moved ( Wednesday, September 22, 2004 | 08:56 p.m.)
I have moved my blog again. After more than an year of pitas I have decided to have my blog at ajitomatix.com and use thingamablog as tool.
See you guys there ... (there is already a new entry there, so go ahead and take a look) :)

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ideas ( Tuesday, September 21, 2004 | 10:38 a.m.)
ideas come and ideas go ...
many ideas came and were lost just because I was doing something different at that time. Many blogs were not written because I didn't have internet access at that time.
Some ideas were totally insane, some very imaginative, some romantic some very practical, some were grand and some really small ... but all were lost in the moment that was.
And I guess it will continue to happen that way ...

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an encounter with the uniformed kind ( Monday, September 20, 2004 | 09:40 a.m.)
Mr C: Get back in the car and stay there. PJ and Me: Ok. (gulp...!) Mr C: Good evening Sir, how are you?
PJ: uh ... good ... how are you?
Mr C: Good. Where are you going?
PJ: we are heading for Duluth
Mr C: and where are you coming from?
PJ: Chicago. Mr C: Sir, do you have any idea why you were stopped?
PJ: actually .. no ...
Mr C: Your brakelight on the left side is always ON
PJ: (phew! ...)OK. (Almost as an afterthought)because I am sure I wasn't speeding or something
Mr C: Could I your licence please?
PJ: Yes. (gives his licence)
Mr C: And you sir, do you have any identification on you?
Me: ummm ... just the school id? And I have a class D permit receipt. (I hand over my school Id)
Mr C: And could I have that other whatever identification you said you have.
Me: Sure. (a yellow paper swaps hands)
Mr C: I will be right back.
(Mr C walk to one of the two cars with flashing lights on top, PJ meanwhile is all like ... hyala kaay arth aahe. apan kahich karat navato. itka vel ka lagtoy ...
Mr Other C walks to the passenger side ... throwing some torchlight on my eyes ..
Mr Other C: Do you have your immigration card with you? Me: (Now what?) uh ... no Mr Other C: (thinking I don't know what an immigration cars is ..) It's the one which you get when you enter the United States
Me: (Yeah yeah) I have it it's with my passport ... in Duluth.
Mr Other C: Do you have any other id on you Sir?
Me: I don't thinks so (frantically searching wallet ...)
Mr Other C: Well you should always carry your passport. School ID is not a valid ID
Me: Ok. (what else ..?)
Mr Other C joins Mr C ... after a while ...
Mr C: (from the other side): Here sir, are all your documents. This is yours and this is his.
(we collect all our IDs)
Have a safe drive. Goodnight.
PJ and Me: thanks. (phew ... finally ... we sure gonna drive 5 mph below the speed limit ...!)

Well ... so much for an uneventful weekend trip.

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How will you design an alien? ( | )
Today in one of the classes, between taking notes I was wondering if I were to design an alien how would I do it. (Why I was thinking about aliens at that time I don't know ...). I drew this nice little sketch with the usual oval face, two big oval Electromagnetic Radiation Sensors (eyes), an array of aural perceptors on forehead (with frequency range of 10 Hz to 1 MHz), two smell analyzers, an aural transmitter slit (mouth). I decided that an alien doesn't need to have the little finger but a separable thumb-digit is a must for any intelligent being. For better balance my alien figure was bestowed with 3 equally spaced locomotive organs (legs). Its tight fitting radiation resistant suit and a fashionable long skirt like pants were sponsored by Zork Fashion Garments Inc. (advertised ... for the Interstellar traveller in you ... since the big bang)
I know it sounds totally crazy ... but think ... if you were to design an alien organism who should look like it is a result of a long evolutionary process, what will you think about? Will you think about the planet it comes from, their social life, limitations of the human body, other seemingly unearthly creatures living in deep seas? what?
It's not easy to design an alien I guess ... ;)

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ajitomatix.com ( | )
I got myself a shiny new domain name ajitomatix.com. You should be able to point your web browser and see the old familiar website of mine. I am using domain forwarding feature of my domain provider, so I can host the actual site elsewhere. There is one problem that I noticed ... even for pages outside my website the address bar doesn't change. (Is it something to do with Fedora2 which I am using .. I haven't tested).
I am also considering moving my blog to ajitomatix.com/blog and using some blogging tool like movable type or thingumablog. pitas.com is nice but very very basic, while blogspot is too bloated. Besides I'll have a much better control over my blog with a blogging system.
There are lot of other academic things which I should start doing asap, but meanwhile I am happy playing with Fedora2 ...

