The Book Thief

While the news channels proclaimed (in their own sensationalist way) that we are at the brink of World War III, I happened upon "The Book Thief" the movie. Set in Germany swallowed by propaganda during the years of WWII, it tells the inspirational story of a young Liesel; a girl adopted by a quaint German middle-aged couple and her passion for knowledge. But it isn't the story itself that captures your imagination, but the telling of it. The portrayal of the characters;. Papa, the cheerful old man, with a spring in his step, and a soul as light as a feather. Mama, who contrasts him so perfectly as the typical barking house-wife, who is later revealed to have a twinkle in her eye. Then there is the best friend and love-interest, Rudy, the embodiment of innocence and courage. Throw all these characters into a war-torn Germany, and watch the magic happen. 

However, what really got to me was the importance people gave to the written word back then. Max, a Jew elaborates how each of us live because of the Word spoken into us. Words are life. 

Reclining on my bean-bag typing on my laptop with my eyes closed, I think about how many books I could access with the swipe of my finger. How many do we actually read everyday? While we have 'life' itself at our fingertips, we tend to take it for granted and rather scroll down our facebook feeds. 

And then I think; if Liesel were in our shoes, what would she have done? Wouldn't she have read and read chapters upon chapters every single day, and then written them down? Wouldn't she have taken complete advantage over the multitude of information at her finger-tips and put them to the best use possible?

Unlike her, we were born into plentiful. We never lack a book to read, or a movie to watch. All the information in the world is at the tip of our fingers whether we own a smart phone or a desktop with internet connection. Liesel's eyes, on the other hand, would widen with amazement at such information. She would not waste any time, but spend each day filling her head with wisdom from sages past, and the shrewdness of today. 

We are a really blessed generation in a blessed part of the world. There is no plague, famine, or war to threaten our very existence. Our political structure is democratic, and encourages Human Rights, leaving us nothing huge to fight for, save the relatively luxurious existence we take for granted. This movie, and the time that I watched it told me one thing. The life we have is fleeting. We should make the best of it. 

Video

If only making a video was as simple as typing down a blog-post. apparently, when making a video, writing only is 10% of the effort. While blogging, once you've finished writing, the only thing remaining is to find that 'publish' button. 

But my new profession requires that I learn this amazing art of expression; and through experience and intensive youtube diy sessions, I've begun to observe movies and tele-serials not for their entertainment, but to see how the director decided to use the 3 point lighting set-up. And slowly I'm beginning to really appreciate the amount of work that's put into a movie. Producing a movie is like running a 300 million dollar company under a dead-line. 

But whatever we produce, be it text or a fancy video, what's more important is the ability of the artist/writer/script-writer to convey the message through whatever media he chooses. At the end, what we says matters more than how we say it. 

(This was a lame post, but it'll get better, I promise)

Be kind...

... For everyone you meet is fighting a great battle. 

This particular quote by Philo of Alexandria is just one of those awesome set of words that turn your whole perspective upside down. Sometimes situations push us down so hard that in our own reflex to get back out there and continue our fight with life, we tend to push other people down, or out of the way to do so. We say things we don't mean and hurt people unintentionally. 

I personally have a gift (is it really one?) for sarcasm. It spikes when I'm on my way to the bottom of the negative emotional spiral. For example, take the average ride in the autor-rickshaw (how I cringe at their presence!). Because of some weird conditioning, I tend magnet for cheating auto-drivers, and though I try my best and avoid being cheated, I end up being cheated... And what's worse? I always know when I am being cheated, but I can do nothing about it. Sometimes I imagine me reverse-conning the rickshaw guy. But I digress...

After the average rickshaw ride, it is not advisable for anyone to talk to me for the next 10 minutes, while I mutter away in frustration and anger. Because any remark/comment/question/statement no matter how innocent or sweet is hammered by some untasteful sarcasm followed by an even more untasteful smirk. 

And then that poor soul who got the brunt of my bitter humor reels with hurt and frustration and takes it out on someone else, and i have started a beautiful chain reaction the devil would be proud of!

