Gag bag

Computer games are a one thing which totally mesmerizes every child, and its not just the children, people of all ages get attracted to them. And people actually achieve great heights in it. There are online games, competitions, and even prizes worth thousands at stake. So now the innocence in the play and the approach to it is lost I feel, and the vying goes to much higher levels.

I too have played ands still play my share of games. And of all the genres, I love and play the strategy and sport the most. Many others I haven’t tried, and maybe will never try. And I am not great in any of these games. I came to know about it when I saw LAN games being played in our college. And boy! Don’t people play to extreme levels? But I never played so much of the games, and I realized that my approach to playing these games has been totally different. As far as strategy games go, the main thing is to like defeat the opponent with a stronger army, stronger weapons or that sorts. Or earn lots more points, money or whatever is the objective of the game. So once that objective is over, the game gets over.

Well, I never play these games to win. I mean I do, but that is not my sole motive. Now I will furnish this with an example, so that it becomes clear. For instance, Age of empires. I am sure you have heard that name. If you haven’t, then really, you have no right to live. Hehe. But ya, so in age of empires, what people do is create their town very quickly, and annihilate the opponents. But I like to savour all the facilities provided. I never build my town in a haywire manner. I love to arrange the buildings in a very systematic way. Like the houses should all be together, and then the academic and templar buildings should be near the houses, but not to near. Then the army etc should be surrounding the residential area. The wall should be atleast some minimum distance away from any building. I usually build a three walled wall. With bombard towers placed strategically so that their areas of coverage don’t overlap, and still they don’t leave any area insecure. And then the bombard towers can’t be attacked directly by infantry or cavalry since there is a wall separating them both. Then the farms are a little outside near the forest etc, and near the water source. In short I like to have a big area in which I can arrange all stuff very very nicely, so that anyone will be proud to see such a village.

Now you may come up with a point that there is no time for all these niceties since the others attack in the meantime. Hence, I never play with more than 2 opponents. Then I play at the easiest level. So that I don’t get bothered while decorating all this. And this is the approach I use every time I play.

Then while attacking, I send the troops in a very nice formation. And send the army on three sides. And attack together. And it feels so nice to play this way, because you feel like you can really vanquish the enemy this way. Again, I love to perform conversions a lot. And hence have a whole army of priests at my disposal. I know people hardly use priests and missionaries, but I love using all those.

Then again, I found another thing I love doing is pitting the different war characters in it against one another. In a race I mean. It really is wonderful. And I send them from one corner to another, and had at one time actually calculated the speed of each animal or infantry or whatever different men are present in it. I don’t know why, but this is the way I enjoy playing.

Take another example. Transport Tycoon Deluxe. By far the best, most addictive game I have played till now. In it you have to own a transport company, and set up rail, road, ship and air travels by building stations and airports etc in cities. There are bridges and tunnels and all that in it. It’s just wonderful. In that too, I never built or used the roads already provided. I built all the roads myself, and all were at their most lengths straight. So that the buses attain their maximum speeds on them. There were never rail and road crossings, because the buses used to get run over by trains in that case J. Even the station and the airport etc were stationed so that they will be in the core cities. As you advanced, you got faster and stronger vehicles. But I never replaced all the vehicles. I used to keep one of each type till the end. And continue their services. It was fun seeing the buses overtake their older counterparts. The thing is that I hate a mess of roads and rails as I saw the computer bots in it built. Or even the other people I have seen play. I like things very systematic and very orderly. I know it beats the purpose of the game, but then, there are never directions as to how to play. So as far as I am enjoying there should be no problem. Just wanted to ask, does anyone have any such weird ways of playing any games, which totally beat the purpose?

Anyway, nothing great, but just thought that it’s weird and hence felt like sharing it. The thing which triggered this is the competitions they show on TV about LAN games like AOE, CS and the likes being played. So this thought..!!!

