Cranberry Sauce

I am sad. But I am not quite sure about the origin of my sadness, nor its magnitude. I wonder if I’m sad or depressed, or very sad or very depressed. It has a sense of finality about it – like the end of an era, or the end of all hope. The only thing that comes to my mind when I think of nostalgia now is nitesh jain. To say my life has spiraled downward into apathetic degeneration would be just too dramatic and quite unreal. I can feel the life slip out of my hands, but to make things better (or worse) it’s as if I’ve been administered an overdose of tranquilizers to ease the pain. What I have then, is the sight of my slow, methodical amputation by my own hands, before my own eyes, while the rest of my useful faculties lie gagged and anesthetized so that I can see my own pain, but yet not feel it. Anticlimactic culmination is again too strong a phrase to use, this feeling is soft, innocuous, numb… brutally agonizingly incapacitating, but comfortable in its execution. Like a painless de...

Forgive me this one time, this wont happen again I wont let my thoughts run free, the way they would I wont let my desires fuel, the way they once did And then again, and then again I wont dream of having your body in my arms, again Your slender figure, your delicate curves, your smooth skin, your anxious moulds I wont long to see the crystal gleam in your eyes Your eyes............................ I wont dream of your moist lips on mine The sweet summer taste of honey and lime I wont ache to smell your bountiful tresses Or stroke my crude hands over your tantalizing silken mane The strands of strength will be mine no more O, Where will I hide without the cosy shelter of your hair I wont crave for your reassuring gentle touch That still sends scintillating shivers down my spine I wont…. Ask you to be my princess, my whore My one, my only, my heart, my soul I wont desire again to be your man Your savior, your hero, your master, your owner I wont ever again be your fortress against infil...

…..And there's nothing wrong with me This is how I'm supposed to be In a land of make believe That don't believe in me….. “Malls: Where people make believe, where escape from reality is cool, where individual identities are conveniently camouflaged in social swarms” – this is what I texted a dear friend last evening. I was at a mall with my family. It was a Sunday evening. I wondered whether the place was reminiscent more of a Virar local at peak rush or a toddler fancy dress competition. There seemed to be an odd, unspoken mutual need for all those people to be there – maybe to reassure each other of their existence. By themselves, they felt like lost strangers, but together they represented the majority of purposeful rationalism. We went to the furniture and lifestyle store(y), then to the apparels outlet – a shame-inducing collection of what the definition of fashion (and hence society) is today, inspired of course by our own dons and divas of the film “industry”, ...

Caution: The f ollowing discussion is wrought for football (soccer?) fans, especially those in favor of a club by the name Manchester United. Viewer discretion recommended. A long ball was launched up to Rooney and he took it down with a great touch, turned, and with the Arsenal defense backing off, hit an unbeatable curling shot into the top corner to send Goodison wild. Everton had won, Arsenal’s unbeaten run was over, and Rooney had arrived. Always searching for the sound bite, commentator Clive Tyldesley exclaimed “ Remember the name: Wayne R ooney ! ” That was October2002 – he was only 16 then. Wayne Rooney signed for the Reds two seasons later after a staggering £27m tra nsfer. In September 2004 , he scored a hat trick on his United debut. He was only 18 then. Since then, he has scored some truly memorable goals for united including the scorcher volley against Newcastle , the chip against Portsmouth , the late, late winner against Milan . Besides, he has gone through thr...

An excerpt from the book “Experiments with People” An interesting feature of the psychological immune system is that to operate effectively it must operate discreetly. This raises an interesting question: Is psychological well-being associated with the accurate perception of reality or with a distorted perception of it? The traditional view is that contact with reality is essential for mental health. As the old one-liner goes, neurotics build castles in the air, psychotics live in them, and psychotherapists collect the rent. The alternative view is that, given how inhospitable reality is, human beings cannot bear too much of it. They must therefore endorse comforting illusions in order to function effectively. In an influential article, Taylor and Brown proposed that three classes of positive illusion promote mental health: holding overly flattering views of oneself, overestimating one's personal control, and being unreasonably optimistic about the future. The fact that most...

Individuality is no less than a definitive feature of Independence , ensuing growth and prosperity; and identity is the basis of individuality. Without an identity, there can be no Individuality, no Independence and no progress. The identity of our beloved campus has been seeded, nurtured and cocooned by our mother campus BITS Pilani, to whom we shall be forever indebted hence grateful. We have been bosomed with bountiful love and patronizing care. The dutiful, condescending restriction, in the name of brand preservation has inevitably taken its toll on our freedom of expression. More than one of us feels stifled under this throttling protection called the “ BITS Pilani brand name.” We feel the need to establish ourselves as an individual, self sufficient and robust institute, a sovereign vital entity, not an ailing, dwarfed sidekick of an antecedently established University. Bottom-line: We need to be proud of our campus, for what it is. Stunted, slipshod, maligned or vulner...

The following is the unedited version of the article published for the international youth magazine " Voices ". For the published article, follow the link here The next time you crave for your favorite cheeseburger, imagine this: Nearly half the people in the world live on less than $2 per day, and one billion people live on $1 a day, according to reports by UN-Habitat and the World Bank. Slumdog Millionaire has shown audiences around the world a snapshot of what life is like for one in every six people on this planet. A slum is an area where people live without one or more of life's necessities, characterized by inadequate income, shortage of sufficient food and safe water; and often problems of inadequate housing, even indebtedness. Inadequate public services like piped water, sanitation, drainage, roads, inadequate basic services such schools, health-care, emergency services and public transport. Inadequate protection including laws regarding civil and political righ...