Mayuri... (and no! it's not a girl!!!)

Manisha Xerox is a small photo-copying store behind our college that has already attained quasi-legendary status as a Mecca for any student desiring a copy of any document. The man running the place is a shrewd individual who has resorted to the clever technique of keeping extra copies of any document that he feels may be required by more than one student. Thus when the other students come they can simply 'buy' a copy rather than bring along an original to be photo-copied. He was the first photo-copying shop to set up in the vicinity and having complete monopoly over the trade, he had set his rate to a far too exorbitant 75p per copy. Now, even though there are other photo-copiers around offering services for much lower prices, he still seems to do fair business. It never ceases to amaze me!
The focus of this post though, is not Manisha Xerox but a rather non-descript, louche joint that sits right next to it.
“Mayuri Hotel”, the sign informs in Hindi. 'Hotel' is far too generous a term for it. It reminds me of one of those old Western Saloons. It's an extremely low-key affair and one would under normal circumstances not even pay it a second glance.
So why were today's circumstances not normal? Well, Siddarth (Dani) and I were standing outside Manisha (or to be more precise the shop next it), when lo and behold, a bevy of college professors come out of Mayuri!! It included a healthy mix of chaps from the Computer, Electronics and Mechanical Departments.
It wasn't the sight of the professors that startled us, but rather the number of them. It was a well-known fact that a couple of professors sought refuge in Mayuri occasionally, but we had no idea so many of them frequented the place. Some of the faces in the group too surprised us. Renowned professors whom you would NEVER associate with that cheap place!
After they left, Sid and I decided to pay the place a visit - try and figure out what those guys saw in it. When we entered the place was totally empty. No sooner had we seated ourselves at a table, than a waiter-boy placed an ashtray in front of us. That itself was enough for us to understand the motive behind the professors' visits. A 3.45pm stress busting cigarette or two! If we needed further proof, the gargantuan stack of cigarette packets on the shelves supplied it.
For the record, Dani had a soda and I had a cup (make it a glass) of tea. The ambience of the place was actually pretty nice. It kinda makes you forget that you are just 30 meters from that hellhole you call college. The soft music playing in the background gives you that village feeling, and the place was surprisingly clean given its shady appearance.
The posters on the wall seemed to belong to a decade long past and to our astonishment, the prices seemed just as medieval. It's one of the few places where no matter what you order, you will quite likely end up paying the bill in coins!
We're thinking of making another appearance there one of these days when it's actually filled with profs. And who knows, maybe even light up a ciggie! And kiss our term-work marks good-bye!!

The Truth be Known...

Far too many people have waxed eloquent about the supposed positve qualities of VIT; counterfeit allocutions by faculty members at various events, fake speeches by parents during the Annual Day function, phony articles by sycophantic students etc. Hence, my aim today is to represent the true picture in the form of an uncensored diatribe where political correctness has been intentionally ignored.

My first complaint involves the unnecessary load of journal-work that is ruthlessly dumped on students. There is little sense in the machine-like copying of vast quantities of information, which is often wrong and rarely ellicits more than a fleeting glance from the concerned staff. In fact, this semester one of the assignments involved the copying - word for word - of an Intel Manual! I have seldom come across anything more ludicrous!

Absolutely nothing of any merit is achieved through this asinine exercise. Never will the student learn anything, for he will do nothing more than copy blindly from his mate's journal, who in turn will have copied it from someone before him. As this chain of Chinese Whispers (or should it be Chinese Transcriptions?) progresses, the amount of errors in the write-up inevitably undergo the process of cumulation. Thus a majority of the students will have write-ups that contain more mistakes than correct statements!

The simplest solution to this problem is to simply do away with the idea of write-up's. Completely. The focus should be on comprehension and not scribe-like blind copying, Thus at the end of every practical a student will have to fill up a printed sheet with his observations and conclusions of that practical turn. The student will then be subjected to an oral examination by the concerned staff member followed by the staff member signing his sheet. This sheet is then filed away and need not be looked at again until the final submission. This idea will work extremely well for FE and SE practicals. A slight revamping may be necessary to adapt it for TE and BE practicals.

The teaching staff aren't the greatest in the world either. Of the five subject lecturers I have this semester, one is a hypocritical, schizophrenic megalomaniac; another is as capricious as a Persian Sultan; the third is as ignorant about her subject as Mickey Mouse (at least she's honest enough to admit it though!); the fourth spews out a steady stream of words at a rate faster than Ricky Ponting, ensuring all of us are fast asleep; and the fifth is, well, decent.

Most of the staff speak English only a little better than I speak Hindi, thus providing for entertainment as well as 'education' during their lectures. The lectures consist of the mechanical repetition of information that they have learned by rote from some book. In fact, I remember one professor last semester who was a little more clever; he didn't waste his time learning anything by heart, but instead employed the better expedient of simply carrying the book to class and copying it ad verbatim onto the board! Asking questions to any of them would be fruitless, for even on the extremely rare occasion that they actually try to listen to (and understand!) the point you have to make, they will be incompetent to provide an answer.

The sole reason they command any respect from the students is because of the term-work and practical exam marks that they wield. And wield effectively, I may add. Some of them are not averse to using these marks in a manner that amounts to downright emotional blackmail. This leads to scores of sycophantic students who will gladly condescend to sweeping the ground in front of these teachers.

The library staff is not much better. In fact they are far worse. Their cold eyes and emotionless faces lead me to hypothesize that they can probably trace their Aryan lineage to somewhere in Germany and share a common ancestor with the Führer himself. A smile on their faces is rarer than a Ganguly century. God forbid anyone should ever require any assistance from them, for it will be as forthcoming as gold doubloons from a miser.

I have a bone to pick with the management staff of the college too. I believe that the people laying down the law in the college are too old. This is the reason for the preposterous rules that are in existence today. They also possess a Conservative ideology which frustrates this modern day Liberal to no end. I was born into a free country, but that freedom ceases to exist when I step over into the confines of my college. I am not allowed to use my mobile phone, wear the kind of garb I wish to don or kiss a girl in college because these things are prohibited! During the Annual Gathering, the band is not allowed to perform Rock songs because it goes against the "Indian Culture"! I once even got into trouble for carrying a cigarette lighter to college!

I think the best way to improve matters on this front is to get rid of all the gray hair in the college offices. Bring younger faces into the management and things may attain a semblance of normalcy. I'm not saying all of the younger staff are better at making rules, but I feel they are less likely to come up with ridiculous canons like the ones currently existing.

The above screed already paints a dismal picture of the state of affairs in our college. Throw in a canteen that serves only over-priced vegetarian food, a severe paucity of parking space and a lack of adequate sporting facilities and the picture only becomes more bleary!

