We are all grown up!

I had this thought when we, a group of friends were buying formal clothing for a friend destined to start his job on next Monday. After all the shopping was done, we started the usual chitchat session and I congratulated him for entering into the corporate world. It was then we pondered over what lay next. Hanging those loose ever-sagging jeans and stepping into nice trousers, giving up sandals to wear those black leather shoes, waking up early in the morning and not to mention the daily bath and shave… 

To make the above changes go down a little easily, we fetched our beer bottles and felt better once the chilled effervescence inside us. But then the reality struck us again and I don’t know but for whatever reasons, reality hits you really hard when you are light. I guess this is its way of minimizing the damage. Someone said about the grueling work-hours, other was drinking to how little his job was going to way and I on the other hand was still waiting for my offer-letter. It was unanimously decided that my problem was the most serious one and called for a toast. 

The average workday was calculated to last for 12 hrs, leaving aside little time for other things. This really worried us because 4 years in college had made us really lazy and working for 12 hrs a day looked almost impossible. But then one of us assured that if our seniors can work then we could work too. This was a relief as we knew how screwed up our seniors were. With this in mind, we all started making plans of how we were going to spend our money and how are we gonna make a life out of the hectic work-hours. But the discussion was cut short when a friend got a call from his dad telling him it was time he came back home. So we decided to call it a night and raised our bottles as kids for one last time.. It is time that Raju becomes a Gentelman and Yes we are all grown up..

 

Below is a video of my Comp. Science batch at IIT-Guwahati.. It sums up our journey from Raju to Gentelman. Njoy.

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Timepass

If you are on your summer break and sitting at home then I am sure that people must have bored with the question kya karta hai saara din?What do you do all day?  or  aur suna kya kar raha hai ghar par aajkal?What are you doing at home these days. What sends me to frenzy is that its my home, my time and till my parents don’t complain why do people have a problem. They ask you these questions as if they are on the verge of some ground-breaking, earth-shattering and noble prize deserving research. But the truth is that they themselves have no work other than going to peoples house and asking what their children are doing in summers. 

So here is what you can do to pass your time and put all those goons to silent mode..

Get an internet connection and start writing blogs. This way you can include others in your crappy thoughts and make sure that their time is well wasted.

This one is the sharpen your memory. Try to fix you old scooter or motorbike and make sure that you open all the parts that look greasy or dusty. Once you take the engine to a state where no more screws are visible, try to reassemble it. And remember the permutations and combinations you were taught in high school, now is the time to utilize that knowledge.

Start fixing doors or other things your mom has been telling you to fix since high school.

For those waiting for their offer letters, keep on predicting your joining date and salary breakup. Remember to send a weekly mail to HRs and other friends recruited in the same company. A panic mail once in a while you get you great response.

If you have already got you offer letter, then get a pen and paper and start calculating the tax you will have to pay. Remember to get your dad involved in this. Please make sure that you consider all the mentioned and not mentioned components and find an in-hand salary figure for all combinations.

If you are the studious type, grab a thick novel or start preparing for MBA, MS etc.

Start planning about your cousins marriage or better accompany him when he goes to see a girl.

Although I have personally tried all the above ways, but I have come to the conclusion that best way to pass time is to stay awake at night ans sleep during the day. This way no one will be able to ask you any questions…

Any further suggestions are most welcome.

Goodbye - not so good after all.

Sitting on a hard-bound copy of his BTP thesis, drinking the cheap “Old Smuggler”, Deewaker took a deep kash and said “Goodbye”. Goodbye to 4 years of refugee life. Goodbye to frustapa for a girlfriend (like he stood a chance in the outside world), goodbye to messy mess food and goodbye to sleep-hating lectures, goodbye to 4 years of pain.

Then he said something that smuggled the Old Smuggler out of our system. To quote him: “As some of the best brains of India, we have spend the best time of our lives in the worst possible place.” Somehow none of us could muster the strength to fight back against his bold statement. He went on to explain how his friends in other colleges have got good financial jobs, how they all have 2 girlfriends (keeping just one meant there was something wrong with you. No girlfriends simply meant you were gay) and how they laughed at his decision, each time he goes home.  He asked for a round of cold pizza (no chance of getting a hot one while sitting 20kms from civilzation) and continued to explain ‘life’ to us.

It felt as if Deewaker was saying something we had felt all along. May it was the booze talking or maybe it was just a downpour of emotions but all of it seemed true. Had we really donated our life in exchange of an IIT degree? Just as we were digesting the reality, along came another emotional avalanche, this time it was Prabhu. He gulped down his shot and said f*@# you Deewaker, I have enjoyed every second of my life here. Yes the classes sucked, the no gf thing was cruel, no doubt the food yucked but my life with you guys simply rocked. “What about the Rubel walks, the class bunks, the SOFing, the canteen bakars, the DPs , the Alchers, the Manthans, the night-outs, the shillong trips and what about all the time spent together.“ ranted Prabhu. Then it all came back, the good times, the bad times, and the ugly ones too. Being there for each other, trying to hide your frustration to help somebody else, lending an ear whenever someone was down.

A sudden flash and electricity was back. From where I could see, Deewaker had wet cheeks and red eyes. He stood up, crushed the cigarette bud and said “Prabhu you @#@#*$ you have ruined my life. I wanted this to end tonight so that the pain maybe less. But as always you have to ruin everything. Now get up and give me a hug.” We all huddled together and held on to each other. Another loud noise and Deewaker said “Goodbye my foot. My heart, my soul, my love will still be with IITg”

 

A thousand Splendid Suns..

