Arcade of Thoughts

Over this summer, I had access to what we usually don’t, television. Being kept away from television, I hadn’t seen ads for a year. This post is a sequel to a post of mine about a year ago. This year, I was surprised that Pepsi and Coke did not come up with ads lashing out at each other as fervently as they did years before. Also, the quality of ads were not as good as they used to be. I can only name a handful of ads which are worth a mention.

Monster com’s ad about ‘being caught in the wrong job’, in my opinion, is the best ad of the summer. Unlike jobsahead’s rather pessimistic ad campaign of taking about its site when a batsman gets out, both naukri and monster have chosen an optimistic (a better) outlook. Naukri’s “Hari Sadu” ad (H for Hitler …) is a close match to the monsters. Over the years as well, these two companies have come up with good ads like “Aladdin: he is gonna be rich” among others. I think positive tone to the ads is very important in luring people to such sites.

HSBC’s ‘world local bank’ ad and the slogan ‘understanding your needs better’ is yet another example on how abstract advertising is a great idea. A simple issue like torn jeans being stylish for the daughter and a completely opposite view of the mother brings about the idea that the bank changes according to your need. Earlier this summer, HSBC floated another ad (animated) with months of years making up a car or a house. Though it would have made a great idea for a hoarding, it was ordinary on television.

Sania Mirza’s question-answer session turned out to be one of those ‘good-to-watch-ones-irritating-the-next-time’ ads. The worst in the bag of soft drink ads was Aamir Khan’s ‘thanda samosa’ ad. It is unlike soft drink manufacturers not to come up with good ads especially during summer.

Running up to the foot ball world cup, several ads were featured on football. Adidas ad on two young boys choosing their teams has a touch of brilliance. Also in the context is a well done ad by Maruti Swift, the one with the car playing around with the foot ball. There was one more ad by adidas or nike in which a foot ball is passed around in two lifts until a trophy is captured using the ball. That was choreographed extremely well.

Again, the ads by soaps, shampoos and detergents haven’t explored outside their domain. There are as boring as they can get. It can only take a genius to come up with ‘nihar mein hai kudrat ki sakhi’ for a coconut oil product. We will have to wait and watch before any other product comes up with ideas like that. Till my next vacations, no more television ads on this blog.

My college, for some reason, calls monthly tests as ‘quiz’. In our even semester, quizzes usually happen in second and third week of February around the time of St. Valentines Day, much to the disappointment of some students if i may add. My status on yahoo messenger (ym!) and Google talk was “Quiz is my valentine, ever heard of sleeping with the enemy?” As I had expected, it received much attention. Couple of my friends asked me a while later about my valentine, I had no hesitation in replying, “It didn’t show me any love, but it did screw me.”

Of all the things a messenger client offers, the best one is the advent of status messages. I can arguably (and proudly) claim that I was the first in my college to start the culture of status massages. What started off as a true status like ‘off to mess’, ‘off to classes’, ‘mugging’ etc. transformed into an obsession. I have been constantly changing my status messages for over a a year now at least twice a week. And it has always reflected my state of mind. It’s as much fun as blogging. I am a trend setter

For me, it all started with U2 (my fav. Band) being nominated for 3 Grammies for one song, Atomic Bomb’s ‘Vertigo’. My status message changed everyday. From ‘U2 has an edge’ (the guitarist is called ‘Edge’) to ‘U2 are god, it is not hype, it was the feedback’ (Their earlier names were ‘hype’ and ‘feedback’) to many others. And these ‘efforts’ did pay off, U2 won all the three Grammies it was nominated for.

What I love about status messages is that they make a good conversation initiators. There have been several occasion when I have commented on my friends status messages and they on mine, and conversation had moved on to something more mundane like bomb blasts and terrorism. Many of the status messages I see are good attempt at light humour, like, for a TV starved hostel student, ‘home is where the television is‘ by Maro. There are others which mostly are like thought-for-the-day status messages or quotable quotes.

Touched by Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am”, Venkat scribbled the same on his gtalk. Following which I changed my status to “You are not thinking, therefore i am.” Answering to Maro’s ‘yay weekend‘ on a rather eventless Friday evening, Mahesh announced ‘won’t last, the weekend‘. During a Quiz week, the altruistic me presented ‘All the best‘ as my status. But all my friends conveniently forgot to wish me back. Only when it was changed to ‘All the best, i expect you guys top wish me back you know‘, I got some response.

