Book Review: Lolita
28 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in RANDOMS
Reading Mitostargazer( Phaedrus Within) publishing a saga of book reviews one after another, has finally made me penitent for not reading enough. Left with a feeling of dejection, which lately arosed from not updating my blog as frequently as others, I decided not to abstain,waiting for that natural blog post to happen, rather have chosen to pen down book reviews. The forecoming posts are not going to be flamboyant ; filled with satire or comical expressions but placid once, with a confined scope purposely restricted to the theme without any gibberish.
Lolita, the modern classic, is infamous enough to avert any stereotype and was definitely a wrong choice for me at this early stage of my “journey to classics”. The content is pathetic, obscene enough to be digested by anyone. Though, as I read a few more of these lately, it doesn’t took much time to conclude that “No modern fiction is complete without these explicit scenes described in lengths greater than actually required”.
Anyhow,the scintilating flow of the language by Nabokov is awe-striking. Such a good conrol over English, despite Russian being his vernacular definitely demands respect.Strength of the eloquence and the lively use of imagery at times become subtle enough to comprehend. The plot is a chase of the main character “Lolita” and his step father all across the east just for the sake of their survival. Going any further in the plot won’t just ruin the reading experience but would also make this blog blocked,at least in our college :P 
Analyzing it holistically, the only statement that strikes me is that it is a “funny serious thriller” to be read once, criticized twice and never in one’s lifetime recommended to anyone. Commendation for the elusive piece of literature is also enough to compete with the renounciation it has faced lately. Incase, you want to read “The Satanic Verses” after the controversy that recently came into light, and are unable to lay your hands on it, then it’s a perfect substitute.
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# I hate writing book reviews. Its tedious and monotonic. 
#Are you thinking that my vocabulary has shown significant improvement since last 6 months?
#No, I was referring to my MBA wordlist the entire time
#Incase you are flattered by this boring post, leave a comment about what should I focus more on, while writing book reviews or any specific book you would recommend me to read.
# Deathnote and Modern Family – Season 2 running in parallel.
#Will I be able to sing “XL ki kudiyan very vey smart”, in its campus ?
#Only time will tell……… It’s a novel by Jeffrey Archer :P
#Tchao !!!
