When a desi goes videsi!!!!

It is not at all a surprise to be daily bombarded by a barrage of exotic photographs from your friend in arms who was supposedly on a student exchange but was apparently more on a foreign trip.

Green valleys, snow capped mountains, pretty girls, happening parties etc, you name it and he was having it!!! And the situation becomes graver when a passing mosquito decides to treat you like a roadside soda parlour. Yet somewhere at the back of mind I knew that he was just enjoying his time.

Until one fine day (actually night), a somewhat familiar and irritating Facebook ping announced the fulfillment of the ultimate Indian dream for my buddy!!!!He was in the local newspaper!!! Curious, I started reading and was encountered by something like this:

“Die lange nasskalte Zeit scheint endlich uberwunden…….”

Now how on earth is an Indian, born and brought up in India on a staple of Bollywood films and Shakespeare supposed to understand this??!!! Flabbergasted, I tried reasoning with my “Desi baba”, who had insisted upon me to read it. And what I saw on the messenger window, was it the same language as that of the newspaper?!! Yes!!! It was!!!

Achtung!!! Ich!!!Danke!!!

Now how “local” the newspaper was and what his achievements were was of no more interest to me. What interested me more was the meaning of these new words that my friend had learnt. And why not, a few points of parity are definitely to be maintained between friends. And hence, the great achievement of my friend was lost in the quest of a “desi” who was trying hard to bridge the “German gap”.

And the next time my friend pinged me, I surprised him with “Guten Morgen”.

Sleeping sickness or the sleeping beauty!!!!

Waking up at 3:15 p.m. and rubbing my poor eyes, realization dawns upon me that I have just missed a class!!!!! Scary!!!!!
My mind suddenly starts working over time and a checklist appears......
Last class done....check
Number of classes missed is below two.....check...uncheck...recheck... what the heck!!!
And the world's greatest "What if analysis" is kick started in my mind....what if it is the second miss?? or a third miss?? Should I submit a sick leave application??...etc. etc. etc.
But with each passing moment I was slowly entering in to a state of mind which has ruined many a life....the state of "Chalta hai" and "Dekh lenge". And trust me, the placebo effect that this mental state creates brings with it an awesome state of ignorant's bliss.
Ah!!! As I talk about it, I need some inspiration!!!!

A presentation fiasco!!!!

As it mostly happens with happenings of unprecedented redundancy, people start taking such things very lightly. Yet a shake up or wake up call is enough to remind one that things are to be taken up as they are supposed to be!!!!

Confused??!!! So was I!!!! And that too until today morning, when an extraordinary "shake" brought me out of my comfort zone and on to this last refuge of mine!!!

Giving presentations has never been a big thing for me (at least I thought so!!). But suddenly today morning I found myself in a position that could be best described as..........dumbstruck!!!

Going through each and every point of my slides was a man who found nothing right in them and adding insult to the injury were a merry band of harmless (that is what I think they are) classmates.

Damn it!!! I thought!!! And the more I damned the situation, the more damned I was left!!

Every point on my slide was countered even before I could utter a word of explanation. All I could do was to deal with my silent mouth which was still open from the last attempt to explain and an improper gesture that my hand had mapped for my gagged words.

Seriously speaking, I felt more like a hapless mime artist than a presenter who was trying to express through only gestures.

Left sulking at the center stage (It might well had been the center of hell), all this lasted for exactly one hour ten minutes and a few more painful seconds (I am serious!!!).

And hence came to an end one of the most horrible (by conservative estimates) ordeals of my life in recent times.

And as I try to enjoy a beautiful evening, the morning still haunts me and a harmless classmate again makes sure that I can't!!!! Damn it!!!! I hate harmless people!!!!

Hounded

A dictionary is a strange thing,

Rather a strange place,

Every word has its own beauty and meaning,

Every word enhances the feeling.......

And mind it......I am not Joking!!!!

Pretty poetic ha?!! One glance at the pages and you know that you will emerge a wiser man. And nevertheless, the pages of dictionary can be the end point of your questions or the starting point of new thoughts, as it happened with me the other day........

