"You should........

...concentrate on your studies. Yeh ladki wadki ke chakkar chhod de,kuch nahi milta in sab se!"- Mom
...concentrate on me more.You don't give me enough time."- Girlfriend

...pass the ball more often. Self mat khela kar."- A soccer teammate
...keep possession. Thoda dribble toh kiya kar."- Another soccer teammate

...call your mom everyday."- Dad
...call your dad everyday."- Mom
...call your sister everyday."- both Mom and Dad
...call me as many times as you can."- Girlfriend

...grow long hair.Aajkal toh lambe baal ka fashion hai bhaiyya!"- Barber
...keep short hair. Lafange ladke baal lambe karte hain!"- Grandmother

...crack CAT and go to the IIM's. Aajkal MBA mein bahut paisa hai!"- Family
...crack UPSC and become IAS. Shaan ki naukri hai. Aur uppar ki kamai bhi hai!"- Relatives
...crack GRE and go to the 'US of A'.Yahan India mein kya rakha hai?"- Family and Relatives

...lose your virginity."- An experienced  friend
...not talk about 'it' with me.It's bad."- Girlfriend

...go for arrange marriage.It will make your parents happy."- A friend who is herself committed for 6 years and plans to introduce her boyfriend to her family soon
...go for love marriage. Parents sab maan jaate hain."- A self proclaimed loveguru

..................And I thought this was my life,huh!!!

Blast from the past-Part 2: Enter the dragon!

Continued from Blast from the past-Part 1: The Warning Signs ....

'INDIAN SCHOOL OF MINES DHANBAD' read the entrance gate.It was night and the light was low, but I could make out that a few letters were missing."Strange",I thought.I looked around as we entered the campus but couldn't make much in the dark."There aren't no street lamps?", I looked towards Papa with questioning eyes. Papa was talking to the father of another fresher like me. That fresher was sitting next to a senior in the back of the auto,and his situation reminded me of a lamb surrounded by wolves.

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We were around 12 people in that auto-Four freshers(me, the 'lamb', a tall skinny fellow and a short skinny fellow), four fathers and four seniors.Soon after, we arrived at EDC(short for Executive Development Center) where we were supposed to stay until registration and other formalities made us students at ISM.

An 18 hour train journey can make you doze right away.But the excitement, anxiety and fear(of course) had changed the situation.I was turning sides the whole night. And for the 2-3 hours I think I slept, I had the strangest dream ever.

In my dream I was on an island, all alone.There were huge structures all around, and they were probably made of  books. The roads were zigzag paths and after walking for a few hours I realized they all returned to the same point. Suddenly, there was a huge noise behind me and as I turned around, I saw a huge eight-faced dragon! The dragon had shiny green eyes and he looked at me and thundered-"Don't let them get the better of you..."

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"Okay so this is your room,106" my father looked at me as we started to enter the room.By 'we', I mean me,papa, my roommate Prashant Shukla(Mining Engg.) his father and his brother. Strangely though, we soon found out it was quite difficult for 5 people to be simultaneously be present in there.The problem solved soon enough as me and Papa got out to buy some items I would be needing.The city was nothing like Ghaziabad, it was worse, in every sense.I mean no malls, no multiplexes,no hang-outs,no girls!!! I really wanted to know if that's what our government thought would be an environment conducive to studying.
After the regular shopping and all, Papa stayed for 1 more day.Then he left on Sunday and from Monday we had our classes.I got to know there were 418 more freshers like me and 41 of them were in my wing only. That very evening I got to know a few of them and it seemed like we would get along nicely. All of us together survived the most dangerous meals of our lives that night and after some casual group discussions,moved to our 'rat holes'. Prashant seemed to be kind of an introvert and I(a chatterbox) was also not in a mood to beat about the bush. The thought of being in this place, away from everything I had ever known, was too hot to handle.
And we went to sleep at 10.It seemed like ages the last time I went to sleep so early.
And then the same dream.
"It is coming.They are coming. They want to take you away. Don't let them get the better of you!!"...

