Sunday, September 17, 2006

Article rating: meaningless unless you prefer otherwise.

It's evening time and I'm taking time out from studying for a very theoretical exam of a very theoretical subject taught by a very senile man. His stories are stuff legends are made of and so my humble blog will not be able to pay homage enough to this great soul. And that is not my purpose either. Thing is even when I'm studying, a part of my brain always works thinking about something completely irrevelant to the task at hand ( note: this happens only when I'm studying and it is also what some self-righteous buggers call "day-dreaming"). Today's topic I realize is: why are geeks made fun of universally?

To all those on the other side of this tunnel, the answer may seem pretty obvious. But from our side, its all a big blur. I have to admit here, I was a geek. But now I get to know that the Brotherhood of the Geek is a lifetime- membership- only offer. At least to the rest of the world it is. So according to most people I do know, I'm still a geek. Fine by me. Whatever suits you. But then they start treating you like a geek. Now you're intrigued. You wish you could tell them that geek or no geek, the undergrad as a class is very very consistent in its behavorial patterns and is independent of location, class, creed, sex (this I'm not so sure, 'cause in engg. its more or less a homogenous male) and above all, the college. Maybe this is a phenomenon only in India. I don't know. But here at least I find myself evaluating the behaviour of every collegeman I know, wherever they are, as completely normal.

But even among us "geeks", there is a further classification which again involves the branding of the now known supergeeks. Seeing them I slightly begin to understand. Normal people can't picture a geek doing the normal things of life (like having a girlfriend, partying, and getting laid.... which is more or less an exhaustive list as far as the undergrad goes). For example, can you picture a Steve Urkel look alike with horn rimmed glasses or glasses so thick you can't see through them, with pants pulled up so high his balls could get sliced, pulling the "moves" on the opposite sex. You might picture him screaming "E=mc2!", "E=mc2!" when playing what a certain conglomerate has termed our favorite sport.

However the mistake I think people make is generalization, or as symbolic logic would tell you, fallacy of division. Just because the collective group has a property does not imply that each individual has the same property. The case is the same for when guys smile at a girl. I've been at the recieving end of that one. Supposedly, you can't smile at someone as a part of being polite. People have laughed at my face when I told them I smile because I want to be polite. What's wrong with being polite?!!

The answer to that lies in the following questions....
1) Have any of your parents
a) undergone sex change?
b) written porn novels?
c) killed themselves or abandoned you?

2) Has your wife
a) turned a lesbian?
b) turned a lesbian?
c) left you at the altar?

3) Are you
a) an obsessive compulsive?
b) someone who sleeps with women and never calls them back...... EVERYDAY?
c) the kind of person who believes in valentine's day bad boyfriend bonfires?

4) Why do you want to be like someone who's the culmination of Manhattan madness and the above events?

Wow. This is not the way I intended this thing to go. But I guess its out so its out. Man, I enjoy shows like FRIENDS and the ilk but I do not see the need for people here to be like them. And the stereotypes these shows portray are partly why we have all this shit today. But the saddest thing of all? I'm prey to this. I called a guy wearing a pink shirt gay, behind his back. I tried, man but its hard. Its as they say. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Thus saying I should introduce myself to the Americanized Anonymous.
Hi, my name is Shravan, and I have been Americanized.

1 comment:

Just-a-guy said...

random i know ... that's the whole intention.... :D