Sleep job

It is known that people can do weird things while sleeping. Some talk, some walk, some snore(for that matter) and some sleep peacefully.

I remember many instances of my parents telling me about wild tales which I narrate in my sleep. The last such incident dates back to my tenth class. Parents were amused by what I had ranted to them in my sleep. I also remember that each such uncanny occurrence embarrassed me deeply.

Another thing I have noticed is the way people react to certain situations immediately after waking up. The reactions can be amazingly funny and at times totally preposterous. My earlier roommate was one with an extremely weird reaction. Actually he didn't react at all for the first ten minutes. I can say that because I have a lot of experience of waking him up. Another friend of mine can't help feeling groggy for about 15 minutes. While some of them become very attentive with eyes wide open others tend to be scared if you get a little aggressive.

My own reactions are varied and depend upon how much I have slept. At times I am very attentive and tend to stare hard at the person. My behaviour at that moment is a function of the how sleepy I felt while falling asleep and how badly I need to sleep at that moment. I can remember shrieking at some time as well as laughing or behaving quite normally at other times. But this is just one side of the coin. I must say there have been instances which suggest a different story.

In the last semester a neighbour dropped in to return me a book. I was shocked. I asked him that how he got that book because I didn't remember giving him the book. He said that he had come the previous night and I had been asleep. I had opened the door and given him the book. More shock. I gaped at him and it seemed incredibly stupid to believe such a thing. I tried to recap the events of the night before and this just didn't fit in!

This has happened with me more than a couple of times. May be I am in some different state of consciousness. In that I can only respond to such external stimuli and can't be aware of any other detail. Sometimes it makes me feel weird.

Living by Proxy in the city of Djinns

The decision by authorities to provide every student with a proxy of about 200MB/week has been welcomed by one and all. And why not? Who wants to waste minutes without successfully opening even Google? The last three semesters have been tough for me in the hostel. Being an avid Wikipedia aficionado, the curtailing of basic surfing rights pinched me very hard. After all the authorities boasted about providing the students with Internet and LAN facility, though the former had no utility whatsoever. Only if you were a Computer Science Engineering student, did you get a paltry 100MB per week.

I just completed City of Djinns. It was very heartening to know so much about Delhi, considering that I've spent half of my life here. I realised how ignorant I have been about the city which has such a beautiful and justifiably the most tumultuous history. There are only a handful books which have captivated me by the first page itself. In this the author meets a Pir(a Sufi saint) who tells him about the djinns of Delhi. When the author asks whether he can see them or not, the Pir replies that of course we can say them . But the only reason we don't see them is that we would run away in fear and disgust.

I haven't been able to read any book lately. Apart from The IITians by Sandipan Deb, and another visit to Eloor there has't been much work in this direction. The best part of going to Eloor is that I take a meal at one of the outlets, be it McDonalds, Bengali Sweet Corner or Barista. I generally prefer going to Eloor with a friend. The opinion of two people makes it better suited to select the books(of course two is company, but here three is not a crowd).

But sometimes it pinches me when they are reluctant to eat out. We hardly ever venture out of the campus. At those occasions also, they don't feeling have anything because it costs. Why do people have to be so frugal? There are times when it completely pisses me of. What I don't understand is that people consider eating good food as waste of money. There is not enough sense in them to differentiate between proper and improper use of money. It is good to be careful while spending but it's equally awful to be stinkingly(pardon me but I'm venting my anger) stingy. They rather wait for others to pay for them even for a small meal and the worse thing is that they don't have any sense of returning the favours later.

Criticism apart, I've discovered many new eating joints during the past two years. Though I may crib but more often than not I enjoy hanging and eating out with friends(where ever we may go). There is considerable excitement when going out with friends and the nonsensical discussions we have really set the tone of the outing. Also you tend to devour more food if you are sitting with friends. I've noted that I'm capable of eating only 3 naans but with friends, at times, I can have upto 5 naans! Naturally, with more naans one needs more sabzis and daals. So you can well imagine the gluttony I indulge in.

Before the Devil Knows, You're Dead turned to be a dud of a movie. The director couldn't focus on any particular theme or character. At times the plot lost focus and the movie became a drag with its slow sequences which failed to convey the spirit of the plot.

