Insanity restored

Move over, elevator speech!

2011-06-01T23:27:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt a strong spiritual connection with someone - especially when your peeing cycles are synced to the T? I did. And it is one of the weirdest things one can encounter in an office atmosphere - especially if you're stuck with the same guy for the entire day. It's almost freaky when it happens five times a day!

Urinals are a place to catch up with acquaintances; a break from routine. And this is one of the instances when your company is decided on a random basis - as if God just threw a seven and put you on the urinal next to the CEO! You'd especially be unlucky if the activity has been pending for hours and you cant just run away without completely relieving yourself for two whole minutes. As if this were not enough, you'd be pestered by this awkward urge to keep your superiors entertained with small talk. "Hi John! Doing good?" *stares on the other side to avoid the Peeping Tom perception* Very awkward.

This is where the most uncanny of the resemblances kicks in - the resemblance with the concept of elevator speech. Who knows - this could very well be the next big management concept that takes the world by storm. I can practically envision workshops being conducted to practice and hone your urinal speeches!

Tips for the perfect urinal speech - needs to be less serious, more entertaining and hand gestures will definitely not go down well. And I mean it, literally!
NOTE: To the best of my knowledge, the concepts discussed in this post are applicable to only guys. Need the opinions of a subject matter expert to validate the same for the ladies

It's one of those days..

2011-01-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

It's one of those days when you stumble upon a long lost folder of beautiful music..
It's one of those days when you feel like catching up with all your old friends and take that walk down the cherished, memory lane..
It's one of those days when you dream of being a best-selling author, a musician, a chef, a commentator, a journalist and what not!
It's one of those days when you tell yourself that there's so much more to life than .. you-know-what!!
It's one of those days when you want to move your behind and publish that long awaited blog post!
Happy New Year, folks!
PS: BTW, the folder I discovered was the Kill Bill - Vol 1 OST

I hate Luv Storys - review

2010-07-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

Watched I hate luv storys over the weekend. It is the same old concoction of guy and girl hate each other at first and then feelings develop on either sides alternatively until the climax where they discover that its finally mutual! Yeah.. and since its from the Yash Raj stable, there's no lack of grandeur. And the backdrop took me back to my Lighthouse days when I had to work at properties sourcing with Art directors while poke fun at them behind their backs with their assistants. I seem to digress. The music might not be novel but is nonetheless, nice and hummable. The editing and flow of screenplay seemed rather rough in a few places.

It's definitely watchable. Sonam Kapoor looks cute enough and as for Imran Khan, one can see shades of Aamir in several frames. I wonder if he does it consciously. Its also refreshing to see the movie poking fun at some of the Yash Raj flicks despite being one of them. As always, there are loads of cliche's but the good part is the movie is unapologetic about them. Again refreshing. But what set me off was the blatant rip-off of Barney Stinsen's theory of the Vickie Mendoza diagonal. Yes, the "Hot-Batameez" graph is actually been done before by the legen-wait-for-it-dary Barney in "How I met your mother". And the character of the director is also loosely based on Dr.Cox from Scrubs. However, he barely manages to deliver. Of course, it is a known fact that no-hohoho-hobody can come close to Dr.Cox.

So if you're fine with watching romantic comedies, then you'd definitely like this movie. But I'd glady take a match like Ghana vs. Uruguay anyday over the movie. What drama.. what intensity! What a match!! :D Its at times like this that I wish I had been a sportsperson. Now how awesome would that be, eh? :D

About being random and crazy

2009-12-16T06:05:00.000-08:00

When was the last time you struck a deal with God? Or may be a challenge? If Tendulkar hits a six of the next ball, then India will definitely lose this match. (Of course whenever the bet was on, Tendulkar always managed to either tap it to the on-side for a harmless single or just miss the line, play all over the ball and get bowled) Which is why today I was on the doorstep of atheism when Sri Lanka almost snatched a victory contrary to the divine judgement. But thankfully, the Lankans choked, no further records were created (Highest chase, highest chase against India, highest chase in India, highest chase in India against India and all the other permutations and combinations!) and I continue to roam the "no man's land" separating the agnostics from the true believers

Which got me thinking - when I speak to God, I do the voiceover for God as well (Hangover of the advertising industry) For example:
ME: Oh Lord Tirupathi Balaji, will I be a successful writer?
GOD: Oh yes, you will be. But I cannot say whether it will happen during your lifetime or posthumously.
ME: Ah.. come on!!
GOD: You should have framed your question better. After all, you're an IIM grad. Gotcha! :D

Yes, my conversations with God can be really weird. The conditions and constraints that exist during my conversations with God are as follows:
1. We decide on the number of questions that can be asked. Yes, there is negotiation involved.
2. Each one of us needs to be very careful while laying the condition on which the bet would revolve. Because loopholes, however silly, can be used to advantage.
3. Neither of the voices are squeaky, shrill or high-pitched (All these conversations are held in a virtual, concealed environment called the human mind)
4. If both sides find out loopholes in each other's arguments, then the bets are off.
Yes, I'm a lot like JD from Scrubs. I live in a world of my own.

Anyhoo, this brings me to a more important question - is this condition something common? Do any of you guys suffer from this or is it something like Progenia (one in a zillion kids!) The stupid thing is - I know that it is me who is pretending to be the voice of God (Yes, I know oo stupid conscience of mine! You're a wolf in a sheep's clothing!) And still, I choose to argue with it as if it were really pertinent. There is a difference between wrestling with your conscience and deifying it while challenging and placing counter arguments.

I guess I am just another nutcase with nothing better to do.

The Littler Master

2009-11-30T23:59:00.000-08:00

If there is one thing that can help me write tons of posts, that would be my ability to feel nostalgic at the drop of a hat. That, combined with my natural talent to suck at cricket, would form the crux of this post.

Nostalgia is one emotion that has helped me maintain my sanity and optimism. As for my cricketing abilities, I was not always a loser. There was a time when I was quite gifted (primarily due to my fertile imagination) When I was five, I realized that I could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by scoring 21 runs from 3 deliveries thus winning the man of the match and helping India reach the finals of the World Cup. Later that week, I discovered much to my amazement that I had just taken seven wickets in an over against Pakistan in the World Cup Finals when they were coasting along with a required run rate of 3 per over. No, I did not bowl a no-ball. I completed a caught & bowled dismissal while simultaneously running the non-striker out. Thus did I achieve the first twin dismissal in the history of cricket. Thus did India win the '92 World Cup and I, the man of the series.

However, with time, I lost my innocence as I learnt the rules of the game - the stringent rules which shackled my imagination from pulling off some incredible victories. Thus ended the first golden era in my cricketing career. Though it was short-lived, I had made a name for myself as the genius all-rounder from the streets of Dombivali who could make Imran Khan shit in his pants. My focus also gradually shifted from becoming the next Kapil Dev to the next Sachin Tendulkar. After every Indian victory, I'd ask my mother if it would be alright for me to become a cricketer. She'd smile back and ask me to finish my homework first. This is where part-I concludes. Find below the career statistics of this boy wonder unearthed from old issues of Wisden and the by-now-erased files of cricinfo.com.

Full Name: Srinivasan Sampathkumar
Born: July 13th, 1986
Current Age: 23 years 141 days
Major Teams: India, West Zone, Mumbai, Dombivali (W)
Batting Style: Right-hand bat
Bowling Style: Right-arm fast, Right-arm medium, Right-arm off-break, Right-arm leg break

Batting and fielding averages (1992-94)
(Read as Matches, Innings, Not Outs, Runs scored, Highest Score, Average, Balls Faced, Strike Rate, Number of 100s and 50s)
Tests 13 17 5 2143 247 178.6 1644 130.35 8 1
ODIs 27 27 9 1721 146* 95.61 923 186.46 9 5
First-class 2 2 2 346 257* -- 149 232.22 2 0

Bowling averages (1992-94)
(Read as Matches, Innings, Balls Bowled, Runs Conceded, Wickets, Best figures - innings, Best figures - match, Average, Economy, Strike Rate)
Tests 13 21 1075 394 99 8/4 16/29 3.98 2.2 10.85
ODIs 27 12 372 92 89 6/1 6/1 1.03 1.48 4.18
First-class 2 - - - - - - - - -

Time for a change...

2009-11-28T04:12:00.000-08:00

This past one month has been a slow process of recuperation. And I think it is time that I got back to my old ways - times when I'd blog to express my creativity (or the lack of it) instead of blogging to vent out my frustration. Words desert me at this timely hour but I guess I will publish this post no matter what. I think that is what I need to do - take a decision and stick by it, no matter what. And with time, things (and words) shall fall in place. Time - we seem to have enough of it and yet find it slipping through our fingers without a trace. You shall be seeing a lot more of such random statements in the coming posts. Yes, I'd like to post more often. I need to chronicle my past few months in Mumbai. They were memorable - at least some of them were. Hopefully, by then, I can lose my Midas touch of mediocrity.

So I've decide to reinvent myself yet again (Yeah, that's the term used if we're not happy with who/what we are or have become) Actually I am exaggerating. I have not hired a swanky interior designer to redecorate the living room of my life. No no no no.. To put it simply, I am looking at improving a little bit - above the just noticeable difference (I think that was put way too simply!)

On a more serious note, I'd also like to thank most of my friends who were really supportive during this period. Some were concerned and tried to stay in touch while there were others who, understanding my Cancerian traits, left me alone. And I am not talking about those who were too busy to disturb me - that doesn't count as leaving me alone!
Anyway, thank you for all the support. Really appreciate it.

2009-11-07T03:22:00.000-08:00

A batch-mate of mine committed suicide yesterday evening.

When I first heard the news, it felt like being stabbed with a small knife – the wound is not deep and yet it hurts. It hurts enough for you to yell. And with time, as the details are revealed and the news begins to sink in, it feels as if the knife just turned into a sword as it grows deeper and deeper into your wound making your flesh burn. And mind you, it’s not a gradual process. No no no.. It’s just a sudden jerk of motion and you twitch in agony. You twitch because it hurts you. You twitch because it brings back old memories. But most importantly, you twitch because if fate had been unkind, you very well know that the person in question could have been anyone – even you.

Rest in peace, Ghanghor.

Confession

2009-10-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

Hello folks,

My name is ***** and I am 6'2" tall. I weigh an unhealthy 58 kilos and am pale in complexion. I think we'll skip the rest of the intro and get straight to the point. In fact, I think we'll take a small detour to grab a pinch of salt before we begin. Yeah, you can take some cinnamon and pepper as well! Now.. to the point.

I think it all started after I completed my first year of engineering. Yeah.. I think that would be it. I had come home for a vacation. And that was the first time I had heard it. Of course, it was a passing mention and I did not pay much heed to it. But since then I've heard it a million times. And frankly, I was getting tired of it. Of what, you may ask. Of comments on my height! Ah.. he has grown really tall.. has he grown taller since the last time I saw him? You saw me yesterday, Aunt Rachel! (Of course the name has been changed!) My neck hurts looking at him. And the worst one - oh gosh! he gives me a complex! Never ever stand next to me, you hear that? followed by a hysterical hyena laugh. (Hyena laugh, in this context, is the laughing equivalent to crocodile tears) Yeah.. so I guess you got the point. I was getting tired of all these comments. Until recently, that is.

Yes, it happened. I looked over my shoulder and found someone taller than me. Its not like I've never seen people taller than me. But this one was particularly tall and he came and stood next to me. I dont know what happened but I was overcome by this enormous feeling to kick this guy in his gut. He was really imposing and intimidating! I was like, Seriously! Is it even legal to be so tall?! And that was when I realised how you all might have felt when you cracked all those comments about my height. I apologise for not having respected your feelings (and your height.)
I also thank you for not kicking me in the gut.

Yours sincerely,
*****

PS: Yes, a very lame attempt at getting back to blogging but an attempt nevertheless!
PS1: If you've made it this far, drop a comment. I'm sure you'll have something to say about the prevailing Maoist situation in the country.
PS2: I've seen traffic being diverted from Halley's blog to mine in the past. It must be the communists! :P

The box of assorted chocolates

2009-06-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

This post will be like one of those boxes of assorted chocolates – there’s something there for everyone! (unless you hate chocolates or you’re diabetic) Let me start with something for my number crunching friends.

As has been the custom for the past few posts, I shall begin with local trains. I remember reading this report on a newspaper that the average number of travelers at any given time on a Mumbai local train has fallen this year from 4800 to less than 4100. Whoopie!!? Just to put things into perspective, there are usually 9 or 12 bogeys and each bogey can seat up to 50 passengers.

(Note: If you’re not into number crunching, I request you to skip to the next section)

So we have a maximum of 600 passengers out of 4100 who are seated (comfortably?) Assuming that the two compartments, purely dedicated for the women folk, are half as crowded as men’s, this would leave us with a little less than 3200 men in 10 small, cramped compartments who do not have a place to sit.

Now if you’ve ever seen a Mumbai local train, you’d understand the scale and magnitude of this conclusion that we’ve arrived upon after this huge (??) number crunching exercise. Imagine three hundred men shoved into a compartment, drenched in sweat getting all aggressive and restless – not really a pretty sight unless you’re gay.

Speaking of gay men, I’ve developed a lot of respect for them over the past two months. Having interacted with a couple of gay designers on the sets of shoots, I must say that they just keep out of harm’s way and are not even half as fussy as the models. They are quite normal (if you choose to overlook their body language, their well shaved legs and the pleasant smell of lavender.) In fact, I must add that they can be pretty darn sarcastic if they want to be!

On the other hand, Mumbaikars have a different sense of humor. And if there is one thing that is not exactly welcome in Mumbai, it’s sarcasm. I’ve been greeted with cold stares when I pass a sarcastic (yet friendly, if I might add!) comment in the local trains. I’m not sure if they don’t get it or they’re not in a mood for sarcasm. Anyhoo, not being sarcastic is killing me from the inside!! I feel like a fish out of water; like a tree without leaves; like Rakhi Sawant deprived of cheap publicity!! But I’ve managed to live on – sigh!

Yes, I’ve become more filmy and melodramatic – blame it on Bollywood.

PS0: This post was written in record time
PS1: Congrats Sam for delivering a baby boy
PS2: Why are forwards being spammed on PGP11 list? I mean, seriously, are you guys so jobless?!
PS3: Yet to recover from the shock exit from T20 World Cup. Yeh Cup kahin nahi jaayega my ass!
PS4: Work is still hectic :(

On Creativity

2009-05-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

Looking back, I think my placements season at IIMK was one of the most depressing periods of my life. Being a fresher, I'd be shortlisted for almost every process only to be eliminated in the GD round. You see, I was never the one to share opinions forcibly. Also, a very dear friend of mine once remarked that the aim of a placement process should be to act as a lubricant between the companies and the students so as to ease the interaction between the two parties. And I've always been of the opinion that GD is not the best way of doing the same. I digress.

So as I was telling, I'd usually be eliminated in the GD round. But there were times when I was lucky enough to make it to the interview round. And it was during one of those interviews that we had an interesting conversation on creativity - the interviewer and I. The company in question had come to recruit for a marketing role. And I was one of the first few to be called in. My interview was going fine. I had written a paper on the "Effectiveness of use of sexuality in advertisements" and we were discussing the same. We spoke about Indian brands which have used varying shades of sexuality in their campaigns.

Suddenly, out of the blue, the interviewer asks me, "You claim that you're creative. Why dont you tell me how you'd use sexuality in promoting our products?" And that was that. I spaced out. I could not come up with anything. You see, I've always thought of creativity as one of my forte and here, sitting right across me, was a gentleman who was asking me to prove it. I just could not come up with anything!

Which is when I gathered my guts and spoke, "Sir, there are two types of creative people that I know of - the naturally gifted ones and otherwise. The naturally gifted ones are like the instant, maggi-noodles type who can give you a bucketload of ideas in two minutes. Unfortunately, I belong to the other category. Hence I will need some prodding in the right direction before I can actually come up with something." (I took 30 seconds to think of these lines before I started delivering them)

Frankly, I expected him to be happy that I was not one of those stereotypical, IIM egomaniacs. Unfortunately, I could not read much into his poker-faced expression. However, he offered some pointers on how we could go about integrating sexuality in the products without actually offending our target audience. And I took the cues rather gladly thus making it more of a discussion than an interview as we exchanged the pros and cons.

The interview finished on a rather smooth note. I shall not tell if I made it through or not but it did make me introspect on how creative I actually am. For a day.

PS: A totally random post. Blame I.V!

The comeback a la Ajith Agarkar's!

2009-04-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

And I have returned to the city of dreams - Mumbai. For the uninformed, I have joined an ad-production company Lighthouse Productions. The package is pretty decent but the work - gosh! Its quite hectic but very exciting and interesting. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined of working for such an organization after graduating from an IIM! I'd always wanted to do something different and recession offered me the perfect excuse to try something like this..

But the best part about this job is there is no monotony. Zilch! One day you're scouting for locations for a fashion magazine shoot with Arjun Rampal whereas the next day, you're working on the execution of an ad campaign for an international brand apparel (its all hush-hush here.. no names) Of course there is that occasional trip to the police station to settle a
difference of opinion :P Yes, we were taken to a police station in a police jeep! Gave me an adrenaline rush! :D And I must say that these police jeeps are spacious and very airy.

Now that I've explained my absence from blogosphere (in very vague terms) lets move on. To the city of dreams - Mumbai. Mumbai is a completely different experience. The city is cramped for space. Be it buses, trains, footpaths or the lanes - you'd feel suffocated because there are people everywhere! (quite contrary to Calicut) And it's not exactly a good thing for someone with big feet. The city looks like Santa Claus's toy factory just before Christmas.

In spite of all this, you cant help falling in love with the city. Most of the people here are friendly.. of course there is that rare bus conductor who scowls at the odd non-marathi passenger or the ghutka chewing bhaiyya who insists on spitting when he is in the vicinity of humans. But again those are just exceptions. People usually are very helpful though they might not exactly sound polite.

As far as the local trains are concerned, they continue to fascinate me. There is the young college going chap with a spiky hairdo who assumes he is the RJ of the compartment. Then there is the guy from South in his early thirties who is yelling at his sub-ordinates in marathi for not reaching the office on time. And one can hardly forget the bunch of Gujarathi middle-aged men who love talking about everything - from the fake ipl blogger and the slumdog fiasco to the latest voteout in Roadies and the rising stock market.

It is difficult to miss the diversity that the city offers. The roads leading to the Dadar station are decorated with posters of movies like Jaani, Daata and Dashavatar - all dubbed-into-Hindi movies starring Mahesh Babu, NTR Jr. and Kamal Haasan respectively. Then of course there is the irony - a sly paan shop located right next to a Globus mall; an executive and a dabbawallah waiting for the same 10:19 ki tez local.

As I said earlier, one cant help falling in love with this city.

The year that was - 2008

2009-01-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

Before I begin, I wish you all a very happy new year. Hope this year brings out the worst in you! Yes, I am not in a good mood - bad time to be blogging, eh? This post will be answering the FAQs that have been put to me.

Song currently listening to: Bohemian Rhapsody

So what have you been doing lately?
Apart from worrying about the recession, quite a lot. I hit a creative purple patch a couple of weeks back and since then, have written some interesting stuff. I must say that I have grown to like what I wrote - grown is the word to be emphasized here. And fortunately (or otherwise) I have decided not to put it up on the public domain. That is primarily because when I blog I want some feedback and no one bothers giving me one. So if you're really jobless, AND have been having a bad day, ping me and I'd gladly send you across something.

Song currently listening to: Radha kaise na jale, Lagaan

How did you celebrate the new year?
Well, thankfully my friends have similar views on new year - its overhyped! However, we had a couple of days off and we decided to go to Ooty. On bikes! So we rode 200 km across the border (TN - Kerala border) and trust me, it was lot of fun! (Too many exclamation marks!!) The roads, the sceneries, the cool fresh air - it was a welcome break from the usual. Ooty was freezing cold though. The place is really beautiful but there were hardly any beautiful tourists (if you know what I mean) All we could bump into, were families with troublesome kids. So much for a vacation!

So as I was telling, the place was frikkin cold. Hence we decided to stay indoors once the clock struck nine. Armed with chips, home-made chocolates and a lot of time to kill, we began playing cards. And it was refreshing to be away from laptops, cell phones and still have fun. At the stroke of midnight, when everyone around the world is usually busy brushing up their arithmetic skills (thanks to the overhyped countdown) we were happily peeking at each others' cards and swearing at the top of our voices. We did realise after fifteen minutes that it was past twelve and wished each other.

Thanks to the trip, I have a copper tan. After all, we did drive for almost 10 hours in the sun! Many have expressed their liking for it (some have feigned - dont you think you can fool me! :P) I, on the other hand, am trying to ignore it. Today morning when I woke up to go brush, I freaked out at what I saw in the mirror. I guess that explains everything. It doesn't? Then you need to infer, my dear friend.

Song currently listening to: Wind of Change, Scorpions

So how was the year 2008?
Year 2008 was a lot like a well made movie - exciting and depressing in parts with a lot of fun and frolic. This year will be remembered as the year when I had to deal with the loss of two people whom I knew. I think this year has been phenomenal because I've got to know myself better. This shall also be the year when the Aussies got their asses whooped! woo hoo! On the personal front, I was involved in some exciting stuff. Hopefully things will just get bigger and better.

Any new year resolutions?
hmm.. I need to accomplish something to satisfy my ego. Yes, I do have a hugely neglected egoist curled up in some deep corner of my heart. And no, its not a 20 lpa job that I am looking for. I want something which will go down as a milestone in my life. Something which I can look back and reminisce fondly.

Song currently listening to: Careless Whisper

And the most frequently asked question is *drumrolls*

When are your placements starting?
I've got some people asking me this question once every fortnight. And I have, kindly, told them repeatedly that it begins in March. Even my folks dont hound me like this! Next time I hear the question from any of you, I will have a simple two word answer - Fuck you. Of course, I'd tell it politely :) And stop linking it with recession. Its tiresome to answer it again and again. If you want a weekly update, use google!

Some of the questions mentioned above are the ones which I ask myself frequently. So technically, they still are FAQs! ;)

Have a great year. Peace out.

Do you believe in ghosts?

2008-12-10T23:55:00.000-08:00

It was one of those phases of my life when I turned into an atheist. I think everyone goes through this phase when you stop believing in God. Or may be, believing in God is a phase. Either ways, the concept of God is a very interesting one. It is completely irrational to some and yet comforting to others. I think God was invented to maintain law and order in the society, to instill fear (and not hope as many would like to believe) in people's minds and hearts. But with time, things have changed. Fear turned into faith, and now into superstition. Today, people are self-proclaimed atheists. And they're proud of it. They think being an atheist is cool. You cannot completely disagree with them now, can you?

Entering adolescence, my faith in God began to fizzle away. But when it came to ghosts, I must confess, I never not believed in ghosts. When I was six, I listened to my first ever ghost story. The bravest kid in our building, who strangely seemed to have such stories in abundance, narrated the chilling story. It was about the lady who was burnt to death with her family. It was rumoured that the lady used to go on strolls around our buildings in the middle of the night with her kids. All my friends confessed to having heard sounds of anklets around midnight.

A chill crept down my spine as I climbed the narrow, deserted steps leading to our second floor apartment. I wanted to run, but I managed to keep my composure and walked home safely. I complimented myself on the kind of bravery I exhibited as I repeatedly told myself that ghosts did not exist.

I still remember that night. I had a hard time sleeping. Whenever I closed my eyes, I'd see skulls on dark backgrounds with glowing eyes. It doesnt sound scary but trust me, as a six year old, I found it really scary. That was when I put the habit of sleeping in foetal position.

Anyhoo, the next morning, my mom asked me not to listen to any more ghost stories. For once, I agreed with her. But when you're with your friends, you want to act all brave. And so did I. (And I suspect, so did my friends) We all gathered around him and pestered him to narrate another one of those stories hoping against hope that he'd refuse. But we were all in for a nightmare. In my case, two. (You can read the story that he narrated at the end of the post.)

But with time, we became harder to scare. Slowly but surely, we began hearing more and more such stories. And although I admit to have seen misty images of dead people, (mostly the people I love) I still believe that the entire experience has made me braver. So, when there is a power cut, I can still find my way in the house for a glass of water. I can still wake up in the middle of the night to take a leak. But more importantly, I think it has shaped my abilities to narrate interesting stories and exaggerate them. (Trust me, I was a boring kid)

Off the record, I am a favourite with my younger cousins for my story telling abilities. Reminds me of the brave kid in our building. I guess he was not that brave after all.

Quote of the day:

Of all ghosts, the ghosts of our old loves are the worst.

Arthur Conan Doyle

The story

A bunch of fourth standard students were to go for a picnic. They had all gathered in the school terrace before they were supposed to board the bus to a planetarium. The bus came and all the kids boarded the bus. Except two. When the teachers realised the goof-up, they rushed back to the school only to find the kids lying on the school ground, dead. When the classes commenced, one could still hear sounds of someone playing with skipping rope on the terrace. tak tak tak tak...

Dada - the skipper!

2008-11-11T01:42:00.000-08:00

It was July 13, 2002, Natwest series final - India vs. England. I remember it so vividly not only because India had pulled off one of the most sensational run chases but also because I turned 16 that day. My father, who idolised Sachin's humility, Dravid's discipline and Kumble's gentlemanly conduct despised Ganguly for his unabashed arrogance. Fed on a regular diet of down-to-earth cricketing idols, he could never come to terms with Dada's pride and aggression.

Coming back to the final, India had lost the preceding nine consecutive finals and were well set to lose the tenth one. Nasser Hussain scored a century and pointed to his shirt while gesturing to the press box. My dad spoke about the skipper leading from the front. We had to chase a huge record total of 326. In those days, 326 was almost impossible (Now even Bangladesh can score that) And when we began our run chase, we faltered. When Sachin was cleaned up by Giles and the scorecard read 146/5, my father switched off the television set and began to mourn. (My father and I are hardcore Sachin fans) As for me, it was my birthday and I switched it back on praying for a birthday miracle.

As the chase gathered momentum, dad returned and we both were glued to the TV set until Zaheer and Kaif scampered for the winning runs from the overthrow with an ecstatic Ravi Shastri shouting in the commentary box, "India have created history here." And then they showed Dada. There he was - brash, proud, waving his shirt wildly yelling at the top of his lungs. My lipreading skills told me that I should be looking anywhere but the screen. You see, I did not want my parents to know that I'd learnt new vocabulary. When I turned to my dad, the look on his face said it all. It was a look of joy.. admiration.. pride!

And then it struck me. Of course, he'd never want his son to idolise someone who yells 'fuck' from the Lord's balcony after a victory. But he sure admired him for his aggression and arrogance.. the way he inspired and marshalled his troops.. the way he led from the front.. But he never showed his admiration. Neither did I.

Dada stood for everything which a middle-class Indian would not want to see in his son - he was a rebel who defied every norm. When he was made the skipper, he injected the Indian team with loads of enthusiasm and self-belief. Fearlessness and team effort were the mantras and the media, noticing the changes, coined the term Team India. Team India captured the nation's imagination with our aggressive attitude. Suddenly, cricket was no longer a gentleman's game. May be that is why, although we had some new found admiration for the Prince of Calcutta, our loyalties were unmoved.

That night, after the presentation ceremony, I took a playful jab at my dad, "He's not a bad captain after all." My dad's reply was an expected one, "Well, if he could be less arrogant, he'd go on to become a great captain."

Dad, if he could be less arrogant, he wouldn't be Sourav Chandidas Ganguly. Sensational, dramatic and yes, arrogant. Hats off, Dada!

"I dont know whether one duck made my career more dramatic. It was dramatic in any case."
Sourav Ganguly on what his last Test innings signified

Not even a quantum of solace no spoilers

2008-11-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: This post may contain little description of the movie. Hence, if you've watched the movie, then you can afford to read the rest of the post. However.. and this is a big however, if you've not watched the movie yet, then I'd strongly recommend you to read the rest of the post and then take a wise, life-changing decision of whether you want to watch the movie or not. Amen.

So we decided to go to Crown theatre to watch James Bond's latest flick "Quantum of Solace". For the uninitiated, Crown is the only theater in Calicut to screen the latest English movies. Since we could not get the balcony tickets, we had to settle for the second class tickets. Now for second class tickets, you do not have seat numbers. The seats are allotted on first come first serve basis. So there was a mad rush when the gates were opened and since we are not really big fans of rushing, (unles we have to rush out of classes) we ended up getting front row seats.

Before the movie began, the usual commercials were being aired. But surprise surprise! A Kohinoor condom commercial was aired and the entire crowd sat there in complete silence and attention. I was stunned by the idea of playing a condom commercial in a theatre. Playing the national anthem is perfectly fine with me, but playing a condom ad?? Which genius came up with that idea? But what came as a bigger shock was the crowd which sat there watching and listening to everything. I had not expected such a decent crowd in Crown! If it had been Hyderabad, people would have gone crazy and vocal showing their approval.

After the ad ended, they played the Dostana trailer. AB Jr in shades and Priyanka in a bikini got a few claps but when they showed a bare bodied John, the theatre erupted! There were whistles, howls, shrieks, comments (which thankfully I could not understand) and claps.. only from men! Only men!?! I did not really understand why a Priyanka-in-a-bikini is not a more attractive proposition than a John-in-shorts. Did I say decent crowd? Crowds here are really messed up!

And finally the movie started. And with great regret, I say that the movie failed to provide me with even a quantum of solace. The title track was long and boring. The editing was horrible. I think a monkey decided to chew down half the script and the director decided to shoot the movie anyways. And the English accent at places is completely incomprehensible. I dont really get this - these guys invented the language! How can they speak in such gibberish accent? Somehow the ladies find the accent a real turn on. Strange. Coming back to the movie, the stunts were cool, not too many technical gadgets were used and the lead female was not that great looking. And finally when the movie ended, the crowd was howling - I think they were thankful that the director decided to end the movie halfway. So to all my friends in leading metros, do not waste your 100-150 bucks on this movie. I'd rather sit at home and watch repeat telecast of Sachin-Sourav partnerships on Star Cricket. Sigh.. am all nostalgic now!

Status message of the day:

"The black man is called in to clean up the mess. What's new?"

- An Egyptian blogger on Obama's election

PS: Watch Deshdrohi - from what I saw in the trailers, the male lead has a funny way of mouthing off dialogues :D Dr. Eddie Murphy meets Bhagat Singh.
PS2: Twin setbacks to the Indian cricket team in this series. No Jumbo.. no dada.. Watching cricket will not be the same again :( Lets hope we win the series 2-0! :D Go India go!
PS3: Hope to blog more often.
PS4: That's the 3264th time I've promised myself to blog regularly.

Diwali, crackers and I

2008-10-28T16:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Diwali, my dear readers! I hope you all had a blast. As for me, I love Diwali for all the sweets and presents it brings along. And the home-cooked food is as always finga-lickin good! But I'm afraid the festival has lost its significance for me over the past few years. And that has been mainly because I've stopped bursting crackers. I think I was in 10th when I read something about the child labour situation in Sivakasi. The grim situation portrayed by that article affected me so much that I had to give up on what I had loved the most about Diwali - bursting crackers.

If you're wondering why one would give up something like this after reading an article, let me try explaining it. To me, bursting crackers has become synonymous to eating non-vegetarian food. I dont like eating non veg but I dont mind others eating it. I am not against non-vegetarians just because I am a vegetarian. Similarly, I am not fighting for the cause of child workers in Sivakasi by boycotting crackers. I've just developed some amount of dislike towards bursting crackers. Unfortunately, I've landed in many an awkward moment with my relatives because of a misunderstanding over this reason. Let me illustrate this with an example

Relative: Gokul, why dont you burst a cracker or two?
Me: No uncle. I dont burst crackers. *sheepish smile*
R: Why? Do you think crackers are for kids? Look, even I am bursting crackers. *twirls his cracker in apparent joy*
Me: No uncle. Its ok. Actually I dont like bursting crackers. *still trying to avoid telling the reason*
R: What? You're scared of bursting crackers? haha.. *thinks what a big loser I am* You're a young man now. I will teach you. Dont worry.
Me: No no.. *grr.. let him have it* I used to burst crackers. But I've quit because of the child labour situation in many Sivakasi factories. *puts a worried expression and points to the cover of the cracker on which Sivakasi is written in bold font*
R: *Awkward silence*
Me: *Talk something dammit! I hope you dont think of me as some socially aware citizen*
R: *More awkward silence as he sifts through the heap of crackers*
Me: *Puts on a fake smile and some fake enthusiasm* Let me get a new candle for you uncle.

