February 23, 2006

Arbit fundas of my life

It has been quite sometime since I have written on my favourite topic, Life et al. Someone (some great person) rightly said that Life is what happens while you plan other things. Life is an equation with too many variables to be taken care of. Things never go the way they were planned to and little do we know what's in store for us. My fundas of life are pretty vague and uncorrelated to what others think nevertheless I'll put some of them for public scrutiny.

1. Anything greater than zero is positive.

he he!Obvious na? Mathematically true but what I mean here is that whatever you get just put it in your bag because it is atleast 'something'. There are people who are dying for what you own. It may be materialistic things like your marks in exam, bank balance, clothes, sexy body etc. or something as basic as clean air, water or freedom. There are people who can't walk or do things on their own, it feels great whenever I realize that I can use my limbs to live gracefully. I just want to have whatever comes in my way.

2. Its hard to pretend to love someone when you really don't. But its harder to pretend you don't love someone when you really do!

I got this as an sms nevertheless I always felt so. Replace the word love with crush to make it more realistic. I feel it very very difficult to hide my feelings whether likes or dislikes. Eyes say everything. I just can't tell a lie looking directly into someone's eyes. However it is rather tough to strike a balance between public relations and my truest feelings.

3. Energy comes with will.

I can give my best only when my heart and mind are in consensus. In case of conflict, I want to go with mind but always end up with decisions taken from heart, guided by emotions. It's difficult to motivate oneself when one is not enthusiastic enough, afterall one can deceive anyone else but not oneself.

4. Freedom

What one should seek forever..No shackles, no barriers... Utopia!

5. If two distinct things are equally good and bad (if at all measurable!), then bad thing will overrule good one.

Pessimistic, not really!! Do we ever care if something good happen in our lives? We keep finding instances of Murphy's law in our lives but we never see the good things happening to us. The queue in which one stand moves slowest sometimes, but it does move faster also at various occasions. Happiness is ephemeral.

6. God is non-existent.

If it is there, what is it doing?If something goes haywire, some calamity strikes or everything goes kaput then it is considered to be God's wrath and when something fortuitous event occurs, God takes all the credit!! Good people die disgracefully without any fault on their part, innocent people are killed, rich exploits poor and weak, corrupt people flourish, women are raped and despite of all that if one thinks God is taking care of this world, I can't help it.

7. The sum total of all positive and negative virtues is not zero.

Optimistic is one who thinks there are more +ve than -ve and pessimistic thinks other way round. I keep vacillating. My other definition of optimist is one who considers zero to be positive and pessimist considers negative.

8. After infinity, minus infinity comes.

Some arbit mathematics..

9. If a path is changed before reaching destination you'll never reach the same destination. However, priorities change as life moves on.

Consider a sphere(or any solid) in your hand and any two points as starting point(source) and ending point(destination). Start from source and traverse in any direction to reach the destination and change the direction(or path) somewhere before reaching the destination. You'll never reach the same destination. Even if the path is changed more than once, the probability to reach same destination is theoretically zero. So if you wanna stick to something make sure you are there till the end. More advisable is to be flexible.

That is enough I guess. These were some of my arbit fundas which delineates my staccato lifestyle. Absurdity and Ingenuity are relative. :)

PS- The Bird Flu Scare has been overhyped, totally blown out of proportion. It is restricted to a very small area near Maharashtra-Gujarat border. Those who have stopped eating chicken may resume it asap.

February 19, 2006

IIM A Interview Experience

18th Feb 2006
0900

Venue- KLMDC, IIM A

GD: Case Study

I was the 5th person to be interviewed, it is toooo difficult to wait!
There were three interviewers, two young and one old. I didn't like any of them. :)

Interview Questions:

What are you doing these days??
Do you expect to passout and join us??
What is ICT??
What is Ranchi known for these days?
Dhoni Dhamaka?
Gave a graph, find the slope at various points!
Have you read algorithms?Networks?Data Structures?
What is a priority queue?
What is stack?
Difference between Queue and Stack?
Operations of Stack?
What will happen if I do pop operation on an empty stack?
Linked List??
Protocol of Internet??
Does it follow the OSI model?
Is internet session oriented?
Condition for maxima and minima
Integration by parts, write the formula
Integrate xe^x
What games do you play?
Apart from Anand, who is your fav player?
What do you know about algorithms of Deep blue?
Basic difference between thinking of human chess player and computer?
So you like risk taking abilities of Topalov?
Why don't you go for enterpreneurship, if you like risks?
Do you consider India a poor country?
Tell me five ways to remove poverty from india.
Is corruption prevalent everywhere?
GDP of India?
GDP of US?
How do you define poverty?
Why $1 per person per day? why not $2,3 or 5?

Crap Interview!! Took exactly 15 minutes, but felt like years!! I was totally exhausted after interview, slept like log.
Totally unconventional interview it was, no HR questions just acads acads and acads. Next is IIML@March 1.

February 11, 2006

Contentment

I've always wanted more, and some more, more than what I have, more than what I have achieved. I don't think I'm greedy, not that I covet others' possessions (confession:rarely yes) but I haven't been content either. I was thinking about this, how content I've been in changing times. Obviously I was most satisfied when I was in infancy and during early school days, but as life progressed expectations and objectives collided with effort, luck and willingness. Recent years have seen a lot of changes in all facets of life and I've been confused most of the times. Guess that's what happens when you grow up.

I considered each and every year of my life and I analyzed how content I was.The graph below shows my level of contentment w.r.t. years(1984-2006 feb). This is the result of ennui @4 AM and the fact that blog is a place where one can whine officially!
max value at 1984 and neighbouring years, last value(=70%) is of 2006 so far. The graph is expected to be monotonically increasing in coming years.

February 2, 2006

Bangalore and IIFT interview

I've always held Bangalore in high esteem, and it hasn't changed despite all the oddities I faced there during my recent trip. Due to myriad postponement and preponement in schedule my whole travel plan was shuffled up, and Steve couldn't go with me :(, otherwise we had major plans of having 'fun' there. I reached Bangalore on 27 Jan 2300 hrs and the guy whom I befriended during my train journey gave me lift on his cousin's car to nearest hotel. Now I know it is a juvenile and risky proposition to take lift in a stranger's car, but what the heck, I'm not a kid anymore! I had my room booked in a guesthouse but that was from 29th, so on 27th night I stayed in some lodge. It was such a scary area, bars everywhere, drunk people shouting in kannada and looking at me strangely, all shops closed (it was not even 12) etc. Bangalore has become so populated, can't even imagine boarding in bus with people fighting to grab a seat. Worst was when I was returning back at midnight and a group of eunuch was standing there and staring at me..I was so scared..I started counting 1,2,3... and took a deep breath when I left them behind.
Finally I slept peacefully and next day I woke up early in morning(obviously on my own), took bath with ice-cold water and reached TIME GD/PI workshop centre right on time. It was St. Xavier's High School, Museum Road. I just loved the building- Christian Style, church, beautifully carved out structures, high roof corridors, pigeons flying and producing gutar-n-goo sound... I really adore classical buildings, one of the interests which I may develop in future. The workshop was a good one, GDs were really chaotic and PIs were stressing but the best thing was food! TIME guys brought some real good caterers and food was delicious. The day 2 of seminar was at St. Joseph High School nearby and it was much better. I had a decent warmup GD and PI just before actual IIFT interview, finally I left the workshop midway to study for tomorrow. I made some good friends there... Sandeep( RVCE Bangalore guy), Eileen( BBM girl with 6 calls, very decent girl), Srinath etc. but I didn't ask anyone's contact ID, that was such a stupid mistake on my part.
Then comes the purpose of my visit, IIFT interview.

Venue: Coffee Board, Bangalore
Date: 30 Jan 2006

24-25 ppl divided in two groups..I was in group 1
Essay topic: Morality and Consumerism (which I misread as consumers :( )

GD: FDI in retail sector
Moderators explicitly mentioned that they donot want a fish market and they are expecting a debate. They also told the criterions on which we were to be evaluated.
12 ppl - 1 absent = 11 ppl in GD . I was the ONLY fresher there.. so was feeling little awkward.
I was asked to start the GD ..my first attempt... fortunately I read a news report in TOI just an hour ago about FDI expectations in coming budget, so that really helped.
I was also the first person to summarize, and consequently, the first person to be interviewed ( hence I missed the coffee at coffee board)..

Prof himself came to call me for interview and I had to walk down three floors with him in complete silence except for boots...imagine..how I must have felt!

PI was ultra-cool!! Interviewers liked me, probably our auras matched..
all in all a 20-25 min affair!
Three ppl :
P1: Decent guy, asking psychological and HR questions
P2: Very learned person, Prof. of International Finance, He is a Sardar.
P3: Came late, asked a few ques only..

Questions and Answers:

P1:
1. Tell me something about yourself.
A: told abt Strengths, Hobbies, Interests...
2. What is blog?
A: told them..webspace where you express unrestricted thoughts...
3. Why do you blog?
A: no restrictions, know abt world, informal media etc. etc.
4. Do you like unrestricted world?
A: yes, as long as it doesn't offend anyone
5. Freedom of speech?
A: yes, definitely
6. Having shackles like regulation of blog, isn't it contradictory to the original idea?
A: Yes, but reader's sentiment must be cared..gave some examples of offensive blogs and its impact..
7. You live in G'nagar, why did you come to Bangalore?
A: planned my final yr proj here in some company, but doing in college.
8. Which companies in Bangalore did you try for internship? Why in telecom?
A: blah-blah, telecom is matter of interest
9. What do you listen in Music?
A: Mostly Rock
10. Your fav band??
A: PF
11. Why Pink Floyd?How is it different?
A: they are natural and touch every facet of life, not just musical instruments but natural sound, explained a song and its beauty
12. Name the band members
A: bol diya
13. Tell me something about International Business
A: Finally came to the point!! told abt globalization, shrinking world, disappearing boundaries, increased trade..
14. What is Globalization?
A: defined in my own words...not very convincing..
15. Wasn't it there always?
A: yes, but it's faster than ever now..
16. What do you unerstand by Globalization in present scenario?
A: increased interaction, trade, services, outsourcing, global communication...
17. Define liberalization, give few points
A: Govt going easy..explained some fundas.. low taxations, licenses, setting up industries etc.
18. Name some items in India's Export Basket.
A: So bad! I couldn't answer prperly...Services..
P2:
19. What is your strongest area?
A: Mathematics
20. What is mathematics?How does it help?
A: Language of nature, explained him how the table infront of him was designed by the help of mathematics.. concept of numbers and operations..
21. You said you're good at calculations, what exactly do you mean?
A: Can do normal multiplication, division fastly..may find sin,cos,log,tan mentally..
22. I don't know log. explain me.
A: Started with defining 'numbers' and then 'operation' then addition then multiplication as repeated addition, then exponents as repeated multiplication, then log as a form of conveniently expressing it.. exponents converted to linear form..advantages..basically blah
P1:
23. You have said some nasty things about your homestate Bihar in your performa, Justify?
A: Rampant Anarchy, Mentality of people, underdevelopment..
24. If I make you CM of Bihar, what steps will you take?
A: Law and Order, faith of people in govt.,
25. What is the problem with Bihar? How can you solve it? Give steps.
A: Mentality, poverty etc. gave him ideas about controlling crime..
26. Why Acads so low?
A: adjustment problems, some personal reasons..
27. Can't you managed it in a better way?Time management?
A: accepted my fault..could have done better...
28.Scenario: You're manager of some firm..someone comes with a request for urgent payment..but payment is not possible today..what will you do?>
A: ask for reason..if genuine..recheck system for any provision, and even if there isn't any, allow him..humanitarian grounds..
29. Why don't you work for two years? MBA now and MBA then, whats the difference?
A: talked about perspective..can utilize two years in a better way
P3:
30. Tell me something about Gandhingar
A: trees trees and trees, nice ppl, retired ppl living...
31. How are ppl in Gandhinagar different from ppl in Bihar?
A: helpful, good business skills..blah
32. How do you find Gujaratis?
A: very nice...praised a lot..
33. Where have you been in India?
A: Started with delhi, rajasthan..and I was stopped in middle..
34. You've read Alchemist and summarized it as "Treasure lies where your heart belongs" Explain
A: talked about innate abilities..and how to realize..blah
35. Isn't it contradictory to some idea?
A: complementary actually..
36. Heart and Mind?
A: Mind should win.
37. What do you do after you return from college generally?
A: play football/TT, study, roam around, surf net, sleep..
38. You've leadership skills?what are they?
A: popularity, amicability, dealing with controversies and many more..
P2:
39. How do you finance yourself?
A: sound economic background..blah

So it got over finally! I enjoyed every bit of it..
My very old school friend was waiting outside..so I met him after 2-3 years, we roamed around in Bangalore but then we came back to hotel and talked a lot about present life, school, engg..he kept talking about marrying his girlfriend, I kept telling him 'get a life'..and I explained him fundas of Othello(was there in his mobile).. finally I left for Mumbai same night and then came back to personal hell..

Leaving for Delhi tomorrow..
Bye!

November 13, 2005

October 30, 2005

It's all about being me!!

Nothing new, It's all about being me. Infact this whole blogspace is about me, but this blog is more about me. I've been tagged by Steve about a fortnight ago, but procrastination is my birth right. Anyways I've been really busy this time, not that usual vagrant's quandaries, but some serious soul-searching, reason being CAT preparation. I have been pondering these days on education,competition, dynamics of success and failure etc. Millions of students study and only few excel, and competition??You get one more mark and you're through and one less you're a cabbage! Is there any authoritative way to churn out good students on a massive scale? A two hour exam is just not enough to test someone's aptitude earned in a lifetime, but in life not everything is as per our wishes. Let's take whatever comes.
Coming back to life, I would like to thank Steve for tagging me. I always wanted to be tagged, but that was a secret. I would like to say 20 things about me...

1. Girls keep ogling at me all the time. Wherever I go, whatever I do, but that doesn't make me self-consious at all! I dont know their ulterior motive, but then you never know what goes inside a girl's psyche. Do I look funny?

2. I'm fascinated by Banks. My father was a Bank Manager and so I've been knowing a lot about banks since early childhood. Those ledgers, vouchers, pass book, applications fill me with joy. Even the menial drudgeries of a bank clerk's job seems to be so enticing.

3. Something went wrong with me, may be when I was an embryo. As a result, all my choices are obscure! No one likes my favourite dish, no one likes my favourite player and my favourite movies etc. etc. In any given set of n items, the item I will choose will be the item with least probability of selection. So the more unpredicatble you are, more predictable you become. Paradoxes rule my life.

4. I love numbers. I've been adding, subtracting, mutliplying, dividing numbers just for the sake of fun since when I was a kid. During my school days, I used to pass time in classroom by playing with numbers.

5. I like wearing full-shirts and cotton trousers. I like clothes of one colour only, not cheques, stripes or any modern art. Plain shirts are sober.

6. I believe that all battles are won in mind and real world is just the physical simulation.

7. I am very bad at explaining things. Ask me to describe the moon, I will start with sun and earth and then I will try to find out the relative distances and then may be I'll describe the colour, shape, size, history etc.

8. I'm ambivalent like hell, if I think of 'A', the next thing which comes into my mind is 'not A'. Consequently, a lot of my energy and time is diddled away fighting with myself.

9. Nostalgia, sigh!!! How much I remember about my past, though uneventful, but thanks to good memory I still have faint pictures of times gone by. There are quite a few things which I would like to change, if I happen to go back to the past.

10. I don't compromise to the greatest possible extent. I dont like to drag myself down to something, to accept a policy which is not in accordance with my innermost feelings. I accept people the way they are, and I expect the same.

11. I would like to learn Violin. Melancholic tunes fills my heart with pleasure.

12. I yearn to be a sportsman. I've spent a lot of time at ground, but I never mastered any game. How much will I love to win a match on my own!!

13. I don't need drugs to hallucinate. I live in dreamworld for a long long time. The world is better there.

14. I'm ambitious but I don't think too high. Sky's the limit, but for me a big cloud will suffice :). My policy for life -" Aim for the moon, you'll end up in higher stratosphere someday."

15. I love to drive fast. My parents used to get complains every alternate day that your son is driving too rash. But that is what they think, I think I take calculated risks, never had any serious accidents. The induction principle does not apply in every realm of life, however.

16. I love summers and scorching heat. My mind works at its best when I'm drenched in sweat.

17. I love fruits. Whenever I have an opportunity, I live mostly on a fruit diet. That's the secret of my slim and trim figure :)

18. It is only me who understands my jokes. If you are finding this post funny, you're becoming like me. You're warned!

19. Kids love me. True!! I've great amicability with kids. Kids stop crying when I hold them up.

20. I wish this world were a better place with lesser problems, higher congruence and above all contented! I'd like to play my role in making this world a better place. Ideas are welcome.

Phew!! Now I've been through this ordeal so I would like some more to suffer, my evil tendencies point towards Amiya, Jayant, Raj and Milo!!
Put on your thinking caps, and get down to work! Peace!

***********************************************************************************

September 9, 2005

Those days, when we blogged...

Hey! If you're a regular blogger, or an irregular blogger, or a frequent blog visitor, or an infrequent blog visitor, or a one-time blog visitor or at least heard of people who write blogs, you could have remembered the ancient glorious days of blogging. There was passion which tailored our blogs, there were ideas which enthralled or were supposed to enthrall blog-readers, there was a burgeoning urge to express our views, there were no barriers and we were free to choose anything and everything. Those days, when we blogged, we eagerly waited for others to express themselves and if something opposed our belief, we were overly keen to put forth our debatable views.

Time has changed. In DA-IICT, everyone is busy now. All we fourth yearites are slogging for CAT, GRE whatever and now midterms are around the corner. I firmly believe that an efficient person should be able to separate two distinct domains of life so that they don't interfere. With respect to this, I've failed without fail. Its not like we're mugging 10 hours a day, not anyone I'm sure, but this is more because we've put ourselves in an invisible cage. Even when we're not studying, we either tend to think about it or worry about the things which are beyond our control. I believe I'm one of the least concerned person about exams, but now even I'm behaving like a complete idiot. Even on the eve of Annual Examination, me(and Giri) used to play. On one such day,I blogged too.

