Call it a day - College A. Day ... they are all the same. Makes no more difference to me. I was playing guitar before this, and I will continue to play guitar with the same amount of passion. So what if the MRCET A. Day has been called off? I was expecting a major goof-up sometime around the Annual Day. And here it comes! The the politics are dirty and scammers wanted party. It's sad at the end of the day though the evil is pulled down it's done at a cost. While the entire college is furious about the way things have turned around, there might be a few who quickly changed stance and find it no different than before.
The band (without a name), thought of a million horrible things that could possibly happen live. A few examples like below give a good idea about our precautions. Jack might throw up his hands in case he went wrong. Kalyan's Bass Drum Pedal might suddenly give up to his over-energised banging. Srikar's Guitar Truss Rod might bend out of shape and he's like, "My Guitar's popped it man!". Or my guitar might start screaming even before the song. DJ Shweth might say a hundred horrible things about our equipment. Nabeel might sing like he's been given an electric shock. The AO might suddenly come and say you can play only for 2 minutes on stage. Malla Reddy might get up in the middle and shout at us for playing cRap. My guitar strap might suddenly slip out and the guitar's on the floor within 2 seconds and that happened exactly when I was playing the lead. The acoustic guitar might boom during the song. Karthik might play a wrong note and stare at my face blankly. He would also mute his keyboard and start posing. One of us could fall off the stage. We might go to sleep on stage while playing a boring song. We might come down painted in tomato-like colours before even finishing the song. And many more...
Of all those things, we never thought of this. There would be a bunch of over-arrogant crooks waiting to beat up anyone in their way. And that would lead to such a big issue that the "Hyderabad Police" would get involved and the furious Management would chuck the Annual Day just a week before. Little did those future-dons realise, how damaging this could be to MRCET's well-publicised Annual Day celebrations. The AO will be left crying about how well the other colleges celebrated it, and how MRCET ended theirs a week before. They couldn't wait one week to fight? It's a well known fact atleast a few guys get beaten either by known or unknown enemies on that day (like it has been happening since the last few years). Had they postponed that fight and put up a show on D-day, there would be a celebration for the innocent people and a satisfaction of fighting for the future-dons.
Sad and bad stuff happening around. I was worried about how we would do on stage, because there have been countless complaints about us and our "noise", and I realised were more of a burden than a friendly rock-group. We were Rock. We were Rocks on their heads. Now their heads have been loaded with other stuff, and we Rocks have been freed.
Now we will get back to where we started. I kept suggesting, "Forget the audience, think how far we could go." The MRCET Crowd is famous now, for it's horrible tastes and big fights. The MRCET band is famous for it's horrible tastes (Dhulapally hates Rock), and controversial lineups. Once we step out of MRCET, we are back to normal and we play music out of our hearts and not our heads. One day, we will make music, and by then my college will only hit the papers for many students being arrested for being involved in "drunken brawls". I know I won't get arrested for killing these bugging mosquitoes around me. Let me get to my work ...
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Yup! Worked
It's funny when you see ups and downs so clearly in your life. Yesterday I thought the band was dead and seemed incapable of producing any music. And today, it seemed more than capable. How do things get transformed so easily?
It's true that we changed our positioning and instead of "kalyan playing in Aus, me, srikar playing in UK, nabeel singing in US, etc." we played with a lesser distance separating us. But that didn't seem to be the only difference.
It's true that Jack's Bass was in and the band would be sounding more full. But that didn't seem to be the only difference.
It's true that Karthik added his keyboarding skills at a few places and added depth to the songs, but that didn't seem to be the only difference.
It's true that there were many watchers today who were listening to our band for the first time and we wanted to do well in front of them. But that didn't seem to be the only difference.
It was something to do with our psychology. Something made us think like optimists. We were secretly determined to bring it out good, though it was never shown on anyones faces. Our mind-blocks were gone. We were more open to everything today and most importantly, we didn't want something disappointing like yesterday. That could have been the reason why we were so good today. Things seemed to be falling into place and the final list seems to be getting nearly ready. I had some personal issues, with Sandeep Singh creating a new headache by picking up a fight with someone and screaming in front of the AO about it. It was a real headache for me, and I won't take it much further because it's all over now.
My blocked ear still irritates me, but most of my troubles seem to have been left somewhere far behind. Feels good to be like that. Should go and gobble up something. It's the third time in 3 days that I am having lunch at 6 PM (after coming home!!).
It's true that we changed our positioning and instead of "kalyan playing in Aus, me, srikar playing in UK, nabeel singing in US, etc." we played with a lesser distance separating us. But that didn't seem to be the only difference.
It's true that Jack's Bass was in and the band would be sounding more full. But that didn't seem to be the only difference.
It's true that Karthik added his keyboarding skills at a few places and added depth to the songs, but that didn't seem to be the only difference.
It's true that there were many watchers today who were listening to our band for the first time and we wanted to do well in front of them. But that didn't seem to be the only difference.
