Monday, July 30, 2007

How I won praise, had a blast and lost my (ummm)……….

W1 of T3 is over. How time flies here! I turn and look over my shoulder. Was it not the other day that I marveled at Prof F’s dedication? Or was bowled over by Prof S’s sheer devil-may-care attitude, and passion for his subject?

Back to the present guys. Here we are, well into W2. And lest anybody forget, the school makes sure that nobody misses out on assignment fun…there are tons of them here!

Week 1 was like the other weeks. Fast, heavy content, tons of pre-reads and the all too familiar CP and assignments! On CP several of my friends have written reams, but it just amuses me that folks who not so long ago were corporate animals, with spit and polish an what-not show considerable agility in coming up with mundane issues to discuss. Some may blame the profs for being indulgent, but the truth is that no question is ever stupid in such fora. Only the questioner is.

The notable addition (or deviation -depending on how you see it) was the LDP programme. I for one, found the current LDP programme quite interesting. It had the mandatory please-introduce-another part to it, objective being of course to shake us up from our public speaking slumber. I discovered that on TV, I have this annoying habit of bouncing around like a jack-in-the-box. Also, I could do with wearing lesser brighter ties (D’s perfectly arched eyebrows rose just that micro-inch when I entered the class, which meant “what in the world has he done?”), besides shedding some pounds. Lest I sound too critical, let me be a narcissist and say I liked myself on TV, warts and all. So there!

Part 2 was the best, as it required me to speak about my “passion”. Well Wimpistan has been my conduit to thoughts and passions which I kept within, and so it was but logical that I talk about this. Well, I knew I had done a decent job when I saw the audience in rapt attention with nobody dozing off. And the response sheets said it all- it looked like some perfect 10s rained down on me! Even our co-coordinator said it was well done. I dunno, it was just me being me-like always. Guess I should get more involved in some public speaking opportunities…

On more casual things, we celebrated DJ’s/Col. Bday and dear D’s engagement. D has a beautiful smile and an attitude to match, so I am pretty fond of her. Well, that meant I had to be there to wish her and the others! And what a party it was. Sec B really rocks! It may be simple- no plunging necklines to oohh over or drunken monks to “manage” back to the SV, just clean,simple music and happy folks having fun! I had to slink away early as I had an official engagement in the morning, but I heard it was great fun. Here’s to more of them!

And finally the scandalous event - loosing my sensitivity…

When you see me next after reading this remember to say to me, “You have a big loud mouth !”

Nothing else can explain the situation that I put myself into; amazing myself at the uncanny ability I have to make an absolute ass out of myself with cheeky comments. Here I was chatting nicely with a good friend, who I find very interesting for some time now. Interesting because said person has absolutely no airs, is very disarming by nature, and is frank in expressing one’s mind. Oh in addition, a maddeningly attractive dimple…

And while we discussed that and this, and came to some sensitive point, I had to go and make a pretty insensitive comment. One that immediately made the whole conversation go into a what-did-you-say from the other side of the border and an uh-uh-uh from this side. Pretty much made an ass of myself. Thankfully, said person was far more forgiving that I thought, but it did not stop me from thinking twice whenever I make these smart comebacks. Hopefully I’ve learnt my lesson. If this person ever comes across this post, let it be known that I was sorry.

A more sunny post next time- that I promise!

Sunday, July 22, 2007

About a Girl…

Now that I have your undivided attention, let me begin.

Going home after a long and stressful term is bliss. I mean, I can tolerate the awful traffic to the airport, even more repulsive airline food, quite often insincere smiles from pretty airhostesses (this time they were pretty and had genuine smiles –thank god !), and then finally a ride on a perpetually dug-up main road. All for that wolfish grin from mom and bro when I walk into the door. A Lufthansa moment, if there ever was one!

Things have changed. The home now has a spanking new HUGE telly (a surprise for me supposedly), the Bose belts out a Nirvana song that lives up to the group’s name and the movie collection has some more classics, courtesy of my bro’s efforts.

And then the phone rings, and my grandmom is on the line and my mom is hunched over the phone looking at me. And history repeats itself…

Lest somebody reading this think I’m rambling, which I am, let me furnish the basic facts by dipping into my favorite subject, history. Not so long ago, I was loath to let my mom listen to conversations which I entertained with the fairer sex from school. Now, mom shows similar characteristics when I walk into a room when she’s talking to grandmom. It does not take too long to find out some of the key points of that conversation.

Soon enough, while I’m stuffing myself with some awesome food and too hungry to think straight, we discuss so-and-so who decided that this was the right time to walk the aisle. And what about miss that-and-that whose wedding has just been fixed to him-and –him?

I know where this topic is going when I notice a microscopic grin on my bro’s face as he contemplates the complicated drama unfolding in front of him. If you’re 3 years younger, come what may you always have the elder who goes through it first. And its good fun for him to notice how I extricate myself out of this conversation. McDonald’s moments really exist you know, gotta be careful !

I approach the subject with some trepidation. Thankfully nobody’s really putting the squeeze on me but I know what this all leads to. The big M.

M. Potent in meaning, infinite in experience. What does it mean when I sign up for M? Is M a rite of passage? Is it Fun? Even better fun than that which I enjoyed as a child? Can I play games? Break rules? Cry? Laugh? Do both together? Do I choose my playmate? Will I get my playmate? How do I ask her?

On other things, I did some legal homework for doing some work in the field of education, especially for the girl child. It meets the thoughts that I penned in the 4 Pillars of Respect – for the unaware. Mom is thrilled with the idea and will take charge. Need to set up the legal stuff for this. Will talk to SG in my class for some help. Thank god for diversity at ISB!