Saffron Perspective of Green Terrorism

An Indian National Congress rally in Mumbai.
Courtesy: Al Jazeera English  on Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0

Since, in India, the right wing political activism has been painted the colour Saffron, often without giving much thought and insight to its ideologue, I would like to term my views of ex-environment minister, Jayanthi Natrajan's criminal adventurism in office for as long as 3 years - Saffron Perspective of Green Terrorism.

This when Natrajan had no more than ludicrous reasons like "can't recall why final approval was delayed" in view of a project having clearances regarding Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) or "I wanted a holistic (probably doing a Manish Tewari) study of river basin" in case of a project cleared by Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) and hundreds of such projects.

Last month whenmuch dreaded Gujarat CM went ballistic over her policies by terming them a "Jayanthi Tax", little did populace know that his state alone suffered more than 1/3 of Rs. 3 lakh crore investment menace attributed to this one woman, who was at the helm of affairs in Pariyavaran Bhawan in New Delhi.

Her unilateral environmental vigilantism proved death-blow in an economic scenario where maverick troika of Manmohan Singh, P. Chidamabaram and Montek Singh Ahluwalia toyed with policies to bring about an annual inflation of over 7 percent (in industrial parlance), resulting in candid slaps to the tune of Rs 2,100 crores under not-so-savvy tag of 'cost escalation' in major infrastructure projects entailing investments similar to Rs 30,000 crore. The gravity of these economic crimes is more evident and further manifests itself a social trouble when these resulted in holding back of power generation projects in a country which suffered a peak electricity shortage  of 4881 MW in September 2013 (it is another thing that Indian government is very active in pursuing electricity sales to neighbouring countries like Pakistan, failing in delivery at domestic front).

In her own admission, Jayanthi told Parliament that 330 projects were stuck in her ministry's office in August 2013. The whole disaster no longer surprises a disillusioned electorate which has suffered the, arguably, most corrupt government in independent India's history. This is no wonder under puppet leadership of a Sardar mired in  Coal Block allocation scam, while his 'high-command' goes on a bizarre dole drive with national treasury at her disposal.

Much to a self-respecting citizen's chagrin, it yet again took a rap, a thumb-up and probably tearing up of some 'confidential' under table deals by dynasty's scion, most probably in an image-building PR drive, to figure out Natrajan's maladies and force her resignation on the eve of prince/heir's FICCI adventure in late December 2013.

Reference: India Today - Jan 27'2014 edition, Special Report.

Kicking Asses!

A graffitti disobeying the laws.
Courtesy: Wrote on Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0

There are only two forces in the world, Sword and the Spirit! In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit! -Naploean Bonaparte

You get up late. Dress nice (...it was taught to you in last semester, on one of the days when you were not feeling well, sick you too fall buddy!) and go to the class you like, more than any other class (... being precise it is an elective course in Renewable Energy Sources...)

On day 1, you were 9 minutes late and as you had crossed the 5 minute buffer given by teacher you decided to track back to hostel, without even making an attempt to get into the class.

Day 2, you are 7 minute late (...a nice improvement of 2 minutes...), you try to make a silent entry but are gestured out (...the guy, he is a professor, on podium is man of his words, will not let you in even a second outside the prescribed buffer...). So once again you make a 180 degree turn and join walk with some guys who would proxy for you the whole semester, for simple fun of checking out girls of your department (...must say though starved of the feminine wafts to the core, these are some really cool people I have met; for a change they are actually alive and do not act programmed zombies...).

Later in a 4 hour session, cut to 1 hour 30 minutes (...am ecstatically glad about that...); your spirits are (...sorry your spirit is, got only one spirit though it is very random and miss directed...) raised thinking about steel, nuts, bolts, glass, overhanging yellow lights, poker tables, sail boats and thought of a multi-story club house with exclusive graphic exteriors (...one has a pole dancer clinging to the extended tall column you plan to make into an elevator shaft...), while much touted about teacher fails to faint even the most frail soul in the studio...

Written enough of it. Bye Bye personal Blogging for a rather long spell (trying to do so but this habit is addictive and therefore this announcement does not come with a guarantee...) :) :D :P ;) Meanwhile friends, sworn enemies and non-descripts learn to blantantly disobey with a sly and wicked grin, make people pant and get a spicy life. And yep am not going to stop web-logging for the very precise reason of it being the only perfect platform for me to give away my exhibitionist tendencies with little harms done.

Enigma : A Journey From School Days

Image courtesy : joaquinuy on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

Bus treads rapidly on National Highway 58 enroute Mussorie form Delhi. It is a dark night and guys (and gals) are having nice time in the back rows of the bus - chattering, pranking, giggling, tricking and yup for some it is nothing but looking out in the dark to sight any possible trace of light. Others enjoy toying around with their newly acquired gadgets - mp3s, walkmans, discmans, handheld gaming devices and more means of amusement, which certainly are objects of begrudge from many.

