Mode C is as much for Calvin as it is for Chaos, as much for Cool as it is for Cold, as much for Class as it is for Crass.

Mode C is a way of life, the Calvin way of life which I am so fascinated by as to keep trying to make it my own way of life. But what exactly is Calvin's way of life, you ask...and I say that there are no clear answers to this one.

I strongly believe, however, that almost all the seriously critical fundamental concepts of life, they are just the bogies under Calvin's bed that he is afraid of. Everyhting else...Miss Wormwood, Susie, Mom and Dad, and of course above all, Hobbes...aren't they all merely the means that he uses to attack these bogies?

It is nothing, therefore, but the perspective of each of these players on the stage of Calvin's dramatic life that helps him fight these bogies and move on in his own unique way...listening to all but doing only what finally makes sense to his own individuality. This is what comes closest, I guess, to the Calvin way of leading one's life...

Monday, November 15, 2004

The long weekend

The long weekend of Diwali and Eid is well over and the classes scheduled for this week seem to be bringing things to a head for probably the first or second time this term. This does not, in any way however, take away from the immensely eventful weekend that the past one has been. With three free days in a row owing to some sincere efforts by the Student Council yet again, the mood was upbeat with a lot of people packing their bags Thursday evening for places like Bangalore, Goa and Kovalam.

For the people left on campus, there were plans for Diwali celebrations. Even the night preceding Diwali was very interesting. Having gone to sleep after watching a movie or two at about 3:30 in the night, I kept having dreams of a very noisy and boisterous Holi for some reason. When I woke up in the morning, I saw that the entire hostel had water and more water everywhere and the sweeper was having a hard time figuring out the reason for this downpour inside the building. It was only later that I came to know of the water fight that had broken out in IIMK on Diwali eve. Spread across hostels, the splashing extravaganza saw some interesting highs like Gagan's hydrophobia, people being woken out of their sleeps and water being poured over them, reactions of some such people to such treatment in so-early hours of the morning.

That notwithstanding, people were all geared up for the Diwali celebrations with Puja planned at 7 in the evening. Before the Puja however, Veer-Zaara happened. I still go by my opinion that the movie will do well because of its being designed for the masses. Anyways, Diwali Puja was up next as we came back to the hostel (just in time, considering that the rains were following right behind). Lots of kurtas, saris, unspoken mantras of the priest, uninhibited and free flowing revelry in the midst of the Puja, some real hard work by the organizers, and the Swedes with their huge camera were some of the attractions of the Puja.

The dinner that followed had its own fruity flavor with two sweet dishes thrown in the Diwali bounty. I must say here that I really appreciated what Rajat did to regulate the food distribution. Such conduct is rarely seen and the only recent example that I can think of is what Priya did at the hotel in Munnar where like Rajat, she was busy carrying the puris and serving them to the rest of us.

The very first number called up in the Housie won me a prize (a shooting star) of 100 bucks but I more than made up for it by losing some 550 rupess in the late night (went on till 5 in the morning, actually) game of cards...so much for the ill-effects of gambling (and to think that at one point, I was winning around 400 bucks). The fireworks display made up for the teeny weeny little bit of home-sickness that had started creeping in and by the time the fireworks ended (though a little tragically, what with the injuries to Sandipan, Abhineet and Devroop), I was in a complete festive mood.

Saturday was pretty uneventful as I got up at about 1 in the afternoon. The only change from the typical lazy day routine was yet another movie, this one decided at the very last minute. Naach turned out to be disappointing and so did the India Pakistan cricket match that followed and resulted in yet another loss for India.

Sunday was spent lazing around and trying to read up on the case for Monday's Operations class. That I managed to do much more of the former as compared to the latter is obvious. I even managed to watch The Italian Job...had heard a lot about it...nice movie, but not as good as you would expect after the rave reviews...personally, I think that Ocean's Eleven or even Mission Impossible was much better...but then again, each one for his/her own.

Diwali night is also the ocassion when I get in touch with my family like I never do in the normal course. I make it a point to call all my relatives, cousins, friends on Diwali and despite a one day bill that normally goes beyond 500 (it even touched four figures once), it gives me a lot of satisfaction to be able to connect to the people who really matter in my life. It is not that I do not talk to them normally but Diwali is a special ocassion when people expect calls and greetings from their near and dear ones and a greeting at such times is received as being the most affectionate of all.

No comments: