A pioneer. A legend.

I just remembered that Charlie Chaplin wasn't a good father. Highly inconsequential, isn't it? We don't remember Charlie Chaplin because he was an exemplary father but as the best comedian ever, one who bestowed the gift of laughter on the people of the world when they needed it the most. The god of comedy. He made the world laugh without uttering a single word. A pioneer. A legend. And yet... his son never felt close to him. Years of neglect led his son to grow bitter and write an article on his father, an unusual article that shed light on the lesser known aspects of Chaplin's life. That too, years after Chaplin died. But its inconsequential, isn't it?

A pioneer. A legend.

:-D

Cheers! I'm 16!

Finally!

South City to Hong-Kong, Hitler to Tom cruise...

This is Rick, reporting from his home about some striking incidents that unfolded yesterday in the Lake gardens area. It was planned that 8 euphoric pointers would congregate at South City to watch the Academy Award winning Slumdog Millionaire.

The programme started with most of us reaching late. Although not of any real significance, but it must be reported that our dear old Prithviraj almost started without his purse. Anyway, on reaching south city a rather woebegone surprise greeted us, a surprise that we anticipated but neglected. A tribute to our blind optimism.

When buying tickets for the 10:00 am show, the Lady at the counter, though not unscrupulous, was forced by rules and regulations to bar us from entering because we were underage. At this point, Rohan, the overgrown chump among us, decided to try his charm on the lady. Heres an excerpt.

"No Sir, we cant allow anyone below eighteen."

"But we are all eighteen and above!" insisted Rohan.

"What about him?" she asked pointing at Kaustuv's brother Krishnayan who's all of 10.

"Oh! Actually he's deformed, he's perfectly eighteen." said Rohan without blanching.

And his charmed must have worked because he came back grinning with 10 tickets. And so, just as we were about to exalt at the successful deception, the guards at the gates spoiled it all.

"You need age verification."

"Whats that?" asked Bhaswar.

"Something that verifies your age." said the man expressionlessly.

"i know!('you moron', bhaswar must have thought)" said Bhaswar. "But like what?"

"Driving license, College ID and the sorts."

i was about to whip out my School ID but i realised it was concrete proof that i WASN'T eighteen.

So we all gave up, while Anwesha looked horrified because she was the one who paid all of the seven hundred bucks for tickets and no doubt dreading that the others wont pay her back.

But of course, Rohan, the man of the moment, came up with something.

"You don't understand" he told the guards "We are all a large family and everyone is above eighteen and..." I couldn't hear the rest because i escaped snorting and laughing. However, Rohan wasn't too lucky this time. We weren't allowed to watch Slumdog.

So we all barged into Starmark to take out our fury. (Actually we walked in gracefully, but well, i need to show we weren't quite pleased with the authorities.) Once in Starmark i pounced on "Kite Runner", "Airman" and a couple of other books. As a result i managed to read none of them. And moreover at starmark, my reading habits were unabashedly ridiculed by Miss Raktima and all the 'Chetan Bhagats ran out of stock right at the crucial moment as though the books reciprocated her dislike for them'.

It was decided unanimously that we would catch the 12 o clock show of Valkyrie. And so we decided to have lunch at the food court. We came out of Starmark but Kaustuv couldnt be found. By the time we found Kaustuv, Rohan managed to lose himself. We continued in this fashion for a quarter of an hour and then regrouped. I also had a good mind to slink off and get lost but its me, isn't it? Always thinking about the greater good.

It was here that a problem of impressive magnitude manifested itself. Well, a problem specifically for Lady Raktima Roy. She was seen looking at the escalator with pure terror. After some heavy needling and cajoling she somehow stepped on the escalator [I pushed, ;-)] And then when the escalator reached the upper floor, she jumped off it. The jump has been variously analyzed as a leap of joy, relief, fear et cetera by the curious onlookers.

At food court, the group strolled around peeking at the food stalls and joking while effectively forgetting the real motive: Lunch. So we had to go without lunch and buy tickets for Valkyrie. The tickets purchasing ceremony passed without any remarkable incident.

While passing through the metal detectors we were frisked by those same guards who had barred us from going in before. Having nothing better to do, i made a face at them thus exposing the chewing gum.

"Sir, no chewing gum allowed."

