Nocturnal Serenity

In the dead silence of the fading night,
When stray dogs are on scavenging spree,
I wonder in the feeble lamp light,
For nights, we thank the powers that be.

When the world's asleep, drowned in dreams,
Somewhere an analog kiss unravels a smile,
In a time minus chaos and deafening screams,
They walk down the love road, the cupid's mile.

Tiny pearls sprayed all over the black sky,
And the full moon floats amidst amorphous clouds,
When the zephyrs play with your entangled hair,
By this cosmic harmony, my head is bowed.

The haunting recurrence of the watchman's call,
The shrilling moan of the hungry canine,
The rythmic beating of a fulfilled heart,
When all it seems, the world is mine!

I switch off the lamp and the lovers now part,
The dogs scram away and the watchman yawns,
Its time for the birds and roosters' tart,
So beautiful was night, not so charming is dawn,

The moon snugs back into the horizon,
The lake glitters by the morning ray,
As the wheel of life is set in motion ,
I just wish I could have nights all day!

The Interview Room

If there’s one situation where you shouldn’t say, “Been there, done that”, ever, is when someone gets rejected in an interview. People like me, however, are allowed to say this, the reason for which will be explained later. Coz frankly speaking, no one and I mean NO ONE knows what goes inside that god-forsaken room except for that poor soul who faced the interview panel (the people in which seem look-alikes of Jigsaw, Frankenstein and Dracula). To us, every HR & Tech guy is a sadist... seeking pleasure in ripping us of our already-stingy self-respect and of the hope that we might walk from the placement cell with a smile on our face!

I have appeared for the interviews of 8 top-notch companies that have visited our campus. Excellent job-profiles, superfluous packages, posting in metropolitan cities... you name it. And I guess it’s time to tell you that we have a one-job-per-person rule in our college. So when I am saying that I have appeared in these 8 companies, I am definitely not boasting because I was rejected in all of them. And in this context, I happen to hold a record for a pretty pathetic feat... one that no one should ever achieve... appearing in 8 companies back-to-back and getting rejected in ALL of them. I know there may be some more wretched beings that share the same sickened fate as me or may be even worse. And that’s why I said that when people like me say “Been there, done that”, it counts.

Some people have claimed that their closest experience to hell was when they were sitting in the interview room. These are the people who are the first ones to go in. Except for one instance, I always landed up being last but fourth or fifth in the interview order. And trust me, as far as that waiting period is concerned... let’s just say that it is a very efficient method for military grade torture. You are lost in a different world. Your eyes fixed upon the clock. You shake your legs, not due to fear or nervousness but due to uncertainty. The morbid silence of the room makes your mind numb to be capable of perceiving of any constructive thoughts. You wait to hear the feedback to person who has just come out.

I never believed in Luck-Fate-Destiny trifecta. And then 5th September 2009 happened. My first interview for a reputed mobile software making company. Since then, there have been numerous instances where my hard-held belief was not only abrogated but annihilated. Anyway, let bygones be bygones. The most important thing that worked for me was that I was just not ready to give up. Even after what I had been through, I always went for the next interview, with much more confidence. Before entering the room, I used to say (and I literally did)... “Bring it on”. And one day, out of the blue, it just paid off. I got a job... a dream job... handsome salary, civil engineering related work and a PSU company. But trust me, I observed a paradigm shift in my belief system over the last few months. But as they say... All’s Well That Ends Well.

Billi Do-Shoonya-Shoonya-Nau..!

Remember "Band of Brothers". Remember the D-Day.. the day when the Allied forces landed on Normandy. Remember the Americans fighting under constant shelling, crouched in a fox hole, surrounded by enemies. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run. When all that stands between you and death is the accuracy of your enemies shot! Pretty dramatic... huh? Picture this: Replace D-Day with 10 days of absolute secret-service type torture. Replace the Americans with a group of students who are (in the greatest probability) going to give the exam of their life! Replace Normandy with a pretty shitty test-centre (at least that's what they wrote on the plaque... pff) where all you could here was the sound of a concrete-mixer and growling labourers from an adjoining construction site. Replace the foxhole..... well.... don't replace the fox hole because that computer was . Replace the bullets and mortars with 60 questions, of which you have no damn clue. And as far as replacing that life-death conjugate is concerned.. that backwards-running 135 minute-timer would fit perfectly.

This my friend is no battle field. This is worse. It's CAT 2009. When we pulled out 1400 bucks from our dad's pocket, we had no idea what we were getting into. Filling the form was as fun as creating a fake profile for adding strange girls on Orkut. The preparation for the exam was perhaps the most easy part. I mean, sure, it's damn easy if you don't do it! On the difficulty scale, Rank 2 was the anticipation part. 5 days to go for the exam and your peers start texting/scrapping (minus the 's') you, they call you just to make sure you're "doing fine". And that's what makes the heat go up. By now most of you might have started guessing that Rank 1 goes to the 135 minutes of the test. Well... NO. Rank 1 is to what happens after you come out of that fox-hole. Its then that your stomach starts churning. Did I do the calculations correctly? Was my understanding of the comprehension good enough? Why was the answer to that question not there in any of the options? Is C the correct answer or A is more appropriate?.... WILL I BE ABLE TO GET THROUGH???

Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna

I guess.... rather I hope that most of you have seen 'Gulaal'.. a genuine Anurag Kashyap-masterpiece. A very grounded exposé of the predicament of college life. Apart from its pretty accurate and realistic description of the shenanigans employed by powerful men who foment youth politics, I was particularly moved by a scene from that movie. It was the scene in which Duggi Bana's (Kay Kay Menon) whimsical brother (Piyush Mishra) sings his idiosyncratic version of the famous pre-independence poem 'Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna'. Altough a little harsh, Mishra's sardonic lines and satirical tone strike directly to your scruples. A sentient audience is impelled to put a cognitive effort over the famous adage "Where is our counrty heading?".

The older counter-part was written in the pre-independence era by Ram Prasad Bismil as a show of the audacity and courage of Indian revolutionaries to stand against the might of the Raj. Bismil's writings talk of a concerted effort to overthrow the imperalists and establish an egalitarian, utopian society. On the other hand, Piyush Mishra's lyrics pose a direct sarcasm over the futility of the efforts of the mandarins that have led this country towards labefaction.

Here's how the lines go (the Gulaal version). Read them and try to contemplate over the veracity of the statements made by the lyricist.

सरफरोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है,
देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ू-ऐ-कातिल में है,
वक्त आने दे बता देंगे तुझे ए आसमां,
हम अभी से क्या बताएं, क्या हमारे दिल में है॥

ओ रे बिस्मिल, काश आते आज तुम हिंदुस्तान,
देखते की देश सारा क्या टशन, क्या थिल में है,
आज का लौंडा ये कहता हम तो बिस्मिल थक गए,
अपनी आज़ादी तो भैय्या लौंडिया के तिल में है...

आज के जलसों में बिस्मिल एक गूंगा गा रहा,
और बहरों का वो रेला नाचता महफिल में है,
हाथ की खादी बनाने का गया,
आज तो चड्डी भी सिलती इंग्लिसों की मिल में है...

सरफरोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है,
देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ू-ऐ-कातिल में है॥

शीशे से बनी एक लड़की..!!

Sometimes we are so lost in our dreams that we often disguise our true identity. In the race being what we want to, we actually forget who we are. For most mistakes in life, we get a second chance. This one's among those, for which we don't. This poem is about that insidious but very fragile part of us that wants to remain deluded from the reality, that wants to fly away to that fantasy-land and never come back.

शीशे से बनी एक लड़की..
पत्थर के नगर में आई..
वो ढूँढ रही थी मोती..
और पत्थर से टकराई..
शीशे से बनी एक लड़की..........

शीशे से बनी यह लड़की..
इस बात से है अनजानी..
जब रेत चमकती है तो..
लगती है दूर से पानी..
यह फूल हैं सब कागज़ के...
लेकिन वो समझ ना पायी...
शीशे से बनी एक लड़की..........

शीशे से बनी इस लड़की से...
कह दो की बाद में ना रोना...
कुछ लोग हैं अन्दर से पीतल के...
पर कहते हैं ख़ुद को सोना...
यह भ्रम उसका एक दिन टूटेगा...
और गहरी है ग़म की खाई...

शीशे से बनी एक लड़की
पत्थर के नगर में आई,
वो ढूँढ रही थी मोती,
और पत्थर से टकराई..!!


P.S. : Please Comment!

The name's Federer... Roger Federer

I know writing a blog 'on' a person sounds very strange. But since I've started following (& understanding) lawn tennis, I've never viewed Roger Federer as a person. He's a phenomenon. He's an enigma. He is, in fact, what every sportsman ever dreams to be, no matter what his trade be. Now, of course, there are others in that elite league as well. We have Sachin Tendulkar, we have Tiger Woods, we have Valentino Rossi, we have Steven Gerrard, we have Kobe Bryant... all great coeval players in their respective fields (leaving the veterans for the historians.... no offense!). And then, Valentino Rossi's 100th MotoGP win, did prompted me to write something, but then I found Federer's story a little more spicy and a wee-more inspirational. (no offense to Rossi again... you're my favorite biker 'DOC'!)

