"On A Day Like Today"

Had a really tough paper today. Won't exactly say that I smashed it....I never do that, I never can , in this paper atleast . But , it went decent according to what I had expected.

Had a debacle yesterday before exam. I had the classroom door shut right in front on my face with still six-seven minutes to go before the grilling. As the rules say:

"Door of the Examination Hall will be closed five minutes before the commencement of the examination and late comers will be allowed after 30 minutes irrespective of the time duration of the examination."

Worse still, we had one of the strictest and senior most profs inside. allmost fifty hapless souls had to wait a good ol' half an hour to get in. Worser still, somebody banged the door behind me just when the PGP chairman was there. So, I had to come in the line of fire but, obviously.

Saved my ass somehow but, couldn't manage to lead the queueing model that developed outside the exam hall. Actually the prof had asked all of us "late comers" to stand and wait in a queue outside and allowed only one chap at a time inside the room. His exact words:

" Be seated according to ur seating arrangement quickly. If u take more time than required, your friend outside may have to wait a bit longer."

Whew!! can life get worse than this?? My only relief....my campus crush standing right behind me. The only reason why I wouldn't have minded to stay a bit longer outside :)

Choose.....

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a f***ing big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments.Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching fabrics. Choose DIYand wondering who the f**k you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fu***d up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose a future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that?

(Trainspotting- the movie)

Obituary

Today we mourn the passing of an old friend, by the name of"Common Sense" Common Sense lived a long life but died in theUnited States from heart failure on the brink of the newmillennium. No one really knows how old he was, since his birthrecords were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools, hospitals,homes, factories helping folks get jobs done without fanfare andfoolishness. For decades, petty rules, silly laws, and frivolouslawsuits held no power over Common Sense. He was credited withcultivating such valued lessons as to know when to come in out ofthe rain, why the early bird gets the worm, and that life isn'talways fair.Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don'tspend more than you! earn), reliable parenting strategies (theadults are in charge, not the kids), and it's okay to come insecond.
A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the GreatDepression, and the Technological Revolution, Common Sensesurvived cultural and educational trends including body piercing,whole language, and "new math." But his health declined when hebecame infected with the "If-it-only-helps-one-person-it's-worth-it" virus.In recent decades his waning strength proved no match for theravages of well intentioned but overbearing regulations. Hewatched in pain as good people became ruled by self-seekinglawyers. His health rapidly deteriorated when schools endlesslyimplemented zero-tolerance policies. Reports of a six-year-oldboy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, ateen suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, and ateacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student only worsenedhis condition.It declined even further when schools had to get parental consentto administer aspirin to a student but could not inform theparent when a female student was pregnant or wanted an abortion.Finally, Common Sense lost his will to live as the TenCommandments became contraband, churches became businesses,criminals received better treatment than victims, and federaljudges stuck their noses in everything from the Boy Scouts toprofessional sports. Finally, when a woman, too stupid to realizethat a steaming cup of coffee was hot, was awarded a hugesettlement, Common Sense threw in the towel.
As the end neared, Common Sense drifted in and out of logic butwas kept informed of developments regarding questionableregulations such as those for low flow toilets, rocking chairs,and stepladders.Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth andTrust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; andhis son, Reason. He is survived by two stepbrothers: My Rights,and Ima Whiner. Not many attended his funeral because so fewrealized he was gone.
--Obituary author unknown.

Quote of the day

"Don't steal,
The government hates competition"

Question of the night

Where did u last see this pic??

Genius is what Genius does

"I stand at the seashore alone and start to think. There are rushing waves, mountains of molecules, each stupidly minding its own business, trillions apart yet forming white surf in unison. Ages on ages before any eyes could see, year after year thunderously pounding the shore as now. For whom for what on a dead planet with no life to entertain. Never at rest, tortured by energy; wasted prodigiously by the Sun, poured into space, its might makes the sea roar. Deep in the sea all molecules repeat the patterns of one another till complex new ones are found. They make others like themselves and a new dance starts. Growing in size and complexity, living things, masses of atoms, DNA, proteins dancing a pattern ever more intricate. Out of the cradle onto the dry land, here it is standing, atoms with consciousness, matter with curiosity, stands at the sea, wonders at wondering, I , a universe of atoms an atom in the universe."

