Students' Association - CMC Vellore

YES!!! WE ARE ALIVE!!!

2009-01-31T10:16:00.002+05:30

This is just to remind the stray wanderers into this blog that YES!!! We Students are Alive, but in the grips of Exams...we will be back with gossip, bitching and other such uplifting activities on the tenth of February...until then - Adios Amigos!!!

Mumbai Nights...

2009-01-10T16:32:00.001+05:30

The view from the window in my Mumbai apartment is wonderful, especially at night when the city glows like a showpiece behind a shop window. The buildings lie in the horizon all lit up... each tiny box of light offering a microscopic view into the life of the rich and the super rich soboites. I chuckle to myself when that absurd nickname comes to my mouth. SOBO stands for South Bombay...the residence of the rich and the snobbish. Mumbai's elite. Clustered in their high rise apartments living out their dreary lives with their regular visits to clubs and malls. Their lives are filled with colour, only the most expensive will do and I believe that it effectively paints over the black and the white that lies beneath. People living in small areas of space separated by their possessions, obsessed with their image. Life for them is one long dreary party where the drinks are expensive and the cost doesnt matter.Is this the reality of their life? I might never know. I wish I could become invisible and flit in through one of those boxes of light and see things for myself and decide...will I see a drunk husband who beats his wife up every night only to mend things with a gold chain for her the next day..their marriage saved probably by that fragile thread of gold? Or maybe I will be offered the view of a bored wife who neither works in an office nor at home(being amply supplied with house help...)Or maybe a heartwarming view of an old couple living their lives out alone after a lifetime of work, happy and contented to live simply though they may have it all...for now however, that mystery remains veiled and I must content myself with the view.Just below the buildings lies a dark, murky crescent of water. Hidden from my view is the Hadji Ali Mosque...one landmark among the many that make up this city. Though I cannot see the mosque I can make out its namesake, the juice centre...a brilliantly coloured(somewhat garish sign). The juice centre is crowded and remains crowded through the night. I find it amusing to wonder who in their right minds would stop for a juice in the middle of the night and what keeps them out of their houses (be it a furnished house in SOBO (chuckle) or a chawl in dharavi). Mumbai, however, is not for the right minded...everyone is a little mad and they have to be more than a little mad to survive in this city...Beyond this marvellous edifice to the mumbaiaites addiction to fast food (at any time of the day) lies the sea. The backwaters are still and tiny waves on the surface coalesce to form rings that spread outward at this distance. Maybe the tremors caused by the trains as they rattle and crisscross the city are responsible for this...I dont know. There are other structures along the way near the juice centre, a petrol pump, maybe a shop or two but nothing more. All that can be seen beyond, encircling the sea and curving towards the left to disappear beyond my vision is the chain of lights popularly known as the queens necklace...it lights up at night and few things man made are as beautiful as the sight...The rest of my view is dominated by the road. The traffic in this city is mind numbing and on sunny days or rainy the junction(or chaurastha in hindi) is full to bursting with it. It stretches backwards as far as the eye can see. Suddenly, the signal comes to life and the traffic rushes past...this is a fleeting moment that brings to mind the bursting of a dam and the sudden, powerful rush of its floodwaters. These waters are, however, stopped only too soon by another dam, another signal.The streets are unchanged at night. The traffic rushes on till the hours or early morning and stops for a little over two hours, then the incessant rush starts and the cycle begins again...endless and renewing itself with each dawning day...

2009-01-01T19:27:00.001+05:30

Hey People wishing all you guys a great year ahead

Twelve days of christmas---MALLU STYLE!!!

