Toilets - The temples of a new world order

Let me jump to the point right away. Indian society is not in the most salubrious of the states today, badly afflicted with every kind of social disorder. If one were to map out the roots of an ordinary Indian, he would have to cut through a vexing maze of castes and religions down to bewildering detail. The mind boggling division and sub-divisions within the society conjures up a highly entangled mesh of hatred and more hatred amongst them all. But amidst this turmoil, inspiration comes from an unusual source. There is one instant which effectively dissolves all barriers of caste and creed. The one circumstance for which the human mind can defy, even if momentarily, the enormous weight of materialistic and cultural ties which arrests it's life. When this moment arrives, there is no poor, no rich; there is no religion and no creed. This moment my friend, is great like none other - the greatest equalizer in human society - this is the moment when nature's call becomes a shout.

There is no other urgency big enough than to timely make number two before it burst opens in the world itself. Whatever faction you may belong to, cultural or economic, you will never want to carry yourself in a stained underwear for rest of the day. And imagine the borderline cases you have been into, how many times have you cared about your social status or the caste you belong to or the pride you have taken in your affluence. When you gotta do it, you just gotta do it. And the moment you enter into the toilet and you loosen and position yourself and you know you have made it, rare feats can compare with the joy of victory so attained. You are not just any ordinary person on a commode, you are the king on your throne. The joy of expelling can attain orgasmic proportions. This is the point of extreme happiness, regardless of whoever you are, you can arrive at it. The task demands equal commitment from everyone and favors neither the rich nor the poor and those who can accomplish it, are the kings. You can be the king in spite of whoever you are and this is justice and equality in true sense.

This little run of search-position-discharge brings everyone at one equal level. It lays the foundation of a society which is just and beautiful in demeanor. Our quest for such a world has evidently been a futile effort, nothing more than a clueless trot. The questions maybe complicated, but answers may not be necessarily as snarled. Infact, they are very simple and all around us. In this embroiled society, toilets provides us a glimpse of the perfect world - where everyone is equal, where everyone is happy and there is peace and harmony all over. While nobody can undermine the importance of toilets even today, they are still abominated in general context. What we fail to see though, is that the objects of abomination today can very well be the temples of a new world order.

So next time you are into a toilet to do your daily business, don't forget that a peaceful future of humanity begins right where your butts are.

An over-heated Problem ??

The Copenhagen meet to strike a deal on climate change is making headlines everyday now. Nothing seems as urgent as saving the world. It is imperative for every country to bind itself to emission cuts for consequences of the denial can be catastrophic. We have the obligation and opportunity to be the generation which retrieves earth back from the mess our great grandfathers ( read previous generation Americans, as they are fondly called) have left it in. That is how it is all projected to us and that is how we understand it. Global warming demands immediate action and there is no doubt over the fate of earth if we choose to be delinquent. Yet, one wonders the righteousness of our approach towards the problem. Our measures, to whatever meager sum they amount to, still need to be examined if they are the steps in right direction, and more importantly, with right intentions.

While no one questions the enormity of the problem and the sentiments are strongly in favor of taking stringent actions, there are some very interesting viewpoints and assessments that deserve wider analysis. An Editorial in TOI dated a few days back tried to elucidate why and how the 'Global warming' debate has been blown out of proportion; why this entire movement seems like a huge setup to shift the economic balance of power which now seems to tilt in favor of new emerging economies. Of course, such arguments may sound unnecessary and maybe ignored on account of routine journalism to present counter views. Articles like these which denounce our over cautious standpoint is susceptible to plentiful criticism not just from environmentalists, but even from other factions. Debates like these should leave adequate scope for different opinions, but such adamant advocacy and strong resentment towards a counter opinion raises suspicions of a foul play. Human sentiments have steered the history and have shaped the world we see today. This is what seems to be happening again. By aligning the public opinion around the globe, industrialized nations seek their own revival through climate change. Global warming, besides being a "huge problem", is a necessity, a tacit strategy for their return in a world that is inclining towards the emerging powers. They need to stage a comeback, and global warming promises just that.

The dissidents do not claim it is entirely facade. There have been too many experiments around the world at different times with adequate conformity to reject it as a ploy. What is questionable is the intention and understanding in the global community. The problem is serious, but it hardly gives the impression that the solution seekers are not interested in benefiting from it, even at the cost of others. Europe, US, Japan and others who constitute the developed world have been pushed to a backseat as the emerging economies like ours are spreading their influence. The growth rate for these economies have plunged down to near zero, and for some, even below that. This recession has showed that such economies are now much more vulnerable to downturns while emerging markets like India and China have grown better tolerance. In these circumstances, green industry which holds the potential to turn around the fortunes of the wrecked, rest completely on our sense of urgency. With available technology and capital, developed nations have an edge in starting out in the industry that promise to overtake all others in scope and size. Countries like China and India will be forced to slow down while the developed nations accelerate right back on path of growth .And this is the reason why these countries are so unwilling to share technology and capital and why they want to burden us with unreal responsibilities after polluting earth for over two centuries. The wheels of capitalism are in motion again, as some prepare to save themselves, even if it comes at the price of drowning others.

