Romance is in the air !!!!

For the readers outside IITG, its my pleasure to inform that we had a "cult eve" the other night in our campus, with guys rockin and head bangin' for all that was played by the college band, added by some sterling performances by few debutantes. The playlist was awesome, and the overall show quite decent. But what struck me profoundly was what one of the band members did, by dedicating a song to his soulmate, which being "One Last Breathe" by "Creed" struck a note with quite a few out there.

That incident made me compile what I think are some of the best romantic odes ever. The list could be endless, but I would put these now (for my memory card doesn't support too much).

Glen Mederios "Nothin's gonna change my love for you"

Eagles "Best of my love","Pretty Maids" (Some may even wonder whether this could classify in this list)

Bryan Adams "I'm ready" (a good inclusion)

Bryan Adams yet again "Let's make a night to remember"

U2 "Grace" ???

U2 "With or without you"

Coldplay "Warning Sign"

Maroon 5 "She will be loved" ---- Strange inclusion, one could presume.

Creed "One last breath","My Sacrifice","With arms wide open"

Hoobastank "The reason"

Bee Gees "Words" ............................................

But then, what if words fail ??? (Paradox hits again, coz' I'd be using words to describe this situation") Well, we can fall back on some instrumental sessions, maybe you prefer Kenny G or Yanni for that.

Kenny G

"Even if my heart would break" is a classic in that genre. "Forever in love", "I will always love you" .... two other classics for the same master.

Yanni

Pick up any instrumental, preferably Nostalgia, play them at a low volume in a deserted restaurant where you would go to.

And if none of the above work, well you have a safe bet to always rely upon, "My Heart Will Go On" --- Titanic.

I welcome the purists to comment on the above selection , for that would only help me improve my knowledge regards music. And I regret for having left out some, mainly belonging to Hindi and Telugu, but thats because you have a "Try-to-feel-like- romantic" song in any movie that you pick up, they are just too many to be rated.

And for all you friends at IITG, I dedicate "So Long My Friend" ------ Yanni, you really make me feel proud.

Graduation Party

There are some days in your life which you want to forget badly, days of rejection, depression, and days where you felt like your world had come to an end. And there are days, which you could never forget. There are days, like April the 16th, 2006.

I left in the afternoon, for the arrangements for the grad party had to be in place way before we started. Jain, Gera joined me and we pushed off to Vishwaratna Hotel in silence. When we reached there, nothin was in place, and boy weren't the worksmen lazy out there? It took a whole two hours to get the sound system in place, and the arrangements of the chairs, with a banner way back which said "Class of 2006". No doubt we rockk !!!

The party started at arnd 6:30 pm(IST), with Nainwal and Gera awarding away what they called the batch Oscars !!! The commotion shook the place, and little kids wandering out entered the hall, surprised to find some guys with huge bottles (which was apple juice kinda stuff), nevertheless they enjoyed it as much as we did. Guys (and gals) were called up on the stage, and were asked to do things which could only be associated to them. In all, it was an hour effort in humoring us all, and was worth the work that went in.

And then came the personals and the graffiti. All of us were given a white tee, and had to scribble what we felt for one another on all the tees. It was fun I swear, esp. when everyone drafted in to say what little or what more they knew abt each other. Suddenly, hell broke loose. It was a pandemonium of sorts, guys drank to their full, and chaos ruled for quite some time. Urged by the desire to booze this one night, I took a shot at Vodka and beer. Wasn't too bad after all. But then I remembered that I had to stay sober, given the conditions that prevailed around. It was fun, more than anythin' else, and though some people did end up fuming at the situation around, one must say, it was all in the game. Dinner was promptly served, and thanks to the disorder and confusion, quite a few of them had to leave hungry.

The aftermaths was all to see. Broken glasses and beer bottles, chairs stuffed up with puke, dancing guys prostrating before one another, and amidst all these, the organisers pacifying the hotel manager. For time to come, these events would be remembered for sure. And then, the time had come when we had to move, the guys helping each other to our transportation, thus symbolisng the batch spirit we possessed even when in an "inebriated" state.

As I conclude, I would love to remark upon this feeling within us, that come what might, we would not be able to hide the truth we all ever had. And it was this truth that did come out each time I spoke to everyone out there. These 4 years had been wonderful (save this month, which I expect to be cumbersome, thanks to the academic pressures and the emotional breakdowns), and we all would have cherished it immensely. And yet I feel that the time I had was less, for at the end of the day, I see that many want to know about me, as equally as I to know about them. And as aptly put by the drunken friend,

" Yaar, yeh IIT ki zindagi sirf chaar saal ki kyun hoti hain, das saal ki honi chahiye !!!! "

Who Moved My Cheese?

As I was pondering (see my last blog), I came across this book (Who moved my cheese?) and that movie (Silicon Jungle). More about the latter later, for now its the book and a review !!!

Of late, I have developed a voracious appetite for books (I had it previously, but never in the same league as now), what with wrapping arnd 5 in the past 2 weeks or so, of which the review would be fed in subsequently for the readers. I concentrated mainly on Indian Authors, for one fine day, even I plan to finish my book, Memoirs. As I was scouring through the rummage in our lib., I chanced upon a book which had the punchline "One-Minute Manager". As I flipped the pages of this "Who Moved My Cheese", I thought that this book is somethin where you would find recipes, for life instead. A arnd 100 page book, a worth read when on a flight, which can be wrapped in 30 minutes flat.

