Glory Days

Over the last two and a half years, I have become a lot closer with my batchmates then before. Since Class 9, I guess I have gotten to know my batchmates a lot better, and have hung out with them more.
Till Class 8, there was a whole lot of groupism existing. People used to stick to their own small groups, and didn't interact much with others. Although I was never a part of any group as such, I didn't really know the guys who weren't in my section. And it was not only me, most of the guys in my batch were much the same.
It all changed in Class 9. The classes were reshuffled, new people came in. We started clubs, fests, activities etc, and basically we were interacting a lot more amongst ourselves. The batch unity grew, and we got to know each other a lot better.
For example, I never really knew Preet Tyagi before Class 9-10. He was just another face in the crowd earlier. But with time, I got to know him and others, and today I consider Preet one of my good friends. Even others such as Saurav, Vedant, to a lesser extent Shah, Vishant, Kirk etc etc, I have gotten to know these people a lot better over the last 2 years.
The sad part of this is that I have only one and a half years more to enjoy the company of these guys, before my journey in LMB comes to a grinding halt. Yeah sure, there'll be get-togethers, meeting-ups etc, but the easy camaraderie that is there currently will be missing then. Currently life is at a high, and everything's fun and great - and it is seriously the time to live it up.
I know that I'll seriously miss these days. But till that time comes, I'll make sure that all the Impacts, practices, fests, club activities etc to come will be occasions to remember. These are truly, as Bruce Springsteen sings it,
"Glory Days,
They'll pass you by
Glory days"

I hate being sick. One of the primary reasons why I hate being sick is 'coz I'm stuck at home when I'm sick, and that's just plain pissing off.
And why do I hate being home, you may ask? It's 'coz I just can't stand the feeling of being trapped when I'm at home. I feel like a caged bird, and I just long to go outside, even if it's for just a little while.
School's as boring as ever, although I've bunked the last two days coz of being sick. We rocked the School team vs Rest of School team debate. I don't know whether the Past vs Present debate has taken place or not. That should be a good one to watch.
I enjoy debating. It's a good intellectual exercise, especially the Extempore debates. The parliamentary debates we have in school are more formal, but they're also more challenging. I've won very few parliamentary debates, but have won or came second in every Extempore I've done. I enjoy improvising.

Note of parting

Yesterday we had our farewell party for Mrinal. Red Lounge saw nearly 30 Martinians from Class 11 take over the place as we made merry for our friend. Although it was a sad occasion, it was amazing fun. Lakhmani, Shah, Tyagi, Doshi, Saurav, Ronak, Issar, Gambhir, Deepro, Singhi, Udbhav, Bose, Priyam, Rungta, Mayecha, 'Daddy', Vorah, Kandoi, Satvick, Singhvi, Chawdhry, Vedant, Kalra, Dhruv, Ankit and I comprised the guest list, apart from, of course, Mrinal himself.
Everyone had a great time, and we were all thinking how bad it's gonna be in another one-and-a-half years, when we all leave school. That's gonna be really hard for us to do. It's sad that we haven't had such a big get-together before. So many guys coming for this made it really special. It's only unfortunate that the event was so sad.
I couldn't spend the night at Mrinal's house, so I came first thing in the morning. When I reached, I found Chawdhry, Lakhmani, Singhvi & Mrinal half-dead from being awake practically all night. Ishan Roy Choudhury & Saurav Mehta came in the morning. Satvick had stayed over, but I guess he had gone home for some reason, coz he came in later. We were chilling at Thapa's place for a long time (Thapa, Moga etc are all nicks of Mrinal), and finally left for the airport at 10. Vedant, Daddy (Vidyut Saraf), Rohan Shah and Kalra joined us on the way.
We weren't allowed inside the terminal building, but it was good enough just being there. Gonna miss Mrinal. A great friend, and all-round good guy.

To Mrinal

A valiant man is Mrinal Mohanka
He becomes a firangee tomorrow
No matter how hard he may try
He can’t postpone this sorrow.

Let us think about times gone by
And celebrate our good friend
Despite the fact he’s going away
Let it be good times to the end.

It’s just beginning for you, Mrinal
It is the time to enjoy this life
Make use of these years as much as you can
Before you end up with your Nepali wife.

Never forget your friends
And your times in LMB
But look ahead to the times to come
That is the way one should be.

These glory days of youth
May pass you by, I say
But may you never forget them
Even though you go away.

It is easy for this poetic Bong
To express himself through creativity
But much is left unsaid
Of this harsh and bitter reality.

Farewell my friend, go forth
And step on those foreign shores
I wish you all the very best
In life always look for more.

From Shacko

Impact

The most fun event to take part in fests is undoubtedly Impact. Impromptu Acting or Impact is an event that has always been popular in the festing circuit, and each batch of LMB has had an excellent Impact team to do these events. It's been something of a tradition to form the impact team among the good actors of the batch, and great Martinians like Saptarishi Bandopadhyay, Anirudh Chari, Raghav Khanna & Rohan Jaikishen among others have dominated Impact teams in the past.
My batch did it's first Impact together at Verizmo this year, and so far Mrinal Mohanka, Saurav Mehta, Ronak Mehta, Rohan Shah, Akshay Doshi, Dhiman Parekh, Preet Tyagi, Abhishek Chawdhry, Harsh Sethia, Hamza Khan and myself have comprised the Impact at the three fests we've done so far. Some of us such as Shah, Sethia etc have done Impact before, but it's different experience with classmates.
Unfortunately, Mrinal is leaving school, however, the rest of us will still do the Impacts like earlier. It's gonna be a hell of a ride. We've done well so far, let's see what happens now.

I'm horrible when it comes to giving names to stuff. It's something that I just can't manage, and I keep wondering how in hell am I supposed to give a good name to anything.
Even when it comes to my creative works, I wait till the last to give my piece a name - and that too I sometimes avoid by simply not titling it.
I was faced with this problem when I was planning to begin a drama club in my school. I was going over various names and asking for suggestions from each and every person, till one of my seniors showed me a way out by taking up the name of a then inactive club. This rid me of a tremendous headache.
I am once again suffering this problem, for which I have no solution.

Quizzing

Quizzing is something I have been interested in for ages now. It was in Class 3 that I went for my first ever quiz, and since then I've attended countless quizzes. Right from the Maggi Quiz in Class 3 to the Dhrishtikon Quiz I did today, it's been a great experience.
I've always felt a sort of exhiliration when I sit for a quiz. I don't why people consider it boring. Perhaps to a non-quizzer, sitting in the audience for a quiz is a great bore, but for those who have done quizzing, it is fun. I have been for several quizzes, and with the exception of a few unusual cases, they've all been great fun.
When I am onstage, the excitement really gets to you. Only in quizzes in which most questions are left unanswered is there scope for boredom. But when there's only 10 points separating the team from others, it gets really exciting.
I really enjoyed the quizzes I've done with Arjun Puri. Although I've sat for only 3 quizzes with him, I have really had a good time. It is not possible to be too serious with Puri around, and it relaxes the atmosphere, making it easier to quiz.
My best team was that of Aryapriya Ganguly, Rohan Saha and me. We had a great time both on and off stage, and this particular team was very, very successful. We won the MP Birla Smarak Kosh Quiz last year after a 5-year winless streak. Our biggest victory, though, was that of the Doon School Quiz. The last team to win it comprised of one of the best teams of LMB - that of Rohan Dutta, Anirudh Chari and Surjo Sinha in 1999. I feel that Aryapriya, Saha and I could challenge them for the title. Our open quiz team (LMB Tigers and/or Rub-a-dub-dub-where-is-my-grub) also did pretty well in the two open quizzes we sat for.
This year I have enjoyed quizzing with my teammates Bhaskar Dutta, Deepro Guha and Debdeep Nath. We've done moderately well, but I have nonetheless enjoyed the quizzes we did.
I hope that my friends Rohan Shah, Leslie Gunnion and Rushil Gambhir get back to quizzing. Shah was a very good quizzer earlier, but soon became more involved with Dramatics and music. Leslie did only two quizzes, where he showed promising signs - but soon went more into sports such as football and hockey. Even Gambhir, a mainstay of the LMB debating team, had done a few quizzes but soon quit it. I really wish they discovered the joy of quizzing earlier.
Here's to one-and-a-half years more of school quizzing!

Omkara

I went to see "Omkara" yesterday to celebrate the end of examinations, and I'm glad I went for this particular movie. I haven't seen Vishal Bharadwaj's previous adaptation of Shakespeare - "Maqbool" - though I had been dying to, and thus I couldn't miss "Omkara".
"Othello" couldn't have been treated better than Bharadwaj does in Omkara. The cast couldn't be better - Ajay Devgan as Omkara (Othello), Saif Ali Khan as Langda (Iago), Viveik Oberoi as Kesu (Cassio) and Kareena Kapoor as Dolly (Desdemona). Apart from them, Naseeruddin Shah was brilliant as Bhaisaab (Duke of Venice) and Konkona Sen Sharma did a great job as Indu (Emilia). Bipasha Basu didn't do much as Billo (Bianca), but one can't really blame her for not doing too good in a role that didn't have much in it apart from item numbers.
I think Bharadwaj really captured the tension and jealousy of the original storyline brilliantly. The script is tightly woven, and doesn't leave the viewer with much breathing space. Saif Ali Khan in particular shone in this movie as Langda, and it's especially brilliant when you keep in mind the roles he's recently done as a metrosexual male, which I felt were completely rubbish.
Ajay Devgan was great as Omkara but I felt that in the middle Langda dominated more than Omi. That is forgiveable once it comes towards the end, where Devgan really shines as the jealousy goes full throttle.
I won't be able to forget the last shot of the movie - where Dolly's corpse lies on the swinging bed which swings to and fro, at one time covering the corpse of Omkara, and then moving off...covering and again moving off. That shot was just superb, and it remains with the viewer long after seeing the movie.
Vishal Bharadwaj wrote, directed and composed the music for the film - and he does an excellent job in all three roles.
I really loved "Omkara", and it is one of the best hindi movies I've seen by far.

