All The World's Not A Stage

Dedicated to... well you know who.

All The World’s Not A Stage

All the world’s not a stage

so stop acting

and become yourself

all the world’s not a stage

so stop watching your back

and learn to relax

There ain’t no ever shining spotlight on you

and no audience to judge your every move

no one really cares, what you say or think or do and believe

and it matters to none, what he thinks of thee

To fit in, is important. I agree

but would you do it at the cost of your individuality?

The mob moves with you, but the mob’s cavalier

the mob only wishes to remain a mob forever

You may choose, to be the mob

Scoffing, over the ones who differ

talking, as if from the higher power

acting out, like you’re something else

making remarks, everyone agrees upon

and laughs along, with every statement you make.

You may choose, to fake yourself

so much, that your act becomes your life

telling me, that I don’t know the real you

but in reality,

I don’t know the person you could have been.

I don’t know the you

who doesn’t choose to only hear, but knows how to listen

I don’t know the you

who doesn’t choose to apprehend, but knows how to appreciate

and I don’t know the you

who doesn’t choose to laugh on, but knows how to laugh with

But I do know, that when life slaps you in the face sometimes

you do not turn towards the mob you play with

you run, you run away from your fears

and from the results of all the “feats” you have achieved

but when finally confronted, you choose the one who chose to differ

and you come and beg for help, knowing that you may never return the favour

but you don’t care for that, because this too

is a part of your act

You don’t need to speak on everything

regardless what you say makes sense or not

and it is absolutely not necessary

to humiliate everyone at every spot.

It is not essential, to pick on someone

if you do not know any other means of having fun

and it does not help you grow

if you sow the seeds of hatred everywhere.

You need to understand

that popularity and respect don’t go hand in hand

and you need to amend to realise

actions are not always results of obligations

though yours, may have been

but others do exercise their choices

and a choice not made, is far from a sign of inability

it’s a mark of character, will and strength

But you, do not understand this,

because you never sat down to think

and again you may argue, that I don’t know you

but I say that I know as much as I perceive

no more, and certainly no less.

Despite your charm and vigour in the populace

you force me to believe that in life, you lack in some place

Perhaps you were bought up in a different household than mine

and didn’t get a chance to learn simple morals and conducts.

A wild beast breathes within you

untamed, willing to be unchained

Who lacks basic civilities,

or has given them up, to maintain the decorum of the mob.

Whatever may be the cause, it does not concern me

but when I have to sit with you, it suffocates me

that I have an equal, who missed out on basic etiquettes

who was so deprived, that he never conceived basic proprieties

my heart churns for you, but there’s nothing I can do

for you have chosen your path to be.

And for when you need not be the beast;

you act, to be a normal human being

as you are, a master of false performance

So be it, and be as you will

but try not to hurt someone, who chose to be sane

and follows the ways of human conduct

to chose compassion, against mockery

who valued honour, over fame

This life we get, is our own and no one else’s

and to live lives of others’ was not what we were meant to be

You won’t believe me, but I shall say

that your social life is not as important as you think

and popularity is a college of illusion

which breaks on graduation day

Life, is not a contest of popularity

and what you feel is attachment, not loyalty.

I shall say, that “tomorrow never comes”

is no excuse for insanity today

and following the mindless pack

makes you a zombie not a mortal.

A simple fact to explain my reason

that most people follow, what most people do

and most people today, are unhappy too

I shall say, that if you love yourself, others will too

but for that, to yourself you need to be true

When you feel boredom, it’s not an excuse to waste someone’s stint

it’s an incentive to your mind, to go and be creative

Going with every new trend, just means you don’t know yourself well

and also remember, that amongst the mob of illusion

three true friends are all you need in any situation

Life, is a sensitive game

one mistake and its game over

so try and tell the truth, and you won’t even have to live in fear

Your mind is a beautiful place, protect it from plagiarism

And try not to hate mean people, they’re just ignorant and living in fear

it’s the insecurity they possess, which brings out the ugliness in them

Try not to lower your standards, to fit into the herd

as the benefits are less, but the cost is too much

When you think of revenge, try out some moderation

as life’s long enough and it balances every equation

And remember, a lot of suffering in the world is due to human ego

try to study and learn to overcome it

If my words had any meaning to you

do sit down and ponder

if the time for your act is over

if you should go back to the world which was yours

and be proud of who you are, as an individual

with unique choices, challenging the mob

and your own views, and opinions and life,

Or

you have walked into the act so deep

you have forgotten how to get out

you don’t know how to stop acting

and this act of yours has become a reality

then, I’d say

all the world’s a stage

so try, and start acting.

