I sit beside the shore of the sea,
and hear the waves sigh.
I look at the stars shining so,
in the moon kissed sky.
I smile at the antics,
of the frivolous frolicking fawn.
And marvel at the coming,
of yet another beautiful dawn.
A teardrop escapes my eye,
as I hear the beautiful lark sing.
Thinking about you,
I let my dreams take wing.
I'm can’t enjoy the dreamy surreality,
and I don’t cease to wonder why.
There's so much life around,
and yet....deep inside I die....
I think I’ve mentioned before that sometimes songs get stuck in my head and keep replaying themselves like a broken record would do.
For the last couple of days, there’s been a song that just refuses to budge from my sleep-deprived, caffeine-kicked brain. I don’t know if I can really relate to it at this point of time, but it sure does seem so. Here’s the video link to it:
Linkin Park’s raw lyrics seem to capture everything I feel at this moment of time. Here are the words to the song:
I'm tired of being what you want me to be
Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface
I don't know what you're expecting of me
Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
Can't you see that you're smothering me?
Holding too tightly, afraid to lose control
’Cause everything that you thought I would be
Has fallen apart right in front of you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
And every second I waste is more than I can take
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
And I know I may end up failing too
But I know you were just like me
With someone disappointed in you
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I'm tired of being what you want me to be
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I'm tired of being what you want me to be
Call me a narcissist if you want to, but this post is dedicated to ME. Obviously, someone as talented, brilliant, and superb does deserve at least one post, right?
Well, the entire idea of this post is not just to praise myself to the high heavens. (Though of course, that will keep happening intermittently.)
I can’t believe it’s been just two weeks since I got back to the beautiful XLRI campus. For the first few days, it was tough getting used to the sultry heat of Jamshedpur, after the beautiful climes of Bangalore. (I appreciate ‘sultriness’ in certain other forms (wink wink) but surely not in the weather.)
However, what added to the excitement was the presence of 240 new juniors. It sure is a good feeling to attain the status of an all-knowing, wise, exalted senior. (Little do those poor newbies know that we seniors are not so wise and intelligent after all.)
And what has been killing me is the fact that I have zillions of classes each day, loads of assignments and projects, juniors to mentor, and of course my Placement Committee work. I totally enjoy the last bit – all the thrills, spills, and grills (you get the picture, right?). Of course, it keeps me occupied for long, but then as long as I enjoy it, that’s good enough, I guess.
Another significant incident that took place this week was that I finally picked up enough courage to express my love to a girl. I’d been trying to say it for weeks. Sadly enough, she gave me the ‘Golden Boot’. But, she and I stay good friends, and that does matter. Significantly.
The coming week promises to be even tougher, and if you could just see the bleary-eyed, wild-haired, unshaven writer of this post, you’d probably be forgiven for thinking that he bears a rather striking resemblance to an escaped convict.
I’ve been meaning to join the gym to get rid of the camel-esque storage of resources that I’ve been carrying with me. However, time just seems to fly by each day, and by the time I pause in my busy schedule, most of the day is already gone.
I may soon start showing signs of narcolepsy, if the schedule doesn’t ease up…..zzzzzzzzzzzzz….
This is not a promotional campaign for the store. It’s a tag on some of my favourite books, passed on to me by Roshmi.
The rules are: "Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag up to 15 friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends choose."
1. Macbeth – Shakespeare’s characters are horrifyingly real. The image of Lady Macbeth trying to wash blood off her hands is a powerful metaphor.
2. Winning – It’s a joy to read Jack Welch’s insights into business. He avoids too much of jargon, and writes stuff that is awesomely readable. For any aspiring manager, this book ought to be one of the top-reads.
3. The Bartimaeus trilogy - (comprising The Amulet of Samarkand, Golem’s Eye, and Ptolemy’s Gate) This chap called Bartimaeus (henceforth called Barty) has an awesome sense of humour. Jonathan Stroud wrote this book for teens, but I think Barty’s wisecracks would have anyone in splits.
4. HMS Ulysses – If there’s one author whose war novels are irresistible, it is Alistair Maclean. I love the way he writes about war because you learn to not take sides. You don’t subscribe to the conventional notion of the holier-than-thou Allies and the evil Axis powers. All the killing that happens in incidental, and is almost regretted by the author. I rate this book better than ‘The Guns of Navarone’.
5. The Lord of the Rings – If you hadn’t guessed it already, I’m a sucker for the fantasy genre. (I guess the real world is just too brutal and ‘unreal’ sometimes.) Tolkien’s masterpiece is one of my favourites in fantasy. The entire realm of dwarves, elves, hobbits, ents, orcs, men and what not is simply magical!
6. Illusions – Richard Bach’s book is like a bible. Whenever in doubt, one could just flip it open, read the few insights on the page, and draw an entirely new meaning out of the words, than one did last time. Simple, flowing and poetic…
7. Murder on the Orient Express – The queen of crime, Agatha Christie weaves a plot that leaves one gasping for breath till the tense finale. It has to be one of THE best murder mysteries that I’ve read.
8. Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish – A compilation of entrepreneurship stories, by Rashmi Bansal of JamMag fame, this is an inspiration for any budding entrepreneur.
9. Gerrard – The autobiography of one of the best footballers of our era, and my favourite player – Steven Gerrard of Liverpool. It is awesome to read about the 2005 Champions League final and see what was going through the minds of the players as they made one of the most historic turnarounds in the history of football to win the club. You’ll never walk alone!!
10. Atlas Shrugged – The masterfully crafted characters, the impeccably woven storyline, hold you spellbound as you are taken in by Ayn Rand and her theory of objectivism. Wonderful reading!
11. Brave New World – I wrote about this book earlier, and I find the satire created by Aldous Huxley both amusing and horrifying at the same time. It is terrifying to think of the lengths to which our society goes, in order to build conformity.
12. To Kill a Mockingbird – This has to be one of the best books ever written. Scout is a wonderful story-teller, and all characters like Atticus, Jem, and even Boo Radley are nicely fleshed out. Fluid and subtle, this is a wonderful book.
13. The Tale of Two Cities – The lines ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…’ are immortal. I seriously salute Mr. Dickens for this book. I read David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Hard Times, Pickwick Papers and Great Expectations, but this book is simply incomparable. Fabulous job, Mr. Dickens! Take a bow. :)
14. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad writes about imperialism, the brutality heaped upon African ‘natives’, and how greed ruled the colonial powers. The horror of what man can do to another man for a few pieces of gold is shocking.
15. The Count of Monte Cristo – A tale of love, lust, betrayal and revenge is that this book is to me. Alexandre Dumas brings out the transformation of the innocent and naive Edmond Dante into the cold, calculating, suave Count beautifully. The best part is that he does not kill off the love Dante had for Mercedes. Even after coming back as the Count, Dante still dotes on the lovely Mercedes. In fact, Stephen King’s ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ also draws some loose parallels with this book.
Now, I get to decide who should be tagged for this. I choose to tag Carol, Floreta, Neha, Harshad, Himanshu, Ram, and Scriber for now. Of course, I’m supposed to tag Roshmi again. I’ll think of tagging more of you soon.
