"Aajkal ke bacche!"

I guess India IS a mystic land. The only things kids need here is access.
You see.. it's very easy to get ooohs and aaahs the first time you show them something different. The trick lies in trusting the kid with it.

This one time when I went to native Odisha, I had carried along my laptop. During an afternoon siesta, I was watching a movie when my cousin came in to sleep alongside. He knew I was busy watching, so he didn't poke me and just stared into the screen. He snugged in a little, and I gave him one of the earphones. The movie ended, I closed the player, shut the laptop down and went to sleep. In the evening, I was reading a book when he brought the laptop and asked if he can see it.

"Sure. Just don't click anything you're doubtful about."

I dictated him the password, and just sat beside finishing the book. For the next one hour, the only talk we had was how to close, how to open, how to delete,etc.. just simple know-hows. It just rained clicks. He scooted in and out of every folder he could lay his hands on. Whenever a new sub-menu or options opened, he would take time to recollect all the English he had ever learnt and read and try to understand every word on the screen. He feared disturbing me, so I was thankfully spared all those doubts and questions. At the hour's end, he did a small fistpump which he thought I won't notice, but I did. He had actually played the movie we watched in the afternoon. He turned towards me and said in Odia,

"I hadn't watched from the start." :p

I was mindblown! He was just 7! I even remember revising the English alphabet with him the year before.. And this smart kid I'm so proud of studies in an Odia-medium school in the rurals. In the next few days, he could paint, play games, practise making sentences on the Notepad, etc. Often in my presence, he is told to follow in his brother's footsteps and become 'big' like me. Sometimes, that sounds funny. Because if he would've got the same shoes that I wore, he would be running ahead of me by miles..

Studies is important, we know. But tutions are definitely not. Give that time to the kid to spend it on what he loves doing. Once he tries, learns and conquers that, he'll derive an unspoken satisfaction and happiness from it. And it'll not be long before the kid feels thirsty again and this time turns towards his books..

And for this, we need to lift that 'restricted access' you run into every time your parents take your reins into their hands.

PS: Don't turn violent on your parents, you Komolikaas! Remember point 1? Conquer it. Do that good enough and your parents will start seeing it too.

Life on the reverse gear!

If you like reading, you should definitely travel across Goodreads. Here's one of the gems I picked up to share with the world.

“In my next life I want to live my life backwards. You start out dead and get that out of the way. Then you wake up in an old people's home feeling better every day. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, and then when you start work, you get a gold watch and a party on your first day. You work for 40 years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You party, drink alcohol, and are generally promiscuous, then you are ready for high school. You then go to primary school, you become a kid, you play. You have no responsibilities, you become a baby until you are born. And then you spend your last 9 months floating in luxurious spa-like conditions with central heating and room service on tap, larger quarters every day and then Voila! You finish off as an orgasm!” 

Written by four-time Academy Award winner Woody Allen. :) 

Sher Singh Leo

A short nimbly 19-year old receives the ball just behind the half-line. Then, he softly places the ball away from a wide-leg incoming tackle, takes a touch to stabilize the ball, and with another sends it skimping between another defender's legs past the half-line. Next, He accelerates. Outrunning the beaten ones, He darts for the penalty area. He dodges one, skips through another's wide tackle and crosses the penalty line. The goalie runs towards Him having crossed the 6-yard line, but of course misses, as He deviates away from the Goal to avoid an ambush. Meanwhile, Eto'o had already reached inside the 6-yard and takes his position in the open as the ball continues to race towards the line. And then, He kind of shoots mildly just a few feet from the ground to avoid a def sliding by the post. Eto'o stood aghast in disbelief as the ball kissed the net and the world cheered the arrival of Leo Messi.

