The ripper had struck again.
The newest victim was a five year old diabetic girl. A Blood stained blazer along with her ID card were found in the service lane behind the school. The toll had reached twenty.

The bodies of the victims were never found... the cops were clueless and the city was a state of panic.

Ria lived with her mother in an apartment on the 4th storey of Sunset Heights. Her father, a successful stockbroker had abandoned them when she was 18 never to be seen again. Rumour has it that he fled to South Africa fearing a possible indictment under the Harshad Mehta scam. However, he left his bank accounts and property untouched. Enough for a comfortable life in the material sense.

The grandfather clock in the living room struck 8. Time for dinner. Being a school teacher instilled within Ria a strong sense of discipline with regards to time. Never the one to arrive late.

The aroma was luverly. Twas biryani. In the eyes of Ria her mother, a sweet gentle soul touching 60 was probably the greatest cook in the world.

The sybarite within her took over and she attacked the food with glee. Halfway through her meal she bit into something mettallic. It was a dogtag with the words 'Tamanna, Type I diabetic' neatly printed upon it....

" Maa, you havent cleaned up the body properly! I told you, always take any ornaments off before you put it out to cook. "



D

She had been running... running for 35 years now.
Not from life, not from lies, not from lestat but from love.

The little grasshopper was tired.

The pinnacle of physics had been achieved, her academic orbit was at its apogee. Life was good.

The little coffee house across the road beckoned, a place where she had first met "him".
Twas chance, they were forced to share a table for the want of space. It felt right... he felt right... two hours passed by in a blink of an eye. He gave her his number, she promised shed call. That was 10 years ago. She was too scared and the scrap was soon lost to the ravages of time.

She entered letting the inviting aroma of arabica guide her. As her eyes soon grew accustomed to the dimly lit room her gaze wandered. There he stood...

This story couldve had a happy ending, all she had to do was call out to him.

She couldnt, and he left soon after. The little grasshopper was all alone....


D

Life had been a bitch to him. But he had made it.

There stood Chi.

Born to the mistress of a small zamindar with big aspirations, Chi was abandoned at the age of two. The father in an effort to cover up his past indiscretions had Chi's mum extirpated and him packed off to the nearest orphanage. 15 years of abuse would have wiped out the bravest of souls... Chi survived.. Infact Id daresay he thrived... Twas the magic of hope...
Chi nursed the dream of a better place, parsecs away from the hell he was living in. He worked towards it. The day belonged to the owner of the tea stall, but the night was devoted to the pursuit of knowledge. He laboured day in and day out to ekk out a living and support his little endavour. He was 9 when an accident at the stall cost him his right hand... so he learnt how to write with his left.
15 years of hard work finally paid off. A sterling result in the field of academics got him a full scholarship with a prestigious university. The last day of his first life melted into the first day of his last.
He waited at the station. The train approached slowly, lade with the dreams and aspirations of a boy who never gave up. He rushed towards it, never noticing the vendor approaching from the other direction. The impact threw him off the platform onto the rails...
He died.

D

She knew she needed him.
It was the height of the 95 construction boom in Seattle. Mounds of glass and steel attempting to outdo the gods coming up all around.
The alarm went off at 7:30am. Time to go to work. She tiptoed across the faux wood floor and stood under the shower.. it felt like a thousand needles.. the cold water always reminded her of him.
Amy first laid eyes upon him at the newly constructed penthouse of a prodigous associate. A professional...
Subtlety is an art lost upon many. Amy, however, was a loyal patron. A couple of discrete inquiries was all it took to get his number. She knew what to do.
Like the time before this and the time before that, it took a single phonecall. He was hers. 8:30pm, her flat....

He arrived on time, a rare quality in this capricious world. No pleasantries were exchanged and he went straight to it... Amy smiled to herself.. the anticipation of what was to follow built up.. it had been a while..
He finally emerged from the bathroom.. " The heating duct has been fixed, you should get hot water from the shower now.."
Finally...

D

Still cant Shes Electric outta my head...

Second week, fourth semester, six subjects, frigid weather, a bad ankle(Overenthusiastic sliding tackle), just back from ranikhet.. might head off to jaisalmer soon, Just been given a huge cache of bitter chocolates etc.

A socio professor asked us a question recently.. Why do we have children?

My reply: Its the means not the end! (Not appreciated from an academic viewpoint)

He attributed it to a complex confluence of variegated factors both endogenous as well as exogenous to the couple. (Why o why did I take up economics!? This is SO MUCH MORE FUN!!)
He went further on to blame us economists.. We reduce everything to its percieved marginal return(INHUMAN!)

