SaJellish

2007-04-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

So I am back form my slumber. Part of the problem was the fact that I could not get enough enthusiasm to fix the language on blogger or maybe the enthusiasm to blog itself in the first place.

But, Anywaaaysss,
wait a minute pleaseeeee,
mayyybe............

And please don't ask me anything about the above three lines. They sum up to be my best experience in the land of the Red Devils.

2007-03-29T03:14:00.000-07:00

Strikes dont kill me..................probably never will

2006-12-15T04:37:00.000-08:00

And then again WB went back. The root problem is that we can change , evolve and adapt but still a hyena remains a hyena. It just cannot transform into something different even if it wants to. Two really negative events happened during the course of the last week. One perhaps is an ongoing saga that will probably continue. Singur probably is the last effort of mamta banerjee to get an iota of political milege after the sever drubbing in the last elections. Once politicians raised a hue and cry the usual social wannabes and a few activists gathered round the unknown area as flies swarm over sweets. Buddhadev knows what will happen if he lets the Tatas leave. Its a desperate situation for him as WB had been really warming up to the competition in the last couple of years. IT was infact placed outside the purview of strike disruption. IT majors came in hordes but will become hopelessly apprehensive if Singur continues for long. In the midst of this came the AICTU strike. And the only states that were highlighted bear the red flag. Even the IT industry had to bear the burnt of the strike. I dont have any idea whether to support the government or the opposition on the singur issue. A commoner like me would like to see that industries are extended all the facilities to grow and prosper. But at the same time they should not come at the cost of common people. Unfortunately this is precisely what happens in developing countries. And WB govt. is not justified to pay the poor farmers only one and a half the price of their land. Its far too less and if the claim of opposition of it being prime land is true then I am really against the whole idea of this manufacturing unit. But as things stand today there is more at stake than just a piece of land here. The communists will not let anything come in the way of their decision. Not in the only state where they have a semblance of existence , no no wait well the only state which they virtually own. The entire left ego's edifice is at stake and hence singur will happen.And sadly the recuperations wont last long. Sooner the issue will fade from public memory and the social activists will be back in the cool confines of delhi to place a defence for Mohammad Afzal. Not that I am against it but the irony is soon they will have another issue to keep themselves busy. Ditto for what happens in Vidharbha. People make tall promises on the eve of the winter assembly of the Maharashtra legislature but soon the haves fled to mumbai and everything is forgotten. This is the ritual that happens all the time. And shit-headed bastards like me keep jotting this down as if others don't know it. Maybe we lack the guts to do anything and placing blame onto someone is such a kick. It gives a virtual satisfaction without having to do anything physical. The inner angst is thrown out and I become normal once again. Maybe that's what is the job of all the people. This is mine and I keep doing it without doing anything that really matters...............

anger management is essential when.........

2006-12-13T04:35:00.000-08:00

To,

The Maintenance,

Aiswarya Lake View Apartment,

Sir, I have to write this letter as I am finding the maintenance office closed by the time I reach home or leave for office. Someone is playing a mischief of disconnecting our cable connection for the past couple of days. I reckon it’s the responsibility of the maintenance to take care of such nuisance and as such I am writing this letter. I can assure you it’s a valid connection and as such you can check it form the cable guy. Also the only reason its taken form outside is because the internal wiring is not working. Also I do not have the time and energy to call an electrician to do the internal wiring. My biggest grouse is how anyone just cut my cable wire can. What sort of indecent and impolite people live in this flat? Who is playing the dirty mischief? I can assure you that the wire causes no problem to anyone but us as its parched high on the ceiling. For an apartment which levies a fine on its people who are late by a day for payment of maintenance such repeated acts erode its credibility if any to zilch. I do not have the time to attend the meetings of the apartment but I still want to know who if at all has any problem with the wire. And as the maintenance person in charge I expect it to be your moral responsibility to ensure that such incidents do not repeat in the future. I also expect you to fix the problem by calling the cable guy whenever you have the time. I apologize for the mistakes in the letter as I am really short on time for the last couple of days.

I hope that necessary and stern action will be initiated against the perpetuators and care will be taken to ensure that such dastardly incidents do not occur again

Regards,

Residents of C 201

What is "jumping the roof" ???

2006-10-14T05:42:00.000-07:00

Today (13 Oct 2006) happened to be one of those days that comes and hits back at you every single time you think that you ordeal is finally over. Crazy things happen and one gets screwed over again and again till it becomes an inherent part of your system. Perhaps one might begin to love the struggle, a weird sense of Stockholm syndrome. The day started on an extremely bad taste partly because of an uneasy sleep of 3 hours. And one did not require the nose of a blood hound to smell trouble. The events that unfolded the previous day had put in a rotten state and realizing that I am not going to get much sleep made my little sleeping hours meaningless. Now it so happens that I am uncomfortable driving a bike. Blame it on my university which prohibited its usage or anything but that's the truth. And I for one have no qualms accepting it. But then a certain M convinced me that he is great at it. I had to wake up early to go and book a tatkal ticket. I was supposed to go with a B who would accompany me on my journey. Now a simple plan was to borrow a vehicle and reach B early in the morning. I was delighted to get an assurance from a certain O that he would lend me his vehicle. I for one was under the impression that he had a gearless vehicle. But then again simpletons like me don’t have a single vehicle while people apparently have a whole army. I went to O's place in the night along with M. The prospect of getting a vehicle even if for just a single day had transformed M and a certain A (both being my flat-mates) to heaven. They started planning big things. Castles in the air, unfortunately A's favorite song was ringing its death knell in my head. Did I really need any more signals? The whole universe was trying its level best in trying to dissuade us from plodding the path to collateral damage. But then I dearly needed the tatkal ticket. So I was escorted by M to O's place. Even the lecherous dogs were trying hard to convince me to retrace back. All along the way I got to know from M that there are lots of CCD's in Bangalore. He wanted to hang out at one of them irrespective of the fact that the exact address to any one was not a requirement. On quashing that plan he came up with a plan to buy a shirt in Big Bazaar. Now that's genius, to buy a shirt at 10 pm plus in the night. Can you look beyond utter stupidity for once and marvel at M's desperation at getting his hands on a vehicle. It was perhaps as if M has been locked all his life in a dudgeon and this vehicle was going to be his chance to freedom. He was certainly not letting to have a minor hiccups like closed shop or unknown location come in the way of his long cherished hitherto unknown freedom. Fortunately O stays nearby and I was saved of any more of M's majestic nocturnal plans.

Coming back to O, I was prepared to get a gearless baby. But then after the pleasantries I was presented with a geared one. Apparently only buffoons cannot drive a geared vehicle is the popular notion I guess. But some admit to the same, others try to fake it. Common its not an orgasm but that isn’t going to stop people from doing the things they do. Sensing my apparent discomfort as I dreadfully watched the bike, O started becoming apprehensive. I suddenly realized that I had been blessed with hindsight as I may be a novice in driving but my buddy M was a master. He's driven all sorts of vehicles at home and has often been on long drives too. Believe me I had not seen him drive once but then I had no inkling of disbelieving M. I heaved a sigh of relief and turned to M. I explained to O that M will drive to our humble abode and then in the morning B will drive around to the ticket-counter. I had no reason to believe that the sudden drop in M's adrenaline was alarming. He was suddenly stone cold. I believed it was the chilly night. I told him to take charge of the situation and drive us home. He bravely took out the vehicle and I sat on the pillion without a care in the world. I had absolutely no idea it was the return of the all too familiar "jumping the balcony" syndrome. I would have explained the syndrome except that there is nothing left to explain. It’s as plain as it is literal. It is characterized by pushing the body to its limits physically as opposed to mentally. It involves doing things that will almost definitely be characterized as silly by any sane person. But then people do it in Guinness book and Ripley's and on a bunch of shows. Surely all people are not insane. So M has a tendency of accepting crazy challenges like jumping from the balcony or driving a vehicle pretending you know how to drive. Faking the crap syndrome would be a good term to define such outrageous behavior. So throwing my little concerns like spending the next hour looking for a CCD or staring at a closed big bazaar and trying to purchase a shirt at midnight, I rested my case with O. My credibility was now hanging fully on M's able shoulders. I was prepared to be pained for the night as long as I had a driver till our abode. I was hopelessly confident in M's driving skills. But it seems we did not have much driving to do. My credibility would have survived had we had a normal accident. Speeding youngsters plunge into a gutter would have been a really normal line in an obscure page of a little known daily the next morning featuring my and M's name. (Its been long since my name was there with no chances of it being there now :( ). But know I had to lose my credibility down to smallest iota. The thing that followed was shamefully funny. Funny, for the audience that other than O and his flat-mate consisted only of dogs. As soon as I prepared myself to brace the onslaught of soothing night breeze up my face I heard an unexpected noise. Within no time my bum was kissing the ground and my leg was getting crushed under the vehicle. I was unable to comprehend anything other than this as it was sudden and painful for me. Apparently the overzealous M had made a horse of the bike. As in the bike raised it front wheels as a proud horse raises its legs but then it kept raising and rising till we fell backwards. So much so for the joy ride that M had envisioned and I had trashed. And the bike came crashing down on the front foot rest and my poor left leg. Therein time stopped for what seemed an eternity. M was half as stunned as O. Both we up and standing but were too stunned by what had happened. Poor me, I lay there wrenching in pain and crying out to relieve my foot from the grip of the bike's weight. All of it fell in deaf ears. Within a few seconds both O and M came to their senses. To my utter disbelief and surprise they turned towards the bike to examine the damage. O out of concern M out of perhaps guilt. And no one was willing to move the bike and free my crushed foot. Finally I decided to help myself but it seems you cannot lift a bike when you foot is trapped below the same. A few more moans and shrieks along with the dogs that by now had raised their din to a few hundred decibels. Amid all the chaos I lay writhing in pain trying to free my selves from the weight of a fallen bike and its still fallen riders. Finally when toe could not be crushed further and I had again become victim of the Stockholm syndrome thereby enjoying the pain did O and M relieve me of my misery? That physical fall was just a bike high but the mental one was fathomless. There was an uneasy quiet when everyone was up on their feet, with me still tending my feet. That ensured that I was spared of looking O in the eye. Once O grasped the gravity of the situation he was quick to ascertain the damage. He pointed to the front head-rest which taking a clue from the bike was pointing towards the sky. Like a man-eater it wanted nothing less than being in the lines of Discovery but was as unfortunate as Columbia. Fortunately for the rear foot rest my foot came in as a buffer. That should have pleased O into a familiar giggle that he and his flat-mate are all to (in) famous for. But funny as the situation was, still no one was laughing. O immediately trashed any further test-rides and promptly rode his bike into the safety of his flat. That was the sad end of M's adventure night. It was a realllllly uneasy time. And we just wanted to get our asses off the block as soon as possible. We ran away from the place with dogs all the more energized to prey on us. But perhaps they realized that we weren't the ones to be messed with courtesy the spectacle which they had witnessed. Perhaps stray dogs can be tamed but then they have to be dogs to be tamed.

I trudged back home and spurt into bursts of laughter all the way. Whenever I recollected the memory I could not control my selves. M was a little more demure as was to be expected. Finally my last room mate on our

Lastly why am I writing this stuff? Why is it that after giving up yet another thing I am making a comeback of sorts? How much free time can an individual have even when he has a full-time job? What is it that can fill the seemingly humongous void? I lack two things inspiration and purpose. Till I have both I will continue to have ample time to do such fallacies..........Goodness me more than two decades and yet no sight of the bulls-eye. But I am getting bored of the void and running out of excuses like browsing, business et al just to kill time. It’s really time I find something or at least pretend having found something. At the end of the day things rub off and just as I continue faking things I still believe I will find my purpose. I have lost my patience but am close to losing so much more.......

