Life As We Know It (REPEAT)

Note: This article is an exact copy of one I'd written earlier. Unfortunately, I wrote that article at a time when not many people went around reading blogs. I consider it to be a piece of writing about something we must all be aware of, so I thought I'd just put it up once again. If you've read this before, SKIP.

When I was walking down the street the other day, I saw a couple of kids playing with an old football. It was torn in several places but nonetheless reasonably round. What fun those two were having! For a few moments I stood watching one of them baffle the other with his trickery and excellent ball-control. This young boy, barely thirteen years of age, had the potential to give any defender serious nightmares.
However, he never will. He lives in a slum near my house and will soon be working for a living. When he turns fourteen, his father will make him work as a cleaner in a nearby restaurant. For ten hours of hard labour, he will take home a paltry sum of forty rupees. Some of us will spend his entire monthly wages for a few minutes of fun without batting an eyelid. Some of us will look the other way when he comes to clean our table in the hope of escaping reality. Some of us will become experts in looking the other way whenever we find it convenient. The rest of us will become masters at ignoring our guilt. All of us will find solace by asking the following question: "How many can we help? There are too many".
There are indeed too many. Its life as we know it. We just have to deal with it. Unfortunately, I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel for the boy. He looks set to live a life of poverty and there seems to be nothing on offer to change that. Looking at him playing football, blissfully unaware of the future that awaits, I feel like a fool. Why? Because I spend far too much time worrying about things. If only I could be more like the boy, joyfully enjoying his moment in the sun. Perhaps I need to learn the true meaning of contentment. As the saying goes: "To get what you want is success. To want what you have is happiness". I intend to start living that way.

Status Messages :-) (Part 2)

OK, this post is a wee bit repetitive in its topic but not its content. It is about weird and funny status messages I've come across in Gtalk. Seems like my friends are intent on giving me a good laugh every once in a while. So, here goes:
1) "Unavailable": This is what prompted me to write this article. The person in question has a nice green dot next to his name while the status was set to "Unavailable". Now who's to tell him that normal people consider green on Gtalk = available. Almost everyone (excluding members of crackpots-inc.) considers green to mean go/free/open etc. It was with this common sense knowledge that Google set green = available. Either he has a very clingy (and dumb) someone he hopes to fool or he's just plain bonkers. I have a feeling it's the latter. (Though anyone wanting to contact him that often has to be dumb)
2) "Russian Rock Machans :-)": Hmmm... What does this mean? What are its implications for the quasi-static universe of Gaudi art? Does the person who wrote this have any connections to the abyss beyond? Does he/she hope to renew longing for the metaphysical universe of retro-moderno-virtuso-writing? Your guess is as good as mine. I'm no expert on ancient calls to departed spirits :) And what's with the smiley? Anybody willing to enlighten me on the meaning of 'Machans' and how it applies to Russian rock? (whatever that is...)
3) "The Year of The Prime": OK. Prime WHAT? Jackass? Nitwit? Fool? Empty-Headed-Psychopath? I really don't think we were meant to get what it means. I'll have to report this to the committee handling the Roswell cases. Sounds suspiciously like an ET communique to me.
4) "Good God!! It's Working!! Eureka!! (no, m nt runnin around :P)": I don't even want to know what you're doing. If you're discovering the joys of something for the first time, you don't have to tell the world about it. Come on, spare us! Think of the minds that you're messing with. We're never going to be the same again. Please! Have mercy! Noooooooooo..... Btw, what are you doing anyway?

As before, I've run out of status messages I can insult. Please do add anything you can think of. We could always do with some extra laughs :)

P.S. This article is meant to be read in a lighter vein. Don't get angry, for I don't mean any harm.

Attitude?

Well, I think everyone is fed up of reading my posts related to anywhere abroad. So, I thought I'd return to familiar territory. OK, the subject of this post (more of a discussion actually) is attitude and the many forms that it comes in.
Let me first define what I mean by attitude: A person's way of interacting with others. For example, is someone diplomatic or blunt? That sort of thing. If you prefer some other more appropriate term, go ahead and use it.
The question I wished to ask was this: Is a straightforward (blunt, in-your-face, says things as he/she sees them) person better off than a diplomatic person? When I say better off, I mean in a personal way. Who would you prefer to talk to and why? Personally, I'd like to talk to someone who is blunt. At least I know that he/she isn't just saying things to please me. With a diplomatic person, I'm not so sure. Nothing is more frustrating than getting a diplomatic person to take a stand. Just ask Poi and me. We had probably the most diplomatic person as our room-mate. It was impossible to get his opinion on anything without a maybe/if/but.
I'm on the other hand, quite blunt. At least I was until it really hurt me. I got sidelined when I arguably deserved better. (I think everyone knows what I'm talking about) Ever since then, I've made a conscious effort to be a little bit more guarded in my speech, a.k.a. Diplomatic. But is this what people want? To have everyone talking in words that leave everything ambiguous? I guess so. Sad.
I'd have thought we require more clarity, rather than more ambiguity. What do you think? Are we better off with diplomatic or blunt fellows around us? Do tell me, I'm all ears. (Just look at my pic carefully, will you? :D)

