New Year resolution...

This breaks my heart... after putting up so many posts, I have not been able to ruffle any feathers in any caps...
In hindi/ punjabi it is said- 'kaan pe joon (lice) nahi rengna'

Anyways,
The past year was marked with loads of ups and downs in our personal lives... as well as rofessional lives... (I am assuming this...)
But one of the greatest thing that happened to all of us (atleast that is what I think...) was/ is THE WALL MAG... this beloved page of ours... it became a .net page and we have been having so much of fun reliving the colege days that you guys had... and ofcourse bitching about the jobs that we have had.

So, when all of us have made our new year resolutions, about quiting smoking.. (that one is for Shayon...), being more healthy and health concious (this one is for me...)... meeting more often (this one is for Gandhi)...... pursuing music... as a career (Mannu, sweetie this is for you...) .... getting a lil less angry... (Raj ji...aapke liye) and ofcourse using english that general junta like me can understand....
Then, Please make a resolution to write more frequently on this page...

So here is wishing...

Health
Wealth
Properity and
Happiness to all of Us...!!!

Merry Christmas...

Oh! You better watch out,

You better not cry,

You better not pout, I'm
telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town!

He's making a list,

He's checking it twice,

He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice.
Santa Claus is
coming to town!

He sees you when you're sleeping,

He knows when you're
awake.

He knows when you've been bad or good,

So be good for goodness sake!
So...You better watch out,

You better not cry

You better not pout,

I'm telling you why.
Santa Claus is coming to town.

Little tin horns,

Little toy drums.

Rudy-toot-toot and rummy tum tums.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
Little toy dolls that cuddle and coo,

Elephants, boats and Kiddie cars too.
Santa Claus is coming to town.

The kids in Girl and Boy Land will have a
jubilee.

They're gonna build a toyland town all around the Christmas tree.
Oh....You better watch out,

You better not cry.

You better not pout, I'm
telling you why.
Santa Claus is comin'
To town. .......

I hope that santa brings in load and loads of gifts and Good wishes for this holiday season...

And I hope that this little Christmas Carol reminds us of the school days when we used to sing carols for the school assembly...

MERRY CHRISTMAS...!!!

Life as we know it

This article was written by one of our batchmates H.Raajesh-a freakin' genius & one of the most carefree guy I ve ever see in my life.It was supposed to be personal but I somehow got my hands on it from his computer & instead of his insistence that I delete it,I somehow duped him & it's been with me for the last 3 years.I have found it to be one of the best pieces I have ever read .It's a topic which, at least,I am constantly thinking about.Maybe the band Kansas had an answer to this topic in their immensely beautiful,philosophical & heart-breaking song "Dust in the wind"-All we do just crumbles to the ground but we refuse to see.For all we are all dust in the wind.Anyway,here goes the article in it's original form.

LIFE AS WE KNOW IT

What is life? The ability to breathe, grow, reproduce, etc. which people, animals and plants have before they die, the state of being alive as a human, an individual person’s existence.

This is what the dictionary has to say about the funy word ‘life’, which probably is the most mysterious of the millions of words available in the dictionary. We all live or I should say dwell in this planet we gave the name earth. Well we all believe that living is not just being alive, but it has some greater meaning. But I am not quite sure how many in this, let me say 6 billion strong and growing human race, actually mean to live beyond dwelling.

With all our scientific accomplishments or whatever they call it, it is generally accepted fact that life has been there on this planet for millions of years. The human beings are the most recent addition to the huge list of living things on this planet. Many species have come and vanished. Given such a broad perspective of what has happened in the past, now I put up the question. Do we understand life and our existence?

