A trip to the City of Lights- In power saving mode (Day 2)

After the blast of Day 1 I still didnt have the inspiration to write. It was the second day that brought the inspiration on like a fire.

So like a normal day we get up. I get up in the end. We get ready and head out. First on the list is the most awaited Eiffel Tower. Yes it is just as beautiful as the pictures show. The closer you get to it, the more you begin to appreciate what an outstanding piece of work the tower is. The intricacy of the work that has gone into it is mind boggling. So my sister asked me, how do you like the Eiffel Tower? And I came up with one of the inspired one-liners that only things like the Eiffel Tower can bring out "I love it, but I am still not judging it. After all its the City of Lights, how can it be judged during the day?"

So we spent over an hour idling around the Eiffel tower. Posing for pictures. Looking at the Chinese people posing for pictures. One good thing that came out of the day came when a Chinese family asked me to take a picture of them posing in front of the Eiffel Tower. The only problem was they just asked me to take a picture. So I barely contained my laughter and took more than one picture of the Eiffel tower. Its what they wanted, just that they might have wanted a little more than just their hair in the picture. I handed them the camera and turned and scampered before they could take a look at the picture.

We strolled to the bottom of the Eiffel Tower, took a few more pictures. Thankfully no one asked me to take a picture for them. What many people do not realize is that the Eiffel tower is more about the base than about the top. Sure its pretty high but without the exquisite base of the tower, its just a normal high rise radio tower. The closer you get to the base the more amazed you are. Its human architecture at its peak. But wait, thats not interesting. So lets move on to the more interesting part of the day. Lunch!

For lunch we decided to visit this restaurant that was a single subway stations away. It was some Thai restaurant that is supposed to be really good. So we go to the station and as we are about to enter the platform the train comes in. So we start running towards the train. My sister and Jaspreet get into the 1st compartment. But its really packed to the brim so being a Mumbai person, I look for a comparatively less packed compartment. Its not difficult, its right next to the compartment that the others got in. So I run to the next compartment and jump in as the door starts to shut. Now there are these little girls. I did not see their faces but they were small in size. So a couple of them were trying to get out of the compartment before the train could move. One of them had a hand stuck between the closing doors trying to pry it open. Finally it opened and they got out.

What I did not know was there were a few more girls in the next compartment trying to do the same. And all of them ended up getting out. My conclusion was that these girls had left someone behind and hence did not want to take this train. The same conclusion my sister and Jaspreet arrived upon. In fact Jaspreet helped them get out. Nice guy that he is he helped the girl stuck between the doors out by prying the door open. As soon as the train restarted there was a commotion. My sister looked at me and the look of horror made me realize that these were pickpockets. I was pretty sure of my wallet. Enough Mumbai local train experience, nevertheless I checked and yeah, my wallet was still there. I thought that someone in the next compartment got robbed. When we got down at the next station I realized it was no other than my two fellow companions.

Head in their hands they sat, as all the money was gone. So we stand there for 15 minutes.. Nothing can be done, once Paris takes from you, it doesn't give back. Think you have heard that before? Yeah, similar to the Bangkok line, if you haven't seen him since last night, then Bangkok has him. Hangover 2.

Nothing could be done. We decided not to withdraw money as long as I had money on me. So finally they dragged their heavy legs into motion and I said a silent prayer for those idiots in my compartment who would take a little longer to realize they had been robbed too. It was kinda funny prayer with all the laughter in my head.

So we go looking for the famous Thai restaurant that lost us so much money, and voila its closed! Yeah, had that coming. This is the point where it all starts getting more and more hilarious. No turning back. We know we are in the middle of a pickle. No hunger, little money, Terrible luck. Sounds exactly like the movie Euro Trip. Maybe would have been more fun had I lost all my money too. On the other hand my inspiration would have been lost. So worked out well. The Paris underground took our money, but not from me. And yet I got the much required inspiration.

It gets you thinking, how little girl gangs are so good at taking your money. And they leave you in a state that you cant do anything about it because you are in the train and they just got out of it, and in some cases like Jaspreet's; you are the one tha helped them get out. Thats like assistance to theft. Just that you are assisting theft of yo own money! Now surely this must be a big gang with big control players who have these kids to do the stuff. Or I have been reading too many novels. Anyway, with money gone and no restaurant we started looking for cafes. All cafes that served vegetarian were full or closed. All that served less expensive food were closed. Only ones open were the ones that were mocking you for losing all the money.

In no mood to eat, so we decided to go grocery shopping and finally put the kitchen at home to use. And which grocery store has barbecue sauce on the ground floor and milk on the second floor? Obviously must be the only store in the world that does so. And obviously we entered that one. And ya, we didnt need barbecue sauce, we needed milk. Took us 30 minutes to find milk. I know you French prefer your coffee black but milk on third floor is ridiculous!

And whats with the French pronunciation! R-O-M-E is Rome as in Italian Rome. NOT KHOUME!
Thats how they pronounce the subway station. And worse part is they do it twice. First time its a fast one the second time its announced, its as if they are pointedly asking you to get down. Lets look at one more place, Cite.
How would normal people pronounce it?
Just how its written.
On the subway there seems to be a different world.
To all those fimiliar with the Hindi version of Ramayan will know that Ram wife Sita was affectionately reffered to as Site..
On this subway, its Ravan (the villian of the story who kidnaps Sita) calling out to Sita.
Siiiteeehhh...
Second time its even worse.
Siiiittteeeeehhhh...
Ok, I got it!

