The Sinner's Act

No matter how many times you cried
But you still couldn't feel
No matter how many times you fell
But you still couldn't heal
No matter how many times you woke up
To the music of the gale apart,
As the children plunged their knives
Right in the middle of your heart
To believe in a fairy tale is a child's dream
For the poison rain in which you once played
I strip the soul off its chaste innocence
And the body burns in which the shadow once laid
Tell me would you rise just to be buried inside?
Tell me would you run away just to win a fight?
Your life is free from every fair frontier
It's all over in a matter of your eternal plight
Don't you remember the time when life went free?
The birth of you and the death of me
The children are back with their hands full
And the blizzard is knocking on your door
Tell me would you cry to never feel?
Or kill yourself only to never heal?

- Harshil Bhardwaj
2nd Year, Meta

Special Theory of Relative Cannibalism

Statutory Warning: The views expressed in this article may be unsuitable for the holier-than-thou, self righteous people with low self esteem, no sense of humour or irrational religious beliefs. Also if you are a 10 pointer, this article is not for you. It may be relevant for some low level backlog chap but since you are above all that, why don’t you go to library and borrow some books, a**hole (you know the word)

Of all the violinists considered smart, Einstein was the silliest. For his obsession with relativity had such a profound trickle down effect on our policy makers that they decided to stuff relativity in every possible way they can in our education system, thus turning a perfectly functional, cordial classroom into a $#!thole of cynicism, an every man for himself (or, for that hot girl sitting ahead ) zone. But then, who am I kidding. Hot girls and engineering almost seem like an oxymoron (Being in an oestrogen starved branch makes matters worse). On seconds thoughts, ranting on about hot girls, or rather the lack of them, in a technical college has become such a cliché and since there will always be those thick headed, android 2.1 using orthodox who just can’t suppress their urge to employ a cliché, so I happily leave that topic to them. Soon after falling in this deep sinkhole of higher studies, I uncovered some pretty depressing facts about my beloved college and all of those problems had something to do, in one way or the other, with this concept of relativity which those nonchalant policy makers have such inhumanly embodied in our curriculum (again, screw you Einstein!).If those incompetent old clowns can’t do it to their wives, they do it to their country. And yet, are still voted back to power because of idiots like you (yes, you!). And our college complements that by putting up an atrocious attendance system and by keeping an obscure curriculum, with that redundant train engine and helicopter being an apt symbolism of this obscurity. Legend has it that the Air Force helicopter once landed for a minor repair work and it couldn't fly back. Ever again. True story!

Now, allow me to commit sacrilege on the 10 commandments of our sacred CGPA system in which you get an opportunity to get screwed with your pants on, by a bunch of no life 10 and 9 pointers over and over and over and over and over again (sounds cruel? well, it is). But a few 9 pointers might come in handy for copying assignments from. And the most intelligent decision taken by the authorities (and perhaps the only) is to let 4 photocopy shops open in the PEC market so that the time wasted in photocopying assignments can be considerably reduced. And boy, how much I love assignment deadlines! I almost have a fetish for the jet like sound they make as they fly by. But if you are a 9 pointer (and most likely you are not), then after some time of good intention-ed assignment sharing, you start feeling like an open source software (a prostitute everyone uses but no one pays).

And speaking of grades, getting wasted the night before exams just because of an inconsequential binge dare won’t help your case either. But ‘Dare’ is the one word that makes the ego levels reach the zenith and makes you drink like a fish and smoke like a chimney. ‘No, I am a pussy’ should be your reply because the prospects of a possible one more year of going through that same hell (i.e. year back) don’t seem too appealing. Besides, smoking kills. And if you’re killed, you have lost a very important part of your life. But I know for sure people will continue doing that and the legacy will go on, even though it may seem nonsensical in hindsight. Because, perhaps, making sense is too mainstream (note to self: stop using clichés, you moron!). That one guy defying the mass cut, that one girl submitting assignments on time, it’s because of teacher’s pets like you (again, you!) that the entire class suffers for four consecutive years. If only we could remain unite. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or rare gemstone. You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else. So let us shun our differences and stop fighting over petty issues such as grades and placements. Let’s be united for once and make this world a happier place. Or maybe, smoke weed, get high and give the same number of #*%&s as the number of d**ks in Justin Bieber's pants. Amen.

Written by Rishi Rohan

2^nd Year

Mechanical Engineering

Cat

My body sat on the swing quietly one night,

My mind it’s only companion, wandering the lair,

Of my thoughts, and suddenly- cold fright!

