The Prestidigitator

A conversation with a friend (modified for effect),

"So you're paying 100 bucks to apply for a PAN card?"

"Well, yeah."

"So, you're paying the government 100 bucks so they can collect taxes from you???"

"Um, yeah."

"Why?"

Where do our taxes really go?

There was this news on CNN IBN recently wherein 26 MPs from Bihar went on strike because they wanted new vehicles. Apparently they weren't happy with the Ambassadors (which get upgraded every 3 years mind you) they had. So the government sanctioned each MP to get 2 vehicles. A Tata Indigo and a Scorpio, both not small cars in any way. This move emptied the government coffers by approximately 9 crores! No mean feat there.

Sometimes it's depressing watching the news. The Reservation Debate. The Gujrat government banning some movie because Amir Khan actually came out and gave an opinion (however ill informed it may have been). What's wrong with this country?? To think, the people actually elect the numbskulls who run the country!!!

On a lighter note,  managed to flood the kitchen (2 times) last night thanks to a leaky washing machine. Took hours to clean the mess up!

Later

Listening to The Freshman by The Verve Pipe

I'm just done with this book called The Long Reverie of Partha Sarma by C Sriram that I just picked up a few days back. I don't say this about a lot of books but this is perhaps the best I've read since Catcher in the Rye. Putting into words how amazing this books is difficult, nonetheless it's pretty much the most well written piece of work by an Indian author.

It caught my eye just 'cos of the blurb on the back which went like:

The Long Reverie evocatively explores the recesses of a young man's mind- his baffled angst while trying to find some meaaning to his existence, his scathing rejection of society's hypocricies, his moment of surrender to the void- and the moment he steps back from the void to give himself a reprieve.

It's slightly on the philosophical side, a battle between two schools of thought namely, existentialism and sentimentalism.

I was checking up on the book but nobody's ever heard of it and the info on the net is zilch. Give critics a few months to read this one and I'm pretty sure that there are chances that this could become a classic for our generation.

There is this show on called House that I watched 'cos people kept raving about it and I must say, it was excellent. Very very sarcastic, sometimes a little too morbid but still very funny.

I've been running around these days thanks to all the stuff I gotta do before I join next month. Ran around the whole day trying to get hold of a PAN application form. They kept referring me to so many places that I got lost (which is not that hard considering my sense of direction) and had to catch an auto to get back.

 Later

Listening to Lady by Lenny Kravitz

Listening to The Joker by Steve Miller Band

After a series of unforseen (and forseen) events, I'm back home. Hopefully will jump onto the software bandwagon (like the rest of the country) in a month. Till then, will probably be running aroun aimless, watching TV and wasting away internet bandwidth, thereby making Mr. Mukesh Ambani (have an account at Reliance Webworld you see) a much richer person and in turn contributing to the GDP of the country.

There used to be a time when the news used to be the most boring thing on TV, used to be the time I took a bath in between those other TV programs. But now, the countless news channels seem to be the most interesting of all channels. I admit, news has become more sensational with more channels trying to uncover scandals undercover, but it seems to have succeeded in bringing the average TV viewer to actually give a damn about the world around. Agreed, it may also have to do with the numerous attractive anchors, but still. The funniest part though has to be the inclusion of background music to some of the "hot" stories. Seems, news has truly dumbed itself down…thankfully for us.

Watched American Beauty last night. Truly one of the greatest films on dysfunctional families as well as the fragility of life. Sigh. Good stuff.

Listening to Idaho by Train

Reading The Long Reveries of Partha Sharma by C. Sriram

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

-Bob Dylan

Predictably unpredictable. That's how a friend of mine used to describe me. Makes sense now.

Is there comfort in routine? Is there a need to validate our existense by our innate need to feel? Is hope really a good thing or does it just offer false promises that bring back memories of a better time? How long do we have to live till we are truly free? Is freedom an illusion? Is certainity a myth? Did Andy Wachowski really marry a dominatrix? Do we have to be a compulsory participant in the inconsequential emotional dramas of life? Are love, happiness and success simply figments of the human imagination? Is Kevin Spacey really gay? Are dreams an hopes the same or are they just equally unacheivable? Does anything really matter in the end? If so, what truly matters? Why does life seem too short and sometimes far too long? Why am I so confused?

The answers my friends, are blowing in the wind.

I just finished that book Mediocre But Arrogant by Abhijit Bhaduri and I have to say that I was blown away. It is nowhere near a seminal piece of writing but it was a searingly honest look at what college life (here, in a prestigios business school) is like. The second half was vastly better in terms of wrting but it's the characters that really kept me interested. It was almost like reliving college again (maybe, that's why I liked it so much) with all those stupid conversations, the jokes, the exams and everything else that meant more than it should have during the past 4 years. If you liked Five Point Someone, then you'll like this one too even though this is very different and does manage to squeeze in a couple of life  lessons here and there (Nihil Ultra- Nothing Is Beyond!).

I also managed to watch Munich last night. It was far too long but the story of a covert Israeli crackdown on the masterminds of the 1972 Munich assasinations, The Black September was a very neat movie nonetheless. Why Spielberg called it his Prayer for Peace, I may never understand but I thought it was directed very well and a couple of scenes very very good (especially, the first assasination and the scene in the safe house) but at the end, it just felt like another movie.

Yes, I know I need to get a life!

Back to work tomorrow. The funny thing about team meetings at work is that words like "bifurcate" and "mitigate" get thrown around pretty often and mostly out of context.

Later

I know it's way too soon, but work seems to be pretty cool. It's very very hard mind you but there is a sense of satisfaction when you actually get to apply something you learned in college. But hey, it's only been 3 days! I'm wondering when the frustration is going to kick in. Sometimes I think I should've atleast taken a 1 month break after college. It's scary to think that I'll never get free time again.

I'm currently involved in the design phase of a VSAT hub and since it's just in the initial stage, I have to double also at Networking and Marketing. The team should grow in a few months which will hopefully lighten the load. I sense a very similar pattern in the relationship between me and my mentor. Almost like Dr Cox and JD.

Working hours are a bit tiring but the truth is you cannot stop thinking about work even when you get home. I'm afraid I'll get stuck in monotony or something so I'm trying my best to do other stuff too.

Thanks to Swen for giving me that site BDcomics.net. It's a treasure trove of comics. I'm done downloading half of the Hush series (Suraj, take note ). It's a pretty neat Batman story arc even if some of the lines seem very out of place. The artwork is simply amazing (Jim Lee's done something on Superman For Tomorrow too. That's on my to-download list) and pretty much everybody from Arkham makes an appearance.

I'm also back up on caffeine. I need to have atleast 3 cups of joe at work and the rest at home. Funny that everybody else around here prefers tea.

Listening to Warning by Greenday

Later