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US of A ( Saturday, September 11, 2004 | 04:44 p.m.)
United States of America, my workland (if there is such a term) is a great place to be. There are many things I like and many others which I don't understand about it. Many of the things I don't understand are already put forth in the book Inscrutable Americans. Incidently if you haven't already read it it is worth a read.
What I like about this place is these guys make fun of evryone and everything that was, is and will be mockable. Making fun is easy, anyone can do it; the good thing about all this is no one seems to have a problem with it. All the talk shows on TV, numerous internet websites they all ridicule Osama bin laden, George Bush, Arnold; u name it and it's probably been parodied. Even the Gods are not left alone. I wish it was the same in India. People seem to get offended over anything in India. That's why it is a great achievement to be a humorist in India, he/she was successful in making people laugh without stepping on many toes.
Being a developed country has it's own advantages too. Not that India is too inaccessible to and far behind in the technolgies that are used elsewhere. But it's the abundance and widespread use of them that amazes me. Life is made as simple as possible (and people still complain)
These people have the power and more importantly the will to do what they want to do, which is a good thing to do in your own country (not outside though). They drive their own way (right side of the road), their systems run the way they want; not how the rest of the world wants. I like that. Most of the things are done in a thoughtful way and well planned out before implementing.
There are some other things good and bad. But why point out something bad when there is so much good to write about?

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Stars!!! ( Thursday, September 9, 2004 | 08:40 p.m.)
It is sometimes fun to lose our brains and act weird! So me losing brains...losing...losing... lost it!! Counting stars... 1..2..3...100...1000...6700..10,000......and still counting... 10001, 10002, 10003!!!!

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summer of 04 ( Tuesday, September 7, 2004 | 11:26 p.m.)
summer of 2004 was the best summer so far! :D
When I will look back, I am sure I will be able to say those were the best days of my life. :)
hope it gets even better over the next summers to come.

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The lake Superior ( Saturday, August 28, 2004 | 04:48 p.m.)
I know I have written before about this ocean of fresh water. But believe me evertime I see this lake it brings a fresh desire to write/say something about it. To get an idea of its size and other facts you can go to this wikipedia page. But to get an idea of how beautiful it looks at any time of the day you have to come here in Duluth.
Duluth has got herself a nice Lakewalk. In summer, fall and spring you have to go on Lakewalks, it's an unwritten rule. I pity those Duluthians who haven't been to the lake (and I am sure there aren't any).
Like an uncomplaining friend she is always there. You can go to her anytime and just sit there on the rocks or on one of the benches, or just walk/jog and think your thoughts out. It always has a soothing effect. The very sight of it has made my day so many times in shivering winter last year.
Yesterday for the first time I played guitar by the lake. It was awesome, with the sound of my guitar floating over the vast moonlit waters ... too good.
Consider your life incomplete if you don't see this lake :)

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back into the cold ( Wednesday, August 25, 2004 | 03:58 a.m.)
After 3 awesome months in India, me is back in Duluth. So expect some blogging now.
I have never been able to have an uneventful flight so far. When I came here first time, my bags were delayed. Then in the Florida trip it was the security checks because of a cargo pant with a built in metal belt that I was wearing. On the spring break trip, I stayed in the MSP terminal for a night, because of a bus to Duluth that never came. On the flight to india, it was the weather delays (the account is on this blog). And now on the return journey i missed a connecting flight because of the long immigration check queue.
I hope that when I fly next time, it would be an uneventful journey. :) [ though I know many friends who would love to hear some action on my flights :)]
Meanwhile it's back to Duluth life. Late night mindless TP, movies, lakewalks and Duluth summer. [ I hope that somehow this year it snows heavily in Florida and stays a nice 30F here in Duluth all year long. ;) ]

