masti unlimited

Earth Hour

2010-03-27T21:55:00.000+05:30

So how many of you celebrated the Earth hour?? or rather how many even knew about it?? I switched off all the lights and fans at 8:25pm except the TV. Why not the TV?? Because my dad was watching his favorite song on Zee cinema...and he is DAD...u cant order him!!! So as soon as the song was over 15 min later, even that flickering light went off.

But it gave me an interesting question to ponder over? How effective would it have been as IPL is going on in this cricket crazy nation.But given that people have now started taking sides and Delhi did not have its match today, the IPL effect would have been minimal in Delhi. But i was intrigued with another question instantly? What if Sachin had been playing? Not talking about others, would I myself had switched off the TV then? I would have if had he got out but definitely not while he was playing.For the Earth hour can be postponed for some time,huh! But if I have been so considerate for Earth hour, would I have prayed for Sachin to get out? Naah,that would have been a much bigger crime.Something, for which even God wouldnt have forgiven me,i guess.No Indian can pray that even if takes sides.For Sachin is above all sides!.

So now the TV lights were also gone. The only illumination came from the cellphones. I messaged few people to switch off their lights. Hopefully they did.Both of us started waiting eagerly for clock to strike thirty minutes past nine.It was as if some timer would go off at 9:30.Dad was resisting his temptation to switch on the TV,for he was feeling as if the time had stopped.But,he was the person who initiated the idea of switching off all appliances in the morning.So, that added to the pressure. He controlled,watched the cellphone time after every 5 minutes..but alas coudnt resist and switched on the TV at 9:25pm. I still think not a bad duration. We were in the dark for the complete hour.

I felt, a siren should go on all over the city indicating the start and end of the Earth hour.I feel everyone should switch off the lights atleast once a week. Not just for climate change, but also it will help reduce your monthly electricity bill :).

All this while in the dark, I was eager to put this down in the blog.It appeared as if the mind was working overtime giving creative ideas in the dark.Any relation between the two,huh?

Women Reservation Bill

2010-03-13T19:09:00.001+05:30

So,8th was the Women International Day.It seems something happens to people on these sort of days...Women Day,Valentine's Day Rose Day etc etc..the list is endless.Everytime, lots of people come out on streets for and against the day.So this time our MPs decided to join the bandwagon.Ramu can defiinitely get one hit movie if he bases his theme on the ruckus in Parliament.One can only enjoy the scenes going on there,but yeah it gets a bit monotonous after a while.the slogans shouted in the well were nothing but hilarious.I just wonder what the poor 70-80yr old(does it matter 70 or 80?) Ansari could have done except calling marshals.

Anyways,the bill was passed somehow and was hailed as an historical event for Indian democracy.All of a sudden,every women seemed to be empowered,every MP thought he has done the lone task required to reach heaven(thinking of apsaras!!). It talked about empowering women and bringing them on par with men with 33% reservation,seats being reserved on rotation basis for 3 consecutive general elections.Lalu and Mulayam opposed it but the arguments they provided could'nt have made for more non sense.Soon they would demand quota for Buddhists,Jainists,parsis.etc..and then there are 33cr deities in Hinduism alone..Dont forget,there could be a demand for men reservation also in some time.There is always a scope to expand you pond.

For me, the bill is nothing more than a hypocrisy.It tries to potray that women can come on par only if men want them to.Does Sonia(India's most powerful person is a lady) need a legislation to empower women? The rotation system violates the basic principles of democracy.Not only 2/3 MPs would be compulsorily unseated after every election,but also restrict the choice of voters to choose women only(Though catfight has always generated lot of interest.).This might have helped had they been Miss Indias!!But instead, we may see many more Rabri's in the fray.Also,because of compulsory unseating,there would be no incentive to nurture the constituencies and plan the development(Atleast will provide them a legal reason not to do so).We already know our attitude towards people coming through reservation.Add to it that they are women..What respect will they get??

Now you will call me anti-feminist,anti-women.No,I'm not. I oppose it with full force.We want people like Sheila Dixit in Parliament,not Dimple Yadav.Let us not forget that the people in Parliament are the same who are running the political parties. I mentioned about hypocrisy earlier. Why not these same guys,the pseudo-feminists, give 33% tickets to women mandatorily in the elections.Now here is another catch.They may give tickets to 33% women but in constituencies that are de facto losen.The solution may be to categorise units in form that 1 out of every 3 party candidate is women.The units for Lok Sabha could be state,for assembly it could be contiguous LK constituencies.Penalise them if these norms are not followed.This,I believe, will bring only serious candidates in picture and promote natural leadership based on abilities and perserverance.And voters can choose between both men and women.
There is lot more I can talk about the bill,its negative consequencies are still many,I only touched the tip of the iceberg.As someone said, if you want to work sincerely,you dont need regulations but if not, then you can find zillion loopholes in a single regulation.

I believ Indians are still better off than the West in this regard.We have a woman President,US still doesnt have one;we had a woman PM,US might never have one.The most powerful person in India is a woman.But still we Indians tend to copy models from the West everytime and everytime we never fail to pick up the failed models. The above model is based on erstwhile Soviet Union and never brought the desired results there. May be these MPs show some manhood and copy the European model of party based quotas.I am not expecting innovations.

Saade satti..!!!

2010-03-11T00:29:00.000+05:30

So one more year starts with a bad note....this has been continuing for quite some time now and seems have relegated to it. The previous year ends on a very good inspiring note to be washed away by the new year.But I have even stopped losing heart over it now,infact have given lots of gyan to people having similar results. The cat results will not dampen my spirits this time,I have told myself.

This year,it seems,has brought added misery to me.For there are many reasons to get depressed-health issues, not getting the desired recognition for putting the hard work or say ignored,issues on relationship front and many others.Infact, ma had warned me about it last year. She had talked to the panditji who told her that mera bura waqt shuru hone wala hai...mere upar shani ki chaya hai(the word shani can scare the shit out of anyone)...something called saade satti(Before that I had heard only of satte pe satta!!)..and ye to sabhi jaante hai ki jispar shani aaya, uska kuch nhi ho sakta.....and i just wondered ki abhi aur kitna bura hona baaki hai..and am still wondering..!!!Ma says that even when shani was born and opened his eyes,there was a solar eclipse.!!!Talk to ma and she will list down all the action items to be done to prevent the bad effects...shani mandir jao, shanivar ko daan do,peepal par paani chadao and lots more..i cant even remember...its just another type of torture..!!!

So just out of curiosity,I opened the Kundli software on my system and fed the inputs from my kundli.You must be wondering why it is even there on my system.Maa had used it extensively to find my bro's match(reminded me of the game,"flames" we used to play in school).Generally, reading one's kundli gives a very good feeling for all the nice things have been written in it.(atleast this is true in my case :P).So after feeding all the inputs, I found that what maa was saying was all true.There was everything negative written about what was going to happen to me.Frightened,I just preferred to close the scary software!!!

With what all is going,I somehow started to believe in it a little.After going all through this, I wondered how long will this last..a month or two..maximum.So i asked maa casually..The conversation went like this:

A: maa,kitne din aur rahega ye saade satti?
M: pata nahi, abhi to shuru hua hai.
A:shuru hua hai..matlab?
M:Haan paditji keh rahe the 2-3 saal to rehta hi hai...
A:Huh?? 2-3saal..!! kyu bachhe ki jaan lene par tule hue hai shani bhagwan..kya bigaada hai maine unka aisa..
M: beta, ye to nhi pata ki tune kya bigaada hai...par tu seva karne lag jaa unki nahi to wo bahut kuch bigaad denge..

And I was,ab aur bhi kuch bacha hai bigaadne ko...!!

Now now somehow the scene is like anything not happening to my wishes is blamed on shani bhagwan and his saade satti... and it seems it has a long way to go...koi to bachao!!!

When friends meet....magik happens..!!!

2009-11-23T21:33:00.000+05:30

Am writing this one so that we can relive the fun moments we had yesterday when we go down the memory lane some years later....I have written similar posts before but saw the effects of those few days back...when one of my frens read about one of them and not only got nostalgic...but also disseminated the contagious disease to the entire group.

With everyone getting more and more engaged as each instant passes on,it has become lot more difficult to stay in touch with each other....Its easy to say that with the technological revolution,distances and time have become an illusion....but i feel otherwise....No doubt, you can certainly "stay in touch" with each other, but nothing can replace the moments when u meet in person...and when friends meet, magik happens....definitely....

So we guys met at our cliched hangout place,CP.We =Rajat,Romit ,Sumit, Nipun and yours truly. Nipun was initially tentative...but if Rajat had to make it, Nipun was mandatory...or to say, rajat hai aur nips nahi...aisa to qayamat aa jaaye to bhi nahi ho sakta....so somehow even he made it.Astonishingly, it was coordinated by Sumit.....the guy rarely makes it to the occasion...but taking lead this time was simply awesome...He left home with two objectives in mind...one to have dinner at Pandara Road...and one to catch the 10:50pm metro...no matter even if any terrorist attack happens....he even took "his own" Rajat into confidence...So, everytime we would talk of having a golgappa plate or aaloo chat, there would come out a line..bhai pandara road to jaayenge hi....

So after couple of golgappa plates and aaloo chat in CP, we decided to move to Pandara Road finally.Evn i displayed my Schumi talent,though not with eterno...but with car...After some zig-zags and life threatening moments(we had to ask romit not to take his hands out.....of the window), we made it to the destination.....the much acclaimed Pandara Road.

Ohh..forgot to mention the calculations which all but me had been doing all this while....no dammit...it wasnt about their lives...i wasnt driving that dangerously either...infact, i was in full consciousness....it was the time by which they would complete their dinner and catch the last metro... for instance,one of those went like this:
8:45pm : at cp
8:57: pandara road
23 min waiting time...
9:21 dinner starts...
10:08 dinner ends...
roam around India Gate for 23 minutes...
10:46: reach metro station and catch the last metro at 10:50pm...
So most of the calculations hovered around these numbers....i apologize for errors in seconds,if any.

So, the dinner started after finishing with the waiting time...It would have been one of the most fun-filled dinner...with stories of Sumit's bravery and courage(yea..his story is in process of being sent for nominations to Wills Red &White Bravery Awards..!!), romit selecting a gal for me(yea..he started this business some time back...office me jyada kaam nhi hota na..!!!), rajat's confession of "sleepless" nights with nips...rajat's blitzkrieg calculations in dividing the bill to the precise amount(subah iift de kar aaya tha)...sumit tendering the precise amount...and so on..but the best one was from nips...."Abhi romit k dono hath busy hai.."

So after finishing the dinner, everyone again started to calculate...yea u got it rite...they had to catch the metro..so after some deliberations from rajat to spend some more time, we decided to have a round on rajpath and a chuski(barf gola)...and i was back behind the wheel...the next few minutes passed driving on the rajpath,having a chuski and getting clicked....and singing karaoke in the car..each posing as the next Himesh Reshamiya in the offing....

The clock was ticking...the coarse voices started rising to drop them at metro station..their calculations were going haywire...but then i, a humble person respecting their feelings, made a dash towards the station...dropping them precisely at 10:47pm. am sure one of them must have got it rite....in fact, each one of them would have got some or the other part of the whole computation rite....

