Slope Day

Throngs of college students spread over the entire libe slope shaking to the tunes of three different genres unleashed via an array of JBL speakers and woofers creating a thumping atmosphere - that was just one aspect of the Slope Day 2012.
An annual spectacular to mark the last day of classes, slope day is the traditional event when students from all departments and batches unite for a single common cause - letting it loose! It is amazing how the managers were able to pull out the event given the fact that we had a hailstorm just the previous night that stripped the town off power for an hour. The prevalent rains and stormy weather would have dampened the spirits of many while the coordinators were at work erecting the fences through the night, their optimism providing the courage. And it seems, fortunately, the weather Gods gave way to the hopes of thousands by setting up a beautiful backdrop with the perfect weather - a cloudy sky with light sun!
I arrived for the event pretty early right after my lab (yes I had a lab!) at noon. We entered from Ho Plaza and the liveliness in the atmosphere set the tunes for an exhilarating evening ahead. There were food stalls offering cup cakes, sweet donuts, drinks for light refreshments and then down the slope were more food stalls for proper meals. But of course the crowd had piled up into a single line that led to the alcohol section. And I must say how well the entire crowd was managed.
Having come from the institute that hosts Asia's largest cultural festival the meticulous planning that was apparent in the Slope day was praiseworthy. There were numerous volunteers spread across the entire arena with backpacks filled with water bottles handing them generously to anybody who could use a sip. Then there were others carrying plastic bags and wearing tags indicating what would go in those bags - compost, trash, recyclable, plastic, etc. Also on site was Ithaca police well equipped with the gear to tackle any situation. And this was very well tested when a minor scuffle broke up between two students when they had to interfere and there radios came in handy to call for additional help. There was another section for first-aid with doctors and ambulance ready in case of any emergency. Apart from the readiness in terms of man power the entire process that required regulation like adherence to queues, purchase of food and alcohol tickets was done in an orderly and fool proof manner such that it could not be replicated or abused. Quite impressive!

The highlight of the evening were the concerts - The Wailers, Neon Trees and Taio Cruz. I went right upto the stage for the last two and I could tell that it had been a long time since my ear drums had vibrated with such a high amplitude! A few minutes into the crowd it was impossible to hear anybody around except for the unanimous clamor that followed the song. As cliche as it might sound - I was completely immersed in the sound waves and was flowing with the beats. Has it been long since I went to a concert! To add to the excitement and the frenzy the volunteers had been sprinkling water at the crowd and the crowd supplemented by sprinkling from their own bottles. With that, the mud from the ground began taking friction away and there is where I guess it got it's name from - Slip, I mean Slope, Day! To give the perfect ending to the day was "Dynamite" from Taio Cruz and I got goosebumps witnessing the exuberance in the air.

All in all the pleasant weather, the charged up atmosphere and the high spirits of thousands of students added up to bring a memorable end to the first year of graduate studies at Cornell.

PS: Photos courtesy Cornell University @ Facebook.

What is the problem with Greece?

This has been a topic at the helm of global finance that has taken all the markets on a roller coaster ride since the past year. Here I attempt to discuss some of the issues, the causes and the steps taken to avert a crisis as a result of its ballooning debt to GDP.

Why is Greece close to defaulting on its sovereign debt (government bonds)? Why cannot Greece use the monetary policy tools that traditionally states used to ease their debt burden, and what are some of these tools?

Even before the time they entered the EU, Greece has been on a spending spree on infrastructure, services and public sector wages. As Greeks reduced their tax payments, the vast gap between government income and expenditures was filled in by borrowing billions of dollars from other banks and nations. This enormous public deficit was exposed post the 2008 banking crisis and currently, with a 160% debt to GDP ratio, Greece is nowhere near able to pay off its debt. With the downgrade of Greek bonds to junk status no one is also willing to lend Greece and being on primary deficit it is further unable to meet its expenses without external monetary support.

Some of the monetary tools that governments use in such a situation are devaluation of currency, increasing the interest rates, controlling reserve requirements or printing new currency. Greece had been deploying many of these tools before its integration into the Euro. However, under the Maastricht criteria applicable to all EU members, all the EU states need to keep their inflation rates within stipulated limits and need to have a control over their government deficit and debt. In addition they need to follow the exchange rate mechanism under European Monetary System (EMS) and also need to keep a check on their long term interest rates. Since Greece is a part of the Euro it does not have enough flexibility with these policies to be able to come out of its debt crisis.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9098559/Whats-the-Greek-debt-crisis-all-about.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastricht_Treaty

The Greek economy is small relative to the economy of other states in the EU – why would a Greek default significantly impact (i) the economy of other EU states; (ii) the stability of the Eurozone; (iii) the world economy?

