Thoughts in Transit

Trip to Kanpur

2010-05-30T16:12:00.001+05:30

Right now I am on way from kanpur to lucknow. Last 4 days have been really good. Met some old friends at IITK campus. Though I say old, they are amongst the latest bunch of friends I made. Did I mention best as well? :) This trip also made me realize how I have changed, and not just physically :) . I wish more people had been there but then we would have lost much incentive to meet next time. Now these 'old' friends are moving into a new phase of life, so wishing them best of luck for now and forever after :) .

End of piracy?

2010-05-08T23:56:00.003+05:30

Recently, Wolfire games have come up with a new sales model for their games. Pay as much as you want and download as much as you like. The idea is quite novel and as they mention here, it is based on sound reasoning. Whether it will bring an end to piracy or not, remains to be seen but, ah well, how do you pirate something available to you for free?
Strangely, I was discussing this bit with my roommate today and he was adamant this can never work because if I can get a free lunch, I wouldn't pay for it, would I? But then, Gurudwaras have langars. Who funds those? I think people like these. The result is there for everyone to see.

Do the other game developers feel threatened? I hope so. :)

Mumbai

2009-10-05T20:43:00.000+05:30

I have been absent from this space for too long now. First it was the end of my four years at IITK. Yes, I graduated! Finally! Then I was at home for 15 days, slow net connection, too much of rest. I feared if I would type with my rusted fingers they would give a creaking noise :P. So, while there was always a blog to write, I wasn't writing. Then I moved to bangalore on 15th June to join Pothi.com as an intern. It was quite a learning experience. I must say there is a definite difference between working on a project for some club in your college and working on a project which is to be used by a much larger base. So, thats how 2 months passed by. I managed to develop a decently working product by the end of 2 months. You can have a look at it at blog2book.pothi.com. On 15th August, I flew back home only to return, this time to Mumbai. Yes, thats my home for now. I don't know for how long but it seems I am here to stay. Its been 6 weeks now since I arrived here. There are many new friends I have found and very little time to enjoy that friendship (job does that to you :) ). Anyways, Today I am writing this blog to detail the Mumbai experience.

1. Meeting with Shanu: He is a funny guy. He is a crazy guy. He is a confused guy. He is all those and one of the most intelligent guys I know. So meeting him was definitely good for me. It provided me an escape route from the routine life which I have already started to find boring.

2. First Salary: Yes, I got my first salary!! I felt good about it but I don't know it didn't feel that exciting :| . Maybe because I hadn't really devised any plans to spend it :) .

3. Independence, Freedom, Carefree attitude: All of these attributes have been responsible for defining my stay. These characterized my college life and now I find myself falling back to my old self to stay sane after a week's hard work. Of course, some serious stuff is going on but you got to keep the balance.

4. Love life: As always, nothing concrete. Let the games begin :) .

In Retrospect: Semester 2

2009-05-05T00:16:00.004+05:30

Fresh from winter vacations, I was very happy about my second semester. I had decided to get a laptop so that I could devote more time to programming (thats what I thought :) ). That was the turning point. It did not matter because of the laptop and the accompanying pleasures but because I had started moving away from the curriculum. I had decided to do what made me happy. Thus started the golden period of my history at IITK. I started bunking classes. It seemed to me as if nothing else matters. How wrong I was. My academic performace took the plunge. First mid-sems came too soon for my comfort. I was, however, still not ready to realize what was wrong. The month of February arrived and with it the only thing that I had waited for since hearing about it - 'Techkriti'. I teamed up with Ashish Bhatia and we made it a point to test ourselves in all the software events. Three days passed and we had had no success. I had resigned myself to brood over it and my mid-sem's performance. Yet, while I was brooding on the last day, Ashish Bhatia pinged me on gtalk that the final software event was going to start. It was chaos. No, It's name was Chaos. When I reached Computer Centre, the event had already started, I was five minutes late. So I was brushed up on rules by Ashish and then we started solving. Believe it or not, we solved all the problems with more than half hour to spare. That was the moment which brought me back to my shell (pun intended, for geeks ;) ). I was high on my success in my first year. I decided going to classes is not as exciting and rewarding. So, yet again, I bunked classes and soon I recieved a call to visit Prof. Onkar Dixit who was the then Counselling Service Head. The reason was that my Physics tutor, Prof. M. K. Harbola, had decided to report my lack of attendance to counselling service. I did not like it then but today I greatly appreciate it. This way, cases of severe depression can be brought to notice and I believe that was his motive. So, as it happened, I met Prof. Onkar Dixit and he listened to my problem that I was not interested in my department. He went on to advice me that I should look at all the opportunities available which I had overlooked (of course, I had no idea what all department was about). When I reached for the second mid-sems, I was shouted at by Prof. Harbola. I dont remember what I told him but I guess it had something to do with being sorry :) . After second-mids, I decided it would not be good to stretch things too far and I started being the studious fellow who goes to classes. At the end of semester I had passed all my courses, much to my surprise. Of all my semesters here, second sem was the one with the most highs and lows.

