Please co-operate!

Some phrases have become so much a part of our life that nobody thinks them odd or out of place anymore. Here are a few that sometimes amuse and sometimes generate murderous tendencies in me-

1st prize - 'Please co-operate'!

This must be the most maligned phrase of our times, atleast in labs. Here is a typical notice for booking a common instrument (for which 10 people are breathing down each other's necks at any typical time)- 'The hood will be booked from 9 am to 5 pm, please co-operate'..nice try..

2nd- 'Paradigm shift'-

Someone please tell me what this means..

3rd- 'Chemistry' or 'Vibes'-

Someone actually told me once that maybe i didnt have 'good vibes with my labspace' which is probably why the lysate was contaminated!! Not that i m ignoring any possibilities, anyone in possession of vibe-restoring charms please pass them on!

4th- 'stay in the loop'

For some reason, this reminds me of those fancy hotel revolving doors that i m always nervous of!!

5th- 'They don't gel' (Maybe you should increase the agarose concentration..)

6th- 'Its all in the game' (which one? i m good at kho kho and bad at volleyball..)

After some days with an overdose of these ( a simple way to get it these days is to watch any newschannel for about 15 minutes) I was delighted to hear someone say 'Kindly adjust'('kindly', of course, gives it an added charm :) at Canara bank, it totally made my day. Its another matter that the consequence was that I had to go back another day, having misguidedly allowed sentiment to take over and let in a perfectly healthy looking young girl before me. but that's no big deal, its all in the game..

Geeky poem

After the second ligation and third transduction fail, one wonders..

The cell debris that earns a frown
Or P value that gets you down
The ice slurry that melts so fast
That competent cells they float full mast
The Streptococcus so cheery,
That Amp or Kan it makes merry
The enzyme assay that looks all nice
Until the blot satanically dries
The transfer apparatus that stops midway
Even when you remembered to pray
The ligation colony that is not a clone
Transforming ecstatic smile to heartfelt groan
The cells that thrive on a tryptone feast
Except on cross examination they turn out to be yeast
The PCR that only works on alternate weekends,
With prima donna moods that rival fashion trends
I wonder whether all of this, is on ‘entertainment E. coli ’
As a pick me up and comic turn for bored bacilli!

If its being broadcast on some bacterial underground network, I m sure no channel could compete with its TRP's..

wHIRLWIND mUMBAI

I was in Bombay for a whirlwind two and a half days visiting a friend, a combination of Madhu's enterprise and advance plans helped us exploit the time fully though! :)

I thought a photo collagey thing would be a better expression of the trip than anything I could write :) I cant seem to fit it into the blog post space so its just above this, as the main blog pic. So this has the sunset from Juhu beach, the rocky seafront at Bandra, bangles at Colaba causeway, the awessome chocolate brownie at Theobromas (apparently they deliver all over now, note!!),the posters at Prithvi theatre, the Bombay symphony orchestra at NCPA and the amazingly skilled elderly man at Prithvi's cafe who made(is making, in the pic) cheese pav bhaji :), the Einstein head from the National gallery of Modern art, the famous wall to wall Hussain frescoe at TIFR, and of course, us, at Bandra seaface cum mysterious fort..the writing was long gone so no idea what the fort is :)

I came away with the feeling of having stepped into a kaleidoscope..The bits of Bombay I met were friendly and efficient. And in the relatively upmarket areas, very aesthetic..cobbled lanes and houses as restaurants in every gully..Like a friend pointed out, probably Indranagar in disguise :)Of course the starkest contrasts between rich and poor are still probably here..the slums reside side by side with Ambani's bungalow..but I certainly felt that the eateries (damn expensive, thats definitely a downside :( score very high..amazing Parsi, Iranian and Italian fare that I can vouch for! They should have a Mumbai Michelin :)

And..I now know how much a glass of tea costs at the Taj- for those who dont- believe or not- its 400 rs. I mean, at that price I'd want the tea plant so generations could thrive on it!! We were so shocked (or I was:) and discussed leaving quietly in such an obvious way that I suspect thats what got us free chocolate cookies :))