Cheers to Life

A poem penned down on the 28th of Feb, when salary was credited and I was down with a very bad fever :

As I sit here, fever shooting up

Mind yearning for a steaming cup

I cannot, but wonder what life is this

Only to think it used to be bliss

Gone are those days, weekends spent out and out

Oh the countless times, when we had nightout(s)

If all is gone to do this work

I so want to rip life with fork

Oh how badly I want to weep

Wait, the phone goes beep beep

Yes, I got it – the much awaited salary

No one’s around to see me go merry

Mind suddenly active, all plans right

Bengaluru awaits me in a fortnight

Oh forget it, forget this strife

I am happy, ‘Cheers to life’

When Cupid threw a hammer

He was Jack; his beautiful wife Jill
And their sweet kids Norah and Will.

Life was good; indeed was smooth
Why wouldn’t it, he was there to soothe
Two beautiful kids; both were pretty
The younger one all the more witty

“Thank You Cupid; for striking your arrow;
Without Jack, life would have been narrow”

All went well, until one dark night
Jack was drunk; his mind not right
Along came a girl, when he wanted to rest
Like a Greek Goddess, beauty at its best

That long night, two became one
Forget the others, they cared for none

News spread around, people did talk
Some, out of curiosity, decided to stalk
Poor Jill, why should she bear the brunt
Not able to hold; she chose to confront

“Of course Jill, I am walking away
This lady here has come to stay”

She was cornered; she was helpless
Without her Jack, life was lifeless
Revenge it is, she wanted to think
Her Jack was heavy; too heavy to sink

“Oh dear Cupid, why should it be me
I am helpless; why can’t you see”

Sweet Little Cupid; with his golden arrow
Wanted to help her; remove her sorrow
Teach him a lesson, I sure will
Without his wife; life is nil

But this was new; indeed the very first
For Cupid to break two lovers’ thirst

What should I do, to bring them apart
It should be discreet, indeed very smart
The arrow not to be used, not for this
What then to use, for it should not miss

“No bow; no arrow and certainly no glamour
Yes, I got it; why not throw a hammer”

Plan formed in his mind, Cupid decided to act
Handle it with care; indeed with added tact
With the first discord, he had to play it low
But as it so happened; it was the final blow

“Too brittle, these lovers sure are
How did it last, for times so far”

Back to senses, Jack saw his mistake
Also realizing how much he left at stake
What luck it was; that a loving wife he had
To leave her and walk, was his own bad

“Forgive me Jill, I don’t understand how
But it will always be you, the one I truly love”

Chennai Roof Top Film Festival

Sometimes, certain things people do, however trivial they might be tends to leave somewhat of an impact on you. This is more, if that thing turns out to be one-of-the-many-things you are passionate about. At other times, this might inspire you in a positive way ! That said, let me revive my blog with one-of-the-many-firsts I witnessed the last weekend - Chennai Roof Top Film Festival (http://www.facebook.com/ChennaiRTFF).

I first came across this weird acronym RTFF on a friend's FB wall, sometime last month. Clicking on it turned out to be quite a surprise. I never thought for a minute, something like this were remotely possible. But looking through the page, I realized that this bunch of film buffs have actually made it possible. Imagine bringing together a bunch of strangers under a roof ! I don't think I would ever be capable of it. But these guys were. Impressed !

I immediately joined the Google Groups. As luck would have it, registrations for Feb's edition of the festival opened up the very next day. As ill-luck would have it, by the time I checked my mails, the registration was closed. Damn ! I sent out a mail to one of those guys, who was polite enough to give some bull-shit, very decently ! Well, that's what I thought then. Later, I realized I was mistaken (more on that, probably sometime later)

Not wanting to miss out this month, from the moment I received a mail about the registrations-soon-to-be-open, my gmail was open almost round the clock. The moment it did, I was through to the ticketnew site & got myself registered for March's edition.

Now, this friend of mine who gave me the lead to RTFF told me just one thing : On Saturday, sleep as much as possible during the day. I did. Slept through most of Saturday. By around 8, I was ready for the night-out. But we got delayed owing to traffic and made it to the venue at 9.30 on dot ! Luckily, nothing had started (well, I was not surprised about that, being a proud Indian)

Beds, pillows, blankets - man these guys seemed to have gone into a great deal of trouble to get everything in place. So much for the love of movies. Impressed, again.