Why this kolaveri? Why can't we just "Be kind, 'cause everyone we meet is fighting a great battle?" You see, it's no point realizing that the person I'm gonna be sarcastic to is "fighting a great battle," What I should realize is, is that the rickshaw walla is fighting the battle, and I need to be kind to him; hopefully I become less angry then. 

Thought I'd just put it out there...

Ode to a great friend

This is definitely not the first time I've used this platform to appreciate the best things that have happened to my life. Not that putting a friend's name here launches him on to the Hollywood walk of Fame. Guess, this is a way to remind myself (and said friend) years later how special he is. 

Okay, so here's to you, birthday boy, you messy half-crippled, pot-bellied you! Thanks for adding that extra dose of sunshine into my life, (and into the lives of many more, I'm sure). First of all, your amazing resourcefulness when it comes to all things Bangalore, food, first-aid, food, medicine and cooking... Oh, and did I mention, food! Pretty awesome indeed. And now, you're on your way to become an OT scholar too! Not very often you find friends like that.

That said, I've also been really blessed by your extreme concern and helpfulness.
Well, we all know that this helpfulness lies underneath a layers and layers of loud talking, leg pulling, mind-games (they are deep man, but not profound) extremely loud laughter and who can forget the religious protection of the rules of the game, (Pictionary). Well, but still, it's an honor, man, to have gotten to know that helpful, warm-hearted side of you; that love that reveals itself in action more than words. One of the said actions,is making sure I stuff my face every time I go to his place, I guess in an attempt to make sure I left heavier than I came. And of course, there's that brusque honesty that really gives me the perspective I need sometimes. You know what I'm talking about! And then there's the loyalty... Truly, truly a virtue I hope to one day learn from you. 

We have collected quite a few great memories, over the past 2 1/2 years, haven't we? Rides around the city, watching movies on the lappy, downloading loads of ebooks, bleach, hunting for subtitles that just don't work, an awesome trip to Nagaland, with a crazy trek to the mountains that left us both almost in need of stretchers; making, what I think is the longest power-point show ever made, posters, logos, more logos, videos... we really have had some great times. 

But hey, it's your birthday,
and as I said a prayer for you
thanking God for a friend like you, 
I thought I'd write this down for you
So umm... Have an awesome year ahead!

 

Man, I suck at poetry!

Back to the kitchen

After two years of living in the hostel, eating whatever was put on my plate, I finally have once again started cooking for myself, and thankfully the my new kitchen is not something I cannot stretch my hands in, and I don't have an excuse of a gas-cylinder, either. 
I have a nice, stylish looking induction cook-top, (which works marvels, btw. Totally recommend it for the bachelor cook with a hatred for lpg/rationcard hassles) 

It's been a while since I ate my mashed potatoes cooked 'my' way, with a bit of butter, milk, cheese and basil. with scrambled egg, tomatoes and boiled beans on side. It's actually a 30min cook-job, but having one stove-top really slows you down. Can't wait until my rice cooker gets here!

I hope to put on weight eating boiled food, and I really want to start experimenting with meat; But am just wary of the extra hard washing up that comes before, during and time! Ultra-simple quick-cooking recipes without fancy ingredients anyone? 

Either way, am glad of my new place of stay. It's the biggest place I've ever lived in by myself, and it's quite well furnished! Am just grabbing those blessings as they come! 

More to come, fosho!!!

The Floating Leaf at peace

If you ever read my blog archive, you'd find that there are three or four posts with the same title, mostly wrestling with whether I need to live in the present or plan with the future in mind. The wrestling has always been taking place in the back of my mind, even when I don't write about it, but for the past 3-4 months, it has settled a lot toward focusing on the present. Wise words from a kurta-clad friend helped me feel at peace with this new development. 

If you've read/watched the "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior", (and if you haven't, I strongly suggest you do) you'd remember the philosophy of 'staying in the present'. Everything that matters is right now. Obviously, I fell in love with the philosophy when I heard it and some of you who know me would say that I tend to go overkill this one. I have always felt an existential ease with the process, and I have been the most productive when I am at peace with the uncertainty of the future, and even now, I feel that I may not have many regrets, if I get the chance to grow old and look back at my life. 

