'tis a Mad mAd World...

Procrastination - A classic case study

2010-12-05T04:27:00.009+05:30

So I sat down to write my b-school essay late afternoon. Now, that's normally the time I take a nap, but I braved the drowsiness that was engulfing me. I took my laptop, and sat down to write. I felt good. My mind was focused. I opened up a word document and began to write. But before I began, I figured I should read up a bit on what the B-School consultants suggest on the approach to the essay. So I opened up a couple of sites, and started reading through the essay analysis. I also remembered I had previously saved a file with some analysis on the topic and thought that'd be useful to use as reference. However, I couldn't find that file so started hunting for that. While I did that, I remembered making some notes on a notepad when I attended the school's info-session, and those would definitely be useful when writing my essay. So I got off my chair, and began my search for those invaluable set of pages that would somehow make me conjure up the award-winning essay. After looking all around the apartment for about a half hour... I discovered them lying in one of the drawers in the living room. So now I was all set. Came back to my chair, picked up the laptop and decided to start writing. Now, one thing to know about using a Lenovo is that it somehow eats up a lot of charge very quickly, and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why. Nevertheless, it needed a power source. The one in my room was relatively far from where I was sitting, so had to change my location to the living room. Saw a week old Stew Leonard's donut on the table... and I went for it. The blackberry next to it kept blinking that godforsaken red light. Checked my messages, replied to a couple of facebook comments on that Citigroup applicant's hilarious 11-page presentation for getting hired. It's a must-read. Can forward it to anyone who's interested. The opening page says "I'm always awake at Citi..." with the citi logo on the top reading "Citi never sleeps" ! hehehe.. cracked me up completely. Anyway my apologies. I digress. I put the phone away and went back to my essay. Although something was a bit odd with that donut I ate... it was causing me heartburn... I got up and took that pink mint flavoured syrup. Its awefully tasty for some reason. So I then came back to my couch; but it was getting dark, and I like ambient lighting when I need to think, so played around with a few permutations until I got the lights switched on right (at 5 in the fricking evening! Goddamned winters!). Annyywayy.. over an hour had passed and now I was ready. With all my materials in place, the donut cleaned off, the laptop connected to a power source, and the blackberry away from my sight. That's when it occurred to me... I've been getting distracted by the silliest of things all this while, and this could be a classic case study for others on how to not procrastinate and waste their time... that's when I started writing this post. It's now 6:30pm and there's a Knicks game coming up... figure I might as well do the essay post dinner. Oh well. Hope you learn something from this experience.

Leaving you with this video... Lev's a genius.
http://bit.ly/ntKPmo

2010-12-05T04:15:00.005+05:30

I am quite positive that consumption of a single slice of a thin crust plain cheese NY pizza and a large cheese calzone everyday for a week is enough to kill you through cheese overdose or something. I think I almost died. T'was definitely a close one. Do not try it. EVER. (or maybe just once, if you'd like to take your chances... it Was worth it, I'd say)

Screw Investment banking, I'm buying a cart!

2010-11-13T09:01:00.002+05:30

The all too famous ‘Chicken n Rice’ guy… @ 53rd n 6th. Those who’ve been to NYC know what I’m talking about – vegetarians, non-vegetarians irrespective. This guy ‘apparently’ serves the best chicken and rice in the entire city. ‘Apparently’ cuz I wouldn’t know… I’m taking the word of meat loving friends who swear by this… and the hundreds of others who stand in queue @ 53rd and 6th every single night waiting for their $6 chicken n rice!

$1.6 million — that’s roughly about what this guy makes every year. No I’m not high right now… I’m talking complete sense. I didn’t quite believe it when I heard it at first. But its really simple math.

So this guy comfortably serves a plate of chicken/lamb over rice every minute to a person between roughly 10pm and 6am. That’s about 500 people every night. Now that’s not all. He’s running two more carts in the vicinity – which admittedly aren’t as popular as the original, but still manage to attract another 250 odd people combined in a single night.

So that’s $6 times 750 every night — if my math serves me well – that’s $4.5k / night. Doing business 7 days a week means $31.5k a week and 135k a month… multiply by 12 and we have $1.6 mil a year. yeah. $1.6 mil a year selling food on a cart. All HARD CASH.

Surely I’m missing something here… but am I ? Now this is the topline ofcourse… but what are his expenses… the carts, the meat, the rice and the sauces and whatever else he uses, and the two other guys he pays? Its a goddamn money spinner. Ofcourse not every halal cart owner makes that much in NYC… you gotta be the best, no doubt. But hec! $1.6 mil a year… why am I doing what I’m doing. And I’m working twice as much every single day!

Quote from wanderingfoodie.com — “If you ever pick up a guide on “NYC on X dollars a day,” and it doesn’t include the Halal cart, it is your moral obligation as a human being to take every last guide off the shelf of that bookstore to burn them immediately so the rest of the population won’t suffer.”

p.s. All this was too much hype for me to not try it out.. so I did. Just this once. And it wasn’t all too bad

2010-06-13T08:45:00.010+05:30

"A soul in tension that's learning to fly

Condition grounded but determined to try
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I"

Unfortunately I'm no writer, but thank heavens David Gilmour is (and that he really gets me).

