I am Legend!

Long long ago, yet not so long ago a piece of history was written. Well, not so much a legend that lives on in the hearts of people for generations to come, but nevertheless a story worth telling on my blog. It was the winter of 1999. It was a big day. For all the sports lovers out there, indeed, it was a culmination of all the sweating out and competing of the last month. All the team games had completed and all the shields won. They were yet to be handed over to the winning teams of course. That was part of the valedictory function.

The three day athletic meet was coming to an end. Now S. K. C. H. (Sri Kumaran Childrens' Home) had three different streams, State board, I. C. S. E. and C. B. S. E. streams. So as you might expect, there was a healthy rivalry between the three streams. Although academically, ICSE was the clear winner, when it came to sports, it was another story altogether. The ultimate test of superiority was the 4x100m relay race that took place between the three streams just before the valedictory with the chief guest looking on. The entire school was watching.

Junaid Khan was soaking in the electric atmosphere. This was his final year in school. This was his day of glory. He was quite attractive; sharp nose and jaw, centre-parted slick hair, athletic build; all the girls were already swooning over him. Not that he was complaining at all. After all, he was a gifted athlete. He was part of the his house team in the team events which they had mostly won. And he had struck gold in all the sprint and field events. It was not too much to say that he was the star of the event. Later on, he would be receiving a sportsman of the year award from his stream from the chief guest too. He was flexing his biceps now and then just for effect. State board had retained the relay gold for the last three years and so it would be this year too. Could it be otherwise, when he was the anchor of the team.

The girls' relay was first. Of course, state board won that. He walked upto the girl's team and congratulated them nonchalantly.

"Junaid! Thanks so much! All the best to you", crooned the girls team.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. He didn't need it anyways. But he went there just so he could hear the words coming out of the cute anchor of the girls team. He would flirt with her later.
"Boys teams! Get ready for the relay!", screamed the physical instructor.

Nobody fooled around with the instuctor. He was one with a foul mood most of the time. Junaid got into position at the final leg after a small ritual of shaking his team's hands and a round of masculine back patting going all around. All the drama was actually for the benefit of the audience gathered around the track. Primary, middle, secondary school kids, his friends, parents, dignitaries- they were all eagerly watching.

He started checking out the other two teams. He was upbeat about the whole thing. Taking it pretty casually. The CBSE chap had taken his position and was looking ahead nervously. No sweat, he was no problem. Then the ICSE anchor walked in. A thin wiry bespectacled youth. He didn't even look like a tenth grade guy. Eight grade looked about right for him.
'Huh? This was their best runner, common don't insult me.' he thought to himself. Then the lad removed his track pants and tees. The lad was now dressed in sky blue sports sleeveless and matching shorts. Printed in Bold white capitals across the chest was the word 'YUVA'. A roar went down the crowd. Just in time, Junaid noticed the spikes on the lad's feet. Something wasn't right. Why was this chap dressed so meticulously when he himself was only in casual shorts and tees?

And then something dawned upon him. But he had no time to react. The whistle was blown and the first leg athletes were off the starter blocks so to say although there were no blocks here. Now the crowd was going berserk. Some of the guys were even running along the track inside the field and following the race along with the runners. Baton to second leg. CBSE was slightly ahead. Second straight was tight, but the state board lad did a good run and equalled the CBSE chap by the beginning of the third leg. ICSE was lagging behind badly what with a very poor first leg. Second leg could just about maintain the gap without lagging behind further.

Third leg was on now. His third sprinter was sprinting along nicely. CBSE was close behind. The ICSE third leg was a chap named Balajee, running quite hard and covered up some gap. Come to think of it, Balajee was ICSE's best. Now, why was he in third leg? No time to think now. Junaid started off on a jog in the relay zone and took the baton at 35% full speed. He looked back to see the CBSE guy just starting off. The ICSE dude was still 15 metres behind at least and yet to start.

Junaid turned ahead and concentrated on finishing the race. He would put atleast twenty metres ahead of the second team. It would be a deserving victory. Behind him, the ICSE lad started off on a slow sprint and picked up the baton in his right hand. Then the lad started accelerating at a shocking speed. Within twenty metres past, he was at full speed and approaching him at an alraming raet. By seventy metres, a blue streak just whooshed past Junaid. And Junaid could only sprint on and look ahead in despair as the blue streak crossed the finish line almost a full ten metres ahead of him! The ICSE lad had a tough time hitting the breaks and almost collided with a kid standing a few metres from the finish line. The crowd was pouring into the tracks now. It had gone wild. But not the state board crowd that he had expected. It was the ICSE crowd mobbing the ICSE anchor. Even the physical instructor had a smile on his face. The ICSE teachers were also walking up to congratulate him too. Junaid was embarrassed.

Oh hell, what the heck, it was not so bad. He had just been beat by one *****, the new legend of SKCH. He was a budding junior state level athlete in the making and had trained in 100 metres sprint for almost two years. Junaid walked up to the lad and shook his hand meekly. He got a shy smile back in return.

