prodded to use the VIP pass

Using VIP status to get special treatment at public places is one of the most famous ways of flaunting it. And so is done by the ostentatious Indians aplenty. As and when there is an opportunity we would go right ahead and move around flaunting our 'status'. 

There are different categories of VVIPs. And there are as many or probably more different ways of flaunting that 'status' of theirs.

To make it simple they have been classified below in a heirarchy similar to that of Cricket teams in India.

We have the Indian Cricket Team. The VVIPs who reside in Lutyen's Delhi and their kind. Their most effective way of showing off is to have you wait for ages for them to pass. In extreme situations the wait could be as long as an hour. You'd understand what that means if you're a Delhiite and have to pass through that area and have had to wait for something like 10-15 minutes on a bike when the temperature is over 40 degrees.

The IPL teams. The film stars. I don't even need to get started, the mention of a certain character named 'Rakhi Sawant' is enough. Thanks to people like her, so many people have stopped watching TV. While there are others who have started...

Then we have the Zonal Teams. The people who have contacts with the aforementioned(ICT). Their most effective way of flaunting their status is by getting free passes to the Cricket matches being held at Ferozeshah Kotla. It is common knowledge that after the free passes have been distributed the only places remaining for the crowd to watch the game from are the trees and thankfully Delhi has plenty of them.

Next we come to the State Level Teams. The Sarkari babus. Go to any public body and you'll know how they flaunt their status. Want a hint? Here it is: Don't wear a watch when you go to the MCD office.

Then there are the University, College and School Teams: These are the ones who all of us have to deal with at some stage or the other.

These are the people around you who have, more or less, a celebrity status on a microcosmic level. This category also includes the people around you in school, college, university who move about flaunting their badges and designations. The Prefects, Presidents, members of the Student Body etc.

Remember that teacher in school who used to give marks frugally to have you begging for more.

Or those special guests who arrive at least an hour late in gatherings of friends and families.

Then the committees managing your institute/dorm etc, who excel in implementing all kinds of ridiculous illogical rules.

The Traffic Police constable who talks to you rather condescendingly even if you are not at fault.

Or that clerk in your university who would talk to you in only one manner - condescendingly. He wouldn't consider you important enough to even raise his eyes from the file that he just picked up while talking to you.

Broadly speaking these are the various categorisations of 'celebrities' that we come across. Or did I miss out someone? Anyway, the fact is that most of these celebrities are not even celebrated except for the honours doled out to them by a select group of maniacs.

One is through with all the gassing, time to come to the point. Somehow, one landed up in the last category of celebrities, the student body... And by virtue of the work that the student body performs it has some special perks. The one that I've used the most out of all the perks is the small office that we have with a couple of PCs and printers. Imagine, a campus with no space to keep your foot... and you have a fair sized office to yourself and your friends. And in addition a LAN connection, access to intercom. And... the list continues.

The other advantages include:

1. Entry to all fests organised by all colleges of the university free of cost(includes Mithibai ;). The visiting card does the job. This is not a written down rule, just mutual respect. I've used this just once and that too just to have a look at how the team went about organising their event. Never really had time for more.
2. Option to get clicked with the celebrities backstage. Done that once, didn't even care to get the pics.
3. Invitation to all events of college - again mutual respect within college. Of course, the event should be in a well known 5 star(JW Mariott, Grand Hyatt and the likes) and lunch/dinner should be there.
4. General information about what's happening in the college. Policy decisions and all.

... the list continues.

One such minor perk is that entry into/exit from any college event is not restricted. That's primarily because in most cases we are the ones organising the event. Never in the two years have I stood in a queue(for college related stuff). Now, just recently we had our Fresher's party, organised by Juniors at JWM. When I reached there, there was a queue. I was in no hurry so I joined the queue, it feels good when it's just for a change. (Prof. V Raghunathan to note) Seconds later a group of girls came and stood right behind me. Already half drunk and constantly chattering. I could not bear the noise and the queue was moving rather slowly. So, I stepped out, went straight to the gate and stood there. The plan was to enter after the guy behind whom I was standing in the queue entered. So there I was chatting with someone - can't recall who it was. I guess, the liquor from the girls had already got to me.

