Clean your pipe

I was on my way to work this morning when I noticed something amusing. There was this person who hurriedly got into the train at a station and sat on the opposite seat. Hardly a few seconds passed by when he took out a leather pouch and placed it on his lap. It looked something like these trendy pouches that school kids have, to store their pencils, pens, etc. However, this pouch had a different purpose. I tried to imagine as to what could be inside it. "Anyway, I will get to know once he opens it", I thought to myself.

He finally unzipped the pouch and opened it like a clam opening its shells. And what lay inside? His 'Tobacco pipe' along with all accessories. The pipe was actually in two pieces, one end which held the tobacco, like a pot and the other was the tube which attached to this pot like an extension. The first thing that he did was to clean the whole pipe. I saw him take a straw made of cloth. I guess there must have been some metal wire within coz it was so firm. Then he drew this straw through the pipe and started brushing it from within. Within a very short period, I saw that the cloth was covered with a mixture of dark-brown unburnt tobacco dust and black soot. He cleaned it so thoroughly that I guess the inside must have become shiny. He did the same for the extension which held the tobacco.

After all the cleaning was over he opened a small compartment inside his pouch which contained the bits of tobacco. He took small pinches of it and started filling his pipe with it. Unfortunately, I couldn't witness the whole event coz my station had arrived.

This was the first time that I ever witnessed someone handling a tobacco pipe (I've only seen people smoking it before). As I was on my way to the office, I thought to myself, "If just a single use of the pipe made the inside so dirty, I shudder to think how the inside of his lungs would be?" I guess he probably would require an acid wash to clear the stuff out. Anyway, it was an interesting event that I saw this morning. And by the way, I don't smoke, and I don't intend to in the future. The world is already getting all choked up and I don't want to be another contributor towards it!

Mercury Rising

The merciless scorching from the sun seems no different from Chennai. I thought my days of heat and sweat are over, but I was proved wrong the moment I landed in Frankfurt before getting to Cologne. The pilot announced that ground temperature was 30 deg C. It was 28 in Chennai. I thought I'm doomed. Atleast when it comes to heat, I think Germany is no different from Chennai.

Today was an especially hot day, probably the hottest this summer. The mercury rose to 34 deg C, but I guess tomorrow may be the hottest, coz the forecast says 35. We don't have AC in our current office, so we just need to sweat it out with floor ventilators. Germany hasn't really witnessed such hot summers, so the buildings are normally designed to keep the heat inside. A bad idea when it gets really hot. I guess global warming is taking its toll after all. The maximum temperature keeps rising every year. I wouldn't be surprized if it touches 40 next year.

It surprizes me to a certain extent that a country which is so strict in its emission policies has to suffer the consequences due to the actions of other countries who do not implement it. What we need is a global policy. It's not enough if just a few maintain standards. I hope that all nations realize the dangers involved due to global warming and chart out a plan to reduce if not eliminate it. I guess if nothing is done soon, it would be equal to just digging our own graves!

Back to Work

It has been a busy month for me. Spent the first two weeks in Japan. I had a nice time in Chennai for a week. Was very happy to meet dad, mom and brother. Also met a lot of relatives and friends. However, there was not enough time to do everything, so had to be happy with just a week of meeting and shopping.

It has been 3 years since I've been away from Chennai so I really found it to be very different this time. However, I must say that not much has changed in the city. Found the roads to be good without many potholes and open pits. Traffic has increased and so has the dust level. For the one week that I stayed I got all the possible attacks like cold, cough, fever, throat infection, and breathing difficulty. It has been 3 years since I ever visited a doc, but I had to do that in just under a week's stay at Chennai. Goes to show how unhealthy the climate is in the city.

Anyway, I got back yesterday and got to work today. Life has got back to the usual grind. Time flew so fast that I didn't realize that my trip was over. Anyway, I really enjoyed every bit of it. I will be getting back to Chennai sometime in December. Really looking forward to it. Moreover, since it will be a long vacation, I hope to do the things that I didn't find time to do this time. Guess its going to be a lovely Christmas this year!

Konnichiwa

It's been a great trip for me so far. Started off with my trip from Frankfurt airport. Flying from Frankfurt to HongKong was such a pain in the ass - 'literally'. What can you expect when sitting continously for 11 hours. Found HK to be a great place. Airport surrounded by the sea on one side and mountains on the other. The flight to Japan from HK was pretty comfortable, but the customs check took very long. They are especially worried about drugs being smuggled into the country.

Spent the first two days at Tokyo. Found the city to be pretty interesting. The first thing that you notice are electric cables hanging over you (It's actually worse than India). I guess underground power distribution is unheard of in this part of the world. The roads are mostly narrow and cars drive on the left side of the road (unlike Germany or US). The hotel room was very comfortable. Climate in Japan during summers is pretty hot so you have to keep the AC running all the time (including nights). One remarkable aspect about the room is the commode. You also have a system to do the cleaning up after the 'job'. You press a few buttons and you have a robotic arm spraying warm water. I got startled the first time when I was pushing those buttons, but later got to learn how to use it.

Got to eat lots of Japanese food. Tried octopus, squid and all that with chopsticks (called 'Hashi' in Japanese). Did a trip of Tokyo last Sunday. Got to see many places like the Tokyo tower, Diet building, Asakusa Temple, Ginza shopping district, Emperor's palace and also took a cruise on the Hamida river. Got acquainted to some people from Mexico and Venezuela. Had lots of fun.

It's been almost two weeks of work and going to manufacturing plants. Now, I'm eagerly waiting for my trip back home to Chennai on 14th. Though its gonna be a short trip for about a week I hope to enjoy my time at home, after all, it's been almost 3 years since I've been away.