The lad went to on win the silver in the relay of The Junior National Championships two years later as well as breaking the 100 metres national record at the All India ICSE Sports meet. But no victory was sweeter than the one in 1999 at school with the entire school watching on!

Attention to detail

Warning: Long Piece Disclaimer

We were all in Satya's house. It was one of those weekend nights that we had decided to camp out at his place. The 'maal' was there and we all smoked up. Just before coming to Satya's place, Rohit and me had stopped over at Rohit's place, and I picked up a small book of jokes knowing that it would prove to be useful after our 'session'. And I was very right. It did not crack us up with laughter as I had intended but it did pave the way to one of the most immersing intellectual discussions that we as a group have ever had.

We had settled down in Satya's living room after a round of p*t. And I picked up the joke book to read some stupid jokes that would have us all rolling on the floor in incontrollable laughter. Kitty kept on chiding me for the level of planning I had shown by coming armed with a joke book just so we could laugh our asses off after the 'session'. As it were, the jokes were not of the standard that I had expected, and I lost interest in the book after reciting aloud a couple of jokes for the benefit of the audience. I put the book down and Kitty picked it up to see if he could spot an interesting one.

Listen to this, said Kitty:
" In 5th Century B. C., a barber asks his customer, 'How would you like to have your hair cut?' And the customer replies , 'In silence.' "
What a ridiculous joke.

Satya: Yeah I agree. But why in God's name did he have to add the opening phrase 'In 5th Century B. C.'. In what way, did that contribute to the joke or have anything to do with the joke at all?

Me: That, my dear Satya is what they call 'attention to detail'.

Satya: Balls. That was totally unnecessary information. I don't call that attention to detail.

Me: Well, it still is, even if it was unnecessary to the essence of the joke. The joke could have actually happened in 5th Century B.C., I'm not saying it did, but it could have; and the author knowing this fact chose to add it in his narration, in spite of knowing very well that it would not have any effect on the joke itself. Paying attention to the minutiae, is what I call attention to detail.

Satya: I'm not convinced...

Kitty (who was incidentally the only member of the group not under influence):
Let me clarify... In our company we had a session on hospitality as part of our training. During that session, we were told, 'Imagine delegates from Schneider, France were coming to Bangalore for a couple of days. How would you show them around the city and make sure that they had a good time?'
All the groups came up similar stuff and nobody did a bad job. Everyone said they would give some small gifts which they could take back as souvenirs to France. but only my team went one step further and said that we would give them an ivory idol of the Lord Ganesha. And the instructor commended us for our attention to detail.

Me: Now that's a good example. Everybody thought about giving a gift, but Kitty's team actually put their heads together and decided on a specific gift. They paid attention to specifics. That in my opinion is attention to detail. Say you were to take them out for lunch. Thats a given. But if you went ahead and thought of the specific restaurant, decided what you would order for them in advance during the planning stage; that's attention to detail.

Kitty: The fact that we thought of a contextual present, An Ivory Hindu Idol, and not some parker pen shows that we paid attention to the context. We realized that we had to give them something that would remind them of India, not just some gift.

Nikhil: Yeah I hadn't thought of it that way, but your explanation is a greater degree of attention to detail.

Vijay: In a way, I like to think that attention to detail is something that goes to various degrees. The deeper you go, the better the level of detail...

Nikhil: The most important part is the appreciation. When you see attention being paid to detail, you will appreciate it.

Satya: There is nothing to appreciate about attention to detail. If its there, you just notice it and its there, but nothing to be happy about.

Nikhil: No, you will definitely apprecaite it as the observer. I'm talking from the observer's point of view. You are talking from the doer's point of view. A person who is setting up the environment say, in a movie, will pay meticulous attention to detail, not because he expects any appreciation for it, but just because he wants to pay attention to detail.

Me: Yes... Say I'm making a movie that chronicles your life, Satya. When I come to the scene where I show your living room, I would take the pains to make sure every book that you now have in your bookshelf are also in the set that I reproduce; and I also take pains to see that the books are even arranged in exactly the same way that you see them now. Any Tom, Dick or Harry who sees the documentary would not care less for the books in the shelf. But if you were to see the documentary, you would notice the books and appreciate it. Why? I had no need to go into all that trouble to set up the minutiae, knowing it would not make a difference to a majority of the viewers except you, but I still went ahead and did it anyway. Thats attention to detail.

Nikhil: As you can see, both the doer and the observer have to be there and know the details individually for attention to detail to have any meaning.

Me: I would disagree. Take Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He creates such elaborate sets in his movies. Thats because he is a perfectionist. But thats who he is. And as an audience, you appreciate his sets. But Sanjay would have done it anyway. Not for the audience but for himself. And he would have done it even if the set 's details did not in anyway enhance the story telling. i continue to stress the point that attention to detail does not have to be contextual. It can just be there. Its just attention to detail.

Nikhil: Hmm... Its amazing how we all had so many different points of view about 'attention to detail'. And its difficult to contest anybody's point of view here. Everybodys explanation makes perfect sense if you think about it carefully.

Rohit: Yeah, wow this was a great conversation. And to think it all started from the phrase 'In 5th century B.C.' ...

Kitty: Imagine... If the author had actually imagined a group of people like us would spot this tiny attention to detail and had intentionally put it there, so that he could spark this discussion among us.

Footnote: I don't know how many people will appreciate this piece, but the guys who were there will definitely smile when they come across this piece. And guys, I hope I have done justice to the conversation and given attention to detail for your benefit... ;)

Nostalgia Part 2

A tribute to the four most wonderful years of my life 'studying' engineering at the hallowed portal NITK Surathkal...

Its not so much about the college but the great friends I made there, the crazy times we had there, the beautiful places we went to, everything was just so. Like enjoying a well done steak, the taste lingers for a long time. It saddens me deeply that this phase of my life is over and I have to become an adult with responsibilities. That totally sucks. Oh well, on a more philosphical note, all things good in life have to come to an end...

Remembering shenoy's spoonerisms and mispronunciations, his stupid smile and the shine in his eyes when he tells a white lie that it's practically a no-brainer to catch him at it, Sundi's goofy smile and his undying enthusiasm to reach the top of a a peak, to give Kandu hero poses for the camera so that he can show them off on orkut, Mabhi's shady dialogues and his blanket, his premature love for PZ, Bhattiem and his bhatru stomach, his gangster behaviour when he gets drunk, Raghav's fishy smile, his craze for all things that smell and look and feel Led Zep, Tanay with his oh so beautiful music and his Ibanez, his temper tantrums, Vyas with his craze for changing girlfriends, his sweet smile with which he escapes from his crimes, vada seller slap receiver, Nikhil and his sleep and F1 and his affinity for the 'high spirits' and 'smashing attitude', Su and his worsht jokes but amazing creativity, Sri ram and his always Im bored and the most popular guy on campus, Vikram and his jive moves, Brat and his literary genius, Bacat and his graphics eye candy and his all nighters, Rishi and his pranks, his mango face, his assumptions, lets pitch the tent on top of Chembra, Rasho and tongue sticking out photos, Russell Peters' and his 'Doggy Style'...

Me and my bathroom escapades, my long hair in the second hair from which lethal mistake I lost half my hair, getting shit scared on Chembra due to the wind, the early morning by the kabini reservoir by the tent with all the mist rising from the river, my first time getting sloshed at a placement party, getting smashed and being able to 'see' the music, all the headbanging at the concerts, the sun kissed sands of Gokarna, experiencing heaven at Munnar, discovering Floyd and Porcupine Tree and A Perfect Circle and Knopfler, the excruciating train rides to Calicut in the general compartment, trying to build a robot unsuccessfully, trying to coax music from my guitar...

And to all the laughter, all the worldly wisdom acquired, to all the pychedaelic moments, to all those brilliant times I played tennis with Sundi and Rasho, and discussed cuisines with Kulin, and his mom's delicious chocolate balls, falling in love with Salsa, to those lip-smacking steaks at Diesels, to the beautiful beach and light house in front of our campus, to digital logic and design which hopefully I won't tire out of within the next year, teaching electronics to Mechanical peers, Goa with Macy and Modi and Mithun and Nikhil, Lep zepplica with fish at IITM...

To Prison Break and Lost and Desu noto and 24, to The Blairwitch Project and Pulp Fiction and Fight Club and The Shawshank Redemption and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and all the mind blowing entertainment the LAN had to offer...

And to all those pains and sufferings - omnipresent water shortage, power failures and hence sleepless nights during the exams, the tepid mess 'food' in all its diabolical glory, the pain of being betrayed by people you trusted, the joy of rediscovering yourself and kicking back harder, the ligament tear and its aftermath, the heat and all the sweating, PSB announcing his voluntary retirement from service, getting our asses kicked for not paying enough attention to our final year project...

To all those moments that I hope I can remember for a very long time...

Nostalgia Part I

Wild Flowers, Central Station, Munnar

Heaven, Munnar

Is it a bird, is it a rock... Bottom Station, Munnar

Hanging on the Edge at Sheeshaparvata

A misty view of the mountains enroute to the peak

Falls at Munnar (name of the falls I cant recall)

A breathtaking view from Top Station, Munnar

Wild yellow flowers, Munnar

Bird's eye view of Om Beach

The Shiva Linga at Kumaraparvata

The final stretch to the peak at KP

A beautiful view of Sheeshaparvat, KP

Another view amidst the mist of Sheeshaparvata

Om beach at Sunset, Gokarna

There is no way I can post all the wonderful timeless pictures here. Here are a few of the best pics from recent treks...

Kudos to Sunaad for all the organization, loads of enthusiasm, and a goofy smile. You are the best!