Friday, October 29, 2010
Managing this disaster
All of you must be in bewilderment, wondering what this object is which enthralled me; It's nothing but my favourite half-pant which I bought from Marina Beach in Chennai. While shopping near Marina Beach, I casually picked it up from the footpath, as I wanted to add some more freakish collections to my already ridiculous wardrobe (I am fortunate enough not to have suffered a Wardrobe Malfunction inspite of having such collections). As you can see this pair of "Zoo-logical" shorts depicts 4 animals : Monkeys,Giraffes,Elephants and Leopards roaming in a world of their own. This pair of shorts is not only testimonial to my bizarre dressing sense, but also the butt of jokes and a free laughter dose for all my dear friends in my hostel.
But you might be wondering whether I am really that crazy enough to write such atrocious stuff, on the eve of an exam, and what kind of disaster can we manage by looking at this silly piece of cloth. What can be a greater disaster than a world deprived of such beautiful species? As the print of the animals are also gradually fading away from my shorts, I am reminded of these beautiful creatures also disappearing away into eternity. The world shall be a better place once we start managing this disaster effectively. This would pave the way for a Utopia, where monkeys,giraffes,elephants, leopards can run through the jungle careless and free,with the wind in their hair and the sand at their feet. I can't help but quote Savage Garden now:
"Compassion in the jungle, Compassion in your hands,
Would you like to make a run for it, Would you like to take my hand?"
Friday, September 24, 2010
CWG or CWP ???
Most of us know what CWG stands for. For those who don't, CWG stands for Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi soon, has been one of the most widely discussed and controversial topics. Ranging from the Kalmadi scam, to the poor infrastructure, to the security concerns, the CWG has seen it all.
But no one knows what CWP stands for. So I have no other alternative but to expand the abbreviation. It stands for "CORN WITH PAWN". This is the latest chat show in our college which by dint of its unique concept,charisma,enigma and expect-the-unexpected can give shows like "Koffee with Karan" and "Rendezvous with Simi Garewal" a run for their money. The host of the show is our dear friend,the enigmatic "Pawn", who loves eating Corn and hence the name of the show. And the Director of the show is none other than yours truly. Now let us have a look at the probable reasons (with a high confidence interval) as to why CWP will score over CWG.Inspired by my dear friend and co-writer Akshay, the theme of whose blogs is the lucky number seven, I have thought of putting forward seven reasons why CWP will score over CWG:-
- There would be a wide variety of celebrities for the show, who will ensure non-stop fun and entertainment. Some of them are Nagraj, Chomu, Tiger-Killer, Bombay Man, Q-Man, Drogba,Crammer and Ishan Awasthy.
- The probability of corruption and under the table kalmadiesque dealings are negligible.
- The image of the nation is not at stake.
- No security concerns will be expressed by the celebrities.Their only fear is of getting clean bowled by Pawn's qustions, unless Q-Man himself takes the responsibility of asking questions.
- The celebrities do not have to undergo any drug or substance abuse test,fail in them and bring ignomity upon themselves. They will be treated to a healthy platter consisting of only Corn, served by none other than Pawn.
- No threat of rains, overflowing of rivers and subsequent fear of dengue or other diseases.
- No chance of the stage or set falling apart and subsequent injury to workers.
In view of these it may be concluded that.........................(left for the readers!!)
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Repair almost nothing
On the eve of Independence Day, the tube-light of my room was not working. Whether the problem was minor or major, I simply had no clue. So,in despair I switched on the normal 15 watt lamp and stood in front of the mirror, which reflected a "Tube-Light", who cannot fix a simple tube-light, inspite of being armed with an Electrical Engineering Degree . This fact took me down memory lane to the summer of 2004, the day of the Joint Entrance Examination counselling when I had to make a decision whether to take up Electrical or Mechanical Engineering as a career option.
Finally the choice was made after a lot of dilly dally- Electrical Engineering, abbreviated as EE (one of the expanded versions of EE is "Employment Exchange", courtesy Dr Mainak Sengupta). One of the reasons which transformed the indecision into a decision was the aversion and abhorrence to 4 years of drawing which a student has to do in the course of Mechanical Engineering, which no doubt is considered as 'The Boss Department.' There were rumours stating that a Mechanical Engineering student having a perfect 6/6 vision in the first semester ended up with myopia, hypermetropia, retinoschysis and what not at the time of completing graduation!!!! However, the scarcity of girls in Mechanical Engineering Department was perhaps the coup de grace which tipped the scales in favour of Electrical Engineering. Little did I know of the high voltage shocks that were awaiting me in the next four years.
Electrical Engineering was considered as a versatile department, which offered the flexibility of choosing a plethora of career options, though to the young and innocent mind simply being good in the Electrostatics and Electricity section of Higher Secondary Physics (which had nothing else apart from Ohm’s Law and Faraday’s Laws), meant a bright prospect as an Electrical Engineer . But I fail to decipher why the common people still consider Electrical Engineering to be associated with the task of fixing bulbs and switches. Once I proudly say ‘I am an Electrical Engineer’, pat comes the reply, ‘Oh please fix my tube light. My fan is not revolving etc etc. Please Help!’