Soon, things fell into place & the evening started off with screening of the short film Kadhalil Sodhapuvadhu Eppadi. Following this, the director Balaji himself made an entry & had a very honest-cum-open discussion with us, patiently, yet a bit lengthily answering the questions thrown.

The actual screening of movies started following this. Four movies went well into the night & the following morning :
- Before Sunrise
- Say Anything
- Like Crazy
- True Romance

The interesting part was the discussions that ensued between movies. Although I did not contribute a single view (frankly, too lazy), some of the points conveyed were indeed sensible, if I might say so !

Enough of the night. Let me just say a few things about this whole experience.

Firstly, I really appreciate these bunch of fellas for bringing up such an idea. That, by itself, has to be wow-ed. All this pain, just for being crazy movie-fans !

Secondly, I must say this whole idea of curating seems different. Though democracy seems to be the order, I can think of it more as pseudo - dictatorship. But given the fact that the turn out is rather huge (this time having been scaled up to roughly 200, according to them), this certainly is necessary. But I wonder how many people would actually understand this

Third, it beats me how the large turnout was handled without any hitch ! Everything seemed to be worked out well, without hazzles. Even the Appy !

The best of all, when Sudhish Kamath actually requested the crowd to help out with cleaning the place, they actually did. That is so not us right? Well, glad !

Looking forward to the next edition - Mid summer night musical ! Hopefully, I register on time.

Oh and by the way, it might sound a little I-don't-know-what-may-be-trying-to-impress sorts that I write all this after just one time at the RTFF, but no. Two reasons -
1. Read the first few lines of the post
2. Lets face it, whom am I actually going to impress?

Revival

Ok, its high time I revive my otherwise dormant blog ! Its been close to 3 years since I posted anything here for various reasons.

But the one main reason I could think of was, me using what is called InfyBlogs, the internal blog in my office. I have crossed 200 odd posts there and it sure has given me some really wonderful friends, I must admit !

The blogs there, though restricted in what is being posted (company policy, they term it), sure is fun. And thought provoking at times. It inspired me to write my first ever story, which actually turned out to be a 30+ chapter series.

People got to know me, I got to know people !! Although I have been blogging there for close to 2 years now, the thought of this blog has always made me feel bad. Everytime I decided to write again, something stopped me.

But this time, I am overcoming this and starting off !

Hope I sustain

Independence Day!!!

Hello all... Wishing you a happy Independence Day.. Its hard to believe that 62 years have passed since we came out of the British rule... A lot of phenomenal changes have been witnessed in these many years... Green Revolution, White Revolution, Pokhran nuclear test, globalisation etc are just a few examples... Many Prime Ministers have come and gone... Many Presidents have resided at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan... A lot has indeed happened in these 62 years of Independent India.. But, one question which we have all failed to answer is perhaps this : "Are we really independent??"

We have failed miserably in many areas... Consider this... Gandhi said "India lives in its villages".. But the fact is our villages are dying day by day... In the sense that even after 62 years, education still remains a dream for most village children... Many governments have promised complete electrification of villages... But these have always remained empty promises.. Never kept up as always... Basic infrastructure lacks in most of the villages... No proper roads, no shelter etc... Why is this so?

Another issue that comes up to my mind is about reservations in education and job sector.. Reservations were introduced after independence only for the purpose of upliftment of the poor society.. But a limit was set on the same. But today, reservation has become a political weapon to gain votes... In what way is this justified? Just because a person belongs to the forward class, he is denied his genuine chance in most areas... How is Equality before law withheld in such cases???

Politics is perhaps the worst issue today... There is just one magic word - VOTE.. Political parties are swooping down to the cheapest levels to gain votes and thereby gain power... How many false promises.. What cheap game it has become... There used to be times when we had great politicians - Indira Gandhi, Kamaraj etc. But today??? Today's politicians are worse than the swine flu... They have polluted the entire nation...

Communalism is still prevalent in the society... India was said to be secular... But are we really secular??? After the Babri Masjid and Godhra incidents, what moral rights do we have to call ourselves secular???

Corruption everywhere.. Pay a RTO 200 bucks, you get your license without even goin through the process... Pay a college 3 lakhs.. You get a seat even though you have failed miserably... The public sector has deteriorated so bad that it is beyond correction of any sort...

