Count Your blessings

Today may not be the best day for me to write about thanksgiving, because today is one of those (many) days that I got up out of the wrong side of the bed. Nothing has been going right with me all day, and there is so much of other important things I should be doing right now. But the reason why I'm sitting in front of the screen, trying to put my thoughts on thanksgiving on the screen is simply because of the fact that I've encountered another writer's block.

But, No matter what block we may face, or what looming problem we may be staring at, or how depressed we may be, we always will have a reason to thank our God Almighty. Surprisingly, every time we feel so depressed or so frustrated with life that we feel like making a hole in a wall, Counting our blessings and thanking God for them serves as a really good stress buster/anti-depressant/tension reliever.

Oh, but of course, we all know how difficult it is to be grateful to a God, who apparantly got us into this trouble in the first place? It is impossible for us mere mortals to thank Him for His never-ending love and mercy, It isn't in our nature to do so. But, in spite of the overwhelming tension, take time to 'Count Your Blessings' and ' Name them one by one', 'it will surprise you what the Lord has done.'

Speaking out of personal experience, I realized how frustrating it is to keep complaining about the unforgivably slow life I lead in this God-forsaken University far away from the rest of the 'happening' world. I also realized how moody and selfish I became after a few days. Looking this sad countenance in the mirror didn't help things, but made things worse. I became edgy, sarcastic and started hurting people around me with harsh words, until I met a few really grateful people.

For those of you who've been through this before will be completely agree with me about how torturous it is to suddenly bump into a person who's had worse day than you did, and yet praises God with all his/her might for the great day he/she had. The worst part is, no matter how great your day was, these grateful people will always display a happier face than yours. I felt terrible about myself, and I wondered how I could be such a jerk. I immediately fell to my knees and begged Him for forgiveness and thanked Him for all that He had done for me.

Right after that, all my burdens were lifted (atleast from my heart, cause I still had deal with the mundane problems of life after that) and I was able to once again walk the pilgrims path with renewed lightness.

It's a girl! ABORT HER! It's a boy! hmm...

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1058541

Check out that link.. It's too funny! Especially on the pathetic state this world is coming to! and it doesn't exactly put a better picture of North India than I already have! (Trackback to the previous blog on altruism., ) But still, we've got to thank those doctors for all the hard work they're doing trying to get a balance in the male-female ratio! but they're getting their paycheck anyway, so why bother?

And besides, what is this world coming to? If every man tries to get more than his share of the meat laid out for all using means practically unnecessary, what will we see at the end? Nothing for nobody! and yet again.. hmm...

anyways, i've been staring at this screen for the past 15 minutes, and I haven't been able to say anything funny or witty or even sarcy about this newsbit... hmm... I guess I'm driven beyond depression!

Bam Bam Boom!! There you go JNU

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I’m going JNU bashing again! And again, I’m doing it in JNU’s very own computer center, from where I get free internet! Yes, you got that right, I do have a mania of biting the hand that feeds me. But again, freedom of speech is what it’s all about, right? But of course, it’s not about the wonderfully snail-paced bureaucracy, but the wonderfully animated (That’s the kindest word I could find) Student’s voting body.

Last night, after a beer drinking session, (of course, consumed sprite only) we were called to vote for the student leaders in the JNU SSS elections. The School of Social Sciences… Hmm… When I first came to JNU, I expected the people of SSS to be friendly, happy-go-lucky, yet dignified research scholars. I thought that they were all ideologists who respect others feelings and perspectives, and allow for these elections to go off as smoothly and as nicely as possible.

But no!! All that these guys (and girls) were intent on doing was to vindictively oppose every word the people from the other party said. Even when they were selecting the election committee, someone or the other was protesting against the selection because they were either a part of a certain party, or were having weird ideologies, or did not have his bath everyday. So, the poor people at the selection committee were making new names, and in the end. One of the people in the final election committee list was getting drunk with friends! Yes readers, this is what I call politics!

Oh! And I forgot to tell about how pathetic my journalism instincts are! As a wannabe freelance journalist, I’m supposed to carry a camera 24x7, right? But no, I couldn’t capture a great fist-fight that I could’ve caught on camera and attached along with this post… Hmm… I really need to learn the art, huh?