-          Vishal Gupta

March 26^th, 2011

But The Moon Is Still There

This one's dedicated to three very special girls. I thank them for teaching me two very essential things to know about life. One, that there's nothing more richer and more pleasant than life. And two, that whatever may be the situation today, life has one very nice thing about itself, it goes on. Cheers to the CG triology.

But The Moon Is Still There

Walking by the woods one day,

I saw a little girl play

I knew not who you were

But I knew I needed to stay

Watching you there, I felt I needed to know more

I knew you saw me too

but neither made a move

I took the first step, a calm greeting was all I could

That day, forgotten in the pages of the story

I know we still cherish, and revere the memory

what if, I wouldn’t have stopped

what is, you hadn’t noticed me

what if, after I greeted you, you’d have replied lame

as though I were just another shepherd, who happened to pass your way.

But you replied, and so it began

a story of two souls divine

what began as strangers in a world of bane

slowly became, each other’s greatest strength.

People say, what a small world we have

but I’d rather have it small

than to have missed knowing you

‘coz I fear to imagine where I would have been today

had it not been for you.

I remember the time

when you saw black days in life

and somehow, you thought of me in the time of peril

I know not what I did, but perhaps I comforted you

It was the first time you said, that you trust me

it meant more to me than anything before that ever

because one may like or love or idolize a person

but it takes a lot of courage to trust another being

and I was determined to live up to it

And it was the very first time,

that you asked me for something…

to take care of you.

I remember how, you wished me one day

feeling glad, that I was born

thankful to have me in your life

hopeful, that I feel in my heart, as time passes on

how much I mean to you

you said it, from the bottom of your heart

may my good times multiply

till they’re flying of the chart!

One night I called you, when I was mournful

I didn’t tell you what my enigma was

but you only knew that I was sad

that, was enough for you to know, and you needed no more

you came to foster my happiness

that’s when you said, ‘remember,

no matter what fate brings for you

you wont let yourself down

because someone cares for you a lot

and will always be there for you.’

That was the first time ever

someone had said that to me

and I knew it was the first time in my life

someone had meant that to me.

Slowly between those late night chats

those little smiles and well-done pats

between funny things and things difficult

I realised our lives, were to be sewn as one

we knew it both and we knew it well

we knew it when we talked

we knew, it between the silences

we knew it when a sudden smile would cross our lips

on the utterance of the other’s name

we knew it when we prayed, for the other in sickness and in health

when we would know, that the other is not well

without even seeing the other’s face

we knew it when we would just know, when the other was about to call

we knew it between those endless talks,

which seemed to pass in moments

we knew when we’d work hard for entire weeks

just to reward ourselves with a talk with the other

when God would intervene, to make our ends meet

and I knew, that it was you, when you said, ‘I’m there for you.’

Even today, I carry a bit of you in my heart

though we had parted our ways

but I know that memories always stay

I hold on to them, ‘coz even when everything changes

memories do not

I choose, not to regret the loss I made

but to cherish the memories I had with you

it used to be enough for us to know that we share the same moon every night

even though we were miles apart

I do hope, of you forgetting me

but I know you can’t, just like I can’t either

and I wish, I hadn’t told you that I’ll be always there with you

because now, you have trouble in letting me go

and I know, that one day, my special friend will return

because even though we live in a world where nothing lasts forever

but whenever I see the sky

the moon is still there.

-          Vishal Gupta

February 4^th, 2011

Second Options - Epilogue

Continued from Second Options - Part 6

            Every corner of Netaji auditorium drowned in a sea of cheer as my Hall rejoiced. As soon as the judge announced the winners, Ishenam Chamatkari jumped beside me and before I could think of what just happened, I was hugged by Juice. Everyone jumped on the stage and congratulated each other. Every person who lived under the same roof with me was overjoyed with the feeling but I felt a bit out of place at that moment. I did feel the sensation of a hard-earned victory but I could not understand what made everyone so excited about the win. Maybe being the kaata seccy, I did miss something. I saw Chamatkari again and his nose was bleeding most probably because someone had hit him while all that jumping and humping, but Chamatkari didn’t seem to care. At that time the most important thing for him was the victory he had deserved and earned. Soon I even came face to face with JJ. For the first time, he did not give me a dirty look and I went ahead and hugged him. Nitin patted me from the back and I actually lifted him up in my arms. After all, who could play a better dragqueen than her him. We all gathered up outside Netaji to fill the air of IIT Kharagpur with the name of our Hall. Then everyone marched back towards the place which had bonded us all close together.