Syriana and silly me

2006-03-05T21:57:00.000-08:00

Oil prices are a very delicate issue in our country. Every now and then the small rise in their prices leads to a lot of hue and cry. And the fact remains that it’s necessitated by international market prices. Being a spectator to the international prices as well as the intense pressure to reign in domestic prices puts the government in a fix. The opposition raises a lot of hue and cry in the parliament and what we end up is a marginal increase leading to the bleeding of the so-called "nav-ratna" PSU's. And the credit for it goes to the opposition sponsored parliament stalls or by the "responsible" government partners who held it to an open ransom for what is conveniently called the outside support.

But does it really matter a tad bit to the common man. I am not talking about the city bred slick urbane “sickos” but the semi-rural millions. So we end up saving the pennies of the conveniently comfortable city-bred dolts. These government cushioned prices ensure that people who would not have dreamed of spending their dough on luxuries like personal transport are happily spending on “imported-fuel”. Is it really necessary? Do we need to shield this blatantly irresponsible community anymore? Why should the government care about such people? If people have enough dough they might still be in a position to purchase what they want otherwise do hell with them. Let there be no subsidies on these imported fuels and people will definitely revert back to some cleaner and cheaper alternative. After all isn’t necessity the mother of all invention. Let’s create a necessity first.

The government can kick in and provide better means of mass transport. All the revenue previously lost to subsidies can be utilized to provide better facilities. This will also ensure that not every Tom, Nick and Harry will burn the imported fuels with government connivance. The spiraling cost will ensure that the automobile companies also come up with a definite plan to counter the fuel problem. Rather than the mad rush to sell more and more vehicles they should allocate more R & D specifically to alternative fuels. If Brazil can use ethanol blended petrol why the hell can’t we do something similar? But even that will be just a start as we have to shake off our reliance totally the sooner the better.

The above discussion is useless unless I specify my moral dilemma in the midst of all this rhetoric. I am supposed to be taking a job in the next couple of months. And all my integrity in delivering the speech above will go for a toss if I too end up falling prey to the gas-guzzling youth tendency. Purchase a bike and vroom past the ethical issues in a jiffy. They say charity begins at home. I can argue I am far away from mine. Either way I stand to lose, as a brash-urbane kid or as a fellow-citizen. What will I end up doing? My guess is as good as yours………… :(

Syriana

2006-02-19T02:37:00.000-08:00

The recent removal of Mani Shankar Aiyer was really one of the most painfully sinple ones to comprehend. He was one of the few minister who always hogged the limelight. And for a change he was in news mostly for the good reasons. He ruffled the feathers of the now-struggling Shiv Sena and faced the frenzied party workers in Maharashtra. But he survived the carnage. That was in all probability a fair battle. But then his obsession to secure India’s energy needs proved to be his Waterloo. Once again crucified on the altar for one's sincerity.

Under his steweredship we could finally see some positive government involvement to pull strings and get “friendly” nations on the table. Though the much awaited behemoth amalgamation of ONGC, HPCl, BPCL, IOCL never materialized still ONGC-Mittal consortium was finally putting a brave face infront of the Chinese onslaught led by PetroChina and Sinopec. And considering the fact that even Sinopec (much smaller than PetroChina) is much bigger than ONGC, it was no surpise to see ONGC being out-bid its bigger rivals. We lost most of the African and Russian bids. But still we managed to secure Sakhalin-1 where ONGC made the largest overseas investment. And the fact that he went all the way showed a clear resolve on the part of the ministry that it was commited towards ONGC’s foreign ventures.

It really seemed that Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline would finally materialize. Now am really not too optimistic about the pipeline or its vocal supporter but still for $ 70 million to Pakistan it is certainly more secure than the one conceived through Bangladesh. For me Myanmar and Bangladesh are far too insecure than Iran or Pakistan will ever be. And for that simple logic : there are hardly any oil-exporting countries with stable governments. Certainly the lesser of the two evils should be preferred.

To get cheap oil from as many diversified countries as possible is really one of the better strategies. I admire Hugo Chavez for a variety of reasons, one certainly being guts. The vision he has for Latin America is all-encompassing and if properly implemented just darn good. For the first time the only member of OPEC from that region is spending the money it earns from oil on social initiatives to improve the overall standard of living. And the effects are not confined to Venezuela, but to all of Latin America. And helping the whole process is the emergence of like-minded (leftist) governments in most of Latin America. Be it Michelle Bachelet (Chile) , Eva Morales (Bolivia) or Lulu Silva (Brazil) the entire Latin America is turning left (to the huge dismay of White House’s present incumbents). And Hugo Chavez, along with his good old friend Fidel Castro, is ensuring that there entire region has a balanced socio-economic development. Something the region deserved since a very long time. Being America’s eighth largest oil-exporter does mean that Uncle Sam is watching keenly but Hugo is going unabated to supply cheap oil to all the Latin American countries which Venezuela surprisingly refrained from, in the last century or so. Now my question is that why we are not interested in buying more oil from Venezuela? I am sure it’s a trickier situation with American feathers ruffled over just the Iran pipeline. The recent thaw in Indo-US relations further ensures that anti-American voices are suppressed. So instead of having someone worthy on the Republic day we had the American stooge, Saudi King to be saluted for supplying us with oil and his countrymen with tyranny. We might never be able to be part of the great revolution taking place in Latin America for our proximity to their northern continent’s powerful nation prevents us from being proactive. And I still wish to have Eva Morales as our chief guest next year in his trademark sweater. The final straw was dropped when Eva Morales did not visit India and visited China instead along with so many other nations after he was elected the president. That was really a psychological blow on the face. The comrades hardly let go of an opportunity to pull the government’s legs. In this light, the fact that Eva Morales skipped India despite comrades ruling at the centre was particularly disturbing and reflected poorly on the comrades than on the grand old party. The person who should have been welcomed with open hands was never invited and Bolivia is just a poor land-locked country. And there has been no announcement of aid in the face of the recent floods in that country. The overall internatinal aid stands at a meager $2 million. We offered more to Sri Lanka during Tsunami and all of a sudden we are silent. Diplomacy is tricky issue but humanity should be placed at a higher pedestal.

Then there is the growing economic clout of Russia propelled by its leading gas-exporting state-owned “nav-ratna” Gazprom. Almost all of Europe is increasingly dependent on Gazprom and its not just the the east European countries but Germany and UK well. And Russia is not going to play it easy as was displayed by the recent crisis over gas prices between Russia and the post-orange revolution, pro-west Ukraine. And we are still not making any pro-active attempts to leverage our diplomacy to help some sort of joint collaboration between Gazprom and ONGC.

To top it all Murli Deora is the successor of Aiyer. UPA is certainly going over the top in ensuring that Bush is comfortable during his visit to India. So the unabashedly pro-US Murli happens to be an ideal successor for Aiyer as far as Uncle Sam is concerned but the ministry and the oil PSU’s will lose the zeal and the fizz. In the end it certainly isn’t worth the trouble.

And then people tell me to be an eternal optimist. I am better off being a practical pessimist.

I am goin crazy.........

2005-12-07T05:43:00.000-08:00

Now I had taken a vow few days back not to crib about things. Seemingly simple stuff that pisses me off. Alas I had one of my notorious outbursts a couple of days back. And thanks to my A.I.R. (the national radio for a change) neighbor (am kinda short of adjectives for him), everyone knows how absolutely crazy I am. As a matter of fact I am and my anger management techniques are really not working. Anyways, I am really sorry for Abhi and Imran. God bless their huge hearts as they simply forgot the tiff and abhi messeged me "no issues" before I could tender an apology. Still the whole farce leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. Some kids grow rather too slowly.
One of the reasons I had decided to skip home during these holidays was that I though just spend a last holiday in IIT, for a change. That was quite a shock to most of my friends as I am always on the look for any opportunity to get back home. I also expected it would be fun to live without any care. But turns out I was wrong. Today was a really hectic day and its still not over. I spend the whole morning looking for my project prof. Now that I have lost my only mode of travel it pains to walk the long walk. And on top of it I had to make the trips twice to ensure that I keep my morning plans on schedule. In between I hopped back to finally deliver my intern evaluation report along with that of a friend. So two trips and no result. I came back to realize it was the last date for the CV submission of a company. Again fight in the afternoon to write something that can remotely resemble a CV. A pathetic ensemble of under-achievements and the sheer bulk of non-sense is what remained of that CV. As an added precaution I had to write "Resume" so as to prevent any sensible person from dropping it into the trash bin. And to top it all I had to submit the CV's of two dolts who I have already named. One's enjoying cosy comforts back home while the other is getting his ass whipped for something referred to as Inter-IIT. So I had to brush their equally pathetic resume's and get them printed and submitted. Then again tomorrow 8 a.m. is the last day for my self-study project report. And I haven't started cause I don't know what to write. I have to head back to the lab at 9 p.m. so as to get back to work for my project. And I was warned by the research scholar that it might be well past midnight before I can head back to my room. And Das will kill me for not writing a stupid HS presentation that I have been procrastinating all along. I am getting nuts. And frankly speaking I dont have anything else other than the deadline tomorrow morning to meet urgently. but am not sure as to what to jot down. Oh ! goodness me. These holidays suck big-time and I am longing to get back to my sweet home. I hate to admit its not even a week before the holidays started. I might as well exchange the holidays for this pain................if only wishes were horses; begger would ride and I would sleep off.

Timepass for Demented Souls ....................

2005-10-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

Supposedly studying for an exam scheduled on the third sunday next month, I keep thinking about how greatly I overestimate the innate efficiency of my own work. The efficiency that has allowed me to scrape through courses with minimal effort and minimalistic (rather shady) output. But, then a burnt child might dread fire, burnt morons are eternally antracites whose sole purpose is to keep burning. I don't know why I sphew such insipidity here or elsewhere but I have this urge for vomitting crap that is the exact antithesis of what Dave Goreman experienced while charting Googlewhack. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this termThere it goes again.............me and my inherant nothingness that snowballs into a pleothra of activities which are wholly non-productive and to be precise are actually counter-productive.

So I am describing one such adventure just to tell people how productive??? your's truly actually is. A few days ago, I watched a show of a certain Dave Gorman talking about googlewhack. And on a certain afternoon I just recollected it and tried to see if I could find any of the googlewhacks on my blog. Incidentally I tried the title itself. And lo ! there it was....................I had a googlewhack. On my own website and the title itself. I start playing Bryan Adam's cloud number 9 till reality strikes back. The google wahck rules. And another Waterloo. It says one out of six possible matches not just a single match. Then again the title is one word not two words which are required. The title is not in any dictionary cause its purely the creation of the inherant grey cells (or the lack of it) of an idiot. And many more serious issues which raise serious questions to the credibility of a genuine discovery. But then who cares. The only thing I have followed religiously (albiet being an athiest) is breaking pseudo-moral,ethical rules. So one more addition. Big deal...........One gotta enjoy the short pleasures in life. And that amorak player is looking good too. Add to it the ultimate game "Potato Guy", the most difficult and entertaiing game ever made. The kind that only esteemed people can make upteen attempts to understand. The SuSE icon looks cool and the only feature lacking is perhaps it feasting on a frail looking, four coloured butterfly. Maybe next-time....

The senselessness within

2005-10-14T00:38:00.000-07:00

The following post is a bad attempt at what depicting how I spend my day (as if it matters). Its painful and hopelessly boring so reader is at his/her own discretion to move forward or "close the tab".

