Color me Yeller

Everyone, on some level wants to be a rebel. Especially when we're bogged down... by rules... by what we think is wrong... by irritating factors that disturb the perfect balance we're always trying to strike in life. It is so much cooler to rebel than to conform. It is so much easier to conform than to rebel.

We went to watch Rang de Basanti tonight, 101 of us. Interesting number is this 101... it indicates 'basic' courses - the number of spotted dogs in the movie - a number that followers of the Hindu religion believe to bear good luck. So the evening was destined to be interesting :p

I'm not too much of a connoiseur. I go in to movies with zero expectations and almost always have nice things to say about them. Except for the truly awful ones like Neal & Nikki. I loved Rang De Basanti. For many reasons:

1. Brilliant casting: Aamir Khan as a 25-year-old? It works. He's awesome... he can make you laugh, he doesn't look sissy while crying and most importantly, the age rarely shows. Random firang actor Alicia Patten as Sue, who's got a huge chunk of a role? It works. Far better than the firang lady in Lagaan. Plain Jane Soha Ali Khan as the female lead? It works. She's subtle enough to not take away too much attention from the men. Kunal Kapoor looks yummy & Greek-Godlike as ever. Siddharth downplays to perfection and Sharman Joshi washes away the sins of the horrific Style. Atul Kulkarni is now officially my favourite Marathi-movie import.
2. Fresh-as-Minto Music: Roobaroo is the current chart-topper on our campus. And the way it was used in the movie gave me goose pimples. The electric guitar in the background score is also damn turning on.
3. Unpredictable Storyline: The person sitting next to me walked out saying the movie was "very bad". Of course, the same person enjoyed Diana Hayden starrer Ab Bas & Tanushree Dutta's tequila shots in Chocolate. if you're reading this, yes, you are entitled to your opinion. :P Bottomline - RDB is a meant to be a Hindi movie.
4. Locations and Photography: I've never liked Delhi except in movies... Hazaaron Khwaishien Aisi was one example. RDB makes Delhi and the surrounding countryside look very special. The choice of locations is very interesting - the campus, the graffiti place, the lounge bar, the dhaba, India Gate & the fort - each location adds so much to the story, unlike most other movies where college kids only hang out at coffee bars or beaches. I also loved the night-time shots, especially the car-bike sequence at the start.
5. The Punjabi accents: I can't tell a good accent from a fake one... but I loved the way they spoke in the movie.
6. The Complete Sensual Experience: If a song gives you goose-pimples, the music sounds ethreal, the visuals (& Kunal Kapoor) are a treat, the dhaba actually makes you crave tandoori food, the two kissing scenes are above Hindi film average and the temple scene makes you feel a bit spiritual - you know in your heart that it's going to be one of your favourite movies. It will be a while till the next really good one, I guess.

About the rebellion... had some instant rebellious thoughts :D ... I wish I had the firearms to get rid of the corruption around me (wink wink)!

Witches & Warlocks

It's been a sinfully lazy week... been watching movies, sitcoms, soaps on my laptop ... and watching some TV too!! It feels heavenly to be so... jobless :D

Stuff I've been watching:

1) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe

I was a big fan of the book & the TV mini-series when I was growing up. Naturally, I was dying to watch the movie. To someone who hasn't read the book, the movie would probably seem like a run-off-the-mill fairytale, heavily inspired by LOTR & Harry Potter, combined with really cool SFX. But it's so much more. I had a fab time with Devika - we did a real time semiotic analysis of the movie. Semiotics at face value, minus the Saussure, Barthe & Pearce, is damn cool. Any story designed to appeal to both kids and adults (like Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Enid Blyton's popular stories) have many common threads. Here are some things we observed...

• All these stories have one kid who's a natural leader (a la Julian from Famous Five, Peter from Narnia) and one kid who's a rebel (Fatty from Five Find Outers, George & Dick from Famous Five, Snubby of the 'R' mysteries), one who's gentle & motherly & kind of a spoil sport (Susan from Narnia, Peggy of the Secret Series).
• There is generally a wise-old-man character - Dumbledore, Aslan, Gandalf...
• There are many references to mythology, the medieval age & Christianity. Sacrifice, trechery, resurrection, battles, paganism are some common themes.