So we bid goodbye to each other,promising,as usual, to meet again very soon....till then we would keep reliving these moments through my posts... :)

Optimisim...How much??

2009-11-17T22:47:00.002+05:30

Optimism, sanguine, hopeful,(be)positive.....

These would be some of the most common words one would listen in a gyan session...in a motivating session....or in any self-help book. The so called guru would paraphrase these words in multitudinous convictions and you come out all "highly motivated" from the room..all charged up to take things under your control now and solve all your problems..But alas..! the tempo lasts only for a while and you are gripped with the pessimist fever again..you again start to feel deplorable about yourself because things stop turning out your way....you again feel the darkness in front of you...you become pensive...all the gloomy and melancholy scenes are painted in front of you....you look for someone who can sympathize with you...who can empathize with you....who can solve all your problems with a clap...you look out for shoulders to cry on...gals generally find them easily...men do not...(Take life as it comes is,i believe, one of the most farce sentences people blurt out..!!!)...you need a dose of that session once again to recharge the batteries...fortunately, these batteries last longer than those of Duracell...But sooner or later you realize how shallow those fundae given by the guru are...you realize that the guru has been saying the same thing over and over again..and most of them are specious...

Everyone has a problem...As Vivekananda said," If you do not face a problem someday, realise that you are on a wrong path". I admire that person so much, his sayings seem so true, so plausible and pragmatic....but definitely they are not spurious...But they do generate a spark in you.

i have seen friends,brothers,sisters cribbing over what to do with their problems. the problems may be minutiae or may be mammoth...But everyone cribs...and i feel everyone should....but not always, not in front of everyone....Some people start whining in front of every second person they meet...that soon you prefer to take the circuitous path to avoid that person....for you know that the only thing he would do to you is take you down along with him...i certainly like gals in this regard..for they do not break down anywhere...but only when with that one person they are comfortable with....so the main problem lies in finding that one person...but once they are done solving this, u would be surprised by the content they have...even the number of items in their purse would be lesser..!!!

Men are of two types: one who do not start and one who do not stop...no matter how friendly you are with them, they may not even tell you their simplest of the problems....for they feel it wud be futile..that they may solve it themselves....and many other such reasons.The other type i have already described above.....but believe me...every single person has countless number of problems...some crib that they do not have a job,those who have,have issues with them, some have issues with their manager,some with their (gal)frens and so on...the list is endless...

I have been the recipient of so many stories and i(the gyan guru.!!!) also just ask them to be patient and be OPTIMISTIC.!!!..for i also tell them that problems are bound to come..but the solutions lie in those problems only ...and u need to solve only those riddles...but then am also human...even i have my batteries discharged time and again....and in those moments i ponder over the question i talk about..

How Much OPTIMISTIC a person should be..??

and along with these come out a number of scenarios, a number of riddles one can encounter....Some of them may be:
1)when you have been giving your best and still not getting the desired results, what should you do with your optimism...
2)when you are try to work your way out through the mess you create but still manage to screw it up..how much optimist you shud be?? and even if you manage to clear the mess but repeat a similar one next time..should you pat yourself..!!!!
3)when you do something,and it can be anything, and always find some sort of impedance, will you be optimistic?
4) when you know(or at least it is apparent), that things would not turn out the way you want them to be,should you be hopelessly optimistic?And if you are optimistic even then,will not that amount to fooling yourself that good things would happen?
5)when you love a gal and she refuses you, should you be hopeful that one day she wud come to you? should you continue to be good frens with her on the hope that one day she will understand your feelings??

Am still trying to figure out the answer to some of these questions....Any suggestions???

SACHHHHINNNNN....SACHHHHHINNNNNN..!!!!

2009-11-05T23:21:00.003+05:30

Whoaaa..!!! What a match...what a thriller...ohh my god....it just cant get any better....for all those(like my bro) who missed it, i feel pity for you...you dont even deserve the highlights of that innings...!!!!

First the bench hammers the so called regulars in every nook and corner of the park,and then we see the GOD...a real masterstroke...Any words would be small for that short but big guy...

Nobody does solos better than Sachin Tendulkar,except Brian Lara.Nobody has endured as much heartbreak during those solos, except for Lara. I just cudnt stop screaming.... SACHHHHINNN...SACHHHHINNN...!!!! during the match, and now i feel miserable....am just about in tears for that poor chap....they cudnt even score 19 of 17...that son of a b*** jadeja....wasnt he taught how to run....how can u run when the fielder has the ball in his hands...he dint think even once of sachin...???

It just reminded me of the horrors of that Chennai test...the same saga got repeated and Sachin was left deserted...again...Then he had left 18 for others to score and this time it was 19. Why hasnt he realised,he shud complete his work and rely on others...No wonder, why we Indians switch off our Tv sets when Sachin gets out....No wonder, why any Indian feels lucky if the smoke from Sachin's Ferrari even touches him...No wonder,I got excited when I got to know that my bhabhi's brother audits the IT files of Sachin...No matter we have Sehwags,Dhonis or Yuvrajs...no one commands that endurance.......no one even comes near it...At 36, he is still the only hope for the Indian team.

Well...What a gem of an innings...it even eclipsed the new record of 17000 runs amassed in ODIs...people were praying for him to get only those seven runs....but whoa,today the God was watching the other God create history....records are just a plaything for him....i bet there would have been innumerous crimes committed tonite....for today even the Lord was busy somewhere else..!!!

As is the superstition for every Indian, the same holds for me...I just kept quiet,even put my whole hand on my mouth,for I feared that if i spoke even a single word, something nasty might happen...i just forced everyone in the room to keep themselves shut...for sachin was batting...but still it happened,and it happened even though i did not remove my hand,.(i wish to kill that ass**** who removed his hand from his mouth if i find him)...(i know it is superstition,damn it)..and once that happned, i did not know how to react...i just threw the pillow against the wall and came out of the room banging the door as hard as possible(had to take care of dad'wrath also...).

Okk,let me (try to) control my emotions...First of all,all credits to the aussies for an awesome display of their batting and bowling skills,despite of the fact that it was a flat batting track...Even though,the aussies have a separate team of Unfit 11, still they managed to send chills down the spines of the regular Indian players...Munaf and Nehra elegantly showed how they can beat Ishant in giving away runs....Aussies bowled to the plan but somehow cud not get better of Sachin..he maintained the required run rate,even though wickets kept falling at the other end....though he found some company in Raina...

Who says the ODIs are dying...The younger aussie lot must have been bamboozled by the noise and the crowd in the stadium...it was just deafening....for they would not have seen such mammoth crowd in their whole lives....for they dont even find so many people in whole of australia...the crowd did not come to see aus bat,or even india bat...they came to see sachin score 17000runs...and he obliged...respectfully...but they still gave a splendid performance,unnerved in the end and providing a sweet but hard earned(despite the 350) victory to their team.

Watson must not be cribbing for not getting the Man-of the match...for he witnessed a much bigger stuff...something he may never witness again on the field...He setup the game for the aussies with blistering 93 and splendid, tight bowling,sending Yuvi and Raina back when it mattered the most...His efforts were almost a footnote on the night...

Hopefully, now those who speak of Sachin's retirement would lie low for some time....hopefully, the sehwags,dhonis and yuvrajs learn something from the grandpa(dadaji ke nuskhe..)....

I just cant control my emotions..i will have to go....let me see whr to vent out my frustation....

1 yr at inductis

2009-11-01T22:12:00.003+05:30

Its been a long time since I wrote about something. Last time I had posted when i left cisco in bangalore and now am writing after I have left EXL(Inductis) in gurgaon.Rather I have my last day tomorrow though officially, I am no more a part of EXL(my official last working day is 30th Oct). 2 jobs in2 years...But this time its not for any other lucrative job or family or blah blah reasons(read,fundae given to others).....i had always known that working for someone is not my piece of cake..i had been telling this to myself for the past two years...but finally took this brave decision to quit and do something of my own or rather to say, something on my own.

Going into the flashback...when i joined inductis...nice pictures of staying with ma...niteouts with friends every weekend flashed in front of me when boarding the flight to Delhi.Soon I realised the dreams(atleast daydreams) are not meant to come true. There were no laptops provided to be broken, no routers to be damaged as in cisco...First day travelling on NH8 looked really cool...driving in 5th gear at speeds of 100kmph after those slow and sluggish rides in bangalore seemed thrilling.But the thrill was shortlived... boss gave a deadline to be in the office, arranged for a daily meeting at that time to ascertain who's "not" yet reached the office....and it seemed the whole world wanted to reach office at that time only....and u start remembering bangalore and India Shining again when u spend 16.67% of time on road.

The first project looked very exciting...though it has its crib of its own.....learnt lot many things about trading..infact generated a completely new interest in trading..the interest had been such that i was trading more and working less....was giving trading tips to the whole team...discussing stock market with every other person i met....thinking and calculating profits and losses on each trade the whole day....until the project ended.... It was also one of the best learning projects for me...working under a shrewd,successful manager(read CEO), working in a startup, working on a cmpletely new domain..there were so many firsts to this project....talking about some crib also....we were not allowed to attend the annual offsite of the company.....the security guard would search you(even your lunchbox) at the end of every day....gmail was "officially banned" but we always had ways to show the IT guy who we are...

but that was the end of the happy part...the next project was a complete opposite of the first one...US economy was in recession,the client was in doldrums...almost on the verge of bankrupty and everyone in the team predicting the "fortuitous" date...no chance of offsite, the manager saying everyday,"naya aur exciting kaam aa raha hai ladke",and since then the whole team has changed, but finally naya(not sure if its exciting.!!) kaam aa raha hai...finally it seems itni kurbaniyan kaam aayi...

Inductis to outsiders gives an image of a very good work ex and a very easy flight to US/UK,specially when u see ur frens travelling to one country after the another.and here I was..telling my ma and bro...see..am soon to fly off to US anytime now....!!!!

even these dreams had a story in this project when we just mocked about the other person catching the lufthansa flight to US in the luggage cabin.infact,each three of us had a near miss in making a tryst with destiny...

a no of exciting things happened even during tis project...found some good friends, found ppl who took my sarcastic banter too seriously and cribbed to the upper management....got in touch with ppl i had been wanting to get in touch with for past few years...

there is lot more to write about my year here...but may be some time later. have written after such a long time....so do not want to keep it too long....

but now have to concentrate on my studies for one month before i leap into a cmpletely new world of business where I would be my own manager, i would be working for myself.....and so much more....

the motivation to write came from my friend rajat....who wud put any crap on his blog to vent out his frustations....and he had innumerous things to crib about...i just hope wud again start writing blogs to vent out my frustrations....to use my personal space much more wisely...

