The Virus Spreads

Let me begin by thanking (I am supposed to) Ankush aka QuintEssence for tagging me and giving me something to write in my blog!

So it goes like this, there is a virus spreading around the cyber world, but it won't harm your computer, it might do some harm to your cerebrum though! I got the virus from Ankush, who, in turn got it from Geetu > Thabi > Ani spice > Neel kanthan > Abinandanan (none of whom I know by the way). When you get infected by this virus, you are supposed to tell the world through the medium of your blog about your books, your reading habits, which books you like, and other motley information regarding books.

So without much further ado, I launch forth into spewing some utter nonsense...

Total Number of Books I Own: If I were to count the books I own physically, excluding the comic books and the Hardy Boys and Famous Fives, I'd say about 80-100. Most of them came from a clearance sale organized by my mother's office library, and I've read just about 30% of them. Taking into account my collection of e-books, the number comes to a paltry 41 (in comparison to Ankush's whopping 12,000 ebooks)

The Last Book I Bought: Being on the lower rungs of the "pseudo-linguistic ladder", I am loathe to spend much money on buying books which can easily be had online or borrowed from a friend or a library. Purchasing takes place only when desperation sets in, as it did when I bought "The Goal" by Eliyahu Goldratt for the purpose of the assignment I talked about in the previous post. I bought the book at Tekson's Bookshop GK-1 market at a discounted price of Rs.298.
How did I like the book? Well, it's a management parable written in the form of a novel, with a storyline, characters and heroes and villians to boot. It teaches some important lessons in running a production facility, dealing with problems at work, and how to manage professional and personal lives simultaneously. It is well written and the principles are lucidly explained. The only negative thing I noticed about it was the abrupt ending. Otherwise, a book which fully deserves the 8 million copies it has sold.

The Last Book I Read: Again, it'd have to be "The Goal".

Five Books that Mean a Lot to Me:

This is my favourite (and most dreaded) part of this post. How to choose just 5 books from the hundreds that I have read and loved? Well, a rule is a rule, and the virus says pick 5, so 5 it is

1. The Fountainhead: This is one of the most challenging books I've read. It was gifted to me on my 18th birthday by a bunch of friends. I read this book in about a week, and for that whole week, this book was all I could think about, alongwith the fact that how I could have been missing this for so long. More than Rand's philosophy, it's her language that charms me, in the words of one of her biggest fans, "She writes cruelly". This book is one of the few which have the capability to change one's life. Eagerly looking forward to reading "Atlas Shrugged"
2. Love Story: Now this may surprise a few, and not surprise a few! This is the only Erich Segal book I have read, and the only book which has been able to make my eyes moist. When I'm feeling down and low, ar am having some problems with my relationships, this is the book I take refuge in.
3. The Inscrutable Americans: Anurag Mathur's masterpiece about an Indian youth from a small town making his way through college in America is funny in an ironical sort of way. The culture shock that Gopal faces when he gets there and the way he adapts himself to it is described in a marvellous way. And the book keeps one laughing till the end.
4. The Alchemist: Although a bit cliched, this book is one which is close to my heart. Since reams have already been written in its praise, it'll suffice to say this book taught me to chase my dreams.
   
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Without a doubt the best work of J.K.Rowling. Being a big Harry Potter buff, there's little wonder that this book is in my list.

Ok, now the fun part, I have to tag five peopleand put them through the same misery that I've gone through!

The first person that comes to mind (actually I didn't even have to think about it) is Shiti, a prolific reader, and the best part about her is that she is an active reader. She gets into the skin of the characters, or analyses the language of the book threadbare. Her response to the virus is bound to be a masterpiece.

The next person who's going to have to do this is Shobhit. I want to see what he comes up with.

Prateek Agarwal aka ManDevIan, my senior at MDI is next. A prolific blogger, he'll undoubtedly relish this oppurtunity.

I'm going to bring Jasmeet aka Jazzy out of his hibernation by tagging him. Wake up Garfield!

Another person who's posts I love reading is Jormund Elver. Although he doesn't know me, I've been a silent admirer of his writings for quite some time now.

So that's it folks! Do remember to visit the blogs of the aforementioned people to check out their wonderful posts.

Of Love and Orchestras: The Scientific Approach to Love

You know the randomness I keep harping about...well, it struck again on wednesday, the 1st of June, the day of my last post. Almost as soon as I made a promise to write more about whether love can be orchestrated or not, and on top of that promised to do it soon, randomness struck! The folks at MDI sent an "assignment" the way of poor, unsuspecting students slated to join the institute at the end of this month. To cut a long story short, the assignment was really kick-ass and it has been taking most of my time, in addition to the seemingly unending renovation work in progress at my house. So, please accept my most humble apologies in the rarest of rare cases that you were looking forward to this post.