We are the rulers of this planet! Or that is generally what we claim. Are we the real rulers, is a question that we have to ask ourselves. As an individual existing in this planet or forced to exist let me say, what is our goal? Why do we try so hard to accomplish the millions of things that we do? Is what we do relevant? Are our ideologies correct? Are we truly mature enough to understand this world? Is doing something revolutionary to get a place in the history text books is all that our life is all about? Do we really care to know about all that exists in this universe? Is complicating our lives the only thing we can do in the name of progress? Is having sex and growing kids, who in the future will be thinking the very same questions our life? Are we no different than animals? .........if these questions have never occurred to you before, it is time to think on these questions, because life is damn short.

A day might seem to extend beyond infinity and while in your death bed life seems as short as a blink of an eye. Life seems meaningless, u meet a girl and it gets back all its color only to loose it all again in some other point of life. It is quite surprising how the human brain functions. Confidence, love, emotion are a few of its mysteries. How different life would be without our brains. Well this little piece of mass on the top of our head seems to be the one thing we have miserably failed to understand. Is this feeling reserved for humans? Are animals more gifted? It is a question that we might never be able to answer. I am not sure if we are mature enough.

Well in spite of all these questions on my head I am breathing in my room typing this piece, elsewhere kids are being born as I type, elsewhere people are dying, loving, having fun, making out, getting laid, eating, sleeping, playing, gambling and so on. But I am probably the only one doing such an act at his instant. Should I be happy to be doing so, being different? Am I really different? Are these not the mysteries that our ancestors have tried to answer and failed. Will my efforts to answer them be in vain too? Or are the answers too complicated for others to understand? Does everyone really need to understand these complicated stuffs? Does living truly involve understanding such complicated things or is it too simple that I fail to notice it? Or I may be mad…a nice possibility! So we are back to the basic question… what exactly is life?

I guess it up to an individual to answer the question since it might actually have billions of possible answers according to the individual’s positioning in this world. So I guess I just have to find my own answer to life that pleases me. Does that make me rational? Am I right? Are there other people who think like me? Or am I just wasting my time? Or is life a waste of time? Is existence meaningless? Or am I like an ant in the ant hill, worrying about this world that can be disturbingly unpredictable and is probably an insignificant piece of junk in a world that is so beyond my scope of understanding or anyone’s scope of understanding I might say.

No matter what I think, I have been gifted with my mind and its ability to think. So if I am to assume that existence is meaningful, then my flow of thoughts must be so too. If existence is meaningless then meaning will loose its meaning and significance. Am I waiting to wake up from some sort of coma to live in an altogether different reality? Hmmm or am I just confusing myself by asking silly and meaningless questions?

Well the human mind is certainly some piece of art. Man can find meaning in meaningless things. Probably the purpose of complicating out life to such an extent, marriage, religion and family is to protect fragile minds like mine from such thoughts. No wonder people say ignorance is bliss. Should we protect our future generations from such confusion by not having them or should we have them and let them experience the same things that we have. Are we truly helping them? After all, my son will be a part of me. So do I want a part of myself stay back in this temporal world, experience pain and happiness and all the other emotions and undergo this confusion? May be I am questioning the very definition of life and the driving force for existence. May be now, I am jealous of people who do not have to think of all this stuff.

So now … have I understood what life is? Have you? Or is it necessary to really understand life? After all we do a lot of stuff without our consciousness actually working on them. And notably we do things right I should say than when we do things consciously. So is consciousness a gift or a curse? Am I actually converging to an answer? Or later on in my life am I going to be laughing, reading my own piece of writing?

Should I or will I or do I understand life? I don’t really know, do I!!!!!!!


H.RAAJESH
Student, NIT jamshedpur
05/11/2006

With Love, From Mumbai!

Monday morning, 9:47am, I have a deadline to meet, 4 blog posts to publish, and here I am, on The Wall Mag, writing after ages.

Well, last few weeks have been an absolute topsy-turvy ride for me. It all started with a little fiasco with Raj, my examinations in college, my resignation from WAT, my trip to Mumbai, meeting up Sakshi after a whole fucking year and loads more.