(Oxy)morons!

Wikipedia defines Oxymoron as "a figure of speech that combines normally contradictory words". Hmm...a lot of examples instantly flashed before my eyes:-
An honest politician!
What is with these guys?? I mean, why do they have to always keep stuffing everything up their...you know where!!! Bloody black holes for money! Stupid people getting all that power because of more stupid people like you and me.
The Delhi rain!
For those cynics who don't believe in global warming, I suggest you please come to my home...it's like the Thar desert minus the sand! Where is all the water gone man??!! It wasn't long back when I used to return from school all drenched in water. I get drenched now too, in sweat that is! And thanks to those black holes, electricity is as much a scarcity as the rains. Only God knows where we are headed(he has given a hint though-a four letter word that starts with 'H' and ends with 'L'...keep guessing!!)
Cheap petrol!
At Rs.57 a litre, it is already half of the pocket money I get per month! :P
Everybody's buying a car, but how many can actually afford it? I did some math(not that I am very good at it!!)...We have a Maruti Alto at home,a 2.75 lac decent family car. It notches almost 50 kilometres a day.And in the crawling traffic of the city,it gives around 12kmpl.So,(50/12)*365*57=Rs.87000!One-third of what we invested in the car!Per year...every year...
I have started saving money for a bicycle already... :)
True love!
Okay okay, I know it's a cliche, but seriously, where is true love?Or love for that matter? I am single nowadays(thankfully!!),but even when I was committed, I didn't feel anything I read about love in those rosy-cosy novels! One of the girls preferred a same-profession guy...as if that's got to do anything with loving her? The other was daring enough to cheat and stupid enough to get caught! And yet there was one who just wouldn't trust, and yes the one who was only interested in jumping into the sack... hello? What's going on?? Where is the L-O-V-E honey?
Uncomplicated life!
Naah...don't have to explain this one,do I? The ups and downs, the twist and turns, the friends and the foes,success-failure...all mixed up to make one helluva show!Enjoy!

PS-A kind professor, peace in Kashmir,India@FIFA World Cup,US troops backing out of Middle east,Lindsay out of rehab/jail, Indian TV sans saas-bahu serials....the list is long!!! : /

Back on the track

Hi there!
The past 3 months have been one heck of a roller coaster ride(as if my entire life is any different!!)...I almost got cut off from the cyber world,thanks to semesters, training, soccer, gals and blah blah blah....you know,the usual stuff...forgot totally I have a blog that fortunately enough,has some followers. And since I don't want that to change, I realized it's high time I returned to the scene.
So here I am again...with lots of things to share...the next few days will see me writing about my (mis)adventures in Vizag, the vuvuzelas, and the continuation of 'Blast from the Past' series...keep reading...

PS-The word 'Professor' has been derived from the French word 'preufesseur' which literally translates to "one who has a connection with the devil"!!!
(Ok now don't go Googling about it,it was a joke you silly) ;)

The stunt called 'Engineering Second Year'

