Rain, rain and rain

It’s raining cats and dogs here. I had to nearly swim my way through to class today. Thanks to sparky notes my presentation on 100 years of Solitude was appreciated . Well the novel is all about a child’s view! It has a story of 7 generations and how they cope up with philanderous Maude of men and fickleness of women. It’s definitely not about relationship going bad but it’s about how lust for sex and knowledge can ruin a family. Well in simple terms it was weird for me because the kind of situation described is something alien to me (it’s set up in the Latin American country of Columbia). This really sums up essence of novel. ( BTW the author Gabriel García Márquez won Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982)

Although the realism and the magic that One Hundred Years of Solitude includes seem at first to be opposites, they are, in fact, perfectly reconcilable. Both are necessary in order to convey Márquez’s particular conception of the world. Márquez’s novel reflects reality not as it is experienced by one observer, but as it is individually experienced by those with different backgrounds. These multiple perspectives are especially appropriate to the unique reality of Latin America—caught between modernity and pre-industrialization; torn by civil war, and ravaged by imperialism—where the experiences of people vary much more than they might in a more homogenous society. Magical realism conveys a reality that incorporates the magic that superstition and religion infuse into the world.

This novel treats biblical narratives and native Latin American mythology as historically credible. This approach may stem from the sense, shared by some Latin American authors, that important and powerful strains of magic running through ordinary lives fall victim to the Western emphasis on logic and reason.

Noemaun urgently needed his transcripts. I finally got them. I was trying to courier them desperately but somehow or the other I was not able to. Finally I decided to sent them against all odds, I went out in the rain with just wind sheeter. I reached the shop fully drenched. And then there is this beautiful shop called Gurunath; it has everything from ipods to undergarments, basically you will get everything you need to survive in IIT. Outsiders usually gawk at the huge array of items lined up there, well not only outsiders but even I sometimes . I handed over the envelope and was waiting for receipt. In the mean time a person walked in. He confidently asked for a mp3 player. Amazed by the small size of it he then enquired wether it can play songs or not. The shopkeeper showed him the label on the box and other technical details to which the person paid no attention to. He then wanted to buy cassettes so he finally selected bollywood hits and few others. The shopkeeper happily handed him over the stuff. He then focused his attention on some knifes. By that time my receipt had arrived and I left wondering how he will react when he finds out that audio cassettes are bigger than the mp3 player. Or perhaps he can think the other way, why not insert the mp3 player into the cassettes…technology you see!

While returning back I was reminded of the famous song “I love walking in the rain because no can see me cry”. Well someone twisted it “I like running in the rain because I don’t want to catch flu”. And I would love to run.

The incessant raining has made the whole campus water logged. There are small ponds everywhere and you might just be the victim of some tree falling on you! This campus is kind of strange in terms of diversity it offers in terms of wild life….you have monkeys running fanatically in my hostel wing..they use our bathrooms to relieve themselves, not just bathroom but stairs also…there are cats in the mess who might just pounce upon you….there mad dogs in the campus who were forcefully made impotent….then there are ants and other insects in our living rooms..ah and not to forget the deers and black bucks who adorn the campus. But I still love it.

More on chennai rains here