"God made weed, Man made booze": Girls' Day Out.

... AN UNEXPECTEDLY DIFFERENT POST.

There was a trip to Palolem Beach (South Goa) organized for 2006 batch girls yesterday, that is 26th January. Now well, you know the reason for part of the title, and for the first part, read on.

We were supposed to leave at 8:30 AM. But given that many of us woke up at around that time, we left at 10:30 AM, and as we were sitting in the bus we realized that the '35' seater was well, a 31-seater. Anyway, we got 5 stools or something and the journey was fun. It made me realize that no matter how much times change, somethings just remain the same. Like the set of songs you use while playing Antakshari hasn't incorporated a lot of new songs. 'Na na karte pyar tumhi se..' WILL be a. sung and b. followed by 'Thande thande paani se..'

We reached Palolem at around 11:45. So then began woos that quickly turned into ow's, as the sun suddenly made its presence felt.. And then we started to find a spot where we could cut the cake (yes we had a cake, and it was delicious :| ) And so we started cheering for glory and CH4/GH4(J), as we couldn't find amy other subject matter to cheer about, nor was it anyone's birthday, while we frantically slapped sunscreen on to ourselves.

So after all the cake-cutting and eating and wiping-our-hands-clean, we all decided to split up for lunch and then meet up at 3 again. So me, Juthika, Madhura, Tvisha, Sanskriti and Saniya went our way to Cube, this shack with lotsa blackboards with funky stuff written on 'em. After a few non-alcoholic beverages, Sanskriti and Saniya decided to go kayaking. If you didn't hear what she said next, you'd think Saniya went kayaking for about 2 minutes. Well, she had come back as the guy had started asking her about her insurance details, and (this would sound familiar to BITSians), she was going out in the ocean on her own risk and responsibility.

So for the next 45 minutes we watched Sanso transform from a human figure in a kayak, to an orange speck beyond the horizon. (Technically, we couldn't see the orange speck after she 'crossed' horizon.) And then we went wood-oven-pizza hunting, and landed at La Pizzeria, where we were asked what we meant when we ordered for 'Coke'.

After a rather-insipid pasta and a good pizza, we went shopping. (Now I know why I stopped feeling hungry! :P ) So we went into a shop, came out and went into another, tried stuff out and occasionally bought something. Somewhere, we split into two groups of 3 each, with me, Maddie and Saniya together. "Oh! That is SO cute" to "not worth the price" was the general flow of the conversation, when we couldn't manage to strike a deal. Anyway, Maddie bought a dress and a skirt, I bought a kurti and a top, and Saniya too bought a dress.

During our little shopping spree, Preeti had called Maddie up and minced no words (in a nice way) when she had said that we would all meet up at 4, and then take a group pic and then leave by 5. So at around 3:30, when we were done with shopping (we ran out of shops), we made our way back to the beach, and started walking towards the river and the island. Me and Saniya collected shells on the way, and I noticed that the species of molluscs with snake-like pattern on their shells is pretty common at that stretch.

So we walked towards the other end, and the sun's reflection on the wet sand preceded us. The blue, the white and the golden hues all came together to make that one walk thoroughly fulfilling. The characteristic patterns rivulets made on the silt they carried all the way down, the boisterous flow of the water towards the sea, against you as you walk across, and then finally the green and calm of the rather secluded part of the beach. Nature really fills you up with sheer, innocent happiness :)

Also, we can safely say that we crossed a sea and a river to reach an island :P

Then we went back to where everyone was supposed to assemble, and got a group pic taken (a foreigner wanted to click us too :| ), and then we left for the bus. (Not before Sanskriti had a mini-adventure of her own :P)

Amazing trip, and the best beach I've been to. And a long post... :|

Oh, by the way, the first part of the title? Well, I saw a tee shirt that said 'God made weed, Man made booze. You decide who's better', which I was planning on buying for a friend. Thanks for reading :P

Blog-Post

This is a blog-post.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now, with 'now' defined to be the time you see next to the title.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now, with 'now' defined to be the time you see next to the title, where the title tells you that this is a blog post.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now, with 'now' defined to be the time you see next to the title, where the title tells you that this is a blog post, well, about updates.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now, with 'now' defined to be the time you see next to the title, where the title tells you that this is a blog post, well, about updates that need not pertain to my life.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now, with 'now' defined to bes the time you see next to the title, where the title tells you that this is a blog post, well, about updates that need not pertain to my life, or anyone else's in general.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now, with 'now' defined to be the time you see next to the title, where the title tells you that this is a blog post, well, about updates that need not pertain to my life, or anyone else's in general; though it may contain information about something you might be interested in.

Or maybe not.

