TALE OF TECH CITY - PART 1
Two weeks have passed since I arrived in Bangalore, or Bangaluru, as the locals put it. Things have settled down a little, I have adjusted a little. For instance, I have finally managed to get hold of a newspaper vendor. “Times of India” arrives every morning nowadays. In the absence of a Net connection in my training place (forget TV), it’s my only channel to the outside world. Got hold of a FM player as well. Health problems continue, though. Got a control (touchwood) on my tendencies to catch cold everyday, but I have caught a dust allergy here. The regions around the eyes are highly swollen.
Another frustrating aspect of Bangalore is the Traffic condition on the road. Every two minutes you will encounter a jam, and it takes a goddamm 5-6 minutes to cross a 2-lane road for heaven's sake! Walking on footpath is no fun either. The bikes and cycles will always be on your heals.
Anyways, training is going on at full scale. What it means for me is that I can barely sleep for 6 hours in morning and study whenever I am at my PG home. Haah, somebody better put me back in my place!!
WAIT IS FINALLY OVER!
Hola! I'm finally posting again. Sorry for the loooooong interval. Actually wat happened is that I got shifted to Bangalore. Joining a software company here. My student life is over, and with it, all the funkyness associated with it. The reloacation was a real eye opener. For the first time in my life, I was alone, taking care of myself, in a land as good as a foreign country to me. Why, I dont understand Kannada, dont like the sour dishes of South India, and the cold wind here is making life miserable for me, who was born and brought up in a climate of 40 deg Celcius and 80-90% humidity. There is no humidty here at all!! To make it worse, there is this constant worry about my parents, 2100km away from me. And there's more, I am not being able to watch a single match of FIFA World Cup! This part of my journey is really taking its toll on me. Gosshh, do I miss my 56kbps internet connection at home, and my college days!
Anyways, I will come over it. Will take some time to adjust to this city. But I'll make it. Pray for me. Please.
Typing from my bed….
It’s been a tough week this one. I’m typing on my computer after Sunday night. Had this high fever, and man, do I feel weak! Till this morning, I was running with temperatures of 102 degrees. Lot better now…. at least the temperature is hovering around 99. Anyway, I’ve already become notorious as an irregular blogger – had to post something today:-D If for nothing else then to at least tell u all that I’m still here!
The fiasco surrounding the American Idol finale
Yuppie! We’ve got a male American Idol this time. And he sings soul! So this should be the breaking news of the day, right? Wrong. Apparently it’s a quote by the show’s host – Ryan Seacrest, which has pissed off a lot of people. In the finale, he made a comment on the exuberant number of votes – 63 million +, “more than any president in the history of our country has received”. I was surfing through the blogsphere tonight, and it really has caused some sort of stir!
Blog gurus are commenting on this exceedingly high number of votes. They are worried. The young generation is voting vigorously for a cheap idol show, but wearing a ‘can’t-care-less’ attitude on the matters of political voting. Some are raising voices to use AI-like fundahs of sms-ing, and phone calls in the political voting process as well. “Got to make this look interesting to them”. Give me a break!
I mean, what’s going on? Why are we all even bothered about this? First of all, let’s get Ryan out of the show. This man is getting sillier every day. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Matured enough to cast a vote, mate? Looks unlikely. ‘Cause then you would have known that one can cast as many votes as he/she likes for an AI contestant, but in an electoral process, one gets just a single byte of the cherry. Done that? Ok, now all those who are losing their nights sleep over the future status quo of Democracy - just forget the matter and enjoy the show. And probably go for a vacation. You guys need a break. Wonder why? ‘Cause you are missing an even bigger point – one needs to be 18+ to be able to cast a vote, but a large section people who vote for AI like shows are below that age.
The juice is coming back into the tank!
Over the last couple of days I have realized the healing power of busyness. Hectic as my days were, they helped my nerves to calm down, and get over some of the depressions that were building inside my system. The reason behind my busy schedule was to get past the countless file works and signatures, in order to get a clearance. And all’s not finished yet! Apparently I’m still to get clearance from 4 more departments, and all this after running frantically behind the faculties for three days at a stretch. But, I’m not complaining. They are keeping me preoccupied – away from more gloomy matters. There are merely half a dozen of my close friends remaining at hostel – all are to leave base camp before 31st of this month.
