Cold wave

What's up with this place anyway?! This year has been a disastrous summer... oh wait.. there was no summer. There were probably under 7 days in the entire past year that we've not had to wear some form of outer layer clothing. Be it a sweater, a cardigan or just a full-hand shirt.. something has had to cover us up over the past year for us to survive the temperatures here. This week is turning out to be the chilliest in a while. Everywhere I see, people have traded their sweaters for more weather-bearing full-fledged winter coats. The open-toed sandals are a thing of the past. Everyone's in shoes or at least in ballet flats. The temperatures have barely risen past 15°C even during the best part of the day... which entails further cover-up clothing as you leave for work or come back. And in apartments where the heaters are automated, it's the glory time for the personal heating fans. Or double blankets.

If this is any sign of the winter to come, I'm going to move. No, seriously. 

PS: Sun.. if you're watching/hearing and have any VMSS, please come out and look at us for prolonged periods of time.

Experiments with the “analog” SLR

Remember I bought an “analog” SLR? You don’t?? Where’ve you been? Read that post here. So like I mentioned there, I fed a black and white film roll to go all pristine with the shooting. And for the first one, I went through it really quickly and at the same time, experimented a whole whole lot. And so, turns out, out of 36 photos, I got only about 20 not to shake and remotely in focus. Since while shooting, you can’t see any previews, I was still trying to get a hang of the controls and so I figure this percentage while not too great isn’t too bad either. Here are a couple of shots from that bunch. Not bad at all, huh?

The Eiffel Tower. This shot was multiple-exposed 5 times in one click. Pretty neat, huh? 

And then one more -

View across the Seine. Metro 6 is making it’s away across too. 

The above photo however has a white-washed sky (which couldn’t be saved digitally after scanning either). And that proves that the ISO is too high for the light that was available. Nonetheless, considering that this was the first experiment, I am going to consider it a moderate success.

Interesting fact: Did you know that B&W films need special technology to be developed? And that it can’t be done in India? And that it costs maybe 5 times as much to do it wherever it can be? Who knew, huh?

The “happy” place

So I was on the RER today. Zoned out… aimlessly staring… watching the scenery go by.. Ipod on, you know. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a young French lad slide into one of the aisle seats across and in front of me. As the scenery shifted, so did my eyes. Soon though, they darted back to the guy and I noticed him staring at an old lady, seated alone in a corner. She was fiddling with her bags and an Iphone. She looked so old I highly doubted she knew to operate it. But then that’s just stereotyping and in all likelihood, I am wrong. Even as I kept looking at them, the young boy’s eyes darted away and then back to the woman in quick circulation. I was transfixed. What was it? Had she dropped something and he wanted to bring her attention to it? Did she say something and he missed it? Was he trying to rob her? I couldn’t figure it out. And frankly, if he could stare at her, I could stare at him, right? At the next station, she rose, bumbling around with her packages, her phone and her walking stick. He rose too. What was this? Was he going to make a run for it and really rob her? This was like a scene from some bad movie. My mouth was half open as I watched them. The second she crossed by him to head for the doors, he jumped over to where she had been sitting previously.

Apparently that’s all he wanted. Her seat. Me and my imagination. This is why you shouldn’t watch Naan Mahaan Alla at night.

Incidentally, this is the 100th post this year for MindBlogging!  It’s been slow but its still here  Three cheers! :)

Ah Paris!

Some of the best things in life can be free. And the city of lights is an everyday example. Some of the best sights it has to offer are absolutely free. Like this one.

 La Tour Eiffel: The single most-visited paid monument in the world.

Ah Paris! How I love this city and how I love showing its jewels off. With the sudden onset of intensive heat, all the monuments are shining in their well-maintained splendour in the bright sunshine. And with my new-found black and white film SLR mania, this is the best place to be to try and capture some surreally brilliant shots while I’m at it. And yes, I am yet to develop the 2 rolls of B&W film that I’ve already exhausted. Needless to say, exceptional results will wind up here. Until then, vivre la Paris!

