…… and I’m back!

Yes .. i know i probably shouldn’t speak too soon.. but then returning to this page to write a new post has been something I’ve tried to do for quite some time now… but the <cliched though it sounds> time has never been right… <ever heard of a writer’s block affecting someone who;s not a writer?! >

so anyway.. here I am.. attempting to revive my blog… which has long been pronounced dead by certain individuals..

all the best to me!

found this lil outburst of mine while looking thru my old drafts …. had penned these thoughts down when the famous new hostel shifting took place.. but somehow didnt get arnd to publishing it. 

i think this deserves to be put up.. so here goes!

For everyone who thought IITs are the epitome of technological advancement in India, I have two words — ” Ha Ha”. Well, sure the output of IITs is world-class and sure the facilities (technologically) are the most cutting edge — comparable, maybe even surpassing, the ones available at the top universities in the West. But the administration, atleast here at kharagpur, lags behind the world by more than a decade ….

where else would you find a new hostel being constructed with the exact same (building) plans that had been designed in the late 50s, or an administrative cadre that thinks an internet connection, geysers and curtain rods are not “essentials” when girls are asked (rather forced) to relocate to a new hostel.

What do you say, when, on bringing the lack of these amenities to the notice of the people in charge, you’re told that the reason why the management wants you to move to the hostel is that all such discrepancies can be identified and rectified….. moreover, when, after shifting in, you, again, bring these to the management’s notice, you’re told to bear with them for a few days… you can’t expect a palace now, can you?

errr… we never expected a palace, respected ma’ams and sirs, but we would like to ask you…. when u;re commissioning new hostels / buildings in the campus, is it absolutely essential you stick to the age-old building plans that the first hostels were made by…. is it not right for a student who joins an IIT with the expectations of world-class facilities, to expect a half-decent hostel — atleast one that has been constructed in 2007?? and.. is it that necessary that an available hostel is filled with residents (during the middle of the term) while it still lacks basic amenities & still has workers milling around all day?

Ironically, the only answer the authorities have to our complaints / suggestions / grievances —- take this opportunity to learn to manage with whatever is available. Pray how do you manage without hot water in a place like kharagpur where morning temperatures drop to abt 13 degrees?? Maybe we can turn this into a learning opportunity by luggin buckets over to our warden’s home half-way across campus to use hot water….. hmmmm good idea.. wat say?

Ok .. first of all.. yesss.. my blog has been dead .. (stop sniggering shaunak! ) .. will try to revive it..

Tennis craze has suddenly gripped my entire batch here at VGSOM. There are hordes.. n i literally mean it.. hordes of ppl seen strolling around in shorts, sports shoes (and a tee…. idiot!) with a tennis racket casually slung over their shoulders. They are always either on the way to the tennis grounds (which by the way are awesome here!!! ) or just getting back from there.

Now.. with such a widespread interest in a particular game, is it really possible that I dont look into the reason behind the fire?

So today, after fixing up a “coaching” appointment (coz i;ve never played tennis in my life before!) with Shaunak, a couple of us landed up at the tennis courts .. (our first trip here by the way!). After the inital warm-ups and 101s of tennis, we started practicing the game. Though i;ve never been an ardent fan of tennis, just a few minutes into the practice time, i was hooked….!!

wat an experience!! (though my arms dont necessarily subscribe to that sentiment).. the sheer energy required to play the game brought about a new found respect for tennis players — especially women!

n though muscles i didnt know existed in my arm hurt ….must say im looking fwd to the next training session.

P.S. — while teaching us tennis, our coach, the honourable Mr. Shaunak made a comment which just has to be documented here —- said the learned one “Tennis is like marketing strategy… the basic elements of mktg strategy are STP - Segmentation, Targetting n Positioning …. similarly.. in tennis, (leave segmentation aside), its important for u to position yourself (wrt the ball) n target the opposite side of the net” …!!!!!!