A very fond topic of discussion earlier that night had been Mallika Sherawat of newly released Murder fame. Nishant would brag telling "x times I have seen that movie including y times with parents accompanying me". As the discussion heats up and more guys come with their inputs it becomes ravishingly entertaining to listen to all these stories, most of which can easily be judged innocent fibs, with the added effect of the yellow overhead lights (...this is certain that during journeys most good things happen in yellow light or total dark, and I wonder how beautiful that bus would have looked from one of the fields in the western UP with light errupting from square windows of a moving rectangular box...)

About three hours up Red Fort, Delhi (the place where probably Prime Minister, yes certainly he only gives speech to the whole country on an appointment which is universal in nature yet not so ordinary) across Ghaziabad, Hindon and several adjoining dingy and exceptionally disgraceful townships, which to most do not mean anything but termite-hills harboring swarms of drone labour forces which find substitute in keeping the movement of the industrial work-horse running in one of most urbanized region of world's largest democracy, the bus breaks its movement to let its riders have a break and fill their bellies or gulp down a few bottles of world's favourite soft drinks. Still some are blessed enough to find better and more demanding activities, one or two of which essentially goes against centrally propogated agenda of gender-equity. Going by my reccommendations you must not think at all and have a look around to find a few white-birds falling over each other, while crude folk music (...there is certain something with women echoeing musculine baritones and bold attitudes while flutes and more such aboriginal and native add-ons accompany them in their endeavours...) plays on the cashier's blackbox of probably 1980s.

Back in the bus I sit exactly in the middle of backseat, having a clear view of all the black figures, hands and legs falling out of the seats' defined boundaries, and the road ahead. Yet it is so boring until I barter Sankalp's walkman for the seat that I occupy. It is a win-win situation as I get to stand in the bus, a nice excuse to eye every secret crush of yours. Not long you enjoy the whole thing that you are told that a front seat is unoccupied, and even with that disgrunted thought and look it is a bliss when you press the play button and a distant but extremely pleasing, feminine and very mystic voice asks you to close your eyes and prepare for a meditation trip. You don't think much as you actually don't have anything to care for and the lovely voice and drum's mild beatings are hypnotizing and you are drawn to the instructions being communicated to you (...wonder if it is some sort of brain wash...). This being my first introduction to ENIGMA, one of the most celebrated electronic music enterprise. I can not remeber if it was 'Mea Culpa' or 'Sadness' that made me an ardent follower.

A large part of remaining journey is spent in cabin with Chetan and few others while driver and helper maneovure bus on very busy stretches of this 2 lane highway up the haunted district of Meerut towards Roorkee, Haridwar and then the Doon valley. We continue to devour that diesel smell that certainly acted anaesthetic to me and I just remember waking up next to Sargam or may be Aakash but certainly at the left most window corner of the full last seat. Between Dehradun and Mussorie most of us feel nauseated as the bus zig-zags on the roads engulfing lower Shivaliks, very close to the edge as if considering a homicide to ultimately make it to the headlines, like a concrete Anaconda. Feeling difficult to control I just puke, like many others, just about 2km from the final destination. Bus's engine grunts, pained by the load it carries while I sympathize with it feeling embarassed on my own act of vomitting, but certainly enjoying the toffies that came to me to supress more of it...

Bank Job

Image courtesy : Studio494 (Simon) on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

Happened to visit the bank for something I lost out of 'memory troubles', sometime back. I forgot my e-banking password, and got to apply for a new one as I find it of excellent utility.

The job is a regular procedure, but I many a time consider forgetting password often as I like Nangal Raya branch of State Bank very much. People here are accomplished, talented, patient, talkative, regular, cheerful and many more things! More precisely they are outrageously opposite to my personality and therefore magnetic to me.

There is another uncanny observation that I made, environment is always bright and luke warm when I visit this place. Sky is azure, exactly the way it should be, mild wind makes leaves rattle against each other, honk of an approaching car shakes you out of your day-dream, rag-picking girls at that construction site remind you that something still needs to be taken care of, but the regular activities in market just across that traffic signal assure you that order still prevails.

On the whole you have no reason to repent deliberately missing that bus to your destination and opting for a 2 km walk instead (one side only, downside story has been omitted to maintain readability).

Mango Pickle

Image courtesy : madpai on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

A sudden jerk shakes containers that lie parked in yard at Hazrat Nizammudin railway station in Delhi. The 6 year old is inquisitive figuring out which of the two trains, one in which he is sitting or the goods train beside, is moving.