The greener grass..

I am here to reflect once more how the grass is indeed greener on the other side. Forever it seemed like I complained that we wore sweaters or jackets in Paris for the past 8 months... and how the sun never seemed to shine in all it's splendor and what not. And the sun had it's revenge on us for my bad-mouthing. The temperatures soared to 30+°C and we sweated it out this weekend in Paris too.. showing the brilliant sights and sounds to yet another bunch of visitors.

Two days later.... the sunniest weekend in Paris in 10 months later... insane sweating later. (try the Paris metros in Summer).. many blisters later... infinite tan lines and infinite tanning later... I've realized I've asked too much from the sun. And maybe the time the sun was away wasn't too bad? Now either it has to head for some cover giving us some muted glory or I am going to walk around in ridiculous wide-brimmed straw hats uncaring about the stares I am sure to receive while making a thorough fool of myself. Like I said.. any way you look at it, the grass is greener on the other side. Any other experiences any of you'd like to share where you stumbled upon this universal truth? Comment away.

Got Milk?

You know that F.R.I.E.N.D.S episode where Chandler and Joey wager the girls that they can guess every item in Rachel's shopping bag because they know them so well? Well if you want a head-start on me, you've got to start with milk. And I'm not kidding. I don't know what it is with my Parisian obsession with milk. I like the milk in this country but that's no excuse to go scouting for different brands when you can't really tell the difference in taste between them. Yet, I do that. I like to try different brands from different stores just to see if my tea tastes any different. Completely weird. And so if you guess there's milk in my grocery bag, full points to you. 

The real reason behind buying milk with every grocery purchase I guess might be rooted in three things.

1. Unlike the US where gallons of milk are available to be purchased, here you have only the option of 1 liter bottles/tetrapacks or 1/2 liter ones (but in packs of 6 so I guess that makes up?).

2. Milk being a staple gets used as often as anything else.

3. The expiry date for milk in this country is insanely long. If the pack/bottle remains unopened it is likely to last for over 3 months and who's keeping milk that long anyways?

Oh and I hate getting up in the morning to discover that we ran out of milk and I have to go out to buy milk to be able to retreat to the solace or my morning chai. That's worth going into any trouble lugging back excess bottles of milk. Hence, got milk? Hell yeah!

P’Arc de Triomphe: The urban jungle

You have to hand it over to the French. The most famous road in Paris, probably even the world, Champs Elysées, was turned into a garden. For 2 days. At a cost of 4.2 million euros. You can see the news item here. And it was a sight to behold -

The Arc de Triomphe at the head of the world-famous Avenue de Champs Elysées.

And boy, did the people turn out or what! I have never seen a rush like that in Paris. Sure, Champs Elysées is always crowded. But the crowd yesterday was such that if you happened to drop something, it would cascade through at least 10 people before it reached the ground and inevitably got stampeded. It was an exhibition by young French farmers, displaying everything from their crop to their domesticated animals. However, the “natural” greenery was far less obvious than the urban jungle on display. The people who thronged the place in millions in the sweltering heat braving it all just to witness the miracle of having paved away the traffic from this amazing street and fill it with mud and trees, flowers and animals. I’ll admit. All we saw was people. Joie de Vivre!

The urban jungle. The street was so crowded it was impossible to see the Louvre at the far end of Champs Elysées.

Bye April..

And so the time has whooshed by. Who out there can believe that 4 whole months, an entire third of this year, 2010 has flown by at the pace that it has? I for one, can’t. With each passing month the ‘final’ year of the PhD gets more stressful.. but this is some form of weird ‘pain’ that I am enjoying. Maybe the possibility of finally starting to see the vague end of the tunnel, still far far away makes each step ahead more enjoyable. After all, the darkest part, the dead center has been left behind. Alright alright.. enough metaphors.

