If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!

– Rudyard Kipling

Yes, I am in Grenoble, France the capital of the Rhône-Alpes region. It’s been two weeks since I came to France. Emirates was the flight, Hyderabad(HYD) the Origin, Dubai(DXB) the transit and Paris(CDG) the Destination airport (to people who are interested in the technical details ).  It was a long journey but thanks to the Emirates in-flight entertainment system and my own high spirits ( initially with a tinge of fear) it was not that boring. From the aerial view Dubai was a treat to the eyes. Being a small and compact city it was like a miniature planned city. Well, other than that I can’t quite describe the complete journey with clouds and their appearances being the only company at 30k feet above ground.

I reached Paris at about mid-day. From the airplane it was a bit warm but as soon as I got down the first thing I did was to wear a jacket. The sunlight is deceiving … The airport is on the outskirts of Paris. Hence, No, I know it is weird but I haven’t been to Paris yet. There was an SNCF station right below the airport from which I took the train out to Grenoble which was about 600 KM from Paris. But thanks to the French Train à Grande Vitesse, the journey took a bit over 4 hours(normally a direct train would take 3 hours but unfortunately I had to change trains at Lyons).

Grenoble is a quiet place even with the high student population owing to the Universities situated. The ambience in the city is great thanks to the snow capped(currently) Alps in sight in almost the three directions. French are I should put it ‘Courteous’. Maybe my opinion is biased as I come from India, given the number of people here it is a strain to be courteous to everyone . Be sure to be greeted by everyone you talk to ! Bon Jour (Good day), Bon Soir(Good evening) Merci(Thank You) Salut(Hi) Ça va? (How are you?) D’accord(Okay) à bientôt(See you) and Au revoir (Bye) will stay on the tip of your tongue . The interesting thing is the sudden change in their expression they give when you use the English counterparts of the above. They look at you weirdly for a second before giving a smile and groping for an appropriate english word to reply (which believe me is very strenuous for them) ! And be sure to learn the exact pronounciation. Otherwise you will have to face bewildered stares !!

Life here is quite expensive especially since there is that internal calculator in your brain converting every € to Rupee. Well now I try to stop that habit since it’s painful when you have to spend but there is that voice saying Whoa ! I am spending 400 Bucks for a Rs.110 Mc D Burger, just to quote. Regarding the food here they are meat maniacs. Pork and beef being the preferred meal !! And they just love Indian food making the few Indian restaurants in town expensive.

And I have started reading Brisingr … Yeah Finally !

“The Grass was Greener, The Light was Brighter, With Friends Surrounded, The Nights of Wonder”

Life finds a new meaning and everything wraps around those thoughts, emotions, feelings. Everything around is different. How I wish time just stops and I remain “comfortably numb” just talking and talking heedless to the surroundings and enjoying each and every word without the slightest knowledge of the words spoken … the mere company is all that matters …

Just kicking this out of my drafts folder … It has been there for too long. I never got to continue this and at the same time never want to end this. Off you go into the swirl of old yet distinct memories …

Note: Title suggestions are always accepted … I am always bad titles

By FU-ZU Jen (http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~jenf/)

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.

This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.

This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing “serious” between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!” And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you’re nice like that.

The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date” or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me” or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!” or the most frustrating of all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.” Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.

So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming.