Education, what?

Who needs education? We all do, apparently, because ever since we can consciously remember of our time on earth, it has been drilled into our heads that in order to make something of our lives, we need strong grades, multiple scholarly medals and honours of the highest order in the scholastic department. Devoid of these, we can make nothing of our lives, or so would people have us believe.
Don't take me wrong, I believe that education is extremely important for the development and progress of our society. What I stand against is the rampant prejudice that exists against what people think that you ought to study.

Being a student who chose to take up the stream of Humanities or Arts today, I've come across a bevy of  people who still hold on to the archaic (in my opinion it is definitely archaic) system of belief that: unless you take up any of the sciences or medicine or engineering you are considered absolutely worthless. Pass out with these absolutely safe and convenient degrees and get a job, because after all, life is all about convenience, innit? What frustrates me further is that your intelligence is measured by your choice of higher education. If you did manage to pay any attention when you were in school, dear  people, you would know that intelligence cannot be measured by what grades you score or what degree you manage to hold. Besides in a country like ours, degrees can be ordained by merely flashing those green notes around.

Oh and god help you if you're into something as beautiful as making music or creating masterpieces on canvas or turning simple food into creations of genius, you will be forced to give up on these because everyone knows there's really no money to be had in any of these things. They're only as good as a hobby, but your career needs a solid foundation. You like sports, or media, or drumming even, well, too bad, get a damn career, then maybe when you're 60 you can get back to your hobby. "Don't waste your youth in pursuit of things that might not give you returns when you're older."

The irony is that the same parents who encourage their kids to develop these skills are also the same ones to clip their kids' wings when the skill takes on a professional character. No matter how many movies are made on this topic, I'm not sure if the general public is even getting the point here.

I know for a fact that there are parents who encourage and support their kids' talents, no matter what they choose, though they form a minuscule part of the population population. The larger part of the population would still rather have their kids run after money than run after their dreams. I'm not saying that everyone needs to rebel against the common trend. You might actually have a thinking mind and might love the sciences, then you ought to take that up. However, if you're good at anything else, could be scuba diving even, you ought to be able to make the conscientious choice of pursuing your talent without falling into the pressure brought about by your family or the society to stick to the safer courses.

It may or may not make you a billionaire, but it will definitely guarantee you happiness.

I'm going to end this rant by saying that education needs to pervade the darkest corners of our population for total progress, but with education we need opportunities to make use of that education. We need a sort of revolution in order to over-throw the existing prejudices in the field and bring in more opportunities for everyone. These are all writings on the wall that we simply cannot and should not ignore. I don't claim to be all-knowing, but I do know this: that nobody, not even a Gandhi, or an Einstein became a Gandhi or an Einstein by doing something that they got pushed into doing or were loathe to do. Let that bud grow. If it is a rose, let it become a rose and don't try and make it a sunflower, because then you'll just land up with a very confused flower, which won't know whether to grow thorns or to follow the progress of the sun, or both. That, dear reader, shall make it one very ridiculous flower.

The lady

The stars twinkle. The waters gleam in the pale moonlight. The woods whisper, speaking in a tongue long forgotten by mankind. The hills in the distant stand severe, almost as if they were guarding these ancient lands. Amidst all this walks a lonely lady, almost unaware of the world around her.

Her footfalls are heard by none. The leaves that she walks on, remain untouched. The winds don't seem to touch her. The moonlight just shines off her, bathing her in its strange light. 

He follows her every move closely. Unseen by others, he makes her the prey. With feline grace he follows in her footsteps. However, his every footfall leaves a mark behind. It's as if he belongs to this world, whereas she does not.
The moonlight dances on her skin. Beautiful as a pearl, to the man she seems. Her strangeness, magnifies her beauty, in his eyes. 

She pauses, looking over at the gargantuan body of water stretching around for miles, right in front of her. He pauses too. There is not a soul to be seen around anywhere, not a sound to be heard. The water is eerie in its calmness.
The hunter, with fear in his heart, looks at his object of desire. He lets out a warning cry but, knows that he is too late. Without even a glance around, she takes a plunge into the lake. The man's cries pierce the deadly silence. Yet even the heart rendering scream cannot touch the strange eeriness of the lake and it remains as still as death. 