P.S. Can any regression equation used to determine number of offspring suffer from homoscedasticity(Pun intended) ;)

Oasis playing in the background... She's Electric..

Interesting development... one of my bestest friends fell for another bestest friend...

Advantages:
I'll have one lesser wedding to attend
Will get away with one wedding present
My position gets elevated cause im the only impartial judge around
I can rip on two friends simultaneously
Wont have to adjust to obnoxious girl/boyfriends who couldve popped up in the future
I asked one of her female friends out so I guess the score's level now.

Disadvantages:
Who do I hang out with when they wanna get romantic?
If i piss one off the other one's sore too.
I'll always have to knock before entering his hostel room now.
He'll probably have her listening to megadeth before 2007 ends.


D


P.S. Im really happy for them!!

Exams over! :)

Now that I have some time to myself I shall write on a topic which deserves a lot more attention than it currently gets... SHRUTI'S CHEEKS!

Inherited from her father, they can be used to accurately gauge her mood at any point of time.

Colour key-
Red: Embarrassed
Crimson: Angry
Pink: Happy
White: No idea, never seen them that way
Black: Her mascara's running!
Green: She's a martian!
Yellow: Probably jaundice

Extremely pullable(Dunno if thats a word) too....



D

It's that time of the decade again.. my home is invaded by a motley crew of painters, carpenters, masons, "thekedaars" etc. so as to completely renovate the place..

As my end sems are on, the constant screeching reverberating through my household shall do wonders for my grades..

D

Hate is what I feel for you,
And I want you to know that I want you dead.
You're late for the execution...
If you're not here soon, I'll kill your friend instead.

All the pain I feel
Couldn't start to heal
Although I would like it to

I hate you and your apathy.
You can leave, you can leave, I don't want you here.
I'm playing this pantomime,
But I don't see you showing any signs of fear.

All the pain I feel
Couldn't start to heal
Although I would like it to
This time I'm for real
My pain can not heal
You will be dead when I'm through

[Chorus]

Pain and execution
Put your hands in the air
Put your hands in the air
The air... yeah

I am, I am Israel's son
Israel's son I am
Put your hands in the air
Put your hands in the air


Always loved this song by silverchair... the lyrics might not be the best in the world but its the way those kids have sung it....


D

Tis been a while... the idle component of my life has been lost... temporarily I hope.

Anyway, was having an interesting chat with a friend today.

People at JNU keep howling about worker's rights and the dictums of Marx. Now Marx chronicled history on the basis of class struggles. Each class would try to raise itself above the others in an effort to appropriate a larger share of the pie. Thus, the members of each class would band together and try to further their common cause.
Herein lies the problem, a majority of intellectuals expousing Marx's beliefs here could be characterized as bourgeoisie or atleast petty landowners.. by fighting for the cause of the proletariat they are ignoring their own class..
If a person doesnt work to better the status of his own class but fights for the rights of other classes the fundamental basis of Marx ceases to hold!



D

1. I wasnt referring to himani's comment

2. This space was meant for healthy discussion and debate. The fact that you use it to try and provoke and irritate me by your insolent remarks just goes to show how 'insecure' YOU are.

3. Your post hardly describes what makes you believe I'm insecure. Just stating the fact and exemplifying it with a practically meaningless example is only weakening your case.

4. I am just itching to write about all your characteristics beginning with the way you dress, talk and act in public which blatantly prove how insecure and superficial you are. I shall however refrain.

Lets not make this a game of mud-slinging. You are very intimidated by me. I am aware. It is usually the case with men who cant handle the fact that there are smarter women out there. Don't try to find solace in the fact that perhaps even I feel insecure and am concocting some sort of defense mechanism. Wake up and smell the coffee...

Ahh.. the nebulous shruti...
The capricious lady with a truckload of gray matter...
I agree with h****i, you seem to be insecure and intimidating at the same time... scare others.. scared yourself..

It would be interesting to see if we could provide an insecure person with assurance without actually acknowledging the fact that the person is insecure...
Example: Talentless versace had been doing it for years.. dress up women like high class hookers and charge them the moon... however he has had to use his clothes to garb the actual service.

Is it possible to assuage a person's percieved/actual shortcomings without selling him/her any commodities at all?

A business model to die for..

what does it mean when soemone tells you that you are insecure about the way other people perceive you? i wonder what behavioral traits, gestures could lead people to believe that.

sometimes a nebulous stageis the best to be in. u're not in a senseless 'i'm out to prove that i'm capable of this...' mode...its just a time to rediscover, change direction and play a new role...