Soon he is more interested in the mango pickle, that his Mama got packed in the tiffin for the night. He is not very much interested in the food, but mango pickle is his favourite; even with the sore throat. He prevents both his Mama and Dad from having even a single piece of vitamin A and C rich delicacy. He literally enters into quarrel with mamu, who incidentally happens to be his another favourite and very fondly pats him on the back even to this date.

Night passes calmly in that train berth with yellow flickering lights and noisy fans. The morning dawns bright and lanky kid continues to stick his head at the window rail while vendors continue to scream to make a living. He is adamant and continues to take notes of descending numbers, 267/45, 267/44, 267/43... that appear on each passing pole on this route to Indore city in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

At Nagda junction, the engine would shunt and train would move in reverse direction after a break of about 20 minute. Mamu would use this opportunity to prank the guy that the driver is annoyed so we are returning back and the guy would still be happy thinking it to be another opportunity to be in the train for 12 more hours. Meanwhile train would gather pace and switch tracks rapidly, producing melanchonic music of its own kind.

Guy sticks his head out again and this time will exclaim with bright glowing eyes that a diesel engine is pulling the train, unlike the electric locomotive in the morning. He always liked it when the snail like train took a long curve, blowing dirt from rubble clad tracks in the Malwa plateau region. An ecstatic yellow milk drink at Ujjain made this 850 km long journey worth it and a temple sits graciously atop the hill just outside Dewas city, famous for a Reserve Bank Of India printing facility. Indore is an altogether different story, a ride in Premier Padmini, with a PAL logo decorating its steering, to Massi's place is an unparalleled luxury...

The story is not complete but journey part is over and what remains is more sugary!

Avial Is The Daddy!

Image courtesy : code poet on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

Hmm, I found the daddy! In my last post, I missed some points that I wished to write about Avial, this Kerala born rock band, and so I continue today! The whole day with nothing much to do I was listening to rock music and downloading the stuff, probably this is my way of acknowledging that they do good work!

Well what I missed yesterday? I missed what I can term as spontaneous visual imagery (even I am yet to figure out what that actually is, but it sounds pretty cool and hip to many tech maniacs out there)! So here I go, I see a Tarzan like athletic personality jumping across the stage grinding its hips to tunes of rock music. A lungi clad bald entertainer enthrals the crowds as the chaotic stage fade into serene backwaters of Kerala. He makes mic subject of his attention while he performs some sort of pole dance and my mind suggests me alternatives ranging from metro handles to trees in lagoons in the state of Kerala. In more wilder fantasies I visualise him circling traffic signals at mind-boggling speeds. Soon a Chinese add-on joins him and the imagery now features a dragon to complete the scene, with background music having slight tones of land of Chowmein!

Oh the guy seems to be putting a lot of energy in keeping the whole band going and he definitely succeeds! This was the first year of the event and if it continues to happen on more occasions I promise myself more delightful treats of this kind and wonder if they would be jumping into the crowd itself in their coming performances...

Who's Your Daddy?

Malayalam rock band 'Avial' performing during South Asian Band Festival at Purana Qila, New Delhi.
Image Courtesy : Manik

Well certainly not me! And anyways this post is about something not related to any of ours' ancestry! Its about eye-candies, cult bands, youth and urban enthral, zest and thrills and well those beautiful drills. Its about people, nothing personal, nothing emotional but what looks on the outside!

So here we are in a new Delhi Metro coach, heading towards Pragati Maidan. Me and Piyush catch up a chat that revolves around Telangana, tri-furcation of UP and Greater Delhi! And other topics include the greyish environment of new metro coaches, yellow lights suck, sickening like tuberculosis but information panels are better and trains are less noisy.

Certainly at this evening our destination is not Pragati Maidan and we wish to reach Purana Qila, to check out some groovy performances by some amateur and established bands of the Indian subcontinent! Well the event is called South Asian Band Festival and we are eager to find out who is the daddy of Bhutanese band named 'Who's Your Daddy'.

Am impatient and not willing to wait for that free shuttle to the venue and make Piyush walk about 500 metres, giving excuses like I need to check out new architectural and civil improvements and yup the new fashion trends, wish to know what the chicks are wearing these days and what delight is thrown to our eyes! Going by my observations I am certain that all 'nice-looking-girls' are short on thing called brain as they 'tag along' with those stupid looking asses who are certainly short on IQ as well as money! Another 200 metres and now am sure it is not the girl but her attire that grabs our attention, thanks Mr, Miss or Mrs Designer at that Gucci/Puma/Hi-Design workshop for making these nymphs certain eye-candies! Oh, I like those straights but probably the curls are much better! A minute please, am a good guy and so I should not look at her (...good guys are supposed to stay aloof of girls, unless needed to extreme. They certainly ought not tag along with a girl, they rarely do actually...)!

