The Wise one says…

Well..
Speaking of Yesterday….I would say one of the freakiest days of my life.

The sunrise:
As always, I was running a little late in the morning. But had to perform my “reading in the restroom” ritual which takes me a little longer to the actual thing. But that day, it took me 45 minutes because the book got so interesting. I lost the track of time, and adding all the woes and the delays…I got 1 hour late.
Now my mentor has never been really that particular about me reporting on time, but there always is this awkward silence which ensues..and lingers on till the lunch break.

Having had just 4 hours of sleep the night before, I was mind numbingly dizzy. And had nothing but wokr on my mind..which usually is a good thing….when you are fully aware and awake as an owl. I was awake as an owl the night before!

The sunset:
5 in the evening, no bus in sight. All those local buses going local places with the locals. Had to wait..and I did for 50 minutes before I spotted one. Somehow..I travelled to the mid point of my 51Km journey. And when I did, I had to drink water from those…water carts we have. And as I sipped carefully, scanning for some life in my glass…it tasted a little funny. But I was thirsty…and no cola available…I had to go for it. The consequences, if at all could be faced in the comforts of my bed..or the toilet!
Uptill now, its just the cholera part of it.

Here..a bus came, struggled to get in, struggled to get a seat (now ..I do get a seat…just that you have to be a little too rude for that…no free giveaways).

And then it started to rain. My dear “thought” had to be contained in my backpack, with a plastic cover. She better not get drenched…or there will be sparks (or no sparks) flying around here.
First rain in Delhi was beautiful..respiteful. The the bright pink title of Maximum city were no match to the skyline that night.

Later..that evening:
I took a rikshaw from the station to my place. Wind in my hair..I was already in a state of trance, I was loudly singing(if you can call it that) my favourite songs..to the passers by I guess. THe rickshaw catches some speed, courtsey of the un yielding slope…the rickshaw man loses his control…..and two other cars converge into this inverted fork of overspeeding vehicles..on a rainy night.
People shout…”maaaa”..I yelled…the F word…the loudest I have in my entire life..in public.
The man from the wagonR got out…(for once I thought to beat me..for my fucking recital) but he slapped the rickshaw wala rather. (World could deal with me some other day)
I checked whether my thought was intact. She was, My toe was not. I had smashed it on the rear end of this car…I could feel my toe..and I didnt feel good.
Rickshaw was standing…so wsa the ricksaw wala.

I was home…somhow…and by that..I defied nature’s evil plan to keep me away from my bed. But..boy was I celebrating too soon??
Something…in my abdomen…was not right.and I knew it was the water. I ended up in the restroom…just like I had predicted.
Proc mock scores were to be out soon…and boy…they were bad. Its not that I cant interpret data….I interpret it wrong. I got a negative in data interpretation.

So..had this session with some other faculty..who was supposed to take the left overs from English section. And..as you know..my innate capacity to argue..is bound to take me places. I did get caught in a verbal with this guy…and here is how.

“Intro”
I was first up..sitting alone…on the first desk.
“I am Prateek. And I am from DCE..and thats it. I mean…what else” I said in my trademark…nod and hand gesture style.
He reciprocated in much too similar a gesture…and asked my stream…and other things.
“I am from IT…DCE”
“DCE Dwarka..or DCE Bawana”
“DCE as in DCE.” I said..irritably
“Dwarka one is NSIT” (Something NSITians hated…and almost yelled in chorus)
“Ok..Ok…..Hobbies”
“I blog..and I read”
“What are you reading”
(something fancy…somethign fancy)
“I am reading..Boris Pasternack.” (I am not…I was…but..had to return the book…credit issues)
“@E$*U$)$” He didnt know..ha ha ha
“Boris Pasternack…..Dr Zhivago!” I added.
I made sure..that I nail the zombie in his eye!

So…argument started off with a real harmless looking question.
“Why MBA?”
To which my reply was flummoxing to my own self..when I took a moment to think against my thinking. And he moved on. It eventually lead to discussions bout NSIT/DCE vs IIT. …to which I raised my voice..and like a pacifier..trying to play my trump card..
“Guys..lets face it. IITs are IITs afterall.” to which he said
“So you are trying to say you are stupid? and DCE is crap?”
I was dumbfounded. Now..we dont use such colorful vocabulary in the classroom discussion do we??

“Sir..you are misinterpretting my statement. IITs have professors they can boast of, good established..tested curriculum, which unforutnately…I find myself deprived of in my college. By no menas are we stupid..because at the end of the day…we work from the scratch up”
Now had it been some other context…I wouldnt have said such..but I did….coz..I had to shut him up.

“Scores now….starting with you”
Starting with me..as always.
“well..pretty poor I say. Just 36″
“Your percenitle is 36??”
“No…its 85″
It did cause me some harm..but not the kind I could never recover from.

Having said all of it…..one thing led to another…and he asked
“What do you think..all of you will make it to the IIMs?”
I had to say something..”You cant rule out the possibility sir!”
“It is next to impossible sir!” he brought on his “sir sir” sarcasms on me.
“Not impossible sir. Slim chances…but existent for sure”
“Nope. Not at all”
“Well..if nothing …then divine intervention would get us through” I said, and class burst into laughter.
“Divine interventions dont work in business world. In corporate world, this term is rude sir”
“ANd crap and stupid are not?? sir??” I said ( Now..usually I am not that brave. He could have punched me or something…I was right in front…his eye met mine)

finally..when he asked..what can be a possible good reason for doing an MBA for a technical person??
“Sir..for us people with technical background…I would say..if some day we go for a startup…I mean..look what happend to Jobs. He got booted out of his own company. So MBA would offer such people to understand the nitty gritty of market..and business. And better give us a perspective so that at least we can see the boot coming!” Class was with me…giggles..support…cheer shall we say.

“So you are saying…board will boot you out from your own company. And I definitely will..because of your beard” Now..this was personal attack. The class…burst into laughter.
“Same is the case with you sir” Yes it was. He too had one.
“Ya …” He was not prepared for some good back talk. “I too have…but I am flexible.” (whoa????what was he getting at??)
“So am I … ”

in the end….he grilled me on some steve job trivia…and…I owe it to wikipedia..I knew enough to see a white flag.

I had so much fun..never did I meant to disrespect anyone…but I cant stand such personal attacks.
all of it was Worth joinging CL..

You know, to some this post can be just insensitive..and inappropriate. But my mind wonders..and my mind wanders…and I cant help but think bizaare.

People..die. And they usually die +/- 2 months from their birthdays. Is it just my speculation…or what. But certain dates I came across last 10/20 celeb deaths or so..I am figuring out a pattern. And it freaks me out. God presses the eject button as soon as you are over all the birthday spanking.

Mathematically, a person can die at a distance of 6 months from his/birthday. And the kin wont have pretext to shed more tears by saying tht “He just had his brithday coming in 6 months”..nobody says that!
But what they say is….”He had is birthday last month”. ANd this gives us a reason to appreciate he brevity of life.

That reminds..me I have not celebrated my birthday with my frnds….lets wait till June is over (that will be 2 months from April)….just waiting to see if a rock falls over my head..in that case…I will be spared from the all the pickings from my scanty little pocket!

Hey, dont look at me,
I aint got any!
But like many
I too…
wish.

The rise of the elitist tendencies , finding its way to the middle class drawing room ..through the smaller screen predominantly..and not to forget the years of Raj and the Yashraj depicting the glamour and the rich living, it will not take an Einstein to figure out that somewhere..as a society we have bartered with our principles…and innate goodness.

Have you ever been slapped so hard that your cheek goes numb for a while..no sensations! That is exactly what this grand larger than life depiction on the 70mm has done to our living. For them, to depict, there may or need not exist a ground reality. They create..we imitate. Discos and pubs revel in all the money..while designers and choreographers sign the big cheque for their new Benz.

We are all cats chasing the torch beam. Bright lures us. And this I can tell by looking at all the bling that puma has added to the collection of the common man. Brand consciousness is being injected into us, by mkaing us believe that the king and the God use them as well! And we are spending money…..and then availing huge discounts on something cheaply manufactured on a large scale from the other side of the Himalaya. Himalaya did save us from some attacks…from the Chinese…not this one.

DId you see oye lucky?? now it ws not just bout some crazy surd going gaga over a girl..nor it was bout a trickster and his ways. it was about what all goes in the making of a dacoit, a fraud or a mastermind. The cars…the pubs and the dresses is what ensconces rather builds in layers a desire to fit. Means and morals..right and wrong take a back seat against this freudian desire. Now…Adiga would call it the rooster coop one tries to come out of but for what….I guess joie de vivre’.