Many status have a deep rooted funda. Like Venkat’s ‘gotta go see about a girl‘, from acclaimed movie good will hunting. What prompted to him to that seemingly unimportant line from movies is that Matt Damon refers to his girl friend in Stanford when the line was uttered. And he was moving off to Stanford this summer for his internship. Just days before end semester examination, Maro’s ‘no one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun‘ (Pink Floyd, Time) brought out our real status on the exams’ preparation. Timely status like ‘its a beautiful day, don’t let it get away’ (U2) on a nice Saturday morning or ‘Sunday, bloody Sunday’(U2 again) on a blistering Sunday in Chennai also reflects our jubilations and dejections. Reeling under the heat of Chennai, inspired by my favorite poem, the highwayman, my status was

Day is a torrent of inferno among the gusty trees

Sun is a treacherous galleon lurking in the hot summer breeze

I hope the ac man comes knocking, knocking, knocking…

There have also been those which talk about status themselves like, ‘this is my status message‘, ‘why should i put one‘, ‘status quo‘ etc. Its not that we are oblivious to current affairs or gossip. During the pinnacle of reservation protests, me and babba howled

we don’t need no reservation

we don’t need no caste control

all in all Arjun Singh is just another prik in the wall

The day paparazzi announced the engagement of Nicole Kidman to Keith Urban, the heart broken me confessed, ‘Nicole Kidman’s engaged…no regrets, i can do better.‘ (should thank Baaju for cheering me up :P)

Lastly, I feel it would be great if this culture spread across the geeky world. That was make us a lot more cooler, don’t you think? Also, thanks to the slogan generator i had this rather cool status, “Lipsmackin’ Thirstquenchin’ Acetastin’ Motivatin’ Goodbuzzin’ Cooltalkin’ Highwalkin’ Fastlivin’ Evergivin’ Coolfizzin’ Coolshankin”

This my reaction to this piece of newsClick the pic for larger image
Previous cartoons (IITM centric): 2, 1

Book: Collected Fiction
Author: Ruskin Bond
Rating: 4 stars
Price: Rs. 395
Publishers: Penguin

Couple of months back, I bought a book written by Ruskin Bond titled “Ruskin Bond: Collected Fiction”. Ruskin Bond, from what I know, is an author who is known to all the Indians but only occasionally do you find people who have read his works. Browsing thought the shelves in Odyssey, Adyar in Chennai, I happen to notice the thick book (900 pages). It has about 75 short stories and 5 novel/novellas. Having read a handful of stories, the book looked promising enough to give me a good time. Sure it did.

In one of my previous posts, this is what i had to say about the stories:
“Yesterday, I was going through some of the short stories of Ruskin Bond which are set on rural India. The mundane background which every Indian can connect to, in his stories, takes you into times and minds of the characters. His stories revolve around serendipitous encounters which leave a lasting impression…… The stories narrate about a chanced meeting with a stranger, finding something that fascinates him about the stranger, and in many cases the stranger is lost in the wilderness of the crowd. Anything could fascinate the narrator, from a coy smile of a little girl to benevolence of a thief.”

One word that describes his language is ’simple’. One can effortlessly run through the pages without having to look into dictionary or pause to digest a paragraph. The hold in the language is quite apparent when you notice that stories take you into imaginations without much difficulty. One thing that he does the best is describe nature. Any reader will be baffled by his description which can boast of mind blowing personifications, metaphors and attention grasping words. Most of his stories lie around jungles, ravines, hillocks and many of gods creatures, big or small.

