The Bazaars of Hyderabad Indeed!

And the countdown begins...four days to go. No, not for the start of a new year but something else that starts on the same day - the All India Industrial Exhibition or 'Numaish'. Sarojini Naidu's poem may well be popularly considered as a fitting description of the quaint bazaars of Charminar. I think it also beautifully sums up the waves of sensory experiences that surge and wash over you at the Numaish.
The sights - colours all around you of possibly every shade in the spectrum, wares that would delight even an adult with childish joy, happy faces, worked-up faces of people engulfed in heated haggling, smug faces of satisfied vanquishers having gotten their way; the sounds - Rafi's heavenly voice sounding over the speakers adding an even more 'old world charm' to an already historical shopping tradition that dates back to beginnings in a glorious past, shopkeepers trying to outdo their competition screaming out their enticingly low rates at hundreds of prospective shoppers passing by, the talk, laughter, chatter of a crowd swelling and ebbing as they move through the narrow lanes and large squares lined with shops; the smells - the deliciously warm smell of freshly popped corn with hints of pepper and butter wafting through the air as you make your way through the entrance, wisps of perfume floating every here and there, the slightly corrosive and 'dusty' dust kicked up by the crowd walking over vast sandy patches that irritates your throat, the inviting smell of all kinds of yummy street food pulling you towards the eat-outs. Yes, it is an incredible experience.
More so because it's amazing to see such huge crowds, their numbers often running into thousands, congregate at this one place - congregate not because of a religious or political compulsion. Everyone gathers at the Numaish for one common reason - to enjoy their evening out. I find it fascinating to be part of a crowd that has no levels or barriers for that evening. We're all trying to do the same things - buy, haggle, window-shop, eat, rest, watch the other shoppers, and generally have fun. It feels so cohesive and unified.

To become Samwise Gamgee

I could not identify more with a movie character when Frodo despairs, "I can't do this" to Sam, trudging on, unending, through Mordor. While the trilogy took viewers through the classic good versus evil battle, I have never experienced so strongly, with any other films, the emotions that the characters go through. Frodo's laborious plough uphill through a thicket of danger and uncertainty to a glorious just-in-sight-but-not-yet-there end made me wonder if we - Frodo, Sam and me (by now, as a totally absorbed viewer, an inextricable part of that journey) - would ever get to Mount Doom. Would that ring ever be 'cast back into its fires'? I must confess, though, that I was a bit disappointed by the end when I first saw the last film in the trilogy because I thought such a glorious journey would have an even glorious end with Frodo throwing in the ring with theatrics and heroism. Now, however, the end seems perfect. The films were not theatrical, afterall. They just successfully built up an atmosphere of drama. A hallmark of well-made movies in my opinion. 
I find the films uplifting. They make you believe that there is light at the end of a long, dark and seemingly endless tunnel. And, I don't know what Frodo or I would do without Sam! "Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't", he says and Oh! how well he, that line, and those films give hope.

Order and Method

Professor, Mentor and Guide

My contemporaries would probably be engrossed in better, cooler and 'hipper' things but I, on the other hand, am wondering at the wonderfulness of having 'idols' one can look upto. I'm lucky to have so many accomplished people around me, in my life,  I can learn from. I read an interview of a big business magnate in a newspaper last week. He described his mantra of success as 'learning, earning and yearning' which he attributed to either another great businessman or  poet (I don't remember which one it was). Anyway, 'learning, earning and yearning' - how true! Apart from the earning part, I think I'm doing pretty well on the other two. 'Learning, unlearning and growing' was the title and the essence of my Statement of Purpose that I'd written for graduate school recently. And, a big part of the the 'learning, unlearning and growing' is because of all the invaluable wisdom and experience I'm exposed to from my idols. I love soaking up every bit of it like a sponge. It's making me a better person, I know. 
This post is dedicated to my idols - my Professors, mentors and guides. Thank you ever so much - for teaching me. 

"You Screw up, you start over; you screw up, you start over."

- Evan from 'Royal Pains' on Life


and

'Try, and try again, boys, you will succeed at last.'

- James H. Fassett, 'Try Again'

The 'backside' of things!

'Yeh khali backside mein hona, front nai?' asked the print shop guy with a vigorous shake of his head left and right, the motion of which was supposed to match the intent and meaning of his question as is common practice here! I was at the 10' x 10' x 10' cubic print shop nearby that I frequent and which is always bursting to the seams with hi-tech printers, copiers, computers and a lot of customers. Getting my portfolio printed for the nth time, there I am squished in the tiny 0.6m space between the huge printer and the glass wall, trying to lean over that broad heat generating monster and explain the specifications I wanted when he broke down my verbose and structured way of explanation into that one short, clear, concise and amusing phrase. The 'backside' here refers to printing 'front and back' or 'back-to-back'.
So, the print guy's 'backside' got me thinking of all the innumerable times I had heard that phrase here (my part of the world) and in varied contexts. My university instructs applicants to write their name and 'roll number' on the 'backside' of demand drafts that they submit with their applications!
Oh, and the very popular 'iske backside mein hai' to direct you to an address you're looking for that happens to be behind a certain building or neighourhood.
'Backside'...they say that language is, after all, a means of communication. Yes, it is bridging the shores on either side of the river. I, however, am a purist so there'll be no 'backsides' for me!

Perfection+TIME