So there you go. That was the first time I tried to stay away from crackers by stating the reason. However, after enough trial and error experiments, I finally zeroed in on the ideal excuses to give.
1. I have an exam in the next few days, uncle. Dont want to take any risks :D *For the studious image*
2. No mood, uncle. Yawn. *For the spoilt brat image*
3. Been there done that, uncle. Crackers are boring. *For the cool image*

And if these do not work, I avoid the child labour excuse and get straight to lighting a flower pot just for the heck of it. If there is one thing I hate more than bursting crackers, it is being in socially awkward situations with my relatives.

Status Message of the day:

"I was born to a rich faggot, but thanks to me, my son wont be"

-Vimal S Warrier

PS: If you think you or any of your friends have funny status messages in your gtalk / Y! list, then ping me on gtalk. I could use some funny ones for my next post. Just in case, my id is gokul.archer@gmail.com.
PS1: Yes, I intend to blog soon. (Although I am not sure how many read my posts.. hmm...)
PS2: On afterthought, I dont miss bursting crackers. I've grown aloof from the entire process. And before I forget, I wish you all a happy and safe Diwali!
PS3: Feels good to be blogging again. (Although the standards are abysmally low)

2008-10-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

For the past hour I've been trying to clean my room but have been largely unsuccessful at it. With a case presentation and a quiz scheduled for tomorrow, normally I'd have been sound asleep by now. But not today. Today I am going to talk about Balaji, my batchmate at IIMK.

A fun guy with a goatee and a smile, we became friends in our second term at K. I had joined his group for all the stupid group assignments and projects that we are made to do here every term. We'd have lot of fun pulling others' legs in group meetings. Our group was a happy-go-lucky one and I loved them for that. (I had a pretty uptight group in my first semester) We'd go out to eat quite frequently. I remember this one time when we all went to Coffee Beanz and he was awestruck at how much I ate. (in spite of the way I looked) As days passed, we became pretty good friends. I'd rant to him often on how I cant seem to put on weight in spite of eating like a pig. He in turn would crack jokes and offer a final word of encouragement that if I accompanied them everytime they go out to eat, I will start putting on weight soon. It is inevitable, he'd say.

On the last day of our second term which was in last week of December, we all went out to Coffee Beanz for one last time in 2007. If I remember correctly we had an exam the next morning. We ate to our heart's content and promised Coffee Beanz that we'd return the next year. Bala promised me that he will make sure that I grew fat in the new year.

On January 1st, 2008, I got the news that Bala had passed away in a bike accident the night before.

News of death evokes different reactions. There are people who cry and vent out their grief. And then there are those who act cool and calm on the outside and pretend as if nothing happened but are freaking out from the inside. I am one of the latter. After I returned to the campus for my third term, I stayed away from Coffee Beanz for a month citing some excuse or the other. Whenever people discussed about Bala, I'd just go sit somewhere else. It made me awkward. With time, people slowly stopped talking about him. And in small instalments, I began to overcome my sadness in a calm sort of way. Or so I thought.

About 2 hours back, I came to know that one of our batchmates, Geethika had passed away. When I heard the news, memories of Bala which had faded into the oblivion reappeared. All this time I thought I was being brave by not mourning for his death. Now I realize that I was running away. May be I am not brave enough to face the fact that he is dead.

Different people deal with grief in different ways. As for me, I've shaved off my beard and moustache for a goatee. Reminds me of Bala.

About me: Chapter 1 - Me & my accents

2008-09-20T00:14:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been fascinated with foul language. This was the best start I could come up with after a 4 month sabbatical. Or was it 5? Anyways before we digress completely, as I mentioned earlier, I've been fascinated with foul language recently. Yes, and I've taken a liking towards the f-word so much that it makes a guest appearance once in every 100 words I speak. That's an alarming frequency considering I dont intend to write the script for Pulp Fiction's sequel. But I dont use it to vent out my frustration or to sound cool (may be someeetimes?) Instead I use it because it sounds funny when pronounced in different accents. Now have you ever tried that? Its feck-yu in Mallu accent and fock yo in Carribean. Its actually fun to use it when things get screwed up and people are expecting someone to start swearing - just breaks the tension in the air. Try it and get back to me with feedback! Possibly then I will divulge zee European version which primarily involves tampering with the syllables. (The Mallu accent works like magic!)

So what have I been up to in the past few months when I was away from the blog-o-sphere? The usual stuff - attending classes and dozing off in most of them, watching sitcoms, perfecting the mallu accent, hanging out with my wingmates and bitching about classmates, assignments and deadlines, staying invisible on gtalk to shun forced socialization and as always trying to put on more weight! I also was part of a small 10 minute short film which was directed by the director of "Left Right Left", a serial on Sony SAB. It was fun making the movie. Of course he dubbed my voice at the end, so the movie sounds so funny that I could not watch it more than once. But I've got good reviews from people (who fear that I might tease them if they give negative feedback) and critical comments from others (who are much bigger in size than me. sigh!) It was a great learning experience nonetheless.

Well, I really want to write a lot more stuff but then samay samaapthi ki ghoshna! So all you readers (yes, all six of you!) please do come back to read more about me. This is a desperate plea for attention. I promise the next post will be entertaining! Continued ...

In the next episode:
Self-deprecating humour and I *dadaang!! Camera closes in on my face.. then camera tilts by 45 degrees and again closes in on my face.. beat picks up in the background.. sounds of thunder! Repeat closing in of camera at different angles*
Foreign exchange students *Camera closes in on my face again.. not anywhere else (You wish!!) I have an evil smile spread across my face. hehahaha*
A blast from the past *Flashback in black and white.. A story about a miniature Gokul (dressed in uniform) and his environmental science project.. Sensitive issues like the bomb blasts will not be discussed by a man with an IQ of a chimp*

PS: I do have shreds of self-esteem left! Chimps are the most intelligent among animals.
PS1: I should stop watching Ekta's serials..
PS2: Composing this post was so damn hard! I just hope that I get better at this. It was fun blogging again :D
PS3: Some encouraging comments will be appreciated. :-s
PS4: To all my mallu friends - no hard feelings! :D
PS5: The "About me" series will continue.

My Travelogue

2008-06-05T02:00:00.000-07:00

There is very little connection between the title and the post except for the travel part of course. I wrote this piece about a month back. I was in no mood to post it then. But seeing how my blog is on the verge of extinction, I am being forced to post this.

_________________

I am staying at my cousin’s place right now. This cousin of mine loves smacking me – I do not know what kind of sadistic pleasure she derives by slapping my back – is it the feel of hollow bones or the relief of not being hit back. She loves bugging me – which I find very amusing. She also likes my rendition of “In the End” which I find even more amusing! She is in her 10th grade – which incidentally happens to be the most crucial academic year here in Mumbai. So she attends coaching classes from 3 to 9 every evening – which I found very shocking and disturbing. But over here in Mumbai, it seems to be quite common to put kids through such grind.

Speaking of grind, I am going through one while traveling from Thane to Malad every morning. I, hereby officially announce Mumbai local trains as the mother of all public transport systems! It is the best mode of transport here in Mumbai – in the sense it takes the shortest time to travel from place A to place B, if one were to use trains. However it is the toughest to get into – and trust me, this is not over-hyped. I have been going through nothing short of hell while trying to board trains.

Everyday I wake up early and get dressed in the most ironed clothes so that I look decent. (Off the record, I hate clean & ironed clothes because you have to be oh-so-careful! A more detailed post sometime in the future) And after boarding a bus from Thane to Borivali, I enter the Borivali station. I am overcome by a nauseous sensation thanks to the stench of fish. How do people manage to eat fish is beyond my understanding! Chicken – yes, it smells better than veg biryani but fish? (I hope my mom is not reading this. *gulp*)

Anyways before we completely digress, I then board the local train. After making umpteen number of attempts to get in, I somehow squeeze myself into the train. But the catch here is, when you’re traveling a very short distance (say Borival to Malad where there is only one station in between) it is highly important that you board the train at the right time. You board too early, you will be pushed deep into the train, and then you will have to plough your way out in a record 5 minutes (which is next to impossible) If you try boarding a bit late, you might not be able to board at all. Thus every morning is spent on contemplating a strategy to board the train at the right moment so as to be able to get down at Malad.

And once you are into the train, your tolerance is tested. As each drop of sweat makes its way from your neck down your spine, you’re tempted to wipe it off. However, you have no other choice but to stand helplessly and wait. And this eternal wait would end when the passengers by your side, who until now, were standing like lifeless statues, start getting fidgety. The symptoms are hard to miss – first your feet get stamped and their faces are filled with signs of restlessness. Then of course once the station comes in sight, there is the typical war cry. (“Chalo Kandivali” or “Aakraman Malad”) By the way, it does wonders to your adrenaline flow. But once you’re out of the train, a sense of relief coupled with the stickiness of a wet, sweaty shirt overcomes you and you can’t help but feel irritated.

So this is my routine. It isn’t as bad as it sounds. But yeah, it’s bad enough! On a side note, by the time I get down, my shirt is neither clean nor ironed. So much for the corporate culture!

PS1: Today is my final presentation day! :-ss
PS2: If there was a perceived lack of quality, the blame solely rests on me. Falling standards, sigh!
PS3: IPL ke baad GPL? What were they thinking??!!
PS4: Going to K directly from Mumbai
PS5: Guess the next date I post and win exciting prizes! :P
PS6: This is the end. Time to go, give a presentation.

Seven habits of highly effective gully cricketers

2008-04-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

Today, we shall learn how to play safe, indoor cricket – cricket in the living room to be precise, and win. This post is by no means inspired by the Stephen Covey book. Now that I have clarified that part, shall we?

The seven habits of highly effective gully cricketers

1. Sledge – Sledging is an integral part of indoor cricket. It is highly unlikely that one can get a wicket if the one-bounce-catch rule is absent. That is exactly why one should sledge. Sledging can be offensive, vulgar or funny.
a.Offensive: How to offend others with sledging? The most tried and tested methods focus on weighty issues. Literally. One can also comment on culinary skills and the spherical quotient of one’s tummy in mathematical terms (usually calculated using a complex equation - the variables involved being surface area, S and capacity, C)
b.Vulgar: The less said the better.
c.Funny: One can always be offensive AND funny. But usually being sarcastic helps.

2. Moving on to more technical tips, ahem. If a fielder is positioned close, the best way to scare him is to charge down the pitch – yes, I am referring to the 6-10 yards pitch here, and play a defensive prod. And if you’re known to be a pinch hitter, the fielder by now would be literally shivering waist down. I remember this one time when I was fielding at silly point and this senior of mine who weighed twice as much charged down the wicket. I literally shit in my pants.

3. Try to flight the deliveries above the eye-level of the batsman – especially if you’re a spinner. When you do that, the natural instinct is to come on to the front foot and heave it - until the batsman realizes that he’s playing in a 15x8 room. In which case, he’d either go through with the shot and hit the wall directly (in our case there is a TV as well!) or would miss the ball and be adjudged out. You, of course, can bowl that occasional faster delivery and later defend yourself by claiming that you’re a spinner and the delivery was not fast. (It always worked for me :D)

4. Always encourage your bowlers. Even if they’re pathetic. And appeal. Do add in your share of sighs (ooos and aaaahhs) even if the ball missed the stumps / edge by miles. It puts a lot of pressure on the batsman.

5. And if you’re the batsman, watch the bowling action – especially if he’s a spinner. It is very important to decipher the spin on the delivery before deciding how to play it. Usually the fingers and the wrist position give away the spin on the delivery. Also try taking the delivery on the full or play it as late as possible. Never be stuck midway! It’s too dangerous. Even if the pitch is akin to the Chennai track prepared in the last series.

6. Play with soft hands! Especially the balls which have more bounce. Taking the bottom hand off helps a lot. Sometimes getting the bottom hand into play is also useful. Refer to tip #2 :D Using your footwork is also very crucial. A Virender Sehwag cannot survive in the Gully Cricketing scene.

7. And in case you’ve forgotten – sledge!

PS: Next post might be on anything! Mostly it will be something highly random.
PS2: Any comments on the IPL? (Am I asking for trouble? :P)

Back without a bang..

2008-04-15T06:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am blogging again. The long sabbatical from the blogosphere has taken a toll. So please excuse me if the post is uninteresting. As for me, I am in Mumbai now – interning at SET (Sony Entertainment Television). And the past few days have been tiring as well as entertaining. My first brush with the corporate world has not really been an out-of-the-world experience but it has not been unpleasant either. I hardly have to work, I take 30-minute coffee breaks thrice a day and I stay online from 10:00 to 6:00 – which would have appealed to me as an ideal place to work 6 months back. But lately, I have undergone a transition which cannot be described in mere words. I find the prospect of working on live projects in marketing exciting. In short, I think I might have become a workaholic who begins to get restless in absence of quality work. And that is how exactly I’ve been for the past week.

Also, I am staying with my IIIT pals – two of them. First couple of days it was fun catching up on stuff and taking a walk down the memory lane. Then we ran out of stuff to talk about. Lately we have resorted to talking about movies and sports, bitching about workplace and pulling each other’s legs. We also talk about the amazing content shown on Aaj Tak and Headlines Today like for instance the news on how the commisioner’s pet went missing and was found the next day. And on a more interesting note, we cook at least once in a week. Last Thursday, Grawl and I cooked Paneer Tikka (minus the Tikka.) It was not bad for beginners. Roasted Paneer with salt, pepper and chat masala makes a good starter.. trust me! :D This was followed by sprouts garnished by fried onions and tomatoes, and the customary and irreplaceable Maggi. It is a lot more fun cooking food – than eating; especially when we’re the cooks.. ;)

In other news, I had been to my relatives’ place during the weekend. And yes, I did travel in Mumbai’s “famous’ local trains. My feet were stamped upon 8 times and I even had the good fortune of smelling all fish-like thanks to the fisherwomen who chose our compartment to board. A younger, prettier face and she would have bagged the role of the mermaid in Disnep’s production. The local trains are God’s way of playing freeze for 5 continuous minutes because you are practically stuck in the position that you assume when the train starts from a station. And this goes on until the train chugs into the next station which is when it feels as if you are being pulled into this whirlpool as the crowd makes a mad rush towards the door.

On the office front, we are forced to wear formals whereas other employees are free to wear casuals. So it kind of sucks - especially wearing these idiotic leather shoes. Playing TT when you’re dressed in formals in not exactly awesome but it’s a welcome change from the monotony of sitting in front of the PC and doing nothing. We also have our own SET ids – mine being srinivasans@setindia.com. As part of recreational activities, we do indulge in mindless spamming on the interns mailing list. We rant and whine – compare our jobless levels and take pride in it. People tell me that I need to show some patience – especially in the corporate circles. So lets see….

PS1: Next post might be on how to play safe cricket in the living room of an apartment. And win.
PS2: It feels good to be blogging again instead of muttering smart-ass lines in my head.
PS3: If you’re on facebook, install friends for sale and buy me! If not, then join facebook dammit! :P
PS4: Go ManU! :D
PS5: My creative levels have fallen to new lows :(
PS6: This is the end! :P
PS7: I just realized that I had posted last 5 months back! Thats a long time..

Déjà vu - CAT '06 and '07..

2007-11-14T01:21:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I was asked to write an article on the possible patterns of CAT '07 paper to send to one of those online dailies. As I sat down to write the article sometime today evening, I was reminded of the article I had posted precisely a year ago on the same topic. And so I decided to open the post and go through it. To my surprise, I found that I had predicted two things correctly back then - that it might be a 75 question paper and we might be given 5 options. Although I did think these scnearios would be unlikely, I was pleasantly surprised when I found the same in the paper. On the whole, I believe I was prepared for those cases and hence was least shocked. And when the shock element goes missing, the paper looks much more easier, right?

So lets fast forward to CAT '07. Considering the trends that are being followed over the past few years, the number of questions are being reduced gradually - from 123 in 2004 to 90 in 2005 and then finally to 75 in 2006. Now one could expect the number of questions to go down to 60 which would just mean that the paper might be on a higher difficulty level. Or they would stick to 75 and raise the bar slightly.

Also every CAT paper has something new and different to offer - at least one of the three sections are more difficult than usual. (Assuming there are only three) In 2005, it was DI with more logic-oriented questions; for us in 2006, it was Verbal with the "Judgement, Inference and Fact" types of questions. So there is a good possibility that this year, the Quant section will be the toughest with something new added just to spice things up a bit.

On a final note, I guess I will repeat the same words as last time - do not waste time in questioning whether the changes in the paper are justified or not. Be flexible. Do not enter the exam hall with a fixed mindset. Do not panic on seeing the changes. If it is difficult for you, it will be difficult for the majority of CAT aspirants. Believe in yourself. Nothing is better than a good dose of self-belief! And do not get stuck on any question. And most importantly.. do not forget your admit card! ;)

All the best to all the exam takers. May the force be with you! :D

Note: You can find my post on CAT '06 here. And my views aired here are pure speculations. You are not told the CAT question paper even if you're studying in an IIM! :D

Quote of the day:

The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.

PS1: I completed 2 years of blogging sometime last month.. Oct. 24th I think.
PS2: I forgive my father.. I forgive my boss.. I forgive my friends.. I forgive my barber.. I forgive the government.. I forgive my past.. I forgive them all.. I feel like.. I feel like God.
PS3: I am very, very happy! :D Tomorrow only 3 classes - 2 of them require no pre-class reading! Alright!! :D Of course, that is not the only reason why I am happy.
PS4: PS2 was the Bajaj Avenger Ad lines tailored to my context. That ad is legendary!
PS5: Ate awesome food.. freaked out with friends.. rode at 75 kmph.. and a very memorable night! A starry one too.. :D

mama mia!

2007-11-11T18:55:00.000-08:00

So after a long hiatus, I am back into the blogosphere - only to disappear again into the shadows of blogger's blocks but then let us live the moment, shall we?! :P Between the time I last posted and now, lots of things have happened. Our summers process took place and yours truly made it to SET - Sony Entertainment Television. So if you think Sony has been airing crappy programmes think no further! Just change the god damned channel! :D Before I digress completely, ahem.. I have been posted in Mumbai. So any attractive female readers of mine out there in Mumbai, please mail me across your address and phone numbers.. and may be we can have a chat over a cup of coffee. What say? :D *ducks*

Moving on.. *sigh* I celebrated my first Diwali away from home. Never knew it felt so crappy to celebrate Diwali away from home. The food here was awesome, lots of competitions were held and the junta was quite enthusiastic about it. But then, somehow felt quite uneasy.. :( I guess this is just a beginning of a long stretch of festivals I'd miss celebrating at home. You can find more on how we celebrated Diwali here. And btw India won the 3rd ODI against our "friendly" padosis. Now how cool is that! :D

On a different note, our first semester grades are out. I scored a very respectable GPA of 2.83 out of 4.33. I have cut down on studies lately so as to be able to do other things like this and this. Life has been slightly hectic but I've started liking it more and more. Right now, I am running a Make-Gokul-fat campaign as I raid friends' rooms and loot food from them. I wish I were Mahmud of Ghazni.. looting is so much fun! :D However, I've not been putting on much weight as was evident from my mother's reaction when I had been to Hyderabad recently. But the looting shall continue!! >:)

PS1: I will be back in Hyderabad sometime next month. :D
PS2: Missing home.. :(
PS3: Happy Diwali to one and all! :D
PS4: Its 7 already! Going out to eat at Taj.. friend's treat.. >:) time to launch another looting expedition! :D
PS5: And ManU is through to the next round. BTW Heroes rocks. And is anyone reading the Naruto Manga.. woo hoo! :D
PS6: Someone was telling me the other day that I should market my blog more aggresively. Idhar bhi marketing!? /:)
PS7: I was just wondering.. is there any relation between the title and the post? hmm.. Guess and win exciting prizes! :D
PS8: This is the end.

CAT '07 sample questions..

2007-10-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

Well, since CAT is around the corner, I thought I'd share with you different kinds of questions that might be asked in the coming edition of the billi. A typical question connecting multiple concepts is given below:

1) The minutes hand of the clock is on 12 and the hours hand is on 11. But Gokul has not started studying for his ME mid-semester exam. The probability of him screwing the exam if the paper is tough, is 0.6. The probability that Gokul will complete studying the entire portion before the exam is 0.3. What is the probability of him screwing the exam, provided the paper given is easy?

a) 0.28
b) 0.12
c) 0.18
d) 1

Solution: Answer is option d. I screwed up what might possibly be the easiest paper ever set by any professor. Looking back, I wish he had given a tougher question paper. At least I'd have had a few fellow cribbers! Our mid semester exams are going on. Hopefully my other exams go well.

In other news, we've received our grades for term 1. My performance has been slightly below average, but nothing to be ashamed of! :D And my GPA calculations have been reasonably accurate! I was after all gifted, eh?! :D Work is expected to pile up exponentially in the coming weeks. I've ended up cutting down on CS so as to accomodate other activities in my schedule, which include studying, giving quizzes and sleeping in classes.

Time to get back to studies. Adios!

PS1: To all those who ended up hoping to find a leaked CAT '07 paper - sorry for the misleading title of the post.
PS2: CS fest being planned in IIIT! :(
PS3: Anybody has the song Sideways by Citizen Cope? Please mail me the song! I'm tired of searching for it over the net.
PS4: The last episode of HIMYM viz. 305 was frikkin hilarious! Barney's theory of plotting girls on the graph of hot and crazy was.. err.. classic Barney! Especially the Vicky Mendoza diagonal!! :D
PS5: Dont ask me how I find time to watch HIMYM episodes during exams. Please refer to the second sentence of the sample question given at the beginning of the post.
PS6: Back to studies!

The Human Calculator..

2007-10-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

There was this phase I went through, in my third year, when I used to sit and calculate my CGPA time and again. After having accounted for various permutations and combinations, I'd arrive at my GPA for the semester and consecutively my CGPA. The whole funda behind the exercise was to check whether there was any hope of me crossing 7 at the end of 4 years. And typical of me, I'd always put very optimistic estimates and would feel good about myself. But at the end of the semester, I'd get a rude shock when my GPA would be a good half point less than what I had calculated. But at the end of my 4 years, I'm proud to say that I crossed the psychological 7 mark. Its like getting a total of 300 on a flat pitch - you never know whether it would be enough or not.

So why am I saying such things on the public domain and lowering my image amongst my readers? Because the syndrome is back again to haunt me through my post graduation. Yes, the past couple of days, I've been calculating my GPA for the first semester - adding new results and revising estimates time and again. I've come to be known as the Human Calculator (of GPA) not because I calculate faster than anyone else but because I am the only one involved in such fruitless activities. People come to me asking for an estimate of their GPAs. I, just like the fake baba/saint/whatever-you-refer-to-them-in-your-language, give them hope by over estimating their GPAs. Well, I am not charging any fee for this small service I offer. Not yet. But I hope I dont get into trouble once the sem results are out. If things work out just fine, then I might start charging some consultation fee from the next semester. So how does this work? This calculating of GPAs?

DISCLAIMER: Please dont try this at home. Or in class. Or in your hostel rooms. These are trained professionals who have spent their lives perfecting the art of calculating GPA.

Well, firstly you take into account the past record of the instructor. If it is Mr.X who has given 40 Ds last sem, you take an optimistic grade of C- for that course. If it is Ms.Y who believes in giving lesser As and more Bs and Cs, you take into account the mean grade - which might be a B or a C ,and then calculate the resulting GPA. Other factors which should be considered include the number of times the instructor has caught you sleeping in the class, the overall performance of your section and batch, and the average performance of your section and batch. Believe me - calculating GPAs is a very tough job and not everyone is cut out to do the same. Only a select few are gifted with qualities of estimation and intution to carry out a good job.

So I repeat - please dont try this in your data compression/HSSM/Open Elective lectures. It might be a highly amusing exercise at the beginning, but one tends to get addicted to it. They're worse than drugs! Not to mention the depression one experiences due to overquoting of GPAs. You need to be a certified GPA calculator to put the worst beind you and continue calculating for the coming semesters. May the force be with you.

PS1: After my second year, my calculation speed increased manifold mainly because of 2 reasons:
a) calculating my GPA after every mid-term/end-term result was announced
b) when India used to chase a huge target. Once upon a time, we used to be good chasers
PS2: I finished the Quant section of CAT in 35 minutes. No prizes for guessing why.
PS3: I spent 1 hour 15 minutes on the verbal section in CAT :(
PS4: Hectic life.
PS5: Somebody scrap me.
PS6: Somebody comment!
PS7: We have dandiya night scheduled today. We are supposed to come dressed in ethnic wear.. :|
PS8: Special buffet arranged for tonight. hehehehe.. aakramannn.. :D
PS9: Washing clothes in washing machines is not a pain at all! :D
PS10: I hate wearing suits!
PS11: Mom, if you're reading this - Hi!
PS12: Seriously, why is the Indian cricket team so inconsistent?!
PS13: CAT 07 round the corner. All the best to all the CAT takers.
PS14: Work piling up. adios!

Fillers..

2007-10-06T00:05:00.000-07:00

"...Filler episodes are often assumed to be used to pad out a weak story, especially if they are perceived to be of poor quality.."

Well, I had promised myself that I'd be blogging more frequently. But little can anyone predict the rigours of a B-school life. And thanks to the looming summer placements process and the horizons, I've not had much time to ping jobless people and spam the 2k3 list. Wait a minute, I STILL have time to spam.

So is this post going to be about how busy I have been lately? Probably.

In other news, we might be having an inter-hostel gaming competition in the coming months. Something good to look forward to, eh? :D And attending summers interviews are fun! Serious fun! You get to know how much one can lie and get away with it. It is all about thinking on your feet. And so, I've been answering questions by asking questions. And the best part about the GDs is, you get non-technical, pure BC topics. So you can just yap on and on. So far it has been a pleasant experience. Lets see how it turns out from here.

And just in case you did not know, a long lost friend always pings you only when you're the most busy. And it is tough to not talk to them, but at the same time you cannot deny the truth - you have to meet the deadline! So lately, I've been feeling guilty about how I've promised people that I'd ping them back and have conveniently forgotten to.. :(

PS1: To know more about horizons, check this out
PS2: Check out the latest Hitch kinda post from Kunal. Nice job, dude! :D
PS3: I hate it when we dont get free weekends! x(
PS4: Tired.

India and the T-20 WC

2007-09-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

India vs England:
In your face, Freddie Flintoff.. next time, try keeping your trap shut.

India vs SA:
In your face, Justin Kemp.. running as if we wont get direct hits! Sometimes we do.. :D

India vs Aussies:
In your face, Aussies! Look who just choked!

Never did I think that a day would come when we'd outclass SA in the fielding department.
Never did I think that a day would come when the Aussies would choke against us.

The inaugral edition of ICC champions trophy- we defeat the best in the business (the Aussies and the South Africans) with a bunch of young cricketers. Yuvraj, Kaif and Zaheer shot to stardom. Now forward 7 years into the future. Just when things were slightly bleak, we do it again. And this time, again, it is equally sensational. As a feeling of deja vu seeps in, I cant help but feel apprehensive about the final. The Pakistanis must be waiting for revenge but as long as we get a fitting finale, I dont mind. Who am I kidding? Chak de India!

PS1: By the way, I still am not a huge fan of cliches.
PS2: Went to IIIT campus. Did you know that OBH has been recently painted?! It looks very different! The campus looks a lot greener though
PS3: Saawariya title song is nice.
PS4: The finals are being screened here at the auditorium! :D K rocks anyday!!
PS5: Time for the finals! adios! And fingers crossed.. :-ss :D

The accident..

2007-09-18T23:09:00.000-07:00

It started off with a jolt; felt as if everything was coming to an end as the horn kept blaring in the background. I kept swearing until I fell off my seat. It seemed like an “AXN – scariest videos” moment. I thought we were falling off a cliff. I was on all fours by now and I knew that it was just a dream and that nothing more would happen – or so I believed until 2 drops of blood fell on my hand. Alarmed, I tried getting up but this time again the whole bus started tilting to one side. Immediately I went down again. Now I was pretty sure that we were hanging on the edge of the cliff. The horn was still blaring. I wanted to call up home but I was not able to move my left arm. So many things were flashing in my mind.

Someone was swearing very loudly. He seemed to be in pain. I tried getting up again and this time I had no problems. I realized that I was completely disoriented earlier. Amidst all the chaos, I just found the nearest empty seat and sat down with my head tilted backwards to stop the bleeding. I was completely shaken up as one of my friends continued screaming his lungs out asking all of us to evacuate the bus. Most of us were clueless, and I could hear some girls groaning. My legs and nose were hurting badly – I desperately wanted to cry out loud. But I guess I just did not want to add to the decibel levels. As I tried getting off my seat, a pain shot up my right arm. But I was able to move it – it was not a fracture, thankfully.

I went to check on my friend who was sitting 2 seats away. He had broken his toe nail. It was hanging by the tiniest scraps of skin. He seemed to be least worried though – he wanted to know how the others were. And that particular moment- that was the first time in months that I felt like a kid. I guess not everyone is gifted with maturity. As I moved towards the front portion of the bus, I witnessed some gut-wrenching scenes which would be etched in my memory for quite some time.

Later we were told that the driver had dozed off during the journey and had rammed into a truck which was parked by the roadside. Quite a few suffered multiple fractures. I thanked my lucky stars as I escaped with a few cuts and bruises. We made it to airport just in time to catch our respective flights. Everyone was pretty disturbed by the turn of events. As soon as I landed in Hyderabad, I was relieved.

And I had not yet called up home and told them about these things. It makes sense not to tell them over phone because they’d be worried sick. But then, if you get this feeling - that you’re going to die all alone without any of your near and dear ones by your side, your brain gets all messed up. After reaching home, I showed them (not to be confused with showed off!) the wounds and told them calmly what happened. I think dad was proud of me acting all grown up; mom was slightly worried and wanted to get me a tetanus shot! I guess all moms are like this – this is what makes them so lovable! :D

PS1: I’ve been having these kinds of dreams since childhood – I fall from skyscrapers and cliffs and err.. I just keep falling. Nothing happens!! :-??
PS2: This is not a short story. It occurred last Friday on the Mysore highway at 4:30 AM.
PS3: No casualties. We all were quite lucky.. :)
PS4: Returning on Sunday evening.
PS5: Whole schedule got messed up.. :(
PS6: And I am blogging from home! :D More on the same in my next post.

Zombie!

2007-09-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

He was trying very hard not to let go but then.. suddenly, they seemed to weigh a ton each. This is just a phase - he repeated to himself. Soon I'd get over it and they'd go back to being weightless. But he knew that was not true. His willpower was being tested and he was not ready to give up that easily.

He started counting. 1.. 2.. He hung on but slowly his resolve began to crack as he started losing focus. 3.. 4.. He started counting faster. 6.. 7.. He wanted to fight it; 8.. he shook away all the remaining lethargy and concentrated but he could not hold them back long enough as the shutters came crashing down like the twin towers. Suddenly the whole world seemed to come to a standstill and silence prevailed. So did peace.Until someone poked him from the side.

He knew it. It was inevitable - the nightout had taken its toll. He wanted it all to be a dream but it refused to go away. Unwillingly, he opened his eyes to find the Microeconomics professor giving him one of those "gotcha" stares as she repeated, "Please dont sleep in my class. I am not going to take his name, but dont sleep in the class" And all this while she was staring at him without looking away. Talk of subtlety!

As the whole class started grinning, realization dawned upon him (which would later take him to exotic places with voluptuous women on either side.) He no longer cared! As a smile spread across his face, he turned to his neighbour and quipped, "That was the best nap I ever had!"

And since then, the count has not moved past 8.