Sunil Gavaskar quoted, "The spirit of the true champion is to perform his best in the most adverse situations and come out on top". Seeing Federer's successive defeats at Roland Garros, and his bad run during the last year, apprehension were raised about culmination of his peak era. But again, he showed (and not proved.. because he doesn't needs to), what a champion player he is. First, the French Open to equal Pete Sampras in the number of Grand Slam titles. And then, the coveted Wimbledon, he broke Sampras' record, who had specially flown to London to watch the final. It was the longest match in the history of Grand Slams, in terms of number of games played. The 5th set, which was a grueling marathon of aces, drop shots, cross-court slashes and deceptive back-hands, was the longest ever in the record of this game. 16-14, (just because there is no tie-breaker in the final set), was how long the game went. A fantastic display of brilliance and chutzpah from both players. The heart-beats were shunting between the zenith and the nadir with each minute towards the end of the game. And if this was for the audience, imagine what must be going through the minds of those two in the middle. But, one held his nerves a little longer.

I logged onto my facebook homepage after Federer won the Wimbledon final and found that my 'wall' was full of status updates related to the final. "Hail Federer the King", "Welcome to #1, Roger", "Kudos to Roger, but my heart feels for Roddick" were some of those floating on the top. If Roddick was fighting for glory, Federer was battling for his pride. No doubt, both the finalists played their hearts out, but still rules are always cruel to the runner-up. One had to win. The world is happy to see its favorite, and indeed one of the greatest tennis player of all times, back at the apex position. We will celebrate, pop-up champagne bottles, text our friends, hug our dear ones, update our facebook pages and not to forget, write blogs on the enigmatic champion. But Federer's win, the manner in which he won, the circumstances under which he won... offer a little more than just another reason to celebrate. It gives us a story of inspiration. A story of struggle. A story of self-conviction and pulling yourself together in the bad times. A story of TRIUMPH.

<3-BREAKING NEWS!!

It was quarter-past eleven and my 3-year old nephew wouldn't go to sleep. Annoyed by his whining and irrational reluctance, my sister switched on the TV and tuned into Star News. My nephew was so horrified seeing that bearded man (from the famous or infamous, whatever you call it, show Sansani) , that he immediately went to sleep without uttering another word. Frankly speaking, the cheaply haunting background music (just imagine, background music in a news show..neways) plus the punch line of the show "Chain se sona hai to jaag jaayiye" plus the ridiculous tone in which it is spoken, sends me back to the days of Zee Horror Show. And even then, people complaint that our news channels don't have "impact". Infact the TATA SKY people are so confused, that they are planning to shift news channels like Aaj Tak, Zee News, Star News and India TV (well... it's not a news channel after all, it's a horror-cum-entertainment channel) into their entertainment section. No kidding!

Another day, I was having breakfast with folks from my college, and I asked them, "Guys, do you think our news channels have reached the nadir in terms of news reporting?". Before anyone could say anything, one of them snapped, "आप अपने जवाब हमें SMS भी कर सकते हैं। बस Type कीजिये <नाम> <जवाब> और भेज दीजिये 5566 पर". We all burst out laughing. The more painful thing was that even if such a poll was to be conducted, the results wouldn't be divided into two categories of YES or NO. There's always a third answer - DON'T KNOW. I mean, come on, it's like people in India have nothing better to do than SMS on a stupid question even when they "don't know". It's really a great thing that we do not have this third option on the ballot paper!

Then there's the BREAKING NEWS... which breaks my heart, if nothing else (hoping that you got the heart-shaped symbol in the title of this post). Police commissioner loses his dog... BREAKING NEWS!! Rahul Gandhi eats dal-poori.. BREAKING NEWS!! God knows what-not they display under the title of BREAKING NEWS. In the last few years, since this "breaking-news" funda got popularized, I don't remember that this "BREAKING NEWS" title is ever removed from the screen. One of my fond memories (and it's only fond because it was ridiculously funny) with this breaking-news debacle, is when I saw this "news" on Aaj Tak... (a still captured from the TV screen displayed below). The pic says "अमिताभ बच्चन को ठण्ड लगी.. BREAKING NEWS". And probably the MTNL help-line was given so that people could call to send free blankets???

And then we have India TV (probably the worst of all) with its horrifying news and baba-fied programs. Shows like ACP Arjun (their counter-part of Sansani), Swami Ramdev ka Yoga Show (please leave something for health & lifestyle channels) and then another Frankenstein-like baba who tells people their fortune, quintessentially explain the sorrow state of news reporting in our country. The high-melodrama created over petty things WHILE ignoring news that is really concerned with social issues and that will affect people's lives.

My younger brother asked me the meaning of NEWS. I wished I had told him North, East, West, South which gained immense colloquial popularity. Instead, I told him that NEWS means - Non-sense, Empty, Wasteful ,Shows!!