Stars Shine Down.......

Last Saturday was a fulfilling day for I had spent three hours watching a movie that completely moved me. Yes, I am writing about ‘Taare Zameen Par’ with the tagline’Every Child is Special’. I generally go for any movie after reading the film reviews, taking feedback from my buddies, listening to 98.3 Mirchi Bioscope and definitely go by Rajeev Masand’s (CNN-IBN fame) blog for his reviews (I have complete faith in his critics). But this time it was a different story, the film showcases and being an Aamir’s movie was quite enough to drag me to the multiplex. It had to be different and it proved to be so.
Its nice to see some meaningful movies coming our way with ‘Chak De’ with a hockey backdrop reflecting women’s ambitions as well as the women hockey team itself being belittled down by the sports committee, how the players across India are part of the team who play as a whole for the team INDIA. And now we have ‘Taare Zameen Par’ which went ahead with a storyline centering on a Dyslexic boy who felt helpless in this world of competition where your competence is judged by the numbers. If you like painting, if u have great imagination then you better get hold of yourself for such things can get you nowhere in this cut-throat competition, all you need to aim is to get your mark sheet printed in 90 figures no more no less. And, if you fail to have both the quotients (EQ and IQ I meant!) then get ready to be nagged by your teachers, your peer, your dear parents for it wont be long when ull be labeled ’Idiot, Duffer, lazy, crazy’. Mind you this is being expected from an 8 yr old boy.
The fact portrayed that the parents fail to understand their children and provide the emotional support they always seek came as a thunderbolt to the audience. Watching the movie, at some points every parent realized that at times they have been genuinely wrong in understanding his/her child. Looking at today’s scenario with working mom and dad, who even has the time to listen to his/her activities, his achievements and failures. If a child fails then sending him away to the boarding school the only solution, that he loses his very own existence? So the child is there left all alone to fight with this big bad world and he is left being lost and dumbfounded. In the movie, Aamir came as an angel who changed the course of the child’s life and inspired him to live like any other child, encouraged him with his art passion that later ‘Ishaan Awasthi’ the protagonist made his name by winning the first prize at the art festival. The movie is par excellence and a must watch for the not-so-caring parents and for every child to realize their inner dreams and give a go ahead to it. Many interpretations, lot many sentiments a package of emotions-a soul-searching piece.
With such rave reviews around Aamir might definitely be preaching ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’.
For more agreeable thoughts on it visit http://www.dreamslife.wordpress.com/

Revved Up!!!

Long ago there was a girl who did what she felt like doing, need not be told what needs to be done, how it is to be done, the world was at her feet and she simply enjoyed the rosy ambience of a free freaky world. Interpreting it, the gal mentioned might definitely be holidaying:-), for such prudence of independence and arrogance can fall only with the unfortunates with no WORK! I was the fortunate one though (apparently not) to have got an opportunity to step into a world quite contrary to the realm I am used to.
It was 8th march International Women’s day-a day bestowed in tribute to Women, a day signifying my empowerment too when the offer letter reached my hands and I had my future path drawn. I was forewarned by my senior friends, my dear Profs that its only a few months of enjoyment and then your life is definitely not gonna be the same. Putting in the exact lingo ‘Baccho jitna mazaa karna hai karlo baad mein sab kuch badal jayega’, I used to laugh hearing those remarks, come’ on its going to be so much better, no exams, no assignments to write, no sneering looks from the Profs, no submission deadlines, no competition with fellow comrades fighting for those marks…Life is definitely going to be cool for I will have my own share of money, I shall be financially independent (though I still believe in TEAM WORK: my father earns and I spend).I was also satisfied knowing that the success of any business hinges on 4 Ts-trade, technology, treasury and talent wherein T-technology will be satisfied on my joining the tech co. and last T is definitely unquestionable considering me :- ) ,the other two will be considered with time.
Well, misconceptions are always there. Who had even thought that FORBES listed big shot companies would have Indian CEOs with Indra Nooyi chairing PepsiCo and Vikram Pandit heading the CitiGroup lately. Where had Musharaff thought that he would be defeated despite of his cunning ways and diplomacy? Where had the cricket fans thought that the Indian team would win the 20-20 World Cup in such great style? These events were definitely awe-inspiring. Now me too had my own set of misconceptions, which were ruled out with me stepping into the CORPORATE world. I remember the words of my soft skill trainer Capt.Thapas, whose words are worth remembering a lifetime. Firstly ’Nobody born on this Earth is the son of a lesser God.’ Always have belief in yourself and always learn to keep your self respect , never let people take you for granted. Secondly, ’In the Corporate world no one is your best friend or your worst enemy’ I guess it’s quite tacit. My PL’s wise words are too noteworthy that one has to deal with all kinds of people around, and everyone will have their own way of doing things. So its very important to understand them rather than get frustrated and sulk about it. Secondly, ask yourself what new did I learn today. So this fledgling definitely needs to learn a lot from her immediate surroundings.
I must say Engg life is still better……………..(what say misconception again!!!)