Farewell...from my Bangalore friends

2008-08-23T00:13:00.002+05:30

Its a bit ironical in the manner i ended my previous post and the manner i am writing this one.I have just returned from a "surprise" farewell given by my "elite close group" of friends i made in Bangalore.It began on an expected very lite raillery but ended on an unexpected heavy one.The bantering commenced as it had to, but took a bit serious turn by the end of the dinner when everything became sorta....something i am really bad at.

after it became all final that i wud be moving back to delhi very soon, the close grp started a mail thread about organising the surprise party(read treat) of which i came to know very soon, thanks to one of the members(and FYI..guys speak!!).A long discussion went on about whether whose treat was it, about the people, timings and place.It was proposed to be my treat for i was to return home in few days, but with the fairer sex on my side, i had little to worry about.They nicely took care that it turned out to be a farewell to me instead of a treat from me.so after long hectic discussions, the date and place was finalised for the "surprise" party. the whole process deserves a mention but may be not now.

the dinner began with the recollection of the past memories of one year with an intention to bring out some open secrets.It started with a demand for a farewell speech from me, which i resisted and tried to avoid till my last slice of parantha. i was told to tell abt how i felt about the guys individually...and to give the whole process a momentum, they began by how they felt about me.and then came my turn... i knew i am bad at these things...cant say all those senti much-much...always end up saying something wrong...which hurts the other person...but with everyone pressurizing, i caved in...they wanted to make me feel comfortable!!!!

Recollecting from the past, sometimes people blow minor things out of proportion to the point of embarrassment without realizing its consequences, that u start feeling as to why were u even a part of it altogether.it starts with pretty much good intentional humor on you which even u dont mind and enjoy with them but is stretched so much like a rubber band that it breaks, in the end hurting the people involved and i have already been party to this twice.why has it to be like that? why dont people understand that humor and sarcastic fun is always accepted and enjoyed but overdose of anything is bad for health.just because u think u are good at some satirical fun,which u may be not, u open the pandora's box..and still keep on continuing on that without caring about the end results.

i usually dont have a really "close" grp of frens. one, especially if she is a gal, needs to have at least one thing spl to be in that grp...and to ask me what that something spl about that person is...its a heinous crime u have committed....for it is impossible for me to express that in words...and in the process i end up saying something which shudnt have been said..the real thing remains buried...it always will be...

And the story was repeated again today.

the things mentioned above might be very obscure to understand but this is the only place that i can vent them out, i dont have to face anyone here...i dont have to answer anyone here...i dont have to see the expressions i would have to if i say that on face...its my space...i own it.

Generally, i think i am pretty good at reading countenances but i really wish I was wrong when i read those faces before leaving the place.

1 year at Cisco....

2008-08-11T21:08:00.003+05:30

so finally last month i somehow completed my one year at Cisco. I have mixed feelings about my "work experience" in the past one year. this being my first job, i dont have much to compare with,except with my friends in different companies especially in Delhi.

The journey started with a 15 day accommodation on company's expenditures in a 3 star hotel suite along with a fantastic group. I would say that would be my best days in Bangalore till date.Made a whole lot of new friends, and learnt a lot about some whom i already knew before coming here.Got the first hand experience of how disastrous it is to be in company of notorious friends when in inebriated state and little consciousness..Though i enjoyed every moment..every drunken line said..."tu to mera bhai hai...saale wo teri bhabhi hai..." and the best one..."saala aaj se daaru band".

so the job started with orientation about the company work and policies in different star hotels.The food there sucked big time...after all door ke dhol sirf suhane hi hote hai...all other seemed pretty nice all that month..but now with rare parties and offsites, i can certainly say..bakre ko halal karne se pehle khilaya pilaya jaata hai.. ;) (Yahan to khana bhi barbaad tha..). The two types of trainings we had, had minimal learning and maximum fun... The seriousness could be gauged by the fact that people were watching obscene content even while the class was on.Infact, even today when my mentor asks me about what we were taught in the trainings, he would just get a deadpan expression from me...hopeless fellow...wondering what... had i even attended a training session also!!!Then there were some other "incidents" also during that time(making me infamous among the new hires) which do not deserve space here.

the actual work started after one month of training got over and we got to know about our managers and mentors. I had a change of 3 managers in a single day before evrything was finalised. The first meeting with my manager scared me off completely.First his vry serious looks with no smiles on the face and then with all his interview type questions in introduction....please let me go, i have to play!!...i started wondering about the veracity of statements people make about their bosses.But after knowing him for an year now, I can certainly say, he would be among the best in disguising people, though the real picture would be out there in a few days(ePM results awaited!!)... To quote a friend when he first met his manager: Yaar, he is awesome, really cool...i am going to have a great time now..awesome team, awesome work and now awesome manager.... and today he would be he most cribbing person about his work and manager among the new hires..looking to change team/company at the first opportunity he gets.

even the first meeting with my mentor was daunting.he handed me over 200 pages of documents to read over the weekend about some hardware i was to work on. Over this, he told me about the hard time the new hires generally have in the first year at Cisco, even working on weekends..delineating a very gloomy image for me.the day ended with we people playing some
carrom(finally, i got to play!!) and making some noises in the otherwise silent office, me sucking at the game..my worst show at carrom!!!

So I went through some of the pages over the weekend with no idea of what i was reading when on Monday my mentor again stumped me. He asked me to go through some quizzes and stuff..and then came the diaster...my first victim..The laptop fell from my desk and the screen was damaged...and i was found running here-there looking for some solution..some escape..wtf...will i get a new laptop..was all that on my mind!!Fortunately, everything fell in place...I got a new laptop within 2 days but made a decent dent in my BU's cofers... and i was ready to select some other targets....had already been bestowed with the "compliment: "mere hath tikte nhi hai...".

Soon I was getting used to the work environment...going thru the code with mentor's help...understaning the hardware architectures...solving customer issues..sometimes eluding my mentor with the alibi that i was not in the city and sometimes really coming to office on weekends.He would scan the code in seconds and ask me if we were going right....i wud just be humming "yes" at his every call...how would i know if we are going right...i would be left in no man's land when he would ask me to execute what he had said..i just had to run back to him with the question,"What and where do we have to make the change finally???"Now it was his time to show a deadpan face...

Speaking about the work culture here, I am definitely sure, you wouldnt find one better anywhere else.complete freedom to work anywhere, to speak out any of your grudges in front of seniors.."quite informal" environment...and many others say it all. Compare this to companies my friends are in where in you are allowed maximum 1 hr for lunch and even your entries are logged...

Though the initial six months were complete cribbing for me..so much that i had even scared people coming to Bangalore..reasons including the disatrous food(cant compromise over that)...the "frugal nature" of the company...but majorly due to factors external to cisco.But with all this in stride now i completely enjoy my stay here...the best part has been the birthday bumps..i have been giving some severe kicks to people who know me even remotely...noone forgets to call me during the bumps session but now i realise that very soon my ass would be on fire...for all those will be ready to avenge those hard hits.I know how i saved myself last year...

The maximum time of a software engineer goes in checking mails and sending forwards and i am no different...i get tons of fwded mails from my friends in/out cisco...Infact, the majority of mailbox space is filled up with those fwded mails than "important" mails..over this the Outlook has a poor searching algo...!!You see people getting senti over trivial issues..screwing someone just asking links for free hindi songs(that poor chap..would never ask again anything!!)...then clamoring over ethical and piracy issues and what more...no matter if they themselves be using pirated versions...you are simply horrified over stand people can take to convert even silly banter to sensitive issues...On the lighter side you see people going gaga over any gal, even little cute or pretty they see in the office...they change their timing of work, of play(yes, now they get time for this also!!), even for drinking a cup of coffee...they make funny jokes which she wud consider silly and has to bear...they try their level best to be even a driver for them...no wonder how busy a software engineer is...!!

Anyways...it is great feeling to complete one year at job...must have done something good to be still there...the whole team is asking for a treat...but then i have someone in my team to take care of this also...

One year away from home has finally passed quite slowly and there would be lot many stories to tell about my stay here..but maybe sometime later..this post is getting too big...The work and efficiency improves sporadically(only when my manager starts threatening me..!!!) though it would still not be a surprise if you find me napping in my cube in a proper sarkari fashion with legs on the table...

I am loving it..!!!

Terrorists and the Indian resilency

2008-08-06T00:06:00.003+05:30

Headlines in various newspapers screamed:

Bangalore Bombed...
Bangalore,Ahmedabad..Who'sNext?

At one end we are celebrating our new iconic status in the world arena and at the other we are impotent enough even to protect the basic fundamental right of a human being-The Right to Live....

The frequency of striking at will is increasing at a pretty decent rate.Also is the fact that the terrorists are freely choosing the targets to strike,beginning with Kashmir, followed by Delhi and Mumbai and now the Tier-II cities too are now open to them....These guys seem to celebrate Diwali multiple times a year....at their own wish...

speaking of stats, the casualties were in hundreds with around 60 of them parted from their families for ever.Surat was lucky enough to get away with 26 live bombs defused, not a single of them going off...The Indian Mujhahideen claiming responsibility for all and warning of more such acts.

The modern terrorists have been improvising with great consistency and have been regularly beating the expectations of the security forces.with improvised devices, improved communication systems and networks and with highly skilled "recruits", the organisations hiring them are on a roll.add to this fact that they consider India to be a soft/impotent state...in other words..an empty vessel making just too much noise....and our hollow claims of being on the verge of superpower. Such has been the audacity of these organisations, that they now send emails beforehand informing of the blasts and mentioning the reasons along.Except in ’Bollywood masala movies’ Indian intelligence has rarely unearthed any of the terrorist plans. We get clueless after the attack and even fail to get hold of those who are sending emails before the attacks.

They have shown considerable dexterity and astuteness in selecting the target cities.the low intensity blasts in Bangalore show that the motive was just to create panic in the Indian minds, to create a pyschological fear in the minds of IT companies here and to strike the backbone of the economy. Ahmedabad was chosen to avenge the Godhra pogrom.The chosen areas of Ahmedabad were the places where the Muslims were the most affected.Then came Surat, the diamond polishing hub of India.All the bombs in Surat were found near the diamond industry -2 stolen Wagon Rs laden with bombs and 27kg of nuts/bolts--- macabre to even imagine the cataclysm had even one of the cars went off...How much are we prepared for this???

So what has been the government doing all along while these guys are having fun and making mockery in their own way??..Ah!!I think its a little busy..busy in securing votebanks of the minority communities in the next election...Probably that is why, we still have punishments awarded to the terrorists to be executed...Yes, I am speaking about the hanging of Afsal Guru. Are we waiting for another hijacking to take place so that this time some other Minister escorts him safely to the hijackers.i guess Shivraj Patil would be the best suited to do a Jaswant Singh next time this happens.The government gives a derisory argument in favour of dilly-dallying the issue:More than 15 petitons are currently pending before the MHA and it processes the applications in first come first serve...What a crap..!!!..are other crimes committed by those 15 people in line awarded capital punishment on par with terrorism??...These same so-called intelligentsia which was on the verge of being wiped out on Dec 13 2001, today does not even have time to pay homage to the martyrs in that attack...seem busy scheduling their next foreign trip !!!

We lack a political will, a political consensus on the issue of terrorism.These guys can have a discussion only after they get some free time from fighting amongst themselves...Even after the blasts, we continue to see the blamegame among the politicans...a preposterous and outrageous allegation goes as:"...the ruling UPA government had a conspiratorial hand in the blasts to divert attention from the allegations of bribery as well as to gain Muslim votes..." Please Take a break..!!