An empty swing glides gracefully through the still air.

On cue, a crow croaked,

Waves of cold my body soaked,

Why is it suddenly freezing?

And then I heard it, a sickly wheezing.

I could have sworn I saw something there somewhere!

Yet, when I looked, there was nobody there.

The crow moaned, a black cat waltzed by,

It stopped. Slowly twisted its head, as if shy,

And fixed me with an evil gaze,

Then the lights went out in a cold dark haze.

I felt, in every nerve and sinew and vein,

The kind of fear that drives men insane,

Exept maybe, it was there all along,

Building up inside me like a slow song.

Whence came this unwanted notion?

Oh who’s this? I see some motion.

The lights came back, but they, they were different this time

Spewing rays of malice that coalesced with the shadows,

As the swing hit the side with a chime.

I stood there, rooted in fear,

Stabbing my a heart like a spear,

Move I did, thanks to the reptilian part of me

As the part that reasons drowned in the sea

Of fear, and as I reached my home,

I looked back to see a pair of eyes,

 Shining like precious stones,

The silhouette of the cat’s face made me scream,

It wasn’t over, it seemed.

That night I woke up, bathed in sweat,
Slimy worms slithered on the floor to make it wet,

There was only thing I remember from the nightmare,

The black cat and it’s evil stare.

To escape this all, I sought religion,

I meditated, and used psychedelics to get crazy visions,

Desperately seeking some relief,

From the idea that fear is our deepest seed.

Seconds became months, months became years,

In my solitude I conquered all my fears,

Enlightenment beckoned from the distance

Nightmares and black cats ceased their existence,

I saw angels float serenely in the air,

Mesmerizing beauty shine everywhere,

The ultimate truth, I searched

Where everything that ever was and is, converged.

I took a deep breath,

and closed my eyes,

Preparing for the truth

To let go of lies,

An image flickered,

I knew it well.

It was the evil stare of the cat from hell.


-Fateh Singh Mann
4th Year, Mech

The Happy Boy

With a bucket of flowers, wet and sweet,
And pockets filled with all things pretty.
With a heart full of joy,
And a barrel of happy juices.

He trots through hills and valleys alike.
With the gaze of a tomahawk, stares around.
Looking for the distant Shiela placed,
Amongst yellow blooms and toxic ravines.

He plans his entrance with tedious detail.
The happy boy glances, drops of sunshine.
A cool breeze she feels, her bosom.
He watches her, her moves. How he watches her!

With songs of love, of tragedy, and life.
Percussion, strings and notes unheard.
With a funny twang and a perpetual bang.
He enters tip-toeing into her sphere.

His charm, and his heavenly pleasure,
Putting at rest the world and her defenses.
With a touch, a smile and a wink,
He puts her world in a joyous topsy turvy.

For the happy boy places his seed deep within;
A seed wrapped in myriads of packets of happiness.
With his conquest made, and a life changed,
The happy boy trots on to hills and valleys alike.


-Avneet Hira,
General Secretary, SAASC (2012-2013)

L.A.S.

It’s tough to explain how the existence of an individual can affect you. You love them, hate them, like them, dislike them, or maybe the existence is just a part of your regular life, but it still fills a part in the life you live. The existence of all the people in one’s life defines an individual. We know that. We all know that. What we don’t know, or maybe just don’t care enough about, is that the absence of an individual can affect one’s life in a greater possible way, compared to any other thing in the world. We all love, we all live, and well, we all kill, but never do we think about our actions as right or wrong, or good or bad. We never think what impact we can have on someone, or what impact others can have on us. The impact is just a mere significance, or the instant attraction towards a person, not necessarily in a sexual manner, but the way in which one becomes a fan, a follower. And that’s probably the best thing to do in this life, to be that person, who becomes an idol, or maybe just a person to look up to.  To be someone who matters. To be someone who does the work. To be someone who will always be remembered, and kept in mind, even if keeping in sight is no more an option. We all will define our lives, but influencing someone else’s will be the better thing to do. To live is easy, but to live a life is tough. It’ll be a tough experience to laugh, to be sad, to be happy, or to be mad, the correct way, at the correct time, with all the right people, but it’ll be all that matters.