On a brighter note, Paris has quite literally sprung into Spring. Though the time changed a month ago, the weather underwent it’s share of dramatic change only about 10 days ago. And the change was dramatic, shooting the temperatures to the mid 20s, eliminating the need for the security of a jacket and worse, bringing on the first beads of sweat this year. And with that, the trees seem to have bloomed all in one weekend. Ah Paris.. with better weather, there’s just more things to do. But of course they have to be restricted to the weekend,t hanks to the lack of time otherwise; Also today signals the end of the vacances scolaire which means that the trains can be expected to brimming, beginning Monday.

Happy May Day/Labour Day in advance to everyone. For the past 2 years, we enjoyed a long weekend and indeed an entire sequence of them in May. This time however, most “holidays” occur on Saturday. Hmph.

Bon weekend at any rate.

When Nature unleashes...

I see that America has declared war on Iceland. Apparently they are accusing them of harbouring a “weapon of ash eruption”, courtesy, Ten of the best Iceland volcano jokes.

If you've been remotely abreast with the latest news, you know by now that the Eyjafjallajokull volcano of Iceland erupted last week, and while it only spewed ash high up into the air and thankfully did nothing fatal to anyone (we'll talk about the repercussions of the glacier it is melting sometime later), it did disrupt the entire European airspace for about a week.. While I am currently not traveling any place, sometimes I wonder if the chaos caused by nature need be compensated by the poor airline companies who've lost billions in canceled flights and stuff, as is. On the other hand, unless you're stuck in some remote location with no civilization, I am not sure it would be too boorish of me to question if people really have to camp at the airport inconveniencing themselves and others rather than extend their stay (yes yes it adds to the expense of the trip and everything, but big picture, people!) and find a cheap hotel or something. Asking for reimbursement on canceled flights is one thing but asking for accommodation compensation is taking it to ridiculous heights. After all, it is a natural disaster. And considering the suddenly escalated number of airplane crashes over the past year, it comes as little surprise that the airspace control is playing it safe. If there's one crash in the scheme of things, guess who gets blamed once more? Really for them, it is damned if they do and damned if they don't.

On a lighter note, how does it affect me?

1. The Indian store is sort of barren and pathetic looking this week. No fresh mounds of kothamalli, no kariverpulai or pachai milagai. None of the fresh produce has arrived. Everything's probably sitting elsewhere and rotting. I heard they have a very fishy situation in the UK. The stench of rotting fish has taken over Heathrow's storage central. Which begs the question.. couldn't they just sell this stuff to the local markets or something? I am sure there's a million import/export formalities, embargo and what not to limits I can't fathom... but most times, simple is better.

2. The professors are all here. Well, it is vacances scolaire (the 2 week break for students (which unfortunately doesn't include PhDs) every 2 months - yes yes, become a student in France) and so normally the professors stack up the work on us and vanish for the vacation. But thanks to canceled flights, everyone's here.

3. Tickets are skyrocketing and the railways are overcrowded. Maybe because of the current dip in the flights, any place you look to travel, the tickets are sky-high priced. Besides the fact that the train stations are overflowing with stranded passengers trying to find some way out of this damned Paris they got into. Funny how a week-long "dream" vacation to Paris (or any other place) can become a nightmare if extended by another week....

Enough said.

PS: Happy Earth Day! And let us hope Mother Earth settles down and doesn't unleash any more wrath on us. But I suppose, it's a give and take policy. Let's save the Earth and she'll save us. :)

New age socializing

It seems like no matter what, we find new and innovative ways of doing good old things... Look at reading books for example. I bet the forests are thanking us now that so many books are going entirely electronic. And with Kindles and Ipads alike vying for the top spot in  the ebook reading experience, things are poised to get as "real" as ever. But that's not what this post is about. Instead it's about how technology has clawed its way into our everyday lives as well.