Anyway, we got home and made some food. Decided what to do with the rest of the day. Decided to accept the challenge of roaming Paris as paupers with credit cards for emergency. So we set out to see the Eiffel tower at night. But before that we decided to take a look around the Arc de Triomphe.

As we walk back from the arc to the subway station, we are approached by an Indian couple. Around 45 years of age. So they come up to us and say, "Hello, we are from UK, we came to Paris in a tour, now our bus has left us behind."
So I look at Jaspreet, he looks at me. What are we supposed to do? Go find you bus? That would be a funny thing to ask. What else? Money? That would be funnier. That would be like going to a beggar and asking him to give you half of his collection.
So we as them what exactly they want from us. So turns out the problem is, they have lost their tour group. Both their phones are almost dead. They have the contact details of people belonging to the tour on the phones. They cant use pay phones because they only have pounds. So all they wanted to do was make a phone call. But the point of telling you this is that we realised that, though we got robbed, we at least werent the most stupid people in Paris. Nowhere close to being the most stupid people in fact. Anyway we directed them to the mcdonalds where they could make a call and left. With their genius I am sure they found a way to get lost inside the McDonalds.

So next up, Eiffel Tower at night. nothing looks better in the night than the Eiffel Tower. Or so they said. With our luck we went at a time when the entire city was in power saving mode. The French were celebrating South African week. Dunno what South Africa did to get the French to celebrate South African week but thats how it was. And in this honor they had lit up the Eiffel Tower in its ugliest possible colours. Dont believe me? Eiffel tower can not be ugly? It can be when you expect it to look this

And in turn it looks like this

Get my point?

That was enough for the day. We decided that we had taken enough beating for a day and found an Indian restaurant, went in to have food. Only to find that the rates were ridiculous. So we had our free papad. Drank some water. We were informed it was really late and hence no starters would be served. Gave us a perfect excuse. We said we came for the starters only and left.

Enough craziness for a day wouldnt you say?
We found another Indian restaurant, with an eccentric waiter who adressed himself as big boss. Had decent food. Watched as the big boss roamed around his castle hugging and shouting hellos and goodbyes to French people who only came to the Indian restaurant to eat Naan and drink wine and probably for the big boss show.

That was it from day 2.
Stay tuned. Coming up tomorrow day 3. Crazy punk rock freaks, subway shut down, and the bus ride with zombies.

Signing Off,
Buckchod
Lock and Load

P.S. This is the best trip of my life, please do not put off Paris on my behalf. But do make sure to watch out for little girls. At least take a look at their faces. But be careful, you might get sued for child abuse.

A trip to the City of Lights- In power saving mode (Day 1)

For starters, how did I land up in Paris? Naah its no hangover story!

My internship application at Leibniz University of Hannover was accepted. So here I am, working on criminal law at a German university. So hence the Paris trip from Germany. Living in a foreign country can be a pain in the ass. But then I do not know much about it. I am staying with my sister. How convenient, aye? 

Anyway, so the entire Paris trip is with my sister and her flat mate. Yeah, he agreed to accommodate me too. What luck! 

This is where it all goes downhill and hence this is where all the fun begins. Germans are known for their manners and hospitality. No, they are not. The one thing they are known for is efficiency. So if you cant get to the airport in time then they arent going to make 100 other people wait on your behalf and they dont care, if your cat/ dog died and hence the delay. So it was all set up according to time. It can be a little difficult to get ready in time when there are three people and only one washroom in the house. So we have to take slots to get up and get ready. Now I do not know who gets up when, as being a 19 year old has its advantages. You generally get to take the last slot. So our flight was at 1330, hence we decided to take the 1108 tram as it would get us to the airport by 1130 which would be good enough. The only problem was that we didnt make it into the 1108 tram. Reasons are easy to understand, having a girl on-board. Enough said. 

So we had to run all the way to the next tram station where we could get a bus which would take us to the airport. Only once we ran half way did someone bother rechecking what time the flight was. Voila! Turns out the luck has switched. No not for better, for worse. Yeah, the flight was at 1300 not 1330. So the running continues with renewed desperation. So we caught the bus, still made it to the airport in good enough time. Makes you see the whole "check in before a couple of hours" procedure under new light. 

This was the point after all the hurrying and thumping hearts that I finally rested. The journey could only get better. After all I had the emergency exit window! Huge leg-space and in case of emergency I could say choos (which is the German for goodbye) to the rest of them and be on my way. So I was happy. Even the metal detector let me pass, so one more positive! No guy putting his hands on me today! 

We would be staying in an apartment and not hotel. Seems like a popular concept in Europe. You get a much bigger house as compared to the hotels with kitchen and washing machine. Great! The only problem was we would be getting it only at 7. And we were there by 3. So four hours of Paris on foot with luggage. 

Now for people who thought Bangalore airport was far from the city, well Paris airport (Charles De Gaulle) is a city in itself. You need to spend 10 Euros to just go from the airport to the city. So things started going downhill again. 30 bucks spent just to get to Paris, where we would be with our luggage for 4 hours, and no place to go to.