It was something to do with our psychology. Something made us think like optimists. We were secretly determined to bring it out good, though it was never shown on anyones faces. Our mind-blocks were gone. We were more open to everything today and most importantly, we didn't want something disappointing like yesterday. That could have been the reason why we were so good today. Things seemed to be falling into place and the final list seems to be getting nearly ready. I had some personal issues, with Sandeep Singh creating a new headache by picking up a fight with someone and screaming in front of the AO about it. It was a real headache for me, and I won't take it much further because it's all over now.
My blocked ear still irritates me, but most of my troubles seem to have been left somewhere far behind. Feels good to be like that. Should go and gobble up something. It's the third time in 3 days that I am having lunch at 6 PM (after coming home!!).
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Nope! Not workin'
Nothing, literally nothing worked out in today's jam for the College Annual Day. I was severely disappointed by the progress we made today (in the downward direction). You could blame it on the the big, echoey room, or the mile-long distance by which we we separated. Kalyan plays drums in Australia, Nabeel sings in USA and Srikar and I play guitar in the UK. All I could hear was the reverb of everything in the room - Guitars, drums, voices, and every other thing that could make a sound.
My personal problems were no less. The guitar strap giving away right in the middle of a song, the unbearable noise levels on the amp, me continuously getting confused with the song sequence, not being able to co-ordinate (couldn't hear a thing actually!), my right ear still blocked, various criticisms flying at us, etc. With so many troubles on my head, I don't know how I was able to stand and play for those hours.
The leg pain also hit soon and the problem of finding a dumping ground for our overnight instrument stay also got on my nerves. Right now, there are 99 problems but a ***** ain't one ...
My personal problems were no less. The guitar strap giving away right in the middle of a song, the unbearable noise levels on the amp, me continuously getting confused with the song sequence, not being able to co-ordinate (couldn't hear a thing actually!), my right ear still blocked, various criticisms flying at us, etc. With so many troubles on my head, I don't know how I was able to stand and play for those hours.
The leg pain also hit soon and the problem of finding a dumping ground for our overnight instrument stay also got on my nerves. Right now, there are 99 problems but a ***** ain't one ...
Monday, March 24, 2008
Good Weekend
I've been having weekend holidays from the past few weeks. But whenever there was a holiday, I was out of home, jamming or doing something else and getting myself tired by the end of the day. What was the point of having holidays then? I got tired in college, and weekends were tiring because of other things, so where is the rest??
That's the reason why, I decided I'll stay at home, no matter what, during these 4 days of holidays. Ofcourse, I had to make a trip to a doctor about my ear, and I had to drop a few cheques here and there. Those were the only instances when I stepped out of home. Rest of the time was spent resting. My internet connection got fast, and I also spent nice time watching TV and the rain outside. I made it a point not to step out on any kind of business. I stuck to it, and stayed as stubborn as I could. I was helped partially by the rains as they didn't allow me to move out, but the power kept fluctuating and left me frustrated. I avoided playing guitar and listening to my iPod because of my ear trouble, something that should never happen to me. I cannot imagine life without a guitar and an iPod! Thankfully it was only for 3-4 days.
Surprising thing in me was, I utilised my time well writing the record work for college which is a big pain. I feel light-hearted now because of that. It's the first time in 2-3 years that I was doing some "academic" work at home, without anyone telling me or forcing me. My own will dragged me towards the record books. I started reading novels again and I feel nice about it. Off late, the reading speed went down drastically and I find it difficult to finish a simple 400 page book in 2-3 months. Damn! I used to read 600-700 page Harry Potters overnight! Yesterday, I did nearly 200 pages in a single sitting and I felt satisfied. I left 2 books aside and I am reading the third (which obviously is more interesting than the other 2). Maybe by tomorrow, I can finish that book and then take up the next few.
I slightly changed my living habits over these few holidays which is a welcome change. Doing some academic work, some novel reading, keeping the guitar and music aside, taking good rest, eating well, staying at home avoiding all sorts of junk meetings and talks, etc. Feels nice to be silent, and listening to the rain lashing the city.... er... only from the left ear, my right one is blocked...
That's the reason why, I decided I'll stay at home, no matter what, during these 4 days of holidays. Ofcourse, I had to make a trip to a doctor about my ear, and I had to drop a few cheques here and there. Those were the only instances when I stepped out of home. Rest of the time was spent resting. My internet connection got fast, and I also spent nice time watching TV and the rain outside. I made it a point not to step out on any kind of business. I stuck to it, and stayed as stubborn as I could. I was helped partially by the rains as they didn't allow me to move out, but the power kept fluctuating and left me frustrated. I avoided playing guitar and listening to my iPod because of my ear trouble, something that should never happen to me. I cannot imagine life without a guitar and an iPod! Thankfully it was only for 3-4 days.
Surprising thing in me was, I utilised my time well writing the record work for college which is a big pain. I feel light-hearted now because of that. It's the first time in 2-3 years that I was doing some "academic" work at home, without anyone telling me or forcing me. My own will dragged me towards the record books. I started reading novels again and I feel nice about it. Off late, the reading speed went down drastically and I find it difficult to finish a simple 400 page book in 2-3 months. Damn! I used to read 600-700 page Harry Potters overnight! Yesterday, I did nearly 200 pages in a single sitting and I felt satisfied. I left 2 books aside and I am reading the third (which obviously is more interesting than the other 2). Maybe by tomorrow, I can finish that book and then take up the next few.