:)

(edit: the time actually comes at the end of the post :P well, whaddya know!)

I lou my glasses :)

I had broken my glasses last night,
The screw fell out, went out of sight.
My spects were then no more one-pieced,
My vision blurred, trouble increased.

I couldn't recognize people 3 feet away from me
I couldn't tell a P from an R, or a D!
I was asked to count fingers again and again
That whole exercise really was a pain.

The tune in my head was a strange medley
Of 'What's going on' and 'Everything's so blurry'.
Internet and PC-time was antagonizing
As my anti-glare lenses were missing.

Then today, I thought I'll get them repaired
Even when the rain was playing truant and unfair.
I didn't give up, got wet in the process though.
Pakdofyd a Bakra to accompany me to Vasco.

The opticians were really sweet and nice,
They put in a new screw for no price.
The two pieces were then reunited,
Glasses back to business, I was delighted!

The tune in my head aint a medley anymore,
"I can see clearly now", as Marley had sung before.
I can recognize people, and attend classes,
I lou my awesome -wait for it- glasses!

:D

Inertia

This is a term that reminds most (well, most people who have had something to do with science) of Newton, physics and mechanics. Strictly speaking, inertia is the resistance an object has to a change in its state of motion. If a body is moving, it will keep doing so till an external force tries to stop it. Same way with a body at rest.

Now, how do you define rest? It really depends on the frame of reference right? If the object does not change its position with respect to this frame with time, it is 'at rest'. Now, if this frame of reference is moving (with respect to another boss-frame of reference of course), the 'stationary' object isn't well, stationary.

Similarly, an object that is perceived to be moving in one frame of reference can be taken as stationary in another. It all really depends on what the observer assumes to be the basic frame of reference. Where am I going with this explanation of high-school physics? Well, try applying this to 'real life'. Day-to-day situations. You are slogging your behind off at something, while your superior thinks you aren't moving at all. And things happen the other way round sometimes.

So if reality is just a bunch of perceptions, what is constant? Or in other fancy words, what remains unvarying between all the intersections of varied perceptions we label truth? And if it all really is this futile, why bother at all?

I am not so sure I know the answer to the first question. I'm guessing one word answers the second.

Inertia.

Confusion

Ok. No idea why I'm going public with this. Maybe I've grown over it. Had been writing this since past semester. Yeah, took an awful lot of time. Added stanzas whenever I pleased. This piece suffered a lot, blame my whims and fancies. And now it dies.

Flow

Myriad thoughts
Reflected in her eyes
A sardonic smile
The perfect disguise

Commanding her rationale
To dive, ponder and pause
To unearth her own being
Find out who she was

The cherub
A carefree, foamy wave
Golden under the sun
Merrily ambling away

The sensitive
A soothing, patient brook
Talks to the mind
Returns what worries took

The thinker
Serene expanse of blue
A pebble's ripples
Contemplating old and new

The ambitious
A proud, roaring waterfall
Stones, hills, rocks
Wanting to conquer them all

The sorrowed
Bare, disobedient lament
A trickle, a deluge
Unrestrained drops of sentiment

The erudite
Orb's wisdom pouring in
Ocean gleaming in the sun
Ageless, all-pervading

The destructor
The whirlpool in the sea
A twisted motive,
Engulfing all in her fury

The mellowed
Meandering to the deep ranks
Recollecting and reminiscing
The voyage between two banks

The nature
The spirit in her entirety
Rediscovering herself,
The unvarying, elemental identity

randomness prevails

How I Met Your Mother (and a friend) once taught me that nothing good can happen after 2 am. Its 2: 21 now. Long day. And yup, when its past 2 you end up saying things you won't otherwise. Or putting up random posts either.

Why am I up? I don't have classes till like 12 noon tomorrow. Ever wondered that for one instant we invented the word noon? I mean, a little past 12:00:00... and its pm, while the left hand side of the limit is all am.

Why am I blogging? I'm not so sure. Blues have got me all blue-ie. Like ONE time I'd admit I write stuff I won't ever put up on a blog, or that I could sing once upon a time, or that I'm actually one of the royals of Monaco.

Does this post make any sense? It logically does. Mathematical logic.

Randomly generated post ends here now.

The Usual Post-Terrorist-Attack Terrorist Bashing

The title says it all. Probably not the first and won't be the last, going by the way the government's approaching the issue, with the Home Minister more intent on clarifying all's well between the Centre and the State govt than send out a strong and stern warning to terrorists.