Thats why I say…marxism is good…but only a little groucho in nature!

Groucho says “To all our girl friends and all our wives..just that they never meet!” , I say lemme meet at least one of them!! And as groucho’s sits on my desktop tonight,
I am reminded of my own hair which sometimes after a breezy auto ride..look like his.

Of all the people who have graced my desktop..I think Virginia woolf was an absolute stunner. Her sunken eyes, and that whole lot of mystery flowing out of that picture…and the mere fact that she was driven to suicide for< she ventured too deep into her own psyche…fascinates me. But random drop by of every second person for a look at my screen..at work compelled me to go for a more..masculline choice ( ) I settled with groucho then. Now I attract even more people..and now they point at it.!

I am one of those people who is obsessed with people..and their works..and their lives…and wikipedia. And I tell you its a lethal mix. With wiki at my disposal…I usually spend lots of time reading…then I google them..and then they grace my laptop before I move on to some other charmer of some other era.

Jacques Derrida has captured my fantasy more often than any other. More of it has to do with my ex English teacher (hmmmmm…….) who was always talking of Derrida. When google for his pics..man could have played Dracula. I mean..scared me..and thats precisely the reason I have restricted him to my notepad files..no pixels for you sir!!

And then..Rene’ Magriotte. Now not a lot of people are familiar..but he was a modern illusionist/surreal artist. His signature was to throw the faces of his subjects into obscurity. img Hidden by an apple, covered by a veil or something. As the wiki tells me that this is attributed to his mother’s suicide. Captivating..isnt it.
Inspiration..shall we say or the scars!

Proust is next..and I can almost sense it. This book , I am looking for “Proust was a NeuroScientist” seems worth a shot.

I know..these are all the eyes…m gonna stare it (with rene’s subject being an exception)..until…as I said in the begining..I spot one of the aforementioned”
“tum kahaan….Main yahaan…..la la la”

Now…Abhishek..you just gave me a reason to listen to those good ole songs lying in obscurity of my overpacked disk. A good sunday afternoon, those good songs…the nostalgia.
The songs I enlist are the ones that have some very remarkable memory associated with them…really close to my heart.

10.I remember quoting the lyrics from this song…at my farewell. I meant it… “I have spread my wings, and I have learnt how to fly, I will do what it takes till I touch the sky.”
“Out of the darkness into the sun, I wont forget the ones I have loved”
Kelly Clarkson -Breakaway

9.A really melodious song, instills peace in my mind everytime I listen it on my phone. Also..most played track on my phone as of now. Simple…easy …and you will find me humming it on a lazy afternoon.
“I am spending way long checking my tounge in the mirror,
bending over backwards to try to see it clearer
but my breath fogged up the glass
so I drew a face and laughed”
Jason Mraz- I ‘m yours

8. Now this is an elton john classic. I listened the track when I was in tenth standard…and was amazed my the lyrics…it was random..and amazing. The video is not orginal..and I dont enjoy it either. A peculiar choice..but…I loved the melody.
Elton John-Yellow brick road

7.Way back when I saw this movie, Armageddon..I fell in love with this song. I dont know if its that great..but transports me to the days long long back.
Chantal Kuzvic – Leaving on a jet plane

6.Now…me being a country buff…Shania twain had to feature. And because..all of her songs are so great…and since I purchased all her tapes…its really hard for me to pick just one. Forever and always..misses the cut. but you are still the one makes it
Shania Twain:you are still the one

5.This one is rellatively new. Love the music piece towards the end…brilliant. Love the song..fulfills my daily appetite of hope..which I am in a constant need nowdays
Cold play:fix you

4. This movie, which I saw the trailer in Oscar presentations…and then saw the movie winning oscar for their song. The co-composer Marketa Irglova’s acceptance speech…made me wanna download this movie..an I did. And it happens to be my favourite movie as well…Once.The movie begins with this song…and its just powerful, compelling.
Glen Hansard:Say it to me now.