I was reading a book by Anirban Bose, named "Bombay Rains, Bombay Girls". The book is so much alike typical Chetan Bhagat novels. But, there was one thing in the story that caught my attention. The protagonist, an aspiring doctor, talks about some ritual among the chimpanzees. Apparently, the males always fight among themselves for the mates. However, just so as to enable them to live within the pack, in peace, they, apparently, kiss each other at the end of every single day as an act of making up. I do not know but is that where the "kiss and make up" phrase came from? Anyway, the reason why I mention this is every time such a reference came in, the only person I could think of, all the while, is Raj. I had never anticipated that I'd miss him so sorely, but yeah, I do. After spending so many months together, below the same roof, I do.

I had resigned from WAT because of some disagreements and clash of ideology with the founder, Mr RD. Moreover, another reason was the surprise I had promised you all. I was planning to start a new company, of my own, pairing up with two of my friends. Yes, everything had fallen into place - the proof of concept, the team and even the funding. We were all set to launch. Just then, Bang! I ended up getting another job, right out of the blue sky above. Somehow, the prospects of the job just couldn't make me hush it up and I ended up getting sucked into it.

The company that I'll be getting into is called the EFY Group, a publishing house that owns magazines like Electronics for You, Linux for You, it and BenefIT. It's a 20 years old company and has quite a footing in the IT vertical. Moreover, another reason that got me hooked is the prospect of working in Delhi. Yes! I shall be shifting in Delhi, in another week or two. All of these, coupled with the handsome package that I got offered, just couldn't find a reason to refuse the offer!

Right now, I'm in good ol' Mumbai, savoring my last few days in here. Of course, I shall always come back to this city, my home, my haven. But for now, despite all the good things happening, it leaves me a bit sad to leave Mumbai, where I grew up.

Me and Sakshi have been having quite a gala time out here, boozing almost every other night, romancing the Mumbai skylines, scourging for "couple spots" and just being with each other. My God! I do not know how many of you have ever fallen in love, but I just can not express in words - the solace, the satisfaction and the happiness that I feel, when we walk together, hand in hand (I know, it sounds cheesy. But what the hell, I don't care!), rubbing shoulders, speaking nothing, just letting the mood seep in. Devil knows how much I missed Sakshi!

@ Dion

Our luncheon is fixed, ain't it? Can't wait to meet you, dude! It's been a long long time. Unfortunately, you'll miss Mann by just 2 days. What a shame!

@ Karma

It's high time you came out of your trance and started getting a little more social, you know. There does happen to be life outside good ol' Kolkata!

@ Mann

I'm gonna in your city now, dude! It's party time!! (It's a pity that you do not booze)

@ Debu

Where the hell are you, man?

@ Atri

What happened to our TWM plans? Do you plan to blog about it?

@ Raj

I love you, man! Would it help if I apologized publicly  for all the mishaps and asked if we could be friends again? Also, miss your enthusiasm on The Wall.

@ Sakshi

I love you too! :-D

hey wassup?

The sleep phase has swept our dear page again....

I know, mannu and dion are busy getting ready to land here in Mumbai... I am busy with my internship, and Shayon is busy with me.

Yeah, Shayon n I are romancing f2f after a whole... and wow, he has been a real Gentleman... 

Rest all is great, work is fun, what with loads of people chattering around us.

Nothing more really to write abt... Guys... update please...

We will see him no more.........

Well, I cant express how bad I am feeling while I am writing this post but I think though it's bitter everyone of us should know this news......... "Soumyadeep Da", our beloved senior in college is no more with us.

I got this new just few hours back and I am completely shattered. I don't know how many of you remember him but he is known to be the most coolest and calm guy among all the Bengal seniors. I have put his picture here for any body who is not able to recollect him......

May GOD Bless his sacred soul.........


Well, karma here....I know Dip would be incensed seeing me edit his post..But I just couldn't imagine myself in the confines of the comment section..sorry Dip
So much happening in such a dizzying pace that its hardly sinking into me.....few days back I lost one of my school mate and now Soumya-da!!