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street dogs ( Friday, June 18, 2004 | 03:38 p.m.)
I simply hate those gangs of members of the canine family roaming on the streets in the night, waiting for an innocent rider to come by. Never be fooled by the benign daytime look in the eyes of a skinny looking doggy. However feeble the dog might look in the day, at night it could be as fierce as a rampant cheetah. Only those can understand my seemingly baseless fears, who have been chased at 2 in the night by a gang of hounds. The attack, if you are lucky doesn't last too long. But in those couple of minutes you are riding the bike with both your legs on the fuel tank, not caring about switching gears. Meanwhile our beloved friend Mr. street doggy is glaring his canine fangs not too many inches away from your body. Now people have told me that riding bike slowly is a way to avoid them. But I would rather zoom past and be chased than crawl by playing eye battles with the mongrel.
Here are the n comandments, or the survival guide,

• you shall not look into the eyes of the mongrel
• you shall not agravate any animal on the street who is bigger than the size of an average household cat.
• When in doubt, drive
• When in even more doubt shout
• When in even even more doubt kick the doggy
• If you see more than 3 doggies conspiring you shall take an alternate route if possible. If not then you shall have had good relationship with your guardian angels
• If you are not driving the bike then you shall be even more careful.
• It's better to drive in a groups than alone [the herd mentality works for us too ;) ]

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hyderabad blues ( Friday, June 11, 2004 | 04:28 p.m.)
My work brings me here in hyderabad on weekdays (it's just the first week). Although I've been to hbad before when i was a kid, a lot of data has flown through the wire since then, as they say here in cyberabad.
My first impressions of the new hbad start at the traffic and end with the cullinary experience. If anyone believed that pune was a bad place to drive, come here. I gurantee you complete satisfaction in practicing your driving skills. Traffic lights are there for pleasing your eyes and you drive with complete nishkam karmyog. Furthermore there is no gurantee that if you stop at a traffic light the driver behind you might want to take the clue and stop. He may just decide to take a closer look at the back of your vehicle rather than stop.
Public transport is a whole different story. Lets start with the autorikshaws or autos. I've been in a 2 seater auto with 7 people in it, but I'm told, that this is just the lower limit! Unlike the usual convention, autos here do kind of a shuttle service. The driver decides where he's going and you can hop in if you want. Now I know that is not entirely true. My friend has been charged 100 bucks and more for a distance coverable in 5 minutes with he being the exclusive rider. The hbad bus drivers take chivalry to the next level. There is an unwritten (or maybe it is written somewhere) rule that if you are a bus driver and you see a male passenger waiting for the bus then you don't stop. The bus should start moving as soon as the last female passenger has boarded it; it doesn't matter then if there are some poor members of the weaker sex (read male) waiting behind. All said, the transport is cheap compared to Pune (which imho is the most expensive).
Hbad really shines when it comes to eating though. I've had some of the best fruit juices here. Let me stop after admiring a restaurant called Chutneys. You should visit it once in your lifetime. They have the best southie food I've ever had. Me not so much of an idli fan, loved the idlis here! They just melt in your mouth. I sure am gonna make more visits to chutneys. All right then, more later ...

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never go shopping with a girl ... ( Thursday, June 10, 2004 | 04:34 p.m.)
It's been a long time since I blogged, but after reaching India, I didn't have much to blog other than the exciting journey (which is already blogged). A lot of things have happened meanwhile in these days and not all are bloggable or bloggish or whichever word means good for blogging :) Recently I went with a friend for her shopping. She cajoled me into coming by telling me that she just needs to by a small purse. Thinking that buying a wallet is a maximum 10 minutes job for me, I agreed ...
We went to a glitzy shop first where all the purses were on display. She made the guy take out a lot of purses. Every purse had something missing or something extra! I was beginning to admire the patience of the salesman when she decided this isn't the shop for her (too expensive was the reason she said .. but I later had doubts as whether it was just to go to another shop ;) ). Off we went to another shop which was more *puneri* This guy had a lot of purses which were not on display but inside his storage cupboards. (Needless to say they were all taken out). I was proving to be a useless company as whatever she showed me looked OK to me (what the heck it is just a purse :) ). After much digging into over a 50 purses, we were finally down to 3. I almost gave a cry of joy when finally we were down to 2! The salesman being a wise guy was taking all this very coolly (he had even more patience and compsure than the first guy). When she picked up one purse from the final two, it was only to declare that she didn't like any of them! :o That was something totally amazing!!! :D
Anyways we came out of the shop with her explainations about how you don't have to buy when you go for shopping(!) and this is the fun way to go shopping (again !).
hehehehe ... Btw all the girls who are reading this, don't send me hate mails! This is all in jest and just a warning to all male readers not to repeat my mistake ... :))

