!"...I set off!
The yellow colored taxi reminded me of our burly ambassadors of Kolkata. My driver was an old gentleman of African origins, the music he was playing seemed akin to blues. On conversing he explained they were ballads, kinda mix of blues and jazz and produced in the golden era of 70s, now lost on the rocks!! I thought the taxi ride had me acquainted with the left hand drive in US and till I really drove a machine, I didnt have to bother about it. I was still lagging behind.
It appeared that every time I took a stair or a footpath, I was bumping into opposite traffic. And I hope that it was only my figments of imagination that jeered, An Indian again!! Truly jetlagged. I am still trying my best to get used to free right turns and not bump into one of these fast cars here as I am yet to be insured.
This jetlagged self was also slow in taking the names of people in the right stride. When my roommate was inquired of his name, he replied "I am No Man...". I didnt know what an American meant by it. Guessed it was a kinda joke being played on me, felt happy at the fact that I at least got it was a joke. Before I tried re-applying it on somebody else, I was lucky enough to come by the roll list; "No man" was spelt Naman and my jetlag just receded a bit.
The loo here is again a mystery to unravel in itself. There's a shower corner as they dont want the whole toilet to be watered. So I am trying out some weird combinations and I hope that this jetlag will soon be a feeling of the past.
The lab was the epitome of the venues where I knew that I was lagging in terms of the apparatus they went about using in wasteful wanton. Being in a wet chemistry laboratory actually gives one the opportunity of various explorations. To keep things short I would end with a couple of anecdotes. They dont use filter papers here, its all vacuum filters where the storage vial has one fitted on the mouth which is shown the dustbin after one use.
As apart of the work I am doing, I wanted to know how dark my sample was? Back home, a prized piece of quartz and later specialized plastic known as a cuvette was used for the purpose. It used to be the holy grail of every research scholar and breaking it would almost mean a premature termination of your PhD program. I remember carefully cleaning its sides and how careful I was in putting it back at the right place with the correct spatio temporal parameters. I was looking for one such prized piece of material when asked to find the darkness around. My unsuccessful search gave me a feeling that these might be just even as pricey here safely lockered away somewhere. To my amazement, a 10 X 10 box of them were lying besides the eppendorfs and were supposed to be used in the same way as the latter...to be shown the bin at the drop of a hat.
My jetlagged self showed the body the door which had just about adjusted to the diurnal schedule in this part of the world...
Carbide
The immigration department required me to put down details of teh things I was carrying with me - plants & plant products were an option; being the innocent truthful Indian whose honesty turns a degree higher once they leave their own country, I put down yes as my friend's at Delhi had fared me well with a beautiful bouquet. The officer asked me to show my plant products, I presented my bouquet..he rambled "Those are just a bunch of flowers, they aren't plant products!!"...I set off!
The yellow colored taxi reminded me of our burly ambassadors of Kolkata. My driver was an old gentleman of African origins, the music he was playing seemed akin to blues. On conversing he explained they were ballads, kinda mix of blues and jazz and produced in the golden era of 70s, now lost on the rocks!! I thought the taxi ride had me acquainted with the left hand drive in US and till I really drove a machine, I didnt have to bother about it. I was still lagging behind.
It appeared that every time I took a stair or a footpath, I was bumping into opposite traffic. And I hope that it was only my figments of imagination that jeered, An Indian again!! Truly jetlagged. I am still trying my best to get used to free right turns and not bump into one of these fast cars here as I am yet to be insured.
This jetlagged self was also slow in taking the names of people in the right stride. When my roommate was inquired of his name, he replied "I am No Man...". I didnt know what an American meant by it. Guessed it was a kinda joke being played on me, felt happy at the fact that I at least got it was a joke. Before I tried re-applying it on somebody else, I was lucky enough to come by the roll list; "No man" was spelt Naman and my jetlag just receded a bit.
The loo here is again a mystery to unravel in itself. There's a shower corner as they dont want the whole toilet to be watered. So I am trying out some weird combinations and I hope that this jetlag will soon be a feeling of the past.
The lab was the epitome of the venues where I knew that I was lagging in terms of the apparatus they went about using in wasteful wanton. Being in a wet chemistry laboratory actually gives one the opportunity of various explorations. To keep things short I would end with a couple of anecdotes. They dont use filter papers here, its all vacuum filters where the storage vial has one fitted on the mouth which is shown the dustbin after one use.
As apart of the work I am doing, I wanted to know how dark my sample was? Back home, a prized piece of quartz and later specialized plastic known as a cuvette was used for the purpose. It used to be the holy grail of every research scholar and breaking it would almost mean a premature termination of your PhD program. I remember carefully cleaning its sides and how careful I was in putting it back at the right place with the correct spatio temporal parameters. I was looking for one such prized piece of material when asked to find the darkness around. My unsuccessful search gave me a feeling that these might be just even as pricey here safely lockered away somewhere. To my amazement, a 10 X 10 box of them were lying besides the eppendorfs and were supposed to be used in the same way as the latter...to be shown the bin at the drop of a hat.
My jetlagged self showed the body the door which had just about adjusted to the diurnal schedule in this part of the world...
Carbide
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