2) Dilbert - The TV Series

Doesn't live up to the comic strips or the books for sure... but a good watch anyway. It goes beyond office situations, and gets quite un-Dilbert at times, but has some really interesting analogies. I especially liked "Art" from Season 2. Dogbert and Pointy Haired Boss are especially brilliant. A bit on the Southpark mold. Am surprised that the show had only 2 seasons on TV though. Earlier in the week, Vinay & I did a semiotic analysis of Dilbert for the long pending end term assignment.

3) Desperate Housewives

It took time, but I'm finally hooked to it... quite desperately. Have access only to a few episodes from Season 1... and I spent every vela minute reading scripts of the episodes I couldn't see. It's an awesome combination of a soap and a dark comedy. Been so hooked, I even took the Desperate Housewives quiz on ivillage... and here's what I got.

You are a determined, motivated and intelligent woman, like exec-turned-mum Lynette. You know how to make things happen and are committed to the important issues in your life, whether your children, your relationship, your family or your career. Your high standards reach into every area of your life, and no-one could question your dedication. You're also an inspiration to others in your ability to find out how the game is played and win on your own terms (take that, scary PTA mum!).
However, like the manic mother of Wisteria Lane, sometimes you bite off more than you can chew. While it's ok to pull an all-nighter for a big project from time to time, if you make it a regular occurrence you're going to burn out before your time. Try to balance your priorities. Sometimes you need to focus on your own needs rather than those of others - no matter how noble the other causes might be. After all, the secret to a happy life isn't just achieving goals and looking perfect on the outside. It's being happy on the inside. You know this; sometimes you just need reminding.

Aughh!! That's definitely what I don't want to be.

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There was a lot of vitriol in my last post. Stuff that a lot of people who are with me right now would have identified with. I'm surprised no one commented. Is it a bad case of missing vertebrae?

Lick-ur-ass allsorts

The subtle art of ass-licking/kissing is a form of creative expression that many prefer to shun. But those who practise it, and practise it well, can really use it to utmost benefit. In this art, there are many viewpoints... you can see things from the eyes of a lick-er, a lick-ee, the act of licking and the lick-o-phobics. I fall into the last category, so my account is probably skewed.

Lick-er
They're true-to-life sycophants. They know what they want & they know who can help them get it. Generally too spineless to make a sincere effort, they prefer to take the easy way out by licking the right asses.

Lick-ee
Lick-ees are ickier than the lick-ers. (hehe, i like that line.) Their egos are massively inflated. Generally spotted with a coterie. Or a constant companion of the opposite sex. They could be old and senile. They're usually hated & lonely, which increases their urge for having their asses licked.

The Act of Licking
This could take any form:

• Constantly hanging around the lick-ee and nodding away, agreeing with what he says.
• Trying to be as much like the lick-ee as possible. Imitation is the best form of flattery you see.
• Carrying info to the lick-ee.
• Doing the lick-ee's cooking, laundry, dog-walking etc.
• Other ahem... favours

And the licker could get anything in return - jobs, a role in a movie, shopping trips, authority to make decisions, weekend outings (to spot asses) and good grades.

For the Lick-o-phobics, it is frustrating. Especially when the lick-ees pretend to come clean. Especially when you know that they're telling titanic lies. But you assure yourselves saying that the screwy old lick-ers & lick-ees will rot in hell.

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Been on party-mode for last two nights. Going out to dinner mostly... and sleeping. Badly need to be Smirnofficated.

And so...

Yes, I did get placed today... Starcom wants me back. So yay, I can:

• Say I have a job
• Wear jeans tomorrow
• Go out to eat
• And sleep in peace

It was inevitable. I had to face the battle of professional satisfaction vs money. And for me today, the former prevailed. And strangely it feels perfectly fine that I'm starting off with possibly one of the lowest packages on campus. :-) - I have evolved. Or rather I haven't changed at all. B-School education has not made me a money-chasing bi**h that a certain someone predicted I would become. (It ended up in a rather sad parting of ways between us.) I'm still the same old me, with more focus and a tad more maturity.

To all those who're still to be placed, hang in there - you'll get what you want. Even if you don't, make sure you use whatever you get tomorrow to take you to what you ultimately want.