Two cities bombed on two consecutive days. We just don't learn, do we? President Bush had minced no words after 9-11 attacks. India, on the other hand, is a softie. Actually no. Our leaders would much rather use POTA to chuck their political rivals into jails, thus trivializing the law that at least offered some control over the menace. Then the Central government changes, and thus all the laws implemented by the previous one have to be changed too. So no more special laws against terrorism, while the ineffective implementation of the existing laws remains just that, ineffective.

Result? 9 blasts in Bangalore on 25th, then 17 in Ahmedabad the very next day. You don't need me to list out the other places that have been the victims of terrorism in the recent past. All the news-channels are screaming out words like Jaipur, Malegaon etc repeatedly.

Would this ever end? The UPA has had enough troubles. Inflation, trust-vote, and now these blasts. They really do not have too much time before the elections to get the people's trust back.

I do hope this is it. No more pointless bloodshed. Pretty disgusting, blowing hospitals up right when the blast victims were being brought in. Makes me wonder, who exactly is the terror-perpetrators' 'Jihad' for?

Superhero (?)

I've been away from home for quite some time, and after these fifteen days, would be away from another couple of months. Well, lots of things happen while I'm away, and my family fills me in.

This post is about the stray (one of them rather) that has adopted us, he's a dog who we call Doggie. (I've blogged about him earlier too, check out the older posts). Now, Doggie is a very responsible guy. He would come and drop you to the gate of the colony, from where you could get an auto. Not satisfied with just this, he occasionally puts his forelegs in the auto, as if to enquire whether everything is ok or not.

Well, last month he did something quite unforgettable (in more than one sense this word conveys). You see, our insurance agent had come home once, for some formalities regarding our car. Now, he wanted to see the interiors of the car. So well, my mom gave him the keys, and told him Doggie won't bite. And that the insurance guy should ignore Doggie baring his teeth, and barking unceasingly. Well, my mom couldn't convince Doggie that this guy meant no harm, and that he wouldn't have stolen the car. Doggie tried his best scaring that guy away, but when he saw that this guy was getting into his (ours, actually) car he couldn't resist. Despite my mom and sister shouting and waving some sorta stick, Doggie went and (luckily) caught the agent's trousers at the heel.

My mother and sister then rushed to the scene, and had to hit Doggie to get him to leave the harried and scared-to-death insurance agent. Doggie wasn't amused, and thought they were being really dumb and over-confident. But then again, if mom and sis were so sure of what they were doing, he decided not to bother. After all, they won't have the car once that guy was done.

Well, the insurance agent quickly finished all the formalities, and told my mother that they would be contacting us soon, and then left. My mom, in the middle of telling my dad the inspection was done (she left the exact details for later), and praying that the agent won't sue us, and other things she does, tried making amends with Doggie with quite a substantial serving of eggs and buttered bread and stuff that Doggie really likes. Doggie wasn't amused. Probably this was about principles more than anything else. So he sulked till my dad came home, and then before my mom could justify herself, the prosecution launched a barrage of accusations before the judge could even enter his house. My dad wasn't really understanding what had gone wrong, and hence turned to the witness (my sister) who then filled him in with the details.

So then my dad promised Doggie justice would be delivered and then came inside. Upon learning that Doggie was on some sort of hunger strike, he went and apologized on the family's behalf, (and I'm guessing made an offer of a few biscuits Doggie likes) and only after a lot of cajoling, did our hero relent. My mom then put extra milk and extra cream in his dinner.

Sweet, isn't it? :)

(PS. The next Sunday, we had to take our car to the insurance office to get the job done.)

exam time special.

Well, test 1 going on. Last one tomorrow, Electrical Sciences 2. I should be studying right? Tturns out three-phases and magnetic circuits aren't exactly my idea of fun. One thing I've noticed is that my mind notices everything under the sun and more often than not classifies it as 'interesting'. Well, maybe because stuff is being compared with really realy mundane activities like studying. mugging and associated activities.

Oh well, so here's a list of the things I've noticed during the last week, since before T1 began. Stuff that otherwise nobody pays much attention to. Basically exam-time specials:

1. You suddenly feel very drowsy at nights, when you could stay up surfing the net aimlessly, playing games and what not during non-exam time.

2. You start feeling very very hungry at nights (the ones you are up on), and you almost never have any food in your room. And your neighbours are sleeping too. (point 1)

3. The sudden cleaning spurt. You just HAVE to clean or wash your fan/table/clothes/room. Well, maybe it's a girls' hostel thing...

4. You get addicted. To various TV series (How I Met Your Mother being the flavour last sem, this semester its Kyle XY). Or as in my case, ebooks and comics. (Archie! Jughead! Betty & Veronica! Aaah...)

