Her Wilting Regrets

Clear skies, warm sunshine,

Up before to welcome the shrine,

Worn out her face,

Hiding past her palpable grace.

A Mechanical life,

She someone’s wife,

Life held with a knife,

At her neck,

Not once she complains grief.

Doing her daily chores,

Dominated by the social mores,

Shut down by all doors,

Her hand full of pores.

Yet doesn’t complain,

For her fate is a strain,

Yet from work she no refrain,

For her life she inane.

Hiding behind her eyes a tear,

For she could exhibit quite a flair,

All that glimmers her hair,

Exhibiting full care.

Chained is her soul,

Having forgotten her goal,

Shines the moon,

As she goes,

Her face like that of coal.

Making a move,

As though nothing to prove,

Reasonable are her claims,

Kaput she end her life.

Rapacious world

“Be happy with what you have.”

This has never been the case in this era. Everyone wants more these days and it’s increasingly difficult to quench a man’s thirst with the limited available resources. Owing to this, man has started to exploit anything and everything he could come across just to earn an extra penny. Yet it’s still impossible to satisfy his ever-growing selfishness and arrogance; those nothing but idiosyncratic to man.  The world is just atrophying at the hands of the filth with no “quality” life left.

Amidst all this there are some incidents worth mentioning. To begin with,

“Finders keepers.”

It’s sad that people don’t really know, to be precise understand, the meaning of this phrase. The phrase originally coined as a rhyme for children has a different meaning for men altogether. In this present era this phrase is understood differently by different people. The following is a real life incident,

“I was walking from the Express Avenue mall in Chennai to a bus stand deep in thoughts, nothing out-of the-ordinary, just the post movie trauma. When I was nearing the bus stand, I saw a man roughly 45 to 50 years of age bend down and pick a wallet. Suddenly I heard a voice from behind asking the man if that wallet belonged to him. He casually replied, “No! Naa kandupudichan, so naan dhan vechipan.” “

What he meant was since he found it, it ultimately belonged to him. He even argued that he was going to keep it. I was utterly shocked to see such happenings that too right in front of the public. What I could get from this was, Men these days are so desperate that they are willing to stoop down to any level to get what they want.

Stealing has been a prominent issue right from time immemorial. There are a lot of reasons given for the cause, the most acceptable one being hunger and poverty. The general scenario is it’s usually the hunger stricken who steal for they have a purpose. This anyway doesn’t justify their act. But, still partially it’s not their mistake that they are poverty stricken. The society and the modern era need to take half the blame, for we are not living the scenes of Mahabaratha or Ramayana. People around us are so money-minded and corrupt.

When this is the scenario around us, I feel an incident is worth mentioning.

I once went to this place called Barbecue Nation for dinner. The waiter was friendly and helpful. He did his job perfectly. At the end of the meal, when he was offered a tip, he politely refused to take it for it was against the hotel rules. Everyone these days would want to have some extra cash, but here I found a man who was devoted and professional.

The world is full of garbage. The filth outweighs its opposite. But there are people out there who still believe it’s possible to recycle the garbage and put to good use rather than leaving it as filth itself. And it’s that hope that people need that ensures them a content life.

“The night is darkest just before dawn.”

But that doesn’t mean the dawn ain’t coming!  

The Euro that it was

Poland and Ukraine were ready to host the fourteenth edition of the Union of European Football Association, commonly known as UEFA, Euro 2012. The stage was set and the competition started on the eighth of June with the co-hosts starting off things against Greece. The match was not as exciting as it seemed to be, but the host fans were on the edge of their seats, as they were praying for a win against the 2004 champions, but all they got was a draw and they couldn’t be happier with the result after seeing their nation play. The blues keeper, Petr Cech had a bad start in the tournament against the Russians letting the ball past him not once or twice but four times. The qualifying teams were decided on the last game day and to everyone’s surprise the Greeks knocked out the Russians to secure a place in the quarterfinals. The co-hosts Polish were knocked out and there was no surprise there. Czech Republic qualified after having had a good game against Greece with a convincing 2-1 victory and a struggled 1-0 victory against Poland.