Sometimes these days, I become extremely depressed. Not just with what I am doing with my life but the way our whole world runs. I tend to be pessimistic and cynical over each and everything. I just can't stop this particular way of thinking. And I just know from where does it exactly stem. Its a collective burst of various emotions that I somehow manage to keep under the warps. But every now and then it seems to slip out in the vastness of universe. My own failures (ya I have to reconcile and term them sometime or the other ) seem far to insignificant and hopeless in the wider spectrum of the world. And I seem to be using a lot of what I term "Goopedia". The combination of Google and Wikipedia is deadly. I just read a simple news on the web and before I know it I have tonnes of information sphewing out from my firefox. A classic example of what transpires between the confines of 231, Ganga is like this: Yesterday I saw a documentary by BBC on Modechai Vanunu. Now this Dimona technician was actually nominated for the Nobel peace prize from 1988 to 2004 by a knighted Nobel-Laurate till his eventual death. And I still get goosebumps as to how Somon Peres actually won the award and which ****ole nominated him. Now I don't want to get into the (sordid) details of all that. Help yourself with Goopedia for that sake. But then from Vanunu I went to "cindy" and then to people who are expert at hunting down criminals (or whom they consider so). So the journey led me to Adolf Eichmann. The deeds he meted out to jews during the Holocast, his escape to Argentine post Nazi dominance and his eventual kidnapping (I am not sure about the correct term here), trails and death in Isreal. Then I got directed to top Nazi hunters. Even to the activities of Mossad, especially its adventures outside Isreal. The most famous of all being the entebbe operation. Then I came back to the familiar RAW and ISI. Coming to think of it, somehow it dosen't make sense. I am a-would be engineer and all these worldly matters serve no use to me as such. Not in a quantifiable term which is what people worry about in institutes like the one I am in. "If it ain't gonna appear on your CV then it ain't worth it" is the classic attitude here. And still I spend more amount of time reading this than my notes (or atleast the notes of those who write). Somehow at the end of the day I am more pained than I was initially. And more than anything it leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. The realization that I am helpless to change or even be a spectator to one is killing. For no change is happening in the correct direction. It seems we are all going back. The balance between government and its subjects is increasingly becoming turbulent. As democracy flourishes (even if in a handful of nations) the people become more and more demanding. Sooner or later there will come a time when people will want to have no authority. Now as far as civilised people go, there is no need in general. But the vagarities of human nature. Once off the hook even the best are suspect to become culprits. So there has to be a government but the degree of its authority varies from time to time.Now the two extremes of anarchy and dictatorship are a strict no-no. But even well within the limits its a difficult task to acess the amount of control that should be imposed on citizens by their respective governments. According to me, initially in any nascent or a recovering country (a la Iraq ,Afganistan), the amount of controal has to be high. But gradually the government has to ease out and let citizens have the true benefits of being free. This is where the trouble begins. As society/people become more and more civilised (or whatever) they begin to ascertain themselves more and more. Therby reducing the goverment's role. Now the situation is dicey. Its tough for the goverment to yield more and more. At the same time its right under the nose of these people that the government has to work. And when this balance of power fails what it results into is precisely a Vanunu. And why has the problem caught up with seemingly more organized or developed countries? Well these are the countries where if such a thing happens there will be certain amount of smoke. What can one expect in a la Zimbabwe where there is too much of fire for anyone to bother about the smoke....................

Extremism Moderatism ??????

2005-10-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

Suddenly seeing that people are going crazy over cracking CAT, I too decided to do something productive. Now the only thing I could come up with was to read newspapers. Despite being served with Hindu, that has become as symbolic of my southie experience as idly/dosas., I grumbled a lot before accepting that I had no other choice. I have tried TOI but then two things prevent me from repeating the mistake.

I actually hate reading the print version after I have read it all on the website. It’s a serving that is as stale as maybe the apples they (ne phantom and company) serve in mess.

Secondly I have a grudge for NewsCorp. that is comparable to what Finnish geeks have for Redmond. Now what has that to do with TOI. Well just about everything. I hate that Rupert Murdoch organization for reducing the whole concept of newspapers to tabloids. And to me TOI represents the ultimate mainstream tabloid in India.

I actually do not mind giving the readers what they demand. But then why is everything in extremes these days. All people these days seem to have a very severe or strong view of whatever ideologies/beliefs they have. It’s like we have “extremist extremism” or “extremist moderatism” Now this sounds vague and frankly crap. Because extremism is perceived to be extremist and moderatism has to be moderate. But then world is not that simple a place. Let’s see this same example of TOI and Hindu. Rarely has TOI had an edition without some beauty gracing its top left corner on the cover page. And with all the useful information that it supposedly provides, it has ample amount of “Page 3” content. Alas a single page is too less for the times group. So virtually every page is coloured ( am an anti-Sam so an extra “u” ) and every story spiced up that leaves little space for serious journalism. And then a cursory glance at Hindu is sufficient to experience the exact opposite. It’s the blandest newspaper that I have come across. A glossy image is a far cry as most images are just B & W. The articles are really good and it has ample amount of content to satisfy a serious reader. But then the presentation is so pathetically boring that it even a Paul Krugman column can invite a yawn. Not because of the content but the sheer anatomy of the paper. This is what according to me represents the two views I stated early. TOI is what defines to me the extremist extremism and Hindu the extremist moderatism. Now let me make it clear I am not in any way commenting on the ideologies of these newspapers, political or otherwise, but the appearance, content-priority and like. TOI is extremely brash and outspoken, something like a spoilt brat who the “moral police” (I really like this term) will condemn as an unwanted influence of the so-called Western Culture (another term that I like). Hindu on the other hand represent the good old son of the land , immersed in “Indian Culture” (or whatever). Just to distance myself from this analogy that is actually as preposterous as Karmalkar Sir’s, I will present another one. Today as an actual demonstration of my new found love for reading dull drab newspapers, I encountered an article about “encroaching on individual freedom”. Now the author was piqued about the nuisance that some people create in the name of “moral policing”. Well most sane people are for that matter. But then the author deviates from the point and goes on demanding an all out freedom to do whatever an individual deems inappropriate. People should always keep in mind that “Common sense is not so common”. If left to itself, most of organized society will be reduced to anarchy (extreme moderatism). Agreed authoritarian regimes (extreme extremism) are certainly unwelcome, but then it does not mean we have to resort to the other extreme. Why are people so hopelessly obsessed with extremism? What has happened to the thing called just “moderatism”. The moral police represent the extremist extremism but then those who oppose them always want extremist moderatism. No one is preparing to budge. Just to impress upon the fact and to show how hopelessly extremist people’s thinking has been reduced to I will quote from the article itself.

“To say that Anna University dress code barring jeans and T-shirts in all its affiliated colleges applies to both men and women is to miss the point that the appearance of men does not change significantly whether they wear jeans or plain trousers. It is the appearance of women that dress codes aim to regulate”

Now to me this Anna University has always been “an extremist (adj.) moderate (n.)”. Banning cell phones, dress codes and banning cold drinks even before the parliament banned them. There seems to be a competition among one and all to be the best (read extremist) in whatever they do. So this university is always giving indications of being the numero uno in “extremist moderation”. I am glad IIT does not fall in that category. And to be fair IIT will (according to me) fall in some alien category. It’s just damn difficult to classify it here.

So where does all this leave us with. I beg to differ, but there is no such thing as moderatism today. That precisely explains to me the difference of opinion I share with almost all around me………………………….

P.S. Just to reconfirm myself as an Indian, I will open my closet a bit. Despite all my bashing of TOI , The only good source of information/news as far India is concerned is the TOI website. It has the usual mix of glam-sham crap, but I cannot stand the bland Hindu website. Now that’s an eternal hypocrite in general, but speaking truly just a short-of-resources lazy guy.

Incessant Idleness Irased.......

2005-06-21T13:16:00.000-07:00

So finally I am alive again on my blog. But this time something has changed. And it has changed drastically. In fact it wont be wrong to say I am altered. The muted genes deep inside slumbering have been electrically woken up. It is a stupifying madness that has engulfed the world around me. Its consequences are far-reaching (meaning limited to the third wing in Ganga). The Tsunami , India's UN seat, Reliance saga, Bangladesh's victory over Australia or even Google'e PayPal rival Google Wallet sound nothing in comparison to it. It is bound to sweep people out of their heads (ya not feet). And mere mention of the phenomenon will lead to a blasting grounded Concorde screething back to life only with the minor difference that instead of Concorde my friends will shout "lies""lies". But the resulting chaos will rival that famed Concorde noise to obscurity.

OK OK ........ I got it.People have got pained to get to know the earth-shattering mystery. But I should warn though the recurperations are as mentioned they will hold good only for me (and yes more than me to my wing-mates). It all started with my interns a month ago.One of the fact is that I came to know about my latent ability to handle 8-10 hours of work. Now that's music to ears already. In addition, I have also found out (after three years albiet), that I can stand pure South Indian food. What used to evoke a "yaak! $@#&" etc. now only results in "what-ever". Sitting in front of a PC is acceptable, but to do that daily (Saturday included) is commendable never the less (those who know me will vouch for it, rather swear). And I have managed to attain a 100% attendence record in my interns. Now again, those familiar screams "lies""lies" are deafening. But even I am finding it hard to beleive. And the icing on the cake. I am taking bath twice daily. I am already visualising Chiknaa and Das imitating the sleeping-laughing smiley of Yahoo messenger. Yeah, its revelation to me too. Just hope some of the activities "remain locked" when things really matter viz. durings semesters.

comp-less suddenly

2005-05-23T00:46:00.001-07:00

I had enough with my computer and I conciously decided to part with it. I used to spend a hell of a time on it doing all sorts of non-productive or more appropriately quasi-productive things.I took it to my internship company and freed myself from the self-imposed addiction. Its damn hard to be without mozilla firefox and wikis and googling around the web, but then I had to do it. I really think that bereft of this addiction, I can spend my time better. By better I mean more productively. Just hoping it does not end like all other thoughts of mine....................

Am back !

2005-05-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

So I had a big break. Partly it was to focus myself on the exams but then such gimmicks are as bad as New Year resolutions, good for nothing. One week of pure defensive play has left me severely battered (and wounded mentally). Kudos to Rahul Dravid for perfecting patience in the face of an onslaught. But then some people (like me) never learn……

This is perhaps the first time that an exam end hasn’t triggered the euphoria or the sense of relief that comes with the end of a chapter. I guess it depends on the way one closes a chapter. Things that leave bad taste in mouth just remain in the memory for a long time. And I am pained as I am not going back home this time due to the summer internships. So this will be my longest duration without me going back to my abode. All this for an internship about which, I have no idea at all.

The last three days have been “empty”. That’s the closest I can come to describe them. I am practically left with nothing to do. It’s like an avalanche drop in the amount of work one is expected to do. And I was really not in a mood to go somewhere to freak out. Just stayed in my room and listened to same songs and watched the same movies again and again. Not to mention that the good part being the episodes of friends. Its simple awesome and unlike movies one can watch em over again. Though Joey isn’t that good still it makes up for time pass .Even watched a few episodes of wonder years. Thanks to the LAN one can always have something to watch. I watched Jurassic park from the LAN again and it was really great. Especially, since I was watching it after more than a decade. Hats off to Steven Spielberg………..

The construction of an adjacent hostel is really a pain. Only three floors have been raised (out of a total seven) and even now the constant noise frustrates me no end. And the constant chattering of the laborers in alien languages at wee hours adds to the pain. Just hoping the hostel get constructed as soon as possible.

So I had my internship going this week. The first big trouble being, work on for 8-10 hours. Never in my life was coffee so important. It helped reinforce the belief that we are practically doing nothing during the semesters.

usual ramblings.........

2005-04-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

Another long break!. And yes quiz was never the reason for this break. As usual I wasted a lot of time during the 24 hours between quizzes. One interesting habit I developed last week is having serious recuperations now. Last week I for once overslept during my first exam. Last day mugging is usual, but it too requires some amount of anticipation as to what one has to prepare for. So another Rao got the better of me and I had to literally burn all thoughts of sleep on Sunday night. So an extended night-out turned out to be a long one and finally I could hit the sack at around 6 a.m. Now knowing me as well as I know myself it was foolishness to expect that I would be awake in less than two hours. So I had a nice cold shower and was surprisingly refreshed for the exam. Came back from the exam and slept all the way to the evening. So what started unexpectedly became my quiz ritual. Sleeping off at noon and studying in the night. I mean a total phase-reversal in the sleeping habits. And I was more refreshed than I used to be with a two to three hour rest at night. So much so for last day studies…………….

