Circus

Nice to get back here. I see that the posts haven't exactly been crashing like before.

I recovered from the 2 months of exam fever day before yesterday and my mind has been exploring various possibilities since then to break free from the cob webs that have surrounded me.
Came up with the first one last night- a trip to Mumbai . And the second idea struck my mind this evening when I saw a hoarding on the road- Watching a circus show.
Wow! The fond but vague memories of childhood sailed across my eyes and I thought, why not?
My dad and I set off and upon reaching the ground we found, not to our surprise, that there weren't too many people queuing up. Bought the best ticket (200 bucks) and struggled through the rush (Yes, however few the number of people may be, there will always be an unwanted scuttle at any place that could do with a peaceful line)
Having heard that there will be snacks and water on the offer inside, we chose not to go in with any food.

Up there were trapezes and the proceedings started in a languid fashion. I started seeing the signs in the first 5 minutes- scantily clad girls jumping around unnecessarily with some horrendous dance moves to complement the insipid music being played.
The trapeze act was decent but for a couple of BIG bloopers. Never mind- that they put in so much and look so graceful is good enough. (Mind you, they look graceful far up there performing those acts- the moment they get down to ground, you wonder how many days must it have been since they last took a bath)
I literally yawned my way through the gymnastics and the dog and parrot shows.
but something that started disturbing me in the gymnastics was the tender age of some of the children in there- some as young as 6 or 7 risking injuries.
And that led me to wonder about the kind of lives these people might be leading.

We bought a water bottle meanwhile and as i opened the seal, I figured out to my horror that water was up to the brim as opposed to the standard filling where it is filled only till the neck of the bottle. Chose not to drink it. (15 bucks)

Then came on the animals-horses, elephants. Gosh! How jarred they looked.
In between, was some constant fueling of proceedings with ridiculously unfunny stuff from the jokers.

Then came on a stunning roller skates performance where the artists had really put their bodies on the line. And there came in again, a thought about CIRCUS.

These people are basically nomads where they literally survive through their days. With the number of people turning up to watch Circus declining by the day, their earning ain't getting any better.
100 odd people to be fed and given pay; one injury and the medical guys give you a tough time. And who can forget the animals, their care. With some good intervention of the animal rights activists and all the restrictions they impose nowadays, the life of the manager clearly isn't bliss.

The children at circus not undergoing any level of schooling gets to you and semi-naked girls hopping around to catch attention is disgusting.

Why do they still do it?
*Perhaps it's still better than begging and living in the slums.
*Perhaps because the security of being in the group. Exploitation is a major issue in our country. And trust me, the girls in there looked like the prostitutes they show in movies.

Whatever it is, the standards are appalling.

I had a throbbing head ache half an hour into the show and through it. We actually left it an hour earlier and still we were among the last to leave. :D

And yes, we also took a pack of Lays (20 bucks) and a Jumpin (15)
Thus we wasted a total of Rs 255, three hours and a water bottle.

I apologized to dad for having suggested the insane idea :D

Whatever, I've decided that

That was the last time I went to watch a circus show

Looking forward to a cool week in Mumbai now :)

Discombobulated

As I am done with the vagaries and think of calling it a day, here comes a strange desire in me at one thirty in the night (or should you say, morning) to blog! Quite a puzzling period.

Two days back I typed out a whole post, yet I chose not to publish it. :O Now that I've got absolutely nothing in my mind but utter disregard for the fate of the reader whose mind may be subjected to the utmost level of discomfort and confusion if he/she chooses to read this and not skip.


Now, getting to the point (which I seldom do and don't expect me to get to one in this post too), why am I typing this?

This is a time ( and it has been so for more than an year now, so nothing new about it) when conflicting theories add to the vagueness in mind and spice up wholesome misery for the thinker.

Excellence, Family, Maverick, Sacrifice, Values

The above words ( if you have noticed, are in alphabetical order and hence don't assume anything) have been central in my life for about 3 years now. And here a cliched phrase pokes its nose: 'You can't have everything!' Never have I justified all the five together. And perhaps there lies a flaw.

Here I recall a line once said by Sachin Tendulkar in an interview, "You can't miss things you've never done!"
I'd read this more than 4 years back in an issue of Wisden Asia Cricket( A cricket magazine, for the uninitiated) and it still lingers in my mind where I wage a battle against its plausibility almost everyday.

