Happy Diwali

It is that time of the year, when the city and country as a whole, gets divided into two unequal halves. One half which burst crackers till the break of dawn and the other half which stuffs cotton plugs in their ears hoping to catch some sleep despite the blaring decibel levels. When I was young, I belonged to the former half, bursting crackers with gay abandon. Then an article I read about the ill effects of crackers and how children as young as 3 years old are forced to work for long hours in cramped rooms made me quit bursting crackers. I wanted to make a contribution, albeit in a small way. I realized that along with the cracker I was also burning a child's future. However, unlike vegetarians I don't feel morally superior just because I don't burst crackers. To each one his own. Of late, the number of crackers have reduced significantly. This was apparent when I went to Crawford Market the other day. The line at Essabhai fireworks (for the uninitiated, it is the largest wholesaler of fireworks in Bombay) was shorter than the one at Siddhivinayak. And as I sit here, one day before Diwali, writing this post, I strain my ears but I can hardly hear the fireworks. One school of thought is that the children today are a lot less ignorant and refrain from crackers to curb noise pollution, air pollution etc. I really find this very hard to digest. I personally feel that they have just found better ways to spend money than burn it on crackers. I mean why waste money on fireworks when you can go clubbing, play pool or take your chick to a cozy, plush restaurant with that money. The thought that children of today are sacrificing fun for the sake of the environment is all hogwash. If crackers were the only source of entertainment for them, they would have been setting Bombay on fire!

Happy Diwali

Numb

Seconds tick
The pin pricks
My wounds I lick
Numb.

Ends in disgrace
Slap on the face
You leave without a trace
Numb.

Foolish stance
A missed chance
Not a backward glance

I am dumb.
You are numb.

Christmas has arrived..

2 months before expected, but Christmas for me has arrived! My mom and sis are off to Canada to spend some time with dad. I couldn't go. The submissions (which are finally over today) and the vivas held me back. Not that I am complaining! After all I am home alone now (grins from ear to ear), albeit for ten days after which my sister returns home (smile gets wiped off). I will finally be able to move around freely in my house, without the fear of banging into anybody. Can sleep with my shoes on. Can not have a bath for a week and brush my teeth like once every alternate day and all that. But as they taught us in those civic books, that there are two sides of the coin and all that jazz. I have to take care of the house. Mom said that it should not look like a pig's sty when she comes back. And many other chores like clearing cheques, laundering clothes etc. Will give me valuable experience though, if and when I go to the states for further studies. Diwali is just round the corner, but about that insane Indian festival in another post (if I feel like it).

Currently Reading:

1. How to park a car in less then 15 mintues
2. Knife Edge - Malorie Blackman

Currently Listening:

1. Why don't you get a job - The offspring
2. Hum kis gali ja rahe hai - Atif Aslam

Quote of the Day:

Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. - Jeff Valdez



P.S. : Sorry, Amit Mishra, I think I kinda underestimated you!

P.P.S : I just checked, 1155 hits on my blog! Thank you guys!

The Wishing Well

A coin covered floor,
A wish.
The metallic water rusts,
Under the weight of desire.
Will it work?
No, it won't.
What are the odds?

Couples kiss under a mistletoe,
Hoping that their love would last forever.
Like it did before.

Seamen break champagne on a ship.
What can prevent it from taking a freezing dip?

The coin on my thumb,
The beggar at my side.
The metallic water continues to rust,
Under the weight of desire.

Jerry must die

Some Islamic head has issued a fatwa saying that books and cartoons on Mickey Mouse and Jerry of 'Tom and Jerry' fame should be banned. According to the radical, these cartoons propagate violence and cause permanent damage to a child's psychology! The audience tends to become headstrong, resistive to authority and blah blah. He feels that these cartoons are 'steered by Satan'. Not that I agree with his absurd claims (I am sure not one does), but I am certainly one for Jerry dying. Whenever I watched Tom and Jerry, I was always in the cats corner. Simply because all the fun we had was because of the cat. Whether it was him being sliced into a thousand pieces by a shredder or his tail getting caught in the mousetrap he laid for Jerry, we all laughed but at Tom's expense. But then the world loves to support the underdog and will always do that. Whether it is David and Goliath or any sports game, everyone roots for the underdog. And for that very reason Jerry will always be the hero and Tom the stupid villain. The series will be a super hit because of Tom but Jerry will always walk away with the accolades. But for all the indignity he had to go through and will continue going through, I feel that at least in one episode Tom should win. And yes, Jerry should die!

