Tashan mein....

This post is dedicated to special guys...i m sure they've understood just by reading the title, so no use writing their names.Yes a pretty long time....4 months and 19 days...but bt ds post cud nt hav cm up anytime sooner because eventually i have got a platform where i can speak my heart out,without thinking about any bloody tom, dick or harry...entirely mine...Yes, we as a team have done it and done it with style!!(dunno how many more times I am going to repeat it..:P)Aurora 2010 is successful...not just by the deeds of the 2 coordinators..oops 4(and of course our very dear faculty coordinator)but because of this entire group of people involved in making it a success...I don't think i need to name each one of them because the list would be just too long....
Now,this post for me is to share my experiences,put forth my mistakes,and for proposing the all important vote of thanks...(which i guess has been done pretty well)..Now moving on to the 1st 2 points...Firstly coordinating a fest of such stature is never a job of just 2 persons,and its not as simple as it initially seems...There's a hell lot of a difference between jotting down the plans on paper and actually putting it to practice...What we had to do for taking it to a level,we had initially thought of is actually not possible to be written down in so small a place..Our expectations from people involved with us proved to be miniscule in comparison to the efforts and dedication actually put in by them....Once again Thank you!(This goes 4 all:lovely juniors,ever supporting seniors,my beloved batch mates and of course those even dearer;) )Not everything was as smooth as it seemed on the 3 days of the fest...We had our share of glitches and hiccups,moments when we thought lets just finish it off...but ultimately when Krishna took the stage,that was the moment,the golden moment, and i could see those 3 months in front of my eyes in a flash...Everything had paid off...Every risk was worth taking,every penny was well spent,basically everything had fallen into the right place...So,for now signing off coz minors r on the card and i m not just getting enough of this Aurora stuff,but now its high time and I better start going or this hangover is going to cost me dearly...(as pointed out by someone very dear...)However, these 3 months of my life can never be replaced,i made some relations and realized the importance of some others..which will always remain etched in my mind heart and soul...Once again Thank You All..!!
Signing Off
Nirvaan

The Story of My Marriage...

Boy loves girl, Girl loves boy. Their families are against their marriage, Ultimately, love overcomes all hindrances, they get married. Sounds like a cliché Bolly plot? Not quite, although practically the only catch being, they bring home the bacon without eloping or being estranged to their families. Right from page 1,rather from preface,well actually from the page before preface(i don't know what u call dat..!!) its riveting. He magnanimously dedicates this book to his in-laws(probably the 1st ever..!)Even his disclaimer reads.'You only make digs at people you care for’. With this, he subtly takes the liberty to make mirthful jokes of everything ‘Tamil’. It actually has glimpses of 'Five Point Someone', thrown here and there..prof's daughter..scandal in IIT,..Girlfriend's Dad's nightwear(In this case 'lungi':P)..missed previous convocation etc. Although Bhagat requests this book be treated as fiction he admits this is inspired by his own experiences.
The story moves at a brisk pace.The main protagonist's (Ananya and Krish) entire IIM career is done in about 36 pages. Needless to say it involves sex, sleepovers, studies and a self-satisfied solitary existence. The story then oscillates between Delhi and Chennai, so expect a lot of local jargon from these two states. Of course like all his rest of the novels this too has a happy ending (he could have tried something better here though..).
Amidst all this there is a healthy dose of colloquial humor. For instance: Krish, on visiting Ananya’s house for the first time, asks for Ananya and describes her father’s look “As if I asked him where he kept his porn collection.” In another scene, after making out and being asked by Ananya about future he writes "It is amazing how vulnerability in a relation shifts from boy to girl after having sex". He rightly states "In India, you don’t marry the guy (or girl for that matter), you have to marry the family. In fact, Krish does get 4 gold rings made to propose girl’s entire family!" Sounds cheesy ? Besides this he also puts light on some truths of life ,through his own witticism. As in the beginning when a prof humiliates Ananya, Krish consoles her by saying "Wont you hate an eleven year old if he earns more than you?"
Many people don't quite have a high opinion of this book, saying he has been exaggerating, he's being predictable in all his writings, he doesnt go into the nitty gritties of writing styles, rhymes and aliterations etc.Hell..who cares as long it can keep u engrossed. His words are simple, and his characters very much identifiable and they talk, just like the way, you or I speak. he has this wonderful 'out-of-the-bed' kind of writing style, which helps him connect to the readers instantaneously. Moreover he never claims to be a gramatically correct or writing a life changing novel.So, whats the big fuss about?
Well, Critically speaking(just because some bad points needs to be written too, I am doing this) I feel its written keeping a movie script in mind, and not a novel(not that this takes away his credentials..!!). His routine love making descriptions are like "Here comes the item number of the book"..And yes I can certainly see that the sequel to '3 idiots' is already set up(Not to mention his one liners can surely draw a huge lot of 'seetis' from 1st row )
To sum it all up, its a merger of the Alpha TV with the Sun Tv, a book worth spending 95 bucks. and I would personally suggest you to grab a copy and read it at one go. But then, thats just me...

