Buzz Buzzzzz...

It's been a while since I was last here. How many of you missed me? OK, wrong question, I was being a tad optimistic... Sarcastic answers notwithstanding, (why don't you put them in the comments section - I'm quite bored honestly, and could use some entertainment) here's why I've chosen to occupy a few more kilobytes in the blogger.com servers.
As I'm sure you'd have noticed, Google launched yet another service, aimed at making us incapable of communication beyond 20 odd words - Buzz. They haven't actually said that it resembles Twitter, (that 160 character marvel that seems to be the by-word for the socially-urbane folk today) but it's quite obvious that they hope to steal some of its thunder. Not too mention that of Facebook, (though how much is questionable, given the lack of easy access to visual stimulus - something that most guys love looking at, for reasons best left unsaid) Flickr, and a whole host of other services I really couldn't care less about. As far as I'm concerned, anything that encourages us to communicate using lesser words and with more (read random) people is something to be avoided like the plague. I'm not saying that Google Buzz will end up being as degenerate as some of the other "social" networking websites, but I'm not too optimistic. I hope that I end up liking it, because it sure as hell can be an excellent past-time.
However, there's a bigger question here. Has the world moved on from means of communication where you actually need to write something (as opposed to looking like you're training to be the world's most reticent Trappist monk) to forms where any bit of extraneous information is a bit too much, and things like "liked blah blah movie, so-and-so person hot, direction OK, story sucks" actually sound verbose? Even E-mail, something that was considered rude, curt, and overly business-like not so long ago, seems like verbal extravagance. I shudder to think what we're going to come up next. Maybe it'll be a form of gesture recognition. Wave once, and you're hungry. Wave twice, and you want to go see a movie, apart from eating dinner. Wave thrice, and... well, you get the point. We're going to be reduced to using gorilla-communication techniques in the not-so-distant future, unless we're careful. I bet Darwin would have a hard time explaining that.
Granted, there are some merits to the new social network, but I really don't think that "likes" and "pokes" fall under this category. Call me an old-fashioned fool, but I genuinely believe that friends ought to mean something more than the odd comment on a wall/homepage/whatever. If you consider someone to be your friend, spend at least a few minutes writing something that doesn't look like a newspaper headline. But then again, what the hell do I know?

You Know That You Need A Social Life

I realise that NITK isn't exactly a bohemian hot-spot and that I don't really fit the party-hopping stereotype, (as my sister loves to point out - "you're soooo boring!") but this December was a real social low. Here's a handy list to know when you need a new social life:

1. The only messages you get on your phone are Google Calendar reminders (pick up such-and-such form, pay so-and-so bill etc.)
   
2. You keep your phone switched off for nearly two weeks and don't miss a single call/message/S.O.S./whatever (even the said reminders choose not to arrive!)
3. The only sound your phone makes is due to the morning alarm.
   
4. Your cell-phone balance (of Rs. 30) remains nearly the same for over a month.
5. You spend a lot of time staring at a nearly empty GTalk list, wondering who is still undisturbed (read not-yet-contemplating-justifiable-homicide) by your boredom.
6. You start writing about random events (you should read some of the drafts on this blog - even I find them nonsensical)
7. You find yourself alone on New Year's Eve (even my parents and sister decided to give me the slip :D)
8. Your childhood friends become extra-busy, so much so that you are cut off mid-sentence with promises of "I'll call you back" which never materialise.
9. Your favourite songs are those about heartaches, loss, sadness, rainy nights and silence.
10. You open your mail-box on the hour, every hour, hoping for some signs of your friends.
11. Your only mails are from News and Techno-geek websites. (apart from regular Calendar reminders :P)
    

The high point over the past three weeks would have to be a brilliant vacation that I really enjoyed. Apart from that, it was a bit of a depressing end to the decade. Thankfully, things are beginning to look up, now that I'm back in college. Happy New Year!