2008-12-31T15:51:00.007+05:30

This is my tributes to all you Mallus out there!! Merry Christmas!!!
On the first day of christmas my kochamma gave to me - An authentic Malayalam Patti...
On the second day of Christmas my kochamma gave to me - Two mallu chetas and an authentic Malayalam Patti..
On the third day of Christmas my kochamma gave to me - Three Films of Shakeela, Two Mallu Chetas and an authentic Malayalam Patti...
On the fourth day of christmas my kochamma gave to me - Four communist leaders, Three films of Shakeela, Two Mallu Chetas and an Authentic Malayalam Patti...
On the fifth day of Christmas my kochamma gave to me - Five bowls of Aviyal, Four Communist leaders, Three films of Shakeela, Two Mallu Chetas and an authentic Malaylam Patti..
On the sixth day of Christmas my kochamma gave to me - Six bottles of toddy, Five bowls of aviyal, Four Communist Leaders, Three Films of Shakeela, Two Mallu chetas and an Authentic Malayalam Patti...
On the seventh day of Christmas my kochamma gave to me - seven tickets to dubai, Six bottles of Toddy, Five Bowls of Aviyal, Four Communist leaders, Three Films of Shakeela, Two Mallu chetas and an Authentic Malayalam Patti...
On the eighth day of Christmas my kochamma to me - eight Manorama yearbooks, seven tickets to dubai, Six bottles of Toddy, Five bowls of Aviyal, Four Communist leaders, Three films of Shakeela, Two Mallu Chetas and an authentic Malayalam Patti...
On the ninth day of Christmas my Kochamma gave to me - nine workers unions, eight Manorama yearbooks, seven tickets to dubai, six bottles of toddy, five bowls of aviyal, four communist leaders, three films of Shakeela, two Mallu Chetas and an authentic Malayalam Patti...
On the tenth day of Christmas my Kochamma gave to me - ten Mohanlal fan clubs, nine workers unions, eight manorama yearbooks, seven tickets to dubai, six bottles of toddy, five bowls of aviyal, four communist leaders, three films of Shakeela, two Mallu Chetas and an authentic Malayalam Patti...
On the eleventh day of Christmas my Kochamma gave to me - eleven Pathanamthitta beauties, ten mohanlal fan clubs, nine workers unions, eight manorama year books, seven tickets to Dubai, six bottles of toddy, five bowls of Aviyal, four communist leaders, three films of Shakeela, two mallu Chetas and an authentic Malayalam Patti...
On the twelfth day of Christmas my Kochamma gave to me - Twelve gallons of Coconut oil, eleven Pathanamthitta beauties, ten mohanlal fan clubs, nine workers unions, eight manorama year books, seven tickets to dubai, six bottles of toddy, five bowls of aviyal, four communist leaders, three films of shakeela, two mallu chetas and an authentic Malayalam Patti

WELCOME TO MALGUDI

2008-12-30T20:51:00.001+05:30

Sajjanpur is a modern day Malgudi, albeit a darker and greyer version. Filled with enchanting characters and a touch of village humour, Welcome to Sajjanpur is an amazing watch.
The story traces the fortunes of the village of Sajjanpur through the eyes of its 'letter writer' Mahadev (Shreyas Talpade). Besotted with his childhood crush Kamala(Amrita Rao) - who happens to be married...he does everything in his power to break the happily married couple, sowing seeds of discontent in order to win over the girl. However, his scheming has unexpected and tragic results.
Though this may be the main thread that runs through the story there are many other characters brought to life...the local goon, the eunuchs who contest in the election, the compounder in love with a widow, and a cantankerous snake charmer- all important parts of the vibrant potrait taking shape in front of your eyes.
The casting is simply brilliant and Shreyas Talpade more than does justice to his role as Mahadev- witty, charming and an unscrupulous rogue, he doesnt fail to touch your heart. Amrita Rao is perfect as the innocent Kamala. Pretty, sweet and lonely, she manages to bring a depth to her character that hints at a potential for acting yet to be realised...Ila Arun and Ravi Kishen are laugh out loud funny and brilliant. The humor in the film lies in the dialogue - typical village dialect, wonderfully laced with sarcasm and humor that tickles your funny bone.
The film attempts at capturing the rural mindset and does just that. Talking about the contradictions of our country, its problems, and our lackadaisical manner of dealing with them - with a shrug of the shoulder and a nod of the head-Shyam Benegal does a brilliant job of making the film thought provoking without being too preachy.
There are songs but they take a backseat, somehow not interfering with the narrative, but adding to your involvement in the lives of the characters as they unfold. A particularly hilarious number - Munne ki Bari - is one of my favourites.
From its perfect casting, to its perfect ending(not because it isnt tragic - but because you cant really imagine it ending any other way...) Welcome to Sajjanpur defines the new breed of Indian Cinema making its way to the fore, not burdened with heavy production costs or stars, but with actors and a good script, its the stuff good movies are made of - Quality.

Slumdog Millionaire

2008-12-30T10:01:00.007+05:30

First things first... Let me wish everyone here a belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year as well... Hope the hols were as fulfilling and relaxing as they were supposed to be!