Well, moving on to the order of business, the million dollar question: Can love be orchestrated? Can we (or some other external agency) make someone fall in love with us? Or can we make ourselves fall in love with someone?

Let's analyse love ab-initio. What exactly is love? I define love as a feeling you get towards someone (or something) when you care for that person, when you like spending time with that person, when you connect emotionally and mentally with that person, when you miss that person when you are away from them. Now, such love can encompass parent-child love, sibling-sibling love, human-pet love, friend-friend love, or man-woman love. The "love" that is under scrutine here is of the last kind, man-woman love.

What differentiates man-woman love from the other forms of love? It's undoubtedly the presence of romanticism which makes this love the kind of addiction it is. In addition to caring and connecting and liking to spend time and missing that special someone, you feel differently in that person's presence; you feel complete, you feel satiated, you feel blissfully unaware of your problems. Your whole world is contained in that one person, and you can't even begin to think of the ramifications if you were to somehow lose them. That, in my opinion, is true love.

Now that I have defined what I perceive to be true love, let us delve into seeking answers to the next logical question: What makes us fall in love? Why do we fall in love with one person out of the billions walking this earth? What makes that person special for us and (hopefully) not for others? This is where human emotions come into play. Now I'm no psychiatrist, but I have learned from a close friend that each person has a particular wavelength at which he or she thinks. Now wavelength matching is one prerequisite (again, in my opinion) for two people to be in love. If they can't think similarly on most issues, they are just going to be arguing all the time, and that's certainly not love (though some people might disagree). Now, once the wavelengths match, which can be found out in the initial few interactions with the person, we can find out about the rest of the stuff mentioned above. Because let's face it, we find many people who think like us, but we don't end up falling in love with each one of them (I know some people who do fall in love with each person they talk to, but they are the exceptions which prove the rule). And of course, the element of romance has to be there. You have to feel a certain way about the person, a way you feel about no one else. So, it comes down to: If two people think alike, care for each other, like spending time together, connect emotionally and mentally, miss each other to the extent of being unable to imagine living without each other, and have a romantic link, we may safely assume that they are in "love".

Of course, when dealing with such unpredictable creatures as human emotions, it's always safe to make allowances for some cases which don't conform to all of what is written above.

So, now that we know what love is and what causes two people to fall in love, we are equipped to handle this question: Can love be orchestrated?

As much as some people would like to believe that it can be, I differ on this subject. What we are looking at here is an effect (falling in love) and a bunch of causes (thinking alike, missing each other et al) which lead to that effect. So in order to orchestrate the effect, we have to orchestrate the cause.

And no matter how hard people like Alex Hitchens try, they can't make two people think alike or ignite the spark of romance between them. And if two people don't think alike, they cannot possibly like spending time with each other beyond a certain limit, which implies they cannot possibly miss each other. And the whole castle of love comes crashing down because the foundation of wavelength matching is pulled away from underneath it.

Those people who think they are in love, based on factors other than those mentioned above, like good looks, money or fame, are bound to be discontended and frustrated sooner or later. The passage of time (or some unfortunate mishap) can erode the good looks, money and fame change homes like nomads, the only thing that can bind two people for life is their capability to read each other's mind. When you are seventy and wrinkled and old, and your children have moved away, you have no one but your spouse (who hopefully is also your love) for company. And it is then that the art of conversation is going to keep you going. If you can converse with each other all day long, then you have a reason for your existence. Otherwise you are just a vegetable.

So there it is folks, my comprehensive analysis of "love" as we see it in movies and read about it in novels.

Movie Review: Hitch

So at long last I watched a relatively "new" movie, the last one being "Black". "Hitch" was recommended to me by a friend when I asked him for a good romantic comedy. So here I am, reviewing this movie in order to write something in my blog!

"Hitch" is the story of Alex "Hitch" Hitchens, played by Will Smith, who is a professional "Date Doctor" or "Relationship Guru" or whatever else you'd like to call men of his kith. He helps men from various walks of life, of all shapes and sizes, most (if not all) of them hopelessly insecure and klutzy. And yes, they are all in love.

Hitch believes that the first impression a man makes on a woman ascertains the future of the relationship. It even determines whether there's going to be a relationship at all. He coordinates the first three dates of his clients, and by the time the three dates are over, the clients are in "happily ever after" mode. He does everything from telling the men what to say and do, to what to wear, to how to dance.

The movie has two parallel plots, one involving a rather stout, and highly clumsy chap named Albert, played by Kevin James and a super-rich, very pretty society lady named Allegra Cole, played by Amber Valletta. The other involves Hitch himself and a gossip columnist called Sarah, played by Eva Mendes. The parts with Hitch and Albert are moderately hillarious, primarily because comedy is Will Smith's forte. The story is developed pretty well, albeit a little formulatically and predictably, and all the artistes have given commendable performances. The climactic portion of the film, where Hitch turns into the same babbling idiot that he so often helps out, shows that Will Smith can emote as well.