Even though Greece has a relatively small economy, a Greek default can lead to a contagion the effect of which will be felt throughout the EU and also the world at large. It would send the yields on Portuguese, Irish and Italian bonds spiraling upwards and Portugal might have an incentive of defaulting as well. Subsequently the confidence in these countries will drop leading to a bank run and a severe credit crunch and EU will need to provide capital to the banking system for which there would be no collateral.

Such events would lead investors, and the world, to lose confidence in EU and hence growth can be hampered in the near future which can also lead to a drop in the euro. With the global financial system just out of a financial crisis, this contagion will be akin to rubbing salt on the wound that hasn’t even begun to heal yet and it would probably put Europe in a recession and would stall short term growth throughout the world.

Great efforts are expended to restructure the Greek debt so that it does not trigger CDSs written on Greek bonds. Who holds these CDSs?

The net value of CDS written on Greek debt is small as compared to the total debt. For instance, with a $300 billion of restructuring and $100 billion of wipeout, the outstanding CDS contracts net just about $3.2 billion ($70 billion overall).

These CDS are held by private entities that have invested in Greek debt over the years. Although this information is not publicly available, it is known that major European banks such as DB and BNP Paribas as well as some American banks such as JP Morgan, Citibank and Goldman Sachs hold Greek debt and have hedged it with CDS.

Recognizing that the situation evolves from day to day, what are the arrangements related to the Greek debt restructuring that are contemplated currently?

Of course Greece defaulted for non payment of the dues it owed on 20th March. Thankfully, to my utter surprise, it failed to shake the markets in a way I had imagined leaving it with just a nudge, maybe that was also the market's volatility itself. However, to ensure that financial markets are now immune to the fate of Greece a series of hard steps were taken and accepted, in some cases against the will of many. Here I lay down those steps and their magnitude.

There have already been four rounds of austerity packages involving about 100bn Euros in loan and a round of austerity measures being implemented by the government. Currently the Greece creditors have agreed to a 53% haircut on the Greece debt and EU has raised about $172 billion for support the remaining debt of Greece. Debt swap for coupon bonds (50% of face value as compared to original) have been initiated with a coupon of 3.7% bringing the total voluntary write-down to around 70%. Although it seems that even this huge bailout will not be enough and ECB reckons that Greece would need another 254bn Euro to meet its targets.

Under the terms of this bailout Greece is required to undergo reforms aimed at reducing its debt to 120% of GDP by 2020 from 170% currently. These include severe austerity measures as well as a 22% wage cut across the working population and a 35% for those under 25.

But this bailout has quite some risk associated to it especially because of the elections that are about to take place in Greece in April. The debt restructuring package is extremely demanding on the citizens and it is not surprise that there have been widespread demonstrations, sometimes violent, against it. This can be a crucial campaign agenda for politicians who can promise a renegotiation of the terms which casts uncertainty over Greek default. On the other hand the deal has been struck with the private sector representative, the IIF and needs the support of each of the private debt holder to go through which is a major process in itself. Now this debt restructuring has been accepted by a higher majority of the private creditors as against the alternative of losing their entire investment and face the ugly process of recovery from a default.

http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2012/02/07/whats-the-latest-on-greece/?KEYWORDS=greece+default

http://online.wsj.com/video/is-europe-preparing-for-a-greek-default/7ACA93BF-474E-4DCF-A9DE-248567E1E152.html

http://online.wsj.com/video/where-next-for-greece/DE35FF36-8253-4E67-90B8-637E849D7F7F.html

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/greek-crisis-raises-new-fears-over-credit-default-swaps/

http://news.goldseek.com/UnionSecurities/1328198400.php

Vacation in Puri

It has been a long time since I have written and, to some extent, the demand of my coursework is to blame :). I won’t complain because this term has been quite interesting from the practical perspective and I always found myself immersed in some course text rather than penning down my thoughts. But my account of the winter break has long been pending and I would want to put in words what’s left in my memory.