Poetry In Motion

The Eurofighter Typhoon. Anybody who knows their fighter aircraft will recognise that name. It's amongst the most advanced fighter aircraft in existence today. There's not much I can say that can do it justice. You have to see it first hand, hear the roar in your ears (though the Sukhois and the MiGs are much, much louder) for you to know what I'm talking about. I thought I'll upload a few pics so that you can at least see the object I'm talking about.

P.S. Anyone who wants higher quality images, please get in touch with me. I'd be happy to send them to you.

Football Madness!

Indians are crazy about cricket. Some call us fanatics. We're cricket "obsessed" they say. India vs. Pakistan is considered to be more of a war, rather than a game. We spend way too much time idolizing our cricket players. Insane amounts of money are given each year for a few seconds worth of endorsement.
Are we really that bad? It depends on the relative measure. David Beckham is paid 200 crores a year. M.S. Dhoni, the highest earning cricketer, is paid only 50 crores. What about the fanfare and the noise we make, bursting crackers when India wins? Take a look at the video I've uploaded. It was taken in Frankfurt when Croatia beat Austria in their first group match. There were about 50 odd cars circling the main square, flags draped around the hood and the roof. Turn up the volume and you'll realise what a racket these cars were making. They continued for about 2 hours until the police intervened. I'm not sure we'd disturb an entire neighbourhood if India defeated Sri Lanka in the group stage of the Asia cup. Would we?

Love Is...

Just what is love? Yes, that 'L' word you choose to describe in your own special way. And NO, this article makes absolutely no reference to girls. (Is that a sigh of frustration or relief that I hear? You know the saying: "Once bitten twice shy". Well, apply it here)
I thought I'd describe love in a more day-to-day manner - related to stuff that we do rather than fantasies that are just not coming true. Not yet anyway. So here goes:
Love is... What I feel towards writing. (Feel free to comment. I'm sure plenty is heading my way)
Love is... What Poi feels for Mugsy.
Love is... What Rushil feels for... (not Aditi, give me a break!) flirting with.. well innocent foreigners.
Love is... What Raghavan feels when he belts others.
Love is... What Heda feels for Sharon. (Sorry BD!)
Love is... What Sharon feels for Gamedrome (3 days w/o a bathroom break - the man's head-over-heels in love with that place)
Love is... What pEACE feels when he's on MATLAB
Love is... What Bala feels for Sheki (I can't possibly wrong on this one, can I?)
Love is... What Sheki feels when he's describing Open Source.
Love is... What Prashant has for his bike.
Love is... What Ponky feels towards the very latest gossip, news and headlines. Oh, add Obama to that list.
Love is... What Bazi feels for his Comp (and U.P.S. !)
Love is... What Vicky feels when on the phone.
Love is... I'll just leave this blank for now... Feel free to add more examples of your own.

A Little Voice (I Should've Listened To)

Summer Time. Lazing around the house, eating ice-cream and generally feeling peaceful and contented. Yeah right!
That used to be the case until we (by this I mean most college second years) got wind of something called internships/projects. A few months back, EVERYONE I knew was hunting frantically for something worthwhile to do during the summer. Not wanting to be left out, I used all the contacts I could get hold of in order to find a summer intern/project. A little voice in the back of my head kept saying: "Watch it, don't ask too many people - You might get more than you bargained for".
At that time I told that little voice in no uncertain terms to shut up. Big mistake! The funny thing about little voices is that they're always right when ignored.
Three months on, in the middle of summer, do I feel peaceful? Nope, not a chance. Contented? Maybe, in the future-tense sort of way. You know, the kind of feeling you get that tell you what you're doing is good but just not at the moment. Maybe two years from now. That sort of feeling.
So, what am I worried about? I have not one, not two but three projects/interns to worry about. (b.t.w. I say that in a purely self preserving way) Over the past week, I've spent hours at the damn laptop trying to make sense of what in god's good name is going on. Status Report: Hmm.... Let me see.... Still seeing.... Nope not yet... Ah! finally... NEED MUCH SLEEP QUICK.
I can still hear the little voice from the same little corner of my head. Only this time it's saying "See, I told you so". I swear I can also hear a hastily suppressed laugh!

