A LETTER OF PARTING

It has been a long time since I have written, and I don't intend on letting my creative juices flow now either since I have my Final exams of Term 2 right around the corner, but I couldn't help but post this wonderful mail which our Economics professor wrote to us right before he left back to the US.

Dear Students:

Thanks for your kindness during the last session (and indeed all the sessions)! It has been a pleasure interacting with you and it was your intellectual curiosity that added spark to the course.

I am sure I will read about you soon in the papers as great examples of people who harnessed the market for social good as much as for profits. Meanwhile, question everything. Defy conventional wisdom. Buck the trend. Read the less known novelist. Watch the movie without stars. Listen to the less famous person. What you encounter might enlighten you, entertain you, and even change your life!

Cheers,

XXX

THE WEEKS THAT WHIZZ BY....

In exactly a week’s time, I will be done with my final exams of Term 1. Time seems to be flying past me and waving goodbye while I'm still strolling at a sedate pace. It seems like just a wink back the term had just begun. How do I feel now that the term is coming to an end? Confused? Elated? Depressed? Resigned? Enthused?
To be frank, I feel a mix of all of them.

There is so much to learn out here. I am not strictly talking about the Academics. Though, the academic aspect of learning has been elating though rushed. We seem to be thrust on a roller coaster ride. Are we being tested to see if we still hang on at the end of the ride? Mid term exams 2.5 weeks after the start of the term and final exams another 2.5 weeks after the mid term exams. There have been a whole lot of assignments, quizzes and even more assignments to keep you on your toes while you hope to find time to breathe throughout. The marvel of it all is that I hear that Term 1 is the honeymoon period. The term when things actually move at a relaxed pace. If this is relaxed, I don’t want to really look ahead and gaze into how things are going to be once the other terms happen!! I think I’ve learned to enjoy the academic aspect of learning more post the mid terms. It has taken me time to adjust to it and I hate to admit that it has taken its toll on my mid term results :-(. I guess that though I knew that my peer group out here is brilliant, I never expected to be outrun as fast as I have been. It’s unnerving to find yourself average in Academics, after having topped your class throughout your college years.

Dump the academics. It’s probably one of the most overrated aspects of learning. Truly, think about it. Did your engineering (or any other degree) score really make a difference to how you performed at your work place? I doubt it. With an average work experience of 5 years, you would think that the students out here (baring those with consulting ambitions) would know to not place a lot of credence on their academic performance.
As Rhett Butler would have said, ‘Frankly my dear, I couldn’t give a damn’.

It is for this reason that I am now trying to explore how best can I enhance my learning in a 360 degree manner in the next 10 months. When I first came in, I thought 12 months was a looooong time. Now that nearly 2 months have whizzed by I realize that I was wrong. I need to capitalize on the 10 months that I still have remaining. The kind of facilities, peer group and opportunities that are available here are mind blowing!!

I remember Professor MV telling us on our first day of Financial Accounting, don’t hesitate to ask any question that comes to your mind or fear making a mistake. You’re paying through your nose to be here and learn. You have taken a year off just to learn. So make all the mistakes you want to, because while your mistakes don’t make a difference here, out in the real world as managers mistakes are costly, and you cannot afford to make them.

WHAT DID JUST HIT ME?

Little Miss Red Riding Hood
Was skipping in an enchanted wood,
Twirling a daisy in her hand
Humming a song in la-la land

The sun was dancing to her tune
Waltzing along was the moon
A fox was chasing its own tail
down little Red Riding Hood’s trail

Out of the blue, out of the down
Along came an engine screaming its horn
Knocked little Red Riding Hood down
Snorted, sneered and rode back to town

The mourning sun went to hide
The daisies drooped, the moon she cried,
‘Poor little Miss Red Riding Hood
Skipping alone in an enchanted wood’

‘But’, screeched the owl in a loud aside,
‘Why did she hop where engines ride?’

© Deepti Ravi

P.S. In case your wondering, that’s how I feel post my mid terms :-(

ONE DOWN, ELEVEN TO GO!!

It’s been exactly a month since I stepped my foot first into the campus. A month that has been a roller coaster ride of emotions. I feel a little funny to say this, but a part of me is glad that a month is over and that it’s another 11 months to go. It’s quite weird out here. A part of me loves everything about college while another part of me can’t wait for the experience to stop. Coward. Dr Jekyll and Ms Hyde.