Maths

I hate maths. It is by far my least favourite subject, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. It has been so for as long as I can remember. I always had trouble with the subject, and till today although I have to sit for the examination, I hardly make a proper attempt at it.
My ordeal with maths began in junior school, when I was known to have a major problem with it. However, at that time I worked hard at it, and ended up with a Progress in Mathematics certificate I remember getting in class 4 or so.
However, in Class 6, I encountered a teacher who was easily the scariest ever - Mr. Royan. He had a reputation of sorts, and all classes who have been taught by him were scared stiff by him. I remember on one particular occasion, I had not been able to do a few sums for his homework. He caught me by the collar, pulled me over the desk within inches of his face and said menacingly, "you've been waiting till the end of the class to tell me this huh?" I was scared silly, so I could hardly utter a word in response. Thankfully, I was just sent out of the class. One of my classmates wasn't as lucky. His spectacles flew off when Mr. Royan slapped him across the face.
Mathematics continued to be a terror for me all the way through to 10. Luckily, in class 10 I came across Poddo for the first time.
I first heard of Poddo from my seniors, who spoke about him in hallowed terms. Poddo had a tremendous reputation among my seniors as an amazing maths tutor.
I joined him in 10 after my friend Eric suggested his tuition for me. I was lucky enough to be accepted by Poddo, and thus I started his tuition.
Poddo is easily the most eccentric teacher I have ever come across. He always hides his real name for some weird reason. He smokes like a chimney, and every class he used to go out, have a smoke and a cup of tea before returning. He's a benevolent man, though, and feeds 9 villages during the pujas every year. He's also a part of a group called Diganta.
Poddo is the reason that I managed to pass ICSE maths, after failing since class 7. I wouldn't have managed it without his tuition, such is my case with maths. Unfortunately though, in class 11, I haven't had regular classes, thus my case is doomed.
Therefore, tomorrow - which is when my Business Maths exam takes place - I am in for a tough time. Rather than luck, I need a lot of patience to sit through a paper I know practically nothing about.

It is said that our greatest verses
Come from a place of pain
But I wonder if it is worth it
What could I possibly gain?

It hurts me everyday to see you
Because I know you are not mine
Sometimes it seems you reciprocate
But in that no consolation do I find.

I don't think it is worth it for me
To pursue tirelessly after you
After all, if you don't care
Why should I give a damn about you?

The extremes I swing in between
Great happiness and tremendous sorrow
Sometimes when I think about you
I ponder if it is worth seeing the morrow.

Why can't you just end the pretense
And let me know how you feel
From the effects of your actions
Drunkenly I sway and reel.

God knows how I would react
When all this pent-up emotion
Just can't contain itself longer
And edges slowly towards an eruption.

Not many times have I felt this way
So it hurts that much more
Both anger and bittersweet desire
Exist within my heart's core.

64 Squares

After two more shows at Proscenium's Art Centre on August 5th & 6th, my first play with Theatrecian - 64 Squares - will end. It's received mixed reactions from the audiences that have seen the shows, first at Padatik and then at Proscenium. But for me, it's been an incredible experience just being part of it.
The play came about as a result of the Theatrecian workshop. The participants came up with different concepts and ideas which were blended into a general storyline, and voila! We had 64 Squares.
64 Squares was an experiment from the very first. We weren't sure how it would be received, and just the fact that we've had 3 shows so far is a favourable result for us.
For me personally, I loved it. It's been a chance for me to perform for an audience. Not just an audience comprised of my friends at LMB, but a much wider audience. I've also gotten to know people who, about a month and a half back, were total strangers. That's been the best part about it, and I'm glad that it's been favourably received by the people.
I hope it won't be long before my original play will be staged by Theatrecian.

Intro

Aah! Yet another platform to lecture the universe with my ramblings!
This is supposed to be an intro, however, and I shall do my best to be brief about it...although it is quite a challenge for me to do so. I have walked the earth for 17 years as on August 4th, 2006, and it has been quite a ride so far.
My biggest passion in life is music, and it pervades everything I do. I cannot be detached from music, and the lack of it would probably choke me to death. Although I do not pretend to be a gifted musician, which I am not, I still love it. My other great love is football, and again, although I may not be a Zidane in the making, that does not prevent me from being crazy about it.
My talent lies elsewhere, in what has been termed "intellectual" activities. I started off as a quizzer, and I'm an active quizzer in the Kolkata circuit - where I'm known to be the "western music" expert. Later, though, I branched off from quizzing into other so called "intellectual" activities. Drama is another love of mine. Starting with Dramatics at the school level, I recently performed with Theatrecian, and I'm pretty sure that it will not be my last involvement with theatre. Debating is another activity I have some skill in, although I haven't done much of it so far.
I love writing, and I find it a sort of release to which nothing compares to. Whether poetry, prose or scripts, I enjoy writing, and I hope to share my creative stuff in this blog.
The formalities of introduction done, I think the title of the blog deserves further explanation. Robert Zimmerman is better known as Bob Dylan, the singer-songwriter. Dylan has been a major influence on me, and continues to inspire me with his songs. Roberto Santos is the pseudonym I use when submitting my work to online writer's communities, and thus, Santos meets Zimmerman.