The Fun Theory

Bored?
Feel like cursing out loud?
Wish to do something constructive and fun?
Cannot recall the last time you laughed until it hurt and you couldn't breathe?

Introducing The Fun Theory ! *
'nuff said.

The deadline has passed and no more entries will be accepted. But there are ideas. Ideas, which can be realized with moderate ease and will definitely make things more interesting around here. Who knows what this might lead to? Better and bigger ideas- definitely. More fun- Obviously!


*The tone of the sentence is just for dramatic effect. I did not come up with this theory. I am just one of those people who spread the idea in the hope that more like-minded people will express support and come together to help realize the dream.

21

From a bee-sting that caused my father to be admitted into the hospital,
From the walks in the park where I would try to imitate the great man, my grandfather,
From the tales spun around lizards, monkeys and some members of the insect family( cockroaches, if memory serves me),
From the house with a grape vine and a bed of roses,
From the birth of a brother who literally, turned everything around,
From the cement table, the banyan tree and the ghostly garage that scared the bejesus out of a bunch of   8 year olds,
From the time of hide n seek, french cricket and azaadi,
From the get-togethers, pot-lucks and moon-lit dinners with people who left us for the lands beyond the sea,
From all those myriads of memories associated with every place I have lived in to the place I call home.
Two years ago, that chapter of my life ended.

And an hour from now, I shall be on the other side of one-and-twenty.

“In the night I hear him talk, coldest story ever told,

Somewhere far along this road he lost his soul…”

She removed the earphones and put away her cellphone that played the Kris Allen song on the loop. She’d been listening to it for the past two days now and even when her phone was tucked away safely in her purse, the song continued to play, in her head. She needed to update her playlist. Being the moron she was, she had chosen to leave her only source of solace behind. Her beloved book. She cursed mentally.  Now she was stuck in the train for an hour with little to do. She spent sometime thinking about the latest assignment on her plate. Five minutes later her train of thought had reached a forbidden station. She could not disembark here. Trying to think about something else was a herculean task. So, she reverted back to the good ol’ exercise of observing her fellow passengers. It usually did not fail to amuse her. Today, it only reminded her of the rut she was in. The people around her, her job and the things she herself did – all seemed more mundane than ever. Then the announcement lady delivered her one-liner announcing another station. She did not really listen. Her mind had trained itself to completely disregard the announcements that took place ever so frequently. When she finally did come out of her reverie, the lady was talking again, announcing an obscure station. She jumped up from her seat. The women around her stared at her. She craned her neck to look at the route chart. She felt like cursing out loud. But the ladies were already staring hard enough. The lady announced the arrival of a station.

The doors banged opened and she rushed out onto the station she had never been to before.

This particular daydream was going to cost her.

Anyone can make an Indian Soap

And I do mean anyone - anyone with access to a sizable amount of resources, essentially monetary. Or/And basic knowledge of the chemicals and processes involved. I say this because there is no dearth of Indian serials. I distinctly remember the time when there was a greater variety of shows that were aired on channels like Star Plus and Sony. A time when the viewership of these channels didn't comprise majorly of aunties.

Side note- I shouldn't comment on the viewership given as a lot of kids watch these channels too, these days. Sad times. *Sigh*

The recipe of a typical Indian serial comprises of the following main ingredients( with a few spices added here and there - slight modifications - according to demand):

1. People - Young, old and a couple of 100 year olds
2. Clothes and Jewellery
3. Huge mansion(s)
4. Joint family - A huge one
5. A hyperactive/slightly crazy/excessively serious protagonist and
6. A commonplace plot

The variety of the shows currently being aired is negligible and I am sure the Indian market demands more diversity and longs for better quality television than what is currently available. 10 years ago Indian soaps were all about marriages and the issues revolving around joint families. Now, the shows are all about love, marriages and the social evils.

I guess some would argue that these serials are a desperate attempt to ensure the continuance of Indian morals and values amongst the youngsters of today. Hey, I have no problem with that. I just dislike the over-dramatization and overly prolonging a scene that could be finished in one-tenth of the time it is allocated. Mainly these serials serve the need to portray life from the perspective of an average Indian and the extreme emphasis on the complicated status of each and every relationship cannot to be missed. The naivete of the protagonist and his/her coterie makes you want to pull your hair out. Not to mention the holier-than-thou family members, most of whom have a dichotomous emotional scale - sad/perplexed/angry v/s happy/ecstatic. I do not know whether it is an indication of producers/writers' perception of the viewership or the lack of ideas on the part of the writers- but nobody seems to have heard of the word 'subtlety' for every thought that passes the character's mind must be voiced out loud for the sake of clarity for the viewers. It seems like a huge insult to the common intellect when these people manage to achieve reasonably good TRP for really poor standard shows. Besides wanting to be entertained, most people look for some amount of intellectual stimulation by not wanting to see shows that make them feel brain-dead. Importance of content can hardly be overstated.