Category:  Fiction

Author:      Khaled Hosseini

Rating:      5/5

If you thought Khaled Hosseini was a one hit wonder then I suggest you to grab a copy of his second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. Like the first book this one is also a tale of suffering, sacrifice of Afghan people in the times of war. The difference is that it gives voice to the women of Afghanistan, the women who are married when they are just 15, made to wear the burqah and suffer in a nation that treats its women as second rate. The book brings forth the life of two women Mariam and Laila who have had opposite starts to their lives but destiny unites them. 

If this book can’t move you then I suggest you go for a health checkup. The great thing about Hosseini is that amongst all the suffering and pain he still manages to bring forth hope of a better future. Read this one so that you can feel how privileged we are to be born in a free country. 

 

Final Verdict: A superb read. 

The Kite Runner

Category:  Fiction

Author:      Khaled Hosseini

Rating:      5/5

This one is straight from the heart and Hosseini hits you straight in the heart. It qualifies as one of the most intense books that I have ever read. Every line of this book is unadulterated emotion. Its a story set up in the deserts of Afghanistan where Amir fights for acceptance of his father and in the process he betrays his childhood friend Hassan, who sacrifices everything to protect Amir. 

Amir runs away to a new life but memories of Hassan haunts him. All the lying and past memories come back to Amir when he has to return back to Afghan. Amir fights his demons and figures out a way to be good again. 

Khaled Hosseini puts life into every word, the description of each and every character is detailed and you seem to walk with them across the streets of Afghan and USA. Read this one for the mix of friendship, betrayal, loyalty, lying, secrets and hope involved.

Final Verdict: Read it thousand times over. 

Freakonomics

Category:  Economics, Business

Author:      Steven Levitt

Rating:      2/5

No offense to the authors but this is one of the most over-rated book I have ever come across. The book proposes various funny and unconventional theories about many of the common problems in this era. It starts as a really funny account but somewhere down the pages, it looses its grip and becomes too monotonous. The explanation of some theories are too long which makes you loose interest in them. 

 

A book like this should have been written in a more concise way and should have kept a room for the reader to think and extend the explanations given in the book. All in all i found it boring after sometime and it was really hard to complete this one.

 

Final Verdict: Don’t buy it, borrow it. 

प्यार करना है तो मुझ से कर

तेरे दीदार को हैं मेरी आखें तरस गयी

आजा अब तो मौसम की हर रुत बरस गयी

तेरे बिना मैं अकेला तन्हा

 दुनिया की हर कुशी से अन्जां

 

तेरे इंतज़ार में यह आखें थक गयी

मानो ज़िन्दगी की जैसे रफ़्तार थम गयी

अब आ जालिम और न सता

अपनी याद में मेरे दिल को और न रुला

 

मारना है तो मुझे अपने हुसन से मार

जुदाई में क्या रखा है

प्यार करना है तो मुझ से कर

इस खुदाई में क्या रखा है

मैं और मेरा दिल

मैं :
ए मेरे दिल यह तुझे हुआ क्या है
क्यूँ तू आज इस ज़माने से खफा है
क्या भूला है तू हमेशा कुश रहने की बात
क्यूँ बहा रहा है अपने अन्दर के ज़ज्बात

दिल :
कब तक मैं तेरे दुखो को छुपता जायूँगा
कब तक मैं कुशी से जिंदा जलता जायूँगा
मरता हूँ पल पल झूटी जिंदगी जी कर
हस्ता हूँ ऊपर रो रो के भीतर!!!

हमारी सदी का गम

बढ रही है नफरते प्यार हो रहा है कम
आदमी ही आदमी पर कर रहा सितम
इंसान में इंसानियत हो रही ख़तम
यही हमारी सदी का है गम

पैसा और दौलत के पीछे भाग रहे हैं हम
भूल गए दोस्ती और मोहब्बत का रहम
बस जीते हैं एक मशीन की तरह हम
यही हमारी सदी का है गम

महफिले

महफिले हैं यहाँ महफिले हैं वहाँ
फिर भी न जाने मैं क्यूँ तन्हा
यह महफिले यह महखाने सब है झूठे
फिर कैसे न मन मेरा इस दुनिया से रूठे

जीना तो होगा यह मैं जनता हूँ
इसलिए हर गम में मुस्कराता हूँ
झूटी हसी में सच्चाई ढूँढता हूँ
इंसान में इंसानियत ढूद्ता हूँ

कुछ ज्यादा नहीं मांगता मैं जालिम ज़माने से
बस थोडी सी वफ़ा थोडा जाम कुशी के पयमाने से
दे सको दो दिल में थोडी जगह दे देना
अर्थी पर आकर झूठे आंसू मत बहा देना

Career Choice

While discussing the career options of my cousin, who is in 10th standard right now, it was deja vu for me. 6 years ago it was me who was in the middle of such great dilemma.ˇAt that point of time my knowledge about different career paths was bonkers. I had no idea what to do and I didn’t hate any subject more than the other. So what I did was see the trend of children in our family so it was either Medical or Non-medical. To choose between Medical and Non-medical was simpler now. I had seen my sis slog hard even after she got through MBBS entrance. No I didn’t have the courage to slog like that, I wanted my college life to be fun. So it was non-medical.
Now after my graduation, when I lived the life, learnt a lot about other streams I regret to have entered something where I had no original passion or interest. After 4 years of fun college life am I happy? No, I am not. Do I love my job? No I don’t. So have I done something that interests me? And alas the answer is NO.
So I don’t want my cousin to make the same mistake again. I don’t want him to jump into engineering just because I did it or his parents want it or he is good at mathematics.
We all are in a position to help our younger ones and guide them through this phase so that they can get into a career that they enjoy. Don?t do what the world tells you to do, just listen to your heart. And in this way we might be able to see a lot more writers, painters, artists, filmmakers etc.