The Copenhagen meet is at a verge of a breakdown. Developed nations haven't moved an inch on their propositions. Developing nation, quoting an English daily, "have pulled the emergency chain before the train collides with an unbreakable wall". In a sense this is good. A bad solution is worse than no solution. Unless developed world realize the true magnitude of the problem and desist itself from the greed which has left us in this turmoil, we shall remain incapable and foolish as ever to save our own selves. I neither side the hardliners, nor the critics and cogently realize the weight of the problem that looms over us. But illogical decisions based on wavering human emotions can do humanity no good. History will approve as it has seen the fall of some of the greatest civilizations when greed corrupted their values. We have over exploited the little planet, to the extent that it can undo all our evolution in matter of years, something which it is completely capable of. There is a bigger challenge than the climate change today, and that is to face ourselves and ask - Are we ready to change ? Do we accept our mistake ? Can we give up our selfishness and greed? At this point, the answer doesn't seem affirmative, and unless it is, we can't expect a solution. Copenhagen will subside in history as one of the biggest failures of the mankind. Not where humanity failed to delineate a sensible political draft, but one where it failed to confront itself with dignity and prudence.

Khai-Khai

It took me a good measurable time to realize that 'Anonymous' was no Greek philosopher, even though his quotes found their way right next to those by Socrates and Aristotle in popular English dailies (Secretly, I still imagine him as a Bald man with loads of beard straying all over his face). Nevertheless, I still value and preserve much of his wisdom I mustered during my school days. He had resolutely emphasized on human relationships and its complexities and why is it so important for us to address them with the attention they demand. Had the Greeks taken some time off writing volumes on astronomy and trigonometry and paid a little heed to what the bald man with loads of beard had to say, they would have actually been worthy of the hype they've left behind for themselves. After all, it is the intricate web of human relations that bonds everyone of us into a society and thus into civilizations which propels our advancement. It's a fabric holding entire humanity together and you don't have to be a great philosopher or a rocket scientist to get the idea. Yet, we continue to be oblivious to the grand scheme of things. We overlook the patterns as if they never existed, as if they are inconsequential. Instead of solving the puzzle, we just keep on complicating it. It's like total chaos all around and as Mr. Anonymous would have sadly pointed out, we are loosing ourselves into it everyday, every moment.

And while the entire mankind seem to be traveling the erroneous path, the brilliant B-Clan (Bakar Community) of R-Land seems to have provided a break. And what a break it is. It has taken the entire place by storm and promises to be the next revolution that can change the world. Take note Mr. Obama, this is what you might want to talk about in your next speech. For all the uninformed, this phenomenon is called Khai-Khai. Veterans call it the holy game (That would be Vidit Agarwal and gang.) The name of this divine game is composed of one word, repeated twice - Khai. Khai is a steep fall leading to a sure end for every thing that goes for it. It may sound dreadful, and the way it is pronounced in iteration sounds more like a childhood game like ghar-ghar and office-office than instilling any significant fear. But the fact is, that it actually embarks on something as fundamental as the harmless emotions that characterize children playing those games with iterative names. It is a simple game which paves way for humans to open up and find where they stand in the labyrinth of life.

It is a game with a hypothetical situation (having dreadful real consequences) and 4 simple rules. The situation is that you are standing with two of your dear ones on the edge of a Khai and circumstances such arise that you are to save one and end your tryst with the other by pushing him down to a painful end (hypothetically of course).The rules are as simple as a boolean expression. 1st, you can't save both of them. 2nd, you can't push both of them. 3rd, You can't jump yourself to avoid an answer and 4th, you can't deny a decision. You have to choose one and you have to do it veraciously. And that's about it. It may sound simple, but you can appreciate the challenge only when you give it a shot yourself. It is an open forum, a battle against yourself. You play with no one else, but just against your own negligence in quest for your own enlightment. The game doesn't end with one question. Questions are thrown on you one after another, with all the permutations and combinations you can think of, ultimately to craft a list of people who matter to you most. The game continues for hours with an unspoken promise to say and hear only truth and nothing else. Even if you try, the game is self-structured to offset any kind of diplomacy and pretense. Layer by layer, every person is unleashed. Hearts are broken, relationships are strengthened, barriers give way to new alliances, just to make some fresh wounds. It is a roller coaster ride that takes you through shock and celebrations, joy and sorrow, love and realization in some of the most defining moments of your life. It reveals who you are and where you stand in the human ecosystem that every individual builds for itself. Khai-Khai lets you evaluate the entire humanity against yourself. It is beyond awesomeness !

Let me construct a small example of how difficult and interesting it can be. Since to ensure everyone understand what we are talking about, I'll replace the characters by important organs. I don't know if I'll be doing justice to the game since it is experimentally found to work best on humans, but you can at least get an idea of what its all about. So here is A playing Khai-Khai with B.

A : Let's play Khai-Khai

B : Sure

A : Okay, choose between right hand and left hand

B : It's a no brainer. Right Hand of course

( Everyone anticipated it. It was his right hand after all !!)

