Haiku Sunday

1) Three friends
on the warm sands
see stars sparkle

2) Gentle murmur
of the flowing river
roar! a waterfall

3) A distant bird
soars above the clouds
bleeding sun at dusk

A Gujarati Wedding

Its been 15 days since I made the first post.About time I published another one!

So,a few weeks ago I found out that my mom’s Gujarati male friend’s son was gonna get married soon.Apparently,Gujaratis don’t believe in having a waiting period(where the boy and girl get to know each other) between the boy-girl meet and marriage.Boy meets girl,they like each other(hopefully),they get engaged two weeks later and get married 2 days after that.Instant Marriage!

Anyway,when I found out that there was going to be a marriage I was thrilled.Thrilled because there was no way she wouldn’t be attending it.My mom’s childhood bff’s daughter and a first cousin of the bridegroom.SK.And as she was studying in Australia,I knew this would be her vacation time.A few days later my mom told me that as the wedding was impromptu,she had already booked her airplane ticket to Australia.Cancellation would lead to considerable monetary loss.So,she wouldn’t be attending.I was very disappointed.My mom’s two female bff’s(including SK’s mom) had said that they wanted to eat my mom’s home cooked food when they were here.They were even prepared to eat fish(Gujjus are known for being strict vegetarians).

On the day the bff’s were supposed to come for lunch(the Friday of last week) with their families,my mom told me that SK would be attending the wedding(Yay!).I must admit that the elation I felt was probably more than that of the airline which had received the cancellation money and a seat to boot! They arrived,I met SK’s dad who kind of had the Bryan Cranston look from Breaking Bad(bald but his beard wasn’t as thick).I was able chat and establish a pretty decent rapport with him.I gazed upon SK’s lovely visage and daydreamed about a torrid romance between the two of us.I later asked her what she was studying and which university she attended.That was about it,though.

On Saturday last week,the Dandiya was scheduled to be held.Now,Dandiya is an integral part of all Gujarati weddings and I hadn’t witnessed one in 14 years.And knowing that she would be performing dandiya was an even greater incentive for me to attend.So, 8.30 on a Saturday evening I found myself at the Dandiya venue with my mom and sister.It was thronging with people,most of them Gujarati.It was like a mini Gujarat in Mangalore. All the women-from toddlers to grannies- were dressed from head to toe in ethnic Gujarati wear,which was either a saree or a ghagra. Then the dance began.The dancers swirled about and moved forward in a line,performing a smooth,graceful maneuver.The line gradually began snaking inward,with more and more people added to it.Their graceful circling and swirling produced a beautiful shimmering of their colorful clothing,and the entire room seemed to throb with a kind of ethnic vibe(Vibrant Gujarat?).As she danced in her beautiful ethnic clothing,I was enthralled by her moves and her tantalizing brown curves,which were glistening in sweat after a hour and a half of dancing.I was happy.We left at 10.30 but the Dandiya went on till about 1 AM.

On Sunday they came once again for lunch,and I still didn’t get to talk to her much.When they were getting ready to leave,I asked her dad for her number.It was only when she walked out the door that I mustered the courage to ask her for her number,along with her younger sister’s,who was standing nearby,so as not to make my interest in her obvious.I was so nervous that my hands were shaking as I typed in her number.And then we chitchatted briefly,but I was too nervous and not making proper eye contact.Not enough to establish a rapport with her,anyway.We texted back and forth a little bit,mostly thank yous and stuff and then I praised the Dandiya a little bit.

Today was the wedding and I thought of going quite early to see the dancing baraat but then ended up watching the Golden Globes and going there at 7.30 PM.I went to have dinner after a  few minutes and boy was it a feast! There was everything,from snacks like Chats and Dosa to Salad bars.And the main course was pretty huge what with puris and naan and couple of curries and rice,sambar etc.And the crowd was really easy on the eyes,with lots of beautiful gujarati ladies.All in all,a feast both visual and gastronomic!

She looked gorgeous in a saree and I wanted to tell her that.But I couldn’t.I just chatted with her dad a little bit. When we were leaving,I didn’t even say goodbye to her or her family.I’ve gotta call Gujarati Bryan Cranston and say my goodbyes. I’ve gotta say goodbye and tell her how gorgeous she looked….on WhatsApp.I’m such a coward.

I wish a very happy married life to the bride and the groom.Doesn’t the title of this post say Gujarati wedding,after all?

p.s. German Class tomorrow and Hegde’s first class.Looking forward to it.

p.p.s.  Boyhood won 3 Golden Globes(best supporting actress,best director,best movie).Yay!

