Mercator Blog

Yesterday I went to the market. It was a busy place. People were busily buying the necessities. The vehicles were randomly moving. The passersby were hurrying towards their destination.

Then amidst all crowd, I saw a face froze time.

She had the eyes of deep blue sea. She had the color of the fair snow. Her smile was freezing everyone on their way. I could not stop myself from praising her.

“Oh, the fair one, oh angel, your incomparable beauty has in captivated me. My heart has fallen for you, oh, maiden I love you.” I said

She turned back. I saw a smile flash across her face. She soon left the market place.

I moved on.

After few more steps I saw another of the god’s masterpiece.

She was angelic. She had the heavenly beauty. She had the juvenile walk. She had the childish grace. Every passer by was turning back to glance at her. Yet, she was oddly oblivious of it. Dimples flashed across cheeks with those smile. She was a diamond oblivious of her own shine.

I couldn’t stop myself.

“Oh, the master creation of the god, thy creator must be very proud of you. I have never seen such an innocent beauty. You are the living angel. Oh, my love, I can’t tell you how much my heart longs for you.” I said.

She came to a sudden halt. I saw her rosy cheeks turn red. She turned and curiously gazed at me. She then too departed.

I moved on.

It was my lucky day. I saw another of the mesmerizing beauty ahead of me. She was the perfect imagination of an artist, perfect poem of a poet. Her dark oval face had searching brown eyes. She had perfect symmetrical nose. Her rosy lips were dry and oddly tempting. The two lines of white teeth flashed as she smiled about. She was searching for something in the shop.

I couldn’t stop myself.

“Oh god, thy heaven must be joyless for your angel is here in the earth. Oh, dear maiden, your grace is infinite. I can not tell you how much I wish to love you.”

She stared me with those brown eyes. There was neither compassion nor hatred in them. They were oddly calm. Soon, she too departed.

Today, I came back to the market.

There came the first angel.

“Oh dear poet, your courage has caught my heart. Your praising has given me a sleepless night. So, my dear poet, I am in love with you.”

She departed. Soon the second angel arrived.

“Oh dear boy, you have stolen something from me. I have never felt this before. I feel my heart longing for something, something beautiful. My heart longs for you my dear, you have stolen that from me, for that I am madly in love with you.

She departed. And the third angel arrived.

“Oh dear, your words have caught me, yet life isn’t just about words. The words shall be lost in happiness and sorrows of life. They shall be forgotten and buried. Love isn’t just about words. So, my dear, forgive me but I can not love you.”

Soon she too departed.

For some reason I was deeply in love with the third angel.

-Tilak KC

Sometimes you see your thoughts expressed in some one else's words ...

03.01.2009
Bremen 28759

Hi everybody,

I'm really sorry we could not meet during my short stay on campus. I hope the office team (CMs, RAs, etc. included :-)) is doing well and wish you all very happy, academically light, party-time heavy, immensely enjoyable semester ahead. I have not forgotten you and I hope I will see you some time in the foreseeable future (for the Graduation for example ...).
I like to treat myself with the though that the world would end without me to support it, but actually I am glad Mercator is still in place and running even without my service :-). No, but, seriously, congratulations on your work here (now from the perspective of an outsider) and keep up the blue spirit ...
Have a blast!

Yours
Ivan St.

I do not what made me go and check the suggestion box. I was certainly not looking for suggestions, we never seem to get any ways. The only previous message in the "inbox" was from our very Aiste - another former member of the college office team. However, I sure wasn't experiencing another pleasant surprise but thanks for it Ivan! We might off some four months but we still managed to get your wonderful message.

And I find it ironic how your thoughts mirror mine exactly. It was only yesterday when I was wondering what it would be like to leave this place. And when you do not know what the future holds for you, these frequency of these thoughts increases multi-fold. I was about to write something, but could not find the words to express myself. Your message does the job wonderfully. I now know what I will feel like when the time for me to go comes as well. It is not that far away, but your message makes me realize that I should concentrate on cherishing what remains rather than dwell on what is yet unknown.

Thanks Ivan, thanks a lot!

The wonderful weather, the fresh air, the radiant sky and the colours all around ... did you notice them?
Ladies and gents, spring is here!

Yesterday, I was out on the balcony. I was looking down the road. There was a little boot polisher with his small crate of brushes and polishes on one side of it. On the other side, there was a sage in yellow clothes seated in the tiger skin.

A customer and a worshiper came to the polisher and the sage respectively.

The polisher began his job. He placed his customer’s foot on the high hedge and started shining his shoes. He brushed off the shoe with the hard brush to remove the dust. After it was done, he took a soft brush and relentlessly brushed it across the shoe. He then applied some polish and then again went on with brushing. After five minute, one shoe was done. He then politely asked for the other shoe.

The shoes were all done. The customer took a five rupees note and handed it over to the polisher. He happily took it and put it in one of his inside pockets. He sincerely smiled at his customer and thanked him for his generosity.

The sage was also busy. He was moving his hands around and uttering incantations and mantras. He was trying to chase away the dark spirits.

The worshiper took a fifty rupees note and placed it in front of the sage. The sage threw a dirty look at money.

He reluctantly took the note and put it in his inside pocket. He then chained his pocket and double-checked it to make sure it was safely done.

The worshipper stood up and headed away. The sage did not bother to look up and give him final blessings.

Another customer and a female prayer came to the polisher and the sage respectively. The boy sincerely started his job. The priest was eyeing his client maliciously. He was trying to peek over the loose blouse of the female prayer.

After the job was done the boy got another five rupees note and the priest got a new crackling five hundred rupees note.

-Tilak KC

The sketch for the story is by Shreekrishna Sharma. You could find his works in http://www.ckizna.bravehost.com

Hopefully a break from work, a break from boredom and a break from all things academic. Break from university? I don't think so! Half the university is heading to Mallorca and the other half to Barcelona (the BRIMUN gang remains at the uni), so the chances that we all still manage to run into "people of 80 different nationalities as we walk around" (so wanted to use the brilliant catch phrase of our university) remain quite high. If I were into statistics, I might have given you a more accurate answer but being a computer scientist I shall remain with the tried and tested methods of probability.
Wondering why I titled it as deadwood? Look at the blog, last post was over a month ago! Highly disappointing for a college with 190 sets of grey cells floating around. Hard to imagine that not even 10 of them would be interested in sharing their experiences with everyone. Or have we turned so mundane, so monotonous that there is nothing to talk about? Hard to believe that considering the number of interesting events we have had over the past month. There was St. Patrick's with the dance and the Guinness, there was the Mercator Art Competition which featured nearly 30 diverse submissions and there was the Theatre Play thrown in between as well. And of course, not to forget the cheery cheer ups which, if the turnouts and the testimonials from members of the other colleges are anything to go by, are simply the best in the whole university! (need to brag a little, don't I :) ).
So guys, pick up your pens (or should I say fingers?) and start blogging. It's not that hard, it's not that tedious. We know you are out there itching to write and if you don't come here, we will come and get you!
Hope you all enjoy the spring break (which was apparently cancelled in an acrimonious decision on the historic day of 1st April :P).

Cheers
Rahul "I want you to blog" Jain :)