The ConvoHall has always mesmerized me...
The very first time I entered it was for the MTech intro and orientation programme...where the very sense of "being there" was awesome.
The next time I remember going there for an HSS exam...huge rows and rows of students writing away merrily (merrily because it was non-tension non-graded (pass/fail) course :-) ) while the fan ad the digital clock ticked away (merrily) :-)
Little did I know that the "merriment" was short-lived (Okay, not exactly "short-lived" - two years to be precise :P - because the next time I saw the ConvoHall, it was in a totally different mood!
Damn serious, damn competitive, damn demanding - December 2010 - Placement season.
I have to agree though that it also became our virtual/pseudo/alternate home...with us spending all our time eating,drinking ,and even sleeping there.
Cut to 18 Jan 2011, almost a month and a half later.
Event : Annual InSync Dance Fest.
When I saw ConvoHall today, boy! Was it different!!
I couldn't even recognize that this was the serious place where we gave the innumerable placement tests at various ungodly hours ranging any time from 5.00 AM to 1.00 AM. This was the very place where we took turns sitting at different rows/blocks so that even if we didn't manage to clear the test, at least we could boast of having viewed the stage from all angles :P (And the no of tests ensured that every one had a fair chance to sit at almost each and every block and row of their choice :P)
This was the very place where we had cribbed about the seats being too far from the desks and how writing in such a scenario was difficult, let alone solving a test paper. And now the same people were dying to grab the same seats!
The same place where the mosquitoes that once troubled us, were no longer an issue
(I remember a friend, during placement tests, saying that you should sit in relatively crowded row so as to minimize the probability of mosquito bites :P)
The place where the ticking of the clock that was SO vital a month back, was nowhere to be heard amidst the cries of "Sheila ki Jawani" and "Get out of your Mind" (All right, there's no ticking - it's a digital clock, but I so wanted to use the phrase for "effect" ):P
The difference in the mood, the people, the lights, the energy was so vast that when the audience burst into applause at the Lavani dance "Mala Jau Dya na Ghari", I could not help but laugh at the irony of how aptly this song captured our sentiments just a month and a half back, at the very same venue and almost the same time as well! All of us were yearning to go back and saying "Ata vajle ki bara" (literally!) after the series of continuous back to back tests that ran long until after midnight.
(For the non-Marathi junta, "Mala Jau Dya na Ghari...Ata vajle ki bara" is a popular Marathi film song meaning "Let me go home...it's past midnight now" )
Seriously, I have never before experienced such extreme and opposite emotions and elements in a single place within such a short period of time !!!
With this also came the realization that in a few months (hopefully) I'll be here once again, albeit for a totally different reason. This time too the emotions will run high, it'll once again be a-once-in-a-lifetime feeling - the Convocation! :-)
I guess every one identifies with the ConvoHall, the one place that is capable of rendering a plethora of emotions - over-awing orientation sessions, inspiring lectures from the very best minds, tensed placement tests, enthu Dance Fests and of course - the ultimate and very solemn - Convocation.
A heartfelt salute to the one place that always makes my heart thump and gives me goosebumps!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Kites, Camels and Krishna
A very happy 2011!!!
I got to welcome the the new year in a new city - Ahmedabad - the city of Kites, Camels and Krishna...:-)
Every city has its own unique flavor - its culture, history, climate, food and people make it a totally one-of-its-kind combo.
Ahmedabad city : first look from the railway station.
The first thing that leaps out as soon as you step out of the station are the auto-rickshaws - bright green and yellow, a fresh welcome from the "taxi" black and yellow ones here...
Another prominent thing was the numerous vibrant kites lined up in a riot of colours along shops in the street. Also got to see the "manja" in making... along roadsides - between two rotating wheels, and lines and lines of colorful thread spinning away merrily! Ekdum jhakkas!
IIMA - saw the campus from the outside!
What stood out in the city were its rows of quaint little pretty bungalows - complete with a lawn,garden and a swing - making me wish I owned one!! *sigh* ;-)
Peacocks - everywhere : from hotel motifs, kurta patterns to real ones along a particular stretch of the road (not kidding!) :-))
Camel carts : saw these quite frequently along streets, as conspicuous as horse carts in some parts of our city.