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flight 2 India ( Monday, May 24, 2004 | 05:46 p.m.)
I wrote this in the airplane on a paper and typed it when I reached home. It is pretty long. You have been warned. It's an account of my amazing flight to India.
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I am writing this sitting in Air India flight 126. No internet access here, otherwise I would have loved to blog whatever happened on my journey back home. Anyways it's good to write, instead of type, once in a while!
After a very enjoyable chicago trip, when we left for minneapolis to drop me and a couple of other folks off, no one must have thought that my flights would get screwed up like this! Or maybe a lot of you did, knowing *I* was going to fly ;)
I checked in at the Lindbergh terminal in time. This time I was pruedent to have everything metallic off me, and much to the dismay of my friends, the security folks cleared me immediately. Contrary to what I had believed, I felt really sad leaving my friends in Duluth. Ok now the first thing I saw when I reached gate 8 was that my flight UA 940 was delayed. Btw it wouldn't hurt to mention that the handle of one of suitcases broke befotre baggage checkin. I said to myself, well delays happen, it's no big deal, got into the airplane which taxied happily away from the gate and for the next 2 hours just sat there doing nothing. Thanks to some particularly bad weather I had a look at the cockpit. The cool guys in the plane turned the tailside of the plane into a little party place, as if such kinda weather delays were an everyday matter.
So far, I was certain that I'm going to miss my next flight in Chicago, so I starte asking around for my options. It turned out that a nuumber of people wanted to get off so the plane was taxied back to the gate. I decided to get off, thinking that it would be better to spend the night in Mn than in Chicago. All my friends were still in MN watching Twolves/Lakers match (which Lakers won btw). There was just a small glitch, when I got off my luggage went ahead w/o me, since they didn't have any time to take off the luggage. After standing in a queue of about 50 people (it was almost 7 by now ... my flight was supposed to take off at 4), the good folks ar United Airlines rebooked me on the next day flight at 2. I was already feeling kinda stupid, having a reputation of making things go wrong (which is baseless ofcourse). After a few calls back and forth, anya insisted on picking me up right away. I didn't want him to miss the game for me, but being the good fellow that he is, he and archie came to pick me up. After a nice dinner at Tandoor they dropped me off at Nagendra's cousin's, where Nag,Anoop and Suma were staying before there next day flight. Thanks to them I had a good night's sleep over there.
Now everyone must be thinking that it's over and this guy is well off now ... well ... not so fast ... Today I reached Lindbergh terminal at 1 for the 2 o' clock flight to Chicago only to discover that AI had not yet confirmed my ticket. By the time Jack (the UA guy) tried to get me a confirmation, it was 1:40. I still didn't have conformation and we decided it is better to hit Ohare, Chicago and talk to AI guys. After again a delay of half an hour I reached Chicago at 4 in the evening. After a bried chat with the AI guys I was still considering my self unconfirmed and had to wait till 6 to get a status. So I spent time on the phone thanks to anya, Archina and Anushri. Meanwhile it was confirmed that my bags were still in Chicago and wouldn't leave w/o me. At 6:15 I was back into the queue, officially being labeled 'in transit but on hold'. At almost 6:45 when I had given up hope, by some miracle they got me a window seat 53A on the flight. he lady ofcourse didn't fail to mention that I would have to run if I wanted to catch the plane. So like they show it in movies, I was running requesting the security checks to be completed fast and with all my belongings in my hand. At gate M10 I found that they were still boarding and I had some margin. But wait, it's till not over. As I was inching ahead in the queue, an AI lady murmered something about my last name being Datar which is obviously very different than some american name on the papers in her hand for seat 53A. Fortunately it was cleared up and I went to seat 53A. I found myself listening to an air-hostess when I came back to my seat from the restroom, about I minding to shift to business class, instead of 53A. And I was like ... 'sure!' ... And so here I am sitting in AI126 business class seat 16J, completing this blog on an AI notepad.
UPDATE
------
The rest of journey was uneventfull till I reached mumbai.But my bags did not arrive on the same flight. Now I am patiently waiting with a bag claim in my hand ...

