It's raining......I mean it was raining..But i had thought of writing something when it was raining...so for a minute... close your eyes....and let your mind go back to today morning......It's pouring outside.....and i sit in a squishy brown armchair with a laptop, a cup of coffee and marshmallows ( the ones shaped like animals) looking pensively into the screen of my computer......the steam rising from my coffee and all the while, in the background.....is the rain......
In reality..it's night, i sit on a hard backed chair with nothing to heat, working at a desktop, the desk for which, is broken and creaking ominously..and..I hate hot drinks and marshmallows......(Is what i did above common, or just common to me ???...the bubble popping, I mean.....Do get back to me on that one....)
And yet....every time it rains...the very image i have described above pops into my mind...and i feel at the same time..comfortable,nostalgic and very, very sad.....as if i had suffered some great loss.....The rain has that funny effect on me : Whenever the sky gets overcast,i go sit near the window with a blanket. . .and almost instantaneously my mind starts wandering.....I feel lethargic,... almost depressed....Now, by nature i am ever happy go lucky and infuriatingly optimistic...in fact if i was a girl in a novel...I would've been either dead or dying of a serious disease...(I apologise if anyone found that allusion uncalled for...that's how the crime novelists play on your emotions...It's always the good who die young....) Only the rain can make me so depressed and sluggish that i start reading The Hardy Boys again to avoid any possible mind work......Immediately my mind thinks mutton pattices....lots and lots of mutton pattices...my mouth start watering..and unconsciously i start rubbing my hands together...partly out of excitement and partly to keep them warm....Some days..I sit on a comfy chair or my chaise longue with a quilt keep some munchies at hand and reread enid blyton......
Yes...Rain....by contrast creates comfort(the actual word for this case should be comfiness :P :P) in my mind...I imagine myself in several different places...On the top of a mountain in a Log cabin with a fire crackling at my feet ( and some method of adding fuel that did not involve my getting up...or moving a muscle for that matter... :P), in a house on the top of a hill, in a room made completely of glass and a quilt so thick the princess wouldn't feel the pea....., in an indian railway train with their meagre bedding and atrocious air conditioner... curling up into a warm ball for warmth......scrunching up my toes and rubbing the soles of my feet together.......
I find myself..sometimes in the future and sometimes the past.......Seeing a child huddled inside a blanket....or sometimes a grown man...The blanket is never big enough.......but i still try to curl up and stay all warm.......
And sometimes...I just go out to bathe in the rain.........'
What about you ???
PS: Brrrrrrr.......Wish i had a bath tub....or even better....a jacuzzi......
PPS: Aaah.......
PPPS: **Warmth**
PPPPS: Hey ! go back into your own fantasy !!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The battle for staccato
Staccato...the Western Music Club of IIT Bombay......A society so secret and exclusive...it makes the Skull and Bones and the Illuminati look like Gujratis with aVengaboyz CD and a 5.1 surround sound stereo system (No offense meant :P)Started more than 10 years ago,though this time may seem short for ordinary mortals.....the Members of this Club have succeeded in secretly spreading their message all over the campus ( How ? When ? What ?Where ? By whom ?) ....How am I telling you this ? Aah...THis Club...This Society....is facing a great crisis of Faith.....The doors are Open...but will close fast...With most of the influential members gone onwards.....we have a void, where once there were jumping flames, squealing purple sparks and supermegaawesome explosions in a black darkness( or a dark blackness..one of the two....dunno which).Below, i narrate to you the story of this institution within an institution within an institution..( all in all institution appears 32 times..Circles within circles....and all that..it's quite confusing....but i'm pretty sure that no 2 circles are identical (in purpose i mean...and not members :P :P))
I will tell you the story, or as much i know of it, for no member except the grand Gaxl Rorryson ( And i don't know who he is) knows it all.....
Staccato is the western music club of IIT Bombay. THe other club is Saaz( founded in 2005), for Indian Music club....After years of a Staccato hegemony over the Music Scene of the Institute, some 'Gaya*se Pu**ies' broke off and formed Saaz....The new Club, immediately began a Populist Agenda to win over funds, audience and chicks.....and succeeded, albeit partially ( :P)
Also in view of the insti Polt(Political....Sucking up, Bootlicking...(I have other Synonyms too..if u need 'em !!)) scene, Saaz became very important as their populist agenda won them a lot Of Matka (PostGrad'Mtech' students) support...
Note: Matkas form a large percentage of the Student population, but are completely uninterested in institute elections...so Infy ( infinite ) Polt......
