Happy Birthday, Pigglett!

She gave me eyes, she gave me ears;
And humble care, and delicate fears;
A heart, the fountain of sweet tears;
And love, and thought, and joy.

-William Wordsworth, The Sparrow's Nest.

That's how he described his little sister, Dorothy. When I read those lines, I felt I understood his thought, and his feeling for his sister. It coincides perfectly with the mixture of protective tenderness and admiration I have for my little Pigglett. This being her birthday week, I thought I'll put them up.

Stranded!

There's a smell in the air. A scent with a memory.

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I don't remember how long ago this occurred, suffice it to say that we were little enough then that we could take quick weekend breaks to Khandala as a family. I don't even remember all the details of this incident, but -- helped by this smell (what is it?) -- I'm starting to recollect the general outline. One fine day, all four of us piled into the car, with a little weekend bag and a bunch of fruits (the standard 'long drive' snack). We drove out early in the morning, it was probably a Saturday. We'd gotten to Khopoli, at the foothills of the Western ghats, took the usual little chai break (Diversion: I always used to wonder why Ma and Paa needed those chai breaks. Now, I'm old enough to know!), and climbed back into the car, when Paa noticed that one of the tyres had punctured - and he was out of a spare just then. Or was it something else? I'm not sure ... but let's say it was something that necessitated a long long day's wait at the foothills. I have a confused recollection of sitting at the chai shop and ordering little snacks while discussing the ghats, the weather in Khandala, the dam and the turbines -- and kinetic energy? Then I must've been older than I thought I was. Hmmm! -- how long it was going to take, how sweaty we were getting, etc. Paa made brief trips to and from the garage where the car was sitting. (There's that smell again!!) I remember visits to pay phones, to talk to family at home and appraise them of the delay -- no cellphones, so that's another clue to how long ago it was! Well... . -- And all this while, the sun climbed, higher and higher and higher. At around three in the afternoon, we made a general move toward the large tree at the corner of the temple compound. Pigglett and I walked around and played, got tired and then sat down in the cool shade. We tried to "explore", a difficult operation given Mummy's rules ('Don't go out of my sight!') and the lack of spots to explore. Khopoli was not a village even then, but it wasn't yet a town. People living there would stare at the cars going past, and they certainly stared at us: two little girls wearing shorts nearly as short as their hair, running around in a carefree manner that little girls in Indian villages certainly could not have emulated!

At around 5:00 pm, I think we found out that the people up at the garage did not have all they needed to fix the car. We were, literally, between the devil (the short but dizzying, demanding climb up the mountains to the hill stations) and the deep sea (Bombay, 100 km away). I think we tried to go up, but the car wasn't happy, and we decided to abandon the chase. Then there was another call to family, to request help. Help arrived just as we'd finished dinner, in the form of our cousins, W and K, and AS-who-taught-me-to-bike. (Was there anyone else in the group?) Our tired minds, relieved with the prospect of help and the morsel of food, absolutely brightened with the sound of merry laughter (of course they had to poke fun at us!) and chatter. I'm not sure if I remember this right (I should ask Paa) but I think they actually had to tow us all the way back to Bombay! The car was in the garage for a few days after that, and it was a few months more before we attempted Khandala again, but -- there's that smell! -- now, come to think of it, we never really saw it in the light of a misfortune, more an adventure. Yes, we did enjoy the day! Well, Pigglett and I did, at least. I think they refer to it as the 'elasticity of youth'!

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So, let's return to that smell in the air. What is it, now?
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Oh my, I believe it's burnt rubber!! In the lab!?! Gotta investigate! See you later!

Countdown: SEVEN!

Yes, just a week longer, and I'll be 'leaving on a jet plane' ... although I know exactly 'when I'll be back again'. That's the tragedy of it, and the comfort as well. The last few weeks have whizzed by. There's so much work, and so much more added on to it that isn't strictly mine, but My Advisor believes I'm at that stage of transition when a little extra non-research experience wouldn't hurt. So I'm working on a manuscript review (informally, of course), helping (bordering on supervision) with sometwo else's work, and ... and so far there was the patent application, which is finally at the doorstep of the USPTO as of today. Yayy! The bad news is, all the rest of the stuff needs to get done before I leave - and I haven't yet included my stack of 'real' work!

In other news, Fi is out of the country. Well, as a matter of fact, he is still within US airspace as I write this - I'll be right where he is next week at about this time, - but right now he's rapidly heading out to halfway across the world from me. (Hong Kong is twelve hours ahead of Boston.) He was offered a rather exciting ten-week project in China, carrying with it an opportunity to understand business practices within one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The good news is, there's a chance he will be able to come home to India while I'm there. The bad news: communication - always difficult long-distance, now more so. Well, time will fly, as it always does. And, if things slow down, I have that rather tricky 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle that's been waiting for me in bits on the floor of my bedroom.