Morningrise

Sunshine breaks

In through the window

Darkness falls, under my bed.

A distant bark

A crash and a fall

Silence reigns.

A misty morn

Colours unseen

At the break of dawn.

The wind blows

Between the sheets

As I lay awake.

The last drop

falls; as I still long

for another sound.

A Not So Glorious Return

It's strange, that I tend to write when it's dark inside, and strangely, despite the infinite darkness that seems to surround me at the moment that I am writing this, I don't seem to be writing a lot. And it's not because I don't have a lot to say, for those who know me, know that I always have a tonne of shit to yap about and am compulsorily opinionated about everything. It's just that I haven't had a chance to organise and edit my thoughts (and feelings, maybe) and put pen to paper, or keyboard to blogger and write the darn things out. So this lazy afternoon when I have time for myself, by stroke of good luck, and I know I haven't had a lot of that lately, I shall write, rant, entertain and maybe even dance like a performing monkey would if he could.

So here goes something, enjoy.

1) MICA happened. And it's strange, but what I enjoy most about this place is going to some of the classes. A return to the Kana who likes to study happened, and then it didn't and then it happened again. A lot of other shit also happened. People, places, thing, music.

Change.

Coping is fun, it's also tiring and taxing and after a while, boring. I wonder why there isn't a provision to just pick up your old like, transform it into the way you want to and change the minor details so you don't have to waste time thinking about it, instead, you can just get high and fuck around.

2) HATE!
Man, I used to believe that lust and fear are the only true emotions, and people who know me, know I do believe in that axiom of mine. But of late, hate, or minor substitutes of the same are a part of me. It's fun, in a Batman vs Joker sort of a way. And it's also interesting when I psycho-analyse myself about why I hate things.

3) Music. Man, I miss my band. And whatever else came with it. Yelling at Saxena, getting yelled at by Datar, the insanely random 'cheeeeck's at gigs, the 'Smoke Some Ganja'. Dude, if there was one thing, apart from the K-wing and other friends that I got at VNIT was Glasnost. I went home a few days ago and played a song with 'Safer Monday' (:P) and boy was that a throwback to old times. If there was one thing I want back right now, it would be Glasnost. That music was catharsis in so many ways, it isn't even fucking funny.

4) Idiots. Everywhere. God, if you had so much time on your hands to make such idiots, why didn't you use it to eradicate swine flu, malaria, AIDS and Manchester City Football Club?

5) Gujarat. For India's fastest progressing state, there isn't anything grand about this place. No alcohol; very little non-veg; loud, more-obnoxious-than-I-am people with the strangest dressing sense. Right now, it's just me and Steven Wilson singing away to glory hoping things get somewhere soon around here.

6) Swine flu. What? Dude, trust us to divert our minds from the real troubles in life with propaganda based idiocy and concentrate all our resources on it. Less than a 1000 people around the world have died coughing their lungs out. And it's a pandemic! And AIDS, malaria, and Manchester City Football Club continue to claim catastrophic numbers while we sit in our rooms and drink our bootlegged Royal Stag!

7) Needy people. Please, people. Stop being needy. Really. STOP! It's not very becoming, it isn't. If the giant panda Po could get the fact that the secret ingredient is 'nothing' I don't get why you can't! Bono sang, you don't need anyone or anything at all. Believe that, stop messing with others' lives, get one for yourself. I can arrange for a discount at eBay for you if you wish that.

Wow, I wrote. Badly, but hey, after a long long time. I want to do this more often. Someone give me pointers. Datar, that means you. Fuck you chut, get to MICA and we'll play some music. Like, please and shit.

Time for a shower. Laters.

And here's a parting gift, courtesy XKCD.

Things That Have Ended in The Past One Year

My last few days at VNIT got me thinking about this. A whole lot of things that I was majorly into have come to an end, and are still coming to an end in the last one year. Here's a list of whatever I can make public. :P

1) Zero - The greatest band in the world. India's contribution to rock and roll. Last show played was at Independence Rock last year. Too bad there won't be another album for me to listen to all day and all night and then rave about how Zero changed our lives.

