The San Blog

In Transit

2012-02-02T02:54:00.000+05:30

‘Kaam Chalu’….or ‘Work in progress’ was written on the diversion created by the Reliance Metro work going on in Mumbai. I bet this phrase was not just for the Metro, but for almost all my friends….and yes, me too.

Two years after engineering and everyone around is ‘In Transit’ mode. Moving towards the ‘One Big Break’ with more urgency than ever before; bearing all the troubles, the confusion, the chaos to see a better tomorrow. It was not the city which I left a couple of years ago. Probably when the Metro would come up a couple of years later, it would be a little more comfortable, but people have suffered a lot for this comfort. Nevertheless, building the Metro was essential.

Like Will Smith will put it forward as ‘This little part of my life is called struggle’. But the best part of the city is that it never complains. Never about the traffic, the crowd, the troubles. These things are always going to be there. Life goes on. There are always ways of going about things. Banning the ‘Hookah’ does not stop the people from having it, or the restaurants from serving it.

When I look at most of the friends I have, I feel the same thing. They are in transit, just like me, but that hasn’t changed a lot of things. They are still the same as I knew them. Just a little adjusted to let go the little curved balls that life has thrown at them. When life throws curved balls, these people never asked ‘Why?’

It feels nice. Life will always be in transit. Are you the person who honks at the traffic when a new flyover is being constructed or are you the one who blasts music in the car without caring much about the traffic makes a difference.

Bitter Sweet Symphony

2011-11-29T13:42:00.001+05:30

'I hate my life, everything in India was so perfect. I left that for what? More money, comfortable life, what else?'..I did not know how to react. I had to wait for my friend to finish up before I said anything. It was just the both of us and I knew I had to handle this carefully.

Tears rolling, face full of frustration and words of anger. This was certainly not a case of failure. Let's call the person 'X'. I used to admire X's life, way too classier than mine. I never expected this to happen. X and breakdown - Never!!

For a moment, I began thinking about my life. I too miss being in India. I am missing the perfect set of friends I had there too. I miss them badly. It takes a moment to 'crack down' and it takes a moment to 'collect all the pieces and get up again'. Just that these moments never come together.

What if I would have been in India? Life would have not been the same, same thing about friends. Full time job is no 'Engineering college'. If loneliness has to strike you, it will strike you on the busiest street in the world. My friend knows all of this. Getting into trouble and coming out of it was nothing new for X but today was a different day.

What do I do, reach for the phone, call someone, talk to parents. But broadcasting would have done more harm than good. Nobody wants the ugly part of their life to be known to others. As I was thinking all of this, I realized that I had missed the last 5 sentences that 'X' had said. But I could sense that they were on the lines of 'How messed up my life is' types. You feel sad sometimes when people lose courage. It's not bad to fall into deep pit, it's bad if you lose the confidence that you'll come out of it.

I was thinking about things that could cheer 'X' up; trying to remember the things that cheered me up during my 'lows'. Once I had viral fever and I had to sit home all week while everyone else was off to the University. Made me homesick. My mom would have taken special care of me had I been back home. That day, 'a totally unexpected friend' made hot soup for me. That soup simply made my day and took away the homesickness.

I had no time to make food. I remembered about the 'Dairy Milk' chocolate in my pocket. It came from the parcel that dad had sent me from India. I had reserved it for someone's birthday that night. It was the right time to take that out. Yes it worked...I wonder how 'Dairy Milk' did the trick. Life's like that, 20 rupees is all you need to get out of shit! Dad send me more Dairy Milk, 'kuch meetha ho jaaye'.

Smooth Transitions

2011-10-07T00:46:00.001+05:30

For some reasons, transitions have been super smooth for me. Be it from School to Junior College, College to Engineering, Engineering to MS.

Somehow, the 'firsts' of everything have been near perfect. The start of something new. The time when people around you run with all the 'Goody-Goody' projection of themselves. In a couple of months, the make-up fades and you see the real faces.

The last hop of the transition till now has been 'The most interesting one'. Coming to US, everything is new. You are away from everything, the perfect set of friends you had back at home in India, your parents, your family everyone. In the first month of landing in US, you have a hundred different stories happening around you. The job search stories, house hunt stories, roommate trouble stories, rumors et al.

Basically you are loaded with too much stuff to keep it to yourself. You are on the lookout for new avenues to vent out these stories. Damn!!!You run into the wrong person and your story is a broadcast in the entire batch. Trust, who, what, when???

The 'Trust Building' period is amazing. Here, you are not too sure about the people who you can trust. At the same time, you are projecting yourself as a trustworthy person. It's tricky. If you reveal too much about yourself, you are more likely to land in trouble than adding a new friend to circle of trust. On the other hand, if you remain that person who holds on to their cards for long, you might remain holding on to them forever and watch other people play.

I use some really stupid but effective tricks for navigating around this maze. I use some really 'trivial information (hyped up, of course) which I absolutely do not care about' and tell the 'Target' person about it and ask him or her to not reveal it to anyone.If I come to know about it from someone else within a week, i know what to do!

The beginning is always interesting, you remember it at all the twists and turns. Now, when I am right there knocking at the exit door of MS, everything has pretty much stabilized. The glass is clear. I miss those times. I see the juniors revisiting these times and I really want to be one of them right. Or wait a second, do I?? When I get a job, it will be another set of beginnings that I'll look forward to.

Looking for yet another smooth transition.

Blog Spot

2011-08-15T11:24:00.000+05:30

I was browsing through my blogs yesterday. Reminded me of the beginning; 3 and a half years rewind. Feels like just a few days have passed between now and then. I’d never thought I would complete 10 posts and now here comes number 75.

Blogging means a lot to me now. It is a big part of my life. No matter how busy you get in life, you would always find the time for the things you really like. Blogging is one such thing for me. I know I am not one of those artistic writers who would come up with masterpieces from time to time; neither do I have good story-telling skills. I have come across much better writers and I really like reading their blogs. Their blogs are a pleasure to read.

I like this place! Facebook will take over Orkut, tomorrow Google plus might throw away Facebook, people may lose their interest in twitter, but for me Blogspot will always be there. At times I had thought about shifting to Wordpress. It is much better than blogspot, much simpler to handle, more powerful tools. But given a second thought, do these things really matter? The content is the only things that really matter and counts for me and that wouldn’t change with the change in platform. I could do a hundred things on my blog, visitor counter, maps, an application for chat, but I prefer it to be simple, just plain writing.

I am not here to monetize or make new friends out there, write popular stuff and publish through the internet, connect through Facebook and all. I am glad that few people out there read my blog. I am happy when I see a friend or a stranger commenting or hearing from people that they read my blog and liked it or otherwise. Yet, that’s not the only thing that keeps me going.

I have nothing against Facebook and Twitter, but most of the things that I like to say cannot be really said in one or two lines. It simply does not work that way for me. For a person like me who likes to analyze things and go into the depth of it, blogging is the perfect outlet. It’s not a place where you would get 15 likes and 25 comments for cracking a joke.

The real question is do you really want it to be popular? I believe I can write more freely knowing that not many people are reading. I’m glad this does not reach out to the people whose only contribution in my life is a Happy Birthday on my wall once a year. I write for myself more than anyone else and I know I’m going to last long. Never had a writer’s block till now and I believe I would never have it ever.

To all the people who have read my blog : ‘A big thank you! Any feedback is welcome.’ I’ll continue reading other blogs too and commenting on the ones that I like.

Summer @ Maryland

2011-08-04T01:16:00.001+05:30

This summer has been brilliant so far for me. I like what I am doing. I am hopping between being a Web Developer during daytime and a ‘Risk Analysis’ tutoring assistant in the evening; both at the Business School. The school has been my home for the summer!

I’ve enjoyed the challenges I’ve faced at both my jobs. In particular, tutoring has been a great experience so far. Being at the other end of the class, facing the audience, it’s so different!

I am taking a class on ‘Risk Analysis’ which is a Subject for Executive MBA at the Business School at University of Maryland. I teach an extremely talented group of MBA people who are at least 10 years elder to me, in some cases about 20. They are well established in their respective industries.

I like their approach. They know exactly what they are here for. They are here to learn more things rather than get good grades. Everyone is secure in their own field, well settled! The atmosphere is pretty much non-competitive, pretty much helpful. Just like the good old school days…and then life started becoming a ‘Race’.

It’s great to see a class full of ideas. Intriguing conversation about the simplest of the problems; it’s just the way you look at things make the difference! I remember when I took this class; little did I know there is so much to this subject. ‘Risk Analysis’ can never be taught in a classroom. The real life stories paint a beautiful canvas themselves.

Listening to success stories of people from different fields feels fantastic. These people, when they look back, were not necessarily the brightest from their colleges or did not get the ‘Best Deal’ for the first time they tried. But all of them had great patience to climb the ladder. They knew how to grab the right opportunity at the right time.

I've learnt some new things here. A few of my students live as far as New Jersey which is more than 3 hours by car. So, it's inconvenient for them to travel all this distance and attend the class. So, I started a series of Web Seminars on WebEx. This WebEx software simply rocks, CISCO has done a great work! I was shit scared to use the software for the first time. 10 people on the conference and I'm the only one speaking. Web Seminars give you a feeling of TV reporter, you keep talking and hope that the audience grasp it! But at the end of first seminar when I un-muted each of the participant for any questions, then I'd realized that I had done a pretty god job. You will always cherish the first time, and if you are the host and the speaker both, you certainly will!

Apart from this, I sometimes get a chance to have free dinner in expensive restaurants, get dropped back home in a different car every-time. May get a chance to visit some companies and get a tour of them. Who knows, one of my students may end up giving me a full time job too and save me the trouble of hunting for one.

Knowing all this, I know this is the easier way and also that there is a tougher way! Both will lead me to the same place. If not now, some fine day. Life is never like those GPS machines where you key in the address and follow the directions. It’s a joyride where you should stop whenever you feel like, admire, enjoy and keep going.

I’ll quote one of the sentence from my friend Gaurav’s blog!

“Life is not a race…So let the winning part be for those who think it is”

The Delay Connect

2011-07-08T05:26:00.002+05:30

Delays are almost always frustrating and the waiting time is...Well lets just say 'waste of time'. A few rare occasions where this delay was pleasant!

I recently called up my distant cousin, we were on the phone for like half an hour. At the time when the conversation was almost about to shut, he said that around a month back, he had become a father. The news took almost 1 month to reach me, I don't know how it lost in transit every-time, but I was so happy for him.

He told me a story about another such pleasant delay. Back in August 1947 when India got independence, it was the monsoon season. So all the ships to Lakshwadeep Islands were disfunctional and the Island was basically isolated. After almost a month and half, the first ship reached Lakshwadeep passing the message that India had become independent. How important that message was!

This reminded me of another story. In 1987, my father was travelling to Kenya. At that time it was considered to be an 'unsafe' African country. He had no money to buy a camera back then and Instant photo was not an option in Kenya. So he approached a photographer in front of Jomo Kenyatta who said that in one month he would send the photograph to India through mail. My dad paid him a large sum of money and realized that he got duped! Six months gone and no photo. After one year and one month, he got a parcel delivered through post which had plethora of stamps on it which consisted of names of all seaports in Arabia, Africa and Mumbai. There was the photo and that's what you call snail mail.

I like to call this 'The Delay Connect'...

Memory Lanes

2011-06-20T09:15:00.000+05:30

It's been quite a while since i've had a nice face to face discussion with someone that lasted more than 15 minutes. It's not that I don't have the time to or people around me are too busy. It's just that they are too involved in their relationship with the laptop and their affair with mobile messengers.

Just about an year ago, I was waiting in college after classes having discussions in the quadrangle without realizing how hours flew by. 'Rewind button-where are you?'

I do not remember playing a serious game of cards for a long time. Half the attention goes into the facebook chat in your laptop and half into the cards. How badly I am longing for that one serious game of 'Black Queen' with my college friends. Just once.

It has been more than a semester since I've had a night-out that did not involve studying. Walking down the road and accidently meeting a long lost friend is an impossible event. Accidently getting a call from an old friend is also extremely rare. In India, walking with friends near an expensive restaurant we wished that we had the money to get in and have whatever we want. Now that the money is there, the friends go missing!

The conversations are missing. I know this is just the beginning of the road. Once I begin to work for some corporate company, life is going to be more miserable. But I never thought college life to be like this. I believe hobbies are made for times like these. My Guitar has become one of my closest friend. I am really not the kind of person who would have friends whose names like 'Facebook', "Gtalk', 'Whats app', 'BBM' et all. I feel that chatting is a complete waste of time, but that's just my opinion.

I am not some anti-social facebook hater. I sometimes do cling to these things. Just that I give them a secondary preference. If I am on my laptop doing timepass and see the person next to me getting bored, I will definately shut the thing I am doing and talk to that person. This is because I know what it feels being on the other side. It feels great to have a listener sometimes!

This little blog is my place for blabbering. I do not care if there are no viewers or no comments, it just feels so good venting out.

'Live in the moment', 'Enjoy whatever you are doing now' are phrases so true, but sometimes the past is just too golden to not think about and let go.

A closure

2011-06-05T10:07:00.000+05:30

The phone was ringing on a busy day. The number looked familiar, but not on the contact list. My mind wandered through the memory lanes thinking about the number.

Picking up the phone would have meant reopening a closed chapter of my life. I wasn't sure what to do. Three long years of no talking and suddenly, out of the blue you get a call. What could it be about? Why now? Where were you for so long? Are you gonna ask me any favour?

Too many questions revolving in a short period of time. The phone stops ringing. The mind is still thinking....what could it be? Is the other person in some real trouble. Has she realized about her mistake and called for giving an apology. Should I call back? The number was very much familiar, brought in a lot of memories.

Getting back some of the good friends you have lost is not such a bad idea afterall. Or maybe I am thinking a bit too much, maybe she just called to ask me a favour. Let me give a missed call atleast. No, wait, let me wait for a while if I get another call.

It's been a year since I missed that call. I never got a call again from that number. I never bothered calling, why am I such a bad person? Why are 'closures' very rigid and harsh with me, I will never know.

Today, I happened to login to one of my oldest email id's. I don't know why I did that. It's an Indiatimes email id and I am pretty sure nodoby has an email Id on that website now. But my mailbox didn't expire(probably because their server got no new email requests and kept mine alive). I saw a mail that read, 'Sanket, I just called to wish you good luck for your US trip and further studies. Have fun, stay in touch, Njoi'.

This time, I replied instantly. I picked up the phone and dialled a number, a tring and a hello.

Some closures are just temporary.

Socializing

2011-06-01T11:31:00.000+05:30

Two words to describe me right now are 'I'm confused'. Confused regarding a lot of things.

I used to consider myself as a very social person. I Liked being around people. Did a lot of things to get everyone together. Stimulated many a conversation in a dull lit room filled with people. On the other hand, I also did many things to run away from people. Avoiding a few trips with friends, running away from social parties, sitting alone in a room filled with joyous people chatting all around on interesting topics. Sometimes you would just see me in the corner of the room sitting alone and wonder, this person, social, seriously?

When I think about this more, I ask myself, If I come to Mumbai for say 3 days, what would I like to do. Call everyone and say I am coming, meet the maximum number of friends that I can. Relieve the good old times. Or would I like to not inform everyone and meet only the closest ones. The ones who matter to me the most. Both ideas sound equally good, the second slightly better than the first.

Is this wierd? Does this happen to everyone? Oh crap, I'm so confused! This birthday, I was surrounded with a lot of people, cutting a big cake, gifts, party everything that too a couple of days before the exam. Everything that is needed to make it a good day was there. But, somehow I missed one thing that I did every birthday. I missed having one good lenthy conversation that I have every year. The person keeps on changing, but that thing remains.

First semester in US I was hanging around in a group of 12 people. Now there are 7, nobody knows the number next semeter and thereafter, but 12 is a seriously big number. When I look back, i seriously miss those days, but numbers like 12 don't really work for long. Nothing more than 4 can be called as 'ideal' is what i feel.

On trips, I seriously like to be with fewer people. I agree with many people you can have lot of activities. Games like Mafia, Antakshari, Cards, cricket, football, parties and many more things. But at some point where you reach a stage and ask yourself that do you really want to make it a school trip or an IV.

I wish to make that one good trip with not more than 5 friends and a Guitar, doesn't matter if it's only for 2 days. Location, no problem. I wish to cut out from the rest of the world for those 2 days. No phone, no chatting, no internet.

Life has a different color everyday. One day you might love to be alone and listen to a wonderful song. Next day, you would like someone to sing a good song for you. The day after you would sing it with the closest of friends. After that you would listen to that song with all your colleagues. Each time you would love it! For entirely different reasons!

Home Away from Home

2011-03-06T13:23:00.000+05:30

It has been around 8 months since I’ve come to US; still the feeling of living in a different country has not totally sunk in. It still feels like being in India.

I thought eating Indian food will give you that nice ‘Reminds me of India’ feeling. But again, due to lack of rarity, that feeling doesn’t exist anymore. I am having ‘Paneer Paratha’ almost every second day; rotis and Indian vegetables everyday; rice and varieties (Puloa, Jeera Rice, Biryani, Tamarind Rice and all) with good frequency. Chai is there. You can even have the ‘Masala Pan’ here at a reasonable price.

The restaurants we often visit are Indian/Mexican/Arabic/Pakistani restaurants which serve food which comes very close to Indian food. Krazy Kebob was playing ‘Aatif Aslam’ songs the last time we went there. At any moment, one of my roomies puts on a Hindi song on You Tube. We have watched Hindi movies here in theatres as well as online. Today, we even got a chance to attend a Kailash Kher concert at Kennedy Centre. It was great to see such a large crowd turn up. I listened to foreign secretary Nirupama Rao speak at the Indian embassy.

There are lots of Indians to talk to around; lots of Indians in my courses too! India calling rates are cheaper than my local Vodafone calling rates in India. So, people back home are just a phone call away. My mom speaks to me more often now than when I was in Mumbai. Internet is on 24 hours, in bus, in college at home, in cafes, on the phones, so skype, facebook chat, g-talk makes you feel like home (although you’ll rarely ever see me on those!).

We celebrate every Indian festival. I had Sabudana Khichadi on Shiv Jayanti, Sheera in Diwali, Ganpati Aarti during Ganesh Jayanti, Garba and Dandiya dance in college, Holi is coming. I have followed cricket more in US than I did in India.

I had been in India in December and now there is no burning desire as such to go to India any sooner. This is a mini-India in itself. When I was packing my bags to go back to US again after my India trip, I was carrying a bag full of Indian food items. These things lasted for a while. Homemade food again!

Sometimes, I feel this is not the way to go. One of these days, I am going to live life differently. I am not going to start my day with ‘Aloo Patty’ and Bournvita. I am going to try different things. I am going to visit a local store or small market and buy from there. I am going to eat American food in an American restaurant (They say it’s bland…let’s taste what bland looks like!). I am going to keep my India calling off for a week (Not now, someday!). I am going to roam around the Museums and learn a few bits of history. I am going to go on a hike, going to rent a bike! Listen to some random concert, watch a live opera.

After doing those things, I’d really like to say, ‘Now, I’m missing India!’

New Semester...new beginnings

2011-02-06T08:13:00.003+05:30

A lot has changed since my one month break in India. Life in US has taken a 360 Degree shift. Things around have changed a lot.

Happiness is a funny thing. Last semester, I had a wonderful time, great friends around. Everything around just seemed perfect. We rocked the place. But somehow at the back of my mind, I had this feeling that life was becoming a big mess.

Enjoying the good times, I was ignorant about many things in life which weren't in the right place. It's like any sport. If you keep winning, you sometimes ignore the mistakes you are making.
After India trip, a lot has changed. Things around are not the same as they used to be. But, despite a big pile of mess around, I feel that my life is much more sorted.I feel that I am more happier than ever before. For now, I know exactly where I am heading. I know that the tangled part of my life is slowly getting sorted. I see a big pile of garbage lying around me, but I have no time to look at it. I walk past it and move on.

Sometimes Happiness comes from within and not things around you.

If everyday seems like a weekend, the actual 'weekend' loses it's value. Weekend has it's value after a tiring week. It gives you more fun if you've earned it! As life is getting busier, the courses getting tougher, there is no time to look at the mess around. Actually, there is very little time left for yourself too. I cherish this little time that I have and try to make the best use of it.

Few months back, I had a lot of spare time and fewer friends to talk to. Now I have little time and lots of people around.

I love this life. When I look back, I've been happier during the busier times. That's when I have done the most substantial things.

A Burday Tale

2011-01-11T16:00:00.003+05:30

There have been many a planned birthday parties....but this unplanned set of events before a friend's birthday were one of the most interesting in quite a while now.

Day before birthday:

11:02 pm:Returning from some other Birthday party treat, Saki Naka

11:10 pm:Let's eat Ice-Cream at Amul's JB Nagar

11:30 pm: In Front of Amul Ice Cream JB Nagar...Arre plan change, have to drop someone at her house

11.40 pm: Teaching the Birthday girl how to ride a bike

11.50 pm: Everyone walking towards Main Road, me and my friend on a bike ride, 'discussing life'

11.51 pm: Arre Dude, Lets Bring a cake! Kya Bolta hai...
Arre Par Bada Party toh Kal Dopahar ko hai nai, 'Surprise Wala'
Aur Ek Cheez, Fact of life, Nearest Cake Shop, Merwans Andheri -25 Minutes, Powai 30 Minutes. Middle of Nowhere

Dude.

11.52 pm:Chal Round Marte Hai, Amul Shop ke Aaspass Kuch Khula Rahega to....Nahi toh Ice-Cream layenge, Ice-Cream Birthday.

11.53 pm: Friend Calls, kaha gayab ho gaye tum log.
Arre Bike thok diya maine, Do minute lagega ruk aate hai.

11.54 pm: Amul Shop, Just closing, No luck...Arre Saamne Hi Baskin Robbins Hai. Sahi.
Baskin Robbins...No Pastries.

11.55 pm: Samne wale General Shop Mein Cadbury lete hai(tradition) General Shop is half shutter down at this moment. One more friend calls, 'Baad mein phone karta hoon'

30 seconds later, Are yaha plum cake bhi hai, Utha lete hai.
Picked up a Dairy milk.