During the winter break of Dec 2011 – Jan 2012 I took a month long trip back home and I must say that it has been the most engaging and diverse vacations I’ve had. I obviously stayed in Delhi and then had some fun in Bangalore after which I went with my family to Bhubaneshwar, Orissa and then to Puri, a beach in Orissa. Puri is quite a popular religious destination that hosts the yearly padh yatra, a ritual in which priests travel a long stretch of road bare foot with lord’d idols to seek divine blessings. But apart

from being one of the four most sacred pilgrimage sites in India it is very strategically located so that both the sunrise and the sunset are visible from the beach – and was that amazing! Puri is a small city and as you travel along the beach the swarm of people, with all of them engaged in their own activities would instantly overwhelm you. In the clamorous hustle and bustle you’d find young children trying to sell you everything from t-shirts, shorts, sea shell accessories to road-side food which, for sea food lovers, is hard to look away from.

As we went further the density of the crowd diminished and so did the shops that sold such merchandise. Now we could only see small shacks along the beach selling God idols and others providing fried shrimps, fish, crabs, etc. with which passerbys gorged themselves during their evening walks. Our first reaction of living in a guest house amidst such noise quickly dispelled as we entered an area where all we could here was the sound of the waves lashing against the shore. As we arrived in our guest house, we were simply stunned by its interior design and here is when a picture is worth a 1000 words.

The location, the ambience, the weather, the stay arrangements and the mindset – all the attributes that can make or break a vacation were perfectly aligned. The personal touch of the staff was unmatched and it really felt like being at home, imagine when home is as grandiose. The structure was designed with an open heart. It had glass doors and huge windows that opened out to a big and well maintained lawn which further overlooked the beach. Sitting right outside on the couch in the morning, sipping an amazing ginger masala tea, staring at the infinite horizon with cool breeze striking the face and some nice songs playing in the background – nothing can take away the stress better. It was the start of a perfect leisure vacation. The rooms also contained the same style with wooden floors and off white walls and again with large glass doors and windows with an attached balcony that opened out to the sea. The tranquility of the nights was further enhanced in such a setting. After a sumptuously prepared meal spanning daal, rice, aloo gobi and an amazing masala prawns and fish curry, we used to sit outside and chat over tea. It was an extremely relaxing environment and unarguably the best way to take a moment away from the fast paced lives that we all live and blend with the breeze that took all thoughts away.

I could go on about the calmness of those moments and it was ironic how it was right in front of the fiery of the sea, which is also something we enjoyed immensely. Puri is known for its beaches, especially the beach art where hand craftsmen gather from the surrounding places and model the sand into different 3D structures. We were fortunate to be in Puri at a time when the festival was going on and we could get a glimpse of some pretty skilled art work. At the beach the waves were not too quiet and were rough enough to have a wild time. It was the first time that I went into the waters as much as I did, way ahead of the point where the waves start breaking. At this depth it felt like being in an infinite wave pool, only much stronger. There were two ways in which we could play with the waves – either jump with them or stay rigid and face their full force. Both had their own kind of fun but what I particularly liked about smashing a wave was it created sort of a halo if you stood with your back towards a strong one. Another “game” was to jump and let the wave strike your legs. The sheer force would topple you and it would be a challenge to stand back before another one arrives.

It may sound routine and just like another day on a beach but I would say that I have been to many beaches but Puri was a complete package. I would certainly recommend this place to anyone looking for some time to relax but do look for a place away from the cacophony of the central part.

How CDS pulled AIG down

I have been wanting to talk about things relevant to my course but have just not been able to find any time to devote to writing. On the other hand, I have studied, researched and learnt quite a bit about the mechanics of financial instruments and I would like to share two such topics.
Note that I obtained the facts mentioned in the following lines from different credible sources and all I that have done is paraphrased the content and broken it into categories. I guess the jargon will be too much for some of you so shoot any questions that you have.

The following post is about investigating the reasons behind AIG's fallout:

Why did CDS contracts almost provoke the bankruptcy of AIG?

AIG had been a successful insurance provider until, seemingly, it started to venture out in the business of writing Credit Default Swaps. It began insuring debt obligations of lenders against a risk of counterparty default, thereby taking the credit risk of the counterparty on itself. At one stage, of the $60 trillion CDS market, AIG owned about $440 billion of notional, an enormous amount compared to its peak market value of about $240 billion, with the portfolio contributing over a quarter of AIG’s profits.