Change is inevitable. And growing in its stride is the real challenge. Facing a growth hormone problem when a kid, Leo often found himself playing against heftier boys. He was too small to shoot the ball, so he professed in dribbling and speeding up quickly to leave his opponents behind. Even when he started playing international club football, Messi had that magic in his touches. He just knew how the guy in front's gonna move, which way will he go, how far will his legs spread... phew! I think he treats the ball more majestically than his wife. But how far is this gonna take you? Just being a midfielder with good dribbling skills is not what makes you a legend. It was not long before Messi started taking kicks and was sent ahead and designated the official scorer. The boy just got more dangerous :D

One thing that has always been a delight to watch... There's absolutely no giving up! Numerous times he has been tackled or roughened down. Instead of lying around and appealing (or worse, create a furore about it) he regains himself and goes for the ball again. His childhood coach quoted, "At the club tournaments, Leo used to play against much bigger boys. Nevertheless, he scored 5-6 goals in every match. Messi used to just take the ball from the goalie and start dribbling and passing across the pitch..." All this fame and wealth sometimes gets to your head. But not in His case. Till the extent that I follow Messi, I've never seen any incident that comes even close to rival his genuine and loving being.

If you play football and if you love Messi, you can relate to the feeling when just by watching his videos, you feel inspired to Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.


A humble plea
Stop fighting over Ronaldo vs Messi. Both are extremely gifted players of this generation.
The only difference is.. I admire CR, but I love Leo.
CR's shooting, speed and dribbling skills are in a totally different dimension. Nobody can match him, and he has worked really hard for it. That's a lesson for all of us, in fact.
But Messi plays pure football. At first, it seems like he's one of us. Passing to his players, trying to go into the open, trying to build the game forward... but keep watching him. Stay fixated. It's like the calm before the storm. The show starts when Messi is just strolling around with the ball far outside the box, sees a flock of defenders trying to resist the advances of his brothers alongside, and then probably thinks to himself, "This is boring. Let's change the score. ;)"
  

MisfIITs?

"I'm an IITian!"
Sound good? Nope. Not even a little. Sigh!

Gone are those days when being an IITian was as respected a position as that of an IAS officer. IITs were conceived by Nehruji to be the one pillar India needed alongside Administration to become a superpower. Maayayo desh ki land area toh badhi nai, IIT ke seats badh gaye.

I wonder why we have been labelled rather carelessly. Here are a few of them...

1) Highly testosterone-charged. There have been many stories floating around. The most famous of 'em all is the one of DU and IIT Delhi. Apparently, some jerks at IITD have behaved real cheap around DU girls often. Coupled with that, the free and unconstrained lifestyle of those girls have been mistaken as 'easy-to-get' slash 'easy-to-screw'. I can go ahead and say pakka kisi lucche Jat ya Haryanvi ka kaam hoga but am I not doing the same... building stereotypes out of a few coincidences. True, some friends I've met look quite disgustingly towards ladies. But there's another side to every coin. Many of my friends are quite the gentlemen. They totally respect women and don't look for side-benefits out of every conversation with them. But if you argue that porn accounts for some bytes in our hard drives, I'll say porn features naked men too. Sex is perfectly natural. Getting caught red-handed may give your parents a shocker, but aren't they the same people who will later ask you to sleep with a stranger and make babies?

2) Geeky nerdy people with no taste in fun. I've never heard of fun being defined only as drinking, smoking, partying, hanging out with the opposite sex, etc. On some Sundays, I go out, play football, watch movies, or simply hang out hostel ke bandon ke saath. For me, fun is having company. And at IITs that feature is quite abundant. People from all parts of India mingling with each other, getting to know various cultures, lifestyles, stories, etc. I say that's the stuff that makes men. Never will you see an IITian involving in communal strife. We have seen any particular situation through many possible angles. IITians are the most broad-minded and accepting people you'll ever meet. You want experience, wisdom, smartness, etc.? With all the fests, inter-hostel tourneys and academic loads, we learn by the time we graduate what an average man learns maybe by the time he nears the end of his twenties.