But it had to be done, so 30 bucks were spent and we reached Paris. We got down at some station in the centre of Paris. Well guess what! The 10 bucks you just spent cant be of use anymore. You need to spend further 6.60 if you want to travel in the Paris subway. So its 10 bucks just to go from airport to the city. So with great astonishment we decided that it had to be done. There was an information desk cum ticket counter for which the line was huge. So Jaspreet gets the job of standing in the line as we decide to give the auto-ticket counters a go, still trying to find cheaper ways to travel Paris. 

And we go to the ticket counter, try to figure out a way to get the machine running in English when suddenly an Asian guy, about 50-55 comes to us and says, "Can I Helup you?"

No I didnt misspell it. Thats how he said it. So we asked him if the tickets we already purchased were of any good or how and where to get the 1-day tickets from. He told us to go stand in the line and it dawned upon us that he wasnt trying to help/helup us, but wanted to use the machine to get a ticket for himself. So we just left. The French guy standing behind him called us and took us to another machine some half a kilometer away which would give us the info and tickets. We thanked him and walked towards the machine when two men in green jumpsuits came running and right in front of us opened up the machine. Yeah, the machine was being repaired. Just as we were about to use it! Fabulous luck. So we head back, our only hope was Jaspreet had moved forward in the line. And as we make the 500 meter hike back suddenly its the Sri Lankan guy again! He looks at us and speaks angrily, "I told you go stand in that line! You is Asian People! Poeple will try to thieve you! Why you follow that guy!"

I could barely keep myself from laughing so we excused ourselves and went towards the line. Finally the ticket was ours after 20 minutes and 20 Euros. So we now visited the famous Notre Dame. Gargoyles are beautiful or ugly depending upon whether you are a crazy history freak or a realist. But no hunch backs. What a disappointment!

A closer view of the Gargoyles for the literature freaks

Next up was food, one part of life that can not be screwed up. So we went to a falafel place. It makes the biggest falafels in the world. I mean if they make it any bigger.. Well, i would love that! 

Finally it was time to dump the luggage at home. So we pore through the map of Paris Underground and made it to our station. Our building it seems was built before Paris was named Paris. Its that kind of stair case where you put half a foot outside the line and boom the enitre staircase will not exist anymore. The house was decent and we ended the day with a visit to the sacre-coeur. 

Dinner was at a fast food joint named as Quality Burgers with by the company Quick. What Irony. It took us 20 minutes to get our food and all we ordered was a burger and 3 fries. How long can that take! Its a burger, and a few French Fries! The only time I ate French Fires in France and it took 25 minutes, And the only time I ate at a restaurant named Quick! Should have been named Incredibly Slow! 

What was coming the next day is unbelievable as the small blips turned into major craters in out Paris trip. Stay tuned for more as coming up, is "getting thieved", Eiffel Tower, the lost Indians and much more! It just keeps getting better! 

Signing Off 

Buckchod

Lock and Load

P.S. If you do not agree with me, and know of a place that serves bigger falafels then please lemme know where.

A trip to the City of Lights- In power saving mode (Paris- Prologue)

Feels strange to be writing again. It makes me think why I gave up writing in the first place.
Its because writing can become an addiction like reading. It gets into your head. All you want to do is write. Everything else seems so unimportant compared to it. So when I was writing the blog and started writing for the online sports magazine sportskeeda, and also started writing a book the addiction took over. All I wanted to do was write and while that was possible during the holidays; though I also got grief from my father at times, when he would be up at 5 in the morning and I would still be writing. His day had begun, my night was yet to come. But going back to college meant I did not have the freedom. My internship at sportskeeda ended and I completed my book; and suddenly I lost the freedom to write. And that was it. Never written since. While a lot of other factors contributed to not writing, they are not worth mentioning. Its not as if I never picked up the pen, in fact laptop, to write. But that inspiration was lost. Every time I would want to write, all things came rushing back. About how all I wanted to do was write, chuck the law. Writing is so much more fun. But yet stuck at law school. Learning things that are fun but their practical usage so far away that the entire point seems lost.

So what changed? A single phone call to my mom, and the return of the inspiration. First the phone call to my mom. Well that happened right between exams. It was a few hours before the Trust Equity and Fiduciary Relationship paper. I hadnt touched my book nor slides. I only had 4 hours. Still no luck trying to study. My room mate entered and looked at me. I was sitting in front of my laptop looking at internship opportunities in sports journals or newspapers. This was in the month of April and i was looking for November December interns. He looked at me and said What in the name of Fuck are you doing! Well i had had a moment of realization. I was looking at the trust equity slides and it came to me, what am I doing? This is not what I want to do right now. Yes studying Constitution and Adminstrative law and Criminal Procedure code is fun. But trust equity and faloola faloola is not my idea of fun and future.

So i snapped out of the desperation, and called my mom. So she picks it up, I say Hi.. and bam! She knows somethings bothering me. How do they do it.. Anyway I am not complaining. Works for me. So I take the trouble of explaining all that I am going through, how I dont know what to do. While I love being a student of law, yet its writing that I enjoy the most. Letting my creativity run wild.. And after all that explanation, she tells me, What the hell are you talking about? You are in law school, so study law. Especially since you like studying it. And write when you have time. You say its fun, so I am willing take your word for it. Thinking about 3 years in the future? When was the last time you had any idea what you were going to do in the next hour?