Not that this adventure had any impact on the end result, still it left me grappling with the end of the quiz week. I had to shift back to usual routine as I had to attend classes and all. It was really a hell of a journey to reset the biological clock to its original timing.

This was way back. Somehow could not just post it on the blog. As the prospects of facing six PMT’s become more and more clear and nearer, its basically make or break situation for me. To add to the agony is a project in my minor Financial Management. Now the course was basically taken as a “cool” subject. I was expecting to cruise all the way as has been the case with all humanities courses. But then I think I grossly underestimated the potential pain (might as well say nuisance) value of this subject. Now the irony is that we are on top of the moon when there are no quizzes. Ditto with this subject. And now we have to grapple with this totally new subject and face the entire sylabbus right from the first day…………..Now a potential time-consumer when this should have been a cake-walk. And to prepare a comprehensive project in this subject when I still am not aware what is the difference between balance sheet and profit and loss account. But anyways I hope to google my way through the project.

Lots of things happened sine the past few days. Certainly the rains deserve a worthy and well-earned mention. I am really happy that it rained and the temperatures were a bit down. Just hoping the weather lasts as long as it can.

Now I am no book freak as most of my peers here. Still I am waiting to lay my hand on “Winning” the latest offering from Jack F. Welch, the former CEO of GE. His last book “Straight from the Gut” was a treat. Here’s a sneak peek into the Winning. Seriously hoping that some of it rubs onto me too…………………………..

Hats off to Google for offering 2 GB free and poking fun at equivalent paid services like the one offered by yahoo. Seems Google wanted to have the last laugh after yahoo flicked Flickr from under Google’s nose. Long live the corporate wars. In between I am waiting for someone to invite me to Yahoo 360…………………………

Abnormal addiction n silly mag.

2005-03-15T13:40:00.000-08:00

Speaking of addiction, let’s get back to the usual suspects in this domain. Fagging and boozing are an inescapable reality here. No point running away from them. I don't want to take sides and be biased towards a particular side. Pros and cons apart , to dwell into the aspects that govern this behavior from an ethical, moral and scientific way is a topic that has been discussed endlessly in hostel rooms to corporate boardrooms to courts to et al. People have come up with all sorts of vague, silly and irrelevant arguments to adore or abhor this institutionalized addiction. But let me relate an ironical view that provides an insight into the realms of smoking from an IITian's view. Cursing the mess food is a daily ritual that everyone diligently follows (hardcore maggus included). So much so that decent meals are also under fire as being bland and tasteless. So is there any other solution on hand other than going to Dhaba express (local eatery). Seems there is........

(Read at your own risk and do not even think of practicing in reality as it is performed by professionals. It is practiced by that particular species that are owe their allegiance to the God of lunatic-maniac-devilish tendencies, if any exists. Practicing is abhorred as it requires mutation of your thinking to the point where justification for the sake of justifying oneself is a reflex action).

So one of my friends (name kept secret to avoid getting killed), has recently concluded his research on the alternative to the mess food. Eat at mess but supplement yourself not at dhabba but at good old taramani (nearest suburb around hostels). Here is the balanced diet: - one fag (for the uninitiated it’s a cigarette), two bananas and plenty of water. Absolutely speechless! So am I. But then things like these keep happening every now and then here. The point is not to debating it joking (or rather PJing) quotient, but to rather wonder at how one can digest this thought. I am already hungry for the mess food...............

And you keep on bumping into people who startle you with stunning (read impractical and shady) inventions and discoveries. One suggestion to the editors of the fourth estate: If you start publishing some articles like these, the magazine will find some readers inside IIT at least. I doubt how many people other than the editors neighbors happen to gaze at the cover. Yeah gazing at cover is in fact a big favor to the team that manages the magazine as most articles are pathetic by even the most liberal standards. No wonder that people would rather read any prof's notes in their free time than take the trouble of going through the worthless articles, which are the hallmark of the magazine. The name fourth estate is a misnomer and a poll should be conducted on the lines of the general elections here. Reason: choosing an appropriate name for the magazine or better still dump it so that when our non-IIT friend asks for a copy of the magazine, we will be spared of a white lie.

It seems I am on a criticizing spree. Since the last so many days I am at a war with one and all. Am on my way to be a critic of sorts ........But I do sincerely believe that I will have a lot of supporters on this issue around here as it is undoubtedly true.

I hope the first paragraph is not read by a particular fellow whose hypothesis is being mocked at and the second by the wise men at the helm of fourth (grade) estate...................

Addicted !!!!!

2005-03-09T13:15:00.000-08:00

I am addicted. Not to playing games, farting, fagging, boozing, sleeping (a likely possibility), mugging (haha who am I kidding?), but to the net. I have been spending countless hours on the net. I have been a regular surfer but of late I seem to be under the spell of net-o-mania. I am cutting out on all other activities to gobble all the crap information for countless hours. What do I care if China’s forex has crossed $ 610 billion as compared to India’s $ 133 billion far behind leaders Japan at $840 billion? Why does appointment of British American Howard Stringer as the first foreign chief of struggling Japanese giant Sony evince interest in me? And why should I read that India has become the biggest generator of wind energy in the Asia pacific region with a capacity of around 3000MW behind leaders Germany (~16000MW), Spain, USA and Denmark. Or that the Sania-mania is no fluke and the annual earnings of William sisters Serena(~32crores) and Venus(~62 crores) , will be surpassed by Sania in three years according to her sports management company Globosport. There I go again .I cannot stop blabbering out silly stats. And I needlessly pain the few people who have to bear me spitting jargoned crap. God they must be heaping curses on me all the while nodding their heads as a testimony to their keen attention.

This incessant surfing is taking its toll. I had cut out all social activities since long back but these days I am practically shunning them. I am not taking interest in any physical activity. If not for my stupid, cranky, rusted cycle I would be seriously short of any meaningful exercise. Daily slog with the cycle is sufficient to keep me in running condition. I am bunking classes more as a ritual for surfing than as genuine hatred for crappy lectures. So much so that I am also not reading newspapers with the same intensity as I used to do. This has been perhaps the most startling of the developments. I have been a compulsive reader since the last half decade or so. Nothing has been able to displace its undisputed numero-uno position among my favourites. Now there seems to be a healthy competition. But the whole experience has left me with a bad taste. I have to get back to business. There is no alternative than cutting out the habit. Throwing it out of the window will be almost Herculean but cutting on time should be a realistic aim. Let’s see if I can get through this one? Its tough but I can solve it by rekindling my passion for the print edition than the electronic version. All said and done the bottom-line is -- “OLD IS GOLD” sometimes does hold true.

Nocturnal adventures

2005-03-06T06:26:00.000-08:00

Life in IIT is bearable (what I am implying is the physical aspect) only in the early morning. As I sit in my window with the construction work chugging to a halt it serene and pristine. The atmosphere in the wee hours is really beautiful. The humidity provides a temporary relief and these are the only few hours when we can say that the campus rocks. One of my regular rituals since the last year has been to hang out at Narmada (for the uninitiated its one of the hostels) till about 3 a.m. and then return. It’s a highly rewarding experience. Though one does encounter lecherous dogs a few times, still the whole atmosphere is almost surreal. A walk at this time reveals campus in its real glow. The visibility of deer and blackbugs is also substantially higher and they still neglect your presence which makes it easy to click photos. Suddenly even a die-hard self-confessed critic has to admire the unadulterated beauty of the surrounding. To sit atop the hostels at this hour is even more exhilarating. As the morning wind gushes past you, you can actually feel a tad bit chilly (I am not exaggerating, it’s true).One can sense the proximity of the sea coast .One can feel the soft rich natural aura of freshness which is the hallmark of this breeze………………hmmm seems like the best part of being here. It’s this part that is worth cherishing for ages rather than some hi-funda prof’s sermons ………………

The continuous construction of a nearby hostel is taking is toll since long. It is very common for work to extend into the wee hours on weekdays. So much so that even normal sound dozer like me has to make an effort to crash in the night. Plight of non-nocturnal people around here is even worse. And this problem will continue for the entire sem., courtesy our administration which is hell bent on completing the hostel as soon as possible. The situation can be compared to a high frequency shrill noise being played at full volume and bass. I seriously hope not to throw something out of my window on the poor workers. My agony needs a harmless sink. But the huge permanent crane is marvelous. I was awake all night today and took a few pics of the crane in the morning. But then organization is certainly not my strength. I had enough batteries to take only two pics. Yeah I screwed yet again……………………………….

Another recipe for disaster....................

2005-02-28T16:32:00.000-08:00

There appears to be a relative calm in blogging these days. I guess procrastination is at work here too.And why not, afterall it has invaded every sphere of life. A mid-term enthu forced me to make an unrealistic resolution of attending all classes (who the hell am I fooling?). Good that the bubble was burst today itself. Today was an unusually sleepy day.

Today I got another example to reinforce the belief that democracy at micro-level is ideal (meaning not achievable). For the elections of the branch counsellor , we had some sort of unofficial ritual . We were to go and vote (albeit unofficially) so that rather than two contestants from third year, we could finally zero on to one strong?? united???...??? Candidate. Politics sucks , no doubt about it. And 71+ people actually came for this ritual performed by some self-appointed advocates of a united (???..Ha ha ha..???) third year. The party did not end here........We had to wait for close to 45 minutes to get people to the (unofficial) voting venue. Lots of canvassing and frenetic calls ensured most came, albeit late. The degree of wisdom here was actually inversely proportional to the lateness of your arrival. Anyways when all the dust had settled and we expected to vote (which I absolutely abhor, if not for chiknaa kicking my ass), came another bombshell! We had to listen to the sermons of the contestants . As if profs are not enough for us . Now a days people are also mastering the art of paining junta by hopelessly monotonous , jargonic and unrealistic "manifesto". Manifesto is something that has been copied from the senior's as if it is an assignment. Further in the eternal quest of making it pseud , people put all kind of fart in it , literally selling it. In reality the assurances are too far-fetched to see to see the light of the day. Manifesto are better than assignments in the sense that they are more appealing and positive and most can peacefully throw them into garbage without caring to glance over even once.

Coming back to elections,I mean they were standing for branch-counsellor for god sake not the president of the US of A .Listening to their responsibilities and expectations I pitied George and was assured these "enlightened souls" can definitely hold a candle to him. So most people slept through the sermons and pitched for an early end to the torture. And finally we did get a chance to vote.I am a die-hard pessimist in these rituals , but I guess sometimes you have to swallow your ideology for reasons that breach the realms of practicality and sanity. I guess I did another wrong today , but then I have been doing wrongs for ages....................

And the icing on the cake. They packed the unofficial voting. I mean what the hell goes on here???????. Forget the oft-repeated claims of unity and crap , does sanity prevail in the hollow (not hallowed for sure) prestincts of ESB????Who the hell had decided in the first place to have such an exercise, with what intentions and finally who decided to signal its death-knell. Maybe one of those self-proclaimed advocates.............may their tribe increase for the hyper-fragmentation of a hopelessly adulterated and segregated batch.Unity has been crucified on the altar ages ago.......................What remains is bits and pieces that people are trying to abuse for their own (nefarious) ends.

Reality is one complex ball-game and to face mortals geeks in the robes of Tendulkar is ironical , but for ordinary mortals only. For some its business and serious one at that.Thank God ,I am at the bottom of the intellectual filth around here.

Maybe just maybe I was a bit too harsh , but then this is not the first time that I had to go through -a disaster.

Back from the slumber...............