Sorry! We were supposed to talk about the Band Fest! We get off the bus (yup we took it after walking through some 3 or 4 signals.), we are at the venue! Accustomed to being frisked, we do not care where and what they touch these days! But I actually hate it when someone toys with that lovely mobile in my jacket's pocket! Let it be. The lighting is nice at the monument and the great but 'long-before' dead Pandavas are not fortunate enough to enjoy Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy perform for them in their own establishment!

As we walk towards the stage, we learn that the crowd is bigger than we expected and is mostly the youth from Delhi University. I acknowledge that Chinkies rock in this city. Every 1 in 20 is lighting up a puff and so there is no point arguing that the honourable Supreme Court, just beside the fort, doesn't like it when young people reduce the surface area of their alveolar sacks! Anyhow am getting used to it and now-a-days it seems more of an added effect to the lighting at the occasion.

Ahem! Here is this band, 1974 AD, performing live in front of us! We like their performance, it is rock after all! Those spikes, overcoats and Nepali syllable all get them our attentions and we learn that we are too dork not knowing how to speak Nepali, everyone around did! I tried to click this guy from Sikkim but my Nokia has limits! As they sing their last song they tell us about their ideology and I agree with it. I too stand for 'positive pride', 'identity', 'national chauvinism'. Their always is a revolution when their is a red flag, know history? Anyways "Nepali Ho."

Nepalese were good but I love Malayalese! The Mallu rock band from Trivandrum (capital of God's Own Country) stole my heart. They call  themselves 'Avial' and were conceived in the First City (New Delhi) only! I can still visualise the bald lead vocalist shake his hips in that 'Lungi' and white figure-hugging shirt! the athlete would jump around the stage like Tarzan while making us utter "Tak Tak Ta Re Tak Ta Re Tak Dimi Tak Ho! Tak Ta Re Taro..." They would add Chinese zing to their act by bringing to us this feline called Naomi from China on the stage! Awesome dudes!

I am not much impressed by Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy's performance. They do their usual thing, and the Bollywood stuff only. Saving grace being "Rock On". Nothing new and out of a studio environment it was not worth it. Certainly their story of a hero dying being shot in the head, while in the bed (added by me) was tasteless and made half the audience flee (not certain if they were more interested in reaching homes or saving themselves the torture these people were turning up to be!)

I and Piyush walk the talk back to the metro station, time is not an issue with both of us and nice to catch glimpses of 4.5*2 lanes of asphalt while glowing bus shelters dot the scene! High hung halogens make day of the night and some red blinkers in distance tell you to beware! Paved and clean pathways are delight and you feel like spending time there only. Hmm, it is only for people to decide whether they like the forts or the steel cage high-rises! I love both and I love them together!

A performace by Avial on Youtube

A performace by 1974 AD on Youtube

Challenge!

Image courtesy : 1Happysnapper(is trying to catch up ) on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

Well Today is Dec 13' 2009! Anniversary of attack on Parliament, that is all that comes to my mind right now. Am not a great patriot but like any other person I too love my country and wish it to have a peaceful course. Am not writing this post to show my anger against terrorism or my love for my country but simply to complete a challenge thrown to me, by my friend.

But still there is a point I want to show through this post and that I don't want to coat or mask under any cover. And the message simply says, "Terrorism probably roots out of identity crisis. People tend to think of political ways for carving niche for themselves and tend to take offensive paths and thus end up being terrorists and the important thing is that people like me are not affected by this thing and most of the time use it for some small tasks like completing challenges, meeting deadlines and things...."

The Street Party

Just ventured out a bit astray from my regular territory after some time and was confronted with traffic! You can not spare yourself for too long from this thing when in Delhi and have two choices - bear it while sulking it or bear it while not sulking it! This time I chose later!

Then what I did? Simply started staring into eyes of those small and big creatures crowding the streets! They have a language of their own, which mostly appears noisy. Eyes gleam nice and generally come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Bodies and skin tones can be heavily masculine or subtly feminine! What generally annoys on Indian turfs, is the rear, craftsmen are not good at producing sexy ones.

In a friend's words Suzuki Swift seems baby hippo! I found new Honda City i-VTEC quite buffalo like looking from front! And you all can easily guess that a Tata Safari is like an emasculated bull while Scorpio and some other SUVs are heavily masculine and appear to push their claim on the road! New Ritz is a hatchback with beaten bum! Old Zen seems to be a damsel and most of us definitely miss it! Since its launch I prefer calling Innova an ant-eater for it feels a tongue would come out of its bumper and lick away every creature from the road! WagonR, Santro and some other hatchbacks look aggressive and very boyish! And if you spot the oldest version of Maruti 800 you definitely love its simplicity and distinct personality! Mitsubishi bred Lancer and Mercedes S-Class seem to be tigresses or panthers waiting for a classy act on the wild streets.