And that was it. It was the end of the rut. So simple yet only could come through my mom, no one else.
So I finally told myself, you have been pushing studying trust and blah for a day and half now. Scoring 30 in the internals means you still need 10 more marks to pass the over all subject. While 10 out of 50 is no big deal, it will be if you go without looking at the subject. I have always been a person who studies naturally well when my ass is on fire. So I told my ass theres only a couple of hours left and if you dont catch fire soon I would fail this subject. So finally catch fire, it did. And the exam was done.

I knew now how to write. I would write to have fun. If that sounds nerdy then you are in for a surprise. So there was only one thing missing. The fire of inspiration that had burned down to desperation. All I needed was a spark. But instead of the spark the enitre forest fire caught me. And it was provided by the city of lights. Thats, Paris for people who think I am referring to Indian city of lights, Varanasi. Why it was in power saving mode, i shall explain soon enough in the next post. So stay tuned.

This was so much fun!
Signing Off,
Buckchod
Lock and Load

The Joke That Is A National Law University

    Its almost two months into the second semester and it has panned out exactly like the first one. 2 months down, no work done. The only difference is this ISNT the 1st sem and I can not soothe myself with the words that,Its understandable to not work in the 1st two months of your first sem at your college. But maybe calling myself a 1st year student will work. Yeah, thats smart.. I am not second semester student, I am just a 1st year student. That way, nothing has changed so far.

    So, still a 1st year student at a law school and still loving it. Life is total fun, just that the college isnt going so great. Nothing wrong with me, its the college. Like the subjects that we study.
OOPS, I touched a nerve there. My nerve...

Can anyone explain why as a law student do I need to study child psychology? But hey Sociology is a compulsory subject and sociology teaches you everything that law doesnt. EVERYTHING. If I wanted to do that, why would I do law? Oh yeah here is what comes next. If child psychology wasnt enough, then BAM, right in the next class, we are studying water and its expansion properties. Really? Really? Are you fucking kidding me? I wanna study law.. What do I need to do for that? Enroll into engineering college?

Do they expect me to go in front of a judge and say, "Yes My Lord, this is all I know about law. Whoops, did I just say law? I am sorry, I just though that enrolling myself in a law school was a good way to study law but clearly not. And the law degree, I am so sorry sir that I thought the law degree these law colleges give you mean that you are well versed with the law, while it actually means you are jack of all trades except law and basically you are a joker card, on whom the joke is being played.

But then maybe expansion of water is as per the expansion law in science or something of the sorts. So maybe thats how they relate it to law. But  then the next thing we studied was something no one can explain.
Our Sociology professor tells us today that if a glass of water is like a lake, then a bucket full of water is like a river and a room full of water is an ocean. Really sir? And then he smiled as if that was the funniest joke he had heard.

MAYBE GOING BY THAT RELATION, PEEING IS LIKE SALTY RAINFALL.  What say you sir?
Yeah I am studying some really good stuff in this college..
Oops, NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY.

Well if you think ridiculous is good, then you are in for a treat.

I do not know, who gave our history teacher the right but she seems to consider the entire batch to be her friend. Trust me what I wish for her, I wouldnt wish for an enemy.

Lets go from ridiculous to hilarious. Here are the few of the word by the word words the from the class. (In case you are wondering what happened to my English, I am just speaking her language and its NOT ENGLISH.)

1) "Dont you the talk in the class or I will make you out for the three weeks."

    Really ma'm? Make us out for three weeks? Oh God I dont even want to think what that might actually mean. But yes ma'm congratulations on coming up with such stuff in the class. You provide unending entertainment.

2) "You have to submit me by Monday."

    Submit you?? Where?? Would you prefer an English speaking class or should I submit you into a mental hospital?

3) "Mahmud of Ghazni was the broker of the idols."

    Seriously?? You expect us to believe that? Brokerage at that time? Did they also have a firm? Like Mahmud Ghazni and Ghori, Brokering idols since 100AD?? Because since a college, Oops National Law University can appoint a teacher like you, then anything can be true.

4) "The rulers who were allowed to imprison the.. ummm.... Islam, were good rulers."

    There were rulers who could capture a religion? Oh Man!! I want super powers too.. Please God?

5) "They won the war because they were the speedy in their speed"

    Speedy in their speed? Is that even possible? How about speedy in their slow? Or speedy in their weight? Speedy in their height? Trust me ma'm in your class anything is possible.

So if you havent have had enough keep going. There is more ridiculous coming up.
Next up is a class which some fool decided to put in our time table as Legal English. I bet that guy is having a good laugh right now. Because last time I checked, we were doing something related to Moses and feminism and Anti semitism.. And so on..

1) Mosaic Laws- English and Mosaic laws? Oh maybe our professor knows a secret that, Moses laws were all about a new language called English as the world only spoke Yiddish before he gave the 26 alphabets of English.

2) Anti-Semitism - The next secret is that, Hitler was actually a descendant of Moses and he ordered the killing of Jews, since they werent using English properly. Yeah thats true. Thats the only connection I could come up with between Anti-Semitism and English.

3) Fiminism (Radical) - Maybe Legal English has something to do with feminism. Thats a major assumption but well when the teacher goes crazy and shouts at anyone who says a word against feminism, you have to go along with her. You do not have a choice.

4) Quoting an English "Professor" in a National Law University-

    "You were playing badminton YESTERDAY NIGHT?"

