Blogging in the finite universe

Wacky. Weird. Cool. Smart.
All these and many more words pop in and out of your head. Actually, they just flutter through it. This happens when you happen to think of the person I am talking about here. All this and much more is subject to you having actually having crossed paths with the very person in question.

A seemingly simple gentleman. Goes by the name of Ravi Handa. I know him from a few quizzes I met him at. In Calcutta (Yes, I still spell it the old way!), and my college.

Seemed to be a guy who was a veritable source of gyaan on movies, books, music and other forms of intellectual activity that piques the curiosity on engineers-to-be in colleges when they are not busy mugging up for their exams the next day. I’ll skip going into the finer details of what really interests this unique species- engineers-to-be-during-exam-prep-leave. (I speak only for the males, since females are, well exactly that.)
Coming back to the thing I shot off at a tangent from, this frood, is like a real cheer-upper for lost causes. Let’s just examine his case.

Guy Studies (Assumption).
Gives IIT-JEE (Fact).
Lands a seat in IIT-KGP(Kharagpur, the oldest one) (Fact)
Gets a dual-degree course in Computer Science (Assumption)
Spends 5 years on the way to the graduation ceremony.
Decides against treading the beaten path
Takes an extra year at it.
Gets a job offer from some SW company
Gives a few choice Entrance tests for business schools, in hope of pursuing an MBA
Misses the IIM’s, get’s XLRI
Decides to take a sabbatical from whatever he was doing
Tells SW company & XLRI where they can take their respective offers
Joins IMS to teach Gyaan to mortals (spelt CAT aspirants)
Gives the CAT again, since this was actually why he took this path
Now, with CAT over & major load dispelled, goes back to musings on Life, The Universe and Everything.
Calls me up n has a nice chat about the weather on his planet
Discusses his plans of contemplating about not accepting the likely IIM offer that maybe headed his way soon
Causes me to ruminate on all this for the next 3.326 minutes and end up writing this piece

There was a point to this story, but it has temporarily escaped the chronicler's mind.

Never you mind. What just suggested itself to me a few hours ago, was that the fact the people read your blog, and make you think that Hey, someone is finally hearing my point-of-view. And that is exactly causes you poor ‘lil point-of-view to keel over and die a silent, painful, excruciatingly slow death. Sorry for that. The writer ends up feeling, hmmm, what will XYZ think of this when they read it? And so starts the infinite self-destructive loop that trims away whatever worthless thoughts you had starting expressing in the first place. I mean, really, c’mon, what the hell? When you start and no-one visits your blog, you mope that you ain’t getting any hits on the site. And when the stat counter starts chasing it’s tail, ever so slowly, though it might be, you end up moping about the repercussions of your mopings on the net.

Like in case of the frood mentioned above, he simply stopped blogging since most of his students read it and tell him about it too. So, it’s a constant nag, like, what might this be understood as, so on and so forth… the very reason blogging is so much fun is killed if your real-life self becomes responsible for the meanderings of your web-presence.
My way out of this mess is a quote from Ford Prefect, a cool frood from The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (which makes a whole lot more sense than logic mostly).
It mostly says it all.

"My doctor says that I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fibre," he muttered to himself, "and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

Time for me to get back to being actively irresponsible and shut my brain off, so as to study for my papers tomorrow.meanwhile, i give you my mantra on how to tackle the papers and other tasks you face in life with no clue as to how to go about them :

Don't Panic

One Year

Here's to an year of blogging.

Of listening to The Pink Floyd Sound, The Who & The Doors, day-in and day-out, minus the Mary Janes, and wondering about life the universe and everything.

Of learning more about the inner workings of my brain. and realising how utterly pointless the task is. Of enjoying every moment life throws at me. no matter what shade of grey it might be.
I had thought of doing something to mark this anniversary that is typical nikhil kumar verma. different. So, here i am typing from a moving car , actually a trekker, on my way to a splendid buffet breakfast that awaits me at Capitol Hill, one of the better places in the town to eat and make merry. and to consider that in 4 days my end term papers start. and i have to start preparing for those papers.