The First of The Last(s)

Another day, another week, another year and yet another semester. Just what makes this particular one worth blogging about? (here's the part where I like to delude myself that this blog has some standards...)
Well, it just happens to be the last semester (hopefully) that I shall spend at NITK, Surathkal, my second home for the past three and a half years. Today, I began my eighth semester with the usual frustrating queues for paying mundane fees, something that can easily be avoided by the tiniest bit of computerisation. As I finished every frustrating formality that could be possibly devised, I realised one thing - that however much I may gripe, crib or complain about the procedure, there is going to be a part of me (in this case, a very very small part) that will actually miss such tasks. I realised that this was probably the last time I was going to stand in a line, trying to get past reluctant people with shouts of "final year, final year". And then it hit me - It's going to be one long semester of "last-times". The last Inci, the last Engi (already over, courtesy our administration) the last time we sat on the terrace, the last time on the beach, the last time at the temple, the last time at the top of the lighthouse, the last time getting high on cheap booze. (for the more experimental among my friends!) I also realised one other thing - I don't have to feel bad that it's the "last time". All I need to do is ensure that I stay happy, and try to enjoy every moment of this semester. Sure as hell, it promises to be like no other. So, here's wishing all my fellow "final" years - Happy new year, and a very happy last semester! May this be the best "last-time" ever!

21

This post is a tad late (apart from being perhaps the most random thing that I've ever written - I blame it on utter boredom), considering the fact that I turned 21 a couple of months ago. Turning 21 ought to be a watershed moment in a person's life, considering the fact that the said person should have (by now) at least a faint inkling of what he/she wants to do with his/her life. In that regard, I'm still lost in the proverbial jungle of confusion. All I'm sure about is what I don't want to do. Philosophical rambling apart, here's a list of things that I can now, legally and legitimately given my "mature" age (please note that the audience laughter sign is being held up), choose to do.

1. Legally Purchase Alcohol (in most states of India): Yesssss! This is the big moment that I've been waiting for. Till now, I've been the model of sobriety only because the law says that I have to. Now I can really break loose. Gone are the days of restraint. No longer am I bound by the shackles of our legal system. I don't need to fear anyone, for I can now legally demand my single-malt-scotch-on-the-rocks. (read coke-spiked-with-Mysore-Lancer) Muhahaha (Audience benefits from evil laughter sound), no one can stop me now!
   What's that? In the two months since my birthday (and for as long as I can remember - in spite of plenty of opportunities to change the status-quo), I've been as sober as a judge? Doesn't that toss the "21-I'm-free-time-to-get-wild" theory right out the window? Well, as they say, there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip :P
   
2. Officially Get Married: (Audience may now collectively gasp) Wow! Here's something that I just can't wait to do. Oh, joy! I've been dying to let myself into a hallowed life of boredom and monotony. Let me go through the check list needed to ensure that "the big day" goes off smoothly. Willing groom (Audience may NOT laugh) - check. Location (Audience is left wondering - think "cheap", heck "free") - check. Willing Bride - hmmm... Damn! I knew I forgot something. Let me start with something simpler. Steady Girlfriend? Nope. Any Girlfriend, ever? Nope. So where does that leave the great wedding plan? Well, as has been admirably put before, "We've been scuppered, Mate".
3. Legally Walk into a Night Club (not just in India, but anywhere in the world): Yippee! Here's something that I've always wanted to do. I'm the quintessential party animal, dude! (Audience may request for doggy-bags, to store the unpleasant effects of nausea) You cannot believe how much I've wanted to sweat it out in a smoky, hazy, ill-lit, alcohol-filled dungeon. I just love showing off my moves on the dance floor. The world of raving (literally!) lunatics is about to get a whole lot more interesting. Watch out!

Well, I've run out of activities that are legally open only to people over 21. (There's a limit to boredom, thankfully!) Have I missed out on anything interesting?

NITK Lingo - Part 2 (I think)

As the title may have suggested, I am a) Highly jobless b) Extremely bored and c) Without a source of inspiration. As a result, I have fallen back upon my tried-and-tested method of recycling old topics. I'm not too sure how many of you actually read the previous post on this topic, (I'm guessing not too many - people grow smart with experience :D) but here's a quick recap on the need for this post.
If you've ever been in a college/institution or even a particular group of friends, you would have probably come across a lot of phrases/words that mean nothing to you at first. Things like "GG", "Imba" sound like moronic babbling rather than meaningful expressions. (In case you were wondering what those two words mean, please read this - it should help) After a while, you finally begin to understand that people around you are not cretins, but are rather doing what humans do best - evolve a social custom. (What's that? Am I going to get to the point or not? Alright, alright, someone's grumpy!) Well, the point is this: NITK is (almost - don't get me started on what this place lacks with respect to human-resource) no different from any other organised society. We have a set of expressions and idioms that would make absolutely no sense whatsoever to someone on the outside. Here are my favourites:

