Full Time Job

Yea, Life's a full time job.
No vacation, no time-off.
It's like He has given us a job a piece.
No one knows the purpose,
neither of one's own job, nor of anyone else's.
What would our contribution amount to?
What we lack is the big picture.
I have to say the average job satisfaction is very low.
If only He hadn't given us the intelligence to question,
we'd be like machines in a factory.
Maybe we already are like them.
The ones that question, breakdown in protest;
Some get replaced sooner than thought.
So, work! work! 'cause no one knows when the payday is, or what the pay-check is.

The year long relationship - Part 1 of 3

The last year was a good one, but the last relationship? Not so sure. I had just moved out of IIT campus to Nungambakkam and was really bored. Bored because, almost all of my friends were placed outside Chennai or had gone for further study outside Chennai, to add to that, my job wasn't hectic either. Occasionally it demanded weekends/ more hours, but on an average I wasn't working more than 45 hrs a week. I had all the time in the world at my hands, with nothing much to do. Moreover, the procrastinator in me destroyed the plans of utilizing the free time, and it was in this “free time” that I met her.

I had gone out to check out Minus1 - the closest pub to my place, and I found her sitting at the opposite table staring at me. Well, being a Surd in Chennai, I do get a lot of stares; fortunately this wasn’t one of those - “OMG, Is that an alien?” look. So, I took the cue, and stood up, but before I could walk up to her, my rusted guts started to panic and threw up junk and random questions - What is an asian babe like this doing sitting alone in a pub in Chennai? What if she is a pro? What if she's just jerking me around? What if she is with someone or waiting for someone? Luckily, the brain processed some parameters and ordered me to turn straight to bar and to order another beer, buying me time to think and to weight the pros n cons.

After half a pint and 5 mins, the pros and cons were irrelevant, as gods curse for men had taken its full effect and I wasn’t thinking with my brain, but my penis. Again, I stood up, and the panicky rusted guts, which again tried to throw me off the target – What should I say? What should be my pickup line? But this time I ignored it and decided to be.....  Spontaneous!

Me: Hi, Do you mind if I join you?

Babe: Sure.

*awkward 30 seconds of silence…

Me: So, what’s a babe doing, sitting alone in a pub in Chennai?

*facepalm. So much for spontaneity! At least, I could have asked her name first!

Babe: Well, I come here and haunt the single men, sitting alone at the bar. And what are you doing sitting alone at the bar?

Me: (huh? A babe with a sense of humor! ) I come here to get haunted by the pretty babes who sit alone in the pub. Damn, that’s not funny! tchch.. I just moved in here, and just came down to check out the pub. I am Sarbjot, BTW.

Babe: Hi, I am Lon.

Half an hour had passed and I was barely managing to keep up with the philosophical topics that she was so happy to discuss, the pub was closing, and there was a growing desperation for a way to ask her number. Bad at multitasking I started to nod at almost everything that Lon said.

            Lon: Okay. So, let’s go.

            *another nod. Damn it! I don’t have a way to her number yet!

            Me: Where to?

            Lon: I am thinking of going to Marina beach and pain some more single men.

            Me: (What the hell? She’s brave too?) Do you need company?

            Lon: I don’t. But you do. Why don’t you join me? *grins

            Me: (Yessss!!) Sure.

Moving to the end of the day, (as rest of the part is out of the scope of this blog) as we part our ways –

            Me: This was fun. Should do it again.

            Lon: Yeah, Give me a call next time you are going to a pub. Alone.

            Me: *a laugh. You are funny!

And there I had it with me, her number. 

So it started, with a run in @Minus1, continued with hangouts at cafes/pubs, moved on to frequent dinners @Shansi, and got strengthened by movie marathons, back at my place.

I was easily hooked on to her company, not only because she’s uncomfortably hot, but also because she has an addictive personality. She was just so damn unpredictable. One day she is all preachy – “God helps us all”, another day she is all ears even when I’m in the ’deth fan mode - “Megadeth is far better than Metallica because, blah blah blah”. She could be anything from angry, calm, argumentative, agreeable, funny, violent, caring, abusive, and eloquent. Lon had all the weapons in her artillery too have things her way; silent treatment being her favorite choice of weapon.