There are other outcasts like Qualis and Taveras, which act asses transporting goods and peoples! Buses are like nannies taking care of hapless masses! And cycles seem to be an endangered species...

A bullet or in some case an occasional BMW would rob all of these of their glory, the husky loud voice throwing the crowd out of the gear or in case of the luxurious an uncanny elegance would hypnotize eyes to admire and dance to its tunes! Making it clear and loud to the general that king of the party has arrived!

Morning Star

Image courtesy : inajeep on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

06:15, MNIT Footlball Grounds

I just abruptly take a walk listening to some "different music." "Stroke 9" playing into my ears, I catch glimpse of thick black clouds flying past the Arravalis as sun redens the sky and the morning star (venus, yes it is venus) hangs high at the zenith giving competition to half pizza which is slightly to its left or probably right (now I know why a benchmark is necessary!). A group of guys gather for their morning play.

I observe this spectacular 360 degree panorama, simultaneously taking note of the whole beautiful feeling on my rather retro mobile, a 5 year old thing is retro when a new model is launched every week! Bryan Adams is still happy on "Cloud No. 9".

Chilling mid-november wind blows over my face and sleep-deprived eyes as I enjoy my slightly feverish body and muscles straining from last few days of exercise drives.
Occasionally gasping for breath.

Round one is over and its about 10 minutes, sky is more bright revealing alot to eyes. More colours have appeared on the canvas generally reds, pinks, purples and shades of black. Blinking red lights scare away airplanes taking off and on at nearby Sanganer airport.

Third round begins for me and now I can distinguish ashes of Oil Depot fire from the black clouds. Britney Spears does not wishes to be "Overprotected". More the light more truth is revealed. As the world has started its day, birds are heading away from their nestles, school bell rings as dogs sync their barking tone in this rather barren land.

And yup I have made my mind for another bunk, excusing myself of worthlessness of attending a 4 hour session just for the sake of a "P" marked on an obsolute paper sheet.

Meanwhile I learn it is good to wait and watch, before any action, as when their is light things are not that good. The part of hills in front of me is not that cool, it is barren and nude. Thanks Mr. Sun for teaching me a simple lesson. Round three is ending I wind up my morning walk, Bon Jovi screams aloud "Its My Life".

Back to hostel. Times Of India confirms its Jaipur after Pune in the race of H1N1 casualities. 52 more confirmed cases, 10 school shuts, CM holds meet as Shakira gets busy telling us "Whenever, Wherever..." and I no longer find words and thoughts to write more.

TATA C.U. :) :D Time to sleep! Probably!!!

Mixed Breed

Image courtesy : mborowick on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

Whole family needs to attend a marriage party on the outskirts of Delhi, in a locality called Malviya Nagar.

Just another social gathering for the small kid for whom it means another chance to gorge upon those unlimited soft drink serves, lots of cups of ice-cream, oil-laced food with a distinct non-house flavour, an occasional steal of coffee flavour, opportunity to tweak those marigolds threads hanging behind the stage, posing sitting on the stage chairs, acting stubborn to get those balloons, toy-guns and more such stuff.

The guy would move around the whole chimera meeting and greeting those hundreds of figures whom he hardly recognizes, and doesn’t even wish to recognize occasionally, catching sight of some familiar figures before once again loosing them in the flood of people.

Fellows are fun including the turbanator who is great at dancing and gossip-crazy tall guy and some younger counterparts. The guy definitely loves the heady mix of vanilla flavour ice-cream dipped in coke as aeroplanes which have just took off from nearby IGI airport fly past over the whole scene.

Its not long before this guy will be screaming and squeaking all around, troubling his father, forcing him to leave for the home, don’t know against his wish or may be saving him the trouble of waking up till late in the night…

Busy Bee

Image courtesy : Kıvanç Niş on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

I am in Jaipur for about 68 hours now. I knew the classes would not begin until 26th but had plans to execute and assignments to complete. Anyways the task still hangs loose as I enjoy my time completing works and preparing for the coming Monday as we would have teachers expecting us of completed assignments, as if they don’t know we have more important and urgent things to do, including the maintain-weight drives in this haunted-food zone!

