Ragging

The recent reports of how a student from Lucknow was ragged and was in hospital compels me to get started on the topic.

Being a hostelite, and surely like every other hostelite I do feel that “Those were the best days of my life…blah blah blah” but I don’t agree with most of them on another cliché statement “Ragging as long as it is not physical, is good for personality development.” I am also surprised that many of the fraternity people here in US where ragging is called hazing also defend the culture.

Though most of my friends laugh back at those first year days, and I can also laugh aloud if I really want to, but I am still not able to forget those days. Just the fear of going to college from high school was so prominent that I failed to recognize the biggest change in my life – leaving parents. There, my mom stood in the balcony suppressing her tears, my friends encircling me waiting for me to break down, and me like an idiot, more afraid of the future, just couldn’t feel the gravity of the situation, I didn't shed a single drop of tear and neither was i sad. Though I think my dad and to some extent my bro are of the braver kind, still I don’t understand how the fear got into me.

On landing in Surathkal, the fear was gone as I realized that any form of physical abuse was not going to happen, but soon the feeling of disgust. This was even worse. I had to go to the ground everyday, just sit or play, but for a person, who doesn’t like to play it was a burden. There were also many restrictions. Don’t go to the beach; don’t go to Surathkal/Mangalore alone etc. etc. It was all done for good so that people don’t get carried away and for their own safety. But I feel, for a person of 17, he better be the master of his own will or of his parents who can contact through phone. We are a democratic country and to curb ones independence is a violation of Fundamental Rights.

The officials think they do a good job. Nothing really drastic happens in our college anymore. But instead, the first years are never allowed out of their hostels at any time. They have to keep a log of their times. All this, for their safety. But what about the independence?With all this though I got the security, there was still the mental fear that I went through, I will never forget though I may forgive. Though I began to like all my seniors, the TRUST never came and neither did any respect for the wardens.

When I came to second year, it became our responsibility. I wanted to make sure that atleast my juniors can trust me and then I can show them the path to freedom. I could show them the towns, the good food places, the most beautiful beaches. But that was not to be. Taking a junior outside was considered a big violation of rules.

Anyway, on the whole, I feel any form of restrictions either imposed by the university or the seniors of the college is a violation of fundamental rights. Instead, people should work on to maintain the independence of freshers and help them in a SMOOTH transition.

Absolutely Random

Call it joblessness or urge to increase post count. I just want to write something. But didn't get many ideas and the ones which I got are too colored or too regional. So i stop it that. Let's see, even at this point of time, I don't know what I will write. It's just that I will ask myself 10 questions which will be like Top 3. ie. Top 3 places etc etc. and they will be my own views of course coz its my own blog. I will try to keep the questions as distinct as possible. Also the best one will have a picture.
Ok Start:



1) Top 3 women Authors:
Jane Austen, Enid Blyton, J.K. Rowling










2) Top 3 places I would love to work:
UNICEF, Infosys Facilities Department,
Keep it simple: Mathworks :)











3) Top 3 beaches I have seen (Haven't seen Many):
Beach next to Cabo De Rama, Palolem, Puri










4) Top 3 songs that come to my mind:
Shanti Ashantagi, Banke Tera Jogi,
Aamaar shokol Niye boshe aachi









5) Top 3 Smells:
Earth after first rain, Nail Polish, Cigarette







6) Top 3 states of India (Based on people):
Karnataka, Kerala, Goa







7) Top 3 places at Texas A&M:
MSC, Bonfire Memorial, Sterling C Evans Library











8) Top 3 topics I like to talk:
NITK life, Harry Potter, Indian films







9) Top 3 things about India's Struggle for freedom:
Quit India Movement, 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, Formation of Indian National Congress








10) Top 3 sportsmen I like:
Christiano Ronaldo, Pete Samprass, Kapil Dev

Tapur Tupur Brishti

It can surely be called one of the bold and selfish decisions I took in past few months and I have done many big things. I got a job, defended my thesis, got a degree completion etc. But it was more like I had to get a job and I had to finish my studies. One thing followed another and it was all done.

It was a simple thing. I got wet in rain. And it was a fully conscious decision. I was in Zachry (My department) and was feeling very sleepy. So I decided to go back home. As soon as I was nearing the exit, I saw it was all dark outside and raining too. But I had made up my mind. I will go in the rain. I did have a 900$ laptop in my backpack but still didn’t feel like waiting. The backpack claimed to be waterproof.

I started cycling. Rain drops falling on my face and everywhere. It was so much fun. Thanks to my mom, I have gone out in rain very less. She just won’t let me. Anyway when you go from home to somewhere, you always have access to umbrellas. The problem is only when u forget to bring umbrella and u have to go back home. So this was the same case.

