‘Rockstar’ : A ‘My World Perspective' Review

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, a 13th century mystic poet, once wrote:

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, 

there is a field.  I'll meet you there. 

  

When the soul lies down in that grass, 

the world is too full to talk about. 

Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ 

doesn't make any sense.”

And the first part of this verse is what binds the Movie discussed here – Rockstar – through itself and aptly so, at that. ‘How?’ You ask? Let’s see.

Clearly there’s huge leaf taken from ‘Heer Ranjha’ , the popular tragic love-story told from Punjab via various Poetic renderings. Not entirely, but still in part. Janardhan Jhakar (JJ, and later - 'Jordan'), a Jat boy, stands bewildered out of reverence for the poster of James Douglas "Jim" Morrison, pasted across his unplastered wall. Agog, as to how does one get it? That sound which he is told he lacks, that vibe which he is made to learn he can’t propagate, that depth which he is relentlessly made to believe to accept he just can’t touch. He wonders, and wonders a little more. Which is when a blindingly convincing character actor’s (Kumud Mishra) advice touches his ear-drums and the stone is striked across forever : He has had a pretty breezy existence. He is neither adopted, and never was molested. He suffers from no life-altering ailment. Bottom-line: He lacks tragedy in his life. And, misguidedly enough, he chalks up the courage to manufacture his own Heartbreak by asking the College heartthrob – a devastatingly cute, undisputed stunner and defaulted-ly unavailable Heer Kaul – out. Hoping that her rejection would catapult him to the place where sound leaves your senses as though they will make even the strings cry by rendering them a certain creed of pain which posses the required capacity. Unfortunately, that’s not what happens. Though what does happen, is another discovery altogether.

Heer is a presumed ‘Neat-and-Clean’, high-society damsel, who’s born with a silver spoon in her mouth and is about to marry a guy who too was, well, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Her life story, as she sees it, is already penned down with a water-tight screenplay in place alongwith a story-board predicting a bore of a post-marriage existence. And, to add the required spice, she wishes to precede this stated duration with 2 months of unbridled, all-gates-open indulgence of senses with her new found non-judgemental friend (Janardhan) – a kind of indiscriminated immoderation which includes gulping down country liquor, watching a B-Grade flick in seedy down-town talkies and asking ‘Sab theek hai na, bhai saab?’ to unsuspecting gents care-freely wetting away a common wall with Uric liquid by-product of human body.

And as it were to be, while scaling the foggy streets of the national capital to the scenic snow covered expanse of Kashmir - which is more-than-brilliantly captured by Anil Mehta's lens, they 'unexpectedly' and 'unintentionally' fall in love with each other. Only to later have Heer married in a most unconventionally covered wedding sequence on Indian Silver screen in like all times. And that’s where our Mr. Protagonist wraps himself up by the Namesake garb – Rockstar. Where he will watch himself transform from a school-boyish naiveté to an emotionally unstable, though a mature, tortured soul.

The movie after this point of time has to be rather experienced more than just being passively witnessed.

The movie, as it must be pointed out, has its share of shortcomings too. The script jumps way too much to-and-fro in time dimension for one. Secondly, the revelations of crucial, poignant movements - which are yet to arrive – in many a sporadically placed musical montages as Flashback and Flashforwards almost kills the effect one would have had had they been allowed to arrive only when they were chronologically slated to. The Original Soundtrack, composed by A.R. Rahman and enmeshed into Irshaad Kamil's soul-stirring words, when just listened to from point A to B, develops its own narrative and a story-flow which gets slightly marred by this story-point-hopping. Questions also would be raised upon the decision which directed the inclusion of Nargis Fakhri in the main cast. She fails to justify the casting judgment. One, at times, fails to digest that such a plastic character actually warrants such level of passion from a person highly, deeply, madly in love with her – A contrasting and amazing character portrayal by Ranbir Kapoor. Although, at times one, also, falls short of fathoming as to what exactly is Jordan so angry about? Is it the filial abandonment or the not so healthy bohemian food? Is it the dejections and rejections or the dichotomy associated with 'Fame'? One never gets it entirely.

Moreover, a major creative risk has been taken by making a mainstream cinema which deliberately leaves so many loose ends to be tied by individual viewer’s personal discretion. The place where one would lie upon the ‘Hate-It' to 'Love-It’ spectrum would be decided by where that person currently is in his/her personal life and what is his/her current take upon his/her surroundings which are either shaping them or are getting shaped by them. And that’s one more reason as to why this movie would leave the audience-set highly polarised. As mentioned, there is a mighty chance of having, at hands, two islands of extreme opinions getting pitted against each other.

But, for me, what pars all these musings is the kind of intensity and passion which Imtiaz Ali manages to attach to the undertone of this part Musical outing which is unprecedented in form and content. The volatility of Human emotion is laid bare and made available to be gaped at by a very honest attempt, hereto largely unseen. Some scenes would leave the prudes highly scandalized. And that’s trademark mitiaz Ali for you. The intricacies involved in the path traversed from ‘Want’ to ‘Need’ are set under a high-strength spotlight too. These minutiae make a certain point be reached - the point in time when ‘Love’ manages to leap over ‘Logic and lands on 'Instinct.' The point, where imagination triumphs over intelligence. The point, where the societal standards of wrong-doing and right-doing come crashing down. A point, where Angst, Rage, Jealousy, Guilt and Passion all come together to produce a humanely polished outcome.

Which is exactly why - to answer the question raised in the opening para - Rumi’s lines are so very essential to the narrative.

