Possessions

The other day I was wondering how sophisticated these kids(who are under-12 right now) are gonna grow up to be! To my inquisitive self, my father would often tell me how things were different when he was a teenager, and "moving on" has been the mantra of their generation. And rightly so, keeping in my mind the technical and cultural advancement in all these years! He had to listen to the commentary for Hockey and Cricket on a transistor. Although Desi Ghee costed around 15-a-kilo, a motor-car was reserved for the filthy rich and well-to-do! Long queues for Trunk calls, Chitrahaar on Doordarshan.. (if you know all this, I've perhaps made my point, if not - I'm just boring you :P) The point is, I was wondering, now that I'm in my 20s, how distinctly did we grow up?


The immediate thing that came to my mind was, being a boy - a Cricket BAT! You could win the world if you own that.. and now all you need is balls! And not just any ball - Cosco! or even Khanna would suffice! These costed us gang around 25 bucks; and buying a leather ball was a totally different affair. Pocket money doesn't buy those balls! ;-)


I would have to be a sucker critic to claim that this was all I ever cherished. But as I said, I could immediately recall and re-paint my favorite Bat :)
Sad enough, I don't even have a picture of it; infact none of my possessions.. which I took a lot of time to figure out! So I'll now shut up, and put up a few 'things' here - these are absolutely personal and our choices do differ.... but maybe and just maybe, I remind you of something similar! And then you can go on smiling about how-funny-those-time-were.. PRICELESS!




What if I say the following were my fantasies.. PG-500, Gypsy or Beta? No sire, they are not cool names of cellphones from the XYZ brand..

Gypsy, boiiii; How bad I'd flaunt it !! ;-) Add Gel Pens were quite the thing to keep in your school-bag! PG-500 was absolute class; smooth-ass pen for the marathon notes the teachers try to spoon-feed!
And Parker's Beta, it has a story! I won the first debate competition I took part in, at school level. And this was a souvenir. Grand.

Although a freak about these rather common pens, I never completed my homework. I think standard VI was the last I maintained a note-book! Rules and me :/ As much as music interests me now, I could have done anything that could eat up my "homework-cum-study-time". A Philips Cassette Player or WALKMAN was just the thing! No iPods, mp3 players for this kid, not even a disc-man! ;-)


You'll know its hard to find images of the exact one on the internet for obvious reasons, but this was pretty much it. Automatic Stop, thats what it read!
AA Batteries and a cassette that could hold only 10 to 12 songs - but you are the king, and you know it!

Surely it was not that we didn't have gadgets while growing up. Because no one grew up without playing Tetris, even if it sucked(in your head, big time!) You got to have atleast touched that thing!
Suck-up all you PSP freaks! An ALL-WINNER is here!


The BRICK GAME!


Where Brick Game was a HUGE thing to be fiddling with, the TV Video Game had its own special place. SEGA is the only one I can recall for now. You see I didn't have one until I was in the 8th standard, so I couldn't quite master all those games except Mario for one! Because before I could, I had lost interest in sitting infront of the television, or at home, or apparently I had screwed my Joystick toooo soon to be reporting it to my father.. to replace it :P



Oh yes, I had that trendy-colored "educational" one, and a 64 in one classic.












Adding to the list I much adore, I had a Casio keyboard right from when I was 7 years old! Still have it at home, as a piece of.. well, it still works ;-) Achievement, I know!!
That's where I learned the Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do's and the Sa-Re-Ga-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni-Sa's ;-) And some sick jingles I won't wanna mention here :/




These things are things that one.. or me, to be specific, would use for a particular time in a day. But there was something that was actually a part of me 24x7.. Flesh and blood, shall we call it gentlemen and ladies!


My wrist watch! er, watches! The first one I owned was a Maxima, which was unbeatably water-proof; and me for one, exploited every sing;e feature of my possessions ;-) It just never came of. Sleeping, eating, playing in the field, at school, bathing, and uh-oh, lets not go there(where the time stands still :P)
Coolness as it was, but change is for better. I lost it, I got a new one - Titan Dash!  The Absolute! (Don't mind my exaggeration, that's what I've been doing throughout this post, hehe!) Still remember that ugly morning, while watering the plants in the garden, for one rare time, I took it off my wrist for the fear of damaging it, and kept it somewhere. And next I recall, I was searching for it all around the garden the following evening with a naked wrist and a gloomy face :( Miss it!
If anything that could beat my affinity for this watch of mine, it had to be on splendid object. The very evening, I remember telling mom, that I had lost 'one' of the two most important things I had for my own, and so I am going out to spend some time with the other. No drama, all out of disappointment, that :P And I was out on the streets with my AVON ALTON! (one day, that was stolen too!)
My bicycle. THE BICYCLE! So what, if it had no gears, or shockers, or indicators(that was a lame feature, to be honest) - it was special to me!