I guess my iconoclastic life-style has left me comfortably numb and aloof of the things around me...things that are more important...the glossier things in life has blinded me from the facile aspects of life...I have build such a comfortable cocoon around me that its hard to see what is happening around outside the confines of my Fool's paradise....

Today I feel real miserable...tormented to the extent that I have chosen this portal for self-mortification....How can I ever condone myself for the fact that despite living in Kolkata for close to 1 year it never crossed my mind to ever visit Soumya-da knowing that he is very very ill???

Me and my hedonist idiosyncrasies !!!! I thought I was well connected with the ones those who matters in my life.....how foolish of me !! Hah do I care if some one writhes in pain and spend most part of his time-bedridden..all I care is to be with the ones who don't have a problem going to movies at 11 o clock at night or to have a blast at every TJIF ! I mean how much self-indulgent one can get !!!


Sorry Dip to really spoil ur page with this meaningless blabber....I think our beloved Bard of Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore might be more atriculate than I am....

Yesterday once more.........

Just about time !!
Yeah what a great pastime than to to head for a net cafe after u have ur ass rot in the rickety chairs of office....not an ideal course of action for karma who would rather have a steaming cup of hot,muddy tea in his home.
but i guess he is not in ease no a days...what he has seen or heard for last few days has really got him worrying....worrying so much that he has chosen to rush to post something that would stall the forthcoming predicament...confused as u may be..but right now he has no clue what is going on around him,something he is not a part of but still cannot deny that its an irrefutable part of him..what can a man of such low-stature and feeble psyche could do to stop two frenimies (nope its not a typo error,click and see the fun)from biting ones another's head off. One seems to have chosen this portal to unleash his wrath and other seems to write things which are neither articulate nor an attempt for self-redemption.
Anyway I guess lodsa line has been typed without any intent and karma is already feeling his eye water( is this a part of computer related injuries ??)...
As an attempt to mitigate what has been said or written( or shall I say what mud has been slung) for last three-four days on this page....karma has rummaged into his belongings to took out some happy hours from eons of time...

those were the happy times and not so long ago
how i wonder where they had gone
but they are back again
just like a long lost friend.......

Oops ! sorry just got lost in reverie...lovely song by the Carpenter siblings !
Well,ya lets come back to the point.These group what they call themselves ..ah yes Topfloorers,what an menagerie !! how can sucha bunch of feisty and mercurial guyz ( now they have a lady too in their group) stick together!! I mean it has been 2 years nearly when left the corridors of the college but still they seem to share same kinda passion for doing everything weird.Do you reckon they are just group of juvenile boys still under the impression that they still are great friends and share the same passion together? NO THEY ARE NOT!!!The tide of time or the winds of change still cannot wash away the rock-solid foundation of their friendship...and never will.
Karma reckons that rather wasting his breadth( or probably stressing out his metacarpals!!),he would show you show something he reckons might help in putting an Confundus charm (karma is a die hard fan of Harry Potter) on everybody that a nasty bickering had never ensued between two of prominent member of the Order( oops here comes Potter again).


Presenting you ladies n gentlemen Campus Order Redefined







And now Topfloor the inside story



Yeah u have come to the ryt place...this is Topfloor !!



Thats Rathz under the royal treatment in NIT ishtyle !!



And now its Atri a.k.a ABC's turn !!



Caution !Topfloorers at Work



I have had enuff can some one get the party going !!



Well, I guess the last one is enuff to sum what karma had to say.Life is too short to be little and everyday should be king size.Bickering and altercation will occur coz we are so very different from each other( try putting different breed of dogs in the same kennel and u wud know why) but those should never be stretched so that it leads to fracture of the very fabric of friendship.The topfloorers ,whose notion may it be, was a concept that was lapped up instantly by us because of its innate charm and novelty.There are times when things go horribly wrong or thing that u pined for might not materialize but that may not necessarily lead to a fallout.What good will it serve someone do explain me? U see the very threat of pullout has made everyone run amock in shock and people hitherto either too shy or too lazy to scribble on this page have come out and express their opinion.
I hope we donot use this forum as a medium to vent our anger and blame-storming,but as an instrument to forge our kinship to an indelible impact. Heres couple of unforgettable lines from Mary Hopkin's(i doubt if u ever heard of her) debut single...Cheer up guyz !!