When will all these issues be resolved?? When will we truly become independent?? Is the 2020 limit easy to achieve?? I really dont think so....

Germany......

Hello people. I am very sorry I could not update my blog for a few weeks. I have been very busy with my college work. Anyways, I have some great news for all of you. I shall be going to Germany for an internship starting in September. This has come in as a wonderful opportunity for me to prove myself there. I had an interview for getting selected. Though it was supposed to be technical, I was not asked a single technical question. My interview was mainly restricted to questions like affording the expenses, area of interest etc. I shall be working in a company called Steinburg und partner. It is basically a bio-medical research company, but we shall be developing software solutions for them. I shall be working on image processing. I shall be in Germany for about 4 months I think. Starting from September to January. We are scheduled to leave on the 10th or 11th of September by Emirates flight from Chennai. First time an international flight. It should be interesting I guess.

Anyways, this whole thing is an excellent opportunity for me to work abroad. I think I will be paid around 400 euros per month for the internship. I will be staying in a place called Soest, which is about an hour away from Frankfurt. I shall update as and when I get more information

final year...

Well here i am.. in my final yr of engg.. it was as if yest tat i joined b.tech in SASTRA, but already i a into the final yr... i simply cant understand how 3 yrs ran off jus like that.. but d best part is these 3 yrs have been one of d most memorable ones in my life... i got really amazing frds, learnt a lotta things etc... i was able to understand what life is .... atleast to some extent... i witnessed 2 deaths - my grandfather and my uncle... der have been many instances n incidents which have changed my view of life... but now i am in a "cat on the wall" situation... confusion abt wat to do next etc.. as a first step, i am writing gre on 17th aug.. tat ll def help me decide my future course... lets see.. i wish all d best to u ppl in all ur endeavours...

Shimla

Well an unexpected chance came upon me once my training got over in delhi - to visit shimla.. it was decided tat me n my cousin alone wud go to shimla.. d accomodation was completely free in a 3 star hotel der.. v had to pay only for d car... it was a 2 night/2 day package kinda thing.. d entire trip was awesome... d very look of d town itself is superb... had a really good time... awesome figures der.. really so white... went to a couple o places... on d way, went to tis place called pinjore garden near chandigarh... tat was amazing too... shimla is definitely worth a visit atleast once...

attack on indians in australia

The recent attack on Indians in Australia has been blown out of proportions... The media has a major part to play in this.. A lot of columns in newspapers have been dedicated for this purpose.. There has been major hue and cry by various sections of the community, condemning these attacks.. Yet the point to be noted here is such actions are indeed well justified...
I read an article recently regarding this. Apparently such attacks are not new.. There have been many such incidents happening over the yrs but none of them have been brought to the limelight.. Most of them went unnoticed and o course unjustified. How is it that such discrimination can exist... I fail to understand....
But the good thing is atleast now they have been brought out and ppl are gettin to know more abt such incidents,. This will sure have an impact on Indian students going to the island continent.. Frankly speaking, as far as my MS is concerned, after the UK, Australia was my second choice(Yes I didnt consider US)... But now I have my own doubts about this.... lets see wat happens in d near n far future

Delhi - my first two days

Its been 3 days now since i reached delhi... im comin here after 2 yrs... n i cannot deny tat its become much more awesome than it was b4 two yrs... first n foremost.. d airport... last time wen i flew from delhi, the airport was under renovation and so it was full of debris... but now its been renovated completely and it is awesome.. a truly world class airport... such huge runways... it took approx 5 mins to come from d flight to the arrival lounge... pretty huge for an indian airport... n its interior looks are awesome... d journey from d airport to noida took more than an hour but i enjoyed every bit o it... tall raise buildings, awesome flyovers and roads... makes u wonder if u still were in delhi... the bridge linkin delhi and noida (called the DND bridge) is the best... 8 laned toll roads,... man it is superb...
comin to my training, i ve been attending it for the past 2 days... i dint hv much work both the days but the building is superb... centralized a/c, unlimited coffee n tea, free lunch, awesome figures are the highlights... really good lookin gals... all of dem must b 3 or 4 yrs elder to us, but def don look like tat... a gal named megha is doin trainin with me.. she looks pretty decent but i flirted a lot wid her... lets hope tis continues in the comin days