Boom De Yada

I love this new Discovery Channel ad. Yes, I watch Discovery Channel.

The Audacity of Boredom

So, I was smart enough to cash in on Obama's popularity to get you here. You'd might as well read on now...

I'm currently involved the painful process of moving to a new house. The process has panned itself out over a month and a half now. I keep making regular visits to my old house to move everything in bits and pieces (and to also acquaint myself with any new pigeon families that decide to encroach upon my property). The funny thing about moving is that you are very likely to come across stuff that you had lost, or you thought you had lost, or didn't know of the existence of at all.

So, on my zillionth visit to the old house, I found one of my notebooks from college (St. Stephen's College) that I had forgotten about completely. More importantly, I found the last page of that notebook on which some of my friends, perhaps at odds with life itself, had expressed their artistic longings. This is what the last page looks like:

This priceless piece of art was the centre of discussion for a few days back in early 2007. This is quite literally an illustration of what life was all about in the second year of college. My college classmates will recognize this instantly. For the beginners though, allow me to guide you through it.

From top, left to right:

1. "Scheen" : Bastardization of the name "Sachin". He shall be referred to again.
2. "Dana" : Nickname for Mr. Kunjal Desai, whose favourite drunk antic was to dance to the song, "Chipkali ke nana hain, Chipkali ke hain sasur, Danasur Danasur Danasur..." . His size didn't belie the nickname given to him.
3. "Ankita/Winnie" : We put that slash in there because they were one and the same person. They did go on to win the 'Them Clones Award' at our farewell, for always standing by one another, quite literally. Lovingly referred to as "Tim" (easier to pronounce than "Team") for future use.
4. "Brown Fish" : Sachin's other nickname, for some unfathomable reason.
5. "F1 Boy" : This nickname for Mr. K. Desai came to be after there was a fictional story created about his life. About how he would go on to become the proverbial (really? proverbial?) rich Gujju and go on to own a Formula 1 team. Bernie Ecclestone better watch his ass.
6. "Truck" : For Ms. Akanksha Rawat. Believe me she can still run someone over.
7. "Dhan" : Which was allegedly my only motive for debating. Unfortunately, I never managed too much Dhan.
8. "Bat Ball" : Our favourite pastime in college. Cricket on the basketball court.
9. "Nasha" : Some of the aforementioned people had a history with this.
10. "Horny Fattu" : Mr. Prothit Sen, who is now not one of these two things.
11. "Tainu Kala Chashma" : Refers to Mr. Shashwat Khanna, who had amorous intentions for this song. A joke still does the rounds where he dies in a "Truck" accident.
12. "Shashwat Khaana De" : For trucks need fuel to run.
13. "Mecca of a paper" : I rather unfortunately used these very words to describe an exam. Optics, I think, it was. What I meant, I may never know.
14. "Light Shampoo" : Is apparently what I use to keep myself from going bald by the time I'm thirty. Apparently, it's not working.
15. "Apartment" : Which was always required and never available for a wild pardy.
16. "Shy Bladder" : No comment. For this is a family blog.
17. "Sweatshirt Fund" : We used to buy these on a wholesale basis. Apparently, Tim was planning to set up this fund so that Scheen could buy himself better clothes! (Interesting nugget of information supplied by Nikhil Patel)
18. "Oye Mince!!!" : A favourite with the combined entity called Ankita/Winnie.
19. "Honda" : My favourite car, again, apparently.
20. "Hottie Singh" : Who's the thief of our class. Wo dil churata tha!
21. "Anittsssa" : Bastardization of the nice name, Aneesha (Sic.), who was then class clown Ankit Jain's (nee' Dude) girlfriend. Dude was the prime target of all jokes. He had a lot of what we call Studaapa in IIT, along with a slight lisp, hence the name Anittsssa. Yes, we were cruel bastards. And it was fun. There's an arrow that points to Anittsssa. Since both Dude and Aneesha are regular readers of my blog, I shall not mention what is written below this arrow. Both of you can contact the artist Nikhil Patel for further information!
    

For one thing, no one went on to become an artist. Thank god for that. They'd probably be in exile by now for inciting public violence.

Life's turned a full circle since then. Hope we can have a reunion at Mr. Desai's mansion some 50 years down the line. Wait, there was a little doodle that was drawn to illustrate that too...I'm going to go and look for that now!

Superman

You crossed the finish line,
Won the race but lost your mind.

Was it worth it after all?

Black Flags

While we were all ringing in the new year in our own joyous ways, there was a children's hospital in Gaza City that was at the wrong end of a bomb with the Star of David on it. As an Israeli jet screeched overhead, it drowned out the screams of hundreds of children down below.

Was it right for the Hamas to have broken the ceasefire? No. But does it give Israel the authority to go on trampling human rights with impunity as it has done since its inception?

The 'United' Nations at this point of time can't even agree on a press statement, let alone a course of action to be taken with thousands of civilians living in rubble and squalor, with no fuel, food, water or electricity. All this, at a time when Israel refuses to allow international media into Gaza despite an order from their own Supreme Court. It's amazing how until America condemns something, it's perfectly alright to carry on doing it remorselessly.

One has to ask, what is the aim behind all of this? Does the Israeli government realize that it is hurling tonnes of bombs at an ideology that is of its own making? Does it realize that it will only wheedle itself into a false sense of security for a short while after which the resurgence from the other side will be devastating?

If there are those of the belief that India should be doing something similar with Pakistan, wait and watch what happens in the aftermath of this tragedy. Should change your mind.

Unfortunately, the ones getting caught in the rockets and the mortar care little (or atleast cared little a while ago) about the legitimacy of the lines that divide them. They are people who have families to feed and everyday struggles for existence that get worsened because of the complex questions that the rest of the world is to scared to take a stand on.

*Solidarity for the people of Palestine* May this travesty end soon.