"The past three years have been a blur. For all I know the time spent at college was but a rapturous moment filled with euphoria that was too good to last..." With these closing words of the farewell speech by a final year student, the hall exploded into applause. There were smiles and there were tears, of joy I hope!
For I would definitely have shed tears at these oft-repeated words by every outgoing batch. Forget the emotional moment and you can actually laugh out loud at these cliches that have percolated through years of public disapproval of the moment of separation from the college.
Consider this: "Words cannot express the hollow feeling that is plaguing my heart right now." Can't they? Then how do you intend to deliver the rest of your speech? Through a mime, maybe!
"It seems that it was only yesterday that I was seated amongst the audience, listening to the inspiring Orientation Speech by the Director."
There! The genius has just demonstrated the hitherto unproved theories of Time-Contraction and Time-wrapping. Take that Einstein!
"Thank you, dear teachers, for having guided us throughout the our management education. It was under your able guidance that we hatchlings developed our wings and are now ready to take flight into a world of endless possibilities." Bravo! Nothing wrong with that except for the fact that you can actually notice the unbelieving smirk on the speaker's face for having pulled off saying something that incredulous.
Imagine a flock of chirping birds escaping from a cage, year after year, celebrating freedom after two years. Add to that the immense possibility of their spraying droppings on those left behind. The above platitudes don't seem quite so believable, do they?
Come to think of it, it is not only at farewell speeches that we come across such repetitions. Placement interviews, for one, are another cliche heaven.
Preparation for interviews heavily involves mugging up smart and impressive (and now decaying!) answers that have been doled out innumerable job - seekers for years. Needless to say, these answers have become the contents of a placement formula. Notice the subtle humour attached with renditions of these cliches in the interview room-
Question: So, tell me something about yourself.
Smart Answer: (after a formal introduction stating name and place of living) I am an ambitious, hard-working person. Quick grasping power accentuates my cognitive skills. I am a good team worker and believe in developing innovative solutions. Besides, I can assimilate myself comfortably into any work environment and can work amicably with fellow workers.
Spare a thought for the poor interviewer who has now interviewed the thousandth person exhibiting the same set of 'cognitive skills', 'team spirit' and 'hard-working' capabilities. This truly is an "Attack of the Clones".
Question: Why do want to join this particular company?
The same stinking answer (The plastic smile still intact): The company has an unparalleled market reputation. It provides ample growth opportunities to individuals. I, as a persevering professional, found the work ethics of the company quite alluring.
Money, to me, is but a reward for doing good work and nothing more. A decent salary obviously gives you a high.
Washing your hands off the "filthy lucre", eh? Wait till you see this intellectually motivated professional brag about the anticipated fat pay-packet in front of his drunken cronies. Well, at least he was honest about money giving you a 'high'!
Question: Who is your idol in life?
The answer to this much anticipated question: My mother/father.
Aha! Now the candidate can almost clearly hear his management coaching teacher hollering away, "Choose your father or mother. They can't screw you dimwits with questions pertaining to those two people at least!"
But can you blame these individuals for resorting to such a blatant show of this lack of creativity? Hell! Our day to day life involves cliches of the worst degree.
How many times have we heard friends sympathising with you, "Chuck it man! No point crying over spilt milk."
For God's sake, leave the poor milk alone. Wonder who that jobless man was who dedicated all his cunning to create this proverb about this mundane event of spilling milk!
Ever reached the class late? Panting and puffing (literally) when you reach the class at last, you are sure to be greeted with these famous words, "You are too early for the next class!" Apart from the murderous feeling that arises in your heart at that instant, you rue this lame attempt by the teacher to show off his smartness (at something at least!) If the gurus themselves cannot come up with a new catch line for something as simple as throwing an unpunctual brat out of the class, how can the students be expected to break with such cliched conversational routines?
All said and done, we can finally conclude that cliches are an inseparable but indistinguishable part of our lives. They claim their position in any dialogue with panache. To say that we need a language revolution would be too far-fetched an idea. But guys, is using a little bit of creativity that difficult?
Captured Moments
1 day ago
44 comments:
Haahahahaha!!!!
Fun read! all the while I kept going ..ya heard that one, had that one, yeah yeah :P
But lucky for me(?) I guess I belonged to the class that came up with the most bizzare answers to the most common questions. Full on use of creativity :P So we had some funny moments seeing people react with shock/tongue tied-ness when thrown the least expected answer in the face of the most stupidest commonest questions :D
See, again, you should have been here. Dhamal hota!!! :P
Luv,
Annie.
Apart from the title and its idea, there are lot of things over which light has been put very beautifully. More or less on college life i will say.Thats life when it comes to college i say.Thats college life when it comes to a country like india when innovation is long time needed and purely missing from last few decades.