Many-a-times narrated in first person, the central theme of the stories is usually held by a young boy yet to be 10, or an adolescent. A child’s simple pleasures like running along a stream, watching a sunset, observing a tree tremble against gusty winds are all magically brought back to life even as we live in this material world. I shouldn’t deny the fact that all of his stories remind us to get back the excitement packed inner child in us and rediscover those simple pleasures. Some of his stories capture the youthful enthusiasm in adolescence, the desire to unravel the mysteries that lie behind the obvious. In an otherwise dull train journey, the main character, in some of his stories, decides to take a stroll outside the bound of the railway station of a forsaken village. The discovery of life and other means of livelihood brings as mush amusement to the readers as the character himself. When speaking of Ruskin Bond, ghost stories can’t be left behind. The chilling stories are sure leave you stunned for quite a while. My favorite story in the entire collection happens to be a ghost story called, ‘face in the dark.’

The collection also features two novellas called ‘Room on the Roof’ and, its sequel, ‘Vagrants in the Valley’. Based on similar genre described above, this can be seen as several short stories put together. The plot starts with a young adolescent, Rusty, escape from the stifling atmosphere of his Anglo Indian guardian. Out of the cage, he meets some Indian friends when he start indulging in their lives, tastes his first Gol-Guppa among lot of other things. The story blossoms into Rusty inching towards forming his goals. ‘Vagrants in the Valley’ picks off right where ‘Room on the Roof’ left off. Along with his friend Kishan, Rusty travels in the pains of the north India leaving a lasting impression on the reader’s minds.

I personally did not like the other three novellas written by him named Delhi is not Far, Sensualist and A Flight of Pigeons. They were based on completely different genres. A flight of pigeons narrates a story of young English girl during 1857 mutiny. In Delhi is not Far, narrator describes his relationship with a streetwise and a prostitute. Sensualist talks of an old man’s exploits of all kinds.

Short Stories that should be eagerly looked forwarded to be read are: the eyes have it, Sita and the river, time stops at Shamli, the haunted bicycle, escape from Java and many others. The final verdict: this book would make a great birthday gift to 12-15 year olds.

Earlier this year seven of us had been to trekking to a waterfall near the town of Tada in Andra Pradesh. Quite easily, we had the best time of our lives that day. What began as enthusiastic bunch of students looking for a good way to kill a Sunday, ended on a high note with memories that would last forever. We started from our hostels at 4:30 AM by a taxi to CMBT and then to Tada by a bus bound to Nellore. Tada is about 75 KM from Chennai; roughly 2 hours journey. In the town of Tada, we hired a rickety auto for Rs 400 to drop us to the base and pick us back later in the evening.

Amidst all the anticipations from the trek, we saw a temple (under construction) with a quaint architecture. It belonged to Kalki Bhagwan. We couldn’t resist making out first stop to take some pics. Couple of snaps later, we got started again and headed towards the base of the hills.

On our way, I happened to notice an auto carrying rural folk towards the town of Tada. It was a sight begging to be photographed, but I couldn’t take the camera out in time. On the back of the auto were four middle aged women dressed in Saree. Each one of them wore a Saree of a different colour. The bright red vermilion power on the forehead, the gleaming bangles, the shiny necklace, the sitting posture and the colour contrast in their dresses gave me a glimpse of a conservative India whose sight is not common in urban India. This aesthetically rich view is perhaps the expectation from any tourist coming to our country. Inside the auto, were men folk who were carrying, from what i can guess, agricultural implements, mud pots etc. A crude turban on their head, traditional dhotis accompanying plain shirts are again instances of finding orthodox scenic beauty. The place was set against vast fields and clear blue sky. The pleasing picture lasted only a glance as our autos went fast past each other.

We made our last stop before the base to appreciate the picturesque view of the hills we were about to conquer [:-p] . The view of hut below stands out, in my opinion, among all the photographs I took. The lone tree also made a good photograph.

As we set out for our trek, the place was simmering under the hot sun, as were our expectations. We walked for quite some distance until we reached a stream which became our first resting point. The cool water of the stream so sweet to taste that out aquafina water was proved to be “no-match” to it. The water was very gentle, not turbulent, providing a wonderful ‘time-out’. Crossing the stream we reached a Shiva temple. The temple, covered with dry leaves, bared an antiquated look which stood against a sylvan background. We inquired with the priest if there is a ‘sangam‘ of two rivers for the Shiva Temple to exist, his answer was ‘no’.

Marching through muddy trails left by hundred others who had been to the ’summit’, we reached a stream studded with several hundred boulders of different sizes. Owing to the time of the year, the stream did not carry much water. From tiny pebbles to massive boulders, each one seemed unmoved for a long time. This was of course down-stream.