Gandhiji: Visited the Sabarmati ashram...will write about it soon.
Awesome tea and coffee : everywhere from roadside canteens to hotels to railway-ka-chai...normal tea was always spiked with masala - u needn't specify a "masala" chai! Ah, loved it! :D
Traffic : We named it "manmaani" traffic - thanks to the "manmaani" of the autowallahs, car-drivers and bikers who ignoring the presence of traffic cops and signals alike, continued to go about their way as they pleased.
Narendra Modi : staring out from posters and ADs promoting a "vibrant Gujarat 2011" - won't get into the politics and all, but you couldn't ignore the presence of this man - almost everywhere in the city.
Akshardham temple : Housed in huge grounds - the infamous terrorist attack spot.
But inside the temple, it was pure serene calm - almost making you disbelieve that such cruel and heinous attacks could have taken place within such environs...
Krishna : It was almost synonymous with the city, with every other shop/stall/hotel named after the God.
The food - TOTALLY deserves a separate post! :D
Have a wonderful and rocking 2011!
I got to welcome the the new year in a new city - Ahmedabad - the city of Kites, Camels and Krishna...:-)
Every city has its own unique flavor - its culture, history, climate, food and people make it a totally one-of-its-kind combo.
Ahmedabad city : first look from the railway station.
The first thing that leaps out as soon as you step out of the station are the auto-rickshaws - bright green and yellow, a fresh welcome from the "taxi" black and yellow ones here...
Another prominent thing was the numerous vibrant kites lined up in a riot of colours along shops in the street. Also got to see the "manja" in making... along roadsides - between two rotating wheels, and lines and lines of colorful thread spinning away merrily! Ekdum jhakkas!
IIMA - saw the campus from the outside!
What stood out in the city were its rows of quaint little pretty bungalows - complete with a lawn,garden and a swing - making me wish I owned one!! *sigh* ;-)
Peacocks - everywhere : from hotel motifs, kurta patterns to real ones along a particular stretch of the road (not kidding!) :-))
Camel carts : saw these quite frequently along streets, as conspicuous as horse carts in some parts of our city.
Gandhiji: Visited the Sabarmati ashram...will write about it soon.
Awesome tea and coffee : everywhere from roadside canteens to hotels to railway-ka-chai...normal tea was always spiked with masala - u needn't specify a "masala" chai! Ah, loved it! :D
Traffic : We named it "manmaani" traffic - thanks to the "manmaani" of the autowallahs, car-drivers and bikers who ignoring the presence of traffic cops and signals alike, continued to go about their way as they pleased.
Narendra Modi : staring out from posters and ADs promoting a "vibrant Gujarat 2011" - won't get into the politics and all, but you couldn't ignore the presence of this man - almost everywhere in the city.
Akshardham temple : Housed in huge grounds - the infamous terrorist attack spot.
But inside the temple, it was pure serene calm - almost making you disbelieve that such cruel and heinous attacks could have taken place within such environs...
Krishna : It was almost synonymous with the city, with every other shop/stall/hotel named after the God.
The food - TOTALLY deserves a separate post! :D
Have a wonderful and rocking 2011!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
People
These days whenever I travel by trains, I really don't have much to do - no papers to read, no music to listen to (thanks to my cell sans its display - which resembles a landline now - just can call and pickup calls..zero display :P)
So I don't have much choice to pass the time - except stare, and stare some more at the people in the train...and this post is the result of all the staring and "people-studying" I have lately indulged in...
Not a character sketch or something, just an outline of the various people I came across...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A lady who sells khaman dhokla and sev papdi. I had previously written about her here I just love it when I get to see her in the compartment..although I still haven't bought anything from her...