At the end of four years, after being confined in an educational system which emphasised mainly on cramming some formulae and pages of theory instead of focusing on the practical and industrial aspects, I realised the truth that an Electrician is much more knowledgeable than a qualified Electrical Engineer merely because of his acclimatization to practical situations and problems. Hence even now as a proud Electrical Engineer, when I am unable to sort out any minor Electrical issue like fixing a tube light or, I never hesitate in calling up the Electrician because doing that myself is a chimerical proposition.I couldn’t simply care less for the comments from the neighbourhood aunties who said, ‘Oh, I thought you had an Electrical Engineer at home.’ Blame it on me or blame it on the system, this in fact is the stark reality and it still remains unchanged. Even without a degree, and inspite of suffering from Asperger's Syndrome, Rizwan Khan could proudly say "I repair almost anything". But I can proudly say that, "I repair almost nothing...!!!!" :) . Happy Independence Day.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Inceptional theory of Marketing
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Caught by the bird
Monday, May 24, 2010
Inside a glass house
I remember Harsha Bhogle saying this in one of his TV interviews, ‘’A tired mind is a bad mind.’’ Now, how does the mind become tired? This is because we think in a very complex manner. With manifold goals to achieve, and in a frenetic endeavour to come out with the best possible solution, we forget the simple facts and always think in a complicated manner resulting in ‘’Chemical Lochas’’ in our brain. It has become a general perception that coming out with complex solutions would result in a quantum leap and enable us to reach the zenith. Hence instead of looking from a grassroots level and attacking the crux of the matter, the labyrinthine thoughts entangle the internal wiring in our minds, resulting in a short circuit. A holistic and a simplistic viewpoint, would prevent such a catastrophe and hence is the perfect antidote for the tired mind.
In a very generic manner, this simple proverb explains how the kaleidoscopic mind forms a perception of things- ‘’People living in glass houses should not throw stones.’’ We know that if we live in glass houses and throw stones, the repercussions will be hazardous. This is the general view. An MBA aspirant after cramming pages of exhaustive word lists, in a desperate attempt to bell the CAT would complicate and rephrase the proverb as ‘’People living in vitreous edifices should abstain from hurling perilous projectiles’’, thereby showing off a glimpse of his flamboyant vocabulary (no offence intended though). His general notion is that having a rich vocabulary comprised of bombastic words at his disposal is a passport to success, without realising the fact that it has transformed him into nothing but a walking-talking lexicon.
In fact, there is an even more simple manner of completing the proverb which begins with ‘’People living in glass houses’’. Why unnecessarily complicate matters by throwing stones and breaking glass thereby resulting in a mess? The human mind is concealed inside a fragile glass house and should be prevented from getting shattered by the ‘stones’ of complexities. Hence, what is the first and foremost thing we should do when we live inside a glass house? It’s fairly simple- we should undress in the dark. Therefore, ‘’People living in glass houses should undress in the dark...!!!’’ Stay simple- projectiles will take care of themselves :)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
All about cats and pigeons
Monday, May 17, 2010
Fifteen minute reminders
Friday, May 14, 2010
Writing on the wall
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The power of thirteen
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Jhooth bole kauwa kaate
Can you rotate this machine?
On the night before the exams, all of us were cramming our heads, frantically memorizing unfathomable formulae and bizarre diagrams to avoid the humiliation of appearing for a supplementary examination. A few of us were offering humble prayers to the Almighty to help us clear this obstacle. Pandemonium reigned all around. Some students tried to relax themselves by having an occasional drink, while others turned their lungs into chimneys courtesy of the deadly cancer stick. So amidst this bedlam arrived our hero Mr VS (I would refrain from expanding the abbreviation). He was cool enough to note down the syllabus from me just the previous evening and was about to start his preparations that night only, unaware of the mayhem that lay ahead of him the very next morning. He was fortunate or rather unfortunate enough to sit in a room occupied by 2 students who were busy making chits since evening. That somehow upset my dear friend, and he was searching here and there for someone who could explain him the concept behind the rotation of a machine, but alas! he could'nt find a single soul and cherfully he dozed off. (I remember having handed him a few notes and drawings that evening and asked him to go through them to ensure that he somehow scrapes through). His carefree attitude towards the uphill battle that lay in front of him, raised a few doubts in my mind that he might have been blessed by the Almighty with some divine power to pass the exam. I wondered that, had Constantino Brumidi been alive, this would have inspired him to draw another fresco titled "The Apotheosis of VS".
This incident shows the integrity and honesty of VS. These are indispensable qualities which all of us must possess and never let go of irrespective of any situation. Whenever I see people copying in any exam, I am reminded of good old VS. Then I thought, really this VS means "VERY SPECIAL." Today he is one of my best buddies. I failed in rotating this machine in VS, but then realised an important fact, "A Transformer is also a type of a machine which does’nt rotate. Life itself is a machine and it must rotate in the right direction."