The Show Has Just Begun... !!!

NA04B009 ...

2009-07-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

... been one full year (officially) since that number identified me ... feels a strangely short year though ...

Coke Studio -- session music at it's best

2009-07-16T16:45:00.001-07:00

Sometime back, a friend of mine had shown me a video of Bryan Adams performing at MTV Unplugged. It was a proper concert, and the performance was just amazing . I was so affected by that video (and a couple of other session and live performance videos) that I started dreaming of being a part of such a performance myself -- improvising a song, figuring out what all could be done to the song, performing ... stuff that I still dream to be able to do some day.

A few days ago, when one of my friends here sent a link to a video to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan pairing up with Ali Azmat to sing 'Garaj Baras', I initially thought that it is gonna be yet another of those poor sound quality live concert videos on YouTube. I nevertheless went ahead and played it. My love affair with this phenomenon called 'Coke Studio' started at that very instant -- it was love at first hearing :D

Coke Studio is this Pakistani Music venture by Coke (more so by this one guy named Rohail Hyatt), where in a group of Pakistan's most talented musicians have been brought together to form a House Band -- and famous Pakistani Musicians are then called in for session music performances. The audio is free to download, the video is free to watch and download, there are small (sometimes interesting) video segments of the band gearing up for a performance -- it is a Music lover's 'Nirvana' in every way possible. However, none of these form a stronger case for Coke Studio than the very quality of each of these performances.

I have to say, the music in these sessions transcends the realm of simply 'awesome session music' -- in fact for some of these it is a lot more (just imagine this one song being played on my media player on repeat for three consecutive days -- thats how good they are, you just can't get them out of your mind). There are these moments when I feel like just being there in the studio, and doing something with those guys -- even if it is holding a small acoustic guitar and strumming just that one chord.

There is one more thing that I gotta say ... well actually two. The influence of Coke Studio has been so profound on me -- that I started searching up a lot about everyone involved in it ... bands, artists, musicians, etc etc. In particular, there is this band called Noori that I had never heard of before -- whose music simply shook me up. I went ahead to listen to their albums, check out their videos, and landed on the blog of one of the two brothers who comprise the band -- Ali Hamza. In his description of the Coke Studio experience, he says --

'Much more than that, I saw genuine concern about our present situation, and a drive to do something about it! … And the drive in this case was to work hard towards setting new, higher, quality standards for a Pakistani product! Something that will make us known in a different and positive capacity'

Well said !!! Just goes to show what kind of talent Pakistan has to offer to the world, and how this talent is working hard to give their country something to smile about.

If anyone associated with 'Coke Studio' is reading this by any chance -- you guys have at least one dedicated fan. Hat's off to you for what you have done in two seasons thus far. Makes me wonder deep in my heart why Indian TV does not have such shows aired on any channel -- instead of showing brain-damaging family soaps, and a dumb woman trying to find her right match in a reality show the very existence of which makes you want to climb up Qutab Minar, take a 1 billion watt loudspeaker and shout out 'Okay Seriously Guys ... Can We Stop This !!!!!'

RIP Smooth Criminal ....

2009-06-26T00:47:00.000-07:00

When the news poured in I couldn't believe that Michael Jackson was no more ...

The man who taught the world to 'Moonwalk', the man who could confidently call himself 'The King of Pop' and get people to respect this self-bestowed crown, the man who could 'Heal the World', the man who got over two dozen artists to collaborate for the legendary aid album for Africa, the immortal 'Thriller' -- the man behind all of these ... no more

You may not have gone with the sun shining on you, but you have left a legend behind you -- something that has been nothing short of history

RIP Smooth Criminal

G-Talk (read 'Green Talk') ...

2009-06-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

I was walking down North Gate here, and I realized that there was this tall guy walking slowly towards me. He was wearing a T-shirt from an environment-support organization, and I immediately had a feeling that I should be walking past without even giving him a minuscule amount of attention -- but, I always do that, and this time around I actually felt slightly bad for walking away. You see, there's so much of environment talk doing the rounds, and I am a concerned denizen -- so...'let's hear him out' I said. This was kind-of the conversation between this guy and me --

Guy -- Hey, wassup man, how's it goin'?

Me -- Hey ... nothing much .. 'sup ?

Guy -- Do you have a minute for our environment, man ?

Me -- Well, let's hear it ... (dude, I stopped despite noticing your T-shirt ... you bet I have a minute indeed!!)

Guy -- Alrite man!! I am XYZ ... (shakes hand)

Me -- Debanjan ... nice to meet you

Guy -- So have you heard about us ?? (doesn't stop for me to say anything) We are a global organization, fighting for our environment. I am not here today to sign you up or make you our member or something. I just want to tell you about some of the work we do ... we are non profit , and we work with donations by our members. We have chapters in Berkeley and also all throughout US (I thought that was what Global meant anyways, but yeah ...) ... and ....

Me -- (fitting in small stretches of 'Nice!', 'That's cool!', 'Interesting!' in between the long speech)

Guy -- ... and, the agenda of our work has been so far well implemented at many locations .. and ... and ... (comes to a sudden awkward pause, and looks at the papers in his hand)

Me -- (looking at him with questioning eyes)

Guy -- (sudden blurt) So, do you believe in People Power??

Me -- (hainh !!!!) Ummm ... well okay ...

Guy -- Then let's get you signed up man !! Every minute we waste, we are throwing 'n' acres of land into disaster. We can't waste any time in getting you signed up ... here's ... (starts taking out a set of forms)

Me -- (really now !!! I thought you were not signing members here ... what happened midway, am I that eligible a candidate for being a member!!) Well, actually, can I have a look at the form, and then let you guys know in a day or two. Do you have online membership forms?

Guy -- Online forms ?? Er ... yeah, we do have online forms ... they can be filled online ...

Me -- Cool!! Then I will fill it up online. Thanks a lot dude, for introducing me to your organization, was a pleasure ..

Guy -- (now recovered fully ... gets himself back) Thanks for your time man!!

P.S: Though the above post might seem biased, but I have NOTHING against environmental organizations -- in fact, I think they are doing a good job of keeping people aware and getting something done. It's only that sometimes you wish people approached the task of presenting these organizations to the masses in a more serious and proper manner.

Mobile Photuzz :D

2009-06-18T21:59:00.000-07:00

I hadn't transferred the files on my phone to my computer ... and after a long day's work, when I was left with nothing much to do, I suddenly decided to transfer the contents from my phone. I actually thought that I did not have any stuff on my phone -- but I was in for quite a surprise as I saw that I had quite a few pics on my card. Some of them are in fact quite interesting, so I thought maybe I can share them here. So, here we go:

(This is the famous Campanile of UC Berkeley. I guess it is the most 'clicked' UCB campus-unit by far)

(Just when we thought our days down in the lab are not eventful by any means -- our building caught a fire !! It was a very small sporadic burst though, lasted about 10 - 15 mins)

(Of course, we do work in our labs ... quite a bit of it. And the white board has seen some looong meetings in front of it ... quite a feat!!)

(Of course, we have gardens on campus, where we specify what the garden is for. This one is in front of the Math & Stats Dept building -- so all specifications have been detailed, no 'uncertainties')

(and just when you thought disposal of stuff was beginning to be a problem -- Berkeley has a new and radical solution for you to be implemented. The pilot plant that you see here works fine so far, and can be launched for other disposed products as well)

Well, what do you know, Mobile-cam Photography can be fun too !! :D

Aik Alif -- Baba Bulle Shah

2009-06-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

Jo Na Jaane Haq Ki Taakat

Rab Na Dewe Usko Himmat

Hum Man Ke Dariya Me Doobein

Kaisi Naiya, Kya Majdhaar

An attempt at translating the above:

When you don't realize the strength of what you are

God will not provide you with much help

You will be drowning in the turmoils of your own mind

Even more than a struggling boat in the midst of a tempest.

Its been quite a while since I was so overwhelmed by a single piece of musical performance. Coke Studio is by far one of the most brilliant and stupendous initiatives in the world of 'sub-continental Music' that I have ever seen. It does a phenomenal job of portraying the amazing strength and variety that Pakistani Music has to offer to the world -- my heartfelt thanks to all the performers for putting up such absolute gems of performances.

P.S: The song 'Aik Alif' based on Bulle Shah's kalaam can be heard here

Finally ... My Own Complete Guitar Rig ... yeah !! :D

2009-06-14T19:15:00.001-07:00

Yeah ... as the title says ... I finally managed to get my own guitar rig completed. Got the guitar -- an Epiphone SG Special from a senior here. It came with the amp -- a Marshall MG 10CD, and a cable and some other accesories. This was last semester though -- saved up some cash, and finally a few weeks ago, got a multi-effects processor -- DigiTech RP150, and a guitar stand. And there it was ... my own guitar rig -- nothing high quality, or exorbitant, simple stuff ... but stuff that will probably keep my music enthu from fading away.

Next Objective: Recording and uploading a track here on my page. Let's see how that goes !!

Photograph courtesy 'apne Ravi Baabu's Canon EOS Rebel XSI DSLR'.

Random

2009-06-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

Random updates about life in general forms a good blogging topic ... one which I hadn't used thus far. This morning, as I was sipping a cup of tea, and listening to a song on YouTube, I suddenly had a whole lot of things whooshing into my mind. So, I thought about finally trying on the random updates idea.

In the last few days, we worked out our 'moving out' plans, and have kinda finalized stuff. It's gonna save all three of us roommates some money -- and the place looks good too. Though, now that I am in an apartment, I dunno if I can continue with my guitar experiments that freely. Which reminds me, had a get-together yesterday -- and played guitar for a long stretch after a long time. Wanted to go back to insti-days, and perform live on stage -- been quite a while since I sang whole-heartedly too. Yesterday night also was 'Poker Night' -- I realized I friggin have a 'miserably bad luck' -- kept getting the worst of all cards. Though it was all great fun.

Fun ... hmmm, that reminds me of this conversation I had with a friend of mine -- we were discussing work satisfaction and we spoke about having some fun at your work being more important than bagging a huge salary. My friend is a brave-heart -- he went on to resign from his work in a moment's decision. I think all of us should be doing the same -- don't take shit from your workplace/authorities, they don't know your worth, and you certainly deserve better -- unless you yourself start feeling that you deserve what you are getting ... a total death of self-esteem and confidence I must say. I wish this buddy of mine gets a better workplace pretty soon. I feel fortunate to have such great buddies -- so many back home in India, and so many here in Berkeley. My insti-buddies have sort of been my support system, and I am sure they will continue to be ... eh eh .. too much senti !!

Well, yeah, so my buddies -- about a week ago I remember calling one of them up, in one of those 'weaker moments' with too much 'liquid tension' ... and absolutely opening up my heart on a long distance call. I am really really privileged to be able to do that. Friends ...

Recently something interesting is happening to me -- I had a dream last night, it's all pretty weird. I think I should be talking about this to someone in particular, but I am not sure -- and the last time this happened, I chose not to do anything -- didn't leave me in a very well off state in the end. I dunno what ... I just hope, I get some direction.

