Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Wackiest Teacher Bloopers from School Days

1) Preface:
Some 3-4 girls had paired up ms. S with a male prof. Apparently 1 of those 3-4 girls had snitched to her and this is what ms. S used as a cheap publicity stunt......

Here are the actual words of ms. S (d aunt of william shakespeare) with thoughts that crossed our minds (in brackets). Everythin is in the present tense for u to get a feel of it. ( The no. of "knows" actually used by her =(knows in d para)*10^6)

venue: Class 9-A.

The story:
The long-break bell rings. Ms. S enters.
Ms. S : (straight face)... I wanted to have a word with u girls for two mins (The countdown begins)....... I also have a brother (with an opener like that, I wonder where is she heading.....anyway....) do u girls even know how strict he is??? I am not supposed to be out of the house after 8.30 (uh..excuse me ma'm....rules and regulations followed at your place don'treally matter to us)...... He is stricter than my father..... What if he comes to know what is going - on behind my back....Its pathetic! You girls don't understand the consequences ( c'mon haan english n all)...You all are gettin "into" my nerves now....(when it came to screwing prepositions, ms. S is d "man"u want)..... Youknow.... I feel so cheated... (ok, whats going on here???).... I know u girls paired me up with M. sir. It is not a joke. Do u know how my brother will react if he ever came to know? He takes walks every evening in 5-gardens ( will sumbody plz tel me...whats going on here?!?) .... Plz stop this right now ..... its not funny... u girls hurt me .... u jus speak rubbish even without thinking .... (hah!look who's talkin!)".

The dumbstruck girls' reactions: Most of d girls gobsmacked with amazement...while the rest actually die with laughter! These were d most random 15 mins of my life........

2) There was a Mrs R in my school

I still wonder why did she pronounce "Algebra" as "ALLgebra".....

I remember this particular incident when one of my coolest frnds (n partner in crime) was sneezing continously in 1 of her algebra lecs in 9th. Assuming it to b a prank she gave my frnd a threatening look.
at this my frnd cooly stood up ..... sniffed. ... n replied "Nothing much miss ... jus a little ALLergy"
the class was in splits.........

3) Once in 8th marathi lec.
Mrs. N yelled at our out-of-control class: "How are you gurls behaving? This is how u behave in front of your boyfrainds also?
"WWHHHHAAAAAAAATTTTTTT??????? that was the extent of my reaction. Clean bowled.

4) Mrs R .. again

She used to love my friend.
Always waited for an opportunity to get her suspended. Once in 10th my friend was generous enough to give her thegolden chance.
Happily Mrs R came to class n she was like, "You think u can get away with all your mischief! I want to c your mother tomorrow at 12.30 sharp ". Now my friend stayed at Chembur, so her mom used to come to pick her up after skhool each day.
Considering this, my friend cooly told her, "Make it 3.00.....actually 12.30 jamega nahi....."
She looked at my friend in utter disbelief and then yelled her lungs out, "AM I CALLIN YOUR MOTHER OVER FOR KAAFEE? TEL ME? AM I? AM I?"
OMG it was riot. Mrs. R was so worked up she spent the next 20 mins of the class yelling at my friend and we had free entertainment.

5) A mrs V had a very unique solution to solve all communal tension in India
According to her in one very illuminating History class ..............
All temples, mosques n churches should be broken and made into public toilets instead....when nature calls every1 will jusssst rush in...nobody will c whose hindu n whose muslim!!!!!!

That just took the cake.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

He comes not when noon is on the roses;
Too bright is the day

He comes not to the soul; till it reposes work and play

But when night is on the hills and the great voices roll in from the sea;

By starlight, candle light and dreamlight
He comes to me

Friday, July 28, 2006

Images !

So much is at its mercy. How we potray ourselves - the masks we wear - we wish to escape them, but buckle under the pressure and embrace them, sometimes even willingly. So many people cash in on this abstract concept - what shoes you wear, what brand clothes you own, the perfume you spray everyday, the watch you flash................................................................................
Does it even matter ?
I remember when I was 16, I bought a pair of sunglasses worth INR 800/- which would be approx. GBP 10/-. I knew it was completely unnecessary. Trivial really , something I would rarely use considering I wear prescription glasses. But all the way home from the shop, I was thinking up (making up) justifications pertaining the validity of the said purchase because I knew my mother would definitely question the worth of the purchase. Now that I think, Those sun glasses bought on a whim were not even worn by me 16 times. But at that moment in the shop, I made it a decision of life or death as if my existence was hanging on a single thread which would be strengthened if I bought those sunglasses. It seems to be such a waste now...................
A waste of money, resources and energy. To fall victim to the seduction of that moment - that temporary high that shopping luxury goods induces is more bitter than sweet - especially when the credit card bills start piling up at the end of the month................................................................

