There are reasons I prefer a journey by train over a jaunt by air when I travel, even though the former might stretch over several hours, and sometimes face vexatious delays at the end of which one would feel completely enervated. It allows me to discover the varying landscape and diverse flora and fauna flourishing across different regions in the subcontinent, and to revel in the beauty of the path that would take me to my destination. But most importantly, it often results in serendipitous confluences that would perhaps occur in no other setting - pleasant encounters that leave an indelible mark in memory.
When I boarded the train to Delhi, I looked around to see the people I would share my compartment with - a habit I've developed over years of commuting. There was a sexagenarian, a stern-looking septuagenarian, a wannabe model and a rather sleepy coeval girl. Recalling I'm not really good at hitting a conversation with either the fairer sex or the elderly, I presumed this was going to be yet another journey where I would spend half the time sulking over a snoring co-passenger and the other half lying lethargically on the top bunk.
Mom and Dad weren't making it any easier by ranting out instructions about taking care of myself until I arrived in Roorkee. I can never really understand why parents fail to realize every journey is not the first time we travel on our own.
"Beta ! Don't take random victuals from lorries stationed at the platform." or "Remember the last time you nearly missed your train? Make sure it doesn't happen again."
Through the corner of my eye, I chanced a quick glance at the girl. She had now woken up, and was smiling at the scene presented before her. I felt as if I was back to age 10, listening impatiently to mom's characteristic words of advice and caution, and was definitely a little flushed.
The engine hooted and slowly pulled out of Vadodara station. I was climbing to the top berth when the sexagenarian intervened - "Itni jaldi so rahe ho? Abhi to bahut time hai. Chalo tumhara thoda manoranjan karta hun."
Only a fool would deny free entertainment, especially when there is no other means to amuse yourself. I gladly accepted and climbed back down.
It so turned out the old man was a hasya kavi. Soon, all the boredom had escaped my mind. I was thoroughly enjoying myself as one verse followed another, each inciting a tingling sensation in my belly. Some compositions portrayed typical human vices of greed, corruption, stinginess and temptation; others underlined the virtues of wisdom and altruism. Each composition carried forth a message to the audience, serving its purpose of delivering a moral at the end while keeping the listeners guessing for the next line. I had no idea how the hours passed by, because it seemed the journey had been ephemeral when I noticed 'New Delhi' displayed on the railway platform.
Of the various modes of self-expression, poetry stands out as being the most evocative. With satire and sarcasm as ingredients, it is capable of putting across abstruse philosophies and grave issues of concern through beautifully crafted lines and aptly depicted situations, at the same time, maintaining a comical tone to draw attention of the audience. A potent tool to spark a revolution and unite the masses to fight for a common cause. I'm certain Gurudev's free spirit would testify to the validity of my earlier statement.
If only more of us were poets, we could really make a big difference to the perception of the people around us, and contribute towards changing the world for the greater good.
About Me
- Arnav
- Mumbai, India
- An ardent lover of human virtues , an admirer of all forms of art, a dreamer and a naturalist - so much to brag about me. Otherwise, I'm just the ordinary person with a zest for living and a penchant for merriment. Writing is my passion, and my means of reaching out to the world yonder. I'd be happiest the day when the words I pen down start to make a difference to the people I know, and to those whom I don't.
Showing posts with label SARCASM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SARCASM. Show all posts
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Monday, October 25, 2010
MIDNIGHT OCTAVES
The last few months in Cautley Bhawan have witnessed innumerable power cuts, especially during the late hours, with the entire hostel plunging into darkness, cringing meekly to the moonlight and the aura of stars in the night sky. The shrewd, cunning administration, bent on reforming our approach to 'engineering' by making us realize the importance of regular study, has stuck to its sinister device of load shedding a day or two before the exams commence. These indeed have been testing times, wherein our cramming abilities have been brought to the fore, whilst persevering in our efforts not to let our focus waver from the illegible text confronting us that almost never makes sense - often for several hours at a stretch. All this in a time when digicams have superseded the more conventional xerox machines, and electricity is what drives a despondent undergraduate's chances of enduring the doom about to fall upon him.
More often than not, such dark, gloomy phases are marked by an eerie silence suggestive of inactivity. An envelope of abominable lull descends upon the environs surrounding us, threatening never to depart, much like an unsolicited, unwelcome guest, whom we cannot dismiss of our own will.
But yesterday was different.
Perhaps it was because of the holidays. We hadn't been preoccupied with our regular vexations - tutorials, assignments, presentations or any other engineering 'chores'. We still had much energy left for other, more entertaining pursuits. Maybe that was the reason we didn't give in to the dispiriting calm accompaning yet another power cut.
As a wise man once proclaimed (that would be me): "The greatest of ideas are conceived when a bunch of perplexed souls who have nothing to ponder about at all, come together for a long, inspiring 'bakar' session."