Coming to the topic, Slumdog Millionaire, one of the movies that's getting rave reviews all over the world, is a guaranteed must-see according to me... It's one of the best movies this year without a doubt! I hadn't heard of this movie until I was going through the Golden Globe nominations and noticed A.R.Rahman's nomination for Outstanding Score for the movie... Well.... Then I noticed that SDM ;-) had been nominated for Best Movie, Director and Screenplay as well... I couldn't help getting more intrigued and so I went and bought the DVD. (...which isn't out yet? so you guys know what i actually did...)

Not wanting to spoil the movie for you guys, a heavily micro-sized synopsis for now... The story's based in India, mainly aamchi Mumbai, about how a street urchin who's barely educated, gets on the "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?" contest (KBC!), and seems to know all the answers somehow... The story evolves over the various back stories of how he got to know each answer (through the trying experiences of his life obviously...) and about how and why he got on the show in the first place... The narrative's got it's moments and you just can't but help being happy for the hero in the end...

I was quite moved by the story telling which was both subtle and in-your-face at the same time... And the acting of the children especially, the colours, camerawork and Rahman's background score all added to the excitement, the athos and the pathos that is everyday India and Mumbai in particular... I dunno what it is about people using third world (Just generalizing... India's not Third World anymore...) country backgrounds for movies (maybe it's for the awards season), but it works... Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Millions, 28 Days Later) and co-director Loveleen Tandan have made a movie that targets the worldwide audience as such. The stories are stories we've heard, stories that we know, stories that we've seen and stories that we've experienced and understand. and thus thanks to Simon Beaufoy (screenplay) and Vikas Swarup for the novel Q&A on which this movie was based... The movie's got quite a few familiar actors from Bollywood, each doing their parts quite well, except when they have to say things in English which were better said in Hindi... Dev Patel does a good job for his first movie... Apparently he's a Brit Indian... And Frieda Pinto looks beautiful and acts quite well too.

It's a movie that uses the age-old adage that fate and destiny make the world go round... And I think the movie works because of that. It's not groundbreaking or that different, but it's still a breath of fresh air.... Watch it. Tell us what you think!

See you guys!!!

Luv,
Nelson

P.S.
Q. So finally how does he know the answers?
A. Well, finally because... "It Is Written..."

To read more about the movie... Imdb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia...

Other Movies to watch if you've missed them this year.... The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, Kung Fu Panda, Wanted, Hellboy 2, Quantum of Solace, Transporter 3, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Pineapple Express, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, In Bruges, Vicky Christina Barcelona, etc etc
and the rest which the editor will help me out with...

2008-12-29T14:28:00.004+05:30

What is the image that you would always remember from this year??If some of you could write something you saw this year that you would always remember would be nice to have someone writing somethings other than just the two or three people
I will start it hope it catches on and more people write. For me it was on Christmas Eve i saw this women selling holly. People were walking all around her busy with their last minute shopping lauhghing, comparing things they had bought and small kids asking their parents for rasgullas. But she just stood there hoping i guess that people would buy some. But people didnt seem to have noticed her. Amid the light and the noise she stood there alone in the cold with her hands around the basket of holly that she had brought along to sell. Thats when i realized how different her Christmas and mine are.

2008-12-29T14:15:00.002+05:30

I recently read the White Tiger and i cant see it winning a Booker. I know i am not qualified to judge a so called 'great' litereary work but after comparing it with the past books that have won the Booker i somehow find it lacking. There is no flow in the language, the plot is not great and it is sort of predictable. At the start of the book you get this sense that its building up to something but it kinda falls flat towards the second half of the book. The story is about a small town guy who through a series of events ends up killing his master who he was working as a driver for. The entire story is narrated through his series of letters to the Chinese premier. I am not a great story teller so summarizing it is kinda hard for me to do so if you really want to read this book go ahead but i would recommend reading a Rohinton Mistry book instead.

Six Suspects - Vikas swarup.

2008-12-28T11:59:00.003+05:30

A politician's son is shot in his farmhouse. The police round up Six Suspects, each possessing a gun at the scene of the crime. Whodunnit?

The premise may be interesting but the story falls flat in the first few pages. The author obviously cares about his characters but in trying to bring them to life he tries too hard and what he ends up with are caricatures of people who could have been truer to life.