She makes me super nostalgic somehow...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A vegetable vendor cursing her 3 yr old daughter and blaming her for nearly everything under the sun - from the crowd in the train to the fact that the vegetables were rotting for lack of customers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A blind couple who boarded the same train as mine and supported each other throughout the chaos on the platform and journeyed together - every single day.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A lady who used to be in my train when I went to VESIT and used to ask me where I had been, every time I resumed college after the vacations...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A lady who had her head covered with her pallu - only to reveal her 70 earrings - (35 per ear! - and I am not kidding!!) to the bewildered people seated beside her..
and went on to tell them about her entry in the Limca book of records.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A group of collegians doing last minute train revision, through notes heavily underlined in ink of various colours,and an old lady advising them on how they better use pencils for marking the notes...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A lady when troubled by a road-romeo, hurling abuses at him and threatening to call the police fearlessly. (We don't see many of these even though we claim on being fearless and liberal!)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A lady selling ayurvedic powders and facepacks.Never missing a word out of the mugged up advertisement of her products and relentlessly goes into the detailed benefits of each of the products. I almost know her entire ad by heart after listening to it 8-9 times now!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Different people different tastes,languages, religions - yet all of them have something in common - they all have dreams, aspirations, fears, grudges, tensions, payments to be made, taxes to be paid, and loved ones eagerly waiting for them to reach home - which makes them the same as you and me...
PS: Wanted to title it "We The People", but restrained myself from copying titles again! :P
So I don't have much choice to pass the time - except stare, and stare some more at the people in the train...and this post is the result of all the staring and "people-studying" I have lately indulged in...
Not a character sketch or something, just an outline of the various people I came across...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A lady who sells khaman dhokla and sev papdi. I had previously written about her here I just love it when I get to see her in the compartment..although I still haven't bought anything from her...
She makes me super nostalgic somehow...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A vegetable vendor cursing her 3 yr old daughter and blaming her for nearly everything under the sun - from the crowd in the train to the fact that the vegetables were rotting for lack of customers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A blind couple who boarded the same train as mine and supported each other throughout the chaos on the platform and journeyed together - every single day.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A lady who used to be in my train when I went to VESIT and used to ask me where I had been, every time I resumed college after the vacations...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A lady who had her head covered with her pallu - only to reveal her 70 earrings - (35 per ear! - and I am not kidding!!) to the bewildered people seated beside her..
and went on to tell them about her entry in the Limca book of records.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A group of collegians doing last minute train revision, through notes heavily underlined in ink of various colours,and an old lady advising them on how they better use pencils for marking the notes...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A lady when troubled by a road-romeo, hurling abuses at him and threatening to call the police fearlessly. (We don't see many of these even though we claim on being fearless and liberal!)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A lady selling ayurvedic powders and facepacks.Never missing a word out of the mugged up advertisement of her products and relentlessly goes into the detailed benefits of each of the products. I almost know her entire ad by heart after listening to it 8-9 times now!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Different people different tastes,languages, religions - yet all of them have something in common - they all have dreams, aspirations, fears, grudges, tensions, payments to be made, taxes to be paid, and loved ones eagerly waiting for them to reach home - which makes them the same as you and me...
PS: Wanted to title it "We The People", but restrained myself from copying titles again! :P
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The perfect seat
She badly wanted to attend the concert...it was the performance of her favorite singer and she didn't want to miss it for anything in the world.
She attended the program before the concert to ensure that she had the best seat...She was ready to spend an entire hour listening to some political honcho ranting about the opposition party just to make sure she didn't miss the chance to listen to her favorite singer - which was the program just after the political honcho's speech.
As luck would have it, she entered and found a seat!!
At first she was happy...happy that she had managed to secure a seat directly in view of the podium...so what if it was the last row? It didn't matter as long as she was able to "see" her favorite icon...
Then slowly as she settled down, she noticed many of her friends who were seated in 4th or 5th rows...and she started feeling queasy..."I should have come earlier..I should have asked them to book a seat for me..." and she started to look out for a better seat in the front rows..
The political honcho was in the middle of his speech and she prayed that at least some of the people gathered there may leave after he had finished (although she knew that they all had come for the singer's concert) and make room in the front rows..