The other day we met friends for dinner after a terribly long time. And after all of 5 minutes of "catching up", I glanced at the table that seated 10 of us to see at least 5 cell phones, Iphones and Droids alike, whipped out to "share" the latest apps (applications) and cool stuff on the phone. So much for the days of "what's up" and just gossiping over dinner and plain anecdoting and what not. Nope... now it was all about the cool games that the accelerometers on these devices afforded, or that application which acts a constant post-it to remind you of things on the go. Or something else or something else.. there are always new apps and there will be and this has  now graduated to become an excuse to play with one's own gadgets under the pretext of socializing. And guilty as I am of constant Facebook status updating, I would also be amongst the first people to comply with full acquiescence to a gadget-free evening. Game, anyone?

Caught in the act..

I finally "experienced" pick-pocketing first hand. Just that it wasn't my pockets.. It was my rather large  and moderately "heavy" handbag. And it wasn't smooth, suave or subtle. Rather it was brusque and upfront and downright funny if you ask me. You hear tales about the smooth criminals... where the people swindled had absolutely no clue how their wallets vanished or how their cell phones weren't where they were supposed to be. But this wasn't one of them. We were in Metro 1, one of Paris' most popular Metro lines. And it was pretty loosely packed. As I got in, with no reason, given the space around me, this teenage girl threw herself upon me and then as if to steady herself, she grabbed at my handbag. And I saw the whole thing happen as if in slow motion. Customarily I have my hand loosely held on my bag in spite of the fact that the straps remain steady on my shoulder... and good thing too in this case. Because to me what the girl attempted seemed to be a bad rehearsal from a very bad play. And even after she failed once, with me watching on, she tugged at my bag another time. This time I slapped her hand away... and off she jumped from the train, with her 4 companions just as the doors swooshed shut. And here's where the stupid rehearsal would've become the Master plan and the gravity of the situation struck me. Had she succeeded, nothing could have been done to get hold of her in that instant the train departed. The worst part? All she would've gained is some meager amount of cash... but I'd have lost a great deal more, everything from house keys to my IDs, add to that the headache of canceling the credit cards. Whoosh, I survived and now I see reason behind the terribly frequent warnings on trains to be aware of pickpockets. Lesson learned firsthand. And thankfully at a dress rehearsal at that.

The emailers..

Sure.. all of us email. I mean in this age of the Internet, who doesn't? But this title, the "emailers" should strictly refer to people who email for everything. And I've come to believe I am one of them. Often I email my professor who is one floor below mine, rather than simply going over and conveying the information. And this has more to do with practicality than laziness. Before you start questioning that line of thought, let me assert that indeed I got into this groove of things 'coz of Dr P back in UC. Often we scheduled meetings in the stairwell or near some classroom only for me to learn later that he'd either forgotten about it or scheduled something else in it's time slot. "Why didn't you just send me a confirmation email" would often be his chagrined response. In his defense, I guess the email helped him directly put it on his Outlook calendar or something similar to schedule a meeting which would then send him a reminder and essentially set the ball rolling. And so it began. Emails for everything... from meeting for coffee to setting the thesis defense date. From friends to professors to colleagues to family to companies to industries and what not. Email. The easy, comfortable, reassured way of reaching people who remained connected. And so I was hooked to it. I have discovered however, that in Paris people prefer the personal touch. More often than not, it's more of you could've just told me rather than email me. Often emails are forgotten, ignored or trashed without being read and people seem to remember personally scheduled meetings rather than impersonally worded emails. It also helps build rapports with people you haven't worked too often with in the past. I've learned to work with this situation though. These days, I send an email as a correspondence-retainer and then follow it up with a phone call or a personal visit to the office of whoever I am contacting just to make sure they read the email. And here it works out even better because while they can certainly understand my written French, with my spoken French (though I presume I have gotten infinitely better at it), it still leaves room for some interpretation and entertaining dumb charades at times. Finally, communication is the key. And who cares if I had to resort to either actions or English to convey the last couple of words to complete a message? And in time, I won't need those either. Fingers crossed.

Appearances matter?