I slightly changed my living habits over these few holidays which is a welcome change. Doing some academic work, some novel reading, keeping the guitar and music aside, taking good rest, eating well, staying at home avoiding all sorts of junk meetings and talks, etc. Feels nice to be silent, and listening to the rain lashing the city.... er... only from the left ear, my right one is blocked...
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Holi-day
I got a stretch of holidays among which one is the ever-famous Holi-Day. As we call it the Festival of Colours, it stands next to my favourite festival Diwali.
As I observed over the last few years, the fun part of Diwali (the part where we light fire-crackers), is turning out to be more of a selfish showy act than a real enjoyment. I live in an apartment building, where there are another 14 houses with many people in them. We are all supposed to share a single terrace where everyone wants to have fun. Ofcourse no place is complete without people who boss around, and an equal share of people who are getting jealous over the neighbour's latest buy. So obviously, when such characters get together, there's going to be havoc. Each parent wants his/her child to burn the crackers and make the rest of the people watch... If one guy spent 5000 bucks, the other guy wants to spend 7000. All this ends up in a big pile of fireworks, and 3 nights are not enough to burn them out. Such stories go on, there will be lots of talking, and secret jealousy, and what not... I feel stupid watching all this, and I just settle at a corner, have my share of fun and get away.
Whereas, Holi is a completely selfless act. We buy lots of colours, and boxes (oh! I am scared of the pink colour that comes out of the dark green powder in them), and use them all on others. We have devious methods of painting the other guy pink. All enmity is lost and there more you colour people, the more you feel satisfied. But this is an entirely messy festival and an hour of play is enough to keep you washing the colour for about 3 hours. It's obvious we ignore this while playing with the colours. Unfortunately my ear trouble this time forced me not to play and allow any water into the ears. For the first time, I got jealous, watching my friends drenched in water and colours, and mesitting dryly at home with nothing else to do...
I am sure there's a next time, but I gotta wait 365 days for that!
As I observed over the last few years, the fun part of Diwali (the part where we light fire-crackers), is turning out to be more of a selfish showy act than a real enjoyment. I live in an apartment building, where there are another 14 houses with many people in them. We are all supposed to share a single terrace where everyone wants to have fun. Ofcourse no place is complete without people who boss around, and an equal share of people who are getting jealous over the neighbour's latest buy. So obviously, when such characters get together, there's going to be havoc. Each parent wants his/her child to burn the crackers and make the rest of the people watch... If one guy spent 5000 bucks, the other guy wants to spend 7000. All this ends up in a big pile of fireworks, and 3 nights are not enough to burn them out. Such stories go on, there will be lots of talking, and secret jealousy, and what not... I feel stupid watching all this, and I just settle at a corner, have my share of fun and get away.
Whereas, Holi is a completely selfless act. We buy lots of colours, and boxes (oh! I am scared of the pink colour that comes out of the dark green powder in them), and use them all on others. We have devious methods of painting the other guy pink. All enmity is lost and there more you colour people, the more you feel satisfied. But this is an entirely messy festival and an hour of play is enough to keep you washing the colour for about 3 hours. It's obvious we ignore this while playing with the colours. Unfortunately my ear trouble this time forced me not to play and allow any water into the ears. For the first time, I got jealous, watching my friends drenched in water and colours, and mesitting dryly at home with nothing else to do...
I am sure there's a next time, but I gotta wait 365 days for that!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
WWooww !!!
And now, it's wow!
The internet connection trouble started yesterday when I found no way of accessing it from home. I thought it's the usual Sify Broadband problem that occurs every month without fail. The problem persisted till today and it got onto my nerves and I had to do something. I called up the guys, and within 15 min, they are home and already into telling me a big story.
Turns out that some LS Cable Network bought the local Sify thing and they have converted my sad "64kbps + 150MB daily limit" to "128kbps + fully unlimited". I was paying an unbelievable Rs.580 for that, and now, I get this "new connection" for the same cost. It's like, it's been justified finally!
The oowww! turns to wwoooww!! Not fully though, my ear trouble still bothers me...
The internet connection trouble started yesterday when I found no way of accessing it from home. I thought it's the usual Sify Broadband problem that occurs every month without fail. The problem persisted till today and it got onto my nerves and I had to do something. I called up the guys, and within 15 min, they are home and already into telling me a big story.
Turns out that some LS Cable Network bought the local Sify thing and they have converted my sad "64kbps + 150MB daily limit" to "128kbps + fully unlimited". I was paying an unbelievable Rs.580 for that, and now, I get this "new connection" for the same cost. It's like, it's been justified finally!
The oowww! turns to wwoooww!! Not fully though, my ear trouble still bothers me...
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Oowww !!
It started yesterday, some kinda pain in the ear and by today, it got worse. No drops or medicine could do any good. Because of that, I was forced to stay at home and visit a hospital in my mom's office, for more medication. I already am lagging behind in the portion going on in college right now, and the pain in the ear is a pain in the rear... oowww!!
