One one things

Finally we managed to get internet up and running in our flat, no more dodgy internet cafe up the road and no more waiting in line for a computer to free up in the main library. I finally feel like things are settled and that I can get along with all my plans, I’m getting into the rhythm of living in London (if slightly out of it in zone 3) and getting to know my university and how it works and all that. Work has been quite easy paced so far, the material isn’t particularly challenging and I’ve only got something like 5 lectures a week of which one is a basic economics course that I can practically teach, so I’m going to cut that. As a result I’ve had free time on my hands and I rummaged my flatmate’s bookshelf and came across a bit of a gem. What attracted me to it was the cover, it was vivid and colourful but not in the bright glaring sense, more of the earthy, dull colours that I like. They say never judge a book by it’s cover but something about that cover made me think that I’ll probably like it.

It’s called Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri and it sort of rang a bell so I started to read. I finished it yesterday and it now ranks right up there with my Carl Mullers as my favourite reads. The amazing thing about that book is the fact that it’s just a story of a young man’s life and his journey through it, nothing flash, no startling murders, no conspiracy theories, no hilarious episodes with Spanish Bulls and no racy encounters of the triple x kind. Just ordinary life. And yet it’s so so readable, she writes beautifully and so many little parts of the story touched a chord in my own life and made me smile to myself thinking hey I know the feeling. It’s amazing how rich a person’s life could be, regardless of how ordinary and mundane it seems at first glance, there are so many stories behind each person, so many incidents that have blended together to shape their lives. The other day on the tube I was thinking that each and every person on the carriage has their own book inside them, full of little anecdotes, funny moments, sad moments and scary moments. In Namesake Gogol Ganguli has a fairly ordinary life of a 2nd generation Indian living in New York, he goes to college, has girlfriends, smokes pot, gets a job, gets married, gets divorced and so on, but Jhumpa Lahiri manages to spin 291 beautiful pages about this life and makes it a most amazing journey. One thing I loved about Namesake was the intimate descriptions of pretty much everything, buildings, faces, streets, day to day activities and even a childbirth, gulp. Since I started reading the book I’ve started to notice so much more about the things I’d normally bypass on a daily basis. The way my arms swing when I walk, a girl stopping in the rain to try and light a cigarette, the faces of ppl on the tube, so many little things that aren’t particularly important but that i’ve started to notice and appreciate, it feels nice. So i’d certainly recommend Namesake to anyone who’s a fan of reading and basically anyone who’s still reading this post without being put off by my long drawn out description

Besides reading i’ve dabbled in some University work this past week and it’s been somewhat of a let down. When I left home I wasn’t hugely depressed bc I was looking forward to getting back into academics and losing some of the responsibility of working and just arsing about in College. But I’ve found myself getting bored and struggling to motivate myself with uni work. I went for my first seminar yesterday about the aims of the study of international political economy (yes, exciting stuff), and i was hoping for a mildly amusing discussion on the synergies between international economics and international relations, but no, the 12 ppl in the room talked about the role of bloody constructivism and post modernism in deciphering the fundamental unit of research in international relations. Yes, I know, wtp? (btw, the p refers to puck, a far nicer word, and closer to home) After about 45 mins of this cock I put my hand up and said that I think they’re both getting at the same thing so why don’t we just get on with it and do something real? (Ok i didn’t say the last part). But seriously, I felt like I was in a room full of ppl with their heads in the clouds talking about something that is of absolutely no use to anyone who doesn’t live in some text book. But then thats academia for you. After working for more than an year tackling real issues, practical problems, I’m finding it difficult to roll up sleeves my and really get into things that will not leave the realm of thought. Anyone who has studied economics will probably remember from information economics Spence’s argument that education acts simply as a signal to employers. I never quite bought this argument but it seems to make more and more sense. What I’ve learnt in uni hasn’t exactly made me fantastic at what I do, it’s helped for sure in terms of confidence, organizing material, working to a plan and under pressure and has greatly improved my skills of analysis and creativity, but at the same time I could have learnt this stuff without going to uni and spending a mint. In the week so far what I’ve learnt is nonsense, and i’m quite sure that by the end of this year i’ll be much the same as when I started it, if slightly thinner. I’m quite aware that I’m doing a Masters so that in my next job application it’ll say Ba Hons, Msc. Hons and i’ll look a hell of a lot prettier to my potential employer. So I play the game, and hopefully will win too!

All in all not the best of starts academically, the course itself has lots of potential and I’m hoping that in the weeks and months to come this will be realised. But the rest of the fun will kick in shortly, this weekend i’m planning on going to Chinatown, Leicester Sq. and Camden town on Sunday, which Anush promises is an experience and a half. I actually went there a couple of days ago and it was extremely cool. There’s a little market with lots of little shops selling clothes with funny things written on them, ethnic jewellery, Goth paraphanalia, many tattoo and piercing studios (yes, many messers Pierce) and most importantly loads and loads of record stores selling new and second hand rare CD’s, records and cassettes, most of which you’d never find in your average HMV or Virgin stores. I love record stores, ever since I read High Fidelity by Hornby I made a mental note that if all else fails i’m going to open one of my own in Colombo and kick Torana’s ass. On that note (pardon the pun) I shall retreat to my room (living room) to get engrossed in Bob Dylan’s autobiography, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me. Please?