Introducing Vijay

AVS. A Vijay Sai…. oops… sorry it is actually A Vijaya Sai at the moment due to some trivial oversight at the time of his advent and its accompanying record-keeping procedures. An amazing actor, dancer, artist, musician, satirist, sportsman, chatterbox and much more, each of his aptitudes need to be inspected from an angle that is not by and large applicable for other mortals with a similar talent.

On stage, he might not strike you as the best actor; but on the stage of life, there can be no better. Perhaps there is no playwright who can describe or envisage a character so comprehensively leaving him with no choice but to limit his capabilities in theater. In the open world where the character is fashioned in his mind and the plots and sub-plots are outlined by him, he is invincible.

His dance is but an extension of his versatility in acting. Depending on the audience and its mood, it can take on various forms and hues, vary in energy, enrapture them so as to just leave them gaping or join in and then leave them gasping. The colors in his photographs can be fathomed in his paintings. When there is a camera around, be sure that it is he who is going to spend the maximum time possible with it. The silver lining is that it could be either in front of the camera or behind it.

He is a saxophonist who prefers to keep mathematics- or any academic object for that matter- as far away from him as possible during non-academic times. Eight hours in the day are reserved for sleep. In places where a large number of people congregate, it would be startling if he managed to turn even a page. When any one of key-board, saxophone or food is near him, he would not want anybody to expect him to study. When he is in rooms smaller than 3x3 in dimension, one should of course not expect him to carry his books along!

He does not study in the class-room and surely not in the playground. Then there is the time he has to devote to hone his satirical skills. "I'm studying right now", he says over the phone. Well, let us give him the benefit of doubt.

The baritone- saxophone looked majestic in his arms and so it naturally took some time for him to take the tenor-saxophone. One of the few times you could see him without a glint of mischief in his eyes is when he holds one of these. Another time is when he is involved in an actual basket-ball game with high stakes. The Vijay you get to see at these times is an abnormally serious-looking one. Cricket though is something he can play with a focused but relaxed mind.

The sheer fun of many jokes is only the fact that it is he who is narrating them. It could be a real event or just a figment of his imagination; the unreal part and the sarcastic humor are ingredients that he uses to spice up and season his servings. The entire festival of Shivaratri might pass and you could still be listening to his tales- both short and 'tall'.

Waiting to walk up to this person and shake his hands so that you could enter his world of fun and frolic? BEWARE!!! On any day, he seems unstoppable; on his day, he is unstoppable. Not having found anything of interest inside, his mind can quickly latch on to any opening presented by your very presence as he launches into a hilariously sarcastic fest.

The best thing is to be sporting though because you will get your chances and he will not hold as a grudge your use of these opportunities unless he gets another occasion to exercise his bantering skills.

It took me the better part of the almost seventeen years that I have known him for to understand properly the intention behind his acts. It is all in good humor and that is what one can learn and keep in mind not just when one is with him, but always.

(To give you an idea of how weird his mind can get, he decided to send a very unconventional picture to put up on this page!)

 

Introducing Walia

Walia. Sai Vivek Walia. A gold medalist in economics who actually bowled fast enough to powder a batsman's guard. A brain that functions at ultra-high speeds is only betrayed by the hurried pace of actions that are displayed on a silent countenance.

He loves to play but exercises great restraint and transforms into a hard-working musician once the trumpet is in his hands. He can be seen chattering away joyfully as often as he is spotted studying seriously in a hushed island surrounded by raucous waters.

He is the original 'Guide' who made it fashionable to be one and inspired others to hop on to his small world. He is quite often referred to as 'Heli'- his ticket to the 'Guide kingdom' than as Walia. Anyone's first impression of him can never be the right impression. He might look like a confused person without a care in the world but the reality viewed after a bit of interaction is a starkly different one.

In spite of being his classmate right from my first grade, my view of him keeps changing almost every year. The camera he gives you to take his picture is without any optical zoom and the distance he allows between him and you as you take a shot will only be allowed to decrease with more and more dealings. No wonder, different facets of his personality emerge with more and more communication and you are left wondering about what else you might still be missing.

Never one to hide his ignorance, the words "I don't know" flow out uninhibited from his mouth when asked about something about which he has no idea at all. He does give a short pause before though making sure that he really lacks the knowledge on that front.

However, he does not just say "I don't know". As he is mouthing these words, his body suddenly loses its sense of balance; his legs resemble those of Krishna's as He plays the flute, two high arcs form above his eyes which immediately find the sky above the farthest horizon, his head tilts to one side and his hands resemble the aangika abhinaya called 'Alapadma' in Indian classical dance. In short, he does not say "I don't know" with just his tongue, mouth, throat and whatever; he says so with his entire body. The innocent ignorance is displayed loud and clear.

Those who have not yet seen this all-in-one act can approach him with mind-boggling doubts. This alone cannot guarantee you a vision of the blue moon though; this brilliant mind has answers for most queries.

I do have a tip for those who wish to have a glimpse but then I think you will be more thrilled if you can discover the means yourself. With Walia, the journey is always more interesting than the destination.