How to pass your time in college !

The following was penned down during one of my more boring lectures...


PERFECT STRANGERS
-----------------

I see her face in my mind's eye,
She looks at me and aloud does sigh.

I know her eyes, her nose, her lips,
Her cute dimples and the curve of her hips.

I know everything and yet have no clue,
About who she is, or what I should do.

She knows me too, though nought can she tell,
About who I am, or where I dwell.

We've talked a thousand times before,
Plenty of stories and jokes galore.

That we're in love, there can be no doubt,
But sheer despair make me want to shout.

The love we share is of many kinds,
But we've only met in each others minds!

A Cricket Post (for a change...)

Watched an exciting final session of the India-Pakistan Test Series today. It's always nice when a series boils down to the very last session. This time it was Pakistan who walked away with the smiles plastered on their faces. I got the feeling that Inzy could have declared a little earlier yesterday, but then hindsight is a powerful tool! Anyways, the final result today vindicated his decision.
There was a small session post tea, where Tendulkar had decided quite resolutely to duck under anything remotely short. This resulted in one not-so-short Sami delivery hitting him in the back of his helmet. He wasn't even fazed.
Now the point is, have you realized just how many times this happens in modern cricket? I mean a batsman getting hit on the helmet and just shrugging it off! Makes you admire all those batsmen who belonged to an era when a felt cap was all the cranial protection you had. I think Sachin would think not twice but 20 times before hooking or pulling a fast bowler were he batting without the luxury of the helmet. Which is just one of the reasons why you cannot compare him with batsmen like Bradman. Even Sir Viv batted for most of his career without a helmet and assaulted some of the fastest bowlers of his time with his ferocious pull.
It brings to mind an incident where Ponting had gotten hit in the jaw trying to pull Shoaib Akhtar delivery while not wearing a helmet. Many people may consider this sheer stupidity on the part of RP, I think it was a manifestation of his gutsy, I-don't-give-a-damn-about-you spirit. There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity and I think Ponting was on the correct side of that line.
I'd like to see more batsmen coming out without the helmet, even to face fast bowlers. It's fine if tail-enders wish to wear a helmet, but I feel the better batsmen of the world should not. The game's already skewed in favor of the batsmen; let's make it a little more interesting.

Time to Take a Hike!

I believe it's time to get all these senile old buffoons away from the podium. It's ludicrous to see quinquagenarians and sexagenarians teaching young students in their early 20's.
Firstly, there is an obvious mis-match of frequency between these two age groups. It's almost impossible that they will see eye-to-eye on anything. I speak from personal experience as well as that of my college mates. Neither can either group understand the mentality of the other, nor will they make an effort to do so. This results in inevitable conflict. The younger teachers ,on the other hand, are much more adept at understanding the students. They themselves have just graduated and are more aware of the problems faced by students. Also, there's much less formality required when dealing with these younger teachers and so one can freely express one's self without fear of what may happen.
It is also foolhardy to expect someone who has studied sometime during the Korean War to teach young Computer Engg. undergrads like us. I mention Comp. Engg. here because the fast pace of advancement in technology today means that this effect is more noticeable in this field than in most others. For example, it is understandable for a 60 year old to be teaching Shakespeare to people majoring in English, but not for someone of the same age to be teaching me Micro-processors!
I have always found the younger teachers to be better teachers - both in terms of attitude as well as knowledge. Of course, this like any other rule is subject to exceptions. But on the whole it holds true. My top three profs are all under the age of 30.
What are all the white- haired oldies supposed to do? Play golf, maybe?

Boo-Hoo's

Well, all those who know me will easily testify to the fact that I never cry. NEVER cry. N-E-V-E-R C-R-Y!

I don't know why. It's just that I was never very good at expressing emotion and for some reason I would never cry. I could never cry.

Even through the most heart-wrenching incidents or events, I would always have a dry eye. I was very Chandler-like in that respect. In fact I would normally try to break the melancholy or awkwardness with some joke, which would then result in my getting disapproving stares from all around.

So it will come as a surprise to most that I have cried twice in the last three days! And I've now realized that it's not all that hard to do so. I used to wonder how girls could let the tears flow so easily, but I'm now beginning to believe it's not the toughest thing in the world. I guess it's all in the first time.

Both occasions were the result of my reading a mail. Email to be more precise. The emails were dated 30th Dec and 31st Dec, and it's not the first time I'd read them. The only difference was this time, I didn't try not to cry.

I was alone both times and so no one has seen me cry yet. I guess that's one thing that's going to be even tougher to overcome - actually being able to let the tears out in front of other people. I'm not sure when (or even if) I'll be able to do that but it sure would be better to have a shoulder to cry on.

Anyways, it does feel nice to let all that emotion out instead of keeping it inside...

:-(

I just read in the newspaper today, that there was a shoot-out in Diamond Queen Cafe yesterday afternoon. It's a scary thought, since the place is not more than 10 minutes from my house and I have been there quite often.
Apparently, there was some enmity between these two blokes, and when one of them entered the place the other who was already inside drew out a gun and fired. Luckily, the bullet did not hit the target and no one was injured.
For all those of you living in Bombay or any other big city, this may not seem like such a big deal, but it disturbs me. The increase in crime in Poona in the last few years is a worrying factor and leaves me sad.
I sincerely do hope things will change and brighter days are ahead.

Happy Easter

Another week has flown by, and the end of the term neareth. It shall be accompanied by the customary scramble to get in all one's sumbmissions before the tolling of the death knell. I fear sleepless nights lie ahead...

The weather has become unbearably hot, and it's still March! I do not wish to contemplate about what it will be like in the coming two months. I wish our college would establish a strict dress code consisting of the following -

All guys must come in basketball shorts and sleeveless vests.
All gals must come in hot-pants and bikini tops.

(People like Tejas Chitnis may have the liberty of choosing either attire, or even a cross between the two! ;-) )

I'm sure it would not only serve to beat the heat, but also ensure an appreciable rise in the attendance! I'm going to drop this suggestion somewhere in college. Let's see what happens!

Does anyone out there know the price of a second hand, reasonably well maintained Mahindra Classic Jeep? And also does anyone know someone who's selling? Any information would be appreciated.

And finally, A HAPPY EASTER TO Y'ALL!! Hope you received a visit from your little leporine friend ;-) !!

I need a Break!

On at least a half-dozen occasions in the past month, I have been searching for something in my room only to find myself sub-conciously wondering why I wasn’t using Google or Ctrl-F.
Guess I have been sitting at the computer for way too long off-late!

