ON CLOUD NINE.. LITERALLY!!!

I'm still amazed at last sunday's events. It seemed implausible till the very last moment. But, there it was- our plan that worked out smoothly and took us into the clouds actually and virtually..
Well, I got up on friday, glad at having crossed the second hurdle (read internals) this semester satisfactorily and went to college. Being granted with a forenoon full of free hours, we started making plans for the weekend.. "Ninaithaaley Inikum" or "Kandasamy", "A2B" or other hotels-- the stereotyped venues for hanging out were thrown into the discussion. Then came a sudden idea. The credit goes to Veena. "Why not a one-day trip?? Ooty maybe??", she said. Initially hesitant and doubtful, our conversation gathered an enthusiastic momentum gradually and we got excited about the possible execution of the plan successfully. After a lunch-hour filled with phone calls and getting parents' permissions and arranging for the two lovely moms (of the twins and Arch) to accompany us, we went home hopefully on Friday to meet on Sunday morning.
Then came the vital part in the plan that was implemented by Kiruba- arranging the bus through her contacts. It was smoothly executed and we were provided with a new and comfortable mini-bus that was fantastically coloured in fluorescent green and pink :) Also, we had the adorable Thangaraj anna accompany us on the trip, solely due to Kiruba :) .
Saturday- a day full of plans of what lunch to take with us and what DVDs and CDs to play in the bus. There came a phone call from PR around four in the evening- There was a problem, quite a critical one- they were not given permission to go out for more than five hours!!! "Goodness Gracious!! We can only visit VOC park in that time" I thought. Then fervent alternate plans were being thought of- Aliyar Dam, Monkey Falls etc were considered. Even as I was losing any hope of the tour plan working out, there came the message- "Success." The chief warden had allowed them to come, on the pretext of going home, provided their parents called up and told the hostel authorities so. It seems the authorities had not heard of such an event at all in the past. It looked like we were the first batch of girls, going alone on such a trip. Usually girls went together to attend family functions of friends in other towns but never has any batch gone on this kind of a trip before. WOW!!! We were extremely proud and happy to know that and as expected there was an extra "O" that we dedicated to ourselves..
Sunday morning- I woke up early for the first time in more than two years on a sunday. Reached our boarding point at 6:30 a.m. The bus was delayed. We had breakfast at Cbe itself rather than waiting to go to Mettupalayam for it. The bus arrived; we got into it and......it started..... yeah :) :) there could have been nothing else to make us so happy at that instant... What we had been dreaming about, what was a plan that was formed suddenly in a Transmission Lines class, was being implemented successfully!!!
Arch's kid sis Bharathi who accompanied us, added cheer to our entire lot with her enthusiastic dancing. We danced and sang our way up the hill and then settled to watch "Villu", the ultimate comedy-killer-flop, so as to tease Dr. Vijay and irritate his only fans in our class- PR and Kir :)
Sim's Park was our first destination where we created the adage-"Wherever there is a tree, there will be our girls posing for a photo on its branches" :) Hot-steamed and buttered corn was relished and we then continued on our way to Ooty. The next stop was a view point from where several key locations on the hill station were shown to us through a telescope. Then followed lunch on a vast beautiful grassland where all the hostelers enjoyed the tasty varieties of rice brought by the day scholars. Our next stop was at Pykara falls where the girls stood on icy running water and did not pose properly for my cam :(. The long walk to and from the river made us hungry again and we gorged upon the snacks brought by the hostelers. Next followed an enjoyable boat-ride (accompanied by eating ice-creams sponsored by anna) at Pykara Lake..
We then proceeded to the Botanical Garden but had to alter our plans due to heavy rainfall.. We halted at Charring Cross for shopping and stayed there for nearly two hours! We started on our way home around 6:45 p.m. and had fun teasing each other and eating snacks (well, again!!)
As the bus descended, so did our spirits descend a wee bit due to the sudden bouts of puking among many of us. Well, that was also a part of the wholesome trip :)
Back Home- at 9:30 p.m... Inspite of the growing tiredness, I found time to brag about the day to my parents and sis before starting to sleep like a log..
Ah!!! What a wonderful trip!! How Much Fun!!! We feel like we have achieved something great!!! (which by the way happens to be somewhat true because we are GIRLS of ECE G1!!!!) All the students are simply amazed!! We shall no longer be branded as "Padips" or any other such thing :)
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!!! WE SHALL KEEP ROCKING!!