2010-05-09T22:10:00.005+05:30

Is it better to want something or wish for something you want?! .... just a thought...

I want to go back to simpler times

...where no-one was out to prove anything to anyone else

...where you could simply follow your heart, do what you wished, without being judged

...when talking mindless nonsense for hours over the phone with a friend would simply make your day

...when spending a saturday night at home wasn't considered scandalous

...when you didn't have to think of the next day 24 hours before it arrived

...when you could live in the present without worrying about the future or the brooding over the past

...when you could play minesweeper at home for hours because you were ignorant of the rat race that existed in the world outside

I want to re-play my childhood
I want to go back to my childhood friends
I want to know where they are, what they do
I want to know if they still remember me
I want to fly kites again
I want to turn back time
...to when we played cricket in the building, a time when i was a pretty fine batsman
...to when we played table tennis from 7pm to 11pm, those insane tournaments
...to when we'd go buy those mad fire-crackers the evening before diwali, staying on the terrace all night ... watching the night sky turn beautiful red green blue and yellow
...to the water balloon wars and the mexican standoff, that commenced 8am sharp on the day of Holi (and ended with a few wounded soldiers who gave their all protecting whatever is it they were trying to protect.. i can't be sure)
...to the evenings we'd play carrom down in the building
I want to be clumsy again, clumsy as in daft clumsy like i was in school

ah, School...
I want to go play football on the field behind the school
I want to sit for the math class of P.K. Nair again
I want to do the school march-past again
I want to go rifle-shooting with my NCC mates again
I want to take part in a 3-legged race again (boy, did i rule at it or did i rule at it.)
I want to play football with a tennis ball in the basketball court like we did in the mornings and during the lunchbreak
I want to take part in school cultural events, which i never did then (except once in the 9th)
I want my college years back
I want to re-live all the beautiful moments i spent with my closest friends at Ruparel and SPCE
I want to turn back time and change how things panned out with my best friend in JC
I want to attend IIT classes on Wednesday evenings, when in reality I actually want to play football at alok's place those evenings
I want Mrs. subramanium to know that although we never attended her lectures in ruparel, we always intended to.
I want to go back and smack that 'sardar' for his sheer lack of respect for the opposite sex
I want to be able to express myself better
I want to be less laid-back
I want to think less. do more.

I want to be more ruthless

I want people to rid themselves of pretence
I want all my friends to know I love them
I want them to keep their focus and achieve all their goals in life
I want my sister to chill more, and stress less
I want to eradicate this disease that is laziness which has so terribly engulfed me.
I want to stick to the plans i make

I want a new diary to make plans in so that i can stick to the plans i make.
I want to own the whole Calvin&Hobbes collection
I want everyone to keep smiling, even when life's not dishing out the good stuff.
I want people to realize that life is above everything else, that its all encompassing... and concentrating on one aspect within it would mean compromising on living it to the fullest.
I want simplicity
...Simplicity in human nature
...Simplicity in actions
...Simplicity in thoughts
I want to make sense of what i want.

... Mind's been racing all day, world of thoughts swirling through my head... none coherent, not one bit... what can i say, this restless mind suddenly has become very demanding...

2009-10-30T22:56:00.003+05:30

feel like a year younger today... its just amazing what work (or the lack of it) can do to you... been home at a relatively sane hour this past week, and just feel like there's so much more to do in a day apart from work. And the reason for feeling a year younger -- well, mostly nostalgia... been spending my evenings after work like how i used to back in college -- Music for one, has made a powerful comeback in my daily routine... got my guitar strings changed (for the millionth time), but used it post that for a change... totally lost touch, which is a real pity, wasn't too shabby with it 'back in the day'... did some bit of useless research, indulged in some bit of trivial profundity with an equally deranged fellow being... dreamed for a while... watched the tele... and topped it off with a blogpost.. ah the good ol' days.. when i did nothing at all.

I miss her

2008-12-26T14:59:00.007+05:30

Its been more than 60 days... thats 2 months! Over 2 months without her, and I'm beginning to really feel the pain. I miss her, really do. I've known her for over 2 years, and after getting used to seeing her almost everyday, it really sucks to find her not around anymore. Seems silly, but I just feel i could express myself so much better when she was around. She understood me. Never questioned anything I did, we hardly had any disagreements. In a way she completed me. 2 years is a long time and people feel I'm ready to move on... and that I already have... but as they say, you realize their worth most when they're gone. I know I'd been a lil harsh on her in the past few months, at times not given her enough importance, or enough time as I used to. But that in no way undermines how much I care for her. She's been around for me all the time, even at the most unearthly of hours... and has always been nice to me. I still haven't given up hope though, she's been unwell for these 2 months, but I know she'll be fine soon. 2009 will bring about new possibilities, a new start to a renewed relationship. Hope I get to see her soon....