Suddenly, a few people got up from their seats...her heart skipped a beat...her prayers might have been answered!! But alas! they had just gotten up for a break and their belongings safely declared that the seats were still occupied...
Finally, after much craning around to spot "just one seat", one guy got up..she almost ran there, stumbling along and managed to grab the seat. Finally!!! she had managed to secure an "almost front row seat"!!!As she looked around gloating at her conquest...her heart sank again....She realized that she had gotten the seat just behind the place where the cameraman would stand...making it next to impossible for her to see the stage...and she again embarked upon the conquest of a "perfect seat"....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why does it always have to be somewhere else that is more happening, more intriguing and more inviting than where you actually are?
Why is the grass always greener on the other side even if you know the water bill is going to be high too? (Ok...i dhapofied this from some status line! But it does sum up the emotion very well) Why are we always in the "pursuit" of happiness?
Why is satisfaction always eluding ? Why is there always "that one thing" which will make you happy? Even if you manage to get it, why is there suddenly "just one more thing" which you badly, truly, really want before you'll be happy again?
Why???
PS: A series of events have happened...making me rave and rant on the blog...Hopefully the next post will be more entertaining..Pardon moi for this outburst! :-)
PPS: Another of my posts having an anonymous person..promise that the next post's subject will have a proper "name" :-)
She attended the program before the concert to ensure that she had the best seat...She was ready to spend an entire hour listening to some political honcho ranting about the opposition party just to make sure she didn't miss the chance to listen to her favorite singer - which was the program just after the political honcho's speech.
As luck would have it, she entered and found a seat!!
At first she was happy...happy that she had managed to secure a seat directly in view of the podium...so what if it was the last row? It didn't matter as long as she was able to "see" her favorite icon...
Then slowly as she settled down, she noticed many of her friends who were seated in 4th or 5th rows...and she started feeling queasy..."I should have come earlier..I should have asked them to book a seat for me..." and she started to look out for a better seat in the front rows..
The political honcho was in the middle of his speech and she prayed that at least some of the people gathered there may leave after he had finished (although she knew that they all had come for the singer's concert) and make room in the front rows..
Suddenly, a few people got up from their seats...her heart skipped a beat...her prayers might have been answered!! But alas! they had just gotten up for a break and their belongings safely declared that the seats were still occupied...
Finally, after much craning around to spot "just one seat", one guy got up..she almost ran there, stumbling along and managed to grab the seat. Finally!!! she had managed to secure an "almost front row seat"!!!As she looked around gloating at her conquest...her heart sank again....She realized that she had gotten the seat just behind the place where the cameraman would stand...making it next to impossible for her to see the stage...and she again embarked upon the conquest of a "perfect seat"....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why does it always have to be somewhere else that is more happening, more intriguing and more inviting than where you actually are?
Why is the grass always greener on the other side even if you know the water bill is going to be high too? (Ok...i dhapofied this from some status line! But it does sum up the emotion very well) Why are we always in the "pursuit" of happiness?
Why is satisfaction always eluding ? Why is there always "that one thing" which will make you happy? Even if you manage to get it, why is there suddenly "just one more thing" which you badly, truly, really want before you'll be happy again?
Why???
PS: A series of events have happened...making me rave and rant on the blog...Hopefully the next post will be more entertaining..Pardon moi for this outburst! :-)
PPS: Another of my posts having an anonymous person..promise that the next post's subject will have a proper "name" :-)
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Fortune, Fear and Faith
You are standing at the edge of the precipice..you look down and see the deep dark blue river...you know you have to jump..you can feel the coldness of the water and a shiver runs down your spine...
You have to jump to get across, there is no other way...
You look down again and wait for the whistle to blow - the whistle is your cue to jump. The wait feels like eternity...
You take one more look down at the water and feel a lurch inside ...your courage trembles, your feet get wobbly and you suddenly become uncertain of your ability to swim...
You know that when you jump in the water, it will be cold, it will be deep...and yet jumping is the only way through.
You know that once you jump, you will have no control over your actions...the current will sweep you in its flow...it could land you in one swift wave to where you wanted to go. But then, it could even pull you away from where you had thought you will go and push you towards where you did not wish to go...but you have no choice...
