Enormously Fascinating
It’s that time of the year again, when semester timetables go viral, and consequently, expressions of collective shock or smugness make the rounds in hostel corridors. The cause is of course, the number of vacant periods in a week, or the number of subjects that have a Lab period.
As it turns out, quite clearly, I have nothing to cheer, or jeer, about. Zero vacants, with one Lab period every single day of the week. The nil vacants part of the problem will hopefully be remedied in about a month, when the dust will finally settle on the adjustments that will (again, hopefully) be made to the timetable. It’s the Lab periods that are, well, the cloves in the masala dosa. This means that I will have to step into the shoes of an industrious student and bustle about in the Lab, taking measurements and (groan) paying some attention and (oppaari) being interested in the goings-on for two fricking hours. Or else every evening would prove to be a logistical nightmare, for the fine techniques of jugaad require much effort, an extremely precious quantity during times of winter.
Ending this non-cheerful post with the text of a very inspiring speech by a person who towers above the teeming masses of mediocre humanity with his accomplishments and devotion to personal principles, the brilliant creator of the universally-loved comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes - Bill Watterson.
I still haven’t drawn the strip as long as it took me to get the job. To endure five years of rejection to get a job requires either a faith in oneself that borders on delusion, or a love of the work. I loved the work.
Drawing comic strips for five years without pay drove home the point that the fun of cartooning wasn’t in the money; it was in the work. This turned out to be an important realization when my break finally came.
If I had a lot of money, I’d definitely give some of it to Brainpickings.org for compiling awesomeness untiringly throughout the years. Their Redux 2010, a short listing of the year’s most-loved Pickings just blew half my mind away.
P.S: The title is drawn from the extremely insightful interview of Douglas Adams by Ian Johnston.