            I didn’t go. I found a bench mid-way and stopped to think, would this have been possible had JJ not been strict with us? Perhaps he was not wrong in tormenting my life. As a G. Sec, he had the responsibility to ensure the work is done and he did his job fastidiously. Though it did create hinder my own personal works, but that didn’t mean that his job was wrong. People wouldn’t have bonded so well had they not worked in those hard days during Illu. Had Satyaraghava not brought me tonight, I wouldn’t have witnessed the grand celebration where happiness was oozing out of every square inch of our bodies. Had JJ not scared me into it, I would have stayed back in my room and missed the fundae of elocution which has been passed down by generations of IITians in my Hall and I’d have remained a reluctant speaker. The Hall wouldn’t have been united to work towards the common goal of winning the Inter-Hall General Championship which not only taught us the technical aspects of our work but also the principles of working in a team.

            I got up from the bench, and walked towards the elated family which was waiting for me in my Hall.

            With this, I end my tell of tales this year. Second Options will always remain close to my heart as the memoirs of the year when I learnt a lot in life and I’m sure that not only for me but for all my friends reading this, this series would be a special one which they shall all cherish an unforgettable year which passed through their lives. For my juniors reading this, I’ll say that no Jaishith is ever bad. He’ll just do his work and he’ll do it as finely as he can. If your work conflicts with his’, and if he does his work better than you can defend yours, you’ll have to comply with his wishes. That’s why every JJ and every Gambheer is chosen very selectively, because they have the responsibility to keep the Hall going. They are the reason that you can hold up your head high and feel proud of your Hall.

            Lastly, I’d like to thank all the patient people who went through my work, gave me feedback, complemented, and commented. Specially Gambheer, JJ, Juice, Satyaraghava, Shin Chan, Tanmoy, and you.

            Tanmay, this last article was dedicated to you. I hope you enjoyed it.

            Shin Chan, loved the daily debates with you. Always gave me food for thought. Hope we keep it up for long.

            Satyaraghava, thanks for all the great comments and support. It always helped me to keep writing against all odds.

            Juice, my friend for all seasons. Thanks for all the support you have shown. Though I wouldn’t mind if you could curb down on your menta spree a bit, but that’s now a part of who we are, isn’t it?

            JJ. Thanks for showing such a sporty spirit. I apologise for all that I wrote.Just consider it as an innocent hobby of a junior who respects you a lot. As for the tempo, keep it up. J

            Gambheer. You were the best roomie I ever had dude. I seriously miss you. No one could be a better G. Sec HR than you man! Kudos to the God of DTJJ.

            And You. For sticking by my till now.

…

Curtains

Second Options - Part 6

Continued from Second Options - Part 5

            It was one of those days in the life of an IITian when he slows down his fast pacing life for a while, looks up in the sky at the beautiful clouds and thinks, what is the meaning of life? What is he doing out here? Is he living for a better future? Is he contributing towards the great nation? Has he made it as large as he wanted to make it? Does he have a good girlfriend? Why does everyone seem to think that he is a jerk? Why did he have problems with all three of his roommates? Was he the problem?

            It was one of those days in the life of an IITian, when an Aerodynamics test was waiting on the other side of the night and all I could do was to look at the watch, and then the calendar, sensing my pulses as the terror of time slowly engulfed my soul. I looked at my notes; there was a lot of scribbling and stunning patterns which could put even Georges Barbier to shame. Nonetheless, they could not help me in my test the other day. I opened some e-books which I’d downloaded earlier for reference, but after struggling with them for 15 minutes, I would find my true calling and get back to browsing through the junior batch’s girls’ profiles on facebook which would surely take much more than just 15 minutes. Slowly, I was reaching towards my goal and by that I mean the syllabus for the test. A girlfriend still seemed like a distant dream. Though there was a slight chance with… but no, I needed to focus on my test first. These things could wait (or so I thought). It was around 8 P.M. and I geared up for another night out when Jaishith entered to my room.