Last class, Subbi was asking a guy, "Do you know what Unit we are doing??", and I suddenly got scared and asked everyone around me what unit we were in. Nobody knew! I thought he might ask each student till he gets the answer, but thankfully he didn't. At the end of the class, I caught the words, "Once I finish this topic, we can move onto the 5th Unit". That's when I knew we were still in the 4th. There's more than half the portion yet to complete, and we have only about a month... that's another oowww!!
Last class, Subbi was asking a guy, "Do you know what Unit we are doing??", and I suddenly got scared and asked everyone around me what unit we were in. Nobody knew! I thought he might ask each student till he gets the answer, but thankfully he didn't. At the end of the class, I caught the words, "Once I finish this topic, we can move onto the 5th Unit". That's when I knew we were still in the 4th. There's more than half the portion yet to complete, and we have only about a month... that's another oowww!!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Uncomfortably Numb
With no proper sleep from the last few days, I stole the chance finally at college and slept through 3 classes. One of my weirdest bouts of sleep ever. However tired I get, I never actually end up sleeping before night. Today though, I was sleepy right from the first class, and was dozing by the end of second period. It went on till lunch, and I had another short nap post lunch. My friends started getting doubts whether I was some impostor from another planet. They never saw me sleeping so much, right under the lecturers' noses. Moreover, out of the six classes I "attended", I wrote the notes during only one. The rest was spent either sleeping or watching Mark Tremonti shred on my iPod. None of my friends ever saw me like that...
The post-jam-session discussions are always unproductive just like today. We are all in great spirits when we jam, and by the next day, we start finding flaws in everything. It's become extremely common-place and that's the reason why there is some kind of a Sine Wave graph when we measure our levels of confidence and spirit. One day, we are totally confident ("we can play the songs right now if we have the instruments"), next day we are down ("dude, forget this song. The bass isn't coming out right").
The ups and downs I am going through are so drastic that the bumpy Bus Journey to Chattisgarh was nothing...
The post-jam-session discussions are always unproductive just like today. We are all in great spirits when we jam, and by the next day, we start finding flaws in everything. It's become extremely common-place and that's the reason why there is some kind of a Sine Wave graph when we measure our levels of confidence and spirit. One day, we are totally confident ("we can play the songs right now if we have the instruments"), next day we are down ("dude, forget this song. The bass isn't coming out right").
The ups and downs I am going through are so drastic that the bumpy Bus Journey to Chattisgarh was nothing...
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Cooll-edgy life
Forget the title, I know it's stupid...
Just gave a thought about what's going on my life right now, and I could remember everything other than my academic (career) stuff. I feel nothing that we lost the recent soccer match to ECE. I am atleast happy they beat CSE 3-0, and MBA 8-0!!
The band has been cleared to play on the Annual Day (thank god!! I was staying alive only for that!!). So it's all upto us, about how we do it. Sad part however, there are many complications involved and that might turn out to be a hurdle in the end. The song list isn't yet ready and a time of just 12-15min is low for us. Ofcourse that's actually very high on a normal MRCET-Annual-Day-performer's point of view because one would dance or do something for a 3-5 min song and pack off. Here we want to play 15-20 of live shit, and we should be thankful to get a span of 12 minutes to complete our stuff.
Today was a bit weird. We went into college with all the instruments, played our stuff, got selected, and ran out of college. The whole chapter seemed like a joke to me, the dramtic entry, the heavy playing, and the not-so-dramatic exit. Had good fun today, and I hope a few more days would continue to be like that. Wrapping up another short post (short in my standards... hehe)...
Just gave a thought about what's going on my life right now, and I could remember everything other than my academic (career) stuff. I feel nothing that we lost the recent soccer match to ECE. I am atleast happy they beat CSE 3-0, and MBA 8-0!!
The band has been cleared to play on the Annual Day (thank god!! I was staying alive only for that!!). So it's all upto us, about how we do it. Sad part however, there are many complications involved and that might turn out to be a hurdle in the end. The song list isn't yet ready and a time of just 12-15min is low for us. Ofcourse that's actually very high on a normal MRCET-Annual-Day-performer's point of view because one would dance or do something for a 3-5 min song and pack off. Here we want to play 15-20 of live shit, and we should be thankful to get a span of 12 minutes to complete our stuff.
Today was a bit weird. We went into college with all the instruments, played our stuff, got selected, and ran out of college. The whole chapter seemed like a joke to me, the dramtic entry, the heavy playing, and the not-so-dramatic exit. Had good fun today, and I hope a few more days would continue to be like that. Wrapping up another short post (short in my standards... hehe)...
Friday, March 14, 2008
My craze !!
After lunch, I picked up the guitar to flex my fingers a bit. Little did I know that I would continue flexing my fingers till 8PM. It started off with an interest to play the intro riff of Sad but True by Metallica. I had the FL Studio version of it ready and started playing. I might have done the same 20sec piece about 50 times, and i moved on to some lead guitar. I remembered the Sweep Picking lesson I came across a few days ago and went back at it.