However, this time around, i know something. that it's gonna work out just fine. some how. i am clueless as to the exact path that i am gona take to leave this place, my alma mater, that has taught me so much. to live. to love. to fail. to getup and face the new day. not from a hope of seeing the greener grass on the other side. no. just cause it's worth it.

When i initially started bloggin, it was more of a fad than a passion. people i knew and respected blogged to express themselves. So i tried too. to see what my POV looks like once its outta my head and in front of my eyes.

Honestly, it was pathetic. I sucked at expressing myself. but, hey i was enjoying myself, and that was what all this was about. my niche. where it was my word against the world's. and my rules. na, not really, it was more of a deluded rambling. a outpouring of random flashes from my brain. reducing the digital divide between me and the rest of humanity. but seriously, who gives a fig about that.

I dont count my self as one of the bloggers i would read. really. i have come across blogs and people who really have the gift of communicating. of letting ideas and opinions flow through words. it really is a beautiful feeling. to learn something about the world from a totally different perspective. The world as i know it. from behind a stranger's eyes. Living someone's else life through their words even though you know nothing about the person. but hey, isnt that what the information age is supposed to be? bring the world and it's people closer. Freeing your mind.
what started as a half witted idea of two morons ruminating over fingerchips and a glass of special coffee on a cold november night an year ago has evolved into something much bigger than just a bulletin board for thoughts and views on life in BIT..

I cant say what it will become or how long it will be around, but here's to BITRIP, an year old and still kicking.
Cheers.

About Time

Well
just heard this from some junior.
BIT is finally showing the answer sheets of the mid-term papers to the students.
Not something to be glad of for all of us, but a giant step forward from wondering about the laws governing mark distribution in the papers.

now this has only been done for 2k6, so atleast the rest of still live in doubt / hope / mystery.
Along with the new colour laminated ID cards they have been issued, the new syllabus structure
( 5 marks for attendance and 10 for project , out of the total 100), there are definitely a lot of positive changes coming around at BIT Mesra.
Let's just hope we get LAN and internet access from the comfort of our rooms in the next semester too.

gotta go study now.
ciao

Mess Food Survival

Are you an incurable epicure stuck in BIT? Did you know that the gooey mess food does to your elementary canal what a fag does to your lungs?? How often can you eat in the canteen, you rich brat??? How long does the home achaar and tit-bits last ???Its time to take control

Here is a quickie you can make and survive the BIT food

LEMON-CHILI PICKLE

> Steal good quantities of lemon, chilies, salt, red chili powder and some black pepper if you can manage it.
> Take the old achaar jar that your mom had given you (clean it if you have the enthu) and put in the lemon pieces wrapped in salt, green chili pieces, red chili powder and pepper.
>Keep this in the sun for at least five days.

Note- don’t be judicious with the quantity of ingredients…its all from your mess bill.

Now this is not particularly tasty but what it does is numbs your mouth so you don’t actually mind the food that much.It’s worth a try…for free sample all you need to do is ask me.

:-)

SUJI.......the fish

Its gender is not externally perceptible so I cannot say if mademoiselle is a mademoiselle or if monsieur is a monsieur so lets just be politically incorrect and call it ‘it’.
It happens to be a new fish I kept…..and it is fondly called Suji because it only eats suji. With a more generous provider it could have had colourful fish food and have an even sillier name.
Suji moved into my room two weeks back and now lives in its goldfish bowl. No, Suji is not a goldfish but hails from the Subarnrekha. It is not a NRI but a localite.
One day a bong friend of mine came in an observed it for a long time and then said thoughtfully, “You know, this fish would be perfect for fillets”. These bongs are crazy…. crazy about fish.
Initially Suji hated me and I considered a forced responsibility but now our attitudes have softened up a bit. Suji swims happily in the bowl and I put in my hand and play with it sometimes (thankfully its not a Piranha).
So go ahead keep a pet…..be it a rabbit you steal from the Pharmacy dept. or a dog you pick up from the road…….it’s an experience worth having…….