Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Pursuit of ?

One desire,
One at a time.
I desire,
Desire knows no time.
A desire in time,
A time of desire;
What is life,
Sans time sans desire?
Desire to live,
Desire to smile,
Desire to stop by and smell the flower.
Let the time come.
Let them all desire.

Desire of freedom.
Free of comma.
Free of full-stop
Free of con.ti.nu.it.y.
Ultimate desire,
Ultimate freedom -
Desire to be free of desire.


हजारों ख्वाहिशें ऐसी कि हर ख्वाहिश पे दम निकले
बहुत निकले मेरे अरमान, लेकिन फिर भी कम निकले




Sunday, November 16, 2008

लालाजी

एक थे प्यारे लालाजी
पहनते थे वह पजामा जी
शान से निकलते
पैदल गाड़ी पे सवार होके
नयनों पे चश्मा
कुर्ता कभी नहीं अपना
तोंद का व्यास
था पचपन के पास
उनकी मूँछ
लगती गाय की पूंछ
सर पे चांद यूं चमकायें
करवा चौथ का व्रत पूरा हो जाए
ज्यों ही सड़क पे कदम रखते
पतली गली के कुत्ते पकड़ लेते
केले के छिलकों पे गिरते-फिसलते
बचते बचाते दुकान पहुँचते
लाला की दुकान
नीची दुकान फीके पकवान
आटे-दाल का भाव
भगा देता था उल्टे पांव...

Can't remember the rest of the lines.
One of my first poems, written in class 8th.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

DhaiAakharPremKa 120 (with revision of important concepts taught earlier)

Thank you, Mario! But our princess is in another castle!

There you go. Either the croc-demon has planted seven clones of the princess to keep you busy while he is having all the dance-drama-party with the real princess or he is the psycho next door who collects princesses and locks them up inside white-stoned fire-under-bridge type castles guarded by his crooked croc-bros. In all humility, the question is why is Mario doing all this? Is he a Goku or a Bruce Lee who fights because he has nothing else to do? Or is he a happy-go-lucky it's-all- about-money-honey Uncle Scrooge who is just going on and on in his expeditions collecting golden dollars by smashing his head into bricks while saying hello to all those deadly horrendous ducks and squash-my-dumb-head villains? The point is, one can't rule out a hidden part of the story which could be – Mario loves the princess.

As shocking as it might seem to be, a rational analysis would help in coming to the above conclusion. What are the odds of Mario surviving all the eight stages without jumping into those ditches separated by strips as thin as Bhaand's hairline? And if by his mother's blessings, he manages to cross them, facing those monkeys who have stolen Mowgli's boomerangs is riskier than investing with Layman Bros. With his life at stake, the only reason to drive Mario into the behind of the devil can be nothing but true love. And it is true love which forms the basis of the marketing strategy of Mario Bros. A quick question would be what is true love? Has anyone seen it? Yes, there is motherly love, fatherly love, brotherly, sisterly, friendly, just-friends-ly, chuddy-buddy-ly and the other kind of love which is beyond the scope of engineers and is better left for biologists to research upon. But if a Mario stages so much fight for such loves, would he still remain the cool dude that he is? Let's not kid ourselves. Even a Balayya or a Mithun would jump off a ten-storeyed building for such loves. But only Mario reserves his knighthood and fighting prowess solely for his love-life.

The crux of the matter is - what matters in a boy's life, ultimately, is what girls want. Doesn't every girl dream of a knight riding a white horse with a torn Zorro/Baazigar-type mask on his face coming at 90 km/hr but caught in a slow motion of 20 km/hr (or is it the other way?) to rescue her from the castle of a Mogambo? It is just to fulfill this dream that some of our epics were written and so were the rest of the rescue-the-girl stories. What does all this have to do with an average IITian? Let's analyze the problem in detail. The only love our man gets is from mom which is quite evident from the tears which trickle down his cheek every time he listens to the Maa song of Taare Zameen Par or every time he puts that piece of chapati of CR M1 into his mouth.