5. Almost everyone (from your college) on your gtalk list has exam-related, very creative status messages. Sample this: "State urysohn's 7th lemma on Gaussian operators in the Argand plane..backwards.." or "aaye saala ... abhi abhi hua yakeen... test 1 ke liye maine kuch ... pada nahi ... class ko ..main kab gaya .... kitab ko kisne pakda ....chalte raho .... rubarooo...". This was mine, drawing upon my QUARK experiences - "motto of the week: padh le bewkoof!"

6. Eye for detail. Makes itself really prominent these days. Like today i realized that my corridor inhabitants possess all kinds of locks. Like 107 uses a 7 lever lock, and 119 uses a real tiny one, one that you might put on your suitcase while travelling. I realized i have a 6 lever one. And the average i think is between 5 and 5.2 levers per lock in my corridor.
Or that, you suddenly find yourself making B-plans for the local nescafe/monginis outlet. If Monginis increases its stock of veg sandwiches by x%, then they would last beyond 9:30 pm. Hence more food for us, and more profit for 'em.

7. The perennial in Top-10-exam-times. The weather. It always is beautiful outside the evening before a test. Especially brilliant if you haven't touched the subject. Would've put power failure as another essential phenomenon, but well, these days it isn't restricted to exam-time and hence has lost out on its slot.

8. Overall increase in creativity. The status messages provide a glimpse. The simultaneous and exponential surge in flow of creative juices in students' minds mainfests itself in forms like newer posts on different blogs (ET, JD updated theirs already), people redecorating their rooms, revolutionary ideas of bugging the hell out of someone etc etc etc.

9. Exam time is when all your old friends decide to come online at the most inappropriate time(or is it really inappropriate?). You can't talk to them, as you have like 70% of your course left, yet you can't not talk to them. Sigh!

10. Boredom. And that oo, whacked boredom, the kind that makes you go all whacky. Like I was so bored once, I went to my (10 pointer) neighbour's room and did all kinds of keede there, including bouncing a ball on her wall. When she finally managed to get me out of her room, I kinda umm, went and tripped our corridor's main switch off. :D Twice.

Well, so long. I really should get down to those transformers now. Additions to the list are welcome! :)

Bestaluck for all your exams/results
Pranshu

(P.S.: I just realized I use 'well' a lot of times...)

bhande kali kara lo..!

in the pic: all the akhil mehtas. me, puneet, nimit, akhil, pralav.

Ok. So this post is all about our marketing trip on 25-01-2008, friday. Well, our motive was to promote Quark '08 (http://www.bits-quark.org/) in Goan colleges. And so Nimit, our respected and feared Marketing Head, Member-of-Organizing-Committee ordered all of us to be at the main gate at 7:15 sharp.

Now, before i continue, i suppose you must know the main characters in this story. These are:

1. Akhil Mehta aka TylerDurden aka Tillu. 2nd year. Bigshot on DC. And the reason for the title of this post.

2. Lita Das aka Bhonpu (according to NIMIT). 3rd year, very highly noticeable. And her 6 feet plus height is not the only factor.

3. Puneet Gupta aka Akhil Mehta. (reasons will be clear to you once you are done reading this post). 3rd year. by far the quietest 3rd year. Especially useful when you need wisecracks to be well, cracked.

4. Pranshu Sharma aka me aka Akhil Mehta. ME.

5. Pratik Mandrekar aka Akhil Mehta. 2nd year, quiet Honda Activa (aka Kinetic Honda) driver. Smart 'local Goan'.

6. Pralav Dessai aka Akhil Mehta aka Driver Bhaiyya. 3rd year, 'local Goan' guy again. Drives the car well, including situations where a sonic boom occurs very close to his left ear.

7. Nimit Mehra aka Akhil Mehta aka THE ORGANIZER aka THE MARKETING HEAD. Boss, basically. The 'senapati' of this vaanar sena that went all around Goa on Friday.

So my day started with Lita whispering (for a change) at my door at 6 am to wake me up. So then finally we sign out of the campus by around 7 45 am. Now the plan was that Pratik and Puneet would go on Activa while the rest of us would be in the car. Then we realize the guy who rented us the Honda Activa (aka Kinetic Honda) needed to be dropped off to Vasco. So with me and Lita stuffed on the front seat next to the driver we almost reached Vasco following Pratik who had the bike-guy sitting behind him. And then we realize, that we could have just left Puneet at the campus gate and continued.

And then we realized the road through the jungle to Vasco had a huge huge hole in it. So Pralav tried getting us all back on a road. And I tried saving myself from being squished between the door and Lita while Lita shouted out stuff like "Hum nahin bachenge... we can't reach Vasco.. we can't reach GEC (goa engg college)... Akhil Mehta! Shut up Nimit Mehra.. Pralav bewkoof look at the road. Akhil Mehta!.."

