Dec 30, 2004

I Don't Care For Them

While all those unknown faces face, the worst days of their life,
Here at HNLU... A sinister show of extreme extravagance;
At 50 per head, an unnecessary prodigality;
A grossly thoughtless act; superfluous.

So what if there was a Tsunami,
Not amongst it, my Family;
Well, here my body is so safe,
I might as well eat the cake.

I will not move, a finger of hand,
For those I love, are all in shape.
And about those people...
"Don't somebody die every other day!"


My thoughts are needed elsewhere,
For tiny things I have no care;
To all those people out there,
I wish a Happy New Year!

So we will have all Rock 'n' Roll,
At the Tej Bahadur Hall,
Dance till death at party ball,
In this season post-Yule.

While we in our merriment gay;
They that died the other day,
Would hurl a curse, that will stay!
But then... who believes in curses?

Lend me ears, O friends of mine,
Give all you a prayer of thine,
To those that lost their dear ones.
That's the least y'all could do for them.

-Neil Padayatty.

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Happy No-Birthdays !!!

Ordinary human beings like me are plain scared of it. Don't you laugh at me, because if you were an ordinary human-being and you happened to witness this strange ritual here in HNLU, then you would feel the same too.
I dare not talk about it; but if you will keep it a secret, I will tell you. So swear upon whatever it is that you usually swear on and listen.

They call it 'Birthday Bumping'.

It could be anyday. I tell you... anyday. What with somebody's birthday coming up every other day! So if the current day is your b'day(God forbid), or the b'day of somebody even remotely connected with you, then I'd say... run for it buddy or you've had it!!!

The whole boys hostel, would be there... displaying unprecedented unity, screaming at the top of their voices, organising flawlessly like an army for a war, in a concerted effort to beat the shit out of whoever it is, that was unlucky to be born that day. They all, with all the unity in diversity that India represents, kick on the arse of the protagonist, in between wishing him happy(?) b'day. Talk about happiness. Why not bliss?

Given the strength of the boys hostel... that's atleast a hundred odd blows. Some say, the pain stays for a day, some say that it feels good, but what I say is that, I'm bloody scared of the bloody thing.

I tell you... you must actually hear the blood-thirsty screams of these people, exhibiting with no inhibitions, any hitherto dormant animal insticts, they have. The eyes, dancing with sadistic pleasure; the faces, contorted in one devilish mode.

At first I used to stand nearby watching. But, of late I remain inside with a pillow over my head, more from the repulsive nature of the act than from the founded fear of the mob finding some combination in which I too would be a victim.

All this is done in extremely good faith, ie. at least in a superficial level. Personal vendetta sometimes might be involved in finding a combination for an enemy. Some even say its a good way to give vent to the repressed emotions and all.

I hope it would stop for some reason. Maybe... after something serious happens to somebody! But the thing is, I cant wait for that long, because I might be the one to whom the serious thing happens!!!

I'll be seeing what I can do to stop this. But the prospects look bleak.
So till then let's just keep this between ourselves and hope for the best.

And to you people... I wish you the very best and hope that none of you ever have Birthday's.
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Dec 27, 2004

The Society in Books

Well here are some books I found relevant because of its significance in the arts subjects that one learns at law school.

Animal Farm by George Orwell - my all-time favourite Political satire. We have all the communist greats featuring either as a pigs or as some socially relevant animal member of the Animal Farm. Read it and learn how when they couldn't make out any difference when they looked from man to pig and from pig to man.


1984 by George Orwell - again a classic satire, prophetic at times, with frighteningly real resemblances to the New American Empire. I found a semblance of an argument against Capital puishment there. If there's anyone else who've read the book, and felt that it could be an argument against the ineffectiveness of Capital Punishment, please discuss.


Catcher in They Rye by J. D. Salinger - Sociology here. Holden Caufield is the deviant. How he hates them phonies. The world is full of phonies when one comes to think of it. Wonderful book.


Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre - Sociology again. The knife that Vernon Gregory Little imagines on his back, for which he holds his mother responsible, is sociological explanation of guilt and prick of conscience that mother induces in you so that you are forever under her control. Profound. This one's also a satire of the current American society glued as it is to the Reality of Reality TV. There's even playing God by choosing which Death Row inmate should be executed first. There's one about lawyer's being the baby's who when born give out false hooshy kind of laughs. Reminds me of some lawyers I've seen.

That's all I can think of now. Will post if something new comes up.
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Dec 25, 2004

Merry Christmas !!!

Come my favourite season of the year and I get the blues of the good old Christmas's with Thistle Hair, Frosty the Snowman, Bambi and Rudolph Reindeer, with decked halls of boughs and holly, where Santa Claus comes with his merry "Ho! Ho! Ho!" and my Papa sings the Christmas Carols in his cracking voice, my sister making a crib worthy of the 'Unni Isow', and Mummy cooking something delicious.