3.The song..that stirred my thoughts. Brilliant lyrics… Carnival of rust (the best video ever). Illusion and dreams..comes close..but this carnival of rust is intriguing…stark musical artistery and the video..watch it for yourself.
Poets of the fall:Carnival of rust

2. Now this is not an obvious choice….but my playlist tells me. Peculiar cover of a bob marley song by an idol contestant(who got chucked after this). I fell in love with the accent more or the melody…I dont know. Amazing song…
“Turn your lights down low…open up the window curtains ..let the moon come shining in..into our lives again.”
“And it seems I was never on time,
still I wanna get this message to you
On time..On time”
Megan joy : turn the lights down low (originally by bob marley)

1.Now..a lot of my frnds would know that this song…is my favourite indeed. Another coldplay…VIva La vida. Beautiful lyrics…nice melody(..some say lifted from Satriani’s If I could fly). But amazing video, brilliant lyrics…(this is not the original video)
“One minute I held the key,
next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of sand, pillars of sand”
Coldplay:Viva La Vida

My life requires..some re interpretation. Have to evaluate my priorities on the basis of my strength/s..which ofcourse are not so many. Its a new context altogether and I feel betrayed..strayed…”bugged” to be precise.
The depth of ever exisitng..eternal depression calls me…lures me, sings about all the comfort my self would rever in, if it ever chooses to lie there. I am sad. Just sad.

Writers, these mighty writers…and the twisted writings of twisted mighty writers. Who just most of the time compensate their lack of thought by invoking the lord of obfuscation…infusing their creation with hard verbaitms which usually catches a lay off the guaurd. Like me..who is often thrown into this well visited pit of perplexity where one usually faces a duel with basic comprehension. Struggling with that hard word, feeling all your logic and all your basic human understanding drifting apart. A la mode!! It indeed is a writer’s burden of reminding the common that his/her Nuclear reactor and supercomputer are yet to compete with this sludgy podgy of a human brain. The similes and the metaphors have eluded the common man for so long, that its actually hard to think that an anode would be able to decrypt the well woven, unstated nuance in writing.

English cannot be discretized. As far as prose and poetry goes…nothing is right. Such literature and its criticism is better left to individual’s interpretation in his own contexts. Enforcing down a theory is mere corruption of ones innate capacity to reinterpret and be original. And I think this is what is wrong with English section CAT boasts of. Now one may ask, why do I want the mice chasing the cat to be original when in fact all they need is to communicate in black and white?? Well..I say..why do you have tone questions then?? Why do you ask me what is the tone of the author…leave to imagination..leave it to interpretation..leave it to us…more on the humane side (may be lesser on the brains though).

The word-cramming high pitched restless might have used all the word in his dictionary.,..or the flash cards provided by his “alma terminator”(read Career Launcher) but that wont make up for the lack of opinion and thought. Nor would the circular logic will put a veil on their lack of individuality..lack of penchant for being creative..imaginative…original…unique. I think that is what makes them a rat.

“Synonyms be conquered.. ” says the evil minion of the anti intellectual…as he sticks the pin in the heart of the thinking ..sealing the fate of thought churning scribbles of the pseudo writer’s mind. Calling himself the writers…throwing me back into this tiring cycle of readings and re-readings.

I was readin bout cockney rhyming language. Go and search on wikipedia and you will find that all those weird phrasings in the English Language you just could never figure the head and tail of..are actually the cockney rhymes from England.
As in..”You are such a Berk”, Have you read sophie’s world, you would know what Berk or Berkeley would refer to. Something repulsive..or idiotic. Now..why would a brilliant University have something synonymous to idiotic for its namesake..?? Turns out its a cockney rhyme..and a naughty one.

Now..for your first course in cockney rhyme..it goes like…

I am in huge Barney. Barney from the Flinstones??? remember?? Barney Rubble=Trouble. So rpelace the word trouble with first word of the rhyming phrase. And tada…you have yourself a cryptic slang which is now…quite commonly understood. (at least some sentences)

So..if I say..you are a berk….as in Berkley Hunt : ****<>

Recently at pseudo-work, I have to deal with videos and stuff…and the authorities have given be the liberty of spending time on youtube, downloading them. And I downloaded my all time favorite clips.. and here are some of them
Clips from a show called on the lot…very interesting clips..so…hope you enjoy as much as I did.

The best short movie ever, called die hardly working. Have to watch.

Another one, damn funny. Nerve Endings

Not for the faint hearted…”Midnight snack”..

Danger Zone…and the director means it.

Dance man…very very funny.