Media Reporter, Eyes and Ears

October 19 2011: “Ethnic Costume Show” – Sounds like somebody just draped a saree around the words ‘Fashion Show’. Or perhaps ‘ethnic’ was introduced upfront in the title, just to get the green signal from the head of the institution – in either case, can our Eyes and Ears be far behind?

The annual intra-college culturals of CEG, “Agni 2011” hosted its very first ‘Ethnic Costume Show’ under the banner of Aakriti (a newly formed forum exclusively for the girls of CEG) on the 19^th of October 2011 at 2 pm, in the main Vivekananda Auditorium (or Vivek Audi, as CEGians fondly call it).

What we knew: Those waiting in line to witness washboard abs, the likes of John Abraham, please go home – It’s an all-girls event. Also, ‘ethnic’ suggests adornment of only traditional Indian wear. The rules stated that “spaghettis, tubes, halters would lead to disqualification” – for the uninformed, they are types of blouses; not the Italian food or plumbing equipment analogues.

What we expected: A huge albeit manageable turn-out for participation as well as audience-support. Ideas and their execution, of both participants and organisers, mimicking Lakme Fashion Week.  A bright dash of colours on ladies who prove that engineers can be fashionable too. Creative themes that go beyond the realms of clichés like ‘festivals’. Well-equipped lighting technicians to set a disco mood especially for the guest performances, but maybe we’re expecting too much too soon.

Did they meet our expectations? For the most part, they did. The guest band Paadhai (luke) warmed up the audience at the beginning of the event. The roar of the audience rose from them on. All the men in the house cheered for their classmates, micro-mini Manimegalai’s and tank top Thangabagyam’s, who donned attires that their grandparents have been begging them to wear for eternity. Most participants exuded excitement and were very camera-friendly. 

The desi girls

Vital points met; maybe even exceeded, but the organisers lacked clarity in a lot of places.  Rearrangement of order of teams caused a lot of confusion back stage, much to the trouble of the participants. Confusion persisted throughout, with the audio department which triggered a lot of temper rising.

Shame Shame, Shy is came

The judges, Christelda Philip and Rashmi Menon, failed to make an impression. And the comperes for the evening failed to engage the audience. Past the fourth team’s performance, monotony filled the air. Quite a dip in the array of events – considering the fact that 6 more teams were yet to perform. Many left the auditorium even before the hip-hop team ‘Limited Edition’ could take centre-stage.

Judges didn't get a memo about donning Ethnic Costumes

All in all, the Ethnic Costume Show was quite an Eye (and Ear) Opener, which garnered great response from students of all years. The women in the audience learnt different styles of draping their usual (boring) sarees. Some also learnt about the evolution of sarees in different cultures. The men in the house … well, they learnt a lot too. But where they had their Eyes and Ears tuned to, is something we’ll leave to your perception!

Soup boys

Anger

One of the most uncontrollable and violent emotions.

Anger can cause irrevocable damage if our impulses are acted upon. Dealing with dire consequences is not everybody's piece of cake. Anger cannot be easily controlled because it involves almost all of our senses. Expression through words, face, physical action is as natural and quick as a cloth catching fire.

Fire is best used to describe anger. Spreads to all areas instantly, provided they aren't insulated. Makes people burn from the inside and fills them up with negative energy. If this energy remains misguided, the spontaneous ideas that follow could pose a threat for the person who is angry and those in the vicinity.

How does one control anger? Can you initially detect the presence of anger in you? Once you do, is the emotion seeded to grow into a wild tree, or is it nipped in the bud? Sometimes people recognise anger only when the tree has grown far too wild. But if they do detect it early, the emotion settles subconsciously as they persistently think about the situation or object that angered them in the first place. What's the point, really? The past has happened. There's nothing you can change about it. There's a lot you can change about the time you're living in, NOW. But no, our mind finds other things to concentrate upon.

Why do we choose to re-enact the situation that angered us? Those who have achieved the greatest feat of managing their anger, perhaps like to learn how they could have avoided the situation in the first place and prevent its repetition. The others mull in the emotions of the situation because anger makes them feel powerful - it makes them feel superior to the person they're angry with. When this superiority sets in, they feel that any action they take will be able to compensate for what primarily caused the anger. 'I am the King of the World and nobody can touch me' syndrome.

Anger triggers Violence
Violence produces Destruction
Destruction causes Shock
Shock leads to Regret
Regret inculcates Helplessness
and Helplessness could eventually trigger Anger again.

Why get trapped in this vicious circle? Where is the way out? If we can control our impulsive reactions for a while and focus on the actual matter at hand, we're headed in the right direction. Thinking will help us increase our temper tolerance and also find a reasonable solution to the problem at hand. Amicably settled, win-win situation for all.

Why don't we just do that then, you ask? Try it :) ... It is as difficult as searching for a lost diamond in the sands of Sahara.

Humour - The Dark Side

For any situation to seem appealing, the humour quotient needs to be upped. That's the latest trend our generation follows. Humour invokes diverse types of emotions, one of which includes the mild irritation I feel towards the red squiggly lines appearing beneath it right now. I was taught this version of its spelling, and this is what I will use!

It seems to be a perfect formula to connect with people, be it the subtle humour at boardroom meetings or the loud shameless laughter sessions with friends and family. It attracts people's attention because a sense of humour is not something that everybody is blessed with. They focus their attention on you, you get your point across. Quite understandable in a professional scenario where the client needs to be glued to your words so that the product details fall on his otherwise-deaf ears.