________________________________

PS1: This story was based on a true life incident. Yes, I was caught sleeping in the ME class. However this is just half the story. The better half of the story, I'm afraid, will be kept under wraps. :D
PS2: Seriously that was the best nap I ever had.
PS3: Exams are over! woo hoo!! :D
PS4: Never been so eager to go back home. Hyderabad, here I come!
PS5: Respected Flyovers, please dont collapse.. :-s
PS6: Slept for only 5 hours in the last 48 hours! :(
PS7: Screwed up almost all my exams. I really think I am not cut out for studying. Lets see how things go in term 2.
PS8: Last post in term 1.. :D
PS9: Did you know that cobras are hunted by raptors, mongoose and mallu security guards of D hostel?
PS10: Yay! Two posts spaced out so closely. Long time since I posted so frequently.. :D

Feast your eyes!

2007-09-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting to you.. pictures of God's own IIM!

Early morning view from the valley facing rooms..

Sunrise!

The Amphitheatre

The thinking point

The Sunset

PS1: None of these pics were taken by me. I've been downloading them from different people thanks to DC++. (Yes, we've got dcpp!)
PS2: Have been very busy with this! Do visit it.. its our institute's blog.
PS3: I never knew before that the RTI Act can be misused.
PS4: I am supposed to be studying for my end sem exams which begin tomorrow. Unfortunately, the motivation to study has disappeared! :(
PS5: Make a mental note of this fact: The Indian cricket team flatters to deceive.
PS6: I'll be reaching Hyderabad on 14th of this month! Excited!! :D
Country roadss.. take me home.
PS7: People have stopped spamming ug2k3 list. I guess everyone has moved on.. :(
PS8: I wanted to blog about my daring feats :P but then.. time constraints have held me back. May be sooner or later..
PS9: I shall blog more often. I shall not fade out like other fellow bloggers! There, I've taken the vow.
PS10: Long time since I went blog hopping.. :( Some day.. some day.
PS11: It has almost ceased raining. Last night, it was so foggy outside that the lamps seemed to float in mid air! :D :D Awesome sight!

The backlog cleared...

2007-08-19T02:32:00.000-07:00

So finally I sit down to write a post! Well begun is 0.0005% done. (Senior's quote)
And so another fortnight of non-stop grilling has come to an end. And this time around, I've got quite a few things to share.

Chak De India!?
Well, I heard rave reviews from quite a few people about this movie being path-breaking and all. Since it was an SRK flick, I kept my expectations low and watched the movie. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised at SRK portraying an Islamic character. I think that was a first. Also, the usual element of SRK being a larger-than-life character was missing from this movie which again was quite essential to the plot. The surprises stop here. It became quite stereotypical at the end. Guess Hindi cinema will always be Hindi cinema. And there were flashes from Remember the Titans. Sad.

The funniest part was, we had 3 foreigners watching the movie with us. In Crown Theatre, Calicut :D As for the movie, decent and watchable.

Media cell - MC XI:
Well, we had our committee elections this month. And I made it to the Media Cell. Our senior members are pretty cool and I cant wait to get started on the work. We've got quite a few plans chalked out although I wonder how many of them would be implemented. And dear readers, if any of your near and dear ones have gone missing and you want to publish an advertisement, then I might not be able to help you.

Iranian movies:
As part of our Social Transformation of India course, we were shown 4 foreign movies - 2 Iranian, a Japanese and a Spanish one. And it was a treat watching such movies - especially the Japanese animation movie and the Iranian movies. They are quite intellectual and thought-provoking, and one needs to sit down and dissect the movie to actually understand the message. So if you get a chance, do watch the movies "Colors of Paradise", "Graveyard of flies" and "Two women". If you do not enjoy it, go watch Chak de India! :D I'm sure you'd enjoy the typical underdog theme that has so often been dished out by a dozen other movies.

Life:
Well, life has been, as usual a blur. The thing is, I'm studying - I'm attending all classes - I'm having decent food - I STILL crack silly jokes which very few people understand - I don't sleep in classes - I solve Sudokus - I watch Naruto Shippuden. In short, I've been doing what any other student should be doing. But I dont have time to sit back and think on things that I have done. It is more like.. living in the moment! Yes, I have fun. I play CS quite frequently (managed to cling on to the top position in IIM K) go out to eat, have parties and sometimes watch movies. But I dont get time to sleep! The sacrosanct sleeping time has fallen.. fallen from 8 hours to 5 hours. And the worst part is, there are quite a few days when I cant sleep for even 5 hours. But yes, it is a different experience. :D

PS1: I still am the optimist from utopia.
PS2: Lately I am back to being sarastic.
PS3: It seems I am a smartass.
PS4: All the members who got elected into committees gave a party today. And I did not enjoy it very much. I am finding it tough to digest this B-school culture of getting drunk and letting one's hair down. Puking comes much later. Hangover comes much much later.
PS5: Did I mention that everyone celebrated my birthday today on the dance floor? Yes, I got kicked.
PS6: I stood out in the dance floor today. Probably because I was the only one not dancing. hmmm...
PS7: Now what would you do if your friend is completely drunk, is going haywire and you dont want to help him because all the girls are watching him with disgust? I met such "friends" today.
PS8: Drunk people are a fascinating lot. Seriously! :D
PS9: Time to sleep. Adios and happy Onam! :D

The long overdue post..

2007-07-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally get down to writing this long overdue post. So much has happened since the last post that I am wondering how to put it all in words. It is this overwhelming feeling which cannot be expressed so easily. Anyways, moving on to the actual post, lately I have been thinking a lot.. about some of the burning problems that we face in our day to day life like global warming, deforestation, and how I dont have enough time to have more than 2 dosas at breakfast! Yes, life has been a blur lately. Its been a month although it doesnt seem so.

Amidst surprise quizzes and assignment deadlines, my birthday was celebrated on the night of July 13th. The funny thing about this whole episode was, my friends almost forgot and were reminded at 1:00 AM. Typical of any birthday celebrated at K, I was treated to a generous dose of cakes, milk shakes, ketchup, vinegar, soft drinks etc. Yes, it was an exotic concoction and it was smothered all over my face and head. Pictures were taken but I am not going to post it on the blog for obvious reasons. I was also kicked until I was on the verge of crying, but overall a very memorable affair.

And as most of you must be knowing by now, we had a small photo shoot. We were dressed in our business suits. And for a change I looked level-headed, more adult-like and ready to become a manager. In fact, once we received our pictures, I could not believe I could look like that! I guess self-realization is one of the few things which one attains after reaching a B-school.

Lately, the amount of work that's been piling up has been increasing exponentially. For example, I've been typing this post for the past 4 days but somehow or the other, something crops up and I'm forced to leave the post incomplete. So I guess I'll just publish the damned post now instead of shelving it for the future. Why do I sound frustrated? hmmm..

PS1: I think I just slept through my convocation.
PS2: Midterm exams from next week. Hardly prepared.
PS3: Is Halley really getting married.
PS4: I want to be at IIIT so badly now.. :(
PS5: I also want to graduate! :(( I always thought it was fun wearing those ill-fitting gowns and throwing the caps in the air. sigh!
PS6: Hot news! Our ex-president, APJ Kalam has accepted to be a part of visiting faculty at IIIT-H! Now.. now.. NOW.. things will get interesting! :D
PS7: The next guy who is going to ask me a reason for my absence from the convocation is going to get it big time!

About klasses and other things..

2007-07-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

Classes at K are a very interesting mix. There was a time when I used to hate attending classes but over here, the classes are so interesting and interactive, that you cant help but sit up and take notice. Be it our accounts prof's wry sense of humour - not to mention the poker face he maintains when he cracks some of the funniest jokes - or our marxist STI prof's hard hitting statements; attending classes is a completely different experience.. its fun! :D

But the past one week has been kind of depressing and hectic. Classes.. presentations.. case studies.. case analysis.. quizzes.. surprise quizzes and many more! I have not slept for more 4-5 hours a day. And the worst part is, you cannot sleep in classes which is quite contrary to what I was practising during engineering. Especially after having been inert for the past 4 years, it is tough to again get back into the "Study-till-I-drop-dead" mode. Anyhoo, apart from academics, we've been treated to 3 parties so far since our induction - our hostel party where we had some social interaction with our seniors, our fresher's party where we had our inter-section competitions and a special "gult" party for people from AP. And believe me, all parties were fun and acted as stressbusters. I guess they make you have fun during the weekends so that you are ready to get screwed during the weekdays. Nice logic! :D

We also had an inter-batch TT competition for which we had selections for the top 4 players from our batch. Although I did get selected to the top 4, we could not put up much of a fight to our seniors, some of who were state level players! Of course, yours truly put up a much better fight than some of his peers. *A rare moment when I get to bask in some limelight* :D In other news, I have applied for the college placement committee. The present members of placecom have assured us that we'll be faced with humungous tasks and would have little time for other recreational activities. Another chance to learn time management! :D

We've got interest groups for almost every sector (like marketing, finance etc.) which are headed by students. And what is impressive is, most of the clubs and interest groups have a very professional way of doing things. They have the kind of charisma which one would normally associate with hotshots. I might seem to be exaggerating but you need to feel it to believe it. Its awesome!

And finally after having delayed for quite sometime, i present this post written on June 17th, 2007. Almost a month.. shucks! I need to blog more frequently.. :-<

The day when it did not rain..

As written on June 17th, 2007.

@11:30: yay! Its sunny outside! :D

@14:00: Its a little cloudy.. :-s

@14:30: We decide to go visit the Kappad beach.

And so we did visit the Kappad beach. And before I go ahead with the narration - our seniors had warned us that it was a gay beach. But since we were a huge group, we were bold enough to go ahead with the trip. It was an awesome experience. Some of the girls also joined us. There were around 40 of us and we had loads of fun.

At first, we were quite cautious not to go very deep into the water so as to not wet our clothes. And then one of us slipped and got drenched. And slowly, one by one, we got rid of our common sense and went deep into the water to get drenched. And those who resisted were taken forcibly and drowned in the water until they got fully drenched. The description might look barbaric, uncivilised and unfit for future IIM students, BUT it was fun! :D We did take a few pics with waves lashing against rocks in the background, but then I dont have them right now. So probably one of us might put it in his orkut albums. It is yet to rain.. :D Now thats rare!

_______________________

PS1: Lately, there have been patches in the timeline when it doesn't rain. Yippee! :D
PS2: Gave a presentation today on meeting etiquettes. Sounds boring but somehow managed to make it interesting and had the class laughing as well! :D
PS3: People here are usually serious and hence getting a few people laugh requires a huge effort.

PS4: My first nickname @ K - The C-KID! *echoes* :D
PS5: As I mentioned in my earlier post, most of my classmates look like uncles. And hence the nick.. :( But surpisingly I've learnt to carry the name quite well.. :D
PS6: There are two kinds of people in our batch - bloody freshers.. and bloody corporates!
PS7: My oft used quote lately - Be it jail or hostel, khaana time mein mil jaata hai! :D
PS8: Leaving for dinner. Hope its chole bature! :D

Khronicles - the beginning

2007-06-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

We've got a supermarket here where we get almost anything and everything. But the problem is, it is kinda addictive! I found myself shopping for unwanted items and ended up paying a lot more than I intended to. We've got our own washing machines so there is no dhobi problem unless one is too lazy to get his clothes washed by a washing machine!

First day, I went to the computer centre but was not allowed inside. Reason - I was in my three-fourths! And you need to be dressed in full pants to be allowed. But thanks to my excellent negotiation powers which also include begging, pleading and keeping a sad, innocent face, the guard let me in.. :D We've got sofas in our library! And lots of books as well. That is all I know about the library since I've not really gone about exploring. It does seem to be a good place to take a small nap between classes though.

Lately the climate has been extremely pleasant. You really need to see it to believe it. Sometimes at nights, it becomes so misty, that we practically get to walk through the clouds! :D The view from some of the valley facing rooms is breathtaking, especially early morning. There can be a no better start to a morning. I was so inspired by the view, that I decided to go jog early in the morning. Can you believe it? :)) It was a fairy tale story as long as I was jogging downhill. Only when I decided to return back to hostel did I realise that I'd have to jog uphill! I was short of breath for rest of the morning.. so much for being inspired by nature!

It rains 24 hours a day! Either it is that slightly-irritating-drizzle or the cant-be-so-easily-ignored torrential rainfall. But it is fun.. it brings out a new look to the surroundings. I guess one gets used to it. It looks more or less like a resort. The people are kinda nice, mostly confused because this the first time they’re staying away from home. We’ve hardly got any freshers here so it kinda sucks. Everyone looks like an…Wait for it. Uncle. :D

And before I forget, there are no heaters/geysers. So we’re forced to take bath in cold water. :( We had a small hostel party where we had some "social interaction" with our seniors. It was fun! :D The classes have started and frankly speaking the classes are damn interesting! It feels good listening to interesting classes after almost 4 years! In fact, 6 people happened to come a minute late to the first class and they were asked to submit a 5 page report on the case by evening. The way the prof. gave the punishment looked so matter of fact that it was awesome! It has instilled in most of us, a sense of fear! Need to be careful though not to get into the bad books of any prof.

Our campus:

The passage to IIM-K

2007-06-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

Before I begin this post, I’d like to take this opportunity to warn all the readers not to use the Indian Airlines service for the coming weeks. Thank you.

So I was all set to make my way to God’s own IIM. I was supposed to catch a flight to Chennai from Hyderabad and then catch the Mangalore express to Kozhikode (also known as Calicut) Unfortunately for me, the Indian Airlines ground staff decided to go on an indefinite strike. First I got an SMS from the Indian Airlines saying only hand baggage was allowed. And just an hour before the flight was scheduled for its departure, they cancelled the flight. Luckily I got on board the Paramount Airways’ flight to Chennai at 5:30 otherwise I'd have missed my train to Kozhikode.

I caught the train on time. The last few hours of the journey were quite memorable thanks to the incessant rains and the fisherman throwing their nets in the just-filled-lakes. Reminded me of the "chinna-chinna-aasai" aka choti-si-aasha song in Roja.. We reached our destination only to be greeted by some more rainfall.

All the students supposed to join waited outside the station for the other train to arrive from Delhi, the Nizamuddin express. However it was delayed by 2 hours and hence we decided to go have breakfast at a local hotel. I was warned about Keralite food long before I left Hyderabad but I comfortably ignored them. We found a certain hotel DEEWAR near the station and decided to have our breakfast there.

Now before I get into the details, let me make one thing very clear to all you non-Keralite readers of mine. Fish is considered vegetarian in Kerala. Repeat after me - fish is considered vegetarian in Kerala; just like potato is considered vegetarian in Hyderabad and the rest of the world.

Coming back to the story, we unknowingly stepped into Hotel Wall (also known as Deewar) thinking we'd have an unprecedent supply of idlis and dosas. However we were disappointed when we were told that only idiappams and vellappams were available. As for the side dishes we were asked to choose from 2 vegetarian and one non-vegetarian curry. Yes, fish was one of those 2 vegetarian curries. Thankfully, we realised it before we had ordered and went for the other one - a vegetable vegetarian curry. And not surprisingly, it contained the most important vegetable in the Kerala way of life - the coconut. The main dish also was a mixture of dosa dough and - no prizes for guessing - some more raw coconut.

In spite of repeated threats from our oesophagus, we managed to gulp down all the coconutty food. We then made our way to God's own Kampus, IIM-K. The campus looks heavenly! It is like the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! :D The climate is pretty cool, slightly sultry; food rocks - it is of the non-coconutty type! And the people here are quite different. Can't wait for the classes to begin!

BTW it is yet to stop raining.. :(

PS1: This post was written quite a long time back on a wordpress blog. 14th June to be precise.
PS2: I had to switch to wordpress because blogger.com was not opening in the IIM-K labs.
PS3: Lately I discovered that blogger.com opens in the IIM-K library :D
PS4: Other posts will be added sooner or later.
PS5: Life is rocking! :D
PS6: We have a presentation to make tonight at 11:00. Excited! :D

Miscellaneous post..

2007-05-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

Lately nothing much has been happening. I have been frequenting the hostel to get the no-dues certificates. Its a big pain - collecting all these no dues. But I guess its customary. And for those who are unaware, my hard-disk has recovered. It has been resurrected! :D So I have been filling my hard disk with all kinds of movies. Will be buying a laptop soon.. I just hope its not too heavy for me to carry around. :-s

In other news, my hair has been growing at a steady rate. And I have been under house arrest because of growing cases of sunstroke around our area. So mom is being overly cautious. And I am being forced to spend time watching TV and solving sudokus from old editions of Hindu and DC. At one point of time, I was frustrated enough to take up a copy of The Economic Times, but then better sense prevailed because the articles I chose to read hardly made any sense.

As usual, I've had trouble sleeping at nights and hence end up in front of the idiot box. They show quite a lot of crap on television.. never realised it before. Especially the Aap Ka Surrooor trailers! The recent trailer seems to be depicting the Indian autorikshaw-wallahs as superheroes. It is hilarious.. the trailer, in the wrong sense. And I cant wait for the movie to release. Imagine the kind of fun you can have watching the movie in theaters! :D

Have been listening to quite a lot of movie sound tracks. Aakhri Alvida by Strings and mp3 title tracks are impressive. Adnan Sami has come up with a new album as well with typical Adnan songs. The videos are decent and for a change Adnan is not occupying more than half of the screen. Otherwise it tends to become gross especially when the 29 inch TV screen is covered with a fat man dressed in Hawaiian shirts. The Cheeni Kum trailer is also nice! :D

So IIM-K has replied asking me to undergo medical tests and send them a medical certificate saying I am fine, physically and mentally to take up the PGDM course. I'll be leaving Hyderabad on June 13th, report at the campus on 14th. But before I get to go to K, I'll be making a trip to Chennai for my cousin's marriage. So I need to request mom to draw the family tree so that I can at least have a vague idea which uncle/aunt of mine I am talking to. Painful!

In other news, India managed to draw the test match against Bangladesh. Sachin and Saurav scored centuries and are back to "form". I am yet to receive bumps for getting into K. I will be vacating my room soon. And I guess thats it. Life has been a drag lately except for the spate of mails that we witnessed from ug4GN. Thank you IV for taking the initiative :D I'll be missing IIIT.. :(

Quote of the day:

When I was younger I had 2 imaginary friends.. problem was, they'd only play with each other.

PS1: This post itself resembles a PS post. So I dont think I'll be writing any PS-es.
PS2: On second thoughts, I think writing PS-es are fun.. :D
PS3: Watched Initial D -First Stage anime on Animax. Decent plot. Bad animation though.
PS4: Jaffer has hit a century after bagging a pair. Guess he is also back to "form"
PS5: Hope to watch Shootout at Lokhandwala soon.
PS6: Bored. Someone scrap me! Plea of a desperate man.
PS7: Hardly received any comments on the last short story. I guess only sad stories make a good read. hmm...

The Fugitive

2007-05-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

He was a man on the run for the past 2 days. He was running.. running away from people; his responsibilities; his past . He was running in search of a new life hoping that he could save himself from those who were chasing him. They were dangerous people - people who were very influential; who could make the townsfolk dance to their tunes.

He stumbled but managed to regain his balance. His thoughts were all muddled up as his past flashed across his mind. His parents; his friend; his love - Susie. He shed a tear as he recalled her; the guilt was eating him up from the inside and was becoming too hard to bear. But this was the price he had to pay to get back his freedom; the freedom to start his life from the scratch.

He was very clever. He knew that they would come looking for him with dogs hoping that they could track his scent. Keeping them in mind, he had rolled in mud to put them off. A smirk appeared on his face when he thought of the clueless dogs losing his scent all of a sudden. Ha!

He ran harder. He had already made plans for his future.. the new future. He wanted to settle in Mexico. He had always liked the Mexicans - very friendly people who lived a carefree life. And Mexican cuisine had always been his favourite. Yes, Mexico it had to be.

He was told by many about a man who lived near Las Vegas; who could make false passports and driving licenses. But he'd look out of place and suspicious if he were to go to him. No, passports can wait, he told himself. Just when he was piecing up his almost picture-perfect future, a voice yelled "Calvin young man, you come back here right now and finish your homework or I swear you'll be grounded for rest of your life!"

He froze. His past had caught up with him. He knew he could not evade it forever as the weekend homework lay in his room. Unfinished. In spite of knowing the answer, Calvin turned to Hobbes and asked, "Are you sure we cannot divorce our parents?" As he trudged back to his room, his mom yelled at him for his dirty clothes. But he knew that deep down in his heart - he was one of them. He was a fugitive.

Perfect Lover tag..

2007-05-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

Yeah.. so long long ago I was tagged by Ms.Teal for this perfect lover tag. And finally I have found time, patience and enough boredom to blog about my perfect lover. So here are the rules:

1. The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different points of their perfect lover.
2. Need to mention the sex of the target.
3. Tag 8 victims to join this game & leave a comment on their comments saying they’ve been
tagged.
4. If tagged the 2nd time, there’s no need to post again.

If my parents were to do this tag for me, this is how it would look:
WANTED: A tall, fair, beautiful looking girl aged 24-26. Must be a Tamilian Iyengar of the vadagala sect. (Dont ask me what it is.. I dont know either) Must have good values and morals.. blah blah blah blah.. (My imagination seems to have deserted me. And it sounds rather boring. So I shall stop)

Moving on to the tag, I need to mention 8 points.

1. She needs to respect my parents. And all elders. She should get along well with everyone - friends and relatives.
2. She needs to know cooking. And she needs to know it well! This is very very important. Otherwise god knows what will happen to me. Probably Maggi se kaam chala loonga.. hmm..
3. She needs to have a sense of humour. And by sense of humour, any kind is fine.. be it dry, childish, subtle, obsolete or whatever.. I cant remember all the different types of humour they ask you to fill in the orkut profile.. phew! And she should get my jokes. I should not be in a posiiton to explain the funda behind them. People of that kind do exist, believe me!
4. She should be loving and caring. She needs to stand by me and support me in whatever I do. She also should be knowledgeable.
5. And before I forget, she needs to love kids! And I dont mean love-having-kids, just love kids. I dont know why but I guess it would be fun to have such a girl.
6. She should love talking. Now that isnt something demanding, is it? And she should also be a good listener. That would be fun. If either of us get bored, we could sit and talk! But that would mean both would be jobless.. shit!
7. She should love cleaning but shouldn't be a cleanliness freak. aahhh.. what a great combo! :D She also needs to know dancing. As long as she can dance better than me, its fine. And believe me, I am no Hrithik Roshan. Dancing is something which needs to be learnt in chidlhood. Just like walking, speaking and lying. I want my kids to be decent dancers and they aint getting any dancing genes from me.. but she should not dance too well. Inferiority complex.. ever heard of it?
8. On a side note, she needs to be sufficiently tall - Not 4-5 foot. She needs to be younger than me; fairly fair - not pale though. Domestic abuse is a strict no-no. With women learning karate and taekwondos, I guess I need to mention this explicitly. I dont want to end up with someone like Joey's girlfriend. The one who punches him, remember? No drinking smoking as well.. kaisa zamaana aa gaya.. should be honest as well. Thats important. And English should be the primary language of communication. Or probably Hindi. I'm not very good at other languages - be it Tamil, Telugu, Marathi or probably Malayalam. And I guess that's it. Apparently I am nitpicky.. hmm.. This is the problem with the perfect tag!

So what does she get in return? Here's the deal.

1. Of course I'd also respect her parents. I guess.. :-s :P :D
2. Well, I can also learn cooking to a certain extent. I dont really mind cooking. Its fun when done occasionally. Believe me.. :D
3. I'd like to believe I have a decent sense of humour.
4. And since she loves cleaning, I'll do the dirtying part and keep her happy. My, oh my.. am I considerate or what?! :P
5. I can talk for hours and hours. On quite a lot of things. And most of the times its entertaining - except for once during my K interview when I managed to put one of the interviewers to sleep. I was talking about the Turing machine then. The other interviewer was busy chuckling under his breath.
6. I do act kiddish now and then but since she loves kids I guess its not an issue at all! :P
7. I am a strong believer in playing pranks. And giving surprises. I just love those Kodak moments! :D So I suppose life will be exciting together.
8. Ok, I need to be leaving now since its time to go home and eat ice cream!! :D My kiddish genes are acting up, I guess.. :-<

Quote of the day:

Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.

PS1: Life has been boring lately. No mood to write PS-es. No time also..
PS2: Sorry for the delay, Tealie.
PS3: I am finally joining an IIM! :D
PS4: Marriage is not full of compromises.. its full of sacrifices. Heard it somewhere but cant place it.. :-?
PS5: I am still waiting for your criticism, mythalez! :D

Short story - I

2007-05-09T01:14:00.000-07:00

And then she laughed. He always loved that laugh of hers; made him forget all his sorrows. It felt like everything was right with the world. It took him 2 years to garner enough guts to tell her how much he loved her. He proposed to her on a full moon night and she accepted. And just when things were finally looking up, he was stationed at the borders.

She smiled and her eyes twinkled in mischief. He just wanted to prolong the moment but suddenly, he felt dizzy and things moved out of focus. He woke up with a jolt and found himself in a dark room; not a speck of daylight. He did not know where he was; he did not know for how long he lay there. The last thing he remembered was the grenade falling right in front of him. Yes, the grenade! He tried moving his hands and legs, and was relieved when he found out that he could move them; with some difficulty of course.

Sameer talpade belonged to the establishment of Rajputana rifles. He had been stationed near the borders as soon as the war had escalated. A week later, orders had been given to take over the enemy bunkers en route to Pt. 6785. And like his colleagues, he had mastered his fears. The nation came first, even before her. As he made inroads into the enemy territory, everything came back in a flash – the good times they spent, the tiffs they had and the stupid names they called each other with. And then fell the grenade; blacking him out.

After a lengthy contemplation, he concluded that he had been caught by them. He was now a PoW. He had to think hard; he had to think fast - so as to make good his escape before they returned. As he felt his way across the room, he could hear footsteps. He tried finding any sharp-edged metallic piece; just one slash near the throat – it would be quick, subtle and slightly messy. Suddenly the footsteps came to an abrupt halt. Did they spot his movement? Impossible! He was very good at stealth. And then he heard another set of footsteps. As he prepared himself to lunge out and get at least one of them before it was too late, he heard, “Sameer. I’m sorry to say, you’ve lost your vision. The grenade was very powerful and exploded very close to your eyes. They could not take it.” And then it seemed like the whole world came crashing around him. “Crying is good. It helps you get rid of fear and frustration”, she once quipped.

She had passed away a month ago in a car accident just before his orders arrived. But then he had been taught that the nation came first before everyone. And everyone included her.

As Sameer strained his eyes to cry, he realized that his tear glands had deserted him. He could sense the doctor standing right in front of him with a puzzled look. After what seemed a while, he asked, “Doctor, did we capture Pt. 6785?” He replied in affirmative. And then they needed no second invitation as tears started rolling down his cheeks. The harder he tried, the more uncontrollable his sobbing became. He muttered a thank-you to the doctor who replied, “You are very lucky to come out of it alive. Someone out there must be praying very hard for you”.

She was smiling again.. and laughing.

He called out, “Nurse, can you give me a shot of morphine?” as he prepared to go back to the world where he could see - where he could see what he wanted to see.

_____________________________________________

PS1: Brickbats and bouquets are welcome. Any suggestions to improve the story line are also welcome. Suggestions for the title of the story are also welcome.

PS2: Went for the informal IIM-K meet at CCD. Was fun. And interactive. The seniors seemed pretty cool and definitely non-geekish! K looks like a fun place to go.. :D Cant wait for 3rd week of June.. :D

PS3: Hard disk crashed!! At home and at room! My posts, short stories and lots of other stuff - vanished! :((

PS4: Still feeling senti about leaving IIIT. I guess that has been the general opinion throughout the batch.

The one with the batch trip

2007-05-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

And so finally, I get down to writing about the batch trip when all has been said and done about it already. Anyhoo, we started on 17th April and made our way to Nampally from where we boarded the train. Since we did not have enough berths reserved, we ended up with a 3:1 ratio. Just like the students:PC ratio in IIIT.. :)) We took turns sleeping while the others chatted among themselves. And by night, we had enough berths reserved. In fact, I got a whole upper berth! woo-hoo!! :D

The next day morning, we arrived at Delhi. We got awesome rooms. AC.. big beds.. AC.. nice bathrooms.. AC!! A freezer.. and of course AC. Food offered was also very decent. Simple, yet decent. Then we started on a small tour around the city. Saw all those important political and historical stuff.. you know Parliament, Rashtrapati bhavan, Qutb minar, India Gate and Karol Bagh. We visited the Lotus temple as well, and outside Lotus temple almost the whole batch bought the Rs.10 goggles which were being sold outside the temple premises. Here you can see yours truly posing with all the goggles he can wear at a time trying to pass himself off as a salesman. (I demanded the pic be taken before they could arrange any more glasses.. :( )

The next day we started our arduous journey to Chandigarh which took us 8 hours by bus. Now chandigarh is the most beautiful city I've ever seen. And no, I am not exaggerating. No puns intended either. It is by far, the cleanest and most organized city I've ever come across. And as I said earlier, the city is beautiful in every sense ;) And they've got some of the best mango juice makers.. :D The Chandigarh rooms were decent as well. And we went for boating!! It was fun and exciting boating with friends.. :) We also went to some rock garden. Very informational it was. And boring.

The next day morning we started for Kullu Manali - our main destination. We had no idea it would take us 15 hours to reach there! But the journey was a roller coaster ride. We took breaks, shot a few snaps, and enjoyed the natural beauty the mountains had to offer. Did you know that the water was ice-cool even at noon? They called it spring water or something of that sort. Then finally we reached Manali at 10 PM. The dogs in Manali are very strong. And furry. Each one looked like a hound. Scary.. :-s

So finally we reached Manali.. the rooms were awesome! Not a single room had a fan but the room temperature was quite low. They provided us with quite a few rugs to keep us warm. The next morning we took off for snow point which is en route to Rohtang pass. And for most of us, it was the first time we saw snow. It was by far, the most memorable part of the batch trip. The mountains almost seemed to touch the sky. I guess I am running out of words to describe the experience. It was worth taking all the pains. So at snow-point, we saw quite a few yaks. Here in the pic, you can see Tipo playing the cupid between the lovely yak couple.

We all got turns to try skiing. I, for one, was as good at snow as I am on land. Clumsy. And before I forget, there is nothing better than eating steaming Maggi when you're freezing to death.. :D We then went on tyre rides where you get to slide down a 30 feet slope on a tyre! Its primitive, but its exhilarating! :D Tyre rides were fun. Soon, our feet had become numb. I guess it was the snow some of which had managed to make their way into our shoes. So as we sat there, with our shoes and socks removed, our naked feet resting on the warm rocks.. it just felt great! :D

On our way back from snow point, we stopped near a waterfall - Krrish shooting was rumoured to have taken place there - to have our lunch. It was chiller than snow point thanks to the cold winds fluttering across the plains. But it was a great place to stop. Lunch was once again pretty decent. We took quite a few snaps beside the waterfall but I am going to stop putting any more pics because firefox is acting up.

That night we had a bonfire set up. Songs blasted on the speakers as everyone let their hair down. (I know I dont have much hair, but thats just an expression!! Nitpicks!!) Thankfully none of the video cameras caught the author shaking his leg. But my leg got stomped upon quite a few times as I tried to gingerly avoid the over zealous dancers. At the end of the day, I had been stomped 22 times - highest scorers being Sairaj and T3. (For the next 2 days, I had difficulty walking as I my toes ached. )

The next day was somewhat forgettable. So moving on, we finally made it to Agra - our last stop. Watched the Agra fort, ogled at the foreigners, took snaps with monkeys and then ogled more at the foreigners. Then we moved on to THE Taj Mahal. But somehow I guess you need to be in love to really appreciate the structure because I didn't really see what the big deal was! :P And then I saw a phirangi couple with tears streaming down their cheeks as they kept staring at the monument. And I was trying my level best to suppress a giggle and ended up chuckling a lot. Thankfully the place was crowded enough.. #:-s

So that was that. Our return journey to Hyderabad was uneventful. Did quite a bit of shopping. I recently discovered my love for shopping.. or rather bargaining.. :D Especially be it the peta shop or the jerk-ins, my friends dragged me along for some bargaining.. :D Its fun.. bargaining.