To err is human, and that is all that we must know. Knowing and expecting beyond our capacity is what does not happen. One never knows when the time will end, or when there will be a new start, as there is too little time to worry about such things, as life is what it is, and we all live through it. It’ll happen to you when you’re busy pouring yourself a glass of scotch, and thinking what it would be like, if it would have been different. It could have been better, or worse, or maybe just the same, and the significance might just have changed. And even if it would have been different, one day it would have come to an end, just like everything does and everything will. But one thing that will still stay when there’s no skin, will be the impact, and the significance. The fact that you loved, or you hated. The fact that you lived for all of it. And here I sit today with my drink, thinking, how different it would have been, if some would still have been there. How would it have affected me? And I wait, for all of it, for my share of it, for me to matter, and for me to exist.

-Vishwa Vijay Singh Dhandu

Everything is right

A dog can see all around him only in black and white, whereas, a bee can see thousands of colours.
It is an interesting observation that the world around us is the same, but everybody sees and experiences it differently. So, do you experience the world right, or do I see it right? What is the right way to live?
To a certain degree, people analyse day to day affairs with respect to a certain set of rules. These sets of rules might be defined by an individual himself, or they could be adapted from religion, plenty of stuff to choose from..
Now see, the problem is that on a planet full of 7 billion people, with every guy having a different set of rules/views on life, these views often tend to clash. Say for example, the Hindu-Muslim clash in our country and many more around the world on smaller and larger scales. This is because of the common understanding that in the case of two opposing arguments, only one is correct and the other is commended to oblivion.
THIS NEED NOT BE!!!

Allow me to recollect an ancient Jain story..

The Four Blind Men 

In a small village lived four blind men. They were told about an exotic animal that was going to be brought to the village; the elephant. None of them had ever seen or heard about an elephant before, so they decided to go find out what an elephant was really like.When taken to the elephant, visual inspection was obviously not possible. So they began touching and feeling the elephant to get a mental picture of the animal. The man who was standing near the legs of the elephant commented that the animal seemed like some sort of pillar. The person near the trunk inferred that it was some sort of snake. The man holding the tail imagined it to be somewhat similar to a dog or a donkey. The fourth man examined the belly of the elephant and declared it to be a blob of meat. Even months after the elephant went,the four blind men quarrelled about the shape and size of the elephant, and took this dispute to their graves.

The point to be realised here is that none of them were wrong, each one of them was correct in their own perspectives. But all of them missed the bigger picture, and also lost their friendship in the process. This is exactly what is happening in today's world. Everybody seems to have developed a certain understanding of the world, and will valiantly defend it in case of any arising contradictions, without realising that both of them might be correct, at the same time.
All I'm trying to say is that after listening to all this, if you still think that your viewpoint is correct, then you have every right to think so; but if you say that your views are right and mine are wrong, then no body in this world would be more wrong than you.And this is how everything and everyone is right; ' wrong-ness' is in declaring other people to be wrong.

-'Maharaja' SP
(2nd year, Mechanical)

Food Review: Viva Mexico! (Sector 10, right above “shots”)

So my friends told me that there is this really amazing and decently priced Mexican food joint just 5 minutes from college. Who dare stop me from going there now?
A narrow staircase in the market of sector 10 led to the extremely brightly colored ambiance. But that didn't matter because it completely gelled with the mood. And what mood is that you may ask? Loving life, carefree and listening to Mexican songs of which you understand nothing but still enjoy it kind of a mood.
As soon as you enter you encounter a very customer friendly food presentation which would remind you of subway but the only difference being it’s not just raw veggies! The chicken Quesadillas are definitely a must have. The cheese melts in your mouth without suppressing the flavor of chicken. I guess the veg Quesadillas are also good but being a hardcore non vegetarian, I never tried them. In case you thought that this was all the place had to offer, you’re wrong. If you’re nice enough and lucky they might just let you wear the sombreros to “enhance the Mexican experience” or so the manager said.
People who have average eating habits could easily get their stomach filled in Rs. 200. A major downer for me was the burrito, it tasted like rajmah chawal wrapped in a roti. Maybe I don’t know what burritos taste like, but if this is the answer, I am never having burritos in my life ever again. All in all if you can’t decide what to eat in the 1 hour break of college, try out this place. In most cases, it won’t disappoint you.