11.56 pm: Someone tells Baju wale Ice-Cream Shop mein cake milta hai.
Run to Ice-Cream Shop. No Normal cake available. Ice Cream Cake is there.
Chalega, Ice-Cream cake. Flavour Doesn't matter.
Cake 15 minutes mein pighal jayega.....(15 minute kiske paas hain!)
Kaatega Kaise....
Do Chammach Utha ice cream ke...

11.57 pm: Phone:'Arre tum log kaha ho?, ham aa rahe hai'
Axis Bank Ke Samne. Aaja.
Phone Cut
Where the heck is Axis bank? Arre, yahi kahi hoga re, tu chal.

11.58 pm: Police Stops bike.
'Licence Dikhao'
I am searching for license hoping that I am carrying it!
'Kidhar ja rahe ho'
'Friend Cha Birthday aahe, Ithech Challo ahot'
'Ja'..

11.59 pm: Woh dekh saamne Axis Bank hai. Apne Punter log udhar hi hai.

12.00 am: Happy Birthday to you!

A few more things.

Number 1:The Cake was the best I have had in a very long time. Tired of 'Oreo Cake' in US and 'Black Forest' in Mumbai, this was something new.
Number 2: It was Vanilla Ice-Cream in centre surrounded by Chocolate at both end. It was terribly delicious. 8 people almost finished the entire 1 kg cake in no time.
Number 3: No Knife, just hath maarke, Engineering days rewinded.
Number 4: The cake was freezing cold in a Box of thermocol that said, "happy birthday - bhai' in crude handwriting....

Something different, something new, something memorable.

PS: Buy an Ice-cream cake whoever hasn't had it. It is great!

Escaping the bubble

2010-12-07T11:14:00.002+05:30

(Warning: this post has nothing to do with any personal experience, it's just a work of fiction)

He was pressing his ear hard against the wall trying to hear everything he could. Feeling a bit sad that his own friends were gossiping about him, saying bad things. A few days ago, he used to be on the other side of the wall. He used to be one of them. Gossiping about everyone around while staying up all night. It was fun, it's always fun when the joke is on someone else and you are the one who's having a roll. But now, things have changed.

He's bored of the gossip. He's bored of the non-sense trivia. He's bored of staying in the bubble. Individual ambition sometimes takes over the group spirit. Actually, the group spirit is also weakening. He sees people secretly fulfilling their selfish interest, while he has been faithful all this while. He has seen the group divide into fragments yet pretending to be one.

Slowly, but steadily since then, he has isolated himself from the group. He is no longer interested in the politics, the back-biting, the silly jokes and all. The jokes that once upon a time entertained him have become boring and repetitive. The once enthusiastic group was clearly past its prime. He was tired of taking the initiative every-time. This task was becoming increasingly difficult. It wasn't worth the effort anymore. He couldn't go alone and do the things he liked as it would mean breaking the group spirit. 'Group Spirit' - Huh, he knew no such thing existed.

He is no longer enjoying life in the bubble. He wants to venture out. Go out in the open; do things on his own. He wants fresh air! New activities. All his social life had died in the bubble. It was a great chance to revamp it. He knew that he would end up gaining more than he was about to lose.

The next day, he hears his name faintly. He starts walking towards the 'wall'. He stops there, something has changed! Stands there and smiles. Doesn't want to listen to what's being said at the other side of the wall. His new world is so beautiful that he ceases to care what's happening inside the bubble.

Les Amis

2010-11-13T03:18:00.002+05:30

It has been more than 3 months in America and personally a lot has changed for me. The biggest change has been my circle of friends. My closest friends in life are people who think more or less in the same way that I do and have kind of a similar approach towards life.

Now, for a change, I am around with people who have a completely different take on things in life around me. 5 of us staying together in the same apartment with a lifestyle completely different from one another, sharing very different opinions and having a very different persona.

Initially, I was a bit skeptical about how things are going to work and are we really going to have a good time together? Now, when I look back at these 3 months, I think we've gelled together quite well. Each of us has a very different nature and has brought something unique into the group. There is liveliness all the time. The variety is so vivid that there are people who stay awake in the night till 6 and then there are the ones who wake up in the morning at 6.

I feel it's good to have people with different approaches about the same thing around. It's like if you are in troubled times in life, you need friends who will keep assuring 'There will be a brighter day' and give you some hope where there seems none around. On the other hand, you also would like friends who would shout at you and say 'What the hell are you doing with you life? Stop cribbing and start working. Why do you need lady luck to help you?'

Both approaches above are effective in their own way and we need both of them!

Back to the original topic, would it have been better to have similar thinking friends? The answer is, 'I don't know'. At times, it is good that people cannot read my face.It is good that I can keep some of my happiness and pain to myself. It would have been freakish if friends around me all the time would figure me out completely. But, sometimes you feel that your friends should figure out what you want to say without you actually saying things. There is always a trade-off.

This is just the beginning. At the end of 2 years, it might be a completely different blogpost. Time will tell.

The Big Apple

2010-11-11T12:40:00.001+05:30

A week ago, when I went to New York, the first thing that I noticed after two months of staying in DC is the change in ‘Pace’. This change was refreshing! ‘Pace’ was the thing that was missing from my life for a while now and ‘Pace’ is the thing that is certainly missing from Washington DC. DC gives you a feel of living in a Mid-Sized town and the part where I live gives a feel of life in a village; a village with 24 hours electricity.

New York is in many ways like Mumbai city. The traffic problem, the parking place crunch, the beggars in the train, streets crowded with people; more interestingly it has the potholes, filthy streets, the street food, the bargain shopping streets et all. The metro is city’s lifeline and the only way to reach any place in time.
If Mumbai is the place where people from all over India come together and settle down, New York is the place where people from all over the world come and settle down. You will find restaurants serving almost all cuisines of the world. An Ethiopian joint which I went to served good food. Like Mumbai, different areas have a different feel to It.

You can distinguish Manhattan from Bronx in the same way that you can distinguish South Mumbai from Thane. In Mumbai, once you cross the Vashi Bridge, you realize the change instantly. You realize it’s not Mumbai anymore. Same thing happens when you cross George Washington Bridge or Lincoln Tunnel to go to New Jersey. Now, New Jersey is another big modern village.

Like Mumbai, this city has no room for expansion. No matter how far away from the city you live, you have to take the morning local to town. The peak time traffic in New York is as bad as in Mumbai, if not worse. Except the peak times are a bit different. Morning 7 to 9 is the peak time here, whereas in Mumbai, it’s usually 8.30 to 10.30. The metro works 24*7, no respite.

At 4 in the morning, there are people on the street. The Starbucks is open, the city feels safe. The New York city metro is quite unattractive than the metros in other cities. The metro stations look like jails with all the barricades and stuff. Like Mumbai has a National Park, New York has Central Park. The difference is that Central Park is bang in the middle of the city and 100 times well maintained. It’s amazing that such a wonderful thing survived this concrete jungle.

People walking on the streets, such a rare sight in US; yet is such a common sight in New York. The parking taxes are towing fees are so high that people prefer to park their cars in the last stop of New Jersey and come across the Hudson river using public transport. From here, all of Manhattan is walking distance away.
The PENN Station resembles a lot to CST where both long distance and short distance trains meet. Just outside is the Times Square which was showing some match on the huge screen. Like Mumbai, this city looks brilliant at Night from the Aircraft. The Manhattan skyline is simply brilliant from the Jersey City side.
I am going to visit this city more often! Gives me the feel of Aamchi Mumbai!

Unfortunately, I don't have the photos of New York to upload. I'll do that after I have enough money to save and buy a camera!

The Madness...

2010-11-04T11:20:00.003+05:30

On the way to New York, I was sitting besides a psychiatrist. I always thought that they are the kind of people who must hate their job. After seeing so many crazy people everyday and dealing with them, who wouldn't? But, like most other Americans, he enjoyed his job.

I had a nice discussion with him during the journey and got to know lot of interesting things. He said that most people become mad as they cannot achieve what they want in their lives. Or rather, they would not accept who they are or what they have become. It can happen to anybody who finds it difficult to digest failure (or rather be jealous of the success of others).

After this, I was curious and asked him how people who seem to lead a perfectly normal life turn wierd all of a sudden. He said the process of getting mad is similar to the thing that happens when people get drunk. When people get high, the part of the brain that regulates what you speak mellows down and you begin speaking what you really wanna speak, without filtering it.

Similar thing happens when you become mad. The difference is that when you are drunk, you get back to normalcy within a few hours, it's not the same when you turn mad. It's very difficult to come back to the state of normalcy for them. The worst part is no medicine can bring your brain back to normal, you yourself have to work your way out of it. Medicines can only temporarily put you to sleep or mellow you down, but not change anything. It is like taking painkiller, the pain is still there, just that you don't feel it. There is no standard way to bring things to normal, different things work out for different people.

He talked about some weird people that he treated. He had a patient who used to be normal all day and turn mad after 10 in the night. Some people turn mad when the come across a particular person or see a particular color or object. These are the type of people who are the most difficult to treat. Their brains are wired to think in a particular way. They have to be taught to unlearn that, which is very difficult. People are a lot more reluctant to change rather than they seem to be.

He says, the best part about his job is that a lot of people come back happily to him and thank him for bringing them to normalcy. According to him, a lot of doctors in other fields do not get credit for the job they do. People visit them in times of sickness and when they get well, there is no acknowledgement.

His happiness lies in the fact that he has brought lives of numerous people back to normalcy!

The Job Hunt

2010-09-21T11:04:00.003+05:30

If you didn’t believe in a thing called luck, come to US and hunt for a part-time on-campus job. How long does it take to find one? Well, there is no definite answer to that. The first door you knock could present you with a job. On the other hand, you could roam around the campus for the entire semester and yet be without one!

Your qualifications and resume do not matter much in this hunt. At some help-desk jobs, the qualifications on your resume work against you. They need people with little technical background who would never leave for another better job. All Said, the process is exciting and the stories I’ve heard last month or so are super-thrilling.

My job hunt story has many twists and turns. Two days after landing in US, I had the opportunity of an interview in a Classic Japanese restaurant. That person even offered me a job with an astronomical sum of money which could have paid for half of my MS studies. For a moment, I was tempted. Tempted to work for an illegal job; tempted for the money; tempted to put work ahead of my studies. After eating the only 2 vegetarian items on the menu, I ended up rejecting the job.

In the next few days, some lucky people got jobs. If you get a job very early in job hunt, you should either be super lucky or super desperate for a job. You are travelling in a bus and start a conversation with the person next to you and he ends up giving you a job opportunity, this is how lucky can you get. There are some others who have roamed all the buildings in the campus all month long without getting one! Wait a second, you can be luckier that this too! The person who arranges your temporary accommodation could refer you for a job that would save you half your tuition fees. In some odd cases, the seniors you stay with would treat you as alien and not even let you use the kitchen utensils. Luck as they call it. Then there are some dumb people. One guy forgot his bag in some department. After an hour or so, he realized that. On the way back, someone asked him are you looking for a Graduate Assistantship (GA). That idiot said; no I’m looking for a bag.

One fine day, one of my friends calls me up and says there is a GA position which requires VB experience, you should apply. I didn’t know VB, yet there was no harm in giving a try. I walked all across the campus to reach the building where the job was to submit my resume. Fun part, the lady who read my resume tells me there is no VB on this resume. I don’t know what to say. I walk in for a VB job without VB on my resume! I end up telling her that I’ve done things more important than VB and there’s no space to fit in VB experience. I still can’t believe how she took that reply. Ten minutes later, two of my friends walk in the same fashion, say the same thing and that lady drove them away!

A simple estimate of the replies to the job positions, if you apply to 200 job positions, you end up getting reply from about 10 of them. 5 of those say sorry, we don’t have a job, 3 of them say we don’t have a job currently, 1 says we are considering your case and 1 actually calls you for an interview. My bad luck was so bad that I got an Interview for the VB job out of all that I applied. I read an email at 11 in the night saying that you have an interview at 11 next morning, we will ask questions about Visual Basic and databases.

This was a nothing to lose opportunity. If I didn’t get the job, I would end up learning VB and adding something to my resume. I slogged all night, reading some stupid internet forum about VB and went for the interview where I realized that I was fielded against 3 other computer science people on their ‘Home turf’. Despite that, I feel that I did well. I can say that because I got an email saying that I got a half-time GA position and that implied that 25% of my tuition fees are waived of and I end up having 1000 dollars a month. This joy however was short lasting and in the next 15 minutes, I got another email saying we currently are filling only one position, so we cannot offer you the job. In 15 minutes, I was dreaming about the things to do with 1000 dollars and now walking on the ‘Boulevard of broken dreams’.

In the meanwhile, one of us came to know about a sure shot job opportunity. 2 people wanted that job. To decide who gets it, we held an event called as 'The Coin-toss'. A job was at stake and 10 people were watching as someone was about to get lucky on the flip of the coin. Eventually, it turned out that some other guy went on to get the job.

An email was circulated in most university departments regarding a c# job opportunity. I had funnily replied to that email saying that I have a 3 year work experience in C# and many projects when I had none. I got an email from them saying to give them a 10 minutes ppt about the projects and work I handled in C#. It is funny, but I made up a 10 minutes ppt adding all the crap projects that I had done and stating that I had used C# for it. I decorated some slides with the photos of databases from my BE project, a piece of shit which I hoped would never help anyone ever!

The presentation was nice according to me and I went quite close to getting that job too which eventually went to a Chinese cs guy. In the next few days, I came close to getting a job in crazy departments far different than the thing that I am here to study for. I came really really close to getting a job at Agricultural Department, A photographer’s job, A job at the Food and Nutrition Department, A job of straightening wires at Mechanical department. The people in the US raise your hopes a lot. You cannot be sure of a job until you see your name on the pay roll, no matter how close you think you are. In one case, someone was told to come the next day to discuss salary issues and when she went in the next day, she was informed that the position is already filled.

All said, I finally have a job in Civil Engineering department. It doesn’t pay much, but I’m happy that I like what I’m doing. I wish good luck to others who are still finding on-campus jobs in US.

Ten good things

2010-08-23T07:10:00.001+05:30

Calling to India is cheap and it gives a great feeling.
The internet simply rocks; you never have to wait for streaming.
Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream rocks, I am going to buy all the flavors in the next 2 years.
Cooking is a lot of fun, at least the initial few days.
Weekends are totally worth the hype.
University is a whole town in itself.
Laptop, Ipod and everything electronic is cheap.
Girls are good
Pedestrian crossing is more valued than car crossing
Everyone you meet has a smile on their face.

From the Observation desk...

2010-08-13T09:32:00.001+05:30

This post is about various people I’ve met in last 10 days in US. I like to observe people and how they go about the doing thing.

The one thing I liked the most about people working in US is that they have a smile on their face, have a cheerful attitude even if they actually don’t like the job that they do. They are eager to help you. A simple thing like opening a bank account, which is a boring task in India given the amount of paperwork is such a fun task here. They treat the customer as a friend and talk very freely.

Now, a little bit about the Indians I met here. I came to this place with a bit of prejudice about my peers and seniors whom I would meet. But things are not the same as I pictured them to be. Our seniors are extremely helpful. I expected there to be some ragging, but there wasn’t any. Infact, all of us freshers had someone to pick up at the airport.

I live temporarily with 4 Bengali phd students who prepared food for me for the first day and brought food packets for me for that would last 10 days till I find a permanent apartment. Bengali food tastes great I tell you! The Indian student bodies working here are doing a great job. They are full of enthusiastic students, there is no senior junior divide, and all of us sat together in a conference room and sketched a plan for the Indian Independence day program in the university. We played cricket and football and hopefully play that ever weekend.

Now, about the batch mates, there is a lot of variety over here. Many of them are quite diplomatic. I think that’s because most of the students who have come here carry a form of burden which will ease as time progresses. ‘When I get a safe and secure job in the university I’ll give you the information about all the other jobs available in the campus’ is the indirect message everyone around is carrying. Safety first is on everyone’s mind. There is a bit of professional touch to friendship, you help me and I help you. Give and take. I’m sure if I’d met these people in Engineering Degree College, they might have made great friends.

One thing I like about blogger more than facebook or twitter is that not many people read it! So, you can be more frank about the things you write rather than writing the edited version or the polished one.

I hope all of us here get good jobs, at least the hourly ones and things around change for the better. One more thing, a long lost friend called yesterday. I don’t know where he got my number from, but the conversation went something like this….

A: Hey Sanket, wassup, how’s life, Aaj teri bahut yaad aa rahi thi.

Me: Oh Sahi hai, good you remembered after such a long while. How’s life.

A: Life’s great, acha sun, Can you help me with one thing, actually…….

Now I know why he remembered!!

A new beginning

2010-08-11T10:24:00.001+05:30

It has been a really long time since I’ve written something, but it’s not been long since I’ve thought about writing something.

This past month has been a crazy one for me, both in India and US. Things have slowly started to fall in the right place, I’m enjoying every bit of the journey. Uncertainty has been a major part of life. 2 days before coming to US, I didn’t know my date of departure; I was clueless what I would do in New York, how I would land in DC with all the bags all by myself. But these problems are a problem only if you see think of them as one, they eventually get solved.

Every Indian student who has come here is in kind of ‘a race’; a race to finish all the tasks in one go. Finding an apartment, buying a phone, laptop, University ID, registering for courses, making a resume, cover letter, hunting for an apartment, making departmental contacts the list goes on and on. Now I know why they call it ‘Apartment Hunting’.

There are a few things I learnt in US. Patience is the key to getting your job done and there is a way of getting things done, you just have to figure it out. Secondly, you have to be at ‘The right place at the right time’. Things change here from time to time. There have been times when we thought we were extremely close to getting an apartment right away, but minutes later, it was not to be. One moment, you think the forex card that you brought from India will handle everything, next you realize it can’t be swiped.

There is no point cribbing about such things as every Indian who goes abroad for studies faces such kind of crap. The thing is, you cannot become too excited about the fortunes that come your way or dejected by the misfortunes.

The place where we live feels like home coz of many Indian students in the vicinity. Everything that’s there in India is available, so while coming, its okay if you just bring along only a bag filled with clothes. Sometimes it’s painful to convert the dollars to rupees while buying stuff, but that conversion will stay till we start earning in dollars.

Hope that happens soon, waiting to write more, will do soon.

PS: All the people in my bloglist seem to have stopped updating!!!

A Call for Strike

2010-06-17T22:07:00.001+05:30

To
Chairman
Auto-Rikshaw Union
Mumbai

Subject: Rikshaw Strike

Dear Sir,

This is a humble request for keeping a one day Auto-RIkshaw strike in Mumbai. The CNG fares have increased and the government has not increased the Auto fares. This is injustice, go fight for it! Don’t ply your rikshaws on the road.

Mumbai is a wonderful place to travel with no rikshaws, all roads clear, no bottlenecks. Try to take the Taxi drivers with you in the strike, then whole of Mumbai will be a better driving place. Last time around, me and my friends went for an amazing long drive during the strike. There was never a better day for driving in Mumbai.

My apologies for people who do not drive in a car or bike, but I guess they can manage for a day and take a day off and enjoy or roam around in their friend’s cars. Sometimes, it’s better waiting for a bus rather than asking 10 Auto drivers for nearby fares and then you ppl saying no.

Last time, I went to Pune, there was a rikshaw strike for 5 days. Why is the Mumbai Union lagging so far behind. Very few strikes, that’s not good for your reputation. The last strike was long time ago. Inflation has increased, prices of commodities are steep, meter’s have been manipulated to the maximum extent possible, people’s salaries around you have increased, why should you suffer. Plus you can have a day off from work.

I am sure you would pay heed to this advice and go on a strike as soon as possible. Afterall, it’s for your benefit.

The Premier League Paper

2010-06-16T19:53:00.005+05:30

Engineering question papers have a typical Style of setting the question paper.

If we had a subject called premier league, we would have a paper something like this.

Here it goes

Premier League

Note: 1. Question number 1 is Compulsary
2. Figures to the right indicate marks
3. Attempt any 4 out of remaining 6 questions
4. Any assumptions made should be clearly stated.

1. (a) Why the only good thing about Liverpool is their history? Answer with reference to 18 titles overall, No title in 20 years. (10)

(b) Money cannot alone buy you trophies, Explain. Also, compare Man City with Chelsea (10)

2. (a) Describe the incredible success story of Harry Rednapp from 17th position when he took over to the top 4 finish. (10)

(b) Describe the revenge of Leeds United over Man United (10)

3. (a) Explain Chelsea’s misfortunes in Champion’s league semis with the mention of Luis Garcia and Tom Overbo (10)

(b) Average age of Arsenal Squad is currently 23 years and 3 months which is decreasing at an average of 5 months per year since Wenger took over. How many more years will it take for the average age of squad to be 16 years. (10)

4. (a) Describe the legendary Champions league final where Milan beat Liverpool with no mention of Istanbul. (10)

(b) Who are better, Hicks and Gillett or the Glazers? (10)

5. (a) Distinguish between Liverpool minus Gerrard and Torres and Wigan Athletic (10)

(b) Why is every successful manager in the world tipped to replace Alex Ferguson? Jose Mourinho, David Moyes, Martin O’ Niall to name a few. (10)

6. (a) Why do most of the players leave Arsenal at the peak of their career? (10)

(b) Why is the Istanbul game the only one for which Benitez will be remembered for? Can you name any member of that team still surviving in Liverpool squad? (10)

7. Write short notes on.

(a).Burnley at home with and without Brian Laws. (5)
(b). Birmingham’s 12 match unbeaten streak. (5)
(c). Italy, a retirement destination for premier league players. (5)
(d). Van Der Saar, Still going strong at 40. (5)

The final Countdown

2010-05-21T00:25:00.007+05:30

(Warning...long, slightly boring post ahead...)
College term in coming to an end; a 4 year wonderful journey will soon be over. With incredibly talented people around me, I’ve transformed quite a lot in these years. From being a quiet, low profile schoolboy who was comfortable talking only with a closed group of people to somebody who has decent interaction with each and every person of the class.