Conversations

Me: Tell me the meaning of life.

She: *Stares at me, not saying a word.*

Me: I know that you know about it. You're one of the few enlightened beings on this planet. I see you stare at the heavens above often-times and communicate with the stars.

She: *Looks away, then continues to stare at me.*

Me: Why won't you tell me? Is it because I haven't questioned the stars enough?

She: *Closes her eyes.*

Me: I don't want in depth analysis of things, just a simple answer.

She: *Scratches her ears*

Me: I know I'm only human, I want to know. Life is so complicated. Yet, you're always so content. Pray, tell me your secret.

She: *Half opens her eyes, gives me a contemptuous look and shuts them again*

Me: You know how they theorize about 42 being the ultimate answer to all life's questions. If that is the case, do you know what the question is? I've asked everyone, they are all unsure of it. When Douglas Adams wrote about it, he didn't divulge the question. Do you know? 

She: *Doesn't open her eyes*

Me: No, you cannot sleep until you give me an answer. This slumber shalt be interrupted.

She: *Snorts, jumps off my bed, and goes and sleeps on my mother's bed*

Thus ended my highly enlightening conversation with my doggy on the mysteries of life. Well, atleast I tried.

The Roller-coaster ride.

Imagine that you're on a roller-coaster. Not a roller-coaster of life, but something a little more, sinister. It's the kind of a ride where there is darkness around and yet there are moments of illumination. You've frankly no idea where you're headed. You've gotten onto a roller-coaster, but where it will take you, is anybody's guess. The roller-coaster gives you your own maneuverability. You can take control of it, stop it wherever, get off anytime you want to. However, you're inclined to just sit behind and let it take whatever course it wants to.
    You see the faces of the people you pass by, but none of them interests you. Not even one, holds your attention for a while. Deep down, somewhere really deep down, you know what it is that you're looking for. However, it's nowhere to be found.
    There are images in your head, of Utopian kinds, enough to cause envy even to the angels above. The kind that are fire-branded in your head and no matter where you look, it's those images that keep coming back to you. You know that all you have to do is look beyond the obvious and find those places, but the languor that has set it in, keeps you from it.
    You know that you need a spark, a certain something that'll shake you from your listlessness and force you to take charge of that roller-coaster. It'll sneak up on you one fine day, and before you realize it, it'll engulf you and rejuvenate you from within. When that day comes, is when all the highs and the lows on your roller-coaster ride will cease to matter. All that will matter, is steering your cart in that direction. All that will matter is reaching that destination. It is only then, that the castles that you've built in the air, will finally find a spot on the ground.

Steps to bake brownies- Supernatural and Game of Thrones edition

1. Step over the Wall and procure the ingredients required. Make sure you keep a look out for the Others. Don’t forget your Colt and bullets.

2.Take the Kingsroad to return your place. Drive the Impala with care. If you meet a Lannister on the way, shoot ‘em. For everyone else, swear fealty to their house.

3. Curse Castiel for not helping you out.

4. Get home and demon-proof the place. Don’t forget to keep the salt handy.

5. Blitzkrieg the ingredients in the bowl.

6. Ignore when the dire-wolves howl, they are probably just witnessing the death of another Stark.

7.Refuse to put in most of the essential ingredients because you’ll have to go down South to get them and you’d rather not lose your head.

8. Shove the batter into the oven and keep yelling “Winter is coming” periodically at it. 

9. Take out your sword and practice ballet.

10. Find that a ghost had pilfered into your safe house and set out to burn its remains.

11. After battling a demon, and angel, a couple of hounds and saving the world from ending, come back home to find that Castiel has frosted your brownies for you.

12. Eat the entire brownie.

13. Go to hell. Return in 3 days' time to find everything exactly the way it was.

14. Wait a whole year for a new plot line.

Things not to do when vacationing in a foreign country:

1. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, under any circumstances, lose your passport. It's better to lose yourself than to lose your passport. In case you have, the be prepared to run around the length of the country, not sight-seeing, but, arranging for fresh passports. And if you happen to be Indian, then you might just shell out your entire month's income on that. If you're lucky, you might even get the passports in time for you to return to your country. Otherwise, no curry-rice for the next few months.