The next group certainly justified the title given, Group of Death. The Germans were definitely the favourites in the group having the youngest team in the tournament. The Portuguese defense couldn’t hold the Germans so long with Mario Gomez striking a good header scoring past Rui Patricio. The underdogs Danish outplayed the Dutch with a neat 1-0 victory. Mario Gomez seemed unstoppable with two more goals to his name against the Dutch with the Deutschland claiming a 2-1 victory. The Dutch fans and players were having a nightmare. Two consecutive losses meant they had to win against Portugal with a goal difference of two which was nowhere close to possible. Cristiano Ronaldo having had a bad game against the Danish was set to make a mark against the Dutch, and he most certainly nailed it with two goals. Portugal won 2-1 against Netherlands. Netherlands were humiliated very badly having lost all the games they played. The Germans topped the group winning all their fixtures followed by the Portuguese. Lionel Messi and football seemed inseparable with fans chanting his name even though he had no role in this tournament.

The third group seemed un-exciting when compared to the previous groups. The former champions were definitely the favourites and it was partially right. The Spanish side started their Euro campaign against Italy. The match ended as a draw. The Spanish side was playing a different formation altogether, 4-6-0, they were without a striker. Republic of Ireland stood no chance and they ended up losing all the games they played. It was Spain, Italy and Croatia battling it out for two spots in the quarters. Chelsea’s golden boy Torres proved his critics wrong by scoring two fabulous goals against the Republic of Ireland. Balotelli too silenced critics with his phenomenal strikes. In the end, it was Spain versus Italy.

The last group promised action for three reasons; One, it was Roy Hodgson’s first major competitive game as a manager for the English team, Two, teams wanted to put an end to France’s 20 match unbeaten streak and three co-hosts Ukraine were in the group. The English team played no different except that they were more defensive. They couldn’t dribble past the ball and majorly depended on air balls. Captain Steven Gerrard was the heart and soul of the team. Andrey Shevchenko showed he still had it in him with two goals against Sweden. John Terry was rock solid for the English side and his last man save against Ukraine was brilliant even though the ball was over the line. This again brought in the debate of the use of goal line technology. It was a fierce contest between the four and ultimately it was England and France who were through to the quarters. Sweden’s exit was not a big surprise but they did have something to cheer about, ending France’s 23 match unbeaten streak by beating them 2-0. It was sad to see Ukraine exit leaving no hosts in the quarters.

The quarter final clashes seemed fiery. The Portuguese and the Germans had easy fixtures against Czech and Greece respectively after having been in the Group of Death. The results of both the matches were easily predictable. Portugal and Germany marched on. The other two fixtures seemed a delight to watch. With the former champions looking to scrape through to the semis, the match was not all that exciting. Alonso’s early strike put Spain in the lead and the French had a tough time breaking the Spanish defense. Roy Hodgson’s side was put to test by Prandelli’s men. The English were playing more defensive than ever. With the game ending goalless after 120mins, shootouts seemed the decider. The two Ashleys-Cole and Young let the team down having failed to score a penalty.

The semi final fixtures were certainly something to look forward to. The Portuguese were battling it out against the former European champions, Spain. It was an amazing match even though it ended goal-less even after 120 mins. Both the sides played an amazing football creating lot of good chances. At the end of the shootout, it was a good bye for the Portuguese side. Funny thing here is they were out before Ronaldo could even take a kick.

The Germans’ fortress was falling down. Mario Balotelli and Pirlo were tearing the team apart. The Germans did create a lot of chances but only to be denied by the skipper Gianluigi Buffon. Again a great quality of football from both the teams. It was absolutely delightful to watch the game. I, a German fan, appreciate the way the Italians played. They sure did deserve to qualify.

The fever and hype was high as the Italians were set to face the Spanish side in the finals at the Olympic stadium, Ukraine. Spain were defending their title. The Spanish dominated throughout the match. Italians were left ablaze. Xavi was the man for Spain with his incredible passing skills. David Silva gave the Spanish side an early lead converting an amazing through ball from Xavi. Spain had no intensions of stopping there; they kept penetrating the Italian defense easily. Jordi Alba gave the side a 2-0 lead with an incredible run converting another through ball from the engine (Xavi). Things were getting bad to worse for Prandelli’s men. Cassano was taken off and Di Natale was brought in at the half time hoping for a miracle. Italy was finding it difficult to maintain possession.  The Spanish were on top of their game. Fernando Torres replaced Cesc Fabregas and he scored making it 3-0. Juan Mata was set to play for the remainder five minutes, his first five in the tournament. The Italians couldn’t have been more humiliated just then Mata converted Torres’ pass into the net. It was 4-0 to Spain and they after a long tournament successfully defended their title with Fernando Torres winning the golden boot even though he was on the field for just 150 minutes.