Too much randomness in updating ... but what the heck ... this was fun. Random updates is a pretty good blogging theme after all then !!

The Sixth Sense Device ... !!!!!

2009-06-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

I just landed up on this site a couple of months ago, and realized it's sheer awesome-ness. However, this one video I saw today has topped it all in terms of every damn thing that I could imagine of. Pattie Maes, a professor at MIT's Media Arts and Sciences programme displays one of her Lab's projects (The Media Lab at MIT) -- a device she calls the 'Sixth Sense Device', engineered by a student of her's, Pranav Mistry. Have a look at this video, and you tell me if you are not bowled over completely too !!!

Obama's New Beginning ...

2009-06-07T11:20:00.000-07:00

Just watched the historic speech made by Obama at Cairo University again ... I had liked it the first time when I watched it with a good friend here in my lab. This second time I had the opportunity to actually think about why I had liked it so much -- and about some of the ideas in the speech that made me go 'Okay ... now now ... '.

The speech has already received ample criticism from different countries and also from the Muslim-world to whom the speech was addressed. So, I will not even attempt to set-up something like that -- but would really want to say that it felt great to see the leader of such a powerful nation finally coming up on a public podium and being upfront and direct about so many issues. The speech did a great job of projecting Obama as a man who was willing to look at solutions and not just comment on the problems -- and as someone who is trying to be approachable by the global community, something that I can't say his predecessor succeeded much at.

There is this YouTube video of one of McCain's campaign sessions, when an elerly woman grabs the mike and says that she really can't trust Obama -- cos she thinks he is an Arab. McCain promptly denies that, and makes it a point that such issues are not even allowed in discussions any more. Good Job McCain !! Much of the political strategy of America in the recent has been in a similar strain (or so I think) -- to get rid of these conceptions that American people, and even people around the world, happened to have grown about the relations between America and the Muslim-world. Obama's speech was a big significant step in that direction.

I looked at the speech again, and I realized why I liked it that much in the first place though. You see, when you think about global political issues, you sometimes have some very obvious questions creeping up in your mind -- some things that you keep thinking about. As an example, you think about why America is getting involved in Iraq's state of affairs for so long -- are they gonna even help them re-organize, or are they gonna actually stake claims over their reserves and resources? How about them doing stuff in Pakistan ... you can't just pressurize them ... the roots of their issues do lie elsewhere ... how about doing something to address those issues ?

And he spoke about these candidly (or at least as candid as he could be I guess). He mentioned about adressing Pakistan's development by helping them build their businesses and education. he mentioned about leaving Iraq quite soon, and not claiming any stakes, but help them in their development as well. His admittance of Iraq issue being dealt with in not quite the right manner, and his insistence that Israel's relations with America will be unscathed even in the face of attempts to help resolve the Palestine issue -- these are stuff that you kind of thought wouldn't be addressed that clearly. But ... he did.

One must admit though that there is no way to be sure that he knows how to go about addressing all of these issues properly. There will still be doubts as to whether all that he said was actually 'too good to be true'. Indeed, for example, how will it work out for America to help garner funds for development of the economies of Iraq, Pakistan, and so on -- the Federal Government is in a debt of such an insane amount !!!

You know what ... let's not forget that end-results notwithstanding, it is a great start on behalf of America -- on behalf of Obama -- to look deeper into such issues of critical importance in global politics and developmental relations. And that's what the speech was all about wasn't it ? It was all about this new start, about a 'new beginning'.

Ektaaa ... you have started ruining Indian youth !!!!

2009-05-25T17:43:00.000-07:00

Yeah, the title is my new theory ... based on the observation that out of 5 Indian friends here whom I asked to go watch Star Trek/Terminator 4 with me ... only 1 agreed, the others rejecting directly and one of them citing the reason to be " ... I like Drama man, not such tech movies ..."

How about that for a theory to be based on !!! ... :D :D

P.S: If you are reading this and are one of the 5 ... I must say this post is in good spirits, and I don't blame you either ... refer to the title for the subject :P

If you are, however, the one who agreed .... yo man !! \m/ \m/

It's Summer time ... it's 'blaagging time' :)

2009-05-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Wow, last post is dated Feb 2009 huh ... quite a semester it has been for me ... and it is over now. I have finished my first year of education at Berkeley (I hope ... I really hope this is 1/5th of the entire span that I have in mind :D), and I have had quite a great experience doing it. In fact, these last few days for me have been quite interesting -- our lab group became a well knit bunch of friends over all the night-outs we went through down in our lab (for the record we work in the basement of a building that was once notorious for having maximum number of suicide attempts from it's terrace!!). And now that some of them are about to leave, remnants of all my 'senti-ness' from the final days of IITM started creeping up a bit.

During most of my conversations that I had with my friends here, we discuss a lot about cultures, politics, and current state of affairs of different countries -- and when it came to India, current state of affairs and politics turned out to be quite a thing because of the elections and the Mumbai attacks before that. I realized that I needed a great turn of things back home to boast about during one of these conversations with some pride --- desperately needed one. And just when I needed it most, Mr. Manmohan Singh got re-elected for a second term and made BJP's virtually pointless election campaign bite the dust. I was overjoyed at the thought of the entire nation uniting, coming together, and singlehandedly eliminating the 'negative politics' of BJP to raise Congress to the throne again. My heart is now filled with much stronger hopes about the changing face of India.

Been quite sometime that I have written something here -- and now that I have typed out about two paragraphs, I am slowly starting to realize that maybe from now on, I will only be able to pursue writing during the vacations, given the toughie-semesters that I saw over the year. Makes me feel sad ... my hobbies are things that are very close to me -- music, writing, editing and designing stuff. Over this last year, I have seen a decline in almost all of them -- not making me feel great at all.

Speaking about hobbies, I think I might as well add a new one to the list -- the 'Culinary Activity' :P :P. Yeah, yeah I know it sounds a bit odd, but I have realised over these last few months that I can actually cook relatively well, and if there's something new that I can try and prepare I usually end up putting in some effort and getting it done. For example, today I ended up baking fudge brownies with almonds, yesterday was pulao night. Maybe I might actually end up challenging my Mom to a 'cooking contest' and see if I should include it in my list of 'interests' after all.

So much to kick-start the summer on my blog :D. In the next few months, maybe something interesting will happen, maybe nothing interesting will happen, maybe I will end up getting as busy as I was during the sem, maybe I will end up with lots of free time -- whatever it is, I really wish I can keep writing and posting. My creative side (actually whatever tiny proportions I possess of it) is the only thing that has kept me myself from time to time -- getting distant from it with time is not something that has been making me happy.

Maybe I should try writing a Fake sports event blog or something ... I wonder if attempts at sensationalism will keep bloggers like me super-active ... hmm...

In the meanwhile, enjoy your summer, have fun, have fluids, and have your senses with you all the time :D

Adios.

I wish I could be there ...

2009-02-10T17:23:00.001-08:00

There are some times when I wish I would kill to be there for something ... I saw this, and I felt that I want to be there so bad !!! :D ... don't you ????

On Movies ... (pt 2)

2009-02-09T19:00:00.000-08:00

So it seems I am a bit late for my second part to the previous post. If you however see what I have to say, then you will realize that perhaps the delay has landed me up in a perfect timing for today’s ‘few lines of blog-a-doodly’ (yeah … that’s a term I coined and it has been ‘CopyLefted’)

So yet another major entertainment awards have been announced – the BAFTA. And Mickey Rourke went ahead to win the ‘Best Actor’ award for ‘The Wrestler’. I would indeed like to think that the jury did take my word for his performance after my last post – sadly though, not everything that you would like to happen does end up happening.

Take for instance the movie that has been rocking all of the major awards this year – ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. This movie is a perfect example of ‘not everything you want to happen does end up happening’ law of mine (well … not mine actually ... but whatever) stated above.

Now I must say that it was an absolute delight – the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed Danny Boyle’s work – just as much as I enjoyed watching what he did with ‘Trainspotting’. The movie had an enchanting storytelling brought to life by all the performances and the cleverly designed sequences. It is indeed a story about hope and spirit – and these themes do make for some wonderful stories. When I watched it, I did not feel that everyone else would like the movie just as much – and so when the awards juries started showing the movie all their attention, I have been kind of ecstatic in a way. Rehman might just go on to become another Indian to win an Oscar – he has bagged two prestigious awards already. The movie might go on to become an Academy Awards biggie – and it’s a movie that tells a story about India. I got to see Hindi entertainment industry people on screen, and I felt upbeat about Bollywood finally getting that slight attention from the awards juries and the critics. In as much as it is a Hollywood production – the elements of Bollywood in it are so evident, that I have a firm belief that had the movie been in Hindi, it would have been nothing short of a Bollywood blockbuster. There are critics who have already made similar statements about the movie as well. In all fairness, I believe the people behind the movie have done a stellar job in doing so many things together – showing that movies are still meant for absolute entertainment, giving people from the Hindi film industry a chance to work with a quality Hollywood production, allowing Bollywood to get it’s share of attention, and in being able to do whatever they had started out to do in such a brilliant manner.

In as much as it made me happy when I watched the movie in a theater here at Berkeley – I felt a strange reaction within me when a friend of mine, whom I had recommended the movie, asked me ‘Is this what India looks like?’

I didn’t know what to say. The movie has indeed done its job, but in the process has left an oddly constructed image of India in the minds of some of the global audience. Imagine one moment of the movie where you saw something really really upbeat about the country … and you will be left with only about one or two. I don’t see this as a problem. Frankly, our country does have these issues, and we need to deal with them – such depictions can only be all the more effective in pointing this out loud and clear. But at the same time, there have been other movies which have depicted other sides of the Indian Spirit and the ‘India-Story’. What happened to all of those? I choose to be realistic and practical – but for a few moments even I was driven in to believing that the world actually likes the ‘poor India’ depiction better than ‘strong and steady India’. That is however only the minor unhappiness.

The other, and probably the most important issue, that made me slightly unhappy is about the movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ being at its core an entertaining narrative – much of which has been styled in a typical Bollywood fashion. However, this is not the first time the Indian entertainment style has been presented to the world. There have been so many quality and classy Indian movies which have been presented in front of the global audience and the award committees – and while the former did accept it with spirit, the latter have never quite found it so appealing. My question is, now that a Hollywood production house decided to package the same entertainment with English dialogues – doesn’t it seem a bit odd that all the awards juries are gaping at awe at it?

If you look at some of the modern day Bollywood productions – the so-called changing face of the industry – movies like Rang De Basanti, Swades, or Taare Zameen Par, you will kind of get what I am trying to hint at. My heart was filled with sadness when Rang De Basanti could not make it to at least the final round – I mean what a movie it was!! The movie, the message, and the performances – they all will affect you and make you feel so angry and disturbed when you watch it. Such a movie was not good enough for the Indian Film Industry to be noticed amongst the juries and critics in world entertainment. And now that you have a differently packaged ‘Bollywood flick’, everyone is amazed at the product. In my opinion movies like RDB and others deserve to get this attention – not because the Indian Industry is hungry for awards from international guilds, but because it is only from this that they will finally get the holistic exposure to the world entertainment spectrum that they need. This will definitely help improve the Industry, and provide for more entertainment for the world – because everyone knows that audiences all around the globe have been receiving the entertainment package we have to offer pretty well so far.