Some of the memorable moments..
ITEM Raja B.Tech Honors.. hu ha hu ha.. :D
NPK and the ladies toilet scam
Batchu and his little strip tease.. :))
Cards!! Least count.. bluff.. rummy! :D
Bargaining! A guy quoted a jerkin's price as 750 and 5 minutes later he was running behind us begging us to buy it at 300! :D
The bottle fights in the bus! Poor Raja.. :D

PS1: Peta doesnt stand for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Its a world famous sweet in Agra.. ;) that's how the salesman marketed it!
PS2: The mineral water bottling industry made a huge profit during our batch trip.
PS3: I finally decided to upload pics in orkut.
PS4: And my IIM results are out. I got into IIM-K. Yes, I am slightly disappointed, but on hindsight what would I do after going to A!?! :D And for the kind of preparation I did, I really doubt whether I deserve IIM-K.. :))
Ps5: Relieved that the results are out. Am yet to get out of the relief stage..
PS6: Everyone else performed pretty well. 4 of them are into A.. which is cool! :D
PS7: People have started leaving the campus. Right now my wing wears a deserted look. Wonder what I am doing here still.. :(
PS8: The book kiterunner is the most asimov (awesome) book I've read in a loong time. Thank you Geetha and Sameera for suggesting the book. Its a must read.. MUST read.. go read it.. Its available in the library! :D
PS9: I am done with a short story. Need more polishing. Finished it in an hour! Surprisingly.. probably the next post will be a short story.

The farewell post..

2007-04-17T04:14:00.000-07:00

This farewell post comes with a special, sentimental below-par short story and an inside view of what went wrong with the author as the foot-in-mouth disease strikes again.

So finally we're done with our farewell. And like any other fellow batchmate, I'm finding it real hard to believe that we'd be leaving this place pretty soon. Farewell was nice with good food (although we'd have loved to eat first). Nice speeches by IV and Mangla kept me awake. (FYI I've slept for only 3 hours since Sunday morning 6:00 AM) The entertainment part was also well thought of, with the opening act by our very own Zulu. And the best thing was, we gave him a standing ovation! He seriously deserves it although I hate compilers which might be quite evident from some of my primitive posts :D

Anyhoo we then started gorging on the leftovers and moved on to the informals session. By now I was becoming grouchier. However all the shouting helped me stay normal until my name was called out for the "Uchit award for the coolest one" But cool that I am, I did not press the panic button yet.. :P And then they called me on to give the speech. I thought I was supposed to give the speech at the very end of the program and so had prepared a sentimental speech. But none of the guys were ready to handle any sentimental crap and so I decided not to dish out the senti, mushy stuff. In fact I am glad I did not end up like Aditya/Goyal :P

So moving on to my short story.. I guess I've built up enough suspense.. :D

Bidding adieu

It was time. As he tried restraining himself from crying, he couldn’t help letting a few tears flow down his cheeks. There was a time when she had made life hell for him - especially the last minute assignment deadlines. Fassttt, she’d scream. But right now all he could remember was the good times they spent together, the fun he had when he was around her, all the new people he got to meet because of her and the night-outs they spent trying to compensate for the sleeping hours in the early morning classes.

As some more tears managed to break free from his eyes, he found it tougher coming to terms with the reality. He wanted to go back into the past. Not because he was unhappy with the present but because he wanted to go through it again. He did not mind the pain and suffering because in the last 4 years, she had made a man out of him. He could never forget her – he could never forget IIIT and how in turn, she had become an integral part of him. Forever.

PS: Now THAT is a short story :D
PS1: I am senti.. I need sleep. Period.
PS2: Travel plans hang by a thread. All 90 odd of us have to travel on RACs all the way to Delhi. Now that's going to be one fun-ride. Especially after having done a nightout now.. I am sleepyyy.
PS3: Results are going to be out on 21st April. And we reach Kullu manali on 21st. I am going to be "comfortably numb". (Assuming I convert)
PS4: meow meow poonakutti.. :D
PS5: I need sleep. Time to start for the batch trip. Adios people. And wish me luck for my IIM results! :D
PS6: IIM-A.. here I come.. :D

The one with the lethal milk shake

2007-04-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

And so we decided to go out to eat. Again. This time around since none of us wanted to travel too much, we decided on Punjab Rasoi (Gachibowli crossroads) And once we were done with our dinner, Mr.D and I were in no mood to pack up and so we ordered two harmless, chocolate milk shakes with ice cream. And after what seemed ages, we were given two harmless, chocolate milk shakes with ice cream. Or so it seemed! Because as I continued drinking my harmless, chocolate milk shake with ice cream, I found a piece of glass in my not-so-harmless-anymore, chocolate milk shake with ice cream!

Now no one messes with my food, especially milk shakes! I was pissed that I found the glass piece before I could finish my milk shake. I had not realized the gravity of the situation then. But after sufficiently provoked by others, we decided to screw the staff. We asked for the staff-manager and once he prostrated before us, we blasted him properly. We were hoping that he'd argue or at least defend himself so that we could have a gala time screwing him more but instead he accepted that he was at fault. It was as if we had hit a dead end.

But the others were in no mood to give up already. We took the fight to the hotel manager blaming them for such irresponsible, unprofessional attitude. Now before we move on with the story, I was under the impression that we were supposed to create a scene and get out without paying a single penny. Coming back to the story, we had already started creating a scene with the other customers giving us curious glances. (At first I thought it was the haircut. But come on now.. its not THAT weird!)

Soon, the manager started eyeing us with fear and came straight to the point. He agreed to let us go without paying any money. And just when I thought that we had accomplished our mission, Mr.N says "Money is not the matter. Do you think we want to eat for free? No no.. we'll pay the bill. Money is not the matter here." And then I went blank. It was as if I had woken up after a 3 month coma. Money was not the matter? What was he thinking?! By now all of us had gone blank. Including the manager. Because now he did not know what we wanted. We ourselves did not know why we were still arguing with him. Finally we ended up paying him the total bill minus the cost of two harmless, chocolate milk shakes with ice cream like good samaritans. So near.. yet so far! :(

Quote of the day:

Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.

PS1: I'm going through the most horrid phase of insomnia that every insomniac fears. The phase where you cant sleep even in classes.
PS2: I tire myself to exhaustion. I overeat. I go to library to induce sleep. But nothing seems to work! Now how frustrating is that..
PS3: Damn the OBC quota rule. Now even the IIM results are postponed!
PS4: People, pay the batch trip money. And the t-shirt money.
PS5: It rained today! And we played rugby in the lawn. It was fun getting drenched in the rain. I cant remember the last time I got drenched in rains.. Such a great feeling! :D
PS6: Got drenched again while going out to eat. I was wearing a full shirt and chinos! Now how worse can it get? Yeah.. if I had worn jeans.. phew! But still, getting drenched.. such a disgusting feeling.. >:P
PS7: Yeah.. I am self-contradictory.
PS8: One testimonial still pending. Do I love playing mind games or what!? :P I can hear Mr.Abbulu swearing at someone.. I wonder who.. hmm.. :-?
PS9: Spam people.. SPAM!!
PS10: Watched deja vu. Found it rather dry in the first hour. And then it seemed interesting. A decent movie on the whole. Not to mention, a happy ending.
PS11: Who is going to explain me globalization?
PS12: ManU-AS Roma 7-1!! Unbelievable! Are we looking at another repeat performance of 99.. :D

blah

2007-04-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

Spot 5 differences and win exciting prizes! Please SMS JOBLESS "your answers" to 8778.

Moving on to something totally unrelated, finally I went for a hair cut. And I dont regret it. Of course I do weigh a few hundred grams lesser now, but then I guess it was worth it. No wonder I've been feeling light-headed lately.

So finally ug2k3 performed again in Amalgam - now known as Splash. We gave quite a terrific performance. And as expected, Inam's dance and speeches from Bushi and IV proved to be crowd-pullers. T3 took care of the hip-hop quotient. At the end of the day, we as ug4, fulfilled our responsibility of setting high standards for the coming years. Overall quite a nice and satisfying experience.

Tried writing a couple of short stories but somehow I am not very satisfied with my effort. So wont be posting the stories. I just am not able to put to words what I have in mind. I guess I need to get back to reading - full time.

Went to attend a friend's engagement at Green Park. Nice decent food. Nice company. Had lots of fun pulling legs.

And the farewell got postponed again! This time to 16th of April. And we finally got our batch T shirts made which in itself is a big achievement considering the notorious reputation our batch has. The yearbook deadline has also been postponed.

Have been playing cricket early in the morning. Its fun! WC without India is so boring. Speaking of boring stuff, exams have begun. And as is the tradition, people have been getting quite bored.
But there are a few specimen who are putting their heart and soul towards preparation. Frustrated souls! :P BTW what in the name of holy cow is a Jayanth quantiser?

I just cant wait for my IIM results. Although I am quite optimistic of making it to A, somewhere deep down in my heart I am not very confident of getting through. Is this what they call last minute jitters? Lets hope not. Quite a few have been getting their university results as well. Tipo has got his first admit. Fauji and Goyal got theirs quite some time back. And of course even our director, YarG has got an admit into Arizona university. Hopefully some more make it through.

Quote of the day:

You justify your existence by being sarcastic. That is what all people think about you.

- V.V. Harish Baba's comments on me.. :D

PS1: Summer is unbearable.
PS2: Need to blog more often.
PS3: I'm done writing everyone's testimonials except for one. I am getting good at this.. :D
PS4: Get this feeling that somehow there is very little bonding in our batch. I guess most of them are yet to realize that they'll be leaving everything behind soon.
PS5: Hajime no Ippo has become one of my all-time favourites. I recommend it to one and all! :D
PS6: This is the end!

IIM - C : The one with the blog..

2007-03-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

And so the final installment of the IIM interviews is here. The C interview. From the very beginning I gave myself a good chance of making it to C because of the following reasons:
1. They do not give weightage to your academic record. Other IIMs do.
2. Of all the other IIMs, they are rumoured to give maximum weightage to the CAT score (something around 70% for a fresher) And your's truly managed a 99.89 percentile!!
3. My instincts said I'd get C hands-down.

Anyhoo, the panel consisted of 3 interviewers. Two of them were supposed to be faculty and the third an alumnus of IIM-C. P1, P2 and P3 are the interviewers. I do have a vague idea as to who was the alumnus guy but as most of you who attended the Splash must be knowing, "We stand for the truth.. ONLY the truth!" :P

P1 came outside and called me in. I entered the room to see the interviewers engrossed in a discussion. Couldn't overhear anything substantial. They asked me to take my seat and I thanked them in return.

P1: Good afternoon Mr. Srinivasan. How are you doing?
Me: I am doing great sir. Thank you.
P2: Good. Now tell me about yourself.
Me: blah blah..
P1: So your dad works in a bank. So you must be knowing quite a bit about the Indian Banking Industry.
Me: *oops.. wrong footed start.. Red Alert red alert!* hehe.. No sir. I wouldnt call myself very knowledgeable when it comes to the banking industry.
P1: Why? Your dad never talks about work with you?
Me: No sir. That's not it. There was a time when I wanted to get into the banking industry. When I was very young. However my dad said I was not suited to be in the banking industry.
P2: Do you mean that he found you unfit to get into the banking industry?
Me: No sir, I dont think he meant that. And possibly he made the statement in jest or a fit of frustration. And me not being suited for the banking industry was his personal comment and not my opinion.
P1: Ohh.. ok. So if not banking industry what are you good at?
Me: *assumed he was asking me in what field I was knowledgeable* Sir, cricket.
P3: What? You're good at cricket?
Me: *grins* No sir. I follow cricket passionately.
P3: I dont. So apart from cricket do you follow anything else passionately?
Me: *Tell orkutting.. tell orkutting. Oh will you shut up for heaven's sake!* Sir, I do blog quite often. I think I am a decent blogger. Apart from that..
P1: Ohh.. so you blog. What do you blog about?
Me: *tell IIM interviews. I want to see the look on his face! Will you shut up for heaven's sake!* err.. Cricket.
P3: Again cricket? *chuckles*
Me: *tell it goddammit!* IIM interviews? Philosophy.. personal experiences..
P2: IIM interviews? How many IIM interviews have you attended so far?
Me: *gulp* Four sir.
P1: Ohh.. so this interview also is going to be blogged about?
Me: *ohh yeah.. ab aaya na line mein* Possibly sir.. :D
P1: Then tell me the address of your blog.
Me: *Its url he's asking. Anyways just check* Sir, you mean the url?
P1: Yeah yeah
Me: *tells the url. Readers are also advised to take a look at the url*
P1: Ok.. We'll read your blog. That also will be included in your evaluation! Ok?
Me: *shit. I need to edit the posts. I've written something bad about the IIM-K professor! #-o* Sure sir.. :D
P1: Prodigal? Why do you think you're the prodigal iiitian?
Me: *Because every other url was blocked and I had this sudden flash of creativity* err.. Actually sir *Voila.. found the reason! My mind works faster than a computer when it comes to cooking up answers!* I think I am the prodigal iiitian because I've never utilized my full potential or say capability.. I've never had to use it. In other words, I think my best is yet to come! *And thats a home run!*
P1: Why do you think you've not put in your best effort?
Me: *Oh no its not a home run! :( * Well.. hmm..
P1: I meant something must have kept you from achieving your best. What is it?
Me: Sir. Possibly lack of competition or the urge to better oneself.. hmm.. In some cases it has been changing priorities.. err.
P2: Fine. So you must have blogged about your interviews. So you'll have a fair idea as to what we're going to ask you in the interview, right?
Me: Sir, it is my opinion that every interview is unique in its own way. Especially the IIM interviews. No two interviews can be same.. or for that matter of fact, even remotely similar.
P2: No, I meant a few questions might have reappeared in every interview, right?
Me: Yes, sir.
P2: So, can you tell us the 3 questions which have been asked to you by almost all IIMs? Something like frequently asked questions. FAQs!
Me: hmm.. One question which has been asked quite often has been the tell-me-about-yourself question.
P3: Yeah.. that's a standard question. Next.
Me: Apart from that I've been quizzed upon why my institute is the International Institute of Information Technology unlike the other IIITs which have Indian in their names.
P2: Oh.. ok. And the third one?
Me: hmm.. :-s *sheepishly* well.. they've been asking me why I've performed so averagely in my academics.
P1: *guffaws*
P2: What? what?
P1: *Tells the reason*
P1: So now tell me Srinivasan. Shall I ask you the FAQs or some totally unrelated questions?
Me: *Jackpot!! $$$$ It cant be so easy. Come on!* Sir, I dont think I should be in a position to decide which questions you ask me. But I dont mind the FAQs either. It's your call, Sir.
P1: Aah.. ok. This is what I am gonna do then. I'll ask you FAQs and some outside questions. 50-50. Ok?
Me: Fine sir.
P1: So tell me srinivasan, why did you perform averagely in academics? *starts laughing and points his finger in aha-I-gotcha mode*
Me: *wow.. one jovial professor he is! Nice.. :D Tells the reason*
P2: hmm.. But you said you live in Hyderabad. Why did you not go home?
Me: Sir, hostel accomodation is compulsory. Just like the IITs.
P1: Ohh.. ok. So tell me what is the growth rate of the agricultural and manufacturing industry?
Me: *hain?* Sir I am not very sure. But I think it is somewhere around 2.5 percent.
P1: 2.5? /:) Think and answer.
Me: I am not sure sir. I think its 2.5 err.. 4.5?
P1: Take a guess.
Me: 4% sir.
P1: And what is the growth rate of the manufacturing sector. I am asking you the growth rate and not anything else. You know what growth rate is, dont you?
Me: Yes sir. Growth rate.. hmm. I cannot recall it although I did come across it in a newspaper article.
P1: Take a guess. Is it 10%? 12%? 17%?
P3: Or 50%?
Me: No sir. Its not 50%. hmm..
P1: Take a guess!
Me: Probably 17%..
P1: Ok. Now whatever the growth rates are, there is a huge difference between the two growth rates. Right?
Me: yes sir.
P1: Why is it so?
Me: *thinks for a while* I think it is because of the overwhelming presence of private players in the manufacturing sector which tilts the favour..
P2: You think there are no private players in the agricultural industry?
Me: *oops!* err..
P2: Do you think the government of India.. or for that matter of fact the government of Andhra comes and tills the land? Tell me.
Me: Sir, I did not mean that. I guess it just slipped my mind. What I meant was the amount of investment..
P2: No you tell me first. Do you think there are no private players in agricultural industry?
Me: No sir. I was wrong. There are private players in agricultural as well as manufacturing industry. What I intended to convey was the amount of investment that flows into the respective fields..
P2: Yes. Now he accepts his mistake. So if investment comes in, then you can work on a larger scale and provide better quality which in turn leads to a bigger turnover which leads to a greater growth rate. Right?
Me: Yes sir. I intended to come to this explanation at the end.
P2: So you should explain it so clearly.
Me: Yes sir. I guess I was a bit too verbose.
P2: Yes!
P1: You must be thinking why is this person being so mean.. right?
Me: No sir. I think he is just trying to test how I think under stress. In fact my L interview was on the same lines.
P1: Ohh.. how was it?
Me: Sir, the interview was very intense. Questions came flying at a great speed. I had little time to think and answer. I guess that was the whole motive behind conducting such an interview.. to see how I react under pressure.. how I take stress.
P2: hmm.. anything else?
P3: Speaking of mean people, why do we have 3 means.. arithmetic mean geometric mean and harmonic mean? We can as well have one average.. a+b/2
Me: Sir, because they have different applications.
P2: Who has different applications? Which companies?
Me: Sir, by they I meant AM GM and HM have different applications.
P2: ho ho ho.. okk
Me: *Is it Christmas already?*
P3: So what are the applications of the 3 means?
Me: *Dammit.. however hard I try to avoid it, it keeps coming back!* Sir, I am sorry but I am not aware of it.. the applications. *Looks at P2 with a twinkle in the eye*

They exchange stares. Then they decide to put me out of misery.
P1: Ok Srinivasan. You may leave now. Just keep the door open
Me: Thank you sir.

I come out and people are like.. OVER? Already? You've been in there only for 12 minutes. I am like WHAT THE ****? Anyways so that was that. No one was asked any academics questions. At least none from our panel.

So after a gruelling month and half, I am done with all my IIM interviews! Hope I get into A.. [-o< I dont mind C either.. but I want to make it to A. Sudden urge.. dunno why! hmm..

Quote of the day:

All those who believe in psychokinesis.. Raise my hand!

PS1: Halley is back to blogging. Batch T-shirt looks good. And we rocked in Splash! Alright!! :D
PS2: Monday was one of the very few days when I've been very proud to be from ug2k3! :D ug2k3 rocks!
PS3: Yes, I got my hair cut and I do look funny. When you come to think of it, being a standup comedian isn't such a bad idea.. :D
PS4: The quote happens to be status message of Chandrachud who incidentally is a senior. Just trying to aknowledge the source.. Its pretty nice.. the quote! :D
PS5: And so the countdown starts. Final days at IIIT.. :(
PS6: Have been trying to compile a list of things-to-do-before-leaving-IIIT but I might be too late.. :-s
PS7: Avatar is good. Both season 1 and 2. Baba's making a big deal of getting drunk.. wonder why! :D ;)
PS8: Farewell around the corner.. *senti* Might come up with a senti post soon. MIGHT!
PS9: My friend Sivachandra is getting married. Congrats to him. Happy married life! Finally I'm invited to a wedding where my relatives wont pinch my non existent cheeks and ask me about my lineage.
PS10: ASR is bugging me for proxies! enna kodumai daa saami!! :((

Requiem for Team India

2007-03-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

And so it ends.. Of course, I've got people on my gtalk list with status messages like "Come on Bermuda, you can do it!" And I used to think I was the optimist! :D (There are people from the other end of the spectrum with their status messages like "Chappel and the BCCI heads should be murdered.") But one very important point we all are missing here is this:

Bangladesh is not team India..
Hence Bangladesh cannot lose to ANY team!

Now we all know how the Indian team works. I have been one of the most faithful fans of Indian cricket. And I still believe that India can win against any team; even Australia! And it goes without saying that India can lose to any team; even Bangladesh. Last WC was one of the most memorable world cups I've ever witnessed. (FYI I've witnessed 5 of them including the present edition) Everything went according to the script except the grand finale. This time around what I hoped could have been a fitting farewell to Sachin's illustrious career turned out to be a damp squib. And the icing on the cake - we're eliminated in the first round! Can't believe how France would have felt after they were eliminated by Senegal in FIFA WC 2002.

So where does this defeat leave the Indian cricket team now? In Trinidad! (It's a joke. The homes of the cricketers might not be standing over the weekend after the early exit. GET IT? aahh.. how I hate explaining my jokes) On a more serious note, I dont think we have a reason to be majorly disappointed. Yes, we've been knocked out. And this was a very hyped WC what with the experts telling how any team making it to the Super 8s had a chance of winning the coveted trophy. A billion hopes were pinned on a 15 man squad but then we have always been, as the records suggest, slow starters. And this WC did not give scope for us to get into the groove or as they say "adapt to the conditions" There is no reason to fret and fume and start burning their effigies. We've got better things to do - like burning err.. not their homes.. we've got politicians! Instead we, as true cricket fans (No Rakesh, I aint talking about you) need to take this defeat in our stride.

We cannot deny the fact that the Lankans played better cricket. Of course their batsmen were lucky not to lose their wickets to beautiful deliveries from Zaheer and co. And their bowlers were luckier to get wickets of bad deliveries! But Muralitharan's ploy of going around the wicket was brilliant. It was totally unexpected and the batsmen were left guessing. I think it was his secret weapon which he did not reveal in the earlier stages of the tournament thus catching us off guard. And the Lankans fielded like their lives were at stake. The passion or the fire in the belly, as one of my friends might choose to call, was missing in us. And finally the attitude and the mindset made a huge difference! I think the following paragraph taken from cricinfo speaks about the Lankan attitude.

Their captain Mahela Jayawardene also talked the talk. "Bangladesh did not meekly surrender to us," he asserted after Wednesday's wholesome victory, "we made them surrender." And if India "showed us a few things when we were in India, it is now our turn to show them." Few things excite the smaller nations of the sub-continent than slaying the big beast.

The only time I've cried was in 1999 - India vs Pakistan test match at Chepauk, Chennai. It was the match in which we faltered at the last hurdle in spite of Sachin's fighting century. But yesterday's defeat was much more shameful and tame. We deserved to exit in the first round.

This - my 100th post - is a requiem for team India.

PS1: Lets hope that we put up a better performance in the coming twenty-twenty WC which could possibly act as a redemption for the success-hungry cricket fans.
PS2: Footboarding on MMTS is unbelievably awesome! :D
PS3: SA get a pasting from the Aussies. I am rooting for SA since they've never won the WC before! :D
PS4: I hope Sachin is around for the next WC.. :(
PS5: I could hear my dad shout "Rascal!" when dada got out. Telepathic, huh?
PS6: Yes, we tamilians prefer rascal to other expletives. I wonder why.. :-??
PS7: Avatar is good. Chobits is decent.
PS8: When the whole IIIT is busy doing research and development, ug4 shall rehearse for the play! :P :D
PS9: Somebody gonna miss IIIT real bad.. :(
PS10: Rumours say some sardar mistook Bob Woolmer for Greg Chappel and strangled him to death :P
PS11: Ok. That was very insensitive of me.. :( But it was funny! Right? :D
PS12: I've lost 2.5 kilos over the past week. Guess my heavy heart isn't heavy anymore! ;))
PS13: "Pawar also cancelled a yacht party that he had planned to give the Indian team on April 3 in anticipation of their entry into the Super Eight stage." lollzz.. :D [Courtesy: cricinfo]
PS14: Next post might possibly be on my IIM-C interview.

THE IIM-A interview

2007-03-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

And here comes the third installment of the IIM interview series - my IIM-Ahmedabad interview. This was on March 7th. Nice sunny day it was. Anyways coming to the GD, it was very ordinary. The topic given was a case-study and we all had to write a summary at the end of it. I couldn't finish writing the summary in the allotted time. Then moving on to the personal interview, this time around we had a panel of 3. If I'm not wrong, one of them is from the industry or an alumnus and the other two faculty from IIM-A.

P1: A formal and sophisticated looking guy.
P2: Somewhat sporting and cool. Dressed in casuals.
P3: Dark guy with a French beard.

As I entered, one of the hotel staff was bringing in lemonades.
Before I completely drift from the topic, they asked me take my seat and as usual I wished them with my loud, somewhat cheerful customary "Good afternoon sir". They seemed to be in good spirits.
P1: Srinivasan. Srinivasan.S. huh?
Me: Yes, sir.
P2: Ohh Srinivasan. How tall are you?
Me: I am 6 feet tall, Sir.
P2: Just 6 feet?
Me: Yes sir.
P2: Exact? Because you seem taller.
Me: Thank you sir. (Didn't know what to tell.. :-??)
P2: Are you still growing Srinivasan?
(Now everyone starts laughing as if it is some inside joke.. I was slightly irritated but then was quick to retaliate once the laughter died down)
Me: Sir, I took a conscious decision to stop growing a couple of years ago.
(Now they were laughing louder and I also joined in.. :D)
P1: Ok, Srinivasan. So you must be doing your final year project. Can you explain it to us now?
Me: Sure, sir. Our final year project was based on he principle of..
P2: *interrupts* Dont mind if I interrupt but what do you mean by "was based on". You've stopped doing your final year project? *chuckles*
Me: No sir. Our director was of the opinion that students tend to slack off on the FYP front once they get placed. So he got it advanced by one semester so that people end up finishing their final year project.
P2: aahh.. nice! Please carry on.
[Explained the project. They asked me a few doubts and I answered them satisfactorily. Then they asked me to encrypt a C-program into another C program. And then some technical stuff followed which ended up with me confessing that I could not recollect the algorithm. They were fine with it.]
P1: Ok. fine. Can you tell us about your areas of interest?
Me: Sir, I am particularly interested in Cognitive Science. *explained what it was*
P1: *Not very impressed* So what other subjects interest you?
P2: You've done Linear Programming! Do you mind me asking you questions in it? *He was looking at my 7th semester projects*
Me: err.. I am not very comfortable with Linear Programming as a subject but I dont mind you asking me questions in it.
P2: Ok fine.. if you're not comfortable with it, then I wont ask you. Tell me any subject which you're comfortable with so that I can ask you questions on it. Maths - I?
Me: *NO WAY* hmm.. well..
P1: You must have some core computer science subject in which you're interested. Right?
Me: *yeah right!* hmm.. Can I take some time to think? *still twiddling my thumbs*
P1: Sure..
Me: *immediately* Sir, I am interested in Multi-robotics course. I did it in my 6th semester. *Explained the projects which I did. They grilled me. Understandably. And I answered pretty well, to the best of my knowledge. After explaining the constraint space coverage projects, they decided to stop and let the French beard guy take over*
P3: Srinivasan, huh?
Me: Yes, sir.
P3: You dont seem to have too many extra-curricular activities.
Me: *Are you kidding? I have ONLY extra-curricular activities!* Sir, I beg to differ. In fact I think I've mentioned that I am even part of our college theater group.
P3: Oohh.. so what do you do?
Me: Being the college theater group, we enact plays sir.
P3: No no.. I meant what do YOU do?
Me: *still confused* I act in the plays, Sir.
P3: No no.. apart from acting.
Me: *Now I am puzzled. I just cant say I do nothing. At the same time I can neither say that I direct plays. It would seem way too far-fetched* Sir, I helped my director choose costumes for all characters. *And then I felt like the most stupid soul on earth!*
P3: *chuckles* Ok. So are you going to write a paper on your final year project?
Me: Sir, my project partners.. 2 of them.. are right now working on it. And I also hope to work on it once I am done with all my IIM interviews.
P3: Ohh.. ok. So you are from Hyderabad?
Me: Sir, I was born in Coimbatore. Since my father works in a bank, I've travelled quite a lot. But right now we're settled in Hyderabad.
P3: Coimbatore. Ok.. So Srinivasan tell me.. what is the other name for Coimbatore.
Me: *I should have said Kovai.. but instead* Sir, err.. if I am not wrong, it is also known as Manchester of the South.
[Again everyone had a hearty laugh! Is there any catch here? :-??]
P3: So do you think we can still call it by the same name.
Me: *I tried explaining but then I realised that they were just fooling around and stopped before completing the answer*
P1: Thank you, Srinivasan. Take one chocolate from the tray. *It was a melody chocolate*
Me: *He was practically ordering me* Thank you Sir. Can I take two?
P1: Yeah sure.
Me: *Then I realised that if I take two, there wont be enough left for others.* Sir, if I take one more, there wont be enough left for others.
P1: What? Then you can't take two. *turns to P3* Ohh.. someone has already taken two. Now we're one short!
Me: Thank you sir. *leaves*

The interview revolved around my final year project. And a couple of topics I took in engineering. The panel was pretty cool with us not answering all questions. It was not a stress interview. They wanted us to relax completely which was quite unlike the L and C interview. Now, if I do get selected, I wonder on what basis they'd select me.. :D So overall a very ordinary GD and a somewhat-ok types interview. All I can do now is wait for the results to be out.. :-ss

PS1: India lost to Bangladesh! WHAT CRAP! And I actually saw the whole match.. not that I believe in miracles or something.
PS2: I am on the verge of breaking the testimonials record.. :D Have written quite a few but dont want to break it.. dont feel like writing any more.
PS3: Awesome day, today has been. So far.
PS4: Moving out of wordpress.. mostly to blogger again.
PS5: Woolmer passed away.. sad :( India better whip Bermuda's ass. Else Chappel would follow suit.
PS6: Cal GD was very bad. Interview was also somewhat ordinary. Dont know what to make out of such interviews.. :-??
PS7: Watched 5 minutes of Nishabd yesterday. Decided that I'd rather sit at room and whine than sit through the movie! That movie's only meant for senior citizens!! :P
PS8: The labels thing in blogger is cool! :D
PS9: People want me to go for the clean-shaven haircut a la Michael Scoffield! They've gone to the extent of bribing me! What do I do? What do I doo?? :-ss
PS10: BTW I made it to IIFT Kolkata.. So I have my backup secure! Of course I wont be joining IIFT. Only IIMs for me.. :D

My IIM - L interview..

2007-03-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

So finally I get down to blogging my L interview! It's been almost 20 days since I've had my L interview. Anyhow getting down to business, the panel consisted of 2 IIM-L faculty, one lady and the other a gentleman. I was more polite than usual, since it was the Lucknow interview and the Lucknowis are known for their etiquettes (tehzeeb I think.. :-?) and stuff like that. So I wished them as soon as I entered and that, in a way, lightened the mood in the room.

P1: The gentleman ; P2: The lady
[I handed over my certificates as soon as I entered the room. So as they started going through my certificates, I was sitting there feeling awkward enough hoping someone would start the conversation.]