All in all, a pretty average film, good for passing time if you have a month long vacation and nothing much to do.

But watching this film got me thinking, can love actually be orchestrated, like it was in case of most of Hitch's clients, or does it have to be spontaneous, like it was in Albert's case (inspite of Hitch's instructions). I have an opinion and some thoughts on that, but you'll have to wait for my next post (which hopefully will be pretty soon) to know what they are!

I love you

Legendary Bollywood actor Sunil Dutt had a heart attack in his sleep and passed away this afternoon. I just finished watching Armageddon. Funnily enough, these two seemingly unrelated events have got me in a philosophiocal mood (yes I'm the kind of guy who can get philosophical after watching Armageddon, so sue me). They got me thinking about the uncertainity of life. The randmomness in life I talked about in the first post manifests itself in numerous ways, one of them being this. What if an asteroid were to hit us and exterminate all life on Earth tomorrow? OK, fine, that's pretty unlikely; what if an earthquake, or a cyclone, or a bomb blast (these are getting pretty common too these days), or any other such "unpredictable" calamity were to occur tomorrow? Or tonight as we sleep? I, for one, can think of tons of things I'd leave unfinished if I were to die tonight. I'm yet to travel the world, I'm yet to savour the delicacies of various cultures and nations, I'm yet to start my career and be on my way to materialistic things such as cars and bungalows. But these things are secondary. What would top my list would be not being able to tell my loved ones how much I love them. My parents, my little sister, my close friends, I love each one of them, but as is the case with most of the human population, I don't say it enough. So this goes out tonight to all my loved ones. If I don't wake up tomorrow, please read this blog and know that you were loved and appreciated and valued. I bet Sunil Dutt wishes he'd had the same oppurtunity that I have now. But life is random.

Book Review: The Catcher in the Rye

The most notable accomplishment of the day (apart from making a few trips to and fro the marketplace) was the culmination of the reading of J.D Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye". It took me the best part of two months to finish this 115 page book. "Why?", you ask. Because of the wants of student life that say that most recreational activity must take a back seat when examinations are in process.

So anyways, I shall review here this wonderful book. Standard disclaimers to the effect that these are purely my personal opinions and other such gobbledygook apply.

Buy it here.

"Catcher in the Rye" is a day in the life of Holden Caulfield, a quintessential "Rebel without a cause". He knows there is something very wrong with the world and the people in it, but he is just not able to figure out what or why. He doesn't see why people are such "phonies", why they have to make small talk and big talk, why schoolboys have to pick on other schoolboys, and why he dislikes all this. He dislikes this yet doesn't do anythig about it except feeling crappy and "depressed". There's a lot that depresses this guy, the smell of Vicks, the corridoors of his school, packing, and much much more. He's practically a walking depression!

The story starts with Holden getting kicked out of yet another preparatory school, this time Pencey Prep. He's supposed to go home after a couple of days, but he decides he's had enough of the school, the "phoney" headmaster and students and the "depressing" corridoors, and makes a run for it. What ensues is a journey to and into New York, and many adventures in between. He's an unabashed liar and can cook up a perfectly believable story at a moment's notice. He lies even when there is no need to. He goes to pubs and bars, taking taxi after taxi, smoking one pack of cigarettes after another. He meets some of his old acquaintances and an old girlfriend, gets robbed and punched in the stomach by a pimp, and shares a table with a couple of nuns during his night and day out in the city.

He has an elder brother who is pretty good at writing stories and poetry, but now has moved to Hollywood to write movies, thereby becoming a "prostitute" in his younger sibling's eyes. He also had a younger brother, who died of leukemia, and who wrote poems on his baseball mitt to have something to read when out in the field. But the closest and the most endearing relationship he shares is that with his younger sister Phoebe. He practically hates his parents, and all through the book, he's contemplating how he can talk with Phoebe. Finally, he visits his home in the dead of the night and has a talk and some dances with her. The climactic portion of the book, involving Holden and Phoebe, is undoubtedly the high point of this book.

The writing style is original and authentic, unlike any other author I've read. The author uses liberal doses of slang to bring in the feel of it being a schoolboy's story. He also leaves a lot to the reader's imagination by using a lot of phrases like "I wished him Good Morning and all", "She was dressed up and everything" etc. The purpose of such constructions is to get the point across, while letting the reader's imagination fill in the rest of the details, thereby enabling him/her to identify and connect better with the situation. The language can be a bit of a shock to someone who starts reading the book with the preconceived notion of it being a classic, but it grows on you and you start liking it soon enough.

And why is it called "Catcher in the Rye"? Well, you'll just have to read to find out!