The bell rang. It was over.
As the invigilators started collecting answer sheets,someone from the back shouted 'THIRD YEAR' and received unanimous appreciation.Yes, two years of engineering were now over!
Generally after the last exam, everyone around you goes insane. I mean, people are insane anyway! But after the last exams,man they act like they are gladiators returning from the arena alive!(Aren't they really?!!)
On my way to the room, I saw final year guys rejoicing,dancing at becoming an engineer.Everyone was congratulating each other.Some wore the weirdest 'fancy dresses'...and I still don't understand the purpose of wearing fancy dresses to probably the last exam of your life!(Can you imagine my friend Vikas saw a 'Superman' there too???Ya I know...it's hilarious!)
As for me,I was, as always,happy. Not the 'HAPPY' happy....but the small,contented happy.I had screwed in my exams big time! In fact, I can confidently say this was my worst performance.But, I was still not going paranoid!(You are supposed to when you have never gone below 80 but now almost failing in 2 subjects).Why?I don't know...maybe because I stopped caring a long time back???
Second year engineering...I'll never forget this one 'eventful' year...NEVER...because it was rather too eventful!
Looking back, I see....
1. myself sitting in the canteen or sleeping in the room, when I should have been in the class.(SEM III)
2. guys around me taking up drinking and smoking, and wasting away their health, at the same time complaining how mess food was weakening them day after day!!
3. a decision to start working out and sticking to it like a crazy for the whole year...and people commenting on my new improved physique! :)
4. FACEBOOK!
5. myself falling in love...and falling out of it in 20 days!
6. me,Vikas and our airplane...
7. a complete disinterest in anything remotely related to Mineral Engineering, surviving short attendance scare in MMR 13101 and a 7 pointer scrape yet again!

Repeat points 1,5,7 but change the semester, the girl and the subject respectively.

Semester IV brought...
1. my sister's marriage! And my understanding of the phrase 'The Big Fat Indian Wedding'!!!
2. Kshitij @ IIT-KGP, where our airplane flew for a few seconds, but we flew for days!!!
3. my new camera and my new passion!
4. backbench...daydreaming, sleeping, calling the FMC 14101 prof an ass**** and being heard!
5. old friends, new friends, good friends, bad friends!
6. Diamond roof,night, me and the endless sky!
7. Photoshop and Blogger!

Thus ended my second year...full of ups and downs.
Anyway,I'm a 'HALF-ENGINEER' now!It's one week before I head off to ESSAR Steel,Vishakhapatnam for a 42 day long training...my first industrial interaction and I am quite excited about it!


PS- 'S' you are a cute and decent girl and I really liked you.I seriously wish things had not gone wrong...
     'P' you are not what I thought you were and I really hate you. I seriously wish things had not started at all...

Give an Idea Sir ji!

A very funny sms that I received yesterday...it goes like this..."Government says save water, Abhishek says save paper....toh bechara aam aadmi potty kaise saaf karega?mobile se?(How will the common man wipe his a** off?!! With a mobile phone?!!)...give an idea sir ji..."

Incredibly enough,I started pondering over the possible alternatives...what?No, not of wiping a** of course!

Yeah of saving water and paper....Some of them...

1.Stop playing Holi...Why to get all coloured and messed up only to scrub yourself like a gazillion year old utensil later on! Plus a large majority of junta has very 'noble' motives behind this 'rang lagao' scheme...let's 'wash out' their plans!! :)

2.Stop using greeting cards...use e-cards...use sms...or u can do one more thing...ACTUALLY MEET and TALK!(Best communication minus any expense!! What else can you ask for??)

3.Colleges should allow students to bring laptops to class....I believe an entire Amazonian rain forest could be saved if students of India(>10000000 and counting) would stop using notebooks and start using 'notebooks'!

4.Scrap exams! Take orals..or if taking a 'rote-memory-only-no-practical-application' written exam becomes a matter of life and death(which it never will),go online...(would be so 'hi-tech' to cheat via GTalk and Google out formulae..will increase the typing skills too!!)

5.Ask your mom to let you wear that jeans for another week...tell her you are being 'socially responsible'(That's parent's only version of "I wear dirty denim because it looks cool \m/")

6.Stop buying tickets! Movie tickets,bus,train,plane,parking....any and every ticket....just don't! If someone confronts you,tell them you have boycotted paper products and give them a lecture on environment and blah blah blah....

7.Government should do away with paper currency(read 'give it to me because its MY IDEA'!!)... introduce Barter all over again...I would love to trade useless gifts( yeah GREETING CARDS n all) from my exes for that pair of shades! ;)

Thought of many more...will keep 'educating' the masses with my 'noble and innovative' methods! ;)

You can also add...after all it's everyone's a** that is at stake!! :p

PS- Wiping off an a** with an iPhone won't be that bad,right?(It would be millions of times smoother than any toilet paper produced in the history of mankind!!)

