Thursday, January 26, 2006
Josh ??
I am standing in this long line and I see a balloon being passed around at frightening speed. Soon enough it reaches me. I am supposed to pass the damn thing over my head and give it to the guy behind me, who incidentally is shouting furiously, "pass it fast man, fast....". I pass it on soon enough, more out of fear of the shouting mob than any personal involvement. Finally, the guy at the end of the line grabs the balloon and dashes forward to give it to the anchor who shouts out "And 6 points to xyz team"... a loud cheer goes up and I see people giving high fives to one another !!!
A few minutes later the anchor kicks off another contest. The objective - to make the longest link/rope using only ones belts and shoe laces. Ofcourse, the team which performs best would get 6 points.....Wow, exciting !!!! The minute the word 'Go' was announced everyone was busy taking off their belt and shoe laces, while I was standing there worried about whether my pant would fall the moment the belt was taken off. While I stood there contemplating this genuine worry, the others had eagerly taken off their belt and laces and had formed a link. Ya, it looked impressive, but they needed more belts to get the 6 points you know. I heard the same furious shouting "pass it fast man, fast...." and I knew the moment had arrived, I had to part with my belt. The shoe lace however stayed, simply because I knew there was no way I could ever thread it back through the complicated maze of holes if I took it out.
More of such 'amazing' contests were held before a much needed break was announced. Over coffee I realized that my friends were also as 'enthusiastic' as I was. However, the unanimous conclusion was that my 'enthusiasm' and 'spirit' were a class apart. Infact, one of them even remarked that I was the most cynical guy he had ever met. Uhmmm...something had to be done, before things got worse for me (or for the others who had to put up with me, whichever way you look at it).
After the break, I decided to get close to scene of action with the sole intention of observing what each one was upto and was hoping to discover the source of their unlimited energy and enthusiasm. After 'intense' research, based on parameters such as energy levels, enthusiasm levels and activities involved, I managed to draw up the following classification of the team:
A few minutes later the anchor kicks off another contest. The objective - to make the longest link/rope using only ones belts and shoe laces. Ofcourse, the team which performs best would get 6 points.....Wow, exciting !!!! The minute the word 'Go' was announced everyone was busy taking off their belt and shoe laces, while I was standing there worried about whether my pant would fall the moment the belt was taken off. While I stood there contemplating this genuine worry, the others had eagerly taken off their belt and laces and had formed a link. Ya, it looked impressive, but they needed more belts to get the 6 points you know. I heard the same furious shouting "pass it fast man, fast...." and I knew the moment had arrived, I had to part with my belt. The shoe lace however stayed, simply because I knew there was no way I could ever thread it back through the complicated maze of holes if I took it out.
More of such 'amazing' contests were held before a much needed break was announced. Over coffee I realized that my friends were also as 'enthusiastic' as I was. However, the unanimous conclusion was that my 'enthusiasm' and 'spirit' were a class apart. Infact, one of them even remarked that I was the most cynical guy he had ever met. Uhmmm...something had to be done, before things got worse for me (or for the others who had to put up with me, whichever way you look at it).
After the break, I decided to get close to scene of action with the sole intention of observing what each one was upto and was hoping to discover the source of their unlimited energy and enthusiasm. After 'intense' research, based on parameters such as energy levels, enthusiasm levels and activities involved, I managed to draw up the following classification of the team:
- Top 10% - To state it simply, they don't belong to this universe, let alone this planet. Whether an activity involved blowing a balloon or blowing oneself up, they would be the first to rush onto the stage to do it. They don't let factors like common sense, self esteem etc. unnecessarily inhibit them in anyway. When the anchor called for the 'manliest guy' or 'most talented man' from each team to come onto the stage these guys would be already there, well before the anchor was done with his announcement. Even if the announcement had been for the 'dumbest guy' to come onto the stage, they would have raced to stage, nobody/nothing can stop them.
- The next 20 % - Yes, this group belongs to this universe atleast. These guys don't like running onto the stage for anything and everything but they like to exhibit their latent energy whenever there is an incentive involved. Now, the incentive could be something as small as a toffee to something as 'enormous' in magnitude as six points to their team, its only the incentive factor that counts.
- The next 50 % - Needless to say they constitute the masses. They only love the cheering and shouting part of any activity. They come very handy in contests such as, 'Which team can make most noise ?'. They love to shout 'come on man...', 'pass it fast..' and things like that, as long the ball, balloon or whatever is not with them or the activity does not involve them at all.
- The rest - Well, they pretend to be involved in the whole thing, but wonder from time to time 'What the hell am I doing here?'. Without a hint of doubt, I belong to this category of lucid thinkers - they who have seen reality and know that life is more than just 6 points to your team.;-) (What else did you expect me to say about my fellow brethren in my blog ??..:-))
Jokes apart, we did attempt an introspection afterwards and swiftly concluded that the games and scoring system didn't correspond to our line of interest. '6 points to the team that dashes to lunch first?' or maybe '6 points to the team that comes in last after a break?' , now, those would have been games worth looking forward to. Well anyway who cares?As the age old tagline goes 'We are like this only'.. :-)
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
The Great Farce and The Great Escape
Yet another chaos in state politics. So what's new about it? Only that, this time politics in the state has reached new lows. It cant get lower than this (or so, most of us hope).