But even when I make it my purpose to work one day at a time, there are times I tend to get thrown off this philosophical horse. Mostly it's because of the overflowing emotions that I am learning to control. The first one is obviously panic. When I suddenly lift my eyes toward the future and have the swirling mist blind me and the well-meant yet discourgaging voices of those I trust and respect, I tend to lose focus on the present and begin to worry about the tomorrow, and at the end of the day, get frustrated with how I've handled the past, leading to this horrible vicious cycle that throws me into this rut making me unproductive and useless. 

The second, and more subtle (and therefore more vicious) way I lose control is to count chickens. When everything is going right with the present, I guess it's human nature to project the graph toward the future and imagine the future. The future; what was once a misty void now seems to be a paradise. The danger with this thinking that comes so naturally to us is the amount of happy hormones wishful thinking releases, making us not want to get out of that happy world. The moment we begin to count chickens, however, we tend stop working toward the goal we projected so beautifully. (To be clear, this is different for those of you who work with a dream in hand. Who work toward something you desire and overcome the odds to achieve the utopia in your head.) It does take intense effort on my part to stay focussed on being as useful as possible in the present. 

Well, just an update on the floating leaf: more to come :)

Focus outward

Like I mentioned in floating leaf 3, it does get unsettling when people all around tend to wonder 'what you're going to do after graduation', and more often than not, I was tempted to put this meme up on facebook!

The last few months have been quite difficult for me in this regard, filled with this gnawing question; what am I supposed to do with my life? Where is that hole in the world that I'm supposed to fit in? Where is my niche? I have looked at many possibilities, and have turned most of them down. I have spent sleepless nights pondering and praying as to whether I say 'yes' to this offer, or is that one better. 

While I went through this, there were so many friends who were there to support me emotionally and spiritually, and sometimes give me sound advise. This is also a shout-out of thanks to you all. 

Two years in a cloistered environment like a Theological Institute makes you soft in the head. You tend to somehow close your eyes to things that happen around you, and that lack of looking outward makes you focus on yourself more than anything else. And that's how you become self-pitying and pathetic, and that pushes you into depression and frustration. Three weeks at home, and I begin to look outward again; at people with difficult life-styles, friends who work things out the hard, but right way; I look at life in general, with all its bright colours and highlighted by rough jaded patches, and the moment I take your eyes off myself, everything falls into focus.

And once again, everything is clear. I've been asking the wrong questions. It's not "what should my career be like?" but "what should I do right now that will make a difference right now?". He will take care of the rest. 

Happy New Year!

Here I am, writing my first post this year. And I have a 3000 word assignment that is due in 23 hours! Shocking? Well, I do this all the time. Experience in JNU hasn't helped either. It's interesting, how one craves for college life when he works, and craves for work life when he is in college! Knowing that I just have two more months at SAIACS has started working on the tectonic plates of my psyche; and I'm gearing myself to work my head off once again. 

The Floating Leaf moves on into another phase. What is it going to be this time? Publishing? Advocacy? Social Work? Education? I'm not sure yet, but as the spectator of my own life, I'm at the edge of my seat!

Home

It's a strange thing. When you want to post on your blog, you never get around doing it. But when you want to write your assignment due in 4 hours, you get the strongest urge to blog. Why is it always this way? While this may be a sign of unproductivity, laziness and lack of discipline, it at least makes for one more good post!

Home. Where the suitcases are. Where my family is. Where I belong. Right now, Home is H-68, Trivandrum. It changes every 3 to 5 years. It has been that way since I was a kid. While everybody wants to go back to their own hometown for vacation because they miss the familiar surroundings, and the climate and the smells and the familiar friends, where everybody knows them. But for me, the place is not as familiar as the hostel I'm staying in right now. I don't have friends my age there. It is not the best place for a holiday. 

But right now, sitting alone in a class-room, trying to focus my mind on the assignment, my mind wanders around. I am alone. Everyone have somehow finished their assignments, and are having fun together, while I am still alone in the class. But I never ever ever feel lonely. I still feel I am safe, and secure; not just because of the assurance of Divine company, but also because of a family back home, waiting for me. While I may not have the greatest urge to get there right now, just the thought of my family brings me a sense of remote community; in spite of the fact that I do not call them often enough, or even email them. 