Climbing higher and higher, the terrain did become steeper, waters more turbulent and hurdles more difficult to cross. Eventually, we reached the top and arrived at the first falls. Thought not exactly breath taking, we were humbled by the sheer size of the boulder and the diversity that nature had to offer.
Climbing higher, we reached a small place where the water was prudent. We had lunch and then got to the site which was out intended ’summit’. The giant wall like hills beside us forming a ‘v’ shaped valley and a narrow but deep body of water against us led to the second falls. A striking contrast to the temperature outside and the that of cold water was unexpected. The water inviting us to swim was hard to say ‘no’ to. If there is ever a reason to learn swimming, then it is to swim to falls and feel the water pounding on you back and chest. Camera couldn’t have been taken closer to the falls.

This was not the last. We decided to climb higher upon learning that there is a bigger falls up ahead. Assisted by some signs (man-made) and some creepers hitched to trees beside steps-like-arranged stones, we made it to the most absorbing scenery of all.

We then decided to head back to the base. On the way back, I got to capture these mesmerizing photographs of water showers from top of the hills. The calm waters made a slow and continuous sound draining itself into the river below. We were right under the cold natural showers.

The way back was more arduous then we thought it would be. Tracing the way back proved more and more difficult with every step forward. The base camp did not seem that far the same day morning. Sweating profusely all through, we made it back after over 12 km of walking up and down. To make matters worse, we had stand in the bus from Tada to Chennai for over 90 minutes. It took us two days to recover from the trek.
Check this for more pics.
Trekkers: Bharath(Nama), Manohar(Muggu), Maruti (Maro), Ravi (Cavi), Ravish(Bulby), Shyam(Peter) and Yours Truly….
Also check this for a post on our trip to Hogenakkal

Here are some ‘not-so-serious’ questions which i have pondered over and haven’t found answers to in quite a while. If you do know the answers, lemme know.

Where are the pretty girls in trains or buses in which i travel? I never find them. I have traveled, like a million times, between Chennai and Bangalore, never have i seen a pretty girl in my coach. How the hell do they travel? The reservation list is devoid of anyone between 18 and 25. Damn my luck! Do they always enjoy the luxuries of first class, airplane or something? It could be true, they seem to find all comforts way too easily. They jump queues, get away with parking tickets, shed some tears and ‘earn’ a free ice cream and what not. As George Costanza puts it: Pretty women; they get everything.

What’s with the ISO9001 certificates? All it says is, “document everything you do, you will in our privileged list.” If you have knowledge about an impending disaster or of all the things that can go wrong, write it, announce it and have your fifteen seconds of fame receiving the certificate. Everybody seems to have those certificates anyway. If am not wrong, there will be a day when matrimonial sites’ profile claims, “my life is ISO9001 certified, my whole lifestyle is documented here. Interested?”

Why do drivers honk when the signal is red? Or when the LED display shows 10 seconds for the light to turn green? Which school do those people come from? I can read people, i know when to stop and when to move. Is it because of what Jerry Seinfeld claims? Men try to impress women. They call out for them. This man is running out of ideas. Look what he is doing to get attention!

When will the older generation realize that weekends are meant to have fun and not to rest? They tell me on Wednesdays after a tiring day, “you don’t stay at home on Sundays, that’s why you tired now.” Why do I need to remind my parents every time that I have ‘plans’? Just like any average, conservative, god-fearing south Indian family, my enormously inquisitive family wants me to be a ‘nice’ guy. What’s the point? It is the bad ones who get to have all the fun.

Why are the big names in bollywood movies always Malhotras, Saxenas, Sharmas, Mishras or Guptas? Its high time we have reservations for the other ‘lower’ names that are being under-represented. No wonder south Indian names don’t sound so cool! Give us a Sastry as a successful lawyer, and we will show that we can be the handsome hunks of the country. Why can’t a Murthy be a protagonist who is the apple of everyone’s eyes? More on that here (funniest blog post ever).

What is a conductor (or maestro) doing in a opera performance? What signals can he possibly send to the ones who are actually playing an instrument. To me it looks as if he is struggling to cover himself with a blanket when he lies down to sleep.