The rain was very pleasant. It was neither too heavy nor just drizzle, just the right kind. I felt so independent and so happy doing this lil act of bravery.

Lots of songs and jingles came to my mind:

Peter Pater rain drops, go away, go away

Barson re megha megha

Pehli barish bheege honth , nagare nagare nagira oooo

Dekho baarsish ho rahi hai, its raining its raining its raining.

Chai Chappa Chai, Chapak chai, paniyon ke cheente udati hui ladki

Tip Tip Barsa paani.

Me 60 years back

Well, the thought came to me as I read Advay’s blog. He said he would have been a “Garampanthi” freedom fighter if he would have been born in pre independence era. Made me think what I would have been. First thought was: Might be one of the followers of Gandhiji, not that I agree with all his views but I think the path he showed is much better than any of the other leaders. The feeling of national unity which I think was more important than even national independence could not have come out of these garampanthi people.

But when I analyzed a bit more, with more brains than heart, I guessed if I just go by what I have done so far, I would have gone to the queen’s land to get a law degree and came back and appeared for ICS as it was called that time. I know I am not ICS/IAS material but then who says I am engineering material now. But as that would have been the most lucrative profession that time, I would have definitely attempted for that. After that, I would be happily serving the British Indian government. Don’t get me wrong here, I would not have been one of the “Ingrej er paa chata kukur” (Meaning the dog who licks Englishmen’s feet, used in these typical freedom based serials like yug), but would have been a typical serviceman. Let’s say I was a district collector of some suburb of Calcutta. Don’t even know what that means but from what I hear from people, he is the government’s representative for the district and the welfare of the district is in hands. With this in mind, let’s see what I could have done.

I would have been extremely helpful to the poor people, listening to their woes and establishing free schools for poor children. I would have made sure that none in my district are dying of hunger. I would put my best efforts in bringing industries to my district and for that I would have done my bit of “Maska” to the angrez. I would have been a regular to their parties, drinking socially as I do now and as I am near Calcutta, I would have been pretty much in the center of politics. I would have supported Gandhiji’s ideologies as would have been the fashion by then but not sporting a Gandhi Topi. Pretty much westernized in terms of clothes. Overall, I would be a serviceman to the nation as a representative of the government and would have done my part in development of the people of the country. Independence at the cost of anything could never have been my priority. On the day of Independence I would have been extremely happy, would have hoisted a flag in my office building but never failing to give a sendoff party to the Angrez who were my bosses or colleagues.

Does it sound bad? Does it sound like a traitor? Most importantly, what do you think you would have been say in 1946? And if our paths crossed how would have reacted to me? I do need some comments on this one unlike the previous one.

New Fav: Katrina Kaif

A quickie here! Will do proper research later and come up with something better. But I saw this Episode of Koffee with Karan (as usual at its best), and it had Lara and Katrina. Whoooooo, both looked stunning and though Lara does looks a bit better than the horseface, Katrina just makes up for all with her accent. A mixture of my two favourites, Emma Watson and Kiera, its just so british. She has Kieras looks and hermione's brains. Simply awesome. Just a small hitch though. she is not in good terms with Bips :(
Sounds strange, and that too just 3 days before the 60th year of Indias independence form the british, I am just in awe with everything british. Don't know when it started. I just like som many british things. Harry Potter, Kiera Knightley, ManU, Hamilton, James Bond, and everything British. am just dying to see "Beoming Jane", the only reason:its based on my fav writer:Jane Austen and the movie is so english!

Random views, II3, KWK

I don’t know what should be the title of this post. Just finished seeing the results of Indian Idol 3, Gala 5 results. I don’t know what impressed me. But I was. Whether all the reality shows are like this, I know not. I have been out of touch with TV for a long long time, ever since I left home in 2000. It’s only coming back here that I have started watching TV shows on the internet.

Off late, my favorite has been KWK (Koffee wit Karan). He makes stupid movies but his show is really great. I like the way he is not ashamed of his antiques and style. That day I was telling somebody that Rituparno Ghosh is another Karan Johar. Well, it’s a great thing to be the definition of some characteristics. Anyway, what I like most about the show is seeing the interviewing skills of the various people. While even new ones like Lara, Bipasha and John are such smart in their replies, Hema Malini and Madhuri Dixit, being so much better and famous actors than these people, are so artificial in their interviews. Infact, I ardently follow all Hema malini interviews just for seeing that how such a beautiful and talented actress acts so comically before the camera.

