Tuesday, June 27, 2006

People are strange ...

People are strange when you're a stranger
Faces seem ugly when you're alone ...

And so sang Jim Morrisson. (i'm gonna take the song a bit out of context)

Sometimes I really wish I had studied psychology instead of computer science.
There are so many instances that I come across where I am simply unable or incapable of understanding the behavior of people, indicudually and in a group. That's a very frustrating feeling. Here you are ... watching someone or some people acting in some way you simply can't comprehend. My interpretation is simply of bemusement. To me it seems just ridiculous.

Just today the induction of my second junior batch got over. It was quite funny to see people behave quite differently from how I'd seen them or come to expect them to behave. Suddenly compassionate people turned cold. Indifferent people turned driven towards a cause of keeping the juniors awake endlessly. Non existent people were suddenly vying for even the smallest piece of limelight they could hog on to. The ostracised turned preachers.

It's quite funny, the whole thing. I can say that because I was quite detached from the whole phenomenon myself. But the one motivation or characteristic that stood to be the common factor among all these anomolies was attention seeking.

It's not too difficult to understand really. I mean here's a batch of 180 some people who know nothing about you as of now. You wanna break free from the cliche' you've been carved into by your peers over the last year. You wanna make an impression. You wanna impress the opposite sex. Basically pretty juvinile.

I would've probably expected a batch of to-be managers with some 2-3 years of work experience to act more maturely. Namely to be above all this. But it's not so.

I can critque this because as I've said earlier, I've been pretty detached this time. I don't remember much of how I was the last time around. Maybe I was juvinile too. Altough I do remember being detached the last time around as well, but then there are always varying perceptions.

The point I'm trying to make is ... is based pretty much upon my experience only. It's what I realize that when I try to assume myself to be behaving that way ( I can only assume as my memory fails me here ) ... I feel very stupid if I had. But then I find it very justifiable and excusable as well. Maybe Freud was right after all.

By the way while writing this i happened to read the lyrics of People are strange more contemplatively ... and I think the poet's words deserve a mention here in full.

People are strange when you're a stranger
Faces seem ugly when you're alone
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven when you're down

When you're strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you're strange
Noone remembers your name
When you're strange

People are strange when you're a stranger
Faces look ugly when you're alone
Wome seem wicked when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven when you're down

When you're strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you're strange
Noone remembers your name
When you're strange

2 comments:

SG said...

And when I screamed on top of my voice last year that induction thingy sucks .... no on listened !!!!

Amrit Rao said...

Suds,

Was surfing arnd in office and came to your blog by chance...

Just realised it has been ages since I have heard Jim Morrisson and tons of other groups and felt nice to see the lyrics... Realised how easy it was in college to have access to good music....

Also, totally agree abt a statement that u had mentioned in one of your previous posts "It's a perfect harmony (well created music that is). It's the symbolism for creativity, synchronization, intelligence, emotions and the works"...

dude, Going to be a regular vistor to your Blog :)...