My dear old IBM, you should know... just because I got Dell, it doesn't make you any less important. My crimson baby is smooth, and she's fast. Sure she looks pretty as hell, and has the features of a goddess. I can understand what made you so insecure... but hey, I still miss your sharp ebony features, you're still the one i turn to in times of crisis, or boredom... you're the one I've spent long hours with, cuz you're not hot-headed (like the other one, she, invariably, loses her cool in a few hours). So understand that she and I will never be able to share the same chemistry that we possess.
Ever since you've been gone... its just not been the same. Come back soon. God only knows what you're going through at that hellhole, they call the service centre.

On the other side...

2008-12-01T11:26:00.009+05:30

Pakistan Times - November 30, 2008

EDITORIAL
By the Editor
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

India’s Blame-Game!

"Going by traditional belligerence – India has of-late hideously chosen an awful course of labeling accusations against Pakistan for the tragic episode of Mumbai – sans any proof or evidence. Such an act by the New Delhi rulers – more specifically by the India media – has once again placed the peoples’ aspires for peace in the region in peril.

As is indexed in the history – it is not the first time that India has opted such a path of hostility towards Pakistan. Historians stand witness that as and when any frightful incident occurs in India – it instantly gets involved in customary blame-game. With such a mindset – in the past, India surfaced an eyeball-to-eyeball scenario at borders and that too without any legitimate reason. Yet, eventually it was left with no option but to get it reversed.

And, now soon after the Mumbai catastrophe – as was largely apprehended, Indians again started raising accusing fingers towards Pakistan. As per their habit of jumping to conclusion on the very first day of such tragedies – Indian authorities started leveling wild allegations against Pakistan referring to the minute details of how it happened as if everything was fully in their knowledge.

Amid such a situation – tension is still seemingly rising between the two nuke neighbors – in an apparent action replay of the threatening posture – which India adopted subsequent to attacks on its Parliament in 2001 pushing two countries closer to a cataclysmic war.

The speed with which the Indians are making disclosure after disclosure regarding identity of the attackers and how they approached Mumbai clearly shows that New Delhi was bent upon misusing the occasion to malign Pakistan and to distort its image.

The very fact that the militants themselves disclosed their identity as Mujahideen from Deccan and also made certain demands exposes claims of the Indian authorities who are giving external dimensions to a purely internal problem of their country.

The tragedy has highlighted the ground reality that there was growing anger over India’s oppressive policies against minorities and they are giving vent to their annoyance in violent mode and manner to draw attention of the comity of nations to their plight.

Yet, India is trying to mislead the global public opinion to make Pakistan a scapegoat – which can not be tolerated and shall not be allowed to occur. We feel that it is an apt time that India should mend its’ horrendous approach by avoiding blame game that would raise the regional temperature – which would not be in the interest of any-one.

Instead of getting engaged into any futile exercise of accusations – India must pay heed to the bona fide demands of its people, majority of whom is living far below poverty-line – facing toxic fiscal dilemmas.

Truth and realism manifests that peace, progress and prosperity – surfaces through an affluent society, backed by a proper fiscal system. Thus, why not to lay a solid focus on such a vision – instead of getting engaged into wastrel scuffles – with useless tricks and tactics? "

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

.... Just thought we might want to take a peak over the fence and hear what our respected neighbours have to say on this horrendous atrocity and what they think about us.

National Security? No Thank you... Its not for us.

2008-11-27T22:43:00.010+05:30

I remember, when I had to write an article on the Indian growth story, how its there for real, and how India has progressed over the past few decades ... I told Taha, who was writing the counter argument, that his job was a lot easier than mine; that at a time when Indian economy was booming, and everything was going right for the country.

Today I feel I should've traded topics with him... simply because, I myself have very real doubts about this much touted 'Indian growth story'. Who cares about economic growth when the people of the country have been robbed of the most fundamental freedom of freedoms... their freedom to life. Who cares about the 8% GDP when one cannot walk the streets without fear. Who cares if we'll be the next economic superpower or not, if the country doesn't know the face of peace, and if corruption compromises National security. I feel ashamed, angered, frustrated at the state of affairs in our country. And I feel like a hypocrite for sitting here and typing this rather than being able to affect change in the system, which is what matters.

6 terror attacks in 6 different cities of India in 2008 alone... some sort of an infamous record, that. Certainly a record to not be proud of. What's absolutely infuriating is the ease with which these terrorists have been able to conduct their operations, do their routine and follow their plans to precision, with the entire country looking on in dispair and sheer helplessness. How is a country brought down to its knees with such ease and such frequency!? Its just not done.

How do our politicians have the audacity to even show their faces in public... they should be ashamed of themselves, not being able to protect their own soil. But thats if they take a break from gorging on the fat piles of money and from the revelry they indulge in, drunk on power and position. What they will do though, is they'll "Condemn terrorism". Ofcourse we condemn terrorism, isn't it a given. Have we reached that stage where we're required to state that explicitly or else people will believe otherwise. Its outrageous. Alright so we condemn terrorism, fair enough, but what after that?! Do we condemn it enough to ensure it doesn't happen again?! Or atleast do our best, in our capacity as a nation to guard against it? Can anyone in this country stand up and claim we did our best to protect ourselves from these attacks?

