Pet peeves and some thoughts!

Ever thought why things that irritate you are called pet peeves, when pets are actually supposed to give u the happiness other humans around u aren't able to..lol..beginning a blog with a PJ is not an IN thing is it? okie okie..

The origin for this not-so-common and not-so-friendly tagline for this present post of mine arises from the irritation of not having been able to post the last write up for almost 20 hours after writing it. The worst part was being here, every website reads in German by default..and since it’s been ages since I have been on blogspot, wasn’t too sure how to handle that one..finally did some R&D (read as research and destruction) and it led me to some page which asked me if I wanted the default language to be.. (Yes yes English! U r right English, that’s the language- rather the only language I speak and understand!) Imagine the bouts of irritation one can be put into by just not understanding a language.. this makes me wonder what happens to all those people who cannot communicate and language is not the barrier but inability is.

This depressing thought has originated and thrives in the brain for quite some days now…living in a country where English is not a natural 1^st language, am often replying in nods by guessing what the person must perhaps be talking about, given the situation..For e.g. I know that when you go to the billing counter at the super market, s/he greets you and then asks you if you have the super value card (or sth similar), I nod my head communicating a no, the next question is, “Is that all?”, I nod a yes, s/he tells me the amount in German, my eyes are already scanning the visible screen and I pay her, she tells me to have a nice day, I smile and nod back hoping she understands I wish her the same.. Scary thought what if one fine day s/he asks me one extra question, would probably reply quite the contrary.. Do u have a Value card? (Yes), is that all (NO)..lol..

Of course it’s even sillier when you are at work place and two people break out in a conversation in German cos it’s the most natural thing for them and you are left in the middle smiling (rather grinning at your fate of where u r stuck!) I really wish that foreign language course had not been called off, at least I would have recognized the sounds if not a few words! Ahem, no regrets!

Hmm so what should I write about today? A good friend (who obviously doesn’t know that I have started blogging) asked me to blog about my travel.. I will have him read my previous blog and ask him if I must really write more on the trip, lest people think that’s the ONLY good thing to have happened to me in my entire life.. LOL.. but no seriously, there have been other good things in life as well, which need a little more importance as well though this trip was quite an eye opener into the potential to be happy and content even when you are all by yourself. Often we tend to associate happiness, sadness, laughter to another person, an external source totally forgetting that if you (the main person concerned) does not wish, this external source’s efforts would be totally futile! That’s what happens (naturally) in relationships.. especially in long distance ones.. haha let’s not even talk about it..am a part of a successful one (or so we claim) for quite some time now, and it will end up being a gyan ka bhandaar if I get started on this topic!

When in school, they used to have this practice called “thought for the day” where a lucky soul from Standard IX (ask the headmistress why) used to come and rattle off a random thought.. it was like we students lived and died for that day.. may be I will have to subscribe to something similar called “topic for the day”.. Suddenly all the inspiration seems to have waddled off and I am left thinking what to write! I have a mundane topic if you may.. “Grades” Arrghh what a boring topic you may wonder.. hello buddy am the worst affected so I should know better! (too boring a topic, but my two cents on it nevertheless.. please I insist!

With all due respect to all my classmates (of the past, present and future), I really wonder what grades truly communicate.. and I speak this not cos of a "sour grape attitude" mind you.. Have been there as the crème de la crème of the class et all.. so it’s really not the fact that am one of not so fortunate in the current situation that I write this.. But frankly, what are these grades about? Do they communicate this person has better ability to do something? Or just that the person had the patience and the endurance to cram it up and throw up when the time came? I can speak for myself.. a lot of subjects I had to study, I barely remembered them a minute after walking out of the exam hall, though I might have topped in a couple of them! But then when I entered work force, I thought to myself if this kind of intelligence was really necessary in this world where one can find about anything and everything on google with just a mouse click? Why waste your energy cramming those stuff when you will anyway be able to find it online or in those books which you will nevertheless refer to cos you may not still remember it word to word..may be concentrate on the application bit of it? But then that’s called “gas”..

Phew I hated this word until I myself was forced to use it! You talk more than 3 sentences on a certain topic and they call you an efficient gasser and that’s what people like me are called. But hats off to those people who have the ability to cram as well as apply..I really wish I had the conviction to do well academically as well, which one of my friends suggest I should since I have nothing to lose if I cram a bit..after all I won’t lose my ability to apply this knowledge would I? May be he is right cos when I find myself at the crossroads with these very toppers nine months from now, don’t want to be slided into a corner just cos I don’t have that good CQ! But then will I be able to better them at this stage? Screwed it from the very beginning, tried to get it under control in the 2^nd semester and come 3^rd sem, blew it up in thin air looks like.. arrghh..I want to get over this ugly thought.. any help? This calls for an absolute change of topic.. I myself find this read boring, can imagine what you must be going through...

guess I shall retire for the day.. ask someone to suggest me what to write on, and will do (haha as if I am some famous ghost writer!) that’s the beauty of our imagination.. in a minute we start believing we are the best while we were in the dumps seconds back.. On this note, I sign off for today..ciao..hope to get back with a more interesting write up soon.. but before I retire, I wish to leave you all with a thought that has been talked about day in and day out and is almost a famous cliches.. If we Indians are really as smart as we claim to be, why does our country have the lowest number of patents as compared to other countries of the world? Help me with this, if it was an Indian who designed the traffic system for the US, why is our own country groping with basic infrastructure even 50 years after its independence? Please don't assign it to a simple term called "brain drain" have heard and read enough on it to last this life time of mine..and don't write off this blog of mine as being that of a frustrated under performer.. yes I don't have the conviction to face those with better grades and tell them confidently I know a tad more than him or her, especially about HR (which again is defined as "gas" by many)..But a few experienced souls tell me that grades just don't matter within 6 months of graduation and I truly hope they are right! Failing which 15 months later, I promise to publish on this very website a blog named "I am stupid" and you will know what I am talking about..But on a serious note, I seriously wish those professors could see through some presentations and knew to differentiate the good from the bad..that's what they are there for, rather than administer those meaningless MCQs and base our careers on random guesses! Aargh yes I do sound like a sour person, I truly must retire for the day.. am almost whining :( ciao now..