These are 2 reasons that, Experts suggest led to the marginalization of Staccato....But some think otherwise...Some say...it was a clever Staccato ruse to misdirect atttention away from the club, after the Great Disaster( That which must not be mentioned (oops) .....If this is true...Then they succeeded.....beyond their wildest dreams....Staccato was pushed ( or slunk) into the darkness( or blackness), free to continue their work, unhindered and unstoppable......
Whatever the reasons were, this much is true that Staccato is a highly exclusive Club, secretive to say the least..While some cover meetings are held in the SAC ( students activity centre ) conference room..All the actual work happens in Ye Olde Pub ( In Dehanti this means Sunny...and translated into hindi....Sip and Dine...)The meetings take place so randomly, to an outsider they may seem to be spontaneous and random, but legend has it that the Gaxl Rorryson( CSE department) created a complex algorithm to produce the dates of the meeetings in advance for the next 2 millenia.....The amount of liquor consumed at such a meeting is astonishing, so much so, that it seems like a party...but the Staccatoes ( as they hate to be called) have a remarkable alcohol tolerance level....Not only that..they even act drunk, but it is all a cover for the most dastardly plans imaginable....
What, you ask me....what could be their motive....What is their plan, What is their Goal.....?
It is the elimination of non-music, as they call it....The Staccatoes have compiled a list of 2653 genres of non-music..(as they call it) that they wish to eradicate from IIT Bombay and perhaps, (a bit non realistically), the World.....
How ? you ask me...am i revealing all this....braving the metallic slasher wielding rock demons ( :P :P) that are at Staccato's command..... Well...That is the true story....The fall of staccato....and the upcoming battle.....
Last year ...Batthal, Akhil,Chinmay and Manjan were some of the very top echleon members of the Society who went onwards...This year the echleon is further depleted by an even greater number...Babban, Saurav,Hymen,JD and Sajid......Even Dhruv...one of the last senior Staccatoes....has been sent overseas to claim the Swiss shores......With these greats gone....the forces of staccato are vulnerable and open to attack and even.....even annexation.......
Over the years several members of the Music community chose to play non music ( excluded on the basis of language or genre) along with the true music....These members(The Fallen), notwithstanding their calibre and force of darkness......found themselves tainted forever....forced to stay on the fence, never accepted as a true member ........Some of these Greats like Kolte, Devang, Sophie and Swadesh are also leaving our number...thus leaving no real power in the fray...
NOW, it is time for battle.......Kovid, Gaddam,Kataria, Avinash, Kritin... The descendents of the Fallen, stand neutral as the multiple factions battle it out in a single desperate attempt to take over a dark black, yet glorious society...
We have the moderates....students of Dhruv's batch who felt that though the society has the correct aim..it's methods aren't true and good.(Kothi, Sathe !!)...They don their armor to fight for the defending team....Fighting with them are countless freshmen and sophomores who came to iit to find...finally..inclusion in exclusion....These metal heads are not, perhaps true members but desperation calls and the enemies of one's enemy are friends.....
The other factions are small and varied...yet alliances may make them strong....and 'Wuss up'(as Stacatoes say) the two great battles ...that of AD and Unplugged.....
The acoustics...who play super mild insipid stuff on non electric guitars.....the punk rebels...who know one thing about music...'If the distortion is on, it punks !!!' The new agers....who believe in the power of fusion...of battle through entwining harmonies.....and....the girls...This year due to some OSSUM strategy ...( what say Uttam ? :P) a band of freshmen ( hmmmm :P) girls was formed, which further inspired several others to join the fray....And last but definitely not the least....there is Saaz.... their traditional rivals.....If the legend about the Staccato misdirection strategy back in the 2005's was true...then their biggest rival may well be their biggest ally...But somehow ...i don't think so...
By the way...I am a Saaz Convener....
FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM !!!
PS: This is loosely based on true events....All names and descriptions are also caricatures....
PPS: No offfense meant......
PPPS: I LOVE THE BACKSTREET BOYS !!!!!
PPPPS : FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM !!!
I will tell you the story, or as much i know of it, for no member except the grand Gaxl Rorryson ( And i don't know who he is) knows it all.....
Staccato is the western music club of IIT Bombay. THe other club is Saaz( founded in 2005), for Indian Music club....After years of a Staccato hegemony over the Music Scene of the Institute, some 'Gaya*se Pu**ies' broke off and formed Saaz....The new Club, immediately began a Populist Agenda to win over funds, audience and chicks.....and succeeded, albeit partially ( :P)
Also in view of the insti Polt(Political....Sucking up, Bootlicking...(I have other Synonyms too..if u need 'em !!)) scene, Saaz became very important as their populist agenda won them a lot Of Matka (PostGrad'Mtech' students) support...