Overall, an amazing attempt at telling a story in a very different and unconventional way. And kudos to the fitting sound track and vocals by Mohit Chauhan which seamlessly becomes the protagonist's in the movie.  Watch this one for Imtiaz Ali - a raconteur who has yet again managed to touch the untouched-yet. Watch it for Ranbir Kapoor - a 29 year old actor portraying the embodiment of a character who goes from being an awkward nobody to a stoic-when-in-public, massively loved and hysteria-inducing 'Rockstar' and with what panache! An 'actor', truly, is born. Watch it, above all, for understanding the depth of the phrase ‘Human Attachment.’

It's a differently made dish. If you are done having it, savor the after-taste. If you haven't yet, try it.

Editorial - November. Enlightenment.

Time to open-up those trunks, dust-off those covering sheets, take out those naphthalene-ball infested woolens and cease procrastinating at the thought of soaking them in Genteel solution to set them clean and breathing again. Because, the 11th month on the Gregorian calendar is here to set you shivering and how! As we go along welcoming a spine-chilling north Indian winter, let us also keep in mind  to welcome you all back in the campus after a sweetly decided upon hiatus. Yes, Enlightenment’s happy to have you all back here!

The quotidian-ial course on all floors seems to be someone becoming the scapegoat of a point-and-laugh session for the excess holiday weight that one has put on and returned with. Or it is an event bordering onto near fatal assaults on some unsuspecting people who have with them, as per what the air holds, boatload of homemade delicacies under their possession. Also, as some people share their F1 Grand Stand experience with all, some others, who were made to shoo away from the parking lot of Metallica concert area, fume with sour envy. Many others who visited their hometown have returned with sweet tales of filial merriment and airy joy in their backpack. And that’s exactly what festival does to all – either it blankets everyone in its snuggly embrace of jollity or it makes one take stock of our diverse culture and its capacity to seek bliss in most places and in most number of ways.

And, as it so is with every other month in our campus, there’s no reason for this festivity to hit a halt. If at all anything, it is going to be accelerated up further. As the outsides would, in just some days, be filled with elation of Eid-Ul-Adha and Guru Nanak Jyanti, the insides would have something equally  universal to offer. Ignited Minds from the House CREST are planning on surprising us all with their offing this month and so are the Dream-Weavers. LnT Dhanush is ready with its Organogram and the people on that Organogram are ready with effervescent ideas to make you dance, play, sing, speak or mime. Or do all of them as per what the case shall be! Watch out their space and information channels for more dope on this matter in coming days. With Annual Sports Day being just a stone throw time away, people are advised to  take out their pair of trainers and hit the sector garden early in the morning for adequate amount of warm-up. Enlightenment wishes to append to this list by announcing -  

As we go along making way through testing political scenarios, uncertain global economical future, trying daily existence dotted with ever increasing real estate and petrol prices and all the other self-made, overthunk woes and worries resulting out of bottomless coffer-esque wants and desires so very typical of humanity, let’s set a moment aside for the humble men and women who lift up your white tea cup from your cubicle-desk after you are done consuming it, who set clean the office floor before you enter-in in the morning and who clean-up your personal dustbin after you have exited the building, who bring your evening snack-pack from food-court to main building every single evening  dot on time every single time. Who water your birthday-gift plant-pots and maintain the general well-being and greenery of the campus. And greet all these unassuming co-travelers with a word of kindness or a smile of gratitude. And , also, let’s remind ourselves that we all are, at the end of the day, mere talking apes on a blue and green, organic spaceship going around a ball of helium at around 29.3 Km/Sec and ask ourselves to  imbibe in a sense of perceiving the Oneness of the ‘whole’ and not merely whack away passing seconds in squabbling over the ‘parts.’

Hoping you find your much cherished newsletter a bit grown-up but as exciting as it always was. Here’s taking your leave for the time-being. 

Smile and breathe well. Thanks to you, all’s fine with the Universe. 

Take care.

Editorial - October. Enlightenment.

Is it just us or did September really flew away like it was never here? Crazy thing, huh, ‘Time’, isn’t it? Well, time to help it push the accelerator up hard again and enter into the month of – October.

The curious month will witness the onset of a leaf-falling, rejuvenating and revitalizing Autumn for us people and a breezy, maritime-ical, comfortably cool Spring for the South Hemispherians. And the zing of this new-ness is just too omnipresent for us, people in the campus, to miss it. Hoards of GETs, bubbling with fresh ideas and conviction ridden idealism have flocked into our campus recently. Enlightenment wishes to extend to them a most warm welcome. The new temporary Canteen porta-cabin coming up is a sign of the New for the land that we are on. Soon there’ll be structures around reaching for the azure, and that would dot an another ‘New’. New too is the initiatives, the endeavours, the activities taken up by many groups present on the campus – Whether it be CREST’s hugly popular ‘Quizofire’, or LnT Dhanush’s any of the many projects it undertakes – The Vollyeball tournament won by L&T-MHI and just recently, the Football Cup taken home by L&T-Valdel, or be it the members of Ladies club, ever on toes to enter a place and never leave out without spreading a hundred smiles. The sparkle of the said ‘New’ is both humbling and invigorating.  

The bygone month saw a massive earthquake jolt the regions on and around the Himalayan belt. We wish for the situation in Sikkim to quickly return to the quintessential normal as we send out a bout of positive energy for all the life-forms still stuck deep there. May we all set aside a moment of quietude to lend them some vital vigour as we go by.

Time ahead seems dotted with a lot of festivity vibe, sweet-tooth surrender and umpteen train/flight itinerary tickets printouts.  Starting with Durga Puja to Dushera to Diwali and many other manifestations of our  fragrant, diverse culture we have reasons abound to let our feet up and spend times of merriment among family and friends. And the ‘said’ merriment is already on-the-mark to get-set-go! Starting today we have children and family members from our extended family coming in to witness Magic Shows, take part in Painting and Fancy dress competition and make some beautiful Rangolis as they go about it. And ‘let-their-hair-down’ they would. What with an electric ‘Dandiya Nite’ planned right after this all by our friends from the Ladies Club. So, here’s looking forward to have the colours and hues imbibed in tonight to extrapolate their effect to an entire month.  