The last two weeks of life out here has been killing. The studies part has especially been pure torture.So many pre reads and so many post reads to be done. It’s just not physically possible to them all. The first week I bent my back twice over trying to keep up and stay anchored to the shore. The second week? I quit.

In Economics we have been learning this zany concept,

MR = MC.

That’s like this crazy mantra that all of us out here chant like it’s a prayer!! Basically, what it does mean is that it doesn’t matter if you keep increasing your revenues. The name of the game is maximizing your profits. This happens when Marginal Revenue = Marginal Costs aka MR=MC. The reason I mention this is because I feel that studying at ISB feels like a real time application of this concept. MR refers to knowledge,enjoyment in learning and marks. MC is time that could be better spent. As long as the knowledge (marks as well) you gain is more than the time you loose that you could have better spent (in the Recreation centre, sleeping, reading a novel, attending some club meetings),' study'.

I need to however find the equation for TC ( Total Cost) and TR ( Total Revenue) of my life here so that I can differentiate ( I don’t just mean the calculus term) the two and try getting some structure in my life here. Otherwise, I don’t think I’m going to be as happy as I should or could be.

WHEN I SAY I'M BROKE , I'M BROKE

A little old lady answered a knock on the door one day, only to be confronted by a well-dressed young man carrying a vacuum cleaner.

'Good morning,' said the young man..

'If I could take a couple of minutes of your time, I would like to demonstrate the very latest in high-powered vacuum cleaners.' 'Go away!' said the old lady. 'I'm broke and haven't got any money!' and she proceeded to close the door.

Quick as a flash, the young man wedged his foot in the door and pushed it wide open.

'Don't be too hasty!' he said. 'Not until you have at least seen my demonstration.' And with that, he emptied a bucket of horse manure onto her hallway carpet. 'If this vacuum cleaner does not remove all traces of this horse manure from your carpet, Madam, I will personally eat the remainder.'

The old lady stepped back and said, 'Well let me get you a fork, 'cause they cut off my electricity this morning.'

P.S. Courtesy Vikram H who forwarded it to me and lightened my day!! :)

AN EXPANDING DICTIONARY

Since coming to ISB I have not just learned quite a few words but also learned to use them frequently.

Here is a list of some oft used words here.

LRC

Learning Resource Centre aka Library.

Hazaar/Hajaar

Ok, I HAVE always known that it means Thousand. But have I used the word as ' Hajaar Problems yaar!!!', naaaah..

CP

Class Participation.Out here our level of interaction in class is graded and is included as a component of our grade in any subject. :( *sigh* I dread this!!

Arbit-CP

Now..... take a guess?? Every one wants a good grade right?????????????????So start crapping....

Dunking

Through someone into the pool.The reason could be birthdays,friend of the birthday person, arbit cp, it's too hot, I just wanted to throw someone in.. why the hell are you standing near the pool??

Quad/Quaddie

Each of us have a room in a four bedroom apartment.Hence Quad.It clearly follows that Quaddie is the person you share the apartment with.

Rec

Recreation Centre. Damn.. I think it's the same everywhere!!

Really, Really!!

A phrase made popular by the Class of '09 courtesy Savio (He was the Media and Communications Club president). Savio is this guy with amazing communication and presentation skills.He also happens to really really use the phrase 'really really' really really frequently.

I think I might have forgotten some or might be still in the process of learning some... but here's a toast to learning new words !!!


Haaa!! Haa!!! Haaa!!Haaa!! Haa!!! Haaa!!Haaa!! Haa!!! Haaa!!Haaa!! Haa!!! Haaa!!

Gotcha!!

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN....

It’s been exactly two weeks to the day since I set my first foot in ISB. And these two weeks have felt like a lifetime of living. Right from the first day the journey has been a roller coaster ride, and I think the coaster is going to stop for a break only on April 4^th 2009.

There are so many chaotic thoughts running through my head at the moment. I’ve met so many fascinating people, so many not so fascinating people, been bowled over by the sheer beauty of the campus and fallen in love with LRC.

The first week on campus was the orientation week. The alums Class of ’08 were fabulous. Kudos to them for having made us, Class of ’09, feel so at home within a week.

We’ve had a zillion gyaan sessions, parties, sports, informal meetings and so much more. The best of it all has to have been the treasure hunt. Hunting for clues all over the campus gave us a good understanding of it’s layout in a matter of few hours. A few hours of cursing the alums for making us sweat it out!!

