Random post on randomness... not really

random cow in field

This goes out in deep-felt condolence to my brethren and sistren (I am no sexist), however few in number, who cringe at blogposts, articles, songs, amazing facts (seriously?!) and photographs of shoes, books, birds, articles, clothes, bottles that are labelled as random. I am with you, my friends. Let's fight this injustice together.

Secondly, I am completely bewildered and enraged by the mass misusage (now that would be a cool word) of the word 'random'. You want to know what's really random? Go to your facebook wall (of course, I know you're on facebook, even the puppy downstairs is on facebook) and re-read your wall posts. That's random! Or better, simply chant 'random' in your mind until it loses its meaning.

table fan randomly rotating

I checked on what exactly the word 'random' meant just to be sure that I am not writing this post randomly. For those smiling, the joke's on you. I used the word incorrectly. Random means "Having no definite aim or purpose". So, that picture of you wearing sunglasses and standing moronically with your hands in your pockets,  your hair carefully combed, your weight more on your left foot next to the sculpture that nobody-least of all you- knows about or even cares to know, is not aimless or without definite purpose (though we could argue on whether the purpose is fulfilled) Nor is that sculpture that its artist spent days working on.

However much you may try and hopelessly try again, the word random does not possess the qualities that the all-too-familiar four-letter word claims to. Of course, I've heard that 'Indian' professor's profound lecture on the grammatical versatility of 'fuck'. Although funny, it is silly and stupid. I would have believed it, when I was 14!

At least the Untitled Albums are better. You meticulously select and upload pictures but cannot find the time to say what they're about is perfectly acceptable. Label them as 'random' and I pulverize you mentally like the Hulk did Loki. Not-so-random fact: Robert Downey Jr. played the role of Charlie Chaplain in Chaplain(1992). Sorry ladies!

It's not just this. It is sad that many write like it's against the law to spell correctly. There's almost a pride that emanates from each 'hv' or 'dnt'. This is not an SMS and I am not reading.

The joys of student life

It's fall, and the trees have caught yellow fever. The mercury refuses to 'Rise' 'Above all' over 6 and the sun behaves like an Indian Govt. servant on a sweltering day with a pestering wife and an annoying headache. Assignments are piling up, tests are nearing and to-do lists are getting longer. Everything costs an arm and a foot and the paychecks aren't coming. Doesn't really sound like the best time to exalt student life. Yet, the fact that I write this post should give you some measure of how I feel.

There's something magical and wonderful about running around to classes, haggling with your professor for that half mark and winning, giving and receiving inexpensive treats and looking for the cheapest brand of chips; economizing on money and making the most of your time. The rat race was just the opposite.

The classroom with the creaky desks on the 3rd floor beats the air-conditioned meeting room hands and feet down. I am definitely busier, there's a lot more to do. But isn't that the point!

Alfred Hitchcock once said that the anticipation of the fear is much worse than the fear itself. I use this example for lack of a better one. In a similar but entirely opposite way, the anticipation of a bright future is much more enticing that the future itself.

The best friends are those you share your assignment group with, those with whom you have pointless debates over the most inconsequential of topics the day before an exam, sacrificing both sleep and study time to gain an upper hand, and those who ensure that you see the pretty girl who just walked past.

A student is simply that, a student. Experience, background, age, orientation :), social status all wither away in a classroom before the professor. It's a social equalizer like no other. Everyone's there for the same reason.

I would love to be a student throughout my life, if scholarship committees favour me sufficiently. Because even of you get ahead in the race, you're still a rat :D

Btw, I am excited about Ra-One. :)

Tervetuloa Suomi

After an extended exodus from blogging, caused mainly due to the demanding planning and execution and my academic career, I am back. Not too long ago, I was sitting in my cubicle with gmail and facebook windows minimized(goes without saying, but still) getting news of the BITS convocation, friends' MS and travelling experiences and the schoolboy in me tugged at my consciousness. Apart from the money, work-life didn't have much to offer.

Today, after more than a year of writing essays and e-mails, posting documents and loads of waiting, I am writing from 12E-67, Servin Maijan Tie, Espoo, Finland, having satisfied that over-enthusiastic and impatient schoolboy. Here at Aalto University pursuing my Masters in Radio Communications, I type with a bubbling enthusiasm in anticipation for what awaits me.

Each of us has wondered what it would be like to study and live in a new country, with a different culture, values and way of life. I cannot speak from bucketfulls (or is it buckets-full) of experience, but the differences between Finnish and Indian are much more pronounced than the 5000-odd km in between.

If the internet could be modelled as a person, his privates would surely be here. Internet speeds are so high that even before I turned on my laptop new 'stuff' was already on my desktop.

There are very few people here and far less running and noise and chaos per head and they manage it some pretty amazing automation. Everything is online, you even book laundry slots over the internet. Entire offices manage with 5 to 6 persons.

Driving here is pretty boring. There are no cattle running from pillar to post, cyclists and pedestrians have just about half of every road to themselves. All the driver gets to do is watch while the car does everything.

Finland is rules-based as opposed to negotiations-based. So words like 'please sir/madam', 'bas thoda sa kaam hai', 'jaanta hai mera baap kaun hai' and their equivalents would be met by uncomprehending stares. So much so, that if a bus driver sees a man running to catch the bus and it's time for him to leave, he WILL leave and sleep peacefully that night too.

Recycling is the buzzword here. The garbage bins have sections for paper waste, bio-waste, electronic, energy and I-don't-have-time-to-sort-garbage-sorry. They have a wonderful method to realize reuse. Once a student is leaving he leaves the stuff and anyone can simply pick it up. This goes for furniture, beds, microwaves just about anything.

The society is trust-based. Back in India we wouldn't trust people with our garbage. But here, if you like a piece of unclaimed furniture, just stick a paper on it with the word RESERVED. You can come back a week later and pick it up.

In the kingdom of countries, if the American God is ambitious, big brotherly, spendthrift and stupid, the Indian being noisy chaotic, multi-coloured and corrupt, the Finish God would surely be a nature lover, who runs and cycles. This place is heaven for nature lovers, tree huggers, trail runners, lonely lake starers(plenty of Finnish fall into this one) and enthusiastic cyclists.

I love the water system. You get both hot and cold tap water, both potable. The bath water is the perfect temperature. Back home I waste gallons of shower water tweaking the blue and red nozzles for the right feel, but here somehow the bath water is just spot on!

Everything not free, is really expensive. Transport, stationary, groceries. 200 rupees a kilo tomatoes anyone?

The food is bland and milk-products are abundant. I don't face much of a problem, but as those who know me will tell you, my taste buds cannot be trusted.

It's pretty quiet all the time, everywhere. Finnish don't socialize in public. So you won't hear the Finnish equivalent of "Oye yaar, kaisa hai. Bahut time ho gaya" with hugging and back patting.

I had better finish the gun-gaoing soon. The weather is going to start to suck pretty soon. And boy is it going to suck. It will be a black hole of sucking. More on this once the suction begins.

I would also like to tell you guys about the flexibility on offer here. I am not fully aware of how things work in US and other places, but the system in Finland deserves a separate post. Wait for it.... Dary :D