Too much to ask for?

Have started reading ‘ Glass Palace’ by Amitav Ghosh…
Though havent’t got through even half of the book to pass judgments on it….but true to my character lemme pass some premature judgment ….not on the content of the book but the style….. not particular to this book but to the Modern Indian Literature in general …

It falls into the same stereotype Indian Authorish mode… the same vague, contorted way of writing sometimes bordering on a supercilious attitude…Simplicity is a word they just haven’t learnt…. why do things have to be kept so deep where the reader has to rack every grey cell to fathom the meaning the author wants to convey…lets take the example of ‘God of Small Things’…. Maybe it was the lack of my intellectual ability…But I couldn’t figure what the author wanted to convey…. also it was such an unrealistic portrayal of Kerala….the storyline(was there a story?) was incoherent….there wasn’t a single strong well etched character….Just lots of pages full of big words and over description of Kerala…. to add to it Roy’s wit and humor (or the lack of it) coupled with tragedy…. It was like a gas filled balloon. just air and no substance…Basically the book failed to make an impact…Dunno why it got the Booker! Compare this with Life of Pi or Animal Farm both with very simple plots and a lucid style of narration… but get across the message very clearly!

Another characteristic of these books is their dark and morbid setup…I haven’t seen one Modern Indian book with a nice, lively backdrop…be it Ice candy man, Interpreter of Maladies (well the title says it all!) or Equal Music. There is always a feeling of gloom…. there is always adultery…and the inevitable reality of life’Death’…There is no trace of humour anywhere. …Neither slapstick nor wry nor vulgar…none whatsoever!!! In their books India is still not the place moving fast as one of the vibrant, youthful nations of the world…. it is still the same old land of mystery…This is why I prefer books by Chetan Bhagat which might not be literary wonders but very well capture the other side of India….

And the last but the most striking feature is horrendous depiction of sex…They just cannot get it across well…Okie its good that its not raunchy like Ken Follet or Sidney Sheldon (Shobha De’s an exception she rules the world of ‘cheap sex’)…but they always allude to it in a very weird way…Its neither classy nor arousing nor exciting nor titillating…..some times I feel its just there because the publishers told them to put it in……or jus cos every book has it…..

Why can’t we just have nice, simple, honest books like ‘Kabuliwalah’, ’Five Point Someone’ or for that matter epic dramas like’Mahabharatha’…Too much to ask for?!!!!

Thank you B!

Quite an ol post from my earlier blog....but as CAT results are round the corner......here it goes

The IIMs have always been a dream for me. A magical wand, which suddenly transforms you into this extraordinary mortal with smartness, wit and money in a single package. It was the platform that could help you soar the greatest heights in life. I always imagined men and women with unparalleled intelligence being a part of this institute.
A part of this image was shattered when I got an interview call from one of the IIMs.I was shocked, startled, elated and jubilant that an extremely ordinary person like me could be considered to be a part this great institution. My dream was knocking my door and it beckoned me to be a part of it.
Being the laidback and fireless personality that I was, I couldn’t grasp the import of this event. A small part of me yelled out that I needed to go all out for it, but the dominant ‘killer instinctless’ part overpowered it and I drifted into my usual state of lethargy. I never prepared for the interview seriously till M called me up one day. She just said 1 thing “S do you realize that this opportunity might never come back again and this just might be your one last chance to realize your dream “. The enormity and gravity of the situation suddenly struck me. I was a changed person overnight. The small part that was yelling out suddenly surfaced like a large monster and saw me literally burning the midnight oil .I suddenly became aware of the universe around me. The preparation threw me into a sea of infinite knowledge and everyday I used to thirst for more. From Power industry to India’s Fiscal policy, from Lee Iacoca to Sania Mirza, from Intel chips to Hindustani Classical Music, I was exposed to an entire gamut of information. It dawned upon me that there are larger issues in life than just my family, friends, my job or for that matter the IIMs. I started loving this world, which showed me the whole world. It ingrained this new found self-belief and confidence in me. I felt I could conquer the world, now that I was armed with a goal and the means to achieve it! The interview was bad and I didn’t get through; but it taught me, rather made me realize a lot of things
1) The importance of awareness of the environment around you
2) The power of knowledge and its ability to transform a person
3) The gift of Internet which puts all this knowledge at just a click away from you
4) And last but not the least it has made me realize it is the killer instinct coupled with tremendous knowledge and awareness that makes an IIM grad what he/she is. IIM is not a magical wand; it just shows you the right way to use the magical wand that you already have!!!
So thank You IIMB for awakening me from my slumber and ushering the light of knowledge, confidence and ambition into my life. I owe you one!!!!