For those who don't know what's Sweep Picking, it's nothing but a chord played with one note at a time instead of a full strum of the chord. That's called Arpeggio, and when one sweeps the pick in a single direction over the strings at a constant speed, with the left hand playing the arpeggio, it's called Sweep Picking. We can sweep downwards or upwards, and the fingers on the left hand should hold the appropriate note. The important thing here is, no 2 notes should be audible at the same time. We play this on a distortion patch mostly and when 2 notes are struck by mistake, it sounds noisy. Playing it as smooth and fast as possible is the deal.
I started off playing a simple sweep of Am chord at 100 bpm. I slowly inched it upward by 5 bpm every time I felt I was doing it right. I managed to get it upto 185 bpm. Beyond that, I just couldn't do it. The best clarity came only at 170bpm and above that, there was too much interference of other strings being struck by mistake. Should call it good progress in a few hours of practice. But I think I over did it on the first day itself. I wanted to end up at 200 bpm but decided not to, after taking a look at my fingers. The tips were nearly peeled off and looked horrible. I assume that a good sweep will come out when I play the arpeggio at about 250-270 bpm. Which is clearly too too too far away. To cool down, I just played a few simpler riffs and ended my session.
I get carried away sometimes, listening to guys like Mark Tremonti, Kirk Hammett, Paul Gilbert, Michaelangelo, Malmsteen, etc. They might have done this for months or years, and finally got it. I am foolishly trying to get it in a day. I can recall that famous saying, "Rome was not built in a Day". Holds good for me and all other freaks how want to become Shred Guitarists in a single day ...
For those who don't know what's Sweep Picking, it's nothing but a chord played with one note at a time instead of a full strum of the chord. That's called Arpeggio, and when one sweeps the pick in a single direction over the strings at a constant speed, with the left hand playing the arpeggio, it's called Sweep Picking. We can sweep downwards or upwards, and the fingers on the left hand should hold the appropriate note. The important thing here is, no 2 notes should be audible at the same time. We play this on a distortion patch mostly and when 2 notes are struck by mistake, it sounds noisy. Playing it as smooth and fast as possible is the deal.
I started off playing a simple sweep of Am chord at 100 bpm. I slowly inched it upward by 5 bpm every time I felt I was doing it right. I managed to get it upto 185 bpm. Beyond that, I just couldn't do it. The best clarity came only at 170bpm and above that, there was too much interference of other strings being struck by mistake. Should call it good progress in a few hours of practice. But I think I over did it on the first day itself. I wanted to end up at 200 bpm but decided not to, after taking a look at my fingers. The tips were nearly peeled off and looked horrible. I assume that a good sweep will come out when I play the arpeggio at about 250-270 bpm. Which is clearly too too too far away. To cool down, I just played a few simpler riffs and ended my session.
I get carried away sometimes, listening to guys like Mark Tremonti, Kirk Hammett, Paul Gilbert, Michaelangelo, Malmsteen, etc. They might have done this for months or years, and finally got it. I am foolishly trying to get it in a day. I can recall that famous saying, "Rome was not built in a Day". Holds good for me and all other freaks how want to become Shred Guitarists in a single day ...
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Downward Spiral
Judging by what's going on around me right now, Downward Spiral is the term. Over the last 2 days, a lot of things have happened which left me gasping for breath. It starts of with the early morning shocker from the Administration that our band will not be allowed to perform for the coming Annual Day. This led to more weird discussions about the band attempting to play at a Rock Band Competition (which i think is shit without a proper bass player). Then came up more ideas about the band trying to play at another college's Annual Day which I kinda accepted because that would look like a slap on the Administrative Officer. Anyway, when unexpected things happen, we tend to do more unexpected things. But the whole chapter sent my interest and confidence crashing down...
Over all this, my Soccer woes are back, this time with a new face. Everyone praises the Aero Soccer team for it's star-studded nature. But just like the rest of the Star-Studded teams, we fail to make it large when needed. This time again, we thought we had a good line-up, but when we groped into the details, we found that, though we had a good defence, the mid-field had no players at all. The Attacking front looked okay with Chakradhar out there, but it seemed like there is a big hole in the mid-field. For a few minutes, we felt we were forgetting someone. The someone who would take up charge in the mid-field. But we never found anyone like that, and it was then we realised, we didn't have a good team after-all. It's just another team with a few good players. Infact, looking strength-power wise, the other teams have got great advantage over us. We are all mildly skilled players who focus on fair-play and a tactical game. The others give a damn about tactics and their huge personalities can out-do any major attacking formations... Adding to that, the team fitness is low, with Kamaz and Chakradhar slightly injured and me totally devoid of stamina, power and accuracy. The soccer woes have started and the match tomorrow will be the ticket to the next one. If we don't win tomorrow, Aero's already horrible score in the tournament with be highlighted with a Star-Studded loss ...