*And after what seemed a lifetime*
P1: International Institute? So everything is international about it? What is so international about it?
Me: *Retold the same IIM-K answer. And then the word reservations and merit slipped out*
P1: So what is your opinion about reservations?
Me: *Never gave my opinion. Spoke in general about how reservations were the right thing to do immediately after independence. Added that we should have removed them by now and even spoke about reservations based on economic status and how impossible it is to implement it practically. And how they can be misused as well, just like other reservations*
P1: hmm.. So your name - Shree.. Shreenivasan. What does it mean?
Me: *Explained it - sri stands for God and nivas stands for abode *
P1: So you mean to say God lives in you?
Me: Sir, thats what my name suggests.
P1: Do you mean to say that God doesn't live in me?
Me: Sir, I personally believe that irrespective of the fact whether I am named Srinivasan or not, God lives in me.. *pause* He lives in you.. He lives in each and every human being.
P1: *least affected and continuing from where I left* So what does this S mean.. your initial?
Me: Sampathkumar. S stands for my father's name.
P1: *offended*Mr. Sampathkumar. Ok? You should respect your father. It's wrong.
Me: *quick to apologise* I'm sorry sir. Mr. Sampathkumar.
P1: So you did not tell me your opinion on reservations.
Me: *Repeated the answer. But I think he wanted a more biased view and so..* I dont mind reservations as long as the general public is not adversely affected by it unlike what is happening right now. *Yes. I am dipomatic.*
P1: Do you know that you come across as a very selfish person? You dont want your interests to be harmed.
Me: Sir, I think you misinterpreted my answer. *Tried repeating the answer but he cut me short with the next question*
P1: Are you a denser?
Me: Pardon me sir? *I thought denser was a term used for people who are very verbose. Never wanted to write GRE because I'm bad with words. It comes naturally*
P1: Are you a denser? Do you dance?
Me: *I'm like #-o ohhhh dance!! Whats wrong with your accent? Not that we southies have a verrry good yaccent* No sir, I am not. *censored* Sir, I prefer listening to music and humming along than shaking my leg.
P1: What kind of music do you listen to?
Me: Sir, I like listening to soothing melodies.
P1: When was Kishore Kumar born?
Me: *Have I been in a time warp? Did I miss anything here? :-??* Sorry Sir, I am not aware of his year of birth. I am not a great Kishore Kumar fan.
P1: You tell me that you like listening to soothing melodies but you dont like Kishore Kumar?
Me: Sir I usually listen to tracks recommended by my friends. *I chose to play it safe because I did not know the date of birth of R.D.Burman*
P1: *still insistent* What do you listen to?
Me: *after some thought* Yanni's compositions.
P1: :| *Dammit! I should have seen Yanni's year of birth!*
Me: *voila!*
P1: What else do you listen to?
Me: Sir, since I am from Tamil Nadu, I listen to Illayaraja..
P1: *Still straight faced*
Me: Sir I also listen to A.R.Rahman's songs.
P1: *aha!* 1942 Love story music director was A.R.Rahman, right?
Me: No sir, if I am not wrong, it was the legendary R.D.Burman's last composition. Rahman made his debut with Mani Ratnam's Roja.
P1: *ahem* ok ok. Where was A.R.Rahman born?
Me: He was born in Tamil Nadu sir.
P1: Where did he give his last live concert?
Me: Sir in Mumbai. On New Year's eve.
P1: No no.. outside India.
Me: *caught unaware* Sir, he gives quite a few concerts outside India. He gave one in Dubai as well.
P1: When?
Me: As far as I can recall, it was in the year 2001, sir.
P1: When was MRF established?
Me: *Did I blackout in the middle? Shocked at the discontinuity* Excuse me, Sir?
P1: You know MRF?
Me: The tyre company sir?
P1: Yes. Do you know when it was established?
Me: No idea, sir.
P1: Ok, what is Bangladesh's currency?
Me: Taka, sir.
P1: Even in Bengal they keep telling taka taka. So is taka West Bengal's currency?
Me: Sir, even in Hindi, we keep telling "do take ka faayda nahi"
P1: So is taka West Bengal's currency?
Me: No sir. Since West Bengal is part of India, taka is not West Bengal's currency. Rupee is West Bengal's currency.

*Lady Takes Over*
P2: How do you see yourself two years from now?
Me: I see myself graduating with a PGDM from one of the IIMs.
P2: So are you going to graduate without a job?
Me: No ma'm. I'm confident of getting placed through the placement process.
P2: Where'd you prefer to join? Which company?
Me: Ma'm, it'd depend on my area of specialization..
P2: What is your area of interest?
Me: I'd be deciding that after my summer internship which I think will be at the end of my first year of PGDM. I think I'd be in a better position to decide it then..
P2: Say all companies want to recruit you, which one would you join?
Me: *I dont know which companies come for campus recruitments at L.* Ma'm, I'd consult my elders, my peers.. hmm... my FACULTY and then decide.
P2: Cant you decide a company NOW? You shouldnt act so indecisive.
Me: hmm.. well, it depends on how the industry scenario is, 2 years from now. Deciding now might restrict my options in the future.
P1: *interrupts* He doesn't need to decide now. *continues* You've performed miserably in your engineering.
Me: *didn't let him complete. Explained*
P1 looks at P2 hoping she continues..
P2: There is a petrol bunk in M.G.Road. Lots of people drive rashly in that area. I am very scared of crossing the road because of this. Now using your Linear Programming knowledge, propose a solution.
Me: *hain?* Ma'm a more down to earth solution would be to build a footover bridge.
P2: *interrupting* Then what about physically handicapped people? Dont you want them to cross the road. Put yourself in their shoes..
Me: *interrupting* Ma'm, one can use an inclined plane instead of steps so that the PH people dont have problems.
P2: *breathing space* No no.. I want you to use your linear programming knowledge.
Me: *Tried figuring out by constructing a few constraints and a vague objective function but before I could come up with something concrete she asked me to forget it*
P1: So you've done cost accounting.
Me: Yes, sir.
P1: What is Break Even Point?
Me: *Explained clearly.*
P1: Good. Now what is a flexible budget?
Me: *Never heard of it!* Sir, I've never come across the term in our course, but from the term I deduce it has got to do with a more flexible .. blah blah..
P1: One thing I like about you is even though you dont know the answers, you're answering the questions.
Me: *Is he being sarcastic? Only sarcasm can understand sarcasm. I'm thinking too much!* Thank you sir.
P1: haha.. you've done cost accounting and introduction to accounts and finance as well!
Me: *whats so funny?* Yes, sir.
P1: Define accounting.
Me: *Define??* *Explained the process of noting financial transactions which can later be used to make financial decisions for a company.. our clients. It can be used to decide the financial position of the company.. blah blah*
P1: How will you decide the financial position of the company using its balance sheet?
Me: Sir, we never went into such depth of the topic, but just to answer your question we need to take into account various parameters like the initial investment, the profits or loss made.. I'd look at minimising overheads and other costs so as to up the profit margins.. whether the company's a startup or not.. etc etc.
P1: Good.. good. *looks at P2*
P2: Which vehicle do you own?
Me: I dont own any vehicle ma'm.
P2: Ok, which vehicle do you drive?
Me: *I aint falling for it* I dont drive any vehicle ma'm.
P2: Do you have a driving license?
Me: I have not yet acquired a license, ma'm.

[She stared at me for 30-45 seconds and I stared back at her. Because somewhere in psychology it is said that when a person lies, he tends to look away. And I didn't want to give such an impression. So after we were done with our staring contest, she broke into a smile and exchanged smiles with the gentleman]

P1: It was a pleasure interviewing you, Mr. Shrinivasan.
Me: Pleasure was all mine, sir. Thank you.

About the interview, all this took place in 12 minutes!! The questions came quick and fast. I had little time to think and I think all questions were aimed to stress me out. Especially there was little continuity between a few questions. Like the part where I was being quizzed about reservations and the next questions was whether I'm a dancer. Even Kishore Kumar and MRF questions were out of the blue. It was a very short and quick interview. And I think I'll make it through because they looked entertained and satisfied at the end of the interview. I did smile throughout the interview. I maintained my calm and wasn't provoked when he called me selfish. Nor did I look stunned and out of place when he asked me about the year MRF was established. Overall a much better interview. And NO technical questions!! Yahoo.. :D :D

PS1: Played holi this time in the campus after a gap of 9 years!! Had loads of fun impersonating tribals.. :D :D
PS2: I got hit by tomatoes and eggs! :(
PS3: I was all pink post-holi. And my nails still retain the pinkish tinge. Discovery of the month: ALl colors are basically made from gulal, the primary color.. :D I know its too childish, you nerds! x( :P
PS4: I have a before and after holi picture but decided not to put it in the post because its already too long!
PS5: First 4 PSes were about holi. Weird.
PS6: My I interview was a biggg disaster. I am not going to blog about it! EVER.
PS7: About the I interview.. I'd get a biiig zero for acads.. a bigger zero for general awareness. So overall, my rating of the interview would be (biiiig zero + bigger zero) /2. Yes, I'm eating sleeping studying Math for my Calcutta interview!
PS8: Feel lightheaded of late. Need to prepare for C.. #:-s
PS9: My A interview was decent. I hope they take me! [-o<
PS10: Need to start the movie marathon that I've been planning for quite some time.
But it can wait. Preparation for C can't.
PS11: Need to complete one more tag.. :-<
PS12: Sid is sick. Seriously. He's sick.
PS13: Have been getting all senti of late about leaving IIIT. And people are coming up with creative ideas. Btw before I forget, Ramji rocks! :P
PS14: Tomorrow warm-up game #2 for India! gl+hf.
PS15: Mind's been working overtime trying to come up with ideas but winds up at a dead end! Frustrated and running out of time.. hmm.. :-?

Ze tagg..

2007-03-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

So, I've been tagged by tealie. It's been a long time since people tagged me. (Ok, I'll rephrase it.) It's been a long time since I've written a tag post. So here goes nothing.

1. One thing you're very much afraid of?
Losing my near and dear ones.

2. Two incidents you can never forget in life?

One of them is the day I got my CAT results and I was telling myself.. "I told you so.. I knew it!" :D And I immediately called up mom and some of the others who had believed in me.. It was just awesome! :D :D
And then the day when we walked back to campus after the 10:00 PM show. We reached the campus some time around half past two after walking for an hour and a half.

Apart from these, I remember quite a few. Especially the trivial ones :D And there are a few which need to be discrete as well.. :D I guess I've talked too much.. :D :-$

3. Three books you'd love reading again and again?

Rajaji's Mahabharata
Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Kane and Abel by Jeffery Archer
Chicken soup for the soul
Calvin and Hobbes (Although I never got the chance)

4. Four women who are most beautiful?

Only four?? Not fair! But since I'm a just person, I'll go with five.. :D
1. Monica Belluci
2. Scarlett Johansson
3. Elisha Cuthbert
4. Anna Kournikova
5. Bhoomika

5. Five of your favourite food items?

Only five??!! Who designed this tag? Is he from the not-fair land? x(
1. Chole Batura
2. Pizzas
3. Pulao
4. Dosas, pongal and all other south indian items excluding curd rice!
5. Do milk shakes come under food category? I guess they do.. :D

6. Six words you use very often oral/written?

1. hmmm..
2. JACKASS! (oral)
3. what the hell! (oral)
4. blah.. (oral)
5. crap (oral)
6. yo! (oral)
7. coool (oral)

Yes. I'm bad at Math.

7. Seven things you like about yourself?

I am not a narcissist or something but 7 is too low a number :P
1. My sense of humour and wit
2. My ability to make friends? (You get it when you're forced to change schools once every 2 years or so)
3. My hyperactiveness
4. My nocturnal instincts
5. My love for family and friends
6. My story telling abilities
7. My relaxed attitude (Fostered it after coming to IIIT)

8. Eight film personalities who are your all time favorites?

1. Kamal Hassan and Prakash Raj
2. Aamir Khan
3. Al Pacino
4. Mani Ratnam
5. Steven Spielberg
6. A.R.Rahman
7. Shivaji Ganesan and S.P.B
8. Revathy
9. Naseeruddin Shah

Yes, there is no Rajnikanth.

9. Nine movies you wont mind watching again and again?

1. Mouna Raagam
2. Michael Madan Kamarajan
3. Dil Chahta hai and Munnabhai
4. Monsters Inc. and Incredibles :D
5. Jerry Maguire
6. My Sassy Girl
7. Scent of a Woman and Shawshank Redemption
8. Lakshya and Hera Pheri
9. NVNV and Bommarillu
10. Andaaz apna apna (galti se mistake ho gaya :D)

10. Ten songs you would like to listen to everyday?

hmm.. Well, there are quite a few songs but the ones which come to my mind right now are:
1. Comfortably Numb (All time favourite)
2. Lonely by AKON
3. Pehla Nasha (All time favourite)
4. Somewhere I belong, Numb, Crawling, In the End and many more by LINKIN PARK
5. Hotel California (All time favourite)
6. Yenna solla pogiraai from Kandukonden Kandukonden
7. Basically almost all ARR songs
8. Manjal Veyyil and Un sirippinil (yeah Tealie ;))
9. Reason by Hoobastank (All time favourite)
10.Old Tamil and Hindi songs... :D

Now whom shall I tag? Who are jobless enough to do this tag? :-? Here's the list.
1. Abbulugaadu aka Bubba
2. Sam
3. Affy
4. Loonie
5. IV
6. And last but not the least, mythalez! (I expect you to finish it first and set an example! :D)

PS1: So holi celebrations have already begun. A bonfire has been created in the football ground and people are burning some old stuff. A new beginning :) Happy holi all of ya.. and
PS2: Just one more month of B Tech education remains.. and I've already become senti quite a few times when people remind me of it. I just want to right a few wrongs that I've committed during my brief stay at this place. A new beginning.. :) Just when things are going to end! #-o
PS3: Next post will be on my IIM-L interview. I should have blogged about the interview long time back but things were not in the right place so had to go into hibernation, set things right and come back.
PS4: We lost in the quarter-finals of the Felicity CS competitions. To the eventual champions. So no pride lost.. :D However we could have performed better but things seem much easier in hindsight. But I am happy that we went down fighting to the best clan. But it was my last clan match!! :((
PS5: Why dont people start the ug4 slam book asap.. :(
PS6: A self-operated beverage vending machine has been installed in OBH first floor!! yippeee! Why did they not come up with this idea before! x(
PS7: A fun tag. tag --;
PS8: So I have interviews on the coming Tuesday and Wednesday for IIM Indore and Ahmedabad respectively :-s And I've been searching for motivation to give it my best shot but cant seem to find any! :(
PS9: Happy international women's day to all readers belonging to the fairer sex. :D
PS10: Guys, there's no international men's day unfortunately. But we've got the world cup coming along, so do not worry! :D
PS11: Cant get myself to read the budget although alarm bells are ringing! :( yeh kya hua.. pehle aisa na hota tha..

My IIM-K interview

2007-02-17T13:16:00.000-08:00

The panel consisted of 2 professors from IIM-K - one of them taught Operations Management and the other taught Economics. It was the same panel which moderated our group discussion.

Panel 1: Operations Management prof.
Panel 2: Economics prof.
Me: ME!! who else? :P
Inner Me: The Inner Me.. which again turns out to be me :D

Panel 2: Please sit down, Mr. Srinivasan. If you don't mind, can we take a look at your certificates?
Me: *offers certificates*
Panel 2: Sooo.. tell me about yourself.
Me: [brag] blah blah blah.. [/brag] [modest] blaah.. blah blah! blah. [/modest]
Panel 2: "International" Institute? Why is it called the International Institute of Information Technology?
Inner Me: hmm.. why did I never think about THAT? :-?? Or maybe I did and I just don't remember it..
Me: Sir, initially we were called the Indian Institute of IT. But then the government wanted us to follow a fixed curriculum which we were not very much in favour of since ours is a very research-oriented curriculum. So we decided to forsake the "Indian" in our name for our vision. [MS]
Panel 2: hmm..
Panel 1: Do you know Deep Blue Program?
Me: *huh?* Sir, you mean the chess playing program?
Panel 1: Yes. Do you know the significance of Deep Blue?
Me: *utters some blah-ous non-sense. *
[The panel is confused because I stated too many facts which they were unaware of. They assumed that I am a die-hard follower of chess or I was an AI geek.]
Panel 1: So then you must be knowing Fridge..
Me: *huhhh?* Pardon me, Sir?
Panel 1: F-R-I-T-Z. Fridge! You know Fridge?
Me: No sir, I am not aware of Fridge.
Panel 1: Ok. So why do you want to become a manager?
Me: *Recites the already prepared answer although deep in my heart I knew it is not true. *
[The panel is reasonably satisfied.. :D So they move on to my grade sheet.]
Panel 1: Your grades have been very bad. Especially Mathematics. In first semester, it is very miserable. *I got an F* In your second semester also, it is bad. *Thats a B-!! How dare he calls THAT a bad grade! x(* And in the third semester you got a B which is not a great grade. *WHAT!! I'd kill for a B!*
Me: *Narrates the sad story about the "great end sem screw-up". *
Panel 1: Ok.. fine. What is limit(x -> infinity) sin(x)
Me: Sir, I think the limit wont be defined. *explains*
Panel 1: hmm.. ok. Then since you must have prepared your first semester Maths topics, tell me the topics in your second semester Maths.
Me: *caught off guard. Because I did not remember anything!* err.. hmm.. well.. we had Complex Variables. hmm.. Partial Differentiation. And of course Probability!
Note: IIM profs are suckers for probability! And I love probability. So I just let it as a loose end hoping they'd pick it up.. >:)

Panel 1: Ok tell me the most famous formula in Partial Differentiation.
Me: *Idiot!* hmm.. Euler's formula.
Panel 1: What is Euler's formula?
Inner Me: Why did you not tell Probability in the first place! Jackass!! Now answer Euler's formula..
Me: err.. If a homogenous equation.. hmm.. of degree n is present.. then the partial differentiation of.. no no.. err.. *hoping they'd move on to probability :(( *
Panel 1: Ok.. fine. No problem. What is degree of an equation?
Me: Answered.
Panel 1: What is the degree of e^x?
Me: One.
Panel 1: Ok.. you said you studied probability, right? *evil gleam*
Me: err.. Yes sir.. :-s *acting unprepared.. *
Inner Me: *evil gleam*
Panel 1: If there are n jobs and n operators in how many ways will you assign the jobs to n operators? *hands me a pen and a paper to calculate!!*
Me: *in a flash* n!
Panel 1: *stares at me for a second and then announces triumphantly* Correct. Now if there is a fast operator and you cant assign him the fastest job, in how many ways will you assign the job now? *slides the pen and paper*
Me: *stare into space for a couple of seconds and answer* (n-1)! * (n-1)
Panel 1: *taken aback at the speed at which the answer came! * Yes it is correct. How did you arrive at the answer?
Me: *explains by shaking hands dramatically in an emphatic fashion! :D Whatever you do, do it grandly! :D *
Panel 1: Good. You seem to be pretty comfortable with probability..
Inner me: No no no.. Do not brag!
Me: Sir, Maths is my favourite subject. *smiles* [MS1]
Inner me: You had to tell it!! You had to brag!! Now he'd think you're arrogant!! Useless jackass.. x(
Panel 1: I see.. I think we'd do another question in probability then.
Me: *scared and in despair but still smiling* Sure sir.
Panel 1: If you have n envelopes and n letters, in how many ways will 1 letter be always present in the wrong envelope.
Me: *Hurrah!! Thank you AP intermediate board of Education!* Zero.
Panel 1: *Thinks for a second* What if n is odd?
Me: *Confused.. huh?? * Still zero sir.
Panel 1: *waits for a second* Correct.
Me: *Sigh of relief.. #:-s*
Panel 1: Ok so what are your areas of interest?
Me: *Happy to be back in familiar territory* Sir, I have been interested in Cognitive Science. *blah blah*
Panel 1: ok.. lets move on to other technical subjects of yours.
Me: *Sigh of disbelief! :-<* Panel 1: Define algorithm. Me: *???????????* Sir, you want me to describe any algorithm? Merge sort, heap sort, quick sort? [MS2]
Panel 1: No No No. DEFINE algorithm. You're a computer science student. You should be knowing this.
Me: ok sir. err.. Well, an algorithm is a general step-by-step systematic process to find the solution of a problem. *blah blah blah.. Hoping he'd shake his head in agreement when he thinks I've arrived at the correct answer but no response from him. I look to the other side and panel 2 is half asleep! So I stop*
Panel 1: Ok do you know the Turing machine?
Me: *hain?* [ignorance] blah blah blaah. BLAH blah blaaah [/ignorance]
Panel 1: *Waiting for me to continue*
[I think they were amazed or amused by my ignorance or innovation. So they wanted me to carry on with the entertainment.]
Me: [instant-innovation] blah blah blaahhh.. [/instant-innovation] *couldn't go on. I have a cap on my creativity!*
Panel 1: Its the wrong answer.
Inner Me: As if I did not figure that out already.. :|
Panel 1: Turing machine is blahh blah blah.. *explains a very complicated answer*
Me: *graciously accepting my mistake* ooh.. ok. ok
Panel 2: So you're interested in Cognitive Science. Do you know that there are two halves of the brain?
Me: Yes sir, the left half and the right half.
Panel 2: Yes. So a few abilities are controlled by the respective halves. Like your analytical skills. Do you know anything about it?
Me: *Mindless BC of which they had little idea. Got a bit too technical for their liking. Avoided answering the question because I had little idea about it. Give them other facts to ponder about. They were somewhat impressed.*
Panel 2: I think you misunderstood my question. *Repeats question.*
Me: *dammit! smiles* Sir, no I am not aware of such facts.
Panel 2: Ohh.. ok. Fine. Ok.. so over the years the size of the brain has not changed at all. But man has made so much progress. Why do you think so? I mean, the brain activity also should be more or less the same, right? So how did we achieve so much development?
Me: *gets prepared to deliver the knockout punch* Sir, I believe that the most important factor in the learning process is learning from mistakes. Even a child cannot start walking immediately after birth. He falls.. he stumbles.. he learns from his mistakes and finally manages to learn how to walk. Similarly, over the years, man has learnt from his mistakes and improvises and will continue to do so, because there is no limit on making mistakes.. :D
Inner Me: That didn't turn out to be so awesome.. :( And you forgot to quote Einstein! Useless fellow! x(
Panel 2: *very impressed* hmm.. good. You're right.. in a way. Ok since you said you were interested in teaching did you read the latest news on AICTE's announcement?
Me: I am sorry sir, but I am unable to recall it.
Panel 2: What is this? You're interested in teaching so you should keep yourself updated on the front. Anyways, AICTE has announced that they want to close all B-grade colleges. What is your take on that, especially with govt allowing FDI in the education sector?
Me: *told something. Dont remember. Not a very satisfactory answer.. but not a bad answer either.. :D*
Panel 1: Ok.. so what is hexadecimal representation of a number?
Me: Sir, when a number is represented in base 16, it is ..
Panel 1: ok ok.. What is the decimal representation of the number 60..
Me: Sixty sir. In decimal right?
Panel 1: Let me complete my question, gentleman. *smiles*
Inner me: *ayyoo!! useless fellow.. dont be so eager to answer.. listen to the question*
Panel 1: What is the decimal representation of the number 60 expressed as in hexadecimal system? *this time offers a pen to calculate*
Me: *again in a flash* 3C
Panel 1: *takes the paper and calculates*
Me: *looking at panel 2 and smiling serenely*
Panel 1: Its correct.
Me: Yes sir.
Inner me: You and your arrogance! DAMN YOU!
Panel 1: Ok fine. Tell me something about Operations research.
Me: Sir I did not take the course because it is being offered as an elective in our college. However I was somewhat interested in the course and I know a little about the course. *Actually someone happened to tell me that it was similar to Linear programming.. ;)) *
Panel 1: Ok then tell me what do you know about Operations Research.
Me: *Explained the transportation problem at the same time thanking the heavens that I took Advance Cognitive Science instead of Operations research.. phew! *
Panel 1: But that is a specific problem is Operations Research. Do you have a more general idea?
Me: Sir I'm not sure if this is it but if you have a situation along with a set of constraints then you go about finding the optimal solution using various methods. *Some BC and technical jargons*
Panel 1: THAT is operations research. *visible impressed and satisfied. looks at panel 2*
Panel 2: *stares back at panel 1*
Me: *stares at panel 1 and 2 interchangeably*
Panel 2: Are you interested in literature?
Me: Not much sir. There was a time when I used to read books..
Panel 1: Have you read Sherlock Holmes?
Me: Arthur Conan Doyle, sir if I am not wrong. yes, I read it in my fifth - sixth standard. Sign of four.. err.. hmm..
Panel 1: Agatha Christie?
Me: Sir, I dont recall reading her novels. But if I'm not wrong one of her works was the longest running play at Broadway.. I cant recollect the name of the novel.. *goes into deep thought*
Panel 2: Is it mousetrap?
Me: Ahh yes yes. Mousetrap it is. Well.. actually.. I am interested in dramatics, as I've pointed out in my form. In fact, I am part of the college theater group. We wanted to leave behind a legacy as we'd be graduating this year. So we revived the dramatics club. We even enacted 2 plays..
Panel 2: Ohh.. ok. What do you think of Vishwanathan Anand's *mindless crap which went over my head* Kasparov *mindless crap*
Me: Sir, I dont follow chess very intently so I am not aware of it.
Panel 2: ohh.. so you follow chess only when machines are involved? *Both start smiling*
Me: *sporting laugh* haha.. no Sir, it is not like that. Actually I recall our professor telling us about the Deep Blue machine in our Artificial Intelligence class. So... *smiles*
Panel 1: Ok. *smiles.. exchanges glances* Thank you Mr Srinivasan.
Me: Thank you Sir.
Inner Me: I'm alive!! :D

There were three master strokes here in the interview.

MS: I avoided bringing up the reservations issue by not mentioning the fact that we wanted to pick our students based on merit and not reservations. However I made the same mistake in my IIM-L interview which of course I again managed expertly.. :D I really need to stop bragging! Reminds me of someone.. :-<

MS1. Math-is-my-favourite-subject. It could have worked against me but I kind of justified it time and again by answering all the questions that were posed to me after I made that statement. Someone remarked the other day that IIMs like proud people who are confident of their abilities. I might have sounded a bit arrogant but I choose to overlook it as pride.. :D

MS2. When he asked me about algorithm I asked him about all the different kinds of algorithms thus giving him the impression that I was prepared on all those topics and thus avoiding them. *I wasn't prepared for any algorithm! However it was a risk I took and it paid off.. being a manager is all about taking calculated risks! :D * Almost every other person was asked about complexities of the different algorithms. They were even asked to compare the algorithms and state the conditions when they'd be useful. I'd have come across as a dumbass had they asked me to do the same. Or maybe I was just plain lucky. But let me bask in the limelight! :D *bask bask*

Thought for the day:

Practical people would be more practical if they would take a little more time for dreaming.

- J. P. McEvoy

PS1: My K-GD was kinda awful. But then I was the third least awful in our group of 9. Which I think should give me an edge.. :D They dont call me the optimist for nothing!
PS2: I think my interview went pretty well, because I gave them quite a few reasons to select me.. meaning my strong analytical skills.. ;))
PS3: And if you thought this interview was interesting, then wait for my Lucknow interview! It was awesome! :D :D Awesome in the sense.. quite entertaining.. ;)) Why do all my interviews have this knack of being entertaining? :-??
PS4: But before I blog about the L interview, I need to blog about this year's unforgettable valentine's day. It was/is/will be unforgettable! Unforgettable boletho all tenses combined.. right? I think I need to go sleep.
PS5: B'lore chicks are hot. Seriously. But they are the yucky hot types.. At least the ones I saw. Now dont ask me what/who are yucky hot chicks.. Come on guys!! Use some brains.. :D :D
PS6: Baba is rocking in all his interviews. Giving himself 8.5 - 9 /10!! :D :D
PS7: Used html kinda tags but they dint show up in the post. So had to revert to orkut kinda tags! :-<
PS8: AKON's Konvicted is not bad. And why is it that I am not able to go to bed? Might again get back to the insomniac routine.. :(
PS9: Naruto Shippuden ROCKS!! :D :D GTO is not bad either.
PS10: Thank you to all those who wished me for this interview.. it meant a lot to me. :D One of the weaknesses that I wrote in my IIM-K form was "I am always relaxed and people mistake it for casualness" And I was relaxed throughout the interview.. at least I made such an impression! :D
PS11: INDIA WON THE SERIES 2-1 AGAINST SRI LANKA. AND YUVI ROCKED! :D
PS12: Tell me whether based on this interview, you'd be selecting me or not. Not that its going to affect me.. :D But just for the heck of it! :-j
PS13: A very, very, very, very longgg post. :-< My interview was only for 20-25 minutes though.

Random Ramblings..

2007-02-14T02:42:00.000-08:00

Yes. I am done with my first IIM interview. It was IIM Kozhikode. And I must say I was pretty impressed with the interview panel. 10 minutes into the interview, they realised that academics was not my forte and so moved on to "other" things. Even I was quite relieved when they moved on. I'll be blogging about my interview once I get green signal from my CL faculty. Hopefully I make it through.

My second IIM interview is on the day after tomorrow. For IIM-Lucknow. I heard that they have air-conditioned rooms at Lucknow! Now wouldn't that go very well with my coldness. yes, of late I've been very cold and sarcy to loads of people.. lets just say I am venting out my frustration arising out of my technical incompetence.. :D So, I am motivating myself with the fact that I'd get to live in AC rooms if I clear the interview!! Please pray for me.. [-o< I cannot think of IIM education without AC rooms.

Moving on to some non-IIM news, I restarted my private blog. There was a time when I used to blog. In private. I absolutely loved that blog. It had a 6-year old's touch to the posts which of course is relatively more mature than this blog of mine. But then I deleted it sometime during the last summer. However suddenly I've found lot more things to write about and so am blogging again. It's kind of nice to blog in oblivion. In fact, I remember making this point in one of my primitive posts.. hmm.. :-?

And I spent my valentine's day writing two very inconsequential exams. Now how pathetic can one get! Anyways, as usual I screwed up both the exams. No surprises there. And also people here have found better ways to spend their idle time. Like playing badminton. And playing badminton. And some also play badminton. It's somewhat freaky when you wake up early in the morning some time at four and see T3 playing badminton. But then it's fun watching them play. But somehow, badminton 24x7 is something hard to digest.. :-< Even CS 24x7 is acceptable! :((

Speaking of which, this time around they have the same prize money for CS. This seriously sucks. Not that we are confident of winning, but for the sake of pride at least, we should have increased the prize money.. kinda sucks. And people are still stuck in we-wanna-play-dotA mode [-(

PS1: Happy valentine's day for all those readers who believe in love. For others, HAIL BAL THACKERAY! :D
PS2: I know.. my blog caters to all kinds of readers.. :D
PS3: Satish got screwed big time when he tried messing with us. Poor fellow.. :P :P :D
PS4: It's fun. Blogging in oblivion. :)
PS5: How can team India time and again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? :(
PS6: Exams over! <:-p

Updates - II

2007-02-03T00:30:00.000-08:00

"Maybe you were so engrossed in making it to the IIMs, that you forgot why you wanted to make it."

Soo... lots of things happened during the past 14 days.

Jan 18th: I got placed. YES! I got placed at Aricent technologies. Its a decent company, but then I don't think I'll be joining it. Anyways, finally someone was sensible enough to select me! :P

Jan 24th: Something happened but I am not able to remember it! #-o Will keep you guys updated if I manage to recall it. I've marked it on the calender. kkkuch toh hai.. :-?

Jan 27th, 28th: Attended the CL bootcamp for all the IIM call getters. Awesome experience. Its really worth joining CL. We had a nice practice session for GDs but the best part of the camp was yet to come. We played lots of management games. And then we played cricket as well! Sreenidhi resorts is a decent place. A very memorable experience :D

Feb 1st: Attended my IIFT interview. GD was a very peaceful affair. So was my PI. Except for a couple of unanswered questions, I think the panel was satisfied. But then I don't think I'll be joining even if I get through.

Feb 1st: Got screwed in a mock interview. BIG time! The panel made me accept that I am technically incompetent during the interview. And then they made me accept that they shouldn't select me because I would be making zilch value addition. It was a very frightening and horrible experience. The lesser I speak about it, the better :-s

Leaving you guys with the lyrics of the song, Sound the Bugle by Bryan Adams. Kind of captured every emotion I went through during the past couple of weeks. Reminiscence, resignation, confusion, despair, loneliness, defeat, rejection, hope, clarity.. what not.

Sound the bugle now - play it just for me
As the seasons change - remember how I used to be
Now I can't go on - I can't even start
I've got nothing left - just an empty heart

I'm a soldier - wounded so I must give up the fight
There's nothing more for me - lead me away...
Or leave me lying here

Sound the bugle now - tell them I don't care
There's not a road I know - that leads to anywhere
Without a light feat that I will - stumble in the dark
Lay right down - decide not to go on

Then from on hight - somewhere in the distance
There's a voice that calls - remember who you are
If you lose yourself - your courage soon will follow

So be strong tonight - remember who you are
Ya you're a soldier now - fighting in a battle
To be free once more -Ya that's worth fighting for.

