Cheats!!

I feel cheated. All the way to Kumbalgudu, lovely hostel, great people, edible mess food, interesting professors, and I feel cheated. Until two days ago, I thought I had magazine writing as my core course. This, according to me, meant I'd be learning to write articles and features for mags. Somehow, Kaur and co. have a different perspective on this one.

Initally, I had one core course and two electives. Suddenly, I've had to drop one of my electives because the credits would add up to more than what the non-mag/new media students would have. Now, with magazine as my core and International as my area of specialisation, I have just one elective in Health and Environment. Others have their core (newspaper/tv), plus area of specialisation, as well as two electives. What the hell does this mean? Logically, that I am now a newspaper student with magazine as my elective!!

All the way to Kumbalgudu, 2.5 lakhs in the IIJNM pocket, story ideas I do not get, cores that get changed into electives for 'credit management', and I feel cheated. Rightly so.

IIJNM impressions....

Deadlines and dinners, catfights and group work, we get it all at IIJNM. Music is a way of life, as are 1s on news quizzes. No one escapes the nightly gossip on the terrace; neither can anyone get away with sleeping in class. But the usual notes get passed and the doodles get drawn.

We’ve been given a whiff of the cheese, however. And the faculty knows just how to draw on our whetted appetite. The cats are looking forward to chasing the mice for a whole year. Well then, let the games begin!!

Nostalgia

You walk along. Melange of desert and lake....Your feet sink into the earth, yet come out clean....But thats the dry section....When you move further from desert and closer to lake, the earth begins to caress your feet. The damp lifts from earth to body and you can feel no more connected to your soul than then. Through the wind whistling by, you share your secrets with God, and smile as He laughs with you....You find yourself among the pebbles and the sea shells; each one different, unique, beautiful....

Somehow I find myself getting philosophical....It is me, or rather one of those parts of me - the one that shows itself only when I'm alone, at home. Its the part of me that only I can accept because it'll seem so stupid to everyone else....and I feel it here, the place I invite you to.

Among the trees, I see the unity of my people, the harmony thats gotten us through the years of colonization (of both Portuguese and politicians). They stand tall, together, in a haphazard orderliness....Everything on the beach exudes the word that describes a Goan: 'sussegado'. It means laid-back, relaxed....This word has unfortunately been corrupted to mean negative things like lazy and unconcerned, but it is not so....It means taking your afternoon siesta, after your family lunch of fresh fish,curry and rice; it means chatting with the neighbours and knowing them like your family; it means being in your shorts and tee all day long; it means, quite simply, being Goan....

Sometimes, you dont have enough confidence in yourself. I suppose thats what it takes to succeed. If you believe, anything can happen....Err, maybe not. Something will happen, but whatever does, it'll be for the best.

I know I can do lots of things. But how well I can do them is what's bothering me. I can write, but can I write well enough to succeed in the course I've chosen? I can draw, but is it justified to sketch from a photograph? I can play guitar (can I really?!?), but classical is not enough. It is similar with so many other activities I do....Jack of all trades, master of none.

If I sit down and really think positive, I figure 'I can do something. I must be good at something. Its just that I haven't found that something yet.' And I suppose that will happen. But how long am I to wait for me to finish discovering myself? After 20 years, its still not clear in which direction I'm headed....I see all these wonderful people around me, each and everyone talented in their own right; good enough to make the grade in that area/those areas....No jacks here, all masters, or nearly there....

Maybe I just need to work up on what I have now, and what I can already do. Practice makes a man perfect, huh?!! (whats with me and idioms today?!) I believe I can do something, get somewhere. I may not be as good as every one else, but is that the point? My ideals are way up there, and the real me is way down below....But its just for the moment. Just for the moment.

friendship?

Friendship day. What the hell does that mean? A day to remember your friends, send silly little cards saying 'Friends forever'....Buy flowers for the girls and bands for the boys, deck up and have lunch at some swanky resto....Then turn around and bitch about people. Its so hypocritical. I dont care about the whole Hallmarks charade. They need to make money. So, big deal. They do it on Mothers day, Fathers day, Valentines day, any day.....
Making a case for these 'days', we need to appreciate the people for whom that particular day is dedicated. But buying cards from stores with corny words and dishing them out to every piss fart whose name you know is not appreciation. It just goes to show how pseudo you are. Words must mean. Saying 'friends forever' and then 'what a bitch' is only proof of the kind of friendship you value.

Five Point Someone

I've just finished reading Chetan Bhagat's "Five Point Someone". Every one I know told me the same thing - "Its an amazing book. Read it." I did read it. It was 'luvly'.(Haneef, in case you're reading!!)

The language wasn't something I expected. It was rather simple and brief. But then again, it was supposed to portray the thoughts of an ex-IITian, rife with "you know"s and "like"s and flowery language incomplete without asterisks. It surely isn't the kind of book I'd recommend to anyone trying to improve their vocabulary. I was looking for that and I didnt exactly find it, which is why I still write like a 5th grader.

The story....Well, there is no story. To give him credit, college/uni life is not a story. Its just a sequence of events (or in some cases, an uneventful sequence!) that describes how you spent some of the best (or in some cases, studious!) times of your life. Hari and co. did have a colourful college life and as with most books there are lessons to learn - stick by your friends, understand others, DO NOT steal the question paper....

It was a fun book to read. You pretty much identify with it. And for non-IITians, its a peek into IIT life - the not so hunky-dory part of it. The truth. The fact that world over, some professor or other decides you're not worth 2 pence and just for kicks gives you an 'F'; that no matter how good you were in school, you're just not good enough; that there's always someone better than you, there's always something you dont know; that friends can get you into shit just as soon as they can get you out of it.

Five Point Someone will never be my favourite book (although I havent read too many books!), but it is enjoyable.