Every politician expresses "shock" after the blast,I wonder shock over what???As if they dint know it was coming!!! Everytime we are hit, we run crying to the US or the UN blaming the "foreign powers", censuring our neighbours for few days till the hoopla settles down and soon we are back to our normal business..forgetting everything..forgetting that such a thing ever happened...What a resilency the Indian people have..I have become a fan of it!!! I was ashamed to hear the innane platitudes from the mouth of our spineless PM about not bowing to terrorism & maintaining peace.Listen to our honourable Home Minister after every blast..I bet you, there will not be single word out of its place...its exactly the same what he would have said the previous time. To summarise:"The Indian people cannot tolerate such violent acts of terrorism any more(someone please explain me this line..).this was an act of desperation and these terrorists wont succeed in their disastrous acts.I praise the resilency of the Indian people(in other words..their short memory!!)".Compensations are announced along with the news of the blasts...I wonder, it would not be too long when we see the announcements even before the blasts occur... the resilent nation moves on..to get prepared for the next wake up call...

With every blast the question arises: How long will we be continue to bear this violence..and so comes the answer:Ohh yea, we can take one more in our stride...

I feel tht time has come to realise the importance of an Indian life now.. on one hand i can see Israel showing its clear determination to root out terror when just 3 of its soldiers are captured, here we hv 200 innocent civillians dying n no one even bothering to even think of taking an action..Our neighbouring state sends its condolences after the blasts n the time may not be far off when we receive such condolences in advance, just before the incidents even happen.I wont support all US policies against war on terror, but point worth taking a note is tht no terror incident happened in US after 9/11. Someone said

'Khasma shobti us bhujang ko
jiske paas garal ho
uska kya jo vishrahit,
vineet or saral ho'

( Forgiveness can be shown by only those snakes which have venom & can bite. Those who are weak dont deserve to give forgiveness to anyone)

So rather than mouthing innane platitudes about restraint, criticism & looking towards other nations for help. probably the time has come for indians to take charge of their own destiny.

I will end with what my room mate consistently sings at the end of every movie he sees: "Bharat mata ki Jai".

In the Line of Fire-A Memoir

2007-03-06T20:02:00.000+05:30

So the other day, i was reading the (in)famous autobiography from Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf-In the line of fire- A Memoir.The book has already been in controversy since its launch last year.People from different sections and different countries voiced their protests against the incidents mentioned in the book thereby giving the book a notorious fame.So that also created an interest in me to read that book.Incidently, the name of the book coincides with an English movie about a psychopath who tries to kill US president.

Uptil now, I have read about half the book but have found it very difficult to digest it even after going thru the first 50 pages. No, the language is very easy to understand,infact, i think a normal 12th grade Indian english student can easily give the Prez a run for his "language".wat was difficult was the content part.

The book starts with a thanks to God for saving his life atleast 6-7 times uptil now. A prime example of the phrase "allah meherbaan to gadha pehelwaan". Then he describes his strenous journey from India to Pakistan during Partition and continues the story till date.In the process, he describes the events that took place in his life.He describes how a mediocre child transforms into one of the most coveted brains of Pakistan with successes in every field he steps into.His story of bravery starts when he was 5 and continues till date.He was one of the toughest boys and used to lead street gangs(no pun intended!!).

So later, the lad joins the army and climbs up the ladder due to his bravery and leadership skills. he mentions how the Paki army thrashed the Indian army in the 1965 war...ironically something which even the retired Paki army generals have jeered at."ek limit hoti hai chodne ki". he rarely mentions of the 1971 war..here also partly blames India for the second partition.and then comes the kargil war( a complete chapter to this) and needless to say,in the terms of the Prez, the so called mujahideens successfully dented the Indian army security cover and easily forced India on the backfoot and it was only because Nawaz Sharif accepted the ceasefire at Washington that shifted the defeat claims across the border.He insists that India has always suffered heavy losses whenever she encounterd the Pakis. Fortunately, he accepts that his military was no match to the US one when he was threatened by Colin Powell to be bombed back to Stone Age after 9/11.After reading the book, i feel that it would be nearly impossible for any country to have a soldier as brave and as successful as our dear Musharraf...Lucky Paki army!! And no wonder he claims the Pakistan Military Academy to be the best in the world....the field decided could be negotiated!!

He mentions how thru his leadership skills he inspired the young guns under him and instilled in them the confidence and the will to win.No matter where he was posted, success would always be at his feet. one instance of his skills is worth mentioning.he was in command of a regiment called "Men in Crisis". The unit was known for its bravery but though somehow lacked in sports.It performed badly in almost every sport it played. But after assuming command, our lieutenant colonel did the impossible...he transformed the team from a bunch of losers to winners of the championships in just one year...wat a great stride!! i wonder how he cud not meld the Paki cricket team into a team...may be the guys do not have in them..not our Prez's fault!!

The Prez then mentions how he reached the top of the ladder in the army and how he became President of Pakistan which was about to be declared as a defaulted state, which was overburdened with debt and corruption was at its peak thanks to the existing "democracy" and the corrupt political leaders like Nawaz Sharif and Benezar Bhutto and later how he transformed it into one of the fastest growing economies in the world through his terrific leadership skills.

The general remembers the dates of even minute events that happened 20-25 years back or even more...and at some places even the time in minutes(fortunately, not seconds!!)...this is something which any girl boasts of but here also, he can give her a tough fight and she would certainly have something to learn from the Prez.

At different times while reading, i felt of throwing away the buk filled with so much jactitation..but its the "charm" of Pervez Musharraf which forces me to continue reading it.

I somehow have managed to reach upto this point...it would be a wonder if i complete it.the book is 350 pages of complete self praise...about a person who never failed in his life(atleast the book story implies so..)...about a person who reached astonishing heights in whatever he did.Again its no wonder that the book was scoffed at by a large section of society even within his country.It is a must read for die hard every Musharraf fan or even for every strong critic..

rock rock rocking at india gate!!

2007-02-25T00:08:00.000+05:30

Its engi time again..!!though this time it was spread over for more than a week...So the whole group was at the college for the fashp nite.For the lesser mortals engifest is the cultural festival of DCE and the paridhan-fashion parade is the most sought after event of the fest...for very obvious reasons!!It was a sort of reunion for all of us after a pretty long time.the stage was given a new look altogether.the already created dais(OAT) was reserved for the "highly esteemed" guests while a new stage was setup for the models to catwalk.

Like every year, the event was very successful.the students from the medical and the engg colleges put up a very gud show and infact we were able to utilise amber's new cell to its full potential.For the first time a DCE video and a music album has been launched and they were simply enthralling...just waiting for someone to upload them online!!The video and the album perfectly exhibited why any dceite would be proud of being a dceite...the outsiders need to have a look at it!! the event was follwed by a jam session, shortened by an altercation over a girl...as usual!!

It was already 1130 pm when we all started to disperse when all of a sudden (again!!) a plan to visit India Gate came into being.The most surprising part of the plan this time was ajit...the first surprise of the nite was his presence at the fest and then to add to the fun he "eventually" agreed to be the part of the "group". seems the guy is changing or quoting Rajat.."meri sangati me rehke thoda sudhar gaya hai".With 3 cars and my scooter the whole group of 9(this time aman missed out!!) moved towards the India Gate -some 25 kms away though we managed to reach there next day only(at 00:30 am)!!.

It took some time to find a suitable place to park the vehicles and when we found one authorised parking, the thulla asked us to leave for our home for a peaceful nite.par hum kaha manne wale the..!!A while later nipun found a different and safe parking spot...and we could spot some girls roaming even at that stroke of hour(unsafe delhi!!). A whole group of 8 ppl walking together would always seem threatening..the real threatening came to a guy, bargaining there for a colourful nite,when we all decided to race on the lonely road..the two were just terrified in horror and fear.Amit won the race,though his claim was very much disputable...he counted 1 2 3 all while running...the surprising runners up were Romit(good pair of legs) and Rajat(ohh man..how can he run so fast!!).Just to make it a bit clear, it was nearly impossible for 4 of us to even lift Rajat to give him birthday bumps a week ago.However,the result was so only because our "athlete" nipun did not participate in the race...he and amber preferred to walk down the lane.

It was already 130am and no one wanted to leave for home...that nite was certainly to be remembered for a long time...as the group would disperse after 3 months for their job or other responsibilities...but the memories wud remain last long..

Eklavya and MahaShivratri

2007-02-17T20:01:00.000+05:30

The much awaited Eklavya released yesterday at the Box office and Rajat had to give the whole big group his birthday treat.The day coincided with Mahashivratri and i had decided to fast after a big gap of around 10 years.As usual, the invitees were made to reach the hall with no time at their disposal and as usual again,we were able to make it.We have perfected the art of making successful last moment plans and infact, now this group includes two new entries.Even the lesser mortals(the new entries) were able to make up because they could not afford to miss a treat from Rajat. The only guy now left out of the group is ajit and its certain that he does not possess those qualities required to be in that group...hopefully he would make it to the group one day--though very unlikely!! So the timings of the show were not fixed as yet and an afternoon matineee was on the cards.The whole group was only hopeful of the next day movie plan.i woke up early that day due to the festival and made necessary visits to some temples and performed the necessay puja.Ma gave me a special attention yesterday, an attention of which only my eldest brother has been the recipient of when he returns home.Kheer, gajar ka halwa, fruits and some other dishes-was to be the diet of the day and ma took special care that i ate properly.

So after getting over with the necessary puja, mom served the special breakfast at 1130 when nipun called up and asked if i was ready for the movie.To his surprise,i replied in affirmative.We had the first day first show tickets for the movie-thanks to Sumit who bought them just 1 hr before the show though he was asked to buy for the afternoon show, as a result leaving the indolent members of the group furious.The only possibility for the goofup could be that he stood in the queque for the current show asking for tickets for the afternoon show--all wondered!!

So the 7 of us had to reach the hall within an hour.Ajit had already cancelled his entry--no surprises on his part!! 4 of us reached the hall well in time-3 minutes before the start of the show!! but had to wait for the organiser of the treat to arrive.As usual, the movie had already begun when we entered the audi.Wonder which was the last movie in which i saw the star cast...missing the first 5-10 min of any movie is also a part of the fun!!

The movie was made alive by some awesome acting of Big B and little bit of fun from munnabhai...no wonder he was presented with a Rolls Royce by the Eklavya team.He again proved why he is called the shahenshah and why no baadshahs however strong, can stand tall to him.Though the crowd surrounding us found it a bit diffcult to understand what was happening...the movie was really faadu in their terminology. The movie was a short 2 hour movie with some people always waiting for some "scenes" to be shown...unluckily there were none.

So after the movie,everyone was hungry and with a brief outing at the lifestyle mall we ultimately headed towards the small chat shop in the rajouri market...the restaurant at the mall just had an extra zero in their tariffs!!Rajat confirmed me twice about the fast before ordering something though still he seemed unconvinced.Everyone ordered pao bhaji for himself and the only thing i could do was to see them gulp that down their fat stomach--they did not even have the courtesy of asking me...maybe they wanted to play safe!!

After the snacks, we headed towards our home...as i was already feeling hungry, i made a dash towards food as soon as i reached home.Ma served the special lunch and i ate more than i would do on any normal day...in the evening drank the delicious thandai and finally again the special dinner before retiring to the bed...