S

Next morning Fidel Castro wakes up worried from a nightmare wherein Cuba was heavily mismanaged by sibling Raul. He wonders why there arent any more Guevaras or Santinos who could carry on the legacy that would die with his ailing body...he just sighs as he looks around to find desperate attempts by students littered sparsely across the globe trying to wage his battle on idle blogs...now all thats left is the handshaking with ministers from countries that could have made a difference...

Maybe Pink Floyd will make a newer version of "another brick in the wall" as the United States doesnot give up on trying to educate what it considers its 'lesser' neighbours...perhaps another Vietnam in Latin America..a few more cries...a few more protests...another woodstock...catharsis for a few, pretense for most...

and we'll wake up to yet another examination that will ask us define pareto optimality and prove the correctness of all its ridiculous assumptions...and Dikshant Chopra will jump at this opportunity to tag me leftist and with a newly found contentment will get back to gaming and online socializing...

One fine morning Adam Smith on his way to the great annual mela held in Kabul was accosted by a group of crips led by Snoop Dog.
Afganistan was quite a lawless place then, not the model of good governance it is now.
Knowing that the situation was grim as he was a prominent memeber of the Bloods, Adam Smith switched on the emergency GPS beacon in his utility belt. The French plutocrats, sworn enemies of all non-productive beings picked up the signal.
Seeing this as an apportunity to strike at the very core of the Crips and take out the one man they were very jealous of, quickly called in an airstrike. However, the French pilots were out on strike to protest against the alleged hike in work hours... "2 hours of work a day is akin to slavery", said the Les' velas.
In sheer desperation they turned to the yankees who readily agreed as they had tons of explosives but no one to bomb.

However, as the french use the metric system while the americans dont, there was a mixup and they bombed Somalia instead...

The people at JNU protested against US hegemony and took out a dozen candlelight marches..


The IMF imposed sanctions on Iran as they believed it was the erstwhile Turkish empire's fault... they shouldve conquered the world and imposed a uniform system of measurement..

Life as usual...


D

Had an econometrics exam today.. screwed it up... :(

D

dearest jerboa! i have so much to thank him for...sometimes i wonder whether almost a year of knowing me has helped him understand me better at all...all he seeks is confirmation of his notions and has never removed that filter from his eyes...

not once have i mentioned that i want a corporate job ( i hate doing this defending thingi waise...weakens my stand actually)...my further studies plan is still on...i'm just convinced its not going to be hard core quantitaive economics.

if u're convinced about my greed there's nothing much i can do and i shall not try too hard either...

and oh...a very happy birthday to you d. and for all the avid readers of this blog...idle-lives completes half a century of posts!

First of all, for dear chowdhary's benefit, I shall use the words "food" and "blonde" atleast a couple of times in this post.

Food
Blonde

I have turned 22, a doddering old man on whom the vagaries of time have wrecked great havoc. Most people respond with the same old platitude, "Ure as old as u think u are... life starts at 21...etc."
However, come what may, growing old is a scary thought for me..

Moving on, read shruti's last post... my endearing beacon of hope, the sole guiding light cum role model for me when it came to further studies seems to be reconsidering her priorities... the desire for a Phd has been replaced by the yearning for a corporate job..
The filthy bourgeoisie have taken another one of proletariat's most cherished...

Food
Blonde

Although she has placed the blame on the increasing permeation of mathematics into economics the truth cannot be obfuscated.. "greed"..one of the original sins.. the ecumenical world holds its breath.. will lucifer be victorious or will St. Peter bring her back..
Stay tuned!


Food
Blonde


D

Been lazing around for the last coupla days.. and before that too.

All this idle time has allowed me to examine various schools of thought.

Simple hedonism is too crass...
Nihilism is uninspiring..
The world already has too many sadists..
Aethism might get me into trouble posthumously..

Various beliefs tend to overlap.

Existentialism does hold some appeal... need to gain a better understanding of it though..

If metaphysics was my forte I wouldve chucked my masters and become a philosopher..
Unfortunately, it was just not to be...


D

Feel jaded..

Tempted to take up something else now.. call me an apostate but psychology has begun to look a lot more attractive..

For the neophytes, heres a heretical Economics 101...

Compared to economists, tarot card readers are a cheaper alternative with a similar success rate..

There probably isint a single law in economics which can be considered unassailable or is accepted by all..

Remember that thing.. if a thousand monkeys bang away at pianos for a thousand years one of them will come up with the complete works of mozart? Well.. thats how economics works...

Since no controlled environment exists, any 'expert' can get away by placing the blame on exogenous variables..

Good economics doesnt mean a healthier life.. or a happier world.. infact im pretty sure no one knows what it really means!

However, it is one of the few subjects where even the most ludicrous of things can be proven to be correct.. in a paticular context that is... so whatever you do you cant be wrong...



D