So here’s taking your leave as we serve you with this month’s edition of the newsletter. Wherein you’ll find all that you look out for, sitting right there for you to go through. Special mention’s warranted by September’s Idea-Of-The-Month contest. So as to know why, just guide yourself to the ‘Result’ page and check out the total number of votes registered. And it goes without saying that we, as always, solicit your participation in making your Enlightenment experience richer. Please contribute in big-heartedly with your words, pictures and ideas. Hoping the clarion call gets responded by a rampaging answer.

Till the next time, take care, be well, breathe easy.

Mausam gone bad.

Pankaj Kapur’s directorial debut – Mausam - starts off by being intriguingly fresh and sparky and snowballs into a cold, hard, rolling-downwards, tonking-bluntly-on-your-head kind of, well, Snow-ball. From being light and likable it metamorphoses into being completely irritating and implausible right in front of your eyes. And the premise which leads it to such a state is made up by the help many aspects – The protagonists, among them, being the main contributors.


Shahid Kapur portrays the role of a youthful, vibrant Punjabi munda, living his life on the edge in the fictional town of Mallukot – a character-sketch he wades through with cheek and vigour. His surroundings are just as common as any right out of umpteen Bollywood flicks based out of similar sounding locations, but still, thanks to veteran Pankaj Kapur’s eye, embodied in an unmarked, warm cutesiness of heart and flavor. And extra marks to Binod Pradhan for his camerawork where he fluidly blends in and makes the medium of transfer of images into being a part of that very imagery. The quintessential banter of the elderly gents and ladies of the small town is again similar in depth of the texture but still remarkably different and watchable. The songs set in this location too are gut-thumping when they wish to be so and soulful when they want to be so. The character curve of mostly all the actors on screen is aptly sketched. At this point in time, one is implicitly urged to presume that, barring a few unrelated Sonam Kapoor-esque scream-y outburst and/or giggles, the experience can only head northward thenceforth. Unfortunately, that is where the good news ends.


The underplaying carpet of the story is one which would sound a brilliant piece of writing in terms of vision that’s required to be summoned for such a script: A tale of love and lovelorn-ness, woven on the platform of milestones of erupting communal/regional/national/international chaos of Human existence, traversing a span of over a decade and places from Punjab-Scotland-America-Switzerland-Punjab-Ahmedabad (and I think one more Europian nation I just can’t seem to place), ultimately leading to a La Happily-Ever-After end.  But where it eats major mud is in the Editing department. 


It takes a quantum jump from Mallukot to Scotland. And the Bizzaro-ride begins. Cut to 7 years ahead – Our Mr. Protagonist is an IAF pilot, who tends to walk with a rod straight spine, and sports a tiny moustache, grits his teeth often, and tries to speak with Victorian grandeur of expression. But instead he turns out to be one of the most bothersome elements up on the screen. His take-no-prisoners no-nonsense exterior is a far cry from everything that is convincing whether in form or in substance. In gist - way too self-serious to be taken seriously. Our exquisitely named – Aayat (Sonam Kapur) lacks the maturity required to portray the demeanor expected of her in such a setting. One moment she is a Shop-owner selling Kashmiri shawls and the next a Ballet student/teacher (We are never told) and next movement an Opera-Show ticket seller! The story changes her job faster than what an entry level Software Engineer would in Pvt. Sector India. 


The love-story, which supposedly is the basis of the entailing shenanigan, is portrayed to have gone awry purely because of under-communication. In an age ridden with ever/over-present electronic communication channels, we are told to believe that the boy and the girl couldn’t convene just due to lack of forwarding addresses and an bitter-internally, unrequited-love struck dame. And when they, somehow inexplicably, do get hold of each other in some other nation 3000 miles from the other, they coyly retreat just when they shouldn’t. And when this act begins to get played again and again you just stop giving a damn about letter piling over in an unpopulated-now courtyard. And even if one does manage to overlook this massive oversight, one just can’t bring themselves to finding even an inkling of chemistry between the lead pair. 


The story curve too gets frustrated of itself and dumbs down the Gujarat Riot act to such ridiculous end that it tries to redeem and vindicate itself by using a lost, supposedly orphan girl child and a white Horse. And I am not even kidding. 


All in all, it is a film which had the heart-of-gold on paper but played out exactly as a limpy handicap with an artery blockage on the screen. It has its moment of poised poignancy and some really attention-grabbing breezy flashes. But as a whole it leaves a bland taste in your mouth and bad back-ache to carry back from the movie-hall after having spent upwards of three hours in-there. 

Editorial - September. Enlightenment.

So, here’s presenting your yet another monthly dosage of fun, frolic and funtooshgiri. 

August has always been the month which is characterized by a certain vibe of patriotism which it leans to invoke in many of us. This time’s was no different. Only, the cause tended to be different. And, thereby, the effect even more so.

Clouding the news-circuit was The Anna-tomy of Ramlila Maidan. Where footfalls reached dizzying heights and heartfelt support-ism touched even a farther horizon. Since the J.P. movement and Anti- Mandal movement, veterans say, they haven’t witnessed anything so spontaneous turn into such a big force with which you just can’t but reckon with. Jan Lokpal Bill movement, if not anything (which we know it has), has achieved in giving a People’s republic a booster short in the arm of Morality and Righteousness –if, that is, everyone begins walking their talk. Also, the country would never be the same again, as this movement has ended up educating the masses about the functioning of all the four pillars of democracy like never before. The race to reach to what now remains to be achieved is not going to be a sprint but, instead, a Marathon. A Marathon – and this requires suitable stamina. 