LOL!

come the navratri season, theatres get flooded with new releases-by-the-dozen… the latest to hit the silver screen were akki baby’s bhool bhulaiiya and rani’s laga chunari main daag…

like most ppl, i was more kicked abt the former… but lack of tickets and a “half-start” better rating that both the tabloids that come home gave Laga, pushed us into the wide comfy chairs at one of the plush cineplexes in bbay to watch…. hold ur breath — Laga Chunari Mein Daag —! {y? u ask… well.. to be frank.. i’m asking that question to myself too… }

but… coming back to the daag … in my personal opinion the movie in a few short words is “waste of time money effort” to watch on the big screen that is… rani’s superb performance would actually offset the DVD rental charge…

the cinematography though is excellent… and in that aspect, one can actually believe that it is a Pradeep Sarkar film… the same guy who gave us Parineeta..

the story however, and i must say this was a little expected, dragged at a lot of places… the first half of the film especially.. the second half does pick up for a while that kunal kapoor is on the screen.. (errrm.. u mite hv a call an impartial judge for that one..) but.. yeah.. the tempo falls back straight down..

i was actually amazed at the climax… i had expected quite a lot of drama shama… rona dhona was ther…but not tooo much drama… (i mean considering what extent is possible in the realm of the given topic) …

all in all.. an ok watch… maybe one time.. that too on DVD… though frankly, I’d rather have Ameya’s AJAD version of the film please…. any directors listening??

so… what is a perfect day in goa?? everyone i know differs on this one.. for some it is the full-day drinking that symbolises perfection… for others it is the beaches and sand that cannot be denied the whole day.. for some the churches and temples are the places to hit.. while some prefer to sleep in most of the day and hit the nightclubs and pubs directly when the sun has finished his business about town.

the total goa fan that i am.. on some level subscribe to the second one.. just relaxing in a beach on one of the numerous shacks that line the baga beach (not calangute… too noisy and crowded for me) … sipping on something off and on.. nibling on french fries in between.. but basically doing nothing.. aaaah.. thats goa…

on a recent trip to goa however, i’ve done what i can now describe as the most perfect way to spend a day in goa….

its like i finally realised why hordes and hordes of foreigners spend months and months and then some more months in goa… … what am i going on about?? well.. to experience it, get to goa, rent out a bike (more a cruiser bike than the other types — yes i dont know too much technicalities about bikes.. can we move on pls…), get hold of a tourist guide (the book!!! ) of goa.. and get moving… away from the beaches.. away from the most popular tourist spots.. farther the better…

so what did we do that im rambling about aimlessly here?

the day started idly.. like a normal goa day… after a late brunch.. (well so what it was almost lunch time by the time we finally made it to infantaria… it was our first meal of the day… it still qualifies as brunch :P) .. we took off on our bikes — destination - Kerim Beach … a tiny little beach almost at the northern tip of goa..

from the minute we left crowded calangute, we saw glimpses of how awesome the roadtrip was going to be… well-grown paddy fields lined both sides of the tiny road that would take us to Kerim… with the long palms waving in the distance  in the breeze was rushing to meet the sea..

the road meandered through fields, hills, valleys  leading to sights prettier than the prettiest you’ve seen till now. every turn of the road brought you to a lovelier view of the goa no one knows too much about.. tiny villages, with the backdrop of a river, or fishermen’s nets set up in the backwaters of some not yet named creek …

the beach itself was a treat…  situated at the delta of one of the numerous goan rivers (i forget the name of this one) and directly overlooking the teracola fort (the northernmost frontier of Portuguese controlled Goa) …

i wudnt say the beach was particularly clean (with the monsoons jsut drawing to a close.. no beach would be terribly clean!) but there were hardly any ppl ther.. and that is the best part about going to a beach…

when the sands roll out to welcome you and the sea rears its head to say hello… this is wat beaches should be all about…  not the tonnes of ppl crowding over one grain of sand and one wave…

this is the goa i love…. 

wonder y ppl make so much of a fuss about the water logging in bbay… the last few days in blore, it has been raining.. not pouring, mind you.. just a lil bit of rain.. the kind that will make a paddy field just abt wet — but, yet, the blore roads say a different story all-together!! thers atleast an inch of water on the roads — every road .. and in parts where the pot-holes lurk underneath.. obviously more!!

and… on closer inspection — i cudnt find a single drain opening… whether storm water, or regular water — nope.. no drains at all!!!

hmmmmm… here’s what ppl living in glass houses shouldnt do!

