Insanity

Well about some sanity first - I prepared whole dinner the day before yesterday which included rice, dal, baigan masala (mind you masala does not mean Everet Garam Masala)and not to forget good old chapati. Man it was a relief to have home made chapati after a long time. And girl! I have improved so much! Oooh my chapatis were looking so cute ! Long before I had disabandoned making chapatis after a major catastrophe. Dont know how suddenly the goddess of viand and victuals decided to smack some aroma and relish in the food. But let me add, overconfidence did me in - yesterday I had to do with some cauterized and carbonized cabbage.
Now not digressing further from the headline, let me talk about some insanity. With my code not working despite repeated attempts what else can you expect from me ?
On Sunday, I went to a theme/amusement park near Bangalore. Had a gala of time with the kanpur gang out here. There were lots of rides and it reminded me of good old bachpan days and sunday visits to the Ambajhari garden back home. Some of the rides at the park were grotesque and I freaked out in especially one. I was juxtaposed in a tiny chair and held to the chair with the aid of fibre bars. To fasten the bars further, a belt was tied to the seat. And then started the merry-go-round.(am wondering whether there should be a pace between merry and go round.) After a few rounds of merry my chair was turned upside down and I found myself hanging between life and death with the help of the fibre bars..no no it was the belt. For a second I felt what if belt opens or my body finds some space between the bars to obey Newton's garvitational pull - I would have a mighty fall then. And before I could recover from these random ramblings in my head I found myself upright again and my head hit the headrest with a big thud. And the process was repeated a few times. I am used to doing a lot of oohs and aahs in the rides, but found myself completely dumbfounded this time. Come think of it, what all can man do for his amusement, eh ? No wonder the ride was aptly named Insanity!

Yet another day

It was yet another day,
Sun as bright and moon as gay,
Wind was trite in its sway,
Wishes galore on my way,
The hooplah was kept at bay,
They say it was my birthday.

Yet another day of my life,
A year added in my strife,
Crossed I twenty on the wrong side,
The calender pegged another ride,
But the hooplah was kept at bay,
And they say it was my birthday.

Nah am not slate and sombre,
Guess only a bit more stronger,
Questions many I seek answer,
Time's fleece makes me wonder,
Sun was as bright and moon as gay,
They say it was my birthday.

Engineering an engineer

Yesterday my mom told me about the death of a second year student at IITK. I was more than shocked to hear this as I knew him personally through a few meetings in Kanpur. Also he was from Nagpur and I had taken some help from him regarding JEE books etc for my brother. It feels sad to see a budding engineer end his life like this. Newspapers carry articles about his suicide due to academic pressure, while his family rubbishes their claim. Whatever caused his death, the fact would remain that we lost a good engineer in the making.
One point that has yet again come to light is the academic burden on a student in IITs. The IITs are the most reverred engineering institutes in India are recognized in the world as well. The entrance exam JEE is supposed to be one of the toughest and most competitive exams in the world (this year 198,000 students appeared for 4,935 seats). Undoubtedly the people who clear this represent the creme la creme of India. Once in IIT they have a rigorous schedule of assignments, night -outs, sessionsals, etc. The competetion within the most competitive brains is all the more intense. All this leads to stress and probably depression amongst people who face failure in IIT, especially so because all of them are generally used to topping in their respective classes until now. This underlines another fact - Is the academic pressure so much that a normal student is not able to cope it ? Do we need to do something about it ? Also do we need more such reverred institutes in India so as to lessen the burden on a student writing the entrance exam ?Have a look at this figures - India's population 1,027,015,247++ and number of students clearing JEE - a few thousand - Dont we need more good engineers ? Dont tell me the number of engineering colleges in India - I know there are lots of footpath institutes but what I am talking about is great engineering institutes like IITs and good ones like NITs. Also after getting into an engineering college, should we do away with written and oral exams and instead evaluate the student throughout the semester only based upon his attendance, classwork, practicals etc ? Help out the weaker students through extra classes, etc and ensure that everybody is able to perform decently. We can even have a very flexible course work schedule and give students a greater degree of freedom in the number of years they take to complete a degree. A counter argument could be that it would result in diluting the high standards of an institute. But isnt it better than losing lives ?

