Dont kill me for this...!

Question: Why are Boeing aircrafts the safest?
Answer: Because even if they crash, they just bounce away...boeing...boeing...

Spring break...!

Spring break is here...!!!. That means a week of nothing. A week to sleep late (i.e. later than 10:00). A week to do whatever you want to.

To me, spring break started with the cancellation of my ticket to Chicago. Due to multiple problems like logistics, cost and timing, the plan had to be revoked. But then, I am not grumbling. I have a whole week ahead of me to go ahead and complete all my work. A time for movies and hobbies. A time I can spend completely for myself without any disturbances. "Quality time with self" is what I have decided to call this week. I have scribbled down a list of "things to be done". Now all that needs to be done is to work that plan. I am yet to take a second look at the list.

Today, we celebrated Holi here. It was good fun, but not quite. Because the important bit was missing. The entire fun of Holi lies in the resistance to it. The real essence of Holi lies in getting "those" people dirty who do not want to get dirtied. However, the people who assembled at Schumann Park today where the ones who intended to get dirty. Unlike in India, where you go around in bikes to find unsuspecting friends, pull them out of their houses, douse them in colored water, drop egg grenades on their heads and create a big galata, we had to play it straight here. No nonsense. We were all limited to Schumann Park.

And if there is something in smearing and getting smeared with blaringly colored powders and end up looking like angry baboons, there is a great deal more in doing all this at 3 deg C. Bloody freezing...!! Thats what it was. Moreover, most of us were in our sleazy old t-shirts meant for holi. With the result, many were huddled in a corner after going through their part, while a few others were dancing ferociously to the tunes of "Rang bharse bheege..." to beat the cold and avoid getting frozen.

Finally it was decided that it was time to leave. After mumbling "buh...buh" to each other, we trundled back home for an ultra hot shower for 15 mins and a generous dose of shampoo. We assembled back in the community hall for a delicious steaming lunch of Pav Bhaji, fried rice and badam milk. Then I got back home for a nice nap.

That was day one of spring break. You never know what tomorrow would bring.

Some thoughts...

I am on my way to my lab and I meet this guy on the way.

"Hi dude...!! Whats up?" I say, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.
"Yaaaa... (In falling pitch)"
"How is your work going?"

A shrug and an array for facial expressions ranging from a weak smile, to exasperation, boredom and fatigue. I stand there for a second or two, listening to his sighs and a half-hearted attempt to summarize his activities for the week. (What he is finally trying to say is that he is having more work than he can handle, so leave me alone?!)

"Well, see you later.take it easy man." I say and walk off.

This is not new. I have met a lot of these unhappy people. They make it look as if their work has taken away all of their life. They hardly have anything to think or talk other than their boring life. Their life is all but meaning. They claim that their busy schedules don?t give them any time to indulge in anything other than work. Even a casual conversation finally ends up in work load and uninteresting life.

I feel that there is a lot to enjoy in life. Let's admit it. Everybody has their share of fun. No matter what. Whether you are in a great company or a not-so-great company, whether you have money or you don?t, whether you like your work or you don?t like your work, integral (birth to death) fun-in-life dx is the same for all. What you think about your life purely depends on how you look at it. You just have to find that right perspective to look at life and look from that angle at all times. Granted, things are never easy. Things are more "not the way I want" than "the way I want". But that is what keeps us going? As someone wisely put, "Man survives, oddly enough, only in a challenging environment." Its only when a shark is lurking about; a fish remains frisky and healthy. The same applies to us as well. Well...I mean, in spirit...(Aaaaahhhh...!!! There is a shark in my room...!!!)

So first let's convince ourselves that our lives are indeed exciting. And you can make it more exciting by making time to do things you want to do.

So, go ahead and find such things. And do it. You have only one life...live it.

Its cricket time?!!! Ow?.!!!

Cricket always has its special effect. Especially if you are an Indian. So no sooner the test match started off in Mohali, than the desi boys here scooped up the wickets they could find, dug out a tennis ball and a bat and headed to the closest ground. A basketball-cum-volleyball court now became basketball-cum-volleyball-cum-cricket court.

I heard about this only yesterday and promptly got to the ground. After some hurried bowling and catching practice, I was in. A furious series of matches ensued between teams of six. The battle raged for about three hours, along with frequent interruptions like?"hey!! the score is 26 not 27"? "No?one more ball left" ?"That was a wide?no it wasn?t" ?. Man..!! gully cricket does have its class.

Today I am sitting in the lab and feeling like a bull which has survived its coup de grace. My neck and shoulders are in enormous pain. Hip is hurting badly too. Guess I am done here. That is all I can blog. Bye. Iodex power cream, here I come.

Winning, and the people

I have played a variety of sport with a variety of people. I am not talking about team games. I am talking about the games played one-on-one or two-on-two. In all of these games, one thing is quite evident. Everybody wants to win. But there are different ways in which people regard winning. There are varieties of people, with widely different outlooks, when it comes to that. I classify them into five categories.

1. The bone crushers

These are the people who want to win no matter what. They will go to any lengths to win at a game. "Win at a fair fight" is not something they have been told about in school. There are very few of these interesting people around.

2. The wee wilys

These are reasonably fairer. They don?t want to cheat to win. But they want a victory. So they adopt slightly milder techniques. They try to scare you, mislead you, discourage you. They smile a lot, while launching a jovially colored psychological attack.

3. The jumpy jackals

This clan of 'would be' winners is a jittery kind. They are in a hurry to win. They are aloof about the remarks or comments or anything else that is happening around. To them, the game is a painful chasm between them and the victory, and want to get over with it as fast as possible.

4. The playmakers

These are keen about the quality of the competition. They are not really interested in winning. They just want a good serious game.

5. The slumber jacks

These are the worst of the lot. They are the ones to whom nothing matters. They are just having fun. These are usually the ones who don?t know the game. They do not have any determination to win. They end up spoiling all the seriousness, causing the standard of the game to plunge.

Indian cinema scenario

A sequel to this post.
http://rogueplaneteer.blogspot.com/2005/03/dial-s-for.html

A famous actor (who has worked in Bollywood and Tamil cinema) said this in one of his interviews.

"It was my first movie and I was working with the great director X. I was all excited when he called me and offered me the role. One the first day of shooting, he came to me and said "Dont go act there. OK? When you are out there in front of the camera, dont act." It took me a moment to understand what he said. I am also glad that I was able to fully comprehend his message and do justice to my roles."

These are the elements that bring out movies with class. However, in recent bollywood movies, movie quality is an afterthought. People are merely "acting" here. Hopeless.

And then the music. Its either a dik-chik version of some old song. Or, if you are slightly unlucky, it will be a dik-chik version of another dik-chik song. Or worse, It will be a song with the same music from a totally unrelated movie in a different language. That means, there is every possibility that music composed for one song in some language, will be used over and over again till it has made its appearence in all languages. Then, it will be handed over to the DJs to embellish it further. Jeez...!!!

And then there is this cheap pornography element that is being forced into every movie. The latest joke is that Hollywood is finding this embarassing.

Where are we heading?