'Happy Days' and then a little more

I had work to do and I really am not into movies and definitely not into Telugu ones ( actually the fingers of one hand will be enough to count the number i have watched). When I came to know that we were having a screening of a Telugu movie in the auditorium I shouldn't have given it a second thought. But in keeping with the trends I have been exhibiting this term, I went to watch this movie called 'Happy Days' and I tell you the title is definitely not misleading. It was a breeze and nice fun in the way only telugu movies can. I guess each language has its specialty which allows for movies to be made the way they are. The movie as such was almost unadulterated fun with reality being hit for a six and for once I didn't mind. The movie wasn't what one would call a master-piece. However it touched a chord within me because it reminded of the time in engineering college. I think with a few modifications that movie could have been about me and my friends (ok not a few but loads). We had a great time and I do miss college to a certain extent.

A short (or rather long depending on what one would call a 2-3 km stroll) walk after that had me pondering about the nature of progress that we make in life. I wondered what if I knew then what I know today? Life would have been different for sure but would it have been better? Anyways what do I know today that really would have made such a big difference? All said and done it the experience of dealing with different types of people and the ensuing difficulties which impart one with the most knowledge. The question which keeps popping in my mind is what if i could turn the clock back? Pointless question I know but it sort of gave me a better picture of what I am today. The choices I made which have cut off some options for me but which has allowed me to become this person with whom I am almost totally comfortable. Should that be traded for something else?

Term V

There are times when one wishes one could turn the clock back and do things differently. One ponders about the 'what if' s and the 'but' s. I am no stranger to that vocation but things have taken a turn. While one could say that things took a turn when I left Hyderabad to join this place but of all the terms put together this term has seen I can see the difference in myself and I kind of like it. I guess it has to do with the nature of the term (Term V). My biological clock has gone for a toss (and in any normal manner, for example last night I slept at 1am and woke up at 5:30am which is mind-boggling for anyone who knows me for any period of time and what is worse is that today's schedule might be something totally different) The reason being classes at odd times and only one per day which makes it a bit of a pain. However it has allowed for chilling in and has built tremendous momentum towards an inertia which prevents me from stepping out of the room which has resulted in my hair and beard taking their own personality and not being very far from being more infamous than their transporter. Now for the more boring parts.

Life this term can be broken down into a few basic activities which warrant different posts.
1) Watching and Following Football
2) Watching T20 World Cup with the whole block, this was special
3) Sitcoms (This definitely warrants a post or more)
4) Scotland Yard
5) sleeping

Thats it. A brilliant time where even people who spent previous terms mugging have turned to sitcoms which is quite an indicator of the time that one has on his hands. Watching movies is routine and can be squeezed into life very easily. It is when people start watching shows left right and center do we know that they way too much time on their hands. And that is not a bad thing :D

Something which was supposed to be random but turned into another bore-fest about that bore who goes around telling everyone his name is sajeev

It has been a long long time since I posted. I don't know what direction this post is going to take. There has been so much happening but now laziness and assignments have become an integral parts of my life. So there again is my oft-repeated excuse revealing itself in its 34th avatar.

As I sit in front of the screen and wonder what to write about, I have absolutely no idea but one thing is for sure: I am finishing this post in one go. I wonder why anyone would even be interested in reading this stuff and I wonder about the reason why I have this blog. It is definitely not there for the outside world. It is not meant to be an exhibition of my writings nor is it a dairy (definitely not at the rate I update it). So what purpose does this blog serve? Why do I keep posting here?

If anyone has the patience to go through all my posts I guess they would find the answer or rather answers. Once in a while I desperately feel the need to write and write anything( yeah it does happen or there is no way the number of posts could have made it into double-digits ) . Sometimes this blog is a forum for friends to know what is happening in life and once in a while discover things about me they didn't know before ( and being the complex person that I am that is bound to happen once in about say a million posts (which is to say never for those of you who still think I am complex person)). One thing is sure almost every post slips into being a bore-fest about this small person with a big ego called Sajeev. There have been times when I wished I could write more often and make this an opinion-blog but I know that is not happening. Coming to think of it I still don't know for sure why this blog exists, at least I am not able to come up with any solid reason other than maybe the fact that I like the sound of my own voice or in this case the way I form a sentence. Which again can be the topic of a post totally by itself. So why did I even ask the question of this blog exists? Maybe because I felt the need to post something and I had to fill the space and voila I got something which sounded decent enough but could then turn into a post about myself. Now that my itch to write something or rather anything has been satisfied I would like to think that my next post would be about something more meaningful.

A post which would have made sense two months ago, doesn't make any now, so is short

There are times when things keep reminding us that there is a child inside every one of us. It shows in unexpected ways and different ways on different occasions for different people(GLOBE!!!). Anyways in this case the person I am referring to is none other than yours truly. The occasion being my first trip to Delhi. It was a journey that I decided to look forward (after quite a bit of cribbing about not getting Hyderabad as my summers location). I wouldn't be wrong in saying that it was a case of a boy looking forward to the big city. In my case waiting to be awed and I guess you know what would happen in case the person has already visited a few other big cities. Much as I would like to finish it off in a paragraph and spare you the agony of the whole post, I feel that a little elaboration wouldn't hurt you much and would do me a lot of good (overcoming a bit more of my companion -laziness).

The previous paragraph was written more than 3 months back and I have been too lethargic to post anything here.

To finish off the theme of that post, I didn't like Gurgaon. Delhi is ok but not a place I would choose to live. There is absolutely nothing which you wouldn't find in any other major city. I would say that I was distinctly underwhelmed.