Me and my big mouth. Or rather, me and my open mouth.

On entering, we found the hall surprisingly empty. But the ticket checker stoically told us that we were to sit at the allotted second row. We sat down obediently without any fuss or bother only to strike when the enemy wasn't looking. Five minutes into the film and we retreated to the fourth or fifth row.

The film, Valkyrie, was good. The acting was vivid and Tom Cruise as the lead managed to surprise us all. It was a far cry from his usual chocolate boy films. After an interesting but slow first half, the film rose to a truth revealing climax. For a more detailed account of the film please read the review by the man of all moments, Rohan Ghatak.

The ticket checker made another appearance and shooed us off to the second row again, explaining that we needed to pay more to sit in the fifth row. We nodded solemnly to clarify that we understood and came back to the fifth row after he left. Simple and effective.

After valkyrie, Roro and Prithviraj left immediately, one sighting mummy problems while other had to meet someone. So the remaining six sighted hunger problems and decided to lunch. Kaustuv lead the way to Hong-Kong, a restaurant located a few hundred meters down the Prince Anwar Shah road.

A side issue, but i might as well mention it. It came to light that Kaustuv's brother, Krishnayan goes to school in the same carpool as my cousin brother. It will be sufficient to say that whatever i learnt is enough to give my brother sleepless nights.

At hong-Kong, as the name suggests, they serve Chinese food. However Rohan departed early saying that the "British Council" excuse he was banking on, wasn't so bankable after all.

And so after gorging on some Indianised Chinese delicacies, we paid the bill. I mean, i am just clarifying, plenty of people don't. We were(and still are) decent.

Once out, we began haggling with our parents to let us stay longer. There was this two feet high wall just at the entrance of Hong-Kong. I sat down on the wall feeling too full. No one noticed but i suddenly tilted backwards. I would have fallen if it weren't for my death like grip on the top of the wall. I hastily climbed down, thanking my lucky stars.

So, imagine my surprise when the following events unfolded, almost like an action replay. Raktima jumped on the wall and began swinging. And then she toppled backwards losing her balance. She grasped Anwesha's arm for support but in a flash, both of them crashed on the floor amidst a confusion of head and limbs.

So, in spite of having a supreme command over physics, mistakes in calculation of Centre of Gravity can happen.

Extremely put out with us boys who laughed at her fall, Miss Raktima and Miss Deyasini decided to go for a walk through the lanes and by-lanes in that area. Trying to take a photograph, Kaustuv managed to step on some world-class cat shit. Then there was this old man who had taken an apparent liking to Anwesha. I wasn't present during the entire episode, but when i went to see what he was up to, i found that he was advising Kaustuv's 10 year old brother on how to marry and live happily ever after. A jewel of a man, for sure. After the photo shoot, we decided to head home. Home as in anyone's home, not necessarily our own home as in Raktima's case who went to Deyasini's home.

Kaustuv, Anwesha and Krishnayan took a cab and vanished into oblivion(actually i don't know where they went, hence the vague sense of direction) while the rest of us walked to Jadavpur Thana and dispersed.

From there on I continued my adventure alone. I met Ankan da who told me exactly how difficult the Joint Entrances were. I met a stray canine that nipped at my ankle and I met a Bus conductor who asked me the fare to my place. I was unexpectedly, stupidly honest.

And i reached home in one piece. So thats how a glorious 16th came to end.



N.B: Hey people, did you know that the food at Honk-kong didn't make friends with my Alimentary system?

"Absolutely no recreation..."

"Why?" i demanded.
"He might want to see you." said Dad.
"Why?" I demanded.
"To see if you are good enough." replied dad.
"Why?" I demanded yet again.
"Excuse me?"
"Why?" i asked.
"Rick! Will you pull out those earphones?!"
"Oh gee..."

And i was on my way to Subhojit Sir's tuition. I told Dad to chose the physics teacher with great care, one hears some worrying stories about people hopping from place to place, from teacher to teacher and still not satisfied. So one needs to be careful.

When narrating a story i must stick to the main story. Digression, though wonderful in the eyes of the author, tends to be boring for the not so enthusiastic reader. So i cleverly leave out the stories of the "grocery man's deception", the "xerox man's spot" and of course, the one that i can never forget-"missing Rick".