2. So, in case you haven't managed to keep your passports safe, then it is imperative to keep your wallets on you all the time. Your passport might be your primary identity but these secondary identities can go a long way in availing discounts and producing proof of your existence on this planet at short notice. Also, wallets are notorious for having the important things in your life that you keep around with you all the time. If you have cards, then your loss is not gargantuan. If you love to carry cash around, then well, I can truly feel your pain. Also, not to demotivate you any further, but the loss of your wallet will hit you like an on-coming train, because then, you will only be your lost driving license away from driving your car.

3. Losing your passport AND your wallet will truly put you in a fix. Its one thing to be identity-less ( you could be a terrorist easily), but its all together another thing to be identity-less and penniless thousands of miles away from home. Not only do you not have proof that you are not, in fact, an alien species, here to spy on humankind, you don't even have the monies to get the proof made. So if you see two men in black suits with dark glasses walking towards you: run.

4. In case the loss of these very sensitive documents drives you a little insane and you turn to your music for some solace, you will find that it helps to not lose your music player, iPod or mp3. If you do lose it, then there is not much to stop you from turning insane.

If all four events occur simultaneously, whilst you are on your vacation, then you must be the unluckiest person to be born and before anything else goes wrong with you, you should get yourself home. That is, the minute your Embassy decides to send you home.

Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes

Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes

What is the common link between all the three men? Apart from them being very dashing and handsome, not to forget witty, its the fact that they are all three, major faces of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Now the reason why they happen to be staring at you on my blog, dear reader, is pretty simple. Sherlock Holmes has been and will remain the one true love of my life. Mr. Holmes as a character, might find that either exceedingly disdainful or exceedingly flattering. His one true love was after all, his work: the Science of Deduction. Irene Adler did come quite close, but she could never replace the love that he bore for his work. One can draw parallels with the guys of today: the love they bear for sports does in fact rank higher than anything else they love until they find their very own Irene Adlers (even then its a tough competition). Until then, the Playbook shalt be their Bible.

That Mr. Sherlock Holmes is a genius is a well established fact. The passion that he felt for his work was so intense that it burned him through and through. He loved an audience. Of his shortcomings there were many. He was no god. Though that does not prevent me from admiring the man as something of an artist. His intelligence, coupled with the manner of his working, is enough to be a massive turn on. The Sherlock Holmes I've imagined is a man with a personality to blow you over. However, I will not belittle the essence of this great genius by associating tags like "hotness" with him.

All the three men have portrayed Mr.Holmes to perfection. However, its always Jeremy Brett who comes to my mind every time I think of Sherlock Holmes. The piercing stares, the contemplative moods, the sudden bursts of manic energy that is trademark of Sherlock Holmes all reflect brilliantly in his roles. He brought Mr. Holmes to life. I believe he's evergreen. However, it would be a struggle to keep alive the Holmes that Mr. Brett portrayed in today's times.

Robert Downey Jr. needs no introduction. All one has to do is visit one of his many millions fan sites and they'd be greeted with various superlatives describing his wit and his hotness. Now talking about the movies, I have to say that Guy Ritchie is a genius. He almost single handed-ly re-ignited the waning interest in one of the greatest crime solvers of all times. In fact, he made it cool to possess and make use of one's knowledge. 

At first, Benedict Cumberbatch, to me, seemed like an odd choice for portraying Holmes. Now I'm probably one of his greatest fans. He is Jeremy Brett of today as far as his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes goes. Classy, yet modern, I go weak in my knees every time I watch an episode of Sherlock. I relish the attention to detail and the work that has gone into adapting the series for today's times. Its quirky, its fun, it makes a play on the idiosyncrasies of all the characters and delivers it in a newer avatar. 

There might be a lot of people out there who don't share the same views as me on the greatness of Sherlock Holmes. I don't need them too. The man who I've imagined Sherlock Holmes to be, would have never wanted to become just any viral phenomenon either on the internet or in the the real world. He would rather have wanted his methodologies to gain the interest of the masses. Interest in his methods, genuine appreciation for the science of deduction would be the ultimate form of flattery for him. After all "such is the frailty of genius".

One for 2012?

