Cooper, Bradley III

Let the record state at the very outset, that this is not the customary post that I make every time I have climbed up the bench-press ladder by a certain amount (which, for the record I have). This is also not a post in praise of my gym exploits, of which I assure you there are many (but modesty, quite like factual accuracy, is one of the tenets this blog swears by). This post is quite simply an obituary.

This post is in the memory of the self-esteems of certain men, all undergoing the CoM phase (if you don't get the reference, you don't read my blog enough; see the first post and the second post of the series). These brave men walk in to the gym for the first time, look around (with that look quite reminiscent of Rajnikanth's entry in many a movie), and nonchalantly head toward that death trap we call the cross-bar. The intent is to show the room who's boss. Imagine the shock when their arms realize that their bodies are too heavy, and they're left there trying with their lives to look like they're hanging on purpose and having fun doing it. All that looks good in Complan ads with pre-pubescent brats. When you're pot-bellied and thirty, you ought to know that your self-esteem just rolled over and died. May it rest in peace.

Not one to let my bretheren's mistakes go by without notice, I find room for one of my theories. This theory states that it is quite alright to underestimate yourself in certain situations; especially when you are a CoM-er and public humiliation is hot and ready to serve. Amen.

True story.

Return of the Closing Argument

When I wrote a post last year, looking back at what I then thought was the last debating event in my life, I had no clue that another one was coming exactly a year later. Do I have a clue about what's coming next year? Perhaps not. But then again, a few epiphanies I had in the last four days made sure that there will be no more of this.

The 5th IIT Delhi Parliamentary Debate concluded with a win for Ramjas yesterday, and what a ride it was. Sleepless nights, missed meals, meals consisting of pizza on the go; it was the busiest I had been in a very long time. And while I knew that I was going to say exactly the opposite when it all ended, there were times in between when I really wanted it to end. There were also these times when my head told me I was too old for this. I wonder what Chauhan's head tells him then. There's always that sense of ennui once the frenzy dies after a whole week of madness; but it's good to return to life the way it was before one was forced to shift tracks, albeit temporarily. I think the strangest bit is when you meet people, you work with them and befriend them for the duration of the debate. Once the debate is over, especially in this case (with it being the last ever for me), you wonder if you will run into them again. I'm going to stop wondering in about a day when I've slept off the sleep deprivation and gone back to work.

All said and done, the whole affair went off rather well (even if grossly behind schedule). I haven't added anything to my debating experiences in the time-span between the the last two IIT PDs, but I've added enough in the last week or so to say again that it's been a great run; and more importantly, this is it. Not the kind of "it" I mentioned a year ago, this time it's a curtain call!

Fare-thee-well EDLC. I wish you the best!

Two Tens and Three Ones

Yep. If you managed to somehow scrape through second grade math, you'd realize that the title makes twenty three. That's about as much I'm going to turn in about 10 minutes after this post goes up. And a good twenty two it has been. I'm evidently not the man who requires constant public attention, so I thought it best to express gratitude for the things in life and the year it has been in public. If you find me howling about my life in about 24 hours and 10 minutes from now, I give you (yes YOU) the right to hold me to ransom.

I notice an absence at this point of time. That of a certain sense of ennui that had plagued me when twenty two had dawned. Days were a little lonely then. Nothing going as per plan has now ensured that I have had that lovely extra year to spend with loved ones; those who have been with me for the longest time and also those that met me about twenty two days after I turned twenty two. I am as glad as glad can be for the twists of fate that formed the seemingly disastrous start of twenty two, and made welcoming twenty three such a pleasure. It was only because of these that I was able to meet one of you, and be with all of you for that extra year.

So what's up with this twenty three business, you ask. Well, for one, one feels wiser. Wiser not in terms of being able to give better gyan of the unsolicited kind (which let's face it, one was always good at); but wiser in terms knowing when one's being stupid. The sense of adventure that still makes you do that stupid thing despite having full knowledge of it doesn't start fading till you're 30 I guess. So that makes for an interesting next 7 years.

What else is up with this twenty three business, you inquire. Marriage, I say. Not mine (say grace, womenkind), but a whole lot of others around me. It's filling conversation-space everywhere. Let's hope that marriage hoo-haa takes it's own royal time getting around. Also, slowly but steadily, the new hot women on tv have gone from being five years older to same age to now being about two years younger. That's a development I will have my eyes on, for twenty four maybe.

All said and done, a great year gone, and hopefully a great year ahead. Here's to being good in life. I love you all and owe you big (you know who you are).

Happy 23, SK.