The people on the story board(or the creative team) are as endowed with the power of imagination and creativity as the Tin Man is with a heart( that is, before he visits the Wizard of Oz).


For all those who think light fiction is all that these show are about, do pause and reconsider before lashing out at me - Do these shows truly promote healthy behavior? All that I gathered from a few minutes of watching a particular soap was that people in the serial world have nothing better to do and each and every member of the house must rush to the family meeting that takes place at the slightest of issues.

Example 1
Girl: Oh! I cannot find abc object!
Rest: *Gasp*<Something sinister must have happened, that  requires the attention of the entire family( A HUGE joint family, mind you)>
And all the members drop whatever they were doing and start searching for a blessed <insert an object of your choice>. A family of jobless idle souls is what the house is made up of.

People who would accuse me of being anti-nationalist (or something along the same line), to them I will say this- all English soaps aren't too great either. A similar article can be written about them too. The bias that exists towards the English TV shows is probably because they are considered to be lesser of the two evils. The bottom line being that excessive unrealistic drama is the staple of all TV shows irrespective of the language with the sole exception being the ones that teach maths, science and other subjects' course to secondary school students. Even the short attention spans of the viewers do not justify the extremely crappy soap opera productions being aired these days.

Why do You like the things that you Like?

I have a lot of time on my hands. And its times like these that make insignificant things highly noticeable.

So, what did I notice, you ask.

Facebook's widely popular feature of liking a comment/status/picture or what-have-you.
I know, I know. Its is not a remarkable observation.
But the question is :

What makes people press the 'Like' button?

People will like anything due to one of the following reasons:

1. Because it is witty/new/enjoyable etcetra and they appreciate that.

2. The emotion behind the status/picture/comment resonates within them 

3. To show support/faith

4. To publicize the event/widespread distribution of knowledge

5. To engage in battle of wits

6. They agree with you but have nothing more to add to the conversation thread

7. Because of herd mentality -  Everyone is liking it

8. To gang up against someone they do not hold in high regard

9. Because they do not like the alternative

These are all I could come up with. Do feel free to add to the above list.

'When the the stage is set right, a scene shall unfold.
When the thoughts are ripe, words shall follow.'


I rise from my lotus position and make a dash for the nearest table. Too late, its gone. The very last piece of  the delicacy I had been lusting after for the past 3 days. I see the impish twinkle in his eye, the half-concealed smirk, only so because table manners won't allow him to open his mouth and express his true feelings. He loves getting away with food, especially the food that I like. God forbid, he develops a taste for all the food items that I like. I remember how he didn't really fancy chocolate ice-cream or fizzy drinks. Now, I have company for whenever I open a bottle of Coca-cola or a new brick of choc-chip ice-cream. Life is Hard.
I come out of my reverie quickly. But it wasn't quick enough. I missed another round. I am not fast enough. Or maybe he's had way too much practice.

# LifeWithASibling

The opening lines simply refer to a state of mind at some point in time.

My Favorite Muse

Some people are either simply too photogenic or have the innate talent to make you want to dig out your camera from the depths of your bag and *click* store that particular memory forever. Hoping against hope that the camera captures what the eyes see.

For me, these moments present themselves in abundance. There are quite a lot of people around, who present themselves as prospective subjects from time to time. I try to capture that moment.

And sometimes I do get lucky.   

I miss this guy

Traditional colors bring out the fighter in him

This one was taken by the subject in the first two pictures. Him and his love for dogs.

Ekla Chalo Re

I haven't seen Kahaani yet. They say Vidya Balan's acting is impressive. I guess I am still recovering from the shock of her last movie. Especially, the dailogs. Anyway, I suspect Kahaani will be better. Ms. Balan got her share of talk for her second provocative role in a row. But enough of that. A friend of mine, who happens to be a Bengali saw Kahaani. And all she could talk about was Calcutta and the way it was depicted in the movie. And all I could truly understand, having never been to Calcutta myself, was the song composed by Rabindranath Tagore was the song titled 'Ekla Chalo Re'.
Here's the English version:

If they answer not to thy call walk alone,
If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,
O thou unlucky one,
open thy mind and speak out alone.


If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness,
O thou unlucky one,
trample the thorns under thy tread,
and along the blood-lined track travel alone.


If they do not hold up the light when  the night is troubled with storm,
O thou unlucky one,
with the thunder flame of pain ignite thy own heart
and let it burn alone.

Here's the earliest version I could find by Suchitra Mitra. It is diametrically different from the original sung by Gurudev.

Sickness, trips and whatnot

I feel sick. Not the soul wrenching sickness that plagues so many youngsters of today. Its the troublesome sickness generated due to one(or more) of the following -
1. Jumping in a waterfall (not from the ledge though) and staying put in the extremely cold water for close to an hour.
2. Celebrating a slightly wet Holi despite clear signs of common cold being just around the corner.
3. Being in close vicinity of a person already infected by common cold and what-not.
4. Clothing myself thinking its June when its closer to mid-February in the City.

