Happiness, Sorrow, Happiness, Sorrow..

The past 4-5 days have been pretty eventful. And not all to my liking. But life doesnt follow a storybook plot. (except in the case of Ayn Rand, where there is no plot to follow)
And thankfully life doesnt follow a Stephen King plot. Coz all the happiness comes to nought at the end when he makes us love a character to tears, and then rends our heart with a simple stroke of adversity. (God! SK is God!)

But, nothing that I write today will be related to books. Apart from words, sentences, paragraphs, etc.

Let me narrate the sorrows and then wrap up the proceedings with a sweet after-taste.

What would have been a dream "sports-year" didnt happen. Of course, I know that I am never going to be contented. But, Argentina winning the Copa America would have capped a wonderful year where all my sports-favourites have excelled immensely.
Hmm..that is life. As SK is fond of saying  "Its a long walk to Eden, so dont sweat the small stuff". So, I got past that trough and hit another one.

This is the 2nd sorrow my subject makes an allusion to. This is of my own-making. :( The ensuing rant would clear a few people who were confused by my previous post.

Simply put, I hate the MBA course. Oh no..I am not saying that the course is bad (actually it is for me). It is a perfect course to be pursued if you are interested in making it big in the Finance or Marketing sector. But, if you are an IT Systems man like me, it is rough going.

"Rough" isnt the right word. It is actually NO going, coz the subjects that I wish to take never get floated. One had just 3 people interested! Yes..3. Actually, 3 people makes it a very light course..and hence it should have floated. Oops..that was a pad bun. Double oops..and that was an even worse spooner.

So here I am slogging over an assignment in a subject that I still do not know the full form of. (BTW, apparently one is supposed to never use a preposition to end a sentence with. :))) Forgive the double grammar gaffes. Things seem to be coming in twins today.

Where was I? Ahh yes..MBA sucks. So, please make an informed decision before you actually take the plunge.
Enough of all the melancholy. Here are some of the great things that have happened.

India have made it to the Finals!! Woohoo..Men In Blue Shining all fine. :)

And to the Big Cahoona (as my dear friend Rajneesh likes to say) - Bandhar and me were invited to an FM91.0 Radio City interview to kick off Friendship Week. It was absolute fun. Bandhar's nickname, which he had been trying to guard fervently, became public to Bangalore city.
(The entire list of questions & answers are available on request to a selected few. Actually, I have already told the "selected few" everything. So, the list is off the rack.)

It was a great experience. And a perfect antidote to all the other malaises. Sigh!

Mayday Mayday! Red Alert..Red Alert

To all you like-minded friends..ie like-minded as me..do NOT do an MBA.
I repeat, NO mba.

For the rest,
hmm..if you are my friend, think twice about doing an MBA.
if you are my enemy, be my guest as well. :)

Surprise Surprise

Well, this week has spurted 2 surprises. If only all weeks were this exciting.

Anyway, coming to the first one:
After seeing the live coverage of the Tour de France, I have come to the conclusion that there is more to cycling than just pure effort. Yup, the climb up the mountains can be pretty boring. But the final 7 kms was sheer strategy. Need to see it further to confirm my judgement. 

Second surprise:
Saw Spiderman 2 today. I was disappointed. Note, I didn’t say the movie was disappointing. I had expected a movie worse than Spiderman – which I agree would be quite a Herculean task. But, the movie turned out to be pretty good. Good by normal standards. Great by relative standards.

For starters, they’ve made the movements of Spiderman less of a cartoon and more of a human. It is less smooth. Also, the humour is subtle and pretty good at certain times. (Comparing it with the humour Batman and Robin would be..gawd! Territory better left unventured.)

The major failing of the first part was the amount of tutty-fruity romance in it. This does have its share, but there was no instance where I thought the lead actors would trot to the Alps and sing a duet. The first one had several such instances – with the hospital scene being the major contender.

Coming to histrionics, Toby Mcguire does a good job. Kirsten Dunst cant act for nuts. Of course, that wasn’t the reason she was drafted into this movie.

Overall, a movie that can be watched once.
Oh Btw, I heard a couple of kids (not Ameya or Akshai) saying that this was the worst movie they’d seen. Maybe that’s why I seemed to like it. :)

Good Boy & Godel crap

I am a good boy. Simple. If that is slightly incongruous, please read the previous post.
Got it? Nope? Fine fine, let me spell it out for you.
I h-a-v-e  s-h-a-v-e-d..aargh! I dont think "spelling it out" means actually that.
Simply put, I am fully Indian. No French fungus on my face. :)

Now to the main thing for the day: Had a class where the goddamn prof mentioned about the book Godel Escher Bach! (Note: I have nothing personal against Godel, Escher or Bach. That is, individually. But the trio seems to get on my nerves.)

I first saw this book in Bandhar's house. Bandhar. Not the Arrogant One Dhimant. That was pretty surprising. I thought Bandhar had better taste..but people do flip occassionally.

I have nothing personal against Dhimant as well. (This is getting tiresome. Let me state that I have nothing personal against anybody - apart from this person whom I actually detest for his cunningness. No names will be given in this blog nor on request. Most of my blog readers would know who it is.)

Back to Dhimant & his books. It is just that I HATE books that do not have stories.
Apparently, this Godel crap is supposed to prove that Science, Arts & (something else I've forgotten) are all one and the same. I could write that.
Well, not exactly that. But something similar..and without breaking a sweat. And it is this lack of imagination in authors that bugs me no end.

Hecklerspeak: "Yo Chilli! If you think writing such books is a piece of cake, why dont you give it a shot?!"
Mesqueak:"Huh! Is this an open chaaallenge?" (doing my best to imitate Kannada thespian Ambarish)

So..here we are. I plan to write my own Gowda Eshwar Backache.
Ta-dang Ta-dang (not to worry. This is just me entering Gowda-mode)
Gowda: I have a doubt..
Eshwar: Tuesdays with Morrie?
Backache: Ahhhh
G: No no..listen you morons
E: Zen & the ..
G: Shut up!
B: Awwww
G: Why do North Indians call Rama as Ram, Lakshmana as Lakshman..but do not call Sita as Sit?

The Author wishes to prove that the above conversation between the 3 people is a perfect amalgamation of Absolute Reason, Dumb Abstraction & Pure Pain. This in turn defines our life.

gnad-aT gnad-aT (yup, you guessed rite. Back to Chilli-mode)
There. First chapter of my book done. I am 1/12th of my way to a million dollars!! Nanri Hai.

Btw, Dhimant I am also ready for violin classes. Try to find weekend courses. I am serious.

French Debate

It was quite a nice weekend.
 
Had a long debate with my mother over the virtues & cons of my newly sported French beard. It went on expected lines, just like any other household. The mother asking/pleading/threatening the son to remove the fungus off his face. Well, mine doesn’t exactly resemble a fungus. Apparently, I look my age with it. But do I want to?!
 
Before I answer that, lets just rewind a few months into the past. My mother had been very sincere & earnest in her requests directed at me – to SPORT A BEARD!! Surprising I know. But I had been postponing my decision as long as possible. Seriously, I wasn’t in any mood to voluntarily donate self-ridiculing content.
 
The summer internship seemed like the perfect opportunity to satisfy my mother’s fancy – limited crowd, lesser known faces. Perfect to a T.
 
Back to the present. She’s changed her mind about the whole damn thing. Only thing is that I’ve now begun to like my beard. Well, actually not the beard..but the powers it has vested in me. It provides me another hook to pull my mom’s leg. (And I don’t need to tell you how much I enjoy that!)
 
My mom decided to unleash the Brahma-astra of reasons – or that’s what she thought. Brahmins are not supposed to sport beards – the Vedas & Upanishads & Manu Smriti make this very clear. Hmm.
 