2005-02-18T18:53:00.001-08:00

I am back from my self-imposed restriction from blogging. Had my quizzes and I as would have prophesized spot on, it hardly makes an iota of a difference. Just another week of mindless slog and one that has an extremely poor ROI (return on investment).

"

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.

A beautiful quote (meaning not mine....) . But a nocturnal creature like me can find true beauty only in darkness.......light plays a spoilsport and disturbs the tranquil and serene calm that is the real charm of darkness a.k.a. night........

And yeah the quizzes are not over , but only hardcore mugpots have the wherewithal to mug on Friday evenings. The weather has been more than kind of-late. I mean , sweltering afternoons and evenings are a sufficient and necessary part in this part of the world. But there is a perceptible change since a week or so in the nights and early mornings. Its a bit chilly and it really feels good to experience it here. Hope the uncommon phenomena is an El-Nino effect that will last idlest till I am stuck at this place................

check this out!!!!

2005-01-31T18:30:00.000-08:00

I am not in a particularly blogging mood (whatever that means). Just wanted to give a link to an article. Though sugary-coated and glossed , still very much a possibility (I am an eternal optimist you see). Keeping my fingers crossed to see if this prediction materialises. Check it out.....

Escaping the Escapes.......................not really!

2005-01-27T20:38:00.000-08:00

I have realized in about two years one profound change in my temperament. I have become an escapetionist. I was that bubbly guy, always ready to jump at any opportunity, howsoever insignificant that may be. An extremely curious, answer-seeking, vibrant and extrovert kid. And now I am the perhaps the exact antithesis at its worst. Some where down the line, I think I lost the beam of light and wavered to a completely new direction (more akin to turning back).

These days escape seems to dominate hopelessly in everything I do (or am forced to do).So I try to find a way out from my classes, labs, writing notes, lab reports. This nature has obviously slipped into the supposedly most important stuff I am expected to do here; study. It has also invaded other domains like playing (which I used to enjoy a lot initially). I also lost many other active spheres to this activity, about which I am not conscious presently. All I can say is that most of my actions these days are primarily governed by it.

The other day, I was cribbing as usual in a lab. On second thoughts, I found that the experiment was really worth the sweat (and for the record: no sweat in AC cooled labs).So somewhere the tendency is overpowering and is getting the better of me (or has it already?).

So maybe I should not be running away like this. I should be brave and face all the hurdles head-on. So much so for the enthu-jargon. Maybe I should just let-things-be. Accept that this is a passing phase in life. And it taught me a great thing “ESCAPE”. This word was sorely missing in my dictionary. Rather than just adding, I became more than adept at using it. Not all things in life have to be judged in the same perspective. The parameters as well as times and circumstances have to be taken into account. Ethics is important but certainly not the supreme thing. Its ideal and one thing engineering has taught me is that ideal cannot be achieved. So maybe let those microscopic minority fret and fight to try and achieve idealism while I am happy with my escapades.

So all in all a priceless quality, but will one thing is for sure. I put this thing to a great use here and will most probably leave it back here. Maybe this thing belongs here. But who knows for sure…………………………………

Incessant browsing : Is it injurious to health ?

2005-01-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

Exactly a century ago, one of the most important person on the planet was awarded a deserving prize. Though many may debate it was a case of too less too late. Anyways here is some thing to refresh the Einstein buffs.

Well the ghost of Fidel Castro has returned for the American administration, though in a very different way. Now the neighbor's of the relatives of Elian Gonzalez have filed a $ 3 million plus trauma lawsuit. Cause: they were traumatized during the efforts to release the six year boy and reunite him with his father in Cuba. A diplomatic victory for Clinton , but ghosts have come back for Bush. Another of his nagging worries, but much less in magnitude to the countless he already has.......................

Finally some intresting perspective on the reasons for the sudden growth of desktop search engines by all the biggies. Who is going to win the battle finally............................I am as always a Brin n Page fan , so hopefully they google their way to success............

So finally the Americans have seemingly given up on finding the elusive Osama without help. Will greed act as a necessary bait? ......................Perhaps a billion dollar question. Still wanna read it..................

Finally two articles on Tsunami.....................yeah was really late in posting links , but are still relevant if you have the patience to go through em.............one by Reporter (can add a lot more )Rajdeep Sardesai and the other by the gurus at Wharton.

And yes, Firefox is incessantly rising vis-a-vis IE . Go Firefox go, we are here for cheers..................

And who likes reading interviews............................here is a complete list of em..........

The relatively low profile Tim Howard of the Reds on CBS about his team,affliction and more.............................well vipin should be happy.......

The guru again..............TCS CEO S. Ramadorai....................needs no introduction.........

Hmm all sporting buffs................here's Tiger uncaged for you......................

Harvard guru (another one.......seems a common commodity these days........), Michael Porter's reflection on India.....................not so rosy though.................

And the engine behind Wipro's recent growth.......................Vivek Paul..............

Indian Serena ...........................finally!!!

2005-01-19T02:09:00.000-08:00

Sania2
Originally uploaded by gaurav_meshram.

Finally someone has listened to the prayers. In a nation so hopelessly bereft of sporting icons, (no cric. crap plzzzz......) here's a beacon of hope.Hope after all they say is a good thing, in fact the best of things. After an agonisingly endless wait , we have someone to fill the Leehesh combination. And the icing on the cake is that here is a player capable of playing singles equally well and that too on the highest level. May her forehand trigger a Tsunami that will shatter the sporting ethos of the country so that it shakes itself from the self-imposed limbo. Just keeping my fingers crossed for her match against the serene sans Serena.

New Look @ Gaurav ....................

2005-01-17T21:38:00.000-08:00

So I had a complete overhaul of my blog. Added few of those free add-ons .Tried to make it more darker (may I add murkier) , so that I can identify with it more easily.Am finally compled watching "The Pianist" . Not that the movie is boring or anything , but watching pain invade all walks of life is not fun. Anyways a brilliant work , with Adrien Brody even better. (will try completing movies in one shot in future.....................but the fact remains , will try!).

Snoozing Sundae ZZzz.....................

2005-01-16T20:50:00.000-08:00

So the last three days were spend on trying to figure out what sensible to do? Lots of deadlines to meet, but as has been the standard case , no attention to things that matter.So another three days whizzed past me and I am still where I was.

Time and tide wait for no one , but then for me nothing needs to wait . I have stagnated since long. I gotta shake myself from the self-imposed incessant slumbering . All I need is a spark plug rather than fuel itself. Atleast for the present horizon looks barren , but then all is takes is a butterfly -effect.Perhaps one is in the offing.......................I need to grab it with both my hands (and with anything else I have got).

And for all those who might tend to disagree, here is a comment by an intellectual that is sure to raise a lot of hair (perhaps a few fists too). I am neutal on it though I believe Brand-tarnishing is always concerned with only the established ones.So perhaps another good reason to believe that everything is on track (with a pinch of salt if its too much to digest). Here's Dr. Amitabh for you.

A peep into the world's happiest people (atleast the author thinks so). And you are in for a pleasant surprise.

Sleepy Saturday............

2005-01-16T02:05:00.000-08:00

Well today I finally managed to shake off the mountainload of slumber and added a few things to my blog. That is made it more hopeless than the original. I have a knack for screwing seamingly good things for reasons totally oblivious to even me. I finally addded some links but those were too haphazard to be of any use practically. And added that idiotic chatterbox. But the problem is will anyone care to peak? Then again #$%@ others. This is something that I am maintaining for myselves. Anyways just trying to figure out what actually increase a blog's profile? Gotta have some clever tricks up my sleeve. Problem is these days there are no tricks left behind. All are used (or rather abused) and the verdict is the same...........................failure of epic proportions!!!

Sleepin surfin..................

2005-01-15T14:50:00.000-08:00

Sports has always been a part of my life. these days it has been limited to just catching up on the news rather than sweating out outdoors (lazy lazy me!). Last year Roger Federer came along as a true champion. The domination reminded of pistol pete , perhaps more than the seven time wimbledon winner.Three Grand Slams and the season ending Masters was no mean feat. But then I hate monopoly, like Australians butchering other nations in cricket, Schumacher's Ferrari whizzing past others in F-1 or for that sake Bill Gates operating system or even Rupert Murdoch's media empire. So this article comes as a breath of fresh air. Hopefully these guys will test Roger more stringently in this year. But this year definately belongs to the Swiss.

The richest Briton(I have my own doubts to dub him British) , Mittal has set his feet on China. In the $314 million deal , he has finally entered the world's fastest and robustly growing economy. I mean it was always in the offing as China despite being the largest producer is also the biggest importer as demonic pace of construction frenzy is consuming steel at a mind-blowing rate. So Laxmi ditches India again and enters China first. Maybe one day he will be investing in india too. I mean we are better governed than the east European countries, but then I am a stupid moron and he knows the game better....................

Now this news is music to the ears. India among the top ten tourist destinations????. I am perplexed. Are the people out of their mind!! We have less tourists than Hong-Kong and imagine the potential. I just hope Renuka Chowdhary is also reading (maybe people in New Delhi only read and snooze).

Days after NDTV announced launching its business channel Profit, the battle is hottening up with CNBC-TV18 also launching Awaaz. It will be a hindi speaking channel , so that common people can understand the intricities of business in a more simple way. With economy booming (or is it actually??) , I guess the race for business channels is also becoming fierce.

And lastly an intresting angle to pro-football in America. The whole business aspects of the hugely popular and profitable game from the masters. Treat for sure.........

A lesson for all those high- enthu junta..................Be in limits. Apple has filed a lawsuit against a 19 year old Harvad student for leaking company secrets on his own website. Investigative journalism (for want of appropriate word) at its worst..................

early morning bliss.....................

2005-01-15T05:27:00.000-08:00

I am good at screwing up things. Today my blog itself was at the recieving end. I tried to use my expertise (omigosh!!!..........take it with a truckload of salt ) at coding to improve the ambience of my blog. And the end result was on expected lines. I ended up doing collateral damage to my blog.What used to be my blog appeared as $@%# (not even the customery greek and latin). I was really relieved that I had the brains to try a preview before making my changes permanent. So saved my blog from becoming rubbish and trash (maybe with all the shit I blabber , it still has those properties and worse). So the billion dollar question: Didi it make any change at all?

A lot of positive developments are taking place , but the CIA report "Mapping the Global Future" comes as a pleasant surprise. Should I buy the story? Hmmm...........I mean the local media has gone all out and painted a rosy picture when in reality its just flowery. Read this article from Indian media and this from the American one. The contrast is striking. And add this Russian one and you end up scratching your head. What does this report really indicate ? (if at all it does) I mean trusting CIA is too big a folly . The reasons for it to come out with such a survey and making it public appear sinister to me. I can smell the strong stench of heaps of dead rats. Maybe the "Davos World" ( China and India) will play a central role in the world , but not as big as local media will sensationalize it to. But being a self-confessed eternal optimist , I do wish the report comes true (and more).

In the quest of becoming a truly global power(or perhaps to increase its chances of a permanent security council seat) , India refused foreign aid for the Tsunami disaster. It was not declared a national disaster , despite the epic proportions of the tragedy. PM just said once that it was as bad as a national disaster. It was always expected that the administration will be caught slumbering soundly. And with the Tsunami phenomenon a new one to deal with , the problems of the affected people increased manifold. So much so for the "pride" of our country. I mean we can trade dreaded terrorists for the lives of a few hundred passengers , but cannot allow foreign rescue teams to aid in rescue of hundreds of thousands.this dosen't cut ice with me. To add to that the confusion reigned supreme as warnings were issued and later denied . Who rang the alarm bells was a mystery and chaos was the name of the game. This aticle partly sheds light on the entire episode.

