One thing that you hate the most?

Sigh! Maintaining a blog is such an effort. I even forgot that I had one in the first place. Seeing that it is over 5 months since I wrote in here, I'm feeling all guilty (a lil bit) and here I am for an update.

What is the one thing that you hate the most? A query that has been put to my quite often recently.

Answer: People.

The general response that I receive is of shock, resentment, disapproval and the likes. But I have my justifications, like most people in the world.

I had to answer that question yet again today, I mean yesterday. I stood by my answer. 'Why?' Yet another question that has been tagging along. I mainly wriggle out of it by answering that people frustrate me a lot. And on a couple of occasions I have even given the answer. But it never clicks. This time I answered - 'Personal'. Later I reflected, is it something personal to me or them? And like a million other questions that pop in my mind, I left this unanswered.

What does one do when up against a majority? And in my case it is almost always against the whole crowd. Recently, I've discovered a few who are on the side that I take, but that does not affect the numerical strength of the majority in any way. And considering that those few are labeled nuts and wackos by the majority, you really are left to ponder. Can 99% of the people around me be wrong? Or is it just me? Should I just give up my so called crazy individuality and blend in with the crowd that is in utter disarray and seems to be following an illusion?

It is an ongoing struggle with oneself, in my case. I've chosen to stick to my set of principles. I do not know how long I'll be able to continue to defend myself from this side of the battle. It would be so pathetic to yield and become what I detest by turning my colors and joining the majority. And if it is that what requires for one to survive in this world, I'd be at crossroads when I'd have to choose to surrender or die in honor.

What's in a Name?

Jun, 10

Sigh!! It sure is a hell of a job - maintaining a blog. Well, I hope I can fine tune things within a month and then on be a regular blogger.

Now coming to the topic.

GAIA

What is it with Gaia? Why did I choose that as a name for a blog which describes my life? Well, I come up with a one-liner. What's in a name after all? But I do have my reasons. Its quite down to earth. I just needed a cyber nick. I didn't want to go under my original name for a lot of reasons. So I decided to give myself a nick. Now, am an avid reader. I read fiction a lot. And I was moved by a lot of characters that I have read about. Back when I was a kid, I used to think Tom Marvolo Riddle was the coolest character I had come across. But later on, as I read more and more, I discovered quite a few immortal characters. First, Howard Roark. Those who haven't heard of him are missing something vital. Next up, from the same book Gail Wynand. I had adopted the name of Roark initially for a short span of time. But a few months later I happened to read another book. And it gave me not one, but three characters to look up to. 'Who is John Galt?' The very query was intriguing and i immediately adopted John Galt as my nick. Prior to these two, I did use the nick Artemis and Zelda. I'm sure some of you must have come across the former and quite a lot would have come across the latter. But, switching back and forth between these four nicks didn't seem nice to me. So, one fine morning, I sat my ass down and thought. Greek/Roman mythology is a fascinating read. And well, I did play Age of Mythology a lot quite long back. And that is when I remembered Gaia - Titan of the Earth. I did a bit more of a ground work and found that I liked the story connected with her and chose that as a nick.

So Gaia I shall be, till i find another befitting nick. After all, what's in a name?

The Twin Bro!

Oh Hello Readers!!

I just went thru all that stuff my twin Good Bro was talkin about. He seems to have forgotten me, his twin Evil Bro. Lol! This is Kiran again. Just that, this is the more honest and exciting Kiran.

Regarding the last post, Good Bro was just like his usual self. Talkin about some of the things he had learnt at Bombay. Well, as for me, I learnt quite a bit too. All men are born saints. What happens later on is at their own disposal. Well, am no saint! Much as I learnt lotsa nice stuff at Bombay, I also learnt things that my parents call 'BAD'. Like the art of swearing for example. Now, I seriously can't understand what is so bad about swearing and why people make such a big fuss about it. I also enriched my database about all the things that happen in real world after dark. And yea, I watched my first B-Grade movie too. Apart from that there were plenny of other things! Like spying on young couples after dark! And on..

That was a long time back. Right now the only thing that I still continue is swearing. And I have perfected the art!

Right Now!

Well.. At present i hav technically finished my first year at college. I find myself left with lotsa free time and am at a loss in finding a way of disposing it. So i decided to resume blogging. "Resume?" u myt be thinking? This is my third blog on cyberspace. The other two are no more. Period. Mouthshut. Am not talkin abt them. Therz like a lot of things i can rant abt, and it is hard to pick out one specific topic. Give me a moment pls..

I still havent been able to decide. So far, what exactly have i told you? Just a bit abt me ryt? Well i'll build on it. That shudnt be too hard.. It myt be boring, but then you are free to click that 'x' and exit this blog anytime you wish.

Bombay, 1999

This was a turning point in my life. India is such a diverse country. So many variations, so many cultures, just too much diversity! Well, what happens when it all meets together at some place? You get Bombay (Mumbai). I still prefer calling it Bombay rather than Mumbai. I had until then lived in Cochin, Kerala. I was blown over by what welcomed me in this busy and buzzing city. Here is where I learnt to live.

