MICROSOFT UNCONQUERED

‘Unconquered’- this was not the word I was hoping to use once everything was said and done. But life has a funny way of springing up surprises, and this time it was not a very pleasant surprise. I had actually thought of the title ‘Microsoft Conquered’ (after reading a post of a fellow blogger with the same name) but for now I will have to deal with these the extra two letters.

After a procedure which was delayed so much that no logic could explain it, I was left high and dry. For nearly two months I was entailed in a quest which was to end with me empty handed. So as it turned out after three trips to ‘the city of joy’, after fighting off a trinamool bandh and spending a night in a dirty dormitory, I ended up from where I started. In short I DIDN’T GET THROUGH.

Sorry for sounding like a sour loser but could not help it. But now that I have a chance to look back I do feel better. Yes it would have been great if I had got through, but the truth is it didn’t happen so simply get over it and prepare for the future. It’s easier said than done but I accept it as life is never quite easy. My initial reaction was that the sky had fallen but now I realize how naïve of me to allow this minor set back affect me.

Then it struck me ‘Failure is the stepping stone to success’. I never wanted to fail but I did, now the best I can do is use it for my self improvement. It is a awful feeling and I will do anything not to feel this way again. So there you had it, my new found inspiration.

How I mould myself and use this failure to my advantage is a thing of the future. For now the most valuable lesson I have learnt is to be content with what you have. It is good that one desires to be better and strives for success, but win or lose always be happy with the result. No point stressing yourself out trying to win always because quite frankly you CANNOT win them all. So savor what you have. Also ‘He has a plan for everyone’( from the movie Constantine), so don’t worry too much just keep doing what you love to do.

I realized this very deeply that this test was just one of the numerous i will be taking. Just like all the ones i had taken and the ones i will be taking this was not FINAL. Neither were the damaged unrepairable nor the possible fruits permanent. It was just a one off thing which will come back.

So what if I lost out on a 7 digit paycheck, in the words of my friends

I LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY

I FINALLY HAVE IT

ME DOING MANUAL LABOR

THE CORRIDOR OF MY NEW HOSTEL

It was a long and tiresome journey. The war was bloody to say the least. Much was lost. There was agony and despair, there was sweat and tears; the body became fragile and the heart became weak but when all was said and done I was still standing tall. Now as my reward ‘I finally have it’.

Since long I was cramped for space very literally. The pigeonhole I lived in added new meaning to the term small. Now what was even worse was that I was clubbed into it with another guy. I had to be extra careful all the while. No stretching of hands as I might end up slapping my roommate accidentally, no food in the room else ants may occupy much needed space. It was a war each day.

But I will be lying if I say I didn’t have my share of fun. Sharing a room with two different people for a year each had its moments. The transaction from a quite, inert, lazy roommate to a wild, hyperactive, noisy one was both educative and humorous. The two were very helpful and we did form strong bonds. The pain was tolerable as long as ‘I was supposed to tolerate it’. But things in a way got out of hand. For me Murphy’s Law took over-‘if anything can go wrong it will go wrong’.

As the days went by I started to believe that my days of struggle were numbered but fate took many unfortunate twists. Many people were relieved of their misery I was not, many hostels got created but the one were I was suppose to shift in never got made. Even all my juniors got single rooms but I still had to bear the grunt of life.

But Alas! Lady luck finally smiled on me and I could not have been more relieved. From the spring of 2008 I officially have a single room of my own. Now that I look back the last 30 months may not have been that bad, I may have allowed the situation to get the better of me but the best part is that it is the past.

When I first shifted in she needed a facelift, but I was more than happy to toil because I knew it would be worth it. So finally after much labor I had my prize before me, to savor and to celebrate.

All this taught me one thing, no matter how difficult and dark the journey is there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and if you know this before hand the journey wont b that difficult either.

IN ‘DHARTI MAA’s ’ LAP

The employees of numerous MNC’s and PSU’s who regularly complain of mismanagement in their companies should descend on my campus and visit my present hostel. They will realize what a great job their administration is doing. This is because my Institute was now cemented its position as the epitome of mismanagement and its activities has literally landed us up ‘IN ‘DHARTI MAA’s ’ LAP’.

We were supposed to shift into our brand new hostel as soon as the new semester began. So our administration in a display of their foresight decided to shift all the steel cots into the new hostel during the semester break itself. Now after our return to no one’s surprise our administration has got it wrong one again. The new hostel is not ready yet and the old hostels are without beds. To out of options wwe are forced to take asylum in ‘DHARTI MAA’.

