Colourful

Violet is the colour of the rich and the royals

Indigo is the name and colour of the dependable flying loyals

Blue is the colour of the sky that is reflected in the sea

Green is the colour of greed and envy reflected in the money we see(k)

Yellow is the colour of subdued golden - A gold mute?

Orange is the colour of its namesake fruit

Red is the colour of the blood that pulsates within

Red is the colour of passion that has its own chagrin

Red is the colour of birth and death

Red is what flows unseen and unheard through every breath

Red is the colour of love and fury

Red is the lifeblood of every jury (literally!)

The spectrum is hardly the be all and end all of what the eye can see

The undertones, overtones, shades and hues mean more than what they be

Colour is more than light

Colour defines more than sight

Colour isn’t so black and white

Colour provides meaning

Colour is a means of understanding

Colour is a way of communicating

Colour defines a person, a race

Colour defines a choice, a face

Colour defines style, a phase

Colour (or the lack of it) can limit and delimit any space

Colour colours my every phrase

Colour lightens and darkens,

Colour brightens, and sharpens my world

You bring colour to my life

You know who you are and you know what it means when I say

‘Colourful’

A Letter from a Daughter to her Mother

The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk

You’ve achieved a great deal these 45 years and the last 22 have been especially fruitful. It is now time to sit back and enjoy the benefits of your weaning! 

To let go J

This past year (academic) and the one to come have been and will be monumental in all our lives, to say in the least! So many new things, so different, so strange, so many firsts and a few lasts. The lasts are forgotten in the anticipation of the new and only remembered so long after they are gone! (That last glass of milk before I left home.L) Make Shreyas remember his!

Each glass of milk force fed (like there was any other way!) stands me in good stead and will last a lifetime (because that was the kind of supply) wherever I go and will never be forgotten. In any case there are strong doses on those short visits home – vaccinations perhaps?

Filled to the brim and overflowing many a time, (rationalisation – empty vessels make more noise?) maybe because that’s just how it is... cannot be contained or restrained.

Lesson learnt away from home - 

Milk makes your bones stronger and your heart a little fuller.

Tea is too weak, coffee too strong.

Pure and unadulterated milk now that is just right!

You can’t teach this stuff at home J

It is said that the human body is 60-70% water, well we are “made of sterner stuff” – Shakespeare. You know what it is! You wonder why we have extra teeth sprouting all over the place. I’m pretty sure it’s the extra wisdom combined with the milk that’s showing itself in the form of my 7^th wisdom tooth! Be it the wisdom, be it the milk, I know who I have to thank for that. The very same person who was there for all the dentist visits as well J Alright alright I know I’ve milked this title, courtesy Sudha Murthy, for all its worth so I will stop with the suggestive metaphors, similes and digs at our deep rooted love and long association with this purest and most innocent of beverages.

White is the colour of my heart,

White is the colour of my eyes that smart,

White is the colour of my conscience,

As I type this rhyming nonsense.

White is the colour of victory and peace,

White is the colour of my smile when I say ‘cheese’,

White is the colour of the paper on which I write,

White is the colour of my inner might.

White is the colour of the milk I drink,

Filled in the glass to the brink,

The milk that fills me and keeps me grounded,

The milk that has caused this message to be founded.

I thank you for all the glasses of milk and more and I hope you know that I am filled to the brim and unskimmed and true because of you.

On this 22^nd day I hold up a glass (of milkJ) and toast you,

Good health and life long

May you stay forever young!

Cheers,

Daughter of Nandini

Your Loving Calf

On the Dark Side

How do you know which is a good B-School and which is not?
Do you look at placements?
Look again!
Do you think of packages, curriculum, infrastructure, faculty or crowd? Think again!!
Let me tell you! You know you're at a good B-School when the dark circles around your eyes are bigger than your eyes!!
You know your R.O.I. is good when within a week of being on campus the "freshers" are transformed into not so fresh, zombies on hyperdrive.
Perpetually hopped up on caffeine and erratic sleep cycles characterizes the typical management student's life.
Microsoft Office will be your best friend! PowerPoint becomes second nature by the end of two years.
You hear about the stress of corporate life. Personally, I think it's post traumatic stress from the B-School days!
Subjects and course papers are just part of the juggling act, real management skills are picked up outside the classroom! While waiting in line at the bathroom;
Convincing, cajoling, coercing.. picked up in the line at the mess and during intense discussions in the hostel.
You don't need to join an organisation to experience competitors! You live it, breathe it, fight it, beat it (or not) for two years!
You'll find many students who don't know their room numbers even at the end of the year!
Why, you ask?
Well.. they've never been there!
You must've seen people weep at their farewells! Weep and hug and laugh and cry all over again?
Yeah.. the prospect of sleep after two years can do that to a person!!
Do i not sound jazzed about this experience? Am i not selling it to you right? (I swear I learnt all the sales tricks in the book!! Mother promise!)
Trust me! It is an experience like no other!
I am living the dream! If your dream is to achieve the Edward Cullen look too, then bell the cat! ;)
I did.. and now I'm living it and loving it! :)

Vacation Workshop?!