All you Girls can wear Black Today!

Almost everyone who knows me, asks why I don't have a haircut more often? Mes amis, read on...

I go for a haircut around twice a year. I can't understand how most people go for one every month or so. I can think of few more torturous ordeals than this one. The hair-dresser's chair differs little from its electric cousin in my eyes. Even a visit to a dentist is slightly more pleasureable. At least he speaks English...
Ah, yes! Therein lies my first problem. Now, I am normally fairly garrulous when it comes to speaking in English; but should the conversation switch to Hindi and all traces of eloquence vanish like the mist on a summer's morning. Words are few and far between, and rarely consist of more than one syllable. How am I supposed to convey to the hair-dresser exactly what I want? To add to my woes, most hair-dressers are as loquacious as an old lady who's been drinking too much.

(All converstions were in Hindi and have been translated.)

The first thing that I had to do on entering the place, was wait for about 20 minutes until someone was free. The only form of divertissement present were some tattered Filmfare magazines, and since I possess less than zero interest in Bollywood, I spent my time reconsidering my decision to let go of my long locks. When my turn came, this dubiety must have been amply manifested on my visage, for the bloke pounced on it with the predatory skill of a hungry hawk.


"What can I do?"
"Just cut my hair, mate."

Might as well get it over and done with, I thought.

"Are you sure? Why don't you just straighten it? You'll look very nice with straight hair."


Yeah, of course you'd think so. It's gonna fetch you a few hundred bucks. And I prefer my compliments coming from girls, thank you!


"No thanks."
"Really? Why would you want to get rid of this long hair? I'm telling you, just try straightening it. Then you can comb it back this way." He indicates how it should be combed back. I start to look like a cross between a young Macaulay Culkin and something out of a Mafia movie.


No, you dumbass. Just the haircut.


"NO!"
"What about a shave?"
"No again."


I prefer the stubble, if it’s all the same to you.


He starts cutting my hair.
“How should I cut it?”
“Nice and short.”
“Yeah, but how short?”
“About this much.” I indicate with my finger about half an inch.
“Really? Why do you want it so short?”


Because its MY hair, in case you didn’t realise.


I don’t answer, thinking that maybe silence would put an end to his questions. I guess I had failed to realize the tenacity of this individual.

“What about coloring your hair?”


What the hell! Forget about my hair, my face was already turning red.


“No.”
He continues cutting, now focussing his confabulatory skills on other innocent customers around me. I drift away in thought.

After a couple of minutes, he brings me back to reality.

“How would you like your sidelocks?”
“Normal, nothing fancy.”
“Straight or slanting.”
“Straight.”
He then proceeds to cut them at a slant.


Why the hell did you ask me in that case?


After a few more minutes, he asks me whether my hair was short enough. He must have been blind, because it wasn’t even close to the half inch I had indicated.

“No, cut it shorter.” I indicated with my finger again.

His scissors waved around little more, and again he stopped well short of the desired mark. He proceeded to comb my hair back.

“Shorter still. And I don’t want it combed back.”
“Why? This length suits you perfectly. And if you comb it back, you will look simply superb.”


I already mentioned that I do not approve of guys complmenting me on my looks, and am even more uncomfortable when the guy doing that is playing around with my hair! I’m torn between insisting on getting my hair cut shorter and running away like the Devil was after me.


I choose the middle road. “Great. This will do just fine.” I rise to leave.

“Wait, would you like a shave?”

Does your memory need refreshing every 10 minutes?

“No, I don’t.”

“A head massage?”
“No.”

“A facial?”
“No.”

I could already see another question forming on his lips. I gave him the stop-before-you-cross-the-line look. He pays heed.

I quickly thrust the (a tad too exorbitant) fees into his hand and scram. Stopping only long enough to dishevel my combed back hair.

(The End)


Now you all know why I hate having a haircut. I’m thinking of reducing the frequency from half-yearly to yearly.

Gree-dee Dee-Dee ?

I have heard a lot about how DD’s coverage of the ongoing cricket series with Pakistan has been abyssmal. I normally hardly ever watch the TV and so had no first hand experience of the same. Today, I happened to watch a few minutes of the game and finally realized what everyone meant.
As pointed out by many others, no sooner has a wicket fallen or an over been completed, they go into a commercial break. This normally involves cutting the commentator off mid-sentence, and often they do not return from the break until at least a ball of the next over has already been bowled.
One other thing that I’ve noticed is that there is a small scoreboard under the DD logo in the corner of the screen during a commercial break. I realized it’s more of a necessity than a surlus, seeing as almost as much time is spent on commercials as on the game itself. I guess even the folks at DD have realized their mistake!

American Desi?

Today for the umpteenth time, I was reminded by Kunal T of how I am a disgrace to the country because of all my "American-isms". To give you a 'for example' - how I use 'color' instead of 'colour', how i refer to 100,000 as 'a hundred thousand' instead of 'one lakh', how I say 'elevator' not 'lift', how I do this how I do that.
I beg to differ. Do I plead guilty to doing the above things (and more)?
Yup. Guilty as charged. HOWEVER I do not believe that makes me any less "Indian". Sure I don't speak Hindi, don't give a rat's arse about the Indian cricket team and yeah you can even throw the fact that I prefer KFC to tandoori chicken in my face, but I repeat THAT DOES NOT MAKE ME LESS INDIAN!
I could actually do with a little backing up here from my cousin Lara. She's Canadian and never fails to keep commenting on just how "Indian" I am. For example, the way I said my elbow's "paining" instead of "hurting". And even the way I answer the phone, "Hallo..." (though I still in the dark on what "Indian-ness" she observes in that)!
To get back to my original point though, I was born in this country and have lived my entire life (upto this point) here. I may hate the weather, the political scenario, the general attitude towards a lot of things, blah blah..., BUT it's hard after all that time not to fall in love with the place. So even if I do leave this place in a year or so (hopefully), I'll always have a little piece of it in my heart. And I'll always be back for some more!
(About the 100,000 thing - it's just so much easier to think in terms of multiples of 3 as powers. Like thousand-million-billion... Rather than the other way. And besides, I'm a Computer Engg student!! K-M-G... what else do you expect?)

How was I supposed to know?

Today I received some startling news - a guy I had known since a few years turns out to be gay. I'm not giving his name out here, some of you may be able to guess!
I didn't really know him all that well; more of a "hi-bye" kinda thing. I would meet him at all the basketball tournaments. But whoa! I'm surprised!!
Anyways, it explains a lot. How even though he always had this stud-like image and swagger, he was never really ever associated with any particular girl. And it's not as if he had to try - today when our girls' basketball team heard about it, they were all like, "Oh, what a waste!"
It also explains a lot of other smaller things that I shall not bother to mention here, but I do have a question to pose -
What if your best friend, of the same sex of course, suddenly turns out to be gay? What would you do?
Awaiting some replies...
(Sounds like the stuff one could make a movie on!)