So much for opinions. Just as I said – everything that you wish could happen does not happen. I do wish ‘Slumdog’ gets the deserved awards and attention, but I do also wish India and Indian cinema get a lot more, and a lot different, reception from the world. Guess both won’t happen in one go – maybe one step at a time.

Till then … please God help Rehman and Slumdog… shine at the Academy Awards. The former is a genius who deserves nothing less, and the latter is a fine piece of work that deserves all the due accolades too.

On Movies and All That Jazz ...

2009-02-02T20:19:00.000-08:00

This weekend was pretty much a ‘movie-weekend’ for me, much in the lines of IITM days when we used to lap up movies after movies whenever we got time. I got to watch three movies, and I had so many thoughts bubbling within me after the three movies, that I couldn’t stop myself from scribbling them down the moment I got some time.

The first of these was the latest Bollywood release “Luck By Chance”. For a family that has been related to the Hindi Film Industry for such a long time, and in such multifaceted roles, it was only expected that their take on the ‘Inside Story’ of the industry will be very genuine and refreshingly different. To say that the movie did not disappoint me would in fact be an understatement. I was actually in a way very happy that I got to see such a progressive angle from Bollywood in commercial movies. The way the movie ends with Farhan and Konkona’s characters poised at such a critical emotional “see-saw” of a position, and the way the movie starts – with that brilliant song picturizing all the real workforces of the Industry who work so hard and yet are never given the credit for playing an important role in the process of making a blockbuster hit – if you are an avid movie watcher, you could easily identify such moments from the movie which are quite different in essence and presentation than any other run of the mill commercial movie. The characters were all so vibrant, and all the views of ‘Bollywood from within Bollywood’ were really brilliantly constructed and presented – and it goes to show in reality that show business in India is really that larger than life, and it really can change everything for you completely if you are associated with it, in whatever capacity may it be. The movie appeals to our senses in so many ways and at so many levels -- for example; in the way the huge dance sequence is depicted, in the emotional outbursts from a successful producer and a yesteryear’s successful actress narrating their experiences, in the way a guy can actually forget his friends and his love once the showbiz success gets to him, in the way the so called ‘Stars’ think about their work. There is a scene in the movie when Hrithik Roshan (playing Zafar Khan, the ruling heart-throb) drives into a street in a car and some urchins run towards his car, just to have a glimpse of their hero. That is in a way the summary of what Zoya Akhtar’s attempt succeeds at sending across – the fact that our very own Bollywood superstars are indeed no different from us and they too have their own issues in life, virtues, vice, the good and the bad. These people are just the mix of everything that the common man is – save for the fact that they have been lucky to be able to make it that big. In my opinion this movie is a good and pleasant example that Bollywood is indeed changing, and maybe we can expect much more from it in the days to come.

Even before I had recovered from ‘Luck By Chance’, I went in for another movie – this time a Hollywood release called ‘The Wrestler’. If the former left me happy, the latter left me overwhelmed as I left the theater. All I could be amazed at was that in so many ways ‘The Wrestler’ as a movie transcends into the level of a masterpiece. The acting by the three major characters, especially Mickey Rourke as the wrestling circuit’s very own hero ‘The Ram’, was absolutely brilliant, and as many have said so far – Rourke’s own experiences of being a sportsman helped him achieve that combination that made the movie such an awesome experience. For fans of the WWE, like I was as a kid, the superstars and their high-flying showdowns, those memorable punchlines, the entry music and the roaring crowds – these have always had such a special place. However, we all have sometime or the other wondered what must be the real picture behind all these. ‘The Wrestler’ shows it all – and just like ‘Luck By Chance’, this movie is in some ways about all that goes in to making our superheroes what they are. There are quite a few sequences of wrestling shows where the camera shows how the shows are done, and how all these injuries and high flying actions happen – and trust me, you will be affected so much that you will fail to observe that you have been right on the edge of your seat. There were moments when my friends and me simply couldn’t stop from crying out “Oh &^$^%$$” in the theaters. And then, when you see the fall of the legendary Randy Robinson, your heart goes out for the old man who struggles to cope with the realization that no matter how much of a superstar one is, the real world is always going to treat you a lot differently. He realizes that he might be a superstar, but once out of the ring, he is not quite wanted to be a part of things – things that he wishes to be a part of. You realize why he decides to get back to the ring, and your mind gets heavy as you see Randy ‘The Ram’ high flying for one last time – and then, just when you thought there’s more … the movie ends. There are two scenes in the movie which I think I can never forget. The first one is when Randy gets a meager job at a Deli counter, and has to get into the counter from behind a curtained corridor. As he walks down, from the background you hear the loud roaring of the crowd, his name being announced, his entry theme, and then just as he crosses the curtain – there are the common noises of customers lining up at the Deli. The second, and one of the best moments of cinema I have seen, is when Pam runs to Randy just as he is about to make the comeback-match entry, and Randy says that he needs to return to the ring because the only place he can get hurt is the world outside the ring, not inside it. When you come to this moment in the movie, just try and rewind to all those moments on screen when you see the wrestling matches and the injuries that they inflict – the man says that is not pain enough to topple him, but what the world outside has to offer, that’s just too much for him to take.

Deep within, I hope Mickey Rourke’s performance gets awarded at the Oscars, just in the same way that I do for Heath Ledger. The movie deserves to be rewarded for the brilliant storytelling that it has done – something that every movie should be looking to do.

P.S: And for all music lovers like me (on second thoughts, Rock and Metal lovers) – you guys will end up enjoying the movie all the more. Watch out for classic stuff like ‘Bang Your head’, ‘Sweet Child of Mine’, and ‘Balls to the Wall’ …

Speaking about Oscars … I just can’t stop wishing ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ all the best, but there is something more to that as well.

Too long a read eh? Well, then ‘Slumdog …’ comes up on the second part of this post.

The Indian Obama ???

2009-01-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

It was the first day of the semester, and I woke up at 8 in the morning to get ready. It was then that I realized that today was also the Inauguration Day for the 44^th President of the United States of America – a man named Barack Husein Obama, who has left such an indelible impression on me ever since I started following his election campaign to his victorious election to the President's chair. Strangely attracted to see what it would be like, I went to CNN's website and started watching the swearing-in ceremony. Now I am not an American, neither have I been a student or a follower of American history or culture nor have I been into America's modern day social and economic details – but I sat glued to my PC for the full swearing-in ceremony, and even stifled a mild temptation of giving a small clap at the end of Obama's acceptance speech. I spent quite sometime after that to think over all of this, and much to my surprise there were two distinct tracks of thought that kept running through my mind – often criss-crossing each other. It was pretty amazing that it was not only Americans, but people like us too, who were sitting and following the ceremony, who had followed this man's election run, and who have been mesmerized by him thus far in what-so-ever he has done or said.

In my limited capacity as 'just another guy' I wholeheartedly congratulate America and Obama for today. For an African-American man in a country tormented time and again by it's history of racial conflicts, for a man from an un-imaginably humble background to rise to such a position, for a man who chose to go against so called 'big-shots' fearlessly, for a man who even as a Senator and Presidential candidate didn't put upon himself a false or pretentious image, a man who could project himself in the eyes of the people as someone to whom they could relate to – I salute Barack Obama for his unparalleled feat. How he does as a President hereafter is for all of us to see, but how he has done thus far has been a story of success made as a product of hard work, sincerity, intelligence, and courage, and this entire episode has made the Americans look for hope again – something that definitely would have been the Doctor's order for what USA has had to see in recent times. I read and watched all the news, looked at some of my American friends here, and saw how happy they were – and I was happy too. I was happy for Obama's success, I was happy to find that here was another man who was real and yet 'idolisable', I was happy to know that such success stories still keep happening ...

And then I was sad ... and overwhelmed for a moment. Here I was rejoicing the glorious feat of one man, and the belief of an entire nation, but what about the country to which I belong ?

I still remember the day when Obama won. America went nuts !! Berkeley was mad, with people dancing and singing on the streets, cars coming to a total halt in front of the huddled masses and honking their horns in support of 'O-Ba-Ma' chants. The south gate of UC Berkeley was like a sea of people huddled around, and no one was silent! Bars started offering free beer, the city seemed to be almost decked up in 'Obama-Biden' hats and caps and fake-glasses – it was the sight of people having genuine, true fun. They were all just happy. If you are an Indian kindly tell me if you have seen such a sight before. Have you seen an entire city go mad after the general elections at the victory of a certain candidate ? How many of those 'samaroh's have you seen where people who are not necessarily from the political party itself come in and join in the merrymaking ? Have you as an Indian citizen felt truly and purely happy at a 'Prime Minister Elect' ? It is not that Obama has been the only story – although his rise has been accentuated a bit by the current downside of troubles that America has had to see. But there have been other occasions as well when people's emotions have ebbed and swollen with the rise and fall of their presidential candidates. One of my Professors was telling us a story in class one day about another election in the past where (if I remember correctly) the Republicans had won. The town where he was at the time had gone silent for about a couple of days – because they supported the Democrats. This is just another example of how people here feel about their politics, their leaders, their views. They are passionate about what is happening to their country. They might not do or achieve anything with passion alone, they might even be passionate and yet see the troubles continue and end up into troubled times for them – but America as a nation must be feeling so proud to see her sons and daughters caring for something. Much as it hurts me to realize it, I have to say I have never seen such a phenomenon when it comes to Indian political system and the Indian leaders. One might agree, one might disagree – but I am sure if tomorrow, let's say, Manmohan Singh leaves office and let's assume Advani wins, there won't be cities in India rejoicing to their heart's content. For a nation which has in it's system leaders with criminal records, and leaders with lesser education than almost all who are reading this blog – such bright positives about the political system are quite expectedly hard to find. And this is what saddens me the most...

Today as I sit outside India, and actually get to look at what outsiders think of India much more directly – I realize that we are losing out on so many counts. This oddly designed political system, and lack of zeal amongst the Indian citizen has a lot to contribute to the said loss. I don't know what solution could be designed for this, nor do I know the cause for this difference between these two nations. But the very fact that it exists, and was brought out to me in such a manner, saddens me to the core. I would be proud and happy to have looked at all the people chanting 'O-Ba-Ma' and felt content at heart thinking that back home if a leader wins he gets similar chants to his name too. But no ... back home, it seems people have given up and stopped caring all that much ...

Here's to President Obama and America and the 'Winds of Change' ...

Here's also to the day when the Indian leaders realize that it is actions and leading by example that will get the Indian citizen to chant their names, and not starting one's own blog in example of some other succesful leader and riddling it with disclaimers ... to the day when India goes nuts over their next Prime Minister.

Photograph ...

2009-01-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: This has nothing to do with the Nickelback song. For the song please go to Amazon and buy it, and thereby make your first statement against piracy.