What delineates this misery? First one is pretty immanent, we're all lazy sloth. Our inner self still considers spending time infront of computer screen a way of passing time, so during days with high academic workload we avoid it as much as possible. Blogging is considered to be a creative and innovative way to bakar. Wasn't it always like that? A blog a fortnight will not harm. Come on, atleast consider blogs as a practice for RC, try to understand the tone of the passage and think if you're likely to agree or disagree with the author. That will really help :) Best of luck.

August 21, 2005

Rakshabandhan

Since the college reopened on Aug 6th, I've been busy with various mundane stuff like completion of RI, 'inaugaration' of B.Tech. Project, selection of electives, mock CATs etc. So when Bhavesh invited me and Vivek( who couldn't go for some reasons) to his home for Rakshabandhan it was a welcome break. Though I was little apprehensive in the beginning because of "studies", but as always Bhavesh, with his super-duper persuasive skills, belittled me. Finally we left college by 2000 hrs on 18th Aug. For the first time in my life the principles of murphy's law were violated and everything went right.

1. We got a bus to Railway Stationeven before we got out off autorick! It never happened before as generally it takes me 30-40 minutes to get a bus.
2. The bus took the long route and still managed to reach Station at 2058 with 7 minutes to go before the train leaves.
3. My queue at ticket counter was the fastest! We were ready with ticket by 2103! We ran towards the train but it was so crowded that we couldn't get in.
4. The train started to limp along and we decided to leave this train and wait for the next one. But lady luck was smiling for sure and we managed to get into the least crowded LAST bogie after chasing the train.
5. Fortunately we got to sit and it turned out to be Anand( Bhavesh's home) special bogie. The policeman was kicking out all non-Anand passengers from that bogie. hehe!

The stay was very pleasant and I feasted on a lot of Sindhi cuisines. I wonder I will turn obese if I stay at his place for a couple of days. Rakshabandhan was special to me as I was tied Rakhi for the second time by Charul(Bhavesh's sister) after 10 years gap. Post Rakhi, we strolled in NDDB colony and I met Bhavesh's friends. They were all so sincere guys!! I came back and slept like a log. I ate, ate and then ate again and again.We left back for college the same day and there comes the end to a wonderful stay. Thanks to my cellphone, I took a lot of photos which I will post in my photoblog. These memories are gonna last for a long long time. Next Rakhi, I won't
be here but I'll relive in those memories.

July 30, 2005

Placement Saga

Some people wait for this day since their first day in college, some are worried about, some simply wear dontcare attitude and some are fazed what to do. Come placements and college becomes the liveliest and most happening place. Everyone is getting ready, buying new formal clothes, wearing a tie for the first time, putting on neatly ironed shirts, getting hair cut short and above all wear a grave look on their faces which looks quite weird when compared with their natural wide stupid grin. Placement fever started and everyone was busy in making their CVs and I later learnt that you don't need to do much to make it look decent. It's just a clever way of factual representation. Placement actually kicked off a day before schedule, anyways here comes the generalized experience.

Day -1 July 17th

Mindtree, the most preferred company for DA-IICTians in general, gave its PPT and written test followed. They made it clear that they are gonna take separate tests for different streams. Results were out by midnight, and many people were disappointed as only 69 were shortlisted!!

PeopleSpeak(): CPI mattered!

Day 0 July 18th

TCS aptitude test was a cakewalk for everyone though TCS people spoilt their repo by behaving absolutely weird when they saw almost everyone getting through. Interview were highly disorganized with scheduled interview getting late by 4-5 hours! Some were interviewed for 55 minutes and then rejected because they were "overqualified" while some were interviewed for merely 2 minutes. The final selection was highly skewed.

PeopleSpeak(): A dog in our college was renamed as TCS.

Day 1 July 19th

Infosys turned up! It was forced to reduce its CPI requirements from 2.50 to 2.00 and to 1.90 finally! The test was quite good, but the invigilators! Just imagine, 8-9 invigilators in a room giving instructions every 7th second, even during test as if filling up the form was a mammoth task. Most guys were selected and the HR interview was just a talk. A whopping 75 were selected! TCS interviews still continued and it ate up precious time and space of college.

PeopleSpeak(): Infosys is God!!

Day 2 July 20th

HP gave its PPT but there test team was late so InterraIT got the first spot. The test was very easy, but company appeared to be dull. Best thing was that they were bang on time, each interview for 10 minutes or so and no unnecessary grilling. People got the taste of lady interviewer. HP exam was well-organized and of a respectable level. Except for an invigilator who kept shouting on mic "Don't chitchat! Don't chitchat!" continuously, everything else was tranquil. Nirma ppl also came so college was a crowded place. Interview was just a formality, and HP people were most jolly and ebullient. Very few were disappointed today.

PeopleSpeak(): Thanks to MindTree for taking the cream away, it was easy for us!