The moment!

Success doesn't come to you,you go to it.

It's 2 am as I write...

Have you ever felt how one moment can change your entire life ahead?for better?for worse?

No,I am not writing because I just experienced that moment....I am writing this because I just realized what a big fool I am!

That moment of my life came long back...and I was dumb enough to miss out on it!

Moreover,since I missed out on it, everything that happened from then until this very moment was beyond my understanding.Every action looked  like a mistake,and every consequence looked like a disaster.

Every Plan A failed...and so did plan B,C,D......till there were no more plans left. What I forgot was that "Life goes by as we are busy planning it"...

My attempts at avoiding failure were futile.Why?Because it wasn't failure,it was the lack of recognizing success.

My chase for success seemed never ending.Why?Because I was always running in a circle unable to realize that success lay within,not without.

I was frustrated, confused, desperate, dissatisfied....even rebellious! Kept wondering-"What the hell went wrong?"

NOTHING....nothing went wrong....

I  failed to realize that things were meant to be so...you can call it fate,destiny,God's wish...anything....for me it is too trivial a thing to ponder upon right now...I am thinking about something totally different and much bigger!

Now everything is fitting in its place.....the jigsaw is starting to take shape...a good shape...a shape that I didn't initially planned upon,or desired,or even thought of...but I guess this is why life is so interesting! If we always knew what we'll get,the joy of receiving would simply vanish,wouldn't it???

It's good to see things going back to normal,I mean they were always normal,the correct perception just went missing! :)

I missed my old self a lot...it's been a long time Varun Tyagi...glad we meet again!

PS-Talking about 'life changing moment'....is it happening for the second time right now??!!  ;)

Blast from the past-Part 1:The warning signs

Man... cannot learn to forget, but hangs on the past: however far or fast he runs, that chain runs with him.

Friedrick Nietzsche 

“Train number 2329 Kalka mail has arrived on platform number 2”.

Some journeys begin on a positive note. Most others don’t. My arrival in Dhanbad fell, according to me, in the second category.

“All India Rank 5752”-These four words were the worst four words of my life. They still are, for they had shattered my world of dreams then, and they continue to do so even today.

People around me were congratulating me. Why? What was there to congratulate? I thought they were actually mocking me and my so called success (or the lack of it!).

____________________________________________________________________

“Papa lets find an auto for ISM”, I called out to my father.”Excuse me, are you going to ISM?”, a boy of about my age called out from behind. ”Yes”, my father replied.

“Namastey Uncle, I am from ISM.I am a second year student.”, the guy said. Senior, eh,I thought. And coupled with that thought were thoughts of ragging. A shiver down the spine was natural.

“Name, place, branch yaar”, the senior said.

“Huh,what?”, I thought for a moment.

“Name, place, branch yaar”, the senior, this time sternly, said.

“Varun Tyagi, Ghaziabad,B.Tech Mineral Engineering” was my slow and hesitated reply.

“Ghaziabad,huh?,he said.”Listen, don’t tell Ghaziabad as your place anymore, it’s complicated, but for now, just say Meerut.”

____________________________________________________________________

“Congratulations!” the neighborhood uncle said. It felt like a pinch. Damn you, uncle! “So what do you plan to take up?”

“I’ll see,I have not decided anything yet.”

“Maybe you can get some mining wagerah in that college, what’s its name….”

“Its ISM uncle and I said I have not decided yet”, I said and tried to walk away. But I think uncle was in no mood to leave that day.”You took coaching in FIITJEE, right? Then what happened? My nephew got AIR 624”, the epitome of mockery boasted.

“So what? Should I go and kiss him?” I thought.

“Hmm… maybe I didn’t prepare that well, uncle” was all that came out of my mouth.