There is something about standing in the queues that always humors me. And again, this is one thing I have sort of understood lately, observed lately, and looking back, I can relate it to almost every queue or line or sort of ordered collection or giving out of stuff, be it whatever.
Ok, so let me get to the point first, and then I ll furnish the same with examples to establish what I am saying.
I was in line to pay the electricity bill, and there were quite a few number of people (around 7-8) behind me. I too wasn't the first in line, and hence had time to observe the behavior of people. The first thing which strikes you about everyone is that they get pissed off standing in the line. I mean how-much-ever long the line maybe, they are never happy. Everyone wants to be first. But of course that is hardly possible in a country like India, so well, every Ram, Laxman and Bharat has to stand in line. Each one stands in his/her own way, cross legged, a little out of line, some with their hands on their hips, others with crossed hands. Every person acts or tries to act nonchalant. You know atleast one person in the line is looking at you or just glancing past you. But you act as if you don't care, or you never know you are being watched. And it is here that I came to know that each person becomes aware of the thing he is going to submit. Like for instance with the bill, it here here that every person starts reading it as though it is of great importance and he/she ll never get a second chance to read it or go through it again. The same bill lying at their place for like 10 days never mattered. But here it is the object of utmost importance. You start reading the intricate detail, even the small print you never bothered to even look at. Maybe its just something you do to while away your time while in the queue, but everyone does do it. And its not just here. Even when like submitting your answer sheet, you have that little instinct in you to just read a bit before actually handing it over to the invigilator. Or in a bank or in the students section in college, while giving up the form, you feel like taking a last glance, as if bidding your last adieu. Is it the disappointment of the parting, one can never say, but this is a really interesting habit I came across in people!!!
Another habit I came across in people is trying to take a look at what the person next in line is doing. Or what all he/she has filled in her form. Here, the peeping person will try to adopt different techniques, like acting as if he is looking in his paper/form, but actually trying to view the form of the other person through the corner of his eye. Maybe moving a little outside the line, so that he/she gets a better view. And then, you judge the person on how that person has filled the form. Or maybe, help yourself to some praise. Like in a bill line, if the other person has an extravagant bill, you comment yourself saying, " Wow! I saved so much considering this persons bill!" Or in a school admission line, one might say, "Hehe! I got more than him surely in the last semester."
Such are the different facets one gets to observe just standing in the line for 20mins. Its no wonder, human psychology is such a sought after study area. After all, it has so much scope, as you come across it almost at every corner and turn. One thing is sure though, that while standing in a line the next time, instead of acting like you are reading your paper/form, you can adopt this new habit of trying to decipher the techniques adopted by other people to act cool..!! Maybe, you can come up with more such nuances seen in the human behavior!!!

Santa : Kyu khade ho idhar? Yaha to kitni lambi katar hai!
I said, "Kyu ki ye queue hai..!!! Yahi to logon ke behavior ke P, Q, R, S dekhne milte hai!!"

Well, I thought a lot on this, as to what all can I write. There is just too much... But I guess I can't summarize any better than this. Friends mean
Symphony...!!!
If you can fulfill this, then you are the one. Else, you can never be the one...!!!

A Traffic Policeman...

I don't know, but lately I have suddenly started observing things happening on the road. And I have realized that being a traffic policeman won't be fun. This is not against any particular person, and my apologies if you happen to be one, but atleast form my point of view, their social life must be in real problems. It might be for all people at a high post of power, but since I observed a traffic police, this is all I can comment on at present.
The worst thing is that a traffic policeman faces thousands of people everyday, but I am sure he won't be making even one friend everyday. Every person he stops or catches is already in a state of fear, lest he finds some offense against him and books him. Then, every person he talks to is artificial totally. Like for example, "Soda na..!! Nahi kela kahi aamhi"... or " Aho! Kharach ahe license, fakta ghari visarlo ahe"... "Aho 2 ach diwas zaale PUC expire houn, kay ata"...
In any case, not one of them is true. All are trying their level best to cajole, coax the authority in front of them. And any talk the policeman tries to make, is perceived by the commoner as just "nothing". He is just in a hurry to get over with the situation, so he will laugh at anything the policeman says. The policeman eventually meets not a single honest person.
Secondly, he is the cruel man in everyone's eyes. Not one of them like him, and in reality must be cursing him trying to prove that the police himself was wrong. So no one wishes good for him as well..!!!
Even if a friend does come in your path, then what guarantee do you have that he isn't your friend(here you are the policeman) just for secring the safety from fines. So you start to doubt your actual friends just because some of them may be that way...!!! Which is really bad..!!!
And then, there is the system of taking bribes. If he takes a bribe, people curse him saying that police here has bad scruples. If he doesn't, then they say the police are just out to loot them...!!!
Besides this there are other things like bad enviroment to work in. But harder than that are the above points I feel. So its not going to be a cherished occupation..!!! Still, their work is no doubt commendable...!! So kudos to them..!!!

An incident which happened a while ago.

I was on my way to my semester end exams (which already means we have lots to look forward to. And it was some palkhi (palanquin) day or something, I don’t exactly recollect, but the road to the college was jam packed. As usual, the vehicles outnumbered the traffic regulators by a huge margin, and the latter were having a hard time coping up with all the mess. Now the college chowk (square) was a total confusion, because as luck would have been, the traffic signals weren’t working as well. So basically, it was the normal Pune traffic scenario.