In Retrospect: Semester 1

2009-05-02T19:14:00.004+05:30

The time has arrived when I have to leave this place. The place where I lived for four years and which, I can easily say, has changed me in various aspects. There have been various experiences: good and bad but, in hindsight, they all helped me learn. I am trying to write down my memories and experiences of this place.

Semester 1: Awed. Free. Happy. These were the dominant feelings that I had from my first semester. When I stepped into this place, I had my own set of expectations and IITK easily surpassed them. During orientation, we were shown some of the facilities available here and I was impressed. I hadn't seen anything like these before. After the initial awe of the place, I came to realize the freedom the place offers. I was told I could do anything in my extra-curriculars as long as I did sufficiently good in academics. After orientation, various clubs made their pitch to attract the freshers. I easily skipped Electronics Club and Robotics Club knowing where my heart was, i.e. Programming Club. Unlike Electronics Club or Robotics Club, Programming Club didn't float any projects to work upon and I was disappointed, waiting for the time when they would. Soon, however, optional projects in ESC101 (Java) were announced and I decided to give it a go. The problem that I chose, Chess (with AI), was one of the toughest available and I was advised against it. Ankit Kala became my project partner and together we started, alone I finished ;) . I knew Kala wouldn't be able to help much because he did not have prior experience still he tried to sit by my side and understand what I was trying to do. I had never worked on such a project before and when it was complete and working, I can easily say, I have never been happier. Thus the first semester passed without any interesting incidence, leaving me happy and content. All of that was about to change in second semester.

Dedicated to my friends..

2009-04-19T12:15:00.004+05:30

I know it pains to leave,

a friendship so strong and deep,

but treasured those moments will be,

of sorrow and glee.

Four years we dwelt here,

in a place away from our home,

four years we lived together,

to make for us a new home.

Now is the time to move on,

the time we waited for so long,

drawing near, we fear,

how will we live alone.

Remember, then, that it is you,

who changed our lives, so true,

Whereever you go, it is you,

who can outshine the successful few.

The Ghost of a Ship

2009-04-14T22:03:00.008+05:30

Sail the sailors through the mist,

Ahoy! I see a ship adrift,

called the voice from the crow,

It stands still, ignoring the tidal flow.

Change the course,

the captain commanded,

Let us see and save,

what can be founded.

The ship rolled through the dividing ocean,

bouncing on the waves.

As it approached the stagnant vessel,

crew could see its sails.

Tattered and weathered,

like fresh from a storm,

The ship could do nothing more

but float on its own.

The sailors feared now,

for they had heard of such a ship,

one that floats in these waters,

though none but ghosts live on it.

So they moved away,

as fast as they could,

snatching the last hope of survival,

for die, the ghosts would.

The following lines were added later:

Thus once more the ship was seen,

it was told,

the ghosts ever more fiercer,

and the wood stale and old.

The sailors in these waters,

now numbered very few,

no ship would help another,

it was said there were ghosts anew.