Happenings thru' the week

~ I am so glad I didn't go to watch Drona! When you are invited to a private screening of the film in a 100 seater auditorium at Nehru Planetarium, who in their right mind would turn it down? And specially when you add free dinner and desserts after the movie. But something told me (read: the promos) that the film would be an absolute disaster. And so I made my usual excuse of being too sleepy to attend the night show and opted out. What a decision it turned out to be! The movie is an absolute disaster. I heard that some of Mithunda's movies make more sense than Drona. I'm so glad I didn't go! My list of horrible movies watched in a theatre already includes Lost in Africa, I see you, Road, Uff yeh Mohabbat, 1920 etc. The last thing I want is to add to that list.

~ Was watching 'Sportscenter' on ESPN the other night. Happened to catch the interview of Amit Mishra (ya I know you are going Amit Mishra who? So was I. Apparently he is a leg spinner and is included in the squad to face the Aussies) So the interviewer goes on to ask him if he was expecting to be picked. To which Mishra replied "Definitely". The smirk on the interviewer's face was worth watching. I mean Osama bin Laden receiving the Nobel Peace Prize was more probable than Amit Mishra being picked! Talk about super optimism!

~ Writing 12 assignments/experiments in a day can take a toll on your body. Your forearms start aching, the fingers pain like hell, you get cramps in your back and even mundane chores like bathing become an effort.

~ Yesterday I went out with my mother to buy the weekly groceries. I couldn't believe my ears when the vegetable vendor told me that peas and beans cost Rs. 80 a kilo! There was no way I was allowing my mom to buy those vegetables when chicken is available for 60 bucks a kilo. I mean who in their right mind would prefer peas over chicken!

Currently Reading:

1. Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahiri
2. Digital Signal Processing - Katre :P

Currently Listening:

Not listening to anything! Have got a blocked ear and headphones make it worse :(

Quote of the Day:

If it's sent by ship then it's a cargo, if it's sent by road then it's a shipment. - Dave Allen

Of bears, blares and bomb scares

Two posts in two days! I guess, I have a lot of free time on hand!

Bears: Ok, so the stock market has taken a total nose dive. After a year of roaring and soaring, it has finally come down to 13K, which incidentally is the mark at which I had invested all of the first significant earnings of my life (from my scholarship, that is). The 100K that I had invested, within 3 months had multiplied 7 fold and I thought I was King Midas. And the strategy was pretty simple you see: If the share is going up, you buy; else, sell. And boy, did it work wonders! Any share I picked would sky rocket and I thought that by the time I would put in my appliations for MS, I would be able to pay for my education too (stop laughing, I told you'll, I am an optimist!). But the way the markets are performing now, I think the only thing I will be able to comfortably pay for, are the postage charges for my applications!

Blares: Navrati has arrived much to the joy of the Gujju public. The sound levels are just unbearable. I mean you should be able to sue people for playing such horrible music so loudly and that too at night! Im so pleased with the High Court ruling of no loud music after 10 pm. I mean, I can bet the judge and I have similar sleeping timings.

Bomb Scares: Delhi, Malegoan and now Agartala, I am afraid the list is far from over. When I collect the newspaper every morning, I no longer look at the front page. I turn straight away to the sports section. The sight of dead bodies and wrecked bikes no longer stirs any kind of emotion in me. Slowly, the average Indian is getting immune to this and now I can imagine what life in the valley must be! All the more reason to pack my bags and head westwards (or northwards, God willing!)

Feeling the October Heat

Undoubtedly the hottest month of the year, October, is here! And to add to that, the MS admission process has just got hotter! My counselor has told me that by October 15th I have to send my admits to at least 3 colleges. That includes getting recommendations from professors, preparing my statement of purpose, reporting my scores etc etc, the list just goes on. The term end is also fast approaching. It is the time when you write so much that you virtually have to buy a new pen everyday and a bundle of sheets every third day. I never knew that the day I got admitted into an engineering college I had relegated myself to being a photo copy machine for the best part of 4 years!

Coming back to MS, my counselor has rejected my Statement of Purpose (for the uniformed, you have to write a 1000 word essay telling those guys why you want to leave your home country and go the US of A for further studies). My counselor says the reasons I made up are very generic. I now plan to write about my 'divide not multiply' (refer to previous posts) logic! I'm sure that will be the 'something different' she is looking for! Another thing she picked on was my introduction of myself. Apparently 'optimistic, super talented, intelligent and diligent' is very common. I now plan to be a wee bit more honest. I have changed the description to 'uncaring, unshaven and can kill for the computer'.

Enough said, I think I should get back to my work now. Loads of assignments and experiments to complete. October has just started and I'm already feeling the heat!