Summary:

By Dinaz Malik (2nd Year, CSE)

Swirling Black hole of Chaos

It all amuses us. The fact, that we are where we are, or the place where we could have been. It is all a second life we think about all the time. The love, the pain, the speech, all would have been different. It’s a very complicated feeling to explain. But is it right to think about all that could have been there? Should we, not rather think about how we are right now, the place where we live, and the place we would eventually. Why do we feel something which has already happened is more important, and needs to be given a thought, when we can very well sit down, and think about more important things in life?
We complicate things, we complicate relationships, we complicate feelings, only because of our complicated thoughts. Life plays with us, in so many different ways, that we can’t understand the difference between the hopeless reality, and friction less virtual world.  But do we live enough in whatever we do? We have our moments of happiness, and our moments of remorse. We might lose ourselves, and we might gain what one had never thought. Does every step to our future matter, and must affect us in a manner we can or cannot deal with? Does the ideal reality have to be achieved by each individual to have our human needs and desires satisfied?
 But there are external methods and ways to satisfy the needs. We have our precious little soldiers of death, multiplying our capacities, but killing our desires, and our existence. We need them sometime, only to realize later that it might not have been necessary, and we might just have been able to deal without it. We might have been able to make a better person out of ourselves. Life does not always rewind, at least not for what we have lived to see. We might think of ourselves as rebels, and make our own Hell’s Kitchen, but the truth does not lie there. We have our loveless desires to take care of, whether it is known or not. Whether we accept it or not. The future might be petrifying, but just thinking about how it might affect us in  a good or a bad manner, wants us to be, and makes us grow strong.  

                                

By Vishwa Vijay Singh (2nd Year, Civil Engineering)

DON'T KILL ME OR KILL ME MOM

Don’t kill me mom,
Before I open my eyes
With my going away,
A part of you too dies…

Don’t kill me mom,
What wrong have I done?
That I don’t get to watch the moving tides,
The beautiful moon, the colourful sun...

Don’t kill me mom,
I’ll make you proud
Explore the deep seas, reach
The sky, stand apart from the crowd.

Don’t kill me mom,
Shouldn’t I be the one to decide?
To live or not, I can but
Plead to you from deep inside.

Or kill me mom,
Rather than making me work
At an age when I ought to be playing
Instead of bearing a painful jerk...

Or kill me mom,
I don’t want to walk through streets
At nights, when alone, feared
To be raped by those merciless beast.

Or kill me mom,
For money, I don’t want to be beaten
By my own man, when we are two bod-ies,
But one soul, only in written.

Or kill me mom,
Isn’t it better to die?
Before being born, rather than
Bearing everyday a 100 deaths’ cry.

-Sajal Sehgal, 2nd year

Music review- Foo Fighters

FOO FIGHTERS – WASTING LIGHT (2011)

Not only is Dave Grohl, Foo Fighter's founder/frontman/guitarist, committed to never let rock die, his post-grunge band's seventh effort since 1994 is unapologetically a classic act in virtually every way. The Foo Fighters have avoided their fancy studio lodgings for this album, opting instead to record the entire album in Grohl's garage! The result is a no-nonsense collection of raw, roaring, straight-up rock tune paired with lyrics that are often as impenetrable as Grohl's snarling vocals and ferocious guitar riffs.

Burning Bridges: Hyper Energetic with the echo of Grohl’s intro chant of “These are my famous last words” and you know that you’re in for one hell of ride.

Rope: Starts with echo coated clattered guitars before crashing into mahogany-rich cymbals. In short, kickass vocals; kickass riff and kickass drums!

White Limo: Album’s heaviest track, where Dave Grohl’s screaming vocals bang through most of it. The lyrics are majorly distorted and this itself adds to the garage-recorded-thrash-metal feel to this song. However this seems overdone at times and the endless screaming and growling becomes tiresome and (one might even say) irritating by the end of it.

Arlandria and These Days are tough, unstable energy ballads in their own melancholic spirit.

Walk: This song is what will make your time spent on listening to this 47-minute album worthwhile. You can almost feel yourself ‘million miles away’ and this is clearly the best 4 minutes of music to come out this album.

After "Wasting Light", it’s safe to say that anyone who compares Foo Fighters with Nirvana has either never heard them or has been too busy immortalizing Nirvana to hear them. And yes! Dave Grohl is not just ‘the drummer from Nirvana’. He is the Dave Grohl - founder, lead vocalist and guitarist of Foo Fighters!

Other Songs of the Album: Dear Rosemary, Back & Forth, Miss the Misery, I Should’ve Known, Matter of Time

Best of Foo Fighters: Walk, Rope, The Pretender (Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace), Best of You (In Your Honor), All This Time (One by One).

-Harshil Bhardwaj