Cute!

My boss talking to his 3-year-old gir over the phonel…
“ Sweetie what are you doing?
What do I do in office?
Well I am writing BAT, RAT…that’s what I do in office everyday.”

This while typing out an extremely complicated 20 crore offer which could very well be the breakthrough order for his business.
Now this is what I call cute!

DOG

Have u seen street dogs…they way they run across your street…never is it a lazy gait…it is a walk of confidence…they always move like they have an aim…a very great aim…which is ultimately something as trivial as peeing on the wheel of a vehicle…

Well I guess that’s a great lesson………however stupid your goal is walk, act like you have an aim in life…if you don’t know what u really want from life at least behave like u know that u do!

Love Actually

A very, very clichéd and trite question…. What is Love? …..
At sixteen,I had this huge crush on this very cute guy in my class……we smiled at each other in lectures…..I caught him staring at me quite a few times…..and one day I found chit in my bag saying ‘I Love you’……..at that stage it was ultimate love for me…. the guy I like actually liked me back…..I passed out of school, I felt a little sad that we were parting and my ‘love story ended’….

At nineteen, things changed a little…the guy I liked played great football and volleyball…we used to have loooong chats over the phone… He wooed me in style …took me to the best places in town. …Pampered me with gifts…whispered sweet nothings…I liked being with him…at the end of the day I had someone to hang around with …….it was a sense of security…. I thought ‘this is love…. I can never think abt any other guy like this again’…. I passed out of college, we broke up…. this time I cried for a week and thought about him for 6 months more…but that was it I moved on….

Today I’m Twenty-Three and I know that I really don’t know what love is…
Is it just enjoying someone’s company irrespective if his looks, his status, his background? Is it being mentally and physically compatible…sharing the same wavelength? Is it being with the person who’s always there for you and with whom you can share the all your thoughts, happy and sad…? Is it liking some one with whom you can just be yourself…all pretences, all masks put aside?
At different points of time different people assume importance in my life and I like all of them for what they are and am extremely compatible with them…yes I have some special people in my life who pull me up from the lows, are jubilant in my happiness…But I know I’m not in love with them…I do no get the feeling of wanting to be with them forever…Im not self less enough to love them without expecting something in return…Im really waiting to experience that emotion where I can love someone and not expect them to love me back….. And maybe then I’ll really be in ‘love’.

Kabhi Phool Dena, Manaane Ke Liye
Kabhi Door Rehna, Sataane Ke Liye
Aur Kabhi Kabhi Khamosh Baithe, Baahon Ke Sahaare
Sooraj Bujha Na, Saagar Kinaare
Phir Raaton Ko Chaand Ugaana
Vaise Pyaar Ke Naam Pe To Yaaro Sab Hua Hai
Ab Yeh Pyaar Bhi Ho Jaye Bas, Itni Dua Hai
Bas Itni Dua Hai

Janmo Ke Vaade, Har Baar The Kasam
Kabhi Jaan Kehna, Kabhi Kehna Sanam
Aur Sau Sau Baar Yeh Kehna
Hamein Pyaar Hai Tumhi Se
Le Aayenge Ham Taare Zameen Pe
Jo Kahoge To Jaan Bhi Denge
Vaise Pyaar Ke Naam Pe To Yaaro Sab Hua Hai
Ab Yeh Pyaar Bhi Ho Jaye Bas Itni Dua Hai

....Things that bring a smile to my face!

Whenever I feel low...I jus rewind bak to my college days....they were undoubtedly the most happening days of my life( yeah yeah i know its the most happening time in everyones life)....here are a few incidents that really make me smile....
1)Sunny in Mane's class...
Mane: Paminder aka Sunny,what is darlington pair?
Sunny: ( looking a lil stunned...shruti as usual tryin to prompt him...sunny starts of confidently) Darlington pair is two transistors in ebababbababbejwebebeb( jibberish)......
Yes sunnny actually said tht....man it was hilarious!!!!!and Mane's expression was worth a million bucks!

