Thursday, July 27

Bastard!

Creator
of

IRRITATING



Nasal






















...Music....




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Sunday, July 23

Schhhuuummmm....





A deep breath...


The eyes blink...


Eyelids close, A moment of silence... Thoughts regarding the past few hours stream back to him...


Its the last pitstop before it ends... He's done this 49 times already... Just one more...


The path is seared into his memory... each contour... each straight...


He can do this.


The eyes open.

It is met with a rush of sound and fast movement... The engine is rumbling just under him... He can see some of the others... He knows which ones will cause trouble... That guy in the white car has a very reluctant engine... and the other one in the yellow stripes barely has the guts... Doesn't matter. Today is his day. Nothing is going to stop his glorious rush to the chequered flag. Today.... he will outdo his own past....

Its time to go! He barely lets the brown elixir into the starved engine and it shoots off!!! He cajoles his baby into the mainstream... Its time to RACE!!!

A slalom is coming up!!! A left and then manouvering in for a cut on the right!!!.... (that was close)... Audience starts noticing him... he can't hear it... but he's sure that individuals are heaving and sighing as they watch his show...

Its near!! The end is near...
He gives it his all... YES! He's bettered his own previous record! A surge of joy and pride within him goes unnoticed by all those not populating his mind... A satisfaction creases across his otherwise mundane life...

A screeeeeeeeeeeching stop.

Me: "Kitna hua?"

Him: "15 rupaya"

Me: "Arre roj tho 10 rupaya deta hoon... Yeh lo!"

He takes it... bends down, restarts his baby... looks at the fool who didn't think the ride of the day worth five extra bucks... ha! Fools ... all of them!! The evening rush is over anyway... made 50 trips today... a good day... time for some chai...

And so the great Indian challenger trudges on... phatt phatt phatt phatt...


P.S. A humble tribute to Surat's auto-rickshaw walaas... For the daily thrill ride to the office and back... :D

Friday, July 14

Roy number Zero ... :)

All that is gold does not glitter,
not all those who wander are lost;
the old that is strong does not wither,
deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
a light from the shadows shall spring;
renenwed shall be 'the nib' that was broken,
the crownless again shall be king!


This is for Indrava Roy, lovingly known to all as I.Roy .


For being the closest thing to a mathematics freak, I know of.

For being maybe one of the few souls who is going to pursue his true love (literally AND figuritively) and his passion after graduation.

For being the craziest son-of-bitch and sticking to his guns during the darkest hours.

May future maths students curse him the way we curse other great theoriticians (Saala leibnitz... C*****) :))


Love ya be!!! :)

Jo Gumshuda.... Sa Khwab tha! :D


P.S. Amazing how one great news can change one's mood drastically!

Coma.

Where do I even begin?

The events seem like a distant dream. Happening in some place where I was until recently( Barely for a month, but I fell in love with the temptress). I shudder to imagine the present psyche of the gregarious and focussed lot, that are Mumbaikars. It would be too cliche to repeat the absolute horror of the events that have taken place on the Eleventh of this month. Also, it would be a slight to the memories of those who died, to just provide lip-service through some anonymous portal in the labyrinth of the net. But I have safely blocked myself from accepting that it has actually happened. I still believe that when I go back to the churn and grind, that is the city of Mumbai, I shall see no difference.

Apparently, this time around the city of infinite strength is buckling. This incident has shaken the most resilient residents of the city. I believe, that the unrest and a general foreboding still prevalent amongst the citizens is not due to the heavy death toll or the actual Modus Operandi of the incident. It's just because they don't know whom to blame! Whenever we are attacked or insulted, the surge of anger and caution that follows the intial shock and backfoot, needs a focussed target. In the 1993 blasts, we had one. In the 9/11 attacks we had one. The parliament attacks also had a fixed target.

But right now, there is no outfit claiming responsibility. No sect supporting the attacks even the least bit. So whom do the innocents blame? Do they blindly fall back upon their favourite targets, the Mohemmedans? Do they agree with the saffronites that this particular minority is the only one capable of such inhuman activities? But how can they even slightly trust the saffronites who until the previous day were themselves causing havoc on the slightest pretext? How do they believe the government when it says that Pakistan (our evil sister) is most likely to have a hand in the blasts which shook everyone from Tehran to Timbuktoo? How can they believe a system which allowed such a gruesome act to be commited? Mind you, I am not blaming the already stretched police force or the IB... The system,per se, was... and is... at fault.