Thank You, all at home! For just being there!

Lots of Love

The Blog Evangelist

In a couple of days, I might actually get a new blog convert; a fine respite to my own ever-increasing disinterest, marked by the increasingly boring posts that you see popping up. If you're at my blogsite for the first time, and if you are a friend of mine, you would go to the years 2008 and 09 where I've actually written something worth reading! 

But back to blog-converts...

Ever since I started my blog in the year 2006, I've managed to tell a few select people about it, and those I did, I persuaded to start ones of their own. Some are defunct, while others are going strong! The peppy linguists' blog was started, and so did Parul's and Mahim's; the angry old man's blog revived, and now, there'll be a new one! 

I'll post and tweet the link as much as I can! I'm sure this new writer will be awesome too!!! 

Words

It's been a while since I've posted, and I thought I'd resume my post with a few updates, for those of you who read my blog to know what's up with me.
I'm still in Theological college, doing hopefully my final year here. I can study for one more year if I want to. I'm not sure what I want to do with my life actually. If any one of you out there who think I might be of help in your enterprise/organization, let me know. I am pretty good when it comes to computers and writing. Though I can keep good inter-personal relationships, I'm horrible at public speaking. As long as you work for justice and equity, I'm all ears!
Ok. that's it for the CV.
Right now, I'm reading a book on Trauma and Recovery; and I'm finding it very difficult to read it. It talks about how fragile the human mind is, and how it can be irreversibly broken by traumatic events or human atrocity. The psychological damage a rape victim, or a car-crash survivor, or a soldier that has seen battle goes through is immense, and though the the symptoms are more or less unseen, the cause is like a huge iceberg under the person's conscious being.
And an insensitive word, or a loose remark can actually create havoc in that person's mind; that the person could even drown in depression for days... And in today's world, there are more people than not that have experienced trauma; more likely because of domestic violence or child-abuse or rape or war, as opposed to being victim to a tsunami, or an earthquake.
While my close friend and inspiration, the Angry Old Man would shake his fist at the system, and fight to make sure abusers and war-mongerers are never born, I, being a little more passive; would watch out for those that need help, and try and help make right emotionally, mentally and spiritually the wrong that has been done to them. 

Trip to NE Post 1 Train Ride

The journey, though hot and tiring, was peppered with lots of fun and jokes.

This is the post you've all been waiting for! about the awesome adventure trip to NE!, well, technically, just Nagaland, with a longish stop-over at Guwahati. Nonetheless, the trip was awesome, not just as an adventure trip, but a learning experience in culture, language and err... travel-planning.

The train journey was 'AWESOME' Barney Stinson style. We had earlier booked Sleeper-Class tickets via apparently the 'only' train from Bangalore to Dimapur. It stopped at 70 odd stations! 3 days n 2 nights! But thankfully we had amazing co-passengers.
I remember, in the movie Spy Game, Robert-Redford tells Brad Pitt that cigarettes are the best ice-breaker. I was thrilled to know that the best ice-breaker in any sleeper-class compartment is a full deck of cards. I realized that almost 99% males in our lovely country knows how to handle a deck of cards. We spend 4 to 6 hot hours playing Bluff, Rummy and Donkey. We got to know the co-passengers, a bunch of Assamese laborers in Bangalore. Fun, honest and soft-spoken to the point of being coy. My friend and I, two average South Indians, with a loud sense of humor seemed like aggressive North Indians next to them.
 Another bunch of co-passengers, some Thangkul Bible College students also provided us directions to get around NE, and good suggestions about where to go and what to eat.

Parenting

While I was getting a hair-cut today, I was transported back in time when visiting the barber-shop was like visiting the dentist, (or like going to your piano-lesson when you know you haven't practised!) Basically, I could feel that sense of anxiety and worry for an unpleasant 15 minutes; where a stranger with no sense of personal hygiene runs a pair of blunt scissors through your hair, pulling it out, and pushing your head left and right, pretending you were some sort of rag-doll with a head that can turn 360 degrees!