Thats something which really needs to be changed in a country like india which is known as largest democratic country.
Coming to the writing skills of the writer.
You are a fabulous writer Isha. No matter what topic it is, you don't leave a single feather untouched and that makes the post a complete speech for the readers.
Cliches are so common in our life.Its not only college but in real life too when it comes to our parents, friends we use them often.
Overall a very nice post Isha The Bond Gal and one of your BEST!!
Keep writing :)
Cheers
Mahesh
lol. that was fun. :)
creativity will always have cliches. cuz its different. of course somethings are too creative but then anything can be made into a joke cant it.
"Creativity" is a trait with which not all are blessed with..! ;)...So I guess we have to live with the old cliches :)...keep writing!
lolz..hilarious. Anyways I will never be blamed of cliched responses in my interviews.
when an interviwer asked me why I wanted to join accenture and not a core(mechanical) company. How do we believe you wont join core if you get a higher salary. This was my answer.
Sir I believe commitment is more important than passion and long lasting also sir. Sir as you already know love marriages which are products of passion rarely last but arranged marriages based on eternal commitment are the base of our culture sir. And sir once I am married to your company I will never even think of having any extra marital affairs.
One an interviewer asked me why I didnt want to persue higher education..i said "I was bored"
by the way enuff about me. Your blog is like effingly original.
PS; I got both the jobs.
why u being so negative today?? :O
Love,
Nikhil
@ Annie - Hai na!!??? See my point!!??
Really!!?? Isn't it amazing how a dash of creativity can make some moments memorable? :)
I knowwwww!!!! I hope I'm there, sooooooooon!!! :)
Cheers
@ Mahesh - Yeah, almost all of my non-fiction is inspired from my own life. So you see college posts when that's what I'm experiencing, posts about work during my summer internship, interviews at placement time and so on and so forth.
Arre yaar, hamari country mein innovation is just a "buzz" word. :|
Awwww!!! I'm blushing soooo hard right now!!! :) :)
Thank you!!!!! :)
Cheers
@ ScarletTd1ar1es - Didn't really understand what you were trying to convey back there. How can creativity be cliched?
Anyway, glad that you enjoyed it. :)
Thanks for the visit and the comment! :)
Cheers
@ Umesh - *sigh* I guess that's the only option. *sighs again*
Cheers
@ T-Rex - *Bows and applauds* Now THAT is exactly what I'm talking about!!
See how creativity can work things in your favour???
And dude! Your blog oozes out with dollops of creativity, so I'm not really surprised that you came out with such answers. :)
Glad that you liked it. And thanks for the comment. :)
Cheers
@ MultiMenon - OMG!!! You are like the ONLY one who has figured out that this post was written in a rush of negativity sweeping through me. :(
Dunno what happened buddy.
phewww that was such a helluva read:) ish lemme tel u sumth Tode:) ure a pro gal u really r! Wat I love bout u n thats reflected in ya posts is yr humour:) so practical subtly sarcastic but always sumth that everyone connects wid! this post is a candid one:) u kno I refused to give the farewell speech coz I told them i cant sugarly praise by useless college wid a cheek breaking smile.:p lovelyyyyyyyy post :) take a hug!
N yeah sweet of u to have asked if allz oki wid me.,..:) m ok! Was super craziely busie so cud ntt reply to comments ! :( will do it tom! N m superly confused bout the title! Ki karaan ? Lol :p can't choooose! Hehe
He he .. We all want to ne known as different from each other, yet, most us lack the elements that make us different.For basic starters, CREATIVE digs. I take this stupid example for that is what most like to do :P
Lovely read
Somehow, I get the feeling that this comment isn't making much sense :(
hhahah
now this post matches perfectly wit ur blog name :D:D...
one of the most over priced as well as the most misunderstood thing, I think is creativity gal....
Every body has something different to say but the thing is that they would rather remain 1 in the crowd rather than taking the different shade...
and bang she us here and i m late.
sowwieeeee!!!
well my creative sweetie you have it what it takes to be a lil diff from cliches. no?
am i seeing things?
i dont think so.
btw the words cannot express anything. it just is something mysterious which clicks not words :)
i m so sick right now. not even funny!
but my wlel wishes are always with you!
Cliché is int it?:)
Very good post...
brilliant!!
Nice satire.
@ Divsi - Haye meri jaan!!! Thank you for such a shweet comment!!
You think I have a sense of humour??? Yayieeee!!!! SEE PEOPLE SEE!!! huh!! *Does the victory dance*
Proud of you girl!!! :)
Ohhhh!!! Ye busIness ka keeda teko bhi lag gaya? :P
And yeah!!! PERFECT title hai!! for the perfect poem. :)
Hugsss
@ Netika - He he, don't worry, I think I got what you meant (more or less), at least I hope so!