PS1: Have my IIM-K interview coming monday. Will be starting for B'lore tomorrow evening. Pray for me.. [-o<
PS2: Shilpa Shetty won Big Brother. Overhyped. Yes cheesy, overhyped! :D
PS3: Tata - Corus deal has been finalised! (I'm going to be a business manager. So I need to write about business happenings as well :( And I need to be excited as well.. )
PS4: India won the ODI series! 3-1!! And Sachin hit a 76-ball century! He rocks! :D :D
PS5: Congrats J, for topping in the exams :D
PS6: Illusionist - nice movie. Raging discussion going on in cybergames mailing list. saki vs yarg.. :P
PS7: I still cant figure out why I want to do an MBA. I cant figure out what I want to do with my life :( Chari rocks big time.. :D So does Krishna. And Shivku :D (CL faculty)
PS8: When will I learn to ask for help in times of need? :-?? :-<

CAT and placements

2007-01-16T10:32:00.000-08:00

On January 2nd, when I checked my CAT score, (which incidentally happens to be 99.89 percentile) I was not elated. Nor was there any sense of achievement. Frankly speaking, I was just plain relieved. Relieved that I need not offer excuses to anyone for not getting any calls.. relieved that I need not be answerable to people for my thrash talk.. relieved that I cleared all the individual cut-offs! :D I've got calls from 5 of the 6 IIMs, the lucky exception being IIM B'lore. Bangalore, I'm happy for ya! :D

Now that everything is out of the way, and things are slowly settling into place, I think its high time to face the reality. I am not ready for IIMs yet! I am not ready to put in hours of hard work.. I am not ready to sleep for only four hours a day. Please note that I am just plain nocturnal and not an insomniac as maintained earlier because I get my share of sleep in classes like Data compression and Globalization. And neither did I work hard for CAT. It was just a slightly planned effort and luckily everything fell in place. And believe me, I am NOT modest! But then, there is quite a lot of pressure from various quarters (not as much as dada is facing) and I am not very sure if I'll be able to pitch in with the kind of effort I put in for my EAMCET exam. Lets just hope that once I get in, I become one of THEM.

Attended a few Group Discussions sessions. Some tips on how to be more effective at GDs for some of the other B-school aspirants:

1. Speak. Opening the mouth and getting the words out is the biggest hurdle one tends to face in his/her first few GDs. The saying "Don't speak unless you're spoken to" doesn't apply in GDs. In fact, no one is going to offer you a chance to speak. So stand up, face your fears, and talk whatever crap comes in your mind.
2. If people start fighting in the GD, or the sound levels reach an all-time high, it is better to sit back and enjoy the situation instead of getting into the GD. Because you wont be listened to, if you enter the discussion at such a juncture. And you get extra points for not contributing to the already-high sound decibel levels :D
3. Read a lot! You need to have some kind of content to speak. If one were to ask you to talk on SEZs, you need to know what an SEZ is. Unless you're really good at taking someone's points, repackaging it with examples and sharing it with the group, it is advisable that you start taking in as much content as possible by reading a few business magazines and some general magazines.
4. Never start the discussion if you know very little about the topic. And if you're going to start the topic, its better to have a structure in place so that its easy to retrace one's path, if your group digresses from the topic.
5. Always make sure your voice reaches the other end of the room i.e you're audible clearly. But also it is important to keep in mind the fact that when no one else is talking and everyone is listening to you for a change, you need not shout! It kinda gets annoying.

Now that I am done highlighting the mistakes I've committed in my past few GDs, lets move on to the placements front.

How the optimist aced the test, got shortlisted but did not get placed!

Personally, its been quite fruitful as I got shortlisted for the interviews twice from the 4 tests I've written, the unlucky companies being Infosys SET labs and DELL. I was pretty confident of making it to DELL. But I guess when I showed reluctance of coding for four years on the trot, they decided not to select me. Sid tells me I came second in the IBM ISL test and cleared all the cut offs. I just don't friggin' understand why I didn't get shortlisted if I cleared all cut offs! Anyways, getting a job is just a backup option for me, so I don't care if I get placed at Wells Fargo (my dream company :D) or IBM global services. I just want to get placed!

The DELL interview was purely HR based and it was fun :D Thought of blogging about it, but I've forgotten how it went :( Anyways, lotsa friends are getting placed and everyday we've got something to celebrate.. :D Placements are fun.. Rumours tell me placements for our juniors are going to start after their 4-2!! :o For their sake, lets hope they are JUST rumours.

PS1: India LOST to SA.. a golden chance of winning a series abroad floored! No comments. x(
PS2: Classes have started again. Still in holiday mood.. :-<
PS3: Of late, GAG has been bearable.
PS4: Preparation for the GDs and PIs has been a pain in the a-r-s-e. My first GD/PI is on Feb 1st - IIFT. My second GD/PI is on Feb 5th - IIM K. So two back-to-back GDs.. am gonna get screwed BIG time!!

Updates..

2007-01-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to one and all. This post is more of an update to the handful of jobless, yet faithful readers of my blog. (I just love the way I sound diplomatic. I guess its natural.. :D ) Any-hoo, I got short-listed for IIFT. And here comes the worst part. Apart from me, only Mr. Abbulu has got short listed. I have been thinking on how it is the worst part and the only reason I can cook up right now is.. it is eerie to face Mr.Abbulu alone :-s

And I am yet to take my New Year Resolutions. Last time around, when I took my resolutions, I was taunted time and again by my friends when I broke any of them. Can't this society give a chance to people like me to reform?! :-<>:P

Quote of the day:

Those who refuse to make New Year's resolutions because they always break them anyway miss the point. Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle.

- Eric Zorn

PS1: Ok, I am going to let you into one of my secret resolutions. I am going to stop swearing unless provoked by highly dumb, erratic behaviour. Like the quote of the day though.. :D
PS2: Mr.Jobless is not jobless anymore. So I am the lone survivor of the Gang of Jobless. Of which I am proud! :D
PS3: CAT results!! Where art thou? :-<
PS4: I've been feeling empty.. lonely.. dejected.. low on self-confidence.. Hope I just get out of this phase.
PS5: Checked my predictions for the New Year.
Favourite Phrase: Love me. Hug me. Kiss me. (I should stop watching Munnabhai M.B.B.S)
Strengths: Emotional, sensitive, understanding, caring
I should stop reading DC! [-(
Ps6: Of late, I've had this feeling that something bad is waiting for me round the corner. I managed to just pass Maths-I. Got a D! I cant imagine repeating a semester!! But I dont think I deserved a grade as bad as a D. But I am happy that I passed. But who's gonna believe that I am the same guy who stood 25th in the State Math Olympiad. Strange are the ways of fate! Anyways, whatever happens, happens for a reason.. right? :-s
PS7: Judgement day's here. If I make it, I've lined up an emotional post.
PS8: Hope the new year rings in good luck for all of you. Have fun! :)

Wind of change..

2006-12-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

The Scorpions. As I lay on my bed today at 3 in the morning, hoping that I somehow drift back to sleep, I heard this song. And then I realised that the same song was played on the Hyd-Mumbai flight. I just love it.. especially for the whistle at the start. That was how i knew it.. the whistle got stuck in my head. It's weird how I was able to recollect it. Anyways, I've decided to make a few changes in my life. I am going to put a full stop to all chatting. At least I am going to TRY.. :D

PS1: Its official people! I've finally fallen sick. #:-s
PS2: Lots of people got placed in CISCO. Congrats! :D
PS3: Congrats Sam! I am happy for ya.. :D
PS4: Life's started getting monotonous. It always starts with the customary I-am-bored scrap to IV.
PS5: Cant wait for IIFT and CAT results :D
PS6: Had a lengthy discussion at home, about my career in the software industry.

PS7: Love the "Still loving you" song by Scorpions. Have been experimenting a lot with music of late. Wonderful lyrics as well.. :)

The legend of the bespectacled frog

2006-12-13T03:01:00.000-08:00

Move over lochness.. Big foot - my foot! Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for the one and only.. bespectacled frog. Yes. No? Ohh.. you guys do not know about the legend of the bespectacled frog. (Lets call it B.F henceforth) Neither did I, until a couple of weeks back when one of my friends made a passing mention of it. And then came the fateful day, when I went one-on-one against it and lived to tell the story.

It was a Wednesday. I was hastening towards the bathrooms after a tiring session of cricket and to my surprise 2 of the 3 bathrooms were occupied. (surprised because very few around here take bath often) Anyways, I was forced to take the bathroom #3, the one in the corner which no one uses anymore. Yes, some say its haunted by the spirit of the lizard which was killed in a freak accident 3 years ago. But a brave coward that I am, I decided to take bath in it, come what may.

So when I turned around after bolting the door, I was stunned. For there it stood.. err.. sat.. the bespectacled frog. (The name comes from its appearance for it looks as if its wearing spectacles) I was cornered in the bathroom but thankfully it didn't catch me with my towel down. But lets not get into the details now. Suddenly all those stories and tales about the exploits of the BF (which are usually told as part of the folklore) came back to me in a flash. I could hear my grandma repeating "I told you so" a number of times. And then ensued the usual staring contest at which I am pretty good. It was analyzing its prey and I was planning my next move.

And suddenly in a swift motion, I unbolted the door and made my escape. The BF was caught napping and I made it out of the bathroom alive. (Yes, I had the presence of mind to fasten my towel just in case it gets its hands on it. Alright. Legs. With webbed foot. Happy? Nitpicks!) But like any other 5 year old, I have a twisted mind of my own. So I just wanted to conduct a series of experiments on it. Lets call it research, shall we? After all I'm not a IIITian (read triple-Itian) for nothing. So I tested how the BF holds against a) cold water b) lukewarm water c) hot water. And I must say, true to its name and fame, it sat there undeterred. Or maybe its dead.. :-? Who cares!

*update* The BF is missing. Either it died fighting a valiant battle with the bathroom cleaners. Or it might be in your bathroom. Beware!

Quote of the day:

Good and evil both increase at compound interest.

PS1: Wrote this post last Wednesday. But due to PS (placement shit) couldn't complete the post.
PS2: mp3 of the week - "Feels like today" by Rascals Flatt
PS3: I hardly kicked IV on the joyous occasion of his birthday and he is already whining!
PS4: Spawn - still mighty video rocks! Especially the de_cbble defusion against NiP. SpawN is god! :D The wnv-king video is pretty decent as well.
PS5: Fell ill yesterday. Slept for 11 hours. And am still feeling sleepy. Body pains as well.. Feel lonely as well.. :-< :(
PS6: Contrary to popular beliefs, the book that I am reading right now - "Losing my virginity" by Richard Branson is not some kind of erotica. It is an autobiography of the founder of Virgin group of companies. Get your minds cleansed for heavens sake!
PS7: Why are our juniors so concerned about placements? More concerned than us!
PS8: Did I forget the I-hate-GAG PS? Here we go.. I hate GAG! x( How does he manage to get us into such trouble? :-L
PS9: Tipo, scrubs season 6 is here! Our days of jobless-ness are out of the window! :D
PS10: Heroes is taking a break for christmas. Tipo, our days of jobless-ness are here to stay :(
PS11: IV is not jobless. Neither is Halley. They just pretend to be jobless.
PS12: Manish got placed in yahoo. Congrats pinki :D And almost half of the ECE batch is placed. Congrats almost-half-of-the ECE-batch. That includes you too, P4. (Its like Swarley :D)
PS13: This is the end.

Placements!!

2006-12-09T03:41:00.000-08:00

Technically speaking, today was Day-1 of IIIT-H placement. Two more days like this, and I'll resign from the placement committee. To sum up the events of the day in one word, horrendous.

PS1: I did promise to post more often. But its not my fault. One post was abandoned because Firefox performed an illegal operation. Who says firefox rocks!? x( And the other was shelved because it was an all-whining post.
PS2: A bad week.. experienced the worst day in quite some time. And by quite some time I mean at least 2-3 years!
PS3: I hate GAG.
PS4: DE Shaw backed out at the last moment. It was paying 9.2 odd! x(
PS5: Going home. I promise to post more often.
PS6: Frustrated. Depressed. But going home! :D
PS7: Lotsa friends are falling ill. Get well soon, people! My best wishes for a speedy recovery.. :D
PS8: GAG called just now with list of short-listed students for Connexant. Time to get back to work! :-<
PS9: Before I forget, henceforth peesu shall be addressed as P4 - Portal Player Placement Peesu.

RP: Randomness post-ified!

2006-11-30T11:00:00.000-08:00

Jis baat ka dar tha wahi hua.. lymphosarcoma of the intestine.. yeah I watched Munnabhai M.B.B.S again. So finally I am done with CAT. And was rather bored a couple of days back. Just felt like updating the blog. So decided to post something.

Lately I've been thinking a lot. Of how life would turn out to be if I do make it to one of the IIMs. And I've concluded that I am not yet ready to take that leap.

The leap from IIIT to IIM. Especially IIM-A and IIM-B.. Imagine this if you can.. I willl be sitting with 100 odd Pranav Kumar Vasishtas.. all speaking in an eloquent manner.. longish statements with at least a word or two from Barron's put in.. guys who'd rather rejoice when the TATA-Corus deal gets finalized.. who prefer eating with a spoon AND a fork.. who do not believe in over-eating (wtf??!) who are more interested in the Nigerian diamond mines and the economy of Fiji AND the Persian carpet industry. And me?? :-<

I, on the other hand, will be stuck with my not-so-smooth Hinglish, Tamilish and Telugu-ish sentences.. who'd be happy and satisfied if India puts up a fight against the South Africans.. who is to overeating what Martin Luther King was for African-American rights.. who is more interested in the fact that a couple of Guru's songs sound similar to Swades's.. who thinks Esperanto is incomplete without smileys!

I guess I'd stick out like a sore thumb :( Or maybe I might be an overnight celebrity because of my uniqueness! I continue to amaze myself with such a high degree of optimism.. I seriously need to get rid of it! [-(

I read the book "The Ultimate Gift" by Jim Stovall.. expected it to be ok-ish but it exceeded my expectations. Its a conglomeration of all simple things (or gifts as he chose to call) which we choose to overlook in our lives. The book did bring back a few memories of my brief stay in IIIT.. how I've evolved over the years.. how well I've adapted to the environment.. how I've changed from an innocent guy, who can be taken advantage of.. to someone optimistic who is not so dumb.. who can be shrewd and cunning.. who is not so good after all.. and who is bitchy now and then.. :P I know some of you might choose to question the "not-so-dumb" statement but lets save it for rainy days. Thought of writing a post on my 3.5 year stay at IIIT.. but then, I dont think it will be well received. Will be blogging more often from now onwards a la Halley. And surprisingly my random crap generator seems to be working quite well.

Quote of the day:

A man should never be ashamed to own up when he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.

- Jonathan Swift

PS1: I need to update my blogroll!
PS2: Of late, I somehow feel incomplete and empty inside. Need to find something to keep myself challenged. Haven't played CS in a while! :(
PS3: I've not been in touch with lots and lots of people. Sorry guys. Need to get back on the social network now. Its a pain in the ass initially with people asking all kinds of uncomfortable questions but once everything is on track, I guess it should be fine.
PS4: All the best to all the people who're writing TOEFL.
PS5*: 12 hours earlier I used to hate GAG. Now I despise him.
PS6*: Placements politics is expected to get shittier tomorrow.
PS7: Fauji, download Spawn-still mighty!! x(
PS8: I wonder what would have happened if Lage raho Munnabhai had been made with Ambedkar figuring in the scheme of things instead of Gandhi.. :-?
PS9: My cousin from Mumbai was pelted with stones when he was commuting in a local train (thanks to the recent riots and protests) He was not hurt, thankfully. So am frustrated right now with these protesters.. and I don't want to get started on the Indian team's performance! Maaannn, how can so many things go wrong simultaneously??!!
PS10: Liked the song tere bina from Guru. Me thinks its a tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan from Rahman :)
PS11: Was reminded of the things-to-do-before-I-leave-IIIT post written by mythalez. Plan to write it sooner or later. Preferably sooner :D Did you notice that theres no pic inserted in this post? And IV, I coined a new word! Post-ified.. :D So what do I win? :-??
PS12: We wont be surprised if we win the best poster award! :P
PS13: This is the end.. :D

* - Strictly views of the author.

2006-11-24T21:48:00.000-08:00

For the majority of CAT aspirants who thought that I did not post because I might have screwed up my CAT, please stop celebrating :P Because I think I have belled the CAT successfully! :D And I'd like to thank ALL (yes the handful of em) my readers for ALL their wishes. yay! I'm halfway there! :D And the quote of the day is (Don't ask me who said it)

A guy who cannot believe in himself is wasting his hard work.

CAT '06 - Expect the unexpected

2006-11-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

And so.. as the nation works itself into another CAT frenzy, speculations are rife.. particularly among freshers on the pattern of this years exam. Last time around, apart from a more logic-based DI section, there were only 90 questions as opposed to 123 questions in CAT 04. Also it was explicitly mentioned that wrong answers will carry a negative marking of one-third of the marks allotted to the question. The only thing constant about every CAT paper is change. So what can one expect from this year's paper?

DO NOT expect any set pattern of the paper. Be prepared for anything and everything. Do not lose your composure during the exam and start panicking. Some of the changes which might figure in this year's paper, according to me, are:

1. Since its a 2.5 hour paper, there might be an increase in the number of questions. However over the past few years, the number of questions has gradually decreased. Hence be prepared for even a 75-question paper. However I find it unlikely.
2. If they do decide to give a 75 question paper, then there's a mighty chance of 1-mark, 2-mark and 3-mark questions figuring in the paper as well. If that is the case, choose your questions carefully. Do not go into aggressive mode and start attempting 3 mark questions like crazy. At the same time, do not play it safe by sticking only to 1 mark questions. CAT is all about making choices. Good ones.
3. They might give 5 options for every question. However there is very little chance for a question having multiple correct answers. STILL one cannot eliminate any possibility.
4. There is a very good chance of progressive negative marking figuring in the scheme of things. Hence it might be necessary, in such cases, to keep the number of attempts lesser instead try increasing his/her accuracy percentage.
5. More importantly, do not waste time in questioning whether the paper was the right type or not. This is very, very important!
6. There is a chance that we might have sections of 1-mark,2-mark and maybe 3-mark questions instead of the customary sections on Quant, DI and Verbal.
7. More number of RCs might figure in the verbal section. For those who are not very good at RCs, try maximising your score by attempting other questions. And for those who are not good at either RC or Vocab (like me) attempt as many as you can and keep your fingers crossed.
8. DI might be more logic-oriented compared to last time. If you dont know what I am talking about, check out TIME's mock tests. Horrifying!
9. Can't think of anything else.

So once again do not waste time in questioning whether the changes in the paper are justified or not. Be flexible. Do not enter the exam hall with a fixed mindset. Do not panic on seeing the changes. If it is difficult for you, it will be difficult for the majority of CAT aspirants. Believe in yourself. Nothing is better than a good dose of self-belief! And do not get stuck on any question. And most importantly.. do not forget your admit card.

All the best for CAT 06. This is the optimist signing off.. adios.

Quote of the day:

One who said winning does not matter, must have lost.

PS1: Rocking in CS now a days. I cant seem to understand how?
PS2: Got 99.87 percentile in the last mock. Pretty cool :D Hope I dint peak too early :P Got lotsa flukes right in verbal :D
PS3: All ye blog readers, wish me luck! :D

Interesting snippets about 2k3 celebrity students & SPAM on 200

2006-10-31T20:50:00.000-08:00

THE GUARDIANs

It was overheard that henceforth Manish aka Pinky Jain shall be addressed as Mansih Karlapalem for his amazing ability of proof reading BTP reports and correcting them. Not only does he share a passion for technical writing, but he is also an equally well know workaholic!! [-( :D How pathetic, Mansih!! :P

YarG is working real hard towards his GRE score of 1560. He has stopped frequenting the labs and I heard people close to him saying that he seems to be a man obsessed. We wish you the very best of luck for your GRE exam.

IIIT footballing sensation, our very own Wayne Rooney, Nani is planning his second album release, controversially titled Sainikudu. I request all of you to give him moral support and see him through this.

In other news, Manto and friends are making a movie with YarG in the male lead and shamanth as the script writer!! Of course, Nani's singing for YarG. So much for a big star cast! It's also rumoured that Illeana has agreed to be the female lead, but we couldnt reach her for comments. And the aggressive Baba has been hired for stunts. But last heard, he got overboard and beat up YarG himself, which in turn resulted in riots in Mehidipatnam. It sure will be interesting when the movie releases. Hopefully, YarG doesnt let his fans down.

After spending days and sleepless nights, Tipo has finally released the zeta version of his software. He's running out of Greek letters to name the versions of his software :( People are requested to try it out and give him feedback. And by any chance if you do find any bugs (its improbable, but not impossible) please do report to him. And this is not a rumour. It is the truth.

The last time IV went to library was in 2004!! Can you believe it? :o BTW asr rocks in inferno! :D

---------------------------------

Of late I've been getting too many spam mails on 200. But the kind of spam I get is puzzling! Take a look at this mail..

Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 10:37:45 -0480
From: Sherri Barajas To: gokul@students.iiit.net
Subject: Lean and mean is in

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Another sample mail looks something like this:

How many times did you get unhappy after being shy to take off your clothes in a romantic moment? 0be`sity does not only affect the way you look and feel about yourself. It is also dangerous for your health, bringing plenty of health problems in a variety of spheres. And of course feeling shy to take off your clothes on a beach or in bed with your special one is so saddening.

You don't have to spend the rest of your life exercising yourself to death. You also don't have to experiment with suspicious po^und-fighting products. The only option you need is An/atrim! Its completely naturaI blend of ingredients attacks o^besity like nothing else and suppresses your appetite, putting your mind in control of your e+ating. It also easily integrates into existing di~ets and has no side effects - your e_ating, your look and your mood get improved fast! Getting rid of extra po*unds now is safe and enjoyable. Ana/trim boosts not only your confidence but helps your body produce tons of natural energy!

Check out the testimonials of happy customers, at our site:
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Why do I, of all people, get this kind of spam! x(

PS1: Sysadmins are behaving like dictators. ftp ports have been blocked. Wireless LAN users cant connect to wired users through dc++. What the hell!??! x(
PS2: The month of November has begun. I screwed up the last mock. So its kinda scary and disappointing that something like this had to happen now. I'd be lying if I were to say tht I am neither tense nor nervous. :-s
PS3: 1 week to go for end sems. Yet to begin preparations! Another reason to be nervous and tense. :-s And the admit cards are here! #:-s
PS4: Bright spot. We are done with our final VIVA! And it was not such a big deal. I wonder why :-?
PS5: Another bright spot. Agni created history last sunday. Maximum number of extras conceded (55 extras!) Worst batting performance ever(43 all out!! =)) ) And also the biggest margin of defeat the IIITians have ever witnessed! (By 112 runs!! :o :)) ) And the biggest icing on the cake is that Vayu was the other team!! Agni lost to Vayu!! I have always considered myself an anti-agnian first and then a vayu-ian. And I am glad that I witnessed this spectacle before I had to leave the college. Very glad! In words of Barney, it was legen-DARY! :D
PS6: Another bright spot. We won dumb charades! I was the one doing the enacting and managed to keep my cool. Not a very convincing victory though. Could have done better, but blah.. who cares. We won! :D
PS7: Heroes rocks! And so does Hiro Nakamura.. I think. I wish I could travel through space and time :-<
PS8: Plan to write a CAT post after end sems. Hopefully. ALL ye readers of my blog.. yeah, the handful of you guys.. wish me luck! :-s
PS9: GAG's getting on the last of my nerves.
PS10: This is the end! :D

CAPTION CONTEST!!

2006-10-20T02:54:00.000-07:00

Ok people. This Diwali you can win exciting prices by giving witty answers in THE CAPTION CONTEST! You can also win early bird prizes. So what are you waiting for? Lets get started! Aapki suvidha ke liye.. I've given you sample captions for a few pics. So get creative.. get lucky! :D

BABA: Time to go for scoop #12

Naidu: I'm full! C-c-cant get up.. :-s

aaarrghh.. this paparazzi never sleeps!
-Ramji

ghatham ghataha..
-Tipo pulling off a BABA stunt..
after finishing his 9th piece of naan!

Brand ambassadors of bhookh.com

Ok.. no one's looking. Move in for the kill!
- stealth.IV (another version of def.IV)
spotted near chicken biryani

We likes curd rice.. My preciousss..
- CAT DON aka Sid

To participate in this exciting contest, write your answers in the comments section. And based on public opinion, (apun-ich public hai!) the best answers will receive MS notebooks, writing pads and other stationery, courtesy our MS whiz kid IV. All pics were taken during the TA party held yesterday at Vilas Venue. More than 85 people attended and it was fun playing one of the hosts :D Thanks lova and other TAs who were mainly instrumental in piecing up the idea.

PS: Exactly 30 more days to go.. :-s

Philosophy 1: blah..

2006-10-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've experienced a myriad of emotions.. From utter confusion to downright depression. Not to forget the flashes of overconfidence. One moment I am analysing why it is so easy to give up. And the very next moment, I start wondering why it is so hard to not give up. Everything up here *points to his head* is in a mess. Somehow something doesnt feel right.

Throughout my life I've given up on many things. I've made compromises.. what they refer to as "settling for the second best". Compromised on my dreams. Aspirations. Ideals. Somehow it never made sense to me to give my best if I cant be the best. You work hard, give it your best shot only to realise that you missed out by an inch. Or sometimes for the worse, lesser. I was never gifted with this risk taking ability. I was always ready to settle for a compromise. It is so much more easier. Of course, this way you live a peaceful existence because you dont need to try hard and you are relieved that you've given up. A huge burden is off your shoulders. Why? Not because the fear of failure is banished.. its because the pressure to succeed is non-existent. Its a great feeling initially. I dont know how many of you have actually experienced it.

But then after some days, life becomes a drab. You just would be leading an aimless existence. As you wake up every morning, there's nothing exciting to look forward to. You want a goal.. to keep you motivated. And the taste of success after having fought against all odds.. just awesome :D Triumphing as an underdog.. when nobody expects a thing from you.. it is the greatest feeling on earth. And then you want to succeed each and every time you try. You either dont want to fail or dont want to try. This another-highly-haphazard post is going nowhere..

BTW my CAT application has been accepted.

Quote of the day:

As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.

George Bernard Shaw

PS1: I got kicked :(( And Raja acted like a wimp. He chickened out whereas my calm demeanour took everyone by surprise :D But at the end of the day, I got to keep my honour and he got to keep his butt. GVK.. I'm gonna get you.
PS2: The hot water springs of New Zealand and the geysers of OBH, 1st floor are very famous for their continuous supply of hot water. Say, you want to wash your feet at 3:00 AM and for some reason you want to use lukewarm water (coz its friggin cold!) Geyser? Switched off.. aah.. Let the taps open.. and then out come fumes like the ones in the mad scientist-frankenstein type movies.. And then.. You start jumping around showing off your latest tap dance moves a la Tom in Tom 'n Jerry.
PS3: Lost in carrom and TT. But put up a very good fight. Especially the TT quarterfinals match.. it was the best match I've ever played although I ended up on the losing side. What I lacked in talent, I made up in strategy :D
PS4: Those who dont like philosophy, please skip the initial parts :D :P This might be a series of never-ending philosophical posts :-s My apologies for those who find it torturous.

Mid sem exams + Sir Lukog's 3 laws of Examination

2006-08-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

So the mid semester exams are here. And as always, I've retained my uncanny ability of screwing up even the easiest of the exams. My aunt used to mention how even my dad, who was a brilliant student, always underperformed in the exams. I guess my dad's genes are finally working. Coming back to the topic, I successfully screwed up the 2 exams that I wrote today, thus maintaining a clean slate. Of course they were easy! I still have one more to go and I'd really love to have a black mark on this unblemished record of mine. Why do you think they call me the optimist!!?? *sigh*

The 3 laws of Examination proposed by Sir Lukog seem to dictate my performance :( For the uninformed, Sir Lukog was a part of the Priori of Scion and is said to have influenced his disciple Newton immensely. Lukog was wanted by the church for his rebellious ideas on examinations. Even today, these laws are practically unknown thanks to stringent measures taken by the then-orthodox church. Coming to the 3 laws of Examination..

The First Law of examination states that every student stays in a state of laziness, and continues to stay in that state unless he is compelled to study due to approaching exams.

The Second Law of examination states that the rate of change of preparation of a student(just before the exam) is directly proportional to the number of hours he has slept during the class.

The Third Law of examination states that for every exam you write well, there is atleast one exam which you'll end up screwing equally well.

Explanation for the 2nd law: The more he sleeps during the classes, the more he prepares before the exam. The mathematical form of this law is as follows:

P = sG

where P is rate of change of preparation, s the number of hours he has slept in the classes and G is the geek constant. You can actually see a striking resemblance with Newton's second law (F = ma)

Please note that the converse of the third law doesnt hold true. Especially in my case.

These laws are proposed for mere mortals and hence any attempts to disprove these laws by drawing comparisons with legends like IV or Manish shall be condemned.

Some of the other lesser known laws on examination, also by the same man, are:

The Law of Hypersomnia: This law states that however great an insomniac one might be, he/she is bound to feel sleepy during the preparation for an examination.

The 70% rule: The 70% rule states that any average student covers 70% or more of the portion he actually studies, in the final hours before the examination.

I guess the time has come for me to start on my 70% of the portion. So off I go and all the best for your exams. And if you're one of those lucky people like THIS guy, who has no exams.. DAMN YOU! >:P

Quote of the day:

The simplest schoolboy is now familiar with truths for which Archimedes would have sacrificed his life.

- Ernest Renan

PS1: Somehow I dont have any such problems with my mock CAT. Scored above 99 percentile in the last 2 mocks which, of course, is ultra cool :D Sid rocked in the last mock! He stood 11th in India and topped in Hyderabad. *awestruck*
PS2: The weather's been soo pleasant of late. I just dont feel like studying. We've been having quite a few philosophical discussions as well. THIS is life :D
PS3: KK's creating mayhem on the ug4 mailing list. As a result, I've refrained myself from sending valuable spam for some days :-< And all because Saaketh had to send mails to ug4! ;))
PS4: I'm feeling sleepy already! (:| Yes, the law of hypersomnia.. :(
PS5: I am unable to upload pics in this post. dammit! x(
PS6: Comfortably numb - voted best guitar solo *yay!* Sweet child o mine and Hotel california also made it to top 10.. :D
PS7: Next post might be on how I sit through boring classes.

The play and boycotting the freshers

2006-08-18T14:13:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen.. on your left.. You can see what we might term as the "before" pic. And on your right is what one can term as the "after" pic.

So we did enact the play. And we did screw it up. But the people didn't realise it! 2 of us actually screwed up the dialogues and we somehow managed to cover it up. Finally I guess we put up quite a decent performance, contrary to what the cmdrbuzz and others might think. If anyone can come up with something better than this in 18 days with T3 in the cast, then I'm game for it :D :P

Anyways, 3 things I learnt from the play:
1. Its not very easy to put on make up.
2. Its not very easy to remove make up.
3. Makeup can make a world of difference! I, for one will try staying away from it.

Moving on to more controversial issues, there is this rumour that the 2k4 batch will be boycotting the freshers because of the unjust treatment meted out to their batchmates during the ragging episode. Well.. it doesnt end here. It moves on to sports as well, where in the 2k6 batch wont be taken into the team for any group events. In Al Pacino's words, this is such a crock of shit!

All the anger that you guys have on the faculty is being focussed on the juniors. Of course there are spoilt brats in the 2k6 batch just like your batch and our batch had. That doesnt mean that you go ahead and show your contempt for the batch by boycotting the event and isolating the facchas from all sports. It is just a cowardly act.. an act of personal vengeance.. I dont know who is/are pulling the strings.. I dont know how it is going to help their cause.. But one thing I know is that the faculty wont give a damn. And that this might very well be the most immature, irresponsible thing one might end up doing. Was it their(2k6 people) fault that the 3 people got sent to mussoorie? No. As much as you'd like it to be. That decision was taken by director and co. So instead of venting your anger, garner your guts and stand up against the director. And to get the whole batch to do something like this in the name of batch-intergity is something even more nonsensical.

Please note that this is my opinion and has been formed based on the assumption that plans are being plotted to exclude the facchas from group events. If these are plain misconceptions, then I guess I went overboard.. :P

Quote of the day:

Wisdom never kicks at the iron walls it can't bring down.