Then it happened. One Mr. being his usual over smart self passed a rather snide remark about my intention of jumping the queue surreptitiously. I ignored. The person with whom I was chatting had, by now, entered. A second remark, followed by a third.

OK dude. You stand in the queue. I'll enter and, do so openly. Do what you can. I asked one of the juniors to arrange my coupon and enter, I did. Ego!

Game of Life

An interesting article:

http://www.math.com/students/wonders/life/life.html

Life and Death

Place: Madh-Malve Road, Outside Sea-Shells Bungalow

Date: 28-02-09 - 1-03-09

Time: Around 1 AM

There is a small shop outside the bungalow. There were a couple of steps coming down from the shop which ended at the road. That is where I was sitting. A beach-house party was on in the Bungalow. The students of one of  India's top B-Schools enjoying there last night out together. But, as always, I just could not enjoy the party. Singing, dancing, drinking - nah, not my taste. I just like talking and listening, that's it. And, of course, I do derive voyeuristic pleasure seeing people do ludicrous stuff in their inebriated states. This is something that I've got hooked to since the first party that I went to. In any case, even these things are not able to hold my attention for long, uneasiness surfaces. Inevitably, I feel some kind of an emptiness and venture out searching for goodness knows what! That's what I've done in almost every party that I've attended till date - make a lot of noise, then disappear and come back later, towards the end, and again make a lot of noise. So there I was, outside another party.

Vehicles of all sizes buzzed by, every few seconds or so. Then I noticed them -  a bitch roaming about with her pups. They were across the road at an angle of about 40 degrees from 'straight'. I tried to count them. The light wasn't very good and the fact they were hopping about made the task quite difficult - 5 or 6, 5or 6. Five, finally I was sure. All of them following their mother, trying to suckle as she kept moving here and there so as to be able to give herself a rest.

Then she went inside the bungalow across the road from a small hole in the bushes. The pups remained outside, playing, feinting, smelling stuff thrown along the roadside,  enjoying life in short! The road was empty. There was a long pause - no vehicle on the road for about two minutes.

Two adventurous pups came to this side of the road, about 3-4 metres from me. They were having the time of their lives. The other three pups were having fun on the other side. Then, all of a sudden there were a number of vehicles which came simultaneously, making loud sounds - horns and all. Amazingly, the pups were not bothered by the sounds. They didn't even look up. All dogs that I had seen till date were either scared of the cars or hated them, at least they were all cautious when they heard the sound of one. These pups just didn't take notice.  There was another long silent patch.

Then a Tata Safari came from my left, the pups looked up and began chasing - hooray! that's it - act like a dog. Then a Wagon R came from the right, they shifted their attention.A Scorpio from the left, they were in the middle of the road, waiting for it. A truck from the right. The Scorpio reached them and so did the truck. One pup managed to get under the truck. The other one - the rear tyre of the truck went over it. Death.

The road was empty again, the pup wailed in pain, it had been critically injured, unable to move. It was still alive. The bitch came out followed by the other pups. As she kept her first step on the road, a vehicle whizzed by, and another and another. Helpless, she went in. Then a Black Santro went by. It stopped some distance away. The road was silent again. The back door opened and a man in his late twenties stepped out. The other doors opened. Two men- same age group as above. They rushed to the pup. "Get some water", one of them said. One of them picked it up and took him to the roadside while another got some water. They poured some water on the wounds of the pup, it wailed even louder with pain. They attended it for about 5-7 minutes, then the bitch came and took it away. The men left.  There was no more wailing.

All this time, I was sitting there, voyeuristically enjoying the game of Life and Death. While there was a party going on inside the bungalow -  quite ironically, a celebration of life!