In last 3 days, I have been part of a happier lot, crazy things of life being more visible to me. As I make my 3rd round to library to return a book which is already 3 weeks overdue I see this guy walking as if a tall camel is cat walking in this dry but colourful (have too say this, need to be gentle and generous) city. The person is my ex-roommate, and you never get over friends and roommates, tells another ex-roommate of me (I hardly can make any difference between both, they all are people who are part of your life), certainly another ex-roommate of mine will never understand this thought as to him a birthday party is a regulated buffet (a Chapatti costs Rs. x, Curd will be another Rs. y and so on… annoying 3rd-first-year-roommate of mine, he is still with me!) thrown to repay birthday parties and treats given by, classmates, roommates, friends and those who wished him on Orkut.

Anyhow I was able to complete this novel by Chetan Bhagat, reading 38 chapters over night, writing two page letter by myself and avoiding internet for some more time. Don’t blame me for I couldn’t help but compare myself with the protagonist of the novel, with some edits. Ananya is a heart throb and am jealous that am not totally Krish, or say there probably is no girl who likes me like Ananya liked Krish! Some answers were there in the novel apart from the entertainment and yup I accept Punjabis are like this, can I oblige by showing you milder and more tamed versions of the breed?, but that is the way they have to be!

As I find some time free from drafting, shopping, anti-ant and break-lock drives in room am engrossed in Call Of Duty. Turning my room into a war zone and taking pride in killing morons from Japanese and German sides. Gun battles, tanks, anti-aircraft guns, grenades, head-shots… … is all that my world is comprised off. Am trained enough to take any bastard trying to tease a north-eastern chicks on the streets of New Delhi, or for that matter Jaipur, Goa or any other city, as the morning newspaper tells me of another such thing happening. Currently I can take pride in saving the world from getting assaulted by German and Japanese forces.

Sheets hanging at window are keeping my room comfortably dark, excessive light doesn’t let this rather sleepless soul have his share of peace. Feel like killing Aman for the asshole has not yet booked the domain I need, though I too have not completed the final design of the website that is likely to shape our future.

Excessively busy for I made rather excellent efforts in about last 3 months to land me in a situation with no time to think of anything else but to meet deadlines. Hardwork pays off, but only if you continue to be patient and don’t loose hope any soon.

And to tell the truth, this life has turned really unpredictable and more in control of me, except the fact that am 99% sure that I will receive a miss call from Foo daily. :) :D Hope you learn to make calls buddy!

The Tailor Guy

Image Courtesy : ell brown, on flickr. Check usage terms before using images.

Am taking bath in noon as this tailor guy comes to our home to discuss about the new curtains we wish to have, as we just got our home re-painted! Mom and Guddu are busy talking with this person, who wears a red shirt, grey trousers and brown polished shoes. the fat man is well versed with his work, so it seems.

Suddenly he receives a call from Dubai and to my amazement he has a lot of information about so many diverse fields. As per him “Tatlkal” is the best way to get a rail ticket booked. Vaishali Express is far better than Bihar Sampark Kranti and very importantly it is always better to shop in Delhi’s market and not Patna. He would tell my mom about prevailing situations in the Kuwait, the country got no good markets but only shambles after recent wars in Iraq and surrounding countries!

Once argued upon the cost of cloth, this person would get terribly angry as he is really a professional who would keep tab of cost of different materials and labour costs on his finger tips.

Meanwhile I act phone attendant as phone calls pour in every 10-15 minutes. His phone rings once again and I pray in my heart for the call to end soon. This time it is a nagging customer, whom he bats away quite efficiently, still taking his time and passing about 10 minutes before putting down the call.

Its past 12 and still I have not taken my brunch and to my dismay the sweet-corn in refrigerator is not in edible condition. Anyhow am not feeling that urge to run for food, but what matters is to find some time in peace in the backroom of my house as I switch off all the lights, put the fan on full on this early winter noon and take a passive nap…

Still Learning!

Day started at 3! A nice draft on autoCAD was fun, loved to plan out my home with some modifications of my choice. Completed design by 9. Joined 10’o clock with my draft and some discussion points in my mind. Sir turned up late and continued with a topic tat was quite interesting. Having woken up early in the morning I felt dizzy in the prolonged lecture, but couldn’t help it as sleeping was no option on second bench. Second half I went all prepared to the class but it turned into a disaster as I had to bear a scold from teachers and later evening walk was rather nice. It was nice walking the talk with Guddu as she scolded me for craps I did, and ya human only. Still learning! :)

Lost Paradise

Image Courtesy : emrank on Flickr, check usage terms.

As a child you would wake up early in the morning and join your father for an early morning stroll. The usual place would be the railway station just across that bridge. It would be fun to look at a locomotive shunting wagons up and down the yard as sun rose higher up in the sky transforming from a red tomato to a fireball, burning your skin. Mild breeze would cool off your sweaty skin and you will still remember the chirps of birds, specially green parrots or if you are lucky that of some peacocks repeating in your mind.