Now the hostels are ready but they haven’t been ‘inaugurated’ (errr!!!! L). So no matter how tempting the dish may be we cant dig in yet. It is believed that the formalities should be done and over with in two to three days till then we get to enjoy the pleasure of sleeping on our ‘not so cold’( pun intended) hostel floors.

But what’s scary is my Institute’s track record as far as procrastination is concerned. It will be our worst nightmare come true if the ‘two’ days are stretched to ‘twenty’. Although very unlikely nothing can be ruled out.

So this is a sincere request o everyone, please PRAY FOR US!!!!!!

BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP

Beauty has since long been a great inspiration for some of the most brilliant personalities ever to have walked the surface of earth. Beauty has inspired geniuses to compose every lasting melody, writers to write epics, visionaries to brood over its social effects.

Beauty has caused war, made peace, provided reason, eliminated sense, turned pacifiers into bellicose, made saints out of devils. Such is the power of human beauty.

This writer, like any other mortal being, is amazed by beautiful people and has an inclination to be like them. But he does realize that ‘Beauty is only skin deep.’ Nevertheless this has not deferred him from finding solace in admiring their external forms. Although never taken aback by ‘intense beauty’, many times I do feel that the ground under me has been swept off. The admiration is purely aesthetic and is a genuine analysis rather than amazement as ‘Beauty is skin deep’.

In my way back to my hostel after the semester break I travelled by train. After enduring the cold night it was finally day break. My destination was near by. Now the train stopped, their was an influx of bodies and to maintain equilibrium an proportionate out flux.

A family boarded, the sat in the same compartment in which I was seated. Now there she was, a object to behold, an object of beauty.

Beauty has many forms. The most common is the ‘obvious beauty’. The ones who are drop dead gorgeous, the ones who have it all, the ones who are tall, slim, fair, with long straight hair. They are the ‘barbie dolls’. They are very obvious.

But this one was different. She was the one I liked. She was beautiful in a very shuttle and mysterious way. She was not gorgeous, she was simple. She was ‘beautiful’ but not in the way the dictionary describes it.

She was dressed in a black ‘salwar kameez’. Her attire, her nose ring and her complexion suggested her religion. She was surrounded by siblings yet there was no one remotely similar to her.

She was not slim, neither was she fat. She was fair with a glowing face. But the thing that made her ‘beautiful’ and was the crown jewel of her appearance has to be her EYES.

They were the biggest and darkest eyes I had ever seen. It seemed that the entire world can be lost for time infinite in her dark eyes. The sharply contradicted her skin and sharply increased her looks. Her ‘duppata’ covered her head but from what could be seen she had long black straight locks. All in all she was definitely eye-candy.

Now don’t get me wrong. I was a plain admirer who didn’t have anything better to do and so glanced at the cute girl in front of him. Now for those who say ‘Beauty is only skin deep’, the best reply has to be that I was looking at her and my eyesight is also only skin deep

ALMOST A WINNER

I tried so hard and came so far

But in the end it doesn’t even matter

Pakistan needs only 6 runs to win the honors of maiden T20 world champions. After a middle order collapse the hard hitting Misbah-Ul-Haq plays a gallant innings to bring his team inches away from one of the greatest victories of all times. But then it happens. To a wide ball of Joginder Sharma ,the brave Misbah plays a predetermined shot as a results the ball scoops up and into the waiting hands of Sreesant. ‘India crawl out of a hole’ and become world champions.

A quick jump to the present and the IPL has taken the cricketing world by storm. Player auctions have made cricketers millionaires overnight. Over 80 players were auctioned. But our brave Misbah was no where in the reckoning. Why was it so?

Ishant Sharma bowled one magnificent 9 over spell to the best batsmen in the world and earned an extremely fat paycheck from one of the ICL bidders. But then what about Misbah?

The answer is simple. Misbah was almost a winner. He almost brought home the trophy, but in this world almost is not good enough.

In contrast Ishant’s spell actually resulted in India winning the Sydney test. He went all the way. He ended up actually winning.

Cut to motor sports and we get a similar picture. Throughout last year’s season Lewis Hamilton was the talk of the town. But when it was all said and done the seven words which summed it all up were ‘The Flying Fin is the World Champion’.

This theory is applicable to each and every field and discipline. We associate fame, wealth, glory and success based on the end result only and not based on the effort. For in the end the summit is wide enough for only one person.

We value the winners. Coming second earns no points. But then in this highly competitive world were the difference between first and second (read looser) in many times is decided by fortune or by fortunate/unfortunate twists of fate, is such treatment justified?