After a most eventful journey we reached the building where this celebrity of a teacher preached physics. All the grocery shops that i had seen along the way knew him. I, being the most incurious and innocent type, attributed all this to his fledgling fame.

We reached at a quarter to seven. From a quarter to seven to a quarter to eight, on being contacted five times, sir announced that he would be there in fifteen minutes every time. I made a mental note to synchronise my watch with this guy, he sounded my type.

After making the mistake of wishing a good evening to a guardian and earning smiles of appreciation from everybody, i had just begun to make myself home, when sir entered at 8 and i hastily put away my mobile and earphones and assumed an expression appropriate for the occasion.

My first impression of the guy was that he is somehow related to P.C.Sorcar. The similarities are striking. My second impression was also that he was related to P.C.Sorcar. He talks too much and doesn't like to be interrupted. However the similarities stopped right there. Thankfully. Physics and magic, served on the same plate taste atrocious. At least in theory they do.

"I have a philosophy- All that really matters is a student's sincerity." he began. To this i could think of a hundred sarcastic replies which have become so common that i decided to let the statement pass unopposed.

"All these students are running after FIIT-JEE, Brilliant, Resonance, but they don't stop to think. Who actually gains? They teach for profit, while I teach..." All too predictable. I silently watched him, my face reflecting shinning respect. The guy had red hair. Red stands for danger. Then i noticed it was orange.

"It is my belief that parents shouldn't ask their wards to go for any particular target. Every student, by the time he is halfway through class 11, begins to have an idea. He begins to know his limits, his strength, his potential and he can make his own targets."

I smiled cheerfully at dad and mouthed "See See,I told ya!" But my happiness, as always, was short lived.

"Students need to study at least 6-7 hours apart from school. In class 11-12 there's no time for recreation." he declared vindictively. Funnily enough, he was looking at me. That killed me. Dad looked at me with a most pseudo-benevolent expression. In fact since i was the only student, a lot of other guardian looked at me to gauge my reaction. I looked away pointedly.

"Ho ho, i compared you with my daughter and her reaction would have been quite similar..ho ho.." smiled a man.

Another uncle nudged his wife and pointed towards me and all of them smiled understandingly. Correction/Conclusion: They thought they understood.

"First class is on 1st April" he barked at the parents of the HS students.

"Not a hoax i hope, sir?" I said.

He looked at me uncomprehendingly. Then he smiled.

"No, i hope its not an April Fool."

A murmur of laughter followed this.

Then he distributed a sheet with "Rules and Regulation" written in bold at the very top. And my hopes of an informal atmosphere sank without any conspicuous bubbles.

"Test in the last week of every month." Thats the highlight. The highlight that induced lowlight in my heart.

At this point the interaction was disrupted by a woman who was requesting sir to change her daughter's batch pointlessly.

My dad snatched the opportunity.

"See, son, the time has come. Your celebrations end today. From tomorrow you are not..."

"Mom! Dad's starting again!" i said, partly indignant, partly apprehensive.

Dad stopped prudently. Me and Mom together are formidable opponents.

Sir stopped with a lecture on how he plans to teach throughout the year and other stuffs of considerably lesser interest. So that's it. Another countdown begins. The countdown to the rush.

16 days till 1st April. 15 days to be accurate, its 12:00.

Yesterday's newspaper.

Forrest Gump. Rohan, although i agreed with you before, i must expostulate now. In my opinion, the film did connect emotionally. The acting was, of course, just what to be expected from Tom Hanks, but the storyline too was an unusually beautiful one.

I played pool and guess what? i lost to a couple of strangers! Well, it came down to that shot of mine before which both me and Ratul were doing rather well. And then i fouled. Crap! We lost. And er, a small excuse is that it was my second day at pool, i did play quite well actually, in case you were thinking i was hopeless at it. That wouldn't go down too well with my ego.

I fisnished "Anything for you ma'm" by Tushar Raheja. An interesting, funny book. It talks about simple normal things, but the way it talks about the simple normal things is the factor that appeals to me. Definitely a nice read.

Thats about that folks, nothing of interest in my life presently but its just a matter of time before i am back in form, living up to my reputation of being a weirdo!

An ode to all those things that confuse a teenager's vulnerable mind.

I was reading my own blogs for a change. Amazingly enough, i found out new things. Why are some things just so strange? "Incongruous" fits well here.

I love to repeat this and with good reason: "I have time" With a burst of intelligence and creativity quite unexpected of me, i decided to wallow in some deep contemplation, you know, transcendental ideas.(i don't exactly know the meaning, but there, i was thinking along those lines.) And i felt lightheaded after the hour which spent thinking.(pig-headed is another probable explanation but i prefer light headed for purely personal reasons.)

Sometimes i get so absorbed in fiction that i begin to confuse my facts and the other times i get so absorbed in facts that i forget that theres something beyond facts. And hence i shuttle back and forth and thats basically the way i do things. And i don't do all that well but not all that path either.

Some people can write short stories that strike a chord, the stories aren't necessarily extraordinary, its the idea, the little nuances that make them original and hence less/more than ordinary. No, i am not showing of my inside knowledge or expertise about the topic but i just realised these and i feel i want to write it all down.My Blog page looks happy and chirpy with calvin all over it so thats where i decided to write.

Some say that seeing is believing. Some say that seeing is not necessarily believing. Some say that even not seeing is sometimes believing. Now, i know i am quoting all of these out of context but i... it strikes me as weird. Confusingly weird. Exasperatingly weird. You get the message.

Another thing, isn't whatever we write basically plagiarism? Nothing wrong with me, but i just had this idea, stupid idea, but an idea nonetheless.

The Wall-E track "down to earth" evokes complex thoughts and feelings.

Isn't there a subtle difference between "pensive" and "ruminative"? Thought so.

I cant believe Einstein was the first one to propose the theory of relativity. I think its impossible no one did it earlier. Its all relative!

And is there any real reason behind the existence of the word "inevitable" in the dictionary?

The word magical contains seven letters. How come i never noticed it before, hm?
It is magically confusing!

All of the statements above are interrelated. I know that much but how or why, i have no idea. I don't expect anyone to relate to this blog, its impossible. Period. Its just so confusing. But then...*grin*-

"Alls well that ends well"

"did u think, u were tricked?
By the future u picked?"
.............Theres something in those lines...
(i am not being really sincere to the lyrics but, it isn't likely to harm anybody is it?)

Decadence. (I honestly didnt find any relation between the title and the post but then, thats the point.)

I want to write a long long blog post. Yes, inspite of those invariable "sighs!" and "oofs!" and "oh dear"s i will write. It will involve a lot of digression of course, since when has "to the point" been my forte,huh? It was written umpteen number of times in those little white sheets that i smeared with inscrutable shit(for want of a better word)for the past few days but i efficiently ignored it each and every time. And so, coming back to the point(what point? very intelligent question indeed, but most good writers do so, to create an atmosphere of relative importance) i want to write a long long post.

What is the essence of a long post?- My analytical mind asks me. The essence of a long post is the length, my analytical mind tells me. I decide to put my mind to rest, temporary shut down. Permanent shut down wont be preferable for the greater good, what will the world do without me? its not like Subhas Chandra is still around to look after things. So temporary shut down. Now, begins the mindless talk. (As you can see my mindful talk is the quintessence of excitement, if all this excitement is enough for you, take my advice and check out the next blog. The following part will be too exciting for you. I know what this feels like, i had to proof read this thing.)

1. Amitava Ghosh writes really well. But i dont know the meaning of importuning. So i wont read Amitava Ghosh now, the dictionary is five steps away. FIVE STEPS. Too much work, literally as well as mechanically.

2. Forest Gump is an excellent movie but Dad is sitting in my room playing his part in a "man to man" talk. He is turning too serious for my liking. And forest Gump is er, not so watchable in front of dad.

3. Three friends gave me their opinions on the guitar that i should buy. That was just what i needed to decide. Now i have a most clear cut idea. Three clear cut idea(s) to be precise. Even my mindless brain tells me that its "back to square one".

4. The thing about maths is that one needs to have brains to do it. Limit of hindsight, wont you agree?

5. The thing about fun is one just needs to take out the time and have it. I dont care whether you agree or not, I am in the mood for some drastic fun. Drastic insensible fun.

-On the verge of madness.(this is a metaphor, mind, it doesn't mean what it means.)