Walk back towards the home, you turn a bit selfish, bid adieu to dad, he ofcourse always has to leave for work, and would join grandpa on the shop, as he would be setting it up in the wee hours. Grandpa would supply you with early morning meals in the form of shakes, jams and sort of stuff and you would run up and down the place, occasionally asking the help at the shop of itsy-bitsy things and creating small messes. If grandpa was lucky I would help him with some stuff and would leave for home sooner, religiously informing anyone at the shop of my departure.

Fun were those days when, you would be happy playing with balloons in the courtyard, checking out Timon and Pumba, over a plate of Aloo-Poori. Nothing mattered more, just you were the world and world was you.

A Colourful Power Cut

00:54 IST, Aug 04’ 2009.

A power cut leaves whole of NIT Jaipur campus in dark. Wi-Fi routers go numb rendering 3.5 hours of battery backup of my laptop useless. I have no option but to look out for traditional means of entertainment  called Radio. In Jaipur the 5 odd stations are serving ill quality of music, mostly very low tone oldies. I plug-in my earphones and move out of hostel to have a stroll, while my friend asks to sit back in the lawn and share the ear-plugs.

Outside the hostel vast darkness spreads over whole of the campus, everything has turned greyscale bathing in bright white moonlight. You can catch nice views all around the campus as there are few things to obstruct the view. Under the star-studded sky you find red-lights flickering atop the newly built high-rises dotting the skyline of city all-around the NIT campus.
Walking on the roads in campus, you find a few solar battery powered streetlights working to not much use. You can find headlights of autos and cars serving to students leaving for their home cities. I meet a pack of guys, interested in knowing if am mad or drunk that am pacing up and down the campus at those unearthly hours! I bullshit them and walk my way down to hostel, where I find numerous faces glowing under lights from the LCDs of mobiles and PCs.
Back in my room as I wonder, how my roommate can sleep so easily in dark and humid room and ease myself on the cot, electric supply resumes. I access net for sometime and then sleep to wake up early, a habit now-a-days!

April 10 : Another Day Well Utilized

Image courtesy : Channy Yun on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

Well it is 9:40 and I must be there in the extra class at 10. Of course, I will be late as I have decided this in my mind, despite the fact that I have done quite good work and am satisfied with it. Leave for the class at 10:15 with Abhinav and Himanshu and accompany them in the 10 minute punishment session with few others. Enjoy the lame excuses they give to get out of it. Through the class I prefer to stay silent and communicate only with teacher and a few not so close friends! Work a bit and just get hold of all that matters to me. After class I straight away hurry to the hostel and pass sometime. A nap post lunch and small chat session before annual day function are the only activities I am indulged in. Enjoy the bath and music. The annual day function is usual formal time guzzler, could be done away with but is actually harmless. Well atleast people around me and ofcourse me too were happy poking comments at those old non-chalant responsible people enlightening us with their 'read-from-the-page' speeches. May were enjoying the meal, they say it was better than usual! A stroll till GT and I realise am quite on track when it comes to my aim of maintaining a balanced BMI, proper fit of jeans tells me so. Back in room Mahendra is hardly the one who would talk much after his dose of the day (in his words it was just 2 litre, he knows better!) and other two guys are missing, my lappy and mobile (with calls and SMSs deemed sins, no SMS in last 56 hours and hardly 2-3 outgoings!) are my buddies as I organize my stuff, everything in place! Clothes done! Room done! Sheets no immediate action needed! Hard to believe but am totally organized and a lot of time is with me and have nothing to bother but kill time chatting, watching movies, browsing net and such things. The only thing on my mind is preserving this attitude and try to focus on a short-listed pleothra of things so that some output is visible soon.

Not in a state of deeming anything good or bad these days and loving it as atleast am not confused in any case!

Wider Angle

Just 48 min past the begining of the 4th day of the week and am 'busy' laughing and sharing with Debz the last day's acts. The week has proved to be awesome so far. It is nice to be in a dream world with just very balanced doses of reality and practicality.

People around me stand perplexed, thinking this guy is in some sort of tension though am not. I have been successful in whatever I wanted and am enjoying all the things coming my way. As soon as I stopped living in a self-crafted web of emotions and temporary self pacifying thoughts and those fucking illusions am again able to look how people are managing things, and so should I.

One aspect of happiness in my case is not being in confusion and knowing exactly what I wish and not at all judging my thoughts and actions, conscious or unconcious! Day dreaming helps a lot, probably that is the purest form of my imagination, one such thought is delivering an intense hard rock performance, ending with an m9 logo flickering on the projection screen with resonating beats. Am letting myself loose in a no holds barred world these days. Am very used to seeing everyone from the same lens and for some time in past was not doing that thing. And ya as I realised am no longer willing to stick to any of my words anymore, wish to act at will and in the flow of the moment.