Then the busy years went rushing by us
We lost our starry notions on the way
If by chance I'd see you in the tavern
We'd smile at one another and we'd say

Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.

Those were the days, oh yes those were the days

The Internship story... so far...

I wanted to write about my experiences in office in my last post, but, as soon as I started the post, Mumbai came into my mind. And I couldn't help but to write about it.

I have been at work for like four days... and each day has been an experience in itself. 

I'll start at the beginning, Ok, I dunno what do you guys know about Law firms, but, I was also blown out of my mind when I saw the firm. Overlooking the Marine Drive, bang opposite the Trident, is the Indian Express building. On the 23rd floor is the office of AZB & Partners. (Just incase you are wondering what the short form is for, then,: A- Ajay Gupta, the Managing partner who sit in Delhi. Z- Zia Mody who along with the B- Behram Vakil sits in this office). The firm is spread over the entire floor, which is HUGE by a law firm standard. It employs over 100 associates and partners in addition to the interns and the paralegals that work here.

I have my own desk with my own computer (Internet is not der... :() . But there is intranet and therefore the first thing that is done is after you join in is, that you get your unique e-mail id and password for your computer. 

There is an Internet room, wherein you can access the net, else if you have you lappy, you can use the wi-fi.

There is a cafeteria, from where the view is breath taking. The pantry has a coffee machine which has like 7 choices...which includes espresso, tea, cappuccino , hot chocolate etc. and it has a stocked fridge with cokes and diet cokes and what not.

 

The cubicle where I sit, as amazing people- My neighbour is Sarah, who is like the sweetest, Danish, sits behind me and there is Jeeta who is a complete tomboy. There are loads of other interns so you dont lack company... but the best part is that there are lots of great looking guys also around... Oh, and yeah, there is something called as a buddy system, wherein you are assigned a senior associate as your mentor. Mine is a guy called Adheesh Nargolkar and he is so so so sweet... and pretty good looking as well. The partners too are so sweet... atleast the Z and the B are. They  do not have the airs... Bahram actually came to us interns to make sure that we all have quality work and Zia is so finicky about the timeslips(this is basically a format through which the firm knows how many hours you worked for a particular client, you are supposed to print your time slips and put it in a yellow envelope that is on your name, the peon will come and pick them up after you have gone and returns it the next day... Zia actually checks them, there is a tick on them...and if its screwed up, I dunno what happens...!!) that today she had a list of defaulters who did not do their time slips and was scolding them. 

The timings are weird though- 10.30 am to 8.30 pm. And if you stay back till after 9, you get free food (yup you can order at office expense for upto 250 rupees per person) and a free cab ride till your house.

On the second day itself, I got stuck in office and came back home at 11.30. 

Its been a great experience so far. I have even managed to bag a great project. Its fun to do that. 

Oh yeah, believe it or not- I have a guy named Sayantan Banerjee also working in the firm... I haven't seen or worked with him, but am looking forward to it...!!! ;)

Its been fun so far and now when Shayon is going to be here... Lets see how things work....!!! Thanks mannu n dion your advice works....!!! :)

Remembering... the dark hours of Mumbai....

Alright ppl all over the world... the gal is back.... 

Ok, I just wanted to give the article a very VVIP start.... Anyways, the thing that I want to talk about in this post is, about the 60 hours of sheer madness and terror in Mumbai. It was something that is going haunt me, at least all my life. no, not because I was stuck there or was even remotely near that area. But, seeing the heritage of the 'city that never sleeps' being ruined at the hands of a bunch of young guys, just because they have been misguided by assoles was scary and numbing. (Ofcourse, this whole fiasco was threatening to kill my mumbai trip... that too was scaring me...)

