reading-my new hobby!!

it has been some time since i wrote my last blog. actually nothing new has happened these days that i can share wid u.


it has been a month now since my college has reopened but nothing much has changed.it has become a norm to have only 1 class in a day,no matter how many are schedulded. however, i have been a bit unlucky this time.this rule has been broken on the days i decided to rest at home. as a result i have uptil now attended classes of only two subjects out of six, not even seen the face of the prof of three subjects!! almost whole days goes off in college, without any constructive work, for that single class in morning and a lab attendance in the afternoon.


the placements have started at the campus with indian companies like tcs, infy recruiting the bulk of the students. these comp help in taking the placement percentage close to 100.what would have happenned to placements if these companies werent there!!! IT was to have its first tryst with placements so we had to have a closer look at the placements as next year the turn wud be ours.


of lately, i have started spending some time for my MBA studies. there is enormous pressure on me to perform given that my eldest bro has already made it to the top.i have started by improving my vocab by reading newspapers , non fiction buks.reading has never been my hobby ever since childhood days. during my school days, i would issue any buk from the library just bcoz my friends did the same. i dont remember if i had ever read even a single page from all those novels i had issued.but now i feel that it was a blunder i did. reading is such a pleasure, i have discovered in these two months.before these two months , i had read only two novels and that also quite long ago.lately i have been reading autobiographies of highly successful persons.the list includes akio morito-founder of sony, lee iacocca-the man behind ford and chrysler, jack welch-the man behind ge,... the list goes on.currently i am reading the buk from jack welch-straight from the gut.i have read the buks from the other two top guys i have named.



these guys share their experiences while being at the top post in their respective companies. but i thing disturbed me that these guys never made a wrong decision- at least what they have written in their buks. even their guesses wud be more than 100% accurate. is this possible or were they just too lucky or they did not write abt them in their buks???

15th august-the kite flying day!!

15th august is remembered as independence day when india became free from the colonial rule of british. it is also remembered as the day to fly kites the whole day, at least in delhi, i dont know abt other cities and states. kite flying has always been a passion for delhites. one can find the whole family on the roof cheering the player. there are exceptions to every rule, then why not this one. there are certain people as some of my friends, who spend the day in their rooms ( i dont know how) may be sticking to the idiot box.


the sky is full of paper and plastic kites no matter what time of the day is it. the kite fliers see each other as adversaries trying to bring as many kites down as possible, either by hook or by crook i.e. by using the standard method of cutting the kite or by illegal methods like using hands or "langar". even though the kites cost as less as Rs 2, we can find people arguing over them, clamoring roofs as if it is worth millions. people hoist tricolour on their roofs showing their patriotism and playing music to the full volume possible. the kite flying season starts with the month of july and ending on 15th august. one can easily find kites hovering in the sky, with frequency increasing as each day passes, the max being today.


i also get ecstatic when this day comes. though the enthusiasm has declined over the years due to some busy time schedules but still i can find my original form as soon as my first kite is in the air.i still remember those days when i would have made the necessary prepns the prior nite and wake up as early as 6'o clock and would be on roof with my kites and "charkhi". one easily forgets the regular routine work to be done after waking. there was not a single minute to be wasted, we were going for a war!!! i would then descend the stairs only during lunch time and at the end of the day, no matter how cruel the sun would be.


this time i was at my cousin's home to enjoy the moment. initially i was not in the mood of flying kites but as soon as i was on the roof with my kite the fire was back to be on top. in the process some of my "soldiers" got wounded and some got killed. overall, almost 50 kites were my victims with i losing some 25 of my men.the best performance was cutting 7 kites with 1 kite, though my previous best is 14. fingers get cut with our own weapon, the thread, the feet get tired of up and down the roof but the never dying spirit remains dauntless.
finally, i ended my day with bruised fingers and hands and my feet forcing me to go to bed as soon as possible.

the changing face of cp

connaught place is one of the earliset bulidings built during British raj in the construction of new delhi. so after 58 years of independence there are bound to be landmarks.but with recent developments and coming of metro to cp, these landmarks are facing a danger of extinction. landmarks are disappearing as fast as tigers in national rserves.cp is now a much changed face then what it used to be. it is fast losing its value as an heritage.


one of the landmarks , the madras hotel was shut down a few months back. it was the first south indian hotel in the city.then came the turn of the theatres rivoli and plaza. the former has been closed for a long time while the latter has been taken over by the pvr chain of multiplexes. not to mention the numerous showrooms which were established during the Raj. and now again one more landmark being disposed in the heart of the city. it is the turn of the nirula's restaurant to be closed down as by the court's order.the reason being the rent lease wasnt renewed by the landlord after it expired two years back. the nirula's were established there way back in 1934 and the spot occupies pride of place in the capital's collective memory as the city's first fast food restaurant. i have always enjoyed the ic creams at the nirulas's ice cream parlour.i have been a frequent visitor there and why not,when i got those tasty ice creams just free of cost.the only thing i had to do to have these ice creams free of cost was to score above 90% in my final exams .every year we would go there to enjoy those ice creams.the nirula's people used to send letters of best wishes just before the exams to remind us that the ice creams there were waiting for us.but all this was when i was in school.


well its unfortunate that such a famous restaurant will be now brought down within no matter of time.the curt has given 2 months time to vacate the place. i will certainly miss these ice creams at the cp's outlet since it is also the nearest outlet from my house.


bye bye nirula's...

delhi metro...mera metro!!!

the college has opened and i tried the new metro rail as a
conveyance for me in the first week. my house is
quite far away from the college not only by the distance in
kilometres but also by connectivity.many will argue that central delhi
and cp are well connected to rohini side but the time
the rickety buses take to reach the destination is
awesome(it takes around 2 hrs to reach rohini).
so i preferred my pvt conveyance over those
wobbly modes of transpotation. but still i had to take a roller
coater ride on the potholes having small patches of road in
b/w, albiet the situation has somewhat improved now. but with the
advent of the metro Delhi is moving to a new era..