Ok, pardon me readers( Is anyone out there?), for not updating this blog as regularly as I should. However, it's 2012, so woohoo to a new year. It started with a bang(unlike the previous year) and keeps getting better and better as the days go by. Yes, it might indeed be a little early to comment about the general trend of the year, but the vibes are good. There's positivism all around me! The fact that I don't have to worry about sticking to a new year's resolution (owing to the fact that I don't have one), has only lifted my spirits even further. Oh wait! I solemnly swear to update the blog more regularly.... (Nopes, no, let's stick to the no resolutions stand, shall we?)

My raison d'etre right now is my college fest. It's no biggie (It is!), but it keeps me busy, busy, busy as a bee. Every time I've been busy, I've been positive. So its no surprise, that right now, I feel like I'm on top of  the world!

Also, I took a trip to Bombay (Sorry, but I WILL NOT call it Mumbai) yesterday. All those travels to the different cities across India has been in vain, for NOTHING can compare to the one short trip to the city of cities. I feel invigorated (I know, it wasn't a visit to the country side, but that's where I draw my strengths from!). I don't even know what it is, whether it's the cacophonous bustle of the place or the busy professionalism that is self evident to all and sundry or the numerous food bazaars that pop up everywhere to satisfy every food craving of yours or the fact that there are no equivalent shopping destinations anywhere else to be found (Delhites might strongly disagree), but the city is my poison of choice. Like the city derives its "Bombay-ness" from a medley of the diverse group of people who call it home, I find that it appeals to me in more ways than one. I have a host of stories in my tote (which coincidentally is from Bombay) that I can write about, but its the fear of prolixity that keeps me from featuring it in my blog. The day shall come though, when I shall enunciate the love I feel for this mighty city and proclaim it to the world. Until then, my readers, you can rest easy knowing that the apocalypse is not all that far away.

There is a restlessness in my soul, a sort of stirring that is giving way to a myriad set of emotions. One minute there is confusion, the next despair. One minute my inner voice urges me to reach for the stars, and in the next minute the same voice fades into complete oblivion. One moment I am singing and dancing like there's no tomorrow and the next moment I am burdened with the very thought of a tomorrow. I find myself reveling in my simpleness,then again, the very thought of simplicity bores me to death. I scoff at the idea of perfection, but then demand perfection at every turn. I preach tolerance but fail miserably at practicing it. I never give up, but then I find I do. I want cerulean blue skies, but when the time comes, I look for grey clouds, the ones that come with silver linings. 

I am only human.

Yes, Here I Go Again

I am in a dangerous mood, one in which resolutions such as "never write a blog that might end up incriminating someone" or "never poke fun at others for your entertainment" or "never pour your heart out unnecessarily" go down the drain pipe and get flushed into the Mulla-Mutha river. It's one of the reckless "to-hell-with-the-world" kind of moods, one where all you want is your own company and the four walls of your own room.

 What do I do when I am in those moods? Sometimes I hitchhike to the middle of a park and sit and stare at the stars willing them to turn into supernovae in front of my own two eyes.Sometimes, I read. Sometimes, I cook. My histrionics in the kitchen have been topics of gossip at the dinner table, often-times. The reason for it is my innate quality of mixing the most obscure of ingredients together and hoping for a miracle. In a very Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Hyde kinda way, the best inventions have been the results of such obscurity. 

 So what quadratic turn of events are responsible for my such moods? I am, of course, the primary variable in these equations. My some random behaviour in the past, is now bearing it's fruits, causing such upheavals in my persona. However there are singular instances that completely throw your thinking off-balance and cause you to act/react in the strangest ways possible. Like for instance, I have a rain-shoe in my closet that gives me a shoe bite every time I wear it. Every time I wear it, I pledge never to put myself through such torture again. Come rain, all my other shoes become useless and I end up wearing them shoes. Now, I know that those shoes will lead to calluses. However, I don them from time to time. Why I do it, you ask? Because of the lack of other options.

 Strange, you could go buy yourself another pair of them rain shoes.

 No, they are pretty shoes. They are the shoes that I like. If I wanted other kinds of rain-shoes, I could have picked them up a long time back. Plus, I don't think I will find rain shoes of the kind that I want.

 Weird reason to get worked up about don't you think? How would you know, dear reader? Have you walked close to 5 kilometers with shoes that give you calluses.
 Also, there are variables like the buzzing mosquito that will never leave you alone when you are trying to sleep, the constantly hovering fly that lands on your food just when you are about to eat it, the omnipresent light that stops you from shooting that basket, that person who pretends to be your friend but really isn't, the person who wants to be cool but doesn't know how to spell it, the person who wants to grow up but doesn't know how to live it, the person who might be a nerd but doesn't want to admit it and that interesting book which you really loved made into a movie that completely messed it. Yeah, I did try to rhyme a couple of words here and there.(In my head I was rapping these lines out). Don't blame me for trying to make it all sound likable. Nobody like to read a blog where all the writer does is complain.
All the above variables feature in my life prominently. They are the part of my "every day equations". Being a quadratic equation, I should be able to solve them out simultaneously. The solution should be simple. Then again, I might have already stumbled upon the solution.

Reasons to NOT get a new battery.

My cellphone's battery has died. No, I cant charge it, I need a new battery. So go out and buy a new one, you say. I say, what's the need. Now, before all you techno freaks and pseudo-realists decide to blow my brains out let me take you through my list of  "Top 5 excuses to not buy a new battery".

Numero Uno: Low on funds. Seriously, low. No, I'm not asking my parents to bail me out because it was my fault that my battery died and so I need to take complete responsibilty for it's demise. Strangely enough, they seem to be okay with getting me a new battery. That does not mean I shirk from my moral responsibilities.

Nombre deux: This brings down the number of distractions around me to a much better figure of "four". The other distractions are of course, the idiot box (Cliche alert!), the internet (my saviour!), Sugar (my pet dog who I just need to keep talking to ALL day long) and my brother (who is an inimitable distraction, also a permanent member of the Distraction Committee).Since four is better than five, my daily work output goes up by 20% (Simple math involving taking fractions and converting those into percentages).

Number three: My imaginary friends might abandon me sometime soon (they've been threatening to do so for quite some time now!). Before the unthinkable happens, my battery dies and lo! I get the the best opportunity to re-connect with them. Now I can have long chat sessions with them without the need to keep checking my incoming texts.

Number four: I will not let the years of planning and blue-printing my efforts at building the perfect "Happy Place" bite the dust anytime soon. It's time to return to my "Happy Place" and ensure its beautiful as ever.

Number Last: The universe just does not want me to have a phone. Let's face it. All the mobile devices that I have ever been the owner of, have all died gruesome deaths. They have been tortured and harassed till their metal bodies no longer had the strength to support the electric force in them. And why fight the will of the universe. It knows the best, after all.

Sugar: A Case File

Date: Sometime around 2nd February, 2011.

Place: The mountains, somewhere around Pune city.

The following events took place between February and August of the year 2011.

On the above-mentioned date a brood of tiny creatures were brought into this world. To this day we don't know the exact reason for this conception but then, the universe does function in mysterious ways. These creatures would go on to become part of six human families, make a mark in their lives, and settle in. They would shed their innate forms and become as close to humans as they can, marking them, observing them, learning from them.
And my family is one of the six families responsible for one such creature.
The creature was escorted to our home, one surprisingly dark June evening.According to eye witness accounts, (in this case it happens to be my brother) the minute she got home, the entire atmosphere around the house changed. Her territorial instincts (which are still in training) , kicked in. She gave off a strange odour and refused to move about. Meanwhile, all efforts were being made to hold communications with the strange creature. Their were cries of "WE COME IN PEACE" echoing all around the house, the loudest being from one 12 year old kid, who himself belongs to another alien race.
The ice breaking event that finally opened all bridges of communications between the creature and the humans was the simple act of dousing the creature in water and giving her a soapy scrub. Trust mothers to think out of the box. When all logic fails, its time for the Mums to work their magic .
And in the creatures case, it actually was magic. The bath was the first step towards the acceptance of the creature into the family and vice-versa. All the hostility and strangeness kept rolling off the creature until all that was left was a forlorn looking puppy dog, with beautiful black eyes, looking around at humans to get some love. The metamorphosis of the creature is in itself a mark of some higher intelligence.
So now the doggie form of the creature has been christened "Sugar", form of highly addictive hydrocarbon which when taken in large amounts can wreak havoc in a person. ( Mum says she was named thus, because of her "'sweet" nature. *sigh* Mums!).
It has been three months since the above-mentioned episode took place. Everyday brings a new change in Sugar's behaviour. She is the new celebrity in the house. Like human beings, she"s learnt the joys of socialising and has guest coming to visit her often. She has learnt the art of tantrum-throwing and how to use her natural abilities to get what she wants. She is now learning to adopt the superciliousness of humans and amble around the house as if she owns it. She is the perfect example of a mega experiment going right.

Current Location: Pune.

Status: Officially been adopted as a member of the Prasad family.

An encounter of the "generous" kind at Starbucks.



The lady Barista on the right, the sweetest lady who handed me the coffee samples

You might wonder what I am doing uploading pics of random people on my blog (no, my brains haven't been eaten by zombies, they are very much intact thank you very much).  This is the photo of two very sweet Baristas I encountered at Starbucks (which happens to be the best place to have coffee, no questions asked). So the story goes like this. I was at Target shopping away the blues (actually just whiling away time, you know me), when good ol' Joe called out to me. Naturally, I complied and off I went to the counter to place my order. The Barista and I got talking. Once I get talking, i KEEP on talking. "Verbal Diarrhoea" is a very apt term for it, actually. Anyway, moving on from my shortcomings we talked about how great home brewed coffee is and how it "sucks", (excuse me english language purists, but I'm trying to keep it real!),  that there's no starbucks back home. She was, so as to speak, pretty amused by the revelation that I did  not have access to such amazing coffee. Quick as lightning, she took out a couple of instant coffee mixes and handed them out to me!. I turned into a fish, opened and closed my mouth a million times in one second and managed to splutter out a mild "thank you". Then after getting my order in hand and taking a few sips of the delicious brew (trust me, coffee helps to think), did my thinking get restored. I thanked her profusely, made her go red out of embarrassment and finally, just to make sure the colour did not drain all too quickly from her face clicked a photo of her with promise to make her a mini celebrity back home.

She had no reason to hand me out the samples. She could have at the most, sympathised with my tough luck. She could have just muttered a few words encouraging me to drink from Starbucks everyday of my blessed trip to this country. Or she could simply have smiled, taken my order and with cold indifference handed out the change and bid me goodbye and good luck.

She might not even remember that brief encounter with me. However, she will be remembered by me for the rest of my life. Whatever mix of star dust created her, she made one tiny little person extremly happy. God bless her soul!

This next photo (excuse my clumsy photography) is for all the die hard chocoholics out there. Located In Manhattan at 841 Broadway in between 13th and 14th street this little piece of chocolate heaven as featured on a large variety of food shows and magazines. It was founded by Max Fichtman and Oded Brenner.

Story behind the image: I was passing by in a car by this street and I saw it out of my window. Instinctively, I reached for my camera and snapped a photo of it, and not a moment too soon because the car took off soon after. Having read about this place and watching it feature on some of my favourite travel shows I couldn't resist taking a pic of the place and sharing it with the rest of the world. Since, I consider it my duty to spread the joys of chocolate to the rest of the world, all the more reason for my actions.

Why I blogged it: I'm a chocoholic. And I hope that maybe someone out there, reading this blog is too. And if you are one then you would know exactly what I'm talking about. To the uninitiated, I'm talking about the Willie Wonka, the Actual Willy Wonka, of the chocolate business. They have on their menu chocolate soup, bagels with chocolate cheese and an award winning chocolate pizza, apart from the usual hot chocolates and other chocolate truffles. That right there is Mecca,for me for sure.

A new country is bound to be full of new experiences.Naturally, because of the different kinds of people and different lifestyles and different time zones. And especially if the country is US of A or "Amreeka" as the people back home refer to it then there is a bucketful of experiences to share. So I think this is as good an opportunity as any to be putting up blog posts about the crazy things that my little trip to this great cradle of modern civilization has led to. Regardless of the limited readership I have, it'll give me great satisfaction to document my "voyage premier" to the land which Columbus was desperate to discover.

  So let me start with a picture of yours truly with an officer of the NYPD ( and no, its NOT a wax statue!!!) ,one of the most easily recognizable law enforcement bodies around the world (yes, we do have the gazillion american crime fighting tv shows to thank for this).

Story behind the image: Impulse. Pure, simple impulse. I knew I wanted a pic with the NYPD officer the nano second that I saw the parked car and the blue uniform on the street in Manhattan.

Why I put it on my blog: You've got to admit its cool (the number of likes this pic has got on Facebook has nothing to do with the coolness, mind you). I mean would you just look at how happy the man is posing for a photo with a strange tourist who regards him as some sort of celebrity from another world? Now that's something innit?

Befuddled Musings of One Chandni Prasad

So what is going on in my mind right now? A lot, as usual. A million conflicting thoughts and emotions are dancing around. There’s doubt, there’s hope, there’s happiness, there’s sadness, there’s excitement, there’s guilt and a million other emotions, which my limited vocabulary prevents me from enunciating. Charles Dickens expressed the contradictions of states best in his novel - “A Tale of Two Cities”.

So what is causing this motley set of emotions? Hormones? (I forbid the reader from doing a Dr. Phil on me!) Apart from that it’s really the lack of insight/foresight into what I want from life. And I’m not just referring to my career and goals and the other what not’s.

The simple things in life like: “what I want to eat, what I want to wear and how I want to spend my afternoon”, are easy enough to figure. But gods forbid if I’m asked: “What do you want?”  Or “are you ready to take a chance?”, then I’m rather at the loss of words- “perte des mots”, in French, which is an achievement in itself for a chatter-box .

The reader might scoff at the simplicity of these questions (it is not as if I’ve been asked to verbally define the theory of relativity), but answering them is not.  Yeah, I tried using the good ol’ cranium, but no cerebration has occurred. The search always returns error 404.  Also my new found bible- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’s friendly advice on “42” being the answer did nothing to abate my confusion.

So what is the suggestion? The whole “look deeper within you”, “search your heart for answers” routines don’t work with me. I mean, if I was into the whole “Eat, Pray, Love” thing I wouldn’t be sitting here, writing this blog post. Meditation, on the other hand, bores the living daylights out of me. Turning into a shingle is not on my “Top 25 things to become until you die” list.

However the “truly annoying award” goes to my extremely creative and imaginative dream creating brain. If I were to assign one true reason for my state of confusion, it would be because of this image producing wizard. The other non-helpful thing is that weird noise in my head that keeps buzzing through the day, contradicting every plausible solution that I may stumble upon. And then there is the almighty universe which gives out the strangest signs, especially when I’m not looking for them.

So what do I do? Google the answers? Nah..too many possible permutations and combinations for a simple search engine to handle. The maybe I should seek advice from Mom? Not if I want to be put in the friendly neighborhood institute for the mentally challenged. Friends are always there. Yeah, not if I'm busy all the bungling time or when they are not around when I need them. Then what, a psychologist? No, I’m not demented enough to inflict such torture upon myself.

So it’s back to square one. Buzzing in the head is still around. Solutions do not seem likely to appear on the horizon. So do I take a leap into the dark? Or do I wait around, as the moments pass by? It’s one helluva choice that I’ve just got to make. 

"A year's worth of social learning"

Ok so it has been awhile since I last blogged. Yeah that’s due to a large number of factors primarily exams and the other reasons include the sheer summer heat and post-exams languor, coupled with the inexorable lack of time. It wasn’t due to laziness ok?

So now that I’m 19, I’ve decided to write about all the things that I learnt in the one year from my 18^th birthday. It’s been one hell of a year, so naturally there has been a lot to take home from it.  Now obviously there were a lot of things on my “things to do before I’m 19 “ list, which remain undone but that’s a different story.

So, enough with the bantering.  Here’s the list:

·         The first thing I realized is that your life is not a movie. No, the entire world does not break into a song and dance sequence just to celebrate your happy mood. Nor,does your knight in shining armor come to help you out every step of the way.

·         Parents have a sort of screen in their heads that automatically captures and stores the images of their kids as two year olds. Also it has the unique ability to superimpose that image on any subsequent images that occur. What it simply means is that no matter how old their kids actually are (they may be graying for all you know) they would appear like the two year old toddler minus the crying and the barfing.

·         The tinier and the more visually horrifying a place, the yummier, more flavourful and exotic will be your food. Trust me, that’s the secret to a happy tummy.

·         Medieval torture devices could take a beating to the present day form of torture: exams.