No street of Lucknow was left unmarked; no corners unexplored! It would often speed up to 35kmph while going down hill.. and boy, that is some speed for a bike!
Also, that is not how it looked back then :( Again, don't have a picture of it,  and the model seems to have changed!
Mine, was a blue-cum-silver colored Avon Alton - K-series; with the top-tube, down-tube and seat-tube forming a K shape! Who needs gadget when you have that! Get out on the road and kick some ass!
My love for biking never faded out, even as I went to school on a bicycle right till the XII standard! The reason why I never requested for a Dish or Cable connection at home, never cared.. or abandoned my Video Game, was this. 


You think that's crazy :P I'll add more. This adventure race, held around Pune every year, Enduro3, which I participated in 2010 demands a lot of cycling! Roughly, I biked around for 80kms in two days :O No exaggeration here, sir! None! ...Funny(& awesome), that I found an unclaimed Apple iPod(yeah, Nano - the new-age gadget) during that race.. which we, being a team, couldn't finish :/ (and which I have already lost!)




Feel like adding a conclusion here :P So, even if we didn't have a PS3 or an Apple iPod or a PSP or a Laptop or an iPad (blimey, kids now have those too!) or a.. ok, enough! I don't wanna spoil the mood :P.... things don't matter; what is cherished is memories and we had what's precious, a childhood. 

TEN dramatic idiosyncrasies of U.N.G.I.N.E.E.R.S

We are incredible.. We can define beauty on a graph-sheet, build a software recreate the Universe, a machine that brings about world peace, and a circuit that replaces Nature! Er..
We do nothing during our 4-year vacation at graduation. Then, we work hard(dude.. seriously!) for that campus placement. We get The Dream Job. Then one day that dream thing turns into a nightmare, water rises upto the neck; and we head towards betterment of the organisational part of the corporate world. We get an MBA - we get The Dream Job-2! Some like myself hear about ROIs and look for an MBA+Dream Job-2 directly. Even then, you'll find us in every freaking job in the world! Best camouflage-ers in the country, WE ARE.
Comparing us to the next big thing post 10+2? We are successful and don't need to lie. We ain't under any "Hippocratic oath"!

Marked with our own individual & specific traits, we usually find a gang of similar people struggling in that some Engineering College. Here's a few common ones, where most of you will connect to atleast one of them!

10. Gyming

A few intelligent boys hit the gym. 2 times a day. 7 days a week. Good... for them:/ Easy to identify though- and not just their not-so-toned muscles. At lunch, all that this kind of a guy will talk is CALORIES. And if he has made some more research, it'll be proteins, vitamins and bla-bla. You, as an impatient listener might never wanna know! Its yummy, you have money. What bigger reason is worth considering?? Having said that, I'm already an idiot by their definition :P

9. Gaming

A guy in his sleep shouts out loud, "Fire in the Hole!". Someone, somewhere in the other part of the hostel goes "Affirmative!". You are not supposed to be scared. These un-earthly words aren't a part of their nightmares! Infact they lead a parallel life to this Engineering-shit, when awake. They GAME. Perhaps, that's the only verb they end up their engineering in. Of course they have a blast(bombs, guns, swords etc) You try to talk to them of adventure, and they'll narrate you how the previous night they freed a princess! If you're lucky-enough you'll meet that one who has a fantasy for the animated-princesses, and vomit next :P
And lest we forget, GO-GO-GO!

8. Wake Up Call

The literal meaning is what we are never struck with. But we do get wake-up-calls on our cellphones. No. Not for lectures :/ Vivas, submissions, Exams! The more important ones.
Who gives that life-saving call, varies with the person-in-sleep. Of course if you have an STD girl-friend, she calls you almost an hour earlier than you EVER could have asked her.. with some emotional melodrama, or while asleep, or hangovers!
For lucky-dogs like me, there always is a friend who has religiously been sleeping at 11 in the night(so he calls it) and waking up at around 6 in the morning. And shitting 15 minutes later. Know what, I often accompany this kinda for a cup of tea in the morning, before going to bed.