And last but definitely not the least, #JeSuisCharlie.

Once again,a new year

2015 approaches with a slow,pondering surety,as I reflect on the events of the 7th Semester.It has been the proverbial roller-coaster ride,with huge ups and downs.From the elation felt on finding out that I’d been placed in Tata Motors to the utter dejection on finding myself rejected for “medical reasons” the day after my birthday(silver lining-they didn’t ruin my birthday),from the heady pleasure of being intoxicated to mild displeasure at being unable to advance my (nonexistent)romantic prospects,it’s been one not-so-heck of a semester.I’ve been unable to update this blog regularly,mostly due to procrastination and a lack of inner motivation.Should my new year’s resolution be to update this blog with some regularity?

Regularity is always an appealing quality in a blog,at least for me.It gives you something to look forward to every week or everyday.Its even better better if it becomes a routine:routine but not mechanical.I feel writing is a great outlet for emotional and artistic expression.And if people read and appreciate your blog even better,it is an ego booster.My last year’s new year resolution was to update this blog regularly and hence it should not be this year’s resolution.Lets hope it happens organically rather than by force of resolution.

p.s.  Goa is great place to visit,whether it’s Christmas when it’s crowded and abuzz even late at night with people or it’s the summer months when it’s off-season.You can never be pissed off in Goa.Unless you’re the BigMan.(More on that in some other post,hopefully)

Back for the 7th

Hey,oh!

The 7th Semester is upon us and I for one am really happy about my schedule.Only 4 working days!

I just kept on procrastinating the creation of a blog post.For nearly a month.Until today.

I need to get placed now,so that I can stop worrying about that and start really focusing on my other projects.The Capital One aptitude test is tomorrow.While I’d really love to get a job in Schlumberger,what with the incredibly high pay for a core job and all,they haven’t really confirmed that they’re even coming to NITK.

Here’s to a good 7th Sem.Whoo-ah!(Al Pacino’s go-to in Scent of a Woman.It’s a good movie).

It feels good to be back.

Short Story #1

As I came out of the community temple and made my way to the exit,he came out of nowhere and blocked my path.

“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”he asked,with some spite.

“Wha-“said I.

“-how can you even show your face here?”he raged on.

“What should I be ashamed of?”I asked,with some annoyance.

“What should you be ashamed of? Everything!”

“You mocked me when I was crazy,before they sent me to the asylum.Now that I’m out and completely sane and healthy and doing pretty well,I should be ashamed?”

“What about that TV interview of yours?Now that you are a great actor and all, you told the whole world about your time spent in the asylum.You bring disgrace to our community.”

“What I revealed in that interview was nothing but the truth…the truth of how you and the others mocked me and made fun of me when I was mentally ill.Where was your sense of community then?Why weren’t you more understanding then?”

“You are nothing but a disgrace to the community.What about your parents? Don’t you think they were hurt when you revealed all in your interview? Don’t you think the rest of the community will look down upon them for raising a brat like you…you think you’re a big man because you’re an actor now?”

“No,I don’t think I’m a big man.Also,my parents have always been,and will always be,supportive of me.I’m certainly not as big a man as you are in our community.You are jealous and you just want to pull me down.”

“I’m JEALOUS? YOU SON OF A-”

“-yeah,you’re jealous.What have you ever achieved in your life? I went through hell in that asylum and I came out and made something of myself.You never had to go through anything close to this in your life.Still,you have achieved nothing so far in your life.You’re just a self-appointed leader of this bloody community of hypocrites.You can’t stand to see the success of others,the underdogs of our community.”

“You bastard,you have crossed the line.You are no longer welcome at this temple.”

“Calling me names isn’t gonna change things.You were mean and inconsiderate.You still are.And now you’re also an asshole who pulls people down…without doing anything worthwhile yourself.Goodbye.”

“Begone.”

“Oh,one more thing.”

“What?”

“FUCK YOU.”

I walked away,leaving him seething in rage.

Weekly Update #3

Dale Harding

So,the NITK chapter of rotaract club organizes a play every year,in the month of March.This time around,they’ve decided to do the play version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. So,there I was, auditioning for the role of a character in the play:Dale Harding.That explains this post’s title.

