They're you're Aaaaaaaverage Autorickshaw drivers!

It would make so many people happy if I started this post with the words - DEATH TO THE AUTO-DRIVER! The chant would probably go viral and someone somewhere may even start a song with the chant as it's theme, maybe along the lines of Bhaag, Bhaag, Autodriver! Or maybe that's just me being foolishly optimistic. But let's face it, every person who has traveled in an auto in the city has, in fact, come across nice autodrivers at some point of time.

As I am someone who swears by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus service I rarely find the need to use the tiny-taxis to get about, unless I'm late for college or if I'm carrying something unbearably heavy and in my case, that would mean industrial boards and stretched canvases. Haggling with the autodrivers about the fare (because NONE of them, not even the nice ones, believe in using their meters), sizing the autodriver up to see if I'm going to be ogled at from his side view mirror and remembering my mother's strict instructions of - Never trust a standing auto- can get horrendously exhausting to keep in mind without snapping at the poor guy (or girl) at 7.45 am.

So when I do get a nice autodriver (AD from now on, since it's getting cumbersome to type the entire word out) it tends to warm the frozen cockles of a girl's heart quite fast. The niceness I'm speaking of may be routine behaviour in some other cities but in mine, it's a rarity. The nice AD would charge a fair price, not ogle and even drop you off at your exact destination, not across or at the beginning of the road and ask you to cross/ walk the extra distance. Some of them are even nice enough to help you with your stuff without charging extra for it. And a very few of them, probably one in a hundred, are even nice enough to help out an old blind couple get to their destination, help them out of the auto and hold their hand, walking them to where they have to be.

In a day and age where people are too busy running their own lives to notice others in need, maybe it's time that we gave the good guys some credit. Even if they are autodrivers.

Lessons For The First-time Headbanger

There are a few once-in-a-lifetime events that can truly change your perspective on things. For me, one of those events was watching some 100 odd metalheads, headbanging away to glory to some killer beats, mindboggling riffs and insane growls. And I loved every minute. More than anything else, it's the energy and stage presence that these performers have, ALL of them, that simply put, charges up the entire arena faster than you can think of the physics of it all.

From a first-timer's point of view, mind you I haven't the slightest clue what the growls were supposed to convey, though some seasoned veterans tell me that they are actually words, and if you listen really closely and once your ears are attuned to making out syllables, intonations and other phonetic helpers, I do believe that you can get the words. Truthfully though, I did make out a few words being growled out, though I think I have a long, long way to go before I can truly appreciate the good metal from the bad. Either way, you can't deny getting addicted to the continuous evolution of the beats and the riffs within the same song. Before you even know it, I can guarantee that your head will at least start nodding along with the beats if not for your entire body being consumed by the madness of the barely restrained hammering.

But if you don't think that this genre is for you, might I suggest some easier tunes to get your soul stirred and your body freed from its chains of restraint? Songs like "Smoke On the Water" by Deep Purple are classical clichés associated with the initial phases of heavy metal. However, if you do want something fresher and a little bit more comprehensible, you should check out songs by the progressive rock band Karnivool. If the band sounds vaguely familiar, it's because they were trending for a while in the country during IIT Bombay's Mood Indigo 2011, performing at the Livewire Night. Though not technically associated with metalheads, for someone who has always been listening to mainstream pop, pop rock and alternative rock, progressive rock would be a huge step ahead towards rubbing shoulders with, or rather, moshing your self-control out with the metalheads.

So the next time you're at a show around the city and bands mysteriously named Blind Image, Crypted and Totem are playing, take a leap of faith with an open mind. Go for the show. There's a first time for everything and it may even change your life.

*GROOOOOWWWWWLLLL*

Mockery and Mirth

It amazes me of how much havoc Murphy’s Law can wreak in a person’s life. Not just that, it also amazes me about how people react to the situations that they are left in once Murphy’s Law leaves them with the debris of their perfectly scheduled lives. Let’s take, for example, a situation that I was in recently. College cultural events, as most of you know, are in full swing with some of the biggest of those events in the city getting most of the media’s attention. Like every budding performer (get ready for the clichés) I too had a dream of going on stage and dancing to my heart’s content (I told you there would be clichés). Unfortunately, waiting a year out and craving for this opportunity wasn’t good enough for the Gods ruling over my fate.

Now rather than lament about how huge a chance this was and how my spirit is crushed and yada yada yada, I’d prefer to concentrate on the silver lining clinging to the contours of this sullen, woe-begotten cloud. What do you say to someone who has lied to you, when they say, with all their heartfelt guilt, to not “feel bad”? How would you TRULY react to someone who has cut you from the very team that you were hoping would help you go on and live out a dream?

Here’s how I deal with it. I smile and don’t utter a word, while my mind is hurling colourful abuses at them with a few indignant vows of revenge, poignantly marking out their very particular flaws and faults and then consoling myself with an “Oh, never mind. That’s the level of maturity that they will always live with, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Some people are cursed to live in their shallow little pools of self-contentment”. Call me spiteful, call me crude, call me whatever you want. Since all of these thoughts remain in the privacy of my own head, and now, a minuscule speck of that sentiment on this post, I believe that everyone involved is left happy. The person responsible for letting Murphy’s Law run its course through my life, is content thinking that I've defeatedly, accepted my fate, while I am content knowing to whom those colourful strings of words frolicking through my mind were intended towards, unbeknownst to them. And we all live happily ever after, leaving everyone none the wiser.