The problem was that CDS was designed in such a way that it didn’t require any capital requirements and hence it attracted pension funds, insurers, hedge funds and banks for they could reap on the credit risk without any capital to lend. Furthermore, the demand for such instruments rose as they added on to the profits on the income statements without a mention of the risk involved.

Most of these CDS were on asset backed securities pools, primarily mortgages, and when the housing market collapsed these mortgages that AIG had “indirectly” insured started falling in value. The losses began accruing in 2006 and by 2008 AIG had less equity than it needed to fulfill its obligations. This trapped it into a vicious cycle as its credit rating was downgraded and hence it was required to post an additional margin that further put strain on its financial resources.

Hence we see that AIG, due to its good credit rating and the nature of CDS, was able to stack up large quantities of such insurance on its books with being questioned about the risk involved. Since the notional value of these contracts exceeded the market value of AIG, the possibility of the underlying assets going sour raised a possibility of bankruptcy for AIG.

http://www.economist.com/node/12274070

http://www.economist.com/node/12552204

What saved AIG from bankruptcy?

AIG is one of the biggest insurance companies in US and during the crisis it held a huge amount of credit risk on its books. It started getting calls on that risk when the underlying assets began degrading in value but its capital stash was not enough to meet all the requirements. To avoid a contagion across those who had insured their risks as well as to avoid the mess that AIG’s default would create in its other space such as life insurance and annuities, the government decided to bail it out with taxpayer’s money.

When AIG reported the biggest quarterly loss of any company in American history, of $61.7 billion, the government proposed a bailout package of $85 billion and took a 79.9% stake in the company in return. It further provided up to $37.8 billion in capital and removed the coupon on a $40 billion equity that was injected by the government in Nov 2008. Although AIG quickly used up about $90 billion of the ~$120 billion credit line awarded, it was able to stabilize its margin requirements on its contracts and was able to fulfill its obligations

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2009/03/government_and_aig_together_fo

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2009/04/did_we_need_to_bail_out_aig

http://www.economist.com/node/13213322

What could be done, in terms of reorganizing the CDS market in order to diminish the impact of situations like the one that almost doomed AIG?

There seem to be quite a few fundamental flaws with the way a CDS contract is designed:

• With the exception of capital requirements, a CDS contract allowed smaller firms, such as hedge funds, which did not have huge capital to lend, to be able to take on the credit risk of a counterparty’s portfolio in exchange of insurance premium.
• The accounting policies did not require such companies to reflect such transactions on their financial statements and hence the risk of such instruments went unnoticed and what appeared on the balance sheets were the profits.
• Depending on their credit rating, the companies had to put aside minimal margin, relative to the loan, to cushion against possible defaults.
• The CDS contracts allowed speculative positions to be held in the market. Hence the CDS market was over inflated and peaked at about $62 trillion when the value of the underlying debt was just about $5 trillion. This in turn had an effect on the ability of a company to take on debt as its CDS spread in the market would determine its credit strength.
• The voting power that comes with a debt stays with the debt holder even when the risk has been passed on. This can result in a clash between the intentions of the lender and the insurer regarding the default of the borrower as the lender might not agree to a debt restructuring.

It seems that with a proper understanding of CDS and its implications its abuse, and hence what followed, could have been avoided.

• The regulations around CDS can be more stringent to provide evidence of “credit risk” against which the insurance is sought. This will avoid speculative positions that can overburden the market with possibility of a multiple losses over a single debt.
• The accounting regulations also need to be strengthened so that such risks are portrayed on the balance sheet and hence are accounted for in assessing the financial health of a firm.
• The firm selling such contracts should be required to reserve certain capital in the event it needs to meet its obligations under the contract. This would help restrict the amount of CDS a company can write based on its capital cushion and credit rating.
• The voting power that comes with taking on debt should be somehow shared with the CDS seller so they have a say in the debt restructuring of the defaulting firm.

http://moneymorning.com/2009/04/23/ban-credit-default-swaps/

http://moneymorning.com/2008/09/22/credit-default-swaps-2/

Super Bowl

The word carried a different meaning at different stages of my life, at least since as far as I can remember to have begun understanding the current affairs around me. For the most part I, quite obviously for an Indian kid, associated it with a grandiose event spanning over a thousand lanes with each game costing thousands of rupees and witnessed by millions of spectators. The name itself was enough to highlight the pride and honor that the contestants vied for and I used to imagine them sweating under pressure even in controlled air conditioned halls. Having played bowling in small arenas with just over fifteen lanes I could only imagine the clamor before each throw and the sound of applause at each strike. But then it all changed when I tried to fit in the infamous episode of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake into my framework and it didn’t quite add up. At this point I find it superfluous to elaborate on the events that took place on Feb 1 2004 and all I shall say is that a stage performance didn’t seem to gel within a bowling arena. But it didn’t make me curious enough to dig deeper and I let that muddle sit at the back of my head.