How the HELL can you expect any form of coordination amongst ranks if u have intelligence coming in from 10 diferent terrorist tracking units? How can't a uniformed personnel even with a moiety of intelligence realise that we are at war, when some one recovers One and a half tonne of RDX from the hinterland close to the city (FYI, experts reckon it doesn't take more than a few kilos of RDX for the damage that was done on the trains)? And most of all, How can one endear oneself to a Chief Minister, the elected benefactor of millions, whose primary reaction to the blasts are: "Rs. 50,000/- for the injured and Rs. 1 Lakh for the dead". 1 lakh??? Is that all an innocent bourgeoisie is worth in our country? For a system which spends crores of rupees during its election rallies, the sheer agony of a life ripped apart and a family shred to destitution is 1 lakh? Aren't we all a part of this hypocritic system? What else am I going to do other than rave and rant on this personal space of mine viewed by a close few? How can I step into the jungle and prove Darwin wrong?

I am just biding my time.



P.S. Have not enabled commenting.

Sunday, July 9

The moot point.

Was scrap-chatting with a friend today. Found out what the 'moot' actually is. Just pasting her description here fyi :

A fictious problem is given (say 2-3 pages long)... with lots of legal issues and 2 parties... one that goes to court and the other been taken to court...we are told beforehand which side we are to represent and after some 10 days of work ... we submit our memorial with arguments on facts and law for our side...a day after that we argue out the case in front of a bench of "judges" .. who may be seniors, faculty or lawyers from outside...then we're ranked on the basis of our performance..right now selections are on... we have some 3 rounds of internal moots.. after which the "moot team" is formed.. consisting 30 speakers and 10 researchers... these people pick national and international moots based on their ranks and the prestige involved in the said moot!


Now that we have that in the clear... I'd like to draw your attention to one segment that struck me , other than the fact that lawyers, medicos, desginers etc have amazing hands on experience (damn engineering) ... we are told beforehand which side we are to represent ...

Hmmm... told beforehand which side to take? Agreed that its just a college competition and more of a learning experience. But still, for people with zoolch idea about the judicial system (read: The Bourgeois Buffoon), its sorta weird. To me, a stand can be taken based on three circumstances. Either you have studied the situation and chosen a side of the argument using logic and rationale. Or you just blindly accept a trustworthy person's opinion on an unkown subject. Of course, most common of all is the way we refuse to change our stance no matter how much ever logic or reasoning is introduced either way (Its easier for our personal social fabric this way).

But imagine the plight of a young lawyer, passionate about... say, the environment, when he/she is asked to defend a factory which releases enough carbon everyday to cover the vatican city ten times over! Now this lawyer has two choices. Either chuck a good career in this prestigious firm and hold steadfast to his/her beliefs. Else mutely execute the order with a silent vow to never take up such a case when he/she has a firm of his/her own.

I don't know if any other profession would face such a moral grind with such a regular basis as these lawyers do. And knowing the fickleness of the human morality, this explains why lawyers often turn out to be the most hated group of them all. Not that the other guys don't face tough ethical decisions. Like Jeffrey Wigand, an executive in the tobacco industry who showed inside information on what additives are added by tobacco companies intentionally... so that smokers are addicted to their brands of ciggarettes, something that any common worker should be inspired by. He brought a the cartel of Tobacco companies to heel. A $264 billion settlement against them. The movie 'The insider', beautifully potrays his struggle to get the truth heard. With only a handful of lawyers actually coming to his aid. Rest of the law community in the pockets of the cartel. Although the evidence is mounted against them.
Unfortunate. I guess that's why its a Devil's advocate.
I am each and every lawyer/judge understands this. I just
hope he/she realises it. In time.

Saturday, July 8

Rx



Here is the history of medicine.

"I have a sore throat."



2000 BC : "eat this root"

1200 AD : "That root is heathen, say this prayer."

1500 AD : "That prayer is superstition, drink this elixir."

1800 AD : "That elixir is snake oil, Take this pill."

1900 AD : "That pill is ineffective, Take this antibiotic."

2000 AD : "That antibiotic is artificial, Here why dont you eat this root."




Saturday, July 1

Alma Mater.

To thy happy children of the future,

those of the past,

Send tidings...

The hope-giving tidings being an excerpt from an article on the economictimes.com on 30th June, regarding the changing trends in JEE due to various modifications:


"This increase could be attributed to the reforms made in the conduct of these examinations. The number of candidates qualified in their first attempt is 2,761, which is 43.5 per cent of the total number of qualified candidates," said the statement. Last year, 28.49 per cent were first timers.

The participation of female candidates also increased from 29,291 in 2005 to 58,997 this year, as entrance fee for them was halved, it said. "


About time, I say. Quite timely w.r.t DD's post.
May my Alma mater's happy children prosper... :)