Ah.. why are we so fickle when it comes to deciding upon something that is neither in our hands nor matters too much? For example when you are apartment-hunting (like we are), is it important for the building to look nice or for your particular apartment to look nice? Ideally, both of course. But what if you had to choose one? Logic says that it only matters what the apartment looks like on the inside. Why then does it bother you when the building is a little old or a little unkempt? Because impressions matter. Remember how you walk past a beautiful building and wish you could live there? You have no idea how it looks on the inside...if it is practical... if it will be large enough... if it will fulfill your everyday requirements... if it is well-designed, etc. It just goes with the territory in your head that a beautifully designed building on the outside can't go wrong on the inside. If only that logic were infallible. Buildings like people come with no guarantees or promises to match the outside with the inside. Even while we preach that the "inner" beauty is all that matters, we are haughty when it comes to "lesser" significant things like rental apartments. We want that our building look imposing and majestic... Practically, how much time do you spend looking at your building anyways? But it is hardly a question of practicality as it is of status. For some reason it matters. I haven't come across anyone who's disregarded the outside completely giving credit to the inside alone. Are we this judgmental when it comes to people too? I certainly hope not, for that would be truly sad.

The woes of apartment-hunting

We’ve all been through this at some point of time or the other… be it while hunting for shared accommodation as students, collocation as colleagues/friends or your happy home with the husband, we’ve all dealt with the woes of apartment-hunting. Barely 24 hours after having compulsorily decided to switch apartments, I am fed up already… sometimes with the lack of choice and sometimes with the abundance. However, most of my complaints this time around are to have embarked on this search during the long weekend – the consequence being that no one answers the damn phone! Oh and add to that that S n I work at 2 ends of the spectra leaving either or both of us to travel eons between home n work. But I guess my biggest issue is the inertia itself (look at the post below) and the fact that we are so in love with our locality. So that severely restricts our choice because add to the whole rent situation the fact that we want a decent-sized kitchen, preferably larger accommodations, with maybe a balcony and perhaps a cellar… it brings our choices down to very very few. Sigh! Oh and did I mention I hate moving? No, I am not helping myself. I hope fate does.

5 shades darker

Don't you hate summer? All that skin colour that you slowly and steadily accumulated all through the torturous winters using moisturizers and what not, all gone within the flick of an eye-lid? It's like 4 days into hardcore summer with sweltering temperatures of 32°C (sorry, Parisian 32°C are nearly unbearable) and I have bronzed rather evenly. Gone are the days of fairness I say. I support Aiswarya Rai in her claim that all skin tones are beautiful. And if I have bronzed, so be it. Bronze is beautiful.

Parisian fashion faux pas

Not that I am some fashion diva or something, but there are certain things that you notice on people and you just know that that’s not the way it should be. Even in one of the fashion capitals of the world, Paris, people sometimes commit the ultimate crime – fashion faux pas.

Here’s my list of not-so-hot witnessed on the everyday Parisian fashion scene (for the list of very hot read this post):

1. Skinny jeans and bulky shoes: Skinny jeans are very in out here.. And I assumed one of the main reasons was that so many people, men and women alike, are so slender. And it looks great on them. Just not when they mess it up and pair it with oversized sneakers. It looks very unsightly and is particularly effective in grabbing the wrong kind of attention.

2. Goop-up: Remember how we talked about how most women here were to choose one eye-makeup essential, it’d be mascara ? Rightly applied, it can be a major boost to those skimpy lashes. But maybe it’s a fashion key I am missing out on, but so many people here put oodles of the stuff on their lashes so much that it forms tiny globules at the tips. Not appealing at all.

3. Legally wrong: So a gorgeous woman’s walking towards you. Tall, slender and what’s she wearing? A long shirt and… oh, wait a minute, that’s it! I think this one started out when truly some woman forgot to wear pants/skirt before stepping out of her house. And she was probably bold enough to pretend that that was exactly what she wanted. And it became a fashion statement. But without sheer stockings at the least or leggings, this outfit looks vastly unsettling. Many women pair up a long shirt with tall heels. A very handy way to show off long legs, not that any men are complaining. It’s sexy in a very bedroom way. Maybe a tad weird for the conventional me. And seriously, it’s one of those things that you can barely contain an incredulous reaction from. Go figure!