However there are a couple of things that are keeping us excited though. Of late, there’s been a surge of latest DVD movies in hostel, and we are going to spend the last few days of our stay in hostel by making copies of at least 50 DVDs. Films like Harry Potter 4, Rang De Basanti, Crash, etc will finally be captured in my collection of DVDs :-D
I shall end today’s post by sharing a couple of news with the world. The first one deals with Science, um, no, Scientists – they have worked out that it is the egg that came first, not the chicken! Yeah, what great research work to spend tax payers’ money into! People, now it’s the duty of u n me to make this achievement look meaningful. So, first of all convince yourself that the world has become so naïve these days that scientists have ran out of more serious research topics, then compel ur mind to feel grateful to them.
The second news deals with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They have finally become biological parents! Yeeehaaaaw! Dunno bout others, but I’m breathing a sigh of relief. The news everyday regarding the fuss around Jolie’s pregnancy was really irksome. Hollywood this year has become a burning ad for fertility. People are going craaaaazzzzzzzzzzy to see their favorite stars finally becoming ‘mature’ enough to be parents. Celebrities like Britney Spears is having each act of her motherhood being judged (I won’t be surprised if soon there is a new analysis about the correctness of how she breast-feeds her baby!). Know what? Sometimes it really feels like we are living in a naïve world after all.
End of a journey, beginning of another ….
The word ‘numb’ can be used to describe an array of feelings. Numb is the word that I shall use to describe what I am feeling right now. It’s like I am on drugs. ‘Bewildered’ is another word that can also be used. It’s like I’m this animal who have just been taken out of his wild habitat and placed in a zoo. For 4 years, 1461 days, 35064 hours, 2103840 minutes and 126230400 of the best moments of my life, my Engineering College and my friends were the only elements that whole world revolved around. And suddenly they seize to exist! Within a matter of days, all of us have been robbed of our togetherness. Memories, lots of sweet, cherishable and proud memories are the only ‘remains of the day’. The vans that one day brought us to this college are today taking us away from here, this time for ever.
Never knew that my pals love me so much though. Man, will I miss them! It is getting increasingly difficult to keep a check on my emotions as each day someone is turning up with red eyes and biding adieu. Will this bonding among us remain this strong in future, too? Only time knows the answer. As of know, the only thing that I know is that I feel numb. I don’t know how to react; I don’t know how to live a life without my college, without my friends. It will take some time for me to accept the inevitability of the fact. Till then, I shall continue to feel numb.
An emotional rollercoaster called life
Oh boy, it’s been a loooooong break. My last post was on last Friday. It’s been 7 days since then! As regular readers of my posts can probably understand, the reason behind this long sabbatical of mine was the splurge of ‘activities’ that sprang up in front of me after the semester got over. There were so many commitments pending for me that I hardly had the time to get a hair-cut.
But more than that, it was the emotional rollercoaster I was going through that prevented me from writing anything. The final exam on Network Security didn’t go as well as I had expected, but I didn’t care bout it as much. The night that followed was something that I would remember fondly for ever. Me and other boarders of hostel were given farewell – we all were very moved. The whiskeys and vodkas played their part as well, and everybody drank more than, um, ‘normal’. Our group had 6-7 members gulping down 3 ltrs of whiskey!! Obvious to say, none of us were either in the mood, or having the ability to do anything purposeful for the next day. I heard the drinking continued next day as well. God bless their lives and their livers, I fled to the safety of my home :-)
The nostalgia, the sadness generated by that night, coupled with the alcohol left me numb for the next 2 days. All through these two days I wondered about the life that would be without my College, my friends, the ‘mastis’ at hostel, the canteen ‘addas’, the faculties, the ‘pan-bidi-tea’ shops, the labs, the semesters – the list is endless. For the first time I realized how much these things have become a part of my existence, my life. And that made me realize how much I loved them!
Anyway, the vivas and project presentations are yet to be submitted, so the exam’s not over! The very fact that I’m back posting on my blog is a good indication that I have gained control of my emotions. They will empower me again, but I’ll make sure that it happens only after the semester gats officially over. Till then, let’s ROCK on whatever of the college life that remains!