The book is nothing but a pastiche of all the scandals, issues and political conroversies that make up India. However, in bringing them up, Mr. Swarup offers no solution to these problems, does not even hint in the right direction but merely goes the typical bollywood way -

kill, kill, kill...

But it is not the mere shallowness of the novel that puts me off, it is the absurdity of the situations some of the characters find themselves in. A politician who is possessed by the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi...a soulless character. There is no sympathy for him and no sympathy for the Mahatma. A popular Bollywood actress cheated by her secretary, common enough, but the switch from predator to prey is so glaring that it seems but a facade...A tribal from the Andamans, a character with true potential for development but wasted merely because he was unlucky enough to have been thought up by this particular author...Munna Mobile, the small time thief, his is the love story that movies are made of and so it proves to be in the end...

By far the worst and the most pathetic character in the book is the American Larry Page- Mr. Swarup seems to dislike Americans so much that he has made this the dumbest character in his book. And that would be saying a lot. Full of so called American phrases like - " as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs" and " as clumsy as a horse in a pumpkin patch" this character seems to know nothing, do nothing and lives only to be duped by others, while there may be dumb people in America, as there are all over the world, this Dumbness belongs in a Mental Asylum or a home for the Mentally Challenged. People actually mistake this idiot for the Larry Page of Google!!! Throw in a group of even Dumber terrorists and you can see for yourself a blunder in making...Mr. Vikas Swarup.

The best is always saved for the last and Mr Jagannath Rai is it. His character is brilliantly portrayed ...so much so that I actually had the sneaking suspicion that this part of the book was written by someone else...however, the grit and the ruthlessness of a politician, their dependance on fake God men and their philandering nature are all brought out really well by the Author. It gives me hope and I really wish the author sticks to writing books about the political class, it is the only thing he seems to have a knack for.

The tagline of the boom is - There is a Caste System even in Murder. The purpose of this line only seems to be to make a good start of the story. Nowhere else do you find even a veiled reference to this statement...another waste!!!!

Sting operations, Sex scandals, Political Horse trading, bargirl murders and the Bhopal Gas tragedy are all dealt with in this book, each has their own small part to play but having put all these powerful issues into play, the author does not know how to take them forward and this is the biggest failing in his book.

I India, we hae amazing authors - Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Rohinton Mistry, Arundhati Roy, Aravind Adiga -People known all over the world for their works, prize winners and people who are amazing at what they do best - Wrting. If Mr. Vikas Swarup intends to join their ranks, he has a long way to go.

May the Mahatmas' Soul rest in Peace ...

New Music

2008-12-23T21:28:00.006+05:30

Thanks to the holidays, now that everyone has a little time to unwind, here's some music to check out:

Pinback, an Indie/Alternative group from San Diego. Check out "Fortress" and "Loro" on their mySpace page:

www.myspace.com/pinback/

Teitur, from Copenhagen, is on mySpace too at www.myspace.com/teitur/

Feeling sentimental? Nothing like his song "One and Only" to wallow to.

Closer to home, check out Indigo Children at www.myspace.com/indigochildrenmusic/

2008-12-22T21:14:00.003+05:30

Hey People its almost Christmas time, would be nice if a few of you could tell the others how you plan to celebrate this season. (lets see if any of you reply that would be a real test for this blog)
Till then here is The Twelve Days of Christmas in Indian style from youtube.

2008-12-02T20:59:00.003+05:30

World AIDS Day celebrated on the 1st of December. Lets take this opportunity to spread awareness about it.

2008-12-02T16:37:00.003+05:30

Christmas carol rounds took place on saturday the 29th of November. The rains might have caused a lot of people to stay indoors but despite that an appreciable number of people turned up to brave the rain. With wicks dampened by the rain the candles hardly stayed lit but the voices that pelted out carol after carol were anything but dampened. A special thanks to the staff for all the food and apologies to all those people who our melifluous cawing might have disturbed. Will post pictures as soon as i get them if any.

