Dog's Bite better than Tiger's

You never get what you expect. This is the unwritten rule for anyone watching a movie or reading a book after getting the reviews of other people on it. This rule did prove to be true in two instances in my recent past.
I read the booker prize winning novel "The White Tiger" after listening to great reviews on its wonderful portrayal of what the critics called as "the stark reality in India". I did not of course expect a catalogue of the "glorious shining India" in the book, but what met the eyes was an overdone exaggeration of the darker side of our country. I do not deny certain facts in the book, like poverty and illiteracy prevailing in many parts of the nation but the portrayal of these was gory. I do not believe, for instance, in the women clawing at the men for their meagre earnings and feeding the cow before feeding the men. And the servant community is shown in such a poor light. This is the India of the 21st century and I see the chauffeurs, cooks and housemaids being given respect and proper rights and independence. The master community is shown to be perpetrating slavery of the worst kind. Mr. Adiga's exhibition, be it of the Dark or the Lit face of India, is in poor taste. In fact, the very theme of his book is against the Indian culture wherein a family, despite many an internal strife, tries to present a pleasant face to a visiting guest, to make his stay enjoyable. We do not write a letter to a visitor, prior to his visit, telling him that this is wrong and that is bad in our family. We know that each family has its own problems for there would be no excitement or interest in life without those. The same applies to Mr. Adiga's theme of a visiting foreigner with a populous country full of problems. It is simply not in the Indian tradition to give away our family ( Our Nation ) to an alien whose family ( nation ) is no better than ours.
Then, came the Golden-Globe winning, Oscar-nominated "Slum Dog Millionaire".
Here I had heard too many rave reviews on it and watched the movie, expecting a picturisation of "The White Tiger". But this movie, in my opinion, was mild; milder than what I had expected. The symptoms of boiling blood showed up a little in the scene where a lady "shows the True America" by gifting a 100 dollar bill even while she had not yet recovered from the shock of having the tyres of her car stolen. Well, their country is no better than ours and even worse things can happen there, for, with their so-called "sophisticated techniques" they could have stolen an entire car, before the blink of an eye, in America. And to think that America with its unhealthy culture should be shown in a good light on comparison with our ethical Motherland!! Not only America, but every country has thieving rogues, who are driven to do what they do, because of their poverty. So that particular portrayal would have truly hurt any Indian who might have liked the rest of the movie.
Barring that unpleasant scene, the rest of the movie was not intolerable. I will frankly accept that all those kinds of people portrayed- kidnappers, pimps, drug peddlers, common thieves, underground goons- exist in India. Nothing was exaggerated.
The actors have mostly done justice to their roles and Rahman's music is undeniably good. Still, a nagging persists in my mind that his "Vande Mataram" was a tad better than "Jai Ho".
Reality sans exaggeration is very difficult to portray as the thin border line is almost negligible and the story-writer himself is unaware of crossing it, if he does. The Englishman Danny Boyle has proved to be better than the Indian Aravind Adiga in portraying India, without as much exaggeration. A proud moment for the nation! :-/

Unwelcome Holiday

"All colleges in Tamilnadu closed for an indefinite period. Hostelers forced to vacate in a hurry."

The news flashing on the TV screen affected me in a way that was very much different from how it affected most students all over the state. Many were happy to be away from college with its interminable classes, labs where the outputs have to be conjured and calculated rather than observed before jotting them down and the most tiring phase of getting the observation signed by the staff members after a long wait in front of their cabins or a long search involving a walk around the department for a minimum of four times in search of the respected person in need.

Well, frustrating though all this may seem to be, I'd rather endure them all instead of sitting at home, supposedly for a cause that, in a round-about way, supports terrorism. And the way the hostelers were rushed home, as though they would grow into violent chaos-creating specimens if left to stay for some more time!! Let alone the Engineering students, for I am not partial to that clan, no student who has a proper thinking head on his/her shoulders would ever get involved in riots and bring his/her future career to an abrupt standstill.

The simple outcome of this is that the normal lives of students are interrupted.

Classes cancelled: sounds good to the ear of any student. But what if compensation classes are held in the following weekends??!!