United We Worked!

Why I'm feeling grumpy...

A day so special,

Celebrated only by a half

For whom it is so!

Both halves want It-

But what makes It unreachable?

Simple Ego makes It complex.

The It is executed only

By Taunts and Jeers-

Enjoyed by one half, loathed by the other.

Less than a couple of years,

Is what is left.

Ah! Scarce is hope..

Just Hang Kasab??

As i was switching through the mountain-out-of-mole-hill-makers (read the Indian English news channels) yesterday, I came across the flashing headline with which I have titled this post. There were brief interviews of the close relatives of the slain ATS chief Mr. Karkare and the Inspector Mr. Salaskar, in which the subjects demanded for immediate imposition of the death sentence on the lone surviving accused, Ajmal Kasab, on the ground that they were simply fed up with the prolonging investigations and trials. Well, it is true that the Mumbai tragedy occurred three- quarters of an year ago and the trials are still going on with Kasab having pleaded guilty only recently. His reported actions in the court like laughing at the judge and the prosecutor and demanding for the provision of amenities like newspapers, specific brands of toothpaste and the like in the jail, have irked and frustrated every rational Indian soul, including mine.

But the demand for the immediate hanging of Kasab is an irrational one, put forth on an angry and impatient impulse. He is a source of valuable evidence against the LeT or whichever mad cult he belongs to and he can simply not be executed without exploiting his knowledge of the entire base and operations of the deadly terrorists who threaten World Peace. He may not reveal the truth at the first instance and his contradictory stories may irritate us, but ultimately he happens to be just another 20-something old lad who cannot hold back things for long and will come out with everything regarding the operation, motives and plans of action of his gang.

Mulling over the last adjective I have used for him, I happen to feel a certain sympathy for the deadly, arrogant killer. He is probably elder to me by a few years- five at the maximum. Why has this young man evolved to be this kind of a monster and not a harmless well-disposed individual like millions of people who are his age? The answer is simple. He grew up in such an environment where these terrorist activities were (and are) not considered immoral. All teenagers naturally feel the need to be recognized and popular among their peers. While we, the gifted ones, grow up in an environment that is conducive to our positive development, like the gaining of the much yearned-for popularity by excelling in academics and personality-developing co- and extra-curricular activities, all that Kasab could do to be the most popular guy in his gang was to be a part of the terrorist group which he had been taught to hold in reverence. It might not have occurred to his brainwashed self that such purported "holy cleansings" (one of the euphemisms they employ for massacre) are, in actuality, against the interests of mankind which the factions plan to then protect with the imposition of their short-sighted and murky laws opposing the march towards a liberal and developed world. His is the case of a virtually blind boy who never knew how light looked as he was born and brought up in darkness.

Still, the angry Indians will not rest until the young lad is killed, for, in his death, they will see their revenge taken upon terrorism. I would definitely not be unhappy to see the monster in him dead, but that must wait until the monster comes out with all the ugly facts of its origination and growth.

HP-6: On the First Day of Release

My friends felt apprehensive about coming to a cinema theatre with their college bags. Well, they (especially the twins) are simply too good and virtuous, I must say. But once inside, they felt comfortable, for the entire hall was filled with college students with their bags :)
A full theatre on a working day for an English movie!
That shows the wide prevalence of Potter Mania in this relatively small metro.

And I, being one of the most eager and ardent fans of the HP series, was definitely not disappointed by the 165 minute-long movie. Wonderful picturisation and graphics! The bridge collapse scene left the entire theatre "ooh"ing and gasping. As usual, Rupert Grint turned out to be my favourite star with his antics. I found the single Quidditch match in the movie more exciting than any T-20 match. The vanquishing of the Dark Mark ,by the positive lights from the wands of all at Hogwarts, is a moving scene.
Well, like all HP movies, this one too had omitted several key parts of they story, like the introduction to Marvolo Gaunt and his son, greater details about the horcruxes , the mayhem at Hogsmeade on the night of Dumbledore's death and his funeral. The climax, which left the 15- year old Shilpa crying for several hours while she read the book, merely made the 19-year old Shilpa sad for a few moments while she watched it on screen.
In a nutshell, it is a good movie to watch if you have read the book. Go to the theatre sans any expectation of watching every printed page on the screen and you will enjoy the experience.

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 :)