A Guide to "Guides"

Have you ever been left confounded when the person besides you just said something completely out of context? Have you then turned in his/her direction to pass a sarcastic comment but frozen your tongue just because that person is not exactly an idiot in ordinary terms?  Have your eyes then wandered around in the conversation group in search of other confounded visages?

Relieved at having found what you were searching for, have you then ventured to seek an explanation only to receive one which leaves you not just enlightened but also dazzled by the deep introspection that had preceded to warrant those few words in so short a span of time?

Welcome to the world of 'Guides'. Confounded? Wishing to say something sarcastic? Searching for some other puzzled faces around? If you had answered 'No' for the first set of questions, then I guess its time to change it to a 'Yes' for the first three questions.

The world of Guides is a small one. the guides will struggle to populate both your hands. But the work, the research undertaken by these radiant minds in moments of brilliance is capable of keeping any appreciative mind occupied for long, enjoyable, laughter-filled hours.

Guides connect the unconnected or rather those which seemingly cannot be connected. Among the terabytes of data that their bodies' receptors dump into their heads, finding those few nuggets of wisdom in a flash would surely need a RAM of such high capabilities so as to shame Intel even a few centuries later.

Initially, this breed of rare introspective geniuses could not be talked about easily. Not that they were some evil 'those-who-must-not-be-named'; just that they had no identity to go with. Someone, a rank outsider to the world of Guides until then, suddenly said "Guide" in the middle of a conversation about these brilliant people wallowing in neglect for want of an identity.

"What the 'Guide'?", MAK ventured to ask after the acts described in the first three questions had been duly performed. A short pause followed. In the deafening silence, even the chirp of birds on the tree overhead would have been a distraction. Unfortunately for someone, the sun was shining brightly at thirty degrees to the head and the birds were away on their daily jobs. An explanation was being sought and an explanation had to be offered to keep in check the lake of sarcastic comments welling up in the heads twisted towards him.

The words that finally gushed out were conceived to be delivered at a pace that would leave no scope for any interference from any kind of audience. "Well, these people explain in a few words feelings that would otherwise necessitate the narration of an entire poem or a piece of prose. Imagine the amount of deep thinking that goes into those seemingly abstract statements", he said with a lot of passion.

"All that's fine, but why 'Guide'?". That was MAK again. Does he harbor some grudge against someone?

"Haven't we just finished our projects? Typing page after page of text was quite easy but when it came to writing the abstract, it took so much of effort and in fact research into the volumes that we had so-far typed to get those few important sentences. Without a guide, the task would have been even more difficult. When it comes to abstracts, the best people to look-up to are 'Guides'!!!", he added with undiminished fervor.

The "Ohhh" moment was short and so was the burst of laughter that followed in hot pursuit. The conceptualization of the name for these on-the-spot researchers was not as finely interwoven as the results otherwise achieved by the 'Guides' and aptly so. The orientation to this world has to be a relatively simple one. Else the beauty of the higher issues prevalent therein will only seem a cacophony produced by antiquated speakers connected to an otherwise advanced music system playing one of Rahman's classics.

Even the fourth question can now muster a 'Yes' from you, I hope. What you have comprehended of the planet of 'Guides' so far, was only through a telescope. In future, I plan to manufacture space-ships that would take you into a more direct interaction with its inhabitants. Until then, enjoy the view from afar.

Introducing MAK

MAK. M Arvind Kumar. Classy batsman, handy bowler, his passion for cricket- unparalleled, equaled perhaps. A thin frame that is confident when seated on a Hunk but totally out of sync on the dance floor, can be seen as frequently with a piccolo or a flute as with a gaming device. Frank in expressing his feelings but immediately repentant if the expressions expressed any traces of anger.

Fully knowledgeable about his strengths and weaknesses, he does not normally endeavor into areas that are not properly mapped out in his mind or drawn out for his body. He does loosen up at times when he is assured that his weaknesses will not be taken advantage of.

Most of the people know him as MAK. Call up his room and ask for M Arvind Kumar and chances are that the room-mate will reply, "There is no Arvind in this room". I got to know MAK when I reached the eighth grade in school. He was four years senior to me and it was only when we got together for the MBA program did I get to know and meet M Arvind Kumar.

As for being a friend of mine, the entire credit goes to him. I can almost never make a new friend wherein more than ten percent of the initiative required has to be mine. I still marvel as to how he was able to change and adjust to become one amongst us, who being four years junior to him had a relatively different set of mannerisms.

My partner in the few crimes that I do not mind having company while doing, he also loves to partner me and others on issues and activities ranging from musical expressions, sporting events and artistic endeavors to discussions on social and moral dilemmas as well as mindless but hugely de-stressing chatter.

Love for a few of his passions can drive him to great lengths to do his bit. When he laughs, you can spot it from a distance. It does not matter whether he is standing or is seated either on a chair or on the floor, his upper body invariably coils as he laughs. Perhaps he fathoms a joke from various angles because even a seemingly innocent remark can send him into a fitful mode.

Open his cupboard and a few chocolates will greet your eyes. Good food is another thing he indulges in. Do not be fooled by his frame.

My aim is not to make you meet MAK without you actually meeting him in person and so I think I will stop here. The MAK presented here only gives you a view of his easily visible personality.