2) Aarohi/Axis/Quizfest/Ganeshotsav/Janmashthami/Lohri/Freshers - Being an obsessive compulsive organiser, along with a few other fair and dark folk of Hostel Block One at VNIT, this marks a complete shift in the cosmos. There is practically nothing left for me/us to organise. A feeble attempt at resuscitation was the 'batch farewell', but the whole magnum opus feel that we wanted to bring to that was shot down by some strange bitches around college. Too bad for them, I still have my glass of whiskey to go home to.

3) Newsletter - When Datar and I joined the VNIT newsletter committee last year, we were struck by how sad the scene was. NO offence to our seniors who worked a lot, but in general, the effect of the newsletter wasn't like it was supposed to be. A few days later, Dedhia joined the committee too, and the time for change was upon us.

One year under the aegis of Messrs D&D, Datar and Dedhia, and Eyes Only is a transformed rag. People await its arrival, and it feels like something that we're leaving behind that has made a mark. I hope someday to contribute another editorial to EO, even if it only as an alumnus. :)

4) Going Late To Classes - At VNIT, in the last four years, I have never attended a class on time. The minimum time difference between beginning of class and my entry has always been around the 15 minute mark. And this has scarce little to do with factors like, the class is early morning, or I overslept. Even if the class was at 12 noon, I've strolled in at 1220PM.
Alas, with graduation, comes the responsibility of getting to class on time at MICA. Too bad for me, I guess.

5) Going to Asit's Every Day - If you spoke to me last year, on the same date, you'd know that for about 4 years before that, I went to Asit Sharma's place every day of the year. Every. Single. Day. Sadly, with college ending and so much left to say and do, that's changed. It's a bittersweet emotion, in some way that I can't seem to fathom, but hey, I'm not supposed to know everything, am I?

6) Glasnost - The best goddam thing to happen to the four of us - Espy, Sax, Pappu and Kana. Driven by Pappu's guitar and improved because of Espy and Sax, my funky band is all but done for. If in case Espy turns up at Baroda, and I'm at A'bad, with Datar getting some time too, we can think of playing in the future, else, it's curtains for us. Thank you to those who've been there and liked what we did. One last time, check!

But, to use a cliche, every dark cloud...silver lining...blahblah. New things to look forward to, new people to meet, new fests to organise. :)

The only thing that I'm not so sure about, is that if I really want those new things. Everything is in its right place. Soon, nothing will be. Soon, I will wake up not knowing what to do with rest of my day. Soon, I shall be an engineering graduate, and I don't even know if I want to be there yet.

Bomb Ourselves Back To The Stone Age

Hello folks.
This is going to be a good ol' fashioned rant, so get your popcorn and sodas ready, and buckle up.

1) Environmentalists.
Noun. Also, synonym for people with too much time on their hands, and too little in their personality to actually make others care about them. So they go ahead and make it a point to find a fault with everything around, and condemning said everything to high hell. Case in point, the Tata Nano. Some idiots think that the Nano is going to pollute and pollute and pollute. Are chutiyon, you know we've norms for the environment, don't you? Just because some politicians made a case ten years ago against a cheap car, you get sucked into their perspective and criticize what is every middle class man's dream? I suggest you get a life, and while you're at it, pull your foot out of your mouth, because if you really did care so much about pollution, you'd quit the comfort of your cosy homes, and head for the Himalayas. But that wouldn't help much either, because you'd just melt the ice off with your warm and fuzzy farts.

Let's get a little technical here. A Nano will give you 23kms to a litre of fuel. On the other hand, an SUV gives you what 8-10kms to a litre. If you still don't see my point, the Lord, if there is one, wasted a set of eyes and a brain on you. Stop the SUVs if you care so much. Or be like me, and don't. Please, don't waste our time with your opinions, and if you are a hot enough environmentalist who'd only give me some if I heard you out, just save it for the morning after.

