Military Brats: A Class Apart

I had a rather heated discussion with my roommate (who happens to be from an army background) the other day about who were more successful - someone from an Army background or someone from an Air Force background.

After quiet a bit of discussion, what I realised was - military brats are indeed special. Wikipedia lists some of the well known military brats from India - Preity Zinta, Celina Jaitley, Neha Dhupia, Vinod Dham, Lara Dutta, Sushmita Sen and Gul Panag. The complete list of Indian as well as foreign military brats can be found here.

Some of those who didn't make it to the list were Lt. Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore and Major Dhyan Chand simply because they weren't military brats. They were serving personnel.

What makes them tick?

This makes it all the more convincing. There is every reason to believe those from a Military background are indeed special. So, what is it that makes them tick? That makes them a class apart from the rest. A breed in themselves.

As a starting point, we might take a look back at the list. What do we notice? Most of those on the list are actors/actresses or sports persons. What can that indicate?

1. Military brats are outgoing? (I'll assume that actors/actresses are!)
2. They are disciplined? (How else do you expect them to get to the top in the sporting world?)
3. They had a lot of opportunity. (That I guess is a must - no matter how talented you are)

Those in the military are frequently transferred from place to place. It is at times quiet inconvenient for the family. But on hindsight, it exposes one to such myriad and varied cultures that one is bound to be outgoing. One has to make new friends every time the family relocates. You cannot stick with your 'best friend' forever.

The social fabric of military life is quiet strong. There are frequent get-togethers, bounce ins, potlucks and what not! One gets to interact with people on a regular basis. Talking to people isn't a choice - it is the only option.

I pondered upon the second point for quiet some time. Actually, all military brats aren't disciplined. It is a choice. But, the thing can easily get into you. Looking at people around you leading a really disciplined life can inspire you. Nothing runs in military without discipline. And that thing is bound to get into you if you are connected with the military in some fashion.

And opportunities? Loads of them. One doesn't have to go looking for them. They just keep coming to you. Like I discussed in my posts on A Typical Air Force Station and 5 Reasons to Join Air Force, the opportunities to make it big are aplenty. It is just a matter of grabbing them!

Just Actors?

So what is the military brat authoring Jazzonomics going to be? An actor or a sports person? Chances of either look pretty slim.

Dig a bit deeper and one can find technocrats from military backgrounds. Arun Sarin, a graduate of IIT Kharagpur and CEO of Vodafone group was a military brat. (He though was well known for being good at boxing and hockey!). Vinod Khosla, a graduate of IIT Delhi and a very influential person in the Silicon Valley is a military brat. He was one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems and became the first CEO and Chairman of Sun Microsystems.

Military brats are a class apart and I have every reason to believe so. What do you think?

#5 reasons to Chuck Windows and...

#1. Windows isn't free

2000 bucks doesn't come easy. Atleast not in a country where people are struggling to earn that much in a year.

Why spend that much when you can have something better for nothing?

#2. Windows is clumsy

If you haven't found out already, let me tell you this. Windows is clumsy. Downright clumsy. Try doing something and it will take tons of time. It'll freeze. It'll report viruses. Tons of problems.

#3. Who is in control?

Million dollor question. Who is in control of your PC? You or Bill Gates?

Can you do what you want in your PC. Can you get your updates whenever you want? Can you get the simplest jobs done hassle free?

#4. Secure?

Windows isn't secure. It cannot be secure. Simple logic. Being the most popular operating system, all viruses are made for Windows. All Trojan Horses are made for Windows.

Viruses and Windows. Made for each other.

Everything is made for Windows. Can it be secure?

#5. Windows is dumb

Yup. It is dumb. It is copied. Microsoft is business. Business by hook or by crook. Try something new and you'll know the difference.

In a nutshell

Chuck Windows.

AND...

SWITCH TO UBUNTU/LINUX/WHATEVER

Illumination and Rangoli: Day -1

The Results are Out

Diwali is over. Actually not. According to the lunar calander (or whatever), I am informed that Diwali would be till 4 o' clock in the morning. All of us go out to see how other halls had fared in the competition. Then we gathered at the Gymkhana where the results would be declared.

Post-Result Euphoria

RK bagged the gold in Illumination. RP bagged the gold. LLR and SN bagged the silver and bronze in both the categories. PAN loop had to be satisfied with nothing.

There was lot of talk about it. Some said the results had been rigged since all the GSecs were from LLR and RK/RP + SN was a girls hall - so they had to get something. Others argued that RK/RP/LLR have traditionally won this competition and they are really good at it.

Alternate Versions of Illuminations

After the accident, people started theorizing alternate versions of Illu (some really crazy ones though!).

1. Instead of putting up tables to light the diyas, run a thread along all the diyas. At the right moment, burn the thread so that it would light up all the diyas. (Unreliable?)
2. Put a cap on the height of the chatais. This will decrease the number of accidents that happen. (A cap on creativity too?!)
3. Have a mirror chatai which will be lighted well in advance. This chatai can be used to light up the original chatai. (The budget would be doubled then!)
4. Run a pipe of natural gas with openings at the right places. Ignite the thing when you have to light the diyas. (Budget?! Safe?)