A : Heart or Brain ?

B : ummmm....this one's a little tricky

A : ( Brags a little for framing it)

B : ( After some thinking) Though, I know Brain is more important, but I listen to my heart more. Let it be Heart.

(Many sitting around are shocked. A knew it, as he claims. But Brain can't believe it. He remains silent and try to appear indifferent, but he is shocked to the core. Heart, on the other hand, always knew it. B turns healthier with red cheeks in days that follow !)

A : Aur ab Mudhe ka sawaal. Eyes !!

B : Nooooooooo......

A: Yes....

B : Not this one...I'm not answering this

A: Right eye or left eye ?

B : Shit. I can't answer it. I'm sorry.

A : You don't have that option. You have to answer.

B : But they are both same. Exactly Equal.

A : You have to choose one.

B : This is insane.

A : Just choose one.

B : ( Thinks a lot. He wants to give up, but can't...it's Khai-Khai after all)

B : Okay ( Eyes on him now. Complete silence)

B: It's......( More eyes follow. Hearts pounding)

B: It's .........I can't do it !! They are both EXACTLY same.

A : That won't do B. Just say it.

B : Okay OKay. Though they are both equal, it's the...left eye.

(There are murmurs in the crowd, faces staring at each other to make sense of the declaration. Right eye is shattered. Left eye tries to maintain decorum, but still find itself boasting with left eyebrow penetrating almost into the forehead).

A : Bhaiya...Macha di !!

A : Now left eye or the heart ?

And it goes on.

So if you want to get a true feel of the powers of Khai-Khai, you have to allow yourself to play it. It'll be full of surprises, sometimes much to your dislike. But you'll resign with content at the end of the day. Inspite of every feeling that goes along with this game, it promises more satisfaction than you could have bargained for, for nothing is more enlightening than the truth itself. It is the game where you want to speak the truth when nothing compels you to, but your own inner self. And since all this is so dynamic, you have to follow it every day with every single person who concerns you and there are people who do that religiously. In fact, sources claim that after an immensely popular and life changing season 1, Khai-Khai has now entered its second season with wider fan following. That is the power of truth. That's the magic and addiction. That's the solution and revolution. And that is the essence of khai-khai, which so beautifully resonates with the purpose of our existence. If you want to understand the meaning and origin of life, stop taking refuge under clueless babas or spending billions on stupid underground accelerators.

Play Khai-Khai and enlighten yourself !!

An old gossiping women that we are

A semester came and a semester went by, and amid the cruise I comfortably ignored the torpid existence of my blog. Such things never happen for the first time with me, and especially if we are talking negligence and unaccountability. You can say, I have a history. But all things apart, I no longer fancy stretching this post with inconsequential fables of my life. I would have wanted that a few days back, but not now. I'll reserve that luxury for the subsequent posts. Right now like everyone else in the country, my thoughts are predominated by the terror attacks in Mumbai and our own inability to protect ourselves from such intrusions.

About 10 days ago, terror shed it's shadow on our beloved city Mumbai. Dark chapters are registered everyday in this country's history, whether they are communal riots, wars, discrimination, bigotry, corruption, shameful political dramas or terrorist attacks. This year we had seen it all. 64 bomb blasts in last 6 months. But this time it was far too much adventure, far too much destruction. A boat walks right from Pakistan, straight into the heart of our city creating havoc, leaving hundreds dead and a nation mourning.It wasn't just a terror attack, it was a proper foreign invasion. I don't know what to feel; feel sad, feel anguish, frustrated, stupid, dumb or what.

I no longer feel secure going out shopping now.My parents forced me to call off the Goa trip we were so excited about. England team withdrew it's tour midway, fleeing back to the safety of their nation. No champions trophy this time. No tourist outburst for the Incredible India. It's a financial loss running down in billions, and it's loss of faith and security. Maybe that's what these terrorists wanted to achieve. And maybe I could safely claim, they have not disappointed their masters. But yet again preserving our wonderful record, we easily let things happen. Where was the security ? Where was the intelligence? And why do we turn diligent or start contemplating only after adversity dints it's way into our lives? This time we have been rendered naked and everyone can see how just unprepared we are. It's not about a security lapse. It is about our thinking and our mentality.

The reaction of the government, those wonderful statements that government issue right after such a disaster, sometimes they so make me feel if I could just evaporate into thin ether. It is at these times I feel so disgraceful being an Indian. Look at Israel, these fanatics kill their 2 citizens and they strike them right into their heart. These terrorists won't dare spell Jihad against America again. And see what we Indians do. We condemn these attacks. A few years back, Bangladesh killed our 16 soldiers in an erratic aggression on eastern borders. Now a country like Bangladesh which can't stand a chance against our might, dares to kill our soldiers in a fight born out of our sheer passiveness. And still what we do, we condemn the attacks and we pass a proposal in parliament 6 months later denouncing the attacks and promising to take action by building diplomatic pressure on the neighbor. Can't you sense this is what old fearful women do. Men strike back, once and for all and the enemy conceives a 1000 times before daring such a feat again. Old fearful gossiping women lay quite enduring all the pains while men rule the world. America never needed the consent of world before evading Iraq. No protests around the world or even in it's own territory ever mattered. While we, we Indians, after all such attacks try to prove America and the world that our Neighbors have been involved in fostering terrorism. We seek permission from the world to take actions. We are so feeble in taking decisions ourselves that at virtually every point we affirm that we are still slaves. We will take lots more time to break the thousand year tradition of slavery. Why don't we just accept it ; we are just too soft to live in this world.