If the civil society, at large, was all up for making their voices heard, the GOVT wasn’t far behind in reaching out either. The Approach Paper to the Twelfth Five Year Plan was adopted by the Planning Commission on Aug 20th. It was for the first time ever that when the making of the same was underway, they had opened online portals for the youth of the nation to come forth and get their pulse gauged. Around 950 civil society organizations have already placed in their inputs. A page on Facebook, managed by an organization called “India@75” is doing this very thing on that portal to get in touch with the classes and the masses to later send out these acquired bits feedback to around 150 working groups of experts who will, thereupon, lay down the Plan later. 

We at Enlightenment, urge you to go and get your suggestions, whatever they maybe regarding, turned in through - http://12thplan.gov.in/ . Remember, information must always precede opinions. And to arrive at a scene of tangible “change” – viz, freedom from apathy, corruption, and unaccountable government - one must act and not merely complain. It would be doubly inspiring to see us L&T-ites surging ahead with a vision of a less corrupt and a more just society than merely a High-On-Consumption with a double digit GDP-growth-percentage one. 

Phew, so that’s what an August does to you!

The month we see ahead of us, if not be as “Holiday-Friendly” as the one that just went by, is surely an equally Excitement-Promising one.  With the completion of Volleyball tournament, LnT Dhanush will take us into Football thenceforth! CREST, emboldened by a successful launch and two-season run of Quizofire will surely go onto to find new ways to keep you all triply engaged. 

It only deems fit, to congratulate the idea, the vision and the execution panache of LnT Dhanush’s Uplift India Movement – 2’s volunteers, who have successfully completed rendering 72 sessions of Basic Computer Knowledge to kids of SOS Children’s Village, Greenfield, Faridabad. Do expect more from this corner in coming times. 

Moreover, L&T’s 66th Annual General Meeting was held on Aug 26th. Wherein, listening to our Chairman speak on Performance Overview and path to future Developmental Projects was just as welcoming as was to listen to him speak about strides taken in the direction of Corporate Social Responsibility and on our establishment’s unrelenting ways to adopt a path to Sustainable Development. 

So, here’s bidding a temporary adieu only to sneak back up from your shoulder and shout a loud “Boo!” in your ears next month. Till then, breathe well, breathe deep. And forget not, to sustain that curve on your face. Always. 

Take care. 

L&T's Enlightenment. June. Editorial.

........and just like that, we are back. 

You are, right now, either cursing the perceived disorientation of the central air conditioning or are outwardly frowning upon some spam SMS you just received trying to sell you a personal Air Conditioner for Re 1/- * (* - Condition Apply.) but secretly wishing for this to be true on the inside. Whatever the case maybe, we must let a collective shout-out leave our systems for a climatically confused summer, marked with untimely showers and windy sandstorms, that has been with us until now. And as it begins to get hotter, keep those lemonade jugs full and within reach all the time. Though, the good news is: The South-West monsoons have hit the coastal state of Kerala 3 days ahead of its schedule. Now, one can only wait for this month to reach its far end for the clouds to make their journey and provide us with three months of wet soil.

Adding to the atmospheric heat was the recently culminated IPL season 4. Which saw you either as a die-hard follower or an indifferent “there’s-way-too-much-cricket-around-these-days” point maker. Long story short, the finals yet again proved that Cricket is a game in which two teams play and Mahendra Singh Dhoni wins. The results also made Royal Challenger Bangalore leave the field with groans sounding like the “Before use” part of a Zandu Balm Ad. 

Here we would like to take a pause and applaud the efforts put in by LnT Dhanush members in kicking off a one-of-its-kind activity and seeing it through to end with a panache matched only by the best of the best. Uplift India Movement declared its first two projects which included conducting an Inter-School Competitions for GOVT schools in and around Faridabad and Weekend Computer coaching sessions for kids under the care of SOS organisation. The uniqueness quotient goes shooting up when the way in which the funds were generated gets factored in. A game of Tambola (well, reverse Tambola actually) played over the Public Address System generated the required buzz which further went on to add upto a collection which could cover most of the expenses for the said event. So, amidst all fun and excitement - a cause got attended to and around 300 students from not-that-privileged strata could earn themselves and their schools some utility prizes, certificates attesting their fabulous talent, and smiles - upon which no tag can be placed. More on the event can be found in the Flashback section. 

Going with the vibe, Enlightenment too saw a foray of newness enter its foyer. With new sections as “@Home” and “Parichay – Family Member” getting lauded handsomely, the team is all geared up in planning some new launches which will meet your eye in times to come. Till then, we wish and hope that you keep partaking in each and every way you can. 

To close this, we just want to touch upon this one observation: In this madness filled race to reach the proverbial “destination” on the path of upward mobility, let’s not forget to warrant frequent silent recesses to take stock of the “journey”. Slog only to the extent you can, never miss your breakfast, take your family off to a thrill filled session of White Water Rafting, read more of such didactic editorials and smile as a four year old child would on seeing an ice-cream trolley. And, say, if things don’t exactly fall in place like clockwork, then just close your eyes for a moment and internalize what the instrumental being played right now on the ground floor stair region by the Beatles have to say: “There will be an answer, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be.” 

On that note, here’s scooting only to come back later. Love.

  

Those Four

(Disclaimer – “Advice” - is a form of nostalgia. That said, here goes.)

One-

You come. Aglow. You enter. You stow.

You see. You feel. You reel. You “Oh!”

You meet. You learn. You listen. You know.

You share. You bend. You amend. Stay low.

You make. Put at stake. Some, they bow.

Two-

You flow. You grow. That said, you show.

You fly. A little “high”. Some, a bit further they go.

You work. You put. You cram. You throw.