Vegetation

One month on the dot to go before "the last vacation of my life" ends and the madness and insanity that is an MBA begins. But I'm stuck in a rut. I had planned all these things I'd do during this time, but all I seem to be doing is sleeping day and night. They say you are lucky if you get more than 4 hours of sleep a day while doing an MBA (and in my case, probably after too, the creature of habit that I am). So is it humanly possible to survive for two years on four hours or less of sleep a day? Well, people have been doing it for years, so it must be. The question is, is it possible for me? Now, that's a totally different ball game altogether. I have to have my 8 hours of sleep. And I have this uncontrollable and overpowering urge to waste as much of my time as possible. So, when I gaze into the proverbial crystal ball to take a peek into my two years as an MBA student, I see stormy skies and violent seas, with poor ol' me stuck in a boat with a hole in its hull. I think I had better pull up my socks and start valuing time if I am to get out in a single piece out of the odyssey that a management education is. Let us all pray and hope for me.

So what all had I planned to do this month? Well, topping the list was reading the 'n' number of novels that I've got on my computer. I'm in the middle of "Catcher in the Rye", then there's "Atlas Shrugged", "The Bourne Identity", "The Bourne Supremacy", "The Bourne Ultimatum", "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", "The Day of the Jackal", "Catch 22", "And One flew over the Cuckoo's nest", "Lord of the Flies", "Bag of Bones".....they just keep coming. It's enough to keep one busy for a month I'd say, but sitting all day long staring at a Cathode Ray Tube Display is hardly my idea of a "vacation". Then there was the noble idea of re-joining the gym and going swimming to lose all the flab I've regained during the past few months. I do go to swim every morning, but somehow am unable to bring myself to pay a visit to the house of fitness.

So I end tonight, hoping to do something better and more constructive with my time tomorrow.

Randomness: About

Well, here I go again, jumping on to the blogging bandwagon once more. It's all the same, as it was three years ago, only the place is different. I've shifted here from my previous blogging location. I have also planned to give my website a makeover with all the free time on my hands now, let's see if it materialises this time around.

The title of this blog reads "Life is a random process", and I bet most would agree that it's this very randomness in life that makes it worth living, worth cherishing, worth fighting for, worth dying for. It's the randomness in life which makes us look forward to, or dread each new day, to jump with excitment, or shirk away at the prospect of a new project, to exude warmth, or display coldness towards new people entering our lives.

I happen to be a creature of habit. I like sleeping on a particular side of the bed, and I don't want to change it. I like my favourite pair of slippers right next to my wardrobe, and I'll fight tooth and nail with my mom to keep them their, no matter how out of place or ugly they look to her. I like parking my car in a particular spot, and I shall continue to park it there as long as I continue to find it vacant. I've had the same profile names and same speed dials across three models of cellphones and over a period of three years. I've retained the same wallpaper on my computer desktop over numerous upgrades and uncountable crashes. I wear my right sock, right shoe or right glove before their "leftist" counterparts, always have. Don't ask me why I do it, I just do.

But if I were to really put some serious thought into the "why" of the aforementioned phenomenon, I'd be tempted to say it's a craving for stability, a feeling of sameness, a sense of security. I like to think that somethings in life are not random, but alas! One fine morning I'm bound to find that parking spot occupied. One afternoon my mom might finally decide she's had enough of that ugly, pathetic excuse for footwear. One evening, I might fall asleep on the "wrong" side of the bed after a long, hard day. One night, I might decide I've had enough of "Friends" characters on my desktop. And none of these things are under my control (or at least I like to think so).

If you've gotten this far (which I seriously doubt), you must have begun to wonder, "Is this going somewhere or is this guy rambling on for no apparent reason?". Well, read on...

Today was a day of mixed emotions for me. A bitter-sweet journey of memories over the last four years, and a peek into the coming two years.

Today was the day I bid adieu to many people who I've studied with, laughed with, cried with, enjoyed with, fought with. There were those who were just acquaintances or colleagues even after a period of four years. There were those who were good friends, those with whom I've shared the good times and the barrels of laughs. Then there were those with whom I've shared the good times and the bad times, the laughs and the tears. They have become a part of my existence, they are engrained in my being, they are a part of the fabric with which my life is woven. And as a creature of habit, it's not easy for me to let them go. There are some whom I'd forget in a jiffy, but then there are those who I can't forget no matter where life takes me or what I end up doing. It pains me to think I may not meet them again, but I like to think that I will. Hope, I've found out, is a matter of habit. I find solace and contentment knowing that they are moving on to better things, to better places.

Today was also the day I met some of my to-be colleagues. It was an exciting journey into the lives and minds of people coming from diverse backgrounds (hell, most of them were engineers, but that was nothing but a common thread running through us all), a peregrination which might some day result in a colleague becoming a friend. There was laughter, merry-making and joy, and it seemed strangely ironic that two years from now I might be feeling the same way I was earlier in the day. Life comes a full circle, every time; it's a creature of habit too.