Every college in the world has a typical hangout that is ethnic and at the same time comfy enough to let every soul release his heartfelt emotions in that place.For all of us in rec jaipur it was a lonely chai (tea) shop in a small slum sort of a place inside the college.
Any guy in his senses or even otherwise would easily agree to the magnetic persona of this place.The beauty of thadi is often found on a winter night when its terribly foggy and as you walk down that road , the mist slowly clears up to the light of the kerosene lanterns with a huge crowd bantering to the tunes of the steaming tea."Thadi" forms the most coulourful side of every NIT Jaipurian's life. A typical farewell night finds final years in their drunken stupour screaming all sentimental crap and hours of even more crap on how they are going to miss thadi.As a first year student a coupla years back i used to wonder about the crap that they gave out.However , three years of my association with the magic of thadi finds me missing it even for a holiday that i spend at home.
Thadi has something in it that draws everyone to it. For christ's sake there aint no 5 star treatment at thadi...its all self service.Maybe it might be because the prices are phenominally low; well it aint low either. Thadi is merely a sandy area with a few stools propped up and a small tinshed where "Kesar" brews steaming hot tea and some omlettes.However the magic of thadi lies in its influence on all the students (of course im talking about the boys .Thadi is an area fiercely guarded from the girls.They would defile the spirit of thadi).Every party begins and ends in thadi; so does every weird idea for a trip.Every exam finishes with a chai and ciggi from thadi and every fight usually does begin at thadi.Its the myraid emotions on display in thadi at any given point of time that surprises evreyone.A kaleidiscope of the boys hostel , every rumour begins here, spreads and then is finally discussed and disposed off here.
Sometimes , one begins to wonder at the great sort of majestic beauty a place neednt have to attract one and all.What is it about thadi that attracts everyone. A friend in the heights of nirvana, once wrote baout thadi thus - "Thadi is where the mind and the soul meet , where sadness is heightened to happiness and happiness to ecstacy and every guy comes to thadi in search of this magic".Nobody could have said it better.Thadi is not a chai shop at college, its a religion and a way of life in itself.Any word uttered against thadi in the college and you could find the guys with the fiercest of faces ready to pounce on you.I mean lunacy for thadi is so high that a group got on stage on the annual day calling themselves " the creed of thadi regulars".Ahem! i was pat of that group.
Thadi is the mecca for faggers, jerusalem for boozers and the mount kailash for the stoners and for the lesser mortals , its the holiest place for the ambience. If you dont make a trip to thadi once a day in college , you ain't a cool dude.
LONG LIVE THE MAGIC OF THADI, THE SERENE, THE SUPREME , THE MYRAID.
THE ENIGMA OF THADI SHALL FOREVER REST IN THE HEARTS OF EVERY MNITIAN .
CHAO FOR TODAY
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Thursday, June 23, 2005
MOTORCAR DIARIES
When Henry ford built his “carriage without horses”, he probably would have never anticipated the number of heartaches it would be the cause of. Ladies and gentlemen, do not be mislead by the innocuous usage of words for this ain’t no story of how my heart ached when I bought a car for somebody but rather a story of how I learnt to drive.
I had barely passed my first year at college and even more than the anticipation of the results was my anticipation for March 6, 2003;the day I would officially be an adult and more importantly be eligible for an official license. So the day I got back home I adamantly announced that I needed to get my license. My dad had just recovered from getting a license for my mom which, trust me, was really a promethean task. Yet he couldn’t talk me out of it. It was a question of my prestige at college and I was in no mood to let it go by that easily. Every poor father tires out in putting some sense into his son, and my dad was no different. Finally with much persuasion he succumbed to my demands. Period.
True he had agreed to me ;but then after the gruelling experience that he had been given by my mother he decided to get me "educated " by a driving school. Thus the great ordeal began.
As a kid who played a lot of games on his blasted comp, I never expected to do too bad . So that morning , me and dad went to the driving school guy and enrolled.I had expected that driving school would be like our college labs where there was theory first and then a practical class.So after an agonising wait for about half an hour, the guy looked at me and asked"pokaam"(which means lets go). I was absolutely bewildered.I was wondering where he was taking me;maybe for a ride to explain all thats there in a car .WE reached near a Maruti 800 (which looked like an abandoned 1950 volkswagen beetle than a 1994 model that the rusted writing on the bonnet indicated) which quite obviously had suffered at the hands of many a bad student (like my mom i laughed to myself).