Time of my Life

Have you ever witnessed that while listening to a song that you had heard years before you get transported into the same frame of feelings that you had experienced before ? I have experienced it very often. Probably due to my habit of listening to a song in infinite loop until I get bored, every song demarcates an epoch and also wraps around itself my feelings during that epoch and ornates itself with some bitter sweet experiences of that period. And when I listen to the song again after some months, the excitement, the apprehensions and the emotions get unveiled. Its like some Peter Piper petrifying me and alluring me to the same far-off foreign land!
Yesterday while listenening to 'Meine Dil Se Kaha' from Rog I was mesmerized and found myself striking colorful familiar feelings of the defining epoch. It was a very cold January winter Kanpur night when Aditya had given me this song to listen to and had said that his sister liked it very much. I very religiously listened to it that time. Yesterday, I could feel blood gushing down my veins and before my eyes I could reminiscence melodrama of that time. It was a mixed bag of exhilaration and apprehension due to the "happenings" during that phase. Man! It was a different world and I felt great to revisit it.

For the heck of it....

Yea I am indeed posting today just for the heck of it!

Trying hard to capture
the moment this morning I don't know
As I dream about movies
they won't make of me when I'm dead

I am just looking for some reasons to write a blog, so here's my list of 10 reasons why I should blog -
1. Me is alive and kicking(my own foot) after a great vacation at home, wherein I just did the mundane stuff - eating a lot and sleeping a lot !
2. I have had a holy haircut - holy because my hair now looks like a halo on my head.
3. Today is Friday the 11th (well if I add 2 more days it would have been the much feared friday the 13th)
4. My weight has reduced by 0.002 kgs and I am feeling much lighter.
5. The color of my mousepad is purple.
6. I have enough work to do hence I am pondering about some automated way of writing scripts without typing them.
7. The tubelight right above my head is on.
8. I just drank some water.
9. huff those are my 10 reasons (well almost!)

The Real Slim Shady

May I have your attention please?
May I have your attention please?
Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
I repeat, will the real Slim Shady please stand up?

Shady said that last night he got a wake up call from his real inner self and this has led to the reincarnation of the care-a-damn and lost-in-himself real slim shady.
This morning when we exchanged emails as usual, I could sense the metamorphosis. Read the excerpts from his mails below -

When I said I am feeling a bit low for reasons unknown -

Your head is humming and it won't go because you don't know
The shady's calling you to join him
Dear lady you have to make the wind blow
Your stairway lies on the whispering emails

When I said I want to be like him - cool n calm

It may sound absurd...but don't be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
It's not easy to be me

It's all right...you can sleep sound
But all night, my dream hound

I can't stand to fly .. I'm not that naive
Men weren't meant to ride
With clouds between their knees

I'm only a man in a silly red shert
Digging for my luck on this street
Looking for special things inside of me
Yeah, inside me

When I asked him about myself

If there's any way, the answer lies in you
Ur laid on ur zest, coz u know just what to do
If ur soul is lost, its coz u could never find one

When I said I wanted to fly away

Load up your guns
Bring it on my dovey
It's fun to play
Go on a rampage
and pretend casual self
Do it, scream a dirty word aloud
sud i tell ... Fuck it, who cares
With this goddamn attitude ... crack it ... u dare

One more -

I was not the one who jaded you
back on my memory lane, it seems
I never tried to hurt my heart,
But yesterday, i had a tide of ups and down
I was careless i believe, this brings tear to my eyes
But now it feels so good to reunite, within my self
So i just want to say a nu nd friendly hello my love

So all the shady speak made me smile and scribe after a long time :)
I cant help but add lines from the Eminem number again -
Ha ha
Guess there's a Slim Shady in all of us
Fuck it, let's all stand up

History calling

On sunday, I saw the Mysore palace. (The IITK gang went on a fun-filled Mysore expedition.) Come Dussera and the palace is decked up like a queen and the treat is worth watching. The palace facade resembled an old british building. The august murals and the exquisite paintings made the interiors magnificient. But this is not what attracted my attention. The moment I stepped into the palace a strange feeling crept into my mind. It felt quaint to think that not very long ago(some hundred year back) people like you and me lived there. They epitomized a bygone era which is much different from the contemporary age. I felt bizarre to witness the corridors, the throne, the pillars, the dressing room, the mirrors, etc. More so because of the realization that I would be a part of history someday too!
Btw, the trip was too much of fun with antakshiri, dumb charades, elephant rides, giant wheels, tora toras, columbus n all.

Honey

Juhi called me up today morining. It was a pleasant surprise - both because she was at home and the call came in the morning. We have grown up together and have spent so much time together that at times I feel dejected for not being by her side all time. The last few years have been very taxing for her and I feel so helpless not being there to help her out. Her hospital schedules are utmost inhumane and even otherwise there have been so many upheavels. She is such a strong person that from her face you can never make out the rumblings beneath or is it that she is waiting for her sister's shoulder to surrender ? My dearie, my love, my sweety, my honey, my twinkle I hope you find your Mr. Perfect soon. I was just looking at your photograph and I cant write anymore....