You prove. You correct. You believe. You mow.

You charge. At large. Some, they toe.

Three-

You arrive. You preside. You establish, the Status Quo.

You care. You pair. You ask. You bestow.

You shove. You love. You feel. You know.

You rage. You break. You shatter. Go low...

Some meet no-one. Some, doe.

Four-

You reckon. You reconcile. You re-invent. You thaw.

You beam. You smile. You breathe... a lil slow.

You create. You initiate. You restart, some show.

You cater. You provide. You feel, you owe.

You record. You capture. You prepare, to leave...to go.

But there stays, a fight, so trite. Day and night.

Asking you to change, to kowtow.

But, remember.

The challenge is – To never “Grow Up”

...as you Grow.

Off The Record

There were many things which I saw tacitly get added to my list of Shared Human Experiences on this planet during the time I saw myself attached with Renesa. If we were to speak of last year in particular, the period where I had the most fun, I can distinctly put forth an experience which I wish people reading this right now should get to have. Which is what are, in journalistic parlance called - The Off-The-Record Conversations.

I used to conduct a regular feature – Walk When You Talk (Which still is carried by the current team) Up in where a Nokia 5300 device used to keep recording every tick and turn of the conversation which later used to go and lap-up verbatim in press. But what I cherished the most was the inevitable conversation that followed the said On-The-Record talk. Where I used to get invited to the interviewee’s residence and, besides availing periphery benefits like home-made tea and morning snacks (Dr. Porey had a remarkable snack-sense, so to speak, I remember.) I used to ask them various question, share many an uncomfortable opinions and ideas and the same used to happen from the other end.  Be it Dr Porey emphasizing the need to “Own the system”  or Dr Joshi discussing about his ideas on frugal living, or Dr Naik discussing further on the topic of Ethical-Bonds, or Dr. Vakharia speaking thinking aloud on the topic of freshman orientation, or Mrs Porey sharing her views on ‘The Idea That Is Love.’ And amuse at how her name happens to be ‘Kiran’ her husband’s ‘Prakash’ and her son’s ‘Deepak.’

To append to the list- The numerous, free-wheeling, and endless conversations with Dr. Banerjee was something, which I guess, made me more clear in the head all-the-while leaving a lingering sense of chaos for it to get further transformed. After a particularly heavy Idea-Bouncing session I remember him saying to me “Remember, always, Truth with Tact.” The way it encompassed the zing in the air at that point in time is remarkably unparallel. A discussion on the matter of Education with Dr. Channiwala, at his residence in his study (If you ever get a chance, do visit his place. With his permission, ofcourse.) made a lasting impact and further made me raise more questions to myself. Talks with Dr. Christian, Dr. Urvashi Kaushal, Dr. M.N. Mehta, not to forget – Shekhar Bhaiya and many many more teachers has given me perspective about things which broadens my own spectrum of thought and amplifies the log of avenues where more efforts can be put so as to streamline the solution-lending process.

The one thing which remained constant between all these talks was the statement “Please tell them to...” which typifies the overwhelming need on the said person’s side to reach-out. Which makes me infer that not many outlets are there, present, for that to effortlessly happen. They all, also, expressed a need to have more pupils come and share their opinions with them personally. Yet again a thing which I don’t suppose happens much. So, before I get carried away and spew out a quintessential didactic screed – Talk more, share more, Know more about the other side of table, yada yada – let me just put it On-The-Record that being conversant with both my friends and them the teachers, I have come to realize how very important it is to view a thing from point of views of people placed some 20+ units apart on the age-line. It has, if not anything, made me understand me more. And how you can’t believe on Wednesday what you believed in on Monday without taking into account what happened on Tuesday. And, although, I did delink myself from the Newsletter owing to ideological differences- consensus on which would have over-shot the time-boundary which I could allot to the idea - I am happy that I never and neither did they, stopped sharing and talking. Off-The-Record.

Does It All Really Matter?

  

Think about it for a moment, does it? Even if it be a plea from an energy-to-mass-to-energy converting rabble rouser of a certain contraption called “life form” who has revolved only of a total of 22 times around this 1,292,200 kms diameter-ed ball of Helium and Hydrigen illuminating what period we call as “a Day.” Seriously, think about it. 

Our vaunting of a certain aspect of our shared human experience to heights of such greatness that tantamount to some sort of deification or even the downright rejection of the same, interwoven with a certain creed of rage possible only off a high-levelled cock-surety and the farce that is the self-make-belief that one can actually “know it all.” Ask again, does it all really matter? 

Does it all really matter when you imbibe within the results put forth by Stratigraphic analysis of layers and layers of sedimentary rocks and the geo-logic time frame it sets out for us to gape at? Does anything really matter in the larger scheme of things? In the boundless infinity of the ever expanding Universe, where time is measured not by transient human experiences but by huge scale evolutionary changes and cascading magnanimity of this very hugeness that we’ll ever grasp? 

Does your “opinions” your “ideas” your “initiatives” your “wants” hold any true value as a cognisance of anything “real”? When juxtaposed with the vastness of time-space continuum it appears to be nothing more than the speck of grain on the shores of oceans which will inevitably be groped in by the high-minded force of the wave. Does it all really matter when you very well come to acknowledge that in about as small as a morsel of “Time” in the context of planetary geo-chronology, the whole idea behind existence of the Sun, the moon, the Earth, Sachin Tendulkar, you, me, will vaporize and render itself the colour of vagueness? 