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Anti-Brahmanism should stop!

This is an article published on rediff.com on the 15th of June, 2006.

The first article published by rediff on Brahmins as an underprivileged community, brought a flurry of reactions, mostly of surprise: "What, Brahmins as toilet cleaners, coolies, rickshaw pullers, priests earning less than Rs 150 a month... How is it possible, we always thought that Brahmins were a rich, fat, arrogant community?"
Many Brahmins and other upper castes expressed online their relief that someone was speaking about their plight, that for once they were not attacked, made fun of, ridiculed. Of course there were also a few hostile e-mails, accusing the author of upper casteism, of anti-Dalits bias.
One would have thought however, that at a time when reservation was the hottest journalistic topic, the media would have seized this story and made it its own. After all, isn't impartial journalism to show both sides of the story?
Don't you think, for instance, that the discovery that all 50 Sulabh Shauchalayas (public toilets) in Delhi are cleaned and looked after by Brahmins -- traditionally the task of the lowest of the lowest caste -- and that this noble institution was started by a Brahmin, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, makes a wonderful story, both for the print and electronic media?
That is what I believed, at any rate. So when I discovered that the Art of Living Foundation was conducting workshops for all coolies, irrespective of their religion and caste of the Delhi railway station -- and that quite a few of them were Brahmins -- I thought I could share this story and the Sulabh Shauchalayas scoop, with a few journalistic acquaintances, who would jump on it with glee. Unfortunately I was very wrong.
Initially, some young journalists were enthusiastic and joined us in our investigation. We expected the story to hit the headlines soon and be taken up by the entire press, hungry for something different than the strike of the medicos, or Arjun Singh's adamant attitude. But nothing happened.
We called them day after day, proposed some more data, but still no story came out. Then one of the young journalists, working for one of the largest media outfits in India told us off the record that the sub-editor, backed by the editor, had killed the story in true journalistic freedom.
The second scenario we encountered was stone silence: the star anchors, bureau chiefs, editors of national English newspapers whom I personally contacted, either did not return my calls or were evasive.
Third scenario: Downright hostility: "You're a right winger, a pro-BJP-RSS journalist" etc. What does truth and investigative journalism have to do with the BJP (who by the way did no more than the Congress for the Kashmiri Brahmins, for instance, when it was in power)? I don't know.
Some journalists, initially willing to do a story, backed out after some time under the pretext that the data was not solid enough. Not solid enough? Does flimsy and unchecked data ever stop the Indian media to publish slanderous stories in the recent past?
Then, I came to the conclusion that more than fifty years later, the Nehruvian culture which directly brainwashed two generations of Indians in certain thinking patterns, has survived today. Actually, you have to go farther back than Nehru. For Jawaharlal was a true end product of Macaulay's policy of creating Indians who would be Indians by the colour of their skins, but British in their thinking. Thus, the English outlook on India survives today in India's intellectual class, particularly the journalists, who often cast a Westernised, anti-spiritual, pro-minority, anti-majority, un-Indian, anti-Brahmins and other upper castes -- look on their own country.
It is true that Nehru started from a positive volition: How to solve India's huge class and caste disparity? How to appease a Muslim minority which ruled India ruthlessly for ten centuries and was not ready to be ruled by those who were for a long time Islam's pliant subjects?
But Nehru went overboard. He made the paupers of yesteryear the saints of modern India, allowing some states to literally hound out Brahmins and other upper castes. He twisted history and thanks to docile historians, made of cruel Muslim invaders and rulers, the benefactors of medieval India.
He went to the extent of excusing the razing and sacking of thousands of exquisite temples all over India, by saying that Muslim invaders such as Babar did it because these temples were full of hidden gold and jewels, damning again indirectly the poor hapless Brahmins, who were beheaded by Muslim invaders, crucified in Goa by the Portuguese Inquisition, vilified by British missionaries, and morally crucified today by their own brothers and sisters.
It is true that Brahmins may be paying today for the excesses of yesterday. In ancient times, as Sri Aurobindo wrote: 'A Brahmin was a Brahmin only if he cultivated the spiritual temperament and acquired the spiritual training which alone would qualify him for the task.'
But once Brahmanism became hereditary, arrogance, complacency and casteism became rampant, ultimately bringing the downfall of Brahmins, a downfall which the Dalai Lama defines (for his own people) as Black Karma.
Thus, thanks to the lingering influence of Nehruvianism, 'Brahmins' remain today a dirty word, even in the face of reality: that Dalits have considerably come up since 1947 in Indian society, that no nation in the world has done so much for its underprivileged (India had a Dalit President -- did the US ever have a Black President?). But the intellectual elite of India, which never mentions these facts, continues to hide its face in the sand like an ostrich, refusing to see the reality.
And rampant anti-Brahmanism and upper castes, first used by the Muslim invaders, then by the British colonialists and missionaries, is still in vogue at the hands of Nehruvians, Marxists, Indian Christians and politicians in search of the votes of Dalits and Muslims, which combined together make and unmake prime ministers.
Yet, Brahmins and other upper castes have played an invaluable role in Indian history, as Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of the Sulabh Shauchalaya Movement remarks: 'Society sustained the Brahmins and other upper castes earlier, who upheld the Hindu scriptures and Hindu culture. Today Hinduism is on the decline day-by-day. There is a lack of ancient knowledge. No political party has objected to reservation thanks to vote-bank politics. People have a very short memory. They have forgotten the contribution made by Brahmins to our society.'
And who says that Brahmins and other upper castes are anti-Dalits. Some of India's top avatars, saints and gurus were of low caste and are still worshipped today by all upper castes. Valmiki, the composer of the Ramayana, was a fisherman; Ved Vyasa, the epic poet of the Mahabharata, which also contains the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible of Future Humanity, was the son of a fisherwoman; Krishna was from the shepherd's caste. And are not today's Amritanandamayi or Satya Sai Baba of low caste birth? Don't they have millions of Indians, many of them from upper castes, bowing down to them?
Anti-Brahmanism has to be stopped!
This inter-caste war, triggered by the politicians' greed for votes, has to be defused.
FACT, my Foundation, which conducts exhibitions on persecuted minorities, whether the Kashmiri Pandits, the Christians, Buddhist Chakmas and Hindus suffering in Bangladesh at the hands of fundamentalists in Bangladesh, or the Tibetans facing a cultural and spiritual genocide in Tibet, decided to take things in hand.
We started, with the help of a few dedicated friends, a film on Brahmins and other upper castes as an underprivileged community. This film will lead to a photoexhibition and hopefully to a book. All testimonies and documents are welcome.
The future of this country lies in a unified India, where all castes will find their just place, where all will feel Indians first and belonging to this caste or that one, after.

