I just realised NIT Trichy has a dresscode. Formals



Formals.



Formals.



*Thats you cue to go WHAT???!!!!*



Yup… so for the first time in my life, i get to wear formals. Rather i’m forced to. That s the problem… maybe i wont mind as much if they said “Dress Code: Cover yourself”. Maybe i would even have tried formals. Dunno though… maybe….



So yesterday, i went out to Rex Fashions *Man… this store ROCKS… been going there since i was 3!!!* and got some. 3 pants and 5 shirts. 8 clothes which shall drive me insane. The bane of my freedom. The first step towards total subjudication to the ‘higher’ authorities. Whatever.



See… it doesnt bother me that i need to wear stuffy, full sleeved, boring striped shirts and impeccable, shiny pants with a proper, polished belt and matching shoes. I doesnt even bother me that I need to wash and SOMEHOW find a way to iron/press these clothes everytime i need to wear them. What DOES bother me is the trouble colleges go to to give us a dress code… i mean… isn’t it enough to dress decently??? Sure, formals give you an ‘atmosphere’… but aren’t we forgetting someting??? Comfort dressing, anyone??? Shouldnt i feel comfortable enough to put my mind to good use, like which dialect of latin the lecturer is dishing out… or more usefully what colour streaks that girl in the front row has got over the weekend ;)



Anyone who says crap like “It trains you for work… you have to wear formals then, you might as well start now” is in for it. Sure, i ll wear your formal, stuffy stuff. If you give me an air conditioned classroom, an awesome cafeteria, perks and what not. Oh ya… wont mind a salary either ;)



Actually, I m quite happy with my new wardrobe… *REX ROX!*… and my seniors tell me the dress code isn’t all that strict… in fact after a month, you can wear tees, printed shirts, polo tees, et al. But it bothers me that college *not mine… NITT ROCKS!!! Sucks for you ppl though ;)* insist on suchthings… i know its ‘all for the discipline’… but there are better ways to do that than forcing an impractical, rigid dress code on 18-21 year olds. Just a thought…



Later…

Lol.. this is goin to be a funny one… because this, this post is where you poor souls who ever chatted with me, finally get an answer to Why?



So… Drama. Life is so dull without it… To me, drama injects fun into life, into any conversation. And i cant have too much of it. For those of you wondering what I’m talking about, i’m talking about how i talk. Or chat. Or sms. Or scrap. Whatever.



You see, I’m no the type who ll go around saying succint, to the point, concise stuff. I’m the type that’ll make you ‘Live’ the moment. Or will try to. Where Julius Ceaser (Or rather our great Bard) said, “I came. I saw. I conquered”, i would say…



“I came to the scene of the battle, my loyal legions marched behind me. The mighty Roman Army, in all its glory. Soldiers marched in perfect unision, and in all four directions God has blessed us with, extended the wave of loyal soldiers. My heart swelled with pride, at these fine soldiers, the children of Rome.



I saw for the first time, the barbarians from the east, the horde that dared to oppose the might of Ceaser, the might of Rome. The Hooligans had no order, no pride, no respect. They shouted and hollered, in anticipation of the battle to come, a chance to satiate their bloodlust. If it was battle they wanted, I shall give them war! Charge, Romans. Go forth, in the name of humanity! Go forth, in the name of civilization. Go forth, in the name of Rome! And with that, the vast sea of silver and gold decended on the valley that the barbarians had set camp in. And from the great Valley to the East, there sprung the Red River of Death, and long shall it be before the lands are ever pure again.



I conquered the Barbarians, the last blotch on this wonderful empire, those who had dared to defy fate. In the end, fate has conquered them Nay, not fate, but its humble servant. Ceaser has conquered them. Julius Ceaser. “



*Okay, you can wake up now*



Well… you get the idea. I draw inspiration from a strange mix of Pseudo-Shakespere, Tolkien and Archer. And this mix is mine, all mine… Muwahahahahaahahahahahaha!!!



*Uh Oh… things seem to be gettin outta control…*

Anyways… thats all for this post… hope you enjoyed it after that Philosophical stuff i dished out last two times… so later!