Culturals becoming a failure: this is that time of the year when most colleges, including mine, have arranged for technical and non technical inter-collegiate events. If hostelers who would form a main part of the visiting students as well as the organisers from our host side are not there, what would happen of the arrangements, plans and dreams of the entire college which takes pride in hosting such grand events. Events can be postponed to our convenience, at the maximum. But what of the video conferences and the workshops?? The dignitaries and the organisations do not have all the time in the world to spend with us alone!

Dear student friends who are reading this, I am not a pessimist out to destroy and crunch every bit of hope and good feelings of an unexpected holiday and time to spend with friends and family at leisure. Just look at what we gain of this act- a big NOTHING, unless you really want to take into account the fact that we'd be labelled as hot-blooded youth who can't tolerate the defeat of terrorists who take shelter behind innocent civilians in a neighbouring country. It is a well-known fact that the civilians of SriLanka were given time to leave the targeted place by the army. So, in the wreckage that ensues, if we find that any innocent civilian has been killed, it would be only due to the fact that he was used as a shield by the very people who claim to be fighting for his freedom.

Terrorists are freedom fighters: sounds like a good enough oxymoron to me.

People say that one man's freedom fighters are another's terrorists. But in the case of the SriLankan Tamil civilians, it is not so. For, more civilians are being killed by their alleged freedom fighters more than by the army.

So, in this peculiar case, we do know that the tigers are true terrorists to almost the entire world. But think as I might, I cannot figure out whose true freedom fighters they are!!

Ok... In any case that the respected reader is a believer of the tamil eelam, I have a question for you.. If I believe in a cause or an organisation, I will always defend it by reproaching its abusers, saying that what they tell are plain lies and probably even substantiate my stand. Won't the worst-ever approach to defend a cause that has been exposed and found to be wrong, be to ask the offender not to lift the curtains on the unpleasant truth?? Well, the honourable defenders of the eelam have done just that. A few months back, they had publicly written

தமிழ் நாட்டில் பிழைப்பு நடத்திக் கொண்டு தமிழர்களை காட்டிக் கொடுக்காதே!!

addressing a bold journalist and a newspaper editor.. Well, their own last two words highlight their guilt. No other offence or exposure is needed.

Ignorance is not bliss, after all!!

The Young Leaders' Global Conclave-2009 would've had its Grand Finale today. I still scream at my ignorant self for not knowing what is going on in my own college, earlier. That too, an event organised by most of my dept people!! A superb chance missed! I just can't find enough reproaches to use upon myself..

The YLGC provided a unique opportunity to the participants: the exposure of a lifetime, involving their participation in debates and deliberations with students from all over India, regarding issues that affect the world, video conferencing with eminent personalities and screening of movies based on environment and the dangers inflicted upon it. And most importantly, I would've gotten a suit which i sooooo long to possess and wear, and which is one of the unstated reasons for my wanting to go to a B-school after UG :-p..

The inaugration ceremony involved speeches by the chief guest Mr. N.Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu and the guest of honour Dr.Mahadevan, Professor at IIM-B. The latter's speech was what a perfect B-school professor's would be and should be: short, effective and witty. He spoke about sustainability being the most important factor of anything- be it business or environment. He urged us to sustain this environment of ours which, according to the result of a several billion dollar experiment, has been found to be non-replicable. Mr. Ram shared his opinions on a variety of issues ranging from speculation on whether Mr. Obama's campaign promises would be fulfilled to the inhuman activities at Gaza and touching upon terrorism and the LTTE. He advised that we should not be fooled by the ambiguous choice between our safety and our policy, as a nation, when it comes to handling terrorism. I was thrilled to hear him say the words I had recently used in a GD- that instead of countering Pakistan with war and revenge- terrorist attacks, the country should be pressurised by all other nations, by cutting financial and other aids given to it until they come up with the much-needed information on terrorists. The thrill then vanished, because I realised that the editorials of his paper are my knowledge banks. Still I felt great and a good feeling lingered in my heart till the end of the event. After his speech, there was a question-answer session with him for the audience. I perfectly understood the simple questions posed, but was more than a little confused by his answers that touched upon every bit of current event, irrespective of the relevance to the questions. Well, that's diplomacy!!