Uff, somebody should stop me now. When I get started about KWK, I can’t stop. This post started with Indian Idol results episode. I know these people try to get too much real at times that it looks bad. For example, I forgot which, but one contestant has birth parents and growing up parents. So they made up a show out of it. But 2 things that happened today really moved me. One was Ankita’s legs were shaking uncontrollably. When it didn’t stop, Hussain suddenly said, Ankita, tum theek ho na, nahi tho tum andar ja sakti ho. It was quite personal. I liked it a lot. The other one was in the end when Parleen was leaving. It was natural that Puja cries, some other contestants cry, even the judges make sad faces. What surprised me the most was Mini Mathur crying uncontrollably. Whatever might be the reason, an anchor of a show crying for some contestant is unheard of. Whether this is good or bad I don’t know but I would say Mini just started a welcome trend.

Coming to Mini, a little has to be said about her too. I have been following her for a long time. It was around 96-97 I think when she started coming in Namaste India. Travel shows then were quite rare and she was just exceptional. Despite being so famous, she started from scratch and won the MTV VJ Hunt contest and undoubtedly was one of the best VJs for that too. And now she is into Indian Idol. And what she did yesterday was simply superb.

Expelliarmus

I have so many things to write about. My trip to NYC, Bipasha-Ronaldo kiss or the comparison between a celebrity show like Koffee with Karan and one involving Congress patented Aam aadmi types Indian Idol. (My friends say its better to watch a show involving common people than watching the Kareenas bitching about others and the Hemas talking about good upbringing of Eshas but I beg to differ).But everything takes a backseat. And the reason is obvious. Deathly Hallows.
As I have it in another Deathly hallows post of mine, I am expecting Rowling to do something surprising which none of us would ever have guessed and from all the snapshots of the book leaking through the internet one shocked me. I can't find the link now.
Spoiler Warning (may or may not be):
That particular link had out of the many deaths, death of Fred and Hedwig. Now that seems Rowlingish. Is it not? We all are expecting it to be Harry or Hagrid, Ron or Hermione but if it is tears that Rowling wants from us, I think this is her best. Hedwig, the innocent owl is the only character who has never disagreed with Harry ever. We can say that after the death (was it?) of Sirius, the closest to Potter is Hedwig.
Next is Fred. Can we ever imagine George without Fred? It would have been one thing to let both die. But just the thought of George staying alive to suffer the agony makes me sad already.
Also we all somehow love the people of 'The Burrows'. But Ron and Ginny somehow have much more than just being the people of Burrows. One is the love and one is the best friend. Just imagine what Mrs Weasley will think when she has to scold only George instead of both.
Spoiler Warning Ends

By the way, let's play this game. Which character do you want to be in Harry Potter. Somehow i don't want to be Harry. Its Ron I like the most. Suits me. Imagine you really don't have to do anything on your own. There is constantly a Hermione who will do your homework, friends like Harry and Hermione who will tell you what to do and never really think anything innovative (except playing good chess). A nice mom cooking wonderful food. A brother who works with dragons. A Fleur as Bhabhi. All he does is being loyal to Harry which is very very important but guess I can do it :). And he gets a Hermione. If I were Ron, All I will do is say thank you to hermy all day so that she says that mesmerizing "Pleasure" in the all british accent.



Oops forgot to write why expelliarmus. I don't want the things that happen as per the spoiler i said. Hope i am hidden in a corner to say "expelliarmus" if anybody tries to attack these people. Join me if you can. Wiki says, its more powerful if multiple people do it.

Fashion Faux Pas

Well, generally those people who are generally fashionable, are always the ones targeted for fashion Faux Pas. And it's such a universal phenomenon and true also. You will comment on those people who are concerned with it. Like there is no point in telling Einstein that you look ugly or telling Ganguly-"Wow you are such a good football player".
But today I beg to differ. I will publish 3 of my photos which I think are Fashion Faux Pas, and simply put, To Whomsoever It may Concern. If John Abraham and Aishwarya Rai can, why can't I?
Why did I choose this topic? Well, it's just the name. I just realize I never use difficult words in my blogs. So then suddenly this word came to my mind. Its not difficult, but yes different.
Anyway, enough of preambles. Let's get to the point.

The first one, was in year 2003-2004 I guess, at Poonja International Restaurant in Mangalore. Well, nobody wears a TENT and goes to a "bar counter" (Phisssss, thought at least will figure out the correct word for this)The next one was a very funny incident. This was during my bro's marriage. For the first time, I thought I could do whatever I want. So though not my style, nor my league, I used style gel on my hair. And somehow I didn't realize that it was this bad. So I went around telling everybody,"Look at my hairs, I have put style gels". People either said wow, or gave genuine smiles and i thought they really liked it. Not unless I saw the photos did I realize what I had done.
And this one is the best. Well, I have got this 1 set of Suit, (Frankly I feel like a clown when I wear one, or rather am wearing a blanket ) so I thought why not get a picture with that. Dressed up I pose for the pic. The photographer, my roomie says nothing. But did u guys notice my feet?