Its a bloody farce, National security... its almost as if no-one in this country cares, no-one except the families of the unfortunate innocent lives that are lost in these attacks. Terrorism, violence and mass-killings have become so common and so ubiquitous that we as a nation have just grown impassive to it. It doesn't alarm us anymore. Everyone, including the politicians seem to have just put their hands up as if to suggest "Get used to it, We're a poor country and we have messed up neighbours. There's nothing we can do about it." Are you kidding me!

It just is not possible to believe that our national security is so damn weak that we never seem to get the slightest sniff of any of the terror attacks that happen. I'm not ready to believe that our Intelligence is so weak. And if thats not the case, the only other possible explanation is that we've been compromised. Time and again, our security is compromised, either by the underworld, or by our politicians, or by our security forces. Somewhere along the way, we're being sold out for money, or power or fear. But bottom line being, we as a people are increasingly becoming self-centered, and 'India' as a nation has taken a backseat.

Everyone just seems to be passing the buck when it comes to carrying out the post mortem on these terrorist attacks. Nobody is ready to take responsibility. Its just sad that our country is so obscenely polarised and 2-faced. There's not an aorta of growth in our thinking, No sense of maturity whatsoever. People are daft enough to kill their own countrymen on the pretext of communalism and regionalism. All within our own country. People continue to be narrow minded, continue to be content with living out a 70 year old life, making whatever money they can in the process, support their family and die peacefully. The only agenda pursued by our people is that for Money or for Power. Nobody cares about the welfare of our state, nobody dares to dream about making India the United States of the 21st Century, barring a few good men, which I'm sure there exist. Even the Unites states of America doesn't harbour regional violence the way we do. And to think of it, we're One Country. A bit ironic, don't you think! Maybe we should call our selves - Potentially United States of India.

When time refused to pass by

2008-11-07T23:37:00.003+05:30

The best thing about Diwali (apart from the obvious - the delectable offerings of sweets and some lip-smacking food) is the family get-togethers, getting to meet relatives you haven't met for a while, catching up.. and basically having a good time. Luckily this diwali week, I wasn't working, and so got to experience all of that and more. Now, there is a downside to it aswell- entertaining guests - and boy, I'm so not the guy for that. I can be the worst host especially when I'm doing it all alone.

So then it happened.... the longest and most excruciatingly boring and awkward 4 hours of my life. (seemed a lot like 20 though). My folks decide to visit some friends a couple of days after diwali, and I decided to take a raincheck, thought I'll put in a few good hours of studies, when i really planned to catch a good afternoon movie or something. And just as I made myself comfortable on the couch with some choco-mocha cookies and a glass of tang beside me... the intercom buzzed and the voice on the other end went "Bhageria saab se koi 'Rajeshji' milne aaye hain" ... the watchman at the gate was lucky enough not to have caught the most disgusted expression on my face, if he had, there'd be no questions asked and "Rajeshji" would have been told to turn away, come back another day, preferably at a time when I'm tucked away nicely in my office chair, sipping on hot chocolate and doing whatever it is that i do.

annyyway, by the time i could think of all of this.. the damn doorbell rang... enter Rajeshi from Rajasthan (You just can't make this stuff up!)... yeh, apparently he was a really distant relative, whom i'd never heard of, let alone seen, before and he'd come down for a few days to meet everyone. To his (and my) sheer badluck... my folks were out and wouldn't be back before 5 (it was 12:30pm then).... i figured, well, how bad can it be, he'll prolly come back the next day or something ... turns out he was on the first flight back the next morning, so he'd stay until they returned. (Suddenly the thought of it being a well-orchestrated social experiment with me as the test subject, didn’t seem far-fetched)

A customary exchange of greetings followed, and he took a seat on the couch to my right. I executed the modus operandi, that I had rehearsed in my head for this very situation – which pretty much included offering the guest some food and drinks, making a distress call to my dad (one of the many to follow) and indulging in some serious small talk, of proportions I never knew I even was capable of. Turns out we had nothing in common, he’d been in Rajasthan all his life, and he spoke strictly in Marwari, though he understood Hindi to some extent. Now while I don’t take pride in my Marwari speaking abilities, I’m equipped enough to get by such sticky situations. Anyway, after couple of hours had gone by, I happened to glance at the clock through the corner of my eye – you know that sinking feeling you get within – It was 1:15pm. SonOfABitch! How in the name of hell was it just 1:15! It couldn’t have been.

Resigned to my fate, I decided to turn on the TV, and started watching the match between India and Australia, hoping he’d respond positively to that move. I got nothing. Eh, so I said to myself, fuck it! Lets just watch the match for now. And I did; and so did he. There wasn’t much dialogue for the next hour or so, except when he asked me the way to the loo. For what its worth, he seemed comfortable, even if I was under intense pressure of being a good host (at one point, there was a very real thought of bringing the guitar out and playing a lil something for our guest, I sure am glad that though passed quickly)