At the end, the day went very nice only that i missed the pao bhaji!!

the climax--season finale

2007-02-10T17:44:00.000+05:30

the first three parts of the trip: the tour to Kharagpur and puri , my first day at iit kgp , the last two days at iit kgp

here goes my last part of this series:

After the forgettable iit kgp trip, we had planned to go to Puri via bhubaneshwar after a halt at my cousin's place there. we being new to the place decided to go along wid a group of 4-5 students going there.before that, we had to wait for arnd 2 hrs and miss 2 trains to get our travel fare reimbursed(A part of it was reimbursed...) and even before that we had to walk up to atleast 5kms to get the ticket photostated,the top engineering college boasts of only 2 xerox machines..and dat also in the "tech" market(outdated technology..) which remains closed from 2 to 5 during daytime(Left ka raaj hai...)... only later did i get to know in the evening that there were 3 more machines in the campus and surprisingly, the students we asked did not have any knowledge of that(kaise engg karenge...!!)...

So those 5 guys were with us .Now only one of them possessed the money for tickets and ironically the others had an altercation with him and hence idiotically left him at the college.Finally travelling in second class with a general ticket,some arguments with the TTE and getting down before the destined station was all a new experience at a place where we failed to understand oriya and the locals failed to understand us...finally with some difficulties we were at my cousin's place...

It had already been 5 days since sumit took a bath though the figure was 3 for me...so i had already planned to spend a comfortable time in bathroom...but that guy..he is just too aalsi..even my bro is nothing in front of him...and this all when he is not a hosteler...kya hota tab to..neways he still preferred only to wash his face...aadha devdas to ban chuka tha..with big beard on his face...so had a gud brkfast after 3 days..i got my tummy flat just within 3 days..itni mehnat ki thi banane me kambakht...they can easily make VLCC a run for their money. Now my cousin arranged for us a visit to a very famous temple there...it was some 400-500 yrs old and constructed without the use of any cement..the stones were somehow fixed with iron rods..another story of marvellous indian artists and architecture...there were 108 small temples within that big temple and where "pandas" catch hold of u as soon as u enter the temple..on the pretext of darshan and puja with a "nominal" charge...I am quite a religious guy but still not dat desperate to have a look at the idol from 20 cms...even 100 cms is a fine distance for me to get an aashirvad from god.I was told since my childhood that they have a very long range!!...par sumit..he is a big athiest...even bigger than my bro..i used to think ki wahi bahut bada nashtik hai...i dont think sumit even paid obesience there..wonder he wud say one day.."aaj khush to bahut hoge tum??" though hopefully for other reasons...

For all such big atheists Puri is one of the four religious places called "char dhaam"...it is famous for its beaches and the historic Jagannath puri temple(though only later did i get to know that it was just another name for Lord Krishna when mom told me abt it on returning back home..usse pehle i thot ki may be some other Indian God).

so we boarded the bus to puri in the afternoon and it took us around 2 hrs to reach there...the tiredness of past 2 days was so much that it was difficult to even open our eyes..the 2 hr trip was some solace...we booked a room on reaching there and straightaway headed towards the beach..the crowd was already enjoying the high waves of the sea..it was my second time at the beach and sumit's first...so he was a bit scared to go inside the water.After walking at the beach for some time, then a photo shoot, we moved to have a clash with the waves..though with our backs to it...after some time it appeared as though we were being pulled towards by the sea.i was told that the sea also had a liking for jewellery and other similar items..no matter hw tight they are to your body,the sea will snatch it from you.. and so my mom did not spare even the very tight rings i was wearing...i had to force sumit into water..he was quite scared and did not want to brk his fast of not bathing...it was a big fun there..it compensated for the kgp disaster..though the saddest part was that i had to be wid a guy...a trip to beach wid a gal wud be the most fascinating one,i think...

So after an hour at the sea and half an hour at the hotel bathroom, we moved for the famous Jagannath temple...again it was an example of marvellous architecture though a big victim of human vandalism...the lifestory of Lord Krishna inscribed on the walls of the temple was highly fascinating...just did not get to know when the planned half an hour got converted into more than hour under the mesmerising effect in the temple...just did not want to leave that place...something was holding me back..poor sumit..he had to bear wid me...As a result we got delayed for our train and had to rush thru our dinner...and just managed to reach the station in time....

finally we were on the train to be back at home..sweet home.. after a week..the 36 hrs at train were also full of fun..did not feel bore at any instant with a 4-5 aged kid with us...he seemed to be big flirt..managed to get along with 2-3 girls of his age in the same compartment in no time...sumit again was pretty lethargic here also...kitna bada aalsi hai...so now am back home just recalling the whole story again and again to my friends and family members and they just dont stop making a fun out of it...

The last two days at iit kgp

2007-02-08T21:48:00.000+05:30

The first day showed the trailer of what was in the store for us for the next two days. The nite on the first day was peaceful only after i packed myself tightly inside the blanket...b4 that just cud not figure out what was happening...the mosquitoes were constantly buzzing in the ears..and now ghus ke dikha do blanket me..finally woke up quite early arnd 8 only to find that still there was no water.sumit and i had already chosen the latter option of vikramshila..2km away...situation in the flat had gone from bad to worse..ab to gaane se bhi kaam nhi hone wala tha...but as i went into the garden i saw people using water pretty abundantly...on investigating found that they were using the water from the neighbour's tap through the big hole in the broken wall..terrific jugad..the neighbours had already locked their flat and went away..they were some locals only...i also followed suit...after getting ready at the flat, sumit and i moved to vikramshila...in an hour there was to be a lecture from Wing Cmdr. (retd.) Rakesh Sharma-first Indian to go to space- at the kalidas audi just nearby.but the line was just too long...i saw such a long line b4 the ration shop of the harkat bania in hindi movies..the audi was full in no time and ppl had to leave dejected..HOUSEFULL...to fill an audi of 50 seats here is a mammoth task...the seniors have to force the fuchhas to sit in the audi or face consequences but there the audi of arnd 300 seats was full in no time...that also without any force...this was all the while we were looking from a distance...we also wanted to be in the audi par abhi to brkfast karna baaki tha..so what if the options were very limited.

After attending the last half hour of the lecture,the whole day was pretty boring...there were not many events to particpate in...but the evenings were all set for some fun..the lecture by Mr.Alyque Padamsee: India's leading advertisement guru was very hilarious..though the students there were very peaceful with only some rare in between hooting...the maximum came when an ad of KS condoms was being shown-the ad was thought of by the guru...and people demanding to be shown once more...He showed the importance of the IDEAS and how do they change the world thru some examples...the lecture was followed by a mesmerising sand animation show by Mr.David Myriam....and followed by the whole nite awakening for the programming finals...we had to sleep hungry that nite or rather the next morning...we slept at 5 and woke at 7 when the acco guys started collecting the mattresses and blankets provided.

We got ready by the time the open software event had to start.our software was one of the 25 entries selected for the final round...we made it to top 5 though we cud not finish in the top 3.i had planned to leave kgp in the afternoon but had to miss 2 trains due to the long line b4 the finance tent for the reimbursement.The kgpians openly smoke sutta in the campus, the missing beer bottles were the only consolation.After standing in the queque for 2 hrs, we finally managed to complete the formalities..prepared to leave for puri via bhubaneshwar.Bus was to be provided for ferrying the participants to the station..but later.. "due to some technical problem the bus facility has been withdrawn, particpants are reqd to make their arrangements on their own" announced the loudspeaker just when the passengers started fuming while waiting for more than half an hour for the bus....adding to the frustation were the rickshaw guys who added the nite charges to the already hefty fare to the station...some students got along with us to bhubaneshwar and then began the trip to bhubaneshwar...in the next post...

My first day at iit kgp

2007-02-07T23:27:00.000+05:30

the first part: The tour to Kharagpur and Puri

First of all congrats to all those engineers who have passed out through the college and all the best to the budding engineers and the others aspiring to reach there.In these 3 days i felt that JEE was not the only difficult thing to be crossed...the students have to fight for their very survival...

Already seen the inflation in the fast developing economy -that also in a Left controlled state- we entered the campus and reached the KSHITIJ arena, an arena full of tents-finance tent,acco tent,control tent etc...(dande gaad rakhe the...and it took them 3 days to do that!!)the line was pretty long even in the early morning for the accomodation b4 the finance tent-good to c so many ppl coming frm diff parts of the country to particpate in the fest.So the 2nd yr guys were busy filling in the receipts for acco and "openly" smoking the sutta...our turn came after an hour..the pressure was building up..i knew hw i was controlling it...neways got the receipts and the room no. but still had to wait for half an hr for the taxi to come and take us to the room around 2 kms away.

the outer view of our flat

The hostel rooms were full by the time we reached the campus-the flux of the participants was unexpected-so we were alloted flats or rather "haunted flats" at one of the ends of the campus. The flat was surrounded by a beautiful garden with all sorts of wild plants in it,prominently the cactus and some others which i dn knw(im not a botanist after all!!) and the shrubs..i cant call it grass...yeah there was a plant with some flowers also!! As we entered the three room flat, some 25 ppl were already there getting ready.I already had pressure bulit up..so made a dash towards the toilet but one toilet for 30 ppl is never sufficient...there was already a queque waiting outside it.i started bantering with a 2nd yr acco guy abt the life at kgp but my mind was still wandering at the other end. Then suddenly a howling voice came from the toilet side..

"kya hai yeh, bathroom me kundi b nahi hai"...

and prompt came a sarcastic reply from one of his team memmbers

"ye koi khazana hai jo kundi lagaye"

and then there was a boisterous laugh in the room..me still wondering isnt it more imp than any khazana?? when complained about the situation later in the afternoon at the arena to an acco guy,he repeated the same dialogues of HeraPheri jokily,

"subah sandaas jane ka hai to singer banna padega ya phir darwaza pakad kar baithna padega nahi to 2 km door vikramshila ya kalidas audi ke toilet par..."

and seriously said that we have to "adjust".

Continuing from the morning story...

The guys told that the toilet did not have a flush either....the situation was really bad..i enquired the acco guy wid me abt this and he seemed totally clueless...fortunately i got my turn after 15 min of hard work...so relieving...the scene inside was just too much...neways later i had my bath and sumit was still waiting for his turn...as soon as he got his turn and came out, the taps went dry..lucky fellow!!the other guys who were left did not have any other option but to wait..for the water to come...it started coming within half an hr...

After getting ready,the next destination was the food restaurant...we heard b4 coming that there were many restaurants in kgp so fooding wont be a big prob...but after visitng them,the highways side restaurants wud be much better thn these....as a fachha(cousin of my friend) there put it,"ya to aankh band karke khao,ya baatein karte khao...maine to 3 din se kuch nhi khaya" said it all...the dce hostels can take a leaf out from their buk(the food here in delhi hostels is much bttr than that at kgp)...the whole day was full of events with a enthusiatic and fascinating lecture from a Nobel laureate Prof Kevin Warwick over neuroscience.The lecture was followed by an American band with the kgpians getting mad over the fat vocalist(poor kgpians!!...)....