Vacations and work is quite the paradox! A workshop that would be conducted a week before the official re-opening of college?? A workshop that would cut short our holidays? A workshop that is likely to impart knowledge, improve our skills, impress upon us- work culture and ethics, when alternately we could be idling away our time? Who would wish that? Surely, not us!
Honestly, we (the students) weren't very receptive or responsive to the computer workshop that was being organised by the Christ computer department.Complaints and criticism were the foremost thoughts and expressions about the workshop, even prior to it taking place!!
Personally, i was excited about meeting my friends a week earlier, but not exactly enthused about the classes, nor did i anticipate any masti stemming from the actual workshop!
It is after all my opinion that counts, considering it's my blog, so controversial as this might be and contrary to my own aspersions and and preconceived notions, I have to admit- The workshop was actually interesting, value additive and even fun (at times!)
All credit must go to the computer department and all its teachers for their tireless efforts, personal interest and involvement and high tolerance levels that made the workshop less work and all value.
Theory classes were made interesting with quizzes, thought provoking questions and interactive activities. Practical classes were competitive and really honed our logical thinking and programming speed and skills! What truly made the workshop worth it though was the additional training and inputs we got, in terms of presentation practice, leadership coaching, all of which were activity based, interactive and illustrative.
Another special aspect to the workshop was the fact that a combination of known and new teachers handled our various sessions. The sessions handled by teachers already known to us, allowed for a free flow and familiar and easy rapport between the teacher and students. The teachers new to us were equally approachable and amiable and provided a professional feel during their sessions!
All in all the workshop was a success and well worth the missed movies, lost hours of sleep and usual holiday capers. The computer workshop was 42 hours of well distributed work and play, that has enriched all of us in more than few ways.
So thank you to all the teachers who also gave up a week of their vacations and time with family, to be with us and who truly made the whole experience much more than a workshop and imparted life lessons and skills that will stay with us well beyond these six days :)

Happily Ever After

It was only as I finished watching Prison Break (a t.v. serial) finale, that I realized how important a happy ending is, to me. This particular t.v. show appealed to me on a lot of levels, emotionally, intellectually and even personally. It’s genre, if I must put a label on it, would be- thriller, and thrill it certainly did. Twists and turns in every episode, season after season, kept me guessing and on edge, itching to know- what came next!

Only at the end of the finale, did I finally breathe- long and hard, but heavy it was, for the protagonist who had survived four prisons, murderers, brutality and betrayals, finally succumbs to death and that too, at his own hands. Over the course of four seasons, four years, I had grown attached to the characters and the death of possibly my favorite character, deeply affected and depressed me.

On an intellectual level, I understand that it is only a story. On a technical level, I can comprehend the ironic, twist in the tale technique used, but at a more fundamental, emotional and human level, I mourn the death of ‘Michael Scofield’- A brilliant mind, a good looking guy, a loving brother, a loyal friend and an amazing and awesome hero.

Disease and death might be realities and ones that I am bound to encounter in the course of my life, but I turn to books, t.v. serials and movies, for an escape from reality! I don’t want to watch the suppressed, oppressed woman being battered by her husband, mistreated by her mother-in-law and discriminated against. Children, being abandoned, corruption prevailing. Robbery, rape, murder, betrayal, torture, terrorism, we see it all on the news, why watch it for entertainment too? I want fantasy, possibility, hope, miracles! Not death and defeat and destruction.

There are enough evils, villains and hardships in the real world to drive any person into the deepest, darkest abodes of depression, so when I read or watch a work of fiction, I want a sense of hope, a silver lining to the cloud-that is life.. I want the frog to turn into a prince, the prince to find his princess or whichever way you perceive it, but at the end of the day or at the very least, at the end of the story/ serial/ movie/ play, I want a happily ever after!

Even the Grimm Brother’s- ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ was adapted from the original version with Snow White being squeezed to death by a too tight corset, to being poisoned with an apple and magically brought back to life by her true love’s kiss, in order to be a more accessible and accepted ‘happily ever after’. And honestly, who doesn’t want a happy ending? No one really wants difficulties, desolation, depression, disease and death!

Many movie makers and script writers believe that award winning stories are those that culminate in a sardonic, ironic, tragic, realistic end.

Reality bites, to be sure! No doubt, we can relate to the harsh realities, but ultimately relating and realizing won’t change reality, Action will! So why not end a tale with a happily ever after and affect change on a high, with hope, happiness and wholeheartedness!?

On your mark, Get set, GO!

My first ever blog!!!
Gives quite a rush, I must say.
I realise that blogs are public forums and someone who is considering writing as a career should maybe give a little more thought to grammar and punctuation, but it's so time consuming and syntax and semantics totally kill the style and spontaniety of expression. So, i'm going to take all the liberties that poetic licence offers and probably take it even a few steps further! So keep in mind, i'm not really bad at grammar, it's just that i'm making a statement... Language should be a canvas for creativity and expression, not a constraint and a stickler for rules and format !
So don't ignore the punctuation omissions, or spelling errors, or syntax faux-paus; Instead, spot them, laugh at them, revel in the rebellion, embrace them as a tribute to freedom of thought, speech and expression,[WARNING: do not emulate them in examinations (examiners will not be amused!!)] and most importanly forgive and forget them!!
Now, that the foundation has been laid and excuses and explanations extended i can peacefully and attrociously blog to my heart's content :)
Till next time then!

-Chimiti