Metrosexual, eh?

I have heard this term innumerable times in the past few months. It almost suffocates me everytime I read an article in the newspaper.

Speculations. Isn’t it the pillar on which the entire media industry works on?

The term got hyped in reams of newspaper print and in those condescending glam interviews. At this point one wonders, why is it specualtions? Well I would like to present my point of view on the term Metrosexual.

In one word – Bullshit

Let me elaborate more. The sole personality they tend to associate Metrosexuality is David Beckham. Now sincerely, how many of us existing males, come even remotely close to that kind of grooming? Well I dont know of any.

If people think that staying clean by cutting nails and shaving arm pits is a sign of metrosexuality, then please excuse me while I barf. But the excesses of wearing thongs (ugh) and having facials done and painting nails, is something that I havent witnessed to date. And I think most of the males around here would agree with me, it wont even be happening in the future, not atleast for themselves. So then does not the term gain a rank in being even more ephemeral.

It is one of those many publicity stunts created by desperate journalists craving to cash in on the unnecessary hooplah about things that are really not. How can you generalise a term and write endless articles on how a man is turning into a metrosexual? Is the coverage of journalism constrained to those higher echelons when it comes to money and fame? Its something worth pondering.

While I try and nullify the (bullshit) concept of metrosexuality, one more question comes up as a harbinger to it. Is jounalism really losing its glory in the cosmetic labyrinth of Page 3? Is it dying a slow death triggered by the poison called glamour?

Maybe this will be next in line…


Next issue’s theme for Motif Magazine : Fairground

Here I go again….

How many roads must a man walk down,
before you call him a man
How many seas must a white dove sail,
before she sleeps in the sand
How many times must the cannonballs fly,
before they are forever banned
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

There goes yet another 4 year war of life. There always comes a time in life when you ask the same question, how much more till I reach there. The question is where? Like someone said, for most, life is like a ladder, you keep on climbing it and at the end some reach the top. Finally, you realise that the ladder is resting against the wrong wall. Well now I have ample time to think about that ladder and try to scale it.

So the fact right now remains, I am back!!!! And how?!!
And hey Mr. DJ dedicate the next song to that guy who looks the happiest, he is finally out of engineering!!

Well exams got over yesterday and it was time to party and party late in the night. Plans made and shirt sleeves rolled, we rolled out our babies from their stables. Yeah yeah, the cars

And it was our regular watering hole once again. Toto’s Garage Pub. It was a guys night out as all the girls were conveniently left behind snugly at their homes. And well the music as usual was mindblowingly superb. Its a treat for rockers and retro-packers like us. It was amazing as everyone felt as if the biggest burden had been lifted off their shoulders. We guzzled beer life water. And then it was time to hit the road at 12:30 am. We went to Juhu and were hanging around on the beach, taking a general perspective of things that are about to come and things that have gone by.

Well I’m standing by a river
But the water doesn’t flow
It boils with every poison you can think of
And I’m underneath the streetlight
But the light of joy I know
Scared beyond belief way down in the shadows

4:00 in the morning we reached home and that was one more night gone by. Well it wasn’t just another night. It was probably one of the last nights we have had together for a few years at the least. Everyone is going their seperate ways. A few people going the IIMs and one to IIT. Others taking up their jobs and things are beginning to take shape.

My friends are so depressed
I feel the question of your loneliness
Confide…’cause I’ll be on your side
You know I will, you know I will

So here I am, back in the blogosphere.

Another night bites the dust

“For me it was a party for various reasons. The study leave before the exam was about to start and Motif magazine was complete and would be launched the next day.

Saturday night it was and as luck would have it Sid’s folks were out of town. And so we didnt need no invitation. I picked up Sudi on the way and there we reached his place. Three friends meeting after a long long time and plans to booze.

As we settled down at his place and the customary hellos (with some more customary swearing) were there. It was time for night shopping. We left his place at about 10:00 to go and shop for our ‘stuff’.

Going with the stealth of a tiger we sneaked out of his building and reached the daaru shop. White Mischief (vodka) and many many beers it was. We sneaked back in the building with utmost precision and as we settled down it was time to start. In the comfort of his folks’ bedroom, with the a/c running full blast we sat down with the beer bottles. It is usually understood that on a night of boozing, beer is the starter.

We talked at end about whats happening with each one and what are all of us planning to do. A few revelations and laughs later, it was time to hit the jukebox, as i was carrying my CD pack with me. Vodka shots were poured and it all started with Blind melon.

# No Rain – Blind Melon

Sid went wild with the music, he loves such kind of songs and so do we. Next on the list came,

# Tears in the heaven – Eric Clapton

By this time we were down with three shots of vodka and alcohol seeping in the head. At this time strangely my cell buzzed. It was a message from Apple. I was surprised to see a message from her. But i’d told her that i was gonna be out boozing that night. And strangely enough I started replying with song names that I was listening. I dont even remember what I had messaged her. Okay so I was on a high.

We introduced Sid to the music of Rammstein and Coal Chamber and he was like, “”what world was I living in”” and instantly took to headbanging!!

# Ich Will – Rammstein
# Sway – Coal Chamber

So by now we were done with what Sid loves to call, aadha khamba of vodka.

And then came his favourite,

# Wonderwall – Oasis

And I cant believe that we were actually headbanging to Wonderwall!!!! Gawwd we must have been really high. It was time for more shopping, we had run out of vodka and I wanted more beer. Strangely Vodka wasnt tasting good that day (or was it just me?). So I had to have it with sprite. We went and got a few more beers. And then came…

# The Unforgiven – Metallica

# Nothing Else Matters – Metallica

…….and truly nothing else mattered at that moment, we were all learning to fly ……

# Enter Sandman – Metallica

…… we were all knocked out and sleeping. Then was the day long hangover.”