And again guys, please, if you have any information about how a first-timer freelance journo is supposed to go about things, do drop in a comment, and as always, I shall be eternally grateful!

The floating leaf

All of us have faced, sometime in our lives, the following question: 'Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?' Grr... When my grandad asked me that question, I did not have any idea on how to answer him. He called me a fool and a person with no aim in life. Mommy got a lot of reprimanding because she apparantly didn't 'raise me properly'. Hmm..

There was a time when I decided what i'll become. But every year, the ambition changed. At first, I wanted to be a missionary. Then I wanted to become a pilot, after which i wanted to become an astronaut, after which i wanted to become an astrophysicist, after which I wanted to be a psychologist, after that, i wanted to go into the media.

Right now, i'm doing my Masters in Sociology. I don't know what i'll end up as after I finish my 2 years of MA. And i don't really care.. God's in control...

And as usual, I'm the only one who 'doesn't really care'. Dad, mom, granparents, and the whole battalion of uncles and aunts are worried about what i'll be doing after I finish my Masters. The more money I make, and the bigger the house I have, the more i am worshipped. If i end up as a missionary, or a poor social-worker, i'm the butt of all malicious gossip.

But, (as usual) I don't care! If God wants me to be a not-so-rich guy, I'm ready to 'walk the line'. So, i've committed my future before God, and thus, I have no reservations of my own!! Right now, I'll give my all to the things He's called me to do.. Like study, take care of the cell group, and singing in the choir. I'm also learning a lot...

Journalism? Maybe.. Creative writing? nah!!

I know this is a well-used, absolutely stale advice, but Do not for one second believe your mother or your girlfriend when she says that you're really good at something. It happened with me, because she kept on praising me for my 'good english' and I actually took that to heart and decided to go for a creative writing competition!! Insane, eh? Absolutely! I also planned to take up freelancing, but I don't know how to go about it!

Maybe the reason why I couldn't go to the creative writing competition or wasn't called by the editor for my story was to save face! I don't know how else I got that weird idea, but I suddenly felt I was really good at writing! Hmph! I realized that my skills aren't that hot only when I started reading decent blogs! man, they can write! and do they know a lot! and they can really form opinions in seconds. But me? All I can do is read something, think about it, mull over it, sleep over it, and then blog it the next day! by then, the news is too 'cold'! Damn! But anyway, I guess I am made for other things more worthwhile than writing about people and things.

Oh, and freelancing? Gee, I need to know the art of making contacts! I ran across this reporter for the India Today group. (for all non-indians who stumble here, India Today is a reasonable media group. They make good fortnightly mags, but they're new ventures are predictable flops) I actually first thought that he was into writing for the magazine, but then, I figured that he was a reporter for this tabloid I never heard of!!

He promised to call me when I told him I had a great story on the JNUstudent's union hunger strike, but he never did!! A professional freelancer would know the exact reason, but me? I have absolutely no clue!! Need some help on this guys/gals!

Hmm... I guess, all I can do is just put down my anger and frustration on the screen. Hope there'll be a time when I can put more than just that!

What happened to altruism?

The best thing about living in a pseudo-communist area like JNU is that, you can sit in front of its own computer and bitch about its administration and the politics around it, and they can do nothing about it!! All hail the freedom of speech!! Even if they want to bash me up, they can’t… They can only talk ill of me and my blog, put up posters and burn my effigy. But isn’t that how publicity stunts work?

But you might wonder what it is I have against JNU and the way they run things around here. Well, let me tell you what happened yesterday, so sit back and get bored!

I enter the Dean’s office, which consists of this huge hall, where table, chairs and bureaus are strewn about in this random fashion. Ideally, there was supposed to be a person sitting at every table, and checking on the overwhelming stack of files piled on each table, but no! All the ‘officers’ in there were gathered around one particular table, talking and laughing to themselves. All of them had a cup of tea in their hand, and I could guess they had been there talking like that for the past 15-20 minutes! (Don’t quote me on this though)

Finally, one of them turns to look at me, wondering where the hell I had come from. So he asks me, and I ask him when they are supposed to put up the hostel list. They turn back at me, and look at each other in surprise, as though wondering what the heck I meant by hostel list! At long last, this watchman from the corner of the room shouts out that I could check it out on the first week of August! Yeah, right. He was the guy who told me last week that it’ll be out this week. He was also the same guy who said the week before last that it would be out last week!! And now he tells me next week?!

