Unlike other sane and supposedly in-the-box courses, our academics require us to think amidst the clutter. Those taking lectures (often friends, professionals and fellow junkies) are supposed to winzip topics fit to be taught over months into one single 48-minute session. Consequently, at any point of time, your mind is seldom mono-tuned. Imagine watching muted visuals of Saturday Night Live with Sex Pistols playing in the background while the smell of raw garlic permeates your sensory receptors. And now try thinking of a smart line to promote a flourishing chain of hotels. Now visualise doing it while you are thinking of an excuse to cover up for your Petronas-like cell phone bill at home. Or while you are figuring out a way to evade the wedding your folks are adamant at, once you graduate. Or even as the entire clan of dinosaurs seem to be running siege inside your stoned belly.
When Franz Ferdinand crooned about having things so much better, they could have very well been referring to the Bugsbunny. Like his altered name, he is a riot once on stage or screen but a pathetic shadow once the lights are out. All that his daily schedule entails is meeting different sets of friends at different points of time. They say that the guy who played Dracula in the earliest film of the same name needed to be reminded of his acting prowess every day. Pretty much the same could be said of Bugsbunny’s diffidence.
The primary objective of befuddled dweebs in life (yours incorrigibly, included) is to uplift their crassly selves. They come to college leaving behind a house full of constraints and worries. Felicity, for instance, struggles to balance the rigours of a 24/7 course with the restrictions of a dormitory with Talibanesque timings (1900 hrs IST in a city that is said to be an insomniac). Couple that with a more-than-passing interest in the flourishing art scene of the city. And maybe you can trace a reason for her thin-layered attendance you see every term. Faces, unlike bikinis, are seldom known to reveal more than what they hide. Wearing glasses only simplifies the Botox job.
Of all the four types, befuddled dweebs are the easiest to find in the classroom. Every fourth person you meet is finicky about making the leap into no-holds-barred professionalism. There are these strings of bonding, family ties, carnal demands, etc that perennially tug them down. As long as they stutter to shed their mental blues and gear up for the ride awaiting them, they will remain dweebs. Never mind the odd ‘we can, we shall’ cry.
No comments:
Post a Comment