Big Red Bikes

Cornell has a program in place that provides bikes for students that they can rent for free! Needless to say there are time constraints and the bikes aren't of the quality you would see on display in any of the showrooms but nevertheless they fulfill the desire to roll down the slopes on wheels without buying them, something of interest for MEng students, especially, whose tenure doesn't give a steady season to extract the worth of such an investment. I came to know during the week that the coming Sunday was going to be the last day to hire the bikes before the chill sets in and closes the shutters till March next year. Setting aside the academic deadlines I propelled this task to the highest priority and within minutes me and my room mates were out the door to beat the winter sun that set at 5 pm (damn the Daylight Saving Time!)

The bikes were available at Uris Library. Just a few days ago I had heard about the A.D. White library that shares its entrance with the Uris Library and is built as a conjoined structure. With the description that was painted I imagined it to be a huge hall with large windows overlooking the entire city from the crest and palatial iron pillars that also served as book racks and were connected by iron pathways. The image magnified multifold in my mind and the thought of scaling it with the size of Uris Library never occurred and I pictured myself as a little dwarf when entering the A.D. White Library. So as we inspected the bikes and made our choice it struck me to steal a quick tour of A.D. White and Pratik offered to be the guide for the moment. We entered the Uris Library and took the turn to get to the main A.D. White hall. It wasn't even near as big as I had imagined but it was a pretty accurate miniature version. There were two big sofas that overlooked the libe slope through large windows that stretched across the walls. The staircase led us to a mezzanine floor that opened up into the iron corridors between the iron pillars. It was pretty amazing how the architect had designed small spaces between the book racks to squeeze in a chair and a table as if the library was reeling under space constraints. We went across the ferrous hallway through a door and into another big room that carried one of those lazy boy sofas with a foot rest, one of the best places I had seen so far to steal a quick nap in the middle of the day. Unfortunately we were hard-pressed on time and so we headed off to the counter to rent three bikes. All set with the cycling gear we warmed up with a couple of rounds in the arts quad and acclimatized ourselves to the braking mechanism that worked by pedaling in reverse. These were not the bikes equipped with a full range gear that could have made cycling up the hill easier than running. But, nevertheless, in our otherwise mundane lives that had been revolving around books and classes they provided an thrilling escape route to a journey we were eagerly awaiting! And so it begins…

Our first stop was Ithaca Falls and I’m going to try my best to put the experience in words. Imagine the state of a student who has had a steady routine of commuting between home and school and slogging with studies for a few months. And now imagine the excitement on their face when they are in an amusement park and about to ride a roller coaster that they have been wanting to for a long time. I guess that is how exhilarated we were when we let ourselves loose down the slope. We were outrageously ecstatic as our bikes accelerated to great speeds, so high that we could feel it going out of control with a slight steer and the brakes released fumes of smoke like a drag on a motorbike. Although that entire leg at the beginning of our expedition was quite short it gave an adrenalin rush that pulled us through the evening with a continued enthusiasm. We made a quick stop at the Ithaca Falls and took a few shots before heading out to the next destination, Boatyard Grill.

I was glad that I brought my complete outer wear - gloves, cap and jacket - as I was able to sustain the cold chill before our bodies warmed up and I lost the leverage. Since we had descended the hills we strode at a leisurely pace on the plains. It was really soothing as we smoothly sailed across the residential streets and before we knew it we had reached the small peninsula of Cayuga Lake where Boatyard Grill was. We took a round around the place and, to our delight, also saw the clock tower from quite a distance which naturally followed with trying to identify the different buildings. It was an amazing feeling of being one with nature as we sat at the tip of the peninsula and gazed through the endless horizon over the lake with a slight breeze flowing across. We had achieved a good feat that day and we decided to savor it with a delectable meal at the restaurant that was going to be one of the most sumptuous meals that I had had in Ithaca.

It was about 7 when we left the place and I again got my leverage back! But not for long. We had a few errands to run near the shopping places before we retraced our steps back overlapping Route 15’s path to a great extent. We had come to SW Shopping quite a few times on the bus but when we took the same route independently on the bikes we cherished the freedom and took short cuts that we didn’t know existed. It was quite fun to have the flexibility to explore different streets without having to travel in an encased box. Ultimately we reached downtown and saw in front of us a daunting uphill task, quite in the literal sense. Although I didn’t have too much faith in myself to pedal all the way up, Pratik and Aarav constantly instilled motivation into me and we let go of the Route 70 that was an easy gateway to the campus. Unfortunately my body gave in as I wasn’t even able to pull myself up half way to our apartment which is less than a tenth of the distance all the way up to Cornell. We then waited for the next bus to show up that marked the end to an amazingly adventurous day.

Say Halloweeeeennn!!

As a kid I had always associated Halloween with something scary. A day when all the spirits resurface to haunt mankind; or a creepy place that lies eerily silent and is overwhelmed by ghostly activity; or the time when children are told to stay at home away from the potential perils that lurk the streets. Stayed at home they did but only for reasons you come to know after you celebrate a certain birthday! But could I be blamed? Staying in a land where celebrations of such style are uncommon, the eerie image of “Halloween” smeared on a wall, supposedly with a dark ooze-like material dripping slowly near the edges could not have conjured any other feeling. Thankfully it all changed when a group of friends transformed that image into the lively and celebrative mood that the day brings. A group of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

I think I first saw the tradition of Halloween in the sixth episode of season eight of FRIENDS and it was exciting to see how invigorating it was. The celebrations depicted in HIMYM garnered more enthusiasm with the “slutty pumpkin”! Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit and I guess video could not take us through the joyous, colorful and party mood that engulfs the atmosphere during Halloween and it was only when I was a part of it this time that I realized its true spirit.

Halloween was on 31^st October, Monday, and I and my housemates had been planning weeks ahead of getting funky costumes and painting the town red! I was trying to make it simple but couldn’t help getting flashes of pictures with people dressed in creative costumes that I had seen in different media. The thoughts really motivated me to celebrate the event sporting a unique costume and I tried to combine cliché ideas into something thoughtful like using face paint to splash a pattern, maybe couple it with a wig or a face mask or just an eye mask and then tailor a set of clothes or get a costume to match the outfit, as it made sense. But since I didn’t want anything fancy the simplest of ideas ran across my mind – buttoning up two shirts together to form a “split” personality, cutting through my jeans and t-shirts to sport a beggar, rolling up a bed sheet or a towel in a creative fashion or simply dressing down to be an aam aadmi. During one of our visits to the Ithaca mall we had come across a store that seemed to be specially catered towards Halloween gear and we always used to sneak a glance from outside thinking to paying a visit nearer the time. But unfortunately academics took precedence and the mid terms squeezed all the leisure time out of our schedule and by the time our routines were restored the costs of the costumes had risen as they do of anything that has demand. So I chucked the idea of straining my pocket for this one time event and decided to sport a self designed costume to dress up.

I had limited network among people whom you would normally find engaging in such revelry and so I was trying to figure out with my batchmates of how we could rock the night. Coming from Bangalore, India, where the night ends before even the clock strikes twelve it was a lively sight to see people thronging the few bars and pubs that resided near the college and in downtown. To name a few, and I can say with much confidence that I would have covered most of the ones frequented by students - college town bagels is an elaborate hang out place primarily to drink beer and eat one of the zillion kind of sandwiches/bagels that you could pick from the graffiti on the wall; Rullof’s – the place where you’d see the densest of crowd with people scrambling over each other and deftly balancing their drinks in a rush to reach their spots; Stella’s – a fine dining restaurant-cum-bar; Pixel – a dance lounge with a couple of games. I avoid this place because of an uncomfortable experience that we had the last time we went; Level B – another dance club in the basement underneath Mehak, the Indian restaurant; Moonshadow – a night club in Commons; Miyake – the Japanese restaurant that holds a firm spot in my mind for being the place where I was introduced to Sake-Bomb. This is pretty much the nightlife around Cornell barring a couple of more pubs and clubs in downtown. My personal favorite is Level B and Moonshadow. Level B seems to be the only decent club in collegetown, and why would it not be for it competes only against Pixel! It plays good music and it caught my attention the first time when it played Mundian tu bachke rahi. Can you imagine? Walking into a dance club miles away from the nearest city in a “country side” and being welcomed by that song? It was a pretty amazing feeling! Moonshadow is a club I explored fairly recently on one of my friend’s birthdays. Here you would find a mix crowd consisting of students as well as people who reside in the vicinity. It has a small stage at the corner that we always end up occupying J and it plays some nice hip hop of the likes of pitbull.

Ok, so it was 28^th October and we had a pumpkin carving contest in our department and we all were encouraged to get on our craziest attire. I hadn’t planned on going but then succumbed to peer pressure and decided to give it a shot. It turned out to be fun and I also got to review my Stochastic paper as the time clashed with the event. I had paired up with my classmate who was the only one to dress up in the most bizarre costume, but truly apt for the festival. If I could put it nicely he had dressed up as a genie in a lamp that grants you three wishes when you rub “the lamp”. It was my first time carving a pumpkin and I should tell you that it is not easy to cut it as precisely as you’d want and what you get can be something totally different than what you think. You first had to chop a portion at the top to empty the contents and the seeds and then begin by sketching the cuts. I realized that carving a pumpkin is an art that is as well achieved by skill as by the carving instruments and to my defense we had half an inch thick knife that severely curtailed me from giving the prize winning appearance to the pumpkin. Although we thought of carving a sad face and had even defined the cuts with a marker, at every stage it turned out to be something different and we reinvented ways to redirect towards the original idea. I was satisfied with my first attempt but it was interesting to see the other ideas that people had come up with – a carving inside the carving, abstract figures, ORIE logo, bear, etc. It was then that we came to know that it was Akanksha’s b’day and we all planned on meeting at Miyake at night to celebrate.

Since we had a whole lot of time to kill I convinced Amar, Roni and Elijah to come to my place and try out the masala chai that I ever readily cherished. We came to my place and I was excited to introduce the Indian beverage to other lands. As the tea boiled and its intoxicating aroma engulfed the air I was anxious to get their reaction. I gave an anticipating look at each of their face and before they could say it I breathed a sigh of little triumph at their eyebrow-nod. Unfortunately it was something really strong, and I acknowledge that I should have put less masala, for Roni and he almost shrieked as if the spices twinged his throat. After relishing the tea at a leisurely pace and munching a few quick bites of choco chip cookies we headed to eat what I would call a supper before rocking the night! We each devoured a slice of pizza and then took the TCAT bus (oh btw, did I mention that buses are free for first year students?) to collegetown where we walked down to Miyake.

Now, let me briefly explain the activity called Sake-Bombing. I believe it has its origins in Japan and is essentially a drinking activity that, with its distinct technique and a unique way, brings a lot of enthusiasm, fun and excitement to the table. It follows a particular sequence where a glass is first filled with beer after which a pair of chopsticks is placed at the top with a shot glass resting between them that contains sake. The Japanese custom entails hollering “Sake… Sake… Sake… BOMB” and ending with continuously thumping the table with fists to topple the shot glass into the beer and then galloping the entire contents as fast. For us, though, our excitement took over and we ended up with a couple of accidents, an exhibit of which can be seen here, and of course we learnt after that.

So we join the gang at Miyake and begin the night with Sake Bombing. I had planned with a bunch of folks to celebrate Halloween the next day and I figured it won’t be a good idea to drink on two consecutive days and so I just enjoyed being part of all the hussle. And I must say that it was fun to see the revelry amongst the vivid and distinct costumes that the crowd was sporting with characters ranging from the predominant cats, wonder men, women and jokers to other animals, zombies, cavemen, etc. It would take away the crux if I leave it unspoken about so I would just slide a non elaborative mention about how the festival was leveraged to sport any costume that one wanted and it could simply camouflage behind the intent of Halloween. That helped people be whoever or whatever they want and hence assume any character in which they can rejoice that led to a sort of united celebrations across the town, something that you would not see on a typical Friday night.

I headed back home when the unanimous opinion decided to hit Level B but I headed back home. Then I just waited for the next night where I would get to unleash my creativity and rock the town! A bunch of my friends had organized a potluck at their place where I didn’t go after which we all gathered at another friend’s place who had got a face paint set. It was cold as hell and unfortunately I couldn’t come up with an idea with which I could fight the frost and still be in the right spirit for the festival so I decided that I would depict this dilemma with a “split face” paint. I didn’t know then but I was going to be taken aback by how daringly people had dressed up as if there was a shield protecting them from the chill. Chaintanya also sported a split face but in a different pattern and he pulled through the idea of buttoning up two shirts to mirror that trait in his clothing. Rohil, very aptly, dressed as a pumpkin head and diligently painted his face to actually support the big pumpkin on his head. And a couple of other folks mixed up the white black and red colors to become the “joker”. We then headed off on the bus to reach level B at about 11:15 pm. They had the Halloween theme party going on with a cover charge and I would say it was definitely worth it. It was after a long time that I let my hair down and was just swinging to the beats without a drink. We all took over the stage at the center and danced over the tunes till about 1:30 after which we headed over to another house party. The other party was something that I hadn’t seen before. It was a big house, supposedly a grad’s, that had a DJ system set up with enormous speakers that rocked the entire place at high bass beats. You had to be in the room that housed the speakers and the lights swinging in the tumult with the reverberations squeezed between the clamor and adding your own contribution to it.

I didn’t stay long and left back home at around 2:30 am. I washed my face and then eased back into the reality to wake up to routine. It was indeed a memorable way to celebrate the first Halloween!