YESTERDAY NIGHT!!!! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
No ma'm we will be playing TODAY NIGHT. Yeah thats right. No one knows how to speak English here. Not even the English professor. My kindergarten teacher told me that its never yesterday night, ITS LAST NIGHT.

Next subject is contracts, which I wouldnt mind attending 5 hours a day, BUT HEY HEY HEY!!!!

This is a law school. You need to learn about child psychology, science of water, Mosaic English, History of places that do not exist. These things are more important than Law. OF COURSE!!

If this wasnt enough, these days the only law degrees that law schools, Oops National Law Univrsities provide are integrated courses.
So I am doing BA LLB.

LLB has already been discussed but there are two more BA subjects. (No the others were not BA subjects they were law. And I am not kidding. Seriously.)

Political Whatever-

Its the lesser of the two evils. Earlier we had a professor who would join his hands and cry as if his life depended on us studying.
Now that this is a political something class, you would expect there would be arguements and debates. Oh no no no no....
This is a law school. Debating is the last thing you do here. Even if its why sun rises in the east, LET US NOT GET INTO THIS DEBATE.

    But he is not the Political Whatever professor any more. Now we have a new young guy, who instigates debates. The only problem is that the debate is about what is the language he speaks. I would bet on Hebrew but on second thought it could be Stonatino. ( Okay dont google, I just made that up, but in my defense, so does he.)

"Bhaath ijshsh shthetheth?"
"Arree Bhaaath ijsshh eeiith?"

Yeah, well try that on google translate. Enter into nothing-
Google's response in English-

"What is stat?"
"(Irritated noise) WHAT IS IT?????????"


Macro Economics??
???
???

Anyone who gets anything in the class please contact me and tell me what she teaches.. I am too busy in her class.. Sleeping or writing stuff that matters and not Macro Economics!!

There you go, now I feel good. It is not just me. No one can understand the tons of stupidity that gets dished out everyday It is not possible for anyone to study in this madhouse they call the college..

OOPS..

"NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY"

Signing Off
Buckchod
Lock and Load

P.S. If anyone wants to check out our food please check out Maulika's blog. A fellow student..
You shall be further enlightened.
Dedicated to fellow sufferers.

Why Does Time Have To Pass Away So Damn Quick Whenever The Going Is Great

Long time since I last blogged. Here go the reasons for it-
1. I was too busy to type. You may read busy as lazy. Your choice.

2. While leaving GNLU at the end of the previous semester I had made up my mind that I was going from a place that was my home to a place that wouldn't be that good.

3. When that proved to be wrong I found that I was having too much fun having fun to waste a single moment of it.

4. I have been BUSY. REALLY. I completed the first book that I was writing and as soon as NikR is done with the polishing of the rough gem (hell its my book, I can publicize it) it shall be good to go.

5. Okay I have run out of why else I did not blog. But I know its hardly of any importance to anyone. I mean I am awesome (increase of this word's usage since I am now oficially a huge fan of Barney Stinson) but still no one likes to hear a selfish moron no matter how awesome he is.

So coming back to the title that the blog suggests...
Great times..
Defined as being with people who are awesome to you and having fun with them. There are people who like to have fun alone but then those people have no idea what they are missing out on. Ask my friends.
So why does great time have to pass away so damn quick? Couldn't it stretch forever like the bad time does? Well if you are looking for a scientific answer go to wikipedia right now would be my suggestion. I am not here to answer that question. The blog is just me reliving the last two months, which have been 100 times more awesome than I thought they could be.

It started with a train journey from Gandhinagar with Inspector. The ride was annoying. Despite booking first class tickets we had to travel in a cramped cabin since people just kept showing up and taking up every nook and cranny of space left unoccupied. I didnt mind much since I went up to the upper berth and slept till someone spotted an empty space there too and believe it or not climbed up and sat right next to where I was sleeping.
Well that was for the journey part. Once in Mumbai it was back to the old ways. Haggling with the taxi drivers who want me to believe that they dont want to go on the meter since it will cost me so much. And people say humanity is lost on humans (for people who dont catch sarcasm well, THAT was sarcasm.)

Once home and settled I couldnt look beyond life at GNLU for the first few days. It was impossible to have fun here, or so it seemed. the biggest problem was that since I belong to Anushaktinagar, Asia's largest colony (I always boast about that, though it may or may not be true any longer) which is the home to all the scientist's, engineer's and doctor's and so on, working for BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Center). So every single one of my friends is an engineering student. And for these people college is like prison. So until the day their exams ended (30th December. Screw Mumbai University) the only person who would bear me was my poor girl friend (I shall henceforth refer to her as Better Half, for the lack of creativity that seems to have hit me suddenly) and bear me she did. I was a down right pain in the ass for her. I wanted her to give me company all the time. I didnt expect her to put me ahead of studies but every time she didn't i scored brownie points with the well rehearsed, I-come-for-two-months-and-you-dont-give-me-priority speech.