            ‘What are you still doing here?’

            ‘Ummm… studying? I have a test tomorrow!’ I replied.

            ‘So do I.’

            I knew what was coming next. Whenever Jaishith too had the load, it meant load for me. I waited for him to continue.

            ‘Hindi drams. Netaji Auditorium. Now!’

            I looked at his face. It’s not that I hadn’t guessed what he was coming at, but with the test the other day, I wasn’t sure if by guilt conscience would let me go cheer my Hall’s Hindi dramatics team which would surely take atleast 90 minutes of my precious time. I knew that in those 90 minutes the maximum air flow I would be able to study would have nothing related to my test. Still going would mean my guilt eating me up and compiling to Jaishith’s wishes, which I was reluctant to do. Jaishith was still staring at me while I was lost in my dubious thoughts. The sound of the “ping” from my laptop added to his advantage and my guilt. But it was another reason for me to stay in my room near my laptop. I told Jaishith I’ll come after sending an “important mail.” The truth, as you would guess by now was that I wasn’t going to go.

            Ten minutes later I was carrying Satyaraghava on my cycle for Netaji. I still wonder how he talked me into it but as far as I remember, there weren’t very many words on his part in the conversation; and whatever words he used were distinct, clear, short, focussed and reminded me of the Jaishith of the old days. Even the empty wing and mess contributed to his cause. If I didn’t go, I’d be the loner who remained behind to mug while all his batch-mates went for a cock-a-maniac cause. It funny how at some point of time, the seniors train your batch-mates so well in tormenting you that the seniors themselves have to do pretty less to control your life. After all, peer pressure works way better than power pressure. The seniors were geniuses of this art and I was slowly learning the tricks of their trade.

            My Hall occupied three full rows of the Netaji Auditorium. Satyaraghava set up his camera from the best angle possible and got ready to capture the history my Hall was about to make. It turned out that Jaishith’s ‘now’ had a different definition than what had been taught to me in primary school as there were still two Halls to perform their act. Jaishith came beside our rows, I wanted to ask him why he had called us so early but then decided against it. He commanded us to hoot at the time of other Hall’s performances and to stand in between the rows as bouncers maintaining proper decorum in the Auditorium when our act was underway. Somehow, he managed to give me a reason for calling me early without being asked. But this was certainly going to take more than 90 minutes. As I stood up to leave, Gambheer called out,

            ‘Something wrong?’

            ‘No. Why?’

            ‘Why are you standing?’

            With 50 pairs of Azadian eyes looking at me, I replied, ‘nothing, something stuck on my seat. Manav can you shift a bit?’ And with that I gave in this night in the name of my Hall.

- After 3 Hours -

            I guessed that since I waited for so long, it wouldn’t harm to wait till the results. There was a little dispute over the results. One Hall had performed a splendid act but left some mist in the air making it hard to see and breathe in the Auditorium. That Hall argued that technically, they hadn’t broken any rules but the judged finally gave them the penalty of a 15% which eventually cost them a podium finish. The judges, after a little studapa of their own, finally announced the winners. My heartbeats paced up as the bronze winner was announced. We didn’t get that. I could hear the blood in the veins of Tanmay rush up as the silver prize was taken away by some other Hall. Now everyone waited for the biggie. The judges, enjoying every moment of their footage took their time and then finally opened their mouth to announce the winner of the Hindi Dramatics. It took them four seconds to announce the results and in those four seconds, a plethora of emotions rushed through me.

            ‘And the…’ I looked at the face of Jaishith. I could see the fire in his eyes. This was the moment he was waiting for. HIS defining moment. The moment for which he’d worked very hard and he deserved the call.

‘winner of Inter-Hall…’ I looked at the Hall team. Weeks of hard work and missed sleep was showing on their faces. This was something they had earned. This was the moment they were actually alive in. They were living every passing moment of this.