1. "Well Played": Contrary to popular interpretations, we are not applauding sportsmanship of any kind here. We simply mean that you have successfully done something that you didn't want to other person to know you were doing, without him/her understanding what you intended on doing all along. Confused? The following conversation should make things a bit clear. Person 1 (dying to tell someone about his new shirt): "Hey, is that a new shirt?" Person 2(a little taken aback, because the shirt he is wearing is at least two years old): "No man, it's not. Hey aren't you wearing a new shirt?" Person 1: "Why yes, I am. I didn't even realise" In such a scenario, we say "well-played" (repeatedly) to Person 1.
2. "Awb" or "Ob": This one is quite straightforward. The word is simply a short-form for "obvious". Unfortunately, some people here use it to a level that would make purists of the language bay for their infidel blood. "How's the mess food?" "Awb, man" "How was class?" "Awb" "How was the exam?" "Awb" (though "GG" is an extremely popular substitute here) "How are you feeling?" "Awb" "Are you going out somewhere?" "Awb". Get the picture? It isn't exactly the Queens' English, I'm afraid.
3. "Whursht": This is a derivation from the word "worst", but it is pronounced the way I have spelt it. Basically, it means that something is really, really bad. Not just bad, (we call it "bad" then - we can still talk in usual English, you know) but really horrible. For example: "How was dinner?" "Whursht" - this means that the food was quite simply, hopeless, and you would be wise to avoid it, wallet permitting, of course.
   
4. "Pawned": This word has originated from the gaming world. (DOTA, I think) It essentially means that you've been thoroughly and positively beaten. Apart from "GG" this is another popular word to describe what happens in an examination. An example - "How was the paper?" "Got nicely pawned"

Well, there you have it. A sample of the expressions that we use, and what they actually mean. I'm sure I've missed many, so feel free to add to the list.

C'est La Vie!

It's the most discussed emotion, and perhaps the least understood. It has sunk ships, destroyed cities, dethroned emperors and made many seemingly wise men loose their heads. It is also one of the few things that can't really be bought or inherited. Yes, it's that one incomprehensible, illogical yet mandatory emotion, love.
Heh Heh! How was that introduction? Who says you can't make something seem a lot bigger than what it actually is? Who says you can't make the mundane seem magical? Agreed, the above paragraph was a quite pathetic attempt, but you get the picture. In the hands of a competent writer, anything can be made to be bigger than it actually is. Just ask Bollywood.
But seriously, I'd better get to the point before you start cursing your judgement to read this. (if you're still here, of course :D) This post was inspired by a Wodehouse novel that I was reading. (Damsel in Distress, if anyone's curious) Anyone who has read a few Wodehouse novels will be quite familiar with the general layout of any particular book. Man/Woman falls in love with Woman/Man. Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, said Man/Woman finds himself/herself betrothed to some poor soul who is in love with yet another person. Throw in a bit of English aristocracy, a rural English castle, and you have the makings of a hilarious, light-hearted yet plausible adventure. One of the many interesting parts to this plot caught my eye in this novel. Whenever the feeling of "love" is described in a Wodehouse novel, it is often accompanied by descriptions of the room spinning around the protagonist, the heavens descending in the form of singing angels, the very ground beneath seeming to give way etc. In short, love is described as something that occurs at first sight. Bang! And you are now "in love". Forget "getting to know" someone or "feeling your way" around. You are supposed to know that you are in love, instantly.
While this concept works wonderfully in the world of fiction, can a scenario like this ever occur in the more prosaic world that we live in? The romantic in me (yes, yes, contrary to popular belief, I'm not made of stone - I do have some semblance of emotion as well) certainly hopes so. The other part of me is highly sceptical. The couples that I've seen come together, have done so through a far more mundane route. Months of seemingly innocent conversation, followed by several more months of waiting while one of the partners gathers the necessary courage to actually do something that could lead to the start of a "relationship". This is followed presumably (I'm barely 21 - most couples I know haven't got much further than the hand-holding stage - I refer to mental progress, not physical) by a few years of "getting to know him/her" and maybe, if all things go well, marriage. That's certainly a far cry from the "love-at-first-sight-live-happily-ever-after" that we are all exposed to in our channels of entertainment. Why is there such a huge gap between fiction and reality? Is it because we would like to make-believe that ours isn't a monotonous, boring and lacklustre world? Or is it because of the fact that love at first sight isn't a myth, just something that is fleetingly rare? I hope that it's the latter, (and I hope that I am, someday, the "lucky one") but I suspect that it's the former. As they say, C'est la vie!