We survived. And soon were on our way to Goa Engineering College. We reached there before 9, when the classes start. I got a good audience. Told them all about Quark, the events, the workshops, the special nights, and I told them that a London troupe of jugglers who have performed at Olympics 2004 were coming to our campus (http://www.feedingthefish.com/), and that magic shows are not just "pulling the rats out of habits" (double-slip of my tongue). So we finished with our job and soon were on our way to RIT (forgot the full form).

So we were having fun, singing songs, making Pralav change the radio station every 30 seconds and laughing uncontrollably whenever Lita would say something and Nimit would try to counter her point. "Akhil Mehta!... Nimit bewkoof.. Pralav do not drive fast. I wanna sleep... Akhil Mehta!.. Itna tez nahin... Radio chalao bewkoof!... Akhil Mehta!..." No matter who took her case/did something that annoyed her, Lita would utter 2 words "Akhil Mehta". Hence all non-Litaeans belonging to Quark-teamus kingdom, Marketingae phylum and Friday-teamus Order have a genus name of Akhil Mehta.

Well, our respected and revered and feared and non brain-severed boss was having a good time too. We all are very scared of Nimit. And we all respect him a lot. And he is a good boss. And he is not getting married to Lita. He was totally cool with us teasing him with her. And he totally was not avoiding being in the same vehicle. Pralav will not be the chauffeur of the newly-married lovebirds. Me and Tillu will not be the two witnesses needed to register a marriage. Nimit is well respected by all of us. So, he was laughing and not calling anyone a 'dumba$$'. This is when Tillu decides to tell us all about this song which is now our marketing anthem (as Nimit put it). "Bhande kali kara lo".

Now, this song fills you up with the same feelings as "aie hiphopper' and 'tic tic tic tic tic tic' do. Bhande in Punjabi means utensils. The feel that comes in this song, is unmatched. You gotta listen to it to know what i mean. Ultimate song!!! Totally cracked the Punjabis (Nimit, Tillu and Puneet) up.

Anyway, so we were continuing with "kali-karaoing the bhandes" ie our going to college, meeting students, handing them flyers worth 11 bucks each, being reminded not to be so generous with the flyers as they were expensive, put up our posters on top of every other techfest's posters, talk to some more people, and then run to the car/activa, where Nimit and Lita would mock-fight with each other. ("gimme my wallet Lita" "you give me my cellphone first" "ek haath de, ek haath le" "Im throwing your wallet outside" "Lita..." "bewkoof..."). And the rest of us would just be content with having a good laugh at their expense.

And so we continued with our trip, and then stopped in Madgaon to have lunch. Which is when we got to know Tillu speaks brilliant chaste Hindi. He told us he had just missed winning a Hindi poem-reciting competition on Hindi Diwas. Later Nimit told me the piece of Hindi literature which he had brought to life with his serene and captivating manner of speaking was "machhli jal ki rani hai".

So well then, on and on we went. Lita went on about Akhil Mehta and Kinetic Honda. I was well, just very happy 1. Tillus shorter than me 2. Litas crazier than me. Pralav was amazed Eeshan was right about what would happen on friday (he had imitated Lita very well, I believe) and happy his speedometer's 'kaanta' had the capacity to go upto 120 and not get stuck at 100. Nimit was happy we were done, and that since he was not in the car, his case would not be taken (quite wrong though, Tillu me Puneet and Pralav had fun). Puneet and Pratik were well, themsleves. All cool and calm and quiet. Enjoying the show. Tillu was being Tillu and happy that for once Lita was not yelling his name out once every 2 minutes. We had another round of Bhande kali kara lo.

And then we came back to campus where Lita finally got her Kinetic Honda and I got to sit behind her. We covered the entire campus, I believe. Hoping someone we know would see us. Which they did. :D

Brilliant trip. And our boss is going to blog about it too!

subconscious takes over

Well, have no clue what's happening. Am in my senses but, well, there's a but'. Listening to Coldplay does that I think. Oh well, am obsessed with putting lyrics up I guess. This is one of my favourites. Yellow by Coldplay. Hope, love and optimism. All about giving yourself, and the joys associated with it. :)

Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And everything you do
Yeah, they were all yellow.

I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called "Yellow".
So then I took my turn
Oh what a thing to have done
And it was all "Yellow."

Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
You know, you know I love you so
You know I love you so.

I swam across
I jumped across for you,
Oh what a thing to do.
Cos you were all "Yellow"
I drew a line
I drew a line for you
Oh what a thing to do
And it was all "Yellow."

Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
And you know
For you I'd bleed myself dry
For you I'd bleed myself dry.

It's true
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for,
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine.
Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And all the things that you do.

snow in delhi

The lowest temperature (till the time today's newspaper was printed) in Delhi was 1.9 degrees. That too daytime temp. Heard an NDTV reporter wondering what things would be like if Delhi hits zero degree celcius. Freezing point of water. So got me thinking (as some or the other Delhiite I know does every winter), what would it be like if it snows in Delhi...

I tried imagining snow on Rajpath. The golden glow of India Gate diffused through the pearly white of snow. NH8 all covered up in snow. Snow on the 'mast' of 'That Ship-Buliding' in Gurgaon. Snow on all the round-abouts the city has. The huge expanse between the North and South Blocs, all calmly white.

Snow around the numerous pillars in Connaught Place. On the neon lights. On the stars (stars with names and stuff of Bollywood's who's who) at PVR Saket. Lotus temple standing pure and serene, the pools surounding it all frozen and still, and a beautiful white carpet laid on the stairs there. Snow on the roof of Palika Bazaar. The streamlined Metro busily streaking along the snow-laden bridges. Yamuna ambling along, while the snowflakes fall merrily on her... White mingling with blue (well, at least before the sewer and other drains pour their black and dark venom into it). The airport would be in a sorry state though. The trains, with their yellow boards showing the destinations covered with dollops of fresh white snow.

Snow at the flyovers, with the reflectors peeping out from their white blankets and blinking as you pass them by. Snowflakes sitting playfully on the LEDs on traffic-signal (red-yellow-green lights) that tell you how much time till the signal changes; almost teasing and taunting you. Snow on the watch-tower of my school, the silvery white confetti that the Big Bell would spray around while chiming at 3 pm every weekday.

Snowfall at Aravalis (that is the Jawaharlal Nehru University region - also close to my place). Snowfall on my window. Doggie and Co. being Rudolph and other reindeer inc.

Beautiful, wouldn't it be?

:)

Taare Zameen Par :)

It was supposed to be just five of us meeting up, hanging around for a while on 31st evening. Simran couldn't come, and Pranay and Manohar were gonna take a lot of time. So me and Agastya just hung around, roaming around Basant Lok market and talking (me doing the most of it, robots aren't exactly known to be excellent conversationalists) and then i saw there was a show for TZP beginning at 6 : 45 pm. So on an impulse, I decided we would watch the movie. So after a long long wait till 6:45 (these two made it in time, surprisingly) we went in to watch the movie, me dreading I'll sleep through it as I hadn't slept properly the last night. And the movie began.

Now I had heard a lot about the directorial debut of Aamir Khan. It's good, but really senti. Maybe a little too serious for New Years, i thought. Well, with a little help from hindsight, I'd say this was one of the best ever ways to bid goodbye to a year.

No drama, no dance/romance of typical Bollywood movies. Mindblowing performance by everyone, especially Darsheel, who plays Ishaan in the movie. The beauty lied in the fact that the film said just enough. Nothing more, nothing less. Portrayed the innocence and the dreams of childhood brilliantly. The wonderful feeling of not knowing any fear, when terms and conditions attached with every darn thing of the adult world don't exist. When it makes perfect sense to bunk school and roam around the streets without any tensions when you haven't done your Math homework.

It's so easy to admit that you were wrong, that you made a mistake when you are a kid. Child has a belief that there is always a possibility that something beyond his/her thoughts exists. Something we lose as we grow up. The simplicity just touches a chord.

Taare Zameen Par shows all this, and what happens when a child is not given a chance to make himself understood. The parents blinded by their expectations just push the kid where the stereotypes tagged with success demand everyone to be. And the rigidity in our society, where everyone has to follow a set pattern, when every one is a distinct individual.

TZP is a sensitive and simple account of one such struggle of an 8 year old. A must-watch, and not just because it solemnly sensitizes the viewer towards the dyslexic and the mentally-challenged. Also as it urges you to think different, to be open-minded about people. To let the kids blossom into what they should be.

And also how simple things in life leave a greater impact on you.

Way to go Darsheel! and Aamir too. :)

happy (?) holidays

'Tis the festive season. Only it doesn't seem so festive, does it? Torrential rains in Sumatra and Bali causing landslide and killing many, Floods in Sri Lanka, Bangalore and Mexico, and then LTTE and Sri Lankan army battling it out. The latest in this collection of disturbing happenings, Benazir Bhutto shot dead by Al-Qaeda in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Well, sorta takes the ring out of "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!"...