The Rangoli was something that bowled me over. I had never expected something like that - near Paintings. And it wasn't just Nehru. Every hall I visited just made it look better and better.

The photographs have started pouring in. I'll keep updating this post to include more and more of them. In between, I'll try and manage a video of the split call, so that non-Kgpians can get a real idea what it is all about.

And oh! I had forgotten! Wishing my esteemed readers a very happy Diwali/Dhanteras/whatever.

@RK: Gold (Theme: Samudra Manthan)

@LLR: Silver

Rangoli: @RP (Gold)

Rangoli: @RK

Rangoli: @MMM

Rangoli @Azad

All for this:

Related Posts

Illumination And Rangoli: Day 0

Illumination and Rangoli: The Countdown

Illumination and Rangoli: Day 0

It is Diwali day and everybody is preparing for Illumination in full swing. I contemplate going to my native place. The prospect of a Daru Party after Illumination haunts me. Finally, I decide to the contrary since this was the first Illumination that I was seeing in Kgp.

Last Minute Preparations

Last minute preparations are on. Everybody is allotted teams. Lots of seniors also pitch in. Work is on at full throttle. Nehru Hall has been allotted the 11 o' clock slot. So we have some time. 7 Chatais have been made ready.

I run around with wicks, Diyas and candles giving last minute touch-ups. At 2100 hours, we are allotted the chatais where we are to light the diyas. We get our tables stacked up and ready so that we can start lighting the moment the judges arrive.

The Rules of the Game

It is all about timing. You light the diyas too early - and they will burn off. You light it too late - and you can't finish by the time the judges come. No artificial lighting is allowed. Nobody is to be seen in the arena when the judges arrive. There should be pin-drop silence. The main switch is toggled before 11 o' clock. The battleground is ready. (literally!)

A signal would be given when we should start lighting the lamps. No one was to panic. And above all, we had to use our common sense. On the split call, the tables and beds had to brought down and removed from the arena.

Music will be played in the background. The narrators would explain the battleground - how Krishna in his Viraat Avatar convinced Arjun that it was his dharma to go to battleground and fight it out. We would be judged on the overall theme, the narration and the chatais.

The D-Time

The judges are supposedly late be half an hour. We start lighting our diyas comfortably. Suddenly, we are told to hurry up. Calculations have gone horribly wrong. The judges are asked to wait for some time outside the gate. They showed around the Rangoli for some time.

All effort is made to buy time. The Virat avatar is 2 storeys high. Completing it would be a colossal task within the time frame. Everybody rushes to complete the Virat Avatar. The Virat Avatar is 60% complete when the split call is given. Everybody rushes to dismantle the tables and hide everything.

A Risky Affair

In the mayhem, one fellow is injured. A bed had been dropped on his leg from high up. His leg has swollen and he is clearly in extreme pain. He is smuggled outside the hall to the hospital. Music (Shlokas etc) is running in the backdrop. Even that has been mixed up. Everything seems lost.

The Junta starts pouring in and wishing us Happy Diwali. Even on this festive occasion, the fiercely competitive Nehruites have nothing to cheer about. The Daru Party more or less stood cancelled. I haven't had dinner yet. We go out to have something. And even though, I wasn't really very much involved in the preparations - it was really difficult to swing the mood after that. Probably one of the most tiring and eventful Diwalis I have ever had.

Related Posts

Illumination and Rangoli: Day -1
Illumination and Rangoli: The Countdown

Illumination and Rangoli: The Countdown

Diwali in IITKgp is celebrated differently. Instead of firecrackers, we have Illu (the abbreviated form of Illumination) - something unique to Kgp.

Preparation for Illumination starts 15-30 days in advance and gains momentum in the last few days before Diwali. The idea, though novel - struck me as odd - specially the way it happens in Kgp.

1. Only the 1st year and 2nd year students are involved in the preparations. The entire hostel isn't.
2. The actual preparation takes place only in the final few days. 10-15 days aren't required at all. More so, I could never understand why Illu preparations had to happen after midnight when it could be easily done in the evening.
   
3. I couldn't see any point in everything being done by the students - themselves.

Armed with this + some additional funda (again a very strange culture of Kgp) that I had gathered from some of my seniors, I decided to stay out of Illumination as much as I could.

Therein began my tale of escapades, some of which become popular in the hall. Some - in my own estimate - were rather dumb. But nonetheless, it was an adventure worth trying instead of sitting in the hall doing menial things that were being instructed to me.

Day 13: 2000 hours

Since this was the first day, I had almost no idea. A common room meeting is called at 2130 hours. I decide to bunk it. I go to the library.

Day 12: 0000 hours

I don't feel like coming back to the hall - having bunked the meeting - knowingly. My cycle tyre is flat - punctured. I decide to spend the night in a friend's room in another hostel.