We reached the room only to find that the taps were still dry...the next day story over water in the next post...the friend's cousin who came along with us to the room had difficulties to return back to his hostel as even he did not know that such a place even existed in his campus...

finally with the day's tiredness, the whole bunch of 25-30 ppl went to sleep fighting the mosquiotoes....

the story continues: the last two days at iit kgp , the climax-season finale

The tour to Kharagpur and Puri

2007-02-07T17:55:00.000+05:30

I have just finished my combined tour to IIT kgp and Puri and am back to home(finally!!) to share my 'experiences' i faced there. I have divided them in 4 parts:- the train to iit kgp, my first day at iit kgp, the last two days at iit kgp, the climax-season finale.

here goes the first part:- the train to iit kgp

So i boarded the train early in the morning at 630.I along with my friend sumit was going to iit kgp for the fest KSHITIJ (it was supposed to be a fun trip considering the ennui in Delhi) and then a trip to Puri.This time the scene was quite different.The trip was scheduled 10 days back unlike other last moment trips and also we were pretty much on time to board the train.The coach we were in was almost empty and we had occupied 4 out of the 6 seats available at our disposal.Since the train had to pass thru some infamous areas of UP and Bihar, we had already chained the luggage well though i saw some nice however failed handwork of a person taking away a blanket in front of our eyes.The guy took away the blanket under the cover of another stolen blanket when the owner's eyes luckily caught him.The owner let off the guy for his excuse"galti se aa gaya hath me"!! My mom had already taken away the little bit of jewellery I was wearing.

The toilets in the train are also worth mentioning. They were certainly of the times India got independence-okay, i am exaggerating a bit here but still they were atleast 20 yrs old-when Manmohan singh started economic reforms-very shaky.one hand was busy holding the rod. The whole day in the train passed peacefully by sleeping, playing cards and discussing other mundane things when in the evening the train almost filled to its capacity at mughal sarai. The bihari babu who along with his family joined us there seemed to be a man of "principles". Both of us were sitting on the window seats when in an acerbic tone, he asked us to vacate those seats as they were reserved for him."yeh seat chod dijiye, ye hamari hai"-as if he had bought them.I 'politely' asked him, "aapko yahi baithna hai?" and prompt came the reply,"haan bilkul,chaliye aap apni seat par aa jaiye.."and soon we were in the corner with all other people nearby having a nice fun over the issue.Actually the way this babu spoke made the scene hilarious.As soon as he took over,the first thing he did was to close the windows and then to our surprise started "stripping"- fortunately not the mallika way but he used a towel.He even removed the inners from his body.However soon he was in a t-shirt and shorts.

As the nite fell,all prepared to go to sleep.Falling asleep was a bit risky as the train was in Bihar e and also after i saw the afternoon cameo.These guys dont even leave the slippers...I had to tie my shoes to the fan.So now the bihari babu was in the middle berth with sumit and I in the other middle berth and upper berth repsectively.Lalu ke raaj me bihari babu pure apne ghar jaise mehsoos kiye.As the darkness grew, the snores of the babu got stronger and louder, making all the more difficult either to sleep or remain awake. Anyways some how the nite passed and we were at the world's longest platform-1070 metres in length and with no direction boards to follow. The kgpians had informed that they wud be there at the station to receive us but we cud not find a trace of them. So we decided to take the rickshaw. The campus was about 5 kms from the station and the rickshaw guy asked for an amount for which i cud have easily commuted to and from my college and home on any vehicle except auto(with auto...it wud have been one way fare).Infact, that amount was fixed-as i came to know later.The ricksaw passed thru the 'main roads' which i wud say were even less wider than the delhi streets.I did not find even a single direction board the whole way and it was very easy to get lost in the labyrinth the guy took.In all, I felt even my village was certainly better than this only it did not have an IIT!

This continued even as we entered the campus.The main gate of the campus was pathetic...it was difficult to even read the name of the college.Then the admin bloc read-IIT KHARAGPUR- Dedicated to the service of the nation (in italics). There were no signs of any fest going on in the campus(until we reached the main arena)-no sponsors' banners, no fest banners-compare with the delhi colleges where one wud find as if he has entered the office of the sponsor rather than a college hosting a fest.

Then began my first day at IIT KGP---coming up in the next post.

My New Year celebrations!!

2007-01-25T23:06:00.000+05:30

I am back from my sabbatical- the deep long slumber of one year and 11 days.I got bored of the writing blogs for a while but now the interest seems to have resurged.One of the reasons is inspiration from the blog of an indolent friend releasing his "3 stage theory of(in) love" on his blog and another being the enough leisure time available in the next upcoming months.

The past year had been pretty "hectic" with some crucial events taking place.The year brought mixed fortunes for me and something concrete for my future with i getting placed in placed in one of the best networking companies but failing to make a mark in the CAT exam despite obtaining a respectable score.

The new year started with a bang with an unforgettable trip to Shimla celebrating New Year outside the home for the first time.The trip was schedulded within a matter of hours with uncertainity uptil the last moment we boarded the train!!The tour package initially included six friends-amit,gaurav,nipun,rajat,sumit and myself(2 surprise entries- no gifts for guesses!!) but one of the surprising entry backed out at the last moment(that was not a surprise!!) as he was not accustomed to our last-minute "adjustment" of plans. The plan makers being fickle, the destination kept on changing every hour until the tickets were finalised(waitlisted!!) just 2 hrs before the journey with my parents sarcastically writing me off for the trip!!But as usual,we were able to final it up.

Last minute plans are adventureous but also bring with them hell lot of problems.But tackling such problems is what we have learned in the past four years.We (the five of us-the one surprise entry was still bravely with us) managed to board the train to Chandigarh just 2 minutes before its departure and then took a bus to Kalka after resting for 2-3hrs at chandigarh and were at Kalka by around midnite.We had planned to take the (famous)mini train from Kalka to Shimla but later somehow got to know that we would have to fight for a berth in the train(the story by the locals reminded me of my trips in the local buses in Delhi).So we planned to be awake the whole nite at the station.We were not even allowed to make ourselves comfortable in the waiting room as it was only for people with reserved tickets(here also!!!) and were left in the cold to brave the chilly nite as the ticket distibution would start by 2 am and the train was to leave by 7.In a 96 km route there were arnd 900 small bridges and over 100 tunnels.We finally reached Shimla after 5 hrs,the train being so slow that one could easily beat it on foot.

Then being the new year eve, getting a room at suitable prices was the next fight which took us around 2 hrs but was surprisingly the last of our problems.The rest of the trip was superb with a carnival on the new year nite and a visit to Kufri the next day where there was enough snow to play and get hurt as one of us was consistently falling on the snow.The horse riding was merriment, after initial hiccups, with each of us trying to oust the other. One even failingly tried to "excite" the mare through an amazingly hilarious way(only he could have done dat!!).The return trip from Shimla to Kalka by bus was a disastrous one for 3 of us with the other two managing some respite for themselves, gaurav using all his experiences.Then we visited the Rock Garden at Chandigarh in the one hour we saved before taking the train to Delhi. The trip was a big success and I would have certainly posted some pics but thanx to my busy(read indolent) friends, they are yet to be developed!! The cat results were out on that day but as usual there were some surprising results with toppers in their respective coaching centers failed to get calls and some coming from behind to hit the bull's eye.I too was expecting some gud calls but only managed a respectable score-better luck next time!!

The one month holidays are still left and i am wondering what to do next with no studies(no calls :( ) now....

the holidays.......

2006-01-14T00:36:00.000+05:30

its mid of january now and finally the college has reopened after a month long vacations... so i got to wake up early now, get ready(ohhhh no!!) and run to college... all that in the chilly morning... leaving the rajai in the morning is nothing less than a torture at a time while the temperature is setting new records.

the holidays passed off quite quickly(atleast it seemed to be) with most of the time spent with friends.all that i had planned to do in the holidays went haywire as usual..i have already mentioned about my toota foota december.the naya saal has not been that bad till now.it started with my brother returning back to ahmedabad after a week at home and it was the time when i felt i was noone at home...

beta gaazar ka halwa kha le... beta badaam
ka halwa kha le...

(atul trying to get something from the plate..)

atul tu dur reh khaane de ise...tu to
ghar par khaata hi rehta hai...is
bechare ko hostel me kuch nhi milta(bechara!!!)

(atul trying to sit with him and have a little bit fun)

atul ise disturb mat kar...aaram karne de...upar jaa.

was all i got to hear from ma during is stay.jale par namak chidakne k liy bhai to tha hi.he added to this fun...

ma dekh lo ise ye hath maar raha
hai khaane me, khanne nhi de raha
hai...hata lo ise
and all i used to get to eat my mom's scolding.finally, he is back at ahmedabad and i am relaxed and happy(though a bit sad also..)

the cat results were out and i cud see the tension on my friends' faces.i cud feel that tension on their face,i wud also get through that phase next year...some were happy some were dejected...kahi khushi kahi gam...

the registration(some asinine formality of filling forms) marked the beginning of next semester.but a very unexpected thing happened this time...for the first time in my college life,we had classes in the first week...usually the regn is followed by 2-3 days mass bunk and classes start only after the week.but then India is progressing why not DCE and why not we???

i got to sleep now...got to wake up early for the college...
bonne nuit

minatory december!!

2006-01-03T01:25:00.000+05:30

it all started on the twenty-nineth november-just two days
before the start of that ominous december.i could not imagine
that this was just the beginning of my misery and it is
continuing till today...although the whole november was screwed
up due to the end semester exams but then they are the part
and parcel of any engineer's engineering life.

so on that baleful day i was returning home after a strenous
exam in the afternoon.it had gone dark by the time i left
the college and given the condition of delhi roads and
lighting on roads,i think it is easy to fall prey to the
trap laid by the road caretakers.the road was slippery with
water or some similar liquid-i dont know what it was exactly
but then that is not important.my scooter slipped as i applied
some hard brakes and no sooner i was lying on those pieces
of stones called road--lucky enough to have a nice lead over
other vehicles.my four fingers of the right hand were bruised
along with some other small injuries.i somehow managed to
reach home,somehow managed to hide my hand from ma wondering
what would she say--she wont even take my excuse that it was
not my fault but of the guy who spilt that liquid on the
road--not caring about other people like me who are always in
some sort of hurry.next day i bandaged my 4 fingers with 4
band-aids and was not surprised when my friends sarcastically
commented on my condition and on my side of story.i could
use my injured hand only for writing the exam allowing it to
rest in my pocket for the remaining time.

the life went on,the hand was healing when on the tenth of
december i met with another disaster-again no fault of mine.it
was of that car driver who jumped the traffic light without
caring for the traffic rules-wanted to take advantage of
the early morning situation.he samashed my scooter and i went
flying away on the road off the scooter.my body parts were
intact(lucky enough!!) however my left wrist refused to twiddle.i
caught the driver who then promised to pay for the nice
dent i had got on my scooter-all this on the day when my
brother was returning home from ahmedabad for his
convocation-he is finally an engineer and my parents all set
to leave delhi for some urgent work.

u careless,irresponsible
chap,hamesha jaldi mein
rehta hain,teri galti hi hogi

was all i got to hear from ma and then my brother was there to add
some masala to the fun.this time it was the turn of my
right hand to dutifully play the part of my left hand also.

again the life went on,when after a week the weather pounced
on me.it seemed i would pick the bed for some days but
somehow managed to skip fever and got away with sardi jukam- 4 steams a
day-life was certainly hell.i asked mom,"yeh mere sath kya ho
raha hai ma" and she sarcastically replied,"yeh tere galat
karmno ki sazaa hai" and i wondered,"mere paapon ka ghada itni
jaldi bhar gaya.abhi meri umar hi kya hai".in this age of
science and technology cant we prick a hole in that pot of
boob. anyway i continued to struggle with my health and left
hand-it finally started to help me.

the life went on,i again started my workouts in the gym when
on twenty-seventh december i chose the wrong weight for my
little shoulders.end result--my neck paying the price for it.i
was back at home applying medicines on my left wrist and the
newly added stained neck and all the while remembering those words from
ma...currently,i am serving for all the above mentioned
pains--my right fingers(yes,the pain is still there),my left
wrist,my neck and it now seems my right wrist also wants to
join the rocking party!!

with december and the year coming to end i am wishing for some

nice time ahead...hey bhagwan,help me out.punish me in installments,not
all at one go-this litle child of yours cannot handle so much
pressure.

anyways,happy and prosperous new year for all!!!

adios

kya krishna iss kalyug me ye kar sakte hai!!!!