On the other hand I got to visit Mumbai again and absolutely loved the place. The city has a personality. More helpful people, you can go anywhere at anytime, no one interferes, no random fights, great transport system, pretty good weather, I could go on and on and on.

But I guess no one cares what I think now and I guess even I am just trying to make this a post.
I think I will be posting a proper one sometime soon.

End of Year I

There are more times than I can count of instances when I wish that I was endowed with less laziness. And then are bucket-loads more occasions when I feel that God could have gifted me with more skills. Well, this post is not supposed to be about my skills, but the above is just the prelude to the statement which confirms (for those who haven't observed it already) that this post comes after a long time and that I wish I posted more often. Taking all things into consideration, this term the "I didn't have enough time" excuse would hold some water. I guess that is enough of an apology for those who did miss my writing skills :D (Why do I have the feeling that no one in the audience raised their hand? Ah well, you will come around some day when I manage to write a best-seller! What??? Well, there is no harm in dreaming!)

The intent of my writing this post is commemorate the end of classes for the first year(the exams finish tomorrow). I hate using cliche (now this too has become a cliche) but I need to something to the effect of 'the time has flown and I can't believe that the year is up so soon'. To say that I have enjoyed it would be poor use of the repertoire of words. The word 'enjoy' requires lots of qualification for it to be properly put in context.

I would like to put the negatives out of the way first and then go on to better things. I guess it is not just me who has been underwhelmed by the institution. There were much higher expectations when we entered the portals of this institutions. To say that we have been more than slightly disillusioned and the quality of our learning has been affected as a result, would not be off the mark. There have been times when I was in disagreement with somethings going on here and there were more than a few who were unhappy with my disagreement. Well, those things are bound to happen in life but it still is jarring to see the cynicism which creeps into people. I could dig a bit more but I am in no mood to continue with this postmortem.

The great thing about staying in a hostel is the bonding which occurs. People whose existence I was unaware of just a few months, come along, make an impression and form bonds which are strong enough to last a life time. I would say that friendship is still very under-rated. I realize that all said and done, it is people who count. There have been times when I was down and I didn't ask for help, but I was glad I got it. I guess it is the very environment of being in a hostel which makes one feel much more strongly for others (at least a lot more than I used to).

There were lots of occasions when I have had fun, from water fights, matka-phod in the mud to trips to the city. However, one of the most important groups that I was a part of this year was my study group. That we are notorious is a gross understatement. We kicked, pushed, pulled, fought, screamed, swore ( all over GTalk and in class when we realize that no one has turned up with the assignment) and of course did the brilliant presentations. It was kind of ironic that we could have done a lot more but we still managed to get pretty decent grades for our group work. My only regret is that we could have done a bit more of 'group' work!

Then there is the row in which I was seated for the first year. I had the privilege of being in the same row as some very talented people. There were at least two of us who had a great talent for sleeping, all the row was more than very competent when it came to class participation(CP) and we also had time to indulge in 4-by-4, cows and bulls, and other games. There were more than a few times when I put my neighbour in danger by not waking him up before asking a question, but we were always there to alert each other when our main occupation in class (i.e sleeping for those who couldn't make it out) was going to irk the professor. Then there was the really chill trip that we had for our bench party. It was a great time and I am going to miss the row.

There were a lot of others whom I had the privilege to talk to on all kinds of topics (well, mainly football). Looking forward to more of that next year.

This writing would not be complete without a mention of the wonderful people that I call my friends. All of them have their quirks but each one of them is very caring. The sort of people who would go the distance for you. There are times when we try to look back and trace the way in which we made friends and find it difficult to point the time when we became friends, but that doesn't really matter ( though I am sure that there will be at least one point/incident which settles the issue). What does is the fact that one has them in place and that they now how much one values them.

As I leave for summers, I know for sure that I am going to miss this place and what is even more tragic - the people!

Terror strikes E-block

0200 hours, 29^th January, 2007

E-block

Residents were shaken by the thought that the roof had fallen on their heads when they heard a sound akin to the one hears in their respective nuclear nightmares. After discovering that disaster decided not to visit upon them in a drastic manner, some brave and curious souls (i.e anyone with working ears and central nervous system) decided to find out what happened. After a little shouting, banging of doors and the customary swearing, it emerged that a resident had been subject to the totally nerve-shattering experience of having a powerful cracker burst under his bed while he was engaged in an activity we are inclined not to reveal. The room filled with smoke attracted participants from all over the floor and other floors too. A preliminary investigation into the episode revealed that while the exact sequence of events was not known, the victim had strong suspicions about the identity of the culprits and was pretty enthusiastic to tell them what he thought of them. However the after-effects (visible in the nervous shaking of the hand which was holding a cigarette lit to relieve the tension) prevented him from letting himself go in a manner which would have delighted the spectators. While all of this lead to much speculation, chatter and laughter, the group realized that the neighbour’s door was open. And on the bed were visible the hands of the sleeper pulling the blanket over the head. As the reader might have guessed this lead to even more mirth and laughter as the participants were left marveling at the levels to which sleeping in class can elevate one’s immunity to noise. The participant from D-block was flabbergasted and dumb-founded while others were left wishing that they could sleep so soundly.

In the morning there was more than a little tale-telling, boasting and unconvincing denying by a prime suspect. While more details are being revealed, I salute the spirit of the culprits and the sleeper. I also want to extend my sympathies to the victim on behalf of the IIM-I family. (:D)

Readers beware and watch this space.