Old Familiar Faces-Epoch II

Now you might be wondering why did I not mention about any guy (Phew! Did you even think of that or me just guessing). I am not treating them a passé ,nobody is going to be left out don’t worry-my first interaction was with DC (who had volunteered for CSI membership and he had asked for my photograph reqd for the form since then I was teased with him Poor Guy!)Then the turnaround with Bala (he is used to treat us every week with home-made yummy dosas n idlii), he happened to be my lab partner initiated with lots of highs but now its all ‘mutual understanding’ lol. Bala is quite hardworking, intelligent, very helpful but a bit bossy at times, he wants his things done by hook or by crook .and the list goes on-Sumit, Punit, Girish , Krunal, DC, Anurag , Sushain , Gaurav, Umesh.

Sumit is a fun, good – natured guy. A ‘good guy’ types he calls himself Pentium-10(the rate at which his thinking goes- I am talking of the wild thoughts).Punit-the mischief maker (Whatzaaaaa), he wont let u write your assignments, push you, pinch you. He irritates everyone in the group and Bechaara; he is now being nagged by an unwanted gal. Overall accha banda hai, knows his responsibilities & really sweet (he brings smiles around-not everyone can do that).Cuming to Girish aka Anna ;the thinker, the philosopher; star wars endorser, intelligent, can do 10 things at the same time with great results, sometimes he gets into his mania(we do wonder after all Girish is not that serious, he too has his funnier side), cracks sarcastic jokes, he worked hard to get a tech fest in our college-Techithon’05 was born under the leadership of our very own Anna which turned out to be a grand success. Krunal another guy on the block, very high IQ, sweet, good natured, a bit reserved, gives wonderful critics, knows to get his work done(through the thousand ‘Please yaar’ that he uses), Darshan aka DC, the GS during our tenure what to say of him he is the “King Of PJs’ ,got a sense of style in his speech, makes friends instantly, loves to talk & blabber, gets really irritable when he has a workload on his head and very creative in his usage of words. A fun guy to hang out with. Sushain, Anurag &Gaurav have always been together as a trio. Sushain was a shy guy, he used to rarely talk to gals but now see the metamorphosis he has gone through turned into a cool dude. Anurag has always been the ‘Big Boss’, making rare appearances in the college. He has literally gone to Ma’m and said ‘Oh madam aur kitna time lagega ’(when during our viva external Prof arrived late during our final VIII sem). So now its all crystal clear how my comrades were and how we were surviving in this egosystem.
Oh yes now talking about my college-They quite thought of us for a while.We went for our industrial visit to Goa! (a happening place in the name of industrial visit- what more do we want- parents ko convince karne ka idea bhi college ne hi de diya-“Mom its an industrial visit. Ma understand’’).We had a blast , the trip was in the third year, our hotel was called ‘the old anchor’ it was in the shape of a ship & a disc on the upper deck, a beautiful ambience and a beach close to the hotel.It was a wonderful trip with lots of singing, dancing, mastii & sun bathing in the sands of Goa with palm groves lining the small narrow roads of Goa with palm groves lining the small narrow roads of Goa.
The second year was quite dull, no major activities, the only change that we saw was the entry of diplomats nah! I am talking of the diploma guys who entered in the second year. It was a nice change for our guys who looked forward to the new diploma gals. New faces are always welcomed, there is always a need for a change and experiment right Guys!From here I get hold of a pal who joined our group later on and even into the hearts of some….(hmmm….),Shrutii-the gossip queen, very studious, active in all college activities, enthusiastic about everything on Earth. And I call her my Tech partner (u have good tech skills thats why I employing u Shrutii ok!).Then there was Purva who joined my friends list with her loud laughter, gossipy talks, lot of chattering together &giving me insight into the whole US-MS application process. And yes how can I forget my friend Aditi-cute, sweet, keeps me on my toes about studies (if I forget to open my books she will gimme a call with her never ending doubts –so I am indebted to her for making me study.),she was from Lucknow had that typical north Indian accent, but now u see her tht accent has gone and she is definitely a mumbaite now. She jus cannot control her laughter and sometimes she gets into trouble too because of that .She is my cool buddy and always of immense help .
The final year had nothing much to talk about. Everyone was busy planning their career paths-busy with placements (aptitude tests->group discussion->tech interview->HR interview), banging the doors of placement office as to which company is coming next. Some were preparing for GRE, some CAT n GMAT. Some had already given it in the third year (se how proactive engineers can be!) and were ready with application process.
I definitely cannot pen down each and every moment I have spent in my coll but can only carry with me those beautiful memories in my heart. The only reason I did this because when Mahatma Gandhi said these words he was definitely right-“Memory is a very frail thing. The written word stands for ever ”
And the words of Charles Lamb remind me of ‘Old Familiar Faces’.........