7. The Relationship Bug

The STD girl-friend I talked about is the prevalent version of the BUG.When she called you, she just bought some time for the good-lucks, wishes, kisses, i-hate-that-bi*ch, screw-the-moron and oo-YOU're-so RUUDE! chats. For most of those on the other side of this conversation, and very much my protagonist, there are two cases -
Case I : Boy - This piece of rigid humanity usually shies away from his friends to avoid what could turn into a biggest embarrassment of his life. You smell what I'm cooking, don't you!

Case II: Girl - The weirdness is characteristic here; she might be having two of her girl pals listening to what the oOOoo-so-caring and lovely guy is talking to her. And this is not it. Not without mentioning the "awwww..." sound!
mini-PS: When I said oOOoo, the sound has to rise to a higher pitch with O, and fall back to normal with an 'o'. Take note!

6. Bob Marley

This isn't about Music. This ain't about Rastafarianism either. Marijuana? Maybe.. A bunch of guys who have heard the name and think the junkie T-shirts with a Bob Marley print are cool-stuff! And they have a mutual understanding. They never question each other about credible info on this man! All is cool in this part of the world- cool-nuff eh, dude? Oh wait, did I just remind you of the Ernesto 'Che' Guevara's or Kurt Cobain's pseudo-fans? :P
One Love!

5. Hello, this is _____ at your service!

Some of us talk how how drastic it would be to be in a job, the routine life and the working hours! Well, quite contrary, a few others who would love to call it a JOB, work for some extra money.. er, extra on what their parents send them- and for the money they get, they are ready to sacrifice 6 days from their week! Call centres or BPOs(like some may claim, KPOs are different!) are like a new life-line to the hopeless and what-am-I-doing-here lives of these poor souls.
Serves good for booze and more. Though some claim to be doing the same to gain some corporate experience, which certainly they do- the clients from UK have a list of slangs prepared just in case they learn that the caller is from India! :-O Best of luck with that!!

4. Pangaaaa

Though the universities across the country might fail to understand the reasons, but the truth stands, that without a panga in college life, one does not qualify to be an Engineer. Oh, talk of the spirit, the vigour at these times - this is what will make us innovators of the world!
Going a bit deeper.. is actually not an option. Mostly, there are no reasons behind the scene; it's all action! And before you realize, you're into a tussle (for no prize!). Never had a gang, but now suddenly there is a battle for supremacy!
I'd say "You know it only when you've done it"! Also, trust me, first hand knowledge.. even if you are as single-boned or lanky as I am(yeah, I said it :P), and you are in for one, you'll always get that one chance to swing your fist - advice: GO ROCK HARD ON THE JAW! Because you are gonna live with that scar under your eye for a few years anyways :P Atleast, you won't regret those dead cells!

3. Cutting Chai!

Okay, first of all- "cutting-chai" is way too less in quantity for us engineers, or probably anyone with atleast some chillar in his/her pocket. It just sounds cool the way it is said, much like the name of a graffiti magazine ;-) Also, this is not a characteristic of a particular set of people- its universal. Unless you are one of those Coffee-type, who don't like tea. Well, SHUT UP, Bitches! For all the others, it has been the best companion of all times - 3'o clock in the cold-cold night, breakfast, evening break(from doing absolutely nothing), or the morning saviour when you are rushing in to the boring lecture hall, (in rain, hope, despair etc too).
Some of us even love to stare; at the rise-and-fall of the bubbles when being heated right upto the pouring into the cups!
There are sub-classifications within. Like me, for one, can kill for adrak waali chai! And then, Tea goes down awesome with anything right from Marlboro to Four Square. Another class discovered!

2. Know-em-all

Everyone knows this in-true-spirit Ungineer, with vellapanti resulting in him being more popular than The Beatles(damn these controversies!) themselves. I'll emphasize upon the pronoun him as(here comes a fact not much talked about..) girls are already popular in an Engineering college! They are a rare species in this mini-world afterall! Sorry, can't take the hard-earned prize from our type-2 guy! Well, this guy never met a person without a smile, and hand-shake is the next activity he might be doing after every 5 breathe-in's-breathe-out's!(or some statistic..) Sometimes, a great help without even knowing, as what an engineer would call medium for transmission.

