the shit for brains head honchos at my org have gone a step further to really show exactly how contemptible they are.
they’ve assigned most of us for exam duties and not even bothered to inform us of it either in writing or by email.
i mean WTF? we may be junior to many of the people teaching here but this doesnt mean we dont work or our work isnt worthwhile!!
this is the note i begin my day on…PERFECT!!
and to top it off, it’s been alloted by the AD (associate dean) who is practically beyond reproach….dingbat!
all of the people who have been made AD’s recently were all purely teaching faculty earlier. they used to crib about the same things i am now and look at what they are perpetuating themselves…
I dont mind doing the work. i dont think i’m above it but courtesy demands that you inform people that they’re being assigned work which is deviating from the regular schedule. and this is invigilation….3 hours of continuously doing chowkidaari and rapping them on the head if they try stuff…
BLAH!!
am going to hex the AD…or put hemlock in his tea.
dhakkan saalaa!
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Caught this movie on a new movie channel last night, and realised all over again why Paul Newman rules! And even with that full head of grey hair he was gorgeous and smouldering. Fell for him initially as Brick Pollitt and have seen many movies in which he’s had a role of sorts. But AOM was engrossing primarily because it was real. DAs spin doctoring tales that will put on the spotlight on the innocent man just so the actual target will slip up and do something cocky and stupid, has been a diversionary tactic used for ages. And Sally Field in her not-so-hard-as-nails reporter’s role was eminently believable.
What struck me most about AOM was that it was a good ol-fashioned movie made without gimmicks and it’s USP was solely the actors ability to emote. Haven’t seen too many of those movies of late.On the flip side, caught another movie after this was over (insomnia set in last night) and this time it was an old Hindi movie with Rishi Kapoor, Jayaprada, Govinda and plenty of the typical jingbang. It was so awful it made me laugh and cringe at the same time. Sashikala as the chudail (a beautiful combo of being a bitch and a witch) MIL, an Iago-like SIL… it was total time pass….and nothing more.
Hindi films have come such a long way since then. Today KANK got panned badly by the critics & overall junta alike, but in essence it talks about things which actually happen and makes it quite believable in its own candyfloss manner.
But the huge leaps and bounds that the old movie was taking last night was surreal!. Atleast the female protagonists of today are empowered enough to be silly like Poo and still not look unreal and totally NOT-believable. Earlier the heroines, had to be coy. Now they’re brash but more in tune with prevailing trends and times. Names like Ram’n’Sita for a husband and wife were very common and never seemed passe. BIL always had to call the SIL ‘bhabhi-maa’ and what not! But it all added upto entertainment which has been refined and expanded through the passage of time.
The nearly-obsolete pativrata patni and the vampish femme (who always danced in bars for some reason) provide maha enjoyment even today. Even if it’s derision-laden laughter.Here’s to the sustaining power of the celluloid world.
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The Dean came by and wished all the faculty and handed out flowers coz it’s Teacher’s Day.
Nice thing to do. -
Today’s Onam and the lil beasties have put in a LOT of effort and made rangoli with flowers at the entrance of the institute and also just outside the elevator.
It not only looks good, but not a single petal is out of place. Apparently they came early today morning and made all the arrangements.
They’ve also kept a small celebration for the rest of the staff here.
Nice lil beasties all things considered. -
Saw a commercial, an infomercial rather. The Pepsico prez of India Rajeev Bakshi appeared on primetime tv and vouched for the goodness of his product. The ad gave a mini tour of the pepsi bottling plant and basically is as damage control as it gets.
But this was a long time coming (or did I catch it late on tv?) and it was inevitable.
This will go a long way in repairing faith and also reinforcing the cynicism of those who were sneering at Pepsico’s misfortune.
Notice how when nothing else will work, the FMCG head honchos will not rope in big names to save them from bad publicity, they’ll haul up their own top brass and make him/her take a stand in front of the whole nation and either eat crow or rebute charges belligerently.Never liked Pepsi anyhow, too darn sweet. Gimme a Coke anyday, with a tad bit of rum in it :o)
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The Earth moved,
The Angels wept…
and only 3 lil beasties remain for the interview to be officially over.Now, all I have to do is send their marks off to HQ and get back to my regular work.
*does the dance of joy in happiness*
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One of the best things about going to a movie is sitting in the dark, holding someone’s hand and occasionally canoodling..
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Been waiting for this movie since I saw the 1st one-kind of a long wait truth be told but it was worth it. In parts i.e. Johnny Depp IS Jack Sparrow. With his kohl-lined eyes, the now you see it, now you dont kind of smiles and the entire gamut of expressions that he goes through, is reason enough to see the movie.