All of a sudden, somebody up there gets kinder and then arrive (MA) girls in the campus. Our man, who has always been attending classes just to ensure that he surpasses that 74.9% attendance mark through cooperation and team-work, gets interested in not just attending classes but occupying certain meticulously selected seats half an hour before the HS class begins. Suddenly, he starts demanding for more pocket money and his parents can not be happier for he has been wearing those two sets of Shaastra T-shirts and jeans for the last three years. Every day a small cup of coffee to get the license to stay and hours of lovely exchange of emotions in CCD become a daily norm. Love's in the air. But is it true love? Is there a test for true love? Going back to the basics, she wants to be rescued from a Mogambo's castle by a Zorro/Baazigar riding a white horse like the Highwayman, remember? Now, unless and until that happens, sorry, but it ain't possible to have true love. So, all the love-birds chirping in the jungle can either accept the temporary nature of their love or the brave ones can start looking for a Mogambo who can abduct their beloved in a castle which is not too tough to break into. May the force be with you!

Brought to you by www.GyaanBaatoRe.com

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

?!

Very rarely do i get so restless. Perhaps after years. Don't know where to go, what to do. One plain question and it has just stirred me.

Background: All through my childhood, i fancy of becoming an army man one day. Firing bullets from behind the dressing table with my brand new machine gun manufactured by none other than Leo Toys, i have a feeling that i can single-handedly tackle all those soldiers, tanks, and aircrafts, much similar to the ones displayed in Shaastra.
Then comes adolescence and comes along the lure of paisa. I start dreaming of opening some firms and having a pool of gold coins to swim (DD Metro 6 pm: DuckTales). Then everyone, damn everyone around me starts singing IIT hymns and a myth that an IIT hallmark is the entry ticket for joining the circus of the most intelligent of the most intelligent species on the planet catches me. The confident guy that i am, i think i am built for IIT (or the other way). JEE happens. With all those saas-bahu operas of Ekta Kapoor, no blessings of any Bansal and no determination to complete H C Verma, i miss the cut-off. As they say, uparwala jo bhi karta hai achhe ke liye hi karta hai and i join FIITJEE with a lesson in mind that you gotta put some ass in the mill to get the meat out. JEE happens again.

Elec @ IITM: It is one of those feelings which come when you have a feeling that you are laughing for the wrong reasons. With no clue of or care for what lies ahead, for the first few months, i have fun in life. And the amount of fun it is, all i can say is i can't handle any more.
But something gets completely changed all this while. Somewhere, i don't know where, a sense of satisfaction comes into existence. Now satisfaction is one big word. I become generally happy in life and all of a sudden, my needs of becoming a billionaire lose air. It just becomes too small a motivation to own palatial houses and drive all kinds of Mercs and even a small contribution to making a few people's life better seems worth much more. I think i have some clue that not all are enjoying a raise in their living standards with India shining and this is what bugs me.

The question: After a few years, what do i want to say when someone asks me what do you do? There are some clues to the riddle which come when i ask myself what makes me happy. But it becomes really dark after reaching the last stage of the game where there are two ways out. There is this corporate world full of glamour and money with opportunities to grow and satisfy those management and leadership urges in the global b-arena. And then there is this administration job of an IAS which gives you authority and capability to bring about a change in the lives of people who need it the most. Only industrialization can transform an impoverished society like ours and govt. administration has an important part to play(or better yet, not to play). Putting bluntly, corporate world is the key to a Ramraj and administration is the bottleneck. What i haven't figured out yet is - where do i fit in?

Saturday, November 08, 2008

जाने भी दो यारों, मगर कैसे?



वो
subtitles की editing
वो घटिया विडियो quality
वो बीस अदाकारों की फिक्सिंग
वो डिमेलो की ऑडिशन
कहते हैं सब, जाने भी दो
मगर कैसे?

वो आईटम का मौक कैट
वो लाइटर के पिद्दी जोक
वो सादे पन्ने छापता फोटो स्टैट
वो स्क्रिप्ट की मिस्सिंग लाइन्स
कहते हैं सब, जाने भी दो
मगर कैसे?

वो वर्क डन की मेमोरी
वो जुगा की peeing practice
वो शॉर्ट फ़िल्म की स्टोरी
वो १० जीबी की मानसा
कहते हैं सब, जाने भी दो
मगर कैसे?

वो नम्पू की म्यूजिक
वो साइड प्रो की प्रोडक्शन
वो आयूष की बॉम्बे ट्रिप
वो माँ का busy फ़ोन
कहते हैं सब, जाने भी दो
मगर कैसे?

वो कॉमन रूम का फूटर मैच
वो रौनक के चलने का स्टाइल
वो ऑलरेडी बुक्ड एम ए बैच
वो कॉन्डम की औरकुट डेटिंग
कहते हैं सब, जाने भी दो
मगर कैसे?

वो १९८० के हिन्दी पी जे
वो मैक्स पी की एक्टिंग
वो हम होंगे कामयाब ड़ी जे
वो नौडी की स्वीट वॉयस
कहते हैं सब, जाने भी दो
मगर कैसे?

वो रसीले की एन्थु ट्रेनिंग
वो जुगे की ब्लैंक ऍक्स्प्रॅशन
वो सरिया की न्यूज़ रीडिंग
वो अधूरे कास्ट की प्रैक्टिस
कहते हैं सब, जाने भी दो
मगर कैसे?

वो मेरी फालतू एडेप्टेशन-डायरेक्शन
वो लक्ष्मीबाई के चांटे चांटे चांटे
वो पांचों अँगुलियों की प्रोजेक्शन
वो दिन में दिखते तारे
कहते हैं सब, जाने भी दो
मगर कैसे?

All those who have been a part of this real life drama will always remain an integral part of my life. All those moments of laughter, confidence, humiliation, dreams, naps, slaps - I shall cherish forever. Thanks for making my IIT life so memorable, so emotional, so fun-filled and so spirited.
Victory and defeat keep coming turn by turn. But the moments we lived together are here to stay in my heart. Love for the hostel, love for friends, love for team-mates, love for a sincere effort, love for a dream, love for trying out something new and unexplored, love for the cats, love for MA jokes - all in a play's work. Is it true love? Surely, you're joking Mother Teresa!

Friday, November 07, 2008

DhaiAakharPremKa 110

Against: True Love is a Farce

To have common standards, I consider the wikipedia definition of love i.e. emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection.

Now, my assumption about true love is as follows: true love is love that exists till at least as long as the people involved live.It doesn't need to be a two-way traffic. True love can exist only in one heart without the object of love reciprocating it. I don't consider love of an object or a goal to be true love because as soon as one achieves the desired object or goal, there is a discontinuity in love.

Now let's not look at stories of Jehangir-NoorJahan or Romeo-Juliet or Ducky-Size for true love. They are far too melodramatic, exaggerated and blown out of proportion, besides I don't have the statistics about how often or to what dimensions they are blown. But the evidence I have is none other but your mother. No matter how dastardly and bastardly mistakes you commit in your life, you are still loved by your mother till life permits. Let me submit to the house that true love not just exists but empowers those who experience it. How many of you have seen Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham? If Hrithik Roshan can hit a six by remembering Abhishek Bachchan's parents, imagine what all you can do by remembering your own parents? CAT aspirants, are you listening?

My partner mentioned that even if your mother had some chunnu-munnu instead of you, she would have loved him as much as she loves you. And it just doesn't matter who the mother is or who the son is. Let's analyze the problem in detail. Let's say we have a mother-exchange having n mothers and a daughter exchange having n daughters (I'm a feminist you know) and one daughter maps to one mother and vice-versa. So how many permutations are possible? Factorial n? MA junta, correct me if I'm wrong. So in all those factorial n arrangements, mothers truly love their daughters. So, the point is, this whole fuss about mother exchanges and daughter exchanges is just Maya. Remember all the world's a stage? Somebody up there is playing games with you you know and in all those games you are a subject or object of true love. So we just proved that true love is not a farce, it is a force that exists in all the events which the Holy dice results in.

With the MA program's induction, love's already in the air. The only challenge is can you make that love stand out as true love? May the force be with you.

Conclusion: All my co-speakers who feel that true love is a farce can feel free to dial home and talk to mommy about true love. She will have all the answers to your complaints about her love not being true. And if you are fortunate enough, even your father, brother and sister should be able to pacify you. For those of you who are still whining, there is the Guidance & Counselling Unit of IIT Madras. We can get you some professional help as well.

Brought to you by www.GyaanBaatoRe.com

P.S. Life's all about learning and I've learnt recently that if a joke hurts some just to make others laugh who will anyway laugh on even worse jokes, something's wrong. If anyone is hurt even slightly because of any of the PJs, please let me know. I shall ensure that there are no more pinching jokes not just from me, but from people around me as well. Although I try my best to have healthy humour in whatever rare cases I have a sense of humour.