Yet again, over all this, my real purpose of attending college is a big hollow. I am worrying myself with crazy Administrators, scary looking opponents, etc, and hardly reminding myself about why I attend college. The score in the online exams this time, has been my worst ever set in my entire college life (even after including the Descriptive scores). Infact, I have gotten so used to getting 5/20 that I am rejoicing if I get 8/20 (which is a pass). Life has stooped to that level, and here are friends still mocking me that I finished first in the 2-2 semester. That looks like a far-away dream for me now. Horrible stuff happening around me right now, and I am so happy I have my iPod to save me. I recently created a "Moody" playlist which works like magic when one feels like how I am feeling right now.
A few hours of soothing music can bring me back to life, and thankfully, today has been slightly better compared to yesterday. The band has been re-considered, I got 13/20 which calls for a party with cocktails, and I had fun in the 15 min I spent playing soccer (trying to keep the ball off the ground and passing around for as long as you can - use your leg, shoulder, head, chest, anything you find !!), and the ThrowBall competition left us laughing like mad though Aero got knocked out again.
Seeing the points right, I feel a burning desire to outsmart every opponent that comes in our way. But we still don't have a clue how to tackle our midfielders ...
Over all this, my Soccer woes are back, this time with a new face. Everyone praises the Aero Soccer team for it's star-studded nature. But just like the rest of the Star-Studded teams, we fail to make it large when needed. This time again, we thought we had a good line-up, but when we groped into the details, we found that, though we had a good defence, the mid-field had no players at all. The Attacking front looked okay with Chakradhar out there, but it seemed like there is a big hole in the mid-field. For a few minutes, we felt we were forgetting someone. The someone who would take up charge in the mid-field. But we never found anyone like that, and it was then we realised, we didn't have a good team after-all. It's just another team with a few good players. Infact, looking strength-power wise, the other teams have got great advantage over us. We are all mildly skilled players who focus on fair-play and a tactical game. The others give a damn about tactics and their huge personalities can out-do any major attacking formations... Adding to that, the team fitness is low, with Kamaz and Chakradhar slightly injured and me totally devoid of stamina, power and accuracy. The soccer woes have started and the match tomorrow will be the ticket to the next one. If we don't win tomorrow, Aero's already horrible score in the tournament with be highlighted with a Star-Studded loss ...
Yet again, over all this, my real purpose of attending college is a big hollow. I am worrying myself with crazy Administrators, scary looking opponents, etc, and hardly reminding myself about why I attend college. The score in the online exams this time, has been my worst ever set in my entire college life (even after including the Descriptive scores). Infact, I have gotten so used to getting 5/20 that I am rejoicing if I get 8/20 (which is a pass). Life has stooped to that level, and here are friends still mocking me that I finished first in the 2-2 semester. That looks like a far-away dream for me now. Horrible stuff happening around me right now, and I am so happy I have my iPod to save me. I recently created a "Moody" playlist which works like magic when one feels like how I am feeling right now.
A few hours of soothing music can bring me back to life, and thankfully, today has been slightly better compared to yesterday. The band has been re-considered, I got 13/20 which calls for a party with cocktails, and I had fun in the 15 min I spent playing soccer (trying to keep the ball off the ground and passing around for as long as you can - use your leg, shoulder, head, chest, anything you find !!), and the ThrowBall competition left us laughing like mad though Aero got knocked out again.
Seeing the points right, I feel a burning desire to outsmart every opponent that comes in our way. But we still don't have a clue how to tackle our midfielders ...
Saturday, March 08, 2008
And now, Kirandul
Life has changed in 2008. Everytime I want a break from college, I get it with great precision. Last month, I thought I had enough of travelling and felt like settling down to usual college life, but March turns out to be no different from Feb. The first mini-break i got from college (4 holidays together), I landed overnight at Kirandul which is surely one of the best places to relax and breath new air.
I was at Srikar's place for Wednesday and Thursday and then we were asked to go along with our respective moms to Kirandul and meet Karthik's in-laws. Reason: Karthik's Mother-in-law expired recently, and we were to pay condolences on account of the tragedy.
It was a split-second decision of ours and soon, we had our tickets booked to go to Kirandul. It was a bus journey and I wasn't really prepared for such a journey. But still I had to go for it. We were not only stepping into one of the most beautiful places in India, but also the most dangerous. Kirandul comes in the Dantewada District (any bells ringing??), the district heavily infested with Naxalites and where nobody is sure what will happen next. Once we crossed the Andhra Pradesh Border, the bus was halted several times for various kinds of checking and inspection by CRPF and stuff. The guys who checked the bus themselves looked like Naxals. We came to a conclusion like this - "If the guys stop the bus, check and leave, they are from the Police Force. If they stop the bus and burn it down with/without people in it, the are from the Naxalites." Fortunately there was no burning down of buses, but there would have been a good chance of that had we been travelling in APSRTC Government buses...