I borrowed it and ran back to my room to have a go. It starts off with encomiums for the author Dr.Spencer Johnson, and that it had changed lives drastically all over U.S. Some went further ahead by tipping it as the bestseller, a silent killer which no one ever heard about. And then we have the narrator, Ken Blanchard, sermonising that the book had done not only him, but his colleagues a lot of good in their life.

Ken Blanchard, on one of his party days, spent time narrating to his friends as to "Who moved the cheese".The storyline stands simple: Two mice who thought simple, and two Littlepeople (Humans small in size and fed on cheese), who used their complex brains for every understanding and emotion, lived in a Maze, where everyone searched for their cheese, which could symbolise anything such as money, fame, love, just anything that we would want it to look like. There were dark corners where people lost their way, yes there were stations in some corners where one would find loads of cheese. It so happens that one fine day, Scurry and Sniffy (the mice) and Haw and Hem (L.P.) chance upon a chessestation which thought would end with them for eternity ... and so their behavorial traits change. Eventually, one fine day, the cheese ends, and the mice, which thought simple and had observed that fact for sometime, moved away in search of a new station. However Haw and Hem were afraid to move in the dark, instead they started blaming each other, crying out injustice heaped on them, and waited patiently for someone to put some cheese for them. The wait continued long, long enough for them to weaken, and thus near to their end. One fine day, Haw decided that his life needed a move, a change for the better, a change for which he would have to overcome his fears. He goes out in search of new cheese, weary, depressed at times, with a feelin that he needed to return, but overcame his fears until he chanced upon a lifetime supply of cheese.

The moral of the story was scripted like a graffiti on a cake of cheese, which read,

"Change Happens
They keep moving the cheese

Anticipate Change
Get ready for the cheese to move

Monitor Change
Smell the cheese often so you Know When it is gettin Old

Adapt to Change Quickly
The quicker You Let Go of Old Cheese, The sooner you enjoy the new cheese

Change
Move with the Cheese

Enjoy Change !!
Savour the Adventure and Enjoy The taste of New Cheese!

Be ready to change quickly and enjoy it again and again!
They keep moving the cheese. "

At the end of the day, I thought over the whole essay again. Had I got a chance to read this book arnd 4 years ago, then probably I would have enjoyed my UG life in the best possible manner. Yet I have no qualms abt that, I look forward, I dream for a future. And the author rightly puts it, that the wisest person is one who laughs away at this follies and tried to rectify them. True, laugh at yourself before u laugh at others. And at the end of the day, I laughed at this paradox in life, where one needs to quote abt him as "I am a man of action, not a man of words". Life's too simple after all, isn't it ???

Life in an IIT --- Is it really that tough ???

Lemme quote for once:

" Its as difficult to fail in any course in an IIT as it is to get into one ... "
----- Diro, IITG

That sums up things to a certain extent. Teh mortal fears of any UG student revolves around his working out his subjects well, and yes, in IIT's teh chances of your screwing up ur acads big time is huge, but then not to an extent where you end in the slums. As I always say, you are teh makers of your own destiny.

Thats one phase of your life at an IIT. Probably, teh most sufferin thing happens to be teh fact that we live in a world where the sex ratios drastically drop down, what with it being close to .05 per guy (:d) as in our case. Now that is somethin which surely makes life tough ....

One more issue, puttin up your attendance. I have had a career plagued with injuries, and teh system beats on these grounds. Well, I yet do not understand as to why a person, who could perform well inspite of his not attending teh classes, would not be allowed to go ahead with his course. After all, he/she has certainly proved their might, but yet, as I said, teh system makes a mockery of true knowledge. Makes life tough ....

Any more issues to discuss, yes, the food. Wonder why they subsidise it, but this is some problem specific to every insti. Our insti perhaps has the worst recipes when compared to the rest in that pack, what with us ending up with gastric problems every sem. And it doesnt help being in a remote place, for you would never get things to eat.

Another of the comments, the standards and crap !!!! Guys in IIT have to crib abt one thing for sure, that they had come in with loads of expectations and at the end of the day, it was all a damp squib affair. That an IIT could not stand up to our expectations is something which everyone uses liberally, and tries to justify the same with absolutely arbitratry excuses .... makin' life tough for themselves.

At the end of the day, and one coffee, I ponder whether these really are some things which I shud have quoted in the first place. For come what might, at the fag end of a so called "illustrious" career as an UG, I feel this place has taught me to live .. and I am in gratitude for that. The friends I made, each one unique with their own distinctions, all of them certainly lived upto my expectations for them. Life hasnt been that too tough after all !!!!


Keep checking this space, for you would find some more interesting facts soon !!!

Tribute ...

Too lazy to start off a first blog, so instead planned to put this lyrical ride instead.
For starters, thats Breathe, DSOTM, Pink Floyd ...

Breathe, breathe in the air.
Don't be afraid to care.
Leave but don't leave me.
Look around and choose your own ground.
Long you live and high you fly
And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry
And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be.
Run, rabbit run.
Dig that hole, forget the sun,
And when at last the work is done
Don't sit down it's time to dig another one.
For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race towards an early grave.


And for the days to come, watch this slot, some interesting anecdotes/incidents/perspectives would spring out from the connoisseur of literature !!!!