Arunangshu Chattopadhya

2009-04-04T02:37:00.004+05:30

Arunangshu or, as he likes to be called, AC has been a good friend to me from the day we met. We have had several courses together and studying for exams together builds a sort of camaraderie that is hard to replicate. I have always known AC for a man who strives to excel in what he does. He is not content to be an average guy. He does not accept defeat easily. He is a team leader, a movie buff, an excellent writer, a wannabe politician, ...... He has so many interests, so many hobbies, so many facets to his life that I cannot help but wonder what will this guy do in future? He, himself, has outlined so many career paths which include more educational qualifications that I won't be surprised to see him studying LLB 10 years down the line.

Above all these qualities, he is a great friend. However, I don't like him while playing AOE. He will always build his colony behind my back :D.

Alok 'Senti' 'Sanyam' Tommy

2009-04-04T02:05:00.002+05:30

Alok 'Senti' 'Sanyam' 'Tommy'.. the name this guy earned when we were in our first year. All the parts of this name signify something about him. Of course, this name was earned after the incident which has been wonderfully described by Ashank. So, I will give you a complete description of this name.

'Senti'- This has nothing to do with the fact that Alok is a very sentimental person. So what if he can emotionally blackmail you. So what if he will get emotional when he thinks he is responsible for your sadness. We named him 'Senti' because we wanted to.

'Sanyam'- This has nothing to do with the preachings of Alok to exercise patience. It could never be related to the incident which Ashank described when Alok went on to exercise patience. We named him 'Sanyam' because we wanted to.

'Tommy'- We named him tommy because we wanted to.

Saurabh Chawdhary

2009-04-03T23:28:00.003+05:30

Saurabhc aka Saucy aka Ketchup is a very shy guy. Sometimes even more than me but do not let him fool you for once. This guy is a maths genius. Atleast thats what he tells us. Saucy is a cube freak. He is credited with making the Indian Open Rubik's Cube (IORC) possible. The event is just an example of his ability to take initiatives. He is also an avid blogger. You can sometimes see blogs with just one line in them and sometimes blogs encompassing 4-5 paragraphs.

What the hell! Is this a recommendation letter? No. So let me spill the beans. Having been educated in an all-boys school, Saucy has a certain amount of trouble in hitting off with the fairer sex. There has been only one girl in his life and alas, in an unfortunate case of dost dost na raha, pyar pyar na raha, Saucy lost the only girl who came into his life. Lately, after the break-up(need a better word here, cheating? ;) ), Saucy has been bugged by the beatles. "Hey Dude" has now been replaced by "Hey Jude" in his life. I have also been observing certain acts of violence from him. I was at the recieving end of 'one tight slap' from him and now know better to maintain distance. Therefore, I would request girls to come into his life and save us from the Judes and the slaps.

Jitendra Kumar

2009-04-03T23:11:00.003+05:30

This guy from Allahabad is one of the very few persons I know who can cross language barriers very easily. Well, this guy knows how to talk to girls. He is the Casanova and I am jealous of him :). Jitu, as we like to call him, is a guy who thinks from the heart. I have known him to travel in a train just because he knew someone else was going to be in the same train. I don't think I would ever be able to do that and that is what makes him different. He, unlike most of us, does not think on a situation in terms of loss/gain. If something is going to make him feel better (or make a girl feel better ;) ) he will do it. There are various other talents that this guy has. He is a remarkable artist. He can make sketches that look better than a photograph. He is quite a good singer too. Needless to say, all of these talents go a long way in helping his original talent ;). Wishing you good luck being a Casanova ;).

Vatsheel Singh

2009-04-03T22:48:00.002+05:30

Vatsheel Singh: azamgarh ka don. Vatsheel is a person with a cool demeanour. He has only one care in the world: Cricket. If I had not known him better, I would have mistaken him to be a cricketer. He does not know a thing about playing, as I have proved so many a times. Still he likes to think of himself as a very good cricketer. We usually allow him to think of himself as good because we know how much he likes cricket and this man would be devastated if he knew the truth.