the underground section of the metro has been operational for
over a month now. i took the metro from New Delhi Rly. Station
till rithala changing from blue line to red line at kashmiri
gate. the stations were simply astonishing given the habit to
visit those dirty indian rlys stations.moreover it is impossible to
even think of any construction at a place like chawri bazzar. ask a
guy who has visited this place and he will tell u why. there
is no proper space to walk even, dont talk abt any sort of
driving. the rickshawwallas dont allow u to do so. but metro
ppl simply did the unthinkable and that also they accomplished
it b4 scheduled time.these guys deserve the accolades. it is
lesson for those other pwd companies who dont even complete
their work in time,with difficulties in no comparison with
those with metro guys.


so, i was travelling for the first time in the underground
section and by what all i had read in newspapers. was getting
excited while going "underground". the stations are fully air
conditioned and there is strong breeze when the metro arrives
at the platform. however there is a lot of noise underground .
within no time i was at the kashmiri gate station.here i
had to go above the ground from underground by changing three
elevators.from here i took the metro to rithala and then the
feeder "autos" to the college.



while returning from the college, i along with my friends
decided to rag some fuchhas in the metro.so,one was placed as
a ticket checker and was asked to check the tokens of every
passenger in that coach.one was assigned the duty of a blue
line bus conductor yelling at stations as soon as the doors
opened.finally i reached home feeling a lot more relaxed and
healthier as compared with other days.



with the days b/w the rains sulty, metro coach with a/c is
a perfect way to travel. i never favoured private conveyance
but had no otr options. the whole trip to one way took me
abt 1 hr as compared to forty min by my scooter.but i am
not complaining. the metro ride is more confortable,safer and
pollution free given the number of accidents taking place
everyday. moreover, there are many interesting and beautiful
"things" encountered in and out of the metro.


the metro guys have shown a direction to be followed by
others. they have proved the adage,"where there is a will,
there is a way".i feel proud of delhi metro...and they work
they have done. three cheers for them...well done mr shreedhran
and ur team...

its cricket time!!

the season of cricket is back. the second test between australia
and england has just ended with australia remaining just short
of snatching an improbable win from the jaws of the
englishmen. england won the test match by 2 runs, a test which
she could have won so easily but for the australian
tailenders.warnie, lee and kasprowicz proved once again why the
aussies are called the mightiest. requiring 282 to win, the
aussies were down to 175 for 8. the trio lived dangerously
and refused to be cowed by some viciously fast bowling from
steven harminson and andrew flintoff. england have tasted the
victory after a very long time, their last win in the ashes came
way back in 1997.austalia has won the last eight ashes, a chagrin
for the englishmen. the ashes had become an one-sided afair
with aussies humiliating england at every encounter for quite a
long time.the enthralling game once again proved that cricket
is a game of miracles with an improbable result till the
final ball has been bowled.



there was a similar happening at the other side of the earth
at colombo, sri lanka between india and west indies. here
again, the windies scared the indians by some exquisive batting
from morton and ramdin.however for india, the young guns-
yuvraj, kaif, dhoni presented their coach a fabulous gift on his
57th birthday. kaif and yuvraj brought back the memories of
the natwest final with some scincillating shots, dhoni adding to
the glamour in the end.the top order once again let down
with sehwag in an urgent need of a call from his mother,"beta
karle duniya mutthi mein". plz someone convey this to viru's
mom. dada as usual found his noodles getting colder or was
worried that his teammates would finish them off,preferred to
return back to pavillion however the reason this time being
retd hurt. yuvi and kaif have raised some hopes for india in
the final but as is said,"india ka koi bharosa nahi.."!!

lets hope for the best!!

i am back to college!!!

the college is said to have reopened after the 2 months holidays( i will explain why i used such a line). the holidays seemed indefinite this time with nothing much to do.the month of june just went away without any notice with a family function and guests at home.but the month of july was just too weary and tedious. with both my brothers shifted to ahmd. and blore, i was alone at the home (for the first time!!). i joined guitar classes to learn something new(it was said that it was to impress some1 but believe me its nothing of that sort!!) somehow july also came to an end.

its been a week since the college has reopened. as usual, the first week ended without any classes, any attendences, without anything!!. we all friends would just sit in canteen and babble and blather. but majority of time was spent in the library. mind u, we were not after hiding the buks (we would hide them only if we get something to hide). it is too early to issue buks, abhi to college khule hai!! moreover with the library being digitised this time, it is not possible to keep buks for the whole semester and get away with the fine. so, for what were we doing in the library ??? the library is air conditioned with ample space to sit and banter and escaping the cctv cameras. it is too hot and humid outside. even there were no plans to go out for some movie or so, had there been some, they went into haywire.


being in the penultimate year, ragging did not suit us. ragging is the birthright of the now former 'fucchhas'. we can only join them later in the excitement. but this time there was not much ragging either. however, this time even teachers were not behind in ragging. the only difference being that the victims were not the fucchhas but two of my friends. they did not register themselves on the opening day, the reason being, "mann nahi kiya aane ka" !! the next time they came to college they were found doing a roller coaster ride to the teacher's room back and forth. they had forgotten that they were still in a govt. college. on the next day, they went to the associated teacher for the ack. reciept. unluckily, they were "asked" (read forced) to type some documents in return for that small but important piece of paper. they even cud not pass it to the fucchas, alas!. somehow, they managed to get the required slip.

so the first week is over without much excitement and classes. we expect a replica of the first week for the next one also.


has the college really opened???