RICHARD FEYNMAN

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps......

Have been watching 'Coupling' for quite some time . For the uninitiated, it's a British adult comedy based on the lines of the utterly American 'Friends'. Six guys , hanging out at a pub(for a change) and discussing the most superfluous stuff you can ever imagine. Even if you are a big Friends buff(like me), take my word for it ......this show rocks!! It is though a bit more explicit in it's approach towards the three letter word that starts from "S" and ends at "X"with an "E" thrown in between (oh!! did I just say it??).
The main buffoon here is a character called Jeff who is much like Joey in Friends. Well though Joey was kinda more horny, this chap perplexes me with his behaviour, whether he wants to do 'it' or not.
I also like the title song of this show. Check out the lyrics...

You won’t admit you love me.

And so how am I ever to know?

You only tell me

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

A million times I ask you,

And then I ask you over again.

You only answer

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

If you can’t make your mind up,

We’ll never get started.

And I don’t wanna wind up

Being parted, broken-hearted.

So if you really love me,

Say yes.

But if you don’t, dear, confess.

And please don’t tell me

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

If you can’t make your mind up,

We’ll never get started.

And I don’t wanna wind up

Being parted, broken-hearted.

So if you really love me,

Say yes.

But if you don’t, dear, confess.

And please don’t tell me

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps,

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps,

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

It does reinforce the fact that love surely comes with a price, to pay later ;)

Classroom Musings III

Blank

She looks at me with gloomy eyes ,
reminding me of all my lies.
Her cold stares cut through my soul,
and with all the emptiness inside me,
life seems like a pitch black hole.
The promises I didn't keep,
the nights that she didn't sleep.
All are killing me deep inside,
for there was something....something I had to hide.

"L" freezes over

"A winter's day-
in a deep and dark December
I am alone-
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock, I am an island.

I have my books
and my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armour
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb,
I touch no one and no one touches me."

(I am a rock by Simon n Garfunkel)

Whoooo.....Lucknow is freezing man!!
Planned to have that ever elusive bath today in the afternoon. But it seems that the forces of mother nature are all up in arms against me. Tommorow will be a test of my will power.
Hope that I'll succeed.
Amen

Classroom Musings II

Life beyond grades

Way beyond the classroom dumb charades,
where instructors perform endless ballads.
I've discovered life a little more,
wherein lie it's subtle trivialities,
unmeasured by the scales of 'F's and 'D's.

Classroom Musings I

Ladies and Gentlemen, Introducing to you the obscure ,unfathomable collection of all the scribblings I do in my classroom lectures at the back of my otherwise, spotlessly clean notes copy. This series shall henceforth be known as Classroom Musings.
Here's a poem written by me during one of my boring lectures.
It's called "Spirits"

Through all the upheavels,
I've come out.
Through all the endless tunnels,
I could shout.
Through all the mediocrities,
I've raised my head.
Through all the enmities,
I've forgiven the dead.

The soldier in me will fight for himself.
He will bear the pain of the blades,
He will survive the eternal crusades.

Going long and absolutely bullish on it..

A Hundred down.
One twenty four more to go...

In Between....

Ctrl C + Ctrl V(ed) from a friend's blog.

Only one way to describe it....Brilliant!!

The birth and the death

The existence in between

Or

The life in between

The induction and the convocation

The farce in between

Or

The knowledge in between

The marriage and the divorce

The misery in between

Or

The joy in between

The prologue and the epilogue

The gibberish in between

Or

The magic in between

The intro and the outro

The noise in between

Or

The music in between

The asleep and the awake

The nightmares in between

Or

The dreams in between

Suffocated,

Trapped in between.

Waiting for the release,

Have to find it within.

Of CATs and Dogs

One recent word that has entered my daily usage vocabulary is the hindi addressal for the canine species "kuttey",courtesy a friend. Itz been a long time that we have called each other by our names. A nice addition to our portfolios after CAT.
Maybe IIM Lucknow is really going to dogs.