3) Proud arrogant fucks who think they're extraordinary. Really? Ever tried participating in one of their fests? The whole Team works towards just one goal: make it memorable for you as well as the Team. Am not sure about others, but in IIT Guwahati we live our undergrad life in the same hostel right from first year. I'll talk about ragging some other day, it's not as bad as you think. The next three years, we try our best to make the incoming freshers feel at home and open them up to the big family and hostel values. We know that to win trophies, its quintessential to come together as a team, not just a bunch of few supertalents. Anyone and everyone is valuable, the trick is in figuring out what they're good at.

Quoting Jackie Shroff, "Izzat de. Izzat le. Baaki maze le." :D



I almost forgot... now that I quoted IITG hostels, I just couldn't resist myself from shouting Jai Umiam !! \m/

'The' Girl.

They say you are blessed with life's greatest realizations when you are stoned. True enough ! It took me one 'stoning' to dawn this particular one upon me, and another to write it and share it with all of you.
And when I say it's priceless, believe me in the fullest measure.

The one question that has clouded over all of 'man'kind for ages.
How do you know if 'that' girl is perfect for you?

Checkpost1: Character.

The girls's good. By good, I mean she's got a good loving heart. If you believe the girl's good, you want to associate with her. There's no second-degree motives. Like any other good guy, you want to be friends with her.

Checkpost2: Compatibility.

The girl's fun. How much time can you spend with her (sans physical intimacy) without getting bored? Let's say you've just been rewarded with a three-day vacation. The first thing that would spruce up in my mind is to go hiking, paragliding, bungee-jumping, etc. in some exotic place. What would your (girl)friend do? Will she join you on your conquest or does she just like idling away in the peace and warmth of her home, reading books, listening to soft music and blow off all steam? If she chooses to come with you, you have a friend who shares the same fun factor as you. She gradually grows into a good/great friend.

Checkpost3: Physical attraction.

I love her. Whenever I see her, she looks so beautiful that I just wanna kiss her all day. I want to find her by my side every morning I wake up. Her soft touch and the warmth of her body instantaneously transports me to another dimension.

These checkposts are not independent. They all come one after another gradually as your relationship develops.
All the best. Wishing you that perfect girl. :)

Pride Regained

Two days ago, we had lost 4-0 to Dihing. As the Captain of Umiam Football, and missing two opportunities of scoring a goal, it had definitely not ended the way I had imagined.
Sleepless nights and shame plagued me. In addition, some in the Starting XI had pulled out injured from the next match. Even if we defeat Brahmaputra in the next match (which seemed a real distant fantasy), our chances of qualifying from the Group looked really slim.
Today, it had ultimately boiled down to a match where our sole motive was to regain that lost pride. And Brahmaputra was definitely not the best opponent to do that. Last year's winners, Brahmaputra had an array of talented players, reinforced by the inclusion of Arnav bhaiyya (currently, the best player on the Campus) in the team.
We managed to draw first blood, with me begetting the fortune of earning the credit. I knew I had redempted myself, and now it was time for the whole team. We shifted into Total Defense, as we had poked a sleeping lion. Relentless strikes from every side and numerous shots on goal adorned the match. At this point, I would not shy away from heaping praise on Aditya, our Keeper playing on Debut. Single-handed, he thwarted all those strikes. All my doubt and reluctance of placing a first-yearite (supposedly without experience) in charge of protecting our post was buried in the grave.
Another star debut was that of Sarthak, another first-yearite brought in at the last minute to strengthen an ailing defense. It was again a big gamble, which paid off at the end of the day. Sarthak and Mohit bhaiyya negated all possibilities of an aerial strike, Bhanu and Sarkar doing the same on the ground, demoralising every opponent and building up that frustration in Brahm. Pallav, Ankith bhaiyya, Loy, Piyush and Paul took care of building the attack and believe me, the swift counter-attacks were a pleasure to watch.
I don't know about anybody else on the team, but today I played my heart out. Stamina was always a problem, but that surprisingly didn't affect me much today. The sheer determination and belief I saw today in the team made me extremely proud of having the opportunity to lead them.
We may or may not go into the Quarters, but know this.
You earned a salute today. A 21-guns one !