·         Hoping for talking robots as teachers is being optimistic to the point of lunacy. Hoping for talking humans as teachers is what my dream is.

·         The more the number of people you can baffle with your speech the better the chances of you appearing uber cool and spectacularly brilliant.

·         Making friends is one of life’s more challenging operations. No, employing the use of CIA or CID to do a background check on your would-be friends does not help at all. And it’s not about spawning doppelgangers or nurturing sycophants but creating long lasting friendships and bonds of trust between people.

·         Love is still a confusing terminology. Pity there’s no one way to define it.  Although I love Albus Dumbledore I’m seriously beginning to doubt his ideologies about “love”.  Yeah, reading the ending of Harry Potter did nothing to help,  by the way.

·         Cricket is a religion. It’s not just a sport for people in India. And as nonchalant as one may try to appear, or as much as one may pretend that soccer is what is, for higher beings,  it’s impossible to not venerate in joy when India brings home the much anticipated “world cup”.

·         No matter how much money you have on you, you always end up owing/lending cash to your friends.

These are what I call “learnings”.  Pretty obvious, depending on what stage of development, you, as a reader, are at. It was high time I chronicled something and this is a sure way of telling my Mom that look, I’ve been busy!

College Bugger Fun

We collegians are, in general, a bunch of overly excited people. Small things, tiny, inconsequential things are put up on a pedestal with a spotlight on them. Everywhere you go you are dogged by the same inane conversations. The college centre, the ladies recreational room, the library, the canteen and these days even the sporting fields.  Juicy gossip is inevitable. Yeah I know it’s our hormones to blame. Yes I even know that it’s always the other person’s fault. However, isn’t anybody concerned about looking at the bigger picture here?

Look around you. The world seems to be growing warmer.  Global warming you say? I say measure the contribution made by the “heated” minds of human beings to this alarming problem. Think you have a complicated life? Imagine a day in the life of earth. Asteroid attacks, tidal waves, tectonic plates shakeup, solar flares and gravitation of moon. To add to that it has to bear with the constant attack that humanity places on it. Bigger picture is all takes. And I’m not insanely optimistic.

College has to have all the pizzazz to make it interesting. After all it’s always other people’s distress that provides the best fodder for humour. I hear nobody complaining. Why should they? A few days of complete attention to the subjects of slander is just one of the many benefits. The others include inimitable popularity, increased interaction with seniors and the excuse to bond with certain targeted groups of people.

Of course, its extreme entertainment, better than what any reality tv show can provide. The question is: what are we taking home from it? A life time’s worth of counseling sessions for one. For some it’s the subtle art of diplomacy. For me it’s taught me to not have my feather’s ruffled no matter what.

There’s going to be a lot of clamoring and cankering both on and off campus in the days to come. It’s a quintessential part. It’s what gives us the courage to step into the thresholds of academia, brightens our day, and gives us something to think about at night. After all, what are we going to tell our kids?

The Garden

It’s been awhile since I visited the garden. Everything’s the same, I presume. After all, what could have changed in such a short while, one might ask. Plenty? Or maybe nothing at all?

Sure, a cursory glance from the entrance revealed the same smattering of people as before. The elderly couples, displaying their evolved interdependence on one another, the young couples, in a burgeoning relationship, displaying a range of emotions from covertness to general alacrity, the occasional family looking for a few hours of bonding time, and the occasional solitude-seeker seeking insight into a myriad of issues. Yeah on the whole, the numbers have remained the same.  The difference is minute- it’s the faces that have changed.

It’s a funny thing how easy it is to study the humans as a whole, as an entity. The same cannot be said for an isolated human. As a group we behave the same. As an individual, nothing’s the same. It maybe our capriciousness or maybe the sheer force of humanity, who’s to say?

Coming back to the garden. The trees are different. They have sprouted new leaves. The flowers of yesterday have given way to the seasonal ones of today. The migratory birds have taken off and now the usual array of birds is visible. The stars that were once so very bright have lost their luminescence.

Change is how the nature works. Change is good. Change is fun when it’s done, as said by a very dynamic person. Sitting in the clearing, staring at the now hazy stars, there is much time to ponder on the various dimensions that life can take. So yes, every time I visit the garden I look for the things that have remained the same.  But if they were to remain the same would there be a reason for growth?