Elephants Can Headbang - Stories From Mallu-land

Its been long since I made a post... I acknowledge the fact. I also realize that there have been a myriad incidents around me which I could have and should have posted; but everytime I start, there are more such incidents and I decide to put them in too... And now that I have an overflowing bank of these, I had better start posting before they slip away into oblivion.

First things first - Why such a caption? It's because - they do. I do not like uploading videos (especially since I'll have to transfer them from my HandyCam to my Desktop and I'm really lazy to go about doing that) but if anyone wants proof I have 2 minute clips of a number of pachyderms who think that they are in a rock-concert. Head-banging, neck-breaking, tap dancing (elephants crowd-surfing, anyone?) - elephants do love shaking-a-leg and that, I mean literally.

My trip to Kerala, a vacation-cum-temple tour, was definitely eventful - especially towards the end. Because that was the time I reached the much talked about Kochi Airport (no points for guessing who talked about it) hoping to catch a glipse of 'India's own Heathrow' - as I was told. Well, the outward appearence was goodish and for a moment I actually believed that it was the quintessential Indian aerodrome. But they quickly made amends. First, I found one boarding gate pad-locked (there were two in total). Alright, that's not my concern, you'd think. But wait till the rest - Once I reached the gate once the boarding call was issued, I realized that the van was not yet there... The flight was already 2 hours late! Irked by the possibility of further delay, I went to the Airport Authority to ask him what was causing this 'new inevitable delay'. 

'Where is the bus?'

He retorted promptly - 'There is no bus...'

'What??!'

'Ya, there is no bus... Thats your plane.' He was pointing at a distant aircraft, some half kilometer away!

Yes, I walked.

And there went the transcendent airport. The flight turned out to be good though, (maybe it was because I no longer held any expectations) and I won a 3k watch on a scratch card. A high point of the hols, no doubt. In fact one of the only highs in an otherwise plain vacation.

Making a post on ancient history (read : a month ago) is a gargantuan task as it becomes difficult recalling the nuances which actually lent flavour to the happening. (No wonder autobiographies make boring reads!)

Thomso came and Thomso went; and along with 'The Happening' came many more worth-writing-about stuff but I can't just cram it all in here. Jumbo-posts are never good. So I guess I'll have to save that up for later...

Happy Diwali to all! (Mine's pretty boring here...)

The Day The World Changed - Forever...

The league of extraordinary gentlemen : Richard Gatling of the Gatling Guns; Irene Joliot-Curie, the nobel prize winner; Yao Ming, at 7 feet 6 inches; Jesse Owens; Nathan Bracken;  Nuno Valente... And of course - me. Every one of these aforementioned illustrious people graced this world on the twelfth of September. Wiki went on to mention the less known - King Francis I and Fernando Cesar de Souza; the unknown - Ricky Rudd, Yang Mi and Stanislaw Lem; and the notorious - Gerald Stano, an American Serial Killer. But, as they say - #*It happens.

They said "Sweet 16" when I was 10, and I knew that 16 was the age to be. Many years later, when I finally turned 16, I was informed that "the awesome age"  it was not 16 but 18 - the time you become a major. Well, I am not stupid you know... Once bitten, twice shy. I had already been bitten twice. I had rightly discovered then - there were no "awesome ages"...

Well September is the month of birthdays - and not a single day has passed, since the first of this month, devoid of chapos... Ah well, today's different. Today's wierd - Its the day when I offered to treat everyone to the delicacies of the Cautley Canteen only to be politely turned down... (Of course only after having mentioned that they would be delighted to accept it the day-after-tomorrow) How often does that happen? And often is a guy let off without the mandatory GPL? But it truly is an experiance, not too pleasant, but an experience nevertheless to celebrate (so to say) your birthday on the day of a TS.

My first resolution was drawn before the stroke of midnight - I will cease studying at 0000 hrs - so as to not suffer the disgrace of studying into your birthday. And I also decided to complete this post before retiring to get my dose of 8 hrs before the exam. All of this behaviour may seem bizarre and eccentric, I know... (I've had people staring at me strangely) I don't know what has come over me... But let's just say that I'm hoping - birthdays are lucky for you.

Its time to hit the sack now and begin the new year, and what better way to debut this year than writing a test when you are half out of bed.

La Roue A Tourne

Abey line me chal - One of the first lines that I heard in IIT-R. It was one of those highly dreaded lines drowning the spine in shivers.White shirts, black pants and leather shoes were all around, with a few people hurrying to buy the set in Civil Lines. The Dress Code: The shopkeeper made his fast bucks and the seniors had their share of fun. In fact, I remember the few who bought 3 sets of those to avoid laundry problems!

I delve into those days long ago when baths were regular and laptops -luxuries. The times when every face was new and there existed this deceptive feeling that we had entered the most-fun-phase of our lives (not totally untrue though). But then, the first semester of college leaves you with impractical expectations for the times to come which seldom is met, if ever. And soon it had dawned upon me that perhaps college wasn't anything different after all... It all had come down to routines and schedules.

But now times have changed... We have come a full-circle and the quizzers will be quizmasters soon. It has taken me a little while to realize the full implications of these changes. Now the very same faces which I once saw filled with trepidation are on the prowl. The prey has become the predator - it seems to me. Ofcourse, I don't have a violent bone in my body, but it was fun nevertheless when a kid came up to me, tapped me on the shoulder and asked whether I was a freshie; I merely said 'No', but I still don't know if he heard me as he had fled the scene before I said anything more! (The next kid didn't even last that long when 'Mr. Athletic' asked him - 'Tere ko hum facche dikhte hain kya?)

The sophomore year seems to have other benefits as well. No more poster sticking for me! Well I don't mean to undermine the task, but it definitely isn't the most pleasurable job... Not only does it hurt your pride, sticking stuff on walls with everyone staring at you, but I hated cycling up Mt. Central Library (I don't want the meillieur jeune anymore!)

And recruiting the juniors seems to be fun job as well... Well, the new year has begun and I've begun to count the enormous number of changes (most of them seem to be for the better, but I'm a firm believer of Murphy's laws). But whatever happens, good or bad, definitely La roue a tourne!