"Comment" allez Vous?

After a lot of pestering, I finally got down to actually adding Haloscan's Comment facility to my blog. I know it's long overdue, but I was just too lazy to do anything about it earlier.
So folks please justify my efforts by drowning me with a deluge of comments.
Here's hoping to the same ... ;-)

A Tale of Two Dreams...

I've had some weird dreams in my life, but two that I've had this past week deserve a special mention...

The first (and in my opinion, less weird) dream was related to Fermat's Last Theorem (FLT). For the ignorant among you, Fermat was a 17th century amateur mathematician who had written, in the margin of a book he was studying, the following statement -

/*
There exist no non-trivial whole number solutions in 'x', 'y' and 'z' for the equation (x^n) + (y^n) = (z^n), for n > 2.
*/

This is Fermat's Last Theorem. Here, non-trivial means one of the numbers cannot be 0. If n = 2, we have the Pythogoras Theorem, with infinite whole number solutions. Fermat's bold statement claims that for all other n greater than 2, the number of whole number solutions drop from infinite to zero!
The proposition was followed by the following (arguably even bolder) statement -

/*
For the above theorem, I have a truly wonderful proof, which this margin is too small to contain.
*/

The fame that this theorem has now accrued owes its existence to this very statement. For, in the 350 years that have followed the discovery of Fermat's proposition in the margin of the book, numerous top mathematicians have tried to conjure up a valid proof for it. None have succeeded. Neither has anyone been able to supply a counter-example to disprove the theorem. Many proofs have come close, but only to have some flaw ultimately discovered in them.

The latest note-worthy proof attempt, was submitted by Andrew Wiles in 1993, and two years later a modified version by Wiles and Richard Taylor in 1995. Although, some believe this proof to be valid, its gargantuan nature and the highly complex math that it involves means that it would be sometime before we can be sure. Thus, as far as I am concernced, FLT is still unconquered.

Anyways, to get to my dream. I dreamt that I had somehow managed to prove FLT. And not just prove it, but do so with an exceedingly simple argument that required no more than a page to pen down (Wiles' consisted of more than 100 pages!). This proof of mine brought with it instant fame and recognition, albeit only amongst the geeky/nerdy population that evince any interest in stuff of an academic nature.

The second dream of mine was of a rather apocalyptic nature...

I dreamt that I was the second coming of Christ! Yeah, hard to swallow I know. In fact a few hundred years ago just mentioning a dream like this would mean running the risk of a premature fiery death with a wooden stake for company!
I am not Catholic (or even Christian) but then neither was Jesus! He was a Jew!

Anyways, in my dream I keep my secret until I'm 30 when I let it out to the world. This angers a lot of people, and I too am crucified at 33. For those 3 years though, I go around preaching that the end of the world is near, and everyone would face Judgement soon. I'm mocked by most, but some people do believe and follow me. Somehow, in some strange way, the mocking and resistance that I encounter doesn't seem to bother me at all.
As soon as I'm crucified, my prophecy starts to come about. There's instant darkness throughout the world, followed by a bright flash of light. Everyone starts to see horrible visions of what lies ahead for them. People are running about and screaming in terror. Within a few hours, everyone is dead and civilization as we know it comes to an end.

I'm not sure what brought about this dream, but I assume that the Da Vinci code and some of the studying of the Bible that I have been doing recently did the trick.

Woe is me!!

I am tired. I seek rest. But first I shall disburden myself of some of my thoughts.

Question - What is the difference between blowing someone and participating in the Programming contest at Concepts '05, PICT?
Asnwer - Both leave you with an unpleasant taste in your mouth, but at least in the former case a mint gets rid of it!

Today, Kunal T and I were two of the unfortunate souls who had to experience that tribulation. Concepts normally attracts excellent sponsorships and we had high hopes. We couldn't have been more mistaken!
Firstly, the Elims - all theory questions! Everything about polymorphism, inheritance, abstraction. Horribly framed questions, ambiguous choices for answers, and a weird marking scheme that we weren't even aware of. The Elims were on the computer and the software designed for conducting it was pathetic to say the least. The questions weren't completely visible and each answer involved clicking about 5 different buttons!
Somehow, strangely enough, we managed to get through the Elims; but that's when we were given a stark reminder of the old "out of frying pan, into fire" cliche! The sponsors for the Programming Contest were Capsilon and the finals were judged, and to a large extent conducted by an asshole who had come from the company. That was a harbinger of what was to lie ahead.
The three problems were once again extremely theory related rather than logic related. We were supposed to solve any two of the three with Problem No. 3 given extra weightage. We solved no. 3 and no. 2 pretty satisfactorily. Or so we thought. When he came to judge us, he barely glanced at our code and only tried the output for a couple of inputs all of which worked. A few questions and he was gone. Not bad, we thought.
Then after he's done judging everyone, he starts dropping the real bomb-shells. He says he 'expected' industrial standard coding and comments!?! What the hell!! The only reason people use comments and industrial standard coding is because in the industry you or someone else is going to look at your code after a few weeks or months and is going to have to understand what you have coded. Here, when our programs are never going to be viewed again post the contest, why the need for all this shit? That too when there's a time limit for the damn thing!!
Anyways, we didn't win (maybe he just didn't like my unkempt look!?!) and we didn't even get finalists certificates. However, we did get a Capsilon T-shirt and a sales talk of why we should join the company when we pass out. Oh, and yeah, that unpleasant taste in our mouths!
If only I could write a program to supply some people with brains!! *sighs*

Do you believe .... ?

"For those who believe, no evidence in necessary;
For those who do not, none will suffice."

Live from the Staple Center ...

Hey folks!! It's that time of the year again; when I get to dish out the Arnies. Awards recognizing excellence in various fields. So without any further delay I'd like to present *music* THE 34th ANNUAL ARNIE AWARDS!! *applause applause*

The following are the winners (in no particular order)

-> Most competent at making an ass of one's self:- Animesh
This one was really tough. It was hard (read: impossible) to decide between Aminesh and IIT!! But then I ultimately decided that Animesh was slightly better!

-> Best Novel:- "The Da Vinci Code" - Dan Brown
Pretty good book. Nice blend of fact and fiction.

-> Most interesting movie:- The Passion of Christ
I know most of you'll must be throwing virtual rotten eggs at me for this choice but... Hey that's one of the privileges of having your own award ceremony!

