The Delusion Of Being...

Go through your phone book, call people and ask them to drive you to the airport. The ones who will drive you are your true friends. The rest aren't bad people; they're just acquaintances.

- Jay Leno

Well I am not sure how many of us can claim to have such friends in this age when most of our lives have been divided into two distinct components, the “real” and the “virtual”, with the latter dominating in most cases. And thus can be explained the phenomenal rise of the social networking websites. Almost everyone one knows is on them. Sadly for enthusiasts of the English language words like “facebooking” and “orkutting” (wtf?) have become common parlance. So are these sites really the villains they are so often made out to be? Let’s see.

Well the incident dates back to early August. It was my cousin’s birthday. Since he puts up in the hostel of the engineering institute he studies in, he was not at home (or so I thought). So I tried his cell phone, which was not reachable. So I sat wondering on how to do this unseemly task of wishing him on his special day. So here’s a brief timeline of what happened.

9^th August, 2008

10:30 am: I am at my wits end after having exhausted all possible options to contact him.

3:30 pm: I suddenly have a brainwave (the possibility of which happening is smaller than a sighting of Halley’s comet). So I log into my Facebook account and search for him (hadn’t even done that as of yet). So I find him without breaking into much of a sweat because he has a pretty uncommon name (my appreciation for his parents grows many fold). Then I add him up hoping he checks his account today (fingers crossed).

10:15 pm: As I log in to my inbox expectantly my a huge wave of relief sweeps over me as I receive the mail that he has confirmed me as a friend [:D]. As quickly as my fingers can type I wish him by posting on his wall (just made it).

11:30 pm: I catch him online and tell him of my adventures [:P] of the day and all that I had to do to wish him. So he listens to me and then says, “Why didn’t you just come downstairs and meet. I was at home today” (He puts up just a floor below me). And I was left speechless!

So that was that. And the world was never as small as it seemed. I guess sometimes its best to do things the old fashioned way.

All hail Mark Zuckerberg!

I have been observing a very strange phenomenon for the past few months. Wherever I go, whether it’s the Metro , a mall, a park, or any public place for that matter, I find people carrying a copy of The 3 Mistakes of My Life, the latest from the best selling yuppie Indian author Chetan Bhagat. You may wonder why do I call it strange? After all reading books is by and large a healthy habit. It is, agreed, but one also has to acknowledge the fact that in a country like ours the only kind of books people (especially students) are encouraged to read are the academic kinds. Therefore you could call it a welcome change too.

Now if you have been following the critical response to the three books he’s written you would’ve observed that its largely been unfavourable. The literary critics have lambasted him left, right and center. They’ve called his writing unbelievably amateurish, his grammar elementary and his subject matter pedestrian, to say the least.

Well leaving that aside for a moment lets looks at some hard facts. He is by far India's best selling author in English. His book, Five Point Someone has achieved an unparalleled cult status among the youth. The second one, One Night@ The Call Centre is all set to be major motion picture and the third one is on the top of the popularity charts (yet again).

Seems like a paradox, doesn't it? What secret code has this IIT-D and IIM-A alumnus cracked that has changed the face of Indian writng in English forever? Although i don't claim to have THE answer, I do have some of my own reasons which might justify this trend.

The unique thing about Chetan Bhagat is that all those points on which he has been criticized have turned out to be the very reason his runaway success. From the almost prose like elementary English which everyone can understand, to the affordability of his books (each at a flat rate of Rs. 95) have contributed immensely to his success. In him the youth see an Icon who writes for them and in the kind of language they understand and not as a pretentious snot focusing on a non-descript minority. That's why they back him to the hilt.

See I am nowhere close to being a fan of his style, but then that, like the critics opinion of him, is irrelevant. He may never be as accomplished a writer as Frederick Forsyth, Jeffrey Archer,Mario Puzo,Paulo Coelho and other international favourites. Hell, his style of writing not even be as suave as many of the accomplished Indian authors in English like Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Vikram Chandra,V.S. Naipaul etc. but then he doesn't really have to worry about these comparisons because at the end public opinion is not swayed by literary snob value. Its all about what they can identify with....

Happy Reading !

So here I am, sitting on a fine Friday night, contemplating in all seriousness on how my time can be utilized in a more judicious sense (which rarely ever happens). And then I suddenly awaken to my pseudo sense of guilt (whose origins can probably be traced back to my incorrigible leaning towards procrastination). I recall having thought of starting a blog many moons ago, among the million other things that I promise myself each single day of my existence on this planet. So to cut to the chase, I finally kick started the proceedings in all earnestness only to be stuck wondering about the very reason I am doing this.

Why do I want to write a blog anyways? Is it because I have too many things running through my mind? Or is it because I need people’s validation for my thoughts and opinions? Or can it be the insane amount of free time engineering offers me that I got drawn to it :D? Well the truth, as always, lies somewhere in the middle of all this. It could be due to all of the above or none of them. But then is that really important? I have no clue, but what I do know is that I am doing this to sort of simplify the systematic chaos (due apologies to Dream Theater, awesome album guys, by the way) that exists in me and my milieu.

So what are the posts going to be like? Hmmm, to be real honest with you, I am just as clueless as you! The only characteristics that all of them will share are that they are going to be completely indiscriminate, forthright, opinionated, at times sarcastic, to say the least. And most important of all, will offer a glimpse into the random mosaic that is me. Off I go now hoping for an illuminating experience further. So, if you have been, thanks for reading….

Cheers!