However, my parents were sympathetic to my plight, and used to listen helplessly as I complained. Unlike the young mother I saw today. She came with her young son whom I presume studied in the Second Grade. While the barber was trying to cut his hair, she was the one shouting at him asking him to hold his head still, and pushing his head down herself when he didn't know how to. And I thought to myself. This is the ultimate betrayal! When you thought you could rely at least on your parents through this difficult ordeal, they break your trust, yielding to the pressures of conformity in the barber-shop, instead, of at least having the fun of watching the barber struggle as you refuse to conform!

I have seen kids become constant class-toppers because of this sort of up-bringing, and I have also seen kids cave in to peer-pressure later on. What struggle would it be, for a parent to tight-rope-walk the thin balance between disciplining your child and giving him his dose of TLC. It reminds me of the Calvinist-Arminian Debate! 

Allergic to books

Recently I put up a status-update on my Facebook account that said I was allergic to books, and then made a half-clever remark about the ebook revolution. Though not many on facebook know, it is very true. I AM allergic to books. Especially the ones in the library! I think it's the dust or the book mold, but whatever it is, whenever I open a book, my throat gets blocked, and I cannot breathe, and I end up coughing, and reeking with bad-breath.

The frustration is that most of what is so valuable to me is on paper and no where else. Unless somebody shows me how to find whatever I need from whichever book online - for free or for a very low price. (It is interesting how I now associate anything soft-copy with being free. What has piracy done!) Anyway, this is just a shoutout whoever happens to pop into my blog today. I need your prayers desperately! I have a fourteen page assignment to finish tonight. (16 hours, max) and I have a fever. I have 3 books I must read (I guess I'll use a bed-sheet or something to cover the nose) and 16 articles. And I need the brain-power to last (and focus) for the next 16 hours... 

SAIACS update

This is just an update of happenings at SAIACS.

things are going fine here. slightly too fast for my comfort though.

I had to make a power-point show (along with Jeremiah) for SAIACS as they're applying for accreditation to Mysore University.

It took us the full of three nights. The show was 10:30min long, with 97 slides. We had to record a voice-over, which included a lot of amateur sound editing (a first for me!) While it was a learning experience, it involved me staying up till 3:30am two nights in a row. (and getting up at 7:30am the next day) and no afternoon siesta. resulting in a bit of harsh flu.

But everything went off smoothly, and the presentation has been, well... presented, successfully.

Now I have to get back to my studies, along with flu.

Of course, something else has been stealing my attention these few days.

The SAIACS volleyball tournament. We won yesterday's league match convincingly, and lost today's the same way.

There are three more league matches to go, and all our heads are filled with strategy.

If only we had more than 24 hours a day!

It feels like I'm alive again, and though I may not be explicitly contributing to society in anyway, I am glad to be alive and enjoy God and society!

Until the next post!

Are we born snobbish?

The contents from this post is a result of a few insightful conversations with sensible people. Therefore, thank you, sensible people.You'll know who you are. (The post is not polished, and the chances of me editing it is rare.)

Ever since I got immersed in to the (non-activist) leftist movement at JNU, I have always tried to open my ears to the voices of the poor and the oppressed. I try to look out for those that 'fall between the cracks' by either blending in too much or by being too silent. The orphan and the widow; the bonded laborer, the HiV victim cannot find the words to express their distress. They have been taught to scream silently, so that people like ourselves wouldn't hear them when we walk over them. And while there are a few who take advantage of their weakness and snatch from them what little they have, the rest of us either choose not to look in that direction, or mumble a prayer before deleting the memory off our head. I however, try to keep my eyes peeled and my ears dirt-free so I can catch the slightest whimper to either pray for or do something about it. Or so i thought...