As someone who had neither read the book nor watched the Oscar-winning movie based on the book,which is about the different people in a psychiatric hospital,I had to rely on just the character description given to me.It described Dale Harding as being a man who is college educated and the most sensible of the lot.He is also the unofficial leader of the patients at the hospital until the main character,Randle McMurphy, arrives.And,he’s a closet homosexual.So far so good.I was auditioned by AM for the first round,which was a scene involving  just Harding and McMurphy,and he apparently found something good about my performance.I sure as hell didn’t.Anyway,I was called for second round of auditions,held the next day.For the second round,I had a different scene where I had to interact with other people playing other roles,such as that of the nurse and other patients.I didn’t do that well. Other people kept changing roles for successive takes of the same scene.And a lot of people took on the role of Harding,probably because he has very few lines and he is the most normal of the lot,easy to play.

While I was not at all good as Harding,with my delayed responses and relatively lower enthusiasm,I did notice the others trying to play him a little gay.It kinda felt wrong.I feel Harding is the sort of man who is covertly gay,not overtly.The novel is set in the early 1960s after all,when homosexuality was still considered to be a mental disorder.Also,some of the people were making Harding show strong,expressive displays of emotion.Harding is the unofficial leader of a group of people crazier than he is.In the midst of such a group,he would have to be a beacon of normality,someone who did not act out,did not display emotion so strongly.I still sucked though,even though I felt my interpretation of the character was good.

A dog found its way into the Mining Seminar Hall,where the second round of auditions were taking place,briefly disrupting the scene taking place.One of the girls,who was playing a nurse,was afraid of dogs and started moving away as soon as it came closer.It finally left,after sniffing around a bit,with its tail between its legs,just like I did.

Weekly Update #2

VSK

Woke up early on Monday

A little late on Tuesday

Took ill on Wednesday

A little better on Thursday

Still alive on Friday

Watched Masters of Sex on Saturday

Writing this shit on Sunday

Inspiration Courtesy: Solomon Grundy

Running post…in progress

#1:I’m trying something new here,so bear with me. This ‘running’ post is something I’m gonna be updating daily(fingers crossed),starting from today, until I’m satisfied that I’ve conveyed enough through this post.

I was surfing the net,earlier this week,checking out all kinds of stuff and wondering what I should blog about.That’s when I saw this quote by Gary Provost:

This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.

Which made me realize,it’s not what I blog about that matters.It’s how I go about doing it.Not sure if I’m doing that good a job but I have to keep trying.After all,you only get better at something by doing it.Repeatedly.

#2:I don’t like astrology much.However,people I know and love set much store by it.Major life decisions are not made without consulting an astrologer.That’s a major handicap,in my opinion.Think for yourself,people.Find out what you really want;don’t ask some crummy astrologer.

Sometimes, though,these astrologers turn out to be uncannily accurate.A relative of mine was told by an astrologer that if she traveled on a particular day,she would face an accident.To prove him wrong,she did travel and her bus met with an accident;she survived though,but with lasting damage.How does one explain this?

Weekly Update #1

How you doin’?

Well,I’ve decided that this is going to be a bi-weekly blog,with one post which is a weekly update and the other post on any topic I feel like writing about.Let’s start:

• Mon: College reopened.Course registration and stuff.Boring….until PN suggested that we watch Forrest Gump.Amazing movie,just loved it.STR doesn’t like it,the pessimistic prick!
• Tue: Missed SRH’s introductory class(He was introducing himself,not the subject).One course registration in the afternoon:KKP’s. Came back to Mangalore with STR, PN and SM.STR and SM did some boring purse shopping,footwear shopping.Also went to Reader’s Delight(Is that correct?) library on Light House Hill Road.Good collection of books.Finally(after an hour of goddamn shopping),we went to Ideal Ice Cream Parlour,Hampankatta..
• Wed:Had 2 classes in the morning.Powder Meta is gonna be great with RM as prof(Technically,he’s an ‘assistant’ lecturer).PN introduced me to Homeland in the afternoon.Amazing show! Claire Danes is extremely talented.
• Thu: 3 classes.Ceramics guy is Ok. Economics guy is good but irritates me with repeated use of the word ‘like’ and by expecting us to complete his ambiguous sentences.

• Fri:Just One Class.Economics.Interesting but very general,we still haven’t delved into the basics.He is good at fumbled rambling.Then,I watched Schindler’s List. Spielberg’s best movie,according to me,and definitely one of the best movies of all time.And I got 3 seasons of Homeland.Yay!

That’s all,folks!

p.s. Arvind Kejriwal is da man.