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Behind the Scenes
By Anuradha Gupta (86A6)
And this is the first
of many exchanges that you will be privy to, issue after
issue…that will bolster your confidence in the team and its
functioning…
It was a dark and stormy night.
This is what transpired in an exchange on a proposal to start a new
series on successful BITSian women. If it is any consolation, the
entire Editorial Team, Anupendra, Anuradha, Dilip D’Souza, the
Chief editor, Sandeep, and one of the most creative writers, Sagarika
were involved (in the discussion, that is. Please do not read
b’tween the lines). And it all happened between the wee hours of
April 20th and 25th…
Anupendra: I
think it is time for a series called I am a BITSian Woman that talks
about (successful/inspiring) women from different spheres.
(somewhere
in the discussion, the word ’coping’ crept in and
here’s the very serious discussion that ensued on repositioning
the article to eliminate it…)
Anuradha: How
do we position the article (away from coping) - the topic is
simmering on the surface and does generate a lot of interest, it is
controversial and has a number of issues associated with it, from the
Summers controversy to role-expectations and definitions to
gender-bias, to positive affirmation to reverse discrimination to fair
treatment to, well, the mind boggles.
It can be thought-provoking, emotional, can even stimulate
readership...and that makes it tempting but is it a Pandora's Box and
can we make sure we keep it dignified and not sensationalize it in any
manner, I don't know and would like to have more views,
Let’s brainstorm that...
(Sandeep,
of course took the most relevant extract from Anupendra’s
message, the beginning of the end, the fall of an empire, while Rome
was burning, Nero was playing chess…)
Sandeep : Hi Anupendra,
This is splendid news. Why didn't you tell us? Did you have surgery or
was this some other more exotic medical procedure. In any case, I
really am very happy for you.
What does your wife have to say about this? And, might I add, you would look simply stunning in a halter top!
Anupendra Sharma wrote:
I AM A BITSIAN WOMAN
Anupendra: Hey Anu - you are rubbing off! Our usually serious chief editor is killing me with her (sic) funnies....
Anuradha: If
I am inspiring this serious biz of humor in anyway (and of course we
the- women are definitely making womanhood inspirational, hahaha), I am
delighted and honored... And you have the right to unsubscribe from the
Sandpaper group. Click here...
www.what-a-mad-bunch.com
Anupendra: And I actually clicked on it.
Dilip: Might look better out of it. I don't know. Or the halter top might look better off Anupendra. I don't know.
Dilip: Reword
the series to not make it sound like women coping…that’s
how I would prefer it if I were a BITSian woman and maybe I am…
Anuradha: Precisely, we could reword/reposition it...right now I am coping with all these new BITSian women, sigh...Dilip, et tu?
Sagarika: You guys are funny, funny!! I can't help but respond. Sandeep, you certainly opened a can of juicy worms here ;)
Personally, I too (like Anu) feel the same way Dilip says he'd
feel if he were a Bitsian woman and someone posed that question to him
(coping). I think its way more challenging coping with being a
guy...Now that warrants a series! First, guys have to understand their
own selves (they spend a good chunk of their teens and 20s doing
exactly that; and soon after, they have this brobdingnagian task of
understanding the women in their lives (not that they don't have this
issue pop up earlier in their lives, but they're supremely focused on
the first-things-first mantra (read "it's all about me" -- a school of
thought that shockingly backfires later on in life)! So they go about
spending their 30s and 40s soulfully engaged in this Catch-22 type
endeavor (it's bad if you understand women and worse if you don't). My,
my, now that's coping hell to me...Thoughts??
PS: Just my attempt at perpetuating this humor string, guys. Thanks chief!! ;)
Sandeep: Hey!
Don't blame me. All I want to see is Anupendra in a halter top. And
Dilip I gather wants to see him out of it. :-)). Anupendra's going to
call HR for harassment... wait a minute! We don't have any HR! Yippee!
Dilip: Sagarika said:
> So they go about spending their 30s and 40s
> soulfully engaged in this Catch-22 type underwear ...
Hey, what's Catch-22 type underwear? And where can I get some, it
sounds very intriguing, especially if guys are getting engaged wearing
it.
Question though, what about the guys who get engaged in their 20s?
