Deja Vu

It's been 3 years in IIT and i've seen plenty of PAFs. But today was something else. It was reality. I have never seen such a performance. Everything was so perfect. The streetplay, the music, the choreo, dialogues. The whole concept.

And you know what? - I can actually connect with the theme. The entire audience could connect with the theme. There's no doubt that inspite of everything, inspite of being "The cream of the nation", we IITians are in a sorry state.

We despise our classes. We dislike oue professors. We barely take part in anything. The only thing we have going for us are our friends. And thanks to IM, online forums and video-games, that may be gone soon too!

It's not difficult to see that something is seriously wrong. It's only recently that I've stopped watching movies, stopped playing video-games and actually gone out and done something. I hope today PAF was an eye-opener for atleast a few people.

The only creative or worthwhile thing I've done in IIT is Mood Indigo, for which I recieved a Special Mention tonite at the awards ceremony. But none of us, nor Neha, nor Abir, nor I went up to recieve. It was a protest. A silent protest against the fact that undeserving candidates have been awarded Institute Colours and a silent process against the entire selection procedure. Will people ever wake up? Will they ever dare to take some action against the politicization of every little thing in insti?

Which again brings me back to PAF. People keep saying that PAF is a waste of time and effort. They keep saying that we are no good at putting up a show, that the whole concept is flawed, that people are unhappy working for it.

Screw all those people who say that it's a waste of effort. It's not. It's a chance for an entire hostel to come together, for many hostels to come together, and prove that we are good at something. To show that there's still some spirit left in us. Let the barking dogs be - it makes little difference. We know that PAFs are worthwhile, that it is unique to IIT and that everyone who works in it is, at the end of a performance, overjoyed and previliged to have been a part of it. Kudos to Hostels 1, 4, 9 and 11. Hats off to Anshul Singhal. It was a great show. Even after putting so much into our own PAF, which was critically acclaimed as one of the best ever, we are not sad to take in second place. This one was that good.

And the best of all? - It carried a clear message. Even if it inspires some people to wake up, to do something, it'll be enough. It's stirred me up, that's for sure.

Kharaashein

Kharaashein. A production by Hostels 6, 10 and 13. The best PAF i've ever seen. It was amazing. Over 150 people on stage, 15+ voiceovers, and an effort by more than 300 students! It felt great to be part of something so good. Ofcourse, the music team didn't do anything great, but we did support the PAF in the end with some nice background scores.

The chawl is nearly complete. Just a few hours to go!


Prod work in progress: Making the chawl!


Fine Arts: The finishing touches on a backdrop


Matkifod during the final performance


Figuring out the music


The Peacock Dance: Vibrant Colours


Firedance - The last choreo


Post PAF Celebrations


It was an amazing experience. A great show to everybody who took part. Hope we win!

Cricket

"I just wanted to find out who we were playing."
~ Warwick Armstrong, Austrailan Test captain, seen reading a newspaper while fielding in the deep.

Cricket is India's National Timewasting Activity. And, man, is it good at wasting time or what? No other activity (with the exception of sewing) comes even close. And while fanatics and zealots claim otherwise, it remains true that - "Cricket is a game, which the British, not being spiritual people, had to to invent in order to have some concept of eternity." (A wise man indeed said this!)

Just the other day, a friend of mine went to watch the India vs England match, An English batsman hit the ball very hard indeed. Up and up the ball went, and then at the top it seemed to hang motionless in the air, poised like a hawk, fighting, it seemed, a heroic but fruitless battle against the chief invention of Sir Isaac Newton. Finally it landed right into his sleepy palms. He was ecstatic! Now why anyone would spend an entire day, shouting themselves hoarse, in the sweltering heat, watching ants move around and getting dehydrated in the process is beyond me. And to celebrate after going through all that? That's just plain loony!

What is cricket? Organised loafing. That's what it is.

A century? Yeah.. that's the length of a test match.

As for me, I do not play cricket because it requires me to assume such indecent postures.

PS: Don't kill me Kris!

War

Forever have I been here,
Forever have I looked out from behind these Cold Eyes.
I protect your way of life, Your culture;
The very things You find "most important".

Not benevolent; like a God of Old, I demand Sacrifice
Both sides must praise, Both sides must give;
Both sides will praise, Both sides will give;
You will die so that I may live.

Many times have they tried:
To declare me dead and bury me,
But I adamantly refuse --
Nothing lives forever; Except I.

Thinking about moving...

An oft heard conversation goes something like this:

"Hey SD... you've mis-spelt the URL of your blog. It's 'available'."

And then, I'm forced to explain: It's not a mistake. It's deliberate. What happened was that I was trying to find an address but every one I tried was taken already. Frustrated, I typed 'nothingsavailable' into the little box. But as luck would have it, some minstrel already hath registered it! Now I was peeved. In irritation, I mis-typed 'nothingsavaliable' as an indication to the world that, really, there are too few words around here.

But I now grow tired of going over the same long-winded story over and over again; So just today when someone "politely" pointed out the same, I drew upon my vast knowledge of the English language, and said nothing.

I think it's time to move to another blogspace.