Your hyperbolic reverence towards anything does as much to the whole “what matters” part as does you vitriolic bile. Would not all your personal pointless mooning, disdain and woes be forever put to mum by the inevitable spiral of ever increasing entropy? Would the blithe instance of your feeble, fickle existence upon this planet mean anything to the Byrd glacier moving silently through the calm whites of the Antarctic taking almost 10,000 years to do so? Even the faintest of the memory left behind by us bipeds will be lost in the incessant collapse of all the matter under its own self-weight in a sudden spark of cataclysmic catastrophe at a point in the Time dimension. Then, behold. Pause. Aver. Think – Does it all really matter? 

The point is: If you ever find yourself cribbing about how your present isn’t as good as how you over-glorified past was and how your future won’t be as exciting as you want it to be. Then, I am sorry to say this but you have whacked away that brief window of being a cognizant blip on the radar of this Universal timepassery given to you by Nature and the Unknown force of a much much bigger wisdom. 

It will almost be a Laugh Out Loud situation if I were to ever be that person to tell you how better you could utilize this puny tiny little duration of sentience by loving everything unconditionally. Go tell someone you love them and why you don’t know why you love them. And how loving them is not the equivalent of “I want to posses you too.” Call up your 4th grade teacher and tell her that something she told you then makes sense only now and how. Write a heartfelt email to that someone whom you bid farewell at not that hunky-dowry a moment. Then, breathe. Breathe well. Breathe deep. Take stock of the intricate beauty of a dew-flecked cobweb shall you will. Smile. Talk. Live. 

In the end, though, even these all won’t matter either. Not at all in the great and ever-widening chasm of geological time. But, maybe, in these scrawny ticks of the clock and emotion is when and how you’ll be able to guilt-freely escape from the existential dread of your daily self-over-thunk “predicaments.” Trust me, if that matters to you that is, the past is nothing but a collective memory subject to permanent annihilation shall there be a sudden world-wide Amnesia attack. The future is nothing if a hasty asteroid floating carelessly in the deep of the dark decides to direct its trajectory and renders it a direction which culminates upon your living room. It’s all here and now. This moment, yes this one – The one that just came in as another one just went by – is, maybe, all that there is. And, at the risk of sounding sure, all that does matter. Or doesn't.

Ed's note. Enlightenment. L&T. April-2011.

Cricket. 

Yes, we know you are not going to read this until and unless there’s some sort of a proverbial clock needle pointing towards this particular aspect of our shared human experience. So, even we have decided to go with the vibe and replace all our ‘Hello’s and ‘Hi’s with this little seven letter word. Go, relish it. 

Cricket happens to be that fulcrum in course of every Indian’s life about which the extremes of emotion pivot and try to balance each other out in the long run. Hence, in one moment you saw yourself inadvertently utter many an unprintable words as came along the news of Ashwin being dropped out. In the very next you saw yourself praise Ashish Nehra for his deserving-of-all-of-that stint. And, mind you, our friends from across the border aren’t much different either. They went from “Wah, wah” –ing Wahab to mentally trashing Afridi for having played that shot which made him Shaheed Afridi without imposing a batting PowerPlay. And now, as this is being written, we look forward to another, not to mention - special, one-day run of Ramayana on television only with a much much larger audience on 2/04/2011 coming live from Mumbai. And the holiday declared in lieu of the same is as breezy and soothing a gesture as the spray of a fairy’s sparkledust. All said and done, it boils down to this: It’s just a game – But, what a game it is. If you are not a citizen of CricketCrazy-istan yet and need a confirmation, ask around from people for those snaps they took at 1740hrs near the punch-out machines at the ground floor on 30/03/2011. And you’ll flatly know what this whole paragraph was all about. 

The month of April’s up and so is the demand for Air-Conditioners, Coolers, those jute-shield-with-high-water-retention-capacity thingys and, most important of all, prickly heat talcum powder and decilitres of Lemonade. And the fact that IPL’s almost here doesn’t help the whole Heat matter at all. (Okay! No more Cricket henceforth!) Besides the customary beginning with celebrating the global April Fool’s day and the pranks that it brings alongwith, what’s even more so special about this month is that almost all of the distinct and immensely colourful cultures that this great nation houses finds itself celebrating their respective New Years in this time-gap. Thanks to the Lunar based calendarery we’ll have our friends from North celebrating Baisakhi and Navreh. From West you’ll see the merriment of Gudi Padwa erupt. From down South you’ll have Vishu, Ugadi and Varsha Pirappu make their share of noise. And the Eastern terrains will see themselves go gala with Bihu and Naba Barsha. Also, there’s Cheti-Chand too. So, much sweet-distribution and exotic dinner invitations await us all. Be on your toes to milk as many delicacies as you can! 

Forget at your own peril the International Earth Day on April 22 and be trashed by those Environmentalist colleagues of yours at the water-cooler for two weeks straight. The news from L&T’s annals feeds in all that customary dosage of positive information with which we have all become so used to. It’s still as invigorating as ever, nevertheless.   

Our Pic of the Month contest saw the Cartier Bressons of our campus put out their lens muses up for everyone to see and rate. Find the ensuing results here. Also, do not forget to turn in your own pictures for this whole cycle to repeat again for this month. 

As we go on to embrace yet another set of 30 days, let’s keep a thought reserved for all that happened with our fellow life-forms, Humans and every other species, back in the lovely nation of Japan. The resilience and queititude with which they endured what was clearly one of the hugest natural calamities in recent history is a mark of definitive maturity and clarity of the head off which we all can learn a thing or two. Here’s hoping for everything in Fukushima to get back to normal as soon as it can. 

So, here’s signing off with the hope that you’ll receive the sections tagged alongwith this release with as much warmth and click-preponderance as you all always do. Wishing for you a great period of ephemeral happiness and aplenty life-affirming epiphanies ahead. Breathe well. Keep smiling. Till the next time, take care.

Editorial. Enlightenment. L&T

So, hello there, Pretty Party People! 