It simply reiterates what I have always believed, LIFE ISN’T FAIR.

INNATE TALENT

How many times have we come across the statement ‘He was destined to succeed’.

I recently heard it. I was told that due to innate talent a person I know has cracked the toughest exam in the country. There were many who toiled day and night but in the end the stood no chance. It was said that they simply weren’t lucky enough to be born with what it takes to succeed. This made me think. If our ‘innate talents’ decides our fortune then what is the need to labor. You will succeed only if GOD has paid a little more attention to you and has installed some extra applications in you. Right? Thankfully this is not the case.

Earlier I used to forget my failure saying that ‘it was never meant to be.’ If any of my comrades achieved something which I could not I will say ‘It was his destiny’. But this recent conversation finally beamed sunlight into my gloomy thoughts and helped me see light.

One thing and one thing only decides our fate-EFFORT. It’s all about how much you can dish out and dish in. It’s about unidirectional focus and unfettering faith. It is about persistence and practice.

But then why do we many times forget this universal truth. This is because we are silly enough to equate one’s effort as the labor they do in the eleventh hour. The truth is we are fighting during every passing second. It’s a struggle. The people who accept this and polish there armor from an early age end up begin innately talented. It is about being smart enough to practice and improve each and every second.

Given our short sight we associate pre-developed talent as innate talent. We undermine the hard labor that was the cause of this ‘innate talent’.

We are all born equal. It is left upon us to choose. All of us write our own destiny. Those who squirt away this valuable ink may fall short when the want to write the climax, but those who have regularly inked down their story have to simply write the conclusion when the D day arrives.

So next time after tasting defeat I involuntarily utter the words that it was not meant to be, I shall immediately kick myself and remind myself the true meaning of ‘Innate talent’.

Armed with this new realization we should all push ourselves more for in the words of the great Napolean Bonapart ‘Success goes to the most perseverant’.

‘He is not a better student than you,

He simply studied better than you’

Mr. Nayak

My class X Geography teacher

HEARTBREAK

I don't know why they call it heartbreak. It feels like every other part of my body is broken too

Yes it happens in every ones life, some how we know that it is inevitable but nevertheless we develop the misconception that we are immune from it. But Alas! Tragedy shall strike; it’s just a matter of time.

So when and not if, it happens we first refuse to acknowledge it. This is our first line of defense. But the little rascal plays hard ball. He breaks through this shield like knife through butter. We are shocked, but being the optimists that we are we refuse to give in so easily. We then use our second shield -we play it easy, take it as just a minor hiccup and allow the universal fix-it-all, ‘Time’, to carry out the repair work. But it’s not that simple any more. We wait first with resolve, then with anxiety and finally with helplessness for ‘time do take its toll’ but that never happens. Mr. fix-it-all can’t glue back this broken entity.

Now you start getting desperate. One day you suddenly jump from your sit and say to yourself ‘how could I have allowed things to go with the flow?’. Man creates his own destiny. I have to take the initiative’. You kick yourself for not having thought of this sooner. ‘How could I have been such an ass?’ is what you keep asking yourself.

So you pull out your last line of defense, determined and unfazed you set out to achieve the unachievable. ‘Failure is not an option’ is what you keep telling yourself. You do all the right things, you ask for help; you try whatever others tell you to do. You try the untried, you do the obvious, you travel the beaten path as well as the path less traveled upon, you leave no stone unturned, but finally you see the truth. You are forced to acknowledge it. You were just running away from it fully aware that ‘there is no place to run to.’

The thing is that all of us will have our hearts broken sooner or later. It is the rule of life, but the real question is- can you savor it before it becomes beyond repair. All of us build up our dreams, goals and aspiration with great hope and all of it is preserved in our hearts. So should we guard it with our life? The trick lies in foretelling the situation and making amendments. Just remember we have only three exhaustible shields.

IT’S COLD BUT I LIKE IT

This writer isn’t much into poetry; neither do I see much into the aesthetic part of life or the concept of ‘creating’ happy moments rather than living them. But a recent uninvited experience made me think otherwise.

Arguably the greatest poet of all times, William Wordsworth had made his love for Nature profoundly clear. He deprived inspiration for some of the greatest poems ever written sitting in the lap of Mother Nature. Solitude was his only companion. In his loneliness he observed some the various forms and mysteries of Nature and penned down all is thoughts which in turn ensured his mortality. William Wordsworth wrote invariably about the colors of spring season and how its’ mystical and mysterious beauty left his spell bounded.