1. Music

For much part of their well-engineered lives, they have been dipping into their mp3-players and iPods. Never seen without the headphones, this group has an affinity for stereo-sounds and a dislike for stereo-types. As much as I myself hate to fit in one, I guess somewhere, I-hate-stereotypes are a stereotype! ;-)
We have a an absolute lingo, where we start with A for Aerosmith, B for Bob Dylan, C for Coldplay... and so on! All the conspiracies, controversies and legends are the favorite talk-abouts. Deeply ingrained is the philosophy(as we see it) of the western music culture. The lyrics have an impact more than what any other form of poetry could possibly have. This is what most fail to see, or maybe we see more than there is(I've been told :P).
And okay, before you try to fit in here, let me tell you- we HATE Justin Bieber(fans, especially), or Lady Gaga(as a complete package). So if you are one of them, no Type 1 for you! Infact, we might call your's Muzak. So, STAY AWAY! :-)



I mostly end up with more points than I start with, so if you did not relate to any of those; being a I-know-it-all-genius, or a lick-ass-er, or an arrogant-bastard sorry for ignorance! :/


Last year, when I posted this, I thought it would be kick-ass to continue this TEN affair. I loved it, to be frank! ;-)That's how this one came up.

Silver Dreams

A dream- what the heart craves, and the head fights to live for,
roused by the desire to break free, desire to soar!


But your thoughts are made up, your dreams are surreal;
What do you know of reality - when nothing's like you feel?


Captivated by the illusions, barely might you see;
And may you do, you know- these nuances are mine, but it's not me!


And afraid- not of the dark; you lay in your cozy bed;
For your questions sound cliched, their answers well-bred;


Careful! for you might break the enchantments if you ever warn them.
Now there's a struggle within; wisdom no more it may seem-


Give them what they want, it was always their's for the taking;
those thick glass walls break and shatter, sounds of a breaking dream..!!

The Nights That Were

A few years back.. those chilly and silent nights.. sitting on the terrace.. with one of my friends.. and a hot cup of tea to accompany... favorite music playing at surprisingly low volumes.."Nothing Else Matters" or "Comfortably Numb" many a times.. looking at the deceptive night-sky.. and shades of moon-light.. we'd know what the other would be thinking.. and philosophical talks would start.. completely honest; and in spontaneity.. each time.. the mystifying thoughts would overpower our minds.. words forming up from thoughts.. and thoughts from words.. stimulated by the ambient perhaps.. the why's and why-not's.. life and death.. right and wrong.. how it should be what never was.. going beyond what a normal eye sees.. and a normal mind would perceive.. finding a weird explanation that overlaps with past experiences... all that I'd never contemplated before..the cups would soon go empty.. dry up.. but we never seemed to get out of the syllogisms.. idealism; in theory.. setting up axioms.. 
Then watching the night transform into the day; that was routine.. there would be no conclusions.. yet.. the moments I'll cherish the most!!


"There are places I'll remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends, I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life, I've loved them all"

An Expression

A sweet melody

in my heart;

She is a boundless dream,

a free man's art.

This girl; in my life,

makes my spirits rise;

Her cherubic face-

her smiling eyes;

I never incurred,

my heart had turned fragile;

a girl simple yet perfect-

a thought of her: like a fool I'd smile.

Not love! It isn't all that this could be-

to me, love has been a mere word;

A hyperbole much splendored,

reality never heard.

All I know, she is a symphony,

that soothes my ears;

Like tulips for the sick;,

a flip-side to all pain and tears.

My heart choses to;

and my mind takes respite,

The air spreads her fragrance,

and these nights are bright.

She is a reality;

the golden bird's grace in a human,

The way she makes me feel;

Waiting for the sun.

Is it that too secluded,

my emotions, I keep in store;

Or is it right not to express,

and let love open the door?

When it comes to love, humans act selfish,

with her, I don't want to be;

Where does this road go;

Being nothing or a young love as I see?

For in the darkest hours

her face from the vivid memories shines;

In the strong imagery I drown,

in her aura that binds.

I dream,

and wish I'd never be awake,

Lost in solace,

around her a comfortable abode I make.

Or in the wilderness,

where Nature's music plays;

and the purity in the virtue that compares-

For eternal is the love that stays.

I feel her,

besotted; I am indeed-

My desire, I'd cherish her,

In turn my craze she'd heed!

Although Time heals, as they might say;

the way under the sun colors would fade,

Life is what she does mean to me;

As much would it cost: if my happiness I grade.

Or I'd rather find truth in reality,

We'll find our wisdom, and my muse she shall be-

To make me nothing I'm not,

and everything that is me.

Heresy

I believe; as a belief in its true character would be,
Not driven by Fear, Greed or Respite;
Or the high-minded-ness of the society-
Not by expectations, or merely what is supposed to be,
Not where legacies and divinations make an alibi:
For curiosity and righteousness guide my demeanour,
Nor by the throne or any crown do I perceive-
I believe in love, and love is how I believe.