2005-12-27T22:18:00.000+05:30

hey krishna tu is kalyug mai aa kar to dikha?
tune 18 saal ki umar me mama kans ko mara,
BIN LADEN ko hath laga kar to dikha?
tune pura parvat ek ungli par uthaya
mere gym me aa kar ek dumbell utha ke to dikha?
tune bhari mehfil me draupadi ko saree pehnai,
mallika ko ek jodi kapde pehna ke to dikha?
tune gokul ki 1600 gopia saath me patai,
mere company ki ek ladki pata kar to dikha?
tune Arjun ko to Saari Geeta sunayee,
mere Team Lead se baat kar ke to Dikha?
tune to Arjun ka Sarathi banke Pandavon ko jitaaya
India Cricket team ka Coach ban ke WorldCup jitaake to dikha?
hey krishna tu is kalyug mai aa kar to dikha?

fifth semester...finally over...

2005-12-04T01:02:00.000+05:30

enjoying holidays at home... sleeping till late in rajai(in winters)... seems so nice...there is no mood to wake up,take a bath(i am talkin abt winters!!!) and run(ok ride!!) to college early in the morning.the end semester exams are over and the month holidays await me...to forget the college...to sleep till i am satisfied...

the end semester exams went as usual...the uncertainity remains as usual...we had subjects in which the course was "almost" completed to subjects in which i wud say no class took place and the syllabus wasnt even final a day before the exam. but the exams are over and no one wants to talk abt them anymore.the last practical for this semester wud be over on monday and the official 1 month holiday wud then start.

but these 30 days holidays are not to be spent at home.the college wants us to do some "industrial training"(its said to be compulsory).we have been provided with training diaries - to fill them with schedule- how we wasted our time.so all sorts of planning is being made-hw to fraud the certis.i got a lots of work to complete in these holidays.i got to buy some clothes for myself-i am in a desperate need of them and got to buy alone (a bit unlucky!!!) this time.i have to get my "bike" repaired to race it for the next season as my friends say!!and there are lots more...

the semester passed off like a blitzkrieg.the months of august and october were mainly spent at home.i finally got the car to drive at my own will.i met my school "friend" after a gap of two and a half years,though v were in contact thru sms.i tried to fill this gap in these 3 months by meeting her for every small reason possible.i even proposed her but she didnt take me seriously...so we are only "gud" friends now.meanwhile, i found a new friend this semester-through latest technology -SMS.

so,now i am in the second part of 3rd year and then we would be jostling for placements.perparations for cat has already started and they will be in full swing now.filhaal to i would enjoy these holidays along with doing my personal work.

adios

i cant find a suitable name for this blog

2005-11-02T14:10:00.000+05:30

finally after being lying dormant for 15 dayz i have something to write abt.the dayz are so bore that there is nothing to share abt.its not that i am not having time but im having only time and time.so finally i discuss abt the importance of the dreadful month of october(really??) in an aspiring engineer's life.

october is the only month awaited by everyone- students,parents,and all the remaining ones.the school students jaunt in the "dusshera break", the college students also have their whole month off in the name of dusshera. however, this month has mixed emotions for the aspiring engineers like me.they have to face both tragic as well as enjoying moments.the tragic moment that takes place is the even semester results(given the unforeseen outcome every time!!).however, this event has yet to take place this time but still the rumours of the result have made it deleterious. the happier event is the same as others-the hols.though ppl like me spend majority of every month lying at home but stil this month has something spl abt it.

this month is full of festivals- first the navratras, followed by "dusshera" or "vijayadashmi", and then after a small lull, "Diwali". for the muslims, it is the holy month of ramzaan and they await the festival of Eid. the mood among the people is jovial and the hustle-bustle in the markets is a thing to watch. everyone is exuberant. the cleaning of the house starts-my mom forced me to do some work otrwise face terrible consequences.however,im a "laaton ka bhoot!!" not paying any heeds to those threatenings. with my brothers not at home,the hols are ennui.(Ahh!! i am again mentioning the same thing,but i am forced to).even after waking at 10 , i am sleeping the whole day with my mom chiding me for not doing any constructive work.finally i take a cup of tea in the evening to churn my grey cells.

not to mention of the blasts that shook the whole city.one of the blasts took place abt a km away frm my home.as a result,the phones were ringing the whole next day also so as to ascertain our condition.even "some" of my friends called me up .hwever some still relied on that silly sms(kanjusi dekho,even at this crunch time).then we saw every politician, media channel motivating ppl not to be cowed down by such dastardly acts by "foreign" malignants.

so there was not much enthusiam in me this time regarding diwali-no decorations, no crackers to burn even(i am a sincere citizen saying no to crackers!!)but today (on diwali morning) a surprise was awaiting all of us.no one had even a slightest of the idea that even this cud happen.at abt noon , i had just taken my bath the door bell rang.and to everyone's shock my elder brother from bangalore was waiting at the door with his suitcase.he hated coming back to delhi,used to put down the reciever when asked abt his repatriation.but now he was back home without any prior information.then came the second surprise-he had shopped for his family members-jor ka khatka dhire se laga.he had something in store for everyone-cargos for me,top for cousin and a especially packed beautiful sari for "his" mom.it was just more than a diwali gift for her(hey,not the saree but that her son coming back after 3 month rigourous training).

there were some more events that took place with me in october abt my friends' new recent demeanour and some others but cant mention them here-it is not the suitable place to mention.now with the month of october over,some dreadful events await me.the end semester exams are round the corner.add to this the already awaited sem exam results. moreover with the first week off due to the festive season, there is no time to even touch the buks.again add to this augment in my sleeping hours.surely,i am going to have some sleepless nights now!!!

yeh diwali kahi diwala na nikaal de!!!bach ke rehna padegaa!!!

its time for unity!!!

2005-10-15T01:57:00.000+05:30

the last week saw a terrible earthquake striking Pakistan, the intensity being 7.4 on the Richter scale.the scale of the disaster has traumatised the country.pakistan was already crippling with financial resources and this would strain it further.the strains can be seen clearly with pakistan in dire need of outside help.though the epicenter of the quake was in pakistan,India too was part of the disaster, the shock waves being felt all over northern india. however the effect of the cataclysm is in no comparison to that of the neighbouring country.

aid has started pouring in for pakistan from all over the world.nations are sending medical teams, rehabiliation teams and monetary help is being provided.however,its "best friend",the US delayed its part of obligations.it has also offered help but very less in comparison to the behemoth loss in the disaster.watching musharraf on television bemoaning the shortage of helicopters was instructive. there is a large fleet of helicopters nearby the disaster zone in afganistan, but Bush and his legion were busy executing God's orders. Bush has not been able to able to help the hurricane victims in his own country,helping someone else seems a bit sarcastic.so 3 days after the quake,only eigjht helicopters released for help -too little,too late.

India had fared better in this department.it has decently performed the duty of a neighbour.she is helping pakistan even though she herself is injured. India is proving to be a self sufficient country by not depending on others at the time of crisis but helping others,like at the time of tsunami catastrophe.india has offered all possible material help including the offer for joint army rescue operations, but as usual the pakistanis dread of the indian army landing on its soil refused the offer.releif material has been sent-for the first time since 1971 war.the two most fierce adversaries of decades have united in the time of crisis abd survival.the army crossed the LOC-a very rare occurence-not to traumatise the antagonist but to help the already traumatised opposition in building bunkers.

the indian army is striving to change the hearts of the kashmiri ppl.they are helping the injured and the destitutes in the best possible way . there has been a lot of conflagration in the hearts of the kashmiris over the oppressions of the army,but the recent years have seen their hearts melting with the army adopting a more humanistic approach.

the recent catastrophe may prove to be a blessing in disguise.the losses are great in number and no sort of gains can replace those losses,but still time is the beat healer.looking at the long term effects, it may play a great role in establishing the much needed peace between the two countries....

SMS mania!!!

2005-10-05T02:10:00.000+05:30

it has been over a year now since the sms mania gripped me.i have been severely hit by sms abuse. the whole scene started when i got my personal cell(only i know what all coaxing and admonishing i had to do for that toy!!!) and with that came along a bad habit of sending innumerous messages(they are free so no bill headaches!!) from my dad's reliance cell.initially i cosidered people being glued to cell to be insane but now i have also joined that infinite list.now sending the message counter beyond the thousand mark per month is a child's play for me.

my parents usually get annoyed by the constant beeping of the cell indicating message delivery or message received. i have been perpetually berated by them for becoming a slave to that human invention.but as the phrase goes,"laaton ke bhoot baaton se nahi maante". the problem has got a bit bigger now.my elder brother has also joined my parents and has threatened me of dire consequences if i continue the excessive ussage of the cell.(though his warnings are not so strong.he understands!!).

now coming to the mistakes i have been constantly repeating these dayz.with the regular use of cell,i have my fingers well set on the little keypad.now i need not see the keypad while typing messages.and most of the time i dont check whether the correct recipient has been selected or not.this habit of mine i had pushed me into a big problem. i was on the verge of losing a very valuable friend.

i usually discuss something or the other with my friends on sms.so, on that day,i was discussing abt this friend with some other fren of mine. and by mistake i sent the message to the guy i was discussing about.i got to knw abt it only when i got a reply frm him asking for an explanantion.this took me by a surprise and though i had to make all sorts of explanations , the matter was amicably solved.but the next moment i was again off my senses. i agn sent a wrong message to the same guy.i still cant believe how i placated that guy.but the problem did not end there.i have been constantly making such mistakes since then(laaton ka bhoot!!) and i get to knw abt the err only when i meet him the next time.i just become a deadpan when he informs abt the message and i dont have any excuses.but now he has got used to it (however, i have not changed !!) and derides it.

people learn from mistakes but here i am,transforming mistakes into blunders .the faux pas i created would have surely resulted in losing a nice friend.i have been lucky to a friend like him who ignored all sorts of drivel i sent to him (by mistake!!) and also he did not feel bad over it.

