7 Fictional Characters that changed my life! :)

The title says it all. This apens to everyone. Sometimes, fictional characters are more influencing to your life than actual people. It is especially true when you can connect to the situations the character has been in. Well, this is list is about some of the major of my influences. The list goes as below: (this is exactly how I write my exams :))


1. Barney Stinson: For the obvious reasons. He is simply legen-wait for it-dary! Be it the coolness with which he handles problems, the impeccable suiting-up or the mysterious story-line about his job, Barney simply rocks! If you've never come across Barney, go for any episode of How I Met Your Mother. The kind of gentle comedy (yeah! ;)) and mystery behind his work makes him a sort of idol for me :). And of course not to mention The Bro Code - awesome book. I was rolling on the floor laughing when I first read the book. Rock on, Barney!


2. Eric Cartman: Eric Cartman, the douche-bag from South Park, yes! I know, Eric represents everything that is wrong with the world, for academic purposes, this is probably the most influential of all my influences. I have learnt a lot about the world and people especially from this show and especially Cartman. The "Screw you guys, I'm going home."s and "But, Moooom"s definitely make him the best characters in the show. In spite of being a racist and a pretentious douche, he has touched my life and affected my thinking patterns a lot. Hats-off to Trey Parker and Matt Stone for thinking him up! \m/


3. Holden Caulfield: The protagonist of the popular "The Catcher in the Rye", probably my most favorite book. Well, the informal tone of the narration and the beauty with which he talks about the things around him makes him the frankest character in any book, movie or series I have ever seen. The best part - "All I want to be is a catcher in the rye and not just another phony like everyone else" like Holden says to his sister Phoebe. Awesome!


4. Tyler Durden: Brad Pitt at his perfection, but Pitt isn't why Durden is an important influence to me. The stoicism and philosophy Tyler represents what I would like to be. "This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time." is what sticks. I would highly recommend you watch Fight Club for a better understanding. :)


5. Ross Geller: The geek from Friends. No descriptions, but he has affected me quite a bit. And of course, Science Boy! \m/


6. Bruce Wayne: Typical super-hero inspiration, you might say. But then, there is something very different from any other super-hero. Ever realized that Wayne had no super-powers like the other super-heroes?? All Wayne does is making use of science and technology to get his powers. Wayne teaches me that hard-work and innovation can get you accolades which are usually assumed.


7. Severus Snape: Forget the superb revelations of the real role of Snape in the Deathly Hallows, he was my all time favorite right from the first book. His stoic attitude and the best part, keeping secrets is what touches me :).


List out yours too! :)


P.S.: Feels good to have nothing blabbered at the beginning and the end, right? :)

My Favorite words! :)

Back again! What have I been up to? Well, I've been busy with my project (yeah, like you'd believe that :P), looking for the best laptop for me and South Park (you read it right...I love it!!). Well, this post as the title goes, is just another list. This time a list of some of, yes just some of my favorite words. How I compiled the list is an interesting story though...For a week now, I've been thinking about it and each time a word I like pops up in my mind, I just note it down in a draft SMS and move on. It has been quite a task to recollect words and noting them...Alright, how am I going to give the list this time? Well, first is of course the word, no, I won't give it's meaning here, you can use your own dictionary :P, and then why I like the word. For some of the words I like I don't even have a reason to like, simply idiosyncratic, I guess :)

The list goes like this...

cliché - the word simply sounds good to me. I also like the meaning.

bohemian - the meaning of this word is something I can relate to. 

onomatopoeia - the word sounds funny, don't you agree? The meaning is a bit funny too. :D

utopia - a bit like bohemian, both these words give me the goosebumps each time I come across them.

assimilate - no reason, I simply cannot fathom why I like the word so much.

omniscient - something I aspire to be, and hence like. :D

sanguine - again, something I usually am.

instigate - No reason.

nostalgia - Obvious reason, the meaning.

idiosyncrasy - Something I believe is very important for everyone. Ironic, ain't it?

hypocrite - I hate hypocrites, but the word, I like. :P

charlatan - A funny word with a funny sound.

rain-maker - the meaning. I'd like to be one for myself one day.

silhouette - funny word.

connoisseur - something I am a little but try to be the best one.

mademoiselle - the sound of it. It sounds so refined and smooth.

paranoia - ha ha.

innuendo - the sound and meaning.

insinuation - meaning.