Well there's more to the world than mere fantasy. I know that. But let me for one time of the year, dream of the Winter Wonderland, and the Sleigh Bells and the Christmas Star.

For me Christmas is the time for freshening myself... to be reborn along with Baby Jesus... A return to innocence!!!

Merry Chrismas and the choicest blessings of this wonderful season to all of you.
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Dec 21, 2004

Srikant's Tribute To Clifford Geertz

Well, there's this guy called Srikant Nair in my University, who happens to be my best friend and happened to do a project on Clifford Geertz. He's asked me to put the link to his website dedicated to the great man, on my blog. So here's the link to this very informative website:

http://srikantnair.tripod.com

Any of my juniors doing the Sociology course, can look up this site for all there is to know about Geertz.
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Revelations 2004

The junior guys here at HNLU, organized the Fresher's Party, for the new batch which joined the University. Frankly I didn't expect the event to be anything even comparable to the one held for the last batch, which was a huge success, thanks to the excellent showmanship of the then anchor, the inimitable Shashank Bijapur, the short skit on the Spirit of HNLU organized by my batchmates, which really sent my spirits soaring despite the fact that two of my best friends had left the University.

Incidentally, we had to have a formal function before the event owing to that day being the anniversary of Hidayatullah, the man after whom the University was named. The Governor was the Guest of Honour. There was nothing largely remeberable about that speech (o.k. i did nod off in between), except that when the speech was over, Professor G.V. Ajappa gave him a standing ovation, in which he was the only one standing. Must have been some speech, if Ajappa sir was impressed.

After the boring section hosted by the buereaucrats and diplomats, it was time for some 'Revelations' (that was what the program was called). But before I get into the event itself, a word about the pre-event hard-work done my illustrious juniors. In HNLU, there is an indoor badminton court cum auditorium, painted blue and with asbestos roof. Well... I never thought any such building could look any good. These guys had done it. Wonderful... with all those heart-shaped balloons filled with gas, which formed an upward arc over our heads, the Hum and Tum of Hum-Tum hanging on the front of the stage looking at us, the varied cartoons on the wall featuring the oft quoted Lawyer Jokes, the over-all atmosphere of the junior-senior bond, that makes institutions. Special congrats to Saurabh Saraogi and Ravi of 2nd Semester for the art-work. They had succeeded in creating the perfect setting for the juniors to be welcomed into the fold, lose their inhibitions, and be that 'what', whatever they are.

The programs kicked off with Bharat Budolia of 2nd Semester, singing the good old 'Papa Kehte Hain'. This was before any comperes came onstage. That was a good one, putting everyone on their feet.
The main program for the was 'Revelations', which had the juniors all walk up to the stage when their respective names were called and introduce themselves, after which they were asked one tricky question each. The hosts were Tapan Narayana, Shriniwas, Abhinav Kadekar and Kumar Kaushik. Of these, Kaushik was clearly the best showman, chipping in with witty remarks to supplement the set-script. A true showman's worth is in his skill to improvise according to the situation. Kaushik sure had that skill.

The juniors all were, without exception, dull in their answering, especially to the mandatory question of what their biggest achievement in life was. They answered that it was getting admitted to HNLU. Shriniwas poked fun at this by asking one of the guys to name his greatest achievement in life other than getting into HNLU. The questions were the usual mix of innuendoed ones and point-blank dumb queries. But then, you tend to be accomodating because, after all we're in no position to throw the juniors out just because they weren't witty enough.

I place on record the acts of a certain spoilsport who thought he was being cool hijacking the Fresher's Party. That was the Special Officer on Duty at HNLU(because the old VC got fired), Pankaj Dwiwedi, IAS, who tried being a great showman, by barging into jurisdictions not quite his own. He was indeed a great showman with improvisations and all, asking G.K. questions relevant to the students state of origin. But then, there is also another quality of a great showman, which unfortunately he doesn't know. A great showman respects other showmen by not hijacking or attempting to hijack other showmen's shows. My new friend Marcus Jose humoured the confident S.O. by answering to his questions with a funny-toned, mocking, '"I'm sorry sir".

Another unsavoury incident was the one involving a new girl, who had the bad guts to threaten the crowd that she wouldn't speak if the crowd didn't keep quiet. Kumar Kaushik immediately cautioned her about her manners when dealingwith seniors, that too on Fresher's Night. I'd say what that ill-informed dame did was an insult to the good Crowd!!! After all The Crowd is the backbone of all successful shows.