As far as I know, a Brahmin is also supposed to –
perform Sandhyavandhaman everyday.
have a tuft at the back of his head.
not eat onion, garlic, etc.
have a deep & intense desire to study.

And I do none of these. Wonder what makes my mom think that I would listen to the scriptures now. Optimism. Misguided optimism.

Or maybe I will listen to her. I am not all that bad a guy. :)

Bumpy ride!

As I was on the way back to my hostel after a 3 day layoff, I kept thinking about what I would enter in my Blog today. Apparently we Iyengars are famous for just 2 things in Bangalore:
1) Tyre Clinics 2) Puliodhare
Despite the obvious attraction, I couldnt see myself torturing you poor folks by talking about either of these.

So I rode on..and what caught my eye was this sign:
"Jumping Signal Fine Rs. 100 Only"
Have "Jumping Signal Fines" become a valuable commodity for Bangaloreans..so valuable that the cops have begun to give it away at a cheap price. 100 bucks seems like a steal for jumping fines. No..maybe I should scout around Bangalore looking for a better bargain.

The next big landmark along my route is my alma mater - PESIT. The place where most of our Gang studied. Just a sec.."studied" would be the wrong word to use (except for Ameya). Quite an imposing structure, standing desolate on the Ring Road. Not quite desolate, a Dhaba next to it seems to be doing great business. I wish it had been there during our "class suspension days".

Then comes the traffic signal at Devegowda Petrol Pump. "Devegowda" doesnt seem right. Considering the amount of time I spend at this damn signal waiting for it to turn green, maybe it should have been named Vajpayee Petrol Bunk. But not all people wait so long..there are some who jump the signal pretty regularly.
They must either be the target consumers of the sign I was talking about earlier.
Or, if we are looking for an easier answer, they are Ameya-clones. :)

Now comes the most adventurous part of my journey. I have 2 options in front of me.
a) At Delmia, I could go straight and hit Bannerghatta Road and take a right and reach my college. There is a fundamental flaw in the previous sentence. Dhimant would be able to spot it right away. For the rest, let me enlighten you - there is NO road. By my generous, lenient definition a road would be something that has atleast a square inch of tar. But Bannerghatta (non)Road fails that as well. My Hero Honda Splendor gives its best imitation of a horse during this stretch. So remarkable is the impersonation that I have begun to mix grass with my petrol. This clever trick gives me the best of both worlds.

b) But there are times when, like the proverbial horse, I can take mine to Bannerghatta..but cant make it ride on it. So I deviate from my usual course and go through the woods. Actually, it is a wooden bridge (which wouldn't have looked the least bit out-of-place at Cubbon Park) that I need to cross. I am also treated to the scenic view of the sewage that flows under the bridge. Unfortunately, that isn't the worst part of my journey. The narrow lanes further ahead make the sewage just "water under the bridge".

I brave all this and come right near the Arrogant One's office - Honeywell. I can't see Dhimant, but I hear him moaning "Ayn Rand Ayn Rand..". I quickly exit this scene before I am tempted towards the dark side where all people do is read Zen & The Art of Motorcycle/Horse maintenance, Foutainhead, Tuesdays with Mori non-stop.

I finally enter the campus and park/tether my bike/horse near my hostel. That ends my bumpy ride. Whew!

I received quite a few mails from people asking me whether I knew any females at all. I guess they were talking about someone who isnt my mother, sister, cousin. I dont think they meant female horses as well..they are called mares I think.

Do I have any female friends? Yup..I do. 2 to be more accurate. Quite a huge number. 2 more than what I had before I joined Infy. :)

Ahalya, who is in the US and Swati, who is in Hyderabad. Both no longer in Infy and pursuing their higher studies. All the best to them.

Finally something personal.

Two entries old. One has been on The Pistons and the other on The Theory. Now it is time to get back to some mundane things.