-> Most gay:- Animesh
Don't need to say too much about this... *blushes*

-> Biggest upset victory:- Greece in Euro 2004, Portugal
I picked this instead of Congress over BJP in the Parliamentary Elections, India, May 2004 for no reason other than I like soccer more than politics!

-> Worst TV Show:- Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin
I couldn't decide between JJKN and Indian Idol, both shows that are immensely popular with the general public but I totally loathe. I think I hate JJKN a tiny bit more though.

-> Most fun to hang out with:- Lara
Not a hard choice. Thanks for an amazing December.

-> Best new TV serial:- The Joey Show
For a die hard F*R*I*E*N*D*S fan this wasn't a hard pick.

-> Biggest let-down:- 31st Dec 2004
My worst New-Year's ever. Very disappointing - especially after my best Christmas ever... *smiles*

->Sexiest Accent:- Zahra (Australian)
Hard choice. But I like her accent a lot and think I'll go with it.

-> Best Substitute German Teacher:- Julia
(and Julia and Julia and...)

-> Best Soccer Team:- Arsenal
Yeah, I know they're screwing up big time now, but they were pretty awesome over last one year or so.

-> Easiest Lay:- Garima
(Although I don't speak from personal experience!!)

-> Hottest New Sportsperson:- Sania Mirza
Her meteoric rise into the top 100 (she's ranked 73 as I write) has captured hearts of many in the country. While I myself do not quite believe she has the potential to reach the very top, she certainly is amply blessed with oomph-factor!! *fans himself under the collar* It was hard to leave out Maria Sharapova in this category but I'd give it to SM over MS if for no better reason than a dash of patriotism.

-> Lifetime Entertainment Award (whatever that means!!):- F*R*I*E*N*D*S
It was heart-wrenchingly sad to bid adieu to our favorite sitcom and there were tears all along. Life without Rachel, Ross, Joey, Chandler, Monica and Phoebe just isn't the same. For the record, I haven't seen the final episode yet!

That's all for this year. I'd give away more awards but I don't really have the time. Congratulations to all the winners, and losers - you suck!!! Till next year then ...

Claudia

Royston and I both hail from that tiny paradise state of Goa, and in our college that makes us rarer than an honest lawyer!
So you can imagine our joy when we find out about a week back that there's another Goan named Claudia over in the Electronics Dept. Since then we've been trying to meet her. But what with all the extra stuff going on and a bit of rotten luck, we've been unsuccessful uptil now. Whenever we meet anyone from the Elex Dept who knows her, she's never around. And neither is she around when we go to the Dept itself. Today we tried again, but to our misfortune, she had already left. As it transpired, today was her birthday and so she had left early.
A lot of our friends who know her are surprised we're searching for her and say something like, "Why do you want to find her? She's not a great looker."
And then we go, "You sickos, why can't you understand that the only reason we want to meet her is because she's Goan. If her name was Claude and she was a guy, we'd still be as interested in meeting her!"
Some people are just sick!!
Hopefully we'll have better luck tomorrow!

What's a perfect way to waste time??

the following is a stupid fowarded questionnaire that i actually took the time to fill out (and now i can't imagine why!)

SIMPLE QUESTIONS:

01. Full name:
>> Arnold D'Souza

02. Nicknames:
>> Arnie, Joey and 2by2 (don't ask me how that last one came about!!)

03. Eyes:
>> Black

04. Height:
>> 5' 11"

05. Siblings:
>> Yup. One sis - younger.


06. Do u like to sing in the shower?
>> Yeah.. quite often.. n then i come out n find a crowd gathered outside the door n am really embarrassed!!

07. Birthday:
>> 3rd Sep '84

08. Star sign:
>> Figure it out - i dun really know!

09. Address:
>>Like your gonna write ?! *rolls eyes*

10. Sex:
>>Yup would definitely like some!!

11. Right or left:
>>Right or left what?? Handed - right .. but political standpoint - DEFINITELY LEFT!!

12. What do you want in a relationship most:
>> I dunno.. or rather I know but can't really put it into words

13. Maritial status:
>> Single n happy

15. What kinda car do you have/want?
>> right now just have my motor-bike.. so i'd take just about any one that moved.. even like an old '83 ford pick-up .. lol

FAVORITES -

16. Movie
>> not much of a movie guy.. but if i had to pick - Ocean's 11

17. Song :
>> All time favs would have to be - Hotel California, Coming Back to Life, Sultans of Swing and Stairway to Heaven .. but there just too many others that i like to name

18. Band/singer:
>> Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Guns n Roses, The Eagles, Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi n like a zillion more rock bands .. most of them from the 80's n early 90's...

19. TV Show:
>> F*R*I*E*N*D*S

20. Actor:
>>Brad Pitt ??

21. Actress:
>> holy crap!! this one's too hard to pick... umm .. jen aniston, a jolie, demi moore and meg ryan... there managed to keep it down to four!!

23. Number:
>> 23 (yeah, yeah!! becoz of MJ!)

24. Cartoon:
>> Garfield

25. Disney Character:
>> none!!

26. Colour:
>> blue .. n green (n maybe black too!)

LOVE LIFE ETC:

27. Do you plan on having children:
>> i was dead against it until about 2 months back, but now i've changed my mind.. so yeah.


28. Do you want to get married:
>> again same as above.. was against getting married until someone changed my opinion about that too 2 months ago...


29. How old do you wanna be when you have your first child?
>> I don't really care .. maybe 28-30 ?!?

30. How old do you want to be when your married:
>>again dun really care.. but about 27- 28 ?!?

31. Would you have kids before marriage:
>> nope..

32. Do you have a b/f or g/f
>> no..... *sighs*

EITHER-OR (PICK WHICH ONE YOU PREFER)

33. Music/TV:
>> music

34. Guys/Girls:
>> i like a group of guys... but i'd prefer one single girl anytime...

35 Green/blue:
>> blue (hard choice!)

36. Pink/Purple:
>> Purple (not so hard!)

37. Summer/Winter:
>> Winter (the summers here are infernally hot!)

38. Night/Day:
>> night

39. Hangin Out/Chillin:
>> is there a difference?? *looks confused*

40. Dopey/Funny:
>> Funny

GENERAL STUFF

41. Weird saying u have?
>> here's one that i dnt use often, but it's def weird - "why don't you take a flying fuck off a rolling donut!"

42. what skool do u go to?
>> i went to st. vincent's

43. Have you ever taken drugs?
>> nah

44. What's a major turn on for you?
>> in a girl?? hot body, good attitude (and it wudnt hurt if she was the daughter of a millionaire!!)