And why do you need to know this? I have no idea myself!

Anyway, try South Park sometime, I'm sure you'll enjoy all the wry humor and the hidden insinuations. 

Adios!

My Dream Jobs!

Well, time for another post! No more news since the last post unless you consider the IIMs considering going back to the pencil-and-paper CAT - which, by the way, is really great news for many of us because of the sub-standard quality of the online CAT among other technical issues. Also, these holidays are literally killing me. I have no work to do (you might say: study. But then, we don't even know the schedule for the remaining 5 papers I have to take, so, just chill! :)). I'd like to take this opportunity to instigate the people in whose hands lie the strings for Telangana to please take a decision fast and make us happy by letting us have the exams. It certainly would be great to have them behind me rather than the other way round. Well, they rightly say - 'An idle mind is a devil's workshop.' and that is exactly what has been happening with everyone of us (I'm sure.). Well, this kind of thinking has led to this post. It is yet another list. A list of my dream jobs. Well, there are many inspirations behind each of the choices which I'm sure I'm gonna mention with each item.

Well, everyone needs to have a list akin to this. When we were kids, there was no end to this kind of surmising and excitement. Each time I saw any super-hero movie or read some graphic novel, I'd imagine myself in the place of the protagonist (the term "hero" is very much sexist, you see...) and sometimes even the antagonist (likewise...)(no pun intended.). Well, now that I've grown up (at least a little bit), I happen to know the limitations of such people. This is a list which could have been possible in a near enough parallel universes. Fine, here goes.

• Writer/Thinker/Philosopher/Experimenter: Well, this is something I like to be and somehow, am to some extent. The idea that, I can simply write and do nothing else is so enticing :). Just imagine, just sitting at home thinking and trying to find words and trying to describe life. It'd be like a dream come true for me (literally). Having all the free time in the world and actually getting paid for it. Who wouldn't want it? (just a rhetorical question, I know a lot of people who wouldn't want it...). Inspirations: Sir Isaac Newton, Edison, Tesla, Mark Twain and many others. Thing is, there is a kind of stigma regarding this in the society. Also, practically, to do this kind of thing,you'd have to be rich or at the very least, care free, so, not much of a possibility of this in this universe (unless I win some kind of game show giving out a billion Dollars... :P).
• Bounty hunter: Well, a giant step away from the previous one. Somehow, the idea of catching the bad guys and being paid for it, without being in the limits of the law as an employee, should be fun. And never forget the incredible amounts of pay-offs you might get from the bad side (*wicked smile*). Major inspiration: Clint Eastwood as The man with no name in The Dollars Trilogy (if it doesn't ring a bell, try A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.). Major setbacks with this: it is not legal in India, it is in the US, though. Also, I don't practically see myself beating up bad guys - not my cup of tea. :)
• Adventurer: Well, an ubiquitous choice. Everyone wants to be an adventurer. Reasons? The thrill, the fame, the girls (who'm I kidding?). Well, the adventure in itself is a calling and someday, I wish I can do it! (not much of a chance there either, you don't adventure in an Electronics lab... :P) Inspirations: Indiana Jones (I revere him), Ben Gates in National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Professor Lidenbrock of The Journey to the Center of the Earth (not the recent movie, which was really bad, I'm referring to the original book by Jules Verne.).
• Mathematician: It is not about doing math. It is about loving math. I love it, but doing it while loving it is something else (yes pun intended ;)). Anyway, playing with numbers is one of my passions and I'd certainly love to make it my profession. Pretty good chance of doing this here - if I choose math as my major for my Masters or Doctoral. Inspirations: Ian Malcolm (Jurassic Park), Harry Adams (Sphere).

As you might've noticed, Crichton plays an important role in many of my career choices :). Well, there are many more, but I don't seem to have them coming to me so easily. I'll settle for these options, though. I'd like to know what you want to be. Try and be as creative possible ;).

Adios!!

P.S.: No Post-Script this time :P. In case you don't care about all this, skip this post :).