Now these are reasons why it’s still a let down in places-
* Orlando Bloom may have a nice jawline and flawless skin but he’ll pretty much always be the pretty boy. He had more lines this time around but screen presence cannot be created unless it exists to begin with. His eye candy status will see him through his movie career but it’ll pretty much be a case of “close but no cigar for him”. Significantly less pansyish in the sequel but he fails to impress.*Keira!!! Heaven deliver us from hamming females with no bosoms! She is pretty, but that’s all she is. Wonder why someone would agree to do a bit part in a sequel…oh wait..tons of money. What was I thinking?!
*Davy Jones– I will certainly think twice about downing calamari and sea-food from now onwards that’s for sure! But when you think about the typical kind of representations of the devil or even evil on celluliod, then the idea of a octopus-faced sea devil is truly novel. And the idea works.
POTC-II though quite enjoyable, kind of hangs in certain places and no dearth of animatronics and barnacle-encrusted seadogs can save it from being so.
Depp reminded me throughout of Jeremy Brett in this movie with his fleeting grins and off the cuff remarks. The same way Brett was Holmes, Depp is Sparrow and I can’t wait for the 2nd sequel.
You dont bring back Hector Barbossa and not have a scalawaggy time of it, do you?All critiques aside, this movie is FUN, and is enjoyable purely on that account alone.
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I had to go out for some work so I took an extended lunch-break during which I ate zilch but had these desserts instead.
I got the remaining 2 books in Green Gable series (yay!).
Also got the set of Emily books. (dunno if it’s yay material yet, just bought it coz I like the Anne series).
Then moved onto The Stand (YESS!!), The Great Gatsby, The Color Purple (!!), The Amityville Horror(!!!), The Omen( praise the lord..or not) and the best part…found a book I’d read last in 4th grade. The Witch of Blackbird Pond.
All that flashed in my mind when I saw that book was my elementary school, the nook I had for reading books and the scholastic bookclub we’d order books from every month.
I dimly remember that I had a favorablish opinion about the book back then (SIGH…it was nearly 2 decades ago) and so this one I bought for pure nostalgia.
Even that nagging headache from the morning doesn’t seem so bad…. -
A middle-aged lady was killed by her domestic help. This happened on the same road my house is. The proximity made me less anxious than the actual incident which occured.
There has been an increasing occurence of people getting grieviuosly wounded or being killed by the people they hire for odd jobs around the house. Now, being in India it’s virtually inconceivable to NOT have a “servant” around for cleaning or even for cooking. But what kind of behavior gets metted out to them?
TOI reported that this boy who committed the crime is only 15 years old. Nowhere yet a man and still with the kind of aggression that many adults may fear to manifest or give into.
Many of us, who are quite comfortable in our situation in life (my how Victorian I sound!) often relegate these individuals to a status which is lesser that that they deserve and subconciously that may creep into our overt behavior towards them as well.
A good friend of mine has a helper from his wife’s hometown. The helper is a 19 year old girl who also takes care of their 3 year old daughter and does stuff around the house while my friend and his wife are at work. He is a good, decent man and exercises care and consideration towards the girl in many ways but in referring to her it’s always “meri naukrani” (my servant).
Semantics aside, just because someone is a hired help does not mean that they do not merit dignity in your eyes at all. Apparently this 15 year old assassin had stomach cramps and could not report for work at the exact moment the lady of the house wanted him to. He came later only to be fired on the spot. When he asked for his wages for the past 5 days he had worked in the house, he was turned out with a flea in his ear. When he came back later to plead his case, he was subjected to more rebukes. In the end he took the ghastly step and stabbed her and ran away with some amount of money.Now this lady’s attitude towards domestic help, while reprehensible, is not justification for murder. But it is indicative of the kind of morass that the middle-class and upper middle class are afflicted with and which they refuse to recognise as an affliction.
Things may never get to the level of oppressing-leading-to-revolting but this kind of a discontent is rumbling beneath the surface more and more and people ought to take cognizance of it.
Just because someone is being employed by you does not open up routes to censure them at the drop of a pin. I’ve noticed my mother often grumbling that our domestic help caused a crack or a chink in a mug, tray whatever. But not even a fraction of that is directed towards any one of us if the same thing happens. Obviously there are some major differences between the householders and the domestic help and many a times that line of fraternizing should not be crossed but to reprimand them in a manner which is neither benefitting their mistake nor your claim to civility, is to go too far.Maybe that’s what this lady did or maybe this boy was just a severely disturbed juvenile delinquent. But both have paid for it with their lives; she by losing hers and he by throwing his away before it could even begin properly.