Signing off
Nirvaan

The year that is...so far

As always..its been yonks i've explored this dimension of my self, blame it on..mmmm..well this time 'Sorry blame it on me..'(I luv this song;))This has been a very consequential year by far...Some highlights are 'The rise of a leader in the likes of Rahul Gandhi who single handedly led the UPA govt into a formidable position, The Commercialization of the Brand Called Cricket and Cricketers..How about a 'Sachin Pepsi Tendulkar' or say a 'Swapnil Nano Asnodkar' in the form of IPL..oops IPL2'.No wonder toddlers wud sun b taught 1,2,3,4,5,DLF Maximum,7..:O. Around the same time The Zoo Zoo effect caught the nerves of the Indian audience.If Hutch made Pug the ‘national’ dog, Zoo Zoo’s became the new youth icon - one that was truly missed after IPL’s grand finale. The undercover SouthAfrican svelte belly dancers compelled the viewers not to fiddle with their remote controls even during commercial breaks..Not long after was the disappointing Budget 2009,leaving the general public lamenting.After all it was the first budget post recession and too much was expected out of it(We hate Pranab Mukherjee..X-().However there was also a somewhat consoling Railway Budget(at least for Bengal)..God Bless Mamata...!!

Moving on to some International NewsMakers..The Death Of MJ(Is it a he..?Is it a She..?No..its Michael Jackson:P) and the rise of Swine Flu clearly steals the show in terms of Popularity..:P.The mysterious death of MJ triggered an outpouring of grief around the world, creating surges of Internet traffic and causing sales of his music to soar,even the likes of Obama and Manmohan Singh(I doubt he had even heard his name before..:S) couldnt help offering their condolences .On an even sadder note the H1N1 virus really spread like wildfire,affecting almost all the nations across the globe.A more personal setback was that our trip to Agra was called off.(I hate you filthy,stinky pigs)After national and International highlights moving on to some local news..The construction of Jinsi nala Pul is finally complete(frankly speaking I never expected it to run atleast until my postgraduation or shud i say Integrated Post graduation:P) and our very own DDmall is meliorating day by day(the ladies in there 2;))Oh how could i forget the Mafia Mania which has about 25 million active accounts on facebook itself leave aside, myspace and yahoo..Very few could escape this mafia mania in our college too with 'help Don X with this job' and 'Help Don Y to gain these articles' becoming a regular on facebook walls(u dont bliv it..jst chk ur wall i bet u wud;)).There are no more cases i find worth a mention here,and so its a gud bye 4 now...
Signing Off-Nirvaan

note:this blog is penned as i was afraid my grey cells wud get damaged in these 4 days of unending, draggy, and most importantly irksome hols,and yes here i wud lik to thank ma frnd,who actually exhorted me into this lucubration called blogging:)

Choice...A Consequence of Conscience....

