The best Item song yet

There seems to be a lot of hip discussion (hipsters are people who are rebels without causes, much like the 3 Idiots) about which of the songs Shiela Ki Jawani or Munni Badnaam are better. Yesterday at Saarang (the Cultural Festival of IIT Madras.. Note the oxymoron - culture and IIT Madras), I heard these songs play back to back, and people screaming with joy as they neared orgasm. There was a general consensus that Shiela is better.

Today, I was looking at the collection of old videos that I have, and I saw the beauty of Madhubala when she danced to "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya". In her memory, I have decided to pitch in my effort to end the disgrace of this hippie bullshit.

Shiela Ki Jawani	Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya
Leading lady : Katrina Kaif. Ugly, thin and cannot act. No grace whatsoever. Cannot dance.	Leading lady : Madhubala. The most beautiful looking actress Bollywood has seen. Also, knew how to dance.
Location : Some hip club where people are semi-naked, which reflects their cultural nudity.	Location : The Lal Quila at Delhi. The seat of the Emperor of India
Lyrics : My Name is Shiela.. Shiela ki Jawani.. I am too sexy for you, main tere Haath na aani.. (Lyrics don't make sense)	Lyrics : ..Purdah nahin jab koi Khuda se.. Bandon Se Purdah Karna kya.. Jab Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya
Film : Tees Maar Khan (The film was released successfully)	Film : Mughal-e-Azam (The film was a block-buster)
Scene : Katrina Kaif dances for no apparent reason.	Scene : Madhubala dances to profess the love which is the central theme of the film.

So, that's a clear 5-0 win for Pyar Kiya toh Darna kya.

Here is a link to the youtube video.

Remember kids, what is popular is almost never right.

The semester that was

And the CAT 2010 results yesterday conclude all proceedings of what was truly, one hell of a semester.

As I am in Biotechnology, and the people that designed our curriculum forgot their brains on their way to work on that day, the 7th Semester has 26 credits (which is the most for any semester). Why the derogatory comment about the brains you ask? Well, because the 7th Semester is when we are supposed to get jobs and/or write our CAT. As people know, this takes a lot of time and effort. Add to that the problem that you are in Biotechnology and there are no jobs (yes, no jobs even for IITians).

Add to this the additional screening tests that most good companies coming on campus take. At one point of time in November, I was confused about what exact test I was going to (True story). Even during my vacation, at home, I woke up with nightmares about forgetting a test.

Add to this the fact that I like to keep my options open. So, I decided that with a decent CGPA to go with, apping for a PhD might be a good idea. So I had to write the GRE and TOEFL too. And because some universities have their deadlines in December, I had to finish everything by November. Great isn't it?

Add to this the fact that I also was doubly burdened by my extra curricular freelance web-designing activities. In this particular semester, I have worked for ICSR, CCE, Department of Civil Engineering, IIM Ahmedabad and another couple of private clients. Lot of money, obviously, but a lot of time gone too.

Add to that the fact that I had a bad accident about a week before my GRE. I fell off my cycle and broke my front tooth. Because most doctors in IIT Madras are quacks, my parents asked me to come to Dombilvi and get treatment done there. So a short week during Shaastra and a root canal later (very, very painful), I was back with a brand new ceramic-glass tooth.

People say that there is only one way you can go when have had the worst day of your life - and that is up. Well, to those people, I'd suggest doing a semester like this one.

Anyway, the end result was much better than what I could've asked for. 1470 with a week's preparation on the GRE and 115 without any preparation on TOEFL is being extra lucky in my humble opinion. I got placed at Morgan Stanley, which happens to be in Mumbai, which is an added advantage as I get to stay at home with my parents after 4 years of hell. CAT was sub-par with a 97 percentile and calls from Lucknow, Shillong and Ahmedabad (Agriculture :-) ).

I guess I cannot be complaining, the end result seems good. But it'd have been great if someone could have told me this was what was going to happen in November - I would have been a much happier person.

If they ever tell my story, Let them Say :
I survived the 7th Semester.

Everything can be justified

Right and Wrong are subjective

I am a big fan of the Socratic method, and hence like to analyse the events around me alongwith my theories about life. This has made me realize one thing : a lot of things, even things that we have believed absolutely true (or false), are actually quite open to interpretation.

You see Joey, thats the beauty of argument : If you argue correctly, you are never wrong
--Nick Naylor (Thank you for Smoking)

In Thank you for Smoking, Nick Naylor is the chief spokesperson for Big Tobacco and explains how everything in life is a shade of grey. The movie explores how "wrong" can actually be made to look right. But again, if something is accepted to be right, isn't it right in itself?

That is precisely the point : There is no single authority on "Right" and "Wrong" anywhere.

One thing that influences our perception of right and wrong is culture and civilization. But again, history is a collection of observations and inferences drawn by peoples of an earlier age based on events happening around them. This removes the concept of absolutes. History is written by the historians of the winning side. That's why, right from the Mahabharat, through the 2nd World war and more recently the War on Terror, we have the bad guys losing.

Anyone who has actually read the Mahabharat will understand that the Kauravs were not actually bad people. Their claim to the throne was as legitimate as the Pandavs. In the war, the Pandavs killed more people unethically, against the accepted rules of war than the Kauravs (Bhishma, Karna, Dronacharya and finally even Duryodhan). Even the Bhagwad Geeta does not describe the Kauravs as "evil" or "the enemy".

The above point is in no way religious, it is just my interpretation of the Mahabharat, but since we have digressed into religious matters, I'd like to put another quote I'm rather fond of :

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful
--Seneca the Younger

There are no absolutes. There is only perception.

First post

Hello Universe

OK. This is my first post. Nothing to WOOT about, I didn't write the template engine or the backend of this blog. WOOTing about this would be like celebrating the heating of food by a microwave. You won't find stuff like that here.

Why the title

Because I am cynic. Through this blog, I will describe the experiences I've had (or will have) in life in the light in which I see them.

But why a blog? Won't a journal do?

Good question. I recently had a class in which the professor talked about how pessimistic and cynical guys are bad for a company's growth. I feel that it is my moral obligation as a member of this tribe to stand up for and protect what is mine against the evil of excessive optimism.

Who are you again?

Good question again. My name is Ajinkya Abhay Naik. (spoken in the tone of "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius..") I am in my final year at the Department of Biotechnology here at IIT Madras. I like coding, and I have been doing web-designing as a for a couple of years now. I enjoy reading, listening to music (I have a very low tolerance range in both cases) and swimming as a means to escape the Chennai heat.

Likes/Dislikes

I have this as my wallpaper, and it is a collage of things I like about life :

I pretty much hate everything else.