I have had playmates, I have had companions ,

In my days of childhood,in my joyful school days-

All are gone, the old familiar faces.

I have been laughing,I have been carousing,

Drinking late,sitting late, with my bosom cronies-

All are gone, the old familiar faces.

Ghost-like i paced round the haunts of my childhood,

Earth seem'd a desert I was bound to traverse,

Seeking to find the old familiar faces.

Old Familiar Faces-Epoch I

It was a journey of four years- exciting, surprising, enigmatic and creepy. There were the days of festivity, moments of breakdown & a dozen of gruesome nightshifts. A package offered of 43 subjects (I still cannot understand what did it really had to offer me), two projects & the hullabaloo of submissions (learnt immense patience dealing with Prof).A package that unwillingly could not be negotiated nor dictated. It had to be accepted for we had a single goal to be called –‘The Engineers’. An Engineer who of course cannot give life to someone unlike Doctors but make a life quite a luxury(I am not here to debate on Doctors vs. Engg) .
I have the vivid memories of the short span of my life I have spent in my college with my wonderful group of friends, some supporting & some grotesque Profs, the ever changing Principals, the not so co-operative peons (I specially want to mention the vulture Caution: His prey was a mobile user).
I remember my first day in college, I happen to reach before time (I know my dear friends are not believing it but I do end up with surprises u see!).I roamed around the classroom (It was R11) & then found a place on the third bench and took my place of pride, I had no school or jr. college friends to join me here, filled with excitement, waiting for someone to give me company. Then there came a gal-confident, friendly and talkative—my friend Chaits, we hit off very well within mins and I even bunked the lectures that followed what a convincing power she has. I remember we were given a brief orientation by a Prof who seemed like some senior of my coll. Then the lectures began as usual we had Mechanics, Applied Science (AS), Applied Maths (AM), Computer Programming (CP) & BEE. We had a sweet Prof for Mechanics but too slow and dunce when it came to teaching that subject though in the later sems he taught us drawing in his good form. I did not understand anything (act he did not explain anything either.), and used to scribble, mumble n crib, that was all I had to while the time away. Some cronies cracked the sums, thanx to the vacation batch classes @ vidyalankar( a place highly recommended for all engg-if u haven’t been here u haven’t really been part of engg exploration).If somebody would pitch in to ask me the answer to a particular question I would give a blank stare(I am ready to share my new fx991ms calci but don’t ask me such deadening questions).
So while comprehending my first step into the engg era I made some wonderful friends which culminated into a group of four-The Chandaal Chokdii which included me(Nifty),Neha (Nutty), Zarana(Zany) & Amruta(Amu or our JUMBO) all different but yet together. Nutty has always been like a big support, of great help and a good listener. She is always ready to pitch in for help and the best natured gal I have come across. The best part is when Nutty cries and hunts for her things that she doesn’t find them and we being habituated by her unnecessary cry we all end up finding her things right over there. Well n coming to Amu aka Jumbo she is a big comic timer. I remember how she used to enact the character Hansa of ‘Khichdi’ fame, how she can speak Marathi & Kutchii so fluently is commendable (I can’t even speak Gujarati- my mother tongue forget two lang).She seems to be cool headed but she is also the one who has broken down the most over these years (Rem-Amu-CP-I submissions, when