I used to wonder sometimes during the orientation week if I was being overdosed, but in the hindsight I realized that they were setting the pattern for what is to follow. So much to do. So little time. The first week, I averaged 5-6 hours of sleep and stayed awake a couple of times till 4 in the morning!

The second week has been the pre term week. I took Business Statistics and Financial Accounting. I decided against taking Quant. Before I started my pre-term I was terrified of Accounting and thought Stat would be a cake walk. The roles have now been reversed. The Prof. who taught Accounting is a marvellous teacher. She makes me feel that I can truly be comfortable with balance sheets, ledgers, journals, cash flow statements, etc., I wish I could say the same of statistics. I am now terrified of it! The Prof. who is from IIM Bangalore has successfully made me feel like a loser at Stat!!The only thing that keeps me afloat is the knowledge that my CGPA will not be affected by my pre-terms.

I’m hoping that in 2009 I can with all confidence pass out of ISB assuring the Class of 2010 that the pre-terms just don’t matter.

Au Revoir!

THE WEEKS THAT WERE!!

When my brother's wedding was fixed for the 22nd and 23rd of March, I assumed that it would be probably 3 days (21st,22nd,23rd) of heavy work.I couldn't have been further from the truth. The pre-wedding work ran mildly starting from February and hit full throttle by 18th March. I guess things were even tougher because I was cramming in all the pending stuff for ISB - preparing my loan application, CAS declaration( I think a couple of companies I mentioned might not even exist!!), worrying over a laptop( which I still am doing !!), flunking my pre-term assessments, forcing people into completing my LDP assessment etc., etc.,
My two weeks that was
17th March - Final touch-ups to the loan application, taking a backup photocopy of it and couriering it across.
18th March - Samaradhanai - Pooja for the ancestors,flunking accounting.
19th March - Begging my tailor to give me my blouses and hunting for an outrageous piece of jewellery to wear at the reception ( I think I succeeded!! One of my friends said that I looked like a tribal ;-) ).
20th March - Parlour work!! It's amazing how much confidence a female derives after a parlour job.
21st March - Mehendi and prep for velayadal!! I think I'm glad it rained monstrously. Atleast 6 people dropped out from coming which reduced my bill by 1500 bucks.Being unemployed, I can't stop counting the pennies.
22nd March- Viratham,Nischayathartham and Reception.Need I say more? Tried to sleep at 11, but due to the heavy exertion of the day, was left with a racking cough that kept me awake till 1.
23rd March - Early morning muhurtam!!:-( Woke up at 3.15 and got ready. Kasi Yatra, Malai matzhinal, oonjal, muhurtam, grahapravesam...etc., and finally head back home at 4. Felt completely drained out.
24th March - Flunked the other two pre terms, completed my CAS, booked my train tickets to hyd, filled in my arrival information and then finally headed to Chidamabaram and saw the temple there. It blew me away. The Chidambaram temple is extremely old ( more than 10 centuries apparently) and an architectural marvel. I fell in love with it. Then headed to Vaideshwaran Kovil where we settled in our cottages and played ludo!! I love board games!!
25th March - Did 5 abhisekams at the temple, had lunch and head back to Chennai.
26th March - Kept jewels back in locker and then bro and sis in law left to Bangalore. I then dived head first into Dominoes. I needed a break from heavy south Indian food!! God.. I've added soooooooo much of weight thanks to the heavy food :-(
27th,28th March - Shopping with sis and spending lots of time with her and her in laws. Very nice,friendly and open people.
29th March- I'd missed my bed lots and lots !! So slept all afternoon and then evening watched Race with cousin and had dinner at Bellaciao. Was quite tired and didn't have the energy to drag myself to the ISB Meet. Now that I'm feeling fresh I wish I had attended it. It's quite useful meeting up with the other admits. It's good to know people prior to joining school and lots of useful information to be gleaned. I hope there is another meet before I need to join school. Anyway, I can call G or M and ask them what I missed.

There's so much of work I need to do prior to joining!! :-( I think 1 month was just not enough time!!

NO COUNTRY FOR YOUNG MEN EITHER!!

Last night I saw the highly acclaimed Oscar winning movie 'No country for old men'.
At the end of the movie I couldn't help but feel cheated.I expected more from an Academy 'Best Picture' winner.