And then, one fine day, I saw Ted from HIMYM being overly fanatic about Super Bowl to the extent of constructing a device to block any news of the game when he failed to watch the live version. Quarterback, football, yards, touchdown were a few words thrown here and there and when I collated all of them they all, indeed, added up and I at least got clarity on the sport that the event represented. It was only recently that I grasped the magnitude of the game when it was compared against our own world cup matches. Although the viewership was restricted to just one nation the statistics stacked up quite impressively with cricket world cup that spans about a dozen nations and is the most coveted trophy in India. Of course none of these tournaments can be compared to the magnificent soccer world cup that manages to keep two billion eyeballs hooked onto the screen!

So, on 5^th Feb 2012 I decided to witness the sporting event myself. I was looking forward to it as I had learnt a few basics of the game quite recently and wanted to see if knowing the structure would help in building excitement. My friends had already reached Uncle Joe’s, a sports bar in the downtown and I joined them a few minutes into the first quarter. I was slightly surprised when I came to know that even though a quarter comprised of 15 minutes the timeouts stretched it to three to four times its size. Throughout the game I was trying to understand the strategy of the defense and the offense and discussed that with my peers who shed some more light on the feasibility of the moves we hypothesized. With the sheer wrath that the defense attacks the offensive “line” it seems remarkable how they are able to shield the quarterback who sometimes takes as much as 5-7 seconds to perfect the trajectory of his throw. It is hard to simulate, particularly for a newbie like me, the conditions under which the players play. With apparently no constraints or rules on how to tackle, cross, shield or intercept during the game I started to appreciate how the players worked through the scenarios that changed at lightning speed.

The Super Bowl game was between NY Giants and New England Patriots. During the game I got a chance to read about the enraging rivalry between the most able quarterbacks: Eli Manning of Giants and Tom Brady of Patriots, and I found it pretty impressive how Brady was able to maintain his calm in such a highly charged up atmosphere. This trait became much more evident during the final few minutes of the game when the Giants scored a match winning touchdown to lead 21-17 with just under a minute to spare. Now that I was familiar with the rules of the game and had information from the last couple of hours I could lay down the equation for Patriots to score a stunning win – about a hundred yards in under a minute. It had been taking about 3-4 minutes to cover that length and it would have been phenomenal were they to go through. The stress and the pressure was pretty apparent among the Patriots as we saw two incredible and extremely well calculated throws by Brady, with a potential to cover tens of yards, being dropped. Tension mounted in the bar and in the stadium as Brady took guard, seemingly determined to cross about 40-50 yards with just 5 seconds on the clock. With his “offensive line” firmly in place to shield him, he dodged the defense allowing him to concentrate and at the last second tossed the ball along his best calculated trajectory. The ball seemed well in line to cross the 100^th yard and then bounced off several players before tumbling onto the turf – The Giants blasted onto the field in celebration.

Although the bar wasn’t packed to match the expectations that I had with an event of such scale it was comfortable to watch the game with everyone seated on their seats. Fortunately for me my first Super Bowl was as close as it could have got.

Big Red Bikes

Cornell has a program in place that provides bikes for students that they can rent for free! Needless to say there are time constraints and the bikes aren't of the quality you would see on display in any of the showrooms but nevertheless they fulfill the desire to roll down the slopes on wheels without buying them, something of interest for MEng students, especially, whose tenure doesn't give a steady season to extract the worth of such an investment. I came to know during the week that the coming Sunday was going to be the last day to hire the bikes before the chill sets in and closes the shutters till March next year. Setting aside the academic deadlines I propelled this task to the highest priority and within minutes me and my room mates were out the door to beat the winter sun that set at 5 pm (damn the Daylight Saving Time!)