Anyway, the afternoon trudged by nice and slow; and the minutes turned into hours, slowly but surely; had our lunch in between all of that and by 3pm, he was nearly snoring on the armchair, his head thrown back and falling to one side every 3 minutes, after which he’d recover to his original posture, try to watch the match... but clearly he wasn’t a man of cricket. Now, could’ve changed the channel or something, but the twisted mind that I have, somehow it seemed better this way, less awkward and I was free to move away from there, walk about, go to my room, listen to some music, or even study for that matter (seemed a very good option at that point) .... so I offered him a nap in one of the rooms, since he was drowsy and tired from the travelling, it seemed a fair option too. But he refused! The man refused to take a nap!! When clearly he couldn’t stay awake to save his life! Maybe he found it awkward, I couldn’t know. So then I switched the channel to some hindi film of the ‘90s that the cable guy was showing, hoped that he’d enjoy it and eventually took a seat on the far side of the sofa, picked up my math book and started solving probability sums. That was the plan originally... so I can hardly complain. Anyway, dad came back by 5, 10 mins earlier actually, I thanked him for that, and he took over from there on.... while I went to my room and watched the movie I intended to watch 5 hours ago.

A 'supposed' Comeback

2008-03-11T19:45:00.009+05:30

the date on my last post read... Oct 5, 2007!! .......... 2007!!!! if this were my hotmail acc, id be busy makin a new one by now, those losers n their loser tactics to retain members! anyway... it seems like light years since the last time i visited the blogosphere... the reason would majorly be attributed to my all too famous laziness... yeah, can u beat that! im too lazy to visit blogs n sit n read! Im That Lazy!

But i atoned for all my sins today, i visited the blogs of all the ppl i know, read about 30 odd posts, commented on a majority of them (twas a real joy reading all the posts, it realy was) ... n returned to my own dilapidated blog, which was crying out for a new post, a new article, a new something, i guess it was mocked at by a whole bunch of other bully blogs for growing stale while their authors kept them fresh n tidy!

I dunno, there are times i'm brimming with thoughts and opinions and emotions, i feel i could write a book on any topic thrown at me, and there are other times when i just have nothing to talk about, nothing to appreciate, nothing to complain about, no thoughts, no feelings, im just neutral towards every damn thing in this world. Though the latter occurrences are quite rare, but they are there all the same.

aaaaalllllllriiiiighhhtttt.. that was a whole lotta crazy talk right there... but moving on....
Lately i've been having this urge to be just unconventional n do something different, try something new, rid myself of the monotony, or just make each day worthwhile, do something constructive, or destructive, or something sweet, or mean, or crazy or wild, or something new or enjoyable, or not so enjoyable, even if it means breaking a glass at mocha n then gettin into a tiff with the manager n creating a scene there cuz of the obscene amount they fine me. (100 bucks for a damn glass!!)

Among other News:

>> My BE Proj's gone to the dogs... in the process of retrieving it... time's running short, panic beginning to set in... lol, dimple n brett if y'all are reading this... don't worry, we're doin much better than a month ago.. hehe.

>> Recently visited God's own country... Kerala. A fine fine place... absolutely beautiful, got meself one of those ayurvedic massages, rode on an elephant, slept on the hammock for a record 7 straight hours during the day! , ate those traditional south indian meals, tried fishing with a local at kumarkom, (well, he did the fishing, i gave him company :p), all in all... a fantastic trip.

>> SYB course is On full throttle... got myself a bunch of good hardworking individuals. Watch out for the launch of "Soul-Food & Symphony" soon.

>> Attended My last SPACE & Technobreak... A whole lotta fun!! did all sorts of crazy ass shit... this needs a separate post all together.. there's no way im describing the fests in a few lines...

>> Turned into a JPMorgan-ite, I think.

>> Broke my cell. (cellphones and me, the chemistry is never good enough) Well, broke would be a harsh word for it.... it was in horrible condition anyway, i just hit the final nail in the coffin. Now it won't display anything.

>> Went to Mussorie, Auli, and Rishikesh.... the best trip everr!! skiing, trekking in knee deep snow, river rafting... the works! Really gonna miss this bunch of BE ETRX.... each and everyone of them... these 4 years have been a joy.

Well, thats it for now.... hopefully the title of this post will be proven wrong n i'll make more frequent visits to the blogosphere and post some more worthwhile reads... adios.

--------------------------- Thats all Folks! ------------------------------

The complete Idiot's Guide to 'College Politics'

2007-08-24T15:21:00.000+05:30

------------------------------- Chapter 1 -------------------------------

*Excerpts from a conversation between 2 SP-ites*

Legend:

The Ignorant one : IO
The Enlightened Soul : ES

Time of the Year : Aug-Sept

IO : would you be kind enough to tell me, what's been going on
over the past few weeks in college... i see dozens n dozens of groups congregating at various points in college, the canteen, the quad, outside classes, in corridors, near the lifts, any damn place you see... and from what is apparent.. the discussions seem to be highly animated, and deeply engrossing, with such seriousness, u wud bet your bottom dollar that the discussion centered around fighting terrorism & establishing world peace..

ES : Ah! how i wish that were true. lol, it might disappoint u, to learn that all this is taking place not for the greater good of humanity, rather for the much sought after " Posts" in the student council.. which theyre all vying for, and whoever gets in, will then be handling the affairs of our cultural festival. Its one of the most entertaining events of the year... no! not not the festival, dumbass! ... im talkin abt the Elections to the student council.. Since you seem new to this, id advise u to sit back n enjoy the affairs that follow.

