And she never turned...

I know that the subject is a bit trite, but nevertheless, I shall make an attempt in making you aware or remind, depending upon how many years you have spent at IIT, of what changes come along in the life of people who were kept in a babe-free (sorry to those who are so desperate that they venture to call them babes) environment for 4 years and are suddenly and continuously exposed to mind-boggling beauty. To the uninitiated, the people here can be divided in two groups, the first one consists of people who are really optimistic, don't want to give in, and who are, rather were, suave with the opposite sex, these are the ones who try for the babes outside and the others, yes this constitutes the major population here, give in totally and resort to only movies/sitcoms/p... or an interlude which accompanies Cultural/Technical Festivals to satiate their thirst for beauty or whatever.

But some recent developments have made the situation better(or worse, depends), like the introduction of MA in IITM. This has taken the female-beauty-average in the campus to unprecedented highs, the repercussions of which I wish to discuss. People(here by people I mean the straight or, almost straight boys) have started opting for HS courses over other courses so that their frequent trips to the HS department also have some academic along with ocular value, have started getting very interested in HS courses to impress their classmates, and have started to believe that enthralling beauty can not only be found in movies. Like everything has a bad side to it, so does this, it might sound incredulous, but to the seasoned like me and my dear neighbour Arvind (sorry!), who were living in the campus for 4 years and had fully evolved(?) in such conditions, who had started to look at feminine beauty like one looks at a beautiful picture or scenery, the beauty of the inanimate or the virtual, this change has posed a very intriguing problem. These people who had so much got used to it that they actually started forgetting it have got hurt the most. They, who in their four years had lost all of whatever little confidence with girls they had gained in their school years are being reminded incessantly, when they roam around in the campus, of their deplorable bandi-less state. This has led to their fall into a state of perpetual sadness for the fact that such ravishing beauty exists in reality, that they are such losers, and can do nothing but look at them and appreciate. The title is to commemorate my attempt, in vain of course, of looking at one such ravishing beauty.

Following

The second thriller/mystery movie of the sem, and my God, one of the best I have ever seen. The director is Christopher Nolan, yes, the director of the much noted 'The Dark Knight', in fact the first movie he directed, produced and wrote the screenplay for. Well, to a person who has seen 'Memento' which was also directed by him, 'Following' will not come as surprise when it gets all confusing with its complex non-linear screen-play. Memento at least has two linear timelines going alternately, but in this movie there are actually three timelines and unlike Memento in which there is change in film stock from colour to black & white or vise-versa when there's a transition in timeline, in this movie the transition is shown by a blank screen :). But, the movie is much shorter, 69 mins only.

The movie's budget was only $6000, was shot on weekends and for most of the part Nolan did not employ any professional film lighting equipment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Following

I think a very intriguing plot is possibly the only thing the movie can offer to its viewers, but still its a must watch. I would earnestly recommend the movie to all who liked 'Memento'. I did not see 'The Dark Knight' completely for its fantastic action, but surely will see 'Insomnia' which was directed by him and 'Inception' which will get released in 2010.

Ghalib, yet again

Ghalib at his best:

Mushkil hain zabas kalaam mera ai dil,
sun sun ke ise sukhanwaraan-e-kaamil,
aasaan kahne ki karte hain farmaish,
"goim mushkil wa gar na goim mushkil."

Too hard to grasp is my verse, O heart!
Hearing it, the connoisseurs of art
For a simpler style do ask.
"Difficult, if I write, difficult, if do not."

Donnie Brasco

After an intensive and rather strenuous search on imdb did I find a good thriller to watch, first thriller movie of this sem. The actors are Johnny Depp and Al Pacino. It is true story of an FBI implant in one of the mafia gangs of New York.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donnie_Brasco
Jhonny Depp acts as the implant, works for the mafia gang for 6 years and starts developing an emotional attachement with the guy who had vouched for him(enacted by Al Pacino). Al Pacino again in the role of a gangster which he masters, but this time not a don but a vulnerable gangster for whom nothing comes about right. A must watch for all Jhonny Depp's fans.

An Essay on Man.

Read in a books' (Power Plant Technology by Elwakil) prolusion:

He, who through vast immensity can pierce,

See worlds on worlds compose one universe,

Observe how system into system runs,

What other planets circle other suns,

What varied being peoples every star
May tell why Heaven has made us as we are.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who sees with equal eye, as God of all,

A hero perish, or a sparrow fall,

Atoms or systems into ruin hurled,

And now a bubble burst, and now a world.

ALEXANDER POPE
(1688-1744)

Really subtle, Isn't it!

कुछ इश्क किया कुछ काम किया

Came across one beautiful poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz

वो लोग बहुत ख़ुशक़िस्मत थे
जो इश्क़ को काम समझते थे
या काम से आशिक़ी करते थे
हम जीते जी मसरूफ़ रहे
कुछ इश्क़ किया कुछ काम किया

काम इश्क़ के आड़े आता रहा
और इश्क़ से काम उलझता रहा
फिर आख़िर तंग आकर हम ने
दोनों को अधूरा छोड़ दिया

- फैज़ अहमद फैज़

एक बस तू ही नहीं

एक बस तू ही नहीं मुझसे खफा हो बैठा
मैंने जो *संग तराशा वो खुदा हो बैठा

उठ के मंजिल ही अगर आए तो शायद कुछ हो
शौक़-ए-मंजिल तो मेरा *आबलापा हो बैठा

*मसलेहत छीन गई *कुव्वत-ए-गुफ्तार मगर
कुछ न कहना ही मेरा मेरी *सदा हो बैठा

शुक्रिया ए मेरे कातिल ए मसीहा मेरे
ज़हर जो तूने दिया था वो दवा हो बैठा

-फरहत शहजाद

संग=Stone
आबलापा= Exhausted/Fatigued
मसलेहत = Prudent Measure
कुव्वत-ए-गुफ्तार= Quvvat means strength and Guftaar means conversation. Hence the meaning.
सदा= Voice

Here the word "Khuda" in the first stanza refers to one of the qualities of God. God is considered to be shapeless in Islam.