Author: manuscrypts

  • And who’ll be the judge of that??

    ‘Oh, thats not bad for his experience and ability’ immediately took me to SwB’s post sometime back on how we judge each other based on what we do, and where we have reached in our career.. its a regular occurence in many discussions – the interest and attention generated is very much in proportion to one’s designation, place of work, salary, job profile et al…but whats also regular is that we are judgemental, period..
    where i come from, families also get judged by the jewellery the woman of the house wears for functions.. at other times, they get judged by the talents of the kids they produce, ridiculous as it may sound… in other places,the wedding functions thrown are indicators of the family’s stature and financial position..
    And its just not reality alone, on the virtual paths we travel, there are those of us who judge blogs on the comments generated, and those of us who like to think that we are above such trivial things, and judge based on the quality of the post, or who all link to the blog…
    perhaps its because we are so used to finding happiness outside ourselves, that we are forever searching for others to compare with, and get the satisfaction that ‘ i am better than him/her’..its funny because even when i write this, i have to force myself to be non judgemental…and its also funny, we forget about the judgements when we compare favourably, and think about it only when we dont match up.. a defense mechanism automatically pops up, and we argue on why it isnt exactly as rosy as it looks… and so it shouldnt surprise anyone that the conversation ends with ‘but i bet he slogs till midnight…

    until next time, and they say judgement day is coming…

  • Legacy Issues

    Yes, i can understand the techie eyebrows shooting up, but its nothing to do with system related legacies..its more to do with the original usage of the word, long before they had thought of computers…Like i have said in a post not too long ago, in addition to the fact that we love reading, there is also possibly a subconscious reason for buying books.. it is perhaps a way of transmitting ourselves to those who come after us.. because the books we have read also tell a little something about the kind of persons we are, and also share the ideas that in a way shaped our thinking… i also write the date of purchase of the book so i can sit back a long time later and smile at the books i used to read…:)
    I have started collecting Ashok Banker’s Ramayana series, also because of the fact that it might be slightly more appreciated than the ramanand sagar vcds..:).. though i bought it quite a while back, i started reading it only recently.. the author has a disclaimer that there are lots of versions of the ramayana, and he has tried is best to be as true to the original version by valmiki as possible…but he has written it very clearly keeping the current generation in mind… there is definitely a difference in the style of storytelling..
    this is almost like a desi ‘Lord of the Rings’ interms of characterisation and narration.. for example, i am not too comfortable with a ‘Harishchandra Avenue’ in Ayodhya or Shatrughan being called ‘Shot’!! but its still a good book..and so while i may be leaving behind a legacy, i should keep in mind that books are also the perspective of the author and can be way different from what i would want it to be…
    until next time, dont believe everything you read 🙂

  • Broken record

    Come to think of it, i think there might have been a reason behind the ‘dumb post’… after a period of regular writing, the posts start getting a bit monotonous… like getting stuck in a certain groove.. to the extent that i know broadly what all i could possibly write here, and expect to write exactly that when i sit down to write the post…remember the time when i used to write only stories.. just about the time that phase ended,i had contemplated quitting the blog for sometime, because a twist in each tale is quite a task to accomplish, especially if you are doing only that… but it isnt that easy to let go, and so,after a bit of thought, i decided i wouldnt restrict myself with any constraints…
    but after a lil look at the last few posts, i have realised that maybe it is not something i do consciously, getting into the groove, that is, but the problem is that sooner or later, i will sound like a broken record, and that definitely isnt good news…but guess what the twist in this is..
    if i do decide not to write according to a pattern, then i have to consciously write posts that do not fall into a pattern, and knowing me, THAT would then become the pattern… yes, i also realise that i have written a post almost as dumb as the last one, and that wasn’t exactly conscious..uh oh, do you think i am already in the groove?

    until next time, this one is just for the record 🙂

  • Dumb Post

    If the state of being bored is boredom,
    and the state of being free is freedom,
    and the state of being a star is stardom,
    and (coincidentally) the state of a king is kingdom,
    what would the state of being conned be??

    until next time, not to worry, this post is just random 🙂

  • Point Being…

    Have finished both of Chetan Bhagat’s books – the hugely popular ‘Five point someone’, and the heavily trashed ‘One night at the Call center’, and that doesnt mean i can write book reviews..:) because like i have repeatedy said, i am really bad at them, but that doesnt stop me from commenting on books anyway…
    I happened to read ONATCC first, and i felt it was a fairly good book.. i doubt if it is meant to provoke a deep analysis of self and the cosmos.. but it does give a peek into the working of the industry that employs a large percentage of today’s youth, and the lives of these guys..its a racy book and more importantly excellent value for money.. to all the literary critics, i would say that we sit and laugh at the ‘No Entry’s and the ‘Meet the Parents’ fully understanding that theres hardly any cinematic value to it.. in the nation’s lingo its called timepass, and theres no harm if an author caters to that need at all.. and so, in essence, the book wont change your life, unless you took a day off from work to read it or something…
    Five point someone also has a good pace, and while there are occasions which are too ‘filmi’ (like x thing happening to the exact x person at exact x time, which is too convenient for random coincidence), it is still a good read…i think the difference between the two books is that while FPS is a first person experience (for mr.bhagat), ONATCC is perhaps in a setting about which he only has another person’s view of…and while the prologue in ONATCC says that the book is written primarily to accomodate the larger sections of youth untouched by the IIT (which is the setting in FPS), i feel that FPS also applies to most of the residential colleges because all have grading systems, weird profs, love lives, canteens, and stereotype characters.. i think that made the book successful, because most of everyone could identify it with the (arguably) golden era of their lives – college days..So, point being, i am really bad at reviews, but you should read the books 🙂
    until next time, we pass time, and time passes us 🙂