The bikes were available at Uris Library. Just a few days ago I had heard about the A.D. White library that shares its entrance with the Uris Library and is built as a conjoined structure. With the description that was painted I imagined it to be a huge hall with large windows overlooking the entire city from the crest and palatial iron pillars that also served as book racks and were connected by iron pathways. The image magnified multifold in my mind and the thought of scaling it with the size of Uris Library never occurred and I pictured myself as a little dwarf when entering the A.D. White Library. So as we inspected the bikes and made our choice it struck me to steal a quick tour of A.D. White and Pratik offered to be the guide for the moment. We entered the Uris Library and took the turn to get to the main A.D. White hall. It wasn't even near as big as I had imagined but it was a pretty accurate miniature version. There were two big sofas that overlooked the libe slope through large windows that stretched across the walls. The staircase led us to a mezzanine floor that opened up into the iron corridors between the iron pillars. It was pretty amazing how the architect had designed small spaces between the book racks to squeeze in a chair and a table as if the library was reeling under space constraints. We went across the ferrous hallway through a door and into another big room that carried one of those lazy boy sofas with a foot rest, one of the best places I had seen so far to steal a quick nap in the middle of the day. Unfortunately we were hard-pressed on time and so we headed off to the counter to rent three bikes. All set with the cycling gear we warmed up with a couple of rounds in the arts quad and acclimatized ourselves to the braking mechanism that worked by pedaling in reverse. These were not the bikes equipped with a full range gear that could have made cycling up the hill easier than running. But, nevertheless, in our otherwise mundane lives that had been revolving around books and classes they provided an thrilling escape route to a journey we were eagerly awaiting! And so it begins…

Our first stop was Ithaca Falls and I’m going to try my best to put the experience in words. Imagine the state of a student who has had a steady routine of commuting between home and school and slogging with studies for a few months. And now imagine the excitement on their face when they are in an amusement park and about to ride a roller coaster that they have been wanting to for a long time. I guess that is how exhilarated we were when we let ourselves loose down the slope. We were outrageously ecstatic as our bikes accelerated to great speeds, so high that we could feel it going out of control with a slight steer and the brakes released fumes of smoke like a drag on a motorbike. Although that entire leg at the beginning of our expedition was quite short it gave an adrenalin rush that pulled us through the evening with a continued enthusiasm. We made a quick stop at the Ithaca Falls and took a few shots before heading out to the next destination, Boatyard Grill.

I was glad that I brought my complete outer wear - gloves, cap and jacket - as I was able to sustain the cold chill before our bodies warmed up and I lost the leverage. Since we had descended the hills we strode at a leisurely pace on the plains. It was really soothing as we smoothly sailed across the residential streets and before we knew it we had reached the small peninsula of Cayuga Lake where Boatyard Grill was. We took a round around the place and, to our delight, also saw the clock tower from quite a distance which naturally followed with trying to identify the different buildings. It was an amazing feeling of being one with nature as we sat at the tip of the peninsula and gazed through the endless horizon over the lake with a slight breeze flowing across. We had achieved a good feat that day and we decided to savor it with a delectable meal at the restaurant that was going to be one of the most sumptuous meals that I had had in Ithaca.

It was about 7 when we left the place and I again got my leverage back! But not for long. We had a few errands to run near the shopping places before we retraced our steps back overlapping Route 15’s path to a great extent. We had come to SW Shopping quite a few times on the bus but when we took the same route independently on the bikes we cherished the freedom and took short cuts that we didn’t know existed. It was quite fun to have the flexibility to explore different streets without having to travel in an encased box. Ultimately we reached downtown and saw in front of us a daunting uphill task, quite in the literal sense. Although I didn’t have too much faith in myself to pedal all the way up, Pratik and Aarav constantly instilled motivation into me and we let go of the Route 70 that was an easy gateway to the campus. Unfortunately my body gave in as I wasn’t even able to pull myself up half way to our apartment which is less than a tenth of the distance all the way up to Cornell. We then waited for the next bus to show up that marked the end to an amazingly adventurous day.

Say Halloweeeeennn!!