IO : I would love to sit back n enjoy the show... but the only problem is... apparently im the CR of my class... so..

ES : ooh! your the CR eh?! say no more... i know where ur heading.. My deepest sympathies with u, i know what your going through... Now u noe, why it pays to screw up in your sem exams.. lol, and now you know why I never topped my exams.. for this precise reason! :)

IO : But u see, thats not even the problem.. im not my class topper... one fine day, a bunch of seniors walked in, picked my out from the lot, and made me the CR! period. n now im supposed to be voting for them!

ES: hmm, seems they pulled off the classic "Go to a class n pick the dimwit" job on you.
a rather difficult situation to be in, i must admit...

ES : ...and why do they want you to vote for them?

IO : Because they promise to work hard, give it their best, do their job sincerely, provide us a great festival, bigger than ever before...

ES : Sound reasonable i must say! now who would not want to vote for someone like that!?
Im guessing the other candidates said they would screw up the fest for good, and make sure it doesnt happen next year.... lol, sadly it dont work that way, sunshine!
There are three things that you've got to guard against, when dealing with the elections.... whether you're a part of it or an outsider........

Promises, Posts & Pricks!

You're gonna find them aplenty throughout the year.... n the right mix of these 3 ingredients is sure to give u the perfect recipe for disaster!

IO: So you're saying there's no good candidate that can come to power..!?

ES : lol, there's your first blunder... and you've not even a day old in these affairs.
"Power!" THere's nothing like 'power' that comes with being part of a council... it's crazy ass Responsibility, thats what it is! It's Pressure, its 2 months of sleepless nights, it's slogging your ass off andd it's Delivering at the end of it! THat is what comes with getting into a council! lol, It's hardly "Power" that matters when you've got the entire college hunting you down when you screw up....

IO : If that's the case, then why do so many people get involved in this? Isn't it a good thing that theyre all ready to take charge of the college affairs... healthy competition! rite...

ES : Hah! U'd think that was the case... reality is, people still continue to make that blunder that u made... they're motivated by the prospect of "Coming to Power". Now I'm not sayin that all of them are the same- There are two types of people- there are those that want to assume a position of responsibility, inorder to affect some significant change in the system, either bcuz they feel very strongly about the entire thing or because theyve been at the receiving end a lil too often or they are just too passionate about achieving something big for themselves and the college...
Then there are the ones who are motivated by several other parameters.... these are the ones who like to be at the helm of affairs purely for the hec of it... they like all the attention, they like the "Power", basically they like to be in a position where they can influence matters, in a positive or negative way, i can't comment.. but they are in it for the " Post. " you'll come across that term a lot while you're in this college.... it's what makes the world go around in case of events n festivals etc. and ofcourse there are some selfish motives too behind getting in... you're smart enough to understand that...

IO : damnn! thats some reall twisted shit.... u gotta help me pick the rite guy man... whom do i vote for.>!?

ES :
some other time mate... gotta take off, there's a lot that u need to learn.. but for now this should suffice... until next time... adios, keep urself engaged.. be a part of a few jhols, experience some big f*ck ups... then you wont need any gyan from me anymore...

IO: But, but...

ES : Someone once told me, whether its a book or an article (or a conversation in this case), keep the ending vague or mysterious.. and the readers will love you for it!
cheers!

-------------------------------*End of Chapter*-----------------------------

Tagged!

2007-08-07T02:53:00.000+05:30

My apologies to all for posting this so late, but just haven't found the time to sit n blog, anyhoo, here i am now, bored out of my head, n not gettin any sleep... so lets do this...
As the ritual goes, 8 things about me that you prolly don't know...

1. I lead a simple n uncomplicated life, i don't like hangups, im kinda laid back, i try to keep it smooth n straighforward. I'm a lil weak when it comes to conveying emotions, im not that good at it, so unless you're really close to me, chances are you would rarely have come across the emotional side of me, most of the times i like to keep things to myself.

2. I totally suck at lying... i can't disguise it well... I guess you can lie only if you can make urself believe it. as George costanza says... Its not a lie if you believe in it. In my case, i can't get myself to go along with the lie, hence i lack the conviction for it.

3. Ethics- Ethics are something that i can never ever compromise upon... its something that i have lived by all my life, and i loathe people who are weak in the head and compromise on their ethics n values when lured by material gains... whats the point of it all, i ask? benefitting at the expense of others is something i could never live with, yet i've seen people, opportunists, who have no qualms about doing that... frankly, my conscience would eat me up inside in such a case.

4. I am quite accommodating, and i can't say 'no' that easily... i wish i were a wee bit more ruthless at times. A weakness of mine, i guess. I don't like being hard on people, not unless it's absolutely necessary.

5. I'm a total workaholic... infact i end up surprising myself at the amount of workhours i can put in without getting myself fagged out... But i need to have the drive for doing something, which goes without saying, but if i put my mind to something, i cannot rest until im done with it. This comes from the fact that i'm an extremely passionate guy... passionate about everything i do... there won't be any halfhearted tries on my part, its all or nothing. though this workaholic nature of mine often gets me into trouble with friends n family.. yet it's something i cannot help.