If I were given a chance to relive a part of my life again, I would choose this period. This is where I defined myself. My first dreams and aims were laid in this city. I lived in Santacruz. Pretty near the Juhu beach. I was a shy and timid kid back then. Anything and everything about Bombay meant astonishment to me. I had never seen so many people, so many cars, so many buildings. I had never been to a place where I couldn't speak the local language. There were so many firsts for me at Bombay. Looking back, this was where I built my character (whatever of it is there!).

I had to adapt to so many things here. The fast paced life, the multilingual and multicultural society, and a new language to express myself. I succeeded in the first two. But failed miserably in picking up Hindi/Marathi. But well, I did learn more of English. I am proud of my English and this is where I learnt that as well. It becomes kinda easy to learn a foreign language when you have no other choice. Apart from that, I formed my first of friends here. The contacts that I got here are the oldest in my entire life. While at contacts, I would like to enlist a few of them. They all remember me, but am not sure as to what extent.

First of all, S Arun - my neighbour and one of my best buddies. My dad introduced me to him in the corridor of the seventh floor of the apartment that we used to live in. He is a year older to me. Was kinda my elder bro and mentor back then. I never admitted it to him, but I used to look upto him in a sorta way. I had always wanted to be able to interact like him with others. He was my first friend there and was my friend for all the three years that I spent at Bombay. Right now, my contact with him is "on and off". He is in Madras (Chennai) and I haven't seen him in the last 6 years. But we surely will meet someday.

When I think of whom to mention second, I'm in a spot of bother. But after much thoughts it has to be Aditya S. This guy was my twin. In every possible way. Man, we rocked those days. We were the closest of buddies back then. We had 'troublemakers' written all over us and maybe thats why our parents decided that we shouldn't hang out together. We had our good times and our bad times. We were a good combo. And I learnt quite a bit from him. Here is the guy who introduced me to 2 things - Video games and Books!! These are two addictions from which I have not recovered and will never recover from. Right now, our contact is like literally dead. Had kept in touch via Orkut occasionally, but now he doesnt come online much. He too has left Bombay and is in Chennai.

Up next is Ashutosh. Another one of my close buddies. He completes the 3 musketeers (Aditya, Ashu nd myself). We 3 hung out pretty much. This guy was pretty much attached to his family! Something that I could have taken after but just did not! He has 2 sisters (one elder nd one younger). By the way, I hav one too (younger). His sis and mine were friends too. I pretty much liked his family as a whole. To me, they were "The Perfect Family".

While at it, I must also mention Navin and Giridhar. Two of my buddies from school. The other 3 mentioned above lived in the same neighborhood. Navin and Giri were my mischief-making companions at school. I could write on and on about our misadventures. Sigh!

At Bombay, I also learnt to treat all people as the same. I was a person from a different state and culture. But the people there did not treat me as someone different. I was one among them. I learnt to do the same as well. Like I said before, Bombay was a learning ground for me. I learnt to ride a bike when I was there. I learnt a bit of French. And lots about computers, internet and games.

I'll take a break now. Come back l8r with sumthin else to talk about.

The Path Trodden

As the title suggests, this is gonna be a quick recap of my journey thru lyf so far. I am done with my schooling, and presently in college. I did my schooling from plenny of schools. In fact I have changed schools not less than 8 times and studied in 4 different states in India. At times, I wish i could jus have stuck at one school... But what is past cannot be changed. Over my schooling, i learnt quite a bit outside the academics. It has been a tumultous journey. I'm considered a bright student and the usual bosh and non sense, but i study only coz i'm forced to. To me, any mark on a damned paper would be fine. That is just an useless evaluation of ur cramming skills and not the real thing... if u know what i mean. And comin back to the schools, RNPHS and BVV are among the schools that I attended and feel worthy of mentioning, And yea, there was NNPS, though not among my better schools. We'll talk about my college and other educational details later. And due to my association with so many schools, i know quite a lot of people (and vice versa). But i have never been in a position to maintain a sustained friendship or relationship with most of them. I regret that a lot. Just like they say, you dont realise the beauty of a thing when it is at your disposal....

Prelude

May, 6, 19__

There was the birth of a boy, in a small unknown hospital, in a better known town.. That wud be me, just like another million or so born on the same day. But i believe, I am different from the rest in a distinguished way. We'll get to that later... much later in fact.

May 1, 2009

Writing my first blog entry here at 14:12 hrs. I am A Kiran Chakravarthy. Not a name known to many. You might ask, 'Why are you writin a blog?'. I have my reasons, most important of which is that i need a window for ventng out my frustrations from time to time. See, i'm just as selfish as anyone and am doing this for a personal interest. But let's not start by drawing daggers at each other. There isn't much to say about me as a person in itself, but talking about one's ideas, views about life and everything pertaining it will take forever. I intend to write about all that in a compact sorta way. You'll hear more from me...