DCE-on a new horizon

2005-10-01T00:31:00.000+05:30

it is difficult to take notice of changes in a slow moving object. however ,at dce the changes are taking place at a more rapid pace than ever expected .it all began with the arrival of the new princi last year(acually i shud say former princi).he dreams to transform dce to an iit level institution.one can see improvements in "almost" every field.the infrastructure has improved tremendously along with the opening of computer center and the new library .the biggest surprise is that the classes are taking place quite regularly.(even the labs take place quite frequently).compared to this,in my first sem i wud be at home even before noon and my parents used to look at me obliquely suspecting that i took a route other than the one that goes to college.earlier mass bunks were more frequent than the number of classes taking place but now the trend has reversed.the princi has disallowed any sort of disturbaces with studies. no events are allowed to be organised during classs hours.

dce is using technology for improvisation. the concept of e-governance is being introduced in the college.the hostels and the departments have been connected by WI-Fi.
dce is going ga-ga over placements this year.the placement scenario is best than ever. juggernauts like google , which used to knock only at the doors of IITs also visited the campus. of the three students recruited from india, one is a DCEITE(a gr8 achievement i believe!!!).

however as i mentioned earlier the improvement is in almost every field but not in every field.the admin is the toughest to deal with(as usual like the govt machinery!!).it takes 5-6 months for the results to be out as compared to maximum 2 months time taken by IITs. one can find all sorts of buks in the library except the ones which are reqd. my 3 library cards ,as usual, remain with me.i have stopped carrying them with me.(no use of carrying them wid me!!). the library has been digitised i.e. the buks are issued thru computers but the software used is flawed.it now takes more time to get the buk issued.then the computer center to talk abt. one can find the net rarely working there.

well certainly DCE is on the path of developement but still
the "but" remains...

mid sems are finally over!!

2005-09-25T01:04:00.000+05:30

the mid sems are finally over!!! last two weeks , i have been a bit busy, not because of classes(oh yes!! finally they are becoming a bit regular now) but because of mid sems, i had to get the class notes photostated. it is at this time that the photostat machines stop functioning and one has to wait for the whole day to his turn. it has been a norm to mass bunk the classes a week before the mid sems. the teachers are told in advance abt our absence and to rest in their rooms during our class timings. however there are some colleges which take mass bunks seriously. in fact the sister college of dce have slapped monetary fine on each student of 2 branches taking part in mass bunks(is it a school or a college???). one can easily find notices warning students of rigorous actions. although our reason for mass bunks is to study for the mid sems, the actual study starts only in the weekends before the exams.

my mid sems went fairly well and expect a good score albiet the de facto arbitrator is the examiner. it all depends on the mood i which he is checking the papers. still there are some teachers like the database one who donate generously no matter how u perform. ofcourse you have to attempt the paper to score the marks. the algorithms paper was a shock to the class. people had mugged up the buk but finally ended using their brainpower forcefully to solve the paper. the paper asked to write algorithms for which the buk was of not much help. i did not have that buk and my amigos tried to force me to accept that if i wanted to score, got to buy that buk. at some moment of time, i was even tempted to buy that buk ,but my seniors and elders advised me against it.ultimately, i had the last laugh as there were ppl who had solved every single question of that buk and still expect to score the same as mine. the remaining one went off smoothly with no major glitches.(there was one but it did not took major shape.).

so i wud again have some "free" time before the end sems begin a month later. some of us are planning a jaunt to a hill station. although or success plan ratio is minimal but yes. we have been successful at times.lets see what happens this time!!!

reading-my new hobby!!

2005-08-29T17:38:00.000+05:30

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!!

2005-08-15T23:18:00.000+05:30

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

2005-08-12T00:22:00.000+05:30

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!!!

2005-08-11T00:42:00.000+05:30

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!!

2005-08-09T00:15:00.000+05:30

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!!!

2005-08-07T23:55:00.000+05:30

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???

india-us

2005-07-29T23:58:00.000+05:30

the prime minister is back to home to handle his daily affairs after a historic visit to united states.he has to silence his critics now particularly the left and the bjp.the lest,one of the coalition partner has always been against the govt policies and this time also was not a surprise.the bjp did spare some time from the "family" feud to point fingers at the deal,that too before the left could do so,inorder to prove itself an effective opposition.the fact however is that this step was initiated by the former pm vajpayee.manmohan singh was given a red carpet welcome,the first for any indian pm.infact,the "musharraf man" was forced to cancel his us trip when he was denied the same welcome as to his indian counterpart.manmohan singh signed the deal under the nssp(next step in strategic partnership).india has been recognised as "the responsible nuclear state",allowing her to buy the much needed nuclear fuel for her dying nuclear plants.in return india has agreed to seperate its civilian and military sites and bring the former under the international safeguards.the nuclear energy accounts for only 2-3% in power generation as compared to about 70% in france.india has been aiming to generate 20000-30000mw from nuclear energy apart from the aimbitious fast breed reactor.however these plans were backfooted when india was blacklisted after pokhran blasts in 1998..bush has promised to emend the existing us laws and persuade her allies to supply the reuired infrastructure to india.britain,the biggest ally(read "biggest chamcha") of us initially denied to have any nuclear relations with india but soon pledged to follow the us line.it now remains sen as of when and how us fulfills her promises which,according to experts,will be a formidable task given the decreasing popularity of bush.

the broadband experience

2005-07-25T01:38:00.000+05:30

it has been a month since my broadband connection was finally installed at my house.i was all excited about it,wanting to download as much as possible though there is alimit.but soon my honeymooon with the broadband was over when 10 days later the link broke down.the link took 3 days and a strong effort from my side to get restored.i had to call the customer care all the 3 days so as to remind the engineers of my problem.mind u,these calls to them were not toll free,so i was just inflating my monthly telephone bill.also i had to bear the irritating advertising offers during the calls baffling me even more.anyways i was back on net after 3 days.

but this repair was not to last too long when the link severed down again after 2 days.i had to again rely on those customer care executives.i had already experienced their services,so in a way i was prepared for them.i had to call them five days in a row without any denouement.finally,my patience broke down and i banged at their office doors but again with no use.i was told the engineer will come today to restore the link.your complaint has been recorded. and my day ended waiting for that guy called engineer.this continued for almost a week.i felt i had no right to criticize the customer care.Finally after a strenous effort in this hot and humid weather and a "brief" period of 12 days,i was again able to surf the net.people castigate the govt companies for their slackness but what would you call this(mind u, this is a pvt company)??mine is not the only example,but we have a very common example of this in the field of power and electricity.it seems the pvt companies have also joined the govt companies for the infamous title.

unfortunately,my agony did not end here.there was a bit more for me in the store.the company's site shows that i used the internet during that brief period also.however this time i was a bit lucky.without much problems,i was told i will get the credit for that "error".i had complaints of such high billing issues but could not prove it and this matter is still hanging with me tussling with the authorities.so im back on the net (lets see for how many days i am lucky this time...) downloading the softwares and hoping that-this downloading would not be interrupted soon...!!!

the heat is on

2005-06-23T22:59:00.000+05:30

the month of june is nearing its end.the kids are busy completing their homework to be submitted in the schools.it is the time for monsoons to knock-knock at the door of delhi,bt this time the story is quite different.There are no signs of monsoon rains and the scorching heat has started taking its toll,killing people,the weapons being the murderous heat waves.the Sun God is showing no mercy,emitting fireballs with temperature scaling new heights.the power cuts have become a routine in daily life with majority of hours being spent without any power.now with the heat b/w the ambani bros cooling down,the junior A shud focus a bit on his company Rel Energy also.with the mercury soaring,fans do not play any role in the relief package bt the irony is that there is no power even to switch on the fans.people are being forced to use their car Acs so that their kids can have a peaceful sleep,bt this would continue for how long...??

life has come to a standstill,leaving home after 10 in the morning seems like winning olympic gold and making the nation proud.u dont even get to know when the 1 litre bottle ur carrying gets emptied.the scarcity of water in the city and water being used as a tool in the dirty game of politics has just put salt on the wounds of the people.the delhi jal board has raised its hands not knowing in which direction it shud go for water with the neighbouring states refusing to part with water.

it is a pity to see pics of students in newspapers standing in long queues in this murderous heat.mind u,these long lines are not for movie tickets at pvr cinemas but for admission to the colleges to shape their future.the students have to play the whole day in this hot summer to get the seats in the sports quota.
all i can say that,"is garmi ne to hame (sing) maar daala,alllaaaahhh maar daala !!"

the met department forcasts the arrival of monsoon by the end of june.the monsoons will certainly provide some relief to the delhites but again the sewer problems will make life hell for them.

Switching to broadband

2005-06-10T23:07:00.000+05:30

at last,i have got rid of that boring and sluggish dialup.i will b switching on to the broadband within a week.i cannot forget the troubles during the days i used the dial up.these are the common problems each of us have faced.most of the time that silly modem wud not listen to the drrr... drrr.... dialtone and those kool error msgs,i have remembered them.then the deadening speed with which the page opened up,i cud have easily gone downstairs and make a cup of tea for myself.disconnections are also as frequent as the smooches in the mallika sherawat's movie.

i hv already experienced the vsnl,mtnl and the reliance connections.the mtnl speed was pathetic no matter at what time during the day(or even night!!) i was surfing the net.the reliance one(im using it rgt now)always shows a constant speed of 115200bps(kash!yeh speed aati!!),with not even minor fluctuations.the cable net is still not feasible in my area due to poor penetration of computers besides the installations charges are also very high.

but with the arrival of the broadband on the horizon,the rates have been tumbling.the service providers are jostling among each other to provide the broadband connection with very low installation and monthly charges.i have taken up the tata indicom "summer bonanza" and will soon enjoy the unlimted internet.now i can chat endlessly and download the desired songs and all kinda softwares...the list goes on,without worrying for the inflated bills.i will convert those songs to the midi format before sending them to my mobile using the data cable.i will not have to use the GPRS anymore(i used it mainly for tones) and the 8888 services.(the ringtones are too expensive!!)

yeah!i will have sum good songs to hear on my mobile now..

.im leaving...for now im still surfing on the dialup...

the holidays have just begun...!!

2005-06-04T23:25:00.000+05:30

my exams are over and the holidays have just started... The two months holidays seems to be too long this time as i dont have much work to do. training is one of the options for passing the time, sitting in an air conditioned room with internet(along with yahoo messenger..!!) and telephone at your service all the time.bt i am not doing any training and having a tough time at home. sleeping at 11 and waking at 10 in the morning seems fine but after 10,i have only TV and food as my partners. my eldest brother is leaving for iim ahmedabad and the elder one for bangalore for his job(Yeah..!! i will now have some good cash to spend at my disposal.)this month leaving me alone at home. adding to my sorrows, mummy has gone out of station. now, i have to take care of my meal time myself in addition of taking care of the house. mummy,wapas aa jao..!! i am not in the mood to study anything also. abhi to exams khatam hue hai... there is not even a single good hindi movie releasing this month. with no electricity, i cant even watch z cinema and set max-the only options for movies on tv. ye chuttiyan kab khatam hogi...!!