I now realize that I am far-sighted; oblivious to the problems budding in my own college campus, just until a prophetic friend pointed it out to me. There is an entire set of people in my own college that look at me as a hi-fi person. As someone brought up in several urban settings, with (relatively) extensive computer knowledge, and who calls English his heart-language, I get a status of being one of 'those' 'hi-fi' people, while the 'normal' or 'simple' people born in a rural or poorer urban set-ups do not relate with me. There are other people who refuse to converse in English, but  can understand it, and I don't make a move to get to know them. Well, we can't blame anyone for that; we all have our different wavelengths and areas of interest, and it is these that define who our friends are. 

But this obsession with sticking with 'my own kind' is the beginning of the polarization of our campus, where people form different cliques based on their ethnicity and class-status. Everybody has their own comfort zone. But this gradual increase in the chasm between cliques deafens our ears to any cry from help from outside the group. Even Facebook doesn't effectively bridge the class/ethnicity divide between groups in our campus. The Lord, who's eyes range throughout the earth looking for a heart committed to Him and His mission for the 'orphan' and the 'widow' would reject us; who refuse to lift our head outside our comfort-group-huddle and take a look around now and then.

But why is it that we don't look outside our group? Because it involves a sense of insecurity of thinking differently from those within. Thinking differently from the group could lead you to a slow exile from the group itself. But in order to stand between the gap for the poor and the oppressed such small sacrifices will have to be made.

To keep things going

It's been more than a month since I've blogged, and now, I'm back; because of an unintended yet pricking reminder that it's been too long since I've left me ol' blog-desk. We writers generally bump into writers block when we either have nothing to write about, or when we have too much to write about that we don't know where to start. Inspiration comes when we generally have just enough to write about. But it's not because of writer's block that I haven't posted for more than a month now. It's because of the censor board in my head that tells me that my new found yet close friends would not take my rants about them very well. (No guys, you're all nice people... luv y'all!) 

Today we had a great game of lawn-badminton sans the floodlights, wooden courts, competition and resulting tiredness. A few months ago we had a refreshing game of volleyball, again without the angry coaches, scouts and angry team-mates. Just enough to release a good deal of sweat and a lot of endorphin. Looking back at my post-adolescent days when there was this unexplained yet deep desire to prove myself to be better than everyone else at almost every sport/skill, I didn't seem to enjoy sports. But after so many years of physical hibernation, just playing the game for no other reason that just playing the game in itself brings so much joy. Sure, my volleyball game and my badminton game will never be as good as it was 4 or 5 years ago, but who cares? It's not like I'm competing for the Olympics!

Not that I'm aged now or anything, but it's interesting to see how age changes ones priorities. What was once an insecure adolescent who finds his happiness by building his own skills that he can hide behind them, is now one who tries to focus on building up the people around him. (All you cheeky cynics, note the word tries!!) Also this 'letting go' of such obsessions gives me this sense of peace, that I now realize was forfeited when I decided to be 'better' than everyone else.

Moral of the story: Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?

(Hopefully my next post will come out sooner and better. Writer's block still not cleared. the nanowrimo experiment didn't help either)

Negotiating Spaces

This post has been sitting in the waiting-room of my head for quite a while now! (Thanks Subbu!)

I'm writing this post at 6:30am. The only reason why I got up so early in the morning was that I need to finish an assignment by 7:30am. Unfortunately, my mind seems to be interested in other things and my stomach seems to be uninterested in the Tea I just drank, so I might as well play along. (Hope no professor sees this :P)

Fourth month into SAIACS, and back to complete health (thanks for all your prayers! TB has finally said good-bye) I am back in business! 4-5 hours of sleep everyday, and lots and lots of incomplete to-do lists in hand. I'm loving it! Though, interestingly, this was not the reason why I joined here in the first place! 

When I decided to join a Bible college, it was basically to take time off and learn about God and myself. To have a contemplative two years after which I should have figured out which direction I should be headed. So the fact that we get huge single-seater rooms, good food and excellent academic stimulation in this Bangalore periphery made me apply. Interestingly (though not surprisingly) things have been way different than planned.

This being the third campus I've lived in is more crammed than the first two. People literally piling on people. All sense of anonymity is lost. People would come to know how many times you've used the loo that week, and for some sadistic reason, will pass on the information! And though I have a single room, its prime location in the hostel makes it an ideal storage-space for all the day-scholars and a good hang-out for hostelites. This meaning, all sense of privacy is lost! And in the words of a dear professor of mine, we need to learn to just 'negotiate our spaces'. 

