My Frisky Abode!

Characters and Hot-Spots at I Top !

A brief sketch of my wing and wingies.

Unlike pleasant languor or the iconic sloth that surrounds the man himself, Raghav's place serves to be the epicentre of all jocund cackle radiating outwards to rather remote and inarticulate corners of our wing, occupied by seemingly studious and frustrated to the limits of nymphomaniacs, CSE guys, with the only source of commotion for those parts being Gargi's early morning chortles of glee on watching BBT which served as excellent alarms waking me up for morning walks last summers. Rattling on the way, very dignified as compared to the rest of the wing, mainly due to some feminine presence, tech savy and gadget furbished, I suppose it would be foolish to call it just a room, Zade Software Labs. Despite all it's ferocity, this noise meets impudence passing through the rooms or should I say territories of Punjabi duo of our wing living right opposite to each other, overwhelming with music composed in extremist ridden parts of Punjab and the sole intent of such music could be torturous vengeance against all Non-Punjabis for all those jokes on Punjabis. Echos of such message of hate trembling lover-spot turned double room of the wing with its only inhabitant making it a place of frequent tryst after long library hours. And the last hotspot of our wing being the extended robo-club where lives the recently blown out of proportions Ayush running after his day's quota of productive work while all around him indulge themselves in counterproductive activities.

The Man That Is KALAM

It's not who you are underneath but what you do that defines you !

The perks of being an IITian seemed very volatile and my recurrent fear of our over-burdened infrastructure yielding disappointment came true when denied entrance to, already over-crowded by then, Main Auditorium visited by Dr Abdul Kalam for the Golden Jublie Celebration of Student Gymkhana IIT-K. So after stuffing myself with some junk food at CCD I ended up sitting at L7 for the live telecast of the function while most other enthuiasts of meeting Dr Kalam were either driven away by trademark glitch transmission, poor video quality, and jarring sound that kept flicking and few remaining were beguiled into sleep, the usual  purpose the Lecture Hall Complex with its comfy air-conditioning serves best on most evenings, even before the auspicious dias were lit. 

Is he closest to what India could get to Einstein?

I am sure a lot of us were pondering over this question when Dr Kalam slouching, with all the dignity, graced the stage and watching his poised  decorum so apt for a senior scientist of his stature misled me into doubting his alias the Missile Man for I, maybe unlike others, had associated a lot of flamboyance or least to say animation with such an alias. Strengthening my doubt were the very few minutes of his speech that started with the usual pleasantries and congratulations followed by sharing of a life experience and  a suggestion to integrate various skills acquired at IIT-K.

But maybe it was the warmup Dr Kalam unlike his missiles does before he actually gets on the wings of fire to aspire the audience and unravel his true self which actually is as vigorous as those wings he rides on for the next fifteen minutes. It all begun with him reciting his poem, and the rest of us following, that sounded almost like one of his missiles, with very simple lyrics and yet so powerful and inspiring, lyrics going like "I have the wings, I have the confidence, I have the will, I will fly".

Dr Kalam, for the visionary he is, is well ahead of our time and that clearly shows when he talks about Indo-Pak relationships and predicts peace and union pertaining to fairly logical deductions from the European history, something all our politicians, diplomats and bureaucrats fail to do.  His explanation of India spending so much on nuclear weaponry, with a strata of society under poverty line, for inhibited development and independence is remarkable.

And finally what sets him apart, and answers my question too, is what lies at the core of his efforts and what he things would aspire us as it did him. Dr Kalam unlike the intellectuals and smooth talkers talks about  bringing a smile on faces of common Indian men. He, as far as I see, seem to be the only one amongst the scientific community to be driven by a passion that has origins linked to a social cause, someone who is working not only because he is passionate about his work but also has a goal that instead of being a scientific agenda is to touch the lives of Indian multitudes. And thus, for me it doesn't seems to be some rocket science to realize, what I am not going to put in words, The Man That Is KALAM.

Amit Kumar Koshta

AM 12:55

26-10-12 

Vijaydashmi'12

At the core of all earthly pursuits, a man is looking for a soul kindred to his own.

Despite of me staying back in the campus this Dussehra, the true spirit of the festival thrives in me, and the savior this time around being food instead of the usual, much cherished and should I say well deserved, given that I being an IITian spend most of my days in "testosterone charged and estrogen starved campus", pleasure of oogling girls. Although some awesome company of Shwet Kumar did play it's part but I would not do myself justice writing about anything else when the only thing I focused on all day was appeasing my first of many to come, 9 days long, and culminating with a Nirjala Upvas on Navmi and  sumptuous cuisines on Dussehra, hunger due to fasting.

If you  have already begun wondering over the stark contrast of the title and content presented uptill now, the tittle is the only possible explanation I could come up with, while I saw Ravaan burning down to ashes with all the heat from exploding fireworks driving away momentously the infant winter chill that hung around, for the pertinent quest that Ram underwent for Sita. And the realization struck me that we being lesser mortals unlike Ram should make at-least a valid effort to connect, with our pursuit being not only to hold on to love we share with old friends and family but also to make new ones specially amongst those around us who end up being on the fringes separating friends with acquaintances. And that I suppose is the true spirit of Dussehra.

Today may have been the day to mark an end of the Dussehra celebrations as I know them to be, and I sorely miss those late night bike rides on congested Jabalpur city roads with people swarming around Devi Idols even as late as 2am, Remix Bhajans being played on loud speakers, delicacies prepared with more piety than hygiene served at pandals, the Kheer that Mom conjures for Aasthmi Pooja, Punjabi Dussehra and all fireworks on display there, and last but not the least the sight of girls dressed in elegant traditional costumes, giggling around looking ever so charming.  But, I do understand that the spirit of Dussehra lives and frolics with new made friends, junky CCD food and lame Ravaan Dahan at Nankari.


Amit Kumar Koshta
AM 02:45
25-10-12