So I finally got the new Canon A590 that I had ordered for about a few weeks ago. As much as the festive spirit had caught me in it's web and made me end up spending a lot more than I had planned for, I felt really really glad and contented when I finally got both my camera and my handy-camera at my service. I have really always wanted having both of these, and I think that was what made me leap at the two deals the moment I set my eyes upon them this winter.

Anyways, after I got my camera, I decided to try it out, and I took 4 test snaps, and uploaded them on my PC, and thereafter I thought I would upload these here as well. Thus ... this post.

To begin with, I tried two shots. The first one being an aimless shot of our living room space here, and the second one was to try and take a pic of the camera itself. Lemme place the latter first.

Taken in our very own bathroom, using the mirror (as is pretty obvious).

For the other one, it will be better to actually have a look at what the living room looked like when we moved in. My roommate Aditya was busy clicking all around the place the day he came in, and I got a few nice snaps of our house here from his album. I took two of these to create the "BEFORE" pic if you may chose to call it so ...

And then, in probably one of the highest entropy states ever witnessed by our living room, came yesterday's pic, my first shot using the new camera -- the corresponding "AFTER" pic.

It was the natural 'Grad-student's place' look right there for you :D

Thereafter, today morning, I thought of taking some more shots, and uploading the images and verifying that all was okay with the cam and the accessories. Thus I went out to our small patio here, and took two snaps. The first one is a view of our locality here, as seen from our patio when you look towards the street-entrance. The second one was a more or less failed attempt at trying some stud-crack try on catching the sun rays from over the edge of the patio boundary.

The cars you see in the first one belong to our neighbours (obviously!!), and failed as I indeed did at my attempt, you can still kinda see that I was trying to capture the 'sunrays-over-the-boundary' thingy in my experiment with the camera in the second pic.

I guess I should be making a small trip along the streets of Berkeley and just take some aimless snaps sometime -- will be a good way to beat boredom. I also surely now have reason enough to start learning details of photo-editing and image-processing softwares ... something I have been planning for quite sometime now.

Do You Tube ???

2009-01-11T13:31:00.000-08:00

My month long winter break here at Berkeley has often seen me ending up with nothing to do but sit and spend time with man's best friend in modern times -- his PC (yes ... PC !! ... not a dog, but maybe a Mac). On such occasions, more often than not, I have indulged myself in some serious investigation of the content uploaded on YouTube. Now the very brilliance of this service has often left me completely awestruck, and at times speechless -- some geeky friend of mine once said "If it's not there on Wiki or YouTube, it's not there". I have come to pay more attention to his statements thereafter ...

So, back to the main issue -- month long break, bored of going around, sitting in front of computer ... nay ... PC, and 'doing YouTube'. In the process, I have come across some really brilliant stuff, and I just couldn't stop myself from mentioning some of them here. So, here you go ... I call it a "List-of-Things-to-Watch-on-a-rainy-weekend-when-all-the-bars-have-decided-to-go-dry-for-a-day-due-to-liquor-price-regulations-and-a-single-guy-like-you-has-not-much-on-the-plate-to-chose-from" :)

Jeff Dunham --This dude is a friggin genius. Period. Just search for his name on YouTube, and you will find this ventriloquist with a set of puppets – Peanut, Walter, Achmed, and Jose the Jalapeno on a 'steek'. These are the more popular ones, there are three more puppets – Bubba J, Sweet Daddy D, and Melvyn. Check out his site www.jeffdunham.com too. His shows are so brilliant that I wish I could attend one of his shows.Apart from his shows, there are a couple of special videos that he had included in his dvd, like “Jingle Bombs”, and Walter's run for President of United States. There are also videos of show-bloopers, and the way he recovers from such mistakes in a live show is just stunning. If I say a word more I will probably ruin it ... hence, just search and watch.

“Happy and u know clap ur hands” -- type in exactly this, no alternate spellings, and watch the first video. You never know how a Punjabi version of this very famous piece could have been conjured up.

“Single girls” -- I had no idea how someone could come up with this though ... again search and watch.

“Animator vs Animation” -- some good old stick figure animation, but this is of a much superior quality than the usual ones (like, say, the stick figure matrix fight sequence). Searching for this will give you a series of animation videos, and some of them are really entertaining (check out for the one in which Avast Antivirus takes the rebel-stick-figure in prison, and then uses it's rebellious streak to block pop-ups :D)

“Shoes” -- I have no words to describe what this is ... you need to watch it to realize. Liam Kyle Sullivan, an American comedian, won a People's Choice Award for this. There are other similar shows of his available on YouTube too.

“Where the Hell is Matt?” -- The fact that the background score is in Bengali is not the reason I became a fan of this video. Just watch video game designer Matt Harding dance his way to internet-fame, and you will start liking that one dance move repeated at places around the world. It has become a craze like 'Numa Numa' had become, and there are many related videos that have spawned up – including “Where on Google Earth is Matt?”, “Where the Hell are Matt's Outtakes?”, “Where the Hell is matt's Girlfriend?”, and “How the Hell did Matt get People to Dance with him ?”. Just to finish it off, I actually saw someone dancing the Matt-step in Berkeley streets, though I was not quite able to relate it to this video immediately.

“Matrix on Windows” -- You might find a couple of videos, but the best one is the one from 'Collegehumor'. Watch out for the final statement about Neo wanting to learn Ubuntu to run the Matrix. :P

“Jizz in my Pants” -- aired as a 'Digital Short' (videos made using digital video-cams and then edited and processed on a normal personal computer) on 'Saturday Night Live', this video is supposedly the first single from the debut album of this band called 'The Lonely Island' which includes SNL's actors Andy Samberg, and Jorma Taccone. Aagin, one of those videos which are difficlut to describe in words. (As a separate issue altogether ... Saturday Night Live simply rocks !!)

“Minesweeper: The Movie” -- Another 'Collegehumor' video, and it is indeed quite something. Check out for the tagline for the movie “This Summer What is Yours is Mine”. And the brilliant 'link-to-the-movie-site' parody.

“4'33”: John Cage” -- All I can say is, it's unique, and the rest is silence ... :D. Do check out Wikipedia's entry on John Cage, and on this specific composition of his.

That completes my list. There are now a couple of points to be addressed. Firstly, I just gave the search terms and not the links or the videos for each entry. The reason is, the whole fun in this exercise is to explore YouTube's vast reserve. You search, and then maybe you check out some other video that might have come up on the list, and discover something different. After all, you are mostly jobless to be doing this anyways.

Second, many people have actually told me that these stuff have no point at all, save for some senseless escapades which are just a waste of time. I would like to take this opportunity to make my stand on this, and say that some of the videos/pieces on YouTube are indeed brilliant examples of creative genius, parodies, witty-mockeries, and most importantly, of skills that would have otherwise gone completely unnoticed. Such a unique platform for such seemingly out-of-ordinary or unusual talent can only do good to fostering the true spirit of creativity. That's a huge huge 'plus', whether people accept it or not. There are pro's and con's to everything.

So much for one blog entry. Enjoy, and if you come across something nice, share them so that others can enjoy too.

P.S: Not all of these are self discoveries, some of them have (obviously) been recommendations, and it would be unfair not to mention them. So let me take a moment to thank Brinda and Abhishek for entry no. 2 and 10, George for introducing me to “Shoes” (and some others, not on the list though), and apun ka Irshaad Miyaan for 'Single Girls'.

Kya Baat Hai v3.0

2009-01-08T11:19:00.000-08:00

Was chatting with my wingmate Fasil today morning ... and while we were at it ... man came up with a brilliant piece of quote --

"abbe ... desperate times call for desperate pleasures..."

I leave everything up to the interpretation of the reader :)

New Year Times :)

2009-01-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

It's a new year ... 2009. And like every new year, this one too comes with expectations and apprehensions, and leaves us with another year of memories and experiences. In many ways 2008 was unique for me and for many others, and it came with it's share of fantastic and horrifying moments. However, there are a couple of remarkable feats that make the previous year stand-out in itself -- we all cheered that historic moment when a man named Barack Husein Obama rose to the position of the most powerful person in the world indeed, we all shed our tears for the courage and the spirit shown by the Indian police and Army in fighting the terror strike on Mumbai, we all went hysteric as India soared high on Dhoni-ism, we all spent troubled times figuring out our money and our job as the most devastating recession hit the global economy, we all stood ashamed of ourselves when we saw scandals by our world leaders revealed ... one could go on and I am certain I missed probably many more crucial happenings.

And all the while, we all have had our own, personal experiences -- the moments of brilliance and the moments of agony. I for one had probably a few of the biggest moments of my life -- my graduation, my first flight abroad, California, a new country, a new life, Saarang, getting far away from the 4 years of college life and its absolute brilliance, my first paychecque, my last day at college, my first day at another, hostel nights back at college and the discovery of the real strength of the bond we formed in the 4 years ... absolutely splendid !!

Months ago, I was back to my school for my school's Alumni re-union. I met up with my friends at school ... people whom I used to go to school with, people whom I used to meet 5 times a week for the full day for close to 14 years. And seeing them after a full 4 years was indeed great fun. It was then that I got a chance to realize that these people had changed a bit. The change was nothing major, but little things about them that was different. This new year's eve as I sat back and started wishing people, I had a strange feeling that the next time I meet my friends I probably might realize that they had changed a little bit more. Nothing remains as it was before ... but it is probably more difficult for us to accept in reality. Thus, this new year's eve I prayed for 'no changes' ... which I know will not quite be fulfilled. However, in as much as it comes, we all can at least hope for 'good change'.

On a personal front ... last few months I have had a strange feeling of lethargy creeping up inside me. It was because of a multitude of reasons, some of which I am pretty sure of. But what it has done is that it has kind of kept me away from actively engagin in all my interests -- music, writing, books, and I have also not been able to visit my blog. Thereby, I also made a small resolution this time -- to cut away from this lethargy and start following my interests again. I hope to be able to make good of it.

The new semester is about two weeks away. I have been sharpening my culinary skills (like all grad students with insufficient payments to dine out every night), I have been watching a lot of stuff, have been paying bills and managing finances, I have been thinking about Credit History, have been getting accustomed to online shopping and Wal-Mart, have been doing a lot other things that I had never even dreamt of doing in my life, have not been doing some things I had indeed dreamt of -- oh ... and yeah ... have been studying the rest of the hours :D

Here's a Happy 2009 to all who are reading this, and to all who are not.

Have You Ever ... ??

2008-10-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fee detached from everything in this world? ... detached from everything around you?

Have you ever felt that one down moment when you wish you lived life your way, and your way alone?

Have you ever felt that one happy moment when you were glad you lived a part of your life for someone else?

Have you ever wondered why you can't let some things go, while you can let some others go with such ease that you wonder how you came to be associated with it in the first place?

Have you had that one thing you wish you had said before ... one moment when you should have let your heart speak and not your head?

Have you ever dreamt of that one thing for all your life so far ... but dreams are only as far as you could go?

Have you ever wondered what makes great quotes great, memorable quotes memorable?

Have you ever wished you had been the one there with someone ... or for that matter, been the one there for someone?