Few days back, I saw my junior k. g. class photograph. I could recollect a lot of faces in it, but couldn’t identify who they were. One thing that I regret about my school life is not having interaction with a lot of people (interaction beyond the hi-hello). In college, I’ve distinct memories with almost everyone that I can never forget.

There are many reasons behind these interactions, the most important one being that you clear the misconceptions about people that you had in your head. People are sometimes a lot different than you think they are. Secondly, it’s interesting to listen to a variety of people living life very differently; People watching champions league till 4 in the morning and coming to college at 9 and people running from college at 5 to catch their 7.30 pm TV show.

Also, these interactions will remind people about me (hopefully) and I’ll remember them by the same incidents. Many people see this socializing habit of mine as some kind of flirting or friend circle improving exercise. Let them cook stories. But the truth is I am not in it to expect something back in return. I would be more than glad if I’d be in contact with 2-3 people from the class ten years from now.

I’m terrible at maintaining friendship. I’ve lost two of my best friends to the degree that we feel awkward being around each other. The reasons for both I know and I had an opportunity to correct things. But I didn’t feel like doing that. That’s how weird I act at times. But yes, the first time, losing a good friend had created a big void in my life. From talking almost daily on the phone, to never seeing each other for 3 years, the transition was difficult.

Luckily, I’ve not done things to alienate friends this time around in college. I want to end things on this happy note. The last day of exams would be the last time I would be seeing many of my college friends. It is going to be an emotional day for me. For I know, I’d be missing a lot. Ideally, I would like to leave the college as soon as the exams get over, amidst the cheer of the crowd and go alone to one of the beaches, switching off the mobile. Walking with the breeze and bringing back the memorable moments from 4 years to mind and relishing them.

But, I know I might end up in college doing exactly the things that I wouldn’t want. 68 people trying to get an individual photo with all others, then the group photos. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t need photographs to remind me of the good times with my friends. I mean we already have roughly 100GB of photos from last 4 years, when are you ever gonna watch them. After the photographs, couple of hour’s discussion about which place to go, where to eat, what to do kinda crap….. some side planning....some other side planning…some more side planning….some heads turning here, some there…..A Hundred bye-bye’s. Possible night-outs. I’m actually looking forward to the final day stories.

Motorcyle diary

2010-05-08T23:52:00.005+05:30

It was late at night and I was driving back home on my bike on the S.V. Road. The road was largely empty with cool breeze blowing. I love riding the bike at night, no signals, no traffic, good weather et al.

A guy was riding a Bajaj Discover alongside my bike and an empty truck with speed of around 60 kmph was behind us. I usually give way when high speed vehicles are behind, but at that time, I was in no mood to let someone overtake. Neither was the guy on the Discover.

I remember exactly what happened next. This guy looked into the mirror to see how fast the truck was approaching. While doing this, the front wheel of his bike got stuck in a pothole, he applied brakes; the back tyre did a little wheelie, while the truck was still approaching with fairly the same speed. I took my bike to the side of the road, turned to the mirror praying for the biker. He pulled his leg out from under the bike and took an incredible 5 feet long jump. Next moment, the bike was thrashed by the truck.

In 3 years of my driving, I’ve seen people die in accidents, people severely injured, badly crashed cars, lots of bikes skidding in the first rain, but I have never seen such a miraculous escape. This was the best real life stunt that I’ve ever come across. The description seems like one of Akshay Kumar’s movie scenes, except that it is highly predictable with Akshay in it. Our life is no movie. Trust me; you would never want to see such a thing in real life.

I stopped my bike; the truck driver had driven away without stopping, nobody was around. The biker lay on the footpath, absolutely numb, cold as a rock, not knowing how to react, wondering how he came out of all this. His body was shaking and couldn’t speak for couple of minutes, eyes filled with tears. He couldn’t believe that instead of being in a pool of blood, he was in a pool of petrol which came out of the broken tank of the bike.

2 very different types of people live in this world. One who cannot bear the troubles in their lives, succumb to them and commit suicide and the other kind, who are ready to put themselves through all kinds of trouble just to be alive.

Moments like these make you realize how precious life is.

Westlife

2010-04-14T22:23:00.008+05:30

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see….

I heard this song playing on the radio a few days back. It brought back wonderful memories to my mind. Memories about the times when the only English songs I had listened to were party tracks like Who let the Dogs out, the Vengaboys, Escape, Un Dos Tres, Living la vida loca, It's my life et all. One day, out of the blue, I thought of buying an audio cassette of any random English Songs and listen to it for a change.

I happened to pick out the album ‘Turnaround’ by Westlife, and I am so glad I picked that one. I’ve listened to that cassette for atleast a 100 times before it finally broke a couple of years ago. Each and every song is amazing. Struck gold with the first cassette!

Now, many people will say Westlife is not that famous a band. They are not that great. Many people wouldn't even have heard them apart from songs like 'My love'. But for me it’s never about famous. It doesn’t really matter that the thing that I like must be famous. Also, it’s not necessary to like what everyone likes! Infact, I prefer Westlife songs over other famous Boybands like Blue, Backstreet Boys, MLTR, Boyzone etc.

I’ve listened to every song that Westlife has sung and everytime I listen to them, I get a different feeling. The feeling that no other song can give. I can very much relate to the lyrics, they are the best!

Many people feel, the problem with a lot of Westlife songs is that they are not original compositions. I still feel that Westlife has done a good job with them too. It’s not that I am in favour of remixes or something, but sometimes the same song in a different way, feels good. Infact, I’ve liked the Westlife version of ‘Uptown Girl’ more than the Billy Joel one. There are people who hate Guns and Roses for remaking the ‘Knocking on Heavens Door’, but what’s the problem if they have done a great job. Infact, if you search for it on you tube, firstly you’ll get the GnR version.

Also, Westlife have a lot of original compositions, some of which went unnoticed, yet were pretty amazing. These songs have helped me cope up with some of the dullest moments in life till now, during the tough times. They continue to be special for me. I am still looking for the ‘Turn around’ cassette in every music store I visit. The day I’ll get that one, it will remain with me for life.

In the end, I would like to mention a list of the best Westlife songs that I feel every music lover should listen to:

Home
On my Shoulder
Fool Again
If I let you go
World of our own

Addiction

2010-03-25T00:44:00.006+05:30

You like something, you start with it, you keep doing it and sometime later, bang! you are addicted to it. The worst thing is, you don’t admit it when people say that you are addicted. Or rather you don’t realize that you are addicted.

Addiction can be about anything, absolutely anything. About playing Counter-strike, playing cards, facebook, chatting, bowling, and watching movies, anything. Getting addicted to a girl also counts here!

The general idea about addiction that when you are hooked on to something for a long time, it’s addiction. It’s not my way of looking at it. Addiction is when you find it difficult to live without that something. It’s like when you play computer games for long time, that's not addiction, but if you feel restless when you don’t get an opportunity to play computer games, that’s addiction and that’s bad.

There are people around us who would call it a dull day if they weren’t to play some stupid game on facebook or talk hours and hours on gtalk. People who would get frustrated if their favorite IPL or EPL team is playing and they can’t watch it. People, who would not be able to bear the thought of not watching their favorite director’s movie on the first day, first show and so on.

Addiction is bad because it takes control over your life and moreover, you don’t even realize that. It’s like the boss who dictates you the terms. People are so addicted to chatting or texting or phone convos that they do not acknowledge the people around them.

I never want to be addicted to anything in life and I’m pretty sure that I will never be. I might get a hundred good things from life, I might buy another hundred good things, but there will be nothing that I will not be able to live without. I remember a good line I once read.

I would like to earn so much that I could buy whatever I want. I would like to grow up so much so that I could live life without all of it.

Nice sentence. It’s also true with all the things money can’t buy. Like close friends. If tomorrow the person whom you love gives you a cold shoulder, your life should not become a disaster; instead you should have the courage to move on.

Life is all about making the best of what you have, not about what could have been the best for you!

Problems

2010-03-06T00:27:00.004+05:30

Problems, everyone has them, but the way we approach them makes us different. It is good to be a spectator sometimes, listening to the problems of people around you and how they tackle them.

At times you are hearing about people who feel the pressure in handling the smallest of the problems. On the other hand, there are some who will never let the gravest of the problem tear them apart. You learn from both the type of people. One teaches you what not to do while handling a crisis, other one tells you how to face the crisis.

But, it’s not so easy always. Sometimes you see people stuck with a problem not handling it the right way. You feel had you been there yourself in that situation, you would have done things differently. But, one fine day, the same problem strikes you. You fare no better in handling it. Weird, but true!

I admire one of my friends when it comes to facing problems. He tells me, ‘Most of the things that we consider to be problems aren’t problems in the first place’. I feel he’s right. Problems are there for a reason. They make us who we are, how our lives shape up depends on how we handle them. If it is something that will shape our lives, then how is it a problem?

I’ve never seen this friend of mine succumb to any pressure from problems around, not cribbing about any of them. Not running away from them either, sometimes going from one defeat to another with no loss of enthusiasm. He was once consolidating someone who has just dropped from 80 percent to 70 percent saying things would be fine, whereas he himself had 60 percent marks in the exams. He was a person who would give in his best and then accept what the scoreboard says. This guy didn’t even get pissed off when his girlfriend of long time dumped him. He instead gave us a break-up party!

A week before the 12^th board exams, he fell of the staircase, fractured almost half his body, the left side, was bedridden and still appeared for the boards without a writer. His scores were affected badly, but he never cried about it. Maybe someday his scores will ruin his chances of getting admitted into a premier educational institute, agreed, still how is crying about the situation going to help? Making the most of what he could achieve was the thing he should’ve done and he did exactly the same.

Life is not a disaster when you are plagued with problems. Life is a disaster when you stop fighting the problems around you. Nobody could’ve known a certain Lance Armstrong if he didn’t have the fighting spirit.

These and a few other examples make me want to reflect on my own life. I’ve sometimes let problems dominate me, acted weirdly in situations, freaked out. But that won’t be a problem anymore. The world is full of people fighting millions of problems. I’ll face my share of problems, that too in a sporting way!

Optimism

2010-02-17T22:46:00.003+05:30

I feel like a jerk today. Told someone that he/she is being excessively optimistic. Being an optimistic person myself, I should’ve never said that. Never crush the ray of hope people have about things turning the way they want them to be.

I think the word ‘reality’ is now-a-days more closer to me than ‘optimism’. Optimism sure drives you a long way. It tells you if a certain Ambani who came in with 500 rupees and made billions out of that in this city, but it will never tell you the story of millions of people who came to the city with 500 bucks and left with nothing.

By no way I’m talking negativity, but sometimes by choosing optimism, you make yourself ready for only one result, that’s called victory. Thousands of people come to Mumbai each year to become a filmstar, unfortunately, not everyone can become one. Raising your hopes high is good, but when the dreams crush, you should be able to handle it the right way.

I think the best approach would be about being optimistic throughout the journey and accepting the reality dose in the end. What’s wrong in thinking you can achieve massive things, thinking that you can be the best? But when it comes to the final outcome, you have to take it sportingly. You’re going to win some, lose some and accept whatever comes your way.

Optimism may tell you that you can climb Everest, reality might keep you happy with Amarnath yatra. Still, if this optimism would’ve gone missing, nobody would’ve climbed it till now.

Itz Mie Life!

2010-01-30T00:31:00.005+05:30

Today, as I walked out of college, my bike was the last bike parked in the Bhavan’s Parking lot.

2 years back, this was an everyday scene. I was amongst the 10 crazy people who stayed in college everyday till 11 pm. Today, I had a feeling of Déjà vu. It brought back great memories. Memories of pushing the bike half a kilometer till the Petrol pump at 12 in the night coz’ some idiot stole Petrol from the bike. Coming Home on 4^th gear, full throttle, no brakes 6 kms, 7 minutes that too without a power bike. Cool nights. Counter Strike, Warcraft with full fledged sledging and cursing one another. Nostalgia!!!!

Around a month ago, I had decided to kick the word ‘Boredom’ out of my dictionary, and am very much happy to have lived without it for past one month. Idea is to stay occupied and not give boredom a chance. Most people feel boredom is related more with things around you rather than yourself. I feel the other way round. You are the one who lets boredom creep in.

I know people who keep themselves so much occupied that they utilize the 5 minutes that they wait for the train at the railway station to read the day’s newspaper. In a world where people cry for want of time, why should we aspire to kill available time by giving boredom a chance? We should live life in a fashion such that there would be no regrets later. Else, you’ll end up saying stuff like “I had so much spare time, I wish I had studied driving. Now, I am in a 14 hours job in an unknown city wasting much of my time waiting for the crowded bus to my office”.

After a comparatively dull semester, I want to be back working pretty hard again, making the most of the time I have, interacting with many people, pursuing my hobbies, living my dreams. Not thinking of college as just another 9 to 5 activity, being active in the society, completing some of the projects I’ve undertaken. Having a life! Not just having a life, I’ve began to love my life. For the last month or so, I’ve been very much active socially. My father is a very popular person in our neighborhood and many people know me as his son. I want to venture out and work so hard that people know me by my own identity. I want the pace. I remember Lance Armstrong saying ‘I want to die at a hundred year old after screaming down an Alpine descent on a bicycle at 75 miles per hour’. That’s the spirit.

So, hopefully I won’t be saying ‘I am bored’ for quite some time now, coz’ I know, I won’t be bored!

This is my 50^th post. The blogging experience until now has been great until now. Pratap and Yugandhar’s blogs have inspired me to start blogging. They both have killer blogs with amazing creativity. I also thank all my readers who spared their precious time to read my posts. Thanks to all of those who pointed out my mistakes, thus helping me improve. I’ll keep blogging.

Night-out

2010-01-16T20:01:00.002+05:30

First Sunday of the year, I was standing amongst hundreds of people waiting for a chance grab a seat in any of the Mumbai bound bus at Pune station. After a prolonged waiting period, I somehow managed to get into one of Igatpuri bound bus which had a halt below the Vashi flyover. Now, this bus dropped me near the Vashi flyover at 2 in the night and I was the only one to alight there.

Late for the last local, too early for the first one and apart from the fast speeding cars, I couldn’t see a single person around. I started walking towards the railway station. The Green Day song lyrics that I was listening to made perfect sense…’I walk a lonely road…….’ Nobody in sight till the station arrived. As the station was nearing, I could see around 5 people sleeping next to the closed ticket window. I printed an electronic ticket and was about to enter the platform where one of the security guards prevented me from going in for safety reasons. So, I had to wait staring at the indicator saying 4:00 ST and next to it, the time 2:14.

Instead of staying put, I decided to roam around the place a bit. Outside one of the call centre office, I saw a chaiwala cum omlet-wala. I thought it would be a good idea to converse with him over a cup of tea and omlet. New year has not started on a brighter note for him as most of the BPO employees are on holidays and his business has gone down from 500 cups of tea a night to 50 cups, most customers being mall cleaners. I consolidate him saying his business will prosper soon, not knowing that soon would be too soon!!!

There was a group of around 100 students around my age, walking towards the Vashi station, some of them stopped for having tea. They seemed very friendly; one of them asked me what I was doing alone at this part of the night. He said that they are a group of last year B-com students from Shillong who were on a 3 city trip of Mumbai, Goa and Kolkata and were waiting to go to CST to board the early morning train for Kolkata.

Pretty soon, I found myself talking to many students from the group. They were talking about their trip experiences, the places they saw, the culture difference, the good things the bad things et al. I felt like being a part of the group. I asked them a lot about Manipur, about the North East and they were eagerly telling me about the places to visit, food to eat, ways to travel and lot more. They say Shillong is as safe as Mumbai, if you travel at the right time of the day and that the people considering North-East unsafe is to a great extend untrue.

The topics shifted to songs. After a while, we were singing famous Hindi and English somgs together, out loud. Variety of range from Bryan Adams to Sunidhi Chauhan. It’s 3 in the night, I’m surrounded by 30 unknown people in the wide open space outside Vashi station singing songs and having a good discussion. When does life ever give you such wonderful experience? I had 2 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours, but the songs and the discussion kept me wide awake.

I asked them did you like Mumbai. ‘Fantastic place!’ came the uniform answer. However, they had some minus points as well. They said that people see us as foreigners wherever we go. They are considered more Chinese or Nepali rather than Indian. They are cheated moneywise while paying for the auto fare etc. ‘Why should we be treated as foreigners in our own country’, said one of them. Many of the girls experienced eve-teasing a lot more in Mumbai compared to North-East.

These students were quite different. Normally when you are in a group, you almost never talk to the people outside, but they never made me feel like an outsider, I felt like being one amongst them. They were the people who cared more about the result of confederation cup final between Shillong and Mohun Bagan than Leeds vs United. How quickly time passed and we boarded the first train. On the train, they gave me another reason to visit Shillong. They say they have a student group in their college who arrange jungle trails in Meghalaya. Do visit, it would be the nicest trip of your life, one of them said.

‘One day surely’, I said.

A Happy post for a happy new year!

2010-01-07T00:54:00.004+05:30

Ever experienced a feeling of loneliness despite having a cluster of friends around? Friends with whom you have an endless list of topics you can talk about. Friends who you really hope meeting forward to, who are jovial, great people to hang out with, still, somehow the boredom creeps in. Happiness fails to find a place.

Similar story, few years back, I went to see the Taj Mahal. Although I had seen it before, I was very much looking forward to seeing it again. After all, it’s one of the Seven Wonders of the World and who wouldn’t like to visit it? Surprisingly, this time around happiness eluded me. I still say that it’s a magnificent piece of art, no denying the fact, but just that it did not bring me happiness then. Maybe it was the crowded atmosphere, the array of agents lined up for explaining history, hundreds of professional photographers occupying every clickable area, the black soot, the yellow colored marble, I really don’t know what. If this place doesn’t give me happiness, then what will? Something’s sure wrong with me, I kept thinking.

On the same Delhi trip, I visited Akshardham temple. It was then recently build in Delhi and had not become popular yet. I went there with no expectations from the place and had planned to see it in an hour’s time and leave. But once I went inside this beautiful place, never realized how time passed by and ended up spending the entire day in the temple. The place has some of India’s finest architecture and very detailed stone carvings. I was awestruck with the majesty of the place. It certainly brought me happiness, the feeling of joy. I don’t want to compare it with the great Taj Mahal, but just want to say a few things about things that bring us happiness and things that don’t.

Happiness is not always there where you expect it to be.
Having the best things around you does not guarantee happiness.
Happiness doesn’t mean things are in perfect melody.
If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time.
Happiness depends on me rather than the things around me.

A long time friend accidentally meeting you will bring happiness. A phone call from a person whom you never expect to hear from will bring happiness. A childhood note of yours lying in some old cupboard will bring happiness. Accidentally finding money in your old jeans will bring you happiness. Unexpectedly tuning into your favorite childhood song on the radio will bring happiness.

Don’t keep searching for Happiness, it will come to you anyways! But not in the ways you thought it would…..

Take the lead!

2009-12-29T00:16:00.005+05:30

‘Hey people, let’s hang out someplace nice, say Juhu Beach’.

The response to this depends a lot on who’s asking the question, doesn’t it? Read on..

This post isn’t about personal bias, but it’s about how effectively some people can take the lead. These are the people who have mastered the art of persuasion. They are the ones who by one way or another refuse to take no for an answer and manage to get people to agree with the plan. This works even in situations where you thought ‘no’ to be a definite answer. Convincing comes so naturally to them.

I’ve never been good in this department, but have always observed the modus operandi of people who are good at convincing right from school times to college. They work in myriad ways, but the end result is the same. Being a good persuader and eventually a leader requires a lot of groundwork; it’s not an overnight process. There are many phases to it, first one being recognition. Unless you have recognition in the place where you want to influence your ideas, nobody’s going to listen to you. So, basic communication with everyone is a must here.

Next step would be activeness. One has to be very much active around the place where he or she has to aspire to be a leader. You can’t expect to come to college on time, leave right when the college is over and hope that one fine day when you plan a trek, many people from your class will come and join you. You can’t expect to hit the target right the very first time you try.

Bonding together with people who like to take the initiative is the next step. You gotta be amongst the planners of the group. It’s again necessary that you be involved in the plans these initiators make, then only can you expect them to join in your plans. Another vital aspect is building a bubble of trust around you. You can become a good persuader only if people trust you. This trust comes from small things like living up to the tasks that you took up, confining to yourself the personal stuff your friends tell you about their lives, helping your friends when they are in need, consoling them in their grief.

Getting the plan together gets a lot of patience. You have to listen to the tantrums of lot of people around, you have to clear everyone’s doubts, be ready to spend a lot of money on phone calls, sending reminders again and again and most importantly, not giving up despite the obstacles. Many a time, it also warrants to make big last minute changes to suit maximum number of people involved, keeping your own comforts aside for the sake of others.

It’s the satisfaction of a successful venture keeps you going through all this trouble. The joy of being together is more pleasing than relishing the happy times alone.

The thing I feel about leadership is that you don’t always have to be a leader, but you have to step up when nobody’s there to take the initiative. When few people are working towards a plan, we needn’t demonstrate our planning skill. After all, if everyone needn’t be cooking delicious food, sometimes we need to look forward to tasting those delicious dishes too!

À la carte

2009-12-09T20:22:00.007+05:30

I like cooking. I’m not saying I’m great at cooking or whatever, but I like cooking. They say, in life, you should do what you like doing. I heard them and joined a 4 year professional cooking course at a reputed institution. As my course is coming to a conclusion, I wanna say, liking something is one thing and obtaining a degree in what you like is a completely different thing. I also want to elaborate on my journey in the cooking institute.

I expected to cook many delicious dishes in the process. But they hardly ever tested my cooking skills. All they kept asking were the recipes of famous dishes, that too more than a decade older. Now, you could not make up fancy versions of these recipes. You have to write the version which your instructor cares about!

Sometimes, we had the task of making some of these delicacies ourselves. We made them with great effort in the beginning. But our instructors never really tasted the food we prepared. They just saw the outer decoration of the dishes and the aroma and judged us on that. Smart people that we are, we did things differently the next time. No one cared about the contents of the dishes, but we always, always decorated with the best of the toppings from then on! Another rule, all the preparations taste the same as all of them are prepared with the same gravy.