Why are all the shampoos and detergent ‘new and improved’? When were we using the ‘old and ineffective’?

Why is a couple congratulated when the wife is pregnant? I totally understand the gesture when the baby is born, it does take some effort, but not anytime before. Come on, it not like it can’t happen by accident. And it doesn’t take big efforts either. Believe me when I say it’s been done to death. **

How come some of us don’t understand that the ‘proposals’ they are talking about are actually ‘pick up lines’ and that dating doesn’t mean falling in love? In one of the threads on Orkut dating community: How did you propose the first time? Huh? First time? Dude, there aren’t many Ross Gellers in this planet you know. Orkut dating communities are treat for anyone with a great appetite for laughter.

When will Americans get rid of the notion that anti-war is anti-American and absorb the notion that George Bush is an Idiot? Perhaps George Bush himself can figure them out! Both of them. He can’t be that dumb…..or can he?

Why does Bangalore times try to spread an unrealistic culture? One of the issues spelled out, “youngsters today spend about Rs. 250 everyday on eat-out and joints like cafe coffee day.” Whoa!!!!! Not everyone is a biological offspring of a Malhotra or a Saxena. There are still those people who never find the need to fill the secret pockets in their trousers, let alone finding one of their drinks or their service appalling.

Talking about what I find, appalling, it is the grotesque paintings of Picasso. How do people find it appealing instead? Deemed ineducable, he must have spent his entire life time in solitary confinement. He absolutely had no idea what a human being looked like. The only reason the paintings remotely resembled a human being is because they walked on two legs and had exactly two eyes, a nose, a mouth and two ears, but brutally out of proportion.

Why does everyone call me coolshankin? It is not just with one friend circle but everyone. I know that the ID is pretty lame, but it is just my email address (at least before i started blogging). When people can’t get around teasing me, they just call me ‘coolshankin’ and smile. Helpless, I smile back. In my defense, it sounded “cool” way back in eight standard when i made my yahoo id.

Lastly, of many who read this post, why is it that only a few leave a comment? Every post I write, I manage to send offliners in yahoo and send messages over gtalk and spam the orkut account announcing the “publication” and asking for comments, yet only a handful leave a comment. My site meter shows over 30 visits, but only 5-6 comments.

If you have any questions nagging you or answers to some questions above, do comment. This post is no way intended to offend Picasso, his fans, Seinfeld or any other great artist in the same way as Sony did not intend to offend Christians with the release of The Da Vinci Code and as Aamir Khan did not intend to bring down the name of Gujarat with his noble request to help people which BJP has a problem with. Everything must be taken in jest. That raises a couple of more ‘not-so -serious’ questions, doesn’t it?

** “done to death” was Elaine’s reaction on having babies….as an afterthought, that paragraph was rather unnecessary

[Assumes that reader has read the book]

Rating: 3.5 stars

Let me begin by saying, the movie simply doesn’t come close to the book, a good movie nevertheless. And that the two of the most amusing parts of the movie are the disclaimers shown at the beginning and the end.

Jokes apart, This was the movie which boasted of double Oscar winner Tom Hanks as a cast member and double Oscar winner Ron Howard as Director. Tom Hanks doesn’t fit into the role of a learned professor, esp. with the long hair. Clearly, the role belonged to Harrison Ford, George Clooney, or Nicholas Cage. The movie follows the outline of the the book quite closely with certain details missed. For those Indian audience who haven’t read the book, the French accent might put a considerable strain on the ears to grasp the dialogues. The movie, being set in the dark, might make you uneasy at times.

The book explores the past of Sophie for quite a few pages. The fact that Sophie was one who should have been cracking anagrams, given her experience in the past, and Langdon had to play a significant role only later formed the solid reason for Langdon to stick to Sophie in her trail. The movie hardly uncovers the past of Sophie which i thought was pretty important. Description of Architecture is unmatched in the book which no movie can ever come close to. The movie has omitted the first cryptex which opens with *****. In my opinion, the this could have easily been included in the movie without consuming much time. The details of pagan rituals and practices have also been overlooked. Perhaps, a three hour movie instead of a two and a half hour one would have sufficed for a reasonably comprehensive coverage of the book. The topic on golden ratio wasn’t even brought up in the conversation. The book , at least for me, aroused interest in knowing history. To quite an extent, it made Langdon look ‘cool’ with all the knowledge he had and with his interpretation of symbols. The movie fails to do so (but that’s not what a movie is for anyway).