Note: Matkas form a large percentage of the Student population, but are completely uninterested in institute elections...so Infy ( infinite ) Polt......
These are 2 reasons that, Experts suggest led to the marginalization of Staccato....But some think otherwise...Some say...it was a clever Staccato ruse to misdirect atttention away from the club, after the Great Disaster( That which must not be mentioned (oops) .....If this is true...Then they succeeded.....beyond their wildest dreams....Staccato was pushed ( or slunk) into the darkness( or blackness), free to continue their work, unhindered and unstoppable......
Whatever the reasons were, this much is true that Staccato is a highly exclusive Club, secretive to say the least..While some cover meetings are held in the SAC ( students activity centre ) conference room..All the actual work happens in Ye Olde Pub ( In Dehanti this means Sunny...and translated into hindi....Sip and Dine...)The meetings take place so randomly, to an outsider they may seem to be spontaneous and random, but legend has it that the Gaxl Rorryson( CSE department) created a complex algorithm to produce the dates of the meeetings in advance for the next 2 millenia.....The amount of liquor consumed at such a meeting is astonishing, so much so, that it seems like a party...but the Staccatoes ( as they hate to be called) have a remarkable alcohol tolerance level....Not only that..they even act drunk, but it is all a cover for the most dastardly plans imaginable....
What, you ask me....what could be their motive....What is their plan, What is their Goal.....?
It is the elimination of non-music, as they call it....The Staccatoes have compiled a list of 2653 genres of non-music..(as they call it) that they wish to eradicate from IIT Bombay and perhaps, (a bit non realistically), the World.....
How ? you ask me...am i revealing all this....braving the metallic slasher wielding rock demons ( :P :P) that are at Staccato's command..... Well...That is the true story....The fall of staccato....and the upcoming battle.....
Last year ...Batthal, Akhil,Chinmay and Manjan were some of the very top echleon members of the Society who went onwards...This year the echleon is further depleted by an even greater number...Babban, Saurav,Hymen,JD and Sajid......Even Dhruv...one of the last senior Staccatoes....has been sent overseas to claim the Swiss shores......With these greats gone....the forces of staccato are vulnerable and open to attack and even.....even annexation.......
Over the years several members of the Music community chose to play non music ( excluded on the basis of language or genre) along with the true music....These members(The Fallen), notwithstanding their calibre and force of darkness......found themselves tainted forever....forced to stay on the fence, never accepted as a true member ........Some of these Greats like Kolte, Devang, Sophie and Swadesh are also leaving our number...thus leaving no real power in the fray...
NOW, it is time for battle.......Kovid, Gaddam,Kataria, Avinash, Kritin... The descendents of the Fallen, stand neutral as the multiple factions battle it out in a single desperate attempt to take over a dark black, yet glorious society...
We have the moderates....students of Dhruv's batch who felt that though the society has the correct aim..it's methods aren't true and good.(Kothi, Sathe !!)...They don their armor to fight for the defending team....Fighting with them are countless freshmen and sophomores who came to iit to find...finally..inclusion in exclusion....These metal heads are not, perhaps true members but desperation calls and the enemies of one's enemy are friends.....
The other factions are small and varied...yet alliances may make them strong....and 'Wuss up'(as Stacatoes say) the two great battles ...that of AD and Unplugged.....
The acoustics...who play super mild insipid stuff on non electric guitars.....the punk rebels...who know one thing about music...'If the distortion is on, it punks !!!' The new agers....who believe in the power of fusion...of battle through entwining harmonies.....and....the girls...This year due to some OSSUM strategy ...( what say Uttam ? :P) a band of freshmen ( hmmmm :P) girls was formed, which further inspired several others to join the fray....And last but definitely not the least....there is Saaz.... their traditional rivals.....If the legend about the Staccato misdirection strategy back in the 2005's was true...then their biggest rival may well be their biggest ally...But somehow ...i don't think so...
By the way...I am a Saaz Convener....
FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM !!!
PS: This is loosely based on true events....All names and descriptions are also caricatures....
PPS: No offfense meant......
PPPS: I LOVE THE BACKSTREET BOYS !!!!!
PPPPS : FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM !!!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
In the beginning there was a cliche....
I am filled with a sudden urge to write.......I usually don't start off like this...In my experience...it is a precursor of
a) pure nonsense....(writing.....just that..arbitrariness(which wouldn't be incongruous come to think of it )
OR
b)something about responsibilities and ambitions, birds soaring in the sky unfettered and free and meanings of life....
