......what Cyndi Lauper forgot to add was "at the expense of the guys!" (pun intended!)
Much to my horror I am using the phrase "Sigh! Women!" much too often nowadays. And with a valid reason too. I can write paeans and have always eulogized about the grey cells of the fairer sex of Chennai city mostly because I have been fortunate enough to be acquainted with quite an eclectic bunch of them( and also more importantly there is absolutely no way any other viewpoint can be written...). Those were the halcyon days when I was still unfettered by the "corporate world" and well just didn’t have to worry about a roof above the head and where my next meal was coming from. So when I happened to stumble upon a person from a certain well known college the denizens
of which I have been acquainted for quite a long time. In fact for the past six years(except last yr) I knew quite a lot of ppl from that college and was pretty much informed about the ongoings and politics of the college. This for me as an outsider was terribly boring just as the reminiscence of it now is to you :p. But ever the polite listener I always offered a willing closed ear and slowly became cognizant of the kind of conversations these ppl had. Of course they form just a small sample set and is not exactly representative of anything but still it was a time pass and
always gave me an opportunity to pass on the observation with a holier-than-thou tone
"Seriously you women...I just cant understand you ppl and your squabbles. We men seriously are easy at bonding. The topics of Sex, Booze and Women would unite male of the species irrespective of his race,boundaries,prejudices and in most cases his sexual orientation .The topics are panacea for ice breaking. Works all the time. " (A vindication of this "astute" observation from me was done by none other than Seinfeld himself as I was told during one of my gyaan sessions. Let me assure you we both (Seinfeld and myself i.e.) arrived at this independently after a prolonged observation of human nature and well coming to no obvious conclusions chose the easier one....)
I know it is pretty sad but afraid that's how it is. Not that we men are not capable of "intellectual" discussions et al but can assure there is a very very slight chance of such a conversation happening between two guys who meet up for the first time...
"Hey there Do you really agree with Descarte's idea of duality of mind and matter?"
"Well that is something to ponder about especially after Kant's Critique Of Reason...."Now am not saying such a conversation cannot/will not take place. Just that it is more likely to take place after this initial exchange...
"Hey d00d did you read Aishwarya Rai is among the top 10 most beautiful women? "
"Ya but she cannot even hold a candle to Angelina jolie..man she's hawt!"
"Totally agree with you! Now coming to Cartesian sense of duality...."The incident is of course exaggerated. There is still a lot more ground to cover before Philosophy even has a chance. Again sad but true.
But I digress. As I was aimlessly orkutting and blog trotting I came across a bunch from the aforementioned fav college of mine. And these are snippets of it....take a deep breath,have some water,dictionary and preferably Google page open with you and read on...
"POST MODERNISM IS FABULOUS AND QUITE ADDICTIVE. i happen to worship ginsberg and kerouac to begin with! i got into post modernism when way back in school and it's been a constant obsession.
post mod is not really nonsense...allow me to introduce you to derrida, foucault, baudrillard, jameson...post feminism...post structuralism..sassure..chomsky...they rock! sriously kid..remind me to give you a couple of my books..you'l rethink your conception of post mod. post colonial litt is also brilliant..."If that hasnt hastened you to pray whomever you pray (if at all you do) this one definitely shall make you...
"I agree with you as far as the linguists are concerned. But we're talking about nonsense poetry here. No, no, not Edward Lear. But the school of thought and poetry which just puts together meaningless words. That's just pretentious. Kerouac is more full of shit than most post modernists - his only competition being Ginsberg. I don't even consider Langston Hughes a modernist, though. He's too articulate and rhythmic for that. I'm talking purely about the manic depressives, the doped writers who are, as you and I would say, in a bit of a "mub". Come on, Bumble. It's ostentatious and never has a serious point. Much like the current Indian female
writer. It's all about fancy words. I'd prefer a straightforward Chomsky to a complicated Saussiere, wouldn't you? "Beseeching though the tone is I confess If only I knew who Chomsky was I would give my unsolicited opinion....and if you wanna calm your mind by listening to some music think again....
"...to really enjoy beat and soul start with jazz and blues...do a bit of harlem di..you'l love langston hughes! the post modernism that is covered in our syllabus is SHIT. we do nothing of any significance. we do verryy little theory and absolutelt nothing on identity politics, gender discourses, deconstruction...and don't even get me started on post mod art...pop culture...pastiche..the simulacra..."Ya run for your dictionary.I just did. And if you thought it was just literature students who are obscurantist listen to this friend of mine doing something in Genetics ...
"...oh dont talk to me abt Dawkins!! he has a reductionist approach to Evolution and his critic of Lamarckism is not tenable. Do you know he was accused of being an anti-Saltationist in guise? Seriously! you shld see the way he goes against Gould's punctuated Equilibrium...."I am glad I dont know any Political Science students...and this from a guy whom himself has been accused of using jargon and being obscure a lot of times!!!
I cant help reminiscing about the Engineering days when the conversation between my class girls, if at all anything to do with studies(disclaimer: To my knowledge) would go something like...
" Hey did you complete the assignment? Did you use the Darlington circuit or...?
" No I used the Colpitt amplifier...you see there is a prob with Hartley Oscillator..."Yeah I had no idea what they were talking about either but could rest in the knowledge that it was "technical" which I was not interested in anyway. .Ah! the good ol' engineering girls who always finished their assignments letting us guys copy it and in rare cases even do that for us....what would we have done without you ppl?:)
Sigh!Women....
Girish...!
