A Sip of White

(I guess all the "so called decent" people would find this one a little too vulgar. For the others just enjoy.)

Back from the depths of death and heaven's lane,
Back in the dark with a dime, a quarter and a few dollars,

She is there with all her clothes on as well,
Ah! the scent , like Al said, SCENT OF A WOMAN


A little while later, he is at the corner,
He finds her standing right there,

Next he strips her off whatver she has or out of wherever she came from.

He is back and nostalgic, as he takes a sip,
Felt just like her , the clean white sip, his first kiss.


She has got Zino's name written all over her,
Ya right there next to where he loves kissing her.

"Oh lord , how many more do I need to try,
To try and reach somewhere,
Somewhere between Orion and the Moon".


He watches the white lady burn, burn away to ashes

Five minutes is all it took, for her to burn away

From the tip to the innermost depth.

Fair enough, she would take away,
Take away five minutes of his life along as well

At 150kmph, but backwards

(Hmmm interesting title, I have absoulutely no idea what I am going to come up with in the next ten minutes of this literary journey. But why stop let the words flow. Last time around I talked about wasting away life, now i talk about going 150kmph but backwards. Ummm!!! sounds the same isn't it. )

Among the student community these days (this includes all those who have passed out in past 4 years), the reservation issue has raised quite a few eyebrows. I mean it seems to be taking up most of our talking time. Here I am not really interested in talking about reservations in IIM's and IIT's as its of no use. Its going to be passed anyway without a soul in the parliament raising an objection. Ok there will be a little bit of whining by some of the pro upper caste parties and it will just die away. Why simply because you and me do not form the substantial votebank that can win them an election. As one of my friends rightly put it, Quote" With an IIM graduate getting a placement worth one crore annually, you think it would not make the government think about the votes they could garner with reservation in higher education", unquote. I mean come on give me a break, it took the government 16 years to come up with it. You dont get me, "the Report containing the recommendations of the Mandal commision", the root of this entire problem was published in 1990. So all those who got through before this year 2006 are damn lucky, aren't they? But as i already mentioned, its just a waste of time talking about it.

Let me come to the reservations, I do want to speak about. That is Reservation in the Private Sector. Now if I haven't diverted your mind from the topic already, you would certainly want to know why "AT 150 kmph, but backwards" should be an apt title for the followin essay. Read on and you will know why.

It is very enlightening to know that except for big wigs from 4 companies namely Ratan Tata, Rahul Bajaj, Narayan Murthy and Azim premji(Not sure about him) have come out into the open with reference to the reservations in the IIT's and IIM's. I presume it will be only these four who would want to say anything when it comes to RESERVATIONS in the PRIVATE SECTOR either.

P.S:- Forgive me for my blatant descrimination of the IT sector .

In today's India for most engineering students see jut one Industry that is the IT industry. Well other industries do exist, but who cares. Will shall view the case of other companies a little later. Ya so what i was saying is we only see IT IT and IT. So I was just wondering would it really matter to them. I mean come on more than 90% of these companies are service based. And most of the employees are into business outsourcing and documentation work to do. Which as one IT friend of mine put it, Quote:-"Anybody can do it", Unquote. I mean come on the people who are going to get through these companies by reservation are going to be competent enough. I mean just look around yourself, at your mates in college who are sc/st/obc's . . . . .. Well now you will get what I mean, they are definitely eligible and may even have marks better than yours. So in other words, they are definitely competent enough to do "the WORK ANYBODY CAN DO". So the moral of the story is "QUALITY IS going to deteriorate is total . . "hmmmmm as uncle scrooge(in christmas carol) would put it is BAAAAAAA HUMBUG !!!!!! Let me add on something to this. When I was in my last semester, I was in contact with a Bosch employee who told me about how things work in their company and most of the other MNC's so to say. He told me that all the work there was delegated. All decisions were taken in Germany (ok nothin wrong with that), all the instructions came from there too. So more or less spoon feeding. Give me a break, so its obvious these people who take reservations will be good enough to do this much. So again does the quality deteriorate?? Definitely no !!!! So the moral of the story is if you are not an SC/ST/OBC, brother its going to be even more difficult to get a job.

Ok now that I am done and dusted with the IT Sector, let me shift focus on the other companies. Ok now when the talk comes to other companies, we may all argue that technical knowledge is quite a necessity. Hmmm yes very true. But i guess most of us also know that almost 40% or even more of the jobs are got by reference or even with the payment of cash. Now that's interesting . All that the reservation is going to do is SC/ST/OBC's will show their caste certificates as their reference letters. Again where does the quality go nowhere. It does not matter anyway. I mean there are chances that the OBC/SC/ST's would be better than people who made it through reference.

Now that I proved on both points that quality is defintely not on the line. In fact it does not really make any difference at all. And about the big article which supposedly came in the TIMES OF INDIA, I guess these companies are here to stay and they are not going anywhere. And besides, this may look absolutely ridiculous to most of you reading this post. These companies now have a very good reason to decrease your salaries in the name of compromise of quality. So basically its a win-win situation for all of the corporate world. And we are just waiting our time debating about all this.

But after reasoning out and convincing you that it does not really matter, in the next few line I may definitely end up contradicting myself. Well most people feel that the top most thing in education in India is The IIT's, IISc's and IIM's. Yes very true nothing like it. But its not necessary that the person in IIT's is the most intelligent person in the world. I mean there might be people around with an IQ greater than that of IITian. Possible definitely !!!! And besides all of us know that more than 65% or more of the IITians get placed abroad or move on there for higher studies. And so it is with the IIM's. That makes you think that whether its the IITians who make up for most of the software companies in Bangalore, Hyderabad and say even Pune or Noida. The answer is no. Most of them are from the Local colleges around the state not from the IIT's. So basically for the common graduate all this reservation in IIT's and IIM's does not matter. And on the private sector reservation, I have presented my case already.

But where does it really matter!!! Well its with students who are looking for higher studies as an option. Or a high flying cool 10lakh an annum job, thats where it would matter. Why for a simple reason that students would rather take a GRE/TOEFL and shell out enough cash a cool 15-20 lakhs. With loans given these days, not a big deal it wont be such a burden on the parents since the ROI(Return of Investment) abroad is pretty good. So it will be time for Brain Drain again. And though however unlikely it seems, there are chances that people would even opt out for a foreign undergraduate degree. Hmmm you never know anything is possible. So basically the problem would still remain Brain drain and not deterioration of quality. Why simply because with about 3 lakh or more engineers graduating every year, picking out a few from a few of these colleges would not be such a big hassle.

So finally i am back to where i started so will India, if the bill is passed. . . It will be back to how it was before the IT boom, travelling at 150 kmph but backwards.

(Of course i do agree that I did speak as much about reservations in the premier institutions as much as the private sector, but was just to prove my logistics thats all)

At times

At times when my mind wanders away,
I wonder,

Wonder why we end up,

commiting the same folies .

Wonder why we live each day,
hoping for a better tommorow.

Wonder why we believe in things,
without any proof of its existence.

At times when I walk around,

I hear,

Hear young mean and women talk about,
how wonderful their lfe seems to be together

Hear kids speak to each other ,
about their hopes and aspirations.

Hear the priest tell a disturbed parent,
"Everything will be okay, God will take care"

At times when I am with my friends,
I talk,

Talk about ten reasons,
why intoxications can never kill me.

Talk about how a little more money,
would spice up life.

Talk about Urvashis, Venus and Cleaopatra,
and wish they would be mine .


I talk, I hear, I wonder.

I talk about why at every dead end,
life will show a new turn.

I hear them say there is always,
a new high after a new low.

I wonder why I want to
believe every word I hear


I guess its all just

A word to talk

A word to hear

A word to wonder

Wasting Away …………….

I have been asked this question a lot of times. Now that I lost out on a major examination, these questions have become more frequent, rather more fervent.
The question is easy and simple-"What next Dhiraj?". A Masters from a premier institue was the prompt reply then. Now I guess and hope . . . Its still the same even if I start working. But this reply does not necessarily explain the reason for posting this on my blog. Its more than that, much more i guess. A case of self redemption i believe. Most of my batch mates (Mechanical only) in the pursuit of making a fast buck and a career out of it, dived into the IT bandwagon. Of course, there is nothing wrong in it. Individual pursuits are part of every person's personality/identity.But then what about giving it back to the place where you learnt all the tricks of the trade. If you make such a major shift, will you ever be able to give back in the same coin. No never !!! But the truth is does anybody care? Definitely no. But some of us do. I do, definitely. I met a senior from school on one of our communities(orkut) and he had a whole lot of database about lots of people from school and what they had achieved. Initially I thought It was a waste of time and was not required. But now i guess i feel it was not. It is all about your roots. Its your school and college that shape your destiny as well as your personality. When you hear someone from your school has done well, it definitely fills your heart with pride. It is the same with life, you would definitely want to look back and say "I did this, I did that". But the truth is most of us are wasting away our lives or are we??

Shifting from the philosophical point of view, let me get onto the economic and research perspective. Software companies have the highest attrition rates and thus the highest number of unsatisfied employees. The whole of India goes gaga over the IT industry. Go to a wedding and ask the bride's father "Whats the groom doing?" He is a software engineer is the unholy reply. And then he takes you out and tells you his son in law earns 40000 a month and . .. . . . . .. . . . . . .. Oh ya it does not really matter does it that his son in law might be earning all that money for just cutting and pasting a few C++ codes on the computer. Or does it matter that his daughter may not even have a sex life. (Dont glare at me you software freaks, your wives will be fast asleep when you reach home) Hey I dont care about all this either . .. It is just that my Mechanical Engineering degree and a mechanical job(Once i get it) to boot would not get me much on the marriage market. So its the wrath of jealousy, I am unleashing on you techies. On a much more serious note then why do all these bigwigs need you enginers for the coolie kelsa. Wont the MCA's be able to manage the whole coding and decoding extravaganza? Hmmm any of you techies have an answer, do reply. If you are developing a path breaking any anti virus software which will beat the Mcafee's and the Nortons, hallowed be thy name. But that is definitely what you are not doing. Software coolies or backend coolies is the most appropriate word which describes India based techies. I really wonder sometimes why the American general public goes paranoid over shifting of BPO's call centres and Technical development jobs to India.

But I guess it all boils down to money rather than your personal satisfaction. Shoot me guys thats the least you can do to prove me wrong. Because the truth as i see it (for 90% of we Indians excluding me) is MONEY IS EVERYTHING. That reminds me of an uncle of mine who came home recently and was among the few who was very supporting of my decision to stay Mechanical. He knows what he is saying i guess when he said " How many of your toppers have made it really big in life?" I guess I can give you the answer now uncle, they are wasting their lives in one of the big wig software companies doing coolie kelsa. Oh ya more on him . .Well he is a mech engineer with an MBA who is onto production and marketing of tyres with a turnover of a few crores.

I guess I am wasting away life as well, doing absolutely nothing. Waiting for something to happen, my big oppurtunity. I guess I would be waiting like all of us wait at some point in our lives. For that one chance one oppurtunity because life gives you just one chance.

Lose yourself in the music, the moment,
You better never let it go ho,
You get just one shot, one oppurtunity,
Do not miss a chance to blow ,
Because oppurtnity comes once in a lifetime go

Lose Yourself
Eminem

But I guess I would rather wait for that one chance even if it takes me all my life rather than take into the temptation of joining the backend processing IT INDUSTRY. All my batchmates who had seen me slogging my arse out for the mag and more importantly SAE or anything in school or college, have asked me why work so hard. I have only one answer. Ten years down the line when i step afoot in JCE or in my school LITTLE ROCK again or in my Pre University College CANARA. . . . Seeing SAE, Lokal boyz, Ed board in full swing . . I guess I would tell myself . .
. . . . . I was a part of SAE . . . . . .
. . . .. .I was a part of our skit team LOKAL BOYZ. . . . .
. . . . . I was a part of the editorial board . . . . . .

. . . . . I was part of that niche group of yo guys and girls in PU.. .. .
. . . . . I used to stand at the college gates checkin the birds fly home. . . . . .

. . . . . I was a part of that concert and the School Day . . . . .
. . .. . .I was up there on stage in the BEEHIVE giving a speech. . . .
. . . . . I was there in the HOSTEL doing all the HARA KIRI


In short ...................

.................... I WAS ALIVE.............

A Crush on Colours

(Its a mad mad mad poem dont ever ask me what made me write it starts from somewhere and ends somewhere else)
The music plays on, her eyes meet mine,
I am onto a fantasy, My Lady in Red,
A fantasy in red takes me higher,
Higher than cigarettes, pot, hash and weed ever could.

Just then I hear her say "My husband . . . . . ."
Pot, hash, cigarettes last, Fantasies dont.
I am back to where I began.

I take notice of the ballet dancer in her gracious whites,
Ah, the grace of the white enthralls my imagination,
Imaginations sure can run wild,
I had reached Marriage and a ring of sapphire.

I hear them clap and cheer,
I am slightly bewildered,
Back on stage, a little girl in white,
sways gracefully to the music.
"LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER" I hear them cheer,
Hopes be damned, another fantasy crashes down.

Iam out in the garden,
with the gypsies and the bonfire.
The fire had been lighted out,
Ashes remain to be blown away.
As the ashes swirl away thanks to the wind,
All that is left is a blank space, a void, an emptiness.

I close my eyes, all I can see is a single color,
Black, it seems to give me the unsoothing calm,

And there among the gypsies stands a lady in black,
Like a black hole, her aura pulls me to her.

Black is dark, Black is blank,
Black is evil, Black is calm,
Black is soothing, Black is a single color,
If Love is black, what else do you need.

Elements

(As suggested by the name the poem is also pretty elementary wrtten in my IInd PU)

All is Forgotten,
All is buried,
Under the sparkling blue ocean,
Under the shining brown earth,
Elements of life they are,
Secrets of salvation are they,
Created by the supreme for our interests,
To fulfill the needs of different sects.

Fire, an element of
progress and destruction,
Air, an element of
life and death,
Water, an element of
nectar and poison,
Earth, an element of
habitation and extinction,

These elements have served us
since Genesis,
All we have provided it is a way
to its dismay,
Time will come for it
to strike back as our nemesis,
To take us on a path
of horror and disarray

Joke of Life

I sit here on a park bench,
watching a few couples make out,
They look around for the ANTI-LOVE mongers ,
They get back to business once they are sure there aren't any ,
They sit there like two sparrows cooing over their nests.
And then I look up, I smile .

In the hustle and bustle of the market,
I see the shopkeepers rant and rave about their ware,
And then I see a small little ragged boy look around,
He takes two mangoes from the cart,
And walks away unnoticed,
And then I look up, I smile.

With a cigarette in my hand,
I watch the buses come and go at the bus stop,
And old man at the stop looks down dejectedly at his watch,
" I missed 348E again, will have to take two buses home."
And then 348E arrives,
I look up , I smile.

I am intoxicated now,
There is a man on the other table,
He wails his story to the beautiful lady in front of him,
He sips her out, a few drops of whiskey that is,
Just then his wife comes in ,
They kiss and make up,
And I look up, I smile.

I reach home now,
Open my drawer, look at the beautiful cards she gave me .
I sink again into depresion,
. . . . All the good times we had before . . . .
. . . . I had to give her away . . . .
And then the door bell rings ,
Its my new neighbour asking me for some coffee.
And again , I LOOK UP , I SMILE.

Angel

As I walk in the dark alleys of life,
My Life seems to be filled with rife,
It seems to take a different turn each day,
Everything seems a little out of ordinary.

I see a glass door, my only source of light,
I open the door and I am taken around by this angel,
I stay there for a while,
Spending most of my time with the angel

The door opens again, its my friends from the dark alleys,
They want me back, there is a lot of work to do,
They pull me and I hold the angel's hand

But Alas! I dont belong in her world
and neither does she belong to mine
Someday I will get another glass door
and then a heart so pure will take me back to paradise