Now I have never followed the beaten path. Like wise this time also.
I unlike the great poet had my tryst with Mother Nature, not in spring but in a cold winter morning. It was cold but I liked it.

Now I am not that kind of a person who reads between lines and sees the unseen. I prevent the labor of banging my head, to find the deeper meaning whenever possible. But that day the beauty, although not in an obvious way, was very striking.

For a person like me who lives in a place which is ‘Hot all year round’, the refreshing early morning chill was different and unique.

That day this late riser was forced by an unfortunate twist of fate to wake up early in the morning. Now even far worse luck was to follow as I was to venture into the cold. It was inevitable so with a deep breath I set out to wrestle the morning cold.

Shaking throughout, I steadily made my way towards my destination. But then I started to enjoy the surroundings. There was a fog so thick that one could have cut it with a knife. The shy sun’s struggle with the crowd was enjoyable. The falling leaves made one feel that even the Gods where sending their blessings.

Always having struggled to comprehend the fact that Nature is the most inspiring thing for all creatures, I was finally beginning to see so. The chilly wind was refreshing for the body, mind as well as soul. The solitary road, the green leaves soaked in mist, the ever so slowly moving clouds together with the elements resulted in a hearth warming combination.

So as I neared my destination, the climatic left an ever lasting memory and made me realize just how important and satisfying it is to enjoy the finer details of life. While contemplating my new love for things chilly, I kept saying to my left ‘It is goddamn cold…………but Hell………..i like it just like this’.

FRIENDSHIP-

Dedicated to all my friends

This has to be the most sensitive and difficult post which this blogger has made so far. The thing is that explaining something as complex and as powerful as Friendship is beyond the scope of this mortal creature. This one word has affected all our lives; it is powerful enough to help us crawl our way out of the deepest hole, its’ absence can force us to jump into a bottomless pit with no hope of survival. But the only reason I dare to infringe upon this powerful feeling is that I had once witnessed a very simple but extraordinary act which proves just how refreshing, enduring, benevolent and eternal true friendship is.

It made me think what all our lives would have been without our friends and the very next moment I was gasping for air and praying desperately that such an ill fated day never comes in any of our lives. Such is the degree of our dependencies on ‘Friends’.

The incident I am talking about is one which would not have provoked much interest in much of us. Some may dismiss it as ‘ordinary’, some may observe it and develop a smirk in their face, some may accept it as a lesson but I decided to rejoice. For it told me just how lucky I am to have friends who will be their besides me it thick as well as thin.

It was one of those numerous seminars which happen ever so often in my University. Those Seminars' where everyone eagerly waits for ‘High Tea’ as it is the only reason why people show up. Seminars’ where you cannot be blamed for sleeping during a Lecture. Now as I was ‘asked’ ever so politely to be a volunteer by a senior of mine and due to my inability to think of a good alibi I ended up actually going to the place where ‘Great minds meet and share’. I should have known better than reaching on time for there were hardly any souls visible.

But yes we did have the Professor who engineered this wastage of time. He is one of the senior most Profs of my Institute. A person with no hair on his head, carbon ripped glasses (it will fetch him a fortune if he decides to sell such an antique piece) and one whom I had hardly ever seen smile. There he was serious as always examining the events.

Soon a car pulled up. Another senior Prof came out. He was not much different from the previous one. Serious and ever ready to pull up a innocent student for the slightest misdoings. He meant business; all of us knew this and never dared cross his path. He also shared the same resolution of never smiling in public.

Now as he approached the entrance the made eye contact with the first Prof. What happened next was unbelievable. It was history in the making, a moment to behold and rejoice.

For the first time in my three years stay here I saw a smile in their faces and it didn’t stop there. The smirk just kept becoming bigger and bigger. Soon it took the form of a noisy laugh. The came near and hugged each other with great warmth. Their happiness was beyond measure.

They took advantage of the lonely place and chit-chatted for quite some time. I, their only audience kept my ears open and learned a valuable lesson. They talked at lengths of the time when they where younger, how much fun they had, how many times they got into trouble, how narrowly they escaped from them.

Now this eve-dropper could not abstain from drawing an analogy. Yes they were old, they were our teachers who ever so frequently chide us, corrected us. But they too were of our age once. They too were “FRIENDS”. They too did all the illogical and futile deeds ever conceivable. Just like every one of us.

Now the beauty is that no matter how royal, qualified, esteemed or wealthy you are, in front of a friend you will get reduce to being just ‘HIS FRIEND’. For friendship is powerful enough to break all bondage and barriers. At the end it gets reduce to the simplest relationship possible without any inhibitions and without strings attached.