45. How far would you go on a first date?
>> far as she wants to

46. About Friends:

A) mOsT bLoNdE:
>> phoebe

B) BeSt person:
>> all of them (cept maybe monica!)


C) NiCeSt:
>> rachel ??

D) FuNnIeSt:
>> chandler !! (is tht even a questn??)

E) HaPpIeSt:
>> phoebs!!

F) StRaNgEsT:
>> def phoebs!!


G) MoSt CaRiNg:
>> mon?

H) SmArTeSt:
>> ross

I) BeSt pErSoNaLiTy:
>> i dunno... rachel ?!?

J) BeSt aLL aRoUnD pErSoN:
>> i like rachel

(okie n i just realized the above questions were supposed to be about my friends and not "F*R*I*E*N*D*S" .. but wtf!!)

47. Which 5 people would u trust the most:
>> dun trust noone!!


48. What do you think of soul mates?
>> i dun think of them !! (hehe)

49. Is it right to flirt if you have a bf/gf?
>> sure (if i do it... ) and of course not (if she wants to do it!)

50. What was the last thing you cried over or got teary about?
>> i dun normally cry.. in fact i can only remember dropping one tear in the last zillion years ... n that was because of a particular letter...

51 What's something about guys/girls you don't get?
>> guys - not much... girls - almost everything!

52. Are you happy?
>> not really .. but yeah.. i guess .. i dunno *scratches head*

53. Why?
>>why wht??

54. What's an object you can't live without?
>> nuthing... dun really give too much importance to objects..

55. Love or lust:
>>love

56. Silver or gold:
>> neither.. cept if u're talking about a medal.. then gold

57. Diamond or pearl:
>> neither again

58. Sunset or sunrise:
>> sunset

59. Have you ever gone skinny dippin ?
>> no but i'd like to

60.Do you sleep with stuffed animals:
>> no.. but if i'm sleeping alone (as i normally am) i sometimes hug a pillow!!

61. Do you have any piercings:
>> no

62. What colour underpants are you wearing right now:
>> gray

63. What song r u listening to rite now?
>> "Vulnerable" - Roxette

64. What are the last four digits of your phone number?
>> ..0952

65. Where would you want to go on your honeymoon?
>> the caribbean.. or maybe some greek islands.. some where by the sea def..

66. Who u want to spend the rest of your life with?
>> haven't her yet...

67. Football/soccer:
>> neither

68. What makes you happy?
>> putting on my special-magic-multicolored-happy-undies!!!

69.Do u wear contacts or glasses?
>> no

70. What's the best advice given to you?
>> to pay no heed to anyone's advice!!

71. Have u ever won any special awards?
>> yup i was given the medal of honor for my courageous efforts in vietnam!!

72. What are your future goals?
>> given it no thought

73. Worst sickness u ever had?
>> never had any major illness

74. On the phone or in person?
>> In person

75. Hugs or Kisses?
>> both

76. What song seems to reflect you the most?
>> cant think of any song...

77. If you died tomorrow who would you leave everything you own to?
>> my long lost twin brother who's currently working as a missionary deep in the jungles of borneo!

78. Do u have any enemies?
>> i prob do..

79. What is your greatest fear?
>> never finding that someone special.. *sighs loudly*.

80. Would you rather be rich or famous?
>> famous... rich... neither..

81. What time is it in Alabama:
>> does it look i fucking care??

82. Have you ever been in love?
>> a lot of passing infatuations.. but love?? maybe just once i think...

83. Have you met Santa?
>> yeah.. along with the easter bunny n the tooth fairy!!

84. If E.T. knocked on your door holding up a peace sign asking to use your phone...?
>> sure why not!

85.Talked about how u REALLY feel with someone u can trust?
>> yeah.. with only one person.. ever

86.Pets?
>> nah

87. Email Address?
>> arnold_y2k@hotmail.com

88. When have you been depressed:
>> many times....

89. Are you an alcoholic?
>> no.. but i do drink on occasions

90. Who sent this to you?
>> lars

91. What do you think of this person?
>> i think she's the most amazing girl i've known.. too bad she's my cuz.. (lol)

92. Do u want your friends to write back?
>> dun care

94. Which is better, League or Union?
>> what the fuck??

95. Name all of your friends:
>> which pee-brained ass came up with this questn??

96. What would you do if a person of the same sex tried to hit on you?
>> (it's already hppnd!! btw) get out of there.. fast!

97. What religion are you?
>> no religion

98. Do you agree with religions?
>> nope

99. Are you one of those people who wait for things to happen, or go out and make things happen?
>> second option

100. What is the thing you look forward to the most in your life?
>> finding the perfect girl!!!

I think, therefore I am ... BORED!!

Holy kabolies!! I've never been so bored in my life. Today was a holiday, which was bad because it only added to the boredom. Even watching the India-Pak series may seem interesting after this!! (Yeah, in case you haven't guessed - I'm not a great cricket fan, and don't really like watching the game unless Australia is playing *AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE GO GO GO*!!!)

Yesterday, I was the judge at a programming contest, although calling it a programming contest is being a wee bit too generous for my liking. There were five teams in the finals none of whom were worthy of being called programmers. One team was so stupid they were actually writing down code in their notebook instead of on the computer. *shakes head in disgust* Another team solved only half a problem (out of the stipulated four) and left!!
Like I said, none of the teams deserved to win. But out of compulsion to declare a winner, we managed to pick out one team that sucked (only a little bit) less than the others. The team that we gave second place to were angry because they thought they should have won. In your dreams, buddies!!

Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed myself because as judge you rule. Whatever you say goes. You can be as rude or as nice as you want. Made me feel like one of the judges on a TV Reality show. American Idol or something. FUN FUN FUN!

But it also made me want to take part in a PC again. Haven't been in one for so long. Almost a year, I think. And if all the PC's have shit-headed teams like these, then winning should be a cinch. But from past experience I know it ain't true. (Which makes me wonder all the more where these assholes came from?!?)

I've also decided to go on a weight-gaining mission. Yeah, I know everyone's trying to shed those extra pounds -but then hey! I've always been different. I'm currently only 143 pounds (143 pounds of pure, unadulterated muscle, I may add) and think it would be a good idea to put on maybe another 20 pounds or so. Of muscle not fat. Any suggestions on how to go about it are welcome. So far my best plan comprised of purchasing a "How to Shed 20 Pounds in 2 Weeks" book and doing the opposite of everything it said!!

Freedom of Press ?!?

The following article was rejected by the College Magazine for reasons they refuse to mention...

Fascism in VIT?