2008-12-02T16:33:00.004+05:30

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation like this especially with Bengali patients

2008-12-01T11:13:00.000+05:30

After all is said and done, more is said than done. Aesop

2008-12-01T10:51:00.002+05:30

The face of terror: As Mumbai struggles back to normalcy we express our grief and solidarity with the families of all those who have lost their dear ones in the recent attacks

2008-12-01T10:41:00.003+05:30

a cartoon copyright of time.com remindinding us that terrorism exists all over the world

2008-11-29T11:53:00.002+05:30

The batch of 2004

2008-11-29T11:42:00.000+05:30

2008-11-29T11:11:00.003+05:30

Its been really long since i've wanted to post this, might not be very valid now but after the final year speeches and things about hypocrisy being said i think this article by chichra if you read it carefully will reflect on many things that are wrong about this place.

There’s something about watching a group of people commune with God that’s embarrassing...It’s like walking in on somebody changing without them realising it, when the embarrassment is all your own. There’s something worse about it when that group of people is advertising this commune, broadcasting their faith, boasting of their piety; a vastly amusing exercise of mine (my faith, my belief, my devotion....the list goes on...) is bigger than yours...But that day, as I got to my feet, slowly rubbing my cramped legs, I realised the worst is when everybody involved in the exercise are actors hamming it, and everyone is uncomfortably aware of the fact.
There is something so endearing about hypocrisy in one’s alleged superiors. Something which makes people equal in a way Marx would have approved of. Which is why, hypocrisy has been a bit of a hobby of mine, I collect statements like others press flowers or something, it gives me an exaggerated sense of self-importance, I sometimes top it off with writing vaguely condescending articles about them. Which is why when somebody gets up and asks why the Social Services bus is not a service given to us (part of our ‘ministering’ work), but a commodity(couldn’t Munniamma’s ever suffering thali pay for this too?), I snigger...In the same way that a child would if one suddenly pulls down an old man’s trousers. To expose another’s pretence is always fun, do it in a public forum and it becomes a blockbuster entertainer. The true hypocrite never backs down; with him is a store of absurdity that never runs out, never fails to entertain. While the ordinary mind does not understand what the KGB has to do with a general store, the subtleties of hypocrisy sniff out a delicate link. This link is then propounded as a fact, with the calm face of an infant denying allegations of finishing off the last piece of cake. But then hypocrisy so often uses stupidity to cover up after it; sometimes, I admit, it does get confusing...There are little delights, like subtle flavours, that you can find about this place. Like an entrance system whose strengths are loudly extolled, but then there’s always the little backdoor open for those who can find it (a little blackmail, expose a few flaws of the perfect system...or get a royal edict... and voila! The key is yours for the asking). Or even better, watch a doctor putting her compassion on show (with the breaking voice of an actress in a third rate soap opera) while detailing the miseries of a terminally ill patient (a voice over is a good touch, almost angelic...). A ‘K serial’ is almost subtle compared to the shows some people put up. I have become addicted to these delights, they make life in a bland town with an excess of Mals almost bearable. Currently, it is the season of martyrdom, and that’s always a treat...
There’s something so amusing about watching a group of people, who so obviously think they own the place (whatever it is, wherever it is...they OWN it) struggling to put on an appropriately modest face and ‘owning up’ to their faults (which are tiny faults, almost insignificant, by noticing them they show how truly modest they are...). It is even more fun when someone gets up and points out a fault they do not want to own up to. It gives me a malicious feeling of delight to watch the ‘modest’ face fall and the ‘unjustly victimized’ face promptly go up. Hypocrites everywhere (I speak from personal experience) always reply to accusations with an air of holy martyrdom that is extremely comical. Royalty does the same. Royalty reminds you that you are privileged to be in its presence, any complaints are invalidated by that one big favour. A spicy mix of hypocrisy, outraged (outmoded) martyrdom, and severe delusions of a non-existent grandeur (blood made blue with ink as the saying goes...) is a recipe for a comedy of unimagined proportions. The true connoisseur will know what I’m talking about...the clever hypocrite will bow to royalty while befriending the accusers...

2008-11-06T12:55:00.000+05:30

All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.
Friedrich Nietzsche

2008-11-01T20:01:00.007+05:30

UPCOMING EVENT: COLLEGE DAY PLAY ON THE 8th OF NOVEMBER

"ARSENIC AND OLD LACE" AT 6:30 PM IN SCUDDER AUDITORIUM

2008-11-01T19:38:00.004+05:30

Diwali- the festival of lights was celebrated this year on the 25th of October. The batch of 2007 as the organising batch did a commendable job in organising the whole event. The entertainment, food, fireworks brought life to a day that was otherwise threatened by overcast skies. As usual the dancing and music continued right till around midnight.