She was a big help in getting me to settle down at the place since as we started going out more, the more of the past came flooding back and it reminded me of how the image of Mumbai home had changed drastically as I had settled into what would be my new home in Gandhinagar. So it turns out that I did actually love this place as my home before leaving and my Batter Half was making me realize that every day. Then came a fateful call that would alter the course of my regular holiday's. Its actually not as dramatic as I made it sound but sure this way sounds cooler. Since many weeks Yudi, Trip, AB(Angry Bird) and Tunn had been planning a trip to Shimla (Tunn's place) for the celebration of Tunn and Trip's birthday. They share it among many things. Well the many things are their college room and ummm.... well the first letter in my random name for them. I had never expected to be a part of the plan, since Mumbai to Shimla would require a lot of convincing. Convincing myself, my girlfriend and my parents. And I also had an internship which I literally dreamed of not doing. And I was busy with my book. I was going at a frantic speed with it. There was some driving force behind me that was unknown to me. But I just kept writing all day all night till I was satisfied.

So finally, when i was getting irritated by the constant swaying between one NGO to other thinking of which place would be the least irritating to work in I get a call from AB and he has Trip and Yudi on the phone with him. And he tells me that he has arranged a certificate for me from an NGO belonging to a friend of his so all I had to do was pack my bags and book the tickets. Actually that had to be done in the reverse order. But anyway, since he was offering me the dream of not working my ass off at some NGO and it would also mean that I would get to spend time in Shimla with my buddies. Now that is too cool a prospect for a 17 year old. Hardly any 17 year old's are allowed to go out on trip with friends and definitely fewer to places like Shimla. So all I now needed to do was convince my parents. It turned out to be the easiest part of the plan and within 30 minutes my tickets were booked.
Next blockade was my better half. But that wasnt a problem. She had an architecture fest coming up and they were keeping very busy at her college, so I had to just play the poor me card and I was through. But an understanding girl friend that she is she approved of it the moment she heard it. What the hell, if things were going to be so easy I might as well plan a trip for the next semester and planned it I did. And for now it seems an awesome plans. But then any good plan in Goa is an awesome plan.

So with packed bags I left for Shimla. Journey was annoying since I had most foolishly booked myself to an A/C chair car as I thought it would be fun. Just that I had imagined the chair car to be similar to the type of chair car's that i found in Germany or atleast like the shatabdi I had takn 7 to 8 years back. Turned out to be nothing like that and was a terrible journey. But I was looking forward to the upcoming fun and didnt let the journey spoil anything.
Once in Delhi, I reached Trip's place with a little difficulty with the rick driver. Anyhow the important thing was that I was there and I was ready to have fun. Trip in his usual surprising manner decided impulsively that we must watch Tintin movie in the PVR Vasant Kunj. So off we went to catch the movie and it turned out to be pretty good. Brilliant job done on the character portrayal of Captain Haddock. Next day we met up with Yudi and AB and we were off to Shimla.
The journey was little fun for me in the beginning as the others nodded off. The problem with me is I can hardly ever sleep in a travelling vehicle. In fact I had never managed it before going to GNLU but hostel life does do you wonders and I also have the perfect shoulder lender in Anju and her similar height does help. So it was only once it got dark that every one was up and about (Speak of human beings not being nocturnal creatures).

Shimla was a lot of fun and a hell lot cooler. Literally. We did go around a little less than lot but it was impossible to have gone around any more in that cold. The best part of the stay was sleeping. 5 people feeling cold stuffed in a room. Mind you the stuffing part in good since it is damn cold. And the mornings were amazing. We actually did the lottery thing to decide who gets to take bath the last who is sentenced to the torture of being the first to go take a bath. That reminds me even when we grow up there is always a kid inside,or so the movies say. We roamed around on the Mall Road with no apparent aim other than to eat. Turns out the Mall Road is locally known, strictly by guys, as Maal Road. And trust me it was difficult to not agree. Yet we were people with good sense and didnt mess around. Though we did have a ball when a few of Tunn's local friend's (who were totally sloshed) did chase after the ehm...

The next day we drove to an unmapped territory near Khufri named by Tunn and his friends as Heights. It was a stunning place and the height and beauty couldnt be done justice to by the use of a camera. We stayed up there in the peace and quiet. It is these places that inspire people into making drastic changes in their life. Naah nothing like that happened with us but we all did dream what a life we could have we could own a house at that exact place in the future.

So that was Shimla done with. I did move into AB's house for a day and it was an amazing experience. The entire trip was. Another impulsive decision by Trip to go for walk resulted in us landing up at Gurgaon. We went to landmark and ended up buying sports calenders and posters for our rooms in the much awaited new campus of GNLU.

And then after returning from Shimla I went to Bhubaneswar, my home town. It was the gulden jubilee celebration of my dad's secondary school. Sainik School Bhubaneswar. It was a brilliant experience, meeting up with your father's childhood friends who have more than enough stories that your father never would tell you about himself. I also went ad checked out their hostels and even that was an experience. Imagine looking at the room your dad spent his school days in.

So that brings me back to the last three days. 30th comes and the final paper of my genius engineering buddies are finally over. So its us 7, me, Kawadiya, Ghosh, Chaubey, Nattu, Vats and Sen. And we go out and have a ton of fun in the three days. We play laser tag, we do bowling, we go to expensive resaurants and order the costliest stuff since one of us is treating (in this case it was maldar party kawadiya) And now thats over and I start for Gandhinagar tomorrow. Why the hell do things always change when you dont want them to. I got a call from NikR today and Granger tells me everbody is already there so I would be missing out the fun days and directly arrive on the day of commencement of academic session.

