Here's a toast to Modi

The swearing-in ceremony is in the pipeline. Manmohan Singh is the incumbent PM of India. 
We stand at the cusp of a major political transition. NDA won more than 5 times the constituencies won by  UPA. 
Amidst talks of Rahul Gandhi's incompetence and Congress's decision to make him the face of the 2014 elections, I cannot help but wonder about the wisdom and decision-making capabilities of the Congress, for the want of better word, elders. In addition to several deficiencies as a young-ish leader, the man committed one faux-pas after another. He failed to inspire confidence amongst the public. Hell, he failed to inspire the youth. Sachin Pilot would've acted as a better prime ministerial candidate. 
What were they hoping for? Nothing short of a miracle would've resulted in a UPA win. Maybe they knew but couldn't back-out gracefully. 

While Mr. Narender Modi neither excites confidence nor hope in me at present, I believe the general multitude is quite hopeful and happy with the verdict. This is understandable after the abysmal governance displayed by the UPA. All in all, I wish him well. I wish he'd be able to quieten his gainsayers with his actions and decisions and inspire his ministers to follow his lead. I hope he has a good run. I hope he makes us want to re-elect him for what he did instead of what the opposition failed to do. 

Oh, to long for a thriving nation! A corruption-free nation! A nation of jolly souls and intellectual leaders, leaders who can be admired as individuals, leaders who can be admired for their wisdom, diplomacy, oration, nature and tastes. 

Rabindranath Tagore's words spring to mind. 

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments 

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

  
In my part, I shall strive do my best work. 

Of Badminton and Marathon woes

They are playing, singing and laughing downstairs.

It's been long since I last played badminton. Too long.
It's been long since I last ran more than a few kilometers.
It's been long since I last read a book from cover to cover in one sitting, notwithstanding breaks for abulations.
It's been long since I last went for a swim.
It's been long since I danced in a devil-may-care manner.
It's been so so long since I last got completely drenched in the rain.
It's been long since I last played football.
It's been long since I last went out for a lovely meal.
It's been long since I last had a cup of really good coffee. The Amazing Coffee of Last September is what I want.
It's been long since I had a long laugh.


Meanwhile, I have been listening to some songs. They help me stay sane but I need a physical exercise!
They are good. Don't believe me? Listen to these tracks(in no particular order):
Your Winter by Sister Hazel
Have a Cigar by Pink Floyd
Into My Arms by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Let's look up 'normal', please.

The Delhi High Court's ruling that decriminalized Section 377 of the Indian Penal Court was usurped by Supreme Court early today. First things first, let's give the SC a huge applause. Marital rape is still natural enough to not be criminalized.

In my opinion, sex between consenting adults of the same gender is as unnatural as air travel before the Wright Brothers came along. (This is of course, disregarding Da Vinci's exploits in this domain). Back then, it was natural to label people as heretic, if they dared to express their *abnormality*. The SC's act is nothing short of labeling people who have expressed their sexual orientation to be different from the 'normal rule of nature' as heretic and worthy of punishment.  

I voluntarily got roped in a conversation debating the unnatural-ness of the law and a couple of people expressed joy in the final ruling of the SC. Their absolutely preposterous argument being that 'there might come a day when all humans turn homosexual?!'. Oh, the humanity! I weep metaphorical tears and entreat you to take a moment to contemplate the statement you just made. If ALL humans were wired to follow convention, we wouldn't be having this conversation. What is your problem with change? Why are we hell bent on labeling everything as natural? Why are we so determined to abandon our ability to think and reason? Without a moment's contemplation, we dive into the debate and are soon arguing over the probability of all humans being attracted to people of the same gender. 

The SC's ruling has brought into effect a penal provision against homosexual relations. So, please! Beware of the consequences before you realize you are gay. If it seems natural for you, fight against it. You won't be the first hypocrite in a 1 meter radius. 


'Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the Spider is chaos for the Fly.'  - Charles Addams on Morticia Addams.

Shine On, You Crazy Diamond

Run, work, stretch, read, play, love, dance and write.
Sing, shout and stay up all day and night.

Shine on, you crazy diamond. 

Doing what you love and loving what you do, shine on. 

Musical Musings

Disclaimer: If the title alone stirred your interest in the following post, desist from reading further. Musical Musings did inspire this post, but then I digressed astronomically.

After nearly 2 years of complaining about insufficient co-curricular activities to complement the coursework at our college, we can finally see clubs sprouting here and there like mushrooms and grass in this delightful rainy weather. 

The best part being that they show signs of a wee-bit of growth and the potential to become associations in themselves- something that will not end with the most enthusiastic founder members passing out. They display the potential of blossoming into active communities. 