 As summer gave way to autumn, we were spending more time together and things were going smooth until…. Well, they say if you observe the moon closely, you will start to notice the imperfections.

.... continued at Part 2

Train of thought

would like to be proven wrong more often.

would like to be more open minded.

would like to be, for a while

would love to be more than just be.

needs to know.

needs to understand.

ah, needs that don't ever end.

understands the importance.

ignores the same.

needs to drive.

first get a license!

 

एक दीया

अब से रात हर जगमगायेगी
क्यूंकि मेरे आँगन का दीया है अब चमकता सितारा
मै दुनिया के लिए खुश हूँ नहीं
मै दुनिया के लिए खुश हूँ नहीं
उसे तो मिल जायेंगे तारे अनेक
लेकिन मेरे दीये की थी जो गर्मी
उसे तो अब ले कोई ना पायेगा
अब से रात हर कटेगी मुश्किल
क्यूंकि मेरे आँगन का दीया है अब चमकता सितारा

The Indian Purpose

How it would have been, if Agent Smith were Indian


But, as you well know, appearances can be deceiving, which brings me back to the reason why we're here. We're not here because we're free. We're here because we're not free. There is no escaping reason; no denying purpose. Because as we both know, without Cricket we would not exist.
It is Criket that created us.
Cricket that connects us.
Cricket that pulls us.
That guides us.
That drives us.
It is Cricket that defines us.
Cricket that binds us.
We are here because of you Mr. Tendulkar!

Run down to Banga-lore

If my situation gets out of control,
I could run down to Banga-lore!
If I need a place to do some layin' low,
I could run down to Banga-lore!

Sun is never in the sky,
Bands are always hoppin'.
You can shake it all you want,
Never feel like stoppin'.
Think I'll give my mind a rest and save my soul,
I will run down to Banga-lore!

If you don't have anywhere left to go,
You could run down to Banga-lore!
If you found the answer but you still don't know,
You could run down to Banga-lore!

You don't need to buy your friends,
They're just glad to meet ya.
Maybe even meet yourself,
A friendly senorita!
If you never try it you will never know,
You could run down to Banga-lore!

Take me a vacation from the killing bore,
Gonna run down to Banga-lore!
Should have left a long, long time ago,
Gonna run down to Banga-lore!

Sun is never in the sky,
Bands are always hoppin'.
You can shake it all you want,
Till you feel like stoppin'.
If you never try it you will never know,
You could run down to Banga-lore!


Original Track - Run down to Mexico by Racer X.
Great Song! Fits to Chennai/B'lore Situation, with just a few modifications :)

Why 3 Idiots?