Anyhow, holidays are fun if you have the right people to spend it with. I had a great one despite not expecting to get anything off it. Thats a surprise and now that it came to its peak its suddenly gone. I sure as hell look forward to going back to GNLU but why do I have to leave this place. I need to be at both places together. But then I guess holiday's are no fun if you dont have college. But 2 months gone in a flash. Just like the way the 4 months previous to it had gone by.

Why does it have to go so quickly? We discussed it in Shimla.. How wonderful it would be had we to stay forever in college, without growing up (Obviously) and I do not mean the vampire rubbish related to the twilight when I speak of remaining stuck at an age. But well life is like that. And the best part is its going great right now and obviously me being an eternal optimist (my dad even refers to me as over optimist) I see no reason why the entire life shall not be the same. It can be, it will be.. Because no matter what, keep your loved ones close and definitely you will have perfect holiday life. I have first hand experience now of the same thing. Good times and bad times are perceptions of human brain. In reality its your approach. Approach things optimistically like my better half made me do and things seem perfect. Be a grouch with a made up mind like me and you stand to loose a lot in your life.

Signing off,
Buckchod

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I leave you with this beautiful picture that I clicked while we returned from Khufri. Its the most vibrant sunset I have ever seen.

Secret to pwer

  Well folks since I am terribly bored I thought I should just post something that I find is actually very true..
Its the secret that every man desires at least once in his life time. That is unless he is gay. So read on.. As I break the greatest secret of man kind.

HOW TO WIN A FIGHT AGAINST GIRLS

Well, it is a herculean task to win a fight with a girl, whether it's on the phone, or sitting against each other in a room, or sitting at your coffee table, or at your bar - wherever it is. Now why is it so tough? Here is why: 
1- You care about her. 
2- She is not some guy whose nose you can break or arm you can twist. 
3- She is not some guy who you can tell how big an idiot he is being or how illogical his points are. 

4- You have to control your emotions as well as your mind at the same time. 
5- If she goes way out of line, you can't call her names. 
6- If she is making up facts, you can't just stop her or do 2 or 3.  


So how do you win a fight? Here is how:

1) In a fight, ALWAYS LET HER COMPLETE. 
Just close your mouth, and listen as closely as you can. Let her complete the entire thing, so you can carefully choose your points, and understand what she actually wants to say separating it from her blahblah (talks which show how disappointed she is/ how much embarrassed she was/ how much angry she is). When you would do that, you'll realize that she took 15 minutes to complete what could have just taken one sentence to be said. 


2) Don't ever clash. 

Break-ups happen only when two parties clash, but they would never happen, if only she is angry, and you are not. Guys think they cannot reason with girls, but that is absolutely wrong. You just do it in the wrong timing. Don't clash just immediately contradicting her statement because she went out of line, or what she said was not at all true. Control yourself. Let her finish, and keep nodding as if you are attentively listening to whatever she is saying - which also you are. 


3) Once she is over, take the points down. 
Once she is over complaining or whining. Your sentence should start with: So what you meant to say is, you have the following problems, (and one by one, in points, list down all the problems from her words). When you will do that, she'd be confused. The basic reasons behind this:
- She had never actually formed her points, before she came spilling out of her mouth. 
- She never expected this, all she expected was winning and you shamefully apologizing. 

4) Once she is confused, gradually put her down. 
This would give you enough confidence, time and points to easily put her down in front of you and show how idiotic her whining was. The conclusion would be that out of 100 %, only 20 % of what she complained about was true and plausible. You can show this to her and lecture her on how she should behave the next time she has any problem. Tell her that she needs to first think from your point of view. 


Now, this is a great way of showing how you can control things, and gradually such a habit can make you win every fight. You win fights not because you are smart, but because you kept your calm and didn't become all chaotic. Talking about manners and proper way of communication is a sign of dignity and respect.  

Any doubts regarding this problem or solution, just ask. I will give you the answer. 

Buckchod

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After Effects Of The 1st Semester At GNLU As A Law Student

  1 semester old at the law school. Yet it feels only yesterday that the results came out for CLAT and I decided that it had to be GNLU. The reasons behind that were many. Few of them silly others werent reasons at all. The major reason behind joining GNLU was the gut feeling and now its been proved, atleast to me that the gut feeling is something that can be trusted. It can make your life. So now that I am back I reflect upon the life there and what I learn from my experience in GNLU.

Here we go-

1. Before coming to law school, all your guy friends would be very happy that they have a lawyer friend and will extract promises out of you to save their asses from rapes and murders that they are so sure they are going to commit. Talk about confidence in the future. Is law still the Sunny Deol in the court scene where there are two lawyers joking there way around and a judge looking as if he is asleep or more likely dead. GUYS SERIOUSLY, LAWYERS HAVE BETTER WORK TO DO THAN WHAT THEY SHOW IN BOLLYWOOD. Sorry but I am not fighting any of your imaginary rape cases.

2. Food is really precious and as mentioned by a senior, you might leave the mac book pro out in the open, but food stays locked inside the deepest and darkest areas of your cupboard. Food is really precious if its good, and in hostel any food thats not mess food is absolutely yummy. So whenever you get them it incites the entire hostel to conspire against you to take it away from you. So you learn to master the art of lying and keeping secrets.