'Departed' had me clenching my hands and sitting at the edge of my seat.'Crash' moved me enough to leave me crying and thinking about it for days after I had seen it.
'No country for old men' left me -'disappointed'. I'm not saying that it's a bad movie.It isn't. The Coen brothers have a nice Western Classic here. The landscape visuals were gorgeous.The guns,shooting and killing was -classy.The accents was titillating. The acting- I have no words for it. All of the actors in the movie were fantabulous.Javier Bardem- Why was it Best Supporting Actor? He was large enough to win the Best Actor!! The movie was extremely well paced.

But still.. beyond all its merits, I found it lacking. It found the movie a little too metallic.Much too flat.
I kept waiting for the movie to talk to me.To tell me something and make me think.I was left waiting long after the credits had started rolling.I used to think that 'Babel' was the most over-rated movie.

I've changed my mind.

CATAPULTING INTO ISB!!

It's hard to believe that it was just a week ago that I was sitting in front of my workstation, my eyes glued to the monitor, alternating between the outpouring of results on Pagalguy and the ISB website, hoping and praying that I would get an admit.

My fingers turned to icicles( a feat considering Chennai!), my heart pounded nineteen to the dozen and my hands clamped over my mouth to hold back the scream of ecstasy that bubbled from within me ( quite akin to Sushmita when she won the Miss Universe title ;-) ) when I saw the ISB website read ' Congratulations!'.

I think I would like to keep turning back time to the exact moment when I realized that I had been admitted!! The euphoria and the deliriousness that I felt that day, the 12th of February, definitely beats hands, feet and any other part of the anatomy down the highest of highs that a tequila shot or a vodka can offer :-)

DON'T GO FAR OFF............

Don't go far off, not even for a day, because --
because -- I don't know how to say it: a day is long
and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station
when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.

Don't leave me, even for an hour, because
then the little drops of anguish will all run together,
the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift
into me, choking my lost heart.

Oh, may your silhouette never dissolve on the beach;
may your eyelids never flutter into the empty distance.
Don't leave me for a second, my dearest,

because in that moment you'll have gone so far
I'll wander mazily over all the earth, asking,
Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying?

--Pablo Neruda

P.S. I would love to say that I had written a poem as beautiful and evocative as this :((

ISN'T IT IRONIC?

By Alanis Morissette

An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
Isn't it ironic ... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought ... it figures
Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
'Well isn't this nice...'
And isn't it ironic ... don't you think

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face
It's a traffic jam when you're already late
It's a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn't it ironic... don't you think
A little too ironic... and yeah I really do think...

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out ...

HAPPY NEW RESOLUTIONS YEAR !!!

Hmm.. There is something about the start of a New Year that makes most people around me want to make new resolutions that they struggle to keep for as long as a single day.Personally, neither am I impervious to the temptations of gnashing my teeth, resolving to keep my resolutions and then cheerfully tossing those self same resolutions to the wind.
The only difference being that this time I chose my resolutions before Jan 1st and made certain that I didn't try to fulfil them on the 1st. It's like the equivalent of the saying ' Married in haste, repent in leisure' ;-). This time I chose to not marry in haste!! So it's close to a week after the new year that I have decided to start trying to fulfil my resolutions. The following are the list of my resolutions,in accordance to priority.

• Loose weight !!! - This I have been trying to do for probably the last ten years :-( But 2007 was disastrous.. I successfully gained a lot less than I should have lost to be a size 6, as per american terminology :-( Poor me :-( I am truly hoping that 2008 will be a fruitful ( sheesh.. how ironical!! ) year for me.
• Do not fall asleep while trying to read Hindu's Open Page and do more than read the headlines each day !! Alright, I am 24, and yes, I should be blushing to confess that the Hindu's open page ( umm... should I say anything beyond the first 3 - 4 pages ) is excellent at putting me to sleep. :-( *sigh* I think I shall amend this resolution to not include weekends ( Come on, everyone needs a holiday,dammit !! :-D )
• Read the Economic Times / Business Standard !! - Dammit, I hope this will be more interesting than the Hindu. I kind of feel it might be. Hindu is truly a highly geriatric paper according to me!!
• Blog reasonably regularly !! Hmm, I couldn't get more irregular than 2007 could I ??? ;-) Just imagine, even if I were to blog just once a month, I would have over taken the number of times I posted the last year!! Yipppeeeee !!
• Stop blurting out the first thing that comes to my mind !! Hmm... no comments!!

I think my resolutions are going to absolutely exhaust me. And yeah, gues what?? I've decided to start another blog to write reviews on the movies I watch!! :-) :-) Considering the fact that I watch atleast 3 per week, wow!!!

P.S. Happy New Year to All !!! Hope this year does not suck !!! ;-)

HALF ASLEEP -HALF DELIRIUM

It's four in the morning right now.
I am awake not because I wanted to wake up early, but because I am yet to hit the sack.
I am currently the victim of a thousand blood sucking mosquitoes.
And I am at work.
I am waiting for some compilation to happen.
I am not bored because these mosquitoes don't allow me to be.
I am half asleep. I am crapping.
I remember. It must have been more than a year ago that I wrote a post called 'Gibberish from the half dead'. I am not as lost to sanity as then. But close ;)
Don't bother to expect words ofwisdown, enlightenment or disillusionment.
Don't bother to expect a diatribe on the latest in current affairs.
Bah!! I am goin for two movies this weekend!! Yippeee!!!
I am also reading a MHC called 'Night time is my time'. It's not all that great. Lately she's become a little too 'obvious'. Not in who the killer is. I can't guess that. But it's irritating when a writer can get as subtle as a sledge hammer and not just carves the road for you walk on ( here, read) but also ties a leash to your kneck and drags you along it like a sack of potatoes!!
Whatever.

RUT

Why is my each day identical to the next? Why is it that I go through the same motions every single day? Five days of working looking forward to the weekend, the remaining two planning the next five days. The same motions, the same monotony. I'm not bored.But I am wishful. Wanting more out of life, but not knowing what it is that I want. Seeking for something, yet not knowing what it is that I seek.Not loving every moment of my life, yet not knowing what it is that I would love. It's not that I hate the way things are. It's not that I'm always wishful. When I work , I'm obsessed with my work. When I laugh, I think of nothing other than what amuses me. But there are these blanks. These gaps when I start to think. And then I feel sad.
I remember this song called 'Sunscreen' by Baz Luhrmann. . or however his name is spelt. There is this line in the song that goes, ' The most interesting people I've known at forty, still don't know what do with their lives'. I'm a long way from forty,but still.It's no consolation.

That doesn't make you stop wishing that you knew what you wanted from life. I see the musicians who love their music, the writers who can't stop imagining,the actors on stage who love living another role, environmentalists who adore their monkeys, my co-workers who live, breathe their work and I see myself -drifting. Not loving what I do, not hating it either. Sometimes stopping in the middle of the day and thinking. What is it that I'm doing out here? What would I really like to be doing. I listen for an answer to my question.The answer is silence.A deep dark silence.So I stop these these thoughts and continue.Continue in this rut that I am in.

THERE NEEDS TO BE A REASON

I haven't written in my blog for nearly a year.
There used to be a time when I was obsessed with my blog. I would make it a point to try writing atleast once in two weeks. Even if I had no idea what to write about. The very obsession to write killed my desire to write.I'm glad. I'm glad that I stopped feeling this intense need to keep my blog updated. I'm glad that I haven't felt an iota of regret for not writing in all these months.
What makes me write today? Because I wanted to. And that is reason enough for me.To do something because I want to. Not compelled. Not judging. Not judged. I don't need that here. This is my space.Mine.Mine alone.
A place no one can crash into unless I permit them.

SECTION 49.0 IPC

I got this really interesting forward today ( yeah ,sure.. what else do I mostly do at work other than read the forwards I get ;) )... some of it I was aware of, while the rest I was not. Its typically directed against people like me who abstain from even showing their shadow near a voting booth.

I don't vote because I love ranting and raving against the corruption that is prevalent, the ridiculous quota systems that are to be introduced, the growing insecularity of our country, bad roads, free power, free colour Tv's and *blah, blah , blah*. And it makes life a lot more easy because no one can refute my arguments by making the simple statement, " You voted them in". Its simple for me to retort back,"But I didn't. I don't vote".

Just think about it. As long as I abstain from voting I can bitch about the government and the opposition in an impartial manner because my concience is free of the guilt of having bought those self same idiots to power despite being complete aware of their pretensions of being just, kind, fair and people serving over self serving. Were I to vote someone into power and they not fulfil the aspirations that I were to set for them( which anyway no sane person does - i.e. expect stuff) then more than being sorely disappointed I would have to feel lousy for having been one of the idiots responsible of having given that person the car, the bungalow, the crores, the eighth wife, the gold rings, the trips abroad,the slippers, the sarees, the money from gun sales,the money from stamp and fodder scams.. oh yes, crores and crores of money!!