"Why so serious?" sounds to be theme of the time and so is my philosophy. Let loose, laugh with a wide grin and stay aloof and very importantly don't care for anyone, however dear the person is to you. Me first should be the policy else you can not think of being happy and thereby can't make people happy.

Moreover the lovely summers are at their best charms with sun playing hide and seek with clouds with the azure sky in the backdrop and winds blowing to give an effect of coolness to people soaked in sweat. I enjoy the strolls around, solitude (freedom) is preferred as my mobile accompanies me everywhere, with all kinds of music stored in its small brain. Once again my blog comes to rescue and the monotony of daily routines is broken by the blogging communities am thronging very frequently these days. All the things around seem to be just limitless and am very clear at the back of my head, only passionate obsessions to bring out the perfect work are influencing me in these times. Black has turned into my favourite colour, since it contrasts and thereby highlights the brightness everywhere.

Once again am the controller of the things that happen to me. I am the one who can change anything for good and am not the one who needs anyone around, though there presence is never regretted. One would always be welcome to this charming and magnetic persona but in these times expecting him to act against his fancies would be real mistake.

Vacations approaching quite hurriedly and am keenly waiting them though I know will miss this 'once again new found love' for this place and people as soon as I reach Delhi. Three weeks before that would be roller coaster ride as we all stand short of time with submissions, study, preparations for inspection due soon, managing the messes we have built up all around and staying in hold of things.

Though I am not short of words and thoughts but would still like to close this post as I got suggestions that long posts might bore my lovely readers, but will post back very soon, difficult to contain my excitement!

March Ahead

Image courtesy : Fabio Marini on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

March has dawned upon and last week past very quickly. Time is running at a rather rapid pace and life has gained its usual pace. All the ill effects of hectic and unorderly schedules have been cleansed away. The regular organised and lovely class routines are back and quite amazingly most of us like them this way only despite of them demanding us to put in all the efforts in drafting, planning and the things. Once again massive submission festival is ahead and a mass of pending submissions is with us. Still we stand united and look straight into the eyes of this menace saying just about two weeks and we will settle everything, albeit we are planning to run to our houses. The fest season of Jan and Feb was rather a spoiler but it taught a lot of stuff to me and us in general. The learnings are quite personal and at the same time very practical and much rational. Learnt that our insecurities and lack of communication mar the situations most. On most occassions we are our best friends and our worst enemies too. Came to know that we all are very similar thinking alike, acting same and living quite simple lives, and not amazingly we all hesitate in baring our selves to others and delving complete infos thereby making a lot of room for confusions and the fun that follows. The important part is I tend to understand people more, being a part of them and avoiding over indulgence simultaneously. Being a part of crowd is more fun and still having your own identity is a requirement. Ultimately we all stand united and will surely do beautiful and lovely things to make life fun for all.

Love life, flying high, busy times...

Me Against Myself.

Image courtesy : DerrickT on Flickr, check usage terms before using the image.

Don't know why but off-late this self-proclaimed insensitive soul is becoming extremely sensitive towards people. As always I still acknowledge that I must not exercise control over anyone else's life and therefore on ocassions try to refrain from showing my concerns. This sometime exaggrates my problems but atleast makes me feel that I saved others from the trouble that I could have caused to them. The oxymoron in me continues to contradict itself. Last week was a chick one, college fest days provided cool entertainment and the following times proved to be calm and composed ones with the whole class on bunking spree, giving reason of preparation for the mid-sem exams we are having these days. Don't know but sometime I tend to isolate myself from the whole lot and that usually happens when others enjoy the whole get-togethers. Today's evening excursion was fun but a large part of it was unusually silent and expressionless with most communication occuring just through simple gestures. Back in the hostel a few clicks make me enjoy but some time on Orkut depresses me again and I wish to change a lot about myself. Little chat with Shrey calms me down a bit and the tapping of keyboard makes me vent out a lot of tension. Feeling quite relaxed, rejuvenated and positive for the time being and concentrating just on the present dimensions, leaving aside the imaginative world I tend to drift away quite ocassionaly. Gearing up for the next tide of pangs and emotions and expecting to revert back to my original unmodified form I came to NIT in. Wish to be straight forward, unbiased, not going by words but observations and the attitude that made me go straight in face with people. Hope I loose the social attachments I have added to myself, giving myslef another chance with the unanimate things like laptops, novels, books, gadgets and such stuff. Then and only then I would be able to move forth from the fear of hurting anyone around me! Though a part of me will never let it happen, but hope and efforts are the only things with me.