Anyway, though the journey wasn't very comfy (how can it be, if the Maoists don't allow the government to develop a few places in the forests??), we were ok by the end of it. We didn't have good sleep and badly needed it and almost stole it during our few hour stay at Kirandul. We went there by 7:30 in the morning which they called "earlier then usual". We just met a few family members, walked around in the hot sun, took a few photos, etc. We couldn't stay there past evening as our bus would start at 6:00pm. The air and water there are so fresh that one wouldn't like leaving the place so quickly. Though there is huge machinery of NMDC around, the place is a bit too silent. It feels as if your whisper would be heard in the entire village. The time ran out quickly and soon we were back sitting in the bus. The people came in bunches to see us, and it felt bad to be leaving them so soon and so abruptly. Life in Kirandul is slow and patient whereas we Hyderabadi's are always racing against time. We had to reach home by Sunday so that we can resume our usual stuff on Monday.
NMDC Mining on the top of the hill for Iron Ore
My new favourite set of people
Sleepy faces were forced to put a broad smile
Mini Panorama of the hills
The journey back home was again slightly uncomfortable with less leg-room and aggressive driving. More checks took place and few questions asked by the police were weird - "Was there any problem on the way??" "Were there any powercuts in any place??", etc. Sounded as if the police had no clue about what might be happening out there in the Maoist infested forests. Soon, we were in AP and by morning 8:30 were in Hyderabad. Kinda got relieved to be back home, but I really miss Kirandul now. I was a kid when I went there last few times, and I hardly remember anything about it. My visit this time was short and sleepy. If there is a next time, I will try to plan it out in a better way, and surely it won't be as short as this. Though there is risk travelling through those forests, the risk is worth the gain ...
I was at Srikar's place for Wednesday and Thursday and then we were asked to go along with our respective moms to Kirandul and meet Karthik's in-laws. Reason: Karthik's Mother-in-law expired recently, and we were to pay condolences on account of the tragedy.
It was a split-second decision of ours and soon, we had our tickets booked to go to Kirandul. It was a bus journey and I wasn't really prepared for such a journey. But still I had to go for it. We were not only stepping into one of the most beautiful places in India, but also the most dangerous. Kirandul comes in the Dantewada District (any bells ringing??), the district heavily infested with Naxalites and where nobody is sure what will happen next. Once we crossed the Andhra Pradesh Border, the bus was halted several times for various kinds of checking and inspection by CRPF and stuff. The guys who checked the bus themselves looked like Naxals. We came to a conclusion like this - "If the guys stop the bus, check and leave, they are from the Police Force. If they stop the bus and burn it down with/without people in it, the are from the Naxalites." Fortunately there was no burning down of buses, but there would have been a good chance of that had we been travelling in APSRTC Government buses...
Anyway, though the journey wasn't very comfy (how can it be, if the Maoists don't allow the government to develop a few places in the forests??), we were ok by the end of it. We didn't have good sleep and badly needed it and almost stole it during our few hour stay at Kirandul. We went there by 7:30 in the morning which they called "earlier then usual". We just met a few family members, walked around in the hot sun, took a few photos, etc. We couldn't stay there past evening as our bus would start at 6:00pm. The air and water there are so fresh that one wouldn't like leaving the place so quickly. Though there is huge machinery of NMDC around, the place is a bit too silent. It feels as if your whisper would be heard in the entire village. The time ran out quickly and soon we were back sitting in the bus. The people came in bunches to see us, and it felt bad to be leaving them so soon and so abruptly. Life in Kirandul is slow and patient whereas we Hyderabadi's are always racing against time. We had to reach home by Sunday so that we can resume our usual stuff on Monday.
NMDC Mining on the top of the hill for Iron Ore
My new favourite set of people
Sleepy faces were forced to put a broad smile
Mini Panorama of the hills
The journey back home was again slightly uncomfortable with less leg-room and aggressive driving. More checks took place and few questions asked by the police were weird - "Was there any problem on the way??" "Were there any powercuts in any place??", etc. Sounded as if the police had no clue about what might be happening out there in the Maoist infested forests. Soon, we were in AP and by morning 8:30 were in Hyderabad. Kinda got relieved to be back home, but I really miss Kirandul now. I was a kid when I went there last few times, and I hardly remember anything about it. My visit this time was short and sleepy. If there is a next time, I will try to plan it out in a better way, and surely it won't be as short as this. Though there is risk travelling through those forests, the risk is worth the gain ...
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Aarrgh
What a day! Stupid me, got up late at 7:30 and rushed to college. After getting there, it was a brand new story. The Aero football team list was the hot topic of the day and Chakradhar (either serious or joking), told me to get out of the team and play my music. I was taken aback by this but it hit me really hard. I started cursing myself for being involved in so many things. It's REALLY WRONG to be multi-talented. I guess!!
The classes were stupid as hell. Really got me frustrated within 2 hours. I got horrible marks in Space Technology - 7/20. Which is equivalent to fail. All the others got great marks. Kinda got me pissed off. People copy and get great marks, and me, bloody innocent freak who doesn't copy, don't get marks. It's REALLY WRONG to be sincere. I guess!!
I kinda avenged that with the online exam. Clearly we were all not prepared and moreover instead of the usual Computational Aerodynamics, we had Space Technology which completely baffled us. This was more shocking than anything and I was prepared to get below 10 again. But I put heavy force on my brain and managed to get 14/20. The others got 5, 6 and other single digit numbers. I was so angry at things around me, that these marks filled me up completely with pride. I wanted revenge on the whole world for being so against me, and i partly got it.