3 Idiots - the movie has made much news over the last month, breaking revenue records, creating controversies over the insufficient credit to Chetan Bhagat, the author of 5.some1, and for bringing out the flaws in the education system of our country. When I first heard that 3 Idiots is releasing and it is inspired from 5.some1, I thought "Great! Now there is going to be a movie on IIT life. As if the novel 5.some1 had not masalafied it enough and presented it to the public". Personally, I was shocked and angry about the book 5.some1, because it felt like a violation of an unwritten code of conduct, prohibiting you to divulge any secrets about the IIT life. Moreover, the author decided to add some masala to the story so that it sells some copies. As a result of which, people now know about things that we wouldn't want to be public, and they also have misconceptions - things that they think happen, but in fact they don't. I didn't know what was more hurting - the truth or the misconceptions, but I knew one thing - that I wouldn't watch a movie, which twists the truth and presents it on a gold platter to the public.
As I have weak willpower, I ended up watching the movie, that too twice. Well, all my friends including many from IIT gave a thumbs up to the movie, and I wondered if there was something wrong with me for I was thinking the other way. So, I decided to get rid of the prejudice and give it a shot. And I did, and had mixed reactions, well more negative reactions than positive. I didn't like the movie because I saw what I feared I'd see in the movie. A student stealing a question paper - okay, its possible, but unlikely. A hot pataka babe in campus - thankfully they stuck to the novel in this case, made her a professor's daughter and not a student(which is known to be impossible). Fresher making a quad-rotor helicopter with wi-fi'd cam on it, with all the overworked 1st yr schedule - really far fetched, but it is still possible. A student impersonating another guy for the whole BTech course - that's right in between highly improbable and impossible. But a guy making an inverter, using it to supply power to make a suction pump, made from a vaccum cleaner, to deliver a baby - haha, that as close as you can possibly get to impossible. Surely they could have done without the delivery scene in the movie. As for the character - Prof Virus - Now, there are some hard-ass profs in all colleges, but someone like Virus at IIT? I don't think so. I thank god that I didn't have any encounter with such a professor. But, some of my friends and seniors did. And from their experience and from the tales heard from seniors or alumni of professors who would not let you pass a course easily, of times when it was surprising if students completed the degrees without failing any subject, I can say that there hasn't been any prof till now in IIT like Virus. But even if I am wrong, even if such a prof existed, the system ensures that what happens to a student is not in the hands of one professor alone, but in the hands of a group of professors. Surely, the group cannot be comprised of all Virus-like profs.
Well, that's all what bothered me throughout the movie. But, after the movie I did feel happy, elated and uplifted for some reason, and I thought maybe it's the preaching about learning for excellence, or the hostel life, or the study sessions, or the fight for final year project and similar stuff that made me connect to the movie. So, despite all the negatives, I recommended the movie to another friend - Reshma, and surprisingly the response was negative. And I wondered, why I even liked the movie at first place? Looking back, I didn't agree with the ragging session - nobody ever asked us to strip at IIT. I didn't agree with the bathing problems - bunking 1st hour classes was very common, so bathroom clash wasn't a frequent thing and even if it did happen, I'd go to classes without a bath, who cares. I didn't agree about the drinking at rooftops either, because when we ever made a booze plan, we would call the whole wing for it, not some 3 guys. I wouldn't agree with study sessions too, as it was again a group study session and not an individual studying; and the idea of distracting others with porn was a really lame one, I can think of better ideas in 30 seconds. How is this - since class notes of muggo students are sought after, one muggoo can make notes with wrong equations or fundaes and give it to others for copying. I did have problems with the final year project, but the professors had been more than helpful in my case, and I guess this is why I couldn't digest the Virus character at all. Only thing left was the study for excellence attitude thingy.Well, I completed my degree with study for success attitude and hence it should sadden me and not make me happy.
The question still remained, why was I happy after watching the movie when I hated it so much. I stopped trying to answer this question, as the answer seemed out of reach, and went on with the work life. Next day, Prasanna, a colleague of mine, who had seen he movie and was really thrilled about the movie said that the whole tea-gang (Gang of 5 guys who go out every evening for a cup of tea) of ours should go and watch 3 Idiots, as it is a brilliant movie. I could not say that I wasn't happy after watching the movie, and it was too tough to say no to the excited, enthusiastic Prasanna, plus we keep making plans of watching some movie and never go. So, I agreed to go for the movie. I am happy that this time we did go for the movie, as I found the answer to the question. It felt like a "Communications" Noise filtering experiment - Once I knew what the noise (hated parts of the movie) was, I was able to filter it out from the signal(movie) to a good extent. And this time all I saw was - the 3 idiots. I could see why I liked the movie, I could relate to the unbreakable bond between the 3 idiots. The movie doesn't remind me of IIT at all, but it does of the friends I had made at IIT. It does make me realize that out of the many brilliant things that the great institute had to offer, I might have opted for mediocre stuff in most fields, but I have made the best set of friends possible. I guess that's why I visit B'lore so frequently, and thanks to the movie, that's where I'll be next weekend.