Interest

A fickler possession,
I've never had.
Things that mattered

Are now superfluous.

Ah! The Orb has gyrated

Once around the Star,

Since that time- when

A fanatic was, where,

A placid soul is now.

The Vicissitude,

The Seasoning,

Was no merry hap.

Qualms not sated,

Queries linger-

Was the reason

Inaptness or Conspiracy?

Was the outcome truly just?

Unanswered these shall be-

For I prefer not unpleasant bonds.

A recap-

The inert soul has spurned,

Not for anything

But a shield against

Further letdown and

A tryst with a debacle.

The Failed Enchantment

NO!!! This story can't have been thought of by the same mind that gifted us the imagery-rich Midnight's Children!!!

'The Enchantress of Florence' has a lot of magic (or so he calls it) involved in the plot but it terribly fails to create the magic in the readers' minds that was created by 'Midnight's Children'. I usually consider myself unworthy of reviewing authors of the kind of Rushdie and Arundhati Roy, but the pathetic and contorted fairy tale I recently read left me too disappointed.

Compared to the adventures of Argalia the Turk, Sindbad's tales were far better and they had me awed at the age of ten. There seemed to be no logic behind the actions of King Akbar (as demonstrated), with his oscillations between fondness and anger for both his son and the foreigner with many names.

Lots of fleeting passion, very little true love (successful as well as failed), a lot more of flowing curtains in palaces of red-bricks, courtesans, pirates, Wars, Royal tents, witchcraft and a very very illogical theme : these are the ingredients for a fairy tale that children wouldn't understand and adults wouldn't appreciate.

But let me be optimistic- this book had one major advantage- the incomprehensible words (common in Rushdie's works) helped kick-off an idea for my mini-project this semester :)

Murky Mood...

Gloomy verses were never my pick,
Glad ones, to read and write, I'm quick.
But the two-sided coin of life
Tossed 'tween glee and strife
Calls to mind
The edicts that bind
This mere mortal soul
To the world as a whole.

A moment that is permanent?
Nothing is more impertinent.
Upon Bonds- I much depend,
Perhaps, my ways, I must mend.
For, this soul can bear
Neither a loss-evoked wear,
Nor the tenebrous urn
It falls in, upon spurn.

A Half-Engineer's Musings

As a half-engineer, I face the prospect of getting back to the routine from tomorrow. Images of observations, records, classrooms, the OHP, the Department corridors and the several labs cross my mind. A holiday of one and a half months (the longest hassle-free duration that a student can get, without placement worries) has made a fine indolent girl out of me.
The Gargantuan task of boarding a town bus between 7:15 and 7:30 a.m. will start my days hereforth, to be followed by classes- some interesting and many boring (these shall be made interesting too, by the likes of Michael Crichton, Mary Higgins Clark, Mario Puzo and Jeffrey Archer under the desk). Eventually we will face an inevitable impediment to our enjoyment in the name of Internals- that test the ability to learn vast portions and apply them to score a meagre total of 20 (which shall be cruelly converted to 30 by a multiplication factor that almost always seems to amplify the marks lost than those gained). Culturals and competitions are the best phases of this life, where I learn and develop myself and have fun throughout the process.

Ups and downs, fights and reconciliations, lecturers' scoldings (reasonable as well as unreasonable), photocopying notes, canteen's famous softie ice-creams, clandestine entry into the hostel and smart exit without getting caught-- all of these welcome me with open arms for another couple of years.
Bracing myself to face two of the most important years in my life, I shall now set out to take the first step of finding a couple of pens in writing order :)

Some of my recent snapshots

First Women For Women First??

These are seemingly good times for the women in India. At least for the influential ones. We have, now in power, our First Woman President and our First Woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha. There are 59 women MPs (highest since Independence) in the current Lok Sabha, among which 17 are under 40 years. The statistics make me momentarily cheer.
But then, one of the most common questions in GDs and debates comes to my mind- Are Women better Managers/Leaders than Men?
I have loathed this question ever since I heard it first because of the simple reason that neither I, nor can anyone answer it without erring at some point or the other. It is a totally subjective issue and both sides of the debate have points in abundance to discuss and they may have to end up with a no-conclusion.
The mere presence of a large number of women should not be something for us to celebrate. Their proper execution of their duty to the country should be of greater concern.

Speaking of the common women, it must be said that they have started coming out of their self-cum-society-imposed cocoon of the so-called modesty and staying behind the veil and under a man's protection. But "have started" implies that "have achieved liberty" is still a far cry.
Even in the purported Fashion+Finance Capital of India, Mumbai, where I saw women being more outgoing and free-minded, there always lurked a sense of fear at the very bottom of each of their hearts. The reason can be found by skimming the "Times Of India" on any day. There can almost never fail to be a report of some case of kidnapping or harassment or even murder of members of the fairer sex, followed by an account of how the police nabbed the culprit successfully. Nabbing the culprits and bringing them to justice is another case. Preventing the crimes is far more important. A jail term awarded to an offender will not undo the wrong done to the hapless victims.
Awareness and Prevention is definitely on the agenda of grown-up women, for many of them have learnt self-protection techniques to avoid harm. But what about the children?? In the past one month that I spent there, I came across reports of several minor girls being attacked and one 8 year old kid was even found murdered. These incidents are those that wrung my heart.
A million "Slum Dog Millionaire"s may reveal the dirty underbelly of India. We will react strongly to each of them, defending our Mother Land. But what happens after the noise dies down? The lives of almost all Indians goes on unchanged and the only probable people to come across positive changes are the ones who got to play themselves on screen.

India is not a discriminative country. It is the mindset of a percentage of the population that is to be changed. With all these "First Woman" someones in the fore, all we can do is to hope that they change the bigger picture while we the commoners, should try to be the change we desire to see and spread courage and determination in the minds of the small circle of the girls and the women we know.

VERSUS

Nothing can equal the joy of reading a good book- not even its visual adaptation as a movie. With the exception of "Gone With the Wind" (which lasted about 5 hrs), no movie that I have seen could bring me the pleasure that its paper and print version brought.
"Angels and Demons" was one such disappointment. But looking at things from a broader perspective, I realized that I must simply convince myself with what was shown. The makers of the film would have met with several restrictions. After all, in today's world where a single word which may not necessarily have been meant to be offensive can easily affect the religious sentiments and result in violent reactions, handling such a tender subject as the pope's liking for the biological science and his not sticking to chastity on the screen would be a serious issue. Theatres might have even refused to screen the film. Also, the palaces in Vatican City could not have been shot easily without several permits and papers involved. There was also the time restriction the makers felt that they must stick to. No longer do people want to watch long movies like "Gone With the Wind".
The reason for the pope's murder will be a puzzle to the viewers who have not read the book. There have been many unnecessary omissions in the storyline like CERN Director's character, Langdon's visit to CERN, the drag theory (that reduces the impact of fall) that I was very much interested in while reading the book and Langdon's use of the theory to save his life shortly before the climax.
Still, I would not consider this film as a waste of two hours. Whatever was shown, was shot and shown well.
Bottomline: Pen is mightier than not only the sword, but also the screen.