I write this article in the wake of a new and inane rule brought into effect by the new Dean Academics of our college. This rule states that no student may use his/her mobile phone anywhere in the college campus. Any student caught doing so will have his/her mobile phone confiscated.
Anyone who thought this rule was too ludicrous to be enforced was in for a rude shock as within the first week itself of it coming into effect several students had their phones confiscated by the faculty. By faculty I mean Dean Academics, and by confiscated I mean rudely snatched away.
The objections I have against such a rule are multi-fold. Firstly, if students are to be banned from using cell phones in college then why not teachers and other staff too? Are they divine creatures expectorated onto this planet by God himself? How is it that teachers are not only permitted to use their cell phones in college but they have the temerity and insolence to leave them in the ringing mode during lectures and even during exams? If one is going to ban students from using phones in college then I suggest that everyone including the principal be banned.
In all fairness, the initial notice that came to our class clearly stated "students and teachers are prohibited..." but it seems to have had little effect on them. In fact now all notices that are currently displayed on notice boards around the college mention only students being prohibited. The teacher's part has been conveniently omitted. Ridiculous! And in any case, even if it was prohibited for teachers, it still begged the question of who was going to confiscate their phones. The seems to be only one logical solution - if the faculty go around confiscating phones from students, then students should be given the right to return the favor!
However, I would like to address the more relevant issue of why such a rule should come into existence in the very first place? Why is it that students should be prohibited from using cell phones in college? There seems to be no logic whatsoever in such a farcical rule. I can understand ensuring that students do not use their phones during a lecture or practical, but what is the sin in using them in corridors? Mobile phones are a welcome technological gadget and their use must not be hampered by such asinine behavior. The past few weeks have seen a spate of inter-collegiate events as well as the Annual Social Gathering being organized in our college. The success of these events was in part due to the use of mobiles and other such technology. Sure, one may argue that 10 years ago such events would have been organized and co-ordinated sans mobile phones so why the need for them now. However such an argument is about as sensible as a ban on TV's and cars would be. Any advancements in technology must be welcomed and not rejected.
I would like to conclude by hoping that by the time this article is published this rule would have been abrogated and if it hasn't then that this article helps in its rescindment.

Women's Day ?!?!

Today, 8th March, is supposed to be Women's Day. Here are some thoughts on the matter. And in case you expect me to wax eloquent only on how women are mistreated and abused in today's world, you've tuned into the wrong station pal!
I'd like to start off by stating that it seems to me that Women's Day comes more than once a year. I don't know why but I get that weird feeling. And even if it comes only once a year, that's once too often according to me!! *rolls eyes*
I fail to understand why the same people (read: women) who demand equal rights for both sexes also then in the same breath demand special privileges for women. If both genders are equal, then why does my college (as do all other engineering colleges) have 33% reservation for girls? Why have separate queues for ladies? And don't even get me started on alimony! Where are the cries for equal rights then? Call me a male chauvnistic pig if you may, but all this reeks of hypocrisy and must be done away with as soon as possible.
Don't get me wrong on this issue - I DO NOT condone all the shit that is being done against women in the world (and especially in this country). I have already made my opinions clear on that matter in an earlier blog post. But neither do I believe that someone should be given special rights just because she has boobs and I don't. Not at all.
Men and women are not the same. They're different. Not unequal, just different. Neither sex is better or worse. Do not give either sex special privileges. Doing so would only go against the whole "Equality for Women" concept, and for this reason I am against it.
I'd like to end by asking why Man's Day does not exist (and if does why is it so unheard of)? Any comments...?

Commenting

Hey guys! How about some more commenting from you people? Just to let me know that you'll still exist out there and even condescend to reading my blog. I am not even demanding any thought-provoking or super-hilarious comments. Just drop a line...

The Da Vinci Code

I was beginning to believe it was never meant to be. I had come so close to getting my hands on a copy of "The Da Vinci Code" on numerous occasions but only to have some unforeseen occurence ruin things at the last moment. I had almost resigned myself to my fate and decided to wait for the movie when voila, I come across a pirated version in Royston's room last Wednesday evening. I'm normally a very slow reader of novels and can easily take a month or two to finish one. This time however, the book was completed from cover to cover in a time of 4 days which is quite easily a personal record. The reasons for the rapid completion lie as much in the excitement of the story as in the fact that this just-concluded weekend was my college Gathering and that gave me a lot of free reading time.
Being born a Roman Catholic (though I'm not one any more), this book has obviously challenged many facts that I've grown up believing in. The problem that I now face is that I do not know how much of what Dan Brown says is truth and how much is fiction. What all actually transpired and what was thrown in by the author in order to fabricate it into a tellable story.
I want to believe that all of his historical and religious facts are indeed bona fide. I want to believe that Jesus had a wife and a child and that the family line continued. I would like to believe that there exist somewhere on earth today his direct descendents. (It would just be so much cooler!) I would like to believe that the Holy Grail and the Sangreal Documents still exist and can some day (the sooner the better) be made public. It's not that I don't like the Vatican; it's just that I like the truth better.
I like the book because I have always been fascinated by the pre-Medieval (and Medieval) history of Europe and the Holy Land. That's also the reason why I absolutely loved "Timeline" by Michael Crichton. As far as purely writing style goes, Dan isn't the greatest author in the world, but he isn't the worst either. I liked the suspense, but you get the feeling that the plot gets a bit too weird at times. The ending is good though.
For any of you other losers out there who haven't read the book - it's worth one read, so go grab a copy!!

Some bitching.. (but not too much of it!)

I hate my college. I hate every fake, pretentious, sycophantic student who studies there. I hate every mindfucked, asshole of a teacher who teaches there. I hate all the faculty, library staff and management with maybe at the most 1-2 exceptions. I hate my principal.
Yeah. I know this short post was rather hate-filled, but it feels so good to get it out of my system.

...and to all you non-fake, non-pretentious, non-sycophantic students out there - I don't really have anything against you guys!!

One Wild Night !!!!

About a month back, 4 of my friends had participated in a quiz in FC and won free passes to Leather Lounge for couples. Yup!! The irony of the situation was not lost on me. Quizzers are normally the geeky type (read: lanky and bespectacled) and not very akin to clubbing. Add to that the fact that they were couple passes (meaning you had to have a girl to go with) and the whole deal becomes even more ludicrous!

Theorem:
Quizzers do not like to go clubbing. Quizzers also do not have girl friends.

Corollary:
Do not give free couple passes to lounges as part of the prize at a quiz.