But as you can see, I’m only good at talking behind people. I never had the guts to fire them in the face! I just walked out in shock and anger.

Anyway, afterwards, I thought about how all the political parties were active in making helping the girls get their hostel, and how they were apparently pushing the Dean’s office to get the job done faster. It was later that I realized that after majority of the students got their rooms, they dropped the issue altogether.

When I first came to JNU, I wondered why political parties were so active here among the students union, and what made the students union so active. I later realized that it was because the administration was so bad, that such unions could survive. When I was in St Xavier’s, those catholic fathers were such good administrators, that they did whatever they could to keep the standards of the college at a high level. The student union couldn’t exactly ask for something.

Well, this must be a taste of the ‘big bad world’, JNU, with all its greatness in the field of Indian social research, is such in such a pathetic condition, that the administrators need the politicians to goad them, while the politicians begin their goading just to show the rest of the world that they are still alive, and ‘kicking’!!

What has happened to the idea of altruism, where people do things without expecting anything for themselves? Why does everybody work in such a way as to get their own agenda done? What has happened to the joy of doing things just for the sake of the betterment of the neighborhood/ city/ country/ world?

We can start with Bush, and his agenda of getting oil, or some other gain, in the guise of conquering terrorism. Even the terrorists engage in a very personal warfare with Bush, without considering the welfare of the innocent lives? Interestingly, the world lives on this very fine balance where people work out everything for their own interests.

Even many Christians and Evangelists and other social servants do what they do just for the sake of being recognized; “That people may see their good works and glorify them instead of their Father in Heaven”.

Big deal, after pointing fingers at the rest of the world, I’m no different. I would readily do many things as long as I get something for myself. What would happen to the world if there are more and more people who live their lives just to make lives better for those who live around them? Imagine.

Something useful, at last!

I have finally decided to stop being lazy and pen down (or rather type down) what I felt about a couple of books I’ve read. (Yes, I’ve started reading.) I have been given a proper format for a book review, and the following paragraphs will definitely not follow such a pattern, as you will see.

The first book is a novel, called ‘Be Cool’ by Elmore Leonard, the guy who wrote the book ‘Get Shorty’. Yes, this book is just like the previous one, with full of witty lines. And yes, someone’s made a movie on the story too.

It is definitely a good read as it takes us into the Audio industry in America. If you have no idea about the audio industry, this is a great read, with lots of knowledge fillers. Of course, the protagonist, Chili, is a great guy, and comes up with the coolest of lines.

The story is about Chili, and the things he goes through in order to make a new movie. He actually lives through an adventure to get a good story for the movie. The story is all about this adventure involving the mafia, hired killers, traitors and relationships, and, as I said before, about fast-talking Chili.

This book is a two-time read, and I would definitely recommend a second-hand copy. (It is not worth the actual price, as you only feel like reading it once, unless you’re the collector type)

The next book, is a boring book on the politics of India from 2001 to 2004. A friend and I were supposed to review this book together, for college, and he did good justice to the review, with better language, etc. I on the other hand, prefer to give you guys a more ‘chilled out’ perspective.

The book is called Polity in India 2001 – 2004 by CP Bhambhri. CP Bhambhri was a professor in JNU, until a few years ago, and he’s the permanent member of the Pioneer. (An Indian daily) The book is a actually a collection of his own articles published in many newspapers. This gives the book a relatively loose feel, with lots of seemingly irrelevant articles, but, with the material at hand, it is well compiled.

If you haven’t been reading the newspapers for the past four years, or if you are interested in Indian politics, but don’t know a thing or two about the happenings, this is a good place to start. But, I would profusely warn you to watch out for his strong leftist leaning. He’s completely anti-BJP, and pro UPA. (If you don’t understand these terms, you’ll figure them out after reading the first few pages of the book.) His language is very simple, and can be read by the average reader. Hope you guys have fun reading it.

I hope to send book-reviews like this every week. This is a tall order, with the amount of coursework I have, but I hope I can squeeze in time for reading and typing.

Do post your comments, if you guys have actually read till here.