Seminar Blues

You could say we were lucky. After all, the LCD Projector (I wonder why they call it that... :)) which was non-functional for the past few weeks suddenly came back to life for our Project Seminar and surprising, after A was late, our turn got postponed. Although I would have not had one of the people in the hall (a M, from the other section...) Actually, let me start from the beginning...


Project Seminar is this boring thing where you are expected to know what you are gonna do in the coming 6 months and explain it all to all the people of the class with a Seminar In charge breathing down on your necks (totally figurative :P). Anyway, it's no big deal, but it is supposed to be important because it carries some marks and one is expected to be professional (something we usually aren't : passing time in the canteen doesn't exactly count as professionalism you see...) during the seminar. And because of our roll numbers, we ended up doing the seminar at the end of the semester (somehow, there are just about 3 weeks left this semester, time really flies when you are having fun!! :P). Anyway, the main aim of the project seminar is to assess the work done by project groups towards the project.


Now, my group. Let's call them A and B and Me (no names policy of my blog, remember?). A is this lethargic fellow who only wants to stay up late and wake up late (frankly...). B is this fellow who is so frank and outspoken, sometimes he makes me freak out in public places (seriously, you need to be careful around him if you are in a public place, he might pass some snide comment at someone and you might end up getting beat up... :)). Anyway, somehow B is very serious at studies (thank God...) and takes technical studies seriously, like me and unlike A. So, we were all set to take this seminar up since we finalized an in-house project at our college under the guidance of one of our Prof.s. We were psyched (at least me an B were, A as usual was stoic about it...). I'll not bore you with the topic and stuff, if you were present at the seminar, you'd have known.


So, we were done with the presentation (yeah, we copied some parts, but that was legit stuff...) and ready with the details and well prepared to face the questions too. Coming clean, I'm not good at speaking to crowds. It totally freaks me out and yet, I try my best. Anyway, as it turns out, neither was each of my group-mates.


To start off the day, it was raining cats and dogs in the morning and yet, daringly, I set off to the college wearing my rain-coat (my friends call it Hagrid's coat, if did not get the joke, I'd love it :P). But then, the magnitude of the rain was so much so that, I got soaked anyway (from the waist down...believe me it looked ridiculous...). All wet, as opposed to all set which I was planning to be, I was riding as B started calling me continuously. Man! Is he a worrier!! Anyway, I reached college in good time only to find that, we would be having the seminar in the afternoon session, although it worked fine for us as A could not make it to college until around 11. Trying to dry myself and simultaneously explaining some of the seminar stuff to B the time for our turn was up. Somehow, A got stuck up (in conversation outside the seminar hall...) and we almost conceded our turn to the next batch who were almost about to start before we even entered the hall. Anyway, why I wanted to do it first was that, I simply wanted to get it over with and couldn't have the responsibility on me until later. And of course, I was dressed in formals like a dork and couldn't stand it so much.


Rule no. 1: Look professional. Yeah, I looked that and so did, surprisingly, A. B on the other hand, the first one to reach the college incidentally, came in a freakingly shiny shirt one of those you wear only to night clubs and stuff. Every time he came in front of the projector, his shirt was shining like hell :D. Apparently, he mistook professional to be stylish... :P


Rule no. 2: Be well prepared. Honestly, by some cosmic joke, A was the only guy truly prepared. Me and B on the other hand, being true engineers (A wants to be a Manager (MBA)...), had prepared to think on our toes and do our preparation through the seminar :P. And this was one of the biggest mistakes one can make.


Well, these are pretty much the rules and there is one more...Don't alienate the people by asking them questions during their own seminars, it doesn't help, although it did not hurt our seminar much.


Anyway, the seminar started (finally!!). Then started the problem. A started the presentation and was explaining things at an excruciatingly slow pace that everyone was freaked out (see comments on FB for more details... :P). He had the longest part of the presentation and somehow managed to call B by his "Orkut name" which freaked B out. I was to know later that, A faced one of the problems B and I faced during the seminar. Anyway, after double the time A promised to take up for his part, I was called next (feels weird to be called Mr. Munaf Hussain, sounds too dorky... :)).