If you like the food in a restaurant, you complement the restaurant manager for that. Something similar happens with us. If our dishes are exceptional, the credit is taken away by our instructors who portray it as their own work. It’s cheating, but as a trainee, you have little to complain.

Now when external examiners from other institutes came to test us, they mostly asked us about the dishes we didn’t make or study. Being a chef in a restaurant, they expect us to know the current wholesale and retail price of soyabean. Despite this system, some of my colleagues do manage to get all answers right.

A good cook has to cook whatever that comes his way in the syllabus, even if he is nauseated about some of the things in it. It’s about completing the task, whether it suits you or whether you like it is a different story. You are not the one who decides the menu.

Every semester the menu changes, the specials change, but the approach remains the same. We have adapted to the system really well. Make everything and try to add the spices. Don’t forget to add the pinch of salt otherwise the food will lose its taste.

It will be a different story henceforth when we join a restaurant as a chef. Practical life teaches you a lot doesn’t it. Degrees do not actually imply what we have accomplished. It just tells that we are familiar with the field.

Replace cooking by any other profession in the post and it’ll work fine.

Powertoni

2009-12-04T01:23:00.005+05:30

If money is the thing that drives the world crazy, I think power is not too far behind. So many people directly and indirectly crave for power. Now, ‘power’ here is not ‘power in the political sense’. By ‘Power’, I see at it as an ability to make things work as you want them to work. No-one can deny their love for power!

Why are the ‘Reasons to Hate your boss’ type e-mails so often sent and enjoyed by people? Most people tend to dislike the people who issue authority over them. So many stories you might’ve heard about two great friends, one gets promoted and the friendship no longer remains the same. I’m not saying this is always the case, but most people do like to have equal or higher power than their peers.

There are various ways of showcasing power. Take the simple example of viva. Why do many of our internal profs like to screw us up in our viva. The simple reason is they want to signal that they have the power to make or break your life (Hardly do they know stupid vivas don’t constitute our life!), so you better suck up to them to get good marks. It’s a way to say that you execute your freedom to bunk lectures, I’ll execute my power to screw you!

Police in India are very measly paid, live in uncomely living conditions. Still, so many students give the police force exam every year. The applicants are never excited about the money or living conditions, but mostly in the powers the police officers can exercise.

One of the benefits of having many friends and contacts is the ‘power to get things done’ that comes along with it. Let’s take a simple example, apart from a handful of friends that call you regularly, remember the ones who call you less frequently. Recollect the last 10 such people who called you. I bet most of them would’ve called to ask some favor from you. (Unless you are a hot girl who is remembered by almost everyone you ever met!)

While shopping, even if we aren’t going to buy most things we see, we all like to have the power to buy them. College elections also see the play of power games, so many students resort to unfair means for the love of power, to be the most influential person in the college. Luckily our batch didn’t have such students for GS and CS posts.

Another example of power is when you alone have the expertise. I remember my father telling me about the early days of ball pens. The technique to prepare the ink which didn’t flow freely and dry up was known to a very few people. These people were so much in demand that big companies were ready to pay a fortune to hire them. Power of capturing the market was important to these companies.

One more thing you must have observed that previously, the name of inventors of new theories and products were made famous. Like the Aeroplane, the TV, steam engine and so on. Now-a-days, you see so many products, but hardly ever come across the names of the people who were involved in the discovery. That’s because discoveries and advances in many fields are held secret by companies so that they aren’t copied by anyone. They want to have the power to manufacture those products all by themselves. No-one can replicate a MAC Thin Air book!

I can go on and on, but I shouldn’t be using my power to bore people by writing long posts.

Acceptance is Bliss!

2009-11-19T01:39:00.010+05:30

Watching the sunset at Juhu beach is such a pretty sight. But today was different for him. He was finding difficult to find happiness is anything.

All alone in the crowd, he was wondering how things went wrong. Never in the last 10 years of his life had he finished outside the top 3 in his school. Now he had to see 60% marks, that too due to very bad fever during exam time.

All around him today, he could just see happy faces; faces of all his friends who scored 80’s and 90’s discussing about the best colleges in the city. He could see his friends trying to sympathize with him but they couldn’t avoid the hint of pride they possessed due to scoring more marks than their regular topper.

He had lots of questions. Why did God punish me for no fault of mine? Don’t I deserve to be in a good college after all this effort? If at all I had to fall sick, why the boards, why not some stupid unit test?

There’s one thing about defeat and most of the people in the world. After a failure, firstly people try to find who’s to blame. If no answer, they check whether they themselves are to blamed, if both answers are no, they find defeat very difficult to digest. I feel it that way and dunno how many of you agree about it.

One more thing about defeat, you just need a moment to get over it, a moment of ‘acceptance’. He had found it! He accepted reality and things appeared to be different suddenly.

He now smiled at the 60% marks, they were his own after all. He now knew that he would be happier with securing admission is a low profile college rather than the frustrated students who get their name printed in the newspaper saying 90% and still no admission. He felt that somewhere God must have a faith in him that he’ll be at his best and have a bright future despite going to a mediocre college. He was also thankful to face defeat so early in his life. This will make him a stronger person to cope up with problems that may surface in the future. People so often face defeat at the most important stage of their career that they can’t cope up with it, commit suicide and do other such stupid things. He was happy that he came out of depression so early. Such a powerful thing acceptance of reality is!

He now knows that happiness doesn’t come in a box wrapped with gelatin paper saying congrats! Happiness is much more than that. He knows now, who his true friends are and the other ones who are there for their selfish needs. Victory would have been sweeter, but for a change he was savoring defeat.

He now knows there are times in life when you have to pay a price even if you haven’t done a mistake. Everything isn’t fair always. After the storm, you have to start collecting the shattered pieces and start living. Crying over the lost things is just a waste of time.

Being happy doesn’t mean everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections!!!!

Title credit goes to Yugandhar, I couldn't find any other well suited.

True Lies

2009-11-04T00:38:00.001+05:30

In friendship, sometimes there are times when you are confused whether to speak out the bitter truth or to conceal it. Things are worse when it comes to your best friend. You know he or she is going wrong yet telling the truth might make things worse. Like the times when your friend asks you how’s the dress he’s wearing. The dress combi might be bizarre, but saying that directly might not seem proper. Ok the dress thing is a small issue, but when it comes to important issues, the problem becomes more complicated.

If you do not point out your friend’s mistakes and someday he himself realizes them, he’ll feel really bad about you. Why didn’t you confess the truth earlier? What kinda friend are you? On the other hand, if you are frank enough to tell the mistake, the other person might not take it the right way. People sometimes find it difficult to believe that they are wrong. Being too straightforward might actually come in the way of a beautiful friendship. Also, we have to be very careful in the way we confess out the truth so that it doesn’t appear to be hurting.

You need both types of friends. Some to praise you during your difficult times (You know your life’s a mess, still there’s someone thinking you are better off) and some people to scold you for your smallest mistakes. I’m glad I have both variants of friends. It’s difficult to say which ones are more right.

But there’s one thing. Being frank at truthful at such times requires guts. It requires accepting the risk of being misunderstood. It requires saying the harsh reality knowing that it might jeopardize your friendship. It requires overcoming the temptation of avoiding the topic instead of telling the truth.

I think I’d be glad if my friends be truthful to me, even if the truth is harsh. False praise and admiration will make me happy for the moment, but will do more harm than good in the long run.

Despite this view, sometimes I choose not to spill out the harsh truth. It’s the fear of losing good friends that keeps me holding….

In pursuit of tomorrow

2009-10-30T23:59:00.002+05:30

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with this day, a day called ‘Tomorrow’.

On one side, it gives us Hope. Hope that what is pending today, might be completed tomorrow. It gives us a brand new day to work upon. A day to start a new task, follow a new regime, pursue a new dream. In case of a hectic day, tomorrow will be the day when we’ll dance our troubles away.

On the other side, the day sometimes is an ‘illusion’. I have to start studying tomorrow, so many mornings came and went, this ‘tomorrow‘ never really arrived. It allows us to procrastinate. It allows us to be lazy today. It’s a nice way of avoiding things, even if temporary.

We all travel through both sides of the road I guess. It’s difficult to say which side is right and which is wrong. Rather, there’s no right or wrong.

But, in this journey, you should not forget about the auspicious day called ‘Today’. I see many people around working hard just for their tomorrows, right from their childhood till retirement. They never really enjoy their present. Yes, dreams and ambitions should be big, you should sacrifice some joy today for a better future, but don’t do this all your life. Don’t live your life with the tension of ‘things to do’ list. You might move from one success to another, without really savoring it.

Enjoying your today so much that you leave all most of your work for tomorrow is also not the right thing. By this, although you are living today to the fullest, you are making tomorrow a horrible day. Plus, someone else might fill in your shoes, and you won’t be required for tomorrow. The opportunity that knocked today might not wait till tomorrow.

Balance is the key I guess. Working for a better tomorrow is essential, but freaking out about the troubles that you may face tomorrow isn’t a wise thing. Relishing today is important and so is cherishing tomorrow.

Engineering reloaded

2009-10-20T00:49:00.006+05:30

Few days back, a friend of mine studying in class 12th asked me if I could come along with her to a seminar cum counseling session called as ‘An insight into engineering’ given by a famous coaching class that trains for both, the CET as well as engineering subjects. I know that such seminars are all about publicity, another of those time wasting exercises, but I had nothing better to do, so I agreed to attend it with her.

Some guy in his thirties in a loud and clear voice started explaining ‘what is engineering about?’; Something which I couldn’t figure out after three years of engineering. Then he spoke of how important is the first year and if you don’t figure out how to get around things in the first year, how the rest of the years will be difficult for you. 'First year is the foundation for everything, here’s where you get the basics right' he added.

Basics what, being friends with the person who writes assignments, being a regular at the Xerox place, finding someone to make your ED drawings and all, I wondered. Then he started talking about individual branches of engg and here’s when I started dozing off. After almost an hour gone, I looked around to see students still paying attention with the same enthusiasm. How fast your attention span can reduce after getting admit to an Engg college is what I was thinking about!

After the seminar, there was the counseling session. Seriously bored by then, I decided to have some fun. Students in group of 3 were counseled by the volunteers of the coaching class. I pretended to be a class 12 student along with my friend. At first, I preferred listening to the questions my friend was asking such as 'Is engineering difficult?' 'Which colleges are the best for engg?' and more such questions. He mentioned my college name as one of the best ones. I felt happy for a moment. He also said, "First year is the most difficult, but don't worry, if you join our classes, you will have done the syllabus a month before the exam leaving ample time for revision".Then he asked me whether I have any questions.

I was kinda waiting for this. I asked him what distinguishes a good engg college from an average engg college. He answered ‘ Good engg colleges have good professors who give wonderful insight into the subject and they have good research facilities, good labs and other infrastructure.’ Those exact words he said. A picture of my profs flashed for a minute in my mind. Period.

Next question I shot was, ‘How good is the interface of an engg college with the industry?’
He answered, “Every year, most colleges arrange Industrial visits (IV s) to get student interaction with the industry; they are quite good for budding engineers”. I can’t remember how I controlled my laughter then. Man, people can lie!

Then I bombarded another question, ‘If I enter Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, which companies will offer me in college placements?’
He answered, “There are the telecom companies like Vodafone, Airtel, Idea and also internet providers like Hathway, MTNL etc. who come for placements. You can also get into good core electronic companies such as Siemens, Falcon, Samsung, Sony etc. through good colleges like a, b, c, d.” one of those colleges was mine. He also said that some people also end up with software or financial jobs. Unless the word ‘some’ meant ‘almost everyone’, it didn’t reflect the truth. When I asked him about the course of Electronics and Telecom Engineering, the answer he gave me could very well have been termed as something even no professor of this subject in any college, has done in his lifetime.

A few more questions and I was wondering which of his answers was the most hilarious one. He was like an in-form batsmen hitting sixers all over the ground. For a while it made me wonder whether I was studying the same thing this guy is talking about. If I were to do it all over again, would I do things differently? Nah, I love my life and love the journey that has been so far. I would change nothing about it, not even a single thing!

A 'Drama' tic post

2009-10-08T01:06:00.004+05:30

I adore going to the drama theatre. It is a more pleasing experience for me than seeing a movie. A bit weird it might seem, but very true. I’ve seen a plethora of live dramas, and can still watch many more at the price higher than a movie ticket.

It gives me a very different feeling to that of a movie. It’s like someone is giving in his 100% performance, not once, not twice, but every time he performs. No matter what his mood that day is, or whatever the problems in his daily life are, he has to the same for every show. Going behind the set in a flash, changing costume and coming back as a different character altogether in less than half a minute. Making mistakes would ruin the reputation of the show and thus his future earnings too.

Plus, the attitude in India towards drama isn’t very positive, both as a career option and as a viewer base. The salaries earned by the actors are much less than what TV actors get without possessing half the talent. Fewer people are present to view the drama and lot of this amount goes into the hall rent, building up the sets and the people working behind the scenes that actors have to bear with an amount which is much smaller than they deserve. The cost of a drama show is almost equivalent to a movie ticket in India. So sad, but true. Despite that, most viewers are people long beyond their youth.

Cost of watching a drama in England is around 35 to 50 pounds. This is more expensive than watching a live premier league game; certainly more expensive than watching a movie. Still people of all ages turn up there to see a drama there, with the same enthusiasm of seeing a movie. TV serial actors over there aspire to be associated with a good drama someday. Here in India, such a step would be considered as a step backwards. We care so much about publicity, don’t we? Whose gonna watch a drama, millions would rather be watching me on a TV show or for that matter even a commercial.

Neways, coming back to my love for drama; I’ve seen my cousin directing a play in her college. It was amazing to see how much of hardwork they went through before the final product. It was a play based on communal riots which won the ‘Purshottam Award’ for the best college drama that year. It’s considered to be the most auspicious college level drama award in Maharashtra. The energy and enthusiasm you see in it, makes you wanna do only one thing, stand up and applaud.
Apart from these, it was also great to see many college dramas at Malhar a few years back. Some of the plays in our college Quadrangle on weekends are also good. I also remember watching a pantomime contest in Pune a while ago. Even without speech, they conveyed such beautiful messages and such nicely did they depict emotions that brought tears in my eyes. Just like the Charlie Chaplin movies. Last year, on one of the college days, we had prepared a 10 minutes skit by the four batches of our class. It proved to be such a fun task and everyone was so happy at the end of the day. We’ll never forget that day.

Lastly, language is not that important, as long as the emotions and actions are conveyed to the viewer. I’ve watched a lot of Marathi plays, a few Gujarati plays, English plays and one Korean play too; and have been able to decipher most of those. According to me, what the play conveys is more important that what language is used. One Gujarati play on Shri Krishna had such a mellifluous sound of flute playing in the songs that completely mesmerized me without understanding a word.

We say many a times to our friends, “Chalo, let’s go to a movie”. Hoping that someday we would say “Let’s go for a drama” too…

A bit too much

2009-09-24T23:35:00.006+05:30

Listening to a lecture once in a while is ok,
sitting on the last bench and asking doubts is a bit too much.

Showing concern is ok sometimes;
dictating terms is a bit too much.

Working on your project is ok,
but lying that you haven’t even started is a bit too much.

Cribbing on your blog is ok sometimes,
but using the thesaurus for every third word is a bit too much.

Losing is ok sometimes;
not accepting defeat is a bit too much.

Taking advice from the ones who can help is ok,
but forgetting them as soon as the job is done is a bit too much.

Cursing someone is ok,
but cursing him behind his back is a bit too much.

Calling your friends on their birthday is ok,
but forgetting to wish them happy birthday is a bit too much.

Sharing secrets with someone is ok,
but disclosing someone’s secrets to another is a bit too much.

Four minutes of added time is ok,
but Oven scoring in the sixth minute is a bit too much.

Turning up at a stupid movie once in a while is unavoidable,
but recommending the same movie to your friends is a bit too much.

Lying once in a while is ok,
but lying to your best friend is a bit too much.

Making a mistake is ok;
making that mistake again is a bit too much.

Helping someone out of courtesy is ok,
but expecting something back in return is a bit too much.

Writing a boring blog is ok sometimes;
asking people to read it and comment is a bit too much.

Praying to god for a good result is ok,
but not studying for it is a bit too much.

Wasting time sometimes is ok;
but complaining about lack of time after that is a bit too much.

I guess writing anything above this would be a bit too much.

Are numbers really important?

2009-09-19T19:59:00.003+05:30

What is more important, the final results or the process? This question has popped up in my mind several times and I’ve had a different answer every time. Sometimes there’s this feeling that numbers are all important, no matter how you get them. Adapt to the system, follow the norms, get the results, job done.

Then there are other times where the numbers really don’t matter. At those times you really don’t give a damn for the marks and just concentrate on learning. You just enjoy the process so much that results are secondary.

I’ve been on both sides of the road. Can’t say which one is right or wrong; at various times in life, you have to choose one of them timely. If you say marks don’t really matter, all that I care for is knowing stuff, and then you may have to risk missing on a good college, a good friend circle and lot many things. The world will never believe you that you are intelligent; you’ll have to come up with the numbers to show them that. Plus what’s the harm if you know some tricks to get marks without actually knowing the stuff

On the other hand, sometimes I feel like running away from the rigid doctrines of exams. Solve this problem exactly this way, it will fetch you full marks. Don’t use your creativity. This is the crap I can’t handle sometimes. I don’t care that I get a mediocre score. Working on a real microcontroller excites me than calculating stupid memory map tables. In the long term, I feel some scores will just be another set of numbers. There’s no point pressing hard for such marks when they are of little use.

The recent GRE test was a wonderful experience for me. At first I was really vexed by the process. Hardly did I remember the words that I studied the previous day. I hated it, I almost quit the conquest! But with some inspiration and convincing from friends, started it all over again. This time it was different. I was actually enjoying the process of learning. I enjoyed that I was reading the daily newspaper in different manner now. Actually caring to understand the meanings of the words that I once ignored.

No longer did I feel the urge to curse the words, not even the yellow cards which carried them. I kinda liked them. I told to myself, whatever happens in the actual exam, I’ve actually gained a lot from this process. Even if I falter, not everything will be lost. That’s when the tension disappeared. I got a decent score but I think even if I had scored any higher or lower, I wouldn’t really have been more joyous or unhappy. For this time I surely knew, numbers were not all that mattered…..

Of Blackouts and Plunders

2009-09-03T15:36:00.006+05:30

Warning! Long post ahead!!

Yesterday night, there was a blackout in our area. It brought to my mind my childhood memories; those were the times when blackouts were quite frequent. They were associated primarily with all the children hitting the streets and playing games. Something which came by as complement was robbery and many interesting tales of robbery. But this post is all about the one incident that I’d never forget all my life.

I was studying for my History paper next day. Boredom was taking toll as the clock neared midnight. Someone felt pity for me I guess. The next moment all the lights faded and cursing the text, I ran out towards the street, relieved. My other friends had similar relieved expressions on their face. Studying was out of question, so we thought playing something would freshen us before the exam next day. Dog and the bone was the game we chose.

It’s so true that sport makes you release all your troubles, be it temporary, so what! Nobody cared what time it really was and no-one wanted the blackout to end. Meanwhile, my friend saw something strange. “Dude, someone’s trying to break through into Ishan’s(name changed) house” he whispered into my ears. Earlier that day, after playing cricket Ishan had told us that he is going to Ahmedabad in the evening with his family and will not return until next fortnight.

It was a moment of horror, but we knew that we shouldn’t panic. We needed to do something wise. What to do? Call the police or call all the colony residents or maybe fight with the thief ourselves and be superheroes of the colony for next few days. Lots of options flooded our mind, not knowing what exactly to do. Finally four of us friends decided that we’d hunt him down ourselves. Childhood plans, immature as most of them are!

Now suddenly all four, although a bit frightened, were resolute on doing the task without any help. Three of us took a stump each and the fourth one with a wooden stick. We had to avoid doing something stupid; we had to have a plan. If anything went wrong, it could well go down to our lives.

We examined everything. There was the window near the kitchen left open by the thief; we decided to get in through it. One of us had a doubt as to why would the thief leave the window open. The others just shut him down by saying that he probably needed fresh air.

Taking care of three things was essential. Firstly we had to avoid making noise otherwise it would alert the thief and he would attack us with anything he has, probably a knife, could be anything. Secondly, he had a torch and we didn’t b’coz again the thief would be alarmed if we used the torch. Thirdly, we had to track his exact position before getting in.

Thinking about all possibilities, we saw the position of the thief from the window and made a plan of attack. The thief was on the mattress eating cucumber. This was assumable since if he came out with his loot and try to elope, people on the streets would come to know and probably attack him together. So now was really not the time for him to get out. Now was the time to eat cucumber.

Boldly we stepped inside the house without making slightest of the sounds. One of us who carried the stick cautiously approached towards the thief from behind the cupboards and dining table. We followed him with our stumps. As he was about 2 feet near, he hit the thief severely on the knee. Next moment the robber went speechless and numb. Till the other three of us join, he realized he had to do something, that too quickly!

He started running away from us and shouted, calm down, I’m Ishan’s uncle, what the hell are you doing? We froze there, thinking how foolish our act was.

In the meantime, two other stupid things happened. Firstly, someone called the cops. Secondly, someone called up Ishan’s Ahmedabad place at 1.30 saying there was a robber in their house. Next worst thing due was the history paper, which was due in 5 hours.

It's all about the bike !

2009-08-24T21:50:00.004+05:30

I pass by my school every day. A lot has changed since the time I left. Changed for the better I guess. But this one change really saddens me. It's the barricade of cycles, which is missing from the picture.

I remember the days when I rode to school on a bicycle. Not many of my friends used this mode of transportation for school, but it was a joy ride in the morning. Some 20-30 cycles were aligned outside our school compound. Now there are none!