2) Facebook.

Dudes. Seriously. Social networking used to mean keeping in touch with people. Not sitting and quizzing your personal highway to internet iconism. Get a life. Get utorrent. Download. Watch a movie. Watch porn. Get it up and let it out. Stop quizzing on Facebook, and even if you don't, stop sending me the goddam updates letting me know that your favourite band in the whole wide world is Backstreet Boys. They're not even a band, they're a group, idiot.

3) The Third Front. The Fourth Front. Whatever else.

So suddenly, Mayawati wants to be PM. And it will soon be mandatory for everyone going in for a job or an education to produce an open category certificate. I'm not one to ask about a person's standing in life or any of that jazz and I generally take shit the way it comes, but when it's about to hit the fan, I'm not going to stand behind it. Are Maya-ben, aukaad pata hai? On one hand, you've got people rooting for Barack O-haha, who's atleast qualified enough to be where he is, and in the largest democracy in the world, we have a proper swayamwar for the top job in the country. But who really know what's going down when these politicians make their pre-poll, post-poll, pre-earlymorningpoop, post-coitus, pre-mature-ejaculation alliances?

To anyone who reads number 3 - Be a man. Do the right thing. Shut up, and vote. Show these idiots the finger.

Oh, and the Samajwadi Party is like the laughing stock of Indian politics. After the BJP, of course. Amar Singh spends more time on Page 3, while Mulayam tries to get mulayam ladies to give him hand jobs since his hands are all dirty from the shit Laloo and Paswan are dragging him through. Poor old chaps, even Mayawati raped them upside down and hung their cocks to dry in the Arctic Circle. When will they learn? No wait, will they learn?

Wow, I feel better, so I'll give you a life update on me.

I was in Delhi for a week, met Rini after a long time. Had the most amazing time ever. Love her to death.
Was at a few farewell functions, since it is our last fortnight at VNIT. I laughed and cried at the same time.
My final year project group is awesome. We have done nothing yet, and since tomorrow is the seminar, I don't think we're going to. Cheers Mayur. :)

Life is good right now, but I don't know how long it will last. So for any of my friends reading this, you know who you are, thank you for the time of my life.

So, I got in to MICA.

Last year, I made a choice. With placements round the corner, I told my parents, 'Dudes, fuck it. I'm not up for a techie job, and there's no way in hell that I'm going to endure more engineering bullcrap.", obviously, in distinctly different, and far more politically favoured lingo, but yeah, that's what I said, and that's what I did. So, I didn't get a job. Reminds me of Sanchal Malhar of Indigo Children going, if you don't want a job, just don't get a job, fuck it. Yeah well, at the fag end of my engineering life, 'fuck it' would be an appropriate and fitting description.

Anyway, after not-so-much deliberation, I started what many might call un-preparing for CAT. Joined TIME, didn't go to class, played music instead. Anyhoo, I managed a less than decent 98.35 percentile on the CAT, and had no shot at the IIMs. I had already made my mind up about either HR or Communications, with MICA or MDI as my main options. And there must be someone watching over, because I got into MICA.

So here's how the shit went down.

After the MICAT, I was quite sure of a call, I have no clue why, but I was. And I got one.

So I got down to Ahmedabad, on the last day of my second midterms, with the words chassis, disc brakes and axle still ringing in my ears from the Automobile Engineering exam earlier on the same day. I flew in late on Saturday night, and headed for this place they call Country Club. For what these self-sodomizing elves charge at the CC, their service is worse than that at the Doctor Tapri outside VNIT. Trust me, like Vinny used to say.

Anyway, so I had no lunch or dinner on Saturday, and I didn't take the in-flight alpahaar that the truly inspiring hot chinky stewardess was serving because strawberry mousse is just not my thing. Who eats that shit - strawberry mousse?

