'TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY

Its that time of the year again....The famed crystal ball of Times square while me nd my fellow flas count down to the next semester. Resolutions being made, parents exhorting us to study, all of us responding in the affirmative, then thanking god for giving us 2 ears. Whether the resolution is earnest or not, it is duly forgotten. Once contact with the dorm is established, the "spirits" start flowing and the zestful "spirit" begins to evaporate.. The only thing Im lookin forward to doing is meeting everyone, coz some ppl wont meet me here (yes, Im still smarting, though I understand)..

The inevitable rants that will be flying around maybe a week or two into college...."I hate this place" or "I cant take this place anymore"..and so my subconscious begs me to I enter one of my meaningless but fulfilling thought rides. I know what my resolve is going to be directed towards..Im going to stop bitching anout Surathkal and take everything that happens as a stepping stone trying all the while to better take fruit of the endless time spent here..Just to force my way out of the perennial and vicious cycle.. While were in Surathkal we make countdowns and all kinds of petty menagerie but while at home and 5 sems down the line, we'll probably pine for our friends, so every moment spent in conjunction with them should be made to count, whether its a power cut at 2 am or eating mess food every 3 meals.. we can change, wake up to a brigther, less gloomy semester although the generally deranged characteristic of the dorm will not change and should not be expected to do so as well.

My sincere condolences go out to Prof. M.C Puri because no matter how much we bitch about our profs(as I have no doubt his students were) what if they pass out before us?(probably kidney man a bit sooner, god bless his soul) ala P.N.Sreedhar..

P.S: Finally saw the "greatest movie of all time",Citizen Kane which, if you can forgive it being black and white, is easily, with Shawshank and The Godfather, one of the best movies I've ever seen..Thanks for the profound and lengthy e-mail snoop..Good goin..34 line e-mail possible but a 3 line comment is an absolute no-no huh...Just diggin at u "homie". Thx a ton, if u've reached this far!!!

And a personal message for Prof. H.S.Y Shastry.........UR NEXT!!!!!!!

Within Earshot: K's Choice- Not an addict(quite apt, dont you say!!!)

WISHING ONE AND ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR AND A WONDERFUL SEM AHEAD..AND BONVOYAGE, WHILE I PRAY FOR MY LIFE MAKING MY WAY BACK IN AN AIR INDIA EXPRESS

Things to look forward to nxt sem:-

1. The attack of the laptops....means xtra large DOTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA .......2 simultaneous games....
2. 4 days of incident=4 days of drunkyard
3. 4 days of Engineer=get the hell outta here!!!
4. Torturing Zealander with gay abandon..
5. Inside: No water in the taps.......Outside: Its raining!!
6. More drunkyard, more flunkyard
7. Saarang, for the few who visit it..

Things not to look forward to:

1. The results of the 3rd sem fla..
2. The next fla begins..

Additions welcome(there r many)......Hittin kind of a writers block here(sic)

THE MALL OF THE EMIRATES: BUST OR BOOM????

Was just down in The Mall of the emirates the other day and after looking at the place in all its architectural grandeur, I couldnt help but put together a host of interesting (maybe) musings about Dubai's malls.

I was BORED and my legs hurt, but I was not even half way through. This familiar sensation sparked in me a sense of deja vu.
The mall was Ibn-Batuta(what a great name!!). May 2005. Same shit, different mall..

Okay, the ski thing is good, no, its really good.. But what about the mall itself? As Dubai sees a spurt of malls like never before, and as each new mall gets as many footfalls or more than the previous mall that dots the landscape, one can only wonder, what purpose do these malls serve?

• Are they merely playgrounds for those who use greenbacks as toilet paper?
• or are they merely glass-houses where those who cannot afford the items (the kind that make up most of the footfalls) come to window-shop what they are missing out on?
• or the target audience those who want to take a plush leak/an overpriced meal? (the most crowded parts of the mall were the loo and the food court)

Whatever the reason, the unquestionable fact is that no one was buying anything!!! What is a laundry doing inside a mall? I could imagine people coming up to the laundry with their pile of dirty clothes. It was hilariously out of place. The only real face saver was, as is always, the supermarket. People were buying stuff, and were they buying stuff!! Frankly, carrefour was the only kiosk in the grandiose establishment that was The Mall which looked like it would be able to afford next years rent..

All for an evening on which, like every evening, I had nothing to do..

After the inevitable flourish of people that, like me, want to find out what the hullabaloo was all about, and the people who want to do their weekend shopping, wonder how the likes of the designer burqa store and the designer bag store will fare??

Mood: Cynical, very cynical

Listening to: Phil Collins- Another day in paradise

Quaking like crazy, DOTA here I come......

Leavin on a jet plane_ The case of the budget Airline

Im on a flight from Calicut to Dubai. Its great the Semester has finally ended and all the ruckus I kicked up about this being the hardest sem Ill probably ever have has settled to gather dust.The hols have begun, nothing else matters(hail Hetfield) and all the visuals Im getting of myself in the holidays involve my growing butt plonked on a couch and an LCD screen 20 cm from my eyeballs..Thank god, Im normal.

Got the seats next to the Emergency exit.. AAH, First class leg space! If only I could sit through that painful demonstration on operating the exit. Just when the last thought struck me, the tender female voice of a stewardess who I thought was wasting her time in a budget airline dropped me from the wuthering heights my little mental sojourn had taken me to by saying "Your cold Vegetarian snacks,Sir"..The butterflies that were hitherto zipping through my tummy stopped dead still, and I knew that was that..

All this was definitely helped by the ppl enjoying the flight sitting next to me..What would you feel if you see dudes stare at a sachet of Heinz ketchup as though its the detonatable chewing gum of Mission Impossible fame (for lack of a better analogy). When these very dudes kept belching their guts out after the 'meal', I tried my best to blame it on the,er,'meal'. Well, I was amused, bemused and what not.

But u gotta give these guys credit. Flying a flight whose interface would humiliate that of any AI at half an AI ticket is one mean feat..

But all this bullshit is not the point...........

MORAL OF THE STORY: Point A-->Point B reached where Point A=Room no. 59,4th Block,NITK Surathkal and Point B=Dubai International Airport....MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!!!!

Listening to--Chris Isaak-Wicked Game and Pink Floyd-High Hopes

TIME TO MEET MY MAKER

An interesting point I just noticed is that washing clothes seems to awaken the writer(where???) in me! For the greater good of humanity The National Institute of Technology has put that very writer(where again????????) into suspended animation(!!) by installing a washing machine in our dorm..

Exam blues r done with and its time to head home..