I still cherish the long bicycle races with colony friends, travelling from Cinemax to Aarey Colony and then New Zealand Hostel. All this for a small treat, the loser would pay for all the Vada Pavs. After that, riding down the slopes of New Zealand hostel at very high speeds with the wind rushing into our faces. As I write this I really want to go there now. Sometimes we would race to Aksa beach through a narrow road, fast moving vehicles, putting ourselves into trouble, getting outta trouble. The narrow bruises, the minor accidents, the high speed skids, still so fresh.

The picture today is sad, really sad. The only people I see riding the bicycle are doodhwala, pav-wala, anda-wala and restaurant delivery guys or small children till the age of 10. It is a pity that cycle drivers are seen as people who cannot afford a bike or a car. Cycle racing enthusiasts are also very rare. The sport is dying in India, rather cycling is dying in India. Also cycling is something just for guys here I guess. It’s been more than 2 years since I’ve seen a girl ride a cycle, which was my sister btw. Why don’t you apply ‘Why Should Boys have all the fun?’ funda to this case too! This also reminds me, where are all the Hero cycles, Hercules top gear, Lady Bird advertisements that were running on TV channels few years back?

Few days back, I happened to visit the local cycle shop. The guy at the counter recognized me and asked where all my friends are. He says his business has gone down drastically and the only selling bikes are small kiddy bicycles. That’s when I think, it’s people like me who have left cycling are the reason for which this guy is losing grip in his business. I still recollect the sad the day I sold my bicycle. I left cycling in 11^th standard because no-one of my age was driving the cycle anymore. I cared too much about what people would think and that my friends would laugh at me. I regret my decision now; regret the reasons why I took the decision.

The society’s outlook towards cycling is not encouraging, but I feel I shouldn’t have cared. Riding to Tembu dam 8 kms near my hometown on a bike was one of the most entertaining aspect of our college group's trip last year. So was the ride on the streets of Berlin dedicated exclusively for cycles. I am certainly going to buy a cycle once I get my job and drive it, not caring about anyone saying anything. I’ll also try to complete 100 km a day ride near Karjat in the next vacation, hopefully with friends.

B’coz it is all about about the bike....

Feeling Guilty

2009-08-15T21:56:00.001+05:30

Few months ago, I came across a funny article in Air France’s In-flight magazine. Although my knowledge about French is minuscule, somehow I managed to decode most part of it, partly with the help of friends with better French. I don’t remember whole of it, but here’s the English version of whatever little I recollect. Take it with a pinch of salt. These are not my views, but I agree to most of them.

God, I really feel guilty. For a lot of things I’ve done in life.

I’ve been a Businessman all this time, somewhat different than the regular ones. Long time ago, I started a business, with no capital. With a very small workspace and no work experience at all, started something which would help me earn thousands in minutes. A business which has no fixed retirement age, no educational qualification restrictions, no selling of door to door goods, no publicity via phone calls.

A bit about my clientele. They are from all walks of life, all professions. The rich and also the poor, people from the metros as well as from the village. Something more interesting, even if I change my base, my business will be unaffected in terms of numbers. Recession has sunken me, oh no, but in fact, in a small way it has helped me. I believe that I’ve lived a life which is every budding successful entrepreneur’s dream. You’re probably wondering, am I doing something illegal, something anti-social. No I’m not. I was an astrologer.

Failing in the 11^th grade for the second time, my life was a mess, until I saw a small paper ad about this business. They have coaching classes for everything back there in India, and there was a coaching class for this too. One course of a year’s duration did me more good than 15 years of school education. One thing was also certain, I had no death until people stop caring about how their future would be.

I was trained for every situation. Each individual horoscope has a good part and a bad part attached to it. Adapting to every client, I had to come up with different stuff. Not that I had to tell false interpretations, but I had to come up with partial truth. Explaining which stars and planets are in the wrong position ( People come to me only when something’s wrong or the want something in life, not when everything’s good) that you’ve landed up in a mess. Next thing, point to a time in future where all of the stars get in the favorable positions. Give the client a ray of hope. Lastly, tell them that this science is not 100% foolproof, but in most cases it turns to be quite right. Don’t worry; people still will keep coming to you, and if not previous clients, new ones. As people kept worrying about their future, I was side by side securing my future through their money!

Going back to the first line, about me feeling guilty, let me straighten it out a bit. I feel guilty for plentiful reasons. For breaking the hearts of several couples who couldn’t marry because their horoscopes didn’t match. For changing people’s names and making them believe this would bring them fortune. I feel bad for the people who had to reject perfectly wonderful apartments just because the entrance was facing a particular direction. I feel terrible making people buy expensive rings that would brighten their future. For making people perform ridiculously expensive rituals at home to supposedly bring peace and prosperity.

I feel more terrible for doing something without actually knowing the basics. Doing something which I had no idea where it came from and how it developed. Later when I studied more deeply, I got to know this was more of a statistical science rather than pure science. Its foundation lies from the study of people over the years with reference to position of stars and planets. It’s based upon the observation that people born on similar planet positions share similar fortune. It’s a collection of observations of scholars for over a long period of time written in form of scripts. To add more, different set of Astronomy scholars have different ways of inferring from the horoscope. It’s by no way foolproof.

I am still amused as to how there can be the same set of fortune for a beggar born on the same date and time when a successful businessman was born. My belief also says that you have more command over your life than some planets and stars which are a million miles away. One more thing, even if I tell you everything correctly about your future, how’s it going to benefit you? If something it is going to happen, it’ll happen anyways, knowing about it wouldn’t help you change it!

Lots of questions I still ponder in my mind while sitting on this comfortable fully reclining chair in my Bungalow on the Paris - Nice road. I happily retired a couple of years ago, but the business back in India is still strong thanks to my disciples in India. I see the cyclists running from my window for the second most prestigious Bike race in France. Life’s good, but somewhere in the corner of my heart, I feel something wrong.

I’m guilty.

Surpriseee...

2009-08-03T01:38:00.001+05:30

A couple of days ago, few of my college friends came to my house for a surprise visit. I was quite overjoyed seeing them and felt very nice. Overjoyed because it has been really a while someone came by without a reason, or without wanting something from me. It wasn’t my birthday too! That’s when I realized how good it feels when you call someone or visit someone without actually wanting something from them. I’m thankful to have such great friends.

This friendship day, I had no real plans. It was kinda getting boring going through dull GRE wordlists. To my surprise Anand came to my home around the evening after a day full of Linux course in college. It’s so nice to meet a friend than to send stupid forwarded messages to everyone. It’s the element of surprise that doubled the fun.

We had a crazy Idea. Anand said ‘Let’s go around and surprise more people.’ We had no plan as to who all we’ll surprise and how many places to cover, but hoped to cover maximum people. We hit the road on the bike at 6.30 pm towards Malad. With the crystal maze that Malad roads form, we had difficulty in finding our friend’s place. Finally at one point, I gave up hunting for the building and called him. He said, “Turn around, I’m right behind you”. Wish we could’ve looked around before calling. Still it was something that he didn’t expect to have happened. He offered a Cadbury as friendship day sharing which we shared till our last friend’s house. We had to cover many places so decided that nowhere we will have any food. We’ll come for that some other day.

Next halt, kandivali friend. Here we couldn’t resist eating delicious pakodas and Basundi. This time too, he caught us when we were entering his building. No surprise again, but he was really happy seeing us come. Here on, we got the map to our next friend’s house. The Mr. Gre was busy studying with last pack of flash cards and was literally shocked seeing us come. Finally, we had surprised someone completely. After a cup of tea and Lonavala chikki, we left his house. It was getting darker and we decided this would be our last destination.

On the way back, we thought we’d change plan a bit. Visit one more friend and surprise him. We had lots of options to think upon and would’ve liked to go visit many more people, but time just didn’t permit us to do that. Just then our friend from Powai called in to say he had prepared cookies and cake to bring to college the next day. That’s when we decided, ‘let’s go surprise him’. Kandivli to Powai was hell of a journey. All possible things that can happen on a bike happened. We were almost hit by a rick, almost caught by a cop, lost our way at Saki Naka and went all the way till Ghatkopar. After more than an hour of roaming around, finally reached the republic of Powai.

Now there was some more element of fun. We didn’t have his address or any details of where he lived. Just recollected random facts about what he’d told us about his apartment during college time. With some help from the locals and a lot of common sense, we finally reached a building which we figured out he might be staying at. The watchman asked us the room number where he stayed and here too, luckily we dialed the right number and reached his place. A day full of surprises as it was! Happy that we could surprise one more friend and shared the last bite of Cadbury.

It was such a nice day. Would’ve liked to visit many more friends. Hopefully, that’ll happen sometime soon. I’ll remember this friendship day for long. Something different than the regular...

Blog-O-Sphere

2009-07-27T23:58:00.004+05:30

Just a few days ago, a fellow blogger was talking to me. He said ‘I don’t think our Blogs are going to survive after we complete our BE’. I had no reply, to some extend he was true! But I never really wanted him to be true. Blogging has been such a great fun all this while.

Now as for the Blogs going dead thing, I feel if someone has started a blog for love of writing, it’ll never die. If you’ve started on the grounds that nowadays everyone has a blog, so it’s kinda cool to have my own blog, then sooner someday the writing passion will vanish. Amitabh has one, Aamir has one, Shobha De has one, so it’ll be cool for me to have one. Naah, doesn’t work for too long. There’s a wave of seasoned bloggers who have joined Blogger for the fame of it, sooner someday they'll cease to write.

Blogosphere has given me great posts to read. Got to know people and their views better. Hear what they want to talk about. Wonderful and healthy (Should I use this..) debates between people, so many great stories, some wonderful poems and much more. More importantly it has been an effective medium to express what I want to say, or in general what I feel about things.

Sometimes I've wandered across some unknown blogs which had some pretty good writings too. A few regular bloggers having about 500+ followers and update daily to some bloggers who have total of 3 posts in a complete year. I find famous blogs mostly boring. If you’re updating your blog too often, you can’t maintain quality throughout. Often people who update once a month sometimes come up with such great blogs that they seem totally worth the wait.

Some more kind of bloggers. Commercial bloggers, with loads of advertisements, tons of pop-ups and very large loading time, I never read those blogs until absolutely essential. When a hobby becomes a business, it loses its charm. Never will I even think of putting advertisements on blog which give me a penny for every visitor to the site. One more trend has started, publicity of institutes through blogs. Mainly coaching classes or the people who help with students completing their projects and stuff. Why pay for a website when you can do the same thing for free through a blog.

Finally, the last type of bloggers, the underground bloggers. There are few people I know who do not wish to publicize their blogs, so do not wish to be listed on the blogroll. These are the ones mostly writing controversial, unbiased, confidential stuff. I like reading them because they are so close to reality. No faking, no fancy language, just pure feelings about what they feel. I’m thankful to those bloggers too for wonderful posts.

Just the one things I noticed about many blogs which I’ve read. People crib a lot about anything and everything below the sun. Many posts are about complains and what’s wrong with the world rather than what’s good. Maybe that should change a bit. Few years down the line, maybe we'll be busy, maybe we won't have time reading each other's post, the comments may reduce….but we'll continue to blog.

Schengen Staaten

2009-07-16T01:52:00.001+05:30

Warning – Long post….

Actually I wanted to shorten this one so that readers are not bored. But then I realized that I am writing more for myself rather than the reader, more so to cherish every moment I enjoyed. Still I am very much indebted to the few people left on earth reading this blog to actually take the pains reading this. So screw it, this one’s big.

The view from the window presented a magnificent sight. As the fading orange ball sets lower in the sky, the clouds turn glorious shades of pink and purple. Then an amber colour line formed on the horizon. A glance at the watch showed 11.30 pm. Wonderful sight of Helsinki city beneath and Orange and Amber colour light spread on it. Beautiful Scandinavian country with the Baltic sea. Thank you very much Lufthansa, you made a wonderful sight on my dreamlist come right in front of my eyes, in a very beautiful way.

Coming up next were 6 different countries with 6 different languages and 5 different currencies and with no plan or Hotel booking either. The route of Helsinki - Tallinn – Riga – Jurmala – Vilnius – Warszawa – Berlin – Frankfurt. It may not have the fame that western Europe has but still I liked it better than the west. We travelled by almost all modes of transport in Europe. Be it the cruise, ship, plane, bus, tram, train, trolley bus, metro, taxi, car, bicycle everything.

Cruise in Europe is a terrific experience. Helsinki to Tallinn by superfast 2 hour cruise is an amazing journey. I always wanted to experience it once and this time got the chance. Watching 20 to 30 Seagull’s on the ship deck is a splendid sight. A wonderful bird, but so many of them were in Sight that we almost lost interest in clicking photos after a while. Bird watching is like that you see, rarity has value!!

I’ve heard about Gothic, Teutonic, Byzantine Architecture from the game Age of Empires. It was very nice to actually see them. The Teutonic Knights whom the British called the best cavalry in the world made a graceful sight. Especially Vilnius city is very classic. Half the city has Old Gothic architecture and the other half has Renaissance, Baroque style buildings. This difference presented a pretty view.

The Geographical centre of Europe is located at 19 kms from Vilnius. It is a beautiful park called as Europa Parka with over 200 great works of art from over 100 International Artists. A must see place.

Festival time shows you a very vibrant side of any city. We were very lucky to be in Tallinn for the National Song festival. A parade with 26000 music performers went around the Tallinn city main street singing local songs and moving towards their National Stadium in a very organized manner, parading. Such a wonderful sight, I can never forget rest of my life. More than a lakh people gathered around the National stadium to see them perform. All over the city, big screens and television were telecasting it. Amazing is the only word that describes it.

People had warned us not to visit these Baltic countries terming them unsafe. I do not regret not listening to them at all. Like us, they have had to fight for their independence too. Infact some of these countries have gained Independence not just once but twice. The Baltic nations, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, took part in a memorable protest against Soviet rule on August 23, 1989, which helped pave the way toward their renewed independence.

The “Baltic Way” was one of the longest human chains in history, organized by leaders in each of the countries as an act of protest. Roughly two million people from the Baltic countries formed a massive human chain that spanned 430 miles through all three nations. They held hands and carried signs during the peaceful protest. Going through the same route by bus, it took me six hours and also a small tear in the corner of my eyes. How proud each one of these two million people feel knowing they were the ones who had given their country Independence.

Interaction with locals was another good experience that came with the tour. Two Swiss couples who were on their vacation met me in a Polish train. They were college buddies and meeting up after 10 years of college, all doctors, but very down to earth. One guitarist and one vocalist and I joined them. Singing Bryan Adams, Green Day, Linkin Park, Bon Jovi, Backstreet Boys, Oasis and other great song in a European train that too out loud was great. They also sung some famous German songs and made me sing some famous Hindi songs in my pathetic voice. It just felt like friends from my college and me were going together in a train. They asked me a lot of things about India and told a lot about their European and African experiences. Got to know many things in Polish language from a Polish student over there enroute to Berlin. Her experience in a winter which was fierce as the temperature went upto -40 degrees were thrilling and fearful.

Sight of Indian Peacock in Warszawa was great. Here around five peacocks move around freely in the garden nearby the famous Palace on water. I’ve never seen such a free peacock anywhere in India. So many people looking around when it was showing it’s beautiful feathers in the gentle rain. What a pretty sight. I was actually very lucky to click an Image of the Peacock fly. A very rare sight and a beautiful photo!

Riding a bike (or the bicycle as we call it) was also a Great adventure. Riding a bike once in Europe is what I feel a must do thing. There are special lanes for bikes and no cars can ply on it without paying a hefty fine. Even the bicycles follow lane discipline. There are different signals for trams, cars, pedestrians and bikes. 25 kilometer journey from city centre to Berlin wall and back with a Mercedes Bike was cool. On my way, standing on the signal with a map, I saw some Korean students also with same map headed in the same direction. I spoke to them a few Korean words that I recollected from my previous journey back there and they were so happy hearing that. We all rode together to the wall.

Berlin wall was all I knew about Berlin. Actually a very small portion of this wall remains which was brought down in 1989. The eastern side is covered in graffiti that did not exist while the Wall was guarded by the armed soldiers of East Germany. Nearby are remains of Nazi Concentration Camps. A place were Hitler tortured the Jews. There actually they have set up a live demo show in the dark basements of these camps using men dressed in skeleton structures coming from all around threatening us. They also show a movie with special effects like vibration under your legs and other spine chilling effects to showing how the Jews were tortured. Very painful to even see it, what must have it been to experience it? Many people walked out after seeing half the movie.

I’ll end this post on a very positive note I thought. There can’t be anything more positive than the sight I saw at the Berlin main square. Preparations for the Paralympics games was going on there and in a very different way. Disabled people who were to participate in the Paralympics were made to play against people from the crowd that had gathered to see them. There was blind football where blind people were playing against blindfolded people. Them the basketball match where people from audience were playing on wheelchairs against their Paralympics team. Then there were other games such as Table Tennis, Running , Judo etc. Such a nice way to prepare them I felt. Maybe India should introduce such a thing and people will participate for such a good cause. I played 10 minutes of blinded football there. Felt so nice after that. Maybe I’ve contributed in whatever small way I could to help them. Amen.

Up and close with Village life......

2009-06-30T00:59:00.001+05:30

Since quite a long time, I had this wish of staying in a remote village in India. To observe the village life, be a part of it for some time and enjoy the gift of nature around. This time around I had my chance and trust me it has been a wonderful experience. Somewhat different than I thought it would be, but overall fantastic.

Interacting with the local villagers and getting to know their opinions about things was the thing I was very much looking forward to. What really amazes me is that you can strike a conversation with anyone and they’ll talk with you. There’s no turning back and avoiding or ‘who-the-hell-are-you and why you talking to me looks’. It’s the friendly atmosphere that just builds up God knows how. On the whole, people are very helpful.

When it comes to village life, we say it lacks pace. There’s no 8.47 local to catch, neither a stressful job where the boss and the company both get the hell outta you. But what we fail to see is their share of problems. Life there is not as simple as it seems. Walking for 2 kilometers daily for pulling out drinking water from the well, working in the farm, mulching cows and buffaloes, running around nearby markets for getting good price for your crops is not simple. More than 10 hours of load shedding is a regular thing. We never have to worry about feeding the cattle 3 times food and 3 times water, do we? As for the stress part, ask a farmer what he’s going through with rains being late by a week. I don’t want to say village life is tougher than city or vica versa, just that comparisons should be done amongst equals and not two different things.

During the visit I had to appreciate how beautiful simplicity is. Simple food which consisted of only 3 things Dal, Bhakri and Rice tasted so good. A simple photograph made an ageing lady so happy that it made her day. Children would come running from the fields and houses to get a single peppermint toffee from us. The natural alarm of the Murga in the morning, clean view of the sky and stars in the night. Such a nice feeling just looking at the stars and thinking about life.

It was painful hearing their problems and encouraging hearing the solutions. There’s no pay for the teachers of the local school for last 2 years, yet the teachers are selflessly teaching. Trying to bring in more and more students to school, especially raising awareness of the need for educating more girls. This year the school where we went to has students giving the SSC exam for the first time. Something which makes their village proud. In remote villages there is acute shortage of water. They get only around 15 liters of water daily. Despite this, the villagers cheerfully fill our 1.5 liter bottle to the brim. Almost bringing a tear to my eyes.

Now, as far as interacting with the locals is concerned, that was great too! People there are very excited about Mumbai. For them it a dream place where people mint money. A place where the Shahrukh, Amir, Salman and the other Khans live with beautiful heroines. A wonderland. They love to boast about their village too. About how cheap the things are and how cool the air is. There’s a lot of gossip the villagers do amongst themselves. This includes bitching about the person who’s not present at the time of talk.

I got the opportunity to be there around when a marriage was about to take place. For some reason it got delayed and people staying there for the only reason of ‘food after marriage’ had interesting stories to tell. They started making guesses as to what the dowry amount would be, how much the bride has studied and all. One eye was always on what is cooking and when it will be served. Neighbors were talking about the foodgrains they had to give to the marriage home for the wedding lunch. Chaos all around. Different experience again. This was also the time I heard stories of ghosts and haunted places in the village. Trees and farms where village people are scared to go because of scary happenings. I dunno how many of those are true but they were interesting for sure.

Lastly I want to end up with this. Village people have the general belief that kids in the city are not strong enough. They’ll not survive the harsh climate and the toil of the villages and can work around only in AC cabins. They will not be able to adjust to simple rural food. Not always true must say. At the same time we city people sometimes think kids from villages are backward. They have poor mannerisms and etiquettes. This too is very wrong. They’ve had a different life than us. It’s the lack of opportunities for village students that makes the difference here. For a person who had food with bare hands all his childhood, how can you expect him to be eating noodles with chopsticks. Not that they are backward enough not to buy a Burger, but never had the chance to have one their life to like one. This discussion can go on for a while. Best thing is not to compare and take the best of the two worlds, city life and village life.

Local Food

2009-06-06T22:14:00.001+05:30

This is one aspect of travelling I like the most. Local food, prepared the way locals like it!

I strongly feel that you should try and order local specialties wherever you go. Not a great fan of ordering ‘Chole Bature’ in Chennai where you have wonderful Idli and Uppam at the local dhaba. I also hate when Indian travel companies say they have Indian Food(Ghar ka Khana) on foreign tour. As a veggie I have little choice. Still, here are some local dishes I liked very much. Grab them if you pass any of these cities.

Falafel--- (Originally a Arabic dish…but I saw it first in Amsterdam). It was just like eating Pakoda in Amsterdam.Falafel is a sandwich in pita bread. It is filled with vegetables, and falafel balls made from chickpeas. A vegetarian classic, falafel is delicious and filling.

Momo---DarjeelingIt is something like the maharashtrian dish ‘karanji’ but not that sweeter. Very delicious when eaten with special sauce and chatni.

Cadby ---- (Some famous shop next to Pizza Hut , Kothrud, Pune)It is a wonderful Cadbury Ice-cream. Tastes same like Cadbury 5-star and very thick shake. It’s very famous in the whole town and this place, although small is crowded with college going people all the time.