The moment when I admired him the most was when he interrupted the MC ( who was giving an intro to our Principal for the vote of thanks ) and gave the results of that day's India-Srilanka cricket match, complete with the score and who led the team to victory. :)) The entire Quadrangle roared with applause for the mighty journalist.

After the inaugration the real anguish started in me. I was so frustrated that I could not be a part of the deliberations that, though we were allowed as audience for the conclave I did not go. Just couldn't bring myself to. Till this moment I can't put to words as to why I missed those conferences which would've been so useful to me, even as a member of the audience.. But it was an instinct and I blindly followed it, with the firm determination that I would never again miss any other event this wonderful college has to offer.

VILLU - POWERFULLU ( yes, more powerful than poison!! )

Wow!! This is the first time I have completely understood the meaning of several words, from a movie rather than from a dictionary. Referring to a dictionary ofcourse, would have not cost me Rs.100( 60 for the ticket and 40 for the popcorn that helped me pull through the ordeal, alive ).. Still the experience was unique!! The words whose meanings became crystal clear to me were:

1. Sub-standard


2. Boring


3. Stupid


4. Illogical


5. Moronic..............

..........................

Well the list goes on and I hate to have so many bad words in my blog..

The movie started off with an old flower-seller telling why she loves the super-hero whose primary job is flying in the air with the help of the special effects technician and fracturing the villains' hands with nothing so much as a grasp! After an intro song blasted through the speakers, our hero saves a villain from the police and (supposedly) kills him. Then he attends a wedding in a village, where his presence is not explained in any place. The village scenes were the most irritating ones. The female who is supposed to play the role of the heroine does nothing other than sport variations of swimsuits and fall victim to the hero's antiques to make her love him. No one with common sense can stand watching the heroine experiencing an electric shock and vibrating to and fro, kissing the hero; if that wasn't enough, the comedian, who is wasted in this movie, also joins the kissing club. PATHETIC!!!

The pair then make a transit to Munich. Well, here starts the copycat job. Bits of Billa can be seen in most of the scenes, with the swift use of weapons. Atleast Ajith sported classic suits which looked far better than the garish ones this super-hero dons. Vijay even brings back to memory that he is a kuruvi when he hangs by the wing of an aircraft and kills a villain.

Top Question: What is the role of the heroine in this movie?
Answer: Entertaining the hero after each murder he commits, by singing and dancing with him, being scantily clothed.

A series of killings and stress-reliever songs later, we learn of the super-hero's tragic past of having his army-major father wrongly labelled as a traitor posthumously. And where in India does the wife of such a man get tatooed 'Desa Drohi Manaivi' ('Wife of Traitor') on the forehead?? SILLY!!

As we all would have guessed, the hero then successfully kills the last of the villains ( the brilliant actor Prakashraj's potential is not at all used.. It's bad to see him wasted, after his great "Hai Chellam" villain character ), after making him confess that he and the other villains were the original criminals and our super-hero's dad was impeccable.

The story ends on a happy note( I was not happy because the hero achieved his ambition, but because the film finally got over in 2.5 hrs!! ).. :-D

But what happened to the pity-inducing comedian and the heroine whose scenes were left hanging as such??

Atleast something could've been made out of the fact that the heroine was the daughter of the main villain.. She could've been made to ACT atleast in one scene.. Hmmm...

Simple Bottomline: DO NOT WATCH IT, EVEN IF U R JOBLESS FOR 2.5 HRS.

She...

Soothed by the music,
Comforted by the cushion,
Peaceful i was, whirring past,
Till the bus came to a halt.

I saw it- or
Was it her?
Or perhaps him?
An animal- one with
The sixth sense?

She – i decided – lay
Not unlike a beast,
Clothed in stray shreds,
Covered by dirt,
Ignored by the world.

Unease replaced comfort,
Guilt filled me,
Me- the happy human,
An equal to her,
By nature. But why?
Why not by-
Birth or growth?

Oblivious equally to
Staring eyes and
Faces turned away,
The beast, the woman,
The needy being, she
Went about her chore,
Replacing one dirty rag
With another, to cover her,
Taking shelter in
Piles of garbage,
Protecting her scanty being
From the brutal weather.