Mid 2004 is when the farce started. S.M Krishna was the CM before the elections, everyone presumed that he would be the C.M once again if the Congress won. But well it didn't happen that way. Krishna packed his bags and moved on to become a governor and the new C.M was Dharam Singh. I guess most people (atleast those in B'lore) would not have had even the remotest idea about the existence of someone called Dharam Singh. I wonder how many would have even voted for the Congress in B'lore if they knew about the C.M they would have after the polls. The crazy coalition with JD-(S) did nobody no good. There was bickering over the cabinet posts. BATF and other initiatives to improve the infrastructure of the city were a thing of the past and only the word of Deve Gowda was the final judgment on the growth and infrastructure of the city and the state. Oh , we also had a deputy CM who was there for about a year till he was unceremoniously sent packing and replaced by well, a 'prominent' figure in state politics.....heck what's his name?
The final act of the farce is what is being enacted right now. Deve Gowda's son breaking away with a sizeable number of MLA's and attempting to form a government with the BJP, yes the same 'communal force' that he had promised to combat at the time of the elections. Just think about the number of voters (none from b'lore surely) belonging to those certain castes and religions who had voted for JD-(S) in the sincere belief that it would preserve their interests and never join hands with the BJP. The very vote of these gullible people is what is now helping to form the new coalition. Wonder what the value of their vote is then. Politicians, yet again have taken them for one big ride.
Saw the Great escape, yet again yesterday. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen this movie. It surely has to be one of the best WW-II movies. Each of the characters - 'Cooler king', 'Tunnel king', 'The Scournger', ''Big X', The Forger' etc are simply unforgettable in their own way. The best dialogue in the movie is when at the time of leaving the escape tunnel, looking at the oversized bag that 'The Manufacturer' (Louis) is carrying with him, someone comments 'You wont get very far with this bag'. Ironically, Louis is one of the few POW's who manages to escape successfully to safety.
Mid 2004 is when the farce started. S.M Krishna was the CM before the elections, everyone presumed that he would be the C.M once again if the Congress won. But well it didn't happen that way. Krishna packed his bags and moved on to become a governor and the new C.M was Dharam Singh. I guess most people (atleast those in B'lore) would not have had even the remotest idea about the existence of someone called Dharam Singh. I wonder how many would have even voted for the Congress in B'lore if they knew about the C.M they would have after the polls. The crazy coalition with JD-(S) did nobody no good. There was bickering over the cabinet posts. BATF and other initiatives to improve the infrastructure of the city were a thing of the past and only the word of Deve Gowda was the final judgment on the growth and infrastructure of the city and the state. Oh , we also had a deputy CM who was there for about a year till he was unceremoniously sent packing and replaced by well, a 'prominent' figure in state politics.....heck what's his name?
The final act of the farce is what is being enacted right now. Deve Gowda's son breaking away with a sizeable number of MLA's and attempting to form a government with the BJP, yes the same 'communal force' that he had promised to combat at the time of the elections. Just think about the number of voters (none from b'lore surely) belonging to those certain castes and religions who had voted for JD-(S) in the sincere belief that it would preserve their interests and never join hands with the BJP. The very vote of these gullible people is what is now helping to form the new coalition. Wonder what the value of their vote is then. Politicians, yet again have taken them for one big ride.
Saw the Great escape, yet again yesterday. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen this movie. It surely has to be one of the best WW-II movies. Each of the characters - 'Cooler king', 'Tunnel king', 'The Scournger', ''Big X', The Forger' etc are simply unforgettable in their own way. The best dialogue in the movie is when at the time of leaving the escape tunnel, looking at the oversized bag that 'The Manufacturer' (Louis) is carrying with him, someone comments 'You wont get very far with this bag'. Ironically, Louis is one of the few POW's who manages to escape successfully to safety.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
And life goes on...
It was an emotional evening, to say the least. My guide and role model had to finally pack his bags and leave, heading south east in search of new challenges. He preferred to seek out new challenges instead of 'coasting around' (as he would describe it). Kudos to him. He would be flying in, once a month or so but I guess it would never be the same. Life would never be the same again.
On a less emotional note, a word of advice, if you are going all the way to see off your near and dear ones in the international departures area, don't bother buying a ticket and getting in. They have erected this big barrier, a good distance away from the main door leading to the check in area, visitors are expected to stand behind this barricade and talk to the ones whom they come to see off. Looks more like a scene in a prison. Security reasons, they claim, and they have the cheek to charge 60 bucks for this 'facility'.
Got back home and tried to divert my mind with something else. Listened to some Mozart for sometime, I don't have an extensive collection of his works or anything, but the few tracks that I listen to (over and over again) have their desired effect, they give me peace of mind and calm me down.
Finally through with reading Shalimar the clown. Was a worthwhile read. Peace still remains an illusion in the troubled valley....