Of course, we live in a nation that has served under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and likes. They taught us non violence and peace, the universal values that remain valid even to this date. But surrendering over to these values while terrorists roam fearlessly in our country and ripping apart bodies of our people is not practicing non-violence. If somebody threats your existence without any sane reason to do that, you have full authority to wipe them out of their roots. I don't think we need any permission from anywhere around the world to hunt down these terrorists if we are sure of their hide-outs. We need a strong leadership, one that can use all the diplomatic weaponry to choke the finances these terrorists are thriving upon and which can summon the defenses for an invasion right into their centers if the need ever arise. We are in paucity of good leaders and our corrupt and impotent political system is incapable of fulfilling that demand. If you look at the core, the solution lies in the change of mentality, change the way we think and all the changes will trickle down to other factors consequently.

The only positive this entire episode has brought with it is a sense of awakening. People are getting united to fight terror, and not just terror, they are raising their voice against the crooked and fraudulent political system. People from all walks of the life belonging to all factions of the society are gathering to express how annoyed they are. The politicians of our country, the dirtiest creatures ever to assume life, they have finally started to hear our cries of belligerence. I can't infer that this incidence can spark a revolution. But slowly things will change, as they are changing now. Democracy is the last revolution in a democratic setup, rest all other changes take their time to happen. Change is bound to ensue, as our society is undergoing transition and as our youth is becoming more responsible and expressive. But I fear, there will be still many more attacks that'll follow before we can break the mind barriers that has enslaved us for centuries. Many more soldiers, many more brave officers will lay down their lives for our protection. This nation can never forget their sacrifices. They died by the bullets of terrorists, which pierced their brave souls as a consequence of decades of treachery by our politicians. They are no less than terrorists, even more foul. And we have our own contribution in their making. This is a moment of shame for all of us. It's time to regret and cry, but more than that to learn a lesson, so that we can undo the mistakes that has brought us here. This nation is like our mother, a diseased one, but still she do everything to nurture us. It's time to pay her back.

The only concrete solution to this problem, I'll stress once again, a change of mentality. Once we promise ourselves that we'll not tolerate anyone exploiting us, whether they are politicians or terrorists, all problems will meet their solutions in the aftermath. Good leaders will come out from good people and they'll serve the wants of this nation through democratic channels. All we requires is to break that barrier that has been binding us for long. We need to believe that we can invoke a change. It is tough, but unless we believe in ourselves, there is no progress we can make.

An entire semester came and an entire semester went by, as everyday I saw a quote on my notes register

"The Person who cannot believe in himself, cannot believe in anything else"

I saw this entire story and then I remembered this quote by Roy L. Smith. Suddenly Everything started making sense.


P.S : I request the people of this nation to live like men, but I nowhere want them to perceive that I am a male chauvinist.

P.S.S : That was a DJ !! ( Dang Joke, a step below PJs)

P.S.S.S: Jokes apart, I'm very serious about this post.

Jaane tu ya jaane na...( The review of my life )

The sodium light transpiring into my room from that old window unfurls itself all over the room. My pupils are wide open, enough to see every trifling detail making up the place. Things like this don't befall often, because at four in the night, I'm generally lethargically crashed to bed. But Now, I'm here, my eyes wide open and my savage mind more clear than ever, a stir of thoughts flowing over space and time as I prepare myself to encounter my past, my present and my future.

It starts when I was young. I often used to visit a fantastic hang-out place with my parents, that's DC, District center, as we fondly call it. Actually, this place generally brim with friends, hang-out buddies, college guy, couples etc etc. Those were the days my body clock went out of my understanding and I discovered puberty. I acquired new habits to discern every pair of shaved legs, espy every enlarged butt, observe all the burgeoning tees, secretly glancing on every girl, her boyfriend, her friends, and other flaunting groups all around. Those guys and gals were my inspiration and my idea of college life, but almost on all occasions I used to bump into a group of losers. And now what do I mean by losers ?

Losers, as in my conclusion, are the group of those guys hanging out together looking dreadfully humdrum, uncool and you-know the typical kind of feel they would measure out to the atmosphere. The reason, the proper reason for such kind of abysmal emanation was just one - There was no visible tinge of women in their life. Of course, mothers and sisters are not counted. Just by looking at those guys one can make out they will never have a girlfriend in their lives, and their parents will arrange a marriage for their losers in due time. Even then, they were never not hanging out together. They were just crying over their wretched fortunes or laughing at the world for the shit that crowds it. Typical losers. You just know they are losers, no second thought, verdict delivered. Anyways, a small point to be made. whoever I assumed to be those losers, they always looked as some science freaks !!