            ‘Hindi Dramatics is…’

To be concluded

Second Options - Part 5

           Continued from Second Options - Part 4

           For the KGPially challenged population, I’d explain what Illu is. For starters, it’s NOT a song from a Subhash Ghai movie where a flower blooms in a garden and the insect sings “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

           Illu in IIT Kgp is far from it. Every year people residing in a Hall in Kgp get together to celebrate the festival of Diwali in a wonderful and unique manner. There is a beautiful show of lights stunningly drawn into carefully carved patterns depicting various scenes usually taken from a mythological story. But the catch is, we don’t take a Chinese light and wrap it around the Hall in a snake-like manner. We make the decorations from old school, i.e. with diyas only. Thousands of diyas are mounted over an array of bamboo sticks which are lighted up on the Diwali evening illuminating the Hall with patterns one can only see and feel proud of. However, that’s the last 15 minutes of the show. Before that there’s a pyramidal preparation which goes on for 50 days. Getting bamboos, painting them in patterns, making loops from steel wires, tying wires to the bamboo sticks, dropping fire-proof powder on the bamboos, setting up wind-sheets and a lot more goes into making 20’ by 60’ structures. People work in dangerous conditions and miss sleep and classes. Often, people work 15’ above the ground supported by only beds and tables taken from their rooms because they do not need to sleep in their rooms anyways with the work incomplete. Some years back, the festival of Illumination was turned into an inter-Hall event and Illu now became more than just a festival of celebration. It was now a struggle for victory and every Hall spent the last bit of their energy to win this. Personally, I was not in favour of such an event but the debate over the significance of Illu was as old as Rajnikanth’s grandfather. I once told Gambheer that Illu was just an inter-Hall event and should not get so much importance. He replied,

           ‘Just an inter-Hall? Just an inter-Hall. Vishal, it’s so much more than “just an inter-Hall.” I mean… that first loop. Oh! what a heaven that first loop is. The dildo, like a sesame freckle breast of an angel resting gently on the heap of pliers and cutters below, wires mingling in a seductive pas de deux. And then… a paintbrush! The most playful little paintbrush! Then a dip of dye, a flush of paint and a… a patty of design so exquisite, swirling on the bamboo, mixing in the can and separating again in a fugue of dark and light so… delightful. This is no mere array of diyas on a bamboo stick and wind sheet, Vishal. This is God, speaking to us though Hall.’

           That was the last time I ever debated with anyone over the topic of Illu. But as God would have it, the next month was dedicated to the festival of Illu. Everyday Juice and Gambheer would come at 9 pm banging doors and jugading junta. After a week, they didn’t even have to do that. They’d just come up to the door and smile at me as the devil does whenever another soul enters the gates of Hell. Once I was on my way to empty my bowels when Aanchal came to call people to work. He refused to believe my “routine excuse” and almost dragged me to the Illu ground. Sometimes, I would take shelter in the not-so illuminating Halls as it seemed insane to me to have an Aerodynamics test the other day and the only study of aerodynamics I would be doing was throwing useless wire loops on the ground and seeing how far they’d fly. It was also quite acrophobic for me to climb that grid of beds, tables and chairs and tie diyas around the border of the structure. But my limit of tolerance was crossed when the table from my room went missing one day as Gambheer just couldn’t say no to “his own feeling of responsibility.” I still believe that my feelings for my table were more than his feelings for the responsibility and that he should’ve asked me before giving it in but when I told him that he gave me the usual pre-independence response, ‘everyone has given it in.’ And I couldn’t fight with him now as his strength had increased. He had fallen into a symbiotical relationship with Shin Chan and they both seemed to agree on everything, especially on disagreeing with me! I spent the next few weeks without my table and it was never before so depressing. All I wanted was sleep, independence, freedom and of course, my table. I patiently waited for the I-Day ad it was here. I rushed home the first opportunity I got and missed the once in a lifetime moment again (as told to me by Akshay Goenka last year). When I returned, my table still wasn’t back. I had to search for her and finally find a suitable time when Gambheer was not in the room to bring her back. I still don’t know why he didn’t want her back. The next day I was going to class but I saw all the cycles in the parking lot heaped up as if two cyclones had just had a fight there. Juice came beside me,

           ‘Yesterday Jaishith dumped every cycle which was out of the shed in a heap so that the ground is presentable to the judges.’

           ‘But my cycle was in the shed.’ I replied.

           ‘Yes, the cycles which were dumped were dumped ON the cycles already parked there.’