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end of year one ( Saturday, May 15, 2004 | 04:49 p.m.)
I am done with 1st year of MS in CS at UMD. All my *seniors* most probably will not be in Duluth when I come back for the 2nd year. And I suddenly find myself worrying aboout how I am going to survive without all the fun that I am used to ...
Hope I manage to keep the fun-standard as high as you guys have set it to!
Btw just to rub it in -- for those who are not going to India this summer -- it's just 6 more days .. ;)

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rainbow ( Thursday, April 29, 2004 | 06:02 p.m.)
Yesterday there was a double rainbow in a beautiful twilight colored Duluth sky. If you live in Duluth and missed it you should consider yourself extremely unlucky.
Television however was blaring warnings about a thunderstorm. These guys should learn from Indian observatories. ;) Such a small sprinkle of water and some flashlights in the sky would not interrupt any *interesting* delhi doordarshan programs!
Man! That rainbow sure was amazing!!

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SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS ( Sunday, April 18, 2004 | 09:33 p.m.)
what does SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS mean?

So far a little googlin' has led me to believe that

• It is a nonsese word from a Disney Poem
• it means fantastic ot really good
• it does not stand for an irish hooker

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friendship (that was) ( Sunday, April 18, 2004 | 09:01 p.m.)
--------- Friendship (that was) ---------
once upon a time, not a long time ago;
we were in the sun, away from the snow.
oh what joy, what fun we had!
the memories so sweet, they now make me sad.

chatting over a coffee, how merry we were
now it all flashes by, like a distant blurr.
we were together and going strong
thought we would sure make a happy song

slowly each day we were drifting away
a fool i was, thinking, the same we would stay
memories don't change, but friends sure do
wanna make it the old way but i don't have a clue!

life still goes on ...
life still goes on ...
but those moments of sharing
your tears are now gone.

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spring is in the air ( Wednesday, April 7, 2004 | 09:37 p.m.)
Duluth weather, for the past few days has been surprisingly amicable. After heaps and mountains of snow and white-pavements, even the sound of melted snow flowing into the gutter is refreshing! Simple facts like not wearing a winter jacket gives me immense joy everyday. I've decided to walk back home after school, whenever I can, provided there is such friendly weather. Cool teasing breeze, the fresh smell of rejuvinated air, trees whispering as you pass them by "spring is in the air, spring is in the air"! There is a small bridge on Chester creek on my way back home on 4th street opposite Whole Foods Co Op. Whenever I walk by it feels like the creek has woken up with merry sounds, from a deep silent sleep of almost 6 months. Of the simple things that make me happy, the sound and/or sight of an enthusiastically flowing brook probably will rank quite high! Rivers don't have the playfulness of creeks and brooks. They are either like peaceful ancient grannies or like a shouting, appearently angry aunties. Even the lake superior has taken a new look wearing bands of different colors on its huge mass of waters.

But like girls, the weather in Duluth is moody. Suddenly it might change back to all whiteness ... Weather forecasts are nice but there is nothing like waking upto an unexpected spring day!

Am I being too poetic? Can't help it! Spring is in the air ...