Motif

“

To all bloggers,

We are starting an online magazine named Motif.
It will be launched this Sunday. It is a literary magazine, which will be updated every alternate Sunday.

Motif is a theme-based magazine and every issue will have its own unique theme on which most of the articles will be based. Of course there is space for 5 articles which do not stick to the given theme and are under a more General category.

Readers can submit poems, prose, fiction, art and animation to be included in the issue. These will be sorted out by the editor and published in the magazine every fortnight.

You can start sending submissions to mail@drumster.com

So come sunday we will be unveiling Motif. It can be visited at http://www.motif.tk

The theme for the first issue is aptly “”The Beginning“”. This magazine is edited by Rahul Soni, designed by Nikhil Pahwa (NixxiN) and coded by me

”

Goodbye, blue skies….

It still feels like yesterday when we climbed the stairs of this engineering college. And today four years have elapsed since. Each and every moment is still fresh in my mind, like the nectar from a flower. Unmistakably, these were the best four years of my life.

And yesterday was our annual day which is, in theory, the last day of our college. I still remember the very first annual day that we attended when we were in our first year. Never did we have a clue that it would come down to attending the last annual day in such a short span of time. Heck, they were four years. But they dont seem to be.

Yesterday started with the usual dance and drama sequences. These are the very first sequences when everyone has come prepared with whistles and catchy one liners and its out for everyone to hear. Catcalls and hoots are the order of the day. But its all done in good spirit. Even the performers know that they would be missing something if there were no hoots. Such has been the amity in the hall of our annual day. Bhaidas Auditorium, is where the annual day has been happening for four years. And not a thing has changed ever since.

Through this journey of four years, I for one, have matured a lot and have come to know the variety of people you come across in life. In college, there are two kinds of students: outstanding and outstanding. (I was always somewhere in between).

And who would have thought in a million years that the outstanding students were the ones who stole the show yesterday with a completely heart-warming performance. These are the people who are usually found outside the college near the paanwaala, puffing their way to glory. And then there are people who detest and mock them. But little does everyone realise, its not true that only a person who displays emotions, has them. So what if they stand outside smoking and they arent that good in acads, they may have their own reasons. But at the end of the day they have spent as much time in this college as everyone else.

As they put up a completely original dance performance they ended with a graceful sway to the tunes of singer K K’s Yaaron. And they were the ones who deserved and did get a standing ovation. With cigarette lighters burning in their hands and hearts full of fond memories they covered the stage with their presence and it will be remembered for a long long time.

The next was the dance troupe from our class and once again they gave their very best while performing and towards the end, the whole of our class, barged onto the stage. And the dancers were taken by shock as much as they were relieved to find their friends behind them giving support. It was touching as there were hugs all around and words of gratitude flowing.

As the annual day ended with the National Anthem, everyone knew that this is going to be one more arrow in the quiver full of the great days we have had in this college.

Yaaron dosti badi hi haseen hai,
yeh na ho to, kya phir, bolo yeh zindagi hai

To the class of BE – Electronics and Telecommunications, D. J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, I’ll miss all you guys, always, and there’ll be a special place in my heart for all those years we have spent together. Forever….

Ephemeral Days These..

First it was years, then it was a few semesters and finally it has come down to counting the last few months together.

The four of us: Me, Uddhav (Juju), Sudarshan and Narain have been best of the friends ever since we met 6 years back in the First Year of Junior College. The two years that we spent back then were the very best and will remain so, probably, for the rest of ours lives. Whenever we meet, we remember those days and try to go back to those places we used to hang out. It brings back flashes of what we were like and incidents that made us laugh and cry.

As fate would have it, after our HSC, the four of us landed up in four different colleges spread out throughout the city. That left us with only weekends to catch up. But you have to admit that the bond of friendship only grew stronger with time, even though we never had the time to meet everyday.

But atleast we met on weekends. Atleast we were in the same city. Come August and the four of us will be parting ways for a long long time. Juju, Sudi and Narain are going to the US for their MS. And I’ll be doing my MBA here in India at IIT, Kharagpur. They’ll be at seperate universities spread out all over USA.

I’m gonna miss these days.

Days that we passed strolling along the promenade of Marine Drive.
Days that we spent hogging outside the college campus.
The days of travelling for endless hours in local trains.
The windy early morning walks to the college.
All the laughs we had together over trinkets.

….. And then we’ll be counting years.

Another span nears an end
leaving a handful of memories,
I start to take another bend
to a different set of stories.

As I begin on my way
nostalgia, it creeps up again,
myriad emotions subsume me
Oh I want that feeling of pain.

Myriads of Moods

Juggernaut

The people who have followed my blog for sometime now, will know that a very dear friend of mine met with an accident, when we had gone to Goa. It has been more than two months since.

He was brought to the Bombay Hospital after that and has been in coma ever since. I do visit him at regular intervals, but then one thing that haunts me all the time is that, life goes on for me. And the others. Is it that I have forgotten about him. No. But then I feel so helpless, I just cant do anything, its such a state of mind.

Ever since the accident, whenever I laugh at jokes and am having a good time with my friends, I think about him. And a gloom engulfs me. How can I be laughing and having a good time when my friend is in the hospital. But then what else can I possibly do? Its a juggernaut thats been crushing me all the time.

As far as Keval is concerned, time stopped at 2:00 pm on 17th of January, 2004. While the world still goes on. Heedless. Life is cruel.

Time goes by in the circling skies,
for me its all misplaced in time.
A muddle of thoughts,
in a haze of darkeness. Is it all,
I’ll see in this life?

All those worries have taken a rest,
why, oh why,
have they ceased this fast?

The friends’ greets,
and the peels of laughter,
the warmth of those hands,
mother, why cant I touch you?