6. I'm a perfectionist, n my friends will tell you how pissing off that is, at times... but yeh, i like to have things perfect especially in my work... i get finicky at times, but more often than not, it turns out to be a positive.. atleast i'd like to believe that's the case.

7. I've begun to respect time.. lol.. n im glad i do... there are two ways to learn time management, the easy way or the hard way.. either have the will power to not waste time at all, do ur planning n organizing impeccably... (lol, there's laughing in my head... somehow that just seems to work in theory) ... or do it the hard way... burden urself with so much of work, that u dont have the time to even catch your breath... and do this for a year... which is roughly the time it takes to start appreciating the importance of time...

n 8 ...... sometime later... cant think of anything rite now... n im too tired anyway.. so yeh, if i think of sumthin.. ill put it up..

eKta - the brilliant paradox

2007-06-18T01:38:00.000+05:30

Calling out to all the lawyers in the country... plz, for the love of God, for the love of your country, and for the love of your fellow 'brothers and sisters' in the country.... someone, plz tell me that there exists some pretext under which this female can be charged for life... ! i mean, how does causing mental anxiety and trauma to hundreds of millions of ppl not get you behind bars? arent there laws fer such atrocities..!?

im writing this in the wake of an ugly quarrel that took place earlier.... and i really need to vent my frustration over this abomination called eKta Kapoor.

this woman is taking the whole nation for a ride, and yet people worship her... insane!! i cant even recall the number of football matches and the number of movies i have had to sacrifice, and im not one to give up that easy; but hec! how do u fight your case when your living in this democracy where a simple majority is enough to overthrow governments... a simple vote amongst the three of us, and i dont even call for a recount... my mother and my sister gleefully resume watching kahaani ghar ghar ki or whatever it is they watch, while i grimly retire to my room and plan my next mode of attack... (it's been an eternity, and i dont have the stomach to face defeat again, hence u find me here looking for a permanent solution to put an end to my misery)

its hardly something that can subject to jokes n then ignored or forgotten. If only people realize the gravity of the matter! tis a real pity, the name is a paradox in itself, considering that the concept of ekta and unity doesnt seem to exist in any of her soaps. She's stunting the mental growth of the masses by her lame saas-bahu cockfights, her stupid soaps have contributed more to the growing cases of infidelity than anything else, portraying the image of a "typical indian household" (are u frickin kiddin me?!).... if that statement bears even the slightest truth, then we've got reason to be worried... so apparently, in this country every second husband marries every other woman he comes across, the mortality rate shoots up to almost 100 million deaths per day, considering that someone in the family dies every day.... actually not quite, what we fail to consider is that they NEVER really DIE.... they jus pretend to, and quietly go and hide in a run-down shack in the woods biding their time, until they get a raise from eKta, and when the time is right... viola!! theyr back!! ..... and in the event that the deal falls thru, they STILL make a comeback, albeit with a plastic surgery of such finesse, it would make joseph capella proud. Wars have been fought, blood has been shed, scores of scientists and researchers have lost their mind, all in search for the ultimate secret to immortality..... and as it turns out, our very own eKta possessed it all this while! d'oh!!!

generation leaps after generation leaps, their lives roll on, all of them live to a ripe old age of 500 years (exact figure not verified... some believe it to be a millenium, but ThATS nOT PossiBLE, is it ?) .......

............. wonder when eKta will take a generation leap herself and die!

(forgive me, but im a good person at heart, and would never want to hurt a fellow human being, but lets make this an exception, shall we.. we're talkin betterment of humanity afterall.... ;) )

Introspection

2007-05-31T00:14:00.000+05:30

One helluva year, this has been! i wouldn't hesitate to term it as one of the most exacting years of my life.! there simply was no time to breathe, actually that still holds true, prolly for another 6 months... but even with all the stress and mental anxiety (read: torture) that I've been subjected to over the past year.... it's filled me with a sense of satisfaction, one that i haven't felt for a long time... and there are more reasons than one. I don't think i've grown so much as a person and learnt so much about various aspects of life in such a short while ever before, and more than life, i've come to learn so much about myself, its almost scary!

Introspection is something everyone indulges in, only difference here is that its been happening more subconsciously in my case and for a much longer period of time than usual.
Its one thing knowing your own strengths and weaknesses; but discovering yourself to an extent where you can predict your own moves and behaviour is quite another! Its like, stepping into a mini time machine and travelling 60 seconds into the future (lol, quite a waste of the brilliant piece of machine, i know) so your always one step ahead of your own self. The mind is working at breakneck speed, thinking a billion things at a time, contemplating and analyzing every step of the way... you know its not going to rest... That is Scary! This entire year seems to have changed the very way in which my mind works, it was never this active, never this analytical - its brimming with opinions, thoughts ideas, changes, innovations... things which i would've quietly accepted or ignored, all of a sudden this head doesn't seem to let go! I'm made to question every action, analyze and reason out everything thats happening, the pettiest to the gravest issues.