Yeah , you can easily tell me that I am just a drop in an ocean, but I can retort back,"But every drop that makes the ocean counts.Were all of them to go on a strike, the ocean would be empty ;) ). Anyway ( I read this article that stops me from saying anyway(s) ), this is the article I wanted to bring to all of your notices.............


Among the reasons for poor voter turnout in the cities, particularly of the middle and upper classes, is the complaint that they have no real choice considering the poor quality of candidates and the poor public image of the parties these candidates represent. Secondly, many citizens believe that their votes are not really going to make a difference.

Since in the ensuing elections there is no provision for indicating rejection of candidates on the ballot, except by invalidating the vote by ambiguous voting - that is, putting the stamp on the line separating one candidate's name from another -- the Indian Liberal Group recommends a solution that already exists in the Conduct of Election Rules 1961. This not only gives reluctant voters a reasonable choice, but also ensures that their vote does make a difference.

Rule No. 49(O) in the Conduct of Election Rules 1961 says:

"Elector deciding not to vote - If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form 17 A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer, and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark. "

Explanation: In other words, a voter can go to the polling station and tell the presiding officer that he/she does not wish to cast her/his vote. The presiding officer will make a remark that the voter does not wish to vote and take the voter's signature against his/her name in the register of voters (Form 17A). At the end of the day, the presiding officer will, in totalling the number of votes cast, also include the number of electors who refused to cast their vote. By doing so, voters make it clear to all political parties that they are not satisfied with the kind of candidates put up by them. Though they have done their duty as citizens by going to the polling station, they have not found anyone on the ballot paper who deserves their vote. This is the Protest Vote.

If large numbers of citizens exercise their franchise in this manner, political parties will be forced to be far more careful in ensuring they do not nominate crooks and criminals or incompetents as their candidates next time round. This in turn will see the emergence of honest and committed candidates getting into Parliament and state legislatures in the long run, thus leading the way to good governance. After the present elections have concluded, the Indian Liberal Group will press for the Protest Vote facility on electronic voting machines the next time round, so that voters have the option to say "None of the Above" after scrutinizing the candidates on the ballot.

The other factor thats involved with this 49(0) section is a scary section for the political parties.
Here's an example. Say there's a candidate standing in City A.
And say out of 100 people only 40 people turn to vote and out of that the Candidate recieves 30 votes. Then by rule, he's been declared as elected. But say, if out of the 100 people 70 turn to vote. and 30 people vote for the candidate and the other 40 people use section 49(0), to say i am not interested in anyof the candidate. Then if, the candidates vote(which the vote he got ie., 30) is less than the vote against him (under section 49(0) - which is 40), then by rule he would not be elected as winner and in turn he would not be able to participate in anymore further elections. And the election for CITY A will be re-held with fresh candidates. Now that sounds great handle for people!!

And i hope that's why many people dont know about section 49(0) and the politicians and the goverment still tries to keep it a hidden secret.

BEGGARS CAN BE CHOOSERS!!

You know what? The person who coined the phrase ' Beggars can't afford to be choosers' deserves to be hanged and quartered. That has to be the most inappropriate, irrelevant and incorrect phrase I have ever heard. Beggars are some of the choosiest people I have had the misfortune to meet!!

Wonder why I seem to be fuming, ranting and raving about beggars?
Because I had this really strange,hilarious yet humiliating experience with a beggar lady last night.

My friends and I had gone for dinner to this place called 'Eden'. After our meal we were standing below and exchanging meaningless nothings when this old woman came begging for money. I normally have this strict policy of not giving money to beggars.It's not that I don't pity them. I do. But I admire the honest living of a ragpicker more than the aimless existence of a beggar. I give money to really old people,people who are maimed and to kids who sing on trains or sweep compartments and ask for money in return for services rendered.In the latter cases especially, there does exist a satisfaction of money well given 'cause you do recieve value for your money- a refrain or a marginally cleaner compartment.I never give money to people who look like they could earn it.

Anyways, getting back to the point, this old lady came up to us,knocking her cane against the pavement and asking for money.I guess the good food ( the Food at Eden is awesome!! )made me mellow.So I dug into my handbag, hunting for some coins to give to her.The ony thing I could find was one 50 paise coin and a couple of hundreds.Obviously I could not, or rather would not give her a hundred. So I thought , "what the hell? Every paise counts" and gave the coin to her. Imagine my chagrin when she said,"Ayyae!!8 Annas, keep it yourself.Take ( Ayyae! aet anna.Neiyae vaechukko. indha)".