- Francois Gautier

Monday, July 10, 2006

Why, Zidane Why????

STUMPED !!! is what my reaction is to the finals of the world cup. I cannot believe France lost.
In my post match misery, I was left with a bitter after taste.

Everything was ok till the extra time when Zidane, the French captain who was playing his final match at 34, opened the scoring but lost his cool in extra time and butted Marco Materazzi and was sent off with the score at 1-1 with around 10 minutes to play.
The loss of their talisman and playmaker cost the French dearly as they lost momentum and their best penalty-taker. They lost the shootout 5-3, giving Italy their fourth title.

Well my French friends were melancholic to the point of distraction.

Thanks to Pierre's depressive eloquence, I picked up quite a few juicy phrases in French. Well atleast the evening was educational.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

xxx

I cannot believe i havent posted in over a month. well i have a valid reason - EXAMS- well what can i say they suck big time ! xxx
Hindsight's a killer as i realised this past month. what i woudnt give to turn back time to make up lost time. but then i realised that even if i got xtra time i would just goof it away.

life's absolutey humbug at the moment. just finished economic diplomacy written exam. oh my god.......... it was excrutiating . so bad that matt, nicole, dave, wei, and I rushed to the bar right after the exam to drink our sorrows away.

so now im home and is my torcher over ......... well, of course not still have a monstrocity called politics of money in world economics come tuesday xxx

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Monday, May 08, 2006

I coudnt have said it better myself. ha ha ha

10 misconceptions about women
By Susan Hayden
As smart and capable as men can be, it's a wonder that most have yet to figure out women. To help, we approached a variety of women with some of the more common male perceptions of them and found out what they are really thinking. Though a highly subjective survey, here are some of the more interesting truths revealed from woman to man:

10. Man: Today's woman wants to be independent.
Woman: Yes, I may want my own job and my own life, but you should be aware that I also want the security of knowing that if I decide to stop working or get fired, you will take care of me for the rest of my life.