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FON aka Feast Of Nations ( Monday, April 5, 2004 | 11:20 p.m.)
The 36th annual Feast Of Nations is over. That makes it sound like a big event, and it is in a way for a small university like UMD.
FON is not (just) about food, thought the kirby cafeteria folks do a decent enough job of cooking up "ethnic" dishes from various countries. You do get some surprises, like corn curry from India! But overall the food was not too bad (which is americana for good)
This was the first time I performed in a live band as an acoustic guitarist. First time for Rathi too as a singer with a live band! The other 3 were more or less old timers. True with the FON theme of cultural cocktail, our group was indeed some cultural concoction. Me (acoustic guitar) and Rathi (vocals) the Indians (Bharatiya), Josh the lead guitarist from US of A, Anu (tabala) from Shri Lanka and Ravi (vocals) from Tanzania (but with a strong Indianness about him!). We performed Sayyoni and Poorani Jeans which are originally by Pakistani bands/singers.
It was fun. Btw as all fellow Duluthians will agree, Maldova, a small country in Europe steal the show! Ask Aniruddha why ;)

Btw, from my blogging and emails some have formed an opinion that I do all other things but study here at UMD. I do study too and quite a few weeks before FON went primarily balancing everything out. yeah yeah Duluth guys bite back ... :)

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spring break ( Sunday, March 28, 2004 | 02:27 a.m.)
It's been a week after the spring break and I still can't get over it.

I did a lot of travelling in this spring break. I went to Zion national park, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and Phoenix. That's a lot of area to cover in 7 days if you ask me. So now I've been to 6 US states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, Arizona, Utah, Nevada) and I'm not counting places where I just had a flight-stop.
It was first time that I travelled on Greyhound. Whatever praises people sing about Greyhound I think maharashtra state transport chi lal dabba service is way more reliable and well connected than Greyhound. Greyhound's whole idea of first come first serve sucks bigtime. I mean come-on, if I buy a ticket 7 days in advance, I should be guranteed a seat in the bus I booked for! Fortunately me and mandar weren't the victims of this stupid "rule" but we did see some unfortunate souls.
I met a lot of different people in this break, all types of them. Thanks to unreliable bus service from Minneapolis to Duluth, I had to spend one whole night on the MSP airport! But that time was well spent chatting to variety of americans (some of them even mistook me for NWA employee!). Most notable was an italian-american uncle forced to spend the night at msp just like me (but because of the airlines). He was a typical american and I had a very enjoyable conversation with him. I wish I had the writing genius of PuLa or VaPu Kale, he would have made it to vyakti aNi valli or manus!
Btw the way (did you read the last three words correctly in the first attempt?) we (mandar and I) spent time in Las Vegas must be the most bizzare way so far. I didn't sleep for 26 hours straight, walked like crazy and all this when the casino-shows were closed! We broke even after gambling so that was good thing. And I'm sure Mandar still remembers the stratosphere tower! >:-)
In all it was a vacation well spent [and damn expensive for a 7 day vacation too ;) ]. Now I'm back in Duluth and sort of everything seems to be changed ... that always happens after a break ... always ...

Hangin' out
Down the street
The same old thing
We did last week ...
Not a thing to do
But talk to you
We're all all right
we're all all right ...

Hello Wisconsin

Working late in the night again ...
Working late in the night again ...

It is 11 in the night and I am waiting in my lab
A few more hours and then I'll have to call a cab
Already it's late, today is my cooking turn
But this blazingly slow machine is just making my nerves churn

Working late in the night again ...
I'm Working late in the night again ...

Staring at this dumb screen, hoping to get a response
I just wait n wait n wait n wait ruining my other plans
My once juicy gum-stick is now all flavorless
I am carrying on my face, an expression of grimace

Working late in the night again ...
I'm Working late in the night again ...

Hypnotic is this screen, and my eyelids start to twitch
Strange as it may seem but I am now hoping for a glitch
Tommorrow will be better and in glory I will bask
When I succeed in getting some results from this task

Working late in the night again ...
I'm Working late in the night again ...

I wish I had a comforter 'cos my eyes are dry and red
This hard wooden table just looks like a soft bed
No working late in the night again ... 
No No No No working late in the night again ...
ZZ ZZZZZZZ ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZZZZ ZZZZZ ZZZ
ZZ ZZZZZZZ ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZZZZ ZZZZZ ZZZ

:)
= Ajit = 

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