Bala said something during a lecture about Sumo &u n u got a sweet apology letter from Bala-lucky u! or when we were leaving after lunch on the last day), she is our crying doll, our sensitive darling! Now coming to my last member in the Chandaal Chokdii Zany- a big blabbermouth, non stop talker, will tell stories about her Chachi , her Maasi, her cousins(all ending with the same name Chirag), gave me insight into the Gujju Culture-very hardworking, clever & street smart. have a lot to recollect for they have been there with me through thick and thin accepting my agonies and tantrums and of course my smiles!
Friends were around , but I was missing, yes missing in the first lecture , I couldn’t reach on time-never and ended up with low attendance in Maths and yes a panga too with Prof Madhuri somehow she realized that I wasn’t that bad n now she adores me). I was saved from her orders of calling one’s parent (call your parents- common we used to hear all this in schooldays & has never happened to me in school-what’s happening here!).Then came the submissions –it was time to write assignments (or rather copy assignments), complete journals (were those experiments performed were of any use-Titration in chem, crystal lattice in phy Huh! An elec & telecom engg why am I being made to learn all that),take printouts of programs from that Dot Matrix printer (which made such humdrum noise that can put anyone in a deep slumber).Submissions was all about getting good grades & getting the precious files signed by our attorney. But this submission dimension took a deadly turn when it was our CP-I dimension, a new Prof joinee in the bandwagon whose head was filled with vacuum, took our submissions till 9.30pm who made our day so unbearable & miserable. She refused to correct our files and made us correct some flowcharts which apparently she couldn’t follow. Running through the errands we somehow got our work done. Exams followed and that was it the end of first semester.
The month of January came the time of festivity-our college was adorned with posters, draperies, beautiful rangoli at the entrance lobby (the rangoli was made using wood dust this innovative idea was born in the mind of our college creative pride-Kalps-our wonderful senior-dramatics, decoration, designing fashion show sets , fun making he was topping it all-L & T guys might be having a great time having him).In the first year we freshers were silent spectators and definitely big critics—‘Oh they should have done it that way. What a waste! These seniors don’t know how to organize…and on n on. Its true when you are in the first year you think the seniors are always wrong and you are always right. There is no sense of self-reservation; you just don’t want to listen to them and you always want one’s one way (I remember this particularly because we had taken pangas with the GS of college-NO BRAINS NA! )
After the festivity and month long vacation it was time to hit back to college with the second sem- somewhat more comfortable than the first sem we had a better orientation with subjects CP-II, AM-II,AS-II,Engg Drawing and yes my favorite Communication Skills(CS)! I rather would not talk about other subjects but wont leave you without mentioning my tryst with the CS subject. Our Prof was excellent, outstanding, I think she should start teaching organizational behavior in a top B-school-She’s Worth it! (Ah! That the L’Oreal Tagline!).We learnt all about business correspondence-writing business letters, memos, making a resume, writing about our fav.communicators (mine was Barkha Dutt and Simi Garewal quite a contrast though!).Sem II turned out to be a bit shorter & winding up in the same loop(assignments->submissions->vivas->exams).
That was the end of our first year …with mixed feelings of love, pride, hate, sorrow & hopes…………