Silas’ role was portrayed to perfection. The zeal in him was well displayed by Paul Bettany. Some of the scenes involving him bring you to the edge of the seats. The movie is fast paced, Just right to keep the attention of the viewers for 150 minutes. Thought the movie doesn’t give enough time to comprehend the difficulty of the clues and the lateral thinking involved in solving it, it does provide a good weekend entertainment value. Teibing’s assertion about Jesus Christ’s life is also worth a mention. Thankfully, the movies doesn’t get into the romance between Sophie and Langdon. It has also carefully avoided the Hindi movie ending of the book and made it a lot less sentimental.

Bottom line: It is worth a movie ticket. It is watchable only once (if one has read the book or not).

Do comment if you have anything else to say.

Over past two weeks, protests against reservation being given to OBCs has intensified drastically. In my earlier post (on reservation), i wasn’t too ‘keen’ on talking about politics involved in the whole issue. This post will reflect the hypocrisy of MPs in our country. To begin with, out politicians claim that the reservation is being ‘awarded’ to OBCs for their upliftment. They believe that OBCs are under-represented in higher educational institutes in our country. They have absolutely no statistics to prove that though. Why is it that MPs are against reservation in parliament? Quite clearly, OBCs are underrepresented there too. I was wondering why this point was raised during any debate for over a week now. I was happy to find one banner echoing this point couple of day earlier in TOI. The arguments in favour of reservation hold good even in this case. It goes without saying that when MPs themselves are at the receiving end, no arguments, however strong, fall on deaf ears. They are the same MPs who vehemently opposed women’s reservation in parliament. It has not even been allowed to be tabled in parliament till now. Before even a speech is made, politicians walk out of the house with all the rage in the world. Condition of women, no doubt, is worse then SC/STs or OBCs. Why aren’t the concerned politicians ignorant in tackling that issue before?
[This does not mean i support reservation for OBCs or women in parliament.]

One of the ridiculous argument made in favour of the reservation is that our education system fails to identify the real merit, so anti-reservation activists’ claim of merit being diluted in a fallacy. The simple answer is to change the education system. Reservation will do no good. One of the bloggers goes on to belittle IITians saying

“Our exams often generate and encourage stupidity and push forward the least talented of the lot. I am not an IIT student, and will not pretend to know much about the CAT since I didn’t crack it, but it is rather interesting that almost none of our wonderful IIT-ians (for whom such pitted battled are being fought) have made any earth-shattering discoveries or inventions. “

It cant be helped when one chooses to remain oblivious to science and technology development in the words. For the starters, the founder of Sun Microsystems was an IITian, Vinod Khosla, which developed java. Many of the students have research publications before they complete engineering. To really make a progress in Science and Technology, we need money. Indian government is apathetic towards research, so most of the IITians turn to USA for research. Indian (not just IITian) contribution to science and engineering has been very significant. The fact that Indian research institute aren’t doing well can be attributed to poverty and not the lack of brains. With reservation around, more brains are being denied the much deserved opportunity.

Both Kamal Nath and Arjun Singh are clueless as to the “plight” of OBCs in the country. In the interview with Karan Thapar, their immature rhetoric in dealing with questions fired at them makes me angry with the government for their choice of such irresponsible ministers. A year ago, i was so proud to be in country where both prime minister and president have a PhD to their name, but the government as single body gets the whole country down. NSSO’s figures indicate that OBCs are getting their share of the cake. Why, then, is the whole issue of reservation bring brought up? Our Prime Minister hasn’t even taken a stand on reservation yet. It is not the so called dignified silence, but silence of defenseless politician.

Reservation will also affect the OBCs themselves in a negative way. Students will be discriminated against. Complacency will creep in. To give you an example, when attendance is not taken in a class, be in 5 point someone or 9 point someone, many students bunk. It a natural tendency to do so. When a student knows that, by caste, he will be admitted to a premier institution, his preparation will fall short. The year I got through JEE, the 9^th ranker in reserved category was 1900^th rank in general category. Even after sixty years, if the gap has not been bridged, reservation is not the way to go.