A resolve framed:
Whims and fancies,
Grumbles and Moans
Forgotten, I whirred on,
Wiser - Wiser than ever.
A vast vicissitude
In a matter of minutes!

Very Large Scale Integration

VLSI Design- a subject i had looked forward to learning, until 10:45 a.m of December 4th, 2008. I had never before spent the entire 1 hr of any class doing everything other than listening to the lecture. This was followed by vapid lectures thrice a week on the various ways to torture a poor substance called silicon and to make the tormented substrate work wonders for the nerds who will never be satisfied with the amount of congestion they create on a thin wafer and who always need to tuck in a million more of elements in about one-eighth of a millimetre.
But now, as I am about to face the first of the three catastrophes that crop up each semester without fail in the name of internals, I am forced to look into my notes to grasp the gist of everything (so that I too can become a torturer-of-the-poor-silicon one day)..
Alas! I find only the remains, of the various games played during class-hours, among the weirdly-torn last few pages of the note. But I am not at a great loss.. With a friend's advice, i have borrowed a library book that will enlighten me on the torture-processes. But being the harmless soul that I am(!!), I find it impossible to comprehend those brutal techniques used to cause so much pain to that poor old non-speaking element.
Thus deciding to abandon the tactfully-obtained library book, I plunged into a deep (deeper than the sensex today ) thought process, questioning, like every other student, the sanity of the person(s) who invented all these strange concepts and contraptions based on them.
Thinking out of the domains of an engineer and venturing into the areas of a philosopher, i find that the human mind is the best ever example of any Very/Ultra Large Scale Integration. The human skull houses the fastest device on earth, which can store a zillion thoughts in a not-so-huge memory element, commonly called the BRAIN, weighing a little bit over 1kg!!
Human beings are the most complex of all species. One silicon substrate may not be non-identical to another, but no two humans can ever be exactly alike, in every aspect. To think of the various ideas that cross my mind in a span of one minute! Damn all Moore's laws of doubling of number of elements per 18 months! There cannot be any silicon or germanium chip which can have so many conflicting elements in one place and still remain acceptably stable.
Wow!! We must have been harder to be manufactured than any silicon chip!! And thank heavens for I do not have to study that, in the place of the VLSI of silicon.

Learning, Unlearning & Relearning

Art is long; life is short- a very common (even cliched) saying..
Still, the impact of it is felt and its significance is understood, each and every day in life. I can never really call myself 'learned', in all my life. Seriously, I could have gotten any number of degrees and qualifications; still I will be only a learner.
In this current phase of life, not only communication engineering but also communication skill needs to be learnt. Ah.. The lessons I learn everyday in the latter category! Right from how to approach each prof to dealing with anonymous calls, hyper-sensitive friends, people who shout in crowded buses for absolutely nothing at all and more than everything - my own growing impatience at my lazy self which crops up occasionally.
CREATIVITY- I recently discovered that I seriously lack this very basic and important characteristic, especially in talking more than in writing! This triggered me to find out the root-level cause for this dearth. A friend tells that girls are this way, by nature. I cannot completely agree or disagree with that. There are many who have been brought up to be shy/reserved, who naturally lack the ability to express themselves openly, though they come up with great ideas, in many instances. There is a problem faced by the other category of females too. You might be a very independent free-thinking girl, still, you will find that you are being kind of suppressed by the society. Believe me, this does happen, even in today's neo-liberal world that boasts of equality of the genders.
You would understand this if u can read the poem of mine which i feel is the closest to my heart- 'The Golden Cage'- my second post in this blog..
Still, such causes should not deter one from following the process of unlearning- that is, to shed inhibitions that prevent one from reaching the top. Rather than concentrating on insignificant events and people who try to unnecessarily impose prohibitions on me, I prefer to focus on my goal and I am quite happy to say that i have successfully unlearnt the habit of innocently taking everyone to be my friend. I am definitely wiser than I was, one year back.
EXPERIENCE- certainly the best teacher in the world!
Now, to start with the process of relearning.. As was said, there is a whole galaxy of things waiting to be learnt and I am all the more enthusiastic to face them all, irrespective of good or bad. In these 18 yrs + few months, the past one-and-half year has only taught me the maximum about life and there's a LOT more to be digested. So, world! Here I come...