Read previous post first



I am not a humble servant of humanity. I ll leave that to the philosophers. I live for myself, my dreams, my ambitions. I may live for my friends, my family too. But humanity? Forget it. Let humanity take care of itself.



Sometimes, looking at the larger scheme of things doesnt really help. In this case, it ll drive you crazy. Try to imagine - Your every action, every word, every breath - being dissected and evaluated for contribution to the world at last. Has a slight shade of red, don’t you think? Red is not really my type. Red is the colour of the farmer’s blood they say. I don’t deny it. Come to think of it, its the colour of my blood too. But its still not my type.



Sometimes you need to stop thinking about the past, or the future. They aren’t in your hands… seriously. Of course, since it was June yesterday and July today, and around midnight it was “June ponaal July katre’, i can quote…



“Netre enbadhu kai il illai, Nalai enbadhu pai il illai”



For the lazy, i translate. The day gone by is not in your hands, The day to come is not either. Live the moment. Stop thinking about yesterday. Think less about tomorrow. Think more about the here, the now, the moment. Again, leave dissection of the timeline to those to whom it matters.



This is what i eat. This is what i breathe. This is my city. This is me. I can say it, yes. To claim I will retain my identity, regardless of my surroundings, is madness. For those who disagree, tell me first, what is your identity? I always thought of it as a relative term, something that identifies us from the sea of souls around us. But again, reasonable doubt… I cannot say, from the aforementioned qualities, that this is who i am. But maybe i try for too exact a definition. Maybe life is never exact. Chuck the maybe… Life is never exact. To borrow from The Great Book of Overused Cliches , the only thing that does not change, is change itself. That wraps the argument for me…



Where did i come from? Where will i go?



Maybe it doesnt matter. Right now, at this moment, this unique juncture of space and time, this is who i am. I am me.



Argument Closed, in the interest of general sanity.



P.S: This, in fact, is how my mind works… funny, na?

Who am I? A tough question, really… do we really know? Can you ever say, beyond reasonable doubt, that this is who you are??? This food is what I eat, this air is what i breathe, this city is what i see, this life is what i live. Does that, in any way, help us say, This is who i am?



I remember a question asked by a character in Full Metal Alchemist (yes, an Anime, which i HIGHLY recommend). A homulculi (Artificial human) asks, “Where did i come from, Where will i go?”. She is immortal, invincible, incredible. Yet she has no interest in life, no point to her existence, for she cannot asnwer this seemingly simple question.



But will answering that help? Does the knowledge of one’s origins in any way affect who they are, and what they will become? Does one truly know oneself only when they look from an outsiders perspective, as one who can appreciate the larger scheme of things? I remember the phrase, an unforgettable one, from a book i read, and i quote, “I am nothing if not a servant of mankind, a small, miniscule yet indispensable cog in the vast machinery that is humanity”. Maybe i made it up. I don’t know. Forget its origins. Does it make sense? Yes. Is it true? Probably. Does it tell you who you are, beyond reasonable doubt? No. Not by a mile.



Ponder these questions. When you have free time, that is. I do, and i did.

Fine… all good things have to end… so i cant act like i hate my sis anymore… still its fun :).



So janani… my dearest sis in da whole wide world… she s a pain sometimes and really has a non-existent fuse… but she s also this wonderfully talented artist, amazingly brilliant university topper types and suffocatingly well organised. She s like this brutally frank, yet genuine person who may have more enemies than friends but doesnt give a damn about it. It doesnt hurt that she IS the only sibling i have… so i can use words like best, lovliest, most-loving-est, best-est and other extremes that my numerous english teachers will state as ’cause of death’ in due time ;)…



To be frank… she tolerates me day in and day out… thats something! Not to mention me answering nature’s call squatting on her birthday dress, kicking her and cryin to dad that she hit me… and all that stuff 3 yr olds do :).



I can’t say much more about her… hell this much is like out of character for me. But anyway, jan, next time you get angry that i finished your aloo bujiya, read thisn post.



Love,

Sharu

Hey people!!! I almost forgot, that ‘Phantom Star…” that i mentioned last post… well here it is!