The tournament had lot of twists and turns and in the end it was Spain tasting the glory for the second time. This tournament brought into light many things and it sure did pressurize Fifa to look into the Goal line technology.

Global Economy-A Gamble?

If the United States sneezes, the entire world catches cold.

Nothing could describe the global economical situation much better than this phrase, a phrase very aptly coined.

Global economy we call it which started as a simple trade much earlier. It started as a barter system and was termed unfair by the greedy humans who wanted to establish their superiority and brought about the invention of currencies, well coins to be precise. A dame of nickel with a symbol imprinted having a face value was going to shape the world. Little did everyone know it was going to bring about the ultimate end?

The introduction of money changed every aspect of things in this world. It was at start a very convenient method to settle debts rather than roaming around in search for the one we need. But as the world seemed getting closer to progress, humans changed for worse. The whole idea changed with the introduction of different forms of currencies. Man started to establish his domination. The one with money had the power too. The era of division soon creeped in, the division was all different. It was based on money. The one with money was superior!

Money lending took to new heights and on came the banks to capitalize on our savings, reaping profits. After a millennium as we entered the year 2000, the crisis seemed not far way. The power shifted from the politicians to the economists. Meanwhile, in India, our worries were the exchange rate. Once we shifted to the floating exchange system in the foreign exchange market, our worries turned into nightmares.

In 2002, the economic condition of the developed countries like that of the United States, France etc boomed. Banks started lending cash at a nominal interest and every god damn person availed a loan, housing loan to be precise and ultimately landed up in a position of not affording to pay back. Banks’ debts increased and the Government had to intervene taking over the banks thereby leading to the Wall Street crash as we know it. Bailing out banks resulted in reduced exports and imports and in the collapse of the foreign market.

The housing market also suffered, resulting in evictions, foreclosures and prolonged unemployment. The crash had a huge impact in the rest of the world. Unemployment rates increased all over and it became seemingly difficult for one to sustain. The dominoes started falling once the United States’ economy crashed and the Governments of other countries started to panic. The politics worsened the situation. The congress in the United States vetoed the 700$ bailout which sent all the leading banks home!

Recovery was a utopian dream but in the long run seemed possible. There came the role of an economist, one who could foretell the world’s future sitting in a remotely abandoned place. They could make sweeping claims about countries in which they had never set foot in.

They had the power beyond their wildest dreams to bring the world out of crisis. With the financial market in a bustle and the entire foreign trade turning into a gamble, how simple things would have been if the mankind had just stuck to the rice-wheat exchange?

Home pass please! (Amrita)

The “process” would start approximately 2 to 3 days before the period of holidays with a notice, in the hostel, that would read “Home pass for so and so holidays given from 6pm to 8pm. No pass will be issued after 8pm. Blah Blah.” This would be followed by 2-3 days of impatient wait. After the entire last minute packing and wait, its exultation for the students who availed the pass for a temporary escape from the “Prison”.

One would find the campus with lot of activity on a day like this. The college will end at 3:30pm and five minutes later one can find students with their luggage roaming around the campus, chit chatting, dining in the canteen, and walking all the way to gate, withdrawing money from the ATM and after this the only person obstructing freedom would be the security; handing him the pass would shut his mouth.

Then the crowd eventually shifts to the Ettimadai railway station, now there are two sorts, one on their way to the Coimbatore junction and the other to Palakad City. The station becomes deserted after 7:00pm. A thirty minute fun journey from the Ettimadai station is all that separates one from good food. After an impatient walk, with a growling stomach, amidst the swarm of people to the cloak room and depositing the luggage there after a long wait, the noises from the stomach turns into a roar before one can lay his hand on the food.

After a sumptuous dinner followed by dessert, spiced up with conversations, all that is left to do for one is to board the train after bidding farewell and promising meet ups. As the horn sounds and the train moves, sitting with excitement and expectations at its peak, the thought of mom, dad, friends and not to forget the good food for the next few days. 

P.S. Something all hostelers can relate to.

Paranoia

On a journey that was supposed to take only 30 minutes, although taking twice the time, all I could see on the road, watching through the window was CHAOS and CRISIS.

The inception to all these was the power shortage and the scheduled power cuts across India. While cities like Chennai, Bangalore had only two hours of the power cut, places like Tuticorin, Coimbatore experienced the wrath of the TNEB with power cut up to 12hours.

Adding to the list of crisis was the water shortage which was more imminent in Bangalore, which is now so full of software companies and malls that residents have had to compulsorily go in for external supply. Houses are being built across every inch of space available thereby adding salt to the wound.