In Pursuit of Traffic

Bangalore traffic. To many, the words are enough to cause massive headaches. Just ask my mum! Anyway, I realized how bad it actually was when I took videos of it. Now, some of you might ask: "What is this crackpot up to now?" or maybe you prefer: "Oh no, not again!" Either way, hold on till I've explained.
I'm doing this TI project over the summer with friend(s) and it's basically for traffic management through cameras. To test whether what we had done was remotely right, we needed some videos of traffic junctions. Hence, we trooped off to 100ft. road in order to get some footage. Check out and see for yourself. All I can say is that I'm shocked people willfully venture into this madness.
Do yourself (and others) a favour and take the bus. At least you have the safety of being in a bigger vehicle :-)

Status Messages :-)

"An unhappy nine pointer" - Recently seen as the status message of a 'famous' second (now third) year. For most people, unhappiness and a GPA of nine are mutually exclusive. Obviously someone up there forgot to provide my friend with common sense. I do hope he realises that one of his professors gives a perfect 10 for writing DOTA stories instead of the subject. Lucky guy!!!
"Is this love?" - I really wonder what was going through this character's mind. Loss? Longing? Or was it simply the shock of having found himself a girlfriend at last? Perhaps it was the realization that he was gay after all. Dear roomie(s), I'd run and hide if I were you.
"It just had to be him" (along with a portrait shot of Barack Obama) - This is at least easy to understand. The guy's in love with poor Mr. Obama and cannot help himself when it comes to the Democratic presidential nominee. Travel advice to Mr. Obama: Please avoid visting India while this chap is around. I don't think the Secret Service can handle such threats. Just ask NITK (specifically IE) seniors.
"Status Message :P" - Now here's creativity for you. Very original. Fantastic expression of inner feelings. What prose! Mind-blowing. Outstanding. Stunning.
"From Quantum Computing to SETI, we've got it all" - Eh? Huh? Um... just what does this person hope to convey by that? Who in god's name are "we"? And what the hell is this cryptic soul talking about? I'd be interested only if "got it all" includes free food. (Funny because the person who wrote this is none other than... ahem... drumroll please... me!!! Shows how crazy I really am.)
Poor Gtalk. I would have thought that even the internet has some standards.

Indian Hospitality

A few days ago, I boarded flight LH 952 from Frankfurt to Bangalore. (rather Bengaluru) It felt great - the fact that I would be home in less than 12 hours. The time I spent in Europe was excellent but one thing I missed was the feeling of being at home. Those of you who've been away from home for an extended period of time (like in a hostel with bad food, water shortages and 100% humidity) will probably know how I felt on my way back.
What I didn't anticipate was a plane full (it certainly felt that way) of noisy NRI kids with blatantly unconcerned mothers. (and fathers) Most unfortunately, our flight was a connection between the USA and India. And these little terrors were on their first visit to India. Now I quite understand the inability of children (being one myself) to keep still but my understanding went right out the window when it came to their mothers. (Most of you would probably be saying - "there he goes ranting incoherently again". Hold on for a few sentences and I'll explain.)
There was one particularly ghastly kid who had the most annoying, drawling accent. He insisted on meeting every other kid nearby. Questions like "Whaaat is yur naaame" or "Whaaat is yur mom's naaame" must have been repeated at least a hundred times. All this while I was trying my hardest to sleep. Once the introduction between the kids was over, the racket really began. Game-boys and other noisy contraptions were switched on. Amidst several beeps, boops and other sounds, I could still hear the same kid going on "How diiid I diiieee?". It lasted for two torturous hours before the air-hostess (god bless her soul!) came and put an end to the bedlam.
OK, so where do the mothers come in? Well, they were right next to these kids. All they did was look at their beautiful, darling devils and go back to sleep without a word. They didn't realize that none of the others on board wished to hear a nine-year-old's exploits at a god-damn video game.
Their apathy got me thinking. And then I realized the root cause of the problem. We're just too accommodating. We always feel that there's place for one more person. Children have to be tolerated by all and sundry. After all, they're kids. Discipline and basic civic sense can wait while we perennially adjust.
This sense of Indian hospitality is great in some ways. In fact, I love India for it. However, at 37000 ft, in a 25 ft wide cabin, there are limits. It's time we respected those limits. Civic sense. We need to learn it.