Now don't get me wrong...i have done plenty of the latter...and indulge once in a while in the former( kind of like marijuana ?(Joking mom... !!)(i see a full fledged analogy here..satya ! :P))But coming back to why i don't start off like this.....i see that my explanation would lead to an indepth critique of society ( which will still be very superficial and kiddish) and conformism and rebellion as conformism and rebellion against 'rebellion as conformism' and so on in an infinite loop...It's like trying to second guess someone...You stand at a buffet and are about to take a plate when you wonder which one of them is most likely to be clean...the top one..naah..someone will have touched it..But what if someone who is a level 2 finick (second guessing someones second guess) was before you..then you have a problem...because you have just pushed that first domino and now you are dealing with infinitely many infinity level finicks and finally you pick the 3rd plate...because
a) you are hungry AND
b) you like the number three
Well, now i've digressed completely..Leaving you to wonder where we started.....don't worry...
a bit of a detour.... actually i got lost...Still don't know where this is supposed to be heading...but i'm sure if i keep going on i'll find something interesting....
Awkward Pause........
well...uhmm...ahem...some water maybe...sniff sniff....gargle....
( i love this part !!)
My two favourite topics : Love and Societyissoscrewedup are probably overdone by now ...Hell who am i kidding...they're like...burnt to a crisp...and are now..pure carcinogen...(apparently all the black burnt spots on chapatis, papads and tandoor cooked food are carcinogenic :P)
Even more awkward Pause....
Sorry was just checking my old posts to see what i had already written about so that those that have been following my stuff regularly (oh ha ha...:P) wouldn't get bored....
Anyway....
i remember saying something about success and then leaving off without having said anything...it was quite funny ...do go and read it....( useless, but very very persistent (!!) advertisement ....as only someone reading this will be part of my affected audience !! :P :P) and it strikes me.. that it's a very nice topic to write on..Lot's of twists and turns...no universally accepted funda...so generally scope for bullshittin...
There's this song..'American Dream' by switchfoot(the song's brilliant too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14dWpg-sNPE), whose lyrics talk about success being equated with excess..and i thought....hey that's an interesting idea....and more or less universally accepted too...I mean...how often do you hear a fat guy in a furry robe and a mustache waddling around in a plush living room with a fireplace(which is even funnier...cause most of the time..this guy's an indian, and we sure as hell (!!!!!!!) don't need fireplaces ! ), looking kinda like a walrus...only not cute...saying.. "I have more money than i need(in hindi !)" Yup..A lot of people think that excess is succes...But then.. when i think about what i want from life...Interesting, stimulating work, friends and love.....I imagine having all these in excess.......and i go all.. Blah..boink ...BooYa...Wacka wacka.........Yadda Yadda...........
It would get real damn confusing and screwed up.....I mean...in that sense we do know what success is..It is having enough.... :P Or rather not wanting more.......In that sense...The Buddha was right...It follows logically...that if one doesn't want for anything..,,,he/she has enough...and is therefore successful.......But then...that's circular...cause success, in the broader..'son..be successful' sense of the word is defined as having enough..so back we are at the beginning...wishing....If only i am satisfied with what i have.... ! Though we don't think of it in those terms... :P
Truth is, we can never be satisfied...cause it is human nature to try and satisfy everyone....Like the story of the father, son and donkey...They were walking back home and some passersby said how stupid they were not to ride the donkey.The father told the son to sit on the donkey...Passersby commented on how the cruel young son was making his father walk while he rode the donkey.When the father sat..people said how the poor son was made to walk by his heartless father...they both climbed onto the donkey and people felt bad for the donkey...Finally they started carrying the donkey, and were adjudged mad.......
This is our fate.....By striving to please everyone, we end up going mad...Of course..it is a parable and as parables go..it's an exaggerated analogy...but it's not far from the truth...We do try to please everyone and we do go mad....
My advice...Do what you want, screw the rest...And success...well..Success is happiness.....It is making the most of what one has, being reconciled to the fact that not everyone is going to think so and not caring anyway.....
PS: But, recursively...some people are happy because someone else is happy...and therefore their opinion would matter to them....Therefore...excess is definitely not success !!!
PPS: Preach Preach Preach Yak Yak Yak....
PPPS:The recursion could also lead to a nasty loop if two people find happiness(rate of increase of.... rather) in each others happiness....if both have happiness equal to zero before this...Otherwise...with a positive value for happiness, it could lead to infinite happiness(impossible !!)...implies....
DON"T BELIEVE HIM/HER WHEN HE/SHE SAYS THAT..... !!!
a) pure nonsense....(writing.....just that..arbitrariness(which wouldn't be incongruous come to think of it )
OR
b)something about responsibilities and ambitions, birds soaring in the sky unfettered and free and meanings of life....