  

Back we are with yet another monthly dosage of all that is fine, sharp and sparkly.  This is Enlightenment’s second issue after the resurrection, so to say, and hence, twice as fun. 

  

The times around speak of a lot in terms of in-house activities for L&T as whole. What with the Quarter end results declaration sending a wave of optimism all across the length and breadth of the establishment. In other news, we now stand owners of a state-of-the-art L&T-MHI Boiler and Turbine manufacturing division in Hazira, as we witnessed it’s inauguration in recent past. It is, to mention, one of the world’s biggest such units. Also, as many other news-feeds report to us- the path’s dotted with numerous invigorating tit-bits of positive information. All-in-all, a great time to be on the seat, on which, you currently are. 

  

As promised the last time, Enlightenment has tried to build-up further upon its last month’s log with better features, improved content, and twice as gripping write-ups sent in to us by a mob of enthusiastic writers. That and more, is what you will find in the pages attached with the links above. 

  

The suggestions which reached us accompanying the last release have all been carefully incorporated in the current offing making it further streamlined and an inch closer to the ‘Professionally-Handled’ model. And the idea can only head northwards here on! 

  

We are pretty psyched bringing out this particular issue because of the month that we are currently in. Yes, February. The month of February is characterized by a receding winter, upcoming spring (both weather-wise and in your step.) and a sublime yet subtle and dreamy feeling of all that is mushy and lovely straight out from a pop-culture flick. Much has been done to attend to that genre of literary presentation while working on this edition. Hoping you find it as warm and fuzzy as we did! 

  

Do check out the Health Safety and Environment section - A new addition which will stay with us regularly from now on. And, good news’ in the offing for all the shutterbugs on the campus – We are launching a Picture of the Month contest. Please go to the “Submit Articles” page to know more about it. 

  

So, without further ado and anymore orientation-talks, let’s just leave you to lead yourself to the content-pages which we promise would make you a little bit further informed, delighted, light-headed and if not anything else, than a tad-bit happier than what you were some time ago when you just started reading this. So, here’s from the editorial board - Keep it real. Live it up.  Stay happy. Till the next time… Au revoir.

What Modesto's Crystal Ball Saw. - 2011

  

Aries:  You are known to be bold, fearless, rebellious and pioneering. And this was independently ascertained out by decidedly disregarding the fact that you are planning on putting up a stripshow at the nearby Karoke joint within next 15 days. This New Year will pan out exactly like a Japanese commercial – No one will get squats what is being discussed about and then suddenly a girl with pigtails will end up getting slapped.  You will try to act non-chalant after walking through a plate glass window, but honestly, such stuff begins to get recognized after three earlier pretty loud editions. The characteristic downhillness of your love life will drive you an inch closer to Transvestism by the day. And just to break this out to you – Your Zodiac sign is the “Ram” and in tropical astrology, this sign is no longer even aligned with the constellation as a result of the precession of the equinoxes.  Bummer.

Taurus: You are known to be patient, practical, serious and solemn. And those are just some fancy words I came up with to avoid putting on paper the phrase – “A Plodding Bore of a Biped.” Taurus marked the point of vernal equinox in the Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age (the "Age of Taurus"), from about 4000 BCE to 1700 BCE and that’s perhaps the only interesting sketch attached to your persona. You will be the reason why Deodorant companies will be seen posting record high half-yearly revenue figures. Don’t give in to those new Sauna Slim-Belt offers...they haven’t worked. And they still don’t. And won’t ever. By August 2011 you’ll be 10 times wealthier, have two more cars and about just as gullible as you are now. You will sense that you are slowly reaching the “Self-Actualization” pedestal on the Maslow’s Pyramid of Need but this sudden realisation will turn out be just another muffled sneeze situation.

Gemini: You are known to be restless, versatile, quick-witted and inventive. And extremely credulous because you really thought I meant all this. In about as short time as three months your current boss will find out a despicable truth about your past and your both’s relation would never be the same again. Keeping “Kuwa Ma Doob Jaaongi” as your mobile device ringtone has never helped anyone nor will it help you. And no, that doesn’t mean it as a caller tone will be condoned in civil society. The features of your love-life include texting three people the exact same semi-funny message again and again and wishing for atleast an-  “O, please. Stop bugging me.” reply. By September end, an in-depth study by Sociology Today will reveal that Bedbugs are okay, rather, you are the problem. Gemini, as a constellation, points away from the Milky Way. This should clearly tell you where the Universe wants you to be. Take cue. Walk straight. And no, that’s not a pack of Dry Idlis what you’ll get in mail on a certain February morning.

Cancer: You are known to be emotional, thrifty, nostalgic and home-loving. In short, “a sad little poodle of pathetic aggravation.” You will go on a date within next few months. Although, the awkwardness of your mutual incompatibility will be so palpable, the waiter will get both of you different bills without even asking. This March would call for a rational, well-reasoned thinking, be ready for some serious knee-pain attacks. Chances of your next posting being to a city - which brings as much to table on the matter of “Entertainment and Fun” as Mother Teresa would to a discussion of Gun-Shot Mechanisms - run astronomically high. Your unremitting urge to make yourself happy by scribbling inspirational sayings on toilet paper will get nil “Aye”s. August will see you gain even more flab and shed even more grey-matter. And yes, October wants you to think inside the box, whenever that comes by. Follow the instruction. The proverbial box is for people like you, so says the Crystal ball.

Leo:  You are known to be regal, commanding, egotistical and gregarious. Which sums up totally why you are such a failure at being the Alpha Male/Female. Although you kindle within that you actually are. Those cherished, albeit momentary, windows of bleaky, blurry achievements which has until now characterised your life, will stop opening all together forever.  An embarrassing nickname will resurface by July and would catch on like forest-fire by July end. Curse the Internet and your sob-y personality for this rather expected occurrence. Your “Love-Life” will be a far cry from anything that is associated either with “Love” or “Life.” Although, after September, everything you desire shall be yours, provided you do not under any circumstances read your horoscope. Oh, damnit.