A Good Bookstore (rather, the lack of one)

For those of you who are new here, I study in a college near Mangalore, a city in Karnataka. It's a city like any other, with its own peculiarities, merits and demerits. This post is about something that Mangalore lacks. Apart from the "big-city" feel, (Yes, yes, I know, I know - Bangalore is not exactly a very "happening" place but at least it's alive after 9 PM, which is more than I can say for this place - all that it lacks to complete the ghost-town effect is the howling of wolves :D) Mangalore doesn't seem to have a decent bookstore. (Hey, I like to read, a lot in fact - what's wrong with that? Perfectly normal, which would make a first about me :P) The solitary mall is reasonably well stocked with a wide variety of commodities on offer. (chilled sugarcane juice, anyone?) There's a multiplex, for the creatively starved, (although some of the films make the use of this word very, very generous) good scenery for those in need of aesthetics, (:D) and good food for starving stomachs. (as my sister once put it - anything and everything tastes good after the mess)
One thing sorely missing is a decent bookstore. There are a couple of pretenders, but I seriously doubt whether any self-respecting person would venture to call them "bookstores". That description would be equivalent to calling the Grand Canyon a "hole in the ground" or describing the Eiffel tower as "nifty, but an awful waste of steel". The range of books at these stores is quite pathetic. The owners' literary sense ranges from Mills-and-Boons (seriously, two full racks??? Get a life, please!) to what I like to call "Thrash Fiction" - the very latest in "one-man-one-mission-life-or-death-blah-blah" thrillers. Where is the Wodehouse? Where is the Le Carre? Where is the Julian Barnes, the Sebastian Faulks or even the Ian Rankin?
Alright, I get the fact that my literary taste is unique, (a diplomatic way of putting it :D) and most people would rather run a mile in tight shoes than read some of the books that I like. In fact, most people get the impression that I'm slightly cuckoo, primarily because of the stuff that I read. However, it's what I like. All I'm asking for is a bit of choice. That's it. It's hardly difficult, is it?

Experience and Maturity (or the lack of both :D)

Yes, I know. I seriously need to learn how to come up with better titles for my posts. "Experience and Maturity" - seriously??? Sounds like a bloody platitude. I'm the very last person you should take advice from, believe me. This brings me to my point (I'd bet the word "finally" is going through most people's head right now :D)
Can someone be mature without doing stupid things? The inspiration behind this very irrelevant thought is a conversation I had had with one of my friends. (I have these sort of conversations surprisingly often, given that my EQ is best left undisclosed) During the course of this particular conversation, I picked up on the fact that I may tend to come across as "boring" to most people. (@friend: If you are reading this, no need to clarify your position. I know that "boring" isn't in your description of me ;D) That's true, and I really don't give a damn about it. What was also implied was that I seemed to be "mature" or I had a "level-head". In short, I was the steady, stable guy, as opposed to the "wild" one. Those particular words got me thinking (a sure sign of trouble, isn't it :P) - Can someone be mature without having done stupid things? By "stupid things" I mean the sort of things 20-year-olds do behind their parents' back - dope, booze, sex etc. (Just to clarify, my view on these things is very liberal - You want to do something, go ahead and do it. None of my concern, and I'm nobody to judge) Do you need to actually do these things and then stop doing them, (paradoxical, right?) before you can say that you have grown wiser? Does the saying "wise men learn from others' mistakes" apply here? Or do you need to learn from your own mistakes?
If it's the latter case, I guess I have the maturity of a toddler. (coupled with the emotional range of a teaspoon, it makes for a great combination - just ask some of my friends :D) Heck, even if it's the former, I don't think I've actually learned much - I still feel like I'm fifteen years old, at best. I most definitely don't look any older.