Having said all that, the fact remains that these 4 blokes had the passes and had to do something with them. The were valid for a period of exactly one month and yesterday was the last date. One of the guys (probably the wisest) gave his pass off to his sister 2 weeks back. That left three more.
Another one sold his pass to one of my friends, Animesh, for 50 bucks. (Saturday night LL passes are worth around 800!!) I managed to get my hands on the other two passes at the last minute for free and Animesh and I, along with another guy called Taizoon decided to try our luck at LL.
We arrived at the place at about 11.00 pm. We thought we'd hang around outside for some time and pick up some girls to enter with. Our first mistake. None of the girls who arrived were without partners. No luck there. Strike one.
We then decided to try our hand at entering without the girls. The man at the door wasn't sure so he called the guy in charge who made it very clear that we wouldn't be allowed in without female accompaniment. Strike two.
We went across the road to this pub called Toons thinking we may be able to pick someone up over there. No luck again.
That's when I had the (bright?!) idea of waiting at the entrance to LL and trying to scalp our passes. I was willing to sell them for about half the going rate. Say about 400 each. So while the others waited near Toons I headed back to LL and set up stall just outside. In the next 10 minutes about 10 couples must have entered. But none were willing to buy. Some said they didn't require passes to enter, some just ignored me (the snobs!!) and some politely smiled and said no.
Now I had obviously realized that the LL management would not be too pleased about what I was doing, but I didn't give it much thought. I got a few hints from the valet parking guys to shove off but I paid no heed. After 10 minutes though, the door opens and this big bull of a man appears. He tells me without wasting any words that I could either leave immediately or have my face reconfigured. And by the looks of him I had no illusions about who would come out on top in a fight between the two of us. I quickly raised my arms in apology and vamoosed. Strike three. I felt like a street-walker who had just had her ass kicked by the cops!
I found the other two and told them the story. We decided to try another place down the street, Aqua Lounge. The entrance there was 300 for a couple and it was all covered inside. However, the absence of girls posed a problem once again. After waiting for a few minutes outside in the hope of something turning up, we went back to Toons and knocked down a few beers. Each trying to drown away the dejection of the lousy night we had had. And me still trying to shake that hooker feeling off!

An "Almost" Fight

Last night was our college's Annual Funfair; and it was a thoroughly depressing event. The DJ-ing sucked because they were charging Rs. 50 per request and then playing the song for only 15-20 seconds. What crap! I can't decide which DJ was worse - DJ I-am-a-Fucker or DJ My-Prick-is-too-Small. Let's just say both sucked bigtime.
Then there was this absolutely ridiculous stall named "Central Jail". The idea being you pay them 20 bucks and give them a name; then they go and find the person whose name you gave, pick him/her up and throw him/her in the jail in their stall. Now some shit-headed, pee-brained ass decided that he would give my name. So I suddenly find these two guys approaching me and asking me to come with them. Before I know it, I'm thrown into the back of the stall and informed that I was gonna have to wait there for 20 minutes unless I pay them 20 bucks to bail myself out.
Quite easily the most mindfucked idea I'd heard in a long time and I let them all know that, in no uncertain terms. I abused the crap out off all the stall owners including three stupid females. That's when they had the fucking audacity to tell me that for another 10 bucks extra, I could not only release myself but also throw in jail the person who had put me in. I told them to kiss my ass and threatened to pick up one of the rods in their fucked up jail and beat the shit out of them. That's when they decided that this was one jail-bird not to be messed with. They decide to let me go trying to explain that it was all in the name of fun and I should be a sport.
"A sport?" I retort. "I am a sport. But this fucked up idea of yours is so ludicrous that only someone with the sickest sense of humor would enjoy it. Why the fuck should I fucking pay you anything to get myself out of your fucking stall? Who in fuck's name gave you the right to keep me confined anywhere? I'm just gonna fucking walk out and anyone who stops me is getting a broken nose. AND I'm gonna collect a few guys and pick you fuckers up and throw you'll in the washroom and then charge each of you'll a 100 bucks to get out. Or else you can languish in there forever, drinking toilet-bowl water for the rest of you fucked up lives!"
I think that scared them enough because they apologized profusely and let me go.
Message to you all - DO NOT MESS WITH ME!!

Wear your Attitude Day

Yesterday was "Wear your Attitude Day" in college. Loosely translated that means you can wear just about anything you want, so long as it covers the essential areas. For one day in the year, our supposedly traditionally-cultured college *rolls eyes* turns a blind eye to any garb that it would normally deem uncouth, immoral and "goes-against-the-indian-culture". So anything from the British royal robes to a bikini made from leaves would be tolerated on this day (although I doubt the latter has been tried by any girl as yet!)

Four of us, Royston, Animesh, Ruma and I decided to go with the 1970's Hippie look. After a lot of flea-market shopping and even a visit to a costume store the evening before, we felt like we had the necessary accessories to pull off the look. Turns out we were mistaken. Or at least three of us were.

Royston came with cut-offs, a bright blue floral shirt, a bandanna worn as a head band, lots of beads and sandals. Basically looking more like a Goan beach party lover than a 70's social non-conformer. His hair was a total let down (neat and short as it was) and we couldn't quite find a wig for him.

Ruma came with a long flowing skirt, a head band, lots of colorful beads around her neck, and looked like a gypsy girl. Not a bad look, but not exactly 70's either. There was just something missing there that I can't place my finger on.

Now for the cream of it all. Animesh - he came with this outrageously thick, dark black wig, a red head band, a earring, weird slippers, ultra-modern shades, and just about everything except what an actual Hippie would have worn. He looked like a cross between a Red Indian eunuch and a very, very, very (and need I mention again, VERY) ugly woman from the 70's. Throw in his gay dance steps and you get something that I would not even wish upon my worst enemy.

So that's leaves me as the only one who succeeded at the task at hand. I guess it was mainly because of my hair which is just so naturally made for the Hippie look. That thick mop of uncontrollable hair, which for the rest of the year is nothing but a curse, finally proved to be worth something. I also managed to lay my hands on one of my Dad's old 70's shades. I was decked in torn cut-offs, scruffed up sandals, a sleeveless vest and a head band. A coupla earrings, a ciggie behind the ear, a few beads around the neck and an old lighter completed the look. An absolute beauty, I might add. Shaggy from his old days. Jamaican. *grins shamelessly*

I also came to know yesterday that a poll has been set up on our Yahoo Group for the Weirdest Guy in our Dept in college. And guess what, I'm in the joint lead currently. Mixed feelings there. Happy to be leading, sad to be sharing it with someone else. Why would one want this rather dubious distinction, one might ask. Well, I've always been weird. It's the one thing I'm good at. I may as well be the best. What say?