In between 'Revelations' there were variety items, including songs by Himani Wasnik, a 'Quit Playing Games' sung by four 2nd Semester students, the names of whom I don't remember(Shriniwas was one of them), a dance mix by my buddy Ajay Rajput, Garima, Shalini and Rahul.
These items kept the audience from getting bored with the overkill of 50 'Revelations'.

The last program for the night was the much-awaited skit. This was the cherry on top of the cake. A continuation of last-sem's 'Spirit of HNLU' skit, this one featured mimicking of HNLU's favourite teacher's. Oh and what funny mimic's that too. There was Pushpakumar sir of Environmental Law fame, mimicked effectively in Vaibhav Shukla's extreme grief at one of the students' plucking of a flower. There was Uday sir, our Civil Procedure cum Constitution teacher, the loved warden of the Halls-Of-Residence, by Arindom Hazarika pausing a leap-year after almost every syllable. Then there was Mahesh sir, the political guru, played by Akshat Chaudhary, searching for a pen all over his body, taking long strides around the class room and his accented Hindi at somebody who's found talking in class.

Then came the coup-de-tat, by an actor of class, the Abhay Shankar 'Baba'. And that too, playing a most interesting character, Prof. Jaffer Hussain. The bloated lower lip, the perpetual stoop, the characteristic leafing through of every book that goes through his hands, the all-pervasive love for the fairer sex, all enacted skillfully to perfection, that one would think the absent Hussain sir was actually there.

The play was for the crowd and lived up to being a real crowd taker. We in the crowd really enjoyed all the jokes even though it looked to the expert eye as too artificial when it should have been spontaneous. The direction could have been better. But in the end the skit succeeded in its ultimate aim of putting the new crowd as well as the old crowd in high spirits for the next big thing in the evening the Dance-Party.

Well, by that time, dinner had started being served and I, ever the food-lover was first in line. About the gig, well... you know I'm not into this kind of dancing. Anyway great time. Everybody enjoyed the show. Me too.


Hail Hidayatullah !!!
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Strawberry Fields!!!

Arguably India's No.1 Rock Fest, organized every year by the students of NLSIU, Bangalore, Strawberry Fields is one event I really would like to go to. I read a review of the Fest on the RSJOnline. Here's the link to it:

http://www.rsjonline.com/articles/articledetail.asp?SNO=100

Top of my list for November, 2005. I'll be there.
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Dec 20, 2004

Hail Hidayatullah !!!

I wrote this article on the first anniversary of HNLU. It got published on the Law School Tutorial website.

Friends,
Many would tell you that it is otherwise. But, I should tell you, it is not so. Because I was there.
15th of July, 2003:
It was an assortment of students from all over India. I was among them. I was nervous, scared of the future and apprehensive of the risk I was taking. But what I saw around me, cheered me. I saw faces – full of hope for a bright future, eyes – intense and focused to achieve their goals, minds – that itched to change the world, souls – I yearned to know better, Friends – whom I would learn to cherish.
A lamp was lit, signifying the birth of a new University, founded with the cherished mission of ‘Dharma Samsthapanartha’ as its goal. As we watched, we saw the fire, we lived history.
A year hence, that fire still burns on. Hail Hidayatullah!
15th of July, 2004:
It's the first birthday of the infant. It's the day when one looks back and remembers fondly the events, of a year gone by. The pain, the trials and tribulations, the joy. All of which are part of the infants growth.
Tribute:
A year has passed, and one definitely feels proud and lucky to have been part of... of what will, in all probability be an institution of repute, of excellence, of glory, in years to come. We've transited from fly-filled hostels, sleepless mosquitoed nights, waterless bathrooms, half-built classrooms with broken fans and food you couldn't call food, to a respectable, student oriented, top-class University over the period of one year.
When one looks at achievements, there'll be the Louis M. Brown Client Counselling Competition which HNLU with its limited resources organized to a grand success, the 2nd best Memorial Prize won at the 4thNational Human Rights Competition and various minor achievements.
I take this opportunity to pay my tribute to HNLU and all the people who have been the life of it. It was the vision of many a great minds that gave us HNLU. It was sheer professionalism that saw the birth of a new University, built right from scratch, in a matter of few months. The infant grew, fighting the odds, surviving successfully against the storms that season the best. All throughout it was nurtured with the love of a father and the warmth of a mother, by one man. It was seen through its darkest hours by the wise guidance of this one man. I do pay my tribute to the man who made history and named it HNLU, our Vice Chancellor, Prof. Jose P. Vergheese. He continues with his efforts as the University is geared up to move into the new campus in the next academic year.
Hail Hidayatullah !!
I would pay my tribute
to Prof. G.V. Ajappa who taught me the first lessons in law during his Legal Method classes;
to Prof. Bhat Sairam, who inspired us to excel, who taught us to stand up for our rights, who, even though he is not at the University any more, makes his presence felt by the legacy he left;
to Dr.Maheshwar Singh, who took the first lecture at HNLU, who with his cheerful character has made life at HNLU a pleasure;
to Mr. Uday Shankar who felt the pulse of the students and stood up for them;
to Major Aby T. Varkey for the experiences he gave that changed our world view;
to Mr. Ashish Mohanty who was the students own teacher very much involved in academics as well as in non academics;
to Prof. Syed Jaffar Hussain who was the jolly spirit who roamed the corridors of HNLU spreading pure love and goodwill.
I would pay tribute to those non-teaching staff who contributed their handfull of sand towards making HNLU a prospective Everest.
I congratulate all my friends, on their succesful completion of a years learning at HNLU. I believe that they, like me, are better off by the experience they have been through. I dream for the great new future HNLU, about which, I would one day be able to talk with great pride.
Hail Hidayatullah !!!
***
Click on the title to access the published article at Blue Corner on LST.
Else, click below:
http://lawentrance.com/bchidayatullah.htm
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Dec 15, 2004

