Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Nyuz

So here I am, trying out my blind typing skills again. Another horribly boring class, taken by a professor who speaks at the speed of a tortoise chasing a snail.

A couple of days when SK (more appearances to follow a couple of months hence) wrote to me raising so many questions about our summer internship, I waved off his worries with a “Oh come on. We’re not the only freshers doing an internship! But looks like I spoke too soon, SK and I will probably be the only two people across b-schools working in this particular division. So we learned from our recruiter, who was visiting the campus for final placements. There was quite a bit of terrible small talk, another skill I need to work on. We sat there shareefly, like little obedient kids while the gentlemen had their lunch. Having been waiting since ages for them to appear, we’d even skipped lunch. Of course, they did ask us twice, the first time we mumbled something uncertainly and the second time we were asked, we said ‘Yes sir’ without the skip of a beat. We’re supposed to be dressed in ‘smart formals’. Now pray tell me what those are! I is scared, such officey formality. I hope things get comfortable with time, I’m not sure how long I can be ‘Yes, sir. No, sir. Everything all right, sir?’ (reminds you of that Indian yahoo audible doesn’t it?) (J keeps scaring me with these huge gtalk smileys that come with ‘MyTheme’ and has passed on the disease to VB too. Humph.)

(The most renowned sleeper of my class, (yeah, so what if yours truly was a close contender for the same once upon a time) has fallen asleep beside me and is still nodding and making writing motions with her eyes closed and head hanging low. Of course, her fist is supporting her left cheek and doing a decent job at it)

Among other things that happened yesterday was me passing by the ‘ad shooter and movie director’ of our batch, a quirky guy who once jokingly strangled me with the ends of my headwrap and scared the shit out of D and moi. (He once found D asleep on the library sofa and told her when she woke up “Your hair was looking so nice, I thought I should get a scissor and cut them off. But I didn’t want to go back to my room” (You get the picture). So I was passing by the whole cast along with the camera man and director and involuntarily let out an ‘Ooooooooooh! Shooooting!’ And all of them went laughing away to glory. Further information should be ready for release in a couple of days :D

* * *

Why do people judge other people so much? And why are there people, who refuse to give you a chance or are barely interested? Why is it that you get only a portion, when you can so longingly see the whole? And yet I know, that I do the same things too. Reminds me of what Sheeba wrote on her blog:

It's strange, and sad, that an essential part of building a community is excluding someone from it. The exclusivity is what gives it its importance. And the more exclusive it is, the higher the feeling of belonging.

This fact can only be understood by the person on the outside - the non smoker who sees the network of smokers at work, the woman who is suddenly excluded from the conversation with a smile a those words 'Guy talk', the nerd who is never invited to the parties of the 'cool' gang, the odd one out who suddenly finds all her friends talking in a different language (usually in my case, Malayalam).

For the person on the inside, there is just that cozy feeling of belonging. The closeness that comes from sharing an adventure, or a background. The group becomes the source of that social acceptance that human nature always seeks. And yet, these people will unconsiously deny non group members that social acceptance and that camaraderie.


What does it take to leave an indelible mark on people? Why do people say that you should learn to be manipulative and get your job done, but remember most those who were most helpful to them? How do you strike a balance between generosity and getting your work done, without being used or appearing selfish?

* * *

In other news: I got some shocking information from Sat. Terribly need to become more worldly-wise. Trooney’s been cracking interviews! So is munhbolabhai! Also horribly monotnous prof. is I believe, trying to endear himself to us by smiling mid-dialogue directly resulting in giving off an evil, maniacal expression. However, I must refrain from mentioning all this (he shouted at people yest. because he apparently heard that people were ‘making comments on him’)

Taw taw!

3 comments:

The optimist from utopia said...

Gtalk smileys look sick.. they look so out of place.. :-&

lol@cutting D's hair.. whoever D is..

And nice write-up by Sheeba.. Interesting.. :-?

mythalez said...

hmm ... back frm a not-so-wellgone meeting with my advisor .. with lot of work to do .. an no mood .. on an instinct i go to ur blog . .and viola .. a large and interesting post ... on a posting spree suddenly ? :P

Argentyne said...

Hello brudder :D You know which smileys i'm talking about? Not the little blue ones! Those are cute methinks :)

D's a fellow groupmate :D Wait for few more months and you ll know :P

Yup, Sheeba's an amazing writer :)

Doda! Here's more for you now :) Always nice to read long posts, no?