Day 3 July 21th

Here comes the mother of DA-IICT, Reliance Infocomm. Lots of hope and everyone was craving for that motherly affection, but Reliance lived upto expectations dodging everyone. Rejecting a lot in written test and then interviews were technically tough but then everyone was called for interviews irrespective of test result.To the repugnance of candidates, it delayed the results to monday- typical Reliance way! Overall, it was a huge disappointment.

PeopleSpeak(): No reliance on Reliance.

Still companies are pouring in, as placements are going on. College will reopen in first week of August, phew!! Finally, there will be a schedule to follow otherwise I just keep lazing around. OK this is the final call for all those who are willing to go to Indroda Nature Park, Aug 1, 1000 hrs. t h a n x

July 26, 2005

Trance

People, I really don't know what to write. So much has happened recently but I'm unable to pen down. I compose the first paragraph and then delete it, don't know why??Probably this is what they call writer's block, but don't worry, I WILL BOUNCE BACK!! These days I'm living in trance, trying to resume CAT preparation, thinking about future, getting lost in oblivion, reveries ,12 hrs sleep, dreams and many more.
And for Gandhinagar people, so far Praneet, Prasoon, Vivek, Bhavesh and myself have clinched the idea of going to Indroda Nature Park, can we have some more??Please respond in a day or two.
Why am I just a speck of dust?

July 8, 2005

Animalia

It was way back in 1988 when I was mathematically 4 years old . I bought two white rabbits, Rs 300/- apiece. They were cute especially when they kept their long ears straight like horns. The biggest problem was faced by my mother because they used to shit anywhere in the house, but obviously it didn't bother me . I was busy making a living place for them.I took my TV's box and put some mud and plant leaves in it and the rabbit-house was ready. I was simply fascinated by those rabbits, they jumped higher than me. One morning I found their blooded dead bodies. Dogs ate them, I mourned and it was over. Behind my house there was a grazing field. I saw one black memna one day and it was love at first sight. The good thing about goats is that they shit out of the house. Well that memna was owned by some shepherd but he allowed the cuty memna to stay with me while others grazed every evening. With my new found fantasy, I used to collect vegetable remnants all day to feed him(or her, not sure). Weeks passed. One fine evening, the shepherd boy told me that memna is ill, two days later it died. Life went on.













My rabbits were pretty much like this, but not so fat.














A cute memna

Years passed, I was still one-digit old. I found a cow. Well there were many cows roaming around but they were rowdy but this one was retiring. So I befriended him/her and everyday at some fixed time it came to me. Animals are more punctual than we human beings. It felt great when that cow leaned infront of me so that I can touch its head. But then my father got transferred to a different place and(as an 8 year old boy) I could not even bid goodbye to that cow. Phew!!!!! I have always disliked dogs, simply because they dislike me. I've been haunted by dogs so many times, but luckily I escaped on each occasion. Once a dog even managed to grab my foot in its mouth, but I survived then also. Birds, I love them, Bird-watching, my hobby. There have been quite a few times when a bird came in my room and ruined its life by colliding with moving fan. I did whatever I could do, but life and death are beyond human control. When I was in class Xth(CBSE), there was a chapter in biology on birds. (Knowledge fact: Study of birds is known as ornithology.) There was an exercise for which I had to roam around and see all kinds of birds and make notes on them. During my summer vacation, I did that exercise with my colony friend Nitesh and I really enjoyed it.

Slowly and gradually as I grew old, I lost touch with animals. There are still animals around, just go out in Gandhinagar you'll find cows with really humungous horns which scares me badly. Obviously there are lots of dogs in college, but I hate them for reasons mentioned above. I change my way if I see a dog standing infront of me. I'm a nonvegetarian but that is another aspect, I still love animals. However if you feel bad about it, I'd clarify my stand if needed. Why is it that I've lost touch with animals? Partially because I'm busy with my daily routine and more because of lack of commitment.There is an Indroda Nature Park just 1 km away from DA-IICT and Deer Park may be 3 kms from DA-IICT. But none of my friends are willing to go there with me to enjoy the mystic flora and fauna. How many of them know about it?? It's not too late so if anyone is interested, leave a comment. Some of us may have attended the Animal Help Foundation seminars and rallies in Ahmedabad( because I see people wearing those T-shirts as their nightdress) but that does not bring us closer to animals. The most effortless way to interact with animals is to feel them around and just shower our love on them. Cat, Dogs(eww!),Squirrels(lots of cutiepies), various birds, chameleons, Peacock(its a privilege!!), monkeys etc. are some of the animals that we can see everyday in college. Ofcourse attending AHF seminars and rallies will help us, but natural interaction is more needed. Nature has been benevolent on us, I feel I should express my gratitude towards her.