To name a few clubs in alphabetical order: 

The Anime Club: They meet regularly every Tuesday. Well, most Tuesdays. A large population at IIIT-Delhi used to watch Anime as it is. Now they have an official platform for heated discussions with people across all batches. A great future(for the club) can be seen in the twinkling eyes of every avid anime viewer.

Astronuts:The astronomy club has met just once so far, granted. But that one meeting sure was informative, not to mention, magical. We saw the following heavenly bodies before the poor skies forced us inside -
Jupiter along with Ganymede, Lo, Europa and Callisto.

Kartikeya Nakshatra(alternatively known as M45) 

Gemini, Taurus, Libra Constellations

Orion along with four stars in the Orion Nebula

The main driving force for this club is the founder, who's been practicing amateur astronomy for the past 5 years and is unlikely to give up such a long-time hobby. Plus she's a first year and can help strengthen the foundations of the club before she passes out. Her interest will benefit the rest of us less knowledgeable folks( strictly w.r.t. astronomy). Moreover, her plans for future meetings are quite interesting.

Audio Bytes: They don't have an official structure which assures training for the truly passionate. But then, if you are into music enough to really want to learn it, you don't need anything except maybe a sound-proof room and the right instruments. Currently, we have a decent set of equipment for the all the drummers, guitarists and pianists out there. Moreover, it will take more than the lack of equipment to kill genuine interest in Music. On this note, I digress for a moment to pave way for the latest discovery - the ShrutiBox, a  collection of songs by the music composer and clarinetist, Shankar Tucker. The Hindustani and Carnatic vocalists provide a distinctive flavor to some previously known songs. I find a few more likable than their original versions. And then there is the main man- Tucker, who as their official webpage claims plays most of the instruments in these compositions. Modern Classical music- a great revival technique.

Here's a sample.

Next in line is the Dance club - Madtoes, the lack of funds does not deter their enthusiasm for the art. They have taken the bold step of organizing a Dance party without free food. Hitherto, whenever someone was bold enough to so do, organizers and their most faithful friends made up the entire gathering. People never dare to organize an event without the promise of free food in boldface, for food is the adhesive force that brings us all together. Salute to the Mad(toes) organizers. Hope the event goes well.

FooBar: An institute that prides itself in its CS program, must have a strong group of coders who shine at events like CodeChef, ICPC and the rest, bringing eternal glory to the institute. FooBar, was created to serve this end. They are fairly active, considering that they just came into existence a month ago.

Lit-Soc: This hurts the most, for I helped find this one. Some meetings were held in the past 6 months, sure. But the attendance has been a monotonically decreasing curve with respect to time and unless this club is given a face-lift soon, it may become one of many pre-existing dormant clubs. The one event that had the most active participation was an Online Haiku Writing Competition. It's a little sad, even though the competition was a great success.

Quiz Club: If ever there was a more secure set of individuals, well, I shall do a jig for the entire class to watch(before the Prof. comes in). They do not care for funds or infrastructure. Mind you, the nature of this club is their main advantage. All they need are inquisitive minds with a competitive spirit. I just wish these quizzes were not just a once-during-every-college-festival affair. Still, these guys are pretty active.

Spic Macay: This is the latest addition to the list of extra-curricular activities. This doesn't really count as a club, but a IIIT-Delhi Spic Macay Chapter is just another step towards becoming a wholesome institute.

Sports: Joga Bonito-the annual intra-college football tournament, an annual Cricket Tournament and several Pool, Table Tennis and basketball enthusiasts make a strong enough case for the level of activity in this area. But the rest of the sports are seasonal. This is not a reference to Ice-Hockey or Skiing. Delhi hasn't witnessed snow in the past half-century and we do not have enough funds for creation of an artificial arena. Badminton and volleyball enthusiasts surface once every spring. The 'active' runners can be seen marking the college perimeter once every autumn. However, establishment of proper infrastructure within the next few months, will hopefully change the scene for most sports here at IIIT-Delhi.

Tasveer: A club for all those lunatics who whip out their fancy camera phones or DSLRs everytime they see anything remotely photogenic seems logical, right? Tasveer is still in its nascent stage, not unlike FooBar and Astronuts, but it has inherent potential. (Pardon the repetition, for when has potential energy ever been not inherent?!) Plus, we have some very good amateur photographers already.

So there you go. Those are the clubs that make the IIIT-D news most often.
Without further ado, I shall go back to my studies and let a English novelist and theoretical physicist conclude this post.

'One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.'  ~E.M. Forster

'I have no special talents. I am just passionately curious' ~ Albert Einstein

I shall post soon. And unlike this post, it won't be just a greeting. I will not call this a New Year's Resolution because those things have a nasty habit of never really seeing the light of the day.
Till then, listen to this - Don't dream it's over by Crowded House. Very light lyrics.

Oh and A Very Happy New Year! It's been more than 2 years now! :)

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.