Have you ever felt as if you are being torn apart by two seemingly strong forces which you have no way to counter?

Have you ever felt that so much of life has already been wasted on thinking ... thinking alone and not doing?
Well if you have, then you might just be one of those thousands of human beings who wake up everyday, stand in front of the mirror, and ask themselves something that goes 'Have you ever...'
So tell me ... Have you? .... ever ?

The Ones That I Could ...

2008-10-09T21:48:00.000-07:00

Had veered off into a small memory trip today afternoon ... realized I had to get back to this small corner of my mind (like really really small) here on the web ... and also to inform that I am lucky that I have not yet been robbed of my music ties (thanks to like-minded friends here, including one of my roomies) ...
[And yes ... details of this huge gap in posting will be presented indeed ... cos I can't wait to place these pieces into the drawing board here]
The memory trip was from all those moments where I was in front of many people ... trying to do something, and gauging whether people felt that I was an absolute 'jackass' or an absolute 'stud' ... ultimately ending up collecting rare pieces of memories into my mind's locker. This was the list that followed --

Shoghono Gohono Raatri
Chingaari Koi Bhadke
Kandhon se miltey hai Kandhe
Words
Ae duniya ke rakhwaale
Right here waiting for you
Saawan on raag Megh
Ajeeb dastaan hai yeh
Lakshya
Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye
More Than Words
Boro aasha kore ...
Tum -- (Urban Chaos -- self comp)
Zindaa
Bikhra hun mai
Uyirin Uyire
Teri deewani
Chaand Sifaarish
November Rain
Certain Romance (Arctic Monkeys)
Drops of Jupiter (Train)
Kuch na kaho
Phoolon ke rang se
Aashayein
Ab Na Jaa
Varagai Nathikira (Sangamam)
Hollow years
Maaeri
Summer of '69
Roop tera mastaana
Aap ki dua

Some of these were good times, some not so good times (and if I missed out any, will be only too happy to be pointed out)-- but all being something that I was a part of. For those who are reading this, and who know what the list is ... Thank You for all the good times.

The Wait ...

2008-08-08T03:29:00.000-07:00

... is still on ...

Would like to believe in this line from the OST of a recent movie

'...dil agar sachcha ho rab sab kar de setting...'

(P.S: That said, I do plan to watch the movie as well ...)

'Why So Serious ??'

2008-08-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

I must say that I was nothing short of dying to watch the movie when I went into the theater … I mean, the movie was everywhere – status messages, critics’ reviews, newspaper ads, radio contests. The fact that it shot to IMDB’s top spot in about three weeks of runtime, about Ledger being considered as a posthumous Oscar nominee, about Chris Nolan’s way of tackling an ensemble cast … everything made me visualize the experience of watching ‘The Dark Knight’ as something great, majestic. I must say, it was not disappointing on many accounts, in fact, on most of the accounts.

I should say that the fact that the title did not have any reference of Batman in it, was something of relevance, and I was only amazed at the way Chris Nolan treated his characters – giving the Joker, Harvey Dent, Batman, Alfred their own place in the script. In an ensemble cast, makers often end up being unable to give proper space to all the characters, The first thing that you realize when you think of it, is that you can remember prominent durations in the movie for all the actors – Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Cain, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale. Yes, there were that many actors and they all were properly pitched in. That in itself is a big thing! Needless to say the individual performances were brilliant. Heath Ledger’s Joker is probably the most brilliant portrayal of a comic-book villain. A lot has already been said about his performance, which was in fact so brilliant, that he received standing ovations in my theatre (and that’s the first time I have seen a villain get that kind of praise). His brutal acts, his delivery of brilliant lines, that psychotic strain in his movements and conversation … he just perfected the Joker in the true sense of the cruel character that Kane and Finger created.

Looking at the other major character in the movie, Gotham City’s White Knight, DA Harvey Dent got another strong portrayal in Aaron Eckhart. Now this character was really critical, as Dent is not an out and out evil personality. His transformation to Two-Face was a result of an overwhelming shock and dilemma. Eckhart has brought that out so well, that in the end when you see the fall of the White Knight of Gotham, you feel something tingling inside you … you want to see more of him. Christian Bale as Batman might not have that intelligence in appearance, and that air about himself as George Clooney did, but his portrayal makes him look like a superhero without any powers, and he has been able to get to that mental dilemma of Batman quite well – two things that form an integral part of the character of Batman. Michael Cain is the best Alfred I have seen, and the lesser I say about an actor of his stature the better it is for me. As Commissioner Gordon, Gary Oldman completes the trio of good that fights the evil for Gotham, and he holds up his end well to complete the portrayal of the trio.

I could not help noticing the fact that, even though it was a Batman movie, Nolan has used batman as a link, to tie up all the major characters, and unlike in other Batman movies, we do not find the caped crusader appearing in every alternate scene, and not emerging victorious at the end (he ends the movie being chased by dogs … I mean that’s out of the box for a superhero movie). The movie was replete with brilliant moments. Apart from the ones where the major characters interplay, there is this one scene where the two ships carrying Gotham’s citizens and criminals are to be blown up (a part of a ‘social experiment’ by Joker). The city people believe the criminals are anyways gonna kill them … but they do not somehow detonate the remote. While on the criminals’ ship, one rugged toughie comes up, asks the police to hand him the remote so that he can finish off what should have been done long back, and throws off the remote into the river. The entire sequence formed a really memorable piece of cinema. Also, the concept of the victory of Evil in its battle against the Good by bringing the Best of the latter down and weakening it to prove a point … how effective a theme to drive a movie! The very essence of Joker’s psychotic cruelty was this, and eventually in the movie when Dent dies, Batman realizes how the Joker’s plan of proving a point by exposing the weak point of Gotham’s Good Forces was successful.

To say more about the technical details of the movie will not be proper for me, as the overall effects in the movie have been point perfect in my opinion. Who can not be overwhelmed by the scene where Batman flies across the skies to capture the mob head business tycoon. Who can not be struck by the scene where Alfred and Bruce Wayne walks down a long corridor, with the ceiling lights switching off as they walk down, and Alfred telling Bruce ‘But I did bloody tell you”. Amazing moments, brilliant performances, brilliant dialogues – everything adding up to produce a whole entity that is greater than the sum. I am gonna watch it again, and try collecting an HDTV softcopy when it comes out. It’s a brilliant piece of cinema, and a most brilliant exit for Heath Ledger. If I were on the panel, Ledger’s academy award would have been a certainty :D

Here’s to The Dark Knight, and all the other efforts that will follow from this same team.

Kya Baat Hai v2.0 ... :D

2008-07-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

There is this big banner in front of our apartment here which is making an endearing call for students to join their institute ... by saying this ...

"Failed Class X/XII ???
No Academic Qualification ???
Join Graduation Directly !!!
_____ University"

One needs to appreciate stuff like these :D

Retro does Speak ...

2008-07-04T03:55:00.000-07:00

It's been quite sometime since my last post came up, and today's post is gonna be about the reason for this long time-gap. I had been, for the last couple of weeks, keeping myself a bit busy with something called 'Retrospeakt '08' (refer picture for clarifications). It was a project that a group of ex-students from my school (M.P Birla Foundation H.S School) took up -- forming an alumni association, and organizing it's first ever re-union.

Now for the non MPB'ites -- our school ex students had always expressed the desire for getting an Alumni association going, but that desire has been 'Garfielded' (if you know what I mean :P ). So for this (and some other reasons) somehow the mobilization of all the 14 batches of pass outs had not happened all this while. A couple of months ago ... some enthusiastic people said 'Enough is enough' and decided to take it up on themselves to set the ball rolling. Along came a widely networked campaign for the alumni association -- Orkut, Facebook, Gmail, Gtalk, Yahoo ... you name it, they were in the list. A database was created (yours truly stepped in to the action :) ), and thereafter, contacts started pouring in. After meetings and discussions, an association was finally formed, and the first re-union was conceived. So far so good.

It was end of May when I got to see what was going on in full detail, and the re-union was planned for 29th of June -- in a scale that really needed quite a lot of planning and labor. In came a truly strenuous week of incessant toil -- sponsors, publicity, legal agenda, event planning, fund-raising from alumni ... a huge list. From my little experience, I knew how hard it was going to be for all of us but everyone seemed to be positive about it. What followed thereafter was a series of obstacles that showed how Murphy's law does rule over everything. Sponsors decided to be procrastinating their replies, some said yes but thereafter said 'We are sorry', one ex-student decided to jump in with his contributions only to tell that we have to run the entire event as per his whims (we obviously called him off), it started raining and the school grounds (the planned venue) was out of bounds so we had to shift it inside the hall, people were not very forthcoming with contributions, the media people started behaving as they always do (in fact even worse than they always do) -- in total ... the work of a team of 15 was being done by 5 and we had to see it all go astray every morning. Some things did click however, and the day of the event arrived.

They say honest effort pays all the time. What we saw on 29th was nothing less than testimony to this old adage. Ex-students came in huge numbers, the total amount collected as donations was thousands of bucks greater than the collection throughout June, the good old assembly hall was decked up beyond recognition, people ate to their heart's content, good music, gathering, great fun -- in short an evening to remember.

So what if the badges on our shirts read "Alumini Association", so what if sponsors chose not to pay us because we "had no promise as a group", so what if people had not been forthcoming till the very end, so what if the teachers whom we loved and invited chose not to come, so what if a section of the ex-students did not believe that the people working for the event were not "good enough" -- for all of these, The M.P Birla Alumni Association has it's own legal registration as an independent body, we've got fixed agenda and policies (and they look really stud, believe me), we have our own logo and header, we have our own magazine, we have even our own website ready for launch, and we had hundreds of ex-students say "Dude ... an evening to remember".

On a personal front, it was after a really long time that I got to meet my school friends, it was the first time I saw my brother dance on stage (he does it well indeed), it was yet another successful stint for me at organizing an event, it was yet another magazine that I helped bring out -- but most of all it was a simply brilliant feeling to stand in front of the stage that day, swaying to the music played by one of my friends, and feeling at home at the very place you kinda stopped calling home about 4 years ago.

Here's to "The M.P Birla Alumni Association" and to "Retrospeakt".

Paani Paani Re ...

2008-06-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

It started yesterday at 8:30 in the evening, went on throughout the night, and close to 9 o'clock today morning, this was what happened to some parts of the city :P :P

This is basically the entrance to my apartment building. The water level was waist high (for me !! ). The house that you see on the right was (needless to say) flooded, the residents had a bad, wet day. The building towards the left by the way, is a school ... and the kids did have their "rainy day off" :D.

And this is the story of a great number of areas in and around the city.

Water, water everywhere ... on the roads, in potholes, drains, ... whatever you can think of.

Kya Baat Hai ... :D :D

2008-06-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

Saw this ad on paper today about a garment mall. M.S Dhoni features in a cool-dude attire (or something like that), points his finger at the readers (out of the paper that is) and says:--

"Aajkal log sabse pehle kapde dekhte hai"

The Weeks That Were ...