I made it from scratch!!! (i.e, from a blank canvas without using anything else except basic photoshop tools and filters) Would love to hear what you think about it!!! And if you think anything looks outta place or could be better, please tell…

The Scene - House, 9.00 PM. I’m clearing the dishes after dinner, Dad’s on the phone and Jan’s on Orkut. The sweet sound of wailing fills the air as the daily sob show continues on ‘Kolangal’. Abhi says 3 dialogues 3! ways and ‘Thols’ replies to all of them with a grunt. In short, a typical night at F6, MJ. Right?



Wrong.



“Sharuuuuuu!!! That thingy you made in your photoshopingy totally rocks da”

“Enna?”

“That last photo in your album! That AMINE inspired stuff”



The last microwaveable container with the sorry remnants of yesterday’s food fell SPLAT on the ground. Dad shouted on his phone. Abhi slaps Aadi in Koolangal. Desi-heavy metal fills the air. I open my eyes, and strangely, everything looks red.



“ENNA?”

“Adhaan da… that ‘Phantom star…”… you only said it was Amine inspired no!’

“Its ANIME. AN - E - MAY! You nerd! Dont you ever stop nerding! Cha!”



I snapped. The neighbour dropped his cup of coffee. The baby downstairs starts wailing. Kolangal’s music reaches a Cresendo as Abhi FINALLY reaches the top of that flight of stairs she started climbing ten minutes ago. Dad smashes down the phone on his office people.



“Ya whatever. It looks good!”



At around this time, i figured out that the red colour from my eyes had lowered itself quite graciously to my nose, and was now trickling out and falling on the ground with a steady ‘SPLOTCH SPLOTCH’



Okay… enough exaggerations. Forgive me, but Mom always says i talk in hyperboles and circles. And go off on a tanget sometimes… Quite the Con(ic) artist me, eh?



So here’s wat bugged me about wat Jan said.



1. She mispronounced a word. I hate that happening. Especially if i like the word.

2. She dragged a chemistry related term into a conversation with ME.

3. The word is Anime.



You see… i think most people dont realise what Anime stands for. This bugs me. I hate people calling it ‘Cartoon’. I hate people saying ‘Tsk tsk’ at the violence. I hate people exclaiming at the mild sexuality. I hate it sooo much that when I’m watching anime, i lock myself up, put on headphones and switch off my cell.



There’s more to anime than violence and protagonsists who look cool and say corny one liners. And no, its not just a cartoon either. Anime is perhaps the ONLY… yes ONLY ‘Cartoon’ which puts so much emphasis on characters, their lives, and their relationships with other characters. It’s not just goodguys saving the world. It’s how they save it and who they save it for. In that regard anime is a perfect caricature of the real world.



It teaches morality, perseverence and the importance of competition… why Naruto wants to be Hokage even when he’s being battered into the ground by a third grade ninja.



It teaches you why sacrifice is a part of life… why Ed is ready to go to the Gate if it means Al gets his body back.



It teaches you teamwork - why Goku defeats EACH enemy worth mentioning with a ‘Spirit Bomb’, ‘Super Spirit Bomb’ or ‘Ultimate Spirit Bomb’.



Importantly, it teaches you to toughen up and be content with wat you have… because at the end, all animes have to end. *cries*



So basically… Never dismiss anime as a violent cartoon… or else…



Or else wat? I have to sit here and crib about it while you ppl sleep peacefully… which reminds me… now where was that rubber cockroach… oh jannuuuuu….



Hehehe… later!



*Around five minutes after this post, jan wakes up screaming and sharu goes to bed grinning. You figure out the rest*

Hola everyone… Life is boring and thats about the right time to take out old photo albums gathering dust and relive those special moments.



Good… now that I’ve given you a perfectly corny intro to the post, lets get down to business…



You would think that in 17 years on this planet, I have something of note to say about life, some special memories. I do… and today reminded me how much. Chuck that opening line about boredom and photo albums… this post is inspired by the building next door.