The question was - 'What could we do to while away time?' (After all, there was no prognosticating when we could expect 'normalcy' to return, even though our neighbours in RKB had it restored already.)
Charades? Nope, it was too dark to even see other faces, how could we figure out gestures ! Wordgames? A few backed out at the onset, the remaining couldn't continue for long, after it became evident participants were coining their own words out of the blue. What next? 'Antakshari' was lame, wasn't it? But apparently, there seemed to be no other pastime viable.
And hence began a series of 'alaaps' and 'vilaaps', changing notes in quick succession as a group of amateurs and 'bathroom singers' rattled the very foundations of Cautley Bhawan with their loud cacophonies. The more gifted sang softly, passionately (which wouldn't imply any level of expertise) while the more enthusiastic made it a point to convey their support for music by blasting off high notes at the top of their voices, straining their vocal cords to the maximum tensile limit possible. What accompanied was a medley of strange sounds, each one completely out of harmony with the other.
And thus, we sang deep into the wee hours. I sang, unmindful of the agony we must have caused our (few) neighbours to suffer from. I was a little held back at first, but some time later, I found myself joining and thoroughly enjoying the clamorous uproar arising from S-4, CB. If it weren't for the human tendency of fatigue and weariness, the show would never have ended.
Somebody must have been praying fastidiously to the heavens, because it finally did, after three full hours - partly because we had run out of songs to holler out aloud. But of course we had no idea it had been so long. Ceding to the quiet that had befallen earlier, we happily returned to the sanctity of our 'peaceful' rooms, realizing at once that it is us who govern our spirits, and nothing the authorities do can tamper with them. WE had turned out victorious.
P.S. : Looking forward to more concerts in the coming few months. :D
More often than not, such dark, gloomy phases are marked by an eerie silence suggestive of inactivity. An envelope of abominable lull descends upon the environs surrounding us, threatening never to depart, much like an unsolicited, unwelcome guest, whom we cannot dismiss of our own will.
But yesterday was different.
Perhaps it was because of the holidays. We hadn't been preoccupied with our regular vexations - tutorials, assignments, presentations or any other engineering 'chores'. We still had much energy left for other, more entertaining pursuits. Maybe that was the reason we didn't give in to the dispiriting calm accompaning yet another power cut.
As a wise man once proclaimed (that would be me): "The greatest of ideas are conceived when a bunch of perplexed souls who have nothing to ponder about at all, come together for a long, inspiring 'bakar' session."
The question was - 'What could we do to while away time?' (After all, there was no prognosticating when we could expect 'normalcy' to return, even though our neighbours in RKB had it restored already.)
Charades? Nope, it was too dark to even see other faces, how could we figure out gestures ! Wordgames? A few backed out at the onset, the remaining couldn't continue for long, after it became evident participants were coining their own words out of the blue. What next? 'Antakshari' was lame, wasn't it? But apparently, there seemed to be no other pastime viable.
And hence began a series of 'alaaps' and 'vilaaps', changing notes in quick succession as a group of amateurs and 'bathroom singers' rattled the very foundations of Cautley Bhawan with their loud cacophonies. The more gifted sang softly, passionately (which wouldn't imply any level of expertise) while the more enthusiastic made it a point to convey their support for music by blasting off high notes at the top of their voices, straining their vocal cords to the maximum tensile limit possible. What accompanied was a medley of strange sounds, each one completely out of harmony with the other.
And thus, we sang deep into the wee hours. I sang, unmindful of the agony we must have caused our (few) neighbours to suffer from. I was a little held back at first, but some time later, I found myself joining and thoroughly enjoying the clamorous uproar arising from S-4, CB. If it weren't for the human tendency of fatigue and weariness, the show would never have ended.
Somebody must have been praying fastidiously to the heavens, because it finally did, after three full hours - partly because we had run out of songs to holler out aloud. But of course we had no idea it had been so long. Ceding to the quiet that had befallen earlier, we happily returned to the sanctity of our 'peaceful' rooms, realizing at once that it is us who govern our spirits, and nothing the authorities do can tamper with them. WE had turned out victorious.
P.S. : Looking forward to more concerts in the coming few months. :D
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Global Financial Recession impacting the Midsems?!!
It's finally over.....but the hangover still persists in the form of indolance to do anything (which is considered) fruitful.....
The Midsems have concluded after a tough ordeal which kept most of us toiling day-and-night (read "all night") to reconcile with the fact that only people who possess a "good-enough" CGPA (does anybody have the faintest idea what that actually means? I get variable opinions each soul I seek an enlightening answer from) can make it to a decent organization at the end of the 8th semester while the rest will have to be allayed with a job at "Career Point" or "Resonance" or "COER" doing the same thing as a few years back (or was it centuries ago?...because that is out of fashion now, rather a lame pastime) - gorging volumes of concepts and mugging up more than an ordinary human being is capacitated to, what lead us here in the first place - the difference being this they would not be doing for themselves because they won't be entitled to take the prestigious JEE another time.