Apart from cricket, there is place for little else in his life but whatever little he does, Vatsheel is always good at it. The thing that he likes the most is bulla. May it be on cricket (his favourite topic), politics, business or even the issue of dhobi; No bulla is ever complete without him (better to say it never starts without him). Overall, this man helps in managing your time. When you feel you have time to spare, feel free to go to him. He will discuss such things with you, you'll suddenly remember all the various deadlines you have to meet :D. The interesting topics (girls) are taboo while he is around. You'll be lucky if you get a comment on girls out of him and his 'personal' life still remains a mystery to me.

Shadab Anwer

2009-04-03T22:24:00.002+05:30

Shadab Anwer, jisne duniya dekhi hai, is the punchbag of our wing. If you feel frustrated go and beat him. You feel like writing something bad for him, write this testimonial. He has been and shall always be there to motivate us when we feel down kyunki isne duniya dekhi hai. I came to know him mainly because he was the bravest of us all and had the courage to go to Health Centre and he returned, barely alive. Thus he came to be known amongst us as Shadab, jisne HC dekha hai.

When I first saw Shadab, I could tell isne duniya dekhi hai and I was always wary of talking to him and rightly so. Whenever you talk to this guy remember he is as cunning and as decietful as a fox but that does not discount the fact that he is a great friend. Still, take precautions ;).

I have known Shadab and recognize him for his many skills; above all his nautanki. He is a great actor and employs this skill quite often. He is also one for living life on the edge. He made a stunning jump straight up in the air while playing badminton once and landed on all fours. That jump earned him the nickname langda :D. Whatever you may say about him, the greatest quality that this guy possesses is that he will do anything to prove you wrong and that is what I admire in him. This guy is a fighter (plays CS :D ). He worked against all odds to cover a semester drop and with extra-curricular activities that not many here can think of. Wish you good luck in all your future endeavours.

Ankur Saxena

2009-04-03T21:13:00.002+05:30

Guruji, as people love to call Ankur, is a friend, philosopher and guide in true sense. He is guru because loves to point out your shortcomings. He loves to upbraid you for failing to achieve the difficult tasks. He loves to advice you on your weaknesses and above all he loves to see you succeed. That is the way I have known him since my first year. Of course, I did not like this nagging know-it-all (he does resemble Hermione Granger, not physically :)) at first. Although when we realized (like Harry and Ron :) ) that he always has our best interests at heart, we called him guruji.

Guru is also a sprinter. He has won a gold medal in 100m sprint (in some local tournament :P) but he has never been able put that talent to use. I mean, he doesn't try to tease girls and then run when girls' brother or father gives him chase. Of course, it does not have anything to do with the fact that Guru can run only 100m and he would die of exhaustion after that. Its just that he is not interested in making a girlfriend right now :D.

A notice to all the girls: This guy is being approached by some notorious elements of male community. So hurry, while the stock lasts.

Lava Agarwal

2009-04-03T20:54:00.002+05:30

I met Lava on the first day of our orientation. It was not coincidence which brought us together because as the seating arrangement was alphabetical, we were destined to be seated together during our first week together. However, coincidence did bring us to the same wing- B-Bot, Hall 2. Since then I have come to know Lava as a studious person who is quite oriented towards his goals. What I, and most of others, had not suspected of Lava was that he was a Ladies' man. I still remember many of us would crack jokes on Lava's feminine qualities but they don't realize Lava has turned the joke on them :D. Apart from his serious side, Lava displays some funny attributes too. Ask him the name of an actor and he would straightaway answer - Amitabh Bachchan. Ask him name of another one - you won't get any answer. That was Lava two years back. He had recently made it a point to watch every hindi movie (and I mean 'every' :) ). Lava's singing has also been a topic of discussion. Some think he doesn't remember the music of the song thats why he sings the way he does, others believe there is more to Lava than meets the eye and he is all the time creating new music for us to listen. Sadly, Lava does not consider us worthy of his singing and I have heard his melody only once :( . Wish you would sing for us :) .