Okay now moving over; I’m eighteen and I, like every Tom Dick and Harry had a dream of getting a bike and a license so that I need not walk always.//you might all say walking is okay as using a bike causes pollution and crap, well it’s not possible to walk in Chennai in the month of April, May…//But now, the dream is nowhere near to reality. With the prices of petrol shooting up overnight and the limited availability has resulted in the increase of prices in everything, right from auto fare to the income tax rise, and not to forget the long queues outside the petrol bunks. It is sad to see the international oil prices go down whereas here in India we have a shortage and costs are on upward spiral.

An eternal problem, in India there are Engineering colleges in almost every street and we produce the maximum number of Engineers, yet we’re far behind in development. I have always had this insecurity of ending up without a job for there are enough people. There exists an imbalance, surplus people and job deficits. This has not only created an atmosphere of division but also to the era of malnourishment and poverty.

While we keep pointing fingers at others and are happy to let them take the responsibility, there really is never an end to this entire crisis. We have never really stood up to any cause that actually is worth all our time. We are content in watching a staged show. We are greatly elated in watching the Indian Premier League when we very well know there is no cricket involved in it. The league is just like a circus where each match is an act.

The league is watched by the division-ed upper and certain middle classes whereas the lower class is not greatly connected with the tournament. The league is just another way to rob our money and time.

 I am not against cricket; it’s just that I don’t think IPL is cricket. Cricket as a sport I enjoy when played between countries. Even the lower classes are connected with the sport when the national team is in action. The IPL has contributed a lot to the era of division based on money.

A winning parade?

We bloody waste our power like this and the Government expects to find solutions in scheduled power cuts.  Our Government is continuing to do what they are good at, taking things from the common man and giving it to undeserving idiots.

It’s even sadder to watch political ass holes like Mamta Banerjee stooping down to such low level by honouring a team that has effectively done nothing but win a staged show.

 With the resources being depleted at a rapid rate and the power concentrated in the hands of few, is it going to be the end of the world as we know it?

Staring at the signal (red) and seeing the countdown, I could only relate it to the wait for destruction, to chaos and to the very END as predicted by the Mayans; with each second in sync with my heart beat!

P.S. I very badly wanted to bring in IPL.

A Melodramatic First Year

I remember when I was a small kid, I used to wish I skip school and go to college directly. I watched my cousin step into college and I wished I join him too. Then I watched my own brother get into college and I longed to go too. So desperate I was to get into college. The reason was not because my school life was dull and boring, which was so not true, I did have a splendid life at school but I thought college will be even more fun because I would have turned 18, My friends would have turned 18, limited restrictions and a carefree life. It was then a utopian dream.  

The hunt for colleges begun, indirectly, when I started my 12^th boards. It continued for another month or two and finally it was decided, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. On checking out the images and later the college itself, I thought, alright cool college.

My first year begun unofficially on July 30^th and officially on the third of August. It was not a great beginning. Like everyone I was homesick and kinda raped by the shit rules in the hostel. I was kind of lucky to have had some company from my school. Classes were pretty boring and dry. I was dozing off in every damn period and every time I would think if I used to do the same at school. Then I realized that I had perfect company at school, set of friends to have fun with which never made me sleep in school.

By the end of my first month I did find myself friends but it was not that welcoming. Entering into the second month, I made more friends and I started feeling at ease. My homesickness completely went off as I found proper company, yet classes were still boring and irritating. The most fun part would definitely be the hostel life. Group of people gathering in a room and bragging for 2 or 3 hours with eatables and all that, it definitely was fun, that too knowing about each one’s past etc.

There were certain topics which were redundant, few of them being , girls, movies etc.Talking was never boring; we came to know about each other more.

Semester II started in the month of January. It was bloody awesome.

Cage football, practice, vetti talks, anokha, bunking classes for anokha, Green-I conference, Krishna hut, Aleez Dhaba, Boomerang, RHR, City passes, Home passes, Thunderbirds comedy, more vetti talks , fights, patch ups, kalais, birthday bumps, the so called group studies, the renaissance, cage cricket, hand cricket, Sandy dudes, movies, Brookefields, atm walks, the tree outside the hostel, warden mishaps, swimming in the morning, kovai express, cheran express and not to forget the champions league victory…

What a semester it had been! The fun and action packed in one semester and it was indeed awesome.

First year was a combination of fun and annoyance. Semester I was annoying and Semester II proved to be just the opposite.

After a n awesome first year, YB will definitely be missed.