As a kid I had always associated Halloween with something scary. A day when all the spirits resurface to haunt mankind; or a creepy place that lies eerily silent and is overwhelmed by ghostly activity; or the time when children are told to stay at home away from the potential perils that lurk the streets. Stayed at home they did but only for reasons you come to know after you celebrate a certain birthday! But could I be blamed? Staying in a land where celebrations of such style are uncommon, the eerie image of “Halloween” smeared on a wall, supposedly with a dark ooze-like material dripping slowly near the edges could not have conjured any other feeling. Thankfully it all changed when a group of friends transformed that image into the lively and celebrative mood that the day brings. A group of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

I think I first saw the tradition of Halloween in the sixth episode of season eight of FRIENDS and it was exciting to see how invigorating it was. The celebrations depicted in HIMYM garnered more enthusiasm with the “slutty pumpkin”! Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit and I guess video could not take us through the joyous, colorful and party mood that engulfs the atmosphere during Halloween and it was only when I was a part of it this time that I realized its true spirit.

Halloween was on 31^st October, Monday, and I and my housemates had been planning weeks ahead of getting funky costumes and painting the town red! I was trying to make it simple but couldn’t help getting flashes of pictures with people dressed in creative costumes that I had seen in different media. The thoughts really motivated me to celebrate the event sporting a unique costume and I tried to combine cliché ideas into something thoughtful like using face paint to splash a pattern, maybe couple it with a wig or a face mask or just an eye mask and then tailor a set of clothes or get a costume to match the outfit, as it made sense. But since I didn’t want anything fancy the simplest of ideas ran across my mind – buttoning up two shirts together to form a “split” personality, cutting through my jeans and t-shirts to sport a beggar, rolling up a bed sheet or a towel in a creative fashion or simply dressing down to be an aam aadmi. During one of our visits to the Ithaca mall we had come across a store that seemed to be specially catered towards Halloween gear and we always used to sneak a glance from outside thinking to paying a visit nearer the time. But unfortunately academics took precedence and the mid terms squeezed all the leisure time out of our schedule and by the time our routines were restored the costs of the costumes had risen as they do of anything that has demand. So I chucked the idea of straining my pocket for this one time event and decided to sport a self designed costume to dress up.

I had limited network among people whom you would normally find engaging in such revelry and so I was trying to figure out with my batchmates of how we could rock the night. Coming from Bangalore, India, where the night ends before even the clock strikes twelve it was a lively sight to see people thronging the few bars and pubs that resided near the college and in downtown. To name a few, and I can say with much confidence that I would have covered most of the ones frequented by students - college town bagels is an elaborate hang out place primarily to drink beer and eat one of the zillion kind of sandwiches/bagels that you could pick from the graffiti on the wall; Rullof’s – the place where you’d see the densest of crowd with people scrambling over each other and deftly balancing their drinks in a rush to reach their spots; Stella’s – a fine dining restaurant-cum-bar; Pixel – a dance lounge with a couple of games. I avoid this place because of an uncomfortable experience that we had the last time we went; Level B – another dance club in the basement underneath Mehak, the Indian restaurant; Moonshadow – a night club in Commons; Miyake – the Japanese restaurant that holds a firm spot in my mind for being the place where I was introduced to Sake-Bomb. This is pretty much the nightlife around Cornell barring a couple of more pubs and clubs in downtown. My personal favorite is Level B and Moonshadow. Level B seems to be the only decent club in collegetown, and why would it not be for it competes only against Pixel! It plays good music and it caught my attention the first time when it played Mundian tu bachke rahi. Can you imagine? Walking into a dance club miles away from the nearest city in a “country side” and being welcomed by that song? It was a pretty amazing feeling! Moonshadow is a club I explored fairly recently on one of my friend’s birthdays. Here you would find a mix crowd consisting of students as well as people who reside in the vicinity. It has a small stage at the corner that we always end up occupying J and it plays some nice hip hop of the likes of pitbull.

Ok, so it was 28^th October and we had a pumpkin carving contest in our department and we all were encouraged to get on our craziest attire. I hadn’t planned on going but then succumbed to peer pressure and decided to give it a shot. It turned out to be fun and I also got to review my Stochastic paper as the time clashed with the event. I had paired up with my classmate who was the only one to dress up in the most bizarre costume, but truly apt for the festival. If I could put it nicely he had dressed up as a genie in a lamp that grants you three wishes when you rub “the lamp”. It was my first time carving a pumpkin and I should tell you that it is not easy to cut it as precisely as you’d want and what you get can be something totally different than what you think. You first had to chop a portion at the top to empty the contents and the seeds and then begin by sketching the cuts. I realized that carving a pumpkin is an art that is as well achieved by skill as by the carving instruments and to my defense we had half an inch thick knife that severely curtailed me from giving the prize winning appearance to the pumpkin. Although we thought of carving a sad face and had even defined the cuts with a marker, at every stage it turned out to be something different and we reinvented ways to redirect towards the original idea. I was satisfied with my first attempt but it was interesting to see the other ideas that people had come up with – a carving inside the carving, abstract figures, ORIE logo, bear, etc. It was then that we came to know that it was Akanksha’s b’day and we all planned on meeting at Miyake at night to celebrate.

