What the year taught me

The trick to answering that question is knowing what you are and what you were, which I’m not sure I do. A close friend may notice something.

We had an exercise in one of our courses in which we were put into a group and ask each other to tell what the person’s first impressions were about the other. What do I come across as first up? An intellectual! What doesn’t make me laugh is an impression that I’m sarcastic. Well, may be, but never intended to bite anyone.

I’m not proactive. I always believed in sanctity of the system, whatever that means, and followed it. I thought may be that will change. Not a bit.

I thought may be my stupid jokes will be sobered by the purported superior education. It didn’t because there is no need to, as long as it tickles one funny bone, one beneath my skin.

One thing I learn t is that the results i get depends on my mood which tends to swing from wild euphoria to gloom. I’m sober as write this line though I don’t know why. I also don’t know why I become cold in the presence of my gregarious sister though I cannot stop talking about her to everyone I know. I don’t know how I managed to get over my lovable granny’s death so quickly and say ‘her time had come’ to my astounded relatives when I was only 9.

I can’t be that bad, can I? The year should’ve taught me something. May be I do things I can, complaining less frequently. May be that’s why I walk around in circles less, when the deadlines approach. And I speak out more than I ever did. Because its one of the few things I’m good at.

Happy New Year.

Hail Gravitas!

Gravitas

Pronunciation: 'gra-v&-"täs, -"tas

• high seriousness (as in a person's bearing or in the treatment of a subject)
• Name of our institute publication.

Our communication professor is the Editor with 6 people on board. (3 seniors and 3 first years). Last year was its inception. They had dabbled with some magazine sometime back and dropped it later. Anyway, last year it was close to institute fest when we came up with the idea (my seniors to be precise) and we discussed endlessly as to what the end product will look like and who will find it useful. After dismissing journal like stuff (our institute has one called Metamorphosis, but no one cares to remember let alone read). Magazine is too juvenile to be taken seriously. So we zeroed in on the sweet spot, an Indian HBR.

Next was the name- we discussed Ergo (doesn’t it sound like a burp?), Citius Altius Fortius (unreadable), Chrysilis (what’s this fixation with Greek names?) etceeeeettttteeeerraa..Gravitas (C’mon! Let’s move on to more important things)

Next was to decide who will write and who will read. If we want industry captains to read it, why not ask them to write? Great. Things started to move on pretty fast. We decided a theme and possible list of speakers who embody them ask them to write and bingo! Pops the magazine.

Well, it didn’t go quite that way, because the toughest part was the last one. Anyway, our revered editor pulled the first edition herself- did the convincing. We, on the other hand, did the donkey work- proof read, designed, published, distributed, and wrote a thank you note (Boy! Was she paranoid about that part?)

Second edition is slightly different- we still have a theme ‘Indian roots, global ambitions’, still zeroed on the speakers (industry captains, sportsmen, politicians, writers, economists), the only little part we are supposed to do is convincing. You call the secretary, talk talk talk and we get the article, right? WRONG! I did try it last year with no success. Tried 6, converted none. Somehow everybody had gone to China. (China is definitely a threat)

This time I tried the same people. Rang the secretary and said hello Mr. Das. How do you know my name? I talked to you last year also, remember? Well, the other end is sympathetic this time. Yesterday’s rejects are today’s converts. Today’s, tomorrow’s converts and so on.

Lesson 2- Mr. Secretary? Yes saar (sir). Tamizha? Amam. How did you know? Never mind. Mother tongue worked!!!

We have only 2 articles till date (and a few commitments) and one and a half months to go. I’m still apprehensive. C’mon buggers! Let’s do exactly that.