2008-06-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

Been about a couple of weeks and more since I arrived ... quite a bit happened ... tried to summarize it ... this is what the kaleidoscope gave me

Nostalgia. IIT memories. Gmail chat, and Orkut. Music, music and lotsa more music. No cable TV, ergo no Euro '08. Home food, and Kolkata during rains. School friends. The M.P Birla Foundation Alumni Association, and 'Retrospect '08'. Spons, publicity, PR, Media, Events -- all over again. Dual bandhs. Arjun Singh's spark of genius and phenomenal eccentricity (read spawning of IIT's everywhere, including an All Women's IIT !!). Oversleeping some days, undersleeping the other. Blogging and writing. City-hopping. And finally ... getting busy in finding out ways to beat boredom, and getting bored thereafter.

Is it somewhat similar for everyone I know ?

Th Ultimate Last Day Menu :D

2008-05-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

This was what I tried out for my senti-ridden last day menu ... proved to be a delight

Breakfast -- Pongal Vada and Filter Coffee at Tiffany's
Masala dosa at Campus cafe in the afty (did not quite materialize however)
Chenna puff at Tidel Bakes (evening)
Puffs at Guru with Ice Tea
Sub at Ascendas
Onion Rava Dosa at Tiffany's again
Coffee at Guru
Frappe at CCD
Veg Franky at Basera

Now that definitely did cover all the eateries for us. Anyone who can come up with anything else/better kindly let know :D.

ADIOS ... IIT M ... It's Been a Pleasure

2008-05-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

On the day when I had finally completed all of my paperwork and submission and all that jazz for completion of my IITM degree, I was sitting at CCD -- the A.C was real good, and after all the flurry of stuff to be taken care of, I had finally managed some time to let everything sink in. In the five or six minutes that followed I could see the last four years flashing by -- as if in snapshots or a slideshow of some kind. It was only then that I could truly realize that it indeed was gonna be the end of nothing less than an era for me. And I am sure, the same feeling would be running through the minds of many -- retrospection and the nostalgia notwithstanding, the real multitude of experiences that this brilliant place throws at you is in itself worth a lifetime.

I can't imagine what I would be today if these four years had been different from what they were. It might have been better, for all I know, and it might have been worse as well. However, I chose to leave this apart and let myself think of all that I have got. I got friends, great and amazing friends, I got to see a wide world of emotions, passion and glory, I got to experience the highs (pun intended amigos) and the lows, I got to learn stuff that I had never dreamt of, I got to do stuff I had never even imagined -- all this within a span of four wonderful years. To be able to experience fear, love, hatred, anger, self control, passion, and indifference, to be able to stand in front of a thousand plus crowd of unknown faces and perform, to be able to head a hundred member strong team to manage a huge extravaganza of an event, to be able to cry at your friends' sorrows, to experience that warm helping hand extended when you are low and down, to get back from there and get your chance of doing something big, to be able to innovate, to initiate, and get a searing pain in the back as you slog it off, finishing it all off with a laugh at one of those jokes that a close buddy of yours might have cracked -- everything ... everything about it all is nothing short of sheer brilliance.

And as one of my friends put it once, its the people who make the place. Nothing could be more true than this. I have come to know (and this I mean it in all earnestness) some of the best people of my life over the course of the last four years. And some of them have become my friends for life. People who are absolutely brilliant in terms of many aspects ... and some who are not (and yet conspicuous by their presence alongside the others) -- people who have taught me stuff, loads and loads of stuff, for me to carry with me in the years to come.

I guess it has all been a long drawn climax -- these last couple of weeks -- in terms of all that has happened in the past four years. It is just amazing to think of what this does to any newcomer at this place -- they come, they see, they do, they learn and unlearn, and they come out to be a completely different set of people. And it has been so much in my case that I can't keep myself from looking back, and thanking everyone for every minute of all these years that went by.

To all my amigos -- "We shall be Heroes one day ... and all shall Watch".

Laaeeff ...

2008-05-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

I have only a couple of weeks more to stay here at this brilliant campus that has given me so much. Close friends and juniors have started leaving for their vacations -- many of them I dunno when I will be able to meet next. The goodbyes and the adieus have started. I dunno what will happen when my batchmates start leaving -- my heart is already a bit heavy, my mind morose, and my mood nostalgic. The last thing of consequence that i need to do here, which goes by the name of BTP, is kinda proceeding weirdly. My last simulation will take about two weeks to run (which is insane), and my guide has disappeared from the scene for about 10 days. My thesis has just started, and looks like quite a bit of work needs to be put in now. Neither has my visa proceedings been taken care of, which keeps me a bit tensed as well. Night outs, department labs, Tiffany's lunch, dinner somewhere, the maddening Chennai heat, Microsoft word, FLUENT, long hours spent staring at the computer ...... Life.

B to the T to the P .... BTP

2008-04-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

(Earnest request to all readers: Please believe in what follows, so that there is at least one forum where people are convinced that I have indeed worked for the BTP, and feel relieved)

Necessary Definitions:
1. BTP - Acronym for B.Tech Project (though there are many alternative expansions for the same). It is supposed to be a chance for students in their final year to apply stuff that they have learned as an undergraduate, in their final year. (The author wishes not to comment on what kind of a 'chance' it is, what 'students' do, what kind of 'stuff' and how to 'apply', and (for some) ... 'final' year ? )

At the very outset, let me remark that there has been few occasions when one single thing has troubled me for almost one whole week, and I have been at it for really long hours with no results. That, combined with the fact that the deadlines are drawing close, and an apprehended suspicion that I have not worked at all for my BTP, is what finally almost drove me crazy today ... and the only escapade I could think of was to write about the situation here. Ergo ... here it is.

My project is on the Hydrodynamics of High Speed Catamarans (for the uninitiated, its about the fast moving two hulled boats that you must have seen in movies and on TV). When I got my project, I was told that I would need to do a lot of literature survey as High Speed vessels was a relatively newer area of research. I was also told about the major tasks that I will need to perform as a part of my project. I did the survey, got a couple of papers, and two books which provided me with exactly what I needed. "Bingo!!", I said to myself. Alas! only if I knew what was to come.
Having gone through the entire thing, I got a better idea of the work, and when I went and spoke to my guide as well, I thought I had a fair idea of the project. Then came my first presentation, by which time I had only just started working -- so not much to show apart from my survey and groundwork. I was able to put in a good presentation with that itself.
By the second presentation, which was almost over a month later, I had to show results. I had worked on whatever scheme I had figured out, and got a huge amount of data from a series of simulation runs in a software called SEAWAY. It took me three days of back-breaking work to compile and analyze this data, and prepare my presentation. It was then that things started getting different.
During my presentation, the faculty on the panel asked me some questions, and surprisingly for me, I found myself struggling with the answers. It was then that I realized that I was not quite on the right track, and somehow my guide did not realize it earlier as well, so even he had not interfered and clarified my misconception.

Let me now be a bit more specific.
For my project there are primarily three parts--
1. For the ship geometry and the velocity given, ind out the equilibrium trim angle.
2. For this trim angle and also for no trim state, run the corresponding motion simulations in SEAWAY ( a software package).
3. For this trim and also for no trim, compute the resistance using cfd techniques in FLUENT (a cfd analysis package).

I was goddamn clear on the 2nd and 3rd, and did not realize the 1st step's necessity. Turns out that was the starting point, and I had been doing without it :)

Once again, even after this realization, life was no easier because Mr. Murphy rules everywhere.
I started working hard on developing iterative procedures (using the MATLAB package), and tried running the CFD runs without any trim angle. Since then, till date, none of my computer simulations or programs have yielded the correct results.
1. In a polynomial with positive roots, upon substituting positive numbers, I am getting complex numbers -- and I can't figure out why the hell.
2. Fluent just refused to run the simulation on my computer, stating some 'Memory allocation error' (for which I tried a lot changing the settings of my comp .. but ... Mr. Murphy is the man)
3. Finally today afternoon, Fluent worked on one of my friend's computer, and guess what ... the solutions are diverging.
4. Meanwhile, tired with the more involved and complex iterative procedure, I tried a simpler one, which btw was done in a book in form of equations. After following exactly the same sequence of steps, I still am not able to match my results.
5. Unless I get the trim angle my Fluent simulations won't run, my meshing of geometry will not happen, and my SEAWAY simulations won't run. And unless I figure out what's wrong with my iterative procedure, I can't get the trim angle. So ... clearly I am in a "sli situation".

I have tried hard, and tomorrow I am going to meet my guide and tell him all of this, albeit in a greater detail. I can only hope that his comments help me get through the problem. However, that can only happen if he does believe that I have done substantial amount of work. In case he doesn't, then ... well , I dunno :)

So much for now ... much more of BTP stuff will be up sometime soon.

P.S: Any person reading this, and having any word of advice or expertise on Matlab/Fluent, please leave a comment, so that I have one more person to seek suggestions from.

When Saarang Happened .....

2008-04-18T01:53:00.000-07:00

It took a rainy day with very little left to do, and the completion of another Lit-Soc event for the semester, to come up with this post on one of the biggest things to have happened in my life – named Saarang. With the knowledge that it’s long overdue and also that even though one can never forget the experiences, some details might go off here and there, let’s just get to looking into one of the better organized versions of the mega event.

When you are a Core group member for an event that involves over 60 lacs of money, over 8000 people, and celebrities and media presence, it goes without saying that your life will not be peaceful even by the farthest stretch of imagination. Handling over 40 events, workshops, lectures, and demonstrations – there were times when it just felt as if the sky will fall on your head any moment now. The mobile phone just did not stop ringing, and at times I felt like crushing it with a road-roller – even though the prospect of answering calls of unknown numbers and getting cute voices from the fairer half talk to you (even request you for stuff) is not to be forgotten. There were meetings, lots of them, and at times we ended up talking so much that when finally it was all over it felt as if our jaws still retained some inertia, and ‘not talking’ seemed to be such an anomaly. All in all, it was a brilliant realization of what ‘slogging your asses off’ really meant – and we use it so trivially for whatever level of work we put into something J

Personally, this Saarang was a different thing altogether for me. On the run up to the four days of festivities, I was not quite happy – because all my plans of performing with my band in my last Saarang just fell apart at the last moment. I was sad – so sad that when I first came to realize that it’s not happening, I cried. However, the excitement and tension of the approaching four-day-festivities made me forget all about the sadness. We tried out many new things this year, and the prospect of whether they will be a success or a failure, kept us occupied to a great extent.

This Saarang I also happened to see how a couple of ideas can change an event of such a big scale in a radical manner. It was our primary objective to integrate aspects of Indian culture and arts into our events, and when the idea of ‘Saarang Village’ came up, in a very rudimentary form, we took it up without any hesitation at all. In about a month’s time, the entire idea was shaped up to as much detail as possible, and turned out to be the biggest success at Saarang ’08. It was an instance where I saw how the dedication and enthusiasm of a small group, and their will to do something different, transformed a plain and simple idea into a full fledged, successful project.