Day 11: 2000 hours

Day 10's strategy seemed really dumb to me. Someone else's room isn't the best place to spend a night. I decide to lock the room from outside after 2130 hours. The windows in the doors turn out to be really useful.

Day 10 upto Day 8

Everything is peaceful. I have no problems with my strategy.

Day 7: 2200 hours

I decide to go out for some fresh air. The moment I open the window - I see seniors standing gaping at the window and the lock in alternate fashion. I have to go to work that day.

Day 6: 0030 hours

I decide - enough is enough - I'll go back to the room and sleep.

Day 5: 2230 hours

Even though my strategy had been discovered, I couldn't see any reason that I shouldn't do it again. After all, nobody could break the lock of my room.

Unluckily, the trick is discovered again - for the door yields a bit to merciless banging - and I can be seen through an opening in the door. Bad luck yet again.

Those outside: "Mainak, give us the key."
Me: "I don't have them. My roommate has it."

I was in no mood to work through the night.

Day 4: 0400 hours

I couldn't come up with any good ideas. I decide to fall back on Day 13's strategy. But again I am caught. A senior calls me in the dead of the night.

"Mainak, come back to the hall."

Day 3: 0530 hours

Having been caught thrice, I decide to work - so as not to complicate matters. I feel the work is really awful. I have lost my sleep all for nothing.

Day 2 & Day 1:

By now, people are fed up with my tactics. They know I'll come when I want to come. I work for some time and go back to sleep before midnight.

Day 0:

It is Diwali day. This is the day when most of the work gets done. I decide to pitch in with a helping hand.

Many felt I couldn't exonerate myself from the guilt of the last 13 days by working a day or two. But for me, it was about being sensible and doing what seemed was most appropriate for me and my hostel.

P.S: I think I forgot to mention Daru night and the treat. The treat was somewhere around Day 13 and the Daru night was somewhere around Day 4 or 5. I do not remember exactly because I had skipped the Daru night.

Related Posts

Illumination and Diwali: Day 0
Illumination and Diwali: Day -1

A Curious Case of Jalebis and Roshogollas

A Sweet Treat

Looks yummy, doesn't it? Roshogollas and Jalebis. A Sweet Treat.

That is what I thought when we were first taken for the treat on 6th October. A Sweet Treat.

That day I learnt - It is nice to have sour food items too.

Why the treat?

Bimala Sweets at 0700 hours for a sweet treat. I was all confused. Has OP started again? Or is it the OP treat? Placement treat? Illumination treat.

I have never appreciated sweets much. More so, the idea that someone should push sweets down my throat is something I had never concocted in my wildest imagination.

But this was Nehru Hall. And Nehru Hall has 'some tempo'.

Tempo to do what I really don't know - but 'some tempo'. In Kgp lingo, tempo is the enthusiasm/zeal one shows in doing something. Higher the zeal - higher the tempo.

So for 'God knows what reason' we were taken for this treat. Most of us were puzzled. Even more puzzling was the presence of first year students.

"You won't be served again"

In the first round, we are served Jalebis. "Take as much as you can. You won't be served again".

I take two Jalebis.

What ensued can best be described in the C programming language as follows...

do{

if(!eating)
      Push 5 jalebis/roshogollas down his throat;

else
      Serve more; //"Please take atleast 3"

if(Professor's arrive)
      break;

}(1);

My final count

9 Roshogollas. 10 Jalebis.

Not as many as compared to many of my batchmates.

But I am not the kind of person who can swallow whatever is pushed down the throat.

For my throat takes only that much as my stomach can digest.

Trivandrum: Picturesque City Deep South

I have spent two vacations in Trivandrum now and although I cannot claim to have a diploma in matters relating to authentic South Indian experience - I can safely say that I much better equipped than I was a semester ago about matters quintessentially "Mallu".

For one, I can with fair degree of expertise, read the Malayalam script (though I need to improve upon the Kootaksharams - that is something Shashi Tharoor and I have in common). Here is my name in Malayalam.

മൈനാക്‌ 

Secondly, I have spent some time visiting people in and around Trivandrum - Kovalam beach, Shankhamugam beach, Kanyakumari et al.

Thirdly, I have tasted some Appams and Kadla Curry in a resturaunt downtown.

Kerala although having impressed me in many respects has also disappointed me.

For one, I was told of the magnificient food in Kerala. And though, I fully agree that the food is no doubt good, the spicy and the coconutty nature of the food is bound to discourage any non-Mallu from trying it.

Secondly, Kerala though largely a literate state - has people who are unwilling to converse in Hindi or English.

Thirdly, the trouble with Bengal is the trouble with Trivandrum. The colour Red. The communist colour.

What I liked about Trivandrum was

Their attachment to culture - be it Kalaripayattu, Kathakali, Onam or Ayurveda.

More so, the way Trivandrum being a traditional city is moving forward in the 21st century without detaching itself from the past is worth marvelling!

And the way people in this wonderful city treat guests is something I could go on talking of.

Thanks a lot, Trivandrum!