Now don't get me wrong...i have done plenty of the latter...and indulge once in a while in the former( kind of like marijuana ?(Joking mom... !!)(i see a full fledged analogy here..satya ! :P))But coming back to why i don't start off like this.....i see that my explanation would lead to an indepth critique of society ( which will still be very superficial and kiddish) and conformism and rebellion as conformism and rebellion against 'rebellion as conformism' and so on in an infinite loop...It's like trying to second guess someone...You stand at a buffet and are about to take a plate when you wonder which one of them is most likely to be clean...the top one..naah..someone will have touched it..But what if someone who is a level 2 finick (second guessing someones second guess) was before you..then you have a problem...because you have just pushed that first domino and now you are dealing with infinitely many infinity level finicks and finally you pick the 3rd plate...because
a) you are hungry AND
b) you like the number three
Well, now i've digressed completely..Leaving you to wonder where we started.....don't worry...
a bit of a detour.... actually i got lost...Still don't know where this is supposed to be heading...but i'm sure if i keep going on i'll find something interesting....
Awkward Pause........
well...uhmm...ahem...some water maybe...sniff sniff....gargle....
( i love this part !!)
My two favourite topics : Love and Societyissoscrewedup are probably overdone by now ...Hell who am i kidding...they're like...burnt to a crisp...and are now..pure carcinogen...(apparently all the black burnt spots on chapatis, papads and tandoor cooked food are carcinogenic :P)
Even more awkward Pause....
Sorry was just checking my old posts to see what i had already written about so that those that have been following my stuff regularly (oh ha ha...:P) wouldn't get bored....
Anyway....
i remember saying something about success and then leaving off without having said anything...it was quite funny ...do go and read it....( useless, but very very persistent (!!) advertisement ....as only someone reading this will be part of my affected audience !! :P :P) and it strikes me.. that it's a very nice topic to write on..Lot's of twists and turns...no universally accepted funda...so generally scope for bullshittin...
There's this song..'American Dream' by switchfoot(the song's brilliant too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14dWpg-sNPE), whose lyrics talk about success being equated with excess..and i thought....hey that's an interesting idea....and more or less universally accepted too...I mean...how often do you hear a fat guy in a furry robe and a mustache waddling around in a plush living room with a fireplace(which is even funnier...cause most of the time..this guy's an indian, and we sure as hell (!!!!!!!) don't need fireplaces ! ), looking kinda like a walrus...only not cute...saying.. "I have more money than i need(in hindi !)" Yup..A lot of people think that excess is succes...But then.. when i think about what i want from life...Interesting, stimulating work, friends and love.....I imagine having all these in excess.......and i go all.. Blah..boink ...BooYa...Wacka wacka.........Yadda Yadda...........
It would get real damn confusing and screwed up.....I mean...in that sense we do know what success is..It is having enough.... :P Or rather not wanting more.......In that sense...The Buddha was right...It follows logically...that if one doesn't want for anything..,,,he/she has enough...and is therefore successful.......But then...that's circular...cause success, in the broader..'son..be successful' sense of the word is defined as having enough..so back we are at the beginning...wishing....If only i am satisfied with what i have.... ! Though we don't think of it in those terms... :P
Truth is, we can never be satisfied...cause it is human nature to try and satisfy everyone....Like the story of the father, son and donkey...They were walking back home and some passersby said how stupid they were not to ride the donkey.The father told the son to sit on the donkey...Passersby commented on how the cruel young son was making his father walk while he rode the donkey.When the father sat..people said how the poor son was made to walk by his heartless father...they both climbed onto the donkey and people felt bad for the donkey...Finally they started carrying the donkey, and were adjudged mad.......
This is our fate.....By striving to please everyone, we end up going mad...Of course..it is a parable and as parables go..it's an exaggerated analogy...but it's not far from the truth...We do try to please everyone and we do go mad....
My advice...Do what you want, screw the rest...And success...well..Success is happiness.....It is making the most of what one has, being reconciled to the fact that not everyone is going to think so and not caring anyway.....
PS: But, recursively...some people are happy because someone else is happy...and therefore their opinion would matter to them....Therefore...excess is definitely not success !!!
PPS: Preach Preach Preach Yak Yak Yak....
PPPS:The recursion could also lead to a nasty loop if two people find happiness(rate of increase of.... rather) in each others happiness....if both have happiness equal to zero before this...Otherwise...with a positive value for happiness, it could lead to infinite happiness(impossible !!)...implies....
DON"T BELIEVE HIM/HER WHEN HE/SHE SAYS THAT..... !!!
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