My phobia set in. There I was, in front of a crowd (around 35 people, no less... :)). Anyway, I started off well. But I have this stupid habit of looking at the people I'm speaking to in the eye (most of the time, no pun intended... :)). And what was more, a couple of people (you know who you are, I'd be surprised if you were reading my blog, no offense...) in the audience (if you can call the group that...) started smiling (although it was more like laughing, mocking, whatever...) at me and I started to feel like laughing too and lost track of what I was saying, and although I ended up doing the presentation well, it could have been better. I managed to forget some of the jokes and funny analogies in my presentation which I was keen to say, that was more because of my crowd-o-phobia, though...


Apparently, B also faced the same problem as I (not the crowd-o-phobia) did. Anyway, it was not so loud though. He should have been a bit louder. Then came the question session. I was totally prepped to answer all the questions. This part was a bit disappointing. I expected a lot more questions, what with my freaking people out with my questions during their own seminars, I guess it is Gandhi-giri season :P. Anyway, our seminar in charge took up the mantle and asked a couple of questions and we were excused. I, as usual, spent the rest of the time LP-ing (ask someone from MJ what that means.. :P) in the last row :).


Anyway, facing the crowd still freaks me out, somehow :P. It was lucky though, many things could've gone wrong but didn't - in your face, Murphy!! For more on Murphy's Law, click on it. This was my experience today, do share yours in the comment (Anonymous comments are OK too.. :P)


P.S.: If A and/or B are reading this, don't mind my frankness :D.

Why we like MTV...

DISCLAIMER: This post is totally a personal experience and I'm NOT being paid by MTV to do this...It just has been under the surface and this is just boiling out...And of course, y'all are entitled to your own views.. 

MTV - Music Television India is what I think is the voice of youth today. I just launched into the train of thought leading me to bring out the things that make MTV so much coveted among the Indian youth today a.k.a. Youngistaan. I'd like to share these views, why? Simple yaar, I'm bored and have pretty much no job to do... Fine, let's see...

First thing that comes to mind about MTV is...Roadies?? What say? At least that's what comes to my mind...Roadies might just be a show on the channel, but it certainly defines the POV of the channel...be it the abuse by Raghu or the cool attitude of Rannvijay, the cat-fights of the last season or the politics of the one before this...This show is totally irresistible - we cannot stand not watching it, and our parents cannot stand watching it :P :P...(Ain't I right??). Roadies is everywhere the youth is...Orkut (the Battleground gig...) and is probably the most real reality show I've ever seen (this is pretty much the only reality show I've ever watched apart from Splitsvilla and The Fast and the Gorgeous...I'll get to those later...). So, Roadies is one big reason why Youngistaan likes MTV...

The next best thing on MTV after Roadies, I believe is the talk shows of Ayushmaan, Jose (pronounced Hosey) and Bani to name a few...man...are they relevant? They deal with everything we need to know...actually, I feel that Wassup should be renamed Everything Youngistaan needs to know...kinda long, and I'm sure it won't stick. :). Then there is Fantastic Five which is the most hilarious show I've seen in recent times (not that I've been going about looking for such shows...) all the puns and the innuendos are totally mind-blowing and this is what we want, right??

Then there is the Tickr...Wow!! was what I felt when I first saw the Tickr...It's beautifully interesting, I'm sure you all agree...This makes my mornings...all the funny predictions (which sometimes, creepily enough, come true...) and the IFMs (I dunno what IFM stands for, please enlighten me anyone...) which give some excellent takes on celebrities, roadies and what not...I especially like the "Stuck in a lift" part.. :). The Tickr is also one of the defining things of MTV (especially when some boring song is going on screen...)

Now, the chick parts...Splitsvilla and The Fast and the Gorgeous (half of the contestants are not so gorgeous...) who doesn't want to watch chicks fight over guys (in Splitsvilla) and chicks fighting among themselves (in TFTG), it's just about WOW!!! This is indeed the vision of the new youth (us, that is) in India... I'm sure all of us enjoy these...I just love the way Nikhil and Rannvijay conduct these shows...Hats-off guys...And of course...the tasks are great too....(I'm kinda... not finding words to describe these shows.. :P)

Also, there's FFFF every year...Man, I loved Bechaare Zameen Par, Cheque De India, Jadoo Ek Bar equally well...they were adorable movies...Great effort, indeed...