2)The joggers park incident where I still maintain that I was wrongly accused of producing a foul odour...it was tht ol man!!!! BUt I know the golden gang insists im framing the poor ol man and the famous lne'Sheee Sam farted' and ' Smelly sam smelly sam..what are they feeding you'!!!!

and the winner must have tol it a thousand times to thousand pppl but it still rocks
3) Rahul and me at ullus place....jus entered his place....we take a seat on his couch... Ullu emerges from the bedroom...after exchanging pleasantries suddenly ullu notices sumthin on the couch.....A GENTS UNDERWEAR....
Shoots accusing glances at Rahul and me asks us in an irritated tone'Whose is it?'
This statement infuriates Rahul no end and then comes the statement of the decade.....
'You B&#@%^ ...you think the first thing that we do when we go to people's houses is remove our underwears and throw them on teh couch!!!!
.....heheheheh this one makes me smile in the lowest of my lows...ahh I miss those college days!!!!

Preachings.....

Watched Apaharan yesterday…. wasn’t the greatest of movies…but definitely worth a dekko and it really got me thinking……
It’ a story about how an ordinary guy gets sucked into the world of crime with the politics of Bihar as the backdrop…no its not ‘Satya’ or ‘Vaastav’ revamped…
The movie beautifully portrays how deep-rooted the nexus is and how every person in the chain is corrupt…. and no matter how much an honest man tries to do(superbly enacted by Mukesh Rishi) it really doesn’t make a difference………..
After watching the movie I thought this is what socialism does…where people calling themselves champion of the poor criminally live off the tax payers money…this is what democracy does.. Calling themselves the representative of the masses politicians become gang lords rather gang lords become politicians…this is what unaware (mind u not illiterate) masses do…We should kill our socialistic model……….
But then on second thoughts capitalism will encourage more of this….rich become richer…poor become poorer…..the disparity grows….and as is inherent in Human nature the imbalance has to be balanced out……and it will ultimately lead to the same crime and violence….
So what can we really do to change all this…….has it reached a state where there is no turn back……should we as a nation give up because it is a Herculean task to clear this mess…..
I believe that we still have hope…it is not a economic model that is going to take us through…its socio-political reform …I believe that we need a revolution…. I think young educated people should enter politics….. I strongly believe it our responsibility to give back to the society, the nation that we live …..Smart, aware youth can really take dynamic,unbiased and radical(in the positive sense) decisions for the society and nation at large…….
I agree cases like Manjunath’s murder do scare away the youth from this path…but a revolution does need to have sacrifices…would we have got our independence without the thousand lives lost in it………Im so sure that each one who lost his life thought the cause was worthy of it………
Well as of now there seems no sense of urgency as was in our independence movement…but what is happening now is even worse…. India is growing richer only in a few pockets while the others are still lagging behind………and if left ignored this snake would raise its ugly hood and mayhem, corruption and violence will be the order of the day..
I sincerely believe that if all of us take at least one step in this direction the giant leap of India’s progress is not far away…
Too much preaching for the day na….yeah even I am bored!

Happy Birthday JD!

Saw him at a bus stop first…
Instinct told me a guy not to trust…

He was arrogant, self centered, pompous and flirty
Took potshots at me and thought he was so witty!

With each passing day I hated him more
Bitched about him till my throat grew sore….

He called me fat, I called him pansy,
It just looked like we were never meant to be….

Well things didn’t change; they are pretty much the same
We still argue like crazy, call each other names…

He’s still arrogant, self centered, pompous and flirty,
But now it seems cute and his potshots extremely witty!

With each growing day I like him more,
Chat to him about everything till my fingers grow sore…

He is someone I really trust; he’s a great buddy…
All this is just to say ‘Happy Birthday JD!’

...New Beginning

So I ditched Rediff....and here I am at Blogspot with my new Blog......Dunno why I deleted the rediff blog but just felt like doin it ..........I decided to chuck everything thats old and change jus for the sake of change....sounds too shallow....but hey I think it works....change jus for the sake of change & ull see life will never be dull!!!...
So here's three cheers to My New Blog!!!!