Advertisements, these days, send you into a momentary trance where you feel secure investing in a product because it makes you laugh. You are misled, you buy the product and the actual state of the product makes you laugh again, this time for your stupidity. The joke for you, is now on you.

Each person has imaginary layers surrounding him, like walls, that block out any possible cause of an emotional outburst. It is hard to make a person cry and even harder to make him laugh. Hence, when something makes you laugh, you connect with it instantly. None of your sensitivity walls exist towards it anymore. You have reach the state of vulnerability.

On the home front, while conversing with a group of friends or family, people conjure up humourous stories about their lives (whether they actually occurred or not). Why? It gets the group to look at them and laugh along with them and makes them feel secure that they're loved in the society. At that instant, all seems well. In retrospect, you tend to lose respect for the person they're mocking in their stories and soon enough the mocker himself!
Instant connection vs. Losing Respect - the battle is just as indecisive as the working of a magnetic compass in the north pole !

Methods of connecting with people are quite time and generation variant and the strategy that works best for today's world is humour. But is it worth making a fool out of yourself, after not having spared anybody else? Or is it ethically acceptable to be vulnerable to something you witnessed for precisely 30 seconds?

Hmmm... Not so funny afterall, eh?

Nothing's permanent except Change

Nobody likes change initially. It is one of the toughest things to adjust to. Especially when it creates a distance divide.

Earlier in school, friends moved to different places because their Dads had job transfers. Then came a big shuffling and random allotment of classes for students - dissolving groups of friends who've been together for over 9 years. We survived that.

Another full-stop. School ended. Nobody knew where to go, what to do. And a few months following the results, there was another separation. Friends went to universities far and wide. Nevertheless, there was a good number that stayed back for colleges in the city. We all may not be in the same colleges, but the city factor kept us together. We're surviving that.

College will end soon. For some, it already has. People are moving again seeking jobs or a post-graduation course. More people moving out. We will survive that (hopefully).

Change is a definite part of our lives and the sooner we accept it, the easier it is to deal with it. Sometimes, voluntarily choosing a life in a different city/country is for the best - gives you a break from the monotony. Sometimes, people stick to their hometowns - quite satisfied with their lives there.

The uncertainty of change is quite interesting, though. Like a challenge you can't hide from. Once you're past that and settled in your new life, there'll be a new change round-the-corner.

To share or not to share

January was quite a while back and it would be silly on my part if I said I couldn't find anything to write about.

Its funny how someone from this generation begins to instantly wonder whether an incident in their life is worth blogging about or becoming a Facebook status update. In either case, people would see and comment. But the question is : Would you really want that incident to be out there in the open, for public response?

For most other people whose lives are normal (read, unsatisfactory), they find the need to dramatize these incidents to garner a better response from their 'audience' (read, people who have too much time on their hands).

Somethings are best left unsaid. But if they're not talked about, how'd the world know? Is it necessary for the world to know? If not, GREAT ! Lesser information to ponder upon. If so, why is it left unsaid? Perplexing !

So how do you judge which information/incident about your life is worth sharing? Certainly, information about you sneezing three times is not worth an FB status update, according to me. Arguably, many others might find it insightful, who knows?

Why are there so many questions? And no absolute answers? Relativity is quite over-rated ! Even though relativity comes handy in many occasions, sometimes all you want is a common globally-approved answer.

Third party perspective

Why should you be, You? Why can't you be Alisha, Karan, Sanjana, Krithi, Aditya or Ajay? Putting yourself in another person's shoes isn't quite hard, or is it?

You put a lot of thought into a certain subject and a decision is made. Now, distance yourself from your emotions - Imagine that you are some on-looker watching this decision being made. Suddenly, you feel the decision is illogical. But wasn't it you who made this decision? How can your opinion change when you aren't the decision-maker. That's exactly how the society behaves. Relativity in opinion can be quite confusing. Dwelling in the third party perspective can be quite tricky. A neat line must be drawn to differentiate this. Or like the movie "Inception" states - one won't know the difference between a dream and reality.

This perspective is extremely useful in the field of performing arts. How do you portray a character without getting into the skin of it. If you are Lord Krishna, you need to exude grace, charm and a friendly personality - irrespective of how you are in real life. Krishna was social, flirty and very knowledgeable - an antisocial artist would find it hard to be Krishna, unless he forgets himself and pretends that he was always Krishna from the beginning. In extremely rare cases of matching personalities, a 'switch off' of your emotions is required - otherwise your worries would unnecessarily come into the picture. You might have problems with your girlfriend, but here you're romancing Radha and you don't quite have a choice!
Your mind is on full worrying mode - "Oh god ! Electricity bills have to be paid, the milkman will come at 5 30 in the morning ruining my sleep, the boss won't listen to any excuses about the presentation mailing ... " - The Lights go on ... and suddenly you're dancing in the garden of Brindavan, in a time zone that you aren't aware of, with gopis whose existence cannot be scientifically proven ... Wait, where did all those present time worries go? The mind has switched off.

Not being You for a while can really help in distancing yourself from your problems. But running away from them doesn't always help. Actually, being oblivious to situations can get you into even more trouble. So use it wisely!

True to its name

Life's a Stage ! It is about living, expressing, emoting, valuing and experiencing.

Today is my day to express. My day to live !