Though I'm ripping her phrase off her context, we've been playing with these words for quite sometime, and they have proved to be useful. The fact that we are packed like sardines in a can explains that we need to learn to negotiate our spaces of anonymity; basically trying not to tread on other's toes and sharpening our filtering systems (yeah, the ones that make sure we don't drop our guard let out important secrets). We also learn to negotiate spaces of priority. 'Is my academics more important? or is it that friend that needs my help?' 'Will I lose both rabbits if I chase them at the same time?' 'Or will I get both mangoes with the same stone?' We learn to negotiate spaces of self-images 'Should I care of what people think?' or 'Should I just learn to be myself?' It's interesting that after so many years in closed campuses, I find that I'm learning these things for the first time! With this lack of human 'space' in this huge sparsely populated campus, we have to learn to negotiate our spaces in order to live a sane life. 

 

Paradise

Never thought I'd get back to studying, but here I am, back to unreality. I remember crying myself to sleep on my first day in Delhi. Staying on top of a deserted house in a village that was famous for its dangerous gangs. It was quite traumatic in the beginning, to hear of thefts in nearby houses, and a theft in the very same house that I had just moved into. At that time I did not have any house-hold things, except for a rice-cooker. I tried cooking on my very first night there, and I gagged over and over while I tried to stuff the sticky rice in as fast as possible. I wasn't even used to eating alone! 

2 years (counting 5 months at home) in a life like that, where my worries were about stuffing money in socks when I walked home after 11 in the night, and how I would get up in the morning for work when I was forced to stay up all night because there was no electricity and the mosquitos that swarmed like the locusts during Moses' plague. 

Now, all I seem to worry about is not being able to keep in touch with friends and not being able to organize myself, and not be as productive as I should be. The food, the laundry, security problems and the company ot have fun with is taken care of! I am pampered in many ways. I hope I do well here. Must get my act together.

Where are you from?

Being a campus hopper all my life, I have found that the first few questions people ask you could tell you a lot about the atmosphere you're entering into. When I walked into my Std V class in Chennai for the first time, everybody said. "Which class do you belong to?" "Std V? Sec A? Right this way!" Do you know Tamil?, no? Are you a foreigner? Where do you live? Oh! How much is your rent?..." I got to answer all these questions on my first day at school, all of 9 years. But I (much later) figured out that they were bunch that hadn't seen anything outside Chennai. That last question told me how particular they were about the class-setup. Who was richer than the other, and why. 

When I moved to JNU, the question there was... "Which college did you study in last?" Obviously, trying to gauge your past education, and calculate your IQ based on that information. At Xaviers, it was a more happy-go-lucky kind, where one asks "What are your interests?" hoping you would have the same hysterical love for jive dancing, F-1 racing, or obscure modern poetry as they do. 

At SAIACS, the question is more primordial. "Where are you from?" People like myself, who have been travelling around do not have an accurate answer. I end up telling where my parents were from, which gives them some satisfaction. Somehow, as a person living in cosmopolitan areas all my life, the question shocks me. But it reveals a lot more. The asker, mostly someone stepping into a cosmopolitan environment for the first time in their life would prefer finding someone they could relate with better on a cultural level; mainly to help both asker and askee deal with the crazy cosmopolitan environment. It also helps build stereotypes about places and people. Put strange faces and behaviors into boxes. It is an amazing coping mechanism, helping the person adjust better if not used with caution. Stereotypes could become unproductive and racist if not handled with care.

Since 80% of the campus are exposed to such environments for the first time, much care must be taken to not step on anybody's toes. Just to know what the person's background is will let most people know where his toes are. e.g. whether the person eats pork, or whether he gets offended by sarcasm, etc. During my BA, I was thought about the evils of stereotypes, that could lead to racism, and how mean it is to ask questions based on ethnicity.  It's interesting how a little more basic (rather mundane) knowledge can help build (instead of break) relationships with strangers.