Viva La Espana !

Hola mi amigos !

Uno semana en Espana y estoy tratando de aprender este idoma.

Ok so I got a little help from Google translate in that. Basically its been a week since I've arrived in Spain and the moment I got here I realised how important it is to know Spanish if you have to live in this place. No one and I mean NO ONE speaks a word of English in Burjassot, Valencia (where I am) and that just makes everything a wee but more tough for communication. Dos mesas left !! I have to learn spanish !

Since my work at the university has not really started, I have a horde of time left on my hands to do absolutely nothing and let me tell you, its TOUGH. Not doing shit day in and day out while sitting behind a desk for 10 hours a day is the toughest job in the world... the only light at the end of the tunnel is that A.) I'm in Spain :P ...and B.) I'm probably getting paid for it (not that I like it though.. i think for the first time in my life, I am actually dying for some work.. which will probably be the other way around once I do start working but whatever..).

That reminds me... the best thing about Spain are the people here and the roads. Why roads you ask ? Well, its sorta a little bit similar to Kharagpur in the fact that the pedestrians have power. In Kharagpur, people walking and on cycles are the Kings and cars always have to play second fiddle.. while everyone walks down the middle of the road. Its not exactly the same here but its awesome when you want to cross the street and all cars just come to a complete halt for you, unlike in India where you will probably get run over if you don't keep your eyes open and reflexes sharp :P !! Here you can walk across a zebra crossing without looking either left or right, safe in the knowledge that if there are cars there, they WILL STOP. Also trams by the way. Everyone stops. Its quite enthralling and call me juvenile or childish or just plain sadistic, I love crossing streets for no reason apart from this !!

About the people, never have I met more friendly and helpful people. In India, if you ask a random person on the street for directions and the person doesn't know, he'll just shrug and move on but not in Spain, atleast that has never happened with me. I get lost sometimes, well actually almost every other time I'm outside I get lost but then I don't know the place or speak the damn language so what do you expect ? Anyway, all the times I've asked someone on the street to help me out, basically by repeating the address a hundred times, I have ended up with a street full of people eager to not just point out the direction, but actually lead me there !! One guy in Madrid actually took me to the Metro, came with me to the train station AND bought me a ticket to Valencia, all because my bus to Valencia had got cancelled and I'd asked him how to get to Valencia !! Now that was amazing since I'd just arrived in Spain and the guy spoke NO ENGLISH AT ALL... I couldn't even thank him properly. So Antonio and Fran, wherever you guys are.. MUCHAS GRACIAS ! Then the people at the Residencia where I stayed the last week... well what can I say ? They totally made me feel at home, albeit in a different language and I met a lot of amazing people. Not least Christina, the person incharge at the Residencia who charged me only 15 euros a night when I was leaving when the actual price for a room is 25 euros per night, and thats just for the heck of it !! And all the Pakistani and Indian shop owners, Kebab and fruits and vegetable, for the numerous mind boggling discounts they gave me just because I was from India again making me feel that all these wars between our two nations is to what end ? Even earlier whenever I've met people from Pakistan, educated or not, they have always been of the same opinion, "India - Pakistan ek hi hai" , which makes me wonder if all people feel that way, then who are the one's fighting ? Of course I admit that the older generation (of Hindus from my perspective) has an inexplicable distrust of Muslims, but then aren't we the generation that is actually incharge here ?

Anyway moving on from these matters, I visited a place called the Oceanographic here, which is the largest aquarium in Europe. Now, aquarium is actually a misnomer but man was it insanely amazing !! Whales to great whites to more mundane beings like manta rays and jellyfish to creepy ass shit like giant spider crabs (they are fricking 12 ft !! TWELVE ...!), all within an inch of your face just behind that glass... it was awesome !

Having no work though ensures that I spend an insane amount of time on facebook (and I am quite sure its not healthy) , which made me realize today that I have 453 "friends" on facebook !! FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY THREE ! Do I even know that many people ???! And not only that, when you have time on your hands like I do now, you want to talk to people (no not hand gestures and broken Spanish, actually TALK)... and then you realize that out of all those 453 there are just a handful that you really want to talk to anyway. And they are usually not online at that moment... x-( . So if by any chance they are and they are busy or something, it just makes you madder.

Anyway, tengo hambre... and its off to lunch for me. Hasta luego !

Categories

In God's eyes everybody is equal.... Forsooth ! Even assuming that there IS a God, it really doesn't matter what he thinks since obviously we people have categories.

Everyone is divided into categories, albeit with different parameters each time. You have the racial categorisation, according to skin tone, according to what you study, according to what you like and even, if you go by a joke, according to whether you understand binary or not ! The Government even has us divided on the basis of what our ancestors' surnames were. So I thought to myself, when everyone is categorising people, why the hell should I be left behind ? To make it more general, I finally decided that there are 3 types of people in the world...