So right. Sunday night. I try sleeping, but my bed's right in front of the AC blower, and my ass is freezing, like literally, right. I saw icicles in the crack the next morning. So, no lunch, no dinner, no sleep, no 'diet supplements' either, if you know what I mean. Brilliant way to go for your preferred institute, and a brilliant foot forward towards your future.

Morning comes. I call for a cab. Now the reason I was at the bloody CC was that it was the closest to MICA and I wouldn't a) be delayed the next day, and b) have to shell out a bomb to the cab. But guess what, both happened! Ruddy brilliant, no?

Right, overlooking the brilliance here, I get to MICA. Pretty campus, nothing out of the ordinary, or maybe I'm just spoiled because of the lush green 250 acre VNIT, Nagpur campus. So I go, good shit, this should do. Time for a little registration, quickly done. I manage to get yelled at because I hadn't printed my Personal Info form on two sides of the same A4 sheet. I know, I'm awesome.

Time for the GE. Groups of 10, three ladies in ours, the rest full blooded males. Decent folk, most of them.

We headed for the GE and we rated a few cartoons based on some random criteria that we invented. Random fun, most of us spoke for a bit, some of us dissented about the size of the group, and one of went on to prove that he was a complete ass-wipe. Ruddy brilliant!

Time to chill, since my interview was post-lunch. So we headed to enjoy the 'beauty' of the campus. ;)

P/I time. This one was fun.

There were three people on my panel, an old gentleman (OG), a really hot lady (HL), and one of the ladies from the GE (GW).

Here's how it went down.

Enter Kana.

Kana - Good afternoon.

All - God afternoon, sit down Vineet.

Kana - Thanks.

HL - So, Vineet, why don't you like Hindi TV soaps?

Kana - Well, I don't think they truly reflect the values of Indian society. People just like watching otehrs fight, and that's the funda applicable here.

HL - But a lot of these shows draw huge audiences, do you know why?

Kana - The target demographic of the shows is bored/frustrated housewives. These shows become their window to the outside world, and even though it is a sad window, almost despicable, it sells. I am not foreced to be watching the shows, so I don't.

HL - Okay. You also don't like writing essay type lenghty answers. We have a lot of them at MICA.

Kana - Well, the fact that I don't like them doesn't mean I won't. I'll exercise my hand and write those.

GW - So your hand is the problem?

Kana - Well, yeah. You see, when you're writing for too long, you hand hurts. So you stop writing for a while. But you can't stop thinking. So there's a lag between your writing and your thinking. And you can't stop thinking because your hand hurts, that would be a little odd, won't it?

*laughs*

HL - So, Vineet, how have you prepared for this interview?

Kana - I had a planned, three-phase preparation. Step one - go to the bank, and get the DD for the 50k. Step two - get to Ahmedabad and dress up in a shirt and trousers in this ridiculous heat, and step three - introspect a little. *smile*

*laughs*

HL - So, what myths have you encountered about MICA?

Kana - Well, people keep saying that this place wants creative people. So I've been wondering if all you churn out is poets and painters, because otherwise, who needs 120 'creative' people at the same time?

*laughs*

HL - So, what do you think are your chances of getting in?

Kana - I think I'll get it, and I'll be a great fit.

GW - And what reasons will you give yourself if you don't?

Kana - I'll probably come to you, for the reasons.

GW - Probably? You're not sure you'll come to us?

Kana - Of course I'm not sure I'll come to you, I might just get in. *smile*

OG - So where are you from, Vineet?

Kana - I am from Nagpur, sir.

OG - So Kanabars are from Nagpur?

Kana - No sir. My grandfather was born in Borka. I've never been there, so I think I'm safe to say I'm from Nagpur.

OG - Okay, thank you.

All - Thank you.

Kana - Thank you all, and have a good day.


And so, I got in. Good shit, man.