100 Tips About Life, People, and Happiness
20 Jan 2012 6 Comments
in RANDOMS
1. True wisdom and insight is always free.
2. Give your power over to no one.
3. Going into the unknown is how you expand what is known.
4. Get a library card.
5. Spend more time around people that both challenge and respect you.
6. Remain skeptical forever.
7. Fight for what matters.
8. There is a method that works. Find it.
9. Join a movement.
10. Drink your coffee black.
11. Never let anyone photoshop a picture of you. It creates a false sense of self-confidence.
12. Read more. Especially things you disagree with.
13. Get used to feeling stupid. It’s a sign of growth.
14. It’s easy for people to talk a good game, so watch how they behave instead.
15. Learn something from everyone.
16. Find things that inspire you and pursue them, even if there’s no money in it.
17. Starve if you have to, for as long as you need to.
18. Survive on a little just to prove you can do it.
19. Get one big success at an early age. It’ll help build your confidence for bigger things.
20. Do what you say you’ll do. No one is reliable anymore.
21. Be comfortable with abandonment, even of parts of your identity.
22. Learn a new language.
23. Eat more protein.
24. Keep people around you that will tell you the truth.
25. Genius gets you nowhere. Execution is everything.
26. If given the choice of equity or cash, always take cash.
27. Meet new people as often as possible. Offer to help them.
28. Don’t discriminate. Connect anyone in your network to anyone else.
29. If you can’t do a pull-up, you have a problem.
30. Nobody likes a know-it-all.
31. Get a passport. Fill it up with stamps no one has ever seen.
33. Read biographies. It’s like having access to the best mentors in history.
34. Go to bed, and wake up, early. No one will bother you, letting your best work emerge.
35. Scare yourself a little bit every day. It will expand your inner map.
36. Learn to climb trees.
37. Don’t buy a lot of stuff, and only buy the stuff you really love.
38. Be humble and curious.
39. Twitter followers don’t keep you warm at night.
40. Be as useful as you can in as many circumstances as possible.
41. Show up.
42. Repeat people’s names when you meet them.
43. Turn internet access off your phone. Wifi is fine.
44. Get a deck of Oblique Strategies cards. Use them.
45. Make your home a place where you feel safe.
46. Take people up on bets. Make more bets yourself.
47. Take cold showers. They’re better than coffee.
48. Learn to enjoy hunger.
49. Make everything either shorter, or longer, than it needs to be.
50. Always remember those who helped you. Deliver two or three times as much value back.
51. But also, help people who have never helped you, and can’t.
52. When you know that pain is temporary, it affects all of your decisions.
53. Get a tattoo. Don’t worry about regret.
54. Commit to things, regularly, that are far beyond your ability.
55. Meet with friends more often than you think you have to.
56. Learn to meditate. Go on a retreat if you have to.
57. Your stories are both more and less interesting than you think.
58. Learn to really listen.
59. Walk more.
60. Ugly is just a step on the way to beautiful.
61. Get to know your neighbours.
62. Don’t take anything personally, ever.
63. Consider avoiding school. Go to lots of conferences instead.
64. As soon as you can, buy some art.
65. Apologize more than you need to.
66. Find out if there will be food there.
67. A good haircut changes everything.
68. Read Man’s Search For Meaning.
69. Say no to projects you don’t care about.
70. Do things that are uncool. Later on, they usually end up becoming cool anyway.
71. Find your voice.
72. Have some manners.
73. Learn to play chess, go, and bridge. They’ll keep you from going senile.
74. Learn about the Tetrapharmakos.
75. Find ways to cheat the system– just don’t cheat people.
76. Be like Jesus, not like his followers. (This applies to all of them.)
77. At least once, date someone that’s out of your league.
78. Examine your jealousy. You’ll learn a lot about yourself.
79. Good connections are about people, not social networks.
80. Address small problems. They will become big problems.
81. Dress like a cooler version of yourself.
82. Yes, there is such a thing as bad press.
83. Add “adventurer” to your Twitter bio. Then, become one.
84. If the internet is the best thing in your life, you have a serious problem.
85. Give away your best work for free.
86. Find mentors. Just don’t call them that.
87. Actually write on your blog. Nobody cares if it’s hard.
88. Download Freedom. Use it for an hour every day.
89. Join a gym. Lift the heaviest you can. (This applies to girls too.)
90. Do some freewriting. It helps you think things through.
91. When you’re having supper with rich people, pick up the cheque.
92. Learn how to speak in public.
93. If you see someone who needs help, stop asking yourself if they need help. Instead, just help.
94. Bring a bottle of wine.
95. The best conversations are had side by side, not one in front of the other.
96. Protect your hearing. Trust me.
97. Do what’s most important first thing in the morning, before you check email.
98. Everyone feels like they’re not good enough. It’s not just you.
99. Courage is a learned skill.
100. Go to Iceland. It’s worth it.
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#101. Read this once every month.
#note-to-myself -Point 87- 6 months have passed since you last wrote something.
# Yes, this one is copied,from here. (Box that is on top left corner, yes, put your mail id over there).
# Different font styles, sizes and random hyperlinks. It’s subtle than the post itself.
# Life’s way too busy again.
# Song of the day – Give me love . Ed sheeran 
# Tchao !!!
The Letter to Mother
15 Aug 2011 1 Comment
in RANDOMS
This one’s a guest post. Quite late for the occasion though, yet i hope the author ( Raj vardhan Nigam ) won’t mind it.
Happy Independence day to everyone !!!
Dear mother,
Here’s wishing you a very happy 65th year of independence. I know it’s been long since you’ve heard from me and no amount of explanation can justify this deplorable behavior. Nevertheless I take this opportunity to apologize for the conduct over the past years.
Every year on 15th August, your anniversary evokes nostalgia about the times gone by — innocent memories of childhood when tuning into Doordarshan to see the swaying tri-color on the ramparts of the Red Fort was a must, buying one-sided paper flags at the bus stop was a morning delight and singing the national anthem in school – a moment of great pride.
A lot has gone by from the time when I did not comprehend the meaning of freedom and yet could see a lamp lit with nationalism, to a time when I’m surrounded with manipulated definitions of freedom which has stifled the lamp and smudged the contours of democracy to elucidate the selfish motives of people.
