Basti

Slum= a squalid and overcrowded urban street or district inhabited by very poor people/ a house or building unfit for human habitation.

This is the meaning of the term "slum", as defined by the dictionary. Many a times, I did pass through a few slums back home, thinking how poverty forces people to live in such places. Never did I imagine in my worst nightmares that I would end up in one, thousands of miles away from home.
Boldly marked as 'Varsity Manor', it houses 36 apartments. Looks decent from a distance, but you've got to step in to see why I hate this place so much. 'Dustbins' are dumped with thrash; cigarette butts- a zillion of them all over, fast food packages thrown just beside the dustbin and glued rat traps with dead rats thrown on the staircase! Recently I had the opportunity to witness a girl dropping such a rat trap from the third floor, simply onto the walkway!!! I am not sure how each of them maintain the interiors of each apartments, but you'll always find roaches and rodents for company!
This place is often called as "Where the Indians/Andhrites stay". So, as defined in the beginning, if illiterate, uncivilized people live in a slum, what do you call a place with Highly educated, civilized people? Should the university introduce neatness, cleanliness and hygiene as courses for we Indians?

Or simply change the name to "Varsity Basti"?

Note- Dear residents, no hard feelings; this is my say.

Thought Roller Coster

Where exactly does the Shaitan in you start, when idle, and has the WWW right in front? For me, in the beginning the Shaitan is more Angelic in appearance, starting from the main page of Wikipedia, trying to gain some "Worldly Knowledge" and goes on clicking the subsequent links from each sentence in an article. Then deviates to the world of sports, trying to make an effort to update to the latest records, et al. So far, so good. Then begins the metamorphosis from the angelic form! The web pages change to the world of entertainment and show biz! The agenda is not who's doing what but how Beautiful, Hot, Sexy a female looks! That's the good part. I always believe in the quote "Excellence is in the details, give attention to the details and excellence will come". But the Shaitan takes it too seriously and applies this quote in every bit and then does a research into the details why so and so personality looks so good. That might be googling the vital stats (no hiding of this fact), her personality/attitude.......... and keeps wondering "when will I get to meet a similar person for real?" C'mon guys I am not even so crazy to meet the personality herself!!!!! After this, the buck stops here as this Shaitan does not prefer sleaze!

What kind of a ride does the Shaitan in you take?

p.s. Got to mention Shaitan's favorites- Deepika P., L. Dutta, Sushma R., N. Dhupia, on the national front; Maria S., Y. Isinbayeva on the international.

Shaitan K.

I Wonder What I Miss ?

Do I miss mom's food? Being a food fanatic, I've managed so far preparing each meal of mine not for the sake of it, but totally satisfied with what I've made. So I do not exactly miss her food.
Do I miss home? I don't remember staying at home for more than a few hours so........
Miss Indian Food? I've got an appetite for good food, not necessarily only good "Indian Food", so even this one must be ruled out.

Friends? Hmmm..... The best ones are in touch, therefore it cannot be.

There's got to be something that I really miss.....I wonder what it is !

Shaitan K.

Introduction

"An idle man's brain is a devil's workshop". We've heard this from our parents, teachers and elders for ages, yet we spend a considerable amount of time thinking about different things when our mind goes into the "idle" status, ranging from a minute to sometimes a few hours. What we exactly think depends on what we went through a few hours/days before slipping into the "idle" status.

I've been here in the USA for the past 6 months and I tend to fall into this status more often than I ever used to. This "idle" thought process must find a way to channelize out of mind, for which I have chosen this media.

What can you expect? Well, let's see how good or rather how bad does my mind think when it goes into "idle" status, does waking up the Shaitan who, starts his shift in his Kharkhana.

-Shaitan K.