June 29, 2005

This day in my history...

Today is June 29th 2005, a simple day, no big event, nothing phenomenal,nothing noticeable infact. Thousands of such days crop in and out. Out of 7756 days of my life so far, only a handful of them are momentous and those fateful days have had lot of substance. Leaving them aside, I(or rather we) have lived in vanilla days.Thanks to my daily dairy entry habit, I can dig out the happenings of even normal prosaic days and relive them in my memories. Let me delve in today, traversing year by year.

29th June

1999- Well it was the summer vacation of class IX...school days yaya!Everything was going so swiftly- no troubles, no tension, no exams to crack! but I was so bored of life.

2000- Yeah so complete vella time! Boards over and I had applied for my new school- DAV JVM, Ranchi. To my parent's disappointment, I chose to go away from my home just to prepare sincerely for engg entrances. Classes were to begin from July 10.

2001- I returned to Ranchi today after completing my summer vacations at home. I wanted to stay for some more time, as going back to Ranchi seemed to be a compromise. I reached Ranchi in morning 0600 by bus and then I decided to go for tution. I had my chemistry tution by Tapan Sir. He was simply a great guy, -14 power spectacles, majestic persona and lightning quick calculation speed which always bedazzled me. I never heard any student saying anything bad about him though he was very strict. I always used to be 'characteristically' late in his class, but he always allowed me to enter though no one can never expect such leniency from him. But the tution was cancelled that day, so I came back and did my favourite thing...yeah I slept!

2002- My seat in DA-IICT was confirmed and I came back to Muzaffarpur just two days back after counselling. I was looking forward for college, and excited about my future. Don't remember much!

2003- I was in Mumbai, my father was operated four days back. My friend Danish and my mother arrived just one day back. After weeks of trauma, I was so happy to see my mother and one of my best friends Danish. Danish and I roamed in Mumbai whole day, I will always remember the fun! First we went to my guesthouse, but I forgot to bring the keys and we could not even enter. It was raining so heavily that all local trains either running late or not running. We went to Bandra by bus, got down and got fully drenched in rain. Then we went to Khar station walking and it pouring down so heavily that I cant even see. We took a train to Andheri and after getting down we were haunted by the infamous Mumbai stray dogs, finally we reached his uncle's house.

2004- I was ill:feverish and enlarged tonsilitis. Also I met with an accident few days back, so still I had to go for dressing everyday.

2005- Here I'm today, getting up at 1330, watching rain, studying for RI, enhancing my vocabulary, writing blogs...

Crossing out one more day!!

June 23, 2005

A Road of Relief

Why do I have this false notion that my DA-IICT days are over??3 years over, but don't know why I feel that I've to pack my bags very soon. Probably that's why Nostalgia strikes me so that I remember my fresher days in college often. When I came to Ahmedabad for the first time(June 22'2002), I stayed in Hotel Marvel, Relief Road. I went to Relief Road today with my friend Abhijeet(don't know?? ok he's Babu) for shopping. Relief Road has always been a warm, welcoming and friendly place for me, so I dedicate this whole post to Relief Road.

By definition Relief Road means a road which is opened specifically to relieve the traffic in the concerned part of city. Relief Road was my first impression of this part of country which really amazed me. This was my origin in Ahmedabad and I used to find my ways w.r.t Relief Road. I like Relief Road because this was the place where I did my first few shoppings alone, first place where I learnt to bargain(an art for life, which I'm trying to develop), place where I get damn good quality products at reasonably cheap rates and have never been cheated and last but not least as as an emblem of Ahmedabad. For those who have never been to Ahmedabad, Relief Road is a very busy hustling bustling jostling 1.5 km long road(paved from Ahmedabad Railway Station to Lal Darwaja) with clothes, garment, leather goods, book shops on both sides in bottleneck congestion(quite resemblance with Chandni Chowk, Delhi). The traffic mainly kerosene driven highly polluting auto-rickshaws and two-wheelers travel in jig-jag manner putting pedestrians at a high risk, as I always suffer. All over Relief Road you'll see hawkers and vendors shouting at top of their lungs, agents trying to grip your neck(or hand, or whatever they catch) and drive you to their shops, customers trying to bargain, traffic police failing miserably etc. etc. In one sentence I will describe Relief Road as a street of complete chaos and mayhem with healthy business flourishing between shrewd adroit shopowners and expert bargaining customers in a miasma of vehicular emission, that's how I paint the picture in my mind on this blog.