Power on the Coconut Tree

Here's an interesting metaphor for power, which my Political Science Professor told me:
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In Kerala, there is a coconut extract called toddy, which gives you a high when you drink it. Toddy tappers climb on top of coconut trees and collect toddy from pots which have been previously fixed up there. Quite often one finds these poor people, getting drunk on toddy and enjoying the night with dancing and merry-making. Sometimes, in their drunkenness some of them climb one of those tall coconut trees. Once they are up the tree, they drink whatever toddy is on the tree and get even more drunk. At that moment they would be feeling real good and 'on top of the world'. But soon they get confused and frightened because of their confusion. This confusion stems from their inability to come down from the tree owing to their drunken state. They eventually let go of their hold on the coconut tree and fall down and either die or are seriously injured.
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Same thing with power. When you first get the feel of power, you are extremely attracted to it. Then when you start having some power, you start wanting more. Then when you have more power, the quest still is for more power. Eventually that very want would destroy you.
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Power as it is!!!
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Thanks, Mahesh sir.
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Dec 14, 2004

Progress Bars

I've got a long list on my transfer's page in eMule. The list is so damn bloody long, that it might take a million light years or so to complete. But I have hope. Hope for the future. And what keeps me hopeful is the Progress Bar.

O Progress Bar,
Thou art a star,
Who gives us hope,
And helps us cope,
With all the pain,
Before the gain.

I have spent a million years staring at my progress bars. They never cease to seize my attention. It's a million prayers that moves the blue bar, to cover the red bar. They tell me that I am not there, where I was yesterday.

Wish I could have a progress bar, showing my life's progress in it. That way I would have a reminder of how much time I while away in front of the progress bar.
Aw! Forget it. That's not possible. Besides if I had such a bar, I wouldn't be very much surprised if I found myself staring at my progress bar, expecting some progress when I'm actually doing nothing.

What I understand is that my well-wishers are my progress-bars. Though they do not have the blue bar-red bar system, they're just fine.

Good-Night!!!
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Lazy Me

Well 'twas the lazy me who never gets time to even mail home that started so ambitiously a blog, expecting foolishly as always that this would be one thing i would do correctly. Here i am with only two posts after a lifetime has passed since signing up at blogger. Same old me. But this time i swear by whoever is the unlucky guy who is going to get his head blown off because i swear on his name, that i will never ever expect that i am going to get organized or anything. I'll just be same old me and expect same old me would find blogging interesting enough to do it regularly the way i do things which i like, examples of which may be sleeping, staring into the computer till infinity and so on. The funny thing is I'm always on the internet, doing all sort of things, neglecting my studies in exchange of the pleasure of... I think i got the subject for another post. So there.
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Sep 29, 2004

Tribute to Friendship

One day Kota and Chishty sent me a poem they wrote especially for me. I replied with another poem, I had written especially for them. That was the first poem I ever wrote. Here's that one for you guys.



Friends will come and friends will go,

The seasons change and it will show,

I will age and so will you,

But our friendship stays, strong and true.

- Chishty and Kota.

So say you, my bosom friends,

Aye to you, it will not end,

Age or season, what it may,

Our friendship stays all the way.

Whadya say, my twosome friends,

Of my way, of telling things.

And I'll stay, forever true,

In your sway, till time through.

The day will come, when we'll meet,

Till then we part, for what we dreamt.

I'd repeat it once again, the two of you,

Are best of friends, I'll ever have.

- Padayatty.


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Catch-22

A few years back I read this wonderful book by Joseph Heller called "Catch-22". That's where I got the name for this blog.
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