9. Man: Women dress provocatively so men will hit on them.
Woman: No, I dress this way to look good — to everyone. I don't necessarily want you to lust after me or even talk to me. Admire me, maybe — just don't come introduce yourself and expect me to hop in bed with you.

8. Man: Women always want to know what I'm "thinking."
Woman: I don't necessarily want to know your innermost feelings — I'm just curious about what goes on in that thick skull during downtime.

7. Man: Women are high-maintenance.Woman:
No, women just have more things to maintain — face, legs, etc.

6. Man: Along those same lines, women spend a lot of time in the bathroom.
Woman: I think men think we do this for them, when in reality, we do it for ourselves. The sexiest thing in the world is confidence, and I've learned as I grow older that it's not the style of my hair or my clothes, but how I feel in them and whether or not I feel at my best and most powerful. When I'm feeling hot is when I get the most head turns.

5. Man: She's after me for my money.
Woman: Women marry for love first, money second.

4. Man: Women blame everything on PMT.
Woman: If you had piercing bolts of pain down your back and felt like a keg was strapped to your belly two weeks out of every month, you would give blame where it's due, too. At least we let you know the cause of our whining and tantrums, and if we don't, you should already have it marked in your calendar with a note to bring us chocolate ice cream.

3. Man: Once married, or even in a long-term relationship, women are not interested in physical intimacy.
Woman: I'm just tired from taking care of you and your offspring.

2. Man: Women are too emotional.
Woman: Re-read #8, and get over it.

1. Man: Women are hard to read.
Woman: Pay attention. You'll get it eventually.
For I have none to lament me,
the world no injury, for in it I have nothing;
only in the world I fill up a place,
which may be better supplied when I have made it empty.

I would like to begin with saying that these arent my words. I have no idea who uttered them but the sheer despondency in them cut through me.
The tide of forebooding depicted is the subtle cry of a pained soul trapped in the viscious cycle which does nothing to alleviate the suffering of a being who had given up hope and alienated oneself from happiness.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

C'est l'amour !

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments; love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
bends with the remover to remove:
O, no, it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his heighth be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Perhaps it was worth a try to open up to the special woman residing secretly in his heart.

This is the 116th Sonnet written by Shakespere.
A beautiful description of what many crave for but few are blessed with. He/she who has found this love is truly blessed with the rarest of gifts. He /she who understands its value and cherishes it will attain the truest level of bliss!

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul
You learn that love doesn’t mean leaning and company doesn’t mean security
You begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts and presents aren’t promises
You begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open,
with the grace of an adult, not the grief of a child.
You learn to build all your roads on todaybecause tomorrows ground is too uncertain for plans.
And after awhile, you learn that you really are strong and you really do have worth.

- Author unknown

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Perfection

‘Perfection, the state of excellence without fault or defect, the perfect embodiment of a concept'.

Perfection, as beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder. To me , perfection is the ability to overlook flaws and search for the merits that are innate or emulated through the conscious act of learning. Perfection then is a consequence of well thought out actions and words. Perfection is the ability to strive for a better tomorrow. Perfection is the ability to understand the difference between real self and ideal self and accept that there is perefection in ones imperfections.

On a lighter note as Samuel McChord Crothers said " Try as hard as we may for perfection, the net result of our labors is an amazing variety of imperfectness. We are surprised at our own versatility in being able to fail in so many different ways"

Monday, January 30, 2006

How do i love thee? - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Journey of Life

We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act. Swami Vivekananda

These words are profoundly deep. Being away from my own sometimes is devastatingly overwhelming. Every thought , every action can easily swerve my psyche towards any end of the continuiim where the two ends represent failure and success. but how do i measure this , what defines my failures or my success? Is it my sense of satisfaction or is it what others percieve about my actions at the end of the day? If my present has the power to determine my future then this makes me tread even more cautiously. Is life about stepping on the right steps or is it about experiencing the journey? Does the journey count or is it the end result that decides whather a life has been wasted or whether it has been fruitful?