Ashutosh Sharma

2009-03-30T16:07:00.003+05:30

Mr. India, that was the nickname we gave Ashutosh when we would spend days without having seen him. He is one of the most hard-working persons I have known. He is a man with a heart for contributing to society, to help others. When you think you understand Mr. India, you are beginning to scratch the surface. Beneath that smiling face of his, the man who tries to make fun with you, is a responsible person who is well rooted in culture and traditions. He is quite aware of what people expect of him and tries to fulfill his responsibilities and I would say he has done more than fulfill them by now. He has also had his share of controversies and one of them involves a pic that I snapped with him. I don't know how people find that objectionable but some started doubting his orientation (I wouldn't do that though, I am certain about it :D). I would also remember him for his immaculate knowledge of various topics, may it be quantum physics or astrology or even some ancient indian scripture detailing various postures. I was talking about yoga, what did you think? Whatever you thought, Mr. India would know that too.

Susheel Kumar Suman

2009-03-25T23:49:00.004+05:30

Susheel or, as he likes to call himself, SKS is one of the few persons I know who appreciate my sense of humour :) . He is a man who thinks logically. I have never seen him getting upset or emotional over anything. He is always the one for analyzing things and he finds logical solutions to the problems. He is also a great sportsperson. I haven't played a game yet in which he could not beat me and he gives me a run for my money on computer games too. This guy is also passionate about Formula One (he is the only one that I have known). Another interesting thing about him is his habit of using snail mail. He still uses it to correspond with certain friends and we can hardly understand why he still does it. Of course, all mails are classified top secret and we haven't had access to them :( . Many people might not know but he is a female magnet. He knows how to talk, what to say, and when to act :) . Wishing you good luck in your future endeavours.

Amit Chandra

2009-03-25T23:13:00.003+05:30

Chandu.. Bihari.. $@$%@.. whatever name you give him, Chandu will always greet you with a smile. I got to know him quite well early on coz he was in my section in pur first year and those days when we would spend our time preparing lab reports, he would describe his sef-devised experiments to us. I would say some of his experiments ought to be included in the curriculum too; not in PHY or CHM but in BSBE ;). He is one of those people who can easily frustrate anyone with their description of the non-ordinary :D. There is one thing about him that I really don't like. Its his lovelife. He does have a very healthy one but sadly does not like to share with us(pun intended ;) ). There are good things about a person and the bad ones but thinking about Chandra you can never think good ones. You will always remember his sly smile, decietful eyes, the innocent expression and the false promises; all aimed at getting you to help him out and that is the only time you can understand what he is saying. The rest of the time he speaks faster than anyone can comprehend :D. When a man has such bad things in his account and still manages to be a good friend, he certainly should have done something right which escaped others' notice and Chandu is one such man.

Shantanu Maheshwari

2009-03-25T21:26:00.003+05:30

Shanu is a wonderful man. He is the joker, the lover, the cricketer, the fan (an ardent one of SRT and SRK) and what not. Above all, he does everything with a passion (atleast when he is not sleeping :) ). The best thing about him is his ability to think logically (when he is thinking of course). I would say I am yet to see a more logical person than him. There is, about Shanu, a zeal to do things and when he is in that mode of his, he can outperform almost everyone (one exception being his defeat at my hands in Trackmania :) ). Above all of these, I have found Shanu to be a great friend. Beneath that funny exterior of his lies a serious mind which he rarely uses ;), but when he does he can find solutions to all your problems (but not his). There are various other things about him that I have learnt over the years and he still amazes me when I expect him to crack a joke on a topic but instead he starts engaging himself in the discussion with such an intensity you have no option but to agree. This zeal, intensity or whatever you wish to call is the most interesting thing I find about him. He may lie dormant for however long time but when he starts doing things he is a force to reckon with.

Mohd. Asif Khan

2009-03-25T21:07:00.004+05:30

When I first heard this long name Mohd. Asif Khan, I thought itna bhaari naam! aadmi kaisa hoga! and the man didn't disappoint either :). Asif is a person who likes interacting with people. Many say he is a very lucky chap but its not just luck that sees him achieve great heights. Its his ability to connect with people. There are some people who just get lucky then there are those who complement their luck with their hard work. Asif falls in the latter category. There is a lot more to Asif than luck and hard work and the easiest way to find out would be to pass through the wing corridoor and from one of the rooms you'll hear an unmistakable voice which belongs to Asif. Its not that he is a great singer but he can mimic certain voices much better than others ;). For a long time Asif has been the funny guy of our wing and he enjoys the attention he gets (it seems so ;) ). After spending all these years with him I sometimes feel apologetic towards him because I believe it was my company which led a sincere student to start bunking classes :(. Asif has had one of the most accomplished lovelife of us all. On the last count that I heard, he had fallen for his 27th true love :D.