A few seconds later my laughter quickly subsided to horror as the teacher tossed the keys to me and asked me to get in the drivers seat . I thought he was trying to scare me or something but as I got in the car I felt better.It was just like in the video games ...only difference was that if i crashed a single R button restored me to the game ..while this was the real thing.
Well to cut the big thing short , and to my pride I could drive without the teacher yelling much in about a week. Five days into my classes, I realised that I was to share my one hour of driving with a girl. Just like Tupac said , I was "fresh outa jail california dreamin".The thought that I would be with a girl in the car made me feel happy.NIT Jaipur hadnt been very fair to me in the first year. Little did i know that my fragrant dream was one i would never forget ....maybe why im writing this three years down the lane.
So then finally a week and a half since I started my illustrious career as a driver, we finally stopped before a huge mansion and this gorgeous beauty came tumbling down the road(not literally, but thats the way she walked).As she came my instructor muttered that she had comeonce before and didnt get the license ."Enjoy the ride mone!!(enjoy the ride son!!)".
So she got into the car , the overpowering perfume clearly indicating her dad was a gulf dude .She looked back and smiled at me .
"Asha",she help her hands out.
"Yardley?" ,it slipped outa my tongue.
"excuse me? "
"oh I'm nithin, I was asking about the perfume".
"oh ....hee hee .....cute boy"
And so the ride started........a ride i would never forget.
-to be continued
Sunday, June 12, 2005
CHASING THE WILD GOOSE:
Life is one of the weirdest puzzles, a journey through an unearthed minefield, where every step seems to lull one closer to death and the worst part is that you just can’t see it coming. Mindless musings tries to tread on this unknown path trespassing through unknown territory.
Why is that we live, trying to get everything out of life -money, power and fame?? Though we know that we are just having those 60-100 years of fame we tread on like hungry dogs living for the moment. It has been one of things that has troubled and amused me .Don’t be misled by my words, I assure you that I’m from no asylum and neither do I have to need for a rehab. Think about it .Isn’t it true?
For the faithful few who believe in God I’d like to ask one question. If there’s a God who cares then why does he let us die? Why does he leave us in this strange illusion of life? Empowering man with the cerebral powers, God tries to cripple him by granting him mortality. Life is nothing but a mere game of mortal combat where you fight and then die and become the mud and dust that you despise. Talk about self respect- You don’t have much of it even when you die. If you think that I’m talking about "Why live?" I’m also asking "Why die?"
From time immemorial, man has tried to get the secret portion for immortality. Time travel, in a way is another dream leading to a virtual immortality. Even today we talk about immortality at all levels. Paulo Coelho fans would surely remember "The Alchemist". Fools that we are, stupidly glorifying the power of man as the most intelligent creature to walk on the surface of the earth; we fail to realize one important fact. During one of my discussions I heard my friend say - "God made the universe and then made man to glorify his majestic creation". Though it sounded so illogical to me, I suddenly could make out logic in it. Hell to being an atheist for I ain’t one. I’m just behaving like a curious confused homo sapien.
To all readers I just want the answer to this question:-
Which is better living or dying?
If to live then why? To foolishly pursue a dream, achieve it and then die leaving it all behind?
If to die then why? To become the mere dust for others to trample on?
Friday, June 10, 2005
Thursday, June 09, 2005
COLLEGE BLUES II
Well it was this teacher named Ms la. She was a gorgeous lady and seemed to have a kind face. Well I’m always bad at judging people. So then she came to the board and in a perfectly no nonsence manner.One look at her attitude and I immediately settled down to the standards i expected from an NIT, a premier institute for higher learning.
THEN PANDEMONIUM STRUCK!!!! question time!!!
Well I did clear my entrance and my twelfth grade with respectable grades but two months of happy go lucky holidays had erased my hard disc all clean.