- Olive Schreiner

PS1: I've got guys from ug3 asking me whether I'd be boycotting the freshers or not! wthell!! But one thing I can assure you is I aint boycotting the dinner.. :D Also some carnival's being planned this coming Sunday. I've given my name for JAM. There are rumours that all ug1 students will be excluded from the carnival as well. I guess, the rumour mills are working overtime.
PS2: SE classes are just way too boring! *yawn* SE assignment due date this tuesday. We're supposed to come up with a 10 page report! SE->Social Entrepreneurship
PS3: Who in their right minds takes a course like PR? The assignments are soo friggin long! And yes, stratovarius rocks :D
PS4: Mocks are back!! We had a long break of 2 weeks. And my hands are just itching to write the next mock :D
PS5: IV's promised me to get a pad, a pen and a notebook from MS :D And I'm soo blurked :P (Copyright IV 2006)
PS6: GAG's a pain in the neck. Period. Chelsea got screwed by L'pool! In spite of Gerrard starting on the bench! The Riise goal was awesome! All ye Chelsea fans can bid goodbye to your days of domination in the EPL :D

About Compilers, playing cricket and what not!!

2006-08-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

The other day, when one of the juniors was whining to me about how Zulu was making life hell for the 2k4 batch, I was reminded of the day when he had asked me to get married. I'm sure he STILL makes the same set of statements. And it made me read the posts I had written about the compilers course. Quite funny, I must say. You can find them here. And the post includes the feedback + post-feedback class :D A parting word of advice if you're a CSE student of the 2k4 batch - sit in the front benches at the extremes. You'll hardly get noticed ;)

Now a days, I've been playing cricket quite regularly. In the lawn of course. It's fun. We usually get a decent audience. And if you're wondering what I do on the field..
When I'm fielding:
1. I taunt the batsman and the opposite team members (who are just lazing around on the lawn)
2. I bowl. Sometimes I am just awesome. Sometimes.
3. I'm a livewire on the field. I fumble regularly. I drop catches. I manage to hold on to some as well. But STILL I'm a livewire on the field.
4. I encourage the bowler and the fielders. After almost every ball. By taunting the batsmen of course!
5. I sometimes dive around and get scraped. But that is rare. Quite rare.

When I'm not fielding:
1. I make fun of the bowler.
2. I make fun of the fielders.
3. I make fun of our batsmen. (Just cant help it :-s )
4. I keep all ants off me. (We've got ants in the lawn. Some pretty big ones!)

When I go to bat:
1. I swing.
2. I miss.
3. If by chance,I connect then it goes out of the ground. Which by the way, is actually declared out.
4. I mistime shots and give a catch straight down the fielder's throat.
5. I run sloppily and run others out. (unless I've already run myself out)
6. I defend easy, lollipop, nicky boye-ish fulltosses. (Read it in Boycott style)
6. I make fun of the bowlers.
7. I make fun of the wicket-keeper.

But its fun playing cricket. The feeling of wet grass beneath your feet is just amazing. Totally worth it! :)

Moving on to other stories, the hot rottis guy has been given the contract for the ground floor mess and the dinner is just awe-huh-some! The number of puris is unlimited and the gravy/side-dish/curry is quite decent. So mom's really happy that FINALLY there's a mess which can cater to her growing boy's needs! And so, I am consistently having almost 6-8 puris on an average which is quite good. But I seem to developing this paunch and if I do not take drastic steps any time soon, you will be watching me on AXN in Ripley's Believe it or not - the lankiest man to have ever had a paunch. Yes, I can wave for you. All you need to do is mention your name and the message in the comments box. I can always do a Big B.

*wave* Panchnagar ke vaasiyon.. aap sabko mera pranam.. *wave*

Anyways coming back to more raging topics, after the electricity debacle - when the hostel bills shot up - my wingmates were big time into saving electricity. No they were not switching off the geysers. Instead they refused to switch on the exhaust fans!!! So whenever I had to take a leak, my lung capacity was tested. And for 4 days I had to endure the stink (which in a way helped me perfect the art of pranayam, but thats not the point!!) Right now though, things are much rosier. I just keep them switched on (the exhaust fans!) and no one seems to care :)
[And no, we still dont switch off the geysers after use]

Quote of the day:

We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin.

- Andre Berthiaume

PS1: So BTP viva is around the corner. And we have hardly done anything on that front. In fact I feel quite guilty when people discuss about their projects in the mess! Damn you geekos!
PS2: Tomorrow is the D-day for our play. For the uninformed, our play will be held as part of a big cultural event in room number 119. The event is supposed to start at 17:30 hours and ours is the second performance. So be there and witness the miracle! (If you think people making themselves look like jackasses a miracle) Something tells me that its going to be quite embarassing.. :-s Everyone is showing signs of screwing it up! Lord, save us.
PS3: Siddarth is going great guns on the CAT front. I have decided to look at the (BIG picture minus Siddarth) and now it looks a lot comforting. The joys of imagination.. *sigh*
PS4: Being a TA is kinda shitty.. in fact its totally shitty. End of story.
PS5: Watched OMKARA and kinda liked it. But you dont want to be watching it with your family - unless you like going pink when you hear words like chutiya. Watched bomarillu as well. Nice. Planning on watching it again. And the whole experience...Out of the world. Deserves a separate post.
PS6: Need to prepare for carrom competitions :-s Especially doubles. Why?
2004 - winners
2005 - runners-up
2006 - ??
I know I am not very good at showing off.. :(
PS7: Had a nice time over the weekend. And a nice lunch. I think I just messed up the order.. :P
PS8: Senor Placements is getting on my nerves. The last remaining ones! :((
PS9: Long time since I blogged and hence such an unstructured post.

The Prophecy

2006-08-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

"No matter how high one's spirit power is.. if they leave the tap open all the time, their spirit power should dry up right away. If the tap is turned and an unexpected amount of water comes out, most people would be startled and turn off the tap right away.
If he's like that too.. If his usual abilities are in the off mode.. And if.. by some impetus.. it is wrenched open.. "

--Bleach:14-B

The storm is over. The metamorphosis is complete. He is no longer ordinary. The tap has been wrenched open. He has been quite patient. For 3 long years. Now he has finally arrived. The time has come. To sit back and watch the show. The prophecy shall be fulfilled. I know it. Just like I knew 20 years ago. With just a few more than a hundred days to go, its a race between him and time. Its going to be close.. very close.

Looking back - I

2006-07-22T01:09:00.000-07:00

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

--Steve Jobs

Sampy's joy knew no bounds. He had finally got a chance to prove himself worthy. Tomorrow was the D-day and he knew that if he could pull off the presentation well enough, he would not need to worry about his future. As he reached home, Gopal, his 6-year old kid came running and hugged him, "Daddy! I've been waiting for you since afternoon. When are we going shopping?" Sampy did not want to disappoint his son whose birthday fell sometime in the next week. But he had to work on his presentation which was more important. He replied, "Lets go tomorrow. Daddy is very tired right now. Plus I have to do my homework. Else they wont let me in the office tomorrow." Gopal seemed to understand and as Sampy prepared himself for another nightout, he patted his back and said,"Ok. Be a good boy and dont go to office without completing your homework." Malini could not help smiling when she heard this and put her son to bed.

As July 11, 2006 dawned, Sampy got ready to give the presentation of his life. Gopal came up to him and gave him a hug. "Daddy, promise me that tomorrow you're going to spend the whole day with me." He promised. He made it to the office before time so as to avoid the morning rush in the local trains. And as he prepared himself for the presentation, he seemed quite confident of pulling it off comfortably. And he did it in style! And by 5:00 PM, the deal had been finalized. He just had to do a couple of modifications and he'd have got his first success as the project manager. He called up home and informed her. She was very happy for him. She reminded him of his promise to their son for which he replied, "You know I keep my promises" She knew he did. All of them. But somehow she had a creepy feeling that something was going to go wrong this time. This was not the first time she felt so, but this time the feeling was much more stronger.

(To be continued..)

PS1: This is my first attempt at writing short stories. It's the first of the 2 installments of the story. Hope to write the second one soon. Will be damn busy in the coming week.
PS2: It has been a good week. I got appointed as the TA for cognitive science and stood 85th in CL mock test-I. Hope to keep my feet planted on ground.

Salaam Bombay

2006-07-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

Most of my relatives live in Mumbai and so when I saw what had happened, my heart skipped a beat. I was reminded of the 1993 serial blasts. I was in Mumbai then and the next 2-3 days after the blasts were spent in fear. Every night a collective sigh of relief was heaved, as a silent prayer escaped our lips thanking God for no untowards incidents.

However Mumbai is the city that never sleeps. All wounds heal in no time. And most of the things are forgotten. Or atleast pushed to the back of one's mind. It was nice to know that the world's rudest city could recover from such an attack within hours. I salute the courage, and tolerance (towards frequent visits from unconcerned politicians) shown by the Mumbaities. You guys rock! :D

All my relatives and friends are safe and fine. I hope you are too.

Quote of the day:

There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating - people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing.

-- Oscar Wilde

PS1: Birthday came and went. The most uneventful one I've ever had. But the most satisfactory as well. For a second I thought I might have to deal with another news of death. Thankfully none came. This might have sounded selfish but I guess nothing wrong in it.
PS2: PC is screwed up BIG time. Am not able to install drivers in Windows. Yes, I've formatted my C drive. Will try WLAN in Linux and if it doesnt work then it will be quite some time before I could blog from my room.
PS3: If you thought Firefox sucked, this might be somewhat heartening. Flock sux as well!!
PS4: New sem has begun. My classes start from Tuesday. I am kinda apprehensive. Actually that is just an understatement. Anyways, too many courses to choose from and all this analysing becomes tiring after some time.
PS5: I have been happier inside since the blasts. More thankful to God.
PS6: Wrote CL and TIME mocks today. Did moderately well in the former and screwed up the latter.
PS7: I've 5 drafts right now which need to be posted. But I just am not able to blog from the labs. Too much of shouting and commotion. New 64 bit PCs have arrived and they rock :D
PS8: Are Barcamps really so interesting that 3 out of every 5 posts shown in the blogroll are being written on it?
PS9: Feels good to be blogging again. Thanks, Rakesh.

Germany vs Argentina..

2006-06-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so finally I did watch a match in the TV lounge fully. And I must say, the match was quite special. I, for one, thought Argentina would win the contest hands down, although I had this creepy feeling that it was going to be Germany which would come up trumps. Or maybe my tendency to support the underdogs took control of me. Because it seemed quite illogical. It was one of those things wherein the mind tells something but the heart tells the opposite.

Anyways coming back to the match, the first half, to sum it in one word, was unexciting. Argentina dominated the half with almost 65% posession, but were unimpressive. Ballack missed an easy header, and I was hoping secretly that it does not prove costly for Germany. However Tevez was the most impressive with his slick passes and sublime touches.

Coming to the second half, it was quite evident that both the teams were looking to increase their tempo. First up, Germany conceded a corner in the 48th minute. And Ayala converted it into a goal with a beautiful header. And celebrate he did. Little did he know that he was going to be one of the two who'd let Argentina down later in the evening. It was only after the goal did we see the Germans trying to attack much more. Wave after wave of the German attack crashed against the sturdy, Argentinian defense. But little came out of it.

However the turning point of the game, according to me, was in the 62 minute, when the Argentinian goalkeeper was injured. After a few minutes he had to be stretchered off the field. And after that, a couple of disastrous substitutions by Jose Pekerman just made matters worse by replacing Riquelme and Crespo. WHAT WAS HE THINKING? And to top it all, Messi and Saviola were overlooked. Was it over confidence on Pekerman's part or under-estimating the young lads? But that was all the Germans needed. In the 80th minute Ballack gave an excellent pass inside the box to Borowski, who headed it to Klose. Klose had no problems in converting it into a goal and suddenly everyone (almost) around me went into raptures. The Germans were back into the match.

The extra time was safely negotiated by both the teams. And then it came down to deciding the match through penalty kicks. (Somehow I was reminded of Patnaik's miss) And as I had anticipated, Germany came on top with Cambiossa and Ayala hitting it straight to Lehmann, the German goalkeeper while the Germans converted all their spot kicks. And the final score read :
Germany 1(4) - 1(2) Argentina

Argentina is a very good team which showed a lot of promise. I wont be surprised if they are chosen as favourites for the WC 2010. However they were just not meant to click in this WC. On the other hand, the German defense was not even half as strong as the Berlin wall. In fact at one juncture, Lahm made a weak pass to Freidrick which was intercepted by Crespo and it could have proved dangerous had Maxi not messed up the shot. There was another instance when I thought the referee was going to award a spot kick to Argentina when Lahm felled Rodriguez in the box. Instead the referee yellow-carded Rodriguez. There were other debatable decisions as well. The refereeing, I felt, was biased towards the Germans.

However it was their day on the field today, and I salute their dogged determination, which saw them through. And I feel happy for Klinsman. It could well turn into a second successive final if they get past the Italians. But that was easier said than done. Although Ballack did show a few flashes of brilliance, he was limping for most part of the second half. Schneider also looked incompetent. But one never knows when the Italians might snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They're the best chokers after Spain and Netherlands. Lets hope for the best and may the best teams win. And on that note, this is the optimist from utopia signing off.

My man of the match: The German goalkeeper, Lehmann

PS1: This was not the football post I promised. However I couldnt keep myself from posting about the match. It was the match of the WC. Waiting for tomorrow's quarterfinals.. esp Brazil vs France. Its time for vengeance guys.
PS2: Going home tomorrow. Just cant stop myself from getting bored. In fact I got so bored, that I started editing my orkut profile. (I dont like doing it, but then you know how bored I am now a days) And I guess, it came out quite well :P
PS3: India is tottering at 144/6 . No comments :(
PS4: WC UPDATE!! Pekerman quit as the Argentina coach. Shit happens, dude.
PS5: Tipo cant stop himself from mentioning assimov in every sentence. Its irritating.
PS5: 2 term assesment tests during this weekend. May the Lord save me. AMEN.

My Schedule..

2006-06-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

12:30: Wake up.
12:45: Wide awake, but still in bed.
(Hoping that I won’t feel hungry and the sun would set soon so that I could go back to sleep.)
1:00: Don’t see my fantasies coming true. Drag myself out of the bed unwillingly.
1:01: Switch on the PC. Check mails. Reply offliners and scraps.
1:10: Wake others up, if they are not awake already.
1:20: Start brushing.
1:22: Still Brushing. And talking in a language which only S and I can understand.
With all that foam in our mouths, we would talk and talk until we can take it no longer.
We’d then run all the way to the bathroom, just in time to direct all that foam right into
the washbasin. Bombs away!! 
1:30: Not yet decided, where we would have our lunch.
1:45: Lunch.
2:15: Still lunching. And BCing of course.
2:30: Back in room. Check mails hoping for SPAM in mailbox.
No.. no.. not the ‘I’m sexy’ spam mails from the faculty's account :P
2:31: No mails!! dammit! Double click on anger.m3u or bored.m3u and the songs start.
(yeah, I’ve got a playlist for every mood. Yes I am highly organized :D) 
2:40: Plan out a schedule which goes something like this.
     2:45: Take bath. =))
     3:15: CAT
     3:45: Break. Drink water. Listen to songs for half an hour. 
     4:15: Read blogs. Check for comments. Comment on others blogs.
     ?:?? : Once I am done, check if someone is online, who is waiting to be bugged.
     6:45: CAT
     7:45: Have dinner. And then come back and plan the rest of the schedule.

My ideal schedule.. :D But as each and every one of us knows the ideal concept is imaginary.
So what actually happens is..

2:45: Favourite song starts playing on JetAudio. Puts the song in an infinite loop.
2:50: Checks mails. nfrm. You have no new mail. *sigh*
2:55: Still humming the same song. Suddenly.. out of nowhere!! BUZZ!! From this guy!
A sample conversation.
halley: why is it that i am jobless always :D
halley: evado okadu dorukuthadu chatting ki
halley: and i keep doin BC
halley: always
Gokul: hmm
Gokul: why ante?
Gokul: anthea..
Gokul: we are born to be jobless.
halley: sun rises in the east type lo fact antaava :D
…
…
halley: remember this jaypee guy
halley: DS tutor
Gokul: huh?
Gokul: hmm ya
Gokul: trees
halley: vaadu appudu annadu ..
Gokul: emani
halley: 1st yr lo konchem work chesthav
halley: 2nd yr lo taggutundi
halley: 3rd lo inka taggutundi
halley: 4th yr lo asalu undadu ani
halley: appudu i thought i can defy that .. now i sit back and say how true how true
halley: =))
Gokul: hehe
Gokul: yeah
Gokul: sit back
Gokul: true true
halley: i cant even imagine
Gokul: :(
halley: when u become say a 30 yr old or somethin
halley: and u have some kids n your relatives etc
halley: vallu b.tech ki ready authu unte
Gokul: :-s
halley: manam emani chepthamo ani
halley: ;))
halley: definitely i cant say .. study well work hard etc
halley: =))
Gokul: hehe
Gokul: yeah rey
Gokul: neva thought bout it
halley: we need to somethin big in our life
halley: eppudu cheddham ;)
Gokul: hmm
Gokul: sthn big..
Gokul: I can’t think big
Gokul: u tell me
halley: we will blast IIIT
Gokul: :|
Gokul: HOW?
halley: V for Vendetta style

The conversation after this is strictly censored for I play a more active part from here!! :-s
No, we are not associated with the Al-Qaeda

PS1: Another arbit post. Bored at lab. Waiting to play BF2 SF.
PS2: Next post is NOT going to be an arbit post! BTW this is my 75th post.
PS3: This is not a fixed schedule. And yes, it has been altered a little.
(to appeal to the author :P)
PS4: Quarterfinals from tomorrow. Cant wait for em.. :D
My predictions: 
Germany vs Argentina -- Argentina -- ]  Argentina --]
England vs Portugal  -- England   -- ]                --] Brazil!! \:D/
Brazil vs France     -- Brazil    -- ]  Brazil    --]
Ukraine vs Italy     -- Italy     -- ]

My predictions:
Germany vs Argentina -- Germany   -- ]  Germany --]
Ukraine vs Italy     -- Italy     -- ]                --] Brazil!! \:D/
Brazil vs France     -- Brazil    -- ]
England vs Portugal  -- England   -- ]  Brazil  --]

PS5: Sagar is referring to peesu and yar as Srinivas and Pradeep!! =))
PS6: I am jobless. :(

DUMB charades.. :D

2006-06-28T06:24:00.000-07:00

Dumb charades.. some of my fond childhood memories have been associated with it. Its funny how something so insignificant as this, has continued to stay memorable unlike any other major 'event' in my life.

This other day, my sister and I were recollecting the days when we used to be the exponents at this very game. We knew each other inside out and with mind-blowing strategies :P we used to make short work of any difficult sounding movies. People even went to the lengths of calling us psychic and telepathic. But as they say, all good things have to come to an end, and needless to say, somewhere down the line, we also lost track of our abilities and stopped being the paranormal siblings.

The last time when my dumb charadic skills were put to test was when we had moved to Hyderabad and this house maid of ours knew neither Hindi nor English (No, its not THAT obvious. My cousin has a house maid who speaks decent English. Better than our Intermediate Maths professor. Also I hate to admit this, but back then, my mom was better than me in Telugu) Anyways to cut a long story short, I was kinda out of touch when it came to dumb charades and so when we had been to Mumbai, we decided to play the same and relive some of the memories. And as I had mentioned earlier, my sister and I decided to be the captains of our respective teams. Then came discussing the strategies part.

Me: Achcha, remember thumbs up is a hindi movie/word, thumbs down is English and anything else means I am trying to give you a clue using a Tamil/Marathi word. (Yes, we're multi-lingual) And first up indicate the number of words in the title.
Cousin #1: Ok. And about the male lead, if its Big B, I'll scratch my imaginary french beard. SRK? I kinda act gay. If its Aamir, I put the funky style look and for Salman, I pretend I am getting rid of my shirt. Sanjay Dutt, I do his macho walk.. blah blah. And he went on and on.

And finally the game began. First up, we had little rapport in our team. I was asked to enact Awara Pagal Deewana. I tried doing the Pagal part first but ended up convincing them that a bandar was involved in the movie. Luckily we managed to pull it off. But this was just the beginning and the worst was yet to come. Things have changed over the past 6 years. I, for one was made to enact movies which sounded so weird, that I began to doubt its authenticity. Movies like 'Garam tavve pe naachti chudail', 'Haivaan ka chumma', 'Albert Pinto ko gussa kyun aaya?', 'Sati Narmada', 'Achut Kanya', 'Jai Pataal Bhairavi' and many more. Emotions raged among us.. from desperation to joy.. anger to pity (on the opponent enacting the movie name who was making a fool out of himself) Finally we wrapped it up with my sister posting a not-so-convincing victory. But it was a very satisfying experience.

And the Quote for the day is:

There are times when silence has the loudest voice.

Leroy Brownlow

PS1: Just an arbit post. I had written this on July 12th but had not posted it because of some unknown reasons.
PS2: I continue to postpone the football post. Have been feeling very lonely lately. I am chatting and orkutting just for the heck of it. Intend to go home on a long vacation, once I am done shifting to OBH.
PS3: BF2 is fun, but not as fun as CS :( I played dotA recently and am not very impressed. But I guess I'd continue playing it.
PS4: And dammit. Spain lost again. How do they manage to underachieve at each and every world cup? But now we have a rematch on the 1998 WC final on the cards. Yes, Brazil vs France! Its time for vengeance!! >:)
PS5: Vamsi threw us a sumptuous party yday. It was fun.
PS6: My yahoo messenger got screwed up. So I had to re-install an older version. And the worst part is, I lost my archives :( Some of the most intellectual and jobless conversations have been lost!!! *sigh*
PS7: I got my hair cut. Again. Tried out the Frank Lampard hairdo but people tell me I look more like Crouch :( So it wont be long before I revert back to my old hairstyle. Peace.

The race of life...

2006-06-26T04:47:00.000-07:00

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle awakens.
He has only one thought on his mind:To be able to run faster than the fastest lion. If he cannot, then he will be eaten.

Every morning in Africa a lion awakens.
He has only one thought on his mind: To be able to run faster than the slowest gazelle. If he cannot, he will die of hunger.

Whether you choose to be a gazelle or a lion is of no consequence.
It is enough to know that with the rising of the sun, you must run. And you must run faster than you did yesterday or you will die.

This is the race of life."

- African Proverb

Less than 5 months to go for CAT. And I have to work harder. It has come back to haunt me. The race of life. And with the rising of the sun, I must run.(Literally speaking, I sleep with the rising of the sun. But I am trying to sound melodramatic, so please do not pass any comments on my sleeping habits :P) Run faster than I did yesterday.

As I read the above paragraph, which I've written, I realise how my attitude towards CAT has been. Just like the paragraph, I start off in full steam, extremely serious to do some effective CATting but then somewhere down the road I just take it easy and the "happy-go-lucky" me takes over. This cant go on :( Time is running out for me. Please do pray for me. Pray to God that I make it. Comfortably. And if you yourself are giving CAT this year, then pray for yourself. Coz I am coming to get you. You hear that? Oh yes, all this time I was just feigning humility which I must confess am very bad at. I am going to deprive you. And YOU. AND YOU. Of all 6 IIM calls. How can I deprive 3 people of IIM calls. Am I alright? Oh yeah, I was just kidding. Getting melodramatic. ;)

The above paragraph was a word-to-word monologue of what is taking place in my mind. A mixture of uncertainity and over confidence.. of humility and arrogance.. Yes, I am confused. I seem to lack clarity of thought. The other day someone asked me to practise meditation because it helps regain the peace of mind. And as I was ready to do anything to keep these voices shut, I decided to give it a try. 30 minutes and 2 loud bangs on my room door later, I found myself on my bed in a foetal position. My friends tell me that I've never taken so much time to answer the door. I guess, meditation is a cure for insomnia. I just hope it works all the time.

PS1: I have officially retired from the dramatics club and have resigned from the post of a lecturer in TIME because of lack of time management. I hope I wont be asked any more queries connected to these issues :D
PS2: Portugal vs Netherlands was one of the most well fought matches in WC so far. And I mean it literally. The football post is still overdue though.. :(
PS3: We hope to get our OBH rooms allotted by next week.
PS4: CAT preparation is going to heat up once I make it to OBH, because our mocks start on July 16th. Plus I hope to provide Baba some spiritual guidance and instill some self-confidence in him, so that he cracks CAT and comes out with flying colours. With great men as friends, come great responsibilities :P Just can't escape em :(
PS5: Siddarth recently confessed that he is scared of me. *lengthy pause* Yes, I was talking about CAT. He thinks I am competition. I hope so, Sid. For your sake and mine, I hope so :D

Theory of time (mis)management

2006-06-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

The procrastinator's creed states that:

I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.
I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses.
I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration.
I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.
I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.
I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the amount of time given.
I shall never forget that the probability of a miracle, though infinitesmally small, is not exactly zero.
If at first I don't succeed, there is always next year.
I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change my mind.
I shall always begin, start, initiate, take the first step, and/or write the first word, when I get around to it.
I obey the law of inverse excuses which demands that the greater the task to be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to beginning the greater task.
I know that the work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but is wait/plan/plan.
I will never put off until tomorrow, what I can forget about forever.
I will become a member of the ancient Order of Two-Headed Turtles (the Procrastinator's Society) if they ever get it organized.

Sometime back, with the help of Sir Lukog, and inspired by this procrastinator's creed, we had come up with the theory of mismanagement. But then to our horror, there were a series of powercuts because of which my UPS (which is as reliable as Sreesanth) breathed its last. But that is not the point here. The point is that I lost my post!! :(( And I am in no mood right now to write a 1100 odd word long post AGAIN. Hence I left you with the procrastinator's creed.. something to cherish about.

Quote of the day:

How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time.

Fred Brooks

PS1: Next post might be on football.
PS2: You guys are free to bug me at all odd hours except in the morning when I am busy sleeping.
PS3: There's more to my life than CAT. So stop asking me about my CAT preparation everytime you see me or come online.
PS4: Someone spam my mailbox for heavens sake!!
PS5: All ug2k3 students visit http://slogging.wordpress.com and give your valuable inputs.
PS6: This is the least time ever taken by me to write a post. 5 minutes. I am pissed off.

Memories...

2006-06-22T02:14:00.000-07:00

Found this on the last page of my 2nd sem Maths notebook. I think I wrote this somewhere at the end of that sem, frustrated with the way things were heading in my life. The word cheerful was history then. It was not the way I thought things would be.

Compromising on one's values is the most painful thing one could ever experience. Believe me. And I ended up doing that. I succumbed to it. The system. This was the same time when I lost a major chunk of what is known as self-respect. And falling in one's own eyes is unforgivable. I was no longer invincible. Of course things change. And changed they have. But then some memories, they dont fade away. They just tend to stay with you. They become a part of you. This was what I wrote

If you think something is wrong with the system, change it. Or just try gelling with it. Else just mind your own business. But I couldn't compromise then. I never knew such an option existed. And so I took door number 2! I had to. But I think my nursery teacher forgot to tell me that no one.. No one revolts against the system. Unless you want to be detested and despised by the society. Anyone who revolts must be perfect. Someone who practises what he preaches. And if you're not, you.ll be burnt at the stake, with the public crying for your head.

Yes, I'm a born whiner! :P I guess I was not able to come to terms with reality. Anyways apart from bad sentence formation, I don't think I used to write that badly :P But pretty haphazard. That's what happens when there are too many thoughts floating in your head. There are some more passages but then I thought they were way too haphazard, personal and controversial ;) And grammatically incorrect. Maybe some other day when I am equally foolish, I might end up publishing 'em :P

Quotes for the day:

Memory is a child walking along a seashore. You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things.

-Pierce Harris

A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen.

-Edward de Bono

PS1: Have tried using shorter sentences in this post unlike my usual ones where I use long lines, which someone happened to mention the other day, were unbearable. Now that is a long line :P Tell me whether you like it or not.
PS2: Lukog says hi to one and all :D He hopes to return in the next post.
PS3: Deleted my personal blog before anyone could get their hands on it, coz it was way too controversial. Although, blogging in oblivion rox! :D
PS4: Almost decided on the wing and the rooms.
PS5: Plan to start writing TIME mocks just to see where I stand.
PS6: Group E is posed interestingly. Any 2 of the 4 teams can make it! :-s
PS7: I ended up tackling Mr Abbulu yday and he ended up with a twisted ankle! THAT is what happens when you mess with me! :P
PS8: Insensitive comments might be deleted. :P
*updated quote

Lukog the Great...

2006-06-17T02:15:00.000-07:00

The story of Lukog the great, is as sensational as the da Vinci Code itself, for the story has been the most closely guarded secret after the holy grail. However, today I am going to narrate to you one of the most astounding tales of rise of a monarch which your history teacher chose not to because of the gross factor.

Early Life

The authenticity of the birth of King Lukog has long been debated by scholars. So lets not go into the intracacies involved and get straight to our story. As a child, Lukog grew into a courageous and brave boy, sometimes taking on cockroaches and rats head on, much to the delight of his proud father and the disgust of his scared mother. Developing into an impeccable warrior general, a shrewd statesman and a natural linguist (it was said that he could converse with the rats and vultures) he excelled in dodging creatures and slaying them expertly.

Rise to power

As he entered TIII (a Technical Institute for the Insane and the Irresponsible) he was asked to quell a lizard rebellion in sector 280, OBH (Ogre-like Beasts' Habitation) Although this was the first time he had encountered a lizard, he stayed unperturbed much to the surprise of the lizards and hence earned their respect. By the end of the year, he had crushed the rebellion with an iron fist. (Thats just a metaphor! He had tactfully driven it away into the neighbouring kingdom using long iron rods) The joy of his subjects knew no bounds and hence they rechristened him as Lukog the Great fondly.

This time NLB, astonished by the grace and diplomacy with which he had handled the rebellion, assigned him sector 209, NBH (Nasty Beasts' Habitation) where the subjects were tormented by 2 lochness lizard monsters. Brimming with confidence, Lukog made his presence felt from day 1 by banishing away one of them to the Scottish waters. (The monster lives in incognito today) However the other one was stubborn and not ready to budge.

Conquest of the monster

Unfazed by its arrogance, Lukog engaged it in intense staring contests, but it was too lazy to stare back. Innumerable one-sided, verbal duels were also highly futile and a truce was nowhere in sight. The shock and awe strategy was not working either. Baffled by this failure, Lukog decided to finish it once and for all. Soon his commander attacked it with the greatest invasion ever recorded in Indian history until then. The monster put up a stiff resistance, but it was no match for Lukog's powerful armies, sophisticated weapons (again a long iron rod and a Hindu newspaper) and his experienced commander. Soon the monster was slayed, much to the delight of the commander and chagrin of the watchers.

Embrace of Lizardism

As the legend goes, the day after the war was over, Lukog ventured out to roam his kingdom and all he could see was the blood of the monster splattered all over and its twitching tail. This sight made him sick and he cried the famous quotation, "What have I done?" The brutality of the conquest led him to adopt and embrace Lizardism and he used his position to propagate the relatively new philosophy to new heights. It has also been known recently that Lukog was a great source of inspiration to the likes of Ashoka. Anyways concluding the story, the only reason why huge, fat lizards roam freely all over OBH and NBH, unperturbed by the huge brooms and the iron rods, owe it all to Lukog the Great.

Quote for the day is:

Life's real failure is when you do not realise how close you were to success when you chose to gave up.

PS1: This post is dedicated to all those who have suffered in the hands of countless number of lizards. And any similarities between Lukog and Ashoka are purely co-incidental. Or maybe as they say, History repeats itself.
PS2: Also there is absolutely no correlation between King Lukog and me, although his name when spelt backwards is my name. (Dont tell me, you never realised!)

WANTED!!

2006-06-14T05:48:00.000-07:00

Please note that the following post will be highly haphazard because neither have I used any headings nor does it have any paragraphs :P Also this post is strictly meant for ug2k3 guys only.