Black Dates or Khajur – (Saudi Arabia)Normally you would say dates are so common, why would I mention them. But trust me, dates from Saudi Arabia are nothing like Dates in India. They are so soft and delicious, they’ll melt in your mouth instantaneously. Faster than even a chocolate would melt in your mouth. I still distinctly remember the taste even if it has been over ten years since my Dad brought them from Saudi. Awesome.

Croissants---(France)This crecent shaped bread comes in variety of types with lot of stuff added in it. The ones with different cheese varieties or vegetables or simply butter taste excellent. Must have!

Patbingsu---(Korea)It is a traditional Korean dessert often topped with ice cream or frozen yogurt, sweetened condensed milk, fruit syrups, various fruits such as strawberries, kiwifruit, and bananas, small pieces of tteok(rice cake), chewy jelly bits, and cereal flakes.

One more year...

2009-05-25T00:22:00.001+05:30

A few days ago, we gave a farewell party to our senior batch. One thing was going through my mind back then. Next year it will be us going through this. Actually during the farewell, there was one more thing going through my mind. This is not how our farewell would be. It was one of the most boring farewell parties to be.

Three years into college, I felt like I was seeing almost half the faces present there for the first time. It was not just me, most of my batch mates were seeing them for the first time that day. It’s strange for us because we are the ones who stay back late in college almost everyday and do many more things other than attending lectures.

In the Conference room where the party was there, all I could see was clusters of people talking within themselves. Group-ism was very evident. There were just three speeches in the entire class, none of them very efficient, none with an impact. There was no feeling of nostalgia at all. It was more like a formal function.

Worse still, it lasted only for one and half hour, out of that we played music for them for like half hour and had designed a fun filled award ceremony for half an hour. Party was over at 4 pm and everyone was outta college by 4.30 pm. Come on people, have a life!! Reasons for leaving early, ‘Padhna hai bhai, Viva hai’. Four years in college, this is what they come up with !!!

I just feel that with us next year, it would be an entirely different story. Even the shyest student of the class will come up to the podium and speak about the experiences in college he/she had. Things they thought engineering would be and what it turned out to be. Speak about how different their lives would be waking up tomorrow and realizing that they don’t have to head toward college anymore. No more Cutting chai and Misal Pav in canteen.

I think we might stay up in college that night. If not all, atleast a few of us as we did during college festivals. Playing TT or Rounders(This is our class’s National Game, credit to Pratap) in the middle of the night. Have intense debates and discussions on the silliest topics on earth and loads of other crap. But it’s far isn’t it? One long year to go, let’s see what happens then. Only time will tell………..

Just When I Think I Am Done

2009-05-05T00:38:00.001+05:30

A lot of things in our life are almost done, well almost! Life would have been great if they were actually complete. But life’s great other way too, why complain?

It’s like when we study for exams, coming early to college on the exam day, trying to revise stuff from start to end. It’s when you start reaching pages of the end chapters; you feel that you’ve forgotten the earlier chapters. When you take a glance back to do the first ones again, there’s the feeling that something at the end part is not done properly. This happens with me no matter how many times I flip back and forth. Never really think I can say that I’m done.

Then the same thing applies to Projects. They are always in the state of ‘Almost done’. Small thing here and there remaining, that’s it. When you go about completing that thing, you discover that another small task is remaining. Then when this task is complete, just when you feel like dancing around the room, something previously working stops to work. The big smile on your face vanishes. Somehow you get things right. Show it to your professor. He adds something more that he wants out of your circuit, and you’re back to work again.

I don’t ever like to use ‘almost done’ with submissions. At what stage you can be screwed can really not be determined. Almost done submissions for me are submissions not done. They can find mistakes in a perfectly errorfree file. Other way round, files with some experiments missing also sometimes go submitted with a A+. Face value, what else to say. Everybody of us have had so many wonderful submission tales all these years, no description is really needed.

Here’s another different avatar of this ‘almost done’ tag. Sleep..... God really thank the person who added ‘snooze’ to your mobile alarm. You say I’ll wake up in 10 minutes. Another 10 minutes, still sleeping, one more ‘snooze’. You think you are almost done with sleep, suddenly, another temptation and bang! Another ‘snooze’. You have taken a break from studies. 10 minutes you watch IPL, then say one more over and I’ll be back. Another over later, same story. Eventually finally end up watching entire match.

Phone conversation is on, debate on one of the topics has been heated up. Mom meanwhile calls you for dinner. Now the phone discussion is equally important for you. You can’t just cut it for now. You say to mom, ‘a minute please, I’m almost done’. And you’re stuck on the Phone right until everyone else has finished their Dinner.

Almost done reminds me of last year’s formula one. Felipe Massa, the Ferrari guys and trillions of fans all around the world thought they had won it, including the commentators. But some Timo Glock had slowed down and ruined the ‘Almost done’ party to ‘not quite done’ tune. How agonisingly close he was to the title. They say it right when they say; the game is not over until the whistle blows.

This topic is so much close to me. On every occasion when Liverpool is losing, my hand is set on the send button to send message to all my dear Liverpool fans. But some crap happens after 90 minutes, someone scores and I’m left with the message still in the draft mode. Just when I thought Job Done……

Yes We Can

2009-04-25T00:46:00.001+05:30

Barack Obama’s campaign was about ‘Change-yes we can’. This blog is not about Obama or anything, but how the world sees change. Are we in a position where we can say ‘Yes we can accept change easily’?

This is a story about an average engineering student. About a person who hardly has done anything significant in the class for the first two years of college. One of those guys who come to college, sit through the class, sets for home. After two years, he decides this is not the way to go about things. More activeness in class is essential. He has no intention of being famous or something, but only the desire to enjoy the second half of college life more.

For this, he tries to impart a bit of humor in his daily activities. He tries to be friendly with everyone in class. Stays back in college till late involving himself in some activity or another. So far so good, but let’s see how his classmates interpret his changed behavior.

We say change is inevitable, change is the only constant in life and things like that. Let’s see how well we accept this change ourselves. Coming back to the guy in the story, everyone now tells him “Tu bahut badal gaya hai yaar” constantly. His actions are suddenly seen in a different way. Even if he makes a simple joke or a prank in front of a girl, he’s labeled a tag that of a ‘flirt’. Big time flirts in the class do lot crazier activities than this, but nothing will be talked about them. We think that is anyway expected from regular flirts. This is something new to talk about.

Now, for this changed guy’s increased cheerfulness in class, another theory is put forward. He’s so happy and merry. He must be in love with someone. This has changed him maybe. This is what love can do. Crazy little thing called love, isn’t it? I believe this logic is crap. People who put forward this theory also do know that. But everything is fine if it adds up to form ‘masala’, right na?

Why does every action this poor guy does be accounted only as one which he’s doing to gain popularity or fame. Can’t anything be done purely for the sake of pure joy or unselfish happiness? About some things done with no real plan or motive in mind. But naah, you are the ‘Changed guy’ and new bakra, and everything you do can be twisted and told in a manner which raises a few eyebrows. Some people know exactly what I mean here.

Moral, once you’ve formed an image of a studious person or of that of a cool dude, society paints a picture of you that way in their minds. Anything that changes in the picture is suspicious. That adds to creative rumors and crazy stories about the person. Like if the cool dude suddenly starting to study all day long or the nerd playing football all day long, people will not accept that too easily. 'Kuch toh jaroor hua hai'.

The one thing that this guy now needs to do is to believe in himself. Believe that he has changed for the better; ignore what the world says for a while. Give time to people for digesting the change. Eventually all the pieces will fall into the right place. It’s just a matter of time. Matter of time before we are ready to say ‘Yes we can’ to accept the change rightly.

Oye it's Friday !

2009-04-10T23:15:00.001+05:30

Before you try guessing about what this blog is all about, i'll tell you that it's not about Farhan Akhtar and his show. It's about something much bigger. Something which millions of people in this world eagerly wait for. It's about a day, it's about Friday. For most, it's about keeping work aside for a while and giving entertainment a chance. Unless you have joined some stupid coaching classes to screw the fun. I exactly know whom i'm talking about.

Fridays this semester were different atleast for the 'L clan'. Call it Oye it's Friday or TGI Fridays(Thank God It's Friday) or anything which you can associate Friday with. Started with four people wandering at Andheri station and thinking what to do, this activity has popularised to quite a good extend in college. Though i must warn you, it's strictly by Invitation Only.

It's about going to Andheri station, having street food, juices, Ice-cream whatever you wish. Not a big spend, atmost fifty bucks. Then we find a good quiet place to start a discussion. A discussion about how the week was. About the latest happenings in the college(Read happenings not gossips). About what's right and what's wrong. About the week that wasn't. About forgetting the old and turning a new leaf. Then signing off together at Andheri station.

There was more to fridays this time. College festival second day was Friday. The day of Fashion show and Musical Band. The best day of Space probably. Then on one of the Fridays, we waited in the Amphitheater singing songs and Gaurav playing the guitar till late near the Bhavans lake. Such a great entertainment. I attended a marriage in Nagpur wherein i had never met the bride or the groom before, and ended up having quite fun. Made some friends there too. It was Friday the13th.

On another of Friday the 13th, we had our results. The rumours of result coming were on a month before actual day arrived. Eventually the rumour turned true on this day and people started getting sms of result being out by friends. The running lecture was called off and eager people ran like crazy to see the result. For a better picture Click Here. Fortunately the result this time was good and the profs hadn't given kt's to many people like me who were expecting one. So again a merry day. After results we headed for Juhu Beach. Everyone in a cheerful mood, the after result enjoy mode. We ended up playing Dog and the Bone which i still think is a wonderful skillful game. A crowd of around 50 people had gathered around seeing us play. Believe me, I'm not exaggerating, this is true.

Finally this Friday, on one day's notice we went trekking to Karnala Fort near Panvel. It's a fantastic fort, unlike other commercialised forts, it has no proper stairs, no hawkers selling Cucumber or Chaas, not even water. A walk through the jungle hearing different birds sing. Variety of flora and fauna well preserved as heritage site. Lizards crawling trees, monkeys, snakes, bugs of a hundred types, honey bees, dense bamboo trees. Never felt we were 10 kms from Panvel. Felt so far away from concrete jungle. The sight from the top of the fort. Just brilliant! See Photo.

Just be sure to eat something and carry lots of water with you. There's absolutely nothing on the fort to drink or eat. Nothing on the way during the 90 mins trek either. Like Bear Grills of Man vs Wild, Anand roaming through the wild, found a tree with the fruit 'karvand' on it. It tasted very nice. We ate a lot of it. Until all our hands went sticky. Due to the dense trees you don't feel the heat either. It's quite an undiscovered destination must say, but very nice. After reaching down, we realised it's Friday again and started hunting for street food at Panvel. I'm sure gonna come here again. What a place! All of this for just 90 bucks. Money well spent. Wonder how Friday's are really economical. Maybe there's something special with Fridays and me. I love them. That's the day which really keeps me going through the week.

Lest We Forget

2009-04-07T01:12:00.001+05:30

Few incidents happened lately which i would like to share...

A month ago, i was waiting for the bus at Andheri station at around 11 pm. A student standing at the bus stop opened his wallet and looked extremely worried. Worried that he had 3 rs less than the usual fare to reach home. He was asking people around for money but nobody would listen to him. This time of the night is really the time for creative beggars at the bus stop cribbing that they have no money. People thought he was one of them. With nobody willing to help the student, i gave him the money. He was so pleased that finally he could reach home by bus. He smiled at me and got into his daily bus.

A couple of days ago, i was standing at Amboli bus stop. I saw someone coming hurriedly towards me. He offered me a ten rupees note. 'What for?', I asked him. He recollected me that i had paid him money to reach his house a month ago. Something which I had forgotten about.

Similar incident happened a year ago. I was on my bike waiting for the Amboli Naka signal to go green. A person with a laptop in his hand asked me a lift to Laxmi Industrial Estate. His car had got a flat tyre and no rikshaw was seen empty for a while. He pleaded that he'll give me 50 bucks if i want and he had a very important presentation to deliver. I was already 20 minutes late for the lecture, but said chuck that, I'd help this guy. I took him to his office place, declined any money he offered and said that he should run through to the presentation place.

Sometime back I was waiting at the Amboli Naka for auto toward the college. A car stops by me. The window rolls over and the same person whom I gave the lift to Laxmi Industrial Estate asks me to get in. He drops me right upto my college entrance.

These two incidents really touched me. Not because i got help in return, don't care about that much. But because these people remembered the people who helped them. How often do we do that. Very often we want help, seek help, but how often would you remember people who helped you. Try this for example, when you want something from someone, you make him a hundred calls to get it done. But once you got the job done, no calls, nothing. It doesn't happen intentionally I agree. But it happens.

So many 10th, 12th students have come up to me for carrier guidance, how to score in CET, which books to refer for IIT. Which classes to join. But not a single person outta them has ever come back to me saying I got admission in this-this college. Nothing. I don't know what the hell they are doing currently, cracked up JEE, got into NIT's whatever. Just goes to show how crazy the phone rings when you've got questions you need answers for and how it ceases to ring when you actually get the answers.

I am not mad at these people. I am to an extend thankful to them. They taught me something. That is to never forget people who helped you. To call them not just when some work is to be done, but also when that work gets done. A small change, but it can make a hell lot of difference in my own small world. Last few days i've realized that i've really failed to acknowledge a lot of people for helping me out lately. They might have noticed that as they read through this. I am feeling really bad about it. It's the one thing i want to never stop doing. Remembering the ones who help.

L clan

2009-04-02T23:15:00.001+05:30

In the last blog, i wrote about most of the points which would normally associate with the so called "Loser Clan" of engineering. I re-read the blog again as a neutral person who probably knows nothing of engineering, and the blog seemed to put engineering students like us in a bit of negative light. That was when i thought i should probably make my views about 'L clan' a bit clear.

'L clan' is not a group of individuals who are just pissed off with engineering, running away from the hard work in college, borrowers of all materials. Living on the edge, hanging on to the rope, delaying everything till the deadline comes scaringly close. Cramming stuff into their head to fill in the papers and knowing nothing the day after. Sure, we do this, but there's more to us.

Is not that the 'L clan' hates lectures, infact they are the ones who attend in large numbers when lecturers from outside come for taking good seminars. It's not that they have stopped questioning in lectures because they have no interest in the subject, but for there's no one to give satisfactory answers. They end up getting poor marks just because the crap system expects the problem to be solved by a particular method only. No concern how correct your method is. The system doesn't care how much you've understood but it does give a damn to how much lectures you've sat through.

Every member of 'L clan' is in with a purpose why he's chosen not to take the regular path of 9 to 5 college and the sincerity that comes along. Some who see a much bigger dream than engineering like some sport, or maybe future entrepreneurship option, or dealing with technological things beyond the books. Or best, the people with leisure who have within them great painters, excellent photographers, good marketing skills or amazing leadearship qualities to manage college festivals. ' L clan' is highly responsible for success of most college festivals. It requires people who can work day in and day out without caring about attendance, without caring much about the time of the day. Most of the participants in college fests for that matter are 'L clan' people.

Here, there are people who wont mind going to Pune for going for a seminar on Game Theory, without knowing a word. There are the people who can fill in seminar halls when there's no one else attending and embarrassment of the arranging committee is to be avoided. People who can roam all through Mumbai to bring in Money for college festivals. People who take the pains to come to college during peak exam time, sacrificing their own study time just for the joy of their friends in faring well in their exams.

I admire the 'L clan' for variety of reasons. The fact that it adds so much energy and color to engineering life. The intense debates that we come up with in the quadrangle that we never realize how time goes by and clock strikes 10 at night. The people involved almost forget that they've to travel from one end of Mumbai to another after this talk.

Sometimes there are clashes, differences of opinion, misunderstandings and all, they exist everywhere, don't they? But it's so amazing that how quickly these people with one intense discussion in the quadrangle of college, speak out all that is there in their minds and sort things out. There is no greater feeling of unity or happiness in a group when the dark cloud of misunderstanding disappears and people begin to look through the clear glass. It's so good when people speak out what they feel is wrong than they keep it to themselves.

When i think of ' L clan' the thing that always comes to my mind is the alphabetical blocks that we played with in our childhood. Particularly the 'V block'(for victory) and our 'L block'. 'V block' has to be held by hand otherwise it falls down and forms a shape of 'L". The 'L shape' with a bit of push from one sides makes it look like 'V'. I guess it will take just this little bit of difference for 'L clan' people to turn the tide and emerge successful. It's just a matter of time and finding the right opportunity before everyone picks up the tumbled 'L' and holds it such that it takes shape of the victorious 'V'....

Dedicated to the 'L-clan'. Membership still on. Conditions apply. Must know the 'L clan' official dance choreographed by our own Gaurav.

Random things about engineering!

2009-03-28T21:56:00.001+05:30

These are the random little things which are very much a part of every engineering student by the time he's in third year. Didn't put much thought into it, but you'll agree on most of things i feel. Do add more to it!

Attention span---Even the fiercest of the warriors who could battle the dullest of the lecturers in their lives till 12th grade, would find it difficult to concentrate in some of the lectures after two years of engineering. My attention span has been ridiculously low for this sem in college thanks to the wonderful insight of the subject these people provide.
A Guiltless state--- You are not guilt about so many things. Not guilty about thrown out from the class, not guilty about completing assignments day after deadline. Not guilty coming at 10.45 for 10 o clock lecture and asking attendance. Many more things..
Best invention----Thinking about the best invention for engineers, the one that comes to mind first is the time machine... oops ... err... sorry... The Xerox machine. We spend ridiculous amount of money in 4 yrs xeroxing stuff. Now-a-day's all journals are xeroxes too. Life made easy.
Exams, here I come----After giving so many engineering exams, you are ready for anything in life. Any subject, buy a book, ask syllabus, buy question papers, make few phone calls and excel. So much prepared that tomorrow if you're given a book on 'Human psychology' of 400 pages and told that there's a test in 4 days, you'll surely clear it.
Bird watching---As a engineer, this surely develops as one of your major hobbies. Should I say more. Just that it's interesting only outside the campus. Quick Pj: Girls are also interested in this activity. But the ones that they watch are actually real birds.
Attendance---You come to college daily, go home always late. Are seen around the campus most of the times. Yet, your name shines with florescent color on the defaulter's list. Maybe they don't really take attendance in the gymkhana do they?
Vivas--Here's the fun stuff. Say any crap, but say it confidently. Never show a tinge of worry or fear on your face. Never will you fear vivas again.
Borrowing things---You are in college..1 assignment pending...Deadline today...No assignment sheets...borrow...open bag...pen not working....borrow...pencil...oh wait i have....shit, no lead...borrow...By the time you are deep into engg, you stop using erasers. If any error, manipulate it by adding few strokes of pencil here and there...things like sharpeners are passe...No Stapler.... borrow...no pins...wait...again borrow...Udhaar ki jindagi.
Manipulation---If you cant get it right, make it right. So many things come here. Program gone wrong, take xerox of the one which works. Experiment not working, show on paper that it's working. It started with me quite early. First chemistry practicals, all we needed was a pink ppt. The closest anyone got was orange. Mine was blue, miles away. Saw a pink chalk lying nearby.Put a piece of it inside test tube. Next moment, prof is telling the entire batch, this is how the output should be.

Dont spill your beans !

2009-03-20T23:57:00.001+05:30

On the way to my native place all alone, i thought music on my phone would be my only source of entertainment. But i was a little more fortunate when the person next to me was trying to strike a conversation. He was a guy around 5 years elder than me working in some reputed firm.

Back from vacation in Singapore, he was a very happy person with lot of stories to tell. By looking at his face, it was quite obvious he wanted to be heard. He started describing his tour from the beginning. Right from which airline he chose, what does a plane look like from inside, everything including minor details. I kept asking him questions from time and again and he kept replying them. Never did i give him a clue that i have been to Singapore and ten other countries, to the extend that long distant flights make me sick.

But why kill someone's enthusiasm, why kill someone's story? If i had said i'd been there, the story would have been over and my journey would once again depend on the songs in my mobile. Sometimes, you just should not spill your own beans. Besides, i was also making someone happy by listening to his story. Why would i stop that? Maybe i'll learn something new from what he says, maybe i'll not, but that didn't really matter. After that i also got to hear his version of the "Life in IT industry".

At times lately, i'm trying to implement this 'not spilling of beans' technique more often. I missed my college trip for this year. When someone comes to me and says that "Have you heard of a certain story that happened on the trip." I reply saying 'no' or 'i've heard in parts' so that i get to hear the different version of the same story from the other person. It makes the other person happy that he's got something to share, and i too get twists in the tales if any.

Hiding your story and keeping your mouth shut also leads to entertainment in some cases. Take for example this one. Now, I don't really believe in Astrology, Numerology, Palm Reading, Handwriting anaylsis and other such crap. To believe that the position of far-off plants like mercury, saturn etc at your time of birth determines how your future's gonna be doesn't seem logical to me. Stuff like adding or removing letters from your name to favour fortune...Wow!!(I have nothing agains't people who believe, just a personal opinion)

Neways coming back to what I was writing, i've been to reputed astrologers with friends who trust them for generations and listen to what they say. I go to them and ask only one question, when will i get a chance to go abroad. I've got answers like at the age of 30, after 45, one of them said never. I looked worried in front of them, turned around and laughed!

This incident in my junior college i'll never forget. During the college chess tournament for seniors, there was a guy who was telling time and again that he went upto the quarterfinals of the university tournament. He apparently lost with some guy in round one. Later on, when i talked to the guy who won, he said to me that he had won the same tournament in which the other one was in quarters. Sometimes better to keep your mouth shut and laugh i guess!!!

Travel Companions

2009-03-14T09:07:00.001+05:30

You been with your school friends, junior college mates, college guys. You begin to think that you’ve figured them all out. Go out for a trip together. You’ll see them in different colours. The ones they are actually made of!!

Being a frequent traveler and traveling with different group everytime is fun. Every journey has led to meeting people of different taste. These are some prominent types of travelers I’ve come across.

1. The loner - This person, even if in a large group, likes to be alone for most of the time. He seldom talks to other people, sits alone in a corner. At tourist places he/she likes to wander alone. He never really is a part of the group. During journeys, he’s stuck with I-pod/ Music Player/ FM radio into his ears. Likes to be lonely thinking something on the beach when all the group is playing beach football.