And a funny story (atleast I found it funny). Uttar Pradesh will soon have a new college in a village at par with IITs (atleast the CM Mulayam Singh Yadav thinks so ). So ambitious a project and the icing on the cake. It will be named not after someone from the scientific or technology field but after Amitabh Bachchan. Alas do we have shortage of people with sound credentials in these fields. No hard feelings against Bachchan , but a technical institute with his name is difficult to chew let alone digest. The only point of convergence of thoughts was that the college will ""also"" teach what IITs don't teach. To shed some light most colleges in India teach what IITs don't. i think the ""also"" is a misinterpretation on part of the media................

Veerappan is long dead , but here is an intresting article on him by an international economic portal. International perspective is less biased and transparent in these cases.........

Cassini-Huygens was successful in sending photos back to the earth. Kudos to the scientists behind the mammoth 3.3 billion dollar giga(mega is too small) project. the latest news on this front.......................

Google retains its undisputed position as the numero uno web search engine. Its intresting that finally Yahoo and MSN are offering some sort of competition. Sergey Brin and Larry Page will have to find some new innovative strategies to hold on to their fort in the long run. I adore Google , but I abhore monopoly more than anything. Healthy competition is the best of all.

closing in on me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2005-01-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

So all the profs are as usual closing in on me. Nothing new and not really the thing I should blog on.

An intresting and long awaited astronomy feat is finally going to take place. The mysterious Titan will finally reveal its long held mysticism (of-course taking into consideration that all goes well). The seven year long project "Cassini-Huygens" , is finally on its most ambitious task. I too have my fingers crossed and hope the NASA , ESA and ASI pull this off..................a national and international perspective.

And for all those Physics studs and enthusiasts here's a must read...................

mundane (mean) musings ........................

2005-01-13T21:55:00.000-08:00

Another boring and monotonous day on the verge of slipping out. I got first hand experience of another lab and from the first impressions are as they should be for a lab(I mean its rather too harsh to brand it as pathe@#$ and hope$@#%). Tried to get the experiment done for sometime , but then realised that it wasn't worth the time and effort ( as far as labs are concerned , I got the notion long time ago). So it was a good two hour timepass and will continue for most of thursday afternoons this semester.

Squaring off against two r*a*o*'s is no mean feat by any standards. And imagine the horror when you have both as the first two hours in the morning. A big fight to shake myself from my eternal slumber and trudge towards the classes with a zombie's appearance. So I deserve pats for attending both..........(and may I add , I was awake in them ................ now that is too much to ask for). I should be easy on myself , too much exertion..........(no need to laugh at this please).
I am just trying hard to find a little inspiration to get me going to the mess. I mean , I do not expect anything great but atleast, atleast something edible. Otherwise the customary rice "stuffing and gobbling" operation. Dhabba is calling .....................................

Now onto some intresting stuff.................I got a mail some months back stating that the mythological bridge between India and Sri-Lanka has been rediscovered by none other than NASA. Being a hardcore athiest, I would never buy such a preposterious story. But just for a look , these images are a heavenly delight.I do not want to antagonize anyone , but I always thought premier American organisations had a lot of important things lined up (maybe to fix Columbia's problem for a change). Guess I am good at making wrong assumptions................

On the corporate front, Martha Stewart is finally free (home confinement is as good as being free). But the diva has a lot of difficulties still ahead. And comparisons with Mandela will only invite more wrath than sympathy from even her own employees. So the 62 year old lifestyle trendsetter is supposed to spend the next five months in federal jail.

And Asia's richest person, telecommunications tycoon Li Ka-shing is still going strong. His company Hutchinson Whampoa's strategy has yielded the desired dividends. Thw launch even in India was restricted initially to market consolidation in major circles, before looking towards expansion.And with 3G delivering the punch , the future looks rock solid and yes it rocks for the Hong-Kong based company.

A look at Businessweek's best and worst managers for 2004. It was relieving that Jeff Immelt has occupied the top spot.Kudos to him.Stepping into Jack Welch's shoes meant a lot was expected and the timing to take the top (may I say hot) job was the worst. Days after being at the helm at GE , 9/11 happened and growth stagnated. So it was a terrible phase for Jeff , but hats off to him as in just two years he has brought the trademark Jack Welch double digit growth. So finally Jeff has arrived and delivered a superb performance. Maybe now the pressures of stepping into a legend's shoes will lessen and Jeff will emerge from Jack's shadow and carve a niche for himself(I think he is already past it).

A corporate ploy by one big house to pull another , rather than build its own. I hate windowz , but this battle is taken a little too far , accourding to me. Anyways an innovative strategy to counter monopoly. I bet Microsoft's undisputed position is under threat as never before. Be it AMD, Google or IBM all are hell bent on hurting it...................So will the Seer from Seattle be able to pull this through ??? (a 50+ billion dollar question).

And lastly for all those would-be-enterpreneurs some words of advice from three gods . Liberal doses of caution interspersed with preppy morale boosters. Bottomline: its not everybody's cup of tea , but that does not mean one cannot have the tea. But are you prepared to face the scalding tea on your skin. If yes go for it full throttle, knowing well that anyways few succeed and those who fail may hardly get another chance..............................tough nut!!!

Assuming you have succeeded in crossing the first hurdle, here is what is required to preserve and maintain your brand. Not as onerous as the initial task , nevertheless one that will put you to a test that's as difficult as sipping tea without the cup.........................

BLOG : word of the year!!!!!!!!

2005-01-13T00:28:00.000-08:00

I am not a gossip blogger and will never be. But one big event was the interview of Aiswarya Rai on CBS's highly acclaimed 60 minutes. Nothing great in that accourding to me , but then I am a self-confessed difference of opinion guy. So for those keen followers of Bollywood , some food to chew on......
I was very happy to find out that the messers of World-Com are finally being made to pay the price for their mishandling. So now the top management has to ensure that nothing slips under their nose or they be prepared to face the music. My only concern is that if Enron bosses are too held accountable that will spell added troubles for the government and people linked to the Dhabol Power Project.
The Shankaracharya eposide has already creating a lot of ripples. I am a person who believes that every person is equal to the Law , but that does not mean that someone should be denied a free and fair trial. And media has to display a bit of maturity (I bet that's too much to ask for) while handling such issues that are close to people's heart.....................no links for this as I am not buying anything till the picture becomes clear.
And the news that something was fishy on CBS was particularly difficult to digest.So one the legends of our time had to show the door to four employees. Hope the lesson is learnt.
Perhaps the man many would overlook (only those morons who do not read between the lines) , because of Azimji's larger than image is none other than the charismatic and shrewd Vivek Paul. Those who know the game are aware that these days , its Vivek who has steered the company to its lofty heights. Wanna have a few fundaes from the God Himself....................
For people still wonderding , what the hell is a circuit breaker here's a take.maybe not so much for student people as for Sarathi who need to update his neolithic notebook.
I still have a lot o potentially good stuff to give links to, but alas I dont have to miss the "Rao" classes.(got two in succession............my drab luck to be blamed). So time to catch the forty winks.
And to sum as last but certainly not the least ,Merriam-Webster has named BLOG as the word of the year. Yo man!

Void to remain.......

2005-01-12T08:18:00.000-08:00

Some more blogging for me , as I have time and resources presently.The classic case of making hay while the sun shines. For my honeymoon with blogging will end some time in near future, with the grim prospects of me facing a waterloo quite certain.Well I would rather not elaborate on my waterloo, spare me the pain of describing my (pathetic) condition .
Another gem of an actor passed away viz. Amrish Puri. Perhaps the greatest accolade to his superb skills was that none other than Steven Speilberg casted him as the main villian in the 1984 film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Now how many actors have worked with such truly acclaimed directors ? probably one of the first to work in a cross-over film (and we are still wondering about Aiswarya's 60 minutes interview). My sincerest condolences to all his fans. Void will never be filled for sure.............but life chugs on still.

monotonous day as usual !

2005-01-12T01:05:00.000-08:00

Someday I will start a blog that will be more close to who I am , not as superficial as this one ..............and maybe name it Mein Kampf. Not as a prelude to the internal Hitler that has long been supressed, but perhaps to the rebel inside me.Yes that's the problem with a public blog. You have to be constrained and ensure that you express views moderately. That in simple words means saying get lost when you might as well have blabbered out @%#$ off as a reflex action. And it came as a pleasant surprise that rebels abound (even with this IIT-tag). So time for me to become a more serious rebel and do something different.................Again the customery "what the @%#$ !". Not for me , but yes here are two people who believed in themselves and did what they felt was "Right" for them.Meet ponnappa and Rohit Gupta .

After one of the classes today one of the prof came and exhorted people to attend the lecture of IEEE president (atleast that's what I heard). He also called upon students to become student members of that organisation. I dont know how many people will finally fall for the bait, but one thing that struck me was the comment of a fellow student. He said he does not require to join IEEE ;reason: He has secured more E's than there are in the organisation's name , so maybe no need for him to enroll himself....................I don't know if that was funny or stupid.

Another class , I have given up thinking and am more of a plain copier than anything in power elcetronics. Goodness , the blues have started to appear on the horizon a rather too soon.
I am trying to figure out what the prof is trying to do in High voltage. I mean , he is the extreme opposite of slot F prof (hey , what's his name?). One teaches as if Schumacher's driving his Ferrari while the other being a corporate manager (or may I say maniac) , understands his social responsibilities well and teaches like an Indian bullock cart . Maybe the bulls are down , despite the stock exchange bulls at the zenith (maybe a step lower than that). Anyways it dosen't bother me , cause my sole efforts will ultimately be concentrated in keeping the wolf away from the door (a slight modification and you will get the point).

Cancellation of afternoon slots (two not one) , was great news for sleepaholics like me. Hoping that the trend contionues (though I know its more than day dreaming to even think like that) . So I am crashing now. ZZZZzzzzz...................................

Lots of stuff , to stuff down the line..........................

2005-01-11T03:12:00.000-08:00

<> So the Indian government has given the green signal to the ONGC to bid for the assets of beleaguered Russian giant Yukos. Hopefully ONGC will get through and get a presence in europe as well.Hoping that ONGC pulls off this successfully.more .....
The Chinese dragon is sweeping all over the world.I am waiting for the Indian elephant...............alas my hope : Will the long wait be worth it??
When the news came it shocked many (atleast me for sure) .But now as one tries to digest that a Chinese government owned company has strightaway (oh no , this is a gattam favourite) become the third largest in PC business , maybe I think deals like these are in the offing. So noe the red dragon is going all out to chew on what is available. This business has of-late become a business with shrinking profits with cut-throught competition from the top two viz. HP and Dell. But the major deal between Lenovo and IBM is seen by many as a win-win for both the companies. Now , one will see how Lenovo will manage the business.So Lenovo becomes the latest addition to world-class Chinese enterprises making waves throughout the globe , others being TCL (television) , Haier (white goods) and Baosteel (steel) . Waiting for more on this.............................this is a good article
Tsunami , my first acquaintance with this word dates back to my seventh or eighth grade. And I was relieves to know that

Japan

bears the brunt of their onslaught, courtesy the pacific ocean which has a lot of volcanoes to spur monstrous earthquakes. And I was shocked to find that after Japan (15%) it is Indonesia (14%) which has tha maximum probability of being ravaged by a Tsunami. Goodness me , I was never a big fan of beaches as some of my friends. But just as one finds out always , here too human greed has played a major role in aggravating and perhaps magnifying the crisis. And I read a few articles about how mangroves were destroyed by scrupulous builders in Mumbai’s coastal areas. So in absence of any natural buffers like coral reefs and mangroves we are dangerously exposed to the ocean. Such a big price for shrimps farming and builders. Hopefully someone in New Delhi is aware and willing to do sufficient.more ......

And one of my least liked (I think “hated” is better but not appropriate ) corporate czar is going about with his expansion plans on track. Rupert Murdoch pulls off another acquisition to further consolidate his colossal empire. I just hope Sony is able to upset Star Plus for prime time viewing in India. Come on Jassi , I am pitching for your victory rather than Wendi Deng (for those who do not know , she is the mogul’s Chinese wife).
Wanna read another Murdoch foxing.

