Athithi Devo Bhava

Aththi Devo Bhava - Sanskrit for "Guest is God".

Something that we have been taught to believe in since we were kids. Accepted, its a good tradition.. very Indian, very cultured. But is this a blanket rule that we follow?!

Unfortunately no!! Well it depends on the guest.. if the guest is indeed god, then yes, other wise maybe.. could be.. or a str8 NO!!

What brought me to think abt this topic?!.. the impending visit of George W Bush, President of the US of A to India!! Leaving aside all patriotic jingoism and socialist preachings, the fact of the matter is that the world today is dominated by one country . The US of A!! Every other country in the world either has to accept this fact or is forced to accept this fact. It is a cycle in history that at some point of time some country is on top of the world. Like the Greeks during Alexander's time , the Romans later, the Arabs n Mongols in the medievial times and later on the European colonial powers.

Today the world is ruled by American policies. Like a famous Dubya statement - "You are either with us or against us"

Now that would make Mr.Dubya, the most powerful person on Earth and ergo the God!!

And when God himself is our Guest, we bend over backwards to please him. Entire roads in Delhi and Hyderabad are being spruced up. An entire hotel has been taken over by US Security Personnel. IGI International Airport will be shut down for 1 whole hour every time Air Force One lands or takes off.

The same would happen, when lesser Gods like Tony Blair or the Saudi King become our guests. the last time the main road @ Madiwala in Bangalore saw a coat of tar, was when Tony Blair visited the infy campus in 2002!!

Would we do the same thing if the President of Ivory Coast or Papua New Guinea were to visit India? Can we expect the same treatment from US/UK when our President or PM visits them?!! .. It wud be interesting to see Heathrow Airport being shut down for an hour coz the Indian President is arriving!!

If you are way down the international pecking order, there is not much that you can do!! But it wud be gr8 if for once we could stop acting servile to the west and show some pride in being Indian.

Colour Me Yellow!!

Since I signed of my last post with a quote from the movie Rang De Basanti.. thot that it might be appropriate to blog abt the movie itself.. n more so considering the fact that I have already seen the movie about half a dozen times now!! (n dont mind watching it some more!!)


RDB is definitely not your average Bollywood fare. Its one of those movies that come out once in a while, that puts you to thought. The movie succeeds in places where Swades and Mangal Pandey failed. It gets across its message loud and clear without ever being preachy. This is exactly how our education system shud be.. exciting n enlightening!! In other words , a masti ki paathshaala!!

Experts and not-so experts have reviewed the movie endlessly in all forums, so am not getting into that here. Simply listing down what I liked best abt the movie..

• Probably the first Indian movie that puts Indian History in a totally different light (& sound!!) .. check out the background score during the bike-chase with Aamir Khan as Azaad.
• Focuses and brings to the fore contibution of freedom fighters apart from Gandhi n Nehru, to a generation that has almost forgotten all that
• The music... Amazing is an understatement!! A R Rahman truly is God!! From the masti filled Paathshaala to the peppy title track to the mushy Tu Bin Bataye to the tear jerking Lukka Chuppi and the inspirational Khoon Chala .. boy this is one complete album!! Havent removed it from the player in my car for the past 3 weeks!!
• Lata Mangeshkar finally singing for somebody her own age after a long long time!! Its really painful to watch sm 16 year old like Sneha Ullal lip syncing to Lata!!
• Naresh Iyer ... AR Rahman's discovery from a talent hunt show!! Check out Roobaroo n other songs for his amazing vocals!!
  
• The cast.. each of the characters well defined and wonderfully executed
• The fact that Aamir Khan the super star does not eclipse any of the new comers!! Kudos to that.. every single person in the lead cast gets ample importance
• Kiron Kher .. amazing performance .. a truly accomplished performer. You wud be excused if u thot she was a born Punjabi!!
• No "in your face" fundas!! Thats were Swades and Mangal Pandey faltered big time!!
  
• The bike and jeep ride in the beginning.
• Alicia Patten.. just perfect for the role!!
• The ending the way it is!! Any other way wud not hv had so much impact..

This n tons more... it truly wud become a cult film of our generation.. a la Dil Chahta Hain!! Expecting more movies of the same calibre from Bollywood (just hoping!!)

p.s.

BTW also caught Chingari over the weekend.. Walked out half way thru!! Pathetic movie, which is being hyped by the "Artie" types!! Pains having to pay 150 @ PVR and not getting your money's worth!!

Back to My Alma Mater

VRCE/VNIT Adm. Block

Alma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother". It was used in ancient Rome as a title for the mother goddess, and in Medieval Christianity for the Virgin Mary.It also was the motto of the oldest university in the west, the University of Bologna in Italy and today has come to stand for the college/school that one attended.

So there I was back @ my Alma Mater.. VRCE, Nagpur . oops sorry its called VNIT,Nagpur.. a place where i spent four of the best years of my life.

It has been almost 5 years since I graduated and had been to VRCE only once after that.. that was 3 years back.. when there were folks whom I knew still in college.. but 5 years is like a whole generation in any Engg college.. there was not a soul that I knew in the college.. the places that were once so familiar now look so alien and strange..

Well time was not the only factor to blame.. the entire campus looks all spruced up.. the roads r wider n neater.. gardens n lawns all over the place .. new buildings n hostels..






Garden at the erstwhile Y junction

Luckily the weekend I was there also happened to be the college fest, Aarohi Finale, attended the Dancing n Singing finals.. the whole event was a lot watered down from what used to happen in our times (Never thot i wud be using this phrase so early in my life!!).. but the spirit still the same.. and oh yeah the barrier separate the ladies n guys .. still very much there!!


Good Ol' VBD sponsoring Aarohi

There are lotsa things abt the college that have changed over the last few years..

• The name itself.. its called VNIT now.. not VRCE
• Its a deemed university .. yipee freedom from Nagpur University!!
• You no longer have a Principal.. the post is called Director now.. a case of Old Wine in New Bottle!!
• All degrees and mark sheets awarded by VNIT.. no more Kochade signed mark lists!!
• Results out in less than a week!! .. no more rumour mongering and late nite trips to newspaper offices!!
• Near 100% attendance in classes!! .. Wonder how I wud hv survived this!!
• The most amazing and incredible change of them all... final years studying for smthing called a "class test"!!! Most of us hardly studied for even sessionals n just abt managed the uni. exams!!
• Every guy n girl in campus owns a cell phone.. the hostel common phones r sadly lying there all covered in layers of dust.. In fact free sim cards n mobile connections were being distributed as prizes during Aarohi..
  
• Students with comps n laptops in almost every room in the hostel..
• removal of NU quota in VNIT.. REC/NITs have a 50% quota for the home state, but VRCE had this strange rule where 95% of the Maharshtra seats were reserved for guys from the Nagpur Uni. area .. this led to almost 50% of the students being day scholars during our times (there I go again!!) .. but now with this system removed, most of the seats in Maharashtra get filled by students frm Mumbai n Pune..
  
• The above has led to hostels being jam packed and the number of day-schis coming down!!
• New and longer menu @ the canteen..



• Hospital beds in our Ol' Dispensary
• ATM @ the SBI Branch
  
• Kerala quota reduced from 7 to 3!! :(

But whatever may change there r smthings that r forever ...
the spirit among the students..
the life in hostels..
the food in the mess ..
n that feeling of being a collegian .. the King of the World!!
Pretty much like what Aamir Khan says in Rang De basanti ..

"College ke gate ke is paar hum life ko nachate hain.. aur us paar life humko nachati hain"!!

Well have to get back to dancing to lifes tunes now!!