My Bangalore gang has begun dwindling yet again. We began with Achuth, Aja, Akshai, Ameya, Dhimant, Indrashis, Kaushik, Pramod, Rajesh, Rajneesh & Chilli (yours truly). The current strength in Bangalore is a measly 5!! Kochi, Singapore, Germany, Sweden, Chennai & US are the damn places that hold these missing pieces of our gang.

Oh, how I wish for those days..those golden days when:

Surfing the net was a tedious procedure performed at my place using a Shell account. (home.sol.no: remember that?!)

Cricket was a game played in front of my house with the barbed fence serving as the solitary stump. (Raju with his finger-twisting leg spinners)

Movie-watching was a fun-filled activity (regardless of the quality of the movie), replete with constant heckling and the not-so-constant stares/glares from the people in front. (Attack of the Clones wins the Fair-Day goose)

Playing cards with Flash being the most popular game. Having so much fun and competing so hard, and in the end it used to boil down to a single jackpot round. (Remember my King Cobra variation?!)

By now, you must have realised that I am pretty much ruled by emotions unlike my dear friend "Spock" Rajneesh. That is me, always expressing all my emotions..except anger. I think God took away my share of anger and split it between Raju & Bandhar. Who is Bandhar? Well..it is a person to whose blog I have a shortcut on the right, but it aint Rajneesh. :)) Now this should see me on the receiving end of a good dose of the anger I was speaking about.

Wait a sec..I DO express my anger. But that is only against the teaching faculty of the world. That isnt too big a deal..is it? Who are we kidding! Between you and me, we know that they really serve no discernible purpose. (Exceptions are rare..nope make that DOUBLE RARE!)

In a way, each member of our gang had his idiosyncrasies..and that made it all the more sweet. And I miss each one of them. Oops..did that sound girlish? (My Infy colleagues will know this phrase very well.) But seriously, I really long for the day when the Gang can get together once again.
When? Yeppo? Yaavaga? Kabh? Lion..tiger..prabhakar..midnight masala..
(Let me stop that right there. I could do this all day. :) )

I have been/am parts of other gangs as well. When the time comes, you shall read about them as well. But I begin at the beginning.

That ends my first personal entry into my Blog. I must confess that it felt GOOD..GREAT! More on all of my friends, family, etc in the future. Till then BYE.

Oh btw, I hate the damn media for the hype they create around Euro soccer. True soccer is in exhibition at the Copa America, please do watch it. And those #$%^$%&^$%^s at the media dont even...oops! Nothing non-personal today. For another day maybe, hopefully. :)

And so the classes go on...

3rd week into the 2nd year of college, and I have already bunked 3 classes. 3?!!! Just 3..something is definitely wrong. Usually I would have missed twice that number. The simple reason is that I have very few classes in the first place..so bunking will obviously have to decline.

Enough of classes. I have a new theory in my mind and I would like to share it with all you people. But first here is the premise for that:

Lets say that A has a class at 10:15 AM. B has a class at 10:30 AM. I find that there is a strange difference in the perception of these 2 "waiting times". That is, A is not too worried about the 10:15 appointment until the clock has crossed 10. On the other hand, B begins to get anxious by 10:10 itself.
To elucidate further, A begins to hurry up only after 10 (ie 15 mins before the scheduled time). While B gets the urge to hurry up a good 20 mins before the scheduled time.

Do any of you feel the same kind of "differing perceptions"? If yes, read on (for I have a theory). Else, tata bye-bye..nothing more for you guys today.

For the non-Flat-Earthers, here is my theory:

Simply put, it has to do with the structure of the analog clock. I feel that the human mind sees the transition from 9:45 to 10 much much slower than the 10-10:15 one. It is because of the fact that in the clock, 9:45-10:00 is an "uphill task" - kinda against gravity and hence time moves slower. While 10-10:15 is "downhill" and hence time moves faster.
:)
Makes sense eh?!! Your comments are welcome.