As I enter the mess, he says – Good Morning, sir.

I pass on a cursory smile,

barely acknowledging his presence.

He slowly moves to the background.

I am about to finish my breakfast,

When he comes back with a glass of juice.

“Sir, this is good for health.”

I look at him intently,

He does have a good-looking smiling face.

But, it takes some effort to notice.

The talk started at about 7:15pm with a slide reading “Peak Oil”. One of my friends ran out because he thought that learning Black Scholes model was a better use of time. I stayed.

Mansoor began his presentation. Most of what he said is here – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil. He has also written about this topic on his blog – http://www.acres-wild.com/Blog.shtml. In summary, what he wanted to say was that we have reached the peak of using our oil reserves and that the remaining reserves are going to deplete at a much faster rate than we can imagine. So, let’s prepare ourselves for living in a world without much oil and without exponential growth.

The presentation was well-researched and well-delivered though a tad bit alarming. The theories were based on secondary data and I have no way to prove or disprove it.

I have one problem with these disaster predicting theories though. They believe that they are saying the right thing and that they know the way the future should be. So, they say that let’s stop using up oil at such a high rate because we have to pass this beautiful world to our children and grand children. This claim implies that these people are very sure about how the future should be.

But, in the larger scheme of the universe, where we are smaller than a speck of dust and where there is so much uncertainty, how can someone say that ideally the future should be this specific way. And is not human mind a part of nature. We are a part of nature so, how come anything we do becomes detrimental to nature? The world is way too big and complicated for some people to take moral high ground and say that something is right or wrong.

1. Appearance based– Imagine you are attending your first lecture in your new school. There are a number of people you see but don’t talk to. But, being human you nevertheless form some kind of opinion about them. Most of the time it is based on the person’s appearance and your prejudices related to his appearance. At this stage, how you think of the person is things like – the guy with bald head, the guy with dirty teeth.
   

   Faces

2. Gossip – Then you hear something about some person. “Do you know, he did that!”. Now, you refine your perception based on the new information that has come in. You will now recall the person by things like – The guy with bad teeth, who did that!
   

   Gossip

3. Ice-breaking – Let’s say due to some situation you finally get to speak to the person. All your earlier perception of the person weighs heavily on your interaction with him. So, while speaking to him you look at his dirty teeth even when you don’t want to and that thing you heard about him keeps playing in your brain.
   

   Prejudice

4. Moment of connection – While carrying out the expected conversation with him, there is a sudden moment of connection. You realize that he too loves B-grade Ramsay horror movies. The older perceptions change for better.
   

   Common interest!

5. The friending phase – Now whenever you meet this person you talk about things of common interest. But now, when you look at him you don’t really look at his dirty teeth, nor do you remember the thing that he did. You see him as a friend. And the friending process is complete!
   

   Now friends

Anyway, living through all this I received an sms yesterday. One of my colleagues at rural BPO text-ed me, asking about my well-being and that he misses me. The sms made my day. These kind words make me believe that last two years spent at the rural BPO trying to achieve something was worth it. And I hope that everyone there does exceedingly well in life.

After watching the interview, I can put into words the special thing about India. The special thing about India is the noise that we operate in. Think of all the regional parties and the coalition government. We have been moving ahead as a democracy with all this. In fact, this kind of noise and uncertainty makes our democracy all the more stronger in the long run.

And our economy is not overly dependent on “Oil” like the US.

The Big GAME!

To get into the game you of course need to cough up a lot of money. The interesting thing to observe is how the group dynamics evolve. Just like “The Lord of Flies”.

But, for the last five days I have been facing an unusual dilemma.

If I try to network too much, I have to give less and less time to each person. I forget the intro as soon as  someone speaks it. And going to the person again and again asking his name does not look good.

If I try to be selective about it, I face two problems. One that the number of people I actually have a conversation is very few (mainly because of the length of the conversation) and two that I would be considered an asocial figure if I pass the chance of an introduction from someone who is passing by.

So, I am still struggling to find a balance.

But, seriously one thing I have observed is that people remember more about you when you listen to them and not when you talk to them.

As a footnote, “Basically”, “Essentially”, Trust me”, “awesome”, “focus or focussed approach” and “leverage” should be banned from any further use.

To enjoy all that is happening on the campus you got to really believe in the stuff you are asked to do. You have got to think that everything you do inside the campus is important and will add to something better in life. Just like the current generation believes in the Roadies.

On a relatively loftier note, anything in life is meaningful only when you believe in it. The moment you step out of the Matrix and see the world from outside, you realize the meaninglessness of it all.

To end it all, as the previous year students have been saying — “trust me”, it is going to be an “awesome” experience. Now, that I am here, do I have any other choice?