The shades in between

I remember reading from my Social Studies book back in school that the Indian Constitution declared India a sovereign, secular, socialist republic which guaranteed justice, equality, liberty and integrity for all its citizens. I might not have taken it quite seriously back in the seventh standard, yet I remember this statement 7 years after I heard it, so it must have meant something to me back then, as I thought it did now. But turn on the news today, and all the pride and conviction withers away and I am left plainly disappointed. Recently, the Sri Ram Sena workers rushed into a pub and beat up girls for behaving in an “obscene manner”. When questioned about this, their leader told a prominent news channel that perhaps the manner in which his men had taken action was wrong, but he wanted to know why no one was looking at their message. What message, you ask? Viciously attacking women is pardonable as long as it is for the greater good. I am sure you are as glad as I am that the perpe...

• My new semester is new no more, and it’s back to the old life of Monday Friday unit tests and late lab submissions. Certain ambitious professors want us to develop our own Operating System by the end of the year. Piece of cake! Next year this time, all of you will be using the “CSE third year A” ! I’m sure Microsoft is shaking in their boots. • I watched a grand total of seven movies this weekend, most of which were cartoons on a sugar rush. Love Story 2050 was quite the crowd pleaser! I spent the rest of the weekend praying that I have red hair in my next life. I also saw Pretty in Pink, which is one of the cutest movies ever! • In my quest to write more, I have written a grand total of (drum roll) ONE article! Laziness is next to godliness. So are chilly cheese fries. • For those of you who it may concern, you wear a pair of jeanS. Not ‘a jean’. I don’t know what ‘a jean’ is but the closest I can come up with is a pair of jeans ripped in the middle vertically! NOT a pretty picture....

The clock struck 12 on December 31st and 2009 was finally here. I expected to feel a rush of adrenaline, pop a few of my imaginary party poppers (strangeness is one among my many attributes) but my usual new year’s enthusiasm had pulled a disappearing act. All I wanted to do was curl up with my soft pillows and sleep. I usually follow an elaborate ritual – making a few new years resolutions, writing down my predictions for the rest of the year in my gorgeous active-thrice-a-year diary and a long chain of phone calls and messages, but this year I groggily muttered an ‘I will have a bath everyday’ before dozing off. Hmm, maybe the joint aches and the sudden urge to tell little kids stories about the old days really does mean something! The other day, I sat with a couple of my friends and we spoke about our aspirations, regrets and where we saw ourselves 20 years from now. Though it might have been just another conversation, I am sure it is one of the few isolated moments I will rememb...