Nowadays, there is a harmonic motion of thoughts that I fail to put in words.
All I know now is that the coming 18 months will be momentous should I choose to stress on its importance.
And irrespective of how I fare, what is important is that I get all those 5 words together and hence,gun down a debilitating notion that creeps into the mind amidst the wandering thoughts- SELF DOUBT.


All right! Now that it's becoming increasingly difficult for you to make any sense out of this post, I'll arrive at two points which shall be comprehensible to a rational mind.

* Done with sessionals. For a change, I did well :)
* Watched Slum Dog millionaire the same day sessionals ended. Found it not as good as it was hyped to be. The same as for Dark Knight as I said in an earlier post. Riveting nevertheless!

Rest, I choose not to ramble through a messy account of what I have been doing.


And here comes the most awaited part :)

Thank you for sticking till the end. That's perseverance for you. I know this post is in complete contradiction to the previous one where you might have been led to believe that I've changed for the better. But however sensible or senseless you may have found it to be, this post has served the purpose for me. :)

See you Amigo!

PS-Don't worry if you don't know the meaning of the title. Neither did I until I hit upon it while searching for the weirdest synonym of 'Puzzled'. :D

'No exam' blues!

The first three days of the new year haven't been very pleasant till now.

The first day, for the first time (at least in my college life), I was getting paranoid about not having studied anything for exams despite the fact that I never start studying at least 48 hours ahead of any semester exam. And I always do well ( well, almost :-D) And this, for a sessional!

I got over it somehow last night by having dinner twice and hunting down the syllabus.

Swept two chapters in Integrated Circuits ( Mind you, I set a record for having started so early and now I'm almost sulking)

Today morning, I made a trip to college ( as a ritual) and then got some topics marked by Arun ( the man is an angel) and returned home.

Took up the book- aah! Too easy! Lunch followed by surfing the net and an hour of NFS.

Then I got a call at around five to get to the hostel- did so and found that our sessionals had been postponed.

The blogger returned home; loafed around and now is again in front of the computer.

Damn!!

Very very very angry!!!

Never trust anyone to do a job which you could have done.


Damn!

I’ve been dying to watch Ghajini for 5 days now and the qualified morons I'd chosen to watch the movie with screwed their plan (which never existed in the first place)

First rate imbeciles!! :x :x

Of all people I know, some aren’t interested now and the majority rest have already watched it!!

I’m really pissed off!!! :x :x :x


Ughghghghghghghghghghh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Koi mujhe is duniya se bachao.

God grant me the calm not to kill those people and the place to hide the bodies of those I've already killed.

Spectacle dilemma

And Anish learns yet again!

Another Sunday morning-I get up and realize that this is the first Sunday in a loong loong time that I need not go for Debating Club meet. The meets are over for this semester.

I go back to sleep and get up again at ten after dad literally yells for the hundredth time!!! :D

Breakfast, movie, Lunch, Movie, LT
And suddenly i discover it is evening four-thirty!!! dad's appointment with the Ophthalmologist. As we leave, neighbor asks me to get my eyes checked too for my muscle power. I say, yay!! :)

Off we go...
Dad's tests were dragging. I actually dozed off for fifteen minutes. I wake up to realize it is six thirty and dad has another test to go. I too take an appointment to get my eyes checked just like that. Moreover, it'd been 20 odd months since i last got my eyes checked. I might have my lens power increased. So, why not!

And as soon as I register, dad is done with the test.Damn!!
And then there was a looooooooong wait including three peeks into a weird machine, tests for power of lens, and five sets of eye drops!!
And my eyes were burning like they would if chilly paste was put into them.

I was cursing myself for having got into this mess.
It was already eight o clock.

Finally I was called in.

I brace up, ready for my new increased power(of lens :P)

And the first thing doc says(asks rather!) is,
"Anish! Why do you wear such high powered lenses?"

I was baffled.

Then I get the shock of the month.

I was told I was wearing -2.75 powered lenses where only -1.75 ones were needed!!!
I confirmed thrice!!

Then I realized that the last time I got my power changed I'd taken the word of an optician only.

Darn!!!!

Angry, relieved, screwed, all at the same time.

My medicines and new specs took up all the money we'd brought!! :D

Moreover, because of the five sets of drops, my vision was blurry and had difficulty driving back home. :|

Got to home, exhausted, relieved and with empty pockets :D

Then we'd not been to Moti Mahal- The tandoor trail, for a loong time.
It's really a fine chain of restaurants in India.

Had a hearty dinner there.
Returned home very happy.

Thought of posting last night, but decided to rest my eyes.

The blogger is all fine now :)