Anuradha:
People (I shall not say ladies or laddies lest there are those who wish
to prove themselves in any manner)...the plot thickens... We all can
bare-ly wait ... with bated breath to see - what next...
There may be those of you (Sandpaper team) who might be hunting for an
unsubscribe option or HR and it has been proved that there are
none...:)-. Blocking emails continues to be an option that Microsoft
currently provides but we are working on that. And Dilip, I am dying to
quote just one sentence (half a sentence actually – Where can I
get some) from your email, forward it to your wife, create some discord
and pose this question, why do you ask this of the Sandp team…
Sagarika:
Thanks for the rescue line, Anu. I owe you one. ;) And Dilip...You!!!
You almost made my heart skip a beat...I mean, I frantically went back
to my original email scrambling through it, sweaty-browed and all,
wondering how on earth my built-in spell checker (grammar checker or
sense checker, call it what you will), which never usually lets me
down, fared so badly at this one instance -- "underwear" when I was
intending "endeavor"...what was I thinking??? And when I actually read
my email and saw "..Catch-22 endeavor..." I almost grew deaf (yeah, I
did heave a deafening sigh of relief!). Yes, what were YOU thinking?!!
In other words, you got me there for a second...YOU!! Wait till we get
to meet someday...Some heavy strangulation is in order. :)
Aren't we at SandP a zany bunch or what?! And yeah, Anu, do
remember to satiate the naughty word twister's wife's
curiosity...Although women normally could care less about male
underwear (contrary to the other way around factoid), this instance may
in fact be the world's only exception ;) Let's stir up the D'Souza
household..
The saga of mystique/intrigue/heavy plotting/warped thinking
continues...Only at SandP Yahoogroups. (Hey, a great tagline to recruit
new members, don't ya think???). J
Dilip: Anu, you said:
> We all can bare-ly wait ... with bad breath to see - what next...
My sympathies to you all then. Use Pepsodent, works well for me.
And Sagarika said:
> Although women normally could care less about male underwear
> ... Let's strip the D'Souza household.
Please don't do that! The underwear might give us away.
Sagarika: Dilip, you're such a crack up!! It sure is fun to see your lighter side (yeah, that's what you see when someone strips down to their underwear) having been exposed
to your more serious side all along. SandP bunch, hope the rest of
y'all are hanging in there enjoying the (virtual) strip show.
Anuradha: Sagarika, we shall have to conclude, put everything together, wrap up...
BITSian guys (we have a pretty extensive, representative sample) aspire to be BITSian women,
wear Catch-22 Underwear and use Pepsodent.
This is definite material to start off the series, "On being a BITSian guy."
Anupendra:The final word
Here is the photo for the article (its me and Dilip). And that's all I have to say about that. The End.
Sandeep: Sign me up!!
Any prudes lurking around this group are probably calling the Diro as
we speak. By the time this thread is over, our team will be down to a
few BITSian women and a few aspiring to this enlightened state. So what
is Catch-22 underwear? (And the picture)…
Excellent! This is the picture we'll use on next issue's cover.
"Mein BITSian woman banna chahtee hoon!"
Dilip: Anupendra, you silly fellow:
> Here is the photo for the article (it’s me and Dilip).
Now everyone knows I have grey hair! However, I gotta say, you're
wearing your halter top wrong. And how many times do I have to tell you
not to clean out the wax in my ear in public, eh?
Anuradha:
This photograph shall go down in history and you all must save it for
posterity as the BITSAA/Sandpaper logo (Mktg directive) and this shall
be thy wallpaper - and Sandeep, if it is not on the cover/part of the
cover story you shall face a coup...
Diro incidentally has issued the following directive...1. BITS is now
BITS-M (M - maiden/mahilayen ke liye ONLY); 2. BITS now has a uniform
(I need not elaborate on that, Sandeep, return to campus and thy
questions shall be answered);3. The only guys allowed on campus are
ex-BITSians (so if you are a guy and catch yourself on campus you have
PASSED OUT, remember that)
Now the tech team has the following challenge - a team photograph...
Good luck. :)-
Dilip: Anu pointed out:
> if you are a guy and catch yourself on campus you have PASSED OUT, remember that)
I seem to recall being in that state for most of my years on campus, actually...
And luckily (for you), we passed on to the more mundane matters of the magazine.
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