So its Mother Earth and/or Destiny unleashing her/their fury somewhere, and one can safely rely on terrorists to be at their jobs everywhere else on this planet. I suppose the terrorists/naxalites and other anarchists are pretty much the only ones who are always working, no matter what happens in this world. Highly dedicated towards their cause of spreading ill-will, fear and destruction on this planet. I'm guessing the drive to excel (?) comes from the competition they face from Global-Warming Inc and AIDS, Cancer and associates. The race is on, mate. Let's see who is crowned the destroyer of mankind.

Well, come to think of it, not like this stuff doesn't happen on non-holidays. A part of routine. Then why is it that it kinda makes a deeper impression during hols? Or is it just me? Was reading a friend's blog, he started off all shocked and appalled at Bhutto's murder, and then talked about Santas and elves spreading cheer among children in his neighbourhood. Seemed a little strange to me. Maybe he could've continued about Benazir, and the repercussions on Pakistan. But he didn't. Probably he had the whole 'new year' and 'joy and happiness' thing going.

I'm still stuck at the Benazir assasination. Seriously, killing someone and then blowing yourself up (and hence killing more people).. This requires a heck of a brainwasher. Just too much of avoidable bloodshed going on here. Switch the TV on, and you see such images being thrust into your faces. Can't blame people if they get desensitized due to the overdose of goriness. Sucks.

I think I'm over-stressing and over-thinking about this. Oh well, what the heck. Put the movie on, pass me some popcorn. Happy new year people!

quarky quirks and delhi ki sardi

So, it is December and it's as cold as it gets in Delhi. Though I am a little disappointed. Haven't seen fog after 12 noon yet :(. And yes, internet is the life-saver again when the cold and cruel wave of boredom sweeps across the place. And so, here I am, under the imminent danger of losing one or two of my toes to frostbite (and this is when i am wearing socks).

The big Q is getting closer and closer. Its bigger than ever. We hit 10 lakh already!!! :D Can feel the fever and fervour... PCQuest already in. Hmm... Its gonna be hard work, come January. Exciting. It's as if Quark is not just the "annual technical extravaganza of BITS, Pilani - Goa Campus".. but some sort of hot-shot celeb everyone is waiting for, and going all out to ensure Q has a great time. Publicity writers, Org Co people (no, not orgy Eeshan), Sponsorship guys.. EPC too...
Everyones all busy and on with it. It feels nice when your Delhi friends suddenly tell you they are participating, when your college is in Goa. Its been through ups and downs, seen tops and bottoms, been strange yet charming so far. Can only get better. Yup, Quark is gonna be here soon..!!! check this out. www.bits-quark.org

(and the sentence before the last one was a very miserable attempt at getting the names of all quarks (subatomic particles, stoopid!) in a sentence.)

(and you had to read the paragraph above coz:
1. Im bored, and seriously have nothing to do.
2. other people are busy with quark, least i can do is bestow upon this fest a great privilege, by giving it a little space on this phenomenal, stupendous, etc etc (fingers too cold and it takes time typing big words) and sexy blog. blah!
3. Madhura told me to update me blog.)

And its highly cold. And i don't have any interesting stories to tell. Well, nothing except that I would've been Pocahontas if this world was Disneyworld, and that Facebook is one of the best ways to kill time, and that my fingers are frozen, and that my feet pretty soon will have icicles on em.

And I went for the alumni lunch today, and called a 2001 batch girl "old" :P

Adios Amigos.

Pranshu

random musings...

compres coming up. haven't studied yet. last mt in 10 hours. going home on 15th. confusion never stops, closing walls and ticking clocks (from clocks-coldplay). the picture poster juthika n siddhant got me today looks brilliant on my wall. made my decisions, sticking to them. lets see if things improve. i hope they do. not that easy to end something. but i gotta get over the obsession with 'welcome to india' by ludakrishna and vikram mc. what do i write? lyrics are boring. but yeah, there is a clarity of sorts in all this mess. right now at least :)

am i depressed? for a change, naah... keep smiling beautiful people :) :) :)

clarity

I worry, I weigh three times my body
I worry, I throw my fear around
But this morning, there's a calm I can't explain
The rock candy's melted, only diamonds now remain

Ooh ooh ooh ooh

By the time I recognize this moment
This moment will be gone
But I will bend the light, pretend that it somehow lingered on
Well all I got's

Ooh ooh ooh ooh

And I will wait to find
If this will last forever
And I will wait to find
If this will last forever
And I will pay no mind
When it won't and it won't because it can't
It just can't
It's not supposed to

Was there a second of time that I looked around?
Did I sail through or drop my anchor down
Was anything enough to kiss the ground?
And say I'm here now and she's here now

Ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh

So much wasted in the afternoon
So much sacred in the month of June
How bout you

And I will wait to find
If this will last forever
And I will wait to find
That it won't and it won't
Because it won't
And I will waste no time
Worried 'bout no rainy weather
And I will waste no time
Remaining in our lives together

:) clarity, by john mayer.

madness has a method

...OR A REASON AT LEAST!