Cheers
@ Ams - LOL!!! Kaisi hai re lazy billi??
P.S. I know I haven't been on your blog since a long time. Apologies. You shalt see me there soon. :)
@ Muthu - Everyone is such a COWARD nahi??
But creativity can never be over - priced my friend, never.
Cheers
@ AD - Awwww!!! You think so?? Mwah mwah!!
And so are mine!! :) :)
Take care
@ Numerounity - Yeah, that's what it is. :) But lazy lazy me didn't want to go through the trouble of importing the symol from Word. :D
Thank you! :)
Cheers
@ Abhishek - Well thnak you!!
Welcome to C'est La Vie. And thanks for reading and commenting. :)
Cheers
Bondgal Rulz...absolutely...completely...crazily...
Now that I'll be sitting for placements and all..my cousin was giving me those lil titbits and now how I tell you People so love these cliches that even you tell them,"Arre they won't impress" they are not ready to do away with them...They are just so addicted..N m so addicted to ur blog...got a lil late..but as they say 'better late than never':)
hey i read it long back..but just that i have an exam tomorrow..i thought to re-read it.
i laughed it then..i m laughing my heart out now.
mast hai yaar.
You really got it right. Every time in interviews you hear the same sounds, it actually leads to vocal fatigue. No wonder the economy crashed, people hired on same questions and same boring answers
Wooo mama... And there i was thinking cliched farewell speeches and even more cliched witty remarks of the teachers were the exclusive domain of the neanderthal ninnies in my college. Apparently its common across the country.
So much for individuality.Am so not looking forward to going to fourth year.
Meh.
P.S I know it was supposed to be phunny but did u by any chance write it in a state of frustration at the system ?? (woah that was a deep statement there !)
@ Vikas - Hey buddy!! Seeing you here after a long break haan. :P
Arre exam se pehle sab faltoo kaam yaad aate hain na. Chalo I'm glad it made you laugh at as grave a time as the night before an exam. :)
Thank you. :)
Cheers
@ Rhythm - Arre der se aye durust aaye. :)
And awwwwwww!!!! Thenkew soooo much!!! :) :)
You sitting for placements?? What you doing abhi??
My advice - Just be yourself in the torture room. Don't be too much of it though. :P
All the best for your placement sweets. :)
Cheers
@ Pesto Sauce - Ha ha!!! Tell me about it!! This is what has caused the recession. Sub prime crisis has had enough glory as it is. :D
@ Weirdo Guy - Oh commo now!! Just make sure that you do not let it be a monotonous drag of the same cliched things. :P
*nods head and smiles in reply to your P.S.*
Cheers
Reading you after long time...
well written ,creativity to har jagah hai , tried and tested try karna easy hota hai...hai na ;) " why take chances...?"
carry on isha
stumbled across your blog..
thanks for the hilarious and good read :)
Nice Post. Loved readin it.
(In spirit of the post )
And where are your new posts hiding ? :)
hahahaha.. that was a fun read.. n i thought malkoich was ur best post till date.. i change my mind.. so u ask " is using a little bit of creativity that difficult?"
the answer is yes.. creativity is something which requires originality.. the thoughts are to be one's own.. in this world everything has benn said and done.. very few things are left to be revealed.. in a world where anythin which u think is ur original work might have been done by some1 else b4 itself.. so it aint urs.. implies ur so called creatiity is a waste..
but mugging up about me is seriious shit.. the interviewer said about you.. not abt some1 else.. neways i died laughing at ur sarcasm..
@ Neeraj - Hiii!!!
Creativity har jagah hai??? Phir tto main definitely blind ho gayi hoon it seems. :P
Yeah yeah...it's easier alright but whatever happened to doing the tougher things cos of the high they give when accomplished???
@ Sorcerer - Hey!!
Glad that you did. :)
Thanks for the read and the comment. :)
Keep visiting. :)
Cheers
@ BP - Hey there!! How have you been my celebrity blogger friend?? :P
The new posts read themselves, sprouted legs and ran away. :D
@ Vishnu - Arre go through some other posts on the blog and I'm sure you'll change your mind yet again.
Ok ok, no more advertising my blog on my own blog. :D
Oh common!! You are making it sound like it's the hardest thing to do on the planet!!
And even if it IS tough to think out of the box, at least try and be normal. Why copy others' well rusted answers??
Arre!! This sarcasm will land me in a soup someday. Half of the people don't even get it when I'm genuinely sayin something nice about them. :|
Glad that you made some new RBCs. :D
Cheers
lol.. sarcasm has its own complaints.. i dont have any problem with creativity.. but wen u say out of the box.. u shd define the dimensions of the box..
Ah! That is where the catch is. The dimensions are never constant, they keep changing. And that is what we oughtta strive for.
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