Since we had a whole lot of time to kill I convinced Amar, Roni and Elijah to come to my place and try out the masala chai that I ever readily cherished. We came to my place and I was excited to introduce the Indian beverage to other lands. As the tea boiled and its intoxicating aroma engulfed the air I was anxious to get their reaction. I gave an anticipating look at each of their face and before they could say it I breathed a sigh of little triumph at their eyebrow-nod. Unfortunately it was something really strong, and I acknowledge that I should have put less masala, for Roni and he almost shrieked as if the spices twinged his throat. After relishing the tea at a leisurely pace and munching a few quick bites of choco chip cookies we headed to eat what I would call a supper before rocking the night! We each devoured a slice of pizza and then took the TCAT bus (oh btw, did I mention that buses are free for first year students?) to collegetown where we walked down to Miyake.

Now, let me briefly explain the activity called Sake-Bombing. I believe it has its origins in Japan and is essentially a drinking activity that, with its distinct technique and a unique way, brings a lot of enthusiasm, fun and excitement to the table. It follows a particular sequence where a glass is first filled with beer after which a pair of chopsticks is placed at the top with a shot glass resting between them that contains sake. The Japanese custom entails hollering “Sake… Sake… Sake… BOMB” and ending with continuously thumping the table with fists to topple the shot glass into the beer and then galloping the entire contents as fast. For us, though, our excitement took over and we ended up with a couple of accidents, an exhibit of which can be seen here, and of course we learnt after that.

So we join the gang at Miyake and begin the night with Sake Bombing. I had planned with a bunch of folks to celebrate Halloween the next day and I figured it won’t be a good idea to drink on two consecutive days and so I just enjoyed being part of all the hussle. And I must say that it was fun to see the revelry amongst the vivid and distinct costumes that the crowd was sporting with characters ranging from the predominant cats, wonder men, women and jokers to other animals, zombies, cavemen, etc. It would take away the crux if I leave it unspoken about so I would just slide a non elaborative mention about how the festival was leveraged to sport any costume that one wanted and it could simply camouflage behind the intent of Halloween. That helped people be whoever or whatever they want and hence assume any character in which they can rejoice that led to a sort of united celebrations across the town, something that you would not see on a typical Friday night.

I headed back home when the unanimous opinion decided to hit Level B but I headed back home. Then I just waited for the next night where I would get to unleash my creativity and rock the town! A bunch of my friends had organized a potluck at their place where I didn’t go after which we all gathered at another friend’s place who had got a face paint set. It was cold as hell and unfortunately I couldn’t come up with an idea with which I could fight the frost and still be in the right spirit for the festival so I decided that I would depict this dilemma with a “split face” paint. I didn’t know then but I was going to be taken aback by how daringly people had dressed up as if there was a shield protecting them from the chill. Chaintanya also sported a split face but in a different pattern and he pulled through the idea of buttoning up two shirts to mirror that trait in his clothing. Rohil, very aptly, dressed as a pumpkin head and diligently painted his face to actually support the big pumpkin on his head. And a couple of other folks mixed up the white black and red colors to become the “joker”. We then headed off on the bus to reach level B at about 11:15 pm. They had the Halloween theme party going on with a cover charge and I would say it was definitely worth it. It was after a long time that I let my hair down and was just swinging to the beats without a drink. We all took over the stage at the center and danced over the tunes till about 1:30 after which we headed over to another house party. The other party was something that I hadn’t seen before. It was a big house, supposedly a grad’s, that had a DJ system set up with enormous speakers that rocked the entire place at high bass beats. You had to be in the room that housed the speakers and the lights swinging in the tumult with the reverberations squeezed between the clamor and adding your own contribution to it.

I didn’t stay long and left back home at around 2:30 am. I washed my face and then eased back into the reality to wake up to routine. It was indeed a memorable way to celebrate the first Halloween!