Though no.1 may seem like the clear winner, the other three should be given certain amount of credit too. Its been nearly a week. The cold and deadlines have kept me from talking the hell out of the recent trip to Jim Corbett. From switches* to waterfalls and waiting in an open jeep for a tiger that wouldn't show up to being so desperate to see a tiger that a dozen kids almost believed that any random video of a tiger behind some bushes in a random cell was an authentic one and that "It all comes to those who wait"- this is what the Corbett trip was all about. And some other stuff squeezed in here and there in a 3 days and 4 nights trip(2 nights in the resort and 2 in the bus).

Lessons learnt-

When on a  trip with people from college, be sure to run low on sleep. Sleep deprivation is something you simply cannot avoid. Specially when a bunch of kids consider it their foremost duty to wake up anyone who chances to fall asleep. Almost as if it'll be bad for them to sleep on the trip. I count myself lucky to have been a part of this bunch at times. It prevented me from dozing off myself. Then there was this kid who dozed off on a bench(surrounded by black dogs) because his room had been converted into a card room. Or maybe simply because he found the bench cozier than his bed.

All Leaf colors, can they be found on a painter's pallet? I doubt it.
No camera can capture the feeling of seeing a forest view in person. Situations, yes. Certain landscapes, yes. Cameras do capture all that. But not this feeling. And I don't think this should be called seeing(or any of its synonyms). The sensation is not merely limited to being able to see/view/look at an object. Of course, all other senses supplement what the eyes see to generate that feeling. Bottom line- Cannot capture all the senses worth of feelings in a photograph.

Artificial Rappelling turned out to a shade tougher than the real deal. But its also less scary. Take your pick.

One should never underestimate the photographer's ability to capture one's most ridiculous expression. Just freeze whenever you try/try not to pose for a picture. Don't twitch or anything because that is the photographer's window of opportunity.

Lastly, nature hikes are the best. The BEST. Specially the ones that have a waterfall towards the end.

Also, Holi is a blur. Colors and balloons are all that I can recall. I do remember waking up that day to see a huge face looming large above me. My imp of a brother was trying to wake me up by asking for my permission to hit me with a pink water balloon.


*Not the regular kind. The special emotional switch.

The Law of Jugaad

The law of Jugaad dictates that the following must be obeyed. Only then will one have mastered the art of Jugaad.

1. When one metro card fails to function and two need to pass through the barrier, one shall pass quickly enough to ensure that the other gets to pass through the use of the same card.
2. When almost broke and certain ends need trimming to ensure the basic necessity- food, adjust with friends of friends. It is a great way to make new friends along with being a classic Jugaad.
3. Suction will not always work and sometimes the bot that was created with the sole purpose of picking up balls through a suction mechanism may not work. The chances of Jugaad in such a situation are negligible if and only if your friend does not have the quick-mindedness to readjust the balls with an expert hand.
4. Jugaad must be your first resort the moment you enter a certain college that shall not be named for anonymity purposes. I've met good, average and below average students who attend the college in question. All bow down infront of the power of Jugaad.
5. When the necessity arrives, seven people can be adjusted in a room meant for three. All hail the power of Jugaad!
6. Jugaad will always come to the rescue of those who need it.

History is witness to the exercise of Jugaad. Remember Birbal? The famous courtier in Akbar's court who was one of his nine gems? He was one of the most jugaadu person of all time. Pick up any Akbar and Birbal book.  Apart from the wit and the humor, you will see a shade of jugaad in almost every other story.

Latest Addition to Travelogue

I took another trip to Mumbai. This being my second visit in the last one year. A different team. A different purpose. The same old me.
New aspirations and apprehensions.

I'll let these pictures do the talking.

The last four images depict a bot called 34 by 2. The reason this requires mention is that it was designed and  manufactured almost* completely by four second year students- one out of those four being the author of this post. Also, because it made the Quarter-finals!

I cannot lie to you, my dear blog. Its been a long time since I felt this peaceful. I guess it has something to do with being around school friends.

Or maybe its just the waves.

Stare at the water crashing against the rocks and you'll find your peace

*A senior student played the guiding angel

Lyrical talk

When you get what you want but not what you need
Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones

                                                                                                            - Fix you (Coldplay)

She finds colors in the darkest of places and she finds beauty in the saddest of places.

                                                                                                            - Walk Away(The Script)

Its all a game, avoiding failure
When true colors will bleed,
All in the name of misbehavior
And the things we don't need. 

........

When the world is burning, don't walk away. 

                                                                                                          -Carnival of Rust (Poets of the Fall)



More than once in a while, a song is released. And the lyrics catch hold of you. They seem to possess you. You hear yourself humming them all throughout the day.
The lyrics are so great that the otherwise awesome music score becomes all the more extraordinary. Makes you listen to the song on the loop.

P.S.: The songs mentioned above weren't released anytime in the past few months.