Then, we come to Discover and Download (DnD), Style Check and Gtalk, which I don't watch so often but know from friends who do...I'm sure these are good too...

Actually, the good thing about MTV is that, if you are tuned in to it, you sure will be entertained...at least by the Tickr

Now, let me get to the parts I hate about MTV...I hate it when Cyrus (Sahukar) gets into some weird clothes and acts like we like him during the Kick-ass Mornings...For once...I don't...I'd rather have some songs to Cyrus in those weird takes...any day...

So, that's it...I simply love MTV and it makes my stays at home worth the while...Thank You MTV and may you do this Forever!!!

P.S.: Looks like this is the longest post I've got on my blog... Yippeee!! :P :D

The List

This was supposed to be the second post of my holidays, but then, I never got around completing the first one. All in good time, I figured. Something interesting now, This post is about the things I would like to try or those that I would love to make happen. It's quite a big list actually, I'm kinda pruning it..

The List

• To Bungee Jump - Never got the chance to try one. This, I'm certainly gonna try soon...This also includes some of those zero-gravity roller coaster rides...
• To Blow an Interview - Nothing gives the mind freedom more than expressing yourself freely. By blow, i mean doing what no one would dare doing in an interview (a job one, presumably...)
• To Back-pack all around Europe - Eversince I watched Eurotrip, it suddenly is very enticing...
• To have my own talk show - A bit far fetched, I know, but then, if the likes of Farhan Akhtar (with that raspy voice of his...) can have one, I figured, I could too...It is kind of  un-doable I guess, but I'd like to have a talk show.
• To have my own column in a Newspaper/Magazine.
• To perform in a Live Rock concert - Not about playing instrument, just vocals. I certainly would like to feel the crowd around me while I give my best without a care in the world.
• To spend a billion dollars - This, I'd like  to do with my own money.
• To hang out in a coffee place called Central Perk. (I like FRIENDS very much)
• To learn 15 languages. Not the simple ones, some serious languages like Latin, jap and stuff.
• And finally, to be called a great visionary by my peers and future generations.

This is the list, and I'd appreciate the help of anyone who can arrange for me to do any of these things.

P.S.: I just hope the Uncertainty Principle doesn't beat me to it..

Why do I blog??

I've been thinking about it. It might interest you that, that's the only thing I do these days - think about pretty much useless things :). This train of thought began right at the moment I created this blog. I'm pretty sure this is gonna stop now at this little station where it started :P (pardon me for my poor attempt at humor). I ended up having a few strong reasons for blogging... Behold! Here come the reasons :)

• I, being pretty much an introvert, need a place to vent my feelings, thoughts and anger(rarely, I hope..). So, a blog perfectly serves the purpose and keeps me light :).
• I've seen this one on the blog of one my friend's - a delightful person, I might add - the culprit seems to be "peer pressure", and I thought, how true! Indeed, our un-ending thirst to stay ahead of our colleagues, friends, family.. yada, yada... does indeed drive me to do this in spite of all my other interests...(Let's face it guys, I'm very much human. I love to stay ahead of others., be it in having fun or making my "presence" felt on the web. I often gloat about the fact that I have a blog, while most of my friennds don't :)). So, essentially, I don't come from "Planet Loser" see..
• Ahh, here comes the silly one... I need an excuse to listen to music on my comp. I've been using the comp for such a long time that, I become pretty hyper-active while using it. I simply can't listen to music - I mean do only that. This might as well become the case after a few days of blogging though :).
• Then, there's always the classic one - To stay connected to the world through the Internet and share my thoughts (with anyone who cares to go through the blog I might add...).
• A blog, I feel, also helps me improve my creativity and ingenuity :).
• And, I had this certain "whim" to go and blog (Don't mind, but, this was after I read a couple of blogs of my friends').
• I also felt like improving my "writing skills", which are pretty important for some of the tests I intend to take. May be even my vocab, dude...looks good, eh??

So, there goes... I've had enough for today I guess. Enough reasons too, keeping in mind the fact that, I usually do things on instinct :).

Stay Good (Whatever that means? :)).