Four years well spent devising funny stories about each and every professor in the campus, assigning them "suitable" nicknames, bringing out our best abilities in anime - and voila! You step into the latter's shoes when you know that the back benchers are never really interested in the weird theories and pestering mathematics you blabber about; they're busy carefully observing your slightest nuances which can be mimicked on "Bhawan Day" in front of an audience from the entire insti with yourself gracing the occasion as "chief guest". What an honour!
This situation was an alien one until the previous year, and stems from the recent financial recession that has affected not only "raddiwalas", "Thomso - 09", businessmen, corporates and governments alike, but also final year students in search of propective employers. This wariness has been bestowed upon us second yearites by our seniors who have witnessed the consequences of the global slowdown in the form of companies not willing to recruit. As I come to know about the interviews for the selection process, a not-so-major firm was made fun of when students haughtily stated to the interviewer - "We never wanted to be part of your workforce but have come for the sole purpose of gaining some experience for tackling interview questions". Now the same firm has been requested "humbly" to return to the premises.
What if the situation continues for a few more years? Heeding the fact that companies today are more interested in your CGPA rather than your instumental role in organizing "Thomso" as coordinator or even convenor, as secy of various student societies or as a 4-time inter-IIT player - our peers have taken up study more seriously than ever before.
The number of doubts fielded by professors who earlier used to have the front benchers sleeping in their class, has increased exponentially. The library and reading room get occupied to their full capacity a week before the midsems. Everybody seems to be giving some importance to the midsems, subsequently increasing the woes of "Ghissus" who earlier had no challenges from any other quarters. And to further add to this pandemonium, the department has tightened the noose around our necks by means of attendance backs and substituting a "dassi" for an "atthi".
It would be in our best interests if this turmoil in financial systems around the world is brought to a halt immediately. The longer it persists, the longer it will take for us to return to our "normal" way of living at IITR.
PS : Mr. Obama, are you listening?
The Midsems have concluded after a tough ordeal which kept most of us toiling day-and-night (read "all night") to reconcile with the fact that only people who possess a "good-enough" CGPA (does anybody have the faintest idea what that actually means? I get variable opinions each soul I seek an enlightening answer from) can make it to a decent organization at the end of the 8th semester while the rest will have to be allayed with a job at "Career Point" or "Resonance" or "COER" doing the same thing as a few years back (or was it centuries ago?...because that is out of fashion now, rather a lame pastime) - gorging volumes of concepts and mugging up more than an ordinary human being is capacitated to, what lead us here in the first place - the difference being this they would not be doing for themselves because they won't be entitled to take the prestigious JEE another time.
Four years well spent devising funny stories about each and every professor in the campus, assigning them "suitable" nicknames, bringing out our best abilities in anime - and voila! You step into the latter's shoes when you know that the back benchers are never really interested in the weird theories and pestering mathematics you blabber about; they're busy carefully observing your slightest nuances which can be mimicked on "Bhawan Day" in front of an audience from the entire insti with yourself gracing the occasion as "chief guest". What an honour!
This situation was an alien one until the previous year, and stems from the recent financial recession that has affected not only "raddiwalas", "Thomso - 09", businessmen, corporates and governments alike, but also final year students in search of propective employers. This wariness has been bestowed upon us second yearites by our seniors who have witnessed the consequences of the global slowdown in the form of companies not willing to recruit. As I come to know about the interviews for the selection process, a not-so-major firm was made fun of when students haughtily stated to the interviewer - "We never wanted to be part of your workforce but have come for the sole purpose of gaining some experience for tackling interview questions". Now the same firm has been requested "humbly" to return to the premises.
What if the situation continues for a few more years? Heeding the fact that companies today are more interested in your CGPA rather than your instumental role in organizing "Thomso" as coordinator or even convenor, as secy of various student societies or as a 4-time inter-IIT player - our peers have taken up study more seriously than ever before.
The number of doubts fielded by professors who earlier used to have the front benchers sleeping in their class, has increased exponentially. The library and reading room get occupied to their full capacity a week before the midsems. Everybody seems to be giving some importance to the midsems, subsequently increasing the woes of "Ghissus" who earlier had no challenges from any other quarters. And to further add to this pandemonium, the department has tightened the noose around our necks by means of attendance backs and substituting a "dassi" for an "atthi".
It would be in our best interests if this turmoil in financial systems around the world is brought to a halt immediately. The longer it persists, the longer it will take for us to return to our "normal" way of living at IITR.
PS : Mr. Obama, are you listening?
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