I saw it yesterday. Pulp Fiction was the first Tarantino flick I saw.(I wouldn't recommend you doing that as you may not be that sportsmanlike) It was very bizarre. I had great difficulty understanding the non-linear structure(and was later rescued by Wikipedia). There was just no explanation for half of the things and were added just for fun and lending the movie its characteristic style. Nevertheless, I greatly appreciated this style.

After Reservoir Dogs and Death Proof this is my fourth tryst with Tarantino's eccentricity. I can only say that my admiration for the director has increased. A simplistic plot proceeds smoothly as various sequences pay homage to the great Japanese samurai movies and other great genres. I noticed one little point of interest. Every so often the camera moved to the feet of a person. It seemed strange to suddenly witness the feet of a person(specially women's) as the movie was going on. Is it the director's obsession or just what they call "reading too much between the lines"?

Even the city of Djinns hasn't been enchanting enough to sustain interest after 100 pages. I bought this book from Eloor. I've been hearing stories about it since quite some time. There was a book exhibition during Literati -Board of Student Welfare annual fest this year. This book was part of that but money constraint did me in.

What a morale booster this book has been. Here is the book(much much better than the Five Point Someone balderdash) which is a must for the underdogs at IIT(me too). I have found a much needed solace in this book. I wish I'd known about it being so good.

The book truthfully describes the discreet charms of being an IITian. And yes I've spent five lacklustre semesters doing just that without any avail. It will definitely take me the next three as well in doing just the same. I hope I've the last laugh.

It was very hearting to know that an IITian is not made in just the classroom. It takes four years of nourishment to produce this unique species. Author has gone to the lengths of taking even the incorrigibly egregious Mess food into account, that it is a part of a long-term strategy to make us invincible world-beaters.

So I know that it is not bad to waste time at IIT after all. It depends on how you waste it. Perhaps it is better to waste time than sleep in the lecture theatres. Besides, this diversity is the reason that IITians have taken every field they have touched upon by storm. I was astonished to hear that Jagmohan Mundhra-the director of Provoked, is a pass out from IIT Bombay graduate. He went on to pursue the MBA programme at Michigan State University. He stayed on to do his M.A. in Advertising and a Ph.D in Marketing from the same University. Finally, in 1973, he wrote his doctoral thesis on “Marketing of Motion Pictures”. Well, that has given me another option to think about after I pass-out.

The fun lies in reading the chapter you think is important. Instead of following the conventional approach, I decided to hop and that has been fruitful.

Another day becomes history...

It's quite a common notion that parents burden the young shoulders of their children's with their unfulfilled ambitions. Every parent wants to see a glimpse of Hritik/Aishwarya, Sania/Sachin and who not in their children. As if everyone is an all-rounder. But is it really that iniquitous on part of the parents to expect some of their dreams being achieved? After all, it's due to them that the child is getting to see the world. I know that not everyone can cope up with their parents' expectations. But then I ask where does the fault lie, or then who is to be blamed?

Perhaps, in this mad rush around them they forget that it is their child through which they wish to live up to their dreams. Children are not machines or beasts of burden. They can't be treated like one. But somewhere down the line, I believe a line needs to be drawn. I think that the parents have a say(to some extent) over deciding their child's future. At least they are not wrong in expecting their child to become a good responsible citizen of the country. But they shouldn't over-burden their child with sky-high demand which can be detrimental for all in the long run. They are justified in identifying and nourishing the talent of their child. But just pushing a child in a wrong direction, while slaughtering her/his talent is not the solution. There is one factor which dilutes the efforts in this direction- lack of communication. I feel that there is a need for child to confide in his/her parents up to a certain age. Theirs' should be a reciprocal kind of relationship which is beneficial for both.

In Taare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan does try to convey this message to an extent. First-half is good. Second-half could have been better. Full marks to Darsheel Safary. It seems Aamir Khan did make him work hard! Best part of the movie is that the director focuses on only the key issue. He doesn't indulge much in song-dance sequences or keeping the hero(Aamir himself) above the rest. Perhaps the hero is the child Ishaan Awasthi. The title song has been choreographed heart-renderingly well(in whatever manner it has been shown in the movie).

I realized that I have my own reservations for books. I left Chances Are... after finishing the first chapter. The writing was too disorganized. May be sometime later, I'll have enough courage and patience to rush through it.