2. The Boss—He’s the type of person who’s always busy in issuing commands to people. Usually when I go for trips, normally I’m the one taking all the initiative, getting all hotel bookings done, tour bookings, cab rental and stuff. These people just give orders. Sanket bring me tea. I take the initiative so what. I am not a tour guide whose traveling free on your money. Go get it yourself. Probably this could be a better answer to this people but why spoil the trip mood.

3. The initiator—These are the people at the heart of everything. They are the best kind of travelers you’ll ever meet. Always ready for work. Ready to find a hotel in an unknown city when rest of the group is feeling tired. Ready to walk an extra mile to see another visit point. Ready to bump out of the hotel room earliest and plan the day tours.

4. The entertainers—Very essential part of the traveling group. These are the guitarists, flute players, people making Donald duck voices and other such talents. Without them the fun quotient is not quite upto the mark. They keep the liveliness intact even amongst the most boring parts of the journey.

5. Camera Lovers---Two kind of people come into this category. The first ones are the one who like clicking photographs of almost anything. Always busy at clicking something or the other or Video shooting. They like to keep memories I see. Sometimes, in search of these memories, they actually fail to enjoy the moment. Memories are fine, but temme the last time when you saw the 2 GB photographs of the last tour you went. You would rather enjoy the calm and cool sunset instead of being worried about capturing the exact moment of sunset on your cam. That’s again a personal opinion. The second kind of people here are those who love to be clicked themselves. At every spot, he/she asks someone, 'meri yahan pe photo nikal na'. These people need not be photogenic either. And yes, they have to be in every group photo.

6.The Chatterbox---You sit next to this person in long train or flight journeys. They have lots and lots of stories to tell, lot of topics to discuss. I’m sure you wouldn’t get bored. The chatterbox would find someone who listens to him and he’ll be happy and your friend for rest of the trip(Some people like listeners, just as this blog would like readers).

7. The Critic--- Some people derive immense pleasure in finding faults in most of the things and speaking them out. In a perfectly well organized trip, they’ll keep finding little shortcomings. One more thing that these people love is to compare this trip with the previous ones and say how that one was better and things have worsened. That Simla is not the same that it used to be.

8. Late latif---Always late. Tell them to wake up at 7, they’ll be in bed till 8. Every tourist spot, they are late. They never really value time. Without doubt they are the worst travelers to be with. You need to be with the group, not ahead, not behind. That’s the idea of a good travel group.

9. The crybabies---They’ll always cry to get what they want. Cry for the window seat. The ‘I don’t want to go to this place’—Cry. “This food I can’t do with, I want proper restaurant food”. Basically they don’t really adjust to the situation and try to turn things to their favour.

10. The everpraiser--- They’ll see the place. Praise the place. Then praise the organizer for showing them such a beautiful place. Then thank the crowd for accompanying them to such a beautiful place. They’ll praise the food even if it’s average. Trust me, there are people like this who still exist in this world. I remember in one of the tours, a person would call me ‘Sirjee’ for the entire tour. I initially liked that but was pissed off at the end of the tour.

And if you are not one of the above, you are the aam-aadmi who’s forgotten at the end of the trip. Try to acquire one of the above characteristics so that you are remembered by everyone on the trip. Maybe for the good reasons….-:)

Boredom

2009-02-26T23:32:00.001+05:30

I asked:

Life is the same today and tomorrow,
you get to see same faces, same joy, same sorrow.
That excitement, that fun which brought us so long,
seems to be dimming with each passing dawn.

Feels like the game has suddenly slowed down,
a new day, but the same discussion, same song.
Why does it seem like being stuck in second gear,
sure we're moving ahead, but with surprises rare.

Is routine boring, or is it just me
who can't let this boredom flee? ....

He answered:

Try for new ventures, aim for the sky,
let the passion inside you never die.
The world around us affects us for sure,
but we are the creator of our joy our cheer.

Focus your attention on your vision, your dream
work out your own path, tackle troubles extreme.
For loneliness affects only those, with no task to be done
be hungry for more, never stop with a win.

Pump in more energy, let go the dullness within
never dare you say, 'life's boring'.

Cellular Walls

2009-02-10T01:48:00.001+05:30

Some days ago, I accidentally met a school friend at a mall. I was delighted after meeting someone from school after long and so was he. We decided to hang out at CCD for a while, talk about good old school days and have a nice time. Minutes later, he gets a call, gets stuck on it for around 20 mins and there I am : Staring at the menu card, observing stupid things around me, stuck with boredom. Wishing that the phone call just ended and we would get to talk.

After a little while, I began to think about it. There was no point in cursing my friend coz sometimes, I also have been stuck with lengthy phone calls at wrong time and put my friends in this position. Now I realize that the person in front of me is more important as the person on the phone whom I can get in touch with later. How rarely do we get to meet old friends and how a stupid phone call sometimes disrupts a wonderful conversation.

Cell phone is no doubt a fabulous invention that lets you to be in touch with everyone, but I feel it should be used properly. I hate when people say to me “Hey it’s abc’s birthday have you messaged him yet?” I say “No I haven’t messaged; I’ve rather made a call.” I feel message is an extremely cold way to say Happy Birthday. It really doesn’t say you care about the person. Make a call instead, talk to him or her, wish good luck. What good is a forwarded message, however sophisticated or decorated it might be?

Pretending to say I do care about you…No I don’t get you. You get messages from people saying ‘May this bond of friendship last forever’. Crap! I haven’t seen your face in 3 yrs, which bond are you talking about. I might go on and on about forwarded messages, but it aign’t worth typing. I forward the crap myself too, most of the times.

About messages, I usually don’t like typing messages which require the other person to reply. In that case, why should I make him pay, I’d rather call him. Why be a miser? If unreachable, messaging makes sense. Usually I reply to any message within 15 minutes, be it a forward joke, a messages that needs reply, a thank you msg, I have some work message, whatever. Whatever time of the day it might be, whichever lecture might be on. Unless the msg is sent from free sites like 160 by 2 or someone that has a extremely cheap msg rate who can go on forwarding. However, I don’t care much about whether the other person is prompt in replying or not. Afterall it’s a personal choice, and we usually run out of good messages even if we want to forward them.

I believe cell phones have changed our lifestyle enough and will continue to do so. Just that we should let it affect in a positive way. Let technology not come in the way of the joy of accidentally meeting someone and having a great time

Morning calm---A lesson learnt

2009-01-26T01:26:00.001+05:30

Every new country you see offers you a new dimension of how the world is. Certainly there’s a lot to learn from this little country called Korea. The attitude of the people towards tourists is so great. A few incidents left me shocked as to what extend people can help you.

On day one, we were searching for our Hotel address, and there were hardly any people on street. So we walked to a dress store and asked the lady there about the address. She dialed the number of Hotel from her cell, talked to the manager for about a minute, took a piece of paper, drew a neat map that guided us to our Hotel.

Also on one of the very chilly evenings at a Busan Subway station, when I was a bit tired, took off my winter cap in the bag and began to eat chocolates that I had. Dad was in a store nearby. An old couple was watching me for a while. After some time they approached me thinking that I didn’t have any winter cap and offered me 10000 won(around 400 rs) note to buy one. I declined saying that I had a cap, and thanked them for offering one. Now who would do that to a stranger.

In general, it’s a very tourism friendly. I-counter is set at every major tourist spot. In remote areas, where people knew little English, we would go to the I-counter, ask the person to write the name of the place we want to visit in Korean Language on a piece of paper. We would show that piece of paper to the Cab- driver to reach the place we want.

Many cabs had free translator service. That is, the cab driver would call a translator, who could speak English and Korean and then a 3-way communication started. If you would rent a mobile, you can call 1330 and use the free translator service to interact with anyone. Infact, that was how we interacted with the Jeju hotel manager.

This country has braved many things. Japan invaded it till 1945, North Korea destroyed entire Seoul city in 1952. 1 US dollar is 1300 WON (Korean currency). Worse ratio than the war hit Japan had to face. But still, it has started fresh and build everything from scratch. Slowly and steadily making itself known to the world.

Infrastructure is great. Incheon airport is the world’s 3rd best Airport. Korean air has been voted Asia’s best airline for third year running. Seoul stadium is Asia’s biggest football stadium. Seoul Metro is so well designed to meet city requirements. Everything is automatic. There’s no chance you travel without a ticket and there’s no chance the machine will let you travel for more than the ticket you brought. Seoul subway image below.

When I look back at Bombay, I see no I-counter, I see the prepaid Taxi counter man offering me rates that are twice the actual. I also see that if I take a private cab, the first question the driver asks me is “Bombay mein naye Ho” and takes me on the longest path if yes is the answer. It really makes me sad. Comparison is bad, but I don’t remember being cheated for a single penny in Korea.

Not only the country has advanced technologically, but also kept it’s traditional culture intact. They have the system of Ondol floor, i.e. underneath the floor, there are heating water tubes spread. This way the floor remains warm and you can lay a bed on it called Ondol Bed or Korean style bed. Many Korean restaurants serve food sitting on the floor. Some of them also offer a cooking stove for keeping the food heated.

People there brave extreme cold climate to set out to work. Yet everyone’s so perfectly dressed. Right colour combination. All the men with proper coats of black colour. Women very smartly dressed. People always bearing a smile. Not shy to strike a conversation with unknown. Always ready to help. Even in heavy rushtime, nobody touches each other in train. The one who has to get down just puts his hands up indicating he has to get down. The others make way for him.

Discipline is so high that cabs stop at the pedestrian crossing at 7 in the morning when no-one’s on the street. Never heard anyone honk a horn in 9 days of my stay. Didn’t see a plastic wrapper on the streets. Saw the government encouraging local companies to make it big in the International market. Like Daewoo, Hyundai, Kia motors, LG, Samsung etc. There aign’t any Vodafone, no T-mobile, only one local operator, SK telecom.

Just can say that I saw a great country in Korea and somewhere my heart says, one-day my country will be better. For that first I’ll have to learn. Learn to be a more helpful individual from now.

Morning Calm

2009-01-26T00:06:00.001+05:30

Kidhar janewala Hai vacation mein?
South.
Aacha tho IV nahi aayega?
Nahi re. But you people have fun.

I was in two minds when Dad asked me whether I was coming for Korea. One view was I might not see such a different country again. I may not get a chance to go to around -7º C temperatures. Other was saying, I rather go with my friends to the IV. It would be more fun. Korea mein kya hai? Rajasthan mein sab saath mein enjoy karenge.

I choose the former one, and am glad to say that I don’t regret it now. Surely I missed my friends. With them it would have been great. But at the same time, I got to see an incredible country. An adventure to remember for the rest of my life.

This country is called as “Land of Morning Calm”. At sub-zero temperatures, mornings are Surely calm. On arrival day, temperatures were -3º to -7º. From past experience at Leh, I had learnt that it was important to rest first day, so that you can adjust to temperature well. Otherwise, 10 days trip is reduced to 2 days, next day you cant bear the cold, return back. Or stay confined to your hotel room.

If temperatures change from 25 to -6 slowly, degree by degree, then you can adjust. But for sudden change, precaution is needed. You cant afford to eat too much otherwise heat needed to digest it is large and begin to feel weak. You need food which consumed in small amount gives large amount of calories. Choclates and Ice-creams are the best. Ice-creams in such cold? Crazy? Nope, it’s the best.

Third day of stay, Seoul temperature was -9º C to -17ºC. Even the localites were shivering badly. Water dropped from the bottle would freeze in around 10 seconds. If you put your hand in the river for even some seconds, water would stick to hand and form solid mass. Every word you utter comes of with a thick fog of air. Sunlight hardly gives any warmth. In most of cold places I’ve been, even if it’s freezing during evenings, however the day sunshine brings you warmth. But here,Sun changed nothing. Fierce winds that prevent you to keep your camera steady for a pic. Only one of the days temperatures went above freezing mark. Busan was 1º to -3º.

The minute when you come out of the shower, and you dress yourself is probably the worst minute of your life. The winter coat I had was Made in USA and was a huge plus, but the gloves which were brought from a shopkeeper saying “Kitni bhi thandi mein leke jao, chal jayenge” proved to be useless. It was better to get a new one there.

Morning 9 to night 7-30 was the only time it was worth roaming on the street. I still recollect how difficult it was to take Seoul streets for the 8.55 am flight to Jeju Island. Infact, all I had to do was to catch a cab, which wasn’t even a 1 minute walk. Life’s fun, enjoy, you may never experience this again. But when you think about it that way, think about the localites. It’s a 10 day fun trip for us, but it aign’t exiting when it’s 3 months of every year of your life.

Not many Indian travelers visit this country. Infact out of the 200 odd people on Korean Air flight, only 10 were Seoul bound, others were mostly NRI’s or the software guys on their way to America. Indians mostly go to places where there’s business. Hongkong, Singapore, London, Dubai, South-Africa you name it and we are there. However, during entire trip, didn’t see any Indian over there. Not even Indian and Pakistani restaurants. It has never happened to me before.

But, braving the climate, this country has something great to offer. Some great people and great memories that I’ll always cherish.

Morning Calm-Places to See

2009-01-25T22:45:00.001+05:30

Large part of Korea is either a Mountainous region or seashore. Capital city Seoul is surrounded by hills on all sides, a river in the southern side and Mt. Namsan, a beautiful mountain at the centre. The 2 hr trek to the top of Namsan is a wonderful one. There are also stairs, or the ropeway to get to the top, but nothing beats a trek.

At the top lies Seoul tower. Not as famous as the Tokyo tower or Eiffel tower, but a great place to see. The observatory at the top presents a breathtaking view at night. The river flowing through the south, football stadium, Hyundai, LG and Samsung buildings, Huge towers, the seven mountains surrounding the city.The tower keeps changing its colors and looks great from a distance. There’s a huge teddy bear museum at the entrance.

There's also a famous fence at the top where young couples tie locks to it, they believe that it will make them inseperable forever.

Mt. Achasan and Mt. Umyosan were the other mountains we trekked. Cold is unbearable, but the joy you get from the view at the top is just what keeps you driving.

Two major Sporting events have changed the face of the city. The 1988 Seoul Olympics and 2002 Korea-Japan FIFA world cup have led to great development. The World cup stadium is the biggest in Asia with 65000 capacity, which also has 2 malls, a museum, gymnasium, swimming pool and a multiplex theatre inside it. The stadium tour is great. World cup has brought in great funds. 5 wonderful parks are created near the stadium, and in the snow, the trees, well arranged give a spectacular view.

Area around the Olympic stadium is also similarly well developed. Skating arenas with snow are throughout the city where you can see kids from the age of 5 ice-skating. It’s so cute to see the little ones skate, but sadly we can’t for the fear that if we fell in that cold, certainly one of our body parts would go numb. Seoul metro is a great way to travel. It’s a bit crowded as it’s the common man’s transport over there, just like our locals. But take a day pass, and travel unlimited. However your chances of seeing more than 4 places a day are bleak in this weather.

Cheonggyecheon is a very famous stream of water flowing through downtown Seoul. It was previously a stream of waste water, but the government has put in so much money for it’s development to transform it into a wonderful landmark. Trees lit with light around it. Several small bridges with various themes, small time artists putting up laser show on the walls, cool breeze and the sound of flowing water. One of the most romantic places I’ve ever seen. I so wish to make a walk on this stream again with someone I love. This 6 km walk surely rocks. Thank you Korea.

The Han-gang river offers many ferries and boats for tourists. There is a bird sanctuary at a small islet in the river bed and lot of tourists opt for ferries to see that. But it was so damn chilly to stay 5 minutes at the dock that we thought better opt out of this. Birds hamare yahan bhi dikhte hai!!

Several Museums, art galleries and Palaces are famous in Seoul. I don’t really like to go to these places, usually thinking all Palaces are the same. So are the museums. But seeing one or two is okay. I met a Manchester fan over there and went to one of the palaces with him. Throughout the palace, we were discussing football. I had a great time. Herd many stories about England and how they don’t get to see the Saturday 3 pm fixtures over there and stuff. Picture of wonderful Changdeokgung palace is below.

European travelers are great to talk with, anywhere in this world. They go to a city, stay there for a month and tell you everything worth seeing about the city. Many Europeans are English teachers in Korea and they guided us in places where hardly any English was spoken. I can go on and on about Seoul, but I guess this much is enough to give an overview.

Jeju –do is a small Island south of Korea, about an Hour flight from Seoul. Size similar to that of Mauritius. Not as famous as Mauritius, but I feel it’s equally wonderful as Mauritius. Infact this small Island has 7 UNESCO heritage sites that are amazing and amazingly well preserved. I still doubt entire India might not have so many UNESCO protected and preserved heritage sites.

There’s everything to this Island. Great clean beaches, Mountains, caves, waterfalls, rivers, golf courses, everything. Mount Halla lies in the centre of the Island. It’s a four hour trek to the top. We were determined to do it, but due to heavy snow, the mountain was closed for trekking. There are massive orange plantations around this mountain full of big oranges, clad with snow.

Jeju is scientifically valuable for its extensive system of lava tubes (also known as lateral volcanoes or in Korean as Oreum). These natural conduits through which magma once flowed are now empty caves that are some of the largest in the world. The caves provide opportunities for scientific research and are also popular tourist destinations. Manjagul caves is a very famous lava tube cave we visited. Very well preserved site. Picture aside shows a frozen lava column, 7.6 metres, largest in the world.

The beaches are very clean here with extremely cool wind waves flowing near that it drifts you along with it. Very difficult to capture an image of it, but surely it presents a wonderful sight. We saw the Hamduk beach where after putting my feet in water made me numb for 5 minutes. In summers, many water sports can be done on the beaches, but winter, we were the only 3 people on the beach.

Cheonjiyeon waterfall was a nice place for a walk deep inside the woods, really enjoyed the place and there’s another waterfall which directly falls in the ocean which is a nice spot. So many places to see on this beautiful island, so little time. Green tea plantations are famous on this Island. There’s also the migratory bird sanctuary, World cup stadium, Sunrise peak which apparently is a cool 20 minutes trek to see the sunrise from a mountain. But coming on the streets at 6 in morning isn’t such a great idea.

Yongduam is a famous rock near the airport beach. It has the shape of Dragon Head and also called Dragon head rock. Naturally formed, great view at sunset.

Next, we took a flight to Busan, a coastal city in the East of Korea, very close to Japan. This city contains some of the best buddhist temples in the world. Beomeosa temple is very famous for tourists who come for Temple stay in Korea. Temple stay is a nice concept wherein you can stay a weekend in the temple, and live a lifestyle the traditional way. People from far-off places come for temple-stay booking around an month in advance. There’s one more famous temple touching the beach which is a wonderful sight to view.

UN war memorial in Busan pays tribute to 200 UN soldiers who sacrifised their lives when North korea attacked South Korea in 1952. Each died soldier has a plant planted against his name. Such a nice way to pay a tribute. Silent and nice place to visit.

Haeundai Beach is a fantastic place where all the famous Hotels are located. We opted for apartment Stay in Busan. Busan Aquarium is a very different aquarium than you have ever seen. It has great protected rare aquatic species, plus it has also 3d animation theatre movies as showing the thrilling ocean life. It's nice. Our rented apartment was on the 24th floor and presented a spectacular view of city. Yongdusan is a nice garden for young people to trek to. Close to it is the Busan tower.

Gwangan Bridge presents a great view from the beach with more than a billion lights constantly changing colors. Such a nice view it presented, totally worth the money you spend…..Great Country…Surely like to visit again. The image below is a wonderful picture of Gwangan Bridge. It took almost 15 retakes in the freezing cold to getthat right. The moon and it's shadow looks brilliant in this picture i feel. One of the best pic i've taken. Also it's zoomed view below.

Analysis time

2008-12-21T20:57:00.001+05:30

This is that time of the year where we analyse ourselves. The year that went bye, the joy it brought, the good and the bad part of it. About what was wrong which could have been right, and what went so great that helped us progress. About nething and everything that the year gave us.

Whether any of the new year resolutions last year did make it through, or it was just a piece of paper with unfulfilled dreams at the end of the year. Things you want to make happen in the 2009, or the one little change you want to bring in you.

As for me, I don’t make any resolutions as such. New year’s day is just another day for me. We just want reasons to enjoy and it’s just one of that. I don’t believe in long term planning. It’s never worked with me (I do admire people who can make it work though). But still I carry a rough draft of all the things that I’ll be pursuing in coming time. They are just skeletons, not concrete plans. And they need not be penned down.

Last year was pretty satisfactory. A bad end due to terror tale, but otherwise the year went well. On personal front also it was good. Got to learn a lot of things. About handling events, talking to successful people, actively working in college, good amount of social work, working as a group and so much more.

I feel if you ever want to make New Year plans, always assume your current life till now as “A big zero”. And now start planning. Coz you know you have to ensure that you are actually improving with the coming year. All that ever has been till now is just a benchmark for accessing how well you do next year. Take it as a zero state. I believe I have shifted from last year’s zero in some fields, and hope to better it this time around.

As for things that can happen with me in the next year, the answer is ‘I don’t know’. Decision making has always been hard for me. With such large amount of job cuts in US, I may have to rethink before spending a fortune for getting a university seat. Thinking the other way, I might be missing a glorious opportunity for quality studies and better job prospect if I don’t go. So it still might go either way.

As far as campus placements, I may or may not appear for them. Not thought about it. Even if I do apply, there is every chance that companies don’t find me worthy for the job. With every company cutting intakes, they may need fewer people. People who might have been slogging for a top 3 finish in the class.

So basically I don’t know what’s in store for the future. But I do know for sure, whatever path I choose, I have to never look back, never regret anything, and just be at my best for anything I choose.

On the year that fled bye,
-- I wished that Terrorist hadn't attacking our beautiful city.
--I wish John terry din't slip off
--I wish Timo Glock din't slow down
--I wish Ganguly had scored a century in his last test

Adios. May all of you have a very bright new year ahead!!!!!

An Idea Can.....

2008-12-04T00:35:00.001+05:30

Luxembourg…..

