Prior to 2009, I have never been to a skyscraper that is taller than 15 stories. My current job changed that all – my office is located on the 32nd floor of a 34 story building and looking at skyscrapers became an every day event. The super-fast elevators, the bird’s eye view of Houston’s usually crowded freeways, watching the smog filled skyline from level 32, the ant-like movement of cars on the downtown streets, the thrill of the lightning and thunder during Houston’s hurricane season – the whole routine was exciting to say the least.
But after some days, I began to experience a peculiar problem. The high speed elevator ride would block my ears, resulting in a buzzing very similar to All India Radio’s (AIR) distinct end-of-broadcast signal in my ears. No matter how much I try to persuade my ears to get rid of the sound, it would remain for the first half hour like an unruly cork on a champagne bottle. Solutions are the long-lost siblings of any problem and I started looking for one.
I am a fan of Tintin, and particularly the issue ‘Flight 714’. When Tintin and the gang get hijacked by Rastapopoulos into the tropical island, Captain Haddock experiences ear blocks during the landing of the flight. The pilot Skut advises Captain Haddock to swallow to get rid of the blocks. Well, if it helps Captain Haddock, then it should help me too, right? So I decided to try the ‘Skut Formula’ during my elevator ride.
Armed with this new found solution, I strode confidently into the elevator the next day, punched in Level 32 and stood aside waiting eagerly for the ride to start. Only the scientists at the CERN who are on the quest for the ‘god-particle’ could have surpassed my enthusiasm levels at that point in time. The elevator started to rise, and I began to swallow slowly. I started to feel the block slowly forming within my ear. Undeterred, I tried again by swallowing more rapidly. Still no results. I retried the exercise with more vigor now, and my actions started to become more apparent to the people surrounding me in the elevator now.
“Is everything alright?”, queried the person standing next to me.
I nodded in the affirmative and continued with my efforts.
“Oh no, he is choking!”, exclaimed the lady standing opposite to me.
What?
“Let’s call 911”, said another.
Uh, ho.
"I am part of the ERT team in my office. I can help", offered another gentleman.
"I will hold him from his back.", said another.
Wait a sec, what the hell is going on here?
My mind whirled to get a grasp on the situation that was quickly unfolding.
And then it began to fall in place. When the guy asked me whether everything was alright, I gave him the Indian affirmative nod, not the US affirmative nod. This has led them to think that things are not alright with me and that I am in need of immediate assistance. Well, time to chuck the experiment out of the elevator – its been a complete disaster and an abysmal failure. It was fairly easy to convince my fellow elevator riders that all was well with me and that they need not trouble 911 with this incident. I did not try convincing them that I am not a nut case – that would have been difficult and futile.
In the end, I walked out to level 32 with the AIR ringtone yet again in my ears. Sounds like defeat doesn’t it? But if you know me, then you also know I do not give up so easily. And if you know me too well, you can easily predict how my other ‘efforts’ ended. But more about that in the next post. Until then, I take leave of you with a buzz in your ears :-)
P.S: 2.5 years since the last blog post. And it took a snow storm alert at Houston (of all the places on earth!) to motivate me to post another entry in my blog. In the end, no snow, just ice on the streets. Good old Houston :-)
But after some days, I began to experience a peculiar problem. The high speed elevator ride would block my ears, resulting in a buzzing very similar to All India Radio’s (AIR) distinct end-of-broadcast signal in my ears. No matter how much I try to persuade my ears to get rid of the sound, it would remain for the first half hour like an unruly cork on a champagne bottle. Solutions are the long-lost siblings of any problem and I started looking for one.
I am a fan of Tintin, and particularly the issue ‘Flight 714’. When Tintin and the gang get hijacked by Rastapopoulos into the tropical island, Captain Haddock experiences ear blocks during the landing of the flight. The pilot Skut advises Captain Haddock to swallow to get rid of the blocks. Well, if it helps Captain Haddock, then it should help me too, right? So I decided to try the ‘Skut Formula’ during my elevator ride.
Armed with this new found solution, I strode confidently into the elevator the next day, punched in Level 32 and stood aside waiting eagerly for the ride to start. Only the scientists at the CERN who are on the quest for the ‘god-particle’ could have surpassed my enthusiasm levels at that point in time. The elevator started to rise, and I began to swallow slowly. I started to feel the block slowly forming within my ear. Undeterred, I tried again by swallowing more rapidly. Still no results. I retried the exercise with more vigor now, and my actions started to become more apparent to the people surrounding me in the elevator now.
“Is everything alright?”, queried the person standing next to me.
I nodded in the affirmative and continued with my efforts.
“Oh no, he is choking!”, exclaimed the lady standing opposite to me.
What?
“Let’s call 911”, said another.
Uh, ho.
"I am part of the ERT team in my office. I can help", offered another gentleman.
"I will hold him from his back.", said another.
Wait a sec, what the hell is going on here?
My mind whirled to get a grasp on the situation that was quickly unfolding.
And then it began to fall in place. When the guy asked me whether everything was alright, I gave him the Indian affirmative nod, not the US affirmative nod. This has led them to think that things are not alright with me and that I am in need of immediate assistance. Well, time to chuck the experiment out of the elevator – its been a complete disaster and an abysmal failure. It was fairly easy to convince my fellow elevator riders that all was well with me and that they need not trouble 911 with this incident. I did not try convincing them that I am not a nut case – that would have been difficult and futile.
In the end, I walked out to level 32 with the AIR ringtone yet again in my ears. Sounds like defeat doesn’t it? But if you know me, then you also know I do not give up so easily. And if you know me too well, you can easily predict how my other ‘efforts’ ended. But more about that in the next post. Until then, I take leave of you with a buzz in your ears :-)
P.S: 2.5 years since the last blog post. And it took a snow storm alert at Houston (of all the places on earth!) to motivate me to post another entry in my blog. In the end, no snow, just ice on the streets. Good old Houston :-)