Test 2 approaching. And hence the expected increase in the tendency to do nothing, also known as wasting time. Well, yeah. Finished with zephyr, and biology mt pracs among other things. Zephyr over and done with and am too saturated. So this post is about the second-last bio mt expt.

Well, this time around i didn't begin with the madness. My college admins did. First of all, we have bio pracs in second year for engineering students... And then, you have a seemingly sane aim for an experiment: "DNA quantitation" as my manual calls it. So you think this is all fundoo interesting stuff till you reach the lab/read the procedure, whichever happens first. So here goes, my best friend, the bio experiment (you'll see why i used a detergent's tagline here in a short while)

All was going fine and smooth initially. We weighed green peas and ground them till we had a pea soup in our mortars (or pestle, always been confused which is what). And then, since this is a logical experiment happening in a logical university, we carefully measured about 10 ml of liquid detergent and mixed it with our soup. The detergent prevents any damage to DNA apparently.

Then we did more stuff that would make any eccentric alchemist proud of us. And then we pippetted about 5 ml of pineapple juice out of a tiny 'Real' tetra pack. Or rather saw our instructor do that. This was also supposed to help us/the DNA in some way.. probably provide it a morale boost or something. Keine Ahnung!

Pineapple did its job to the best of its capabilities; soon we could see the white DNA of the green peas floating about on top of the solution in our test tubes. So we pippetted this DNA out, and the made it hop around on a cyclomixer. Well, that was a unique experience. Quite frankly I had never seen DNA jump around like mad, trying to get outta the tube before that day. Then we did more of funky stuff. And then we copied readings. But then again, bio mt was the only fun lab this semester. All weird and gross experiments under the sun, from blood group typing ("tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe grades doonga" - anonymous) to the mung dal-phenophthalein pink... We've been through it all.

And now i better start studying...

So long for now.

Warning: All text that follows is 100% non-serious. It is as non-serious as things can possibly get. Make sure this fact sinks deep into your head. As only then will this make sense.


Blank. Anger. Nothing. Frustration. Respite. Tiredness. Zero. Submission. Numbness. Stirring. Consciousness. Silence. Vacuum. Judgement. Accusations. Misunderstandings. Null. Deadlines. Dead-ends. Truth. Reality. Clarity. Vindication. Satisfaction. Humility. Smile. Pain. Force. Misgivings. Emptyness. Tears. Dawn. Dusk.

Life.

Catching up...

Haven't blogged since quite some time. This isn't exactly the best time either.. just about a week before test 1. But then, does anything about me make sense :P.. (you'd know if you know me/have been reading my blog/believe what my sister tells people about me.)

Well, college opened and me and my friends found our campus (over)-crowded with juniors. But yeah, you kinda get used to seeing the mess filled with tables (and people at meal-times, OB!), LTs all full, monginis and nescafe all taken over by this swarm. Wonder what our seniors thought when we came in. But its good to have 'em around. "Guide" people as to what really they should be doing in workshop practicals/partners/G-n-the-rest, what really they should (more like should not) be attending etc etc etc. :D

And under our able(!) guidance, I'm sure theyll do well. Definition of 'well' depends on the guide (10 ptr/non 10 ptr), the bakra/bakri (probable 10 ptr or not), the context and situations, and mostly the quality of coffee (at monginis/mess/nescafe) that influences the conversation deeply.

What else? Well, we found a kitten, had it for around 28 hours, and then gave it away. Its funny sometimes. You want to help someone/something out, and you don't really know how to go about it. This kitten, a friend of mine found it somewhere. Should she have picked it up (that she did), or left it with all those dogs around.. Should we have left it at night, hoping its mother would eventually find it, or kept it in, kept it safe for the moment not knowing what to do next. Should we have listened to a lot of people who thought we'll end up killing the cat and we should have not bothered only... It gets kinda complicated at times, when you are not crystal clear about your plan, and people try thrusting their opinions on you, misinterpret your intentions.

Well, we eventually sent it to an animal shelter, PFA Goa. Hope we made the right decision.

Haven't studied for test 1. Going to have an amazing time i guess. O yeah.. German rocks!! Deutsche lernen macht spaß! One interesting thing this sem...

Well, more later. As they say in Germany, Gute Nacht!


for more information on rehabilitation of strays and related topics, contact PFA, Shantinagar (Goa) on 0832 2532514.