My colleague and co-lover of terry pratchet and other such fascinating and out of this world books has constantly been praising me for my ‘consulting services’ — constantly meaning whenever he needed fresh ideas for that blog of his..

coming back to the point.. Mr. Bala, the afore-mentioned blogger, has written many-a-times on topics suggested by moi…. and the sweet soul that he is, never forgets to mention and credit me everytime he does..

but that.. again.. is not the topic of this post… the real topic of this post is why i let my mind wander and come back with topics that mr. bala then converts into a info-post…… for that.. u;ve gotta read this

now.. i think, anyone who shows this type of admirable talent of converting any topic, deserves some divisions of your TDMed brain just so u can read it later on and have a hearty laugh..

cheers bala! and u know where to ask for the next topic..

Ther’s something in the air at blore that screams Party!!!! — how wud u else explain two consecutive weekends of endless partying / going out/ hanging out / pubbing.. by someone like me!! … even the “life away from home” at pune didnt get this much share of the party animal in me…

wonder y then is some other city called “the city of joy” …

For some time now, the BMC — the god of small things (well, actually everything) in b’bay — has been saying that they are taking the cleaning up of b’bay very seriously … err.. something a lot of people are willing to contest — but i’m going off-track…

yesterday, i saw actual proof that the BMC is really trying to clean up b’bay… i saw this tiny little robot-like apparatus — which looked like it was a manned version of R2D2, cleaning the road, with rather fancy looking bristles — a big-brother u can say of the tile polisher that makes the horrible noise when the neighbours are “doing” their house yet another time…

very impressive i must say… though, wonder when the BMC will realise that the time to use this new toy is in the wee hours of the morning or late at nite, when not too many cars want to use the road…. definitely not at noon when your “toy” causes a massive traffic jam!!!!

I recently had the good fortune of seeing one of the most talked abt marathi theatrical productions around — “Marathi Bana”, literally meaning the Marathi tradition / culture/ way of life..

first, a little about the show.. tagged as a “70 mm marathi natak”, it is an “all-live” performance,  with a cast of around 125 performers.. who sing/ dance/ play musical instruments & spread awareness… yes, and all 125 do appear on stage simultaneously a number of times! :D  - dont ask how they fit on the stage!

masterminded by a certain Mr. ashok Hande, who has directed/ produced / compered and sung in the show, the show is an excellent compilation of the marathi traditions. And since music and dance form the intrinsic base of any tradition, this show essentially translates as a two and a half hr dance routine covering all possible marathi traditions — right from how the dance forms differ on the plateau, konkan and the hills … to a compilation of the most famous marathi festivals … to marriage celebrations …. to excerpts from the patriotric streak brought to the fore by the likes of Shivaji …

what strikes me most about the  show, in addition to the excellent way it captured all that happens around maharashtra, was the presentation … ther was not one dull moment in the whole of the duration of the show ….  the performers emoted effortlessly in all the myraid of situations … and the dances were live-wire to say the least.

the dancers must have changed costumes atleast 10 times  during the entire show — and no simple costumes too… most were the traditional nine-yard saris and dhotis… and not once during the entire time did the tempo of the song and dance routine reduce even fractionally… to give you an idea… consider dancing to foot tapping fast paced with matching choreographed moves… for about 50 songs.. almost back-to-back..!

and in the midst of this all, they even managed to put through to the audience social messages — right from discussing why tradition says married ladies should wear a bindi, and keep their hair long, to why women should breast-feed… and a fair bit of current affairs too … including the fact that anil kumble scored his test century (while the show was going on!)

at the end, the show did wat it promised… introduced the new generations to customs and traditions that have long been lost… buried somewhere under the liberalization and westernization of our world… not to mention the cross cultural influences from within India — it reminded people what being maharashtrian actually means.. and in not quite the way a certain political organisation has been doing for the past so many years… it reminded people to believe in what they are.. and be just that … and more importantly, bring to people the quintessential maharashtra.. the way it was long ago..

kudos mr.  Hande!