Questions, Dilemmas, Decisions, Choices ..................................................... A recipie for success or a disaster waiting to happen.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Retrospection

Film Name: Parasmani Year: 1963
Singer(s): Mohd. Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar
Lyricist: Asad Bhopali Musician(s): Laxmikant Pyarelal


Woh jab yaad aaye bahut yaad aaye
gham-e-zindagi ke andhere mein humne
charaag-e-mohabbat jalaaye bujhaaye
woh jab yaad aaye bahut yaad aaye

Aahaten jaag uthi raaste hans diye
thaamkar dil uthe hum kissi ke liye
kayi baar aisa bhi dhokha hua hai
chale aa rahe hai woh nazaren jhukaaye

Woh jab yaad aaye bahut yaad aaye

dil sulagne lagaa ashq behne lage
jaane kya kya humey log kehne lage
magar rotey-rotey hansee aa gayi hai
khayaalon mein aakey woh jab muskuraaye

Woh jab yaad aaye bahut yaad aaye

Woh juudaa kya hue zindagi kho gayi
shamma jalti rahi roshni kho gayi
bahut koshishey kee magar dil na behlaa
kayi saaz chhede kayi geet gaaye

Woh jab yaad aaye bahut yaad aaye

ek gazhal

Tumako dekhaa to ye khayaal aayaa

Javed Akhtar

Tumako dekhaa to ye Khayaal aayaa
zindagii dhuup tum ghanaa saayaa

Aaj phir dil ne ek tamannaa kii
aaj phir dil ko hamane samajhaayaa

Tum chale jaaoge to sochenge
hamane kyaa khoyaa, hamane kyaa paayaa

Hum jise gunagunaa nahin sakate
Vaqt ne aisaa geet kyun gaayaa

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

With the famed Blue Man group

words of wisdom

DON’T SHORT CHANGE YOURSELF

Most of us underestimate ourselves or shortchange ourselves. We think we are not smart enough, or we will not make it or the competition is overwhelming. This is natural because we focus on the circumstances around us and react to what we see or perceive. We allow fear or darkness to dim the light (our dreams) God has placed in our hearts. Know that you are an eagle and you are among eagles. Therefore, learn to soar like an eagle and do not come down and peck among chickens.

God has placed you where you are with all the resources at your disposal for a reason.
God has more in store for you – and his plans for you are greater than the plans you have for yourself. God is progressive, wants you to expand and grow for his higher purpose. Therefore, focus on God and not on your circumstances.

FIRE !

I was flying away ............. peeking behind clouds playing catch with birds and having the time of my life. Suddenly there was a rude noise........... a piercing one that woudnt go away........... groggily I opened my eyes to have my room-mate scream " FIRE". How can there be a fire I am flying, I thought. "No, wake up wake up" , the banshee who I thought was my room mate screeched. I pulled myself out of bed and looked at my wrist watch. It was 2 : 00 a.m. Just great. Then I looked out of the window it was raining. Even better, I thought. What would be better than evacuating in the middle of the night when it was pouring in central London. We walked down 8 stories and ambled out at our own sweet pace. People were in a horrid state. Some were barefoot, some in the most ridiculous of clothes and a few indecently clad. Well I thought One cannot expect a fashion parade when forced to get out of bed and evacuate the building in the middle of the night.
Then to add fuel to the fire, our sweet and gallant warden picked up the megaphone to murmur these words of consolation. He lovingly said, " Move you idiots Move. 50 steps to the East. Dont make me haul you there." I stood there wondering which direction was east ........ well I didnt know.. Then my friend dragged me in a particular direction. Looks like that is east was all I could think. We were completely drenched and freezing to the bone. Suddenly I remembered why I loved Indian Summers. London officially sucked at that very moment.
After what seemed a lifetime 2 fire engines came. Those monstorous firemen entered the building and then exited within 5 mins flat. I was so worked up by then that I wanted to see smoke. I didnt want to be dragged from my bed because some idiot burned toast and set of the fire alarm. And guess what thta was exactly the reason why the alarm went off in the first place.

Some one had indeed burnt toast. I WAS FURIOUS. That person ought to be shot, was all I could think.

As slowly as we had come down we proceeded to go back to our rooms.

I coudnt believe that I was soaked , freezing and in all probability suffering the initial signs of hypothermia because some one burnt their toast !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well life goes on . The culprit was never found which was well, otherwise there would have been a murder that night.

I have never seen people agree so quickly to terminate some one's existence. The motion was passed in record time. And all the guys who played football for my university live in my residence so I guess a murder could have been a reality.