Life On A Katta

From the title itself it’s pretty evident that I am a dropout. In this post I will just narrate my story and my experiences in this phase of absolute confusion and a very prevalent sine wave of emotions. Is this post a rant? A post that I am writing to help someone going through the same perils? Or just me venting out? Frankly, I have no idea. Anyway, here’s my story.. So, post choosing “science” in 11 th and 12 th my life was clearly laid ahead of me. But, I tried to change the script a little. I always wanted to do Sound Engineering (still do and will do). To pursue that degree I needed to study Physics on a 12 th + level, which meant I had to do my bachelor’s in BSc. Physics or do Engineering. Since Engineering was the better option I chose that. Let me be clear here, I do not blame anyone for me taking engineering which is sort of the norm. My family was as clueless as I was and we learnt for the better through this ride of mine that Engineering or Medical is not the neces...

The literacy rate in India is 74.04% according to recent data. India, as we all know, is the World’s Largest Democracy. These two facts might seem very random to be placed one after the other, but I see a very clear relation between the two. These two facts play a major role in deciding the political discourse of the county and the way policies are implemented for the “benefit” of the people of our nation and in general the narrative of the county. As sections of the people are uneducated the politicians rely on sentiments to secure votes and seats. The best way to direct these sentiments in ones favour is to rely on propaganda. As a nation having a majority of Hindu population, we see two clear cut distinctions in the way propaganda is formed and targeted, you either target Hindus or you target people who believe in relative secularism. I specifically use the term ‘relative secularism’ here as absolute secularism is not possible without a completely educated populous. We see th...

I sit to write this post after experiencing two terrible seasons and two back to back defeats in the opening fixtures of the new Premier League season as an Arsenal supporter. Just yesterday Arsenal were 2-0 down within twenty minutes of the first half. They managed to pull back two goals before halftime only to lose the match 3-2 to Chelsea. The range of emotions I felt during that game sums up what I have been going through supporting Arsenal since 2005. I sit and wonder, like many people who aren’t into sports, as to why I do this to myself every year from August to May. Why do I care so much about a sporting institution that does not affect my personal or professional life in any way? Let’s start from the top. Arsenal football club under their longest serving manager Arsene Wenger were a force to be reckoned with. Going head to head with a brilliantly set up Manchester United side under the helm of Sir Alex Ferguson was no easy task. Arsene’s men managed to match and beat...

“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.” ― Albert Einstein “Music is the shorthand of emotion.”  ― Leo Tolstoy If I have to pinpoint to one song being the first I’ve ever heard, it might be wrong, but only one track pops up “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees. The iconic image of John Travolta walking down the road with a can of paint in his hand trying to flirt with every girl he sees on the road will always be etched in my memory. The credit for that goes to my father who was and is an avid enthusiast of music and as he calls it “off beat films”. The memory of my first song ever should have ideally been a Hindi one as I was born and raised in Pune, an up coming metropolitan in Inda, in the mid 90s. My father had other ideas and I am very grateful to him for the same. After Bee Gees it was Abba then Boney M, little by little my brain actually turned into a Disco. ...