It is then you realize that, the only thing you can do is keep swimming...not in any specific direction, not against, but with the tide - no matter where the river takes you, you have to keep swimming.
You have to keep swimming - and have unwavering faith...faith in your abilities, faith in the river below and faith in the sky above...and ultimately you will reach where you were destined to...
Amen!
PS: Written in a fit of desperation, ignore if you find it meaningless and out of context :P
You have to jump to get across, there is no other way...
You look down again and wait for the whistle to blow - the whistle is your cue to jump. The wait feels like eternity...
You take one more look down at the water and feel a lurch inside ...your courage trembles, your feet get wobbly and you suddenly become uncertain of your ability to swim...
You know that when you jump in the water, it will be cold, it will be deep...and yet jumping is the only way through.
You know that once you jump, you will have no control over your actions...the current will sweep you in its flow...it could land you in one swift wave to where you wanted to go. But then, it could even pull you away from where you had thought you will go and push you towards where you did not wish to go...but you have no choice...
It is then you realize that, the only thing you can do is keep swimming...not in any specific direction, not against, but with the tide - no matter where the river takes you, you have to keep swimming.
You have to keep swimming - and have unwavering faith...faith in your abilities, faith in the river below and faith in the sky above...and ultimately you will reach where you were destined to...
Amen!
PS: Written in a fit of desperation, ignore if you find it meaningless and out of context :P
Thursday, November 18, 2010
A Prayer
A prayer that is extremely close to my heart...had read it somewhere and suddenly came across it today. Couldn't help posting it here...
जे टाळणे अशक्य, दे शक्ती ते सहाया
जे शक्य साध्य आहे, दे निर्धार ते कराया ॥
मज काय शक्य आहे, आहे अशक्य काय
माझे मला कळाया, दे बुद्धी देवराया ॥
Translated it means,
Give me the serenity to accept the things which cannot be changed
Give me the determination to change the things that I can
And the wisdom to know the difference...
Amen! PS: Although I had read the original in Marathi, the English version is credited to Reinhold Niebuhr
जे टाळणे अशक्य, दे शक्ती ते सहाया
जे शक्य साध्य आहे, दे निर्धार ते कराया ॥
मज काय शक्य आहे, आहे अशक्य काय
माझे मला कळाया, दे बुद्धी देवराया ॥
Translated it means,
Give me the serenity to accept the things which cannot be changed
Give me the determination to change the things that I can
And the wisdom to know the difference...
Amen! PS: Although I had read the original in Marathi, the English version is credited to Reinhold Niebuhr
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Missing button
He was excited! He so badly wanted to wear his new shirt and brag about it to his friends! It was one of his most favorite ones...and as he took it out to wear, he lovingly gazed at it, marveling at the turquoise colour and the flawless finish...He ran his hand along the rim...the shirt was perfection itself...nothing was amiss.Until, he noticed that one tiny missing button.....
He wondered how he could have missed noticing it before...the even line of shiny silver buttons was broken. Nothing that would stand out from a distance, but something that was very obvious once you looked closely...
Once you looked closely, the absence could not be ignored...it was there - in stark contrast to the otherwise perfect piece of fabric - as if teasing him on purpose, and reminding him of all the things he was missing amidst his almost perfect existence - loved ones, lost dreams, forgotten promises, broken vows - and his eyes moistened as he put on his jacket to hide that missing button...
PS: Dedicated to everyone who has a shirt with a missing button...
He wondered how he could have missed noticing it before...the even line of shiny silver buttons was broken. Nothing that would stand out from a distance, but something that was very obvious once you looked closely...
Once you looked closely, the absence could not be ignored...it was there - in stark contrast to the otherwise perfect piece of fabric - as if teasing him on purpose, and reminding him of all the things he was missing amidst his almost perfect existence - loved ones, lost dreams, forgotten promises, broken vows - and his eyes moistened as he put on his jacket to hide that missing button...
PS: Dedicated to everyone who has a shirt with a missing button...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)