After the action, its the reaction time. With everybody blaming everybody. But in that all, we forgot a very important lesson. 

India is a huge country with so many religions and states and what not. What binds the country together is the fact that we are proud of having such distinct cultures in one. And, even in one family no two people are the same and therefore there are arguments and fights there too, but we dont stop loving the other person nor do we stand disunited in front of the others. When an outsider attacks the family, bad relations or not, you stand up for em.

Similarly, in the wars of our states wherein people like Raj Thackery and his goondaraj makes international headlines and show to the world that India is even incapable of handling her own people. 

History tells the story of how the divided kingdoms of India attracted the Brits to slave us for 200 years. And today, because of the vested interest of the politicians a divided India is getting enslaved to terrorism. 

The most who are to blame is us, because we don't put our foot down. We do not use our right to vote judicially at times not use it at all. 

Let us try and get this message across to people, that getting into riots for all the wrong reasons with our own fellow country men is not going to help us, its just gonna make things worse for us. India is a peace loving country, where  people are proud of the beautiful past that we have had.

Keeping this in mind, I'll pray that, we apply this lesson to ourselves also. Fighting amongst the family should strengthen the bonds not losen it, so that we dont invite an outsider to completely destroy us.

Amen.

My last post ... its time to say goodbye ...

Dear all ,

This is my last post on this blog. Sometimes in life u have to take some harsh decisions. In the past few days some incidents took place which forced me to take such a step .

1) firstly, Shayon - this guy is the biggest bluffer ( i donno if this word exists) i have ever seen . wo jis thali mein khata hai usi mein ched kar deta hai ... he bluffs his parents, his girlfriend and all his other friends . n the best part is that he gives a perfect reasoning for all his mistake ,sorry i should say blunder . I know after reading these lines he will give a perfect reply using some classic words .

i would like to warn everyone that never trust him . he is very mean n lives for himself. everytime i open this blog it recalls me of him n what he did to me. u all must be anxious to know what happened . i wont disclose it . if someone wants to know then give me a call . n if u want to hear a distorted version then give shayon a call.

2) secondly , the cancellation of goa trip has really broken my heart . I had planned so much for that trip. I have been telling everyone abt the trip for past 2 months. i was so excited for the tripthat i cant express it in words . but now everthing is over.

After few days some people will say that Raths , the plan master , has got his plans always failed. They will feel very proud in the failure of their friend. let me ask everyone why this trip got cancelled . Was it raths or some of us guys who backed at the last moment .Ifact he arranged for all the tickets. Samik , inspite of knowing abt the goa trip why u choosed the centre as kolkata . i donno wht has happened to karma. he cant come out of his comfort zone in kolkata.

Dion , I am very sorry to say you that this planned too failed . This topfloorers is just a hypothetical term.We all are hawabaaz. How can we imagine people to come to goa when they feel so lazy to write a post?? It was all our mistake to expect so much of lazy n unpredictable bunch of guys. People have got trapped in this corporate world n they dont want to move their ass . I donno if we will ever meet again .Never ever dream of a topfloorers reunion.

For everybody's knowledge all my holidez are over n then also i was ready to come for the trip . I would have lost a minimum salary of Rs. 10000. Its useless to tell all this now .

I should stop here.I am really pissed off. I never felt this much bad even when nikita left me.This goa trip was like... leave it, its too late ...

Hey sakshi , i donno what to tag this post . now u wont here anymore Amway news n my study on girls. Thanks to everyone for liking my posts n writing comments. My english has improved a lot due to u all . It was all fun being here.

I will be getting married by Dec'09 , thats for sure, my dad told me this last night . But i dont expect many of you to come even if i send you all flight tickets . In that case some people will say that marry from their city else they wont come. there can be n nos. of useless excuses.

But i hope few of you will come.

goodbye for now ...

have fun n enjoy...

alvida

New Bike PICS

Raj, as per your request my gladiator pics have been uploaded.