Then comes the football session which was horrible just like how it ever was in the entire 3-1 semester. Nothing can describe it and I don't wanna put effort on that as well. The time I spent in the hot sun has got my head into some kinda banging-against-the wall feeling. I really feel sick now, and I am back to that anger against the whole world. There the music band is fluctuating for no reason, I am not able to play my favourite game, my head is falling apart, the guys travelling in my college bus are extremely noisy and irritating (my iPod's volume is not able to cut them out), my own friends look like foes suddenly, and so many stupid things happening around me.....
Just too much to handle for my brain. I need sleep ....
The classes were stupid as hell. Really got me frustrated within 2 hours. I got horrible marks in Space Technology - 7/20. Which is equivalent to fail. All the others got great marks. Kinda got me pissed off. People copy and get great marks, and me, bloody innocent freak who doesn't copy, don't get marks. It's REALLY WRONG to be sincere. I guess!!
I kinda avenged that with the online exam. Clearly we were all not prepared and moreover instead of the usual Computational Aerodynamics, we had Space Technology which completely baffled us. This was more shocking than anything and I was prepared to get below 10 again. But I put heavy force on my brain and managed to get 14/20. The others got 5, 6 and other single digit numbers. I was so angry at things around me, that these marks filled me up completely with pride. I wanted revenge on the whole world for being so against me, and i partly got it.
Then comes the football session which was horrible just like how it ever was in the entire 3-1 semester. Nothing can describe it and I don't wanna put effort on that as well. The time I spent in the hot sun has got my head into some kinda banging-against-the wall feeling. I really feel sick now, and I am back to that anger against the whole world. There the music band is fluctuating for no reason, I am not able to play my favourite game, my head is falling apart, the guys travelling in my college bus are extremely noisy and irritating (my iPod's volume is not able to cut them out), my own friends look like foes suddenly, and so many stupid things happening around me.....
Just too much to handle for my brain. I need sleep ....
Monday, March 03, 2008
Fender: Obsessive
Well, Srikar just gave me Window Blinds that'll do up your "same old" XP theme into a slightly better looking theme. I installed that and works fine. But I was into some serious thinking about the wallpaper. I needed something that goes with the theme colours, and also with my obsession with guitars. And Srikar again, recently showed me his brother's Fender Squier Stratocaster which pulled me towards Fender with a black hole's power. Moreover my recent upgrade in guitar-play came in with the Givson Python with Fender's PickUps. Fender all around me, and I needed something Fender on my Desktop as well. So with all that rushing in my head, I came up with this as my desktop Wallpaper. Hope it looks good. The simplest ever work done by me, in the least time.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Where I don't belong
Last month was a hell of a month. With stupid exams at the beginning, followed by a i-will-never-forget-it Goa Trip and a small Chennai Trip, an interesting new guitar to play, some great jamming with band-mates, lots of junk food to eat, and more such crap. Never in my life did I dream of a college-less, fun-filled life in a month like February. But since I had it before I even dreamt of it, I must call myself fortunate enough.
Now that March has come, it's back to that seriousness which we never had anyway. Way back, when I was in school, March was that terrorizing month when the the gates to hell would open up and we kids had no other way than to step in and jump straight into the devil's cauldron. Now, March is a little better, but that terrorizing feeling hasn't worn off yet.
Thinking about those horrible 6-8 hours we gotta spend in college, I feel a bit nauseated. Infact, I haven't even slept or eaten well over the last 2 days. Something's constantly bugging me and somehow that is relating to college. Exams coming up soon, er .. tomorrow actually, and exams are never a good time for a student. Atleast there's some soccer/music action for me this month, with the so-called Chairman's Trophy coming up (Soccer included unlike last time), and the Annual Day near the end. Sure as hell, it's gonna be a hectic month. There's just hope that nothing is going wrong.
And there's news that India has won the match against Australia and India has won the U-19 World Cup against South Africa. I'd better run because I am sure Kalyan's going bonkers over all this Cricketing news ....
Now that March has come, it's back to that seriousness which we never had anyway. Way back, when I was in school, March was that terrorizing month when the the gates to hell would open up and we kids had no other way than to step in and jump straight into the devil's cauldron. Now, March is a little better, but that terrorizing feeling hasn't worn off yet.
Thinking about those horrible 6-8 hours we gotta spend in college, I feel a bit nauseated. Infact, I haven't even slept or eaten well over the last 2 days. Something's constantly bugging me and somehow that is relating to college. Exams coming up soon, er .. tomorrow actually, and exams are never a good time for a student. Atleast there's some soccer/music action for me this month, with the so-called Chairman's Trophy coming up (Soccer included unlike last time), and the Annual Day near the end. Sure as hell, it's gonna be a hectic month. There's just hope that nothing is going wrong.
And there's news that India has won the match against Australia and India has won the U-19 World Cup against South Africa. I'd better run because I am sure Kalyan's going bonkers over all this Cricketing news ....
Saturday, March 01, 2008
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