Deathly Hallows (What I want)

Its just a few days away. I have already put a counter on my blog. I will pre-order my copy at the local bookstore which promises to have a pre-release party on 20th July. I had even started reading the fake book that came out a few weeks ago. It was so UnRowlingish..
But now I suddenly feel that am I expecting too much. Somehow I am not afraid of any of the deaths. Let Harry die and so be it Hermione or Hagrid, at this stage, I don't think I will be heartbroken. All I am concerned about is Dumbledore should not be wrong. He has to be the right one. And that means Snape is good. I have never liked Snape myself. It will be really great if JKR can prove that Snape is good but still fail to raise any sympathies in our hearts for him. Yeah that's what she is best at. She can totally play with our feelings. In HBP, the death of Dumbledore didn't upset me. It was the feelings that Harry went through that made me feel sad. Also the beautiful description of the last rites of his death. I always thought that this is one wasteful thing to do. Call so many people for a death. But the way she wrote about it and through the eyes of Harry, it was really fabulous. Its her style that I am looking out for in DH and not the plot.
And why is that? Well, I have been reading a lot of magic books. Bartimaeus trilogy, Inheritance Trilogy (eragon fame) . Well, and guess what, they are all good. The plots are excellent, the dialogues are excellent and witty and you do get your quota of learning good things as well. The win of good over evil, the soft corner that even bad people have etc. etc. And all the unexpected things that happen at the unexpected times.
Therefore I think the plot won't amaze me even a bibt. Whether harry dies or not, hermione breaks up with ron and dates malfoy, Hagrid turns out to be a death eater.
What I look forward to is how far will Aunt Petunia go to save Harry and most importantly the last chapter. JKR has said that the last chapter will contain details of what happens to each surviving character. this becomes very important as this can really make the book and the entire series just another series or a Masterpiece. I feel its very difficult to write anything like that. Most people don't venture into this at all. And even if they do, it is always very very tame. Either happily ever after or mostly, the routine life continues.
But I am very confident of JKR, she is not going to do something that routine in the last chapter of the series. What she does is what I am looking forward the most...

Tulsi's death in KSBKBT

Well, June 6 2007 marks the death of Tulsi Virani, the lead character of the most popular soap in Indian history.
How does it matter to me? Well, I have never followed the serial in the 7 years of its running. Then why am I blogging about it? Well for a simple reason because this serial dates back to a time when I was poised for the most crucial jump of my career. Somehow as ibnlive flashed the news, all the old memories came back. It was summer of 2000. Most of my exams were over. Don't remember exactly as my last exam was June 15, so whether it started before or after that.
Whatever, it was summer in Nagpur and i need not mention that the temperatures were close to 48 degree celcius in the afternoons. Needless to say going out was out of question. It was the time after the exams and the end of 2 years hardwork, so there was no questions of studies also. The mornings were spent at friends' places and the evenings and nights roaming around. But afternoon was a strict no-no.
Dad came home for lunch at 1:30 and went back around 2:15pm. Then it was some time chatting with mom before she headed off for the afternoon siesta. The time 3 o'clock. Soon things will start form 3:30 which kept me hooked till 6 pm when I went out to play. 3:30 was time for MTV Loveline by malaika arora. Well, all there was to see were her dresses which never went below her thighs. The love suggestions she gave were absolutely crappy. The only thing that made me see that serial was herself and the songs they played. They were really cool.
4:oo to 5:00 was MTV select wit Nikhil Chinappa. It was where people called up and he played their requests. It was funny the way he talked and also nice songs.
5:00 to 6:00 was my favourite serial. MTV Most wanted. I had a constant fight with many as to who was a better VJ. This show was earlier done by Rahul Khanna and was replaced by Shenaz Treasurywala when I started watching. The oldies claimed that nobody can beat Rahul Khanna but I really liked Shenaz's way. Just a footnote to prove how much I liked this show is that when I left home for college, and mom was in the house all alone, she started watching it coz it reminded of me :)

Anyway ofcourse after 6, I was not at home. As u might have noticed, the time 3:00 to 3:30 remains unaccounted for. I used to get terribly bored. Even the sports channels showed golf at that time. (Am I justifying myself?). So it was this time that KSBKBT started and of course the first episodes of all soaps are always good. The result: It provided me teh timepass for the empty 30 minute slot. Mushkil dino ka saathi. Thats what it was.
So when I heard about the news of her death, I felt sad. And got reminded of those days. The days of tension, the days of depression, the days of rejection, and finally the days of celebrations. In that sort duration of 3 months form June to August, I went through a lot of emotions and learned a lot about life. And this serial helped in shedding the tension off for sometime.
Should I or should I not say "THANK YOU TULSI"