TYPE A :: Those you don't give a rat's ass about.

TYPE B :: Those you do care about but who don't give a rat's ass about you.

TYPE C :: Those you do give a rat's ass about and they do the same.

Now Type A is the general category of life. Most people you know fall into that category and so do you when it comes to someone else. That may sound harsh but none of us is a Mother Teresa or a Mahatma Gandhi, so its true. You couldn't care less and you know it.

So we come to the people that you do care about. Now my little wide-eyed children, the fact of the matter is that most people on this category put you in their own Type A... and though it may hurt you to know this, these people are those you put in Type B. 

"And Type C ?", you ask. Well this is where you have the least number of people and these are the people that you should give priority to. Always. These people are the most difficult to find but once you do, you are richer for it. 

On a personal level, I've sort of realised that those people I'd put in type c sortof categorised themselves. What I probably mean is that you don't make such friends, you become such friends. And theres  a huge HUGE difference in making friends and becoming friends. If you try to be friends with someone, they are most likely to end up in as a type B... but when you just sort of become friends thats usually when they end up in type C. I've made a lot of friends and aquaintances but I've realised that when it comes to certain people though I am prepared to go that extra mile for them, they may not be willing to do the same for me. Which in turn made me realise how valuable those people are who will. 

I think the aim should be to kick those in type B to A because those are the ones that will let you down. And thats not through any fault of theirs, its because you expected too much where you shouldn't have expected at all. 

Well this post is dedicated to all those people in type C. I feel priviledged to have met you and to be your friend. Thank You. :)

The Return of the Jedi, well not Jedi ..but sounds more dramatic anyway.

So I have not blogged in quite a while but when one of prettiest girls you know tells you to resume writing, then you damn sure resume writing ! Even if you have absolutely no idea what the heck you're going to write about.

Anyway, something I realized as I near the end of my 3rd year of college is that at Kgp, as time goes on, I keep getting proportionally lazy and basically developing a lackadaisical attitude towards most things. Which is not necessarily a good thing to happen. But I guess that encompasses what most Kgpians call "peace". And "peace maarna" has sort of become a way of life for a lot of us. So while I've been "maaroing peace", time has gone on and suddenly I see myself entering my final year of college or rather, nearing Placement !! Looking at the current scenario of placements, well, let's just say that for Metallurgy, the best placement opportunity is at Jindal Steel... and I do not want to go to Jindal Steel !! So what's left you say ?? As I see it, there are two roads available to me then... CAT and GRE. So I think to myself... "what am I good at ?" , "what work am I cut out for ?". Due to the fact that those questions draw a blank, I decide to not bother about either of them now and open facebook to see the latest updates and spend the rest of the day doing nothing or rather, "maaroing peace".

And maybe, just maybe, the fact that I've recently been going on various trips on weekends is to escape thinking about this. But you know what ? Peace maar.... we'll ponder on that later. Talking about trips, this last weekend a few of my friends and I went to this beach some distance away from Digha at a place called Mandarmoni. Its an awesome place, almost like a backwater with no tourism and stuff. Oh, and before I forget, we went by truck. Yeah you got that right, we hopped on the back of a truck and went to Mandarmoni. I've seen it in the movies and let me tell you upfront that yes, it is that much fun.... but... it is DAMN uncomfortable. The movies don't show you that ! Its bloody uncomfortable and especially when the mercury is pushing the 40s, then its unbearable and we probably have a watermelon vendor on the highway to thank for getting back alive..well thats an overstatement but hey, as long as you get the point. But you know what, it was fun. And it may have been hot and uncomfortable, I'm ready to go it again.. it was that fun.

On a more serious note, I probably need to decide what I want to do. Any ideas ?

P.S. This is in memory of Bhaichung, the rabbit we had. He was an idiot, but a likeable one. Only two months old, it was definitely not his time. If only the idiot had know better than to run towards a stray dog. May he rest in peace. :(

Without Me... ?!

Guess who's back 
Back again 
<>'s back 
Tell a friend

Guess who's back, guess who's back.....

Its the season for comebacks.. or so it may seem. First it was Kim Clijsters who, having given up tennis a few years back, suddenly decided that she had the fire in her to have another go at the existing bunch and came storming back to win a US Open and complete a fairytale comeback. And lets not forget that legend of a man, Lance Armstrong. His legacy aside, coming back from retirement and finishing 3rd in the Tour de France is no mean feat, even if you are Lance Armstrong. Then you have the lesser known Dara Torres. Who ? Yes, Dara Torres. A 41-year old mother, she returned to the pool after EIGHT YEARS away to win a silver in the 50m freestyle event in the Olympics. These are not just isolated cases. Remember Michael Jordan and his numerous comebacks ? Then you had George Foreman, Nikki Lauda, Henrik Larsson... the list goes on. 