So rejoice ever moment with a true friend for ‘these are the best days of our lives’.

“It’s like you are always stuck in second gear
when it has’nt been your Day, your Month or even Your year
I will be there for you I will be there for you.........................
for you were there for me too.”
(THE “FRIENDS” THEME SONG)

PLAYING CUPID

The past few days have been eventful as I got to play the most powerful force known, inferior only to the almighty. I imitated cupid.

Yes you read it right the same guy so moves about with a bow and love quoted arrows read to strike the most unsuspecting preys forcing them into a liaison of love and warmth.

If you ask me no one can play cupid just like no one can play GOD. Genetic manipulation, cloning, robotics may give man the false belief of having superior power over life but a minute itch in the palm of mother nature spreads havoc of immeasurable proportions which affirms the statement ‘Mortal Man’. The same holds for the next big being after GOD.

Although no one can have the ultimate power of making two people fall in love with each other for love can only happen if destined to, (clichéd but true) but two prospective love birds can always be given the extra nudge by their friendly neighborhood cupid.

So I played along trying to be as resourceful as possible, trying to make the right statements, trying to explain the beauty of love, trying to make each of them aware of just how beautiful/smart/funny/caring/joyous/kind/tender and all other humanely possible qualities are incorporated deep into the hearts, mind, body and soul of their prospective better half. Yes all these qualities can never be found in a single person but love is blind (again clichéd but once again true). It was as easy as hook-line-sinker or in this case hook-line-love.

Yes it was funny, seeing them blush at they very mentioning of the others name, seeing them making eye contact and then shying away. They wanted to be alone but could not be alone at the same time.

It was all too hilarious now it may not lead to stuff by which dreams are made of, but why should it for I realized one thing that man is so desperate for warmth and prosperity that the mere mentioning of it will make life better if not for long but for a microscopic moment none the less. So why spoil the present by being too far sighted. Live in the moment for if you act in the spur of the moment past, present and future fuse into one. Playing cupid may not have lead to a love story which will be told on for generations but in made me realize never miss the slightest opportunity to be associated with something remotely good. Absorb the moment, make the best out of it, and do not get lost in the maze of future for who knows the day after tomorrow may never come.

HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT??

“Itni shridat se maine tumhe pane ki kosis ki hai
ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki sajis ki hai”

Half the woods in the green forests have been chopped down to pen down the golden rule to success, but all that they ended up achieving was promotion of Global Warning. But the path to success has many lanes and I think I may have bumped into the right trajectory. Off course this may not hold true universally but at least for this mortal writer in holds true.

Being around people who seem to achieve whatever they set their sites on I can’t help to think life is about desiring something badly, and I mean really badly.
Expertise holds an upper hand in any discipline but in the end it is all a matter of heart. For
victory is the liberty of the most perseverant. One shall succeed if thou want it the most.

Desire is the thing that differentiates achievers from dreamers. The will to rise above the crowd, the desire you be the very best and not settle for anything less, the hunger for success is what makes all the difference.

One may have a born advantage, one make have all the skills, one may have all the help ,one may have the money to buy anything but in the end it is he and only he who has the heart to outperform and the desire to win, who reigns supreme.

That brings us to the fundamental question of just what is desire. Is it a phase? Or is it a state of mind? Is it inborn? Is it attainable through practice?

The answer is a big NO. It is a feeling and nothing more. It is a call from within which all of us witness at some point or the other and which we alone can create or destroy. All of us have it, it’s a matter of self discovery and realization of the obvious.

It starts with a dream, metamorphoses into a world of infinite possibilities but then it breaks.
The dream gets a reality check. We are reminded our mortality. Now here our actions make us what we are. We can let go, allow our dreams to sink into the dark lanes of oblivious terms or we can dream on. We can light up the spark and make it a wild fire with no limitations, which can overcome any obstacle.

So it’s a question of just how much can you stuff out, how much can you sacrifice, how much can u dish out, how much can you endeavor?

The thing with life is that it has it funny ways of throwing up surprises to rattle you. But true want is untarnished by small obstacles, undeterred by failure, unscratched by pain for it knows the price of success and is more than happy to bleed for it.

So if you ever want to achieve some goal for which you deeply long for just ask yourself one simple question –How Badly Do you Want it??

“Kethe hai ki aghar kishi cheej ko dil se chaho
to puri kayanat use tumse mila ne ki shirdat karti hai”