Aman Bhatia

2009-03-24T23:38:00.002+05:30

Aman was my roommate for an year and a half and I am still waiting for the answer to two things about him:

1) Why does he not even chat with girls (there was one who would try to chat with him, but this little man would never listen to us)?

2) Will he marry Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Korean or a hybrid?

Well second question will be answered in due course of time. I am afraid I might never get the answer to the first one.

Aman has been en enigma to me from the day one and still continues to do so. He has a particular quality of being nasty. Even though I have been his partner-in-crimes, I always fear when he will turn to me and I will be at the recieving end of his pranks. His height sets him apart and believe me he makes full use of it when he is trying to hit you :D. Apart from his mischievous demeanour, he has a quality of sleeping through a class. Even though most of exercise it, he has mastered the art. This semester he has been reported sleeping in a group discussion where when he woke up he said a few sentences and went back to sleep. Another incident reported him sleeping him with his head tilted upwards and his mouth open as if waiting for something to fall into his mouth. When after all of these activities, someone scores a CPI of 9.8, wouldn't you consider that an enigma?

Ankit Kala

2009-03-24T22:57:00.003+05:30

Ankit Kala, one of the few friends that I could share anything with but he would laugh at my face if I told him I was going to propose someone. Kala is a man of various shades. He is a sincere student, a great cricketer, a talented flirt(chips in with his advice when I chat with some girl but I ignore him most of the time), a dedicated lover(he has had only one serious crush that I know of) and a great friend. He is the man who works behind the scenes to make it happen. With friends, Kala is as casual as a man can be; In his company it is hard to get bored but when he is working you cannot a find a more serious man. I have seen this side of him when he worked for Rithambara and Techkriti. He is also a very honest man except for the times when he copies assignments, projects and various other things. I am saying he is honest because after doing such things he does not laugh them off like most of us. He repents his laziness and decides (only decides :) ) to do his work himself in future. Last but not the least, he is a great singer. Of course, as it happens with all great personalities, their greatness is not recognized by their contemporaries and, I am afraid, so has it been with Kala and a great talent lies wasted :D .

Sumit Agrawal

2009-03-18T14:17:00.004+05:30

This is the first in a series of testimonials that I am going to write about the friends that I have made during my stay at IITK. I chose Sumit for the first testimonial because he was the first person I was introduced to when I came here.

Sumit was my roommate for an year and a half when I came to IITK and has been a friend ever since. There are many things I like about him and many things I don't. Still, what matters is what you remember that person by. I'll always remember Sumit for his quest to find out his goal in life. I can say that he is trying to do that with more effort than most of the people. His association with spiritual and devotional activities is also a result of that quest. We have had long chats on that topic even though I am an atheist (of course with him being the speaker most of the time). As you might have guessed by that, he thinks too much about some things (that's what I feel :) ). His spiritual endeavours are, of course, a great quality that I like about him but that is not the only one and there are various other adjectives that I could give him without thinking twice. He has a very disarming personality and you find yourself trusting him and sharing your problems with him. Also, some say that he acts without much thought or that his acts are sometimes foolish but all the times when I have cared to analyze his actions, there have been reasons which are not obvious to people like me who are too materialistic. I could keep writing loads and loads but I would say that the Sumit I know is a very caring and gentle person. I have really been fortunate to have known him.

Behind a mask

2008-09-13T23:03:00.000+05:30

When those eyes look at me,
what do they see?
Is it a man looking to escape
or a boy running wild and free?
Lurking in the shadows,
I wait for them to pass me.
I do not fear them,
I fear what they see.
Hidden in the dark folds,
I hide it in the deepest sea.
And what blue depths of water do not hide,
I bury under the roots of a tree.
Only when I look at it I realize,
it is what I fear I will see.