Some protesters ask, “what more do upper caste want? They have 50.5% seats for 15% population?” No, those 50.5% seats are not reserved for us. Its up for grabs for every one including SC/STs and OBCs. In 2003 , rank 1(SC/ST) (less than 10 in GE) in JEE chose a seat in General Merit. He was hailed. I don’t see why? All he did was snatch deserving candidates’ seats. It’s not just one seat. If he had chosen Branch A, one person would have had to settle for branch B, some other person for branch C and so on.

The government is simply not addressing the issue of extending primary education to all. (which is a fundamental right btw). Even reservation in private sector is on the cards. If reservation is required at every stage, a question begs to be asked, “if reservation is needed at every stage, doesn’t that mean they are just not good enough?”

I consider myself very fortunate to be at a place where music flows unlimited on the LAN. Sometimes the best part of the day is when I get back to my room and listen to endless music. Over last fifty years, several legends have left a lasting impression with their music. I have often asked myself, “Which is my favorite song”. Answer to that has not been just one song. When others ask me this, I usually reply, “with or without you”, by U2. The fact is that a whole lot of songs spring in my head when I think of great songs or best songs ever written.

In the movie Ray, a biography of Ray Charles, he talks of country music as best form of music because of the stories they tell. True indeed! The ballads they churn out are mesmerizing to say the least. The song “The Gambler”, by Kenny Rogers, is easily one of my favorite country ballads. This song brings out the advice from a gambler.

You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table.
There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.

What’s intriguing about the song is that the advice is given by a relatively disrespected character in the society and yet it makes all the sense in the world.

Yet another country ballad I love listening to is “Traveling Soldier”, by Dixie Chicks. It’s a simple song about a soldier who befriends a girl so that he could write letters from Vietnam. The need for a friend when you are lonely is powerfully delivered. “You are my best friend”, by Don Williams, reminds you what friendship really is with some timeless metaphors.

You’re my bread when I’m hungry you’re my shelter from troubled winds
you’re my anchor in life’s ocean but most of all you’re my best friend

Turning over to rock music, the song that I find to take me to a different world altogether is “Mr. Tambourine Man” by Bob Dylan. Wiki tells me

There are many theories about the meaning of the song. One interpretation is that the song allusively recounts Dylan’s early experiences with LSD, and this is supported by the prominent use of the word “trip” in the first line of the second verse.

Every time I listen to this song, I am in a completely different world. Knowing me, I am pretty sure I will never try LSD. I am guessing this song will be the best vicarious experience of LSD I will ever have. I particularly adore this stanza from the song

Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.

When speaking of rock, the psychedelic Pink Floyd can’t be left behind. Among so many gems they have produced, the best one, in my opinion, is “learning to fly”. This song best describes how it feels like to fly:

There’s no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, A state of bliss

“Free to decide” by Cranberries is one of my all time favourite songs. There are two groups of which I like every song that I have heard, Cranberries is one of them. The other is U2. Coincidentally both the groups are Irish. The rebellious “Sunday, bloody Sunday” By U2 is the song that moves by senses. This anti-war song is a fitting tribute to the victims of Bloody Sunday in Ireland on 30^th Jan., 1972. **14 people were killed (including 6 minors) and 13 others wounded by British paratroopers after a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in the Bogside area of the city of Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Many witnesses, including bystanders and journalists, claim that those shot at were all unarmed.

**quoted from wiki

“Tears in heaven” by Eric Clapton was written by Eric Clapton and dedicated to his son, Conor Clapton, who died a 4 year old by falling off from the 54^th floor. Ever since I got to know this, the song has always given me the blues. Beautifully written song…..

The romantic song “Top of the world”, by Carpenters scores high on my best pop music ratings. The song is made all the more romantic because of the infatuating voice of Karen Carpenter. I cannot find a word better to describe her sweet voice. It’s a real pity that the world lost Karen to Anorexia Nervosa when she was in her 30s.