Virgo:  You are known to be proper, painstaking, gentle and indiscriminating. Which is just like stating the obvious of the obvious facts. Your pursuit of knowing the limits of the ultimate, immaterial reality and finding an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of their being and experiencing the deepest values and meanings by which people ought to live, will bear bigger fruits than those in the G.M. labs. By the time you ace your weekend Tantric Sex classes, you’ll be getting bigger freelancing offers and higher responsibility at work place in the garb of ultra critical design calculations to be done solely by you. By as early as February, you would have meticulously achieved your set Half-Yearly goal objective landmark. Much has been already told about how the title of “Person of The Universe” is yours for taking. There are high chances that by Mid-Novemeber you will be offered the “taste-ter” profile in Cadbury’s “Bournvita” division. An opportunity many crave for but only few get. Go own the calendar, dearo.

Libra:  You are known to be helpful, indecisive, undemanding and peace-loving. And still, no one wants to be with you....sigh. Your act of getting lost in a closet is no more endearing and infact never was. Your porn-addiction keeps you up late into the night which results in sleepy cubicle hours up at the workplace. And by April, you would have realised that the over-head air-duct vent in that washroom enclosure where you head to catch up on your 40 winks when in office is actually a CCTV feedline heading straight up to the Corporate Personnel Office. And this will markedly reflect in your year-end Performance Linked Reward when the management will ask you to. in turn. reward the company. Monetarily speaking. I know, it sounds like a very bad year. But no, wait, 2012 will supersede it handsomely. It must be mentioned that all that attention you get is all nice but once in a while you should zip your pants up while leaving the washroom.

Scorpio:  You are known to be powerful, secretive, intense and possessive. And now you know why people dream of you dyeing choking onto food in the solitary confinement of your kitchen. Your love for astronomy will see you purchase a brand new state of the art Celestron - AstroMaster 130EQ 650mm German Equatorial Reflector Telescope. Which you will proudly place on you window panel to peacefully gaze into the nigt sky – an act which will not be taken in goodwill by the people in the opposite building and sooner than you can utter “Wow, Saturn!” some dude in a Khakhi uniform will be holding you up and giving you a pat down search. Your weak-linky love life will metamorphise into being “non-Existent” after this incident. By November, you would have made peace with your inner self and would have pledge to tide over the erstwhile indifferent behaviour of the people around you. This will only result into...wait, you know what, let me just let you find this out yourself whenever it happens.

Sagittarius: You are known to be adventures, outspoken, spontaneous and unpredictable. Which is just what Hippies were and you know what happened to them. Despite your said characteristics you have always been the person who gets missed out when a headcount for free smoothies gets done in cafes. This and much more of such, will principally continue. Your pursuit of understanding Life, the Universe and Everything remains confined to visiting the local planetarium once in six months. And people, by mid-May would begin realizing this and delete your name from their Yahoo Messenger contact list even. Trying to play Frisbee with teeth might sound like a good idea but I must warn you that this is a rookie mistake. Randomness would fire all cylinders when you final get grip on ‘Linear Dynamics’ as a concept. Your outgoing nature will be rewarded by a mud-strewn, half eaten lollipop, a quarter-full DVD-RW with a smearing scratch running acrss its diameter and three cases of pretty painful ligament tear. This is just another way of the Universe thanking you. Maybe.

Capricorn: You are known to be traditional, set in their ways kind, loyal and solemn. Which is basically what all Canines are famous for...err.  Yur aversion towards the month – May is top on charts of The Most Empirically Weird Things. And Multiverse will make you like May, particularly, this time round. The most intelligent question you would all of this year would be – “Why does my Wall-Shaving-Mirror with cardboard back-panel smell like cow-dung?” – No marks for guessing why you are known for being excruciatingly dumb. And despite insurmountable amount of odds stacked up against this happening, you will fluidly make yourself steer away from something interesting in the month of December. This would further placate the fact that your life is as meaningless as Winter Olympics. Your romantic pipedreams will eventually drive you towards a tunnel with no light in sight. But wait, there’s this one thing that’ll totally work for you....it’s called – Nothing. And for that to happen you’ll have to wait only uptill mid-February.

Aquarius: You are known to be Unconventional, creative, thought-spring-head and open-minded. Though sadly, no one gives a damn. The month of May will see Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and Mars all visible within a roughly 6° area of sky. And the only educational tid-bit which you will take back from this experience will be: Never try to stare a minute too long in the tour-guide’s eye...It means something. You might try to ward off disease by wearing garlic speedstick but then again, who hasn’t among all of you (expect for the Virgos) had not had those moments of uber-insane insanity? By the month of September it will run up to become further clear as to why you are always that person who’s the last to get his/her luggage in the Airport’s Baggage Claim section. Your love life will remain as inexplicable as does the whole How-does-the-Bread-converts-to-Toast situation.

Pieces:  You are known to be dreamy, unambitious, mystical and vulnerable. In short, the kind of person who is the first one to catch Influenza among the pack. When the known, predicted and projected situation of the IPv4 unallocated address pool getting exhausted kicks in in 2011, you’ll be the among the first ones to take the hit. The stars foresee travel in your future, so get ready to finally put on a pair of decent pants. You might have a gut level instinct to pray in bathrooms, but this must be side-lined as just another loser-person idiosyncrasy. This column has always averred how the crystal ball gets all cranky uptill this point in time, enduring so much just to reach you – a nobody twelfth person – It’s flickering again. Okay, it shows – “you need to download flash player” message now. Man, it must hate you.

Image source