She will be loved

I am listening to this beautiful number from Maroon in infinite loop today :)

I drove for miles and miles
And wound up at your door
I’ve had you so many times but somehow
I want more

I don’t mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved

The Saga Of Life

My attempt at a doggerel -

As I stretch myself in this cosy chair,
I can feel the morning at me stare,
As I fake to fixate and not give a care,
I can hear the hollow wind's blare,
As I close my eyes the cold night gives me a scare,
I ask myself 'Is Life Fair ?'

Life's a march from cradle to grave,
And behold! you will wave,
You fight for your place under the Sun,
One day you get all the burn,
Surrounded by loved ones you always want,
One day they proceed for a forever jaunt,
Youth and wealth you brag about,
One day they slyly leave you without a doubt.

Life is a march from cradle to grave,
And sweetheart you have to be brave,
Life is a bless, it's not a mess,
So shake up and feel the wind caress,
Wake up to the Sun's warm,
And see the rain in the green farm,
See joy in misery and beauty in pain,
Happy be always and never complain!

The Skeleton Key in The Longest Yard

Shady forgot his apartment key with one of his roomies and we had a difficulty getting it back from the office due to the maddenning traffic at past 7.
Saw the above 2 movies this weekend and liked em too. The Skeleton Key is about an unsuspecting girl entering a household to help a dying sick old man and then getting trapped herself. Although, I didnt like the ending as I'm used to hunky dory potboilers from bollywood, the movie had an overall good affect.
The Longest Yard is also a cool movie. Its about a footballer organizing a game of prisoners against the guards. Mast movie...go watch it!

Mamma I'm coming home

It is one of the most gruelling times for my family as the worst ever health crisis has broken out in which nobody has been spared. I really really want to be home - by my Mamma's side helping her make the chapatis as she gives rest to her shoulder, by my sisters side giving her comfort from the many times overexhaustion that she is facing, by my brother's side helping him with his studies by the time he recovers, by my father's side pushing him to go for exercising and showing him to some good doctor and ofcourse by my nani's side just putting my hand over her forehead just like the way she used to do for me. Oh Nani, I'm missing you so much and want to be by your side.

Femme 'Fat' tale

Every girl I know seems to be perturbed about layers of excessive adipose tissue! Juhi, I remember, used to eat in measured quantities and crib about her 'ascending' weight. 'Girl'friends in IITK were also concerned about their increasing girth. My roommates have also decided to have some workout sessions to attack the problem. Meanwhile, even I think sometimes that I'm bloating. With this sedentary lifestyle and calorie-loaded spicy diet I am bound to turn from a gourmet to a gourmand. Nevertheless, I haven't taken any corrective measures so far to counterbalance my corpulance.

Of Mondays and Tuesdays!

So on a Wednesday finally the news got out about Meghana Monday marrying Anup Tuesday (oops Rupesh Nasre!) on a Sunday. It feels so nice to see people around you falling in love and culminating their relationship in the eternal knot. Meanwhile I'll continue pulling Meghana's legs :)

I got my first real six string!!

And I indeed played it till my fingers hurt. Yea have joined guitar classes and all I am interested in learning right now is holding the guitar! The drillmaster asked me the first day about my radical stimulus for taking the plunge and I turned my head towards shady :).
Btw, saw Salaam Namaste on saturday with the VRCE crew and due to unavoidable circumstances have to bear it again today. Also to keep my weekend at forum record going saw Cindrella Man with my Cindrella Man!

Weekend Updates

TGIF was fine albeit I was there on the dance floors for not more than an hour. Dancing (rather moving to the music!) reminded me of IITK. It was fun in IITK to let your hair down and shake a leg or two at the mass disco brawl. TGIS turned out well too although I admit the pizza could have been better. Nevertheless it was fun to meet the gang - met Pallavi(finally!) and Anshu too :). Sunday was another funday. Watched yet another movie 'Pyar mein twist' to keep my weekend at forum record going.
And finally today is Abu's surgery. Although it is a minor surgery from a doctor's viewpoint, ask a sister about the apprehensions she is undergoing.

Change of stomping site

As per slimshady's plead/request/threat/warning eliza e buzz shifts here. This would be the new place from now on to talk about my diurnal adventures and confessions. To begin with today we have the TGIF (for the uninitiated - Thank God Its Friday! ) party in office. But more than that I am looking forward to TGIS (Thank God Its Saturday!) party tomorrow. We (me n the IITK gang in blore) are planning to saute pizza tomorrow for Anshu's B'day. I am more than over-confident of being able to pull up something palatable. But gals n guys check out tomorrow!