And so, coming back to where I started.. Guess who's back ?? JUSTINE HENIN... yes you read that right, Justine Henin is BACK !!! After months in the wilderness, my favourite player has decided to stage a comeback a la her compatriot Clijsters. Finally in an era of power-dominated tennis, there will be that elegance and grace of Henin. I'd said it once and I'll say it again... Justine Henin's single handed topspin backhand is absolute poetry... right up there with Federer's passing shot and Zidane's double drag-back. Now the question remains, will she be successful ? I really hope she is ;) .

That brings the question, why do all the champions try to comeback ? What is it that makes all these people want to go at it all over again ? I think its the competition. All champions relish competition. When you've retired from a sport, suddenly you no longer have to work hard, push yourself that extra bit to be better. Come to think of it, ordinary life is rather mundane and you don't really need to sweat it out a lot. You miss that adrenaline rush, that rush of blood that makes you perform out of your skin. You even miss the crowds. But all comebacks do not have a fairytale ending. Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson...there are atleast 10 failed comeback attempts for every successful one.

So heres to Justine Henin. May her comeback be successful...since as Eminem put it in his song

No matter how many fish in the sea 

It'll be so empty, without me ....  

India's heroes

So the other day I have this wallpaper on my desktop, a pic of Bhaichung Bhutia and Sunil Chettri with the Indian tricolour after the Nehru Cup victory, when a friend of mine comes along and asks.. "Which team is this ?". After berating him for the next 20 minutes, I realised that its not just him but a lot of people who don't know most of the country's sportsmen. People know totally arbitrary players in the EPL but they don't know more than a couple of players from our own national team! Now that, in my opinion, is a disgrace. Which brings us to this post...

So maybe you don't know the country's sportsmen (/women).. but there are a few people about whom you SHOULD know. People who are making the country proud on a regular basis in the international arena... The following is a list of people who, in my opinion, have excelled for India in the past few years.

1.  Vijender Singh - Boxing

2.  Saina Nehwal - Badminton

3.  M.C. Mary Kom - Boxing

4.  Pankaj Advani - Billiards and Snooker

5.  Narain Karthikeyan - F1, now A1GP

6.  Abhinav Bindra - shooting

7.  Sushil Kumar - Wrestling

8.  Saurav Ghosal - Squash

9.  Leander Paes - Tennis

10. Mahesh Bhupathi - Tennis 

11. Vishwanathan Anand - Chess

12. Bhaichung Bhutia (actually the entire team) - Football

The amazing thing about the list above is that, if you notice, the last four names would have been on the list even if it were made 10 years ago ! Now that is consistency and and if that does not warrant attention and praise then I do not know what does. The list is not exhaustive and I may have left out a few people by mistake.. comments on the list are welcome. If you notice, a certain sport (played by *9* countries in the world) has not been included.

The House of Wine - MADHUSHALA

एक बरस में, एक बार ही जगती होली की ज्वाला,

एक बार ही लगती बाज़ी, जलती दीपों की माला,

दुनियावालों, किन्तु, किसी दिन आ मदिरालय में देखो,

दिन को होली, रात दिवाली, रोज़ मनाती मधुशाला।।२६।

So before any of you start to wonder why I'm starting off on such a "high" note, let me clarify that the four lines above are an excerpt from the much acclaimed poem, MADHUSHALA by Harivansh Rai Bachchan. The first thing most people asked me when they saw me reading Madhushala was "Dude, are you all right ?"... which if you notice says a lot about how today's generation looks upon reading in Hindi, our national language. When I say generation... I mean the 'educated' people from towns and cities. What a shame !! 

Ok enough of that crap... seriously. Even I have a lot, and I mean A LOT, of trouble reading in Hindi and the only reason I started to read Madhushala was because a friend of mine said it was quite entertaining... and fresh off from reading two back to back comics of Nagraaj (with Super Commando Dhruv), I was feeling quite adventurous and good about myself. 

So back to Madhushala... As I started reading, I found myself totally immersed in the poem and the reading in Hindi ceased to remain a problem. Now on face value anyone can see why it is so entertaining to college students and others.. but if you re read the stanzas, you realise that the poet is not actually promoting alcoholism (though its quite easy to imagine why people would think so) , but the Madhushala (tavern/ house of wine) is used as a metaphor for this world and the poet is actually writing about life using wine as an allegory. 

Madhushala is one of those rare works that achieved both critical acclaim and popularity.. no raised eyebrows there !!! Funnily enough, a lot of people originally frowned upon the poem since it was perceived to be a celebration of liquor. 