Freebird as I am...

"If I leave here tomorrow

Would you still remember me?

For I must be travelling on, now,

’cause there’s too many places I’ve got to see.

But, if I stayed here with you, girl,

Things just couldn’t be the same.

’cause I’m as free as a bird now,

And this bird you can not change."

(Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd)

Lines I could relate myself most with.

Maintaining relationships is something I've found most difficult to deal with. Still trying to figure out whether I've been wrong or whether it were just the things that went against me.

Educational Guillotines: Are they killing someone’s aspirations?

I have been trying to ignore this topic for long and for better of my sanity and for those few unfortunate ones. Those whose half life is spent trying to figure out what they actually want from their lives and the other half somehow trying to adjust and deliver in a muddy situation they have crept into while still chasing the great Indian dream. The dream that their folks and the so called civilized society around them has gotten them into. Which tells them that the world around them is wilder and murkier than they had imagined? That the only refuge from that abyss is to get into a good degree course like engineering or medicines or an MBA afterwards if they somehow deluge you. An engineering degree and an MBA one make a great combo, you have always been told that haven’t you? And better still if they come from the great IITs and the IIMs of our country. And if you have them both then nothing bad can ever harm you . For sinister things normally do not trouble those who work hard or maybe slog is the right word.
And to save you from such situations numerous angel’s workshops have come up around your vicinity proudly claiming themselves as coaching institutes. The guys who get through the good ones are normally referred to as the cream of the student community. And the rest are probably left dejected to suffer and toil in oblivion of their own. To compete with this cream community and to prove their mettle on their own. And even if this wasn’t all another breed of second tier institutes are beginning to raise their heads to help one get through the acclaimed coaching institutes entrance. The simple logic is that every one wants to get a share of the pie even as a scavenger and rake in the big bucks that come along. No wonder it has reached an industry like status in India.
“Does your child have it in him??” shouts a slogan for an acclaimed coaching institute every morning in the daily newspaper. The ‘it’ here refers to the caliber to get into an IIT or AIIMS or an IIM. My question is what if a poor soul doesn’t have it? Does that make him or her lesser mortal being? Can’t we leave the students alone and let them think for themselves for a while? Don’t they have the right to choose what they want from their lives? And this applies to parents too who perhaps are equally burdened with the pressure to see their child in a safe zone where the trilogy of name, fame and money comes in bundles. They also perhaps get a sense of satisfaction and a place of pride in the society too. Perhaps they cannot be blamed for them and perhaps they can be. But the person who suffers the most is the poor student who is asked or rather forced to live upto the dozens of aspirations being counted upon him. Those who make it through become the darlings of everyone around them and suddenly splurged with limelight. Those who don’t are looked down upon as failures and a zillion fingers are pointed on their capabilities and are again asked to go through this tormented journey for one more year in the name of preparations. And if earlier they had missed out on the chance to join an angel’s workshop perhaps get it this time around. Some even crumble down and go to the extent of taking their own lives and are labeled as weaklings in the system who couldn’t handle today’s competition and the pressures (read challenges) that come with it.
Recent news paper headings are filled up with some prospective changes in the educational system hoping to do some miracles for the already over stressed student community. But will mending a few links in a chain improve the situation? The bottom line is that the whole system needs to be inspected right from the very beginning with emphasis on the student’s benefits and not from someone other’s gratification point of view. It’s high time to do something about this educational guillotine that’s killing a young one’s aspirations and his soul but still asking him to stand up and say:

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
(The Invictus by William Earnest Henley)

Whether he needs a psychologist for guidance or the people around him do? The question still needs an answer.

I'm not on SMS

It sumtimes irritates me to see so many "I'm on SMS" statuses on my yahoo messenger.
A chap on my list has never changed this status for God knows how many decades.
Just wonder if all supposedly active users put on "I'm not on SMS" as their status.
Can things get more mundane than this?

Beauty of Anticipation

Didn't sleep thru the classes the whole day. Was expecting two surprise!! quizzes which never happened. It's the beauty of anticipation that gets u going sumtimes.