Too bad , that AMD (another favourite) is predicting less profit.

And finally some leadership fundaes from the desi-Bill gates a.k.a. Narayan Murthy. Patience is a virtue, so start cultivating and read now.

Too add a little more of slump, British retailers are in a shock for a below par performance in the festive season. Got any fundaes on improving on improving sales??..................maybe Santa can help!!!!

GOOGLED !!!!!

2005-01-10T21:25:00.000-08:00

ALL SMILES:Co-founders Larry Page(right) and Sergey Brin(left) with CEO Eric Schmidt

One of those stories that really revs up your heart, your body starts fluttering and adrenaline pumps up in the upper quarter for a change. Perhaps the finest and most intriguing entrepreneur story after the Micheal Dell spell for me atleast. Well even Dell computers was a sustained growth and came up in a characteristic professional manner. Perhaps very similar to our own Infosys. But Google is a truly mind-blowing saga of two brilliant students who changed the rules of corporate world, with their bubbly enthusiasm and missionary zeal towards their work. In less than a decade, these two Stanford drop-outs – Sergey Brin and Larry Page have created a monstrous company that today has a market capitalization of over $ 52 billion. Adventurism, innovative strategies, hunger for success and a sharp insight as well as vision has catapulted these two Stanford drop-outs to the top. These two have already earned the wrath of no one other than Bill Gates and taught the seer a thing or two inside his own territory (google desktop search engine). And the saga continous……………………….

My salutations to the two stalwarts. Hats off to them.

Perhaps I think Stanford drop-outs are really on the path to something great in the corporate world. We have our own Mukesh Ambani virtually running the entire Reliance. Add to the “elite-list” Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer. Now that’s a news in its own right.
Check out the complete story and get GOOGLED

a lazy day Zzzzz.........

2005-01-09T22:49:00.000-08:00

Today was Sunday. No exams and no assignments to chew on (who cares about assignments anyway?). So practically had the entire day to myself. Had pledged to wake up early (by my standars .......any guesses). Got up finally at 10:30 a.m. (Glad that I made it in a.m.). Accepted that I was up till 3-4 a.m. , doing surfing and practically timepassing in front of computer, that is an inexcusable reason for sleeping like a pi*. But yeah this sem , these few initial days are only for timepass. Because new things are shaping up. Will write when things finally come true. And they will , I bet!
I have become a computer addict of the worst kind. I mean I am literally losing out on all outdoor activities . My parents will kill me if they come to know of the way I live here!!! By the way today was the grand bath day. A great , loud and boistrious day for me as I spend a good half an hour trying to scrub myselves clean. The mess people are back to their old pathetic "food". So all in all I believe dust has finally settled on this sem too. That means gotta work (I mean the verb not the noun). And the worst thing is the beginning of the week. That long week ahead (and the worst thing................................only I can pity on my plight).

tribute to the legend

2005-01-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was the birthday of the original king of rock and roll . Its incredible that his legion of fans still fondly remember the legend. yeah he is none other than Elvis Presley

the first weekend.............not so rosy though

2005-01-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

Brad Pitt-- Jennifer Aniston
Originally uploaded by gaurav_meshram.

So comes the news of another split, this time around its the BRANIFER one. Well I seiously do not think Jennifer will come back to Brad again (a la-Friends reunion between Rachel and Ross). Guess that's the difference between real and reel life. Many thought this marriage would stand the test of time especially after the TOMCOLE split. The American take on it
Another lazy afternoon . Woke up solely for lunch (Breakfast is never on the menu on weekends.............unless exams are right in the offing). Even now I have loads and loads of sleep in my eyes. Hopefully the net offers some relief as I sleep all over the net.............err surf.
So the NRI wooing goes on unabated at the third Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (its PBD) in the financial capital at an estimated cost of 6 crores. And Tytler is saying this is just for a bonding and no business intrests...............who the hell is administration fooling (not me for sure).
And for foreign policy entusistics , here is an interview from the diplomatic godfather of our times. Happy reading

Flickr

2005-01-08T08:27:00.000-08:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

2005-01-07T23:44:00.000-08:00

So here comes the first weekend. Perhaps two days of sleepy bliss. No need to wake up early and make the mad rush to classes in sleepy daze (but the problem is that good things dont last for ever). So within two days it will be back to business.
As usual the same old semester resolutions............and the initial enthusiasm about them. Finally deciding thatthis semester will herald into a new and much better era (who the hell am I kidding???).
So with the first weekend arriving , I think now I am pretty much settled and ready to use the customary "Shift+Del" operation on all the so-called resolutions. Do hell with em.........
Today I tried to attend a lecture of a certain g*a*s*r*a*o(this is too dangerous to reveal real identity) . And look what he did. He BUNKED ,precisely the reason for him to get the heavenly delight of being his student (again).(Bad things keep happening..............again)
I am having good 3 hors sleep in the afternoon. Something that has been keeping me alive n kicking during the noght. But yes once the lab starts , I will have to give up this pleasure.(good things sometimes hardly start)
I think I am becoming a chatterbox too.I mean ,I have acquired a high tolerance level to be able to chat alongside lunatics , fanatics and morons in chat rooms. But my pre-concieved notion that only idiots abount in the chat room stands as a wrong one. I mean I did meet intresting and sane people (of-course i admire as well as pity their condition as they had to deal with me). But overall , I found out its really not worth the time and energy. So will try to put a full-stop on chatting soon (atleast a comma .....I swear). As of now , my bed is too tempting.........so will sleep like a.........well nothing comes close to gaurav of-course in this department.

So here I am again.........

2005-01-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

Well after a long time I am back again. Had fun-filled holidays and a full month of sheer bliss. So as usual had some troubles gettin up for the 8 a.m. slot. But now I think I am back in the groove. I was disturbes as some people here are giving up on blogging for totally obsure reasons. I just hope thoses people say back and increase the blogging community here.I just hope the right message has been sent and will be thought upon. Rest everythin is as usual .
The reason for blogging this early hour is because my first slot was cancelled. Reason: prof didn't turn up. Its so damn painful. First of all breaking the sound sleep for a class that is not there. I would have enjoyed a good hour's sleep more today , but for the prof who did not have the courtesey to inform us in advance. For the record I never thought prof's had any courtesey towards students here (though the vice- versa opinion is rather more strong). Well that's about it.
Gotta hurry for the next class...........

Its all over finally.................

2004-12-03T22:19:00.000-08:00

Ya , its finally over and that is really a good thing , in fact the best of things. The ordeal ended today after nearly a week of senseless mugging and slogging. And the sad pasrt is that nothing good should be expected out of all the hardwork. This is the cardinal principle that I understood after five semesters here. So in a nutshell , this was another hell of a semester. Hope not to be awarded with (another) of those cups , as I have had enough.
So I am finally leaving for my sweet home tomorrow. It is such a pelieving thought. One month of sheer bliss and mindless indulgence. I really crave for these breaks.This is the first time in five semsters that I am not going on the day when the exam ends. So so sad. Well really not in a mood to do anything today. I think I will just surf and sleep. Zzzzzzzz.............

oh my god relieved !!!!!

2004-11-17T22:54:00.000-08:00

Oh my god I am really relieved. Yeah , i am an athiest , so no god and all but still the feeling is all to relieving. Actually I was supposed to have our microprocessor lab exam this weekend.Now the whole episode was really funny. I was under the impression that , I have the exam in the third batch on the second day of the exam. So as any normal (additional stress on the word please) IITian , it was against my fundamental principles to start the mug two days in advance.Coupled also by the fact that we have end-sems in less than two weeks, I had no thoughts of mugging for the lab in advance. I was all set for the usual slog at 11 or possibly 12th hour. So had my evening grub and went out for my stroll with Ishan(my friend and our class-rep). Now in the usual course of the conversation, it so happened that this exam topic popped up and I just tested his knowledge by asking all sorts of questions. We were all under the wrong impression that I being roll no. 24 was definately in the third batch that happens to be on the day after tomorrow. But alas we have some vacant roll no. (people who do not join the institute but register initially). So it dawned upon us that perhaps , I would make the cut for tomorrow too.Now this was a teaser from Ishan, but it really send my head spinning.I had not checked in first place the schedule.So on my insistence we went to the lab to confirm the exact schedule.And goodness gracious, I was the last on the first day itself.Now that was really painful.Not that I had lost any study time or anything, but still it send shiver down my spine.Such a thing had never happened, I have to be on my guard from now on.No more excessive dependence on the guy-next-door-class-rep.So I came back and took all the material for the course.Now the problem was that I was the only person in my entire wing to have the exam and none from my group had an exam tomorrow. Now the problem really struck me with all its magnitude.I mean studying for a lab is no big deal(can say so because atleast i fared decently in all labs till date), as compared to the subject itself.But doing lab exam study alone is really a painful thing .The inspiration and the drive are sorely missing and above all I was missing our wing stud Das , who usually steers us of rough weather.So took some fundaes from him , but the major workload was all my dish.Somehow mugged for 20 mins. Then came the big surprise. Our class-rep called the prof. for something mundane and got the news that the exam will be just a written one as the micro processor kits were not working. And no exam for tomorrow. All will have a single written test at a date to be announced later. Oh my god ,really that one hour was an ordeal.Got mightily relieved.................One of those things that can perhaps happen only in IIT.But for the ordeal it was really stimulating and exciting. Now for the end-sem mugging................Wish me luck for my end-sems(I am really counting on them).

Fightin americans.......................

2004-11-10T02:01:00.000-08:00

So the Americans are still slogging it out in the heat and dust of Falluja. Yes, my guess is that they will eventually conquer it too, but how much premium will those loyal to Sadr put on their heads? This seems to be the last big city out of the Amercan reach. And with Bush sitting pretty at the white house, the offensive will only escalate. I think the Americans vote tilted towards the Republicans out of fear . So now Bush schould not start his hate campaign but try to get some international backing and improve his foreign policy. So much so for Bush...........

3 weeks for the mini-crucification!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2004-11-08T01:59:00.000-08:00

So it’s me again .had two days of inactivity. Lethargy has creeped all over. So shaking it off I have to start afresh tomorrow I mean today. This sem has again passed of in a jiffy. We got LAN connection this sem. As one of my friends rightly said the only thing he did this sem was to search for movies on LAN effectively and efficiently. So that’s about it, but really this sem was comparatively less crushing. I mean yeah workload was there. But management seems to have improved a bit. For a few subjects bulk has increased drastically, but the really surprising thing is that they do not call the shots rudely this sem.(this is for those who understand our lingo).

Got a lot of plans about holidays, in December. Real bad thing is that hardly any of them will see the light of the day. I dump them here only and all I do at home is sleep and eat. Hopefully this will change for the better this time. Obviously the stakes are higher this time. I was happy to see that the E.Mech. Lab passed off peacefully. The micro. Lab remains another pain. But the real struggle will be the end sem. I generally do not perform when it matters most here, the end sem. That has to change this time. Ya, I know that’s a tad difficult, just as expounded by the meaning of “quicksand” in the movie replacements. So gotta get back to winning ways. Hopefully will be able to pull through this time at least. It’s the classic case of now or never for me. If I am able to pull through this on I will be in the hunt here during placements next year. Otherwise for all practical purposes I will have to think seriously about my future? (Ha-ha…….)

So some serious study is in the offing. I dunno till when will the enthu last. I get pumped up, but lose motivation too quickly. Somehow, I have to bring in the required enthu and make it last, if not till eternity at least till the end sem. Till then I hope things will fall in place.

2004-11-07T03:09:00.000-08:00

Hmm….