WANTED! A vacant room in OBH ground, first or second floor. The following are my conditions:
1. There must be no smokers.. boozers.. or dopers.
2. There must exist rooms in the wing, which are dirtier as well as cleaner than mine so that I dont feel bad or good about my room's condition.
3. There must exist at least one entity who wakes up early and who doesnt give up that easily when it comes to waking me up. Perseverance is the key.
4. There must exist a co-insomniac in the same floor who can accompany me to late-night visits to canteen. I know its asking for too much but then I have a weird feeling that it is quite possible. And by co-insomniac, anyone who can stay awake till 1:30 IS an insomniac.
5. There must also exist entities who are ready to do BC on various topics like CS, philosophy, bushi, school incidents, movies, lecturers, bushi, sports, CAT, current affairs, the early 90's DD programs, cartoons, sitcoms and bushi. SRK haters will be a big bonus.
6. Talking of CAT, there must exist entities who are serious CAT aspirants so that I dont slacken up in my preparation.
7. There must not exist entities whose parents visit them often.
8. There must exist entities who are willing to eat out not too often but not too rarely either.
9. There must not exist entities who scream their lungs out when there is a powercut. :P
10. There must not exist entities who are huge fans of telugu mass songs and Himesh Reshamayya. I dont want to be woken up every morning by a howling wolf.
11. There must not exist entities who swear way too often. I think I've almost got rid of swearing.
12. I strictly condemn the cannibalistic tradition of kicking wingmates on momentous occasions.
13. Having co-bloggers would also be a big bonus.
14. It'd be nice if a regular gym-going guy could wake me up and drag me along with him.
15. Wingmates or even floormates who are interested in playing TT or carrom is also a big plus point.
16. There must be a high concentration of ug2k3 guys in the wing.

I think I should stop here. I'd really appreciate if any of you could find me such a wing. It sounds so ideal, that I know it is hard to find one.. :P But anything close to the description, I'd be more than honoured to move in.

PS1: Some people dont like so many PS-es. I wonder why. Anyways, coming to the point, I was serious about some of the points I had raised in the above post, namely point number 1-6.
PS2: CATting is fun. (Yeah, I am self-contradictory)
PS3: Missed Brazil Croatia match coz of cable cut. Is it faculty's doing? :-? :-L
PS4: Lots of people are interested in joining the jobless spammers list :D And I can find new mails everytime I type nfrm. Now THIS is what I call fun :D
PS5: Mom's bday tomorrow. So I'll be off to home tomorrow night.
PS6: 2nd test, 4th day washed out.. dammit! x(

dadaing!!

2006-06-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

There's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface
consuming/confusing
This lack of self-control I fear is never ending
controlling/I can't seem

Crawling in my skin
These wounds they will not heal
Fear is how I fall
Confusing what is real

Discomfort, endlessly has pulled itself upon me
Distracting/reacting
Against my will I stand beside my own reflection
It's haunting how I can't seem...

To find myself again
My walls are closing in
(without a sense of confidence and I'm convinced that there's just too much pressure to take)
I've felt this way before
So insecure.

PS1: Just another arbit post. Felt like posting the lyrics. Dont ask me why.
PS2: CAT is getting on my nerves.. :(
PS3: Have hardly finished 10% of crypto term paper.
PS4: Have been asking around a lot about OBH rooms lately. Need to move into one of em ASAP.
PS5: FIFA WC rox! Robben played well. And India is surprisingly poised to win the 2nd test.
PS6: Have been talking a lot about staying afloat, surviving the final year and avoiding a CAT debacle. Also am having frequent bouts of depression lately. It has become tough to stay cheerful and laugh through all of them though. Guess, for a change, I need to act depressed. :(
PS7: I'm being sent feelers by mom asking me not to screw up CAT. Now that's something new!
PS8: I'm confused. Working on a post, but dont feel like posting it.
PS9: Read Tipo's karma post. He has rated his life in IIIT as 4 and I rated mine as 7. But dunt understand, on what basis I gave it a 7! And the comment by Espanyol is disqualified :P bcos most of my PS-es are not connected to each other! :D
PS10: Listening to Numb-LINKIN PARK.
PS11: I've felt this way before.. So insecure..

An amalgamation of posts..

2006-06-07T05:40:00.000-07:00

Post #1: The one with a blog dedicated to me
Yeah, so I did visit the blog which has been dedicated to me, by my very dear friend who wants to get even with me :P And so be it. The blog, I must confess, is quite entertaining :D And I'd like to thank him for blowing things out of proportion, so that from now onwards people wont be dumb enough to actually clarify with me, the various anecdotes he has talked about. A special mention to Sid, who has gone out of his way to promote this blog extensively.

Post#2: The one with the outing
So K, S and N decided to give a party. We (10 of us) decided to go for a movie first and then a nice heavy dinner to wrap it up. It was a nice, breezy day as you can see in the pic below.

So as we set sails to get tickets for the movie Godavari, I could see all things going wrong. We didn't get stuck in the traffic, no Himesh songs by the autowallah and many more terrible, abnormal things happening on our way. And finally 5 of us landed at the theatre, only to find that the tickets were sold out. I knew it!! So we ended up watching a movie called Bangaram, which defied all the basic laws of physics. The law of gravitation is just a myth .. and I guess Newton never got to watch this movie before formulating the laws of motion. Maybe some other day, I could praise this second sci-fi telugu movie ever made. (First was Vijayendra Verma)
So we have 2 pics here.. one is the "before" pic and the other one is the "after" pic.

As you can clearly see, the shock on my face is quite evident. It took me quite some time to reproduce that tailor-made expression. It came better than I thought.. :D And once we recovered from the shock, we made our way to Chillies restaurant. Had a nice, heavy dinner and reached the hostel sometime around 12:30. All in all, a nice way to spend a day. And I quite enjoyed the movie with all my friends screaming their lungs out :D

Post#3: The one with record-breaking number of PS-es
PS1: Why is it that everyone is making a big deal about my haircut? (read tipo, sid, iv, monga and ece batch except mouli)
PS2: Sid snapped a photo of mine when I was busy sleeping in CAT class.
PS3: The bangaram effect is yet to wear off.. :(
PS4: My obsession with PS-es has caught on with various other co-bloggers.
PS5: Right now, we're involved in a PS war. I wonder who would win. (Obviously me! :D)
PS6: TATs from this Sunday onwards :(( Need to prepare more seriously.
PS7: Sid is putting in huge amount of hours in intense CAT preparation.
PS8: Lotsa females have been asking around for the K-man. I suggest that he upload his kundali on 14.15/uploads.
PS9: Need to clean my room at least once before the re-opening.
PS10: Plan to shift to OBH this year, but have not decided yet. In that case I wont clean my room. :D
PS11: Manish Jain started blogging. But he refuses to change his template to "pink" colour. Why??
PS12: Met the placement officer. He is weird. Nothing more can be revealed for it might jeopardise my position. :P
PS13: Anyone wants to come for godavari? Anyone??
PS14: The record breaking PS this is.. :D Now a days, dotA has taken preference over CS. What is happening to people!!??
PS15: Downloaded ESWC Hyderabad demos. But they only recorded one match of ours.. the finals of the losers bracket :(
PS16: I hope to start Sid-like preparation. I meant rigorous preparation, but you know what I mean, doncha?
PS17: IV is going for a french beard. I just cant wait for it :D *rubs his hands in glee*
PS18: Do offer any other material you have about me to the blog mentioned in post#1 :D
PS19: Pity shakeeb. He has to come and work in 330 :(
PS20: Teal's getting a new guitar.
~~PS21: For all you yellers, shoutbox is now totally functional :D~~
PS22: I think I shall hold the record for quite some time. Feeling kinda depressed lately. Dunno why :(
PS23: India shud have won.. !! Dammit Sreesanth.. dammit. :x

A rendezvous with my barber..

2006-05-31T11:28:00.000-07:00

I couldnt get over our dismal show in the semis of ESWC and so decided on impulse that I'd go for a haircut. (Yes, on impulse. Dont be shocked) However when I told my mom about my decision, I've never seen a happier face. (Except in the lux ad when SRK is bathing in the rose petals filled bath tub)

So as I made my way to the salon, all I could think of was how much my sister and I'd miss my hair. (Yes, my sister. She likes it and was clearly not pleased at the thought of me getting a haircut.) But I couldn't turn back, for that would mean backing out on a decision made after hours of introspection. (Yes, I'm self-contradictory) So like a soldier marching towards his death, I went and took my seat in the salon. And a long haired barber, sporting a John Abraham look, decided to give me the ill-fated haircut.

Here is the conversation which followed. (It is in English for the comfort of all the readers who are unfamiliar with the Hyderabadi Hindi. Also it is damn tough to type in Hindi and convey the actual meaning. ) Here Me (SC) stands for my sub-conscious voice. :P There were some more dialogues from my sub conscious mind, but had to edit and censor them.

Him: Saab, what kind of cut do you want? Shall I just trim it in the front and the sides?
Me: No, I want a summer cut.
Him: (shocked) What? Why? (Pause) This style looks good on you.
Me: Thank you, but I think I'd prefer a crew cut.
Him: Kyun boss? Do your parents object?
Me(SC) : Is this a inter-caste love marriage or something for parents to object? :-??
Me: No..
Him: They dont allow long hair in your school?
Me(SC): Damn my childish looks!!
Me: No. And btw I'm an engineering student.
Him: *Bewildered look* *scratches his head*
Right now he was wondering why I had decided to cut my hair after 3 months ka palke-poske-bada-kiya phase. And I was wondering why he was so perturbed by that!
Him: Then does your girlfriend hate long-haired people?
By now I knew he was andhere-mein-theer-maaring.. So I had to break the truth to him.. slowly though.
Me: No. Actually..
Him: (interrupting) Actually if you could grow your hair for one more month, you might look like Krrish. (By now he was gleaming) (Pause) Krish hairstyle I meant.. :|
Me(SC): duhhhh.... You hafta tell him before he goes berserk with the Krrish theory!
Me: (Long pause) No, actually I am finding it tough to maintain this hair during the summer. Would you just go ahead and put me out of my misery?

I was not soo blunt, but I sounded somehwat blunt. (Yes, I'm self-contradictory) So after sighing for some time, this lone-crusader-for-long-hair started the ritual slowly but after some time gained some speed. Soon he was cutting at a furious pace. I knew it was tough for him. Dont ask me how. So when he asked whether it was ok if he played songs, I dint object. Until.. :-s until I realised that he was a HIMESH FAN!! :((

So as I was treated to some nasal singing and some hip hop moves from the barber, I barely kept myself from asking him to stop the music. (Yes, I dont like acting rude to stangers) First it was the aashiq banay aapne song and then the jhalak dikh laja.. then it was the lounge mix of the same song and THEN it was the dhol mix. (Yes, I asked him all the names of the various versions) After some more excruciating minutes of the Himesh torture (it is worse than the Chinese torture, believe me. Especially with a razor near your jawline.) the ordeal was finally over! #:-s

So right now when people look at me, they act
1. As if they've won the Ms Universe.
2. As if they've come runners-up at Ms Universe.
3. As if they've just realised that Jadooo looks more handsome than Hrithik.
4. As if I'm one of the endangered species who has just escaped from the Corbett National Park
5. Normally.

The people who come under the normal category are very few. And now for the philosophically inclined, I just got my hair cut because I think I am entering a new phase in my life. A non-Spawn, more mature, hardworking phase. But this DOESN'T mean that I am gonna stop playing CS. The Spawn in me shall live forever. Just that he is going to be somewhat dormant in the coming days :P

PS: I've never seen a weirder barber before. Seriously.
PS1: ESWC was cool. Thought of writing a post on that, but then it would make little sense for most of you guys :P So delayed it.
PS2: Mumbai trip was a-w-e-s-o-m-e. Will try posting about that as well.
PS3: Running out of ideas to blog about :(
PS4: Multi robotics grades are out. Got an A- Pretty happy :D
PS5: India lost the ODI series to the Windies. >:P
PS6: Waiting for the world cup to start :D the futbol one.
PS7: Did I mention that I got a haircut?
PS8: They're gonna close the labs this coming monday. Dammit!
PS9: DTA is unlucky, titans are lucky. End of story.
PS10: Intend to start writing testimonials again.
PS11: Affy tells me I am obsessed with writing PS-es. And that I'm proud of it. Yes, I am. :D

Taggie waggie

2006-05-19T04:57:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Cheesy AND Teal. So without wasting any more time, lets get down to answering the questions.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn on a random page and find random line/turn on page 18 and find line 4.
Ans: Right now I'm in the lab, and the only book nearest to me is the one on my desktop, God's debris by Scott Adams.
"When one person says something, the other is supposed to say something back."

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
Ans: Kanoon aur Gokul ke haath lambe hote hain.. >:)

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Ans: India vs Windies yesterday night or rather technically, today morning. And India won!! :D

4. Without looking, guess what time it is?
Ans: 4:55

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
Ans: 4:54 And by the time I am done typing this, it will be 4:55. So I guess I am pretty good at it.

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
Ans: People shouting obscenities, which could make anyone squirm in discomfort (including me had it not been funny :D) at each other while playing Age of Empires and an infinite number of mouse clicks. Yes, this is the gamer's paradise.. :D

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Ans: Quite frequently. Have been doing lots of to-and-fro from lab and hostel.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
Ans: A paper on context based security and my orkut scrapbook.

9. What are you wearing?
Ans: White turtle neck T shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

10. Did you dream last night?
Ans: You mean today morning? Well, maybe. Lately, life has been blurry.

11. When did you last laugh?
Ans: Yesterday night, when 8 people kept their names as "bushi is shit" while playing CS. It was really funny with almost all of em scolding the same guy :)) Poor bushi.. :(

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Ans: 3 Air-conditioners!! Some wireless LAN equipment, felicity posters (yeah, we haven't torn them yet) and a blackboard which says Spawn, asr and lol rock.. and Yar G sux :P Ok I was lying about the Spawn part.. :P

13. Seen anything weird lately?
Ans: Well, I did watch T3 sleep in the lab yesterday afternoon. It was more disturbing though.. *shudders*

14. What do u think of this quiz?
Ans. Ekdum timepass!! I am sure, all the non-IIIT readers would find it boring though.. :(

15. What is the Last film u saw?
Ans. V for Vendetta.. Hugho Weaving rocks and so does Beethoven's soundtrack in the movie.. :D

16. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
Ans: I will keep enough money for myself (yes, for my movie) and with the rest I'd like to fund the education expenses of 2 orphans throughout their lifetime. Just trying to make a difference in the lives of the not-so-priveleged.

17. Tell me something about you that I dunno.
Ans: Whenever I come out of my hostel or lab, I look heavenwards. I make it a point to look at either the sun, or the moon or the stars. Dont ask me why, coz it is one of those things which cannot be explained.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Ans: No change assures a better world, although it might get worse. I think I'm happy with the way the world is. We dont want to start a butterfly-effect, do we?? :D

19. Do you like to dance?
Ans: I like the suave moves of Jet Li and Jackie Chan and they can be equated to some hip-hop dance moves. But no, I've never tried them out. I do dance in my room.. now n then.. but it is more of just shaking a leg or two. Nothing hyperactive or erotic.

20. George Bush
Ans. Dumbass

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Ans. Priya.. coz it can be pronounced easily. But I am not very particular about it and would rather play second fiddle to my mom and wife when it comes to deciding names. Of course I'd get to decide the nicks!! Deciding nicks is fun!! :D

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call her?
Ans. Same answer as above.

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Ans. Right now, it is a NO. But we never know what twists and turns we might need to go through.

24. What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
Ans. Welcome, my weird self! Did I miss you or what??!! *hi fives*

25. People who may do this memo in their journal.
Ans. Deepak, Abbulu, Sam, Jaya, Vivek, Tipo
Anyone else who wants to overcome blogger's block can do the tag.

PS0: Am leaving for Mumbai on 21st. Will be back on 25th or 26th.
PS1: My sister got a rank of 2000 in EAMCET. She seems to be overjoyed, and so am I. WHY? coz EAMCET is for losers.. :P
PS2: The testimonial period is not over yet. Right now I am done with 2 of em, and am looking at completing 3 more soon after I return. Lots of other testimonials have to be finished before the college reopens. Right now, I am looking at completing 10 before the college re-opens.
PS3: People are playing dotA now a days, as a result of which it gets kinda boring in the lab now n then.
PS4: I.V thinks I (as in the optimist) am Deepak!!
PS5: Tipo, stop blogging about technical shit.. I mean stuff.
PS6: Sid is going overboard while spreading rumours. The last rumour he spread was I've been doing 1 mock CAT exam everyday. Now who in their right minds would believe that? LOTS have believed him!! What is happening to this world! [-(
PS7: Lately, the syadmin has been making trips to the lab quite frequently. But as expected no one is giving a damn about it.
PS8: I'm working on a post right now, which would be published once I get back from Mumbai. Hopefully it is funny.. *fingers crossed*

The J.D effect : An analysis on pre-exam crises

2006-05-10T06:17:00.000-07:00

It's funny how J.D gets transported to a world of his own everytime he is in a particular situation. Happens quite often with me as well. (Or should I say "happened") Yeah, during the SE classes. *sigh* We got our SE grades and I pulled off a C. Although I was expecting a B-, I am just relieved that it is not an F. #:-s

A couple of days back, I was just thinking how our lives turn upside down on the eve of exams. Changing staus messages, doing nightouts studying nothing, trying to cram 6 months portion in 6 hours. Some of us go as far as explaining concepts even while taking bath ;) I heard that someone was explaining the concept of semaphores to one of his batchmates while either of them was taking a shower. Friggin Geeks!! x( :P

Well, the only place I find peaceful during the exams, is the loo. Yes, the loo. Where one can sit and contemplate on every day's happenings. The most study-free, peaceful place, where I take most of my major decisions, both career and personal. (No wonder both are screwed up right now :P) But there are times, during the exams, when people disturb even this sanctified place, by asking questions like "Spawn, you had your breakfast?" or "Gokul, you checked halley's status message?" Who in their right minds would ask such questions when someone is "busy" in the loo? The worst question is "Vasan, how much are you done studying?" It is at times like these that my blood boils, and I get this adrenaline rush to come out and bash up the guy who asked the question. But thankfully for him AND me, better sense prevails and I stay aput.

DISCLAIMER: Most of the details mentioned in the above portion of the post are highly fictitious and any attempts to link it up to real life events will be highly futile. :D It's all the J.D effect, you see.

PS1: I have been whiling away all my time. Am hardly chatting or orkutting. Most of the time is being spent in the lab, doing nothing of course.
PS2: Playing with scouts frequently, helps one get headshots with a sniper, sometimes getting you multi-kills in one shot :D
PS3: This post was previously named "Somewhere over the rainbow". Dont ask me why.
PS4: Sid is overdoing CAT. 6 hours a day! I guess he hates being jobless, unlike most of us. Right people?? :D
PS5: Tipo got an A- in SE!! Who says life is fair?? I am disgusted x( Imagine his plight! After everything tipo had to "go through".. :P :P My sympathies and condolences.. A post mortem session has been arranged tonight in lab 330 to discuss what went wrong :P Brace yourselves.
PS6: Testimonial day coming soon. You might be the next to get a testimonial from me. Yes, you.. and you.. and OF COURSE you!! But dont keep much hopes. Its important to let people know how you feel about them. BUT please dont try this at home. :P
PS7: We had a dramatics class. It was fun and I cant wait to get started with the dialogues.
PS8: Short story postponed undefinitely :(
PS9: Cheesy's jealous of me coz I am way too intelligent. Can you believe it?? I can't. Someone tell me that I'm wrong. :(
PS9: I just realised that I love writing PS-es :D

The one with 10 PS's

2006-05-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

They've put up the networks grades near LAB1. I was shocked at the number of Ds that have been given. Lets save that topic for another post.

So as I was looking at the grades, 2 of my batchmates were coming towards me. On seeing me, I could see both of them talking in hushed tones, signalling me. It was quite obvious that I was the topic being discussed and I kind of enjoyed their uncomfortableness when I stared at them >:) But the best part was the expression they had on their faces when they found out that I was looking at the networks grades!

They were shell-shocked with you-dare-look-at-networks-grades expressions painted daintily on their faces!! Thankfully I saved them some embarassment by acting normal, although I really wanted to put a melodramatic act :P Maybe some other day.. some other bakra.. :D And I think I know why I am least affected by my grade. I have been looking at it from a 3rd person's perspective. I guess I would continue doing it..

Overkill

I can't get to sleep
I think about the implications
Of diving in too deep
And possibly the complications

Especially at night
I worry over situations
I know I'll be alright
Perhaps it's just imagination

Day after day it reappears
Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear
Ghosts appear and fade away
Come back another day
=================

Quote of the day:

I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others.

-Marcus Aurelius

PS1: Dont ask me why I posted the song lyrics. No reason at all, I guess.
PS2: The quote of the day is awesome.
PS3: Sid tells me that my previous post was very honest and straightforward. Or thats what lots of people felt. I never knew such posts of mine can invoke such feelings. :D But why is it that I am always misunderstood?
PS4: Will post my short story in the next post. Hopefully.
PS5: ESWC on May28th at Hyderabad. Hope to attend it.
PS6: Am running out of ideas to title posts. Please suggest some titles.
PS7: I got this reply from Sukesh when I had sent the n-th spam to the ug3 mailing list. Its quite funny.

Agent Amigo : Why, Mr. Srinivasan? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep
spamming? Do you believe you're spamming for SoMeThInG? For more
than just your Entertainment? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know?
Is it freedom? Perhaps just bytes of data? Could it be for hacking?
Illusions, Mr. Srinivasan. Vagaries of perception. The temporary constructs
of a feeble geek intellect trying desperately to justify an
existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial
as the PINE itself, although only a geeky mind could invent
something as insipid as hacking. You must be able to see it, Mr. Srinivasan.
You must know it by now. You can't mail. your mailbox is blocked. It's
pointless to keep spamming. Why, Mr. Srinivasan? Why?! Why do you persist!?

gokul : Because I choose to.

PS7: Bowing classes start tomorrow. And thank you all (esp. cheesy) for showing such motherly concern.. :P But I am alright.
PS8: People you can comment on this post. But no anti-rawat, sympathy comments. I am past all that :D And also should I continue spamming the ug3 mailing list? Those who object, please raise your hands. :D
PS9: Officially the earliest I've ever posted any post.
PS10: Why am I writing so many PS's? Why? Why? Why?

2006-05-01T06:25:00.001-07:00

Some people tell me that I think too much.. about things which are too trivial.. about things which are highly improbable.. about things which won’t affect me.. about things which should be left where they are, in the back of one’s mind. Well, this ability of mine might very well have saved me from plunging into despair today. Our networks grades are out. I got an F. Strangely I am at peace. I am not shocked, although this F is quite a huge shock. I never expected it. It came out of nowhere. I have not cried, (actually I shouldn’t be) but there is this tinge of sorrow, which is quite understandable. Told mom about the grade and she was worried about the fact that I was not worried. So am I.. :(

But as they say, everything happens for a reason. And I will not let this affect me in any way. And if you do have sympathies, may be you can save it for some other “occasion” i.e if I do not get calls from any of the IIMs. And I am pretty sure that it won’t happen, because it is HIGHLY impossible. :P I don’t know what is happening to me, why it is happening to me? But I shall move on. But one thing is confirmed though. Rawat might very well be a sadist. It seems he had given 37 F’s, and then changed 25 of them to D’s. Or maybe I am mad at him for giving us bad grades.

I guess everyone needs a wake up call. The only problem for me now is this grade has considerably narrowed my options of taking an Elective/Open elective next semester. But I think I have grown immune to all the unexpected turns that life has got to throw at me. Right now I am just plain confused at the fact that I am not mourning my grade. Why? Why? Why?

Maybe I have not come to terms with the reality.. the feeling (or rather the grade) is yet to sink in. Maybe I am running away from it. Maybe I am just way too shocked after seeing the grade. Maybe the prominence of grades does not hold anymore.. at least to me. This grade hasn't changed me, but might change people's behavior towards me, and maybe THEN I might the realise eminence of this grade. Or MAYBE its the fact that Bruhadeswar would be taking the course next time and I can expect MUCH MUCH better grades. Maybe I should JUST STOP THINKING. Or maybe not.

PS1: I had come up with this very good short story (in my opinion), but I guess it can wait. Will blog it when the time is right. My orkut fortune says "Share your happiness with others today!!" :-?? WTF!!
PS2: The dramatics club is going somewhere, thanks to Mr Vasudevan and Jimmy/Jacky.. (thats how he was referred to by Ms. Somebody ;)) )

10 tips to become a highly successful villain..

2006-04-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

I remember the Saturday nights when I used to stay up and watch Mr.India. But somehow I was never a die-hard fan of the lead hero. Call me pathetic, villainous or sadistic, I always liked Mogambo much more. When my whole family would be hoping for Anil Kapoor to escape his clutches, I’d be secretly rooting for him.

When my friends would be discussing as to what they would do if they were to become Mr. India. I’d be thinking on similar lines, only that I dreamt of becoming a Mogambo. And so moving on to the main objective of this post, presenting to you, first of a kind, THIS is a guide to becoming a more nefarious mogambo. These points are discussed in further detail in the book.

10 Effective Habits of Highly Effective villains

Despite its proven stress-relieving effect (thanks to Dr. J.Asthana) I shall not indulge in highly monotonous, maniacal laughter.

If the beautiful heroine that I capture says, "I'll never marry you! Never, do you hear me, NEVER!!!" I will say "Oh well" and kill her. :|

I will hire Manish Malhotra or Roberto Cavalli to create original uniforms for my evil army. I don’t want them looking like the Nazi army, Roman foot soldiers or our college dance troupe :P *ducks* I myself would dress in smart clothes unlike Dr.Evil or Gabbar Singh. And no, I’d not shave my hair off.

My evil army will be trained in basic marksmanship. I still fail to understand how 30 odd henchmen can manage to not get a single hit on the hero. Which is why, anyone who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice. >:)

I will be neither chivalrous nor sporting. If I have an unstoppable super-weapon, I will use it as early and as often as possible instead of keeping it in reserve. And if I happen to go into a face-to-face battle with the hero, I’ll not stop my henchmen from coming to my aid. Better still I’d take a gun from one of them and kill him.

When I capture the hero, I will make sure I also get his dog, monkey, parrot, elephant or whatever sickeningly cute little (or big) animal capable of untying ropes and filching key which happens to follow him around.

I will design my fortress hallways such that there are no protruding structural supports which intruders could use for cover in the climax firefight.

I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labelled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets or hydrogen sulphide gas (Isn’t it the one with the rotten egg smell? I was always weak in Chemistry practicals) on anyone stupid enough to disregard the warning.

It is vitally important that your evil army has no moral status whatsoever. Test this by running over a small furry animal in front of them. If they react, they're out. If faced with a tough dilemma, the army may have the audacity to help the under-dog or save the kid. This is clearly unacceptable.

Finally, if I do manage to take over the world.. ok world seems way too far-fetched, I’d keep my subjects permanently locked in a mindless trance, by regularly broadcasting golden moments of Indian cricket which would include the India-Australia matches played at Sharjah and all the Indo-Pak world cup matches. :D I could also better it by providing each of them with free unlimited Internet access, talks for which are going on. :P

Now that we are done, let us look at some of the encouraging reviews that my book has received from the leading newspapers and magazines..

This book gives you the perfect foolproof plan for your son to become the most feared and loathed villain of all time. A must read for all the Gabbar singh wannabes.

-The Guardian

The book is very entertaining and thought-provoking. We recommend it with our eyes closed. Mogambo.. zaroor khush hoga!!

-Stardust

So what are you waiting for? First 500 orders win early bird prizes which include special Dr.Evil headgear, limited editions of Mogambo’s “Mogambo.. khush hua” and Gabbar Singh’s “Tera kya hoga, Kaliya?” T shirts. Hurry!!

And today's Quote for the day is..

Of all the ways of defining man, the worst is the one which makes him out to be a rational animal.

Anatole France

PS1: Cultural camp starts tomorrow. Hope to get that elusive extra-curricular credit. Dhoni is ranked number 1 in ICC ODI ratings. Hope to complete the term paper and the MR project soon.
PS2: Our CL batch has changed. So now we have 4 NIFT girls, (3 of them look attractive) attending the class with us. There was this question where we had to calculate the mean of some numbers which ranged from 16 and 18, and one of the girls suddenly screamed 34 as the answer. I neva knew girls could be so dumb. [-(
PS3: As a result of my continuous boredom, I have been formulating strategies for CS & cricket. Apart from these, I am thinking on some human psychology and philosophies. I must really be jobless.. :( But at least that is better than JUST sleeping.. ;)
PS4: Post is highly haphazard. Guess I am just way too tired to be blogging right now.. :(
PS5: Got aB in Bio-informatics. Reasonably satisfied. Created a johari window for myself. All of you are welcome to give their valuable inputs. :D Just make sure, your entries are not made anonymously. ;)
*Updated on 25th April*

height of sarcasm.. presenting to you.. Dilberttt.. :D

2006-04-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

Now THAT is sarcasm!! :D :D In other words, that is so Dr. Cox-like.. Next post is coming up.. soon.

When will I start studying SE?

2006-04-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

Have my SE exam at 3:00 PM. After the TOC exam in 2-2, this is the only exam, where I am JUST NOT ABLE TO MOTIVATE MYSELF TO START STUDYING.. All I've been doing is changing status messages like crazy. Although I am trying my best not to get into this careless mode, (in fact I thought of watching Godfather-II yesterday night!!) I just can't help it. So, unable to cope with this boredom of studying SE, I am posting a few arbit pics. Enjoy!

Check this out.. Garfield rocks :D

This is how my desktop looks right now.. Doesnt she look gorgeous?? *sigh*

PS1: Being in the placement committee means you get your mailbox spammed. But you do get interesting mails regularly. Recently a mail was sent asking the students to reply keeping the subject intact, if they were interested in applying for an MS internship. So now this guy replies with the subject AS "intact". I dunt know whether it was done out of innocence or sarcasm. But we sure had a laugh riot.. :D

PS2: 5th ODI got abandoned. X( Just waiting for the exams to end, so that I could get back to my "chatting-blogging-movie-reading-chatting-movie-CAT-sleeping" routine. Chatted with a couple of interesting people.. was unavoidable but interesting. All this during exam time!! I guess I am a misfit in this "research" institute of ours. [-(

PS3: I just realized that this course would be our last course as a batch, since it is the last core course. So it is kinda emotional and nostalgic. After this, each one of us will go separate ways. :-<

PS4: Will come up with my next post.. after the SE exam I guess.. We're planning on eating outside tonight. Lets see how things wind up. And a best of luck to all the people for their exams.. :D

PS5: Why does it take soo much time for the blogger to load images. All my PSs can be combined into another post.. :-L And for all those guys, who DO NOT know who the babe in my desktop wallpaper is, she is Scarlett Johansson. Now you can go hang yourselves.. >:P

Insanity restored

Move over, elevator speech!

It's one of those days..

I hate Luv Storys - review

About being random and crazy

The Littler Master

Time for a change...

Confession

The box of assorted chocolates

On Creativity

The comeback a la Ajith Agarkar's!

The year that was - 2008

Do you believe in ghosts?

Dada - the skipper!

Not even a quantum of solace *no spoilers*

Diwali, crackers and I

About me: Chapter 1 - Me & my accents

My Travelogue

Seven habits of highly effective gully cricketers

Back without a bang..

Déjà vu - CAT '06 and '07..

mama mia!

CAT '07 sample questions..

The Human Calculator..

Fillers..

India and the T-20 WC

The accident..

Zombie!

Feast your eyes!

The backlog cleared...

The long overdue post..

About klasses and other things..

Khronicles - the beginning

The passage to IIM-K

Miscellaneous post..

The Fugitive

Perfect Lover tag..

Short story - I

The one with the batch trip

The farewell post..

The one with the lethal milk shake

blah

IIM - C : The one with the blog..

Requiem for Team India

THE IIM-A interview

My IIM - L interview..

Ze tagg..

My IIM-K interview

Random Ramblings..

Updates - II

CAT and placements

Updates..

Wind of change..

The legend of the bespectacled frog

Placements!!

RP: Randomness post-ified!

CAT '06 - Expect the unexpected

Interesting snippets about 2k3 celebrity students & SPAM on 200

CAPTION CONTEST!!

Philosophy 1: blah..

Mid sem exams + Sir Lukog's 3 laws of Examination

The play and boycotting the freshers

About Compilers, playing cricket and what not!!

The Prophecy

Looking back - I

Salaam Bombay

Germany vs Argentina..

My Schedule..

DUMB charades.. :D

The race of life...

Theory of time (mis)management

Memories...

Lukog the Great...

Early Life

Rise to power

Conquest of the monster

Embrace of Lizardism

WANTED!!

dadaing!!

An amalgamation of posts..

Not even a quantum of solace no spoilers