I got so completely pissed off that when she reached the coin out to me, my mind rebelled and I reached my hand out and took the coin back from her and dropped it back into my bag instead of scurrying away from her in embarassment( As they expect you to do). A really cheap thing for me to do(: ) : ) but i'm quite proud of myself ;) ) but I seriously felt that the lady deserved absolutely no consideration from me.

Once a friend of my cousin's wife( just to be precise ;) ) told a small beggar boy to come to his house and he would pay him four hundred a month if he would be a gardener. And you know what the boy replied "Get lost.Just give me your money. Why should I work for you for four hundred when I earn thousands each month this way?".

You would think that a person who does not do a thing to earn their living has absolutely no right to sneer at the leavings of one who does.

That's why I think the person who invented the phrase 'Beggars can't afford to be choosers' deserves to be hanged and quartered.

THE OTHER KID BORN OF THE SAME BLOOD

I think the most horrific memory I have of my brother is the time I accidently dropped his inkpot.It crashed to the ground from his study table, the ink spreading across the floor. You could have mistaken it for blood if it were not for the colour.I remember feeling shit scared of what he would say.My fear was quite justified.After helping me clean the floor,he made me face the wall and rub my nose against it.Even a hundred apologies did not mollify him.At the end of half an hour when he finally relented and let me off from the wall I had already lost probably 10 layers of my skin.It was his turn to be horrified.Obviously. Dad got to know of the incident and I think blasted my brother.He didn't think the punishment merited the crime. Neither did I.Yet, I still had to go an entire term to school with a tanned brown face and a pinkish white nose. I'm surprised that I don't have the nickname 'Rudolph'.

My brother used to always delight in getting in me into trouble with my aunts and my grandmother. The same as I used to love getting him into trouble with Dad. It helped that Dad was mostly partial towards his younger daughter.There was this one time when my brother and me were eating Dosas at the table and he started sprinking his with Catch salt. Quick to imitate my brother in everything he did, I mimicked his action. No sooner did I begin, he shouted out, " Patti, look at what Deepti is doing!!!". My grandmother quick to support her sensible grandson and berate her scatterbrained grand daughter whacked me across my head and when I said, "But, it was Siddhu who told me to" admonished me for lying about my brother.It was always said by everyone, " I wish Deepti were more like Siddhu. He is sooo 'Samathu'( well behaving ) whereas Deepti is too naughty and always getting into trouble".They never bothered to try find out that quite a few of the scrapes I got into, I was ably led into them by him and while I was left holding the sword he would have long since sprinted away.

I paint a rather devilish,wicked and bullyish picture of my brother don't I? That he was. But I think he was also a lot more than that.

I remember all those times he was around to pull me out of all those terrible scrapes I would get into ( irrespective of whether he got me into them or not!!).The time when I was six and I lit a 50 walah holding it in my hand. He quickly lept, grabbed it out of my hand and threw it away just in the nick of time.He slapped me, but never complained to Dad about it.Or those times when I was eight and he was thirteen and we would travel alone from our grandparent's house to ours by bus ( some 20 kms).When the bus would be crowded, he would find me a seat to sit in and keep an eye on me throughout the journey.

But, more than any other incidents there are three that I will probably never forget.

When we were small,during my birthdays, after the party he would invariably take me to a shop and buy me 'Phantom Ciggaretes' as a birthday gift 'cause they were my favourite sweets.I adored him so much!!

The second was when I was three and he was eight.We were playing Holi in our apartment complex when I suddenly felt a shooting pain in my stomach. I pointed at another kid and tugging at my brother's kurta told him,"Anna, my stomach is paining.That boy he shot me". The boy in question was probably twenty feet away,just staring at us and by no stretch of anyone's imagination could have wielded a gun that could have sprayed me from that far away! Yet , my brother just to comfort me and stop me from being unhappy pointed his pichkari in that guy's direction and sprayed it a couple of times in the air and said, "There, now I have shot him too". Reminds me of that Surf Excel brother and sister ad.