Mandaveli, and Chennai in general, has fallen prey to that bane of comfort and peace in all ‘homely’ localities - the Apartment Complex. Big words, you would think, for a guy who’s lived in apartments for as long as he remembers… but ‘it is but the truth’ ;). I looked outta my window today… and BAM, there’s this complex that didnt exis the last time i looked! This of course, set off a train of thought, as Holmes would say, that crashed right into ‘Shreyas’.



No no no no, ‘Shreyas’ isn’t a guy… or a gal… or even human. It is… or was… my grandfather’s house. In Nanganallur… *Thats on the way to the airport…* That’s where I literally grew up… and the birthplace of both my greatest passion and my greatest fear.



Life in ‘Shreyas’ was fun… here Sharu’s playground wasnt two sides of a garage gate or a strip of cement in a basement… it was 1/5 th of two grounds of trees, flowers, lush (yes, LUSH) grass and carepeted halls that could house a small army. Not to mention a dog, the complete collection of ‘Asterix’ Comics and the best masala dosais ever. You’re probably wondering about the 1/5th part. That’s because i had 4 other people to actually spend time with… yes, four. And yes, the entire day. And no, I’m not lying.



It was in this place…. nay this veritable heaven on earth, that i blissfully playeed, laughed, cried, threw tantrums and got my first computer lesson. This was where i felt the thrill on absolute control and esctasy when you first play ‘blocks’ (tetris for the snobs out there). This was where i learnt why you typed in strange stuff like “cd games | dir *.exe /p | cd..”… and this was where i learnt that no code is without logic and no logic exists without intrinsic code. In short, this was where I first touched part of the growing universe that Computer Engineering had become… and i was hooked. Instantly.



It was also in this place that I learnt how scary it is to feel ignored. You see… when there are 8 people inhabiting that aforementioned world called ‘Shreyas’, try as they might not even the kindest grandma or the most loving mother can look after you all the time. I can remember many occasions when a simple ‘Later’ or ‘Dont disturb now’ would send me into the depths of depression… when i would think ‘To hell with everyone’ and go sit all alone in the unused rooom on the first floor reading ‘Asterix’ and vowing never to speak to anyone again. Ahh yes… at the tender age of 8…



Today ‘Shreyas’ is no more… in the place where that grand old building, the garage, the kennel, the ‘Computer Room’ and the ‘Lawn’ stood, there are now apartment blocks A, B, C, D and E+F respectively. I havent gone that way after Thaatha moved out… have never taken that flooded subway or the railway crossing of infinite tantrums. I have not gone to see these testaments to ‘India Booming’, nor have i gone to see the spanking new roads built on the pathways that my Thaatha helped carve. I have yet to see the ’souped up’ well, which can supposedly supply water to all the residents of the complex. I have not seen all this for a simple reason. It would be too painful.

*Mike testing 1 2 3…. *

*Good to go sir… you’re online*

*Clears Throat*



Friends, Romans, Countrymen…



*Egg lands squarely on face*



Oh wat the hell… chuck the glorious eloquent stuff… i’ll have lots of time to kill you people with that later… anyway first meetings warrant introductions… so lets begin. I’m Sharu… the guy who started this blog and God of this humble piece of virtual (fourth) estate. And you, dear readers, are my dear readers.



*Like they didnt know that… Sheesh you are SOOOO corny!!!*



You’re probably wondering what the deal is… And after scrolling up to check the title of the blog which you were nice enough to miss earlier, you’re thinking, “What kind of a psychopath is this guy???”.



Sorry to disappoint you… I’m just another ordinary guy with an ordinary life bodering on the wrong side of mundane. But wait… what happens in my life may be ordinary, but my take on it isn’t… so thats what this is all about… I take anything from my life, and start off on a tangent from there….



*Okay people, this is yor cue to evacuate the place… MOVE IT!!!!*



You’re probably wondering who that guy is…. lets just say its my alter ego… he’ll be performing the highly valued and sought after role of snubbing me every few lines…



*Muwahahaahahahahahaha… Now they’ll like me more than you*



Err…. Whatever… Anyways… Enjoy yourselves here… Can’t guarentee you the most educative or language rich blog on the net… but i CAN guarentee you an honest, cynical and at times hilarious look at life… because thats how i live it….



Ciao!

*Ciao… Sheesh wat a dork…later!*