Bachchan uses the goblet, the wine, the bar-maid and the tavern regularly in almost each quatrain, each more beautiful than the previous one. Such is the beauty of his composition that today, even after nearly more than three quarters of a century, Madhushala has lost none of its charm and meaningfulness.  The beauty of Madhushala in part lies in the fact that you can interpret the lines whichever way you want... If you look at the bare surface and read it as a tribute to alcoholism, well you'll still find it to be a magnificent and entertaining journey... either way its a beautiful and amazing composition that will leave you spellbound.

If you have heard Madhushala or read it before, you have been as lucky as I have been. And if you have not, please do get hold of a copy of the album. Listening to the composition in the voice of Manna De creates an unbelievable atmosphere. The level of Hindi is slightly higher than Std X levels as you would have guessed by now. But do give yourself up to the joys of this work, the meaning will follow itself!

Go ahead, enjoy this vigorous- and loving- tribute to the goodness of life! (or to alcohol..as you would have it) ;)

P.S.

Harivansh Rai Bachchan mentions in his autobiography that he gained so much notoriety as someone who promotes drinking that he was once summoned to give his side of the explanation to Mahatma Gandhi. Incidentally, he was a teetotaller. 

Wimbledon 2009 - The emotions

What is it about Wimbledon that produces such classics year after year after year ? If last year was about breath taking rallies and ground strokes, this year it was all about the power of the serve. Another epic match which kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Before the match, I almost expected Federer to cruise through... after all, the record suggested that. Roddick has won only 2 of their 20 meetings and none of them ever went to five sets, but sport usually has this way of making a complete mockery of any statistics. Well it was one of those affairs which make you so nervous that you just want to switch over to a different channel just for some relief from the tension but you just can't get your hands to operate the remote control. So you are just sitting there, on the edge of your seat, watching as these two men.. no, more like gladiators... slug it out on that battleground, the cauldron that is the Centre Court in front of Messrs Sampras, Rod Laver, Illi Nastase ..people who have been there, done that.. and you can't help but wonder what drives these two guys on. More than an hour into the fifth set and they still chase down the balls as if their lives depended on it.

In hindsight, there has to be a winner and there has to be a loser. So, ok the Swiss maestro, that artist with the racket, Roger Federer finally won.. his 15th Grand Slam, finally (?) cementing his place as the greatest to grace the sport. But you have to stand back and think... was it fair ? Well, sport, like life is usually unfair.. and thats the bottomline. You have to feel for Andy Roddick, you really do. There is this guy... the massive underdog who comes out and plays the best tennis of his life, whose hard work, detemination and passion put in throughout the past year really shows in the overall improvement in his game. So this guy comes out all guns blazing and takes the first set and has 3 set points in the second which, due credit to Federer, he doesn't take advantage of. You think he is down and out as Federer takes the 3rd set in a tiebreak again but he stands up. Just like all the other times he's been defeated and he has come back, stronger than before. He bounces back again and breaks the Federer serve to take the 4th !! So the better player on the day breaks his opponent twice and outplays his opponent thoughout the majority of the match. You would expect that he'd win... but hey.. life is just not fair is it ? I came across this quotation a few days back :: "Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated."

Like it or not, Andy Roddick personifies this statement. You cannot help but admire Roddick's guts, his courage. Lesser people would have given up much earlier and many still do give up without much of a fight but here is a man who has always come back stronger than before, has always strived to better himself everytime he comes on to court. So here's to Andy Roddick. Hopefully he'll come back stronger next year and finally add a Wimbledon crown to his cabinet.

Congratulations to Roger Federer on his 15th... but Roger, you've been lucky. Nadal got injured and then you were outplayed in the finals... but you won. Maybe thats what champions do, they win no matter what. But the heart belongs to Roddick, for his grit, his tenacity... Andy, you were the better player on the day, you outplayed Roger Federer of all people !! But hey, sometimes thats life... you end up on the short end.

Another epic, another final to be remembered through the ages. I cried today when Roddick lost... but I'm not ashamed of it. It seemed ironical... is there a lesson to be learnt here ? Does luck always triumph ? Maybe sometimes it does... but when you sacrifice a lot to get to something and you fall just short even when you've given your best, you start to question.. is your best not good enough ? We all face this question sometime in our lives. I've had a lot of tough times, i've felt a lot of pain... but hardly ever have I been moved to tears, but there was something about that moment when I saw the look on Andy Roddick's face when I could not hold back. I've laughed at people crying at the movies, but today it all seemed so desolate.

Anyway... a great match. Hats off to both of the players, tennis is richer because of the epic that they carved into history today.