The last one is the time when I probably had lost my calculator for the umpteenth time when I was in college.I was terrified of what my Dad would say.I was certain I was going to get screwed. I decided to ask my bro for a loan to buy a new one. He gave me this disgusted look and asked me, " why don't you just ask dad? He will blast you but will definitely get you a new one". When I told him that it was the second calculator I had lost in a year, he gave me this dry look and said "No. Why don't you just learn to face your stupidity?".A couple of hours later and a million under the breath raves and rants against my brother for being so insensitive, I found a brand new calculator lying on my desk and a short lecture on being more careful. I was amazed, yet touched.Never found the right words to thank him.

My brother is one of the most contradictory persons I have ever met. The birthdays I would ask him for a gift, he would tell me to get lost. Yet on the birthdays in which I didn't remind him off, I would find a gift lying on my study table and an indifferent, "Ah, Happy Birthday".

My brother has never been one for words. He would probably give me a disgusted look if I were ever to ask him if he cared about me. We don't really have anything to talk to each other about. I think its years since we had a decent conversation with each other.When we do talk our conversation is quite stilted and formal. Any stranger would be quite justified in thinking that we were just acquaintances if they were to overhear the kind of conversations we have.Yet none of it has ever really mattered to me. Because no conversation, no honeyed words of love, no hugs and kisses can replace what I do know that I have from my brother. Despite our indifference towards each other, I do know that I have someone I can always depend on when I'm stuck in a quagmire of shit.

P.S

Hey Bro! I know you never read my blogs. I probably will as usual get you a shirt or a music CD for your birthday the way I always have.But this is a special dedication to you for our 22.5 years of being bro and sis!! Happy Birthday, April 19th!!

INSOMNIA - FOR THOSE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

Last night my uncle told me about an apparently true incident which had happened to his grandfather. Considering that my uncle is seventy right now, I think this could be placed as having happened in the 1800s.

I don't know if you believe in ghosts. To be honest, I really don't know if I do either.Here goes.....

If you were to observe carefully any town which had a river running through it, you would probably notice that there always is a bridge that spans across the river connecting its two disjointed halves with a burial ground on either side. Even during the day time the gushing sounds of the river as it strikes the bank is an extremely overpowering one. Imagine it in the night time. The moon shining bright in a cloudless sky. The dry smoke that mildly mists above the ground that remain as final traces of the corpses burnt that day. The sounds of the river are no more just overpowering; they are also unnerving and quite eerie in the contrast to the silence that suffuses the night sky.

It had struck eleven one night. Unusually I had just completed my work and was trying to find my way home.Reluctantly , a man agreed to drive me across the bridge after much persuasion. In those days the mode of transport was a miniature caravan led by two horses. The caravan was open ended on both sides. One side seated the driver while the other had an iron rod across its middle to prevent a passenger from falling off in the event of sudden jerks and pulls.

I sat in the caravan right at the end one foot folded underneath me while the other dangled down.I gazed outside admiring the beauty of the river in the nightime.It looked magical, lit by moonlight. We were probably halfway across the bridge when I saw this lady leaning at its edge, her palms covering her face, sobbing. From what little I could see , she was beautiful.Slim, shapely, with milk pale hands and feet and exotic black hair cascading down her back. I could not really see her face. But what peeped out her hands was captivating. I turned to the cart driver and asked him to stop so we could console her in her sorrow and probably offer her a lift to the town. He ignored me and continued to whip his horses. We had hardly crossed a furlongh when the lady turned towards us and just stared. I was stunned. The body of an angel , the face of an old hag. She started to chase behind our caravan. We were travelling quite fast so I did not pay much heed. But much to my consternation, she was running extremely fast herself and was coming close to catching up. When she came near she lunged trying to grasp my leg which dangled down the side of the caravan.

In all haste I quicky dragged my leg inside, and crept closer towards the driver, huddling at his side. The driver turning back told me, "Whenever a corpse is burnt in the graveyard this lady tends to roam the bridge.Whatever else, we never stop, ignore her and try to go as fast as we can. We try to avoid travelling by night , but since you seemed desperate to get home I consented". We looked back to see that the lady was now close enough to grab the rod at the other end of the caravan. The driver quicky drove his whip to the horses , urging them to go faster. The horses were old and lame ones. They struggled. In those days, the end of each whip had a nail attached to it. When the horses is whipped the nail marks its hide and the pain tends to spur the horse to reach greater speeds. A wicked practice I know, but what you are used to , you do not look in askance at that.

We were lucky that night. We reached the end of the bridge without the lady reaching us. I was terribly shaken. I never crossed any bridge after that in the night time.