New additions to my friend list

IDEH

Ideh suddenly announced yesterday "its my birthday today!". What she meant was that she had completed a year in our lab. That reminded me that she is not really new to me. So I can say that I got to discover her all over again during our Pondicherry and Trichy trip.

My South India trip wouldn't have been half as interesting without her. Here's one great example. Bhakti and I were nicely sitting in a bus which would take us to Trichy while Ideh was standing down. All of a sudden we found Bhakti's suitcase in Ideh's hand which we clearly remembered having placed on the rack inside the bus. It turns out that while we had been busy looking out of the window one old man had cooly picked up the suitcase and walked out of the bus. Ideh told us that the man was walking so confidently that she almost believed the suitcase to be his until she peeped into the bus. That's when she literally snatched the case out of the thief's clutches!!

What I love about Ideh is her enthusiasm and boundless energy. She hardly ever complains. She can make an instant connection with anybody. However hard Bhakti and I tried to get our point across to our autowalla he only understood whatever Ideh said. One of the owners of a shop at Pondicherry actually believed Ideh to be an Indian when she is actually from Tehran. Her friendliness is infectious. I'll never forget her attempts to make me drink bitter coffee which would help me appreciate the sweetness of sugar.

Ideh is full of life and enlivens everything and everyone around her. She alone can blow a whistle on being bowled over by a classical dance performance. :)

AZAHAR

I've rarely called him by that name. To me he is Dingu or Mr Why. Dingu because whenever I talk to him I end up with bells going ding-dong in my head. And Mr Why because he has a habit of asking me the question "Why ?" all the time.

Two months back when we first chatted on ym he wanted to know what my plans for the future were. He totally wasn't satisfied with my answer that I was waiting for a year to go and then decide. Since then he has been after me to think and plan... think and plan. I have to admit thanks to his badgering (hehehe) I have ended up facing things that I had conveniently put at the back of my mind with no intention of bringing them to the forefront.

The other day Dingu said that if by making use of his suggestions I succeed in doing some new in my PhD then it'll make him happy. As his blog profile says he truly has a way of thinking which is unlike others.

I particularly love one of his quotes "Home is where the heart is and my heart is always with me... so I am always happy".