A small country in western Europe, I doubt very few might have even heard of it. It’s strangely the richest country in the world w.r.t. per capita income(I know many people will open Google and search for richest country). What made it so rich, great history, no. Then what, good land, great scenery, any European country has it. Large amount of money from tourism( why not Singapore then, small country so many tourists).

I didn’t believe when I was told that just a well executed Idea makes an country the richest in the world. But now I do. Now, coming back to it, what was the Idea? Luxembourg government decided to use banking sector as a source of income for the country. For non EU(European union ) countries, the money deposited in the banks is tax free. And your account is not operated by name, but is operated by a secret code number and your signature. None of your identity is disclosed except for European people and for locals, tax is directly deducted from their account, account data going to respective governments. But for others, don’t worry, hide in as much money you can and no-one will ever know.

It’s great place to hide money for people saving from heavy taxes, to hide money obtained through corruption. Or money that’s just supposed to be hidden. Many terrorist accounts are assumed to be operated here. Every major world bank has an office here, and most operate accounts through codes. You forget your code and money is gone. Luxembourg offshore banks number around 220 today and their balance sheets total in excess of EUR 600 billion - which makes the country Europe’s second largest banking giant after the UK.

Some of you might have heard that 6 months ago there was a news that Luxembourg government is ready to give the details of Indians investing in these banks, but it didn’t go any further. Many of the politicians are believed to have secretly deposited their money. That’s why the government is not acting upon it.

The Indian angle looks ugly, but their country has prospered a lot due to this. Such huge investments have led to great economy and the people living a very high standard of living. An Idea well executed is all it takes.

Las Vegas

A little known city in the state of Nevada, USA. One of the poorest state in the country. Lack of proper transportation routes, barren lands all over, no great history, no state of the art facilities like other American cities. Infact there wasn’t even a city here around 150 years ago. It was just a transit place for long distant tourists.

The city people believed money is never gonna come their way. USA may get richer, but Vegas, still poorer. Here too, it was just an idea which changed the map, the image and economy of the city. Yes, we all know the Idea. The Las Vegas Casino.

The casino city is so different a city today. Looks like any other top American cities. The rates of rooms at weekends are 4 times the rate on Monday. Almost every big hotel here has a casino. People will always keep trying on their luck, and this city will always make money from them. Who was to say, the barren lands of Nevada would one day become one of the busiest economic centre of the states. The entire state has benefited in terms of good transport, good roads due to this city.

Moral: Don’t say we have nothing, because people have made so much out of nothing.

Watching “What happens in Vegas” reminded me of this story. Nice Movie.

News or views

2008-11-27T14:24:00.001+05:30

Preface: The recent terrorist attacks in the city is a terrible thing happening. Killing innocent people is Indeed a very cowardly act. This blog was written around a week ago and could not be posted due to some problem in my PC. Some of my views have changed since then, and so have some of the things in this blog. But I still feel most of the things haven’t and readers should consider that was a period where news channels had no big news and relatively smaller news had gained importance.

Warning: Long Post ahead!!!!

Recently I turned on the TV for the day’s Headlines, and this is what I get. Someone goes out of the big boss, Some politics going on over Malegaon Blasts, India winning match over England. HC giving justice to a rape victim after 10 Years. Not in exact order, but these were it.

It’s sometimes so painful to see the change that has come in news channels over the years. I mean, where are the issues of National and International interests?

Media wants stories to tell. They don’t want just news. It’s first the news, then the analysis, what people think, what media thinks, inferences from the news, future predictions and much more. Why cant the keep it just plain news and let the viewers interpret in whichever way feels appropriate to them. What is the need of personal opinion in news?

Go to a politician’s speech, find a small fault in the otherwise perfectly executed speech and capitalize on the mistake. They’ll never mention 100 other positive things he mentioned, just the one controversy he created. Not to mention the slanting of the news to create more hype.

Another feature of News channel is tone and body language of presenters. Some news presenters present news in such a shouting tone just to sensationalize it. Watch programs like ‘Sansani’(…remember Gaurav Dobhal in spoof……) at night and you’ll know what I am talking about. It looks so funny, stupid and silly even if the story is horrifying.

Sometimes get the feeling that Indian media channel people should be made to sit and watch BBC news for an hour and feel the difference. It makes such a pleasant viewing. Just the news from all over the world, hardly any tone change, very rarely the use of personal opinions. That’s what you call news. That’s what makes it a great channel. In India DD news is I feel the best if you are interested in just the news not the crap.

Protection of privacy is another big issue. Take for instance the Aarushi murder case of Delhi. One of the news channels was publicly displaying the content of some email Aarushi got the day before her death. Display of some private text messages in her Inbox. It is so inappropriate for the media to do so. I agree that the person is dead, but so what. Everyone wants their secrets to die with them. Certainly not want for the public to know them.

Events like Bomb blasts are happening are dealt in a tone ‘Oh wow! Something great happened! Alas some news! ’. Don’t cameramen feel bad taking images of people crying on a blast site? Is money so important than the grief of a person who lost his loved one? Media can reach flooding Kosi river in Bihar to take stunning photographs, but not to save thousands of people dying from it. Feels so pity.

Another bad thing is misleading photographs. Some channels like showing older images of sometime ago or older coverage and stating it as current update. For eg. It was one of those heavily raining days in Mumbai, TV channels continue to show pictures of flooded streets even when rain has stopped in most part of the city. That’s so badly misleading. Most people depend on media for correct information, businesses are unnecessarily stopped, just because these news channels have given wrong info. One rainy day, I was at Milan subway. My phone has a TV so turned on to see it. I saw images of Milan Subway being flooded and they were termed as latest. Great, here I am with little water around me, yet can say I am in a flooded region courtesy news channels.

There is also a question mark on some of the news being classified as news. Is somebody getting out of a reality TV serial show a news for a reputed national news channel? Further, is it worth around 15 minutes of air time? If yes, is it worth making a Headline? And one more question. Why are comedians like Raju Shrivastava on news channels? Is it supposed to be funny!!

Morning shows showing astrologers talking crap about how the day is gonna be for you, lucky number for the day, which color to wear etc. Come on! This is news channel, not some entertainment channel. Instead in the morning, summing up previous day’s news would make so much sense.

Sometimes, one news takes over the entire episode. I understand some issues are very vital and should be addressed in detail, given more TV time. But in the process, don’t kill the other smaller news. They may not be that big or sensational, but they deserve to be told.

Throughout this post, I might sound like a person who does not believe in being with the times. Consider me stubborn for not accepting the change as positive. For not considering the fact that ‘Masala’ makes an interesting viewing and that news should be more than just plain news, it should be about views to present a bigger picture. Don’t care what people say, they are just my personal opinion. Doesn’t BBC news feel in being with the times? Why haven’t they changed their style over the time? It is because that is what they call it ‘news’, and it’s BBC news not views.

Rarity

2008-11-21T11:33:00.001+05:30

Recently India won the test series with the Aussies. The whole cricket world got crazy over it. The Celebrations would have never been of the same scale had there been England or West-Indies in place of Aussies. Victory was more special because it’s not every time that you see a team like Australia losing convincingly.

Rarity certainly gives value to things in many cases. Diamonds are precious because they are rare. Not that they are not beautiful, but I think if Gold was rarer than Diamonds, it would have been more precious. I am sure many would agree.

If you are a football fan, especially Premier League follower, you may be surprised how in the League cup or FA cup, second or third division teams upset bigger teams like Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Utd. It’s because smaller teams seldom get a chance to play against these big teams and when they get it, they consider it as chance of a lifetime and give in all they have for the cause of winning. Coz for them it’s a rare event.

In Europe, if your train is 20-30 minutes late, you get refreshment coupons at the rail counter on showing ticket & if it gets further late you get large amount of the ticket money back as compensation. In India, trains are supposed to be late and the compensation thing is such a joke. In Europe, it’s possible coz trains getting late is a rare event so compensating in 1 out of 5000 times is no big a deal.

Why do people pay so much for designer wear when bulk factory outlets provide good clothes with reduced prices. They want their dress to be unique and uncommon.

Everyone of us has a part of them which is unique, which distinguishes us from the crowd. Instead of leading a common life like hundreds of faces in the crowd, we got to find that talent which is in us. Very unique, very different, this will lead us to not being mediocre. I hope to find it someday and hope the reader finds it too.

My belief

2008-11-14T11:57:00.001+05:30

I believe.......

I believe that every defeat makes you more hungrier for success
I believe that people are like crayons it's not the color they are.Its the pictures they make.
I believe in 'Change for the better'
I believe in love. It is however, not a fairy tale or ever perfect...and will not always have a happy ending, TRUE love between two people meant to find each other does exist
I believe in myself......for all the dreams i have made for.
I believe in luck, how else would you explain success of people whom you dont like.
I believe in learning something new each and every day of our lives
I believe that best friends are best friends because no matter how long it's been since you've talked to them,when you see them again,you can start right where you left off.
I believe in keeping all promises I make.
I believe that rainy days are entirely necessary and not simply to provide water
I believe in God, for getting me through the difficult times
I believe in selflessly helping people, someday i might be at the recieving end too
I believe most of the poems are boring and dull, but the ones that are good really make an impact
I believe sometimes Silence is Golden
I believe best things in life come cheap, if not free
I believe in simpilicty of life
I believe the next person who will read this will add an comment
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows.

and finally the R Kelly song lyrics.........

I believe I can fly

I believe I can touch the sky

Dream Destinations

2008-11-11T10:43:00.001+05:30

This is the thing i enjoy the most. Travelling the world around and seeing lovely places. I used to make a list of places which I would never like to miss out on in a lifetime. A lot of this has been modified over time as some alternatives on list were visited. These are the seven things that are on top of the list currently. They may not be Seven Wonders of the World, but certainly great places.

1. Watching Midnight sun at Helsinki…..
This is on the top of the list for a while. It would feel incredible to see the sun right up in the sky and watch the clock say it’s 12 at night. Plus they say European summers are great. And then watch the sunset at 1 in the night. Seems crazy while just thinking. Actually may sound so cool.

2. Great beaches is South-Africa.
Cape town, Durban or be it any other, they are the coolest beaches in the world. Just want to be there to watch the beautifully blue coast, and the water sport that come with it. My friends argue that Mauritius is on top of the beaches list, but since I’ve visited it, it doesn’t figure here. And surely Goa doesn’t even come close.

3. Disneyland California
This is one of the big dreams. Watching your childhood cartoon characters coming alive is so great. The Mickey mouse, Donald duck, Alladin, Pinnochio,Dalmatians and so on.One way that it is different than other amusement parks such as Essel World, Ocean Park(Hongkong), Lotte-World(Seoul) is that it has a theme. And it also showcases a parade of all Disney characters at the end of the day.

4. Niagara falls
It may not be the highest or biggest waterfall in the world, but is one of the most beautiful waterfalls on earth. Canada on one side and America on the other. What a splendid way to separate two countries!! The view at night is even more fantastic as artificial light falls on the waterfall according to themes. A hotel with a waterfall view for the night will cost a fortune but is certainly worth it.

5. Super-star Virgo
Or for that matter any three of Singapore Star-Cruises will do. What a way to take stress off for 3 days. I’ve never been in any boat for longer that 5 hrs(dat was kerela backwaters..) but this surely is fun. With friends it would be even better. After seeing Titanic for so many times, cant resist without going on a Star Cruise.

6. Sand-dune surfing near Dubai
This is again one of the things seen on discovery channel that seemed irresistible. Previously Ice-skating used to be here on this list, but after Leh and Switzerland, enough of ice, sand surfing is better. Some of my friends going on trip this year might do it in Rajasthan though. Bit jealous about it.

7. Watching Fifa World cup final newhere.
The best is for the last. This is infact a resolution made by some of us friends in school that we’ll watch the football world cup final, or atleast semifinal in 2018 wherever it is in the world and no matter who is playing and how much it costs.

Has concept of enjoyment changed

2008-10-25T00:31:00.001+05:30

College submissions were finally over. They were not quite worse this time around. But still, after submission everyone wants a break. Actually we just keep finding reasons for breaks in some or the other way.

I wished that this break would be fun. But let’s see what happened. Many people were tired and were leaving for their homes. The ones who weren’t tired were suggesting playing CS or Warcraft in comps lab. Or some expensive movie in Fame. Or some overpriced Pizzeria. Some other crap restaurants too.

I began to wonder, has definition for enjoyment changed for all, but not me. I mean I like to eat in good restaurants, watch good movies. I believe in being with the times. But here’s what enjoyment means to me.

1. Cycling to the beach to see the sun rise
2. Playing outdoor sport like cricket or football
3. Eating lunch at a friend’s place
4. Roaming around good places in the city with friends, chatting along.
5. Having a chat with close friends and sharing life stories
6. Stop in a crowded bazaar and observe things around you
7. Go for a small trek, if not possible a small walk atleast.
8. Having tea at a small stall with toast and khari
9. Eating bhel at night at some quiet beach and just listen to the sea waves( preferably with your gf/bf if you happen to have any. else close friends)
10. A phone conversation with a friend whom you have not met for long
11. Watch a live drama at a drama theatre. Where as opposed to movies, actors have to perform to their best everytime. Not just for one shoot.
12. Riding bike with friends
13. Having a cold coffee or Ice-cream to end up a day.

Sometimes in life we move so fast that we fail to stop, watch the world around us, learn how things work for people, and to enjoy the moment. It’s not just earning big and being at expensive places. The best things in life come cheap. Many people might not agree, but it’s just a personal opinion. Your choice may differ.

To sum this up, once I said to my grandfather that “change is a very essential part in life”. I liked what he replied back “Agreed. Change should be there, but for the better”. What a nice thought.

I owe a lot to you…..

2008-10-13T21:39:00.001+05:30

This analysis has been going in mind for quite a long time, but today got the time to write it down. An analysis of what we give to the world versus what we get.

What the world has given me?

Frankly speaking, this list is vast beyond imagination. If we just take a look at daily life, we can count so many examples. This pc that I am using comes with a chip that contains a million little transistors on a square inch size chip. So many people have worked to make it possible. Understanding working of single transistor amplifier as been a big deal for me, so the amount of effort somebody has done to build the thing that I am working on seems tremendous.
The cellphone which I use, which transports voice and data, even when you are moving in a 100 kmph train. People who build network towers for this to be possible. The clothes that I wear. The farmer who cultivates vegetables for me. My mom who cooks food for me. The numerous eateries I have been to.

The building that I live in, so many have worked to build it. The little hands that made firecrackers so that you and me could enjoy them during festival time. Recently we went to the railway control room. It was incredible. We can travel safely on trains because these people are working for us day and night. The public transport that we use, has a system. All working for us.
The movies that we see, so many people have worked behind the scenes to entertain us. The good music that we listen is an outcome of effort of so many great musicians. The dramas and plays we see, people working so hard to deliver it to us.

The software that I used, some freak individuals have had sleepless night to develop them. The games that I play. The great institute that I go to study. The number of people teaching me in life.The list goes on. So much can be written here.
Let me see the other part.

What I have given to the world?

You may say most of the above things were services, and we pay for them. So we should not consider them as people who work for us. But my point is let us keep money point only as a thing for exchange which you get by the services you provide.

So back to the point. What have I given the world? Until now nothing. Maybe after some years, I’ll be a coder somewhere developing some software in an air-conditioned cabin at 18 degree centigrade. Helping my company. Or at the most an communication engineer who works for some mobile firm building communication circuits again benefiting a small amount of people.

The conclusion is that lot many people are working for me than I can ever in my life work for. This world gives you a lot more than you can ever pay back.This analysis has left me doing some thinking. When so much is offered to you by the people around you, its your duty to do something good for them too. So I have thought of the following things

1. Never complain that you have busy scheduling, difficult deadlines, strenuous targets to meet. No matter how hard you work, there’s someone working harder than you.
2. Help those children who have no-one to look after, who don’t get proper food, sufficient education and other basic amenities. Help people in the old age homes who have no one to care for them.
3. Not consider any job as small or big, coz every task is equally important. Be it that of a sweeper or software techie.
4. Help people wherever it is possible in whatever small way you can. Try to bring a smile on their face. Listen to their problems. People want someone who they can share sorrow with.
5. Make small compromises on personal gain so that it proves beneficiary to a lot more number of people.

Lectures

2008-09-26T23:59:00.001+05:30

We always talk about lectures being boring, monotonous and dull. But we could always find alternative ways so that our life becomes less miserable bearing with those. Here are some things that people do during lectures……….

Listening to MP3,Ipod, FM Radio—
To avoid RK’s high frequency noise, It’s always better to listen to some soothing music. Maybe a slow Brian Adams song will do or john Meyer if you want more slower and more peaceful songs. Warning: Listen to Ankit Shah’s soundtrack at your own risk.
Mobile Games
The snake game has been such a popular thing, played almost everywhere. Then why not lectures? Hard core gamers may also play Multiplayer games such as Fifa via Bluetooth
Sleeping/Relaxing/taking rest
In your tiring schedule you need some time to take rest. Why not sit a lecture and just relax then. Or have a quick nap on the last bench. And you also get attendance as a bonus in this case.
Bluetooth Song Transfer
You must keep up with the latest soundtracks. Listen to good music all the time. So find a mate and just start exchanging the good songs.
Drawing/ Sketching
This one is for the creative ones(read Patro, Dobby, Vivek etc.) to express themselves and to entertain people around them. Others can take lessens from them and start developing their creative side.
Reading Novels
So far Dobhal and Taha have been caught in this act but it still is a safe thing to do. Again if you really can concentrate when so much disturbance of prof is there around you is another issue against it.
Singing Songs
You may think of yourself as the best bathroom singer. But you need to prove it to the backbenchers forum. Clear your throat and just showcase your talent.
Eating Tiffin
According to a recent survey 20% of the tiffins are consumed in the lectures itself and the figure is continuously on a rise. Above line indicates nothing but the fact that I have been working something with surveys in PCT projects and linked it here
Playing Cards
Chandan has been involved in this for so many lectures and never been caught. So very much a safe thing to do.
Chalk Fights
This is the greatest Intra class sport ever.A game with so much fun almost enjoyed by everybody.
Watching out of the Window
One of my earlier blog illustrates this idea better.
GRE flashcards, Gate questions, MBA questions
Better think about future education plans coz Engg is gonna take us nowhere. So utilize the lecture so you may hear some interesting lectures two years later in US. LOL.
Completing Assignments/journals
Why waste time at home writing crap. Utilize lecture time instead.
Clicking funny Photos
The 3 megapixel cam in your cam is not just a showpiece. It can be put to good use.
Games
Games such as X and Zero, bollywood-hollywood, Bingo, cows and bulls, dot-dot can be played.
Football/Cricket talk
Discussing teams/clubs, their strategies, fixtures. Possible outcomes, predictions, expert views, analysis. Fight over clubs, rivalry and much more. Welcome to sports chat.
Discussion
Discussion about any topic, like of a debate. Talking about latest happenings, gossips, rumors etc.
Pretending to pay attention
This exercise might work in your favour possibly at the end of the term when the prof will begin to think you are sincere and may give good termwork. This idea never worked with me though.
Fighting for the attendance
The sole purpose or Raisson d’ Etre of attending lectures is attendance sheet. Fight to sign it and keep the sheet with yourself. So that by approximation techniques, you can estimate the chance of proxy being checked and then decide whether to sign dummies or not.

Thank You

2008-09-26T00:18:00.001+05:30

I wanna Thank you ……….

For sharing every little joy and sorrow
For being through during every High and Low
For listening to all that I wished to say
For telling me all you had to say….

Coz of you I saw a different world
Or shall I say saw the world differently.
Giving me hope when there was none
Showed me the way where everything seemed blunt.

Everyone’s there to share the Winning moments
But you were the one who cared when I had lost.
You gave me confidence when I needed it the most
The willpower and Strength to come back strong.

For answering my problems in the middle of the night
For calling up with no reason but to say ‘hi’.
For the sweet tune of Flute you played for me
For watching football matches together just for me.

For traveling with me far off places
Coming for movies and coffee shops
I cherish all the pranks you played
Thank you for the Moments we shared.

Thank you, Thanks again….…for being my best friend

Taking Risks

2008-09-24T02:27:00.001+05:30

We almost always tend to play safe and avoid taking risks in many situations. Thinking about what might happen if it doesn’t work out,if it fails. “Fear of failure” hampers you from performing certain tasks. This fear used to affect me a lot. I would be afraid even before making a speech before 10 people.

But I guess things have changed. At this point I have realized that fear and success are very much part of life. Accept them as they come, and try to learn from it.

In the first year, I tried my hand at robotics. Me, Badri and Anand made a wired bot car. Worked on similar lines with other friends and made one more bot somewhat similar. While competing for college festivals, realized that our’s wasn’t the fastest one and we dint have enough knowledge of that field. The aerodynamics, mechanical aspects, torque and all. Figured out that I had just failed. But doesn’t matter, atleast I tried. I had figured out what I am not good at.

Working for web-building was again just a chance. A risk if it had failed, but fortunately succeded there. Many people just don’t convey their feelings for a boy or a gal, just because they feel that friendship will be broken if he/she says no. But I believe that it’s worth taking a risk. What’s the point in not admitting the truth. Why not to portray ourself as someone who we really are. Who knows this risk might change your life.

Winning isn’t everything. It’s about giving your best. It’s about pushing your limits, meeting your targets, achieving your goals. In a cricket match when you are chasing a very high score, you have to take the risk and go for the big shots. Well we may argue that you may get out taking such risks and fail; but realize that it’s the only way you can succeed.

I heard of an Event called Google Whacking while at IIT techfest in FE. I thought whacking had something to do with Hacking and told myself, it’s not my cuppa tea. I would just be a laughstock FE who knows nothing alongwith BE’s geared up with stuff. But my friend insisted on us going. The event wasn’t at all about hacking. It was a simple events of playing with words and Google and we actually went through to the next round also. We had fun. And from then on, we have Google Whacking every semester in cllg. Had I not taken the risk, I would have missed out on the fun.

I liked this song words from westlife song ‘Flying without Wings’

You Gotto fight for every dream
‘Coz you never know
Which one you let go
Would have made you complete.