3. If you are at GNLU then you start missing traffic. Especially if you are from places like Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore then you actually start hating the empty streets. When was the last time you traveled 10 kms in 15 minutes. In Mumbaoi that happens only when.... It doesnt happen and I had never thought that I would miss traffic. But it happened I would do anything to get stuck in a traffic jam. Empty roads drive you crazy.

4. Keep accounts of the money that you spend daily, every 1 rupee coin, 2 rupees coin, 5 rupees coin, 10 rupees note, 20 rupees note, 50 rupees note, 100 rupees note, 500 rupees note, 1000 rupees note. Once you do this you realise its pointless and if people find out then they will either die laughing or will kill you for doing that. Spend as much as you want. Go bankrupt by the 15th of every month, but spend it on your friends. They will take care of the other 15 days of the month without counting the coins and notes that they spend on you.

5. Suddenly people back home want to discuss suits and civil and tort cases with you, though they have no idea what a civil case and absolutely alien to Tort. They think thats since you can discuss basic level stuff of their subjects they can do the same. If you count out English, which anyway sux to study then they absolutely cant discuss anything related to what you study in the Law School. And they make you feel that you actually know so much about the stuff from the other world.

6. The amount of study that you do on the last day and night can actually break all records or at least equal records, since you cant put in more than 24 hours of work in a day. Thats how my entire semester has passed and till now I am pretty happy with my scores. I guess its just a law school thing, last moment stuff works pretty well. But it takes you all the courage to shake off a week of slumber to put on the work your ass off mode.

7. Your clothes start changing colors, literally. It makes you appreciate the value of the house maid to no extent. How the hell do they manage to wash 100s of clothes and wash dishes and clean and sweep without a single cloth changing its color? Personally I am gonna ask her for the recipe of success tomorrow. Because every combination of time, surf and water has resulted in a disaster for me.

8. You start defying all the biological clocks possible. You sleep when the sun rises and dont wake up till its just risen. Yeah, basically you are sleep deprived. Its a real rarity and the best place to sleep is college when the classes are on. If you cant do that then you must seriously consider an alternate career before its too late. Because then either you die or you are too sincere for a law student.

9. You try your best to show off every where that you have profound knowledge of law even if you are a first semester student because you are soon going to receive an llb degree and there is a good chance that you have no idea what that stands for. But the point is its too much fun to show off your knowledge of statutes and random sections of random acts, most of it made up using whatever you know and converting it as per the situation and will.

10. If you are on a long distance relationship and you hear people tell you it wont work then believe them. Because if you do then you get to have a go again at dating some one new. But if you dont take that advice then just be proud that your relation is strong enough to handle the long distance. If you believe then it works. If you dont then it doesnt, so its totally your call and not an act of God.

11. Every piece of news fro outside world will shock you because inside the world of GNLU there is just not enough time to keep in touch with the world and you get detached to the outer world. facebook becomes the official news reporter and you get all the news off facebook rather than the usual news papers and news websites.

12. Suddenly you crave for the food that your mom makes and you think about it day and night at the lunch and dinner. And once you reach home after a semester you ask your mom to make that dish which she made the day you left and you had frowned at the last meal being so simple and nothing special.

13. If you are in the 1st semester and had expected to come to a class that was right out of Jefferey Archer's or John Grisham's books in which the classes are interactive with smart students back answering every question thrown at them, then you would be dissapointed. Because half the class would be asleep and the other half trying to stop themselves from falling asleep. And as for the lecturer, he/sh tries the best to put you to sleep, so there goes your interactive class.

14. Dont get too excited about field trips, its just the bus rides that are important. Try to catch up with maximum sleep during that time because an opportunity to sleep shouldnt be given up. And as for the field thing, you hardly see anything so no point in keeping your eyes and ears open, so just stay back in the bus and continue with the sleep. It would be the best utilization of time.

15. Make friends in the hostel. These will be the people who will be there in every aspect of your life at college and at hostel, when you pass and when you fail, when you are rich and when you are poor, when you are on a low or when you are high and later in your life as well. Thats the kind of friends you make in the hostel. So just find those special people and they ensure your journey remains smooth in the college.To put in simple words of a friend of mine, in the hostel the friendship goes to a new level.. Its like I am the best man at your marriage and you are the best man at mine.. 

Thats how simple or complex life seems inside and outside the college, and I say that though I am just 1 semester old. The best part of being a law student though are two of my favourite lines that I have been using over and over again, all the while laughing my head off while trying to keep a straight face.

1) Situation- I have wronged someone and he is angry. He rants at me and speaks of how the world is unfair to him.

Response- If you think that this is in any way unfair then let me explain.... You o round and round till he is so pissed that he has no idea what to do and he shouts.

Then you say- You actually have no legal grounds to prove what you are saying so yeah sure sue me in court. It will be tossed out before you could say "compensation"

2) Situation- You are pissed at someone who has wronged you or atleast you want to believe that the person has wronged you or maybe you just wanna have some fun.

Response- You know you have violated XYZ right of mine mentioned in XYZ article of XYZ act which can lead to XYZ amount as punitive damages and XYZ amount as exemplary damages and XYZ amount as XYZZZZZZZZ damages and trust me I will make it happen. So you can expect a legal notice from me and we will meet in court unless you want to change your mind. Last opportunity.. Take it or we meet in the court (The Supreme Court if the person is really lost already).

(All the XYZ's are the test of your creativity and thinking on your feet skills)

Signing Off

Buckchod

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