Hmmm… enough about organization I guess … let me now think of all the things good and bad happening in the four days … (highly personal, but for some, might make a good read :P )

1. Day one, watching the band Udaan perform for LM Groups -- Saarang Light Music contests are legendary, and this band from Madras Christian College just set the standards higher with their melodious own compositions. Good music always comes way up on my list, and listening to these guys sing really made my day.

2. Sanjeev Kapoor on ’30 things to eat before you die’ – I felt so proud to have been able to organize the lecture, and give the Saarang people about 80 mins of looking at mouthwatering dishes from all across the country, and know about their nitty-gritties.

3. Soundarya Rajnikanth’s lecture – this is really one unforgettable experience -- the car stopping, the lady coming out from the car, my hands going forward to greet her and welcome her to Saarang, and people around me (including myself) just looking at her. The ICSR Main Audi was erupting, with whistles, and ‘ooh’ s and ‘aah’s all round the hall.

4. LM solo on day 3 and 4 – sentimental values, as this was the only event in which I could participate, taking some time out of the core chores. Five mins of practice, a mild cold, and a minor hitch to attend to just before my performance – I still managed to get into the finals! In the finals again, I did both of my songs without any lapses whatsoever (something I feel was interesting because the cold had worsened overnight).

5. Lucky Ali and Karthik – There was a time when I used to worship Lucky Ali, and there I was standing and posing for pics with him. Karthik, on the other hand, is the reason why I got into listening tamil songs after saarang. The core train on stage, the flutist in Ali’s band, the renditions of ‘Pehla Nasha’ and ‘Parde me rehne do’ by Karthik and his troupe, the ‘mobile swaying spectacle’ in OAT – it was all nothing short of an indelible impression.

6. IIT M team winning choreo – I guess the statement is self explanatory. With an event that big, every college puts in months of effort to crack it. I saw the team putting in enormous amount of hard work, and to watch it all pay off was something different in itself.

7. (Many people claim that this is false but this really happened) Before the LM solo performance, a girl from a renowned Chennai college came up to me and said that I sing very well. As I had not yet gone up on the dias, I was a bit surprised, and I told her that I haven’t yet gone in. Then she said that she remembers me from last saarang, remembers my performance at last Saarang. (I guess I need not say that it made my day)

8. Prestorika pulling off ‘Fear of The Dark’ – to say that the O.A.T almost exploded will be no understatement whatsoever. I for one went crazy when they pulled off a small gig by leaving the stage and making a re-entry to play Maiden.

There will surely be many more such moments which at the moment I fail to recollect. However, at the end of the last pro-show, when we were sitting on the O.A.T stage, and looking at the empty galleries all around, it felt brilliant. I would go to any lengths to recollect and savor that moment once again. The countless phone calls, the night-outs, the discussions and meetings, confused cords coming up to you and asking stupid questions out of nervousness, all the core team fights and bickering, those brilliant moments of the day, realizing whatever you did not want to happen have happened, realizing thereafter that the situation has been set right by some way or the other, realizing that you are jumping to the tunes of a popular hindi number with a girl you’ve never met before, watching the quietest of chaps head bang to Metallica and Maiden, staring mesmerized at the crowd that has gathered to watch the show you’ve worked hard to organize, standing in the middle of a mismanaged crowd in a small corridor and wondering why the hell did you take this job up, getting criticized, getting shouted at, thereafter watching others support you as they shout back for you – it goes on and on.

As I had told in an interview with an ET reporter (my one and only media mention btw :D ), if someone is really close to you, you want everything happening to him/her to be good, to be grand—and for all of the organizers, Saarang was that special someone in our lives. And boy we put in some effort to make it grand eh ! :D

Orkutism's again ...

2008-02-25T00:50:00.000-08:00

Once again ... Orkut's own way of putting up 'Today's fortune' ... my profile had the following statement

'In God We Trust. All Others Must Pay Cash'

(which kinda reminded me of this tagline on one of our department t shirts. I guess it was the CSE dept shirt, which read 'In God We Trust. All Others We Virus Scan')

Once again it totally defied my reasoning as to how statements like these can be called 'fortune for the day' or something like that
Speaking of Orkut ... the typical antics of many Orkut users have, for quite sometime, been attracting my attention - in terms of their peculiarities. I have decided that I will dedicate a section of my posts to these, thus continuing the thread 'Orkutisms'.

(...also, to myself, I have made a promise of a couple of articles .. on the last couple of months in my life where lots happened, and lots did not. So there it is .... )

The Tense'd Header ...

2007-12-24T06:29:00.001-08:00

A little while ago good friend Mr Anand (known to many as the "floating billed bird" man) mentioned that the header in my blog is grammatically wrong ... it's 'Begun' and not 'Began' as I had put up. Even as I mentioned in reply that it was deliberate, as a tribute to something called 'bonguly.wmv', I realised that for the (rather unfortunate) items of mortality who have not been subjected to the 'bonguly' experience, the idea will not at all work ... ergo, my decision to put up a new header, along with the said 'wmv' file uploaded as soon as I lay my hands upon it.

Adieu oldie ...

(This post can also be attributed to a certain degree of joblessness experienced that led to a momentary urge to type in whatever came to my mind first on my blog)

Orkutism's ...

2007-12-24T02:16:00.000-08:00

My orkut fortune for today --

Society Prepares the Crime: the Criminal commits it

stud line I say ... but did not get how is that someone's fortune ...
any takers for elaborating on it ??

Rubik's Cubicles .. (..for want of a better title)

2007-12-20T00:41:00.000-08:00

Vacation time is the right time ...
with all the free time and the brilliant thing called 'broadband' by BSNL, the author's blogging enthu has seen a new rise of about 52 percent over the last instance. The cause of this enthu has been ascribed to the high rate of 'time inflation' which has left the author with more time to blog than ever earlier. Experts have commented that this primarily could be because of the intense cold during the evenings and the local colleges having exams during the mornings. In a recent mento-interview with Mr Dog-less Adam on this very issue, the infamous auror has been heard commenting about the ramifications of this on the readers of the blog, which our resident experts have claimed to be quite baseless because of the low reader count for this very blog. The survey done by the AC - Knucklemann (the last n added to de-terrorise the surveyees) led to some of the target audience even expressing utter disgust on having to visit this page even once. Some even said 'the damn author doesn't visit the page and update it .. truly an author-forsaken blog'. The author has been advised to get the gap between his front teeth filled when he last made a public appearance on the very popular TV show 'Who Let The Dogs Out After The Baha Men Did ??' hosted by the famous actor and tv hostess Polyflorahaloornatidinnova. It is also said that the hostess was quite hurt on the show when the author had actually sent in a letter with an additional '?' at the end of the TV Show's Title. 'Eet iz our wai of bein nonn-connvensional', she has said and added that the author has displayed poor thinking in not having posted the letter up on his blog and asking for readers comments to get an edited version. Although this again brings us back to the comment on the reader count of his blog, this goes to show that the blog is indeed deserving of a title 'author-forsaken'. Meanwhile, the rise of enthu amidst all these have been receiving mixed reactions from amongst the would be 's of every possible industry. 'It's our time to get the four lines of fame on the local newspapers...damn those reporters, we couldn't even open our mouth regarding the Nandigram issue', said one of the would-be's. This being an issue of minimalistic media attention possessing the possibility of growing in form very soon, the aforesaid items of mortality are all preparing themselves for the media sessions -- the idea of a democracy was never so strong in their being as it is now, every opinion is valuable -- might have a chance to get them their four lines of glory on the "Times and Tides of Bharat", and other national dailies. The reactions have been brought to the notice of the author, and the comments have been received. However, the channel has decided to take out a signature campaign to arrive at a consensus amongst its employees as to whether it should be made public. In the meantime, the rest of the population has been requested by apolitical personalities from all over the world to keep an eye on the blog and report all the changes that appear in it. 'These changes....' was all that we could extract from the famous professor of 'coarse arts and pseudology', who has recently shot to fame with his brilliant work 'Vettical Limit: a pseud book'. The cut in conversation was due to absolutely brilliant weather conditions (the communication line-designs being made to sustain bad weather conditions, hence the engineers forgot the perfect weather eventuality ... much like Private Baldrick did).
So much for now. Keep an eye on this place.
Thank You.

P.S: 1. Needless to say ... was about time I posted :)
2. I have nothing but sheer respect for Douglas Adams ... this article is just a attempt at writing 'something'.
3. All characters and situations mentioned herein are absolutely imaginary... born out of an idle mind sitting in front of a comp for over an hour with nothing to do.

Of Opinions and all that Jazz ...

2007-11-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well, let's say that this post of mine is dedicated to one of the recent happenings in the campus that has raised quite a furore amongst a significant section of the final year students about to get placed. At the very outset, for the fear of being misconstrued, I would like to mention that the content in this post is just to make people reading this think a bit about the power of Opinions and the right way to express them. Hence I will post the ideas in a point-wise format, and let the reader form his/her conclusions.
So, yeah...the issue at hand is the 'Dow Chemicals Ban' issue.
For the less knowledgeable items of mortality, the context is as thus -- Dow chemicals is the firm that bought Union Carbide Ltd., the company whose negligence was the cause of the well known "Bhopal Gas Tragedy". Needless to say, there are a large number of ethical and legal issues involved with the company and its existence and operations. That being the case, students from some of the national institutes decided to ban Dow from recruiting from their campus this placement season. A certain section of IITM populace decided to follow suit as well.
When it comes to the motive behind this entire movement, I am sure everyone will agree that there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. It is in fact a good thing that such issues were being discussed by people with at least some seriousness.
Having said that let's come to the points that I wish to present forth regarding the movement in our campus:

1. A petition was drafted without the knowledge of a significantly huge chunk of the student community, and there was a signature campaign that was doing the rounds as well. It's all very good, but the fact where it gets debatable is that out of the total number of signatures taken a significant number of them were from a certain section of the student populace who won't at all be affected in any way if Dow decides to come or pack.
2. Dow was supposed to be taking in students from Civil, Mechanical and Chemical Engg. However, when the faculty of these departments were approached for opinion and assistance regarding organizing an event related to the same issue, surprisingly large number of them seemed to not have been involved in this affair at all. Note that if the said company choses or refuses to come, their department students are the ones to suffer from not getting placed.
3. While the students were not quite well versed with the issue itself, their immediate concern was the fact that some of their batchmates might not get placed because of this one company not coming. They decided to bring that issue to the fore front.
4. A certain student group decided to have an open house for the issue so that, considering the fact that no attempt was made to clarify the entire picture to the student community, a proper platform is provided to discuss the issue on a non biased basis. When the organising body of this group went and fixed a certain faculty to be the moderator, he accepted and at the very outset mentioned that he would be a neutral speaker throughout as a moderator even though his opinions were formed. The organizing body also made sure that this point is clarified again and again. On the day of the event the said faculty actually at some stage says that he would like to come out of his neutral stance and vouch for the anti-Dow stance.
5. The moderator had also mentioned that one of the speakers coming in was a victim as well as a social activist, and being a powerful speaker in Hindi, she would be speaking about the victims' perspective. It was quite well known that her speech would sway the opinion towards one side for sure, and hence it was mutually decided between the students and the moderator that this speaker be given a slot sometime late into the session when sufficient number of speakers have spoken. That speaker was sent in First up. Normal people would say that this was indeed a small meandering from the consensus, but no comments for now.
6. When asked about the fact that the petition that was supposed to represent the student opinion regarding this issue was actually in no way a proper representation because hardly a handful of people knew about it as compared to the large number who did not, the faculty in charge of the entire movement (not from mech, chem or civil mind you) actually said that it was true. He agreed that it was not a proper representation but was something done in a haste to start off a movement regarding this, because of some specific issues. Yet, the students around him who helped him in the campaign, chose to deny it, until when the petition was forwarded to the authorities.
7. Media involvement was there throughout. Not quite a view of both sides of the coin however, as it was only the petitioners' team which spoke to people, and the general student opinion went unmentioned.
8. Same happened with the open forum discussion where all the student speakers were asked to speak in one consolidated slot, this in effect ruining the impact that they could have had on the proceedings of the day.

So it happened, that the entire picture was known to only a handful of people in the campus. No one else knew, yet it was portrayed in the media that it was the students' opinion that was being represented. The one opportunity of having a common platform for discussing the issue openly went on to become uncharacteristically one sided and even though content was remarkably good, the impact was not. Finally, the company decides to call the PR of IITM placement cell, and says that they were no longer interested in taking IITM students. Other institute grads were eager to join their firm and that was good enough for them. Motion quite successful one might say. We did manage to keep them out of the recruitment scene, but not by ditching them, instead we allowed them to ditch us. Fair...

The power of opinion and expressing opinion in the right way is remarkable. When mobilized properly, in a democratic nation like ours and many others', public opinions make and break. But thats only when its 'Public' opinion, and not the opinion of a handful of people all directed the wrong way. And with the entire movement leaving out the student community, and relevant sections of the faculty, one might take the liberty of calling the attempt 'incomplete' at the very least. We have allowed one company to ditch us because of all this. In the present scenario when companies are finding no dearth of good students to recruit, what guarantee do we have that some other company won't follow suit as well? After all every major corporate house today has some ethical issue or the other that might be dragged out into the media (but to no avail). And if these firms decide to look into such incidents that we have presented forth, and then say "Let's pack", we have nothing much to do. So much for the campaign. Questions are -- did it quite achieve what it set out for? or did it just leave a few apprehensive minds regarding next year's placements? was it responsible enough to get in the insti's name into the movement and then proceed without considering a proper opinion base of the insti ? or was it responsible enough to bring forth comments in the media, knowing that every of those would actually be presented as the opinion of IITM and not the person(s) making them?

In the end of it all, how good a question does "Are our students so insecure about placements?" make when it comes to the bigger picture involved?

Just a food for thought for some maybe...

P.S: Once again, this is just bringing out the issue as a general open ended idea for people to think about. I would seriously be grateful if people did not take anything personally. :)

Tagged .. and Posted..

2007-07-27T01:13:00.000-07:00

My last post was about "aimless" take-offs... and I have shown no signs of being a regular blogger as yet .. so one more time with the same resolve of being regular henceforth I open my blog .. and then I see that I have been tagged by Paapi and Spanker :)...
This is a great way for me to start off posting again .. (and hope I keep my resolve strong :) ) .. so here we go
The rules are as follows:
1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

So then let the facts present themselves as ....

1. I have a theory that "If There Is Heaven It Must Be Made Of Chocolate" (preferably of the 'dark' variety at places). There has to be chocolate castles, with regenerative doors and windows so that if you chip off a lump of chocolate from them and gulp it, the damage is recovered (something like the Gingerbread castle in Hansel and Gretel). Needless to say... the chocolate fairies with 'candy' wands will be something more than a treat to the eye.
P.S: It follows that it would be a huuge understatement to say that I love chocolates... anywhere, anytime.

2. The greatest social faux pas that I can rememer to have committed is to have mentioned "Mohd. Azharuddin" under "Your Latest Crush" column in a girl's slam book in school (...this was way back in time, when I obviously did not know what 'crush' meant, and was filling up a girl's slambook for the first time...)
Needless to say the girl read that, asked me if I had really written that, in reply to which I gave a very confident "Yes", and then the "damn he's a weirdo" look on her face followed by a burst of giggles. As for me, my more knowledgeable friends made sure that I realize what a blunder I had committed, and the giggles made sure I feel wretched to have done something that foolish.

3. I had nothing for music at all when I was a kid. I did not love music as such, and in fact the first time we bought a tape recorder, it was because the kid next door also had one, and he made sure that the volume knob was turned to the maximum whenever he played anything . It was only when I was down with chicken pox at the end of my 3rd standard that I started taking a keen interest in music. I was basically confined to my bed, and all I could do was to listen to music, and watch TV. It was then that my mom also thought of teaching me some beginner's stuff. This kept going on thereafter...

4. I am very enthusiastic about movies, be it good movies, or reasonably good movies or even timepass level movies. I dunno if that alone can explain the fact that I have watched a particular movie about 20 times, and would not mind watching it again. The movie is named "Anand" starring Rajesh Khanna, and Amitabh Bachchan, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. I remember my parents telling me that when I was a kid i once cried even as I watched the ending of the movie. The movie in itself is a gem, and if anyone reading this has not yet seen it I would suggest you go watch it. Its a very toucing story, and brilliant performances by the actors. However, I still dunno if that explains why I can keep on watching it again and again.

5. I am definitely someone who has been born with the bad luck of never being able to encash a gift voucher/coupon. May sound weird, but its true. Whatever gift vouche s/coupons I have received till date have all been wasted, never have I been able to use/encash them. The causes have been different, but the outcome has always been me throwing them away or even giving them away in some cases!! All the vouchers that I got from the school fests/inter school competitions/in college etc have had the same fate, and everytime I hope that the next time at least I will be able to make use of one of them... alas !!
(P.S: The fact that I m mentioning this is (obly) because I just discovered that yet another gift coupon has suffered the same fate)

6. My kindergarten days in school has been an absolute nightmare.. not only for me but also for my school security guards, the bathroom cleaners, and the class teachers. Basically, I was not quite fond of the idea of going to school, what with the first time outside home, without my parents around and all that. And the biological manifestation to all this resentment was in a very odd manner which my bowels would be able to explain better. So it happened that every day I had to go to school with a set of spare pants, the moment my first set had been 'dechastised', I was rushed to the toilets by my teacher, then the cleaners took over, and finally with the spare set on, the security guards took me back home. This had quite become the daily schedule, till I was in the middle of my first standard, and then things changed....

7. Among the many Bong traits that I have inherited, the most notable one of them is the "Food connection". I absolutely love checking out different varieties of culinary preparations, love eating my heart out when I feel good (and people who have been around me might testify this)... but most of all ... I take great pleasure in describing how good a preparation was in great detail to someone who hasn't already checked it out. I feel like being the guide who takes people around in an exhibition of food items from different parts of the country (even world if possible) and detailing them about every item there and watch their eyes light up or their mouth water at the sight of some such dish (which I have already tasted). May be weird, but such is the "Food Guy" within me.

8. I have suffered 6 injuries all around my eyes, a couple of them have lend me permanent cut marks, but all of them have been after I started wearing spetacles and never were the specs affected at all. I guess that is some kind of record that I can claim to have achieved. My friends who have been there when I got some of those injuries wonder even today as to how they saw it all happen in front of their eyes...the injury or the smash against my face, and yet specs saved.
(P.S: for all those who are thinking why this is so please let me tell you that even then I had high power spectacles and without them I was practically a goner)
(P.S: also .. I damaged my specs a bit very recently .. so the whole issuewas fresh in my mind)

Lets see... now for tagging ... damn most of the people I wanted to tag have already been tagged ... guess I am very late into this ... anyways... I tag debanjan, louda, sayan, munnu, kawde, reeshav, dharik, galib.

Return to the show...

2007-06-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

Well a clean 4 months gap between my last post and this...and needless to say a lot has happened in between. Life has, as always, been throwing in one experience after the other, and no matter how-much-ever did i think of puuting up a post on my blog, i did not...maybe i could not.
However, intern time, and my office work is not that loaded either, so i get lots of free time... to waste, to think, and do stuff...thus i decided that whatever be it, I m gonna restart my blog-posting and carry on with it regularly.
So here it is... my first post after a long time. it does not carry any added info, no statements to be made, no point to be proved , nothing at all ... just an aimless post, so that the process is started off.
... and by the way ... whoever says its not fun to do stuff "aimlessly" ... take it from me ... you are so very wrong :)

THE FEEDBACK OF A DIFFERENT KIND.... HMMM...!!

2007-02-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

Well, my experiences at Saarang '07 have been very very unique and memorable. I thought i would dedicate a few posts to it sometime for sure. However, when this feedback form popped up in my hands...I realised that it definitely needs a mention way up there on my hit-list. So here we go .....

It was during the prelims of Light music solo (for which I was the Co-ordinator)...we had a long day... and many a dejected candidates who had come (without registering mind you.!!) and expected to coax their way through and sing for the prelims. Although we tried to incorporate all the candidates (even by giving them a minute to sing), it seems that a few people still had to miss the shot. One of these guys, filled up and submitted a feedback form for the event in which he vented all of his frustration, and angst. The monitoring guys gave it back to us...and, can't deny, it's a rivetting read.
To start with, there were a few ratings to be given (in which he had rated the Coordinator's and Saarang in a manner even worse than the ratings for mess grub!). However the crux lay in the latter part. Here's what it read ...

Q) Any comments on the event or Saarang ?

ANS) I would like the people at IIT to realise that they are dealing with human beings with emotions, and not inanimate objects. When we arrive on time, and aren't allowed to register for an event we have travelled 20 kms to attend, it is a natural reaction on our part to feel aggrieved about it. Saarang may be a huge event with "aspirational value" but when one individual isn't given the respect he/she deserves, we realise that we needn't keep turning up year after yearand be treated in a patronising manner by people too full of themselves, and the arrogance that comes with being a IIT-ian. IIT isn't all it's cranked up to be, I'm afraid. It's like a big brand, with big reputation, churning out lousy goods at astronomical prices.

Needless to say, this was my Google-talk status message for quite sometime.

The Prelude ....

2007-01-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

The last sem has been very busy and loaded...and there have been quite a few experiences over the last couple of months that set me on a thought process I myself did not quite anticipate. Hence, I decided this new year I would finally take some time out and present myself a blog.
...and here it is. This makes me feel happy for more than one reasons. The obvious one is the one mentioned above. The other one being, finally I got a present ... from myself... but still ... a present is always welcome. The third one (yes, there is a third one) being, the fact that with time I have always felt that some experiences I had are so unique and peculiar that they simply deserved a mention in retrospect. "What better a place than a blog!"...was what I felt (thought that while writing about these, I could relive them the way I wanted to).
So here goes setting my ball rolling....

P.S: For all the silent audience of this show...I hope this turns out to be a unique experience for you too. Amen.