I was looking for what, I still don't remember as the word that my eyes saw immediately viled me and there was nothing else but self pity, agony and anger within me after that. The word was...hound!!!

hound :n a hunting dog : v harrass

- ORIGIN Old English

What train of thoughts this word started in my mind is really unimaginable, but trying to recollect and record it, I can only say that there was nothing pleasant about it. And to be honest, the two meanings of the world intermingled and I had a momentary vision of being pursued by bloodthirsty hunting dogs, the hounds and it was being hounded.

Hounded for actions,

Hounded for thoughts,

Waiting for the day,

When this hounding stops.

Sometimes when I read about people, it seems that there has not been a single soul who has not been ever hounded, the more pragmatic and rebellious the person, higher the degree of being hounded. Thoughts are good and advice is even better and to top it all, they are free and hence, freely available. Yet when the time comes, the things for which you pay a "price" are actually taken into account. So be hounded and enjoy the fight. As a great saying goes "steel goes through fire".

I am a common Indian

I am an unknown name,

and I am a common Indian,

like you like them, like anyone,

I am a common Indian.

I walk the roads every morning,

Starting with a prayer,

Dreams in eyes, hopes in heart,

I never expect despair.

Each Step I take I see new things,

My precious hopes take new beatings.

I see the dazzling temples of wealth,

I feel the awe of heaven seventh,

In this shadow of the temples of wealth,

I see little men devoid of health.

I see my pizza coming in a jiffy,

I find it hot, tasty and puffy,

Yet I wait for the ambulance to come,

Feeling helpless shameless dumb.

I wait at a shop, window shopping,

Clinging to the money that I call saving,

Yet at some signal funny,

I bribe my precious hard earned money.

As if that was not enough,

I got everyone at my door to bluff,

Folding my hands in shameless unison,

They show us a pretty twisted vision,

When it matters for an honest opinion,

They show there pride in shameless division.

All this I see with seething rage,

Clenching my fists in utter outrage,

Willing for a change wishing a miracle,

Like you like them like anyone,

I am a common Indian.

Right or Wrong?

As I sit here on my desk trying to write something for my soul and your enjoyment, I find myself at loss of topics and above all the most vital and common omission- concentration!! And why not? Concentration demands favourable surroundings and mine is the least. Except for the small space I have reclaimed for writing, the whole table is strewn with magazines, papers, copies and titbits of disastrous time pass regime.

Suddenly from this heap, my now useless seventh semester marksheet seemed to be mocking at me with the ‘#’ symbol indicating the flunked subject. And my mind in the brain and adrenaline in the blood started racing. I had something to think or rather something to ponder upon. Don’t worry friends, I am over the academic interest but can’t help the practical thoughts. And what I was thinking was blasphemy after proudly calling myself a ‘MECHANICAL ENGINEER’. But thoughts are thoughts dear and I am not strong enough to ward them off.

What went wrong? Did I want to be an engineer? Or did I want something else? You might laugh at the futility of such thoughts but I wish to question the very basis of the general mindset where the parents want their children to be either doctors or engineers and the children are wary of breaking new grounds. Having taken the dip myself four years back, I can’t see myself as a champion of free thinkers and trailblazers but call it remorse or corrective thoughts, I am thinking today.

Actually it is a very difficult decision to take; you have a professional and clear cut life on one side and an uncertain path thanks to the lack of proper information channels. Mindset also plays a major part in such cases, a mindset that deems commerce stream as inferior to science! Students often take the bite that is fed to them under peer pressure and the fear of failure. Caring not for the skills they have or rather the skills they lack. Disregarding the fact whether they are even interested or not they go for the plunge.

I am myself guilty of doing it; I chose engineering over my dream with evidently disastrous aftereffects like the one marksheet on my table, peeping at me with the ‘#’ sign, still mocking me and many more marksheets that are part of my resume now. All say only one story that I was not made to be an engineer.

Many a times life becomes a wrong step and you should be brave and determined enough to rectify the mistakes. Hoping for the best from the future I am hereby signing off but the marksheet with the ‘#’ sign still mocks me…..