One of my favorite bands, Bee gees’ “stayin’ alive” is a disco classic. I don’t find anything great in the lyrics though. It just speaks about ‘staying alive’ in the busy, turbulent world that we have created. What I love about the song is its pulsating tune that can get you on your toes anytime. “The winner takes it all” by Abba is a poignant song on break-up. Arguably, it is one of their best works.

“Bridge over troubled water” by Simon and Garfunkel is another song interpreted as a song on pleasures of using drug. The silver girl in the song, some believe, refers to the needle used to inject drugs. Others believe the song is about friendship and how friends lay themselves down like a bridge over troubled water. Paul Simon clarified about the silver girl in the song saying, “My girlfriend at the time was particularly saddened upon finding a few grey hairs in her brush, lamenting that she was getting older. I wrote that lyric as a tribute and inside joke to her. I don’t know how the heroin connection rumor got started. The song is basically about friendship.” It’s ironical that this song on friendship led to their break-up owing to disagreement on who should sing the song.

“Radio ga ga” by Queen is a song on the advent of television and its role in bringing the radio down. Other songs in my all time favorite list includes “stairway to heaven” by Led Zep, “Piano Man” by Billy Joel, “Solitary Man” by Neil Diamond, “Riders on the storm” by Doors, “Sweet Surrender” by Bread, “Thick as a Brick” by Jethro Tull, “Reelin’ in the years” by Steely Dan and many more.

If anyone hasn’t heard any of the songs above, he is missing out on lot of entertainment. Please do comment on your favorite songs and who do you think has the best voice. Among male artists, in my opinion, Freddie Mercury takes a clear pole position and infatuating voice of Karen Carpenter among the female artists. My favorite bands are U2 and Bee Gees. Lemme know yours.

A week back, I was a part of team which conducted an event called “how things work” in our departmental techfest, Mechanica, in IIT Madras. Being a relatively small techfest, the participation was not too high from outside institutions. With over 70% of participating teams from the home college, it came a little surprise the most of the teams selected to appear in the finals were from IIT Madras. Just then, some of us were wondering if we should reserves two out of eight places in the finals for the teams from other colleges. I opposed this stating that any form of reservation deserves to be scrapped. The suggestion was immediately taken back and we had eight best teams participating in the finals.

All of us know that reservation to SC and ST was given right after its Independence. It is also a known that BR Ambedkar himself suggested that the reservation be withdrawn after about ten-fifteen years. The introduction of reservation was to kick start the development of the socially oppressed. The intention was perfect. The execution may not have been very pleasing, but should have seen a partial success. A significant number of families must have been able on stand on their feet back then.

The year I got through JEE, the 9^th ranker in reserved category was 1900^th rank in general category. That was when I felt that reservation was “justice denied” to hundreds of deserving candidates. In my opinion, a person by virtue of coaching classes alone and no work input, can get close to 6000th to 10000th rank in JEE. If the student happens to belong to SC/ST category, he will be admitted with open arms to IITs (having got within top 50 ranks). This is unfair. Close to 4000 student would have worked hard to get into IITs of which 1500 would have been turned down because of lack of seats. To find their own peers who have hardly put any effort to get into the institute, because of reservations, is outrageous.

Couple of years back, there was debate regarding reservation in private sectors in Maharastra, I recall having seen ‘the big fight’ (NDTV), where supporter of reservation argued that reservation doesn’t mean a compromise in quality of professionals and that SC/ST students are not a compromise on merit. Let’s get this straight. Seats are reserved for primary education, acceptable; seats are reserved for secondary (high school) education, again acceptable; reservation in plus two, doesn’t decide the future in a big way, acceptable. At an under graduate level, reservation is certainly not acceptable. If they are not a compromise on merit, why are they demanding reservation even in private sectors? They have sufficient reservation in government jobs, and number of their posts in govt. sectors is largely unfilled.

Any form of reservation is a compromise on merit. When it was done sixty years earlier, it was done with a purpose. With the purpose defeated, it’s all downhill from where I see it. Now, I think, it is time for SC/ST to come out and say, “We are good, we don’t need any reservation, don’t spoon-feed us.” What do you think? Seriously, look beyond cast, creed, religion, regionalism or wardrobe malfunction….there are number of other things which demand immediate attention.