So I am back again .Yeah yesterday and today were painful. I had a lab exam in E.Mech. Well I would rather avoid talking about the subject i.e. E.Mech. , cause I reminds me of experiences that are extremely difficult to describe. Almost all of them are regarding my pathetic performance. So any way I had this exam at 3:30 p.m. today. So as any “normal” IITian I completed my lab report at 5:00 a.m. (boy that was quick!!!) today. After that I had to go through all those experiments and try to make sense of what they mean. If only I had paid more attention to the experiments, when they were actually conducted. But then this has been the way labs have been going for the last two years. So I tried to do my best by sleeping at 5:00 and again starting to mug at 9:00 a.m. somehow managed to get a decent picture of all the experiments. Still was dreaded about a couple which I knew were grossly as well as relatively time consuming and demanding.

And as it turned out, I got the most peaceful of the experiments. The moment I read the aim, I knew I was through. It was really quite simple for all the stress and tension. So completed the formalities and got drenched in the rain. (Yeah, rains in Chennai, really!!!).

Other than that, the usual stuff. Got irritated at the republican victory and that too by 3.5 million votes. The really bad trend is the emergence of centre right governments the world over. Everywhere from Latin America to Europe to Asia, this wave is spreading unabated. So it is naturally for a liberal centre leftist like me to be saddened. Let me give you an insight into the American election’s distinct feature. The democrats are present only in the western and eastern coast. While the entire middle America is washed in a republican wave. The blue regions are totally overshadowed by the vast expanse of the red patches. This is something the democrats have to really stare hard at. They are losing their appeal to a lot of sections. The fact is all the more painful because southern states like Florida have 70,000 odd Indian-Americans. Add to that the middle Colorado with 11,000 and the eye of the storm Ohio with (38,000+) Indian Americans. Though most of the Indian Americans are in northern or north eastern regions (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and, new Hampshire etc) that are traditional democrat strongholds, still a discomforting picture is emerging. Due to most of the sops that republicans are offering to the affluent, they have been able to wean off most of the well-off Indian –Americans. So where does it all leave us. Last time it was almost 50-50 for both. This time republicans lead 51-48, thereby implying that America has moved to the right. So democrats have to pull up their socks. Real target is middle and more prominently South America. The last two democratic presidents have been from south, Clinton from Arkansas and carter from Georgia (I think I am right). For that sake republicans repulsed very well as Bush is from Texas. So the answer lied in grooming a strong leader from south, a bit more aggressive and one who will not shun away from religion talk. Yes it’s important for democrats to get back to the evangelical Protestants, not to indulge in any appeasing but ensuring that they do take democrats as a serious option.

Well this is what happened in 2004. lets compare this with what was the score in 2000(Al Gore) and 1996 , 1992 (Bill Clinton)
So democrats have to pull up their socks and try to do something drastic to win over the american mainland, that has been under the firm grip of republicans since a very long time.

2004

And of-course saw the smashing pictures of congress-elect bobby Jindal. Why do we Indians always have our chests swollen whenever we see an Indian connection? Bobby hardly speaks of India, and his election will not do anything positive or negative to us. Still the media will make a hero of him. I here would like to clarify that this view is based on the general perception and not because he’s a republican. I think we generally feel proud if any person achieves something and has an indian connection. I mean cut the crap, I would rather heap praises on a complete stranger who has compassion for my nation , than someone who has fame and power , but is unwilling to use it for furthering my nation's causes.< style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">
Well I was generally browsing today when; I got an interesting article on, < style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">the whole issue of M.K. Gandhi not being a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. An interesting article on the Nobel site, bears testimony to the true legend of our nation. http://www.nobel.se/peace/articles/gandhi/index.html

Women hold the key ..........................

2004-11-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

Today was reading about the power that women play in US politics. Deviating a little bit, I was really surprised when I read the opinion page of Hindu a few days ago. I was downright surprised with Hindu making a desperate pitch for Kerry. Agreed that we Indians will generally favor a democratic government in US of A. but one of the only newspaper (according to me), that was still unbiased till now was clearly taking sides. It was an interesting article, quite thought provoking. So let us analyze the role of the American women voters on the outcome of the presidential elections. Let’s take America’s population to be around 125 million. Say a 60% voter turnout out of the registered voters. Despite this, many analysts believe that on the judgment day, women voters will outnumber their men counterparts by a whopping 8 million. Boy, that’s a great number no doubt. So frankly speaking it’s the women voters who will by and large dictate the outcome of the presidential elections. In India I doubt women voting in excess of men (I am only taking into account the genuine votes, not the rigged ones a.k.a. official figures). So I guess women in U.S. have a better bargaining power.

So let us see the factors that women will have on their mind as the queue on Tuesday. Both Kerry and Bush have a strong point in their favour. Bush obviously scores as a more aggressive, kind of masculine leader (well perceptions are wrong my dear friend). So he (apparently) appears to be a better choice to these women. These “security moms” believe that Bush will provide a better security and deal with any crisis with an iron hand. Believe me the Belsan tragedy has only increased this notion amongst these women. Actually speaking women traditionally supported the democrats. Particularly during the Clinton administration women voted heavily for the democrats. Actually both the candidates lack the charisma to influence that was the hallmark of Clinton. So it’s a game wide open. Also Bush’s wife Laura is giving him a good support as are his daughters. Contrary to this Kerry’s wife and his two daughters are not matching up to the standards set by the first lady.

So much so for Bush, but Kerry too has some points up his sleeve. One of the foremost is the issue of abortion. Bush cannot let go off the 5 million evangical Christian vote pie. So his stand is against abortion, whereas Kerry has stood for it. So Kerry stands to gain from this stand. Many women organizations also have thrown their weight behind Kerry for the same reason. Against this backdrop, another crucial factor is the percentage of single women among the eligible women voters. This figure currently stands at 20% and will mostly back Kerry.

So all in all it’s an interesting contest. I am also waiting to see what happens and above all to see exactly the pattern of voting followed by the American women voters. Well now that will be interesting to decipher the results.

another crap quiz!!!

2004-11-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

So another crap quiz. Really not in a mood to discuss it right now (it’s a real pain). Over time I have found out that nothing hurts as bad as a bad grade. That is the sole worth of whatever work people put in (I of course do not belong to this group).so cutting the crap aside I today want to give an insight into the IITM campus. I will put up photos very shortly.

It’s quite difficult to describe the campus as after two years even the most unusual sight has become all the more familiar. As entered the hallowed precincts of this educational abode, the thing that captivated my mind was the rich forests and the scenic canopy of trees that is breathtaking to say the least. Agreed that you will crib and say that all educational institutes worth their salt do have wilderness in the vicinity, but this is different. The refreshing campus of 630 acres has a lot of very old trees, especially the banyan ones. To top it all spotted dear are as common as stray dogs are in Indian cities. Initially I was also surprised but then these deer have adopted very well and are a sight to see (of course if you are not used to seeing them every now and then). The icing on the cake is of course the black-bug. It is one of the endangered species according to the WWF. The campus is roughly triangular (so it is a pain to go to the main gate from hostels or department blocks). There is also a lake in the campus. All in all it’s, one of the best campus in the country.

There are 13 hostels (to the best of my knowledge). There is a girls hostel and then there are all sorts of hostels like U.G. hostels, P.G. hostels mixed hostels (ya it has U.G. and P.G. both), MBA hostels, married student hostels etc. etc. a new hostel for freshers is under construction presently. The environmental lobby is quite strong over here. Ours was the first IIT to ban the use of powered vehicles inside the campus (to my great dismay). So we have to slog on with our rickety bicycles to every place inside the campus. The institute has started electrical buses, but frequency is not up to the mark. Will add up later.

gotta study but.................

2004-10-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

Well the one thing that I found out during my blogging experience (yeah I can see your grins), is that it is dominated by guys from the IIM’s . Well gotta do a thing or two about it. And to top it all IIT does come into the picture, but somehow IIM guys pull us don’t represent its true picture. Well some defending on the home front is not inevitable but also necessary. But that requires time (costly but not as costly as in IIMs????), and I have a quiz tomorrow. Well the really good thing about quizzes is that all boils down to what you do in that one hour (er 50 min.). You may study well, have all the answers on your sleeve, but the Profs will still have a trick or two to deceive you. Well yes I am studying and so is everybody else, but final outcome will belong to those having not only the grey cells and skill to burn midnight (or shall I say entire night) oil, but to those who keep their cool and try to score as much as possible knowing fully well that nobody in general is going for full marks. Everybody is just trying to ensure that he/she (for all practical purposes I can safely neglect “she”, cause a good engineer (hey not me) knows how to approximate best), just stays above the class average.

I have read a few blogs but missed out on IIT ian stuff. I will be happy to get a few links. Hopefully we will be able to present s true picture of IIT’s to the blogging junta. Catch you soon.

I will give it a shot

2004-10-29T23:22:00.000-07:00

Well I am one of the new comers to the well-entrenched blogging community. So I guess, I am not experienced enough to write decent and that too daily mundane stuff that people will read. First of all people will read me, nice try! But then it’s me dear for who I am writing all this, just maybe my memoirs. So right now I am supposed to mug for my quizzes coming up on Monday. Well that’s THREE days away. So it’s too too early.

You know what amazes me is that really how drastically and dramatically a person can change in just a relatively short span of two years. two years ago , I would make a big fuss of my exams months away, prepare hard (I see your raised eyebrows ,but believe me its truth) and score good marks( please you got to believe me here too ). Oh my god what days of heavenly pleasure. But then not every day is Sunday.

As it turned out I met my waterloo just two years ago. I joined the IITM. The initial euphoria was music to the ears, but I soon realized that I had exhausted all my supply of “Sundays”. Yeah sad but true. I started with the initial hiccups that every pampered and protected mom’s kid faces. But I faced things pretty nicely (at least I think so).i was able to maintain my fort but only for the storm to blow it to shreds literally. So while other future engineers started to focus more and more on engineering, I started to lose focus of my primary and for that sake my only objective (no prizes for guessing it dudes). So things started to get troublesome. Well actually it were my good performances that propelled my ship, for they were the sole fuel. Once I faced a tough nut and that was it. I failed to crack it. That broke me and I got a string of results that were not music to ears. That’s when I lost my confidence (perhaps the mistake I will remember for the rest of my life). Since then it has been the same ride. Actually I could never get along in my insti. Bad results lead to worse, and finally doomed me. There was no reason to scale down my aspirations (second mistake). And take satisfaction in mediocre grades. But then that’s life you have got to square up to the challenges, rather than turn your back on them. I learnt the lesson in life the hard way, probably the hardest way .but no regrets, I learnt the lesson. And to look at it in an ironical way, tell me how many people have failed in life? (I mean officially).hope those with an iota of grey cells will catch me!!

So that’s it and by the way I also learnt about disaster management, crisis control and related things that too with a very practical case study at hand. Now that’s not bad at all (hope you will agree, at least some dear ones will).so that means I am preparing a base for my future options……..well keep guessing, for I am not going to reveal my cards so early dear. And last but certainly not the least you can pass all sorts of comments towards me at ee02b024@ee.iitm.ernet.in . I will appreciate all comments from wise bloggers and especially some blogging fundaes will be welcome. Till then have a nice and great time. Catch you soon.

down n out n impish?????

2004-10-21T04:29:00.000-07:00

Well, let me take this opportunity to say that i am a
new member of the blogging community. I used to read
them but being the inherently lazy fellow that I am, I
never wrote one. So please bear with me and we will
see how it turns out to be.
As a matter of fact, the last two years have
been the most painful years in my life. I did not do a
single thing right, and am still reaping the
(undesirable) fruits of the seeds, I had sown. I came
two years ago to this institute called the IITM. Ya,
it was a dream to go to IIT, but then I never expected
life to change so dramatically and drastically. I
thought I had it in me to be a good engineer, perhaps
an obvious over-estimation of my capabilities.
Well what I want from the well entrenched blogging
community is to give me a few words of advice on this
entire concept. I hope people will respond. Goodbye
and have a great time.