Power is the new freedom, corruption is the new monotony, assurance is the new food, reservation is the new vote appeal, manifesto is the new betrayal, misinformed is the new patriotic, terrorism is the new communication-protocol, miss call for lokpal is the new devotion and a Facebook event is the new revolution.
Before independence we witnessed the Jail Bharo Andolan when people abandoned everything fighting to free you from the British rule and today after 65 years of independence social activist Anna Hazare ventures into bringing back the same movement to bring down corruption and tackle cases like the 2G scam, CWG, Adarsh, Taj Corridor, etc. through the Jan lokpal bill.
With the grace you bestowed upon us, we did take remarkable strides and achieved several milestones that changed the way world perceived us. To borrow from the title of a book by noted author Gurcharan Das, following radical reforms undertaken in the early 1990s, the economic growth rate, successful nuclear tests like Pokhran II, satellite launches, cricket world cup triumph, beauty pageants….you became “unbound.” But behind Mukesh Ambani’s landmark home Antilla hide the slums and refugee camps spread across the nation; behind Rahul Gandhi’s multimillion dollar donation for a Harvard degree hide schools with broken walls and open roofs; behind CEOs like Indra Nooyi hides inequality and discrimination towards women and behind the smiling face of politicians hides the ugly truth of scams and corruption.
I know this has disheartened you. Something is really gnawing at the heart of democracy and even though there might not be a panacea for all ill, but a ray of hope kindles as several steps are being taken in the right direction. I know there’s little point in complaining about evils like corruption when I myself am aware how and when I’ve got my driver’s license or how I’ve brought down a Rs.1500 fine to Rs.200(or less) on several occasions.
As an anniversary gift, I pledge to be a better citizen’.
Happy Independence Day!!
Yours Lovingly
An Indian
Untitled
28 Jul 2011 34 Comments
in RANDOMS
This one goes for all the first years who wanted to know what college is all about and are constantly bugging entire H-3 to answer for them and for all others who have enjoyed it all.
A few general questions-:
1. Why are they ragging us ?
Ans: It’s not ragging, trust me on this. It simply isn’t.
2.How much do we need to study?
Ans: You don’t need, at least not now.
3.We are getting bored.
Ans: Go explore, Its College, you can’t be bored.
4.How many nearby places can we go for fun?
Ans:At least visit all floors of Shipra first.
5.Should we join any of these clubs in college?
Ans:That ain’t a valid question. It is the one thing you are going to regret rest of your 4 years, if you don’t.
6.Is laptop necessary?
Ans: Would you spend 120 bucks in JAM every Friday, 3 times a day. There is a better answer to this question beyond the scope of this public blog. 
7. Who does a senior refers to when he talks about ‘minor’ ?
Ans:You are not 18 yet, they call you minor
- Don’t judge people in college. I was wrong almost every time.
- You can love a lot many people in lot many ways.
- You can know everything and still score lowest in batch, vice-versa holds as well.
- You were best in high school. So what? Its college.
- Many people will change, many won’t. At some point of time, you’ll hate both.
- Be around those who are better than you, there will be plenty and they will be the ones who’ll make you what you will be.
- Never say you “Think”. What all will be going through your mind in the coming years, is what “Thinking” is.
- Way2sms.com. After google and facebook its going to be your third bookmark.
- First D in the grade sheet would make you cry. Just the first one
- You will remember your first “mass bunk”. Many would follow, and then the definition of the term will change.
- Be nice, but not much. You’ll pay heavily.
- There would be a girl very close to you and won’t be your girlfriend.
- Never leave your Facebook account open. A series of comments on your changed relationship status will follow.
- Your freshers – Learning to play the guitar would seem cool.
- You’ll get up early in morning for a week (a month in rare cases).
- Travel as much as you can. Click photographs as much as you can. Even after 20 Gb collection, you won’t be satisfied.
- Clubs are fun.They seriously are, especially if you are a part of CICR.
- No matter what, you will always hate your mess.
- I saw India winning the World Cup in Audi. It was awesome !!!
- Hot Girls exist. If you can’t find them, what the hell are you doing after dinner.
- Home will be a great place to visit.
- Milk in the mess which is supposed to be till 9 am would vanish by 8:50.