It's about 6-7 years now since those trips. But life has taken strange turns. Time is an unusual thing. Sometimes it slow downs, sometimes it runs too fast, you know, it changes it's speed a lot. But still it just ticks away at one same speed. I can look at my clock now, which is hanging harmlessly over the wall and isn't very much like how I see it during light, but it still quite seemingly tells me that it's just few more minutes to dawn. And then the sun will rise again, cracking that blue light in the purplish black firmament. A new day will begin, and it will end and begin again and the cycle will go on forever. And somewhere in those cycles I'll see the world, I'll live my life and then I'll fade into the eternities of the life. Thoughts like these don't befall often on me. But today is different. Today I saw Jaane Tu ya Jaane na. No, it's no special film, nothing great or epic about it. 2/5 is a brilliant rating to go with for this one. It's that simple old testified and tried love story, the same old wine in a new bottle. But then you'll subscribe with me for the sake of that old wisdom that as the wine gets older, it gets more intoxicating.

Love stories are really common in our flicks. There may not be even a dozen successful movies without featuring a romantic affair tinseled with half a dozen songs. But does the reel life so significantly depicts the real life? Suddenly if Bollywood becomes the gauge to measure this country, half the time the beautiful men ( with six pack abs and funky dress sense) and women ( tall, fair, educated, sensible and cultured) would be falling in love with each other after years of best friendship and fighting their parents in most cultured way. The rest half, they would be singing songs, making humor, bashing bad guys and stuff. Not quite really close to reality, is it ? But still, sometimes it embarks on something so important, so natural, so crude, so perpetual..you know... and that's love, the companionship of the opposite sex, you can't hide these desires for long. Indians aren't know to be much adventurous when it comes to finding mates or losing virginity, but then luckily living in such a liberal minded family and having made so many friends who were girls, it seems so paradoxical that I still haven't satisfied that ultimate rapturous desire.

That's it. Sky is going blue now. Birds and chirping already, and my mom is preparing herself to break free from slumber. But it's still not so clear. Something is wrong. Is it the AC ? The room is chilled now, even as I comfort myself in the quilt. I'm not feeling cheerful. Maybe because I don't have any girl in my life. I'm 19 now, at 20 an average Indian male discovers the joy of manhood. The height of the bridge don't worry me more than it's foundations. The problem is I even don't have a true love in my life. It's not that you need one so desperately for you, it's just sometimes you think that there should be someone you could share some moments with, if you could ever just talk for nights on with her, sometimes just lay down on her shoulders and look at the infinity that abounds the sky and those stars that glimmer in deafening silence of love. It's just those moments where the clocks slow down forever, where times runs paces as it had never before, when it just ticks away tick by tick, and the whole creation dissolves in it.

Somewhere far in neighborhood, an alarm rings up, diminished sound, nonetheless distinguishable. Chain reactions work amazingly when left to nature. The ringing alarm ringed a few bells in my mind. I'm sure, if I haven't been distracted to it, these thoughts would have never occurred. I just realized something. When with my friends in DC, after that Okay film, I was more than desperately scouting for those losers inspite of all the beautiful womankind that inundated the air. Now I realized, why I couldn't find them. Because it was us now. Yes !! We are the losers. No girl, no love, we are the f*cking damn losers !!

My mother is already up, maybe refreshing herself before lodging into the kitchen. Sleep approaches to minus infinity, and I can no longer take it. I'm out of my bed to open up the veranda and to notice the roads wet with water and the smell so typical of monsoons lingering in the air. I laid all night wide awake not even noticing the heavy rains that had flooded the city. I used to find this kind of air particularly very romantic, until now. But today, here I'm standing alone, with nobody besides me as I face my past, my present and my future. I somehow convince myself that in spite of every thing, I don't fall in the same category as those losers. 95% of my friends ( including my respected seniors) don't take the pleasures of female companionship. 75% of my fellow mates from DPS struggle on the same lines. Most of the guys I look around don't have girl-friends. But then, it's Delhi. You look around and you find couples chatting and laughing. Yup. It's quite easy to find mate in Delhi, for it's an open and liberal minded city, and I'm proud of that. But then, it just don't happen. You need at least a strong reason and some due time to get a positive feedback. At least, I'm not the kind of guy who can goto a party and mesmerize the ladies with his charisma. Had I been in college, I may have had made a girl-friend long ago. But then I'm in IIT. You know, the land of males. But even the thought that I compared myself with those loser guys just scared the shit out of me. One girl missing from your life, and it seems your life is about to shatter as with your next breath. Sometimes you just think, that one girl, who is not in your life and you even don't know who she is or if she ever exist, if she can bring your optimism and pride crashing and puts you in the league of losers, imagine what a real girl can do.