"You there in the lined shirt, yes you , whats KCL?" I missed by hairs breadth.It was the chinki next to me the weird name. "Maam when volatge is so and so and current is so and so and the cirsuit is in so and so the net current voltage blah blah". My mind was running on overdrive.Yeah I've heard it somewhere before but what the heck;It was all greek and latin to me. I tried to go low and dissapear behind the benches and the guy in front of me.
"God please , save me ". Like all opportunistic homo sapiens I remembered Him only in distress. Hell to all the ideals I preached on being an atheist.This was mayday for my ship in distress;Only a supernatural power could save me.Well I should have stuck to my ideals because the invevtable followed.
"You there,shorty". ("Heh Heh not me again " , I thought) "You there , Orange shirt .Cant you hear me calling you ?"
Sirens blared , alarms rang in hi-fi volume and my adrenalin was pumping so hard in to my body that I thought my chest would burst with my heartbeat. I looked at her as though i thought it was'nt me ."Cant you understand English? Hello Bhaissab , uthiye to .angrezi samaj nahin aata?" Well this was really greek and latin to me. Hindi wasnt my best sword to fight with."Oye chutku".Well i could understand that and it hurt my false male ego."Hell to her questions.I aint no shorty".I rose up to my full height , easily dwarfing her and scaring her with the bloodshot look in my devilish eyes.( Atleast i thought so; comeon guys no drama no fun and no manliness)
"Whats KCL? Whats Kirchoffs law?" Mental overdrive clouded my eyes and a force of maybe a hundred G's shortened my majestic height. I thought the ground was pulling me so hard that i would sink into the earth.
"Ka ka ka sa sa sa llll..........maam iiii caca can't remember maam"
"What , you dont even know KCL?"
"Madam i know but i just can't remember"
"Whats your name;where are you from?"
"Nithin Ramachandran, kerala"
"Madrasi? Get out of the class!!"
My ears never betrayed me .They always worked well.Maybe they just conked off because of the new climate- I consoled myself.
"What are you staring at ! Get out I say!!"
What ??.....Hello?? ....Is this college or what?? I mean one wrong answer ( well no answer rather) and youre out. C'mon man get real ;I was looking at her hopefully trying to keep my face as innocent as possible but to no avail.
It was her eyes which were bloodshot with anger now. I quietly lowered my eyes and picked my books as she got back to the podium to begin her lecture.Mr Longname Chinki next to me held my hand and nodded quietlly with a quiet smile on his lips. Well a guy mocking me added insult to injury. (Later I realised that it was actually a note of empathy and understanding).
As I got out of the class my sisters advice played like a streaming real audio on a slow intenet connection through my head."Nithin remeber one thing - rub a teacher in college on the wrong side and you arent going to get a degree in your lifetime".
Well I started out well on her advice.First day , first class and here I am , thrown out of the class. "Thanks sis those last words really helped heal my fresh wounds so well."No more ego was left in my system.My brain was behaving like a scratched disc on a player.Not knowing what to do i stood outside the hall ,Tears flowing freely down my cheeks.(HEY laugh guys ; had you been there you woulda cried too).
Suddenly there were a zillion prof's around me."Ragging hai kya beta .Uska naam bata do hum dekh lenge".
"Whaaaa?"
Hindi blah blah kept on going at lightning speed for around a zillion minutes.I was stripped out of my identity card and I quickly realised that they thought I was crying because I was a victim of ragging.
Hell to ragging dude. Im standing here in a frying pan and your putting me into the fire.
As realisation dawned, I looked up to a old prof who seemed to be kind enough and blurted out-"Saaar ragging nahin nahin.....class question teacher nahin bola .....bahar nikla diya "My hindi was horrible enough but I guess they were used to guys from the south ( some dumb madrasi for them).The message registered instantly.
"Kya ragging nahin hai kya .Then why did you waste our time.We have other classes and your crying here and wasting our time.Get lost!!"
Hello?? .....Not again!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well that was the way my first class in college took place .Two "Get Losts" and a serious loss of pride in under an hour .
"Kudos Nithin, Good start",I tell myself.
Thankfully there were a few better days than that.Yeah you've guessed right ! There were worse days !!
