M4

Always believed books must be free and accessible to all. And been putting together a nice little bookshelf of ebooks- classics, fiction, mysteries, thrillers and many more odds and ends. A collection that has been one of my prized possessions, almost as precious as The Black Pearl to Jack Sparrow. This here is  Mach's bookshelf Feel free to share the fun... And do tell what you liked or any new titles that should be included. **Edit** Some more books added

a. Last day of classes No nostalgia, no senti feelings. Coz I remember the last time I felt bad for end of classes, it didn't turn out so well. Less than a year later, I was back in classrooms. Anyone for whom this was a ‘return’ to college would agree to this being just another phase, just a passing cloud. b. I would not miss my friends I made just a handful of friends here. (plenty of acquaintances, though) And there's no way I’m going to miss them. These people are going to hear from me, soon and often. What good are friends if you stay out of touch long enough to start missing?! c. I’m glad it’s over To me this has been 21 months of rushed up everything. Sitting groggy eyed in the classrooms, some real boring lectures, pretty bad food, and a few crappy people too- it was an effort in itself to keep sane. Given a chance, I’d want to sit through a select few of classes with some very good professors and learn some worthwhile stuff and hang out with some real...

“All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts….” -Act II, Scene VII, As You Like It, William Shakespeare, We are defined not as a set of characteristics or traits, not as a sealed package by others. Instead, everyone sees us for the discrete, granular roles that we play in their lives. The ‘package’ that we see in our own heads is our own perspective of all the roles we play in the lives of all the people we know. You may be a caring child, a sincere student, a loyal friend, a passionate lover, a dedicated employee, a pleasant boss, a doting father and a responsible citizen: each of these roles call for a set of characteristics and need you to act in a manner that suits the roles you choose to play. Ain't that why someone we hate from the guts is liked by some others, why some fall in love with people that just don’t care, why some people buy goods t...

Having returned recently from an academic Euro trip which was everything but academic (no wonder), I was inclined, almost compelled, to revamp the interiors of my dorm lodgings to suit my refined tastes. (This is what others think. Honestly, I was pretty jobless and the neighbours were quite vocal in what they thought of my guitar strumming.) Either which way, I ended up staring at superhero posters for what I now realise was a little too long. And this is what ensued... Q. What is common between Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Wolverine and Phantom? (Sounds deep, I know!)  A. Among other things, the immaculate guarding of their identity bordering on obsession.   Superheroes, as the comics and movies might suggest, have day jobs that are essentially their defences against the prying eye and the eavesdropping ear. But the explanation that I believe does most justice is from Batman: 'Gotham doesn't need a saviour; It needs a hero.' A close second is from Superman: ...

I am notorious for using these words occasionally in my conversations with friends and I know these are met with rolling eyes and contempt too sometimes. But every time I use these words, there is a deep, resounding quiet that resonates around- that not everyone has the power to think about things, not everyone is given the power to act on any/some/most of them, not everyone has the power to change what is beyond most others’ comprehension- to make a difference, to change the course of (a part of) the world. And those who have been endowed with such a power are burdened with a moral responsibility to ‘act’ in the greater interest of humanity. As Dante famously sums up in his Divine Comedy, “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain neutrality in times of moral crises…” I was reminded recently that I fall in the category of this elite few; I didn’t believe it one bit then. I am still young, naïve and too small to make a difference- or at least that’s what I th...

“Loving someone is giving them the power to break your heart, but trusting them not to.” – Julianne Moore Well, this ain’t just love. It happens everywhere- Be it in politics, administration, business, and relationships. When you give someone power over you, and expect things to NOT go wrong ever, perpetually- you are being stupid. As simple as that. Politics: We elect politicians ourselves. Some countries like India have a pretty messed up system of election, some countries like the US spend months of time and billions of money in the process. But is there one country in the world that is totally, absolutely (or even relatively) satisfied with their leaders? People are dissatisfied everywhere because some leaders of nations bring wars, some bring disasters through their stupidity, some have able, accomplished minds but no voices, some are there just for personal gain- the list just goes on. Now, we gave them the power. We trusted them to work for the common good while we ...

There is a general perception that Indian students who visit Europe on exchange program attend classes the least and travel across Europe the most. Well, I have two questions: What took so long for the universities to figure out? And what gave it away? For my part, having a few years left in the European age limit for youth, I got a Eurail pass for 3 months of continuous travel. When I bought the pass, I had absolutely zilch clue of why I was spending almost a €1000 on the pass. Well, I was already quite confused about how I became eligible for the exchange program in the first place; That moment, figuring out whether the pass was worth the money was beyond me. Then everything changed when I reached Europe and had to travel by train to the university. Just the reservation charges for a single journey with the discounts of the pass was higher than a reasonable first class ticket for an similar journey in India. God knows what the full fare was! Anyways, I learnt from the o...