I tried to convince myself to the best of my capabilities. It may not resolve the truth of the situation. But now the slumber within me is seeding out once again. My mother is now in the kitchen, unaware that I had been awake all night and what all I went through as I scrutinized my life. Neither does she know that I'm in my bed again and would not wake up before my maid would serve the lunch before me. She'll be in her office when I'll lie to her that the breakfast was nice and the day was as good as the other days after I wake at 9. I don't care if the all the darkness has vanished from the skies. I don't care what the birds are up to now. It was the kind of night that don't encounter me often, but it's over now. I don't know how it will affect times of my life. Someday maybe, I won't even remember it. The sun is out and the night is gone. The sun will fall and another night will come. And in this cycle of life, this night and the adventures it brought upon will dissolve forever into hibernation.
Heaven.


P.S : zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
P.S.S: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

A walk to remember

"first you will smile, and then you will cry --- don't say that you haven't been warned."



I picked up this book while strolling past a book vendor in Cannaught Place. I had decided to buy this book some time back after reading very positive reviews about it on shelfari. And it was just by chance I happen to walk across it. I bought the book for a ridiculous price, a price not very synonymous while shopping with street hucksters. Now, all this should Ideally not be part of a book review, but you know, it's just to give a personal touch and set the tone.

This is what I'll call the most beautiful story I have ever chanced on. No book till date ever bring tears in my eyes. This book almost did, and the emotional fallout of this book was enormous.

This is a love story of a boy Landon Carter. A series of events led him fell in love with a girl named Jamie Sullivan when they both were seventeen and about to graduate from high school. Her father was a minister in the baptist church and the two families never shared a musical history. And the relationship was never cordial between Landon and her father, who had crossed fifty when Jamie was born. Of course he was a very old man when the story was told. Jamie, on the other hand was downright devoted to god. Everything in the world according to her was a part of " Lord's Plan". She lost her mother when she was born and carried her mother's bible all the time with her. She was very sweet with everyone, even animals and helped any, any soul, needy or not. She wasn't the kind of girl that would hang around with friends or chill out some on weekend night. She would rather prefer to spend her free time in an orphanage. Although this made her very popular with the aged population, she was never much liked by her fellow mates, especially boys in the school. Landon on the other hand was a totally normal boy, and tried to maintain distance with her. But events did happen and as they went by, and gradually they both fell in love with each other.

Those were the most beautiful days of their lives as they enjoyed their first love. But destiny takes a turn here. The love and happiness broke into dismay and sorrow. Their lives were about to be changed forever, and it is at this point that tears will start flooding your eyes till the very end of the story. I won't tell you what happened, and how their love finally shaped, but believe me, even if I tell you the entire story, it won't even matter. Because this book is not so much story driven as it is character driven and Nicholas Spark just miraculously weaves those characters and the lives that they live, so much so, that you almost starts to feel a part of them. You will laugh with those characters and cry with them. And even when you put down this book, they will remain within you for a very long time.

All I can say to conclude is that it is a very very beautiful book and no person should ever miss on it. And yes, As you read the book, you'll realize the there had been quite a few attempts back here in India to translate it through various medias, but I'll bet my youth if we could have gone anywhere even near to the emotional grasp of this story. It's just soooo beautiful.

Must Must read it !!

A new post !!

It's just for the sake of it, I'm putting on a new post on my blog. The thing is that, it's not that I haven't been visiting my blog so often. Well I'm not ignoring it. I have written about 4 posts write now which I haven't published yet. As soon as I finish a post, I realize that it would be better that I don't publish it. Not that they are not worth it, it's just some other strange reasons which I can't broadcast, because if I do them, there would be no reason not to publish them. And it's even not that I'm not working on my blog anymore. I do visit it everyday and I'm in constant search of topics to get about them. As soon as something happens, I'll surely put it on the this bakarblog. As most of you don't read my blog ( Note: When I write blog, I write it as if I'm serving to every reach of humanity), you won't care why I'm not doing so. Those who ever even faintly thinks of it, have absolutely not effect in their lives whatsoever( Though I may caution you of the butterfly effect). By this time, if any one of you is reading this, must have realized that this post is an absolute waste of time and digital space and some people have this wonderful ability to keep on talking and talking when there is nothing else left to talk. And I promise you, I could have extended this post to GBs if my lappy wasn't running out of charge. Anyways before I go, some of you wise matter must should acknowledge the title of the blog : The (GREAT) Bakartheory !!!

One year on the Road less taken....

An year ends, what can easily claim to be among the best times of my life. The college life, and particularly the hostel life, had been a totally new experience for me, and I have rejoiced every moment of the feast. I have made new friends and learned so much in many different ways. I can conclude it by saying just this : I have grown up a lot !!

But this was the first year, and as often the case is, it's not always the best yadrstick to measure your rest of the college life. After one year, it was just natural for me to ask myself again...one year ago...did I make the right choice ??

I'll tell you what it was like one year ago. One year ago, at this point of time, I was anxious and was in a big dilemma, just like many of those who were done with host of entrance examinations and were now on the needle head of situation as the results were slowly rolling out. I was confronted with something very similar. After cracking the JEE pathetically, I managed an Int. Msc in Applied Mathematics in IIT Roorkee. On the other hand, I had the option of IT in DCE. There were two paths, and go ask any normal delhiite, the choice was pretty much obvious.

