Circus of life - cliched but true

Three months after coming back from Exchange – I should write something about it. It’s not like I have nothing to write – it’s that I have so much to write – a writer’s stampede. And don’t go about visualizing a mass of sleepy looking blokes in khadi kurtas doing the 100 meters sprint over some poor hapless publisher; instead, visualize a jumble of angry looking alphabets (or any other random abstract thing you associate with an ‘idea’) inside a poor hapless guy’s head.

Too abstract – well, that’s my imagination and I increasingly believe that I am less left-brained than the average left-brained genius – the number-crunching, statistic-toting, excel-worshipping genius that I have around me at IIM B. N this is not sour-speak for – I didn’t do well at Quant – I really mean it. I can never remember numbers and I am so much better with words. I am great with abstract thoughts and arbitness and also artistic enough to get resemblances between people real quick – and that last one proves it my friend – it’s an open and shut case! N yet, I am better, much better with numbers than the average man on the street – I did crack the CAT – which is a whole lot of Quant. So, while I cannot say I am right-brained out and out, I am less left-brained than most people I have had the fortune of interacting with over the past two years.

Hmm…so getting on with it - I will write about exchange soon. For right now, let me talk about some current issues that are simply hilarious – to say the least. It gives me great pleasure to follow up on these news-items and laugh my head-off at times, simply titter in amusement at times, and plain stare goggle-eyed into empty space at times.

First of all, what’s with governors in the US? Why are they perpetually owning up to their garish sexcapades – humiliating themselves and their spouses (who, btw, are always around to support the dumb bastards)? Take the case of Gov’nor Spitzer of New York (how come I always think of Rudy Giuliani whenever a mention is made of the governance of New York? When did Spitzer come in?) And the unceremonious way in which he has been forced to resign – apparently he belonged to some ‘Emperor’s Club VIP’ and was visiting call-girls and was stupid enough to get caught. And immediately after, the new governor comes in and starts by ‘disclosing’ to all his one-time affair, along with details like the location of his love-nest and of course, the essential ‘support from the spouse’ – a desperate bid to ensure that all the skeletons in his closet tumble out into public view. And there is a third case of some gay governor in some other state (it’s really difficult to keep track of all this adultery) trying to get out of allegations of being involved in some sort of a three-some. Rather, his wife (a party to the ménage-trios) is trying to get out of it. Phew! Though, I’ll say this – it’s heartening that there is reason for political heads there to quake in their boots at the mention of a scandal seeing light of day, as opposed to here – where nothing really matters.

Then there is the French winemaker in Bordeaux who has got his nose insured by Lloyds for $8 Billion!! He says he can identify a million scents and his nose is his bread and butter along with being his caviar and champagne! That led me to think – if given a chance, what would I insure? Ahem…

And have you heard about the one where the I&B ministry in India has decided to ban all those surrogate advertisements where a pack of cards, a bottle of soda, a hulk in a vest saving a damsel in distress etc, is supposed to remind you of booze and cigarettes? But what about products that actually do exist? Like Bagpiper Soda and Wills Lifestyle Apparel and Kingfisher Airlines??? Where to draw the line? Which is genuine, which is surrogate? Well, can not the I&B ministry have a list of products that actually do exist and ban ads for the remaining? What’s the big deal? I suppose the I&B ministry has other more important things to do – like sit-around-on-ass-and-waste-exchequer’s-money.

It’s a mad mad world.

To end it - like I have often thought and it’s high time I unleashed it upon unsuspecting junta – the world is a circus and we are all just clowns – somebody in Stratford-upon-Avon just did the cartwheels in his grave.