Now there are two types of traffic police. Actually I have no idea whether this is how the system is everywhere, but I find it really hard to believe this. The ones in the white and khaki are the higher ones apparently, and they can give you a rough time, by fining you and looting you off your money etc on any pretext. So they have authoritative powers. The ones in blue however just carry a whistle. They can’t fine you, stop you, ask you for your license. I guess they are only for regulating the traffic. Or they are just amateurs learning the trade secrets. I don’t know what, but that day I saw how people take advantage of the lack of power. Or as we say in Marathi, ‘Mau laagla mhanun kopryaani khanala’ (Taking advantage just cause no ones saying anything).

The ‘blue’ traffic police had stopped one side of the road, and was allowing the others to continue, so that he jam could be solved. In the scene present, he was doing an awesome job keeping his cool in the hot sun and the heat of the traffic and the pollution. But some bus driver from the direction he was stopping had other plans. He stopped when told, but as soon as the blue guy turned his back to him, he started again. The blue guy heard that and blew a shrill sharp whistle. The bus driver didn’t budge and continued his climb up the flyover (there is a flyover just beyond the signal). The blue guy then lost it and went running alongside the bus, forgetting all about the traffic and started banging the bus from its side, calling out vague and totally unheard of swear words (which I think all mean the same apparently). The bus driver just looked out of his tall window, but still continued his slow steady climb. The blue guy then took off his shoe, and threw at the bus. It missed a window just by a margin. Then he took off his other shoe and threw it at the bus again. All this just because he didn’t have the power to stop the bus and fine the driver.

The funny thing to observe was that in all this time, not a single person moved in the other lanes. They were busy enjoying, commenting, laughing, giggling on the whole fun drama they saw. If only instead of signals we could have a one minute laugh video or something like that, all people would stop and not a single one would break the traffic signals…

Lack of power, or rather the knowledge that the other person doesn’t have power to hurt you makes you do stuff which you shouldn’t. Hence, its better we don’t start having this superiority thing inside of you, which makes you think you are better than the other, and just abide the rules and live peacefully and amicably as if all are equal. Equality in all its essence just states this I guess.

This is the second with the unforgiving age title. Well this is because of another dilemma I faced or may face in the near future.
Till now, when walking up to an elder person, or anyone whom you perceive to be elder to you, you normally address the person as 'uncle' ('kaka'), or aunty ('kaku'). But now the problem is as I get older and older, there comes a point when I have to start calling them, I don't know, like, "Hey", or "bhaaau"and so on. In which I don't give out that I am immature and naive and young, and that still I respect the other guy and give him his proper place. Like maybe how our elder generation now addresses their peers and their elder generation. Like if my dad wants to get, say, an electrician home, or a mechanic then he calls up that guy, or goes to that office and directly addresses him. But if I go, I still call him 'kaka'.
Now the problem is till when can I carry on doing this. That till how long can I call others kaka? Or kaku? When should the transformation from me being a youngster take place?
Really. Getting old is no piece of cake!!

This is quite ironic really. I don’t know, its funny, and I can’t believe its been three long years since I entered engineering. And I can’t actually place anything as to what I did in these 3 years. And I still think many a times that it’s all a waste of time. I don’t still know why I entered this, but then it’s not like I whiled away all my time doing nothing. I did still learn many things, and maybe these are the things which are important in life ahead. And it’s not like only engineering teaches these things, these must be the things everyone must be learning at some brink of their lives. But then, graduating one course itself has been such a hell of a time, so I don’t think I can live it through anything else, to really understand if other courses teach the same thing. And this is also for the misconception that it’s only engineering which gives you a “great” mindset. I totally deny that. I think every course has its special place and has its own goods to offer. So puffing yourself just because you did some engineering course is going to do you no good. Cause in the longer run, it doesn’t matter which certificate you hold, but its your attitude you develop, your broad mindedness which carry more weight.

This is my experience, so like always I don’t care what other experiences you may have had or need your supervision in any aspect. Again I state this is more of what my degree course has taught me rather than engineering alone.

Engineering! Upon entering I was mostly in the same flow as that of 10^th ad 12^th. So I hardly cared to think as if I am entering anything new. I always thought that life moulds around what you do. But this was the first thing I learnt (I learnt this pretty late, but ya, still, it was meant to be learnt earlier, so it’s alright). Also, another thing I always thought was that if you do well, or try to be good, life is always good to you. This is true, but many a times you have to be sly. You have to act tactfully rather than just being the nice guy. Because the world is not that good a place where you get everything covered in whipped cream and a cherry on the top.