IIT is IIT, but DCE isn't bad either. Any engineering aspirant knows that, especially someone belonging to Delhi. If he cannot break even into top 2000 in JEE, he'll be giving a serious thought of taking up something good in DCE/NSIT rather than chasing the IIT dream. That's how most Delhiites think. Come on, step into my shoes, or rather in my mind, and just see it for yourself.

'You love Delhi, so much that You can call yourself city-sick to some extent. If you take up this course, you'll be living in Delhi all the time !! Enjoying every moment of whatever wonderful is happening here. Damn !! you can make a girlfirend !! And Then you're getting IT in DCE, something that most of the crowd still fancy. IT, an extremely wonderful field, with best placements going on and most light course structure, how can anybody just leave it ? But hey, you are doing it!! And for what ?? An Msc. course in IIT Roorkee !! hey, that's not even an engineering degree and that's not even an IIT !! And buddy, it's Mathematics, for 5 years !! Yuck yuck yuck !! And lol...it's a first time course, you even don't know the course structure yet. Hell !! they haven't even designed it. And placements ?? You sure it's not for research...well it seems like that,...and those two year JAM guys don't seem to be making a lot of money either. And Mathematics department sucks there...maybe only after E&C. Friend !! Let's talk shop now !! Let's face it...FORGET IIT !!!'

Forgive my mind for being too hyper ( too many exclamation marks !!) but that was exactly the state of my mind at that time. And as you must have realized, any man with tiniest sense of logic would have happily opted for IT in DCE. But I didn't. I took the road less traveled, very less traveled. And to some measurement, I can posit it as the road totally untraveled. But why ? It wasn't out of adventure. Whatever logic you can conclude from babbles of my mind, it all fails on it's last two words: " Forget IIT !!!". That is something I can't do !! For two years I have rotted my ass on piles of books to get into IIT. I never thought what course I'll be getting there, but the driving force had been IIT and the life I will get there. It was IIT, my real aim, and not the further consequences and situations that will boil along with it. But my decision was not just based on emotional factors, it stood on pillars of hope and optimism, on a very new and thinking.

This was the time when got around a book called 'The World is Flat'. I have to admit that this book had been the most influential read in my life. I got to know so much going on in the world, and how new things are happening...actually how the world is going flat. What this book did was, it just confirmed some of my fears, like the non-linear relationship between education and industry. Today, a person is valued not because he maybe a king of one and may or may not be jack of some, but because he is a king of at least a few and a jack of some. Gone are the days when a mechanical engineer is required to build and design new cars and machinery and just take care of the technical know-how of his profession. Now he is expected to do a lot more than that. He is expected to organize resources much more efficiently, effectively lead people working under him, participate in the growth of organization, understand and optimize his role in global supply chain and have better understanding of economic forces that are today shaping a new world.

A MBA degree can help a lot, but it just don't end there. Today economic and scientific progress is governed by so complex processes, that everything is intermingled with each other. If you think that biology has no roles to play in aerospace technology or material sciences has no role to play with the browser you are using or any other connection like this, I'm sorry to inform you, but you have just been too ignorant till now !! You see, until there isn't a major breakthrough in material sciences, you can't expect new electronics to shape up, and until that happens, you can't expect any major hardware revolution which in turn can foster a software revolution which brings about You-tubes, Googles and your browsers. We have reached at such an height that all scientific and economics and even social processes have been so much entangled, that it needs a pro in lots of fields to take us up a notch higher. The machines build today for advanced medication requires just not the expertise in field of electronics, but also in biology. It's just an example and world today is full of it. That's why you see a lot of switch-overs these days. Most of the engineers end up in field of finance, because today companies require people who can better understand the planes or computers they are making, and hence apply suitable economics for better progress. And because the demand is way too more than supplies, placements are pretty hot.

Being in Applied Mathematics, I believe certain things can go in our favor. There are a lot of fields we can disperse in like Software, Finance, Economics, technical fields like aerospace or higher physics or mathematics. The choice is broad and the course seems promising over these aspects. The course offered to us has quite a lot in common with the successful Maths courses already in service at kharagpur and kanpur. I just hope it all turns out well for us. Of course, the success of the course will depend a lot on our batch and the guys here are simply talented. We can yield something nice, only if we are ready to get a bit more serious with acads. So I guess, It's time to rot some real ass over the texts.

Let's see how things work out !!!

As we grow here and what we'll become...

The day I cooked up Bakartheory, I promised my substance that I'll blossom a post at least twice a week on it's tender stems. Time has passed and my substance questions me. For past two months, my blog had been marooned unscathed and there had been no more than 3 posts added to it, counting very generously, the fortnight before that. You know, I'll fool my self if I say I couldn't find time, but I'll still say that because I've become such a bustard sluggard, such bustard sluggard that can never find even a hint of spare time in the routine he lives. Living the IIT culture is like living very lavishly. Sometimes I feel bad, we live a life an average Indian can't even think of living but bills in enough taxes to make sure that crap like us get off well from this place to serve the nation. This issues touches onto something different and I'll write about this somewhere else in spacetime. Right now, I'll just like to focus on the IIT culture and how is it molding us, so much so that I can't even face my substance as after a long time, I breath yet again in blogosphere.