Its been a long time and i owe this delay to my training period. However, it's better late than never. Surviving the hot days of summer in the pink city, a week in 'the Scotland of the East' was definitely refreshing. Now that I have some time at my hand, it's back to blogging. During childhood we were taught a numerous things ; mannerisms, etiquette, discipline all forms the backbone of our life and we took them to be the pedagogues of a blissful life.
How to talk, how to behave, how to sit, how to eat, what to eat, everything. "beta don't do this, beta don't do that" and we assumed whatever we are told is correct, believing them blindfolded. Now that I have gained conscience and matured a bit, thankfully I find most, rather all of them (of course we can't do away with the exceptions) to be very true. The 'for' part being done with, lets talk about the 'againsts'. First of all the eating habits. We were (am sure most of us were) told by our elders that fruits, green vegetables are good for health, but according to us these are the things of the past, and we the so called Gen X, feed and grow on soft drinks, chips and pastries. Things which were not talked about at home, i.e. we learnt from magazines or newspapers or our beloved friends, is automatically believed to be a taboo (although we all practice them). The adolescent talks that we find very exciting are not to be discussed in family. We have grown up with these morals flowing in our veins. If we keenly observe, it's a universal rule - anything that excites us and is not told by our elders is forbidden. (I wonder why the greatest of scientists and psychologists never figured it out!) Right from the day of our birth the mantra of "Early to Bed, Early to rise, makes one healthy wealthy and wise" has been crammed into our minds. And most of us did follow it until a certain age, however once we grow up and gain conscience there are very few left to preach this mantra (pardon me if m being a bit stereotypical, but this is what i see around me) As we grow, our choices change, the same denims that we once kept for occasional wears bought on our birthdays by our parents, now seem out of fashion, in fact they are not worth wearing even at home. Now we only want  branded clothes (how much we can afford is a different conversation altogether). This is the very consequence of our maturity. We all know that smoking and drinking is injurious to health and have grown up hating people who exercise these acts, but now many of us have ourselves started them completely aware of how fatal it can be. Who can we blame it on other than our own conscience. To sum up, it's not a moral speech or lecture i m delivering its just a thought I had a few days ago and wanted 2 share.

Signing off

Nirvaan

Standing Tall...

Although i might be late to vociferate ma perspective on the outcome of the "BIG BATTLE"(biggest in terms of expenditures incurred)but i am not altogether amenable to this lag, my NGO is completely responsible for it(without any discretion of views:P)Still ,hoping the fever has not completely died down(as even the cabinet is not yet set up ), this is my and solely my view on the Elections-2009.
Priyanka Gandhi said it first.Her brother's gr8 skill was his willingness to "sacrifice the now for the future". Not just was he never given enough credit for this, he was often "berated" by a fickle media. Looking back ,her words now seem eerily prescient. When Rahul Gandhi 1st pushed for traveling solo in the badlands of Uttar Pradesh and when he refused to accept the piddly little offer of mere 3 seats form Mr. Lalu Yadav, there were enough sniggers some from within the Congress itself. I remember, Mr Lalu quipping on a TV show"Is Rahulji planning an election for 2014 or 2009?" But that's irony - Rahul Gandhi probably was planning a long-term overhaul for 2014 or even further ahead, and made no apologies for it. In other words lets think of what would have happened if the Congress' seats had not soared up in UP.The media that is gushing today would have swung to the other extreme and editorialized on supposed political "naivete". Every sentence uttered during electioneering would have been stomping all over the story.
It's now conventional wisdom to pitch him as the big winner of this election. But I think,the real reason that he is a victor is not so much the fact that Rahul Gandhi's courageous risk won the Congress ,the Hindi Heartland its the fact that had his party lost he would have still believed in the need 2 pursue a lonelier, but braver political path. There are very politicians who can stand up to the public scrutiny of a decision that doesn't yield immediate results.It's my guess that the 39 year old Gandhi is probably one of those few.And that's what makes him a winner. Its the willingness to divorce politics from the popularity stakes that makes Rahul Gandhi so unusual.Of course there's a difference between following your heart and mind and being entirely indifferent to public opinion, It is sometimes a thin line that separates courage from hubris. And many politicians have lost their balance in this tough trapeze walk. That's why I think, despite all the clamoring for Rahul Gandhi to be part of the new council of ministers, his instinct to stay out is probably much wiser. Not just because the party organization needs strengthening and rejuvenation, but also because its the more grounded way to climb to the top.Its a path designed to sidestep the hurdles that ingratiating sycophancy within the party can crop up. And that will be what Rahul gandhi will be most closely watched for in the months and years to come.Will he manage to live up to his word of delivering democracy within his own party?
Finally, while so many deconstruct Rahul Gandhi in terms of his father and his grandmother(his own sister said he combined the best of both politically),I think he may have another unexpected example to emulate - his mother, Sonia Gandhi, the shy,reluctant politician, permanently silenced her critics since the day she declared she had no interest in being Prime Minister.Five years later, she holds not just the party;but also the alliance together.Every time there is a crisis-a recalcitrant partner, a dissenting old leader; a sulky party colleague - it is she who is called in to apply the balm. Those who dismissed her as a novice from abroad had to swallow their words and accept that old fashioned stuff like hand power and sheer goodwill still have a huge space in Indian Politics. Its the same goodwill and simple integrity that most people associate with the Prime Minister. And its that mix of decency and humility that we will look for in the man destined to lead the Congress into its new future.

Signing off..Nirvaan