Friends are a necessary part in everyone’s life. But you can’t just choose who will be your friend and who won’t. You will never know with whom you cross lines at the next instant. And engineering taught me this. Besides, many of the friends are just to come and go. I don’t know, and this is not against anyone in particular, but overall this is the vibe I got. That you have a friend for some particular task, and that’s all. It doesn’t matter to him (and then eventually to me) to be involved in any other activity. Does this mean I become paranoid? But I learnt this too. That it’s not possible to stay a lone warrior. You need those people for those specific tasks no matter what happens. The one who understands this earlier wins the battle. And its not that all are the same way. Some of the people just leave a mark on you, and it’s hard to believe that people meet at you the strangest place and at the strangest of times. Really, just like some angel maybe. But that’s how life goes. You need those miracles to happen.

How to study? I always thought this was maybe the easiest of all things. That you put in effort and you get results. But here it works the other way round. You have to study smart rather than study hard. Its stupidity, but that’s how things work. Also if you want to do anything extra, you have to find your own time. No one cares for you, no one even checks if you are involved in anything else and hence maybe coordinate or adjust anything for you. You have to study at the right time, rather than throughout as we always thought. Also, you can’t always be studying, but rather you have to make your own time table so that you can do the things you like in perfect balance with the things you have to do.

You got to have tremendous self confidence for staying alive here. And you have to be firm on your feet no matter what the whole world keeps on blabbering. Because there are so many decisions to take, that it’s a game of luck and timing rather than only hard work. You got to aim for the thing you want and take decisions in that way, and then it doesn’t matter what you do in between in order to reach there. And this is where the confidence is important. It’s important not to get distracted by the things people keep doing around us, or the things you hear. You do them if you feel it right. Hence it teaches you to be truthful to yourself rather than to others.

Engineering or maybe any degree course offers you lots of time. And this is a reality, which maybe people deny when actually doing it, but all realize it one time or the other. And this spare time is to develop your skills. It doesn’t have to be academic, but it matters that you do hone them, because this is a turning point of your life. And after this you aren’t going to get so much time to think let alone put anything into practice.

Engineering puts you center stage. On a bigger level that is. And you see that all around you, there are thousands of people vying to be the same person maybe in your mind. So it’s up to you how to stand apart from all of them.

Things never happen the way you want them to plan for them to happen to. And this is a very important thing I learnt. I never plan as such, but the little hopes we have don’t always work out. So you got to face the things ahead of you, rather than shrink back and try to go some other way. You have to complete the task at hand; you can’t leave it half done.

At any point if you are low, or think that you just cant make it through, just take some off. Get on your bike/car; go off on a ride alone. Sit with nature, look into infinity. Do the things you like, indulge in your favourite activity. Eat an ice cream maybe. Have a soda. Things will come back to place once you are fresh again. And there is nothing in life which can go totally wrong. Every thing has a certain reason, and yours is to try to find what it is, and how to get over it. Ignoring it also helps in some cases. Till you die, the life is yours and no one can tell you how to live it or what to do with it. You can get suggestions and help, but ultimately it’s your own decision. And this is the most important lesson.

And ya. Extra curricular activities. Its no use shying away from them just because you feel you will waste time doing that. If you want to do it, do it, and adjust the other things to fit into your schedule. Because later on it’s no use repenting. And later on you will never find such a stage to show your talents, so it’s almost like now or never. Just do it!

People change. Their attitudes change. Learn to cope up with that. Be frank, be honest with yourself, and be the ‘you’ you always wanted to be. It’s the only thing which can save you in this world. The competition, the pulling of legs, the cheating and are all a part of this, and they don’t make any difference.

The engineering outlook. I don’t know what this means, but I have heard people talking about it. I think it’s the same you get when you start getting older and know that you have things to do other than just run and play and attend exams. You got to know the hows and the whys rather than just accepting the skeleton and nodding. It’s like asking the most questions, which was the basic things we learnt since school. It’s only that now, you start understanding the reason behind it. There is never the wrong and the right, so go for it.

A load of crap along with all this. That’s the thing I have been doing for the past three years. And a year more to go too…!!! But ya, it’s taken me long, but now I can atleast live in this atmosphere without feeling totally out of place, because at the back of my mind, I always have my happy place in which I can go whenever I want, no matter who comes or what happens.

Actually, these are the years in which we learn what we are. And knowing yourself, being transparent is the most difficult thing to achieve. It’s rather unlikely to totally understand yourself, but the more you go towards perfection, the more happier and settled you will feel.

Music, sports, friends are the most important things, and they complete the fourfold life of ours, with a degree certificate one hand, and a job under your belt... (of which the latter two aren't that important, just that they are necessary for a good life) :)