It hasn't quite sunk in yet, that I'm at the end of college education & I'll be responsible for real-life decisions, involving clients' money soon. Nope... it hasn't sunk in yet.

More tomorrow... am damn sleepy now.

GD = Gruesome Death (of hope and happiness)

Placement week kicked off (officially) today. And I'm unplaced so far. There are 3 companies that I'm/was keen on getting into, out of the 40 odd ones on campus.

The first I wanted for some weird, twisted reasons, even though I knew that I'd hate the profile they offered. (All names will be revealed after all 61 of us in the batch have been placed). It involved a guy & some ego. Thankfully I didn't make it.

The second company was on campus today. I came to MICA with the intention of getting enough learning to be placed in the management side of a media house/agency that was respectable. We had one of those on campus today. 35 applicants, just because they were offering one of the highest pay packages this year. The GD was a disaster... Among those they shortlisted were people who don't give a f**k about media and still believe they merit the job.

So, how can HR guys decide within 20 mins of a GD with 10 people, who is focused enough for the job and can do it well? How can a 20 minute GD undo all the good that you've done for the last 20 years? I can't talk in uncivilized GDs. I find it too intimidating and extremely silly that you need to make a series of 4 illogical statements to be noticed. Despite this, I've done pretty well at the places I've studied in or worked at.

I find "GD jargon" hilarious. C'mon! Do people speak like this in real life business situations?

• "I agree with her but..." (If you are refuting why do you have to begin by agreeing?)
• "I would like to add to her point" (Do you even know what my point is?)
• "Can I finish what I'm saying?" (Yes you can... when we're outside the room)

I don't think my entire work life is going to be one long JAM session - where I have to speak uniterrupted nonsense. If this is the only way companies have to decide who fits the bill, they will see people jumping jobs even before the MT stint is up.

There's just one more company that I really care about & have my heart set on - and they will be on campus tomorrow.

If I don't make it there... I'm taking up a career as a wannabe writer. Have already thought of title of my first book - "Life is a Female Canine"

Already, it isn't easy.

D for Dispassionate

The next two weeks are jam-packed with PPTs & interviews. I guess it wouldn't be politically correct to write about placements when we're still not done with them. So I'll blog about it in detail post-22nd.

But I learnt something today. Being dispassionate is the smartest way of getting through life. It was vaguely in my head after MICANVAS, but the thought got firmly embedded in my psyche today. It's easier to see it once you've practised it. Some people can do it easier than others ;-) ... I have often accused a couple of my friends of being that way. But I could learn something from them.

It becomes easier to deal with the not-so-rosy things in life.

Here's to the new, emotionless me. For a couple of weeks at least.

Cured of The 18 Month Itch

Years ago when I wrote a diary, I’d make a list of 10 resolutions. Some would be carefully thought out, some would be there just to look cool and the last couple would be to round it off to 10.

I’m 22 now... and making resolutions isn’t all that exciting anymore. Maybe because a year is too long to plan for in the life of an individual. It is so much easier to split life into bite-sized bits... of a month or three months. There are lots of things that I want to do, but putting them down on paper kind of kills the spirit. The list then lurks around like a scary monster.

The past week has been one of the laziest vacations of my life. It involves the intricate mix of eating home food, eating out, watching movies, reading newspapers & do arbit stuff online. Saw some very crappy movies. Neal & Nikki was by far the ugliest movie of the year. Totally not worth the 40 rupees spent on it (that’s the cheapest price I’ve paid for a movie ticket in Bombay). Never seen such horrible kissing chemistry between two people. Shikhar was awful too... especially the cloud & trees song and Shahid Kapoor’s attempt at acting. And the whole bad-guys-dress-in-colorful-clothes & good-guys-dress-in-white concept. So corny.

Went to Matunga yesterday. I couldn’t stand the South Indian market before. Yesterday, I felt at home there. Just like I did at Hyderabad, even though the two places are vastly different.

Also went to Nariman Point – had lunch at this lovely pizzeria called Not Just Jazz by the Bay. I love South Bombay!

I guess the only place I don’t like now is Ahmedabad. Reached the point where I don’t want to go back to college anymore. Weird, because halfway through every other vacation in the past two years, I was itching to go back. Wish I could just get done with placement week and come back.