The unseen face

2008-06-15T16:00:00.004+05:30

Looking through the window I see a face,
Inviting me, guiding me, to the soft embrace.
The face is near and yet veiled,
behind a fog only I can see.
With each step the veil dissolves,
Into the air it was made from.
The fog in the air and the cold night,
propel me, thwart me, through my life.
The closer I get the more I see,
yet cannot see what will be.
The laden feet do not know what waits,
yet they move to know their fate.
Whichever way she looks at me,
I now need to see her face.

A helping hand

2008-04-13T01:12:00.004+05:30

Through the spurt of light, I saw a hand reach for me. He must have needed some help. Then it was dark again. The hand caught hold of me now. He surely needed help. There was another spurt of light, the hand lost its hold. It again grew dark. I liked the dark. It gave me comfort. The hand was nearby. I could sense it. He needed my help. But I could not see it. Why? It was getting nearer to me. He could see me. He knew where I was. I was in the dark. I was comfortable here. Why was he trying to hold me? He needed help. But it was getting suffocating now. I wanted to see things clearly. It was not clear. I could not breath. It was getting darker. I was shivering. I was drowning. I needed help.

Dilemma of an insinuated mind

2008-04-05T00:06:00.002+05:30

I wonder what I am doing and what I am doing it for? The answer is I am doing nothing and I am doing this nothing because what I can do does not help me achieve anything and there is nothing I can do which may help me achieve what I want. Is that really so? I wonder. The dilemma of an insinuated mind. A mind insinuated with the ideas of achieving what its heart governs rather than doing what the world wants. Such a mind shall always be in a dilemma, always at crossroads with its surroundings. Why? Why cant the ocean's tide allow a boat to follow its course? Actually it does. But only for some boats. Others have to face the tide and work hard at the oars. Right now what I am doing is waiting for the tide to change its course. I am not pulling at the oars. I did that for quite sometime but now I am waiting. Am I alone in the ocean? No, I see many others have let go of their oars. Some who see the shore near are still working. But not all. Not me.

The Indian Wedding - Part 2

2008-03-22T18:28:00.000+05:30

Hi,

Thanks for your response to 'The Indian Wedding'. I received some responses which said that the post was good but lacked an end. Through this post I wish to cross that bridge. I actually am going to try and reach a solution which can work out quite well and have the virtues of both the sorts of marriages.

In 'The Indian Wedding', I had given my views on how the 'arranged' and 'love' marriages fundamentally differ. To get the benefits of both, the family and the bride and groom have to work together to achieve desired 'output'. I can suggest 3 solutions here:

i. The two families try to work it out after the 'lovers' have decided to marry.
ii. After 'arranging' a marriage, the families give the boy and girl some time (around 6 months?) to know each other better.
iii. The lovers are from families that know each other for quite some time and are quite comfortable with each other.

Let us take each proposed solution and discuss them individually. First one is sometimes too good to be true but if it works out, I don't think anything could be better. The next one does not guarantee a solution, it is more or less like a prayer which may or may not come true. They will of course get to know each other and decide on what they feel about each other. But, ca the families wait for that long in an arranged marriage? Third one might be considered the safest. If you go down this path, you are most probably going to be happy yourself and also keep others happy. These are possible solutions I could come up with and as you see there is too much of 'chance' involved. So, get lucky!