Uncalled Battle

It has been a long time since i have posted on my blog.Hearing all the complaints from my dear friends for not keeping my blog updated its high time i feel guilty about and get going with it.It was not as if i was lost in translation or had nothing to share or discuss but can assure you the relunctance and indolence took a toll on me.Will definitely give a shot in overcoming it after all blogging is all about narcissism.
Now its very important that u revisit my blog so i had to share sumthing intriguing and definitely that topic should be driving me within too,because for very creative writing you need to have ur inspiration.I came across this article by a famous happy bachelor which really tickled my bone and i had to have my say on it.But before i go ahead i will give you a sneak into the article -my source of inspiration.
TRAVAILS OF A METRO MALE
Liberated or hoodwinked into running all errands? The world seems to be making a fool out of the metro male!
A lot has been written about the metrosexual and i guess a lot more will be written once people understand that this is not some unique species we are talking about.However, what has been conveniently ignored is the harrowing life of men operating under high pressure in a city like Delhi or Mumbai!
This debate about gender equality has banished most metro men to their kitchens ;they are running errands, they are the ones queing up outside Mother Dairy booths,they are the ones trying to get the little brat to school ,attending parent teacher meets and playing with children in the park!But does anyone recognise their pain ? No sir!Instead a myth is created ,eulogising their sacrifice by calling them modern or liberated!All in the hope that they will run a few more errands,I am sure!
Tell Me,what is so liberated about standing in line waiting to fill your vessels with some milk?Or to listen to some wretched school teacher drone about all the aweful traits your IVF-induced child is plagued with?What is so liberated about fasting on Karva chauth jus to express solidarity with your wife?Solidarity went out with Lech Welesa in Poland and we don't need it to recur either in Malabar Hill or Maharani Bagh.
An unsuspecting war has been unleashed on the hapless Indian male.They are now questioning everything about us:their psychometric tests make a narco test look like kindergarten stuff, and yet there is no one to stand up for us.We are a minority and we don't even have a Mamta Banerjee to go on a hunger strike for us.We live within such pressurised homes as if we were born into a family of Hawkins.
This column will be the voice of the male.An impassioned voice that will appeal to all who matter and also to those who don't.It will reflect on the issues that we men are inflicted with and affected by.It will about Man Poised when India is.It will be about the Indian man who has come a long way in nation-building.It will extol our virtues of patience and the tolerance of boundless sufferance.Through this column we men will show the world a side of ours that is never seen because we are never allowed to take our clothes off and those who do are punished by being kept out of the cricket team for periods of time.This will be a column that will tell the world how arduous it is to stay manly in todays world, in every which way.If you look around ,the prettiest women don't want hunks anymore!They seek softer sensitive people:so you've either got to be gay or you've got to give in.There is no third option!
They say the age of chivalry is dead and yet there is no comment on why men must be packed like sardines whereas women get to travel in Ladies Only compartments?Why men cannot be allowed to listen to Gloria Stein's lecture just because she is a feminist and we are not all that bright?This perverse exclusion must stop in India.Even politically the indian male has been weakened .Te south saw a rampaging Jaylalitha and Vajpayee was so often downon his knees that both his knees had to be replaced.And the east today sees a very hungry yet extremely rotund Mamata go on a fast but catch a man fasting and not even his own family will be there to commiserate.This is how the Indian male is being treated today.Rabindranath tagore if he were alive would have goaded the indian male a voice,a platform,from where we can be seen ,even if never heard.At least in the 60th year of India's independence,the indian male can look forward to some freedom!
Well Well....the only reaction i get after reading it was 'Finally!'.So over the centuries we have been discussing the plight of Indian women , the atrocities inflicted by the Indian male on them n Finally if the same plight ,the same pains(which is hardly a matter of fact)is being experienced by our poor Indian males i am only filled with great exhilaration.If the time is ripe for role reversal the Indian male should definitely gear up !