Talking about todays shopping it was fun.I was answering thoughtfully to all of Abhijeet's inane queries.(Like looking down from Nehru Bridge he asked me which river is this? Two times he was almost crushed while crossing the road). And the best thing which could ever happen, it rained today and I got wet happily. My only concern was my mobile but after putting it in a plastic bag borrowed from some hawker, I jumped out in rain. Despite the fact that heavy rains lashed the market, Relief Road was as chaotic as ever.That's the spirit, and this is an example of management in brawl. In the end I would like to say one thing to Relief Road, What a Relief you have been!!

June 22, 2005

Longest day of the year

Yesterday was the longest day of the longest year of my life so far- 21st June. It was not just the length of the day which made it so long for me, there were other enterprises going on side by side. It was the counselling of the new batch in our college DA-IICT, and it was a reminder that I'm in fourth year now. Nostalgia strikes me often and I remember my counselling on June 24 2002, so much have changed since then like the landscape of college but few things are still the same like my weight. Counselling is supposed to be the day when youngsters see their college, the place where they're gonna spend four crucial years of their life. Parents look more worried than the students themselves which I aptly reconcile.

I myself counselled three families( which includes one family with 8-9 members). The first family(of 8-9 members) was from MP and they had three students to admit!! No idea how they managed to do so, but I had a strong urge to ask but I killed it. The second family was from the AP. The last one was from Rohtak, Haryana and the guy's father was in army and he was trying all his tricks. They all came to my room when I was about to leave and as I bid goodbye to one family other came in promptly and again... Probably it was their inflection and anxiety which forced them to ask stupefied thickheaded questions. I know parents were dazed so I tried to be generous and polite, but sometimes the puerility brought me back to my normal arrogancy. Some of the stupid nonsensical half-witted questions asked to me, my thoughts and my answers were:
A. How far is bathroom from your room?
Why??Are you in a hurry??
20 metres and turn left
B. Mention any three drawbacks of your college.
Why didn't you ask this during proper counselling? Bahut mazaa aata!
You'll figure out more than three very soon.
C. My son got admitted in XYZ coll, should he take admission here?
Why did you come here?for free food?
Anything is better than XYZ coll.
D. Why is there no provision for mosquito nets?
Is your blood too sweet??Come to my hometown, synonymous for mosquitoes.
They don't bite.
E. How many hours should one study here?
Does anyone?
5 hours atleast to stay in race
F. And most idiotic ques: How many hours do you study???
*SHOCKED* me??you mean, me??how does it concern you dickhead?
2 hours per day(big lie!)
G. How much percentage do you get?
*even more SHOCKED* your son wanna compete with me?
ummmm...ummm...we get grades which are not convertible in percentages(even bigger lie!)*turning my face to son* So, how much did you score in your 12th??
H. Do students play?
No, they sweep the sports complex.
Yes even when lectures are on.
I. How often do you go home?
Whenever mummy calls.
Whenever there are vacations.

So this way I concluded most of the discussion. The biggest problem was that labs were closed, and I had to live without internet for most of the time. Probably that's why this was the longest day! Time is passing so sluggishly- RI stuck, CAT prep on but crawling, Summer too hot, no good movies... that's why I'm having so long days. Anyone game for scrabble??

June 10, 2005

Renaissance

Time travels unidirectionally and continually. Life is a chronology of events. Everything fades away with time but sometimes I wonder how some experiences are rejuvenated. There are certain things which follow a fixed cycle of time like day night, seasons, crops etc. which are tenable but at the same time certain phenomena strike back off guard. I remember few days ago a person(ex-tenant) asked me for my number. I gave him my home's landline number. He was bent down to write it on a piece of paper and suddenly he rolled his eyes to look up impressively and said "oh, you have a landline no.!" and I just smiled and replied politely "yeah, it's a reliance landline." So what is the whole idea??? Mobiles have outnumbered landlines, not just in quantity but also in popularity and ease of use. Youngsters, especially girls, have mobiles all the time in their hands. This is the reason why my uncle was surprised to know that I've a landline number too, and settled people these days choose landline over mobiles thanks to radiation, high rates and senility.

One of my online friend wrote in her profile that she doesn't like shorthand sms-lingoed typing, nor do I. At one time it was even a fashion to make grammar mistakes intentionally( i cum for I will come) alongwith raping spellings, but now I see many people showing their faith in english grammar. I agree it saves time, but don't you think it is avoidable, if possible? Thanks to blogging, I'm back to real English. Fashion repeats itself, very true. There was a time when it was jeans, jeans and blue jeans everywhere and now people have shifted back to good old trousers. Thankfully I was never guided by jeans mania, readymade trousers looks good, feels good, costs good and is good. Girls were eager to shed their clothes one time but now I feel that full length trousers/jeans and top have become a feminine symbolism on most general occasions. However skirts are more sexier as they leave a scope for imagination to run wild!

When I was a school kid, I discovered chess and