The Holi Fire

2008-03-22T09:39:00.001+05:30

Hi,

Its too soon that I have come up with my second blog but I couldn't resist. As it is Dhulendi today(Holi-2nd day). I was at holi-pujan last night in our neighborhood and there was something I found not only disturbing but quite alarming. 10-15 houses in our neighborhood had come together to make a 'holika' out of woods and dried cow-dung. In the evening, when I had gone for a small tour of the local area, same was the case almost everywhere. People were celebrating in groups of 10-15 houses. In earlier days and a smaller town(Chandausi), I know that a single pyre of wood was made for a much larger group of houses. You might ask 'What's the problem?'. Problems are many, people are growing apart, one major feature of Indian society was its unity which is diminishing(atleast in bigger cities). But the issue I have in mind is wood. What happens when everyone starts celebrating a nuclear festival? More consumption of wood per person for the celebrations. The most alarming thing is that even though people do realize that the cost of wood is soaring, they make it a point to try and get as much fire-wood as possible(maybe as a status symbol). And what happened when they piled up woods in a heap? It took them an hour to get the fire going. There was no space for air(oxygen) for the combustion of woods. A much better model for the pyre would have been if the logs had been placed in concentric cones. It would have saved lots of wood, money and, of course, air. Another thing I might suggest is for everyone to go home and pray around their cooking gas at home. It is as holy a fire as you could get. It(LPG) is the one providing you with food now and not wood as was the case when logically people started to celebrate Holi for the ripening of Wheat crops. I am not against celebrating the festival, but one should realize that the situation when these festivals were started and now are wholly different. There lies no sense in burning the woods now and Holi is not the only festival in India to have this tradition of burning fire-wood. Wood is considered sacred but it is because it was the source of food, heat, comfort in older times. I would, of course, not suggest anyone to start considering petrol as sacred now. It would do to petrol what we have already done to wood and, directly as a result of it, to the forests. I don't think these thoughts of mine are going to start any change in 'traditions'(whether right or wrong, traditions are traditions and people do follow them) but I would like you to think and that is my work done for now. I will be back soon.

The Indian Wedding

2008-03-20T20:53:00.003+05:30

Hi, welcome to my first ever blog. As it turns out, this is going to be on a topic which I have given much thought recently particularly because of the current wedding season and due to my own brooding over the topic. Still, my apologies, this article, being my first, might not be good enough to do justice to my views. I hope you do get a breeze of my thoughts. These thoughts deserve some credit to the Indian Railways too because these came to me on an 8-hour delayed train. Kudos to Lalu! Let me start with describing the issue here. I am writing on the current change in the way Indian marriages have been "arranged" over time and my perception of how they affect the Indian society.

Arranged marriages have been the norm for at least 3 generations past in India. Now, in light of greater interaction between the two genders at school/college/office the conservative Indian society is slowly opening up its petals. This coming change comes as all changes do, with a positive and negative side. As I said earlier, arranged marriages have been the norm in India. Now, as the workplace is "invaded" by the "other" gender(do not get me wrong here, I am not chauvinist), India sees a rapid change in its social ways. Love marriages are "the" trend. Is it for the right or wrong? I do not know. I will only say what I feel about it and let you brood on the rest. Earlier, an arranged marriage was not about just two people going through a sacred ritual. An arranged marriage epitomized two families entering a union. The bride and groom were supported by the bonding between families and their bond helped the families grow together. This bond between the two families came also from the trust as they came to know of each other through mutual and "trusted" contacts. This key aspect is somehow missed in most love marriages. While the two humans do share a stronger bond than was possible in an arranged marriage, the families do not exactly come together. In my view, this is mainly due to the fact that most love marriages do not take into account the mutual compatibility of the two families while they do take into account the compatibility of the 'lovers'. Now, this mutual compatibility of the lovers was not a 'pre-requisite' in arranged marriages. So, effectively, we have arranged marriages where we have a 'reinforced' bond and we have love marriage where we have the simple and strong bond. So, technically, we might also consider this as comparing sigma and pi bonds. So, which is better? A marriage which holds on despite rifts among husband and wife or a marriage which breaks for minor issues. I, for one, do not know. These arguments, however, are very generalized and do not really even touch the surface of issue. I would like you to think over the issue further. I can point out one more way the two ways of marriage affect society. The joint family and nuclear family. I leave it up to you to think further because I am bored of typing now and will move on to watching a movie :).

Lastly, a request to all of you. Those of you who liked my article, please do praise me, I would like to get high-headed and if you don't you will not get any opportunity later. Those who did not like it, the onus lies on you to counter my high-headed-ness. For your questions/advice/neutral comments do contact me. For girls, I would like to believe in love marriage. :)