4. Boot-strapped: Ah them boots again… they look great with most things… slim pants, short skirts, dresses and the like. But just coz you have a pair or two doesn’t mean you wear them with everything whether it goes or not! Bulky jeans stuffed into tapering boots isn’t a sight to behold.. and even full-length skirts look strange with boots. At least this one is not so bad.

5. Pierced: This is not even the women I’m talking about. Almost no woman I’ve seen has any weird piercings in places visible to the eye. But it’s some of the men. And no, I have no issues with eyebrow piercings or anything of the sort. But on the nose? For a man? That’s hard for any Indian girl to digest. Eeks!

Aah there are so many more things I’d love to say.. but I didn’t wanna be overly bitchy. And given that I am no Jeniffer Aniston, I thought I’d stop short of sounding like a fashionista with a job at Dior.

Until later…….

Parisian Fashion - 101

So, you're visiting Paris, the city of lights and one of the fashion capitals of the world! Worried what to dress like? Don't fret... after living here for over a year, I have a pretty good idea of what Parisian fashion is all about. (Guys, you may want to stop reading right here because I cannot offer any tips on your dressing styles).

1. Made-up is beautiful: Practically no one, I repeat no one, from the ultra-busy medical intern to the office secretary wades into their workplace unkempt or un-madeup. Throw on the war paint, whether on the train, in the restroom or the window seat on the bus. A girl's got to do what she's got to do.
Tip 1: Over-emphasize just any one facial feature. If you're going heavy on the eyes, leave everything else subtle.
Tip 2: One to-blend-in makeup tool is your mascara brush. Coat on enough to blacken a zebra and you've got it right, Parisian ishtyle.

2. Layers: It's all about layers.. Clothes or hair, jewelry or makeup... more the better! So if you think you're gonna feel cold, instead of throwing on a rugged not-so-feminine jacket, wear a couple of layers and then a delicate pull. Want to wear a miniskirt over leggings or jeans? Go for it! That'll boost you right up there on the fashion scene.

3. Boots: Have a pair of boots? Then, wear them for crying out loud! Match 'em up with everything from dresses and skirts to skinny jeans and shorts. It's as Parisian as it gets. I bet all my money that every single Parisian woman has at least one pair of boots in her shoe cupboard. Anyone taking me up on this one? And if you don't have boots... there are only 2 other options - flats or stilettos... don't wear a mid-size heel... It has got to be either a stool or well-grounded.

4. Super-size me: Huge is in... but only in terms of accessories. Over-sized handbags, sunglasses and jewelry is totally trend-setting out here. Big baubles around your neck (by big, I mean the size of the pendant and the length of the chain), long earrings, sunglasses that cover 1/3rd your face (the upper third has the option to be covered by bangs) are all not-to-miss additions to your daily couture. They grab attention and that's what you're aiming at. Other than blending in of course..

5. Stockings: Maybe it's a winter thing.. but stockings are completely in.. And in various colors too.. not just the old boring black/skin. Whether it's a dress, a skirt or a mini, stockings are one thing that meld the dress and the shoes together. So, it's a no-brainer.

6. Brands: Ah, the ultimate tool for the blend-in experience. Sunglasses... handbags... perfumes.. clothes.. Chanel, Dior, Fendi, Valentino, Gucci and what not.. If you have something branded, flaunt it. I am not sure that every piece that everyone seems to be wearing is authentic. But to the untrained eye like mine, it makes no difference! Don't go for knock-offs though. Classic is still the best.

There you have it... a simple routine to rock the city of lights. Go Girl!

PS: I have a fashion faux pas list as well. Drop me a line if you wanna read it.