here's how this damn thing works inside my head ... given a situation, it analyzes all permutations n combinations of the actions that one may take, empirically derives the typical response I'm likely to adopt, then calculates the plausible outcome ... hence providing me with a peep into the future that is to say, i have a relatively good idea of whats going to happen as a result of my action, thus deriving a Forced reaction out of me... and that is not necessarily a good thing. You might argue that its the best situation to be in, when you know what can go wrong or how things may shape out.. but look at it from another perspective - all the natural behaviour and reactions and spontaneity is outta the window! There is no element of surprise or anticipation existing anymore. Sometimes a situation is best dealt with when you're unfamiliar with it and you do go about dealing with it in your own characteristic way, which more often than not, is the best thing to do.... but when you start thinking Too much... you end up over-analyzing the matter and eventually end up making a hash of it! Im sure most will agree that doing things naturally, even spontaneously to an extent, is the right way to go; rather than getting immersed into the mechanics of your own actions and eventually confusing the crap out of yourselves!

Now, I'm quite sure not many people can relate to this... and I don't know whether I'm making sense here... but thats been the state of my mind... and I'm growing to appreciate it now, which is a good thing i guess.

damn "Submissions"... frickin overrratedd!!

2007-04-19T20:32:00.000+05:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqTsmAc7c84

ouchh! that ought to hurt.. at least to those who were'nt aware of the fate of their journals n assignments which they had engendered with all the love and dedication to earn that extra grade; detailing every diagram, drawing every graph, underlining every damn heading- the works!... (only to look in the mirror later at the jackasses they'd been cuz every1 landed up with the same termwork eventually)

and... cheers! to those who care a f*ck abt termwork anyway! tis really not worth the 2-3 odd marks that you may end up scoring for the drudgery that you have to indulge in throughout the sem.

What I don't understand is, why are submissions always subjected to so much of hype, the way we go about it, it's considered to be nothing short of scaling the everest! and quite frankly they dont deserve that amount of respect...

So we have to write a 100 assignments and another 200 experiments in 2 weeks... so what!? everyone's doing it right? all the 40 thousand odd 'engineers' in the city... so why do you feel as though you're the one God singled out for this despicable job. My Gre exam ended 12th Apr, ten days after the rest had given it... n what happens when you do that... you're welcomed in college with a barrage of assignments n shit thrown at your face... you'd expect people to have a certain amount of compassion for a poor soul who'd been slogging for a good month studying for the damn gre, oh n don't get me wrong.. people do sympathize with them... only, i didn't qualify as a 'poor soul', apparently you have to go thru the torture for more than a week at least! (damn!, i knew i wasn't studying enough!)
anyhoo.... i was staring at a daunting pile of junk which i was to reproduce within a period of 5 days... (fyi - submissions had already started by the time i stepped into college)

But that wasn't even the sad part.... what got to me was the funereal atmosphere in college, it was quite something to digest! the look of total frustration and anguish on everyone's faces... I kinda expected a lil more cheerful environment in college... I mean, cmon people.. its just submissions, you're not being taken to the gallows! I quietly went about my job for the next 5 days, stayin back in college till late evenings, listening to sum good ol' hendrix or jim morrison.. (LA woman--bloody brilliant!!)... stayed up a few nites, watchin some footy or an occasional movie... and that was the end of that! it was all over pretty soon... and at that time, i hardly even felt the pinch..

So what's the point of whining about all of this shit! just go about your job and get it over with... again, i repeat.. don't give it so much of respect.. there's no point to it... Think of it this way, You are literally wasting 3 precious Weeks of your life doing the least productive work on the face of the earth, except maybe uhmm........ uhh, oh yeaa..... no wait... uhmmm.... crap! why can't i think of anything!?

cheers to wasting 3 weeks of our lives every semester!

Roger waterzz

2007-02-26T21:14:00.002+05:30

Roger waterzz - Pink Floyd - Mumbai - Feb 18th 2007 - i was there! - right below the stage - Surreal - magical - words fall short - psychedelia at its ultimate pinnacle - overwhelming joy n happiness - i was there! - roger waterzz - the guy's 64 - still can produce some breathtaking music - mother - shine on.... woOohoo - have a cigar - wish u were here - leaving beirut .. brilliant stuff! - breathe - Run, rabbit run. Dig that hole, forget the sun, And when at last the work is done... Don't sit down it's time to dig another one. - Breathe reprise - the wild laughter - time - Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain, You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today; And then one day you find ten years have got behind you, No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun - eclipse - brain damage - Crazyyy ass stuffff - i Was there! - DSoTM - Absolutelyy Killlerrrr - 360 deg Quadraphonic sound - technical jargon? - not if you were there - the flyin pig - impeach bush - money - dave kilminster rocked - the great gig in the sky... truly fantastic - massive crowd - fabulous - half high on weed or on vodka - the rest high on music - i Was There! - jumping over the barricades - brandishing the finger to the cops - who's gonna stop us - witnessing a british in his drunken revelry - doin a lil jig for the crowd - earning a few bucks in return - priceless - Another brick in the wall - emotional - comfortably numb.. and so we were. - David gilmour - we miss u - Roger waterz - u kicked ass! - i wAs TherE!