Holiday Season

“Santa Claus is coming tonight!” I sang along with my dear idiot box.

Christmas traditionally paints a picture of snow, presents under the tree, joyous carolling and merriment. Sure, I’d like to see Santa squeeze his belly down my non-existent chimney but since the wishful thinking ends there, all I’m left with is my television set and movies centred round Christmas. I had spent all my school years like this; we were off for the entire month of December. Since colleges did not offer such generous vacations, I couldn’t imagine how the next four Decembers would be.

Dec 2008 – Semester 1 in CEG was drawing to an end and the exam irritation was mounting to its peak. Following which was a meagre two-week break. Sigh! What came to respite was the company I found. The students of the L batch were quite close-knit compared to the other first year batches. People conjured up several expansions for the abbreviation ‘L’. They, however, chose to call themselves the ‘Gallery Gang’. The college authorities locked up the small gallery soon after, but that is a different story altogether! As the semester passed, this gang invited people from all batches with open arms and we became one big army called the Canteen Gang (yes, we couldn’t think of a better name). A certain friend even miswrote my name in her New Year’s card, but it was all in the game. The festivities had begun with new friendships. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

Dec 2009 – This year had seen highs and lows. The Canteen Gang that once hung out in huge numbers was barely seen anymore. A gradual split had occurred and most of us remained oblivious to it. Cupid’s arrows were missing in aim, for a few. Since we had spent two semesters with our respective departments, a lot of other gangs were formed. This New Year does not bring forth too many memories, so I’ll take the liberty to assume it was relatively uneventful. Silent Night!

Dec 2010 – This year was far from monotonous! The famous “Christ Mom & Christ Child” game was gaining popularity all around. Perhaps you, like the rest of the college, called it ‘chris mom chris child’ too. Ah, the pain endured by my sensitive ears! MS Word unbearably squiggles red lines under it as well. Anyway, my class played it with a twist - a secretive type of ‘Truth or Dare’. The mystery element of who got whom had the entire class excited as our fellow classmates had to perform tasks assigned by their respective Christ Moms. Hilarious month indeed - friends making a fool out of themselves in public and the male folk voluntarily referring to themselves as ‘moms’. Jingle bells, Santa smells, Rudolph ran away! J

Dec 2011 – This year brings in mixed emotions. And it is completely unrelated to the babble involving the Mayan Calendar and the world’s end. I have full faith in Marty McFly, he travels to 2015 in the “Back to the Future” series! This year will only see one semester in CEG. The semester where everybody would have full attendance because nobody would want to let go. A couple of friends joked about how the world should end after we procure our degrees, but they would rather the end of the world now. Neither are being senti nor are we mental, but the fact of the day is that nobody likes change.

December 2012 will not involve memories with CEG unless I face some unforeseen wrath by the professors of my department, but it will nurture the start of new memories. As HBO and Star Movies churn out the same movies each year, I can confidently mute my television and prolifically recite the dialogues of a certain Arnold Schwarzenegger movie where he dons the attire of a superhero that his son idolises, feeling relieved that some things would never change.

“Happy New Year to all, and to all good night!”. Now, where did I keep that remote?

Women

Way back in the sands of time, arrived a little angel, precious as chime.
Flew past months one to nine, now she talks and now she rhymes.

Too soon she grew up, through kinder and through school;  the world watched her turn from playful to cool
Toys and dolls things of her past, the baby blossomed into a woman a little too fast.

Always the apple of her parents’ eye, to them she’s still a baby; her age was just a lie.
She bade goodbye with her angelic smile, off to university with a lot of papers to file.

Cases and hearings kept her hands full; she sought out evidence as much as she could pull.
She always put up a powerful fight, “I rest my case” she says and exits stage right.

Then came the day her father regretted most, she’d found her man; the news came by post.
Intelligent, smart and successful was he; “I’m convinced”, she said “that this is meant to be”.

The flock arrived, around the table they sat; joyful banter followed and night-long chat.
"Greatly must the groom have sinned", they laughed, "there could be no argument that he could ever win".

With mixed emotions of pain and pride, strode down the aisle – the father of the bride.
A piece of him left that day, only to be replaced by a connection; one to stay.

She moved into a new family soon after, welcoming arms and a home filled with laughter.
Numerous roles filled her life; she was a sister, a daughter and a loving wife.

A little princess arrived in May; a new phase began with her career held at bay.
A mother, she now became, to her little baby girl - with rosy cheeks and hair that’d curl.

The circle of life went around once more - school, college, work and marriage - all four.
Her princess now had roles of her own – juggling cooking pots, stethoscopes and her phone.

‘Lady Luck’ or a ‘Woman’s touch’; they are said to change stone to gold
A woman is the one who turns your clay into a meaningful mould.

Mothers, sisters, wives and friends – lets hold our women dear
Make each day count, celebrate “Women’s day” throughout the year.

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.