The silver lining

I’ve had the longest day.. it began with the culmination of the troubles that our cooking hot-tops had been giving us. One had failed a month ago and the other while tripping the electrical circuit periodically, gave up today and decided to trip the whole house’s electricity instead. While that was rectified with the flip of the fuse, the same cannot be said of my chai-less start to the day. And so it began. While it didn’t exactly go downhill from there, it sort of stayed at a plateau… a whole bunch of experiments underway and none of them close to completion meant it was a terribly long day. And then I decided to buy us a small table-top gas to stand-in and serve as my cooking essential. And so I found one in a seemingly nearby-to-college store. Ever notice how something light can slowly and steadily grow heavier as you take more and more steps? And it’d be of some merit if I was actually coming home with the burden. Unfortunately I had to head back to college to end my experiment. And so I lugged the stove back to school, shut my experiments off for the day, observed the current results and then headed homeward. All of a sudden, I remembered that I had to pickup a letter at the La Poste which meant I had to get off the bus a stop earlier rather than the one right in front of my house. The weather had changed steadily as if to mimic my mood. Now it was dark with heavy clouds looming and uncannily dull-lit for 7:00pm… While I mused over this, it started pouring. And not just rain… Ice rain. I’d never seen anything like it. While I scampered for cover, I couldn’t help admiring the whole scene. Everything from the loud clatter of ice on the roof below which I’d sought shelter, to the color of the sky to how pretty the city I lived in was. Suddenly I wished I had a camera. And then I remembered my cell phone’s camera. While it probably couldn’t do as much justice to the actual picture, it did a great job.. Here see (you can see the La Poste to which I was headed at the bottom of the left-side building) -

And then just as suddenly as the rain had started it stopped and the sun peeked out from behind the dense mass of clouds. And just like that, my mood brightened. Bonne soirée!

The guide to navigate snow

I love it when it snows... Indeed I think my affinity for snow has carried it across the Atlantic into normally less-snowy Paris. The whole place looks like a black and white postcard where the only color that matters is white. Here are a couple of shots outside my window..


At the same time, I hate it when the snow melts... that's when it starts getting dangerous, slippery, dirty, cold and ugly, in no particular order. You don't survive 3 winters in Cincinnati and not know a thing or two about snow.. So, if it's your first snow or if you simply want tips on how to have a fall-free winter, read on..

1. Fancy shoes just don't work. Stick to good old sneakers with solid soles. Don't make the mistake of wearing sole pattern-free footwear.. they almost guarantee a slip.
2. Walk on fresh patches of snow. The lesser walked upon the path, the less likely one is to slip. the places where people have walked, the snow is often eroded to a murky slush which can be rather slippery if one is not careful.
3. Walk with chomp-chomp steps and not gliding ones. You needn't walk like a soldier on march-past drill.. but there is no need for large foot falls either. Closely spaced walking is safer.
4. Navigating slopes can be tricky if you are new to it... being a veteran resident of the Riddle Road Lookout Apartment (people in UC will be familiar with it's up-slope into the driveway and down-slope to the steps of the building). Keep firm steps and make sure that you are steady before you take the next step.

The rest is just practice. It does make perfect! Have a wonderful winter (or season), everyone!

And.. welcome back to school

My title's cheery... this post is not. Today's the worst weather that Paris has had in weeks/months. It's about -4°C and snowing continuously. There's a beautiful sheet of white outside my office window, which by the way won't hinge shut tight. Add to that the fact that this office is medieval and lacks a heating system means I am left with numb fingers, a numb nose tip, ears and cold cold feet. This, despite the fact that I am wearing 2 sweatshirts, one of them a hoodie. I just walked out my office into open air and I could feel no difference in the temperature... so go figure. Before I catch pneumonia or pneumonia catches me, I think it's a wise move to adjourn my work to the warm library.

What a 'warm' welcome back to school, to research, to work from a 29°C Madras. Hmph.