I know you want to hear about all that too.Maybe I'll save that for later.Got to hit my bed now
MINDLESS MUSINGS
hi everyone
yeah as the name suggests it is a mindless endeavour indeed. a page where experiences bear colour through the thoughtful words, where the mind exercises least and the words speak more.
its not only the thoughts but the learning from he actions that are important.
this column tries to bring alive this fragant life .
so watch out for more at mindless mmusings
yeah as the name suggests it is a mindless endeavour indeed. a page where experiences bear colour through the thoughtful words, where the mind exercises least and the words speak more.
its not only the thoughts but the learning from he actions that are important.
this column tries to bring alive this fragant life .
so watch out for more at mindless mmusings
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
COLLEGE BLUES
College is about studies, isn’t it? Its about the fervour of a lifetime about the job your going to get, the percentage of a lifetime that’s going to take you to where you want to be in your professional life and so on. Yet isn’t there a more personal life associated with college life. Most of us in college would agree to this statement. Well here goes my experience at college.
The first day about college is always about the trepidation of treading into new territory, isn’t it. It wasn’t any different for me either. I was literally thrown 50 feet and awoken with a thud as i came to terms with the blooming city of Jaipur from the sleepiness I was used to in the palm fringed state of Kerala. I had my humble origins in Trivandrum, the capital of coastal Kerala. Jaipur was a new experience- totally different people, horrible (at least to me) food and of course an unforgiving weather.
Let me tell you first about the first class I had. I feel those Goosebumps arising as I feel every time I remember that day. It was a moderately sunny (moderate in desert climate standards) day with absolutely no clouds in the sky. As I walked to college I kept my eyes away from prying seniors and kept thinking about what I would do in the next four years. Promising myself that i would work harder than ever, I strode onward towards the eerie building. My first class was scheduled in the ADM block or the administrative block (I found it quite odd though that classes were held in the administrative building). The class was a cornucopia of eager faces; I could make out a few chinkis, a couple of dark tulus and many locals. Finding a seat next to a proper chinki, I set my books and my box (yeah! I did use a box, but it lasted only the first day) and sat staring at the board. I was wondering if the weirdo next to me knew any English at all and my knowledge of his “ chin chon choo “ was as much as I knew about life on the Andromeda galaxy. I looked him up again and getting tired of the silence i extended my hand-“ Nithin Ramachandran, Kerala” what about you? He closed his eyes and shook my hands with both his hands and said “ Khumyungbum yum Jao Singh “. I just stared at him with a blank expression on my face; a couple of minutes later I said, “ come again , what’s your name ?” Well he repeated the name around a hundred times and I managed to learn the first two words of his name. However our discussion was interrupted by a gorgeous young lady .
- to be continued
The first day about college is always about the trepidation of treading into new territory, isn’t it. It wasn’t any different for me either. I was literally thrown 50 feet and awoken with a thud as i came to terms with the blooming city of Jaipur from the sleepiness I was used to in the palm fringed state of Kerala. I had my humble origins in Trivandrum, the capital of coastal Kerala. Jaipur was a new experience- totally different people, horrible (at least to me) food and of course an unforgiving weather.
Let me tell you first about the first class I had. I feel those Goosebumps arising as I feel every time I remember that day. It was a moderately sunny (moderate in desert climate standards) day with absolutely no clouds in the sky. As I walked to college I kept my eyes away from prying seniors and kept thinking about what I would do in the next four years. Promising myself that i would work harder than ever, I strode onward towards the eerie building. My first class was scheduled in the ADM block or the administrative block (I found it quite odd though that classes were held in the administrative building). The class was a cornucopia of eager faces; I could make out a few chinkis, a couple of dark tulus and many locals. Finding a seat next to a proper chinki, I set my books and my box (yeah! I did use a box, but it lasted only the first day) and sat staring at the board. I was wondering if the weirdo next to me knew any English at all and my knowledge of his “ chin chon choo “ was as much as I knew about life on the Andromeda galaxy. I looked him up again and getting tired of the silence i extended my hand-“ Nithin Ramachandran, Kerala” what about you? He closed his eyes and shook my hands with both his hands and said “ Khumyungbum yum Jao Singh “. I just stared at him with a blank expression on my face; a couple of minutes later I said, “ come again , what’s your name ?” Well he repeated the name around a hundred times and I managed to learn the first two words of his name. However our discussion was interrupted by a gorgeous young lady .
- to be continued
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