I can't put the entire blame on the life I'm living in my hostel, but stewing it with my personality and aspirations, to a large extent I can. First time I landed here, I never knew we were expected to have so much fun. I expected to do a lot of ghissing. That notion soon changed. I realized, that the best way a person can survive, or better say live life king size in IIT was, to allocate minimal time to academics and devote rest of the share to a world lot of activities, which will nurture his personality to the fullest. But yes, there was a minimum time to be dedicated to studies. Until you are in possession of a celebrated brain or you are a knucklehead, that minimum time in IIT means, attending enough lectures to save an attendance back, submitting all tutes and pracs on time ( or at least, not so late to land you in trouble), and learn enough stuff (and that won't take more than a day or two) so as to atleast sense what the question paper is about. Rest the system can take on it. You can gracefully expect something decent out of your results if you have managed that minimum quanta of time. As we say here, it takes a lot of effort to fail in IIT. But what if someone actually puts in all that effort and starts doing the things by too daring means.

I'm part of a group called Watch-Out, a group that brings about a student news magazine twice every semester. Being in the group, I have talked to a lot of seniors over various issues as we keep conducting surveys and interviews among students every time we bring out a mag. While talking to them you get to learn a lot about this place and some other things too. This can provides you with a lot of insight. But you see, It's not difficult to sense a level of frustration that has taken toll over them. I have seen this with lot of seniors, this thinking of theirs to get out of this place as soon as possible. They've had their share of fun here, but not everyone seems very cheerful with the life they live now. Of course, they radiate nth degrees of coolness which can't let anyone go uninspired. But they do admit themselves, that they've been disappointed in some way or the other. I'm not saying everyone is frustrated, but many are and amount of that vary over a large range. I had been chewing over this aspect for a long time and had been wondering how can this so colorful life let down anyone. Yes, I'm new and the life we have just subscribed to, seems very glamorous. But with time, everything change. I pondered over it long enough to realize that one day, we too may grow bored out of the life we live. And I see, entropy already increasing in the direction I think.

Last month had been a rugged road on the venture of time. Chaos finally taking charge of me as my life sinked in the ocean of turmoil. It was never earlier than 4 in the morning that I banished to the bed. And whenever that happened, you'll find myself with my peers in most inadequate postures. Naturally, I never piled out on time to attend the lectures. I must have missed over half of them. I got a few proxies, and rest were all marked absent. The other classes that I attended, I was found absconding seeking salvation in the shades of Alpahar and Khosla. My TS marks are nothing my parents could boast of and my academic life is on it's way of decimation. Leave the academic life apart, I never cared about it much. But a little problem with a nut and a screw can bring an entire bridge down. My oblivious self on the part of academics has affected every other work that I've doing. Once I know I can ignore academics, I know I can ignore any other stuff as well. I'm not playing squash anymore, neither I'm doing anything for Cogni, and nothing great for the cells I'm committed to. When I came here, education was never high on my list, but I intended to do a lot other activities. And when I see myself horsing around my own pursuits, It's all natural but to fret. And thats here that I can conclude.

We all expect things in life, and when we don't get them (including women, of course), we sulk and we erupt within. I have seen people here, who have been left disappointed in lot of ways. Academics has disappointed almost everyone here. There is a limit, at least in theory, to which anyone can engage in inventing and harnessing crap (Bakchodi). After that, everyone can feel the dormancy creeping into the talents they have. Some people come here with lots of expectations of the academic environment they will get, like my roomie. He is kind of really interested in Higher Physics and he's rare and lucky to get the branch of his choice. But the reality concealing this place is far away from anyone's anticipation. I'm happy to see him resorting to other interests, but many people who are dedicated downright to studies, are disappointed the most. First year can serve you well, with a new air and everything exciting and colorful, but as you grow here and find your best not being exploited, it's your gusto that channelize into dismay later.

What I want to settle with in this post is, that life in IIT is not the way people think it is, and I have realized it now. Personally, it may never disappoint me because academics was never in my 'I want to do good in this thing' list. IITs have lot to offer for those who seek for other activities. But from the point of view of academics, it hardly serves it's purpose. It's not a place for academic excellence. Maybe for excellence in field of entrepreneurship and management, but not for academic excellence. Academics is deprived of genuine interest. The frivolity is so much, that in most of the lectures everybody, every student sleep. It's an unchallenged tradition. Even I sleep along with everyone else, when I'm not supposed to sleep. But I still sleep, and in moments when I wake to change in positions, sometimes I think that we are being taught by the best in the country, some of the most prized men. And then we are sleeping not paying a damn to what the profs are muttering. Are we fooling ourselves or the system, or sometimes I think, maybe even this country. And then discerning the depth of thought I had penetrated into, I raise the eyebrows up, smiling over myself for the thoughts I just had, I decide better to submit again to slumber god. If that's the way things are supposed to happen, I'm no maverick to foster a new cognizance.

And yaa, our tech-fest is on it's way !! At least I can promise my substance to add a post to the count when those three glorious days come.