- Physics is going to be the real maths, maths is to be learned and in Economics, final answer is all what will matter.
- That it would still be possible to be alone, when surrounded by friends.
- Most of the education would happen outside the classes.
- You will buy more fiction than your course books in first year, you won’t buy course books in second, you would buy none in third, google and seniors have everything.
- Drugs available will be of more variety than you knew. There exists a list beyond weed, bong and LSD.
- You can trust anyone. Just don’t make it more than you have on your own self.
- The best of the trips would be unplanned and will make you meet the most awesome people you never knew existed.
- Many things will end suddenly, much like this post.
Tchao !!!
The “GPA” Theory
10 Jul 2011 21 Comments
in RANDOMS Tags: Facebook, Personal Stories, Recreation
The cell phone rings. +9198778***** calling.
Mayank: Hey… where are you? It’s been a week you came home, have got 2-3 more origami videos.
Sumit: With maa, in the market, buying bedsheets. You need some ? Le kar aaun?
Mayank: Kitne baje tak aayega ? Doob k mar ja sale, bedsheets kharid raha hai, itne bure din aa gaye hain tere ?
Sumit: Aur kya karun bata, chal aaj kuch interesting karenge. 8 baje ke around aaunga.
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8:12 pm Location: Mayank’s house
Sumit: Kon se videos hai ?
Mayank: Rose making and origami dragon. Rose vali karte hain.
Sumit: Sale, 30 min ka video hai, bahut hard hoga. Koi chota nhi hai ?
Mayank: Abe, ek bat soch… college mein kisi bandi ko paper ka rose khud banakar dega to vo impress nhi hogi ?
Sumit: Kabhi to bandiyon k alawa kuch socha kar.
Mayank: Teri vo NGO vali presentation kaisi rhi ? School mein bhi kisi ki counseling kari ki nhi
Sumit: It was fine.. pata hai, jab stage par vo princi vale mike se bol rahe the, tab 10th a vali line dekh kar aisa lag raha tha, ki isi line mein khade ho kar kabhi hum in stage par bak-bak karne valon ko kitne galiyan dete the, aaj ye sab hame de rahe honge . Pehle kam lambi hoti hai kya assembly jo ye bhi aa gaye apni ram katha sunane.
Sumit: Fb khol…
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2 browsers, 2 fb accounts, a lot of stalking, an in-depth analysis on fb wall posts of people, their academic performances and their moral characters, and the inter co-relation among these three lead to the following conclusions.
CGPA
>=9.0
Generally hated by most, still a rare breed,
Though Classic but mostly
self-centered. Generally unsocial and not
required by others except for during
the exam time.
8.0-9.0
Dynamic ones, most responsive to change.
Some of the most creative people
lie in this range. Some typical exceptions
including — the low IQ geeks, the always
ready to fight once , immature fools having
some really caring friends also finds makes
their way in this range set .
7.0-8.0
The ordinary category, light hearted comedy
loving once, a Set of God fearing people who
believe in the exisitence of Humanity.
Get along well with most of the college crowd.
Can be compared to the regular bollywood
movies with average screenplay,
below- average stories and overpaid actors.
6.0-7.0
Mostly experimental ones, some of best brains
with low Attendance. A large number of romantic
hearts having a high drive of being around
with opposite sex can be found in the same range
too. This gpa range also covers a section of aimless
people who are on their way to depression.
5.0-6.0
Mostly Drug addicts, the real music lovers, the
best gamers, The most orthodox set of people
who hardly care about anything including themselves.
Stories of free will that don’t care about target
audience.
<5.0
Due to the diversity of the people in this
category and inability of the researchers
to find a consistent working theory,the matter in
this category is beyond the scope of this
public blog.
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# Prison Break- Watch it, if you haven’t still.
# PHP and Java Script – Learn it, if you haven’t still.
# Go back to school, it is definitely better than returning to college.
# If you read this, do comment, It doesn’t matter if you liked it or not, if you agree or not, just tell whatever you felt about it.
# @Siddharth ghai – Mytho.. one on one.. Hard bot.. With Thor, yes, I won !!!
# Throughout the holidays, I tried to wrote a blogpost- “conclusions of a wretched semester”, I couldn’t… I know the reason why… It wasn’t that wretched I assumed it to be.
Finally fotoshop :P
03 Jun 2011 10 Comments
in RANDOMS
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# If you can’t write, you can still “fotoshop”
# The best time-pass for a workless intern.
# There’s another cool thing to do this summer… “Cryptography”… Actually the name is cooler than the thing itself
# You can click on the image, for full size view and use it anywhere without copyright, i never knew how to type © sign, while designing.
# Num lock on + Alt key + type 0169 for that copyright symbol. Crap !! Never knew it would be that complicated.
# Tchao !!!!
Change– The only Constant
24 Mar 2011 5 Comments
in Emotions, spirtuality Tags: Emotion, Friendship, People, Web Design and Development
Home… if heaven exists on earth, then it is here…it is here…it is here.
No fear, No compulsion, No Panic, No Worries, No Pains…
Cause there resides a woman on whose lap you can still sleep forgetting all your troubles. Cause there exist a super-man, a hero who is always there to protect you from the evils. It’s a place which still surrounds those teenagers you once traded pokemon cards with; the very same one from where flashing lights on the highway are visible, even now.
There still exists that park in the neighborhood with the very same swings you once rolled on (though my favorite one is broken now…yet, never mind ), that tree at the street end also remains intact and same remains the taste of that guava that still hangs there.
The game of “hide and seek” remains the same, its only the players who have changed. The innocence on the faces remains the same, though some of those faces have changed.
Yes, it’s ain’t a question anymore. Things are changing, so are people and probably so am I. The more you want to avoid this change, the more it returns to you. At times, it becomes really difficult to analyze that whether this change is good or bad… But, one thing’s for sure, that this change is the only constant.
There is no point in forcing people to remain when their heart has already left. It may take many people away from you but at the same time it rewards you with many new once too. Probably, this is how it was suppose to end or probably it is a new start. It all depends on the viewpoint.
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Same are the issues to fight on, it’s only the people that changes….
Butterflies in the garden remain the same, the flowers they dwell upon changes…
Smile at the evening stroll remains the same, walking sticks are the once which changes…
Books in the library may remain the same, it’s the readers who changes…
The trumpet of victory remains the same, people who blow them changes…
Cricket remains the same, playing 11 is what changes…
Same are the issues to fight on, it’s only the people that changes….
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- Song of the day: The burden is mine… alone by Green Carnation
- Lie to me: Season 1 over, wish I would got other too. Never mind, Fringe’s next.
- @Koi(My wordpress theme owner) – You are soon going to witness world’s best CSS. Yes, i have nearly learnt it.
- Second last line of the post clearly shows that World Cup has restored my interest in cricket.
- Evs Project trip was a real fun. Three idiots vali scooty, Udaipur ka kila, flyover par cycle stunt, Low floor bus, Sunsan Melange…. Credits: Siddhatha Ghai. P.S: I still don’t have what was needed.
- If you are free now-a-days then try messing up with your boot loader, it’ll teach that grub rescue doesn’t work the way terminal does + how to make a bootable pendrive , + in case you have a super-mom like me then it can also lead to some nice cookery lessons.
- Tchao !!!!!
20
15 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in RANDOMS
It’s March 6, 2011 when I am writing this, just after wishing two of my friends, the beginning of their 20th spring. I am at home … after almost a month, thinking how quickly things have changed, dadi’s health has shown significant improvement since last time, though it still gets 9 pm when papa reaches back home from work. Yet, things are stable over here.
Today I am 19 but by the time this post will make its way to blog, it would no longer be the same, I won’t be a teen anymore now.
In span of a week, I have aged a whole year. 20 is that magic number that has defined me as an adult, it is the time to understand the responsibilities and live up to them. It’s the time to figure out what actually I want to make of my own self and work towards it.
Hope that flavor of life doesn’t vanish in the process and a bit of childishness makes its way here and there.
Watch out life….. From now on either you are going to be very boring or really worth living.
A very happy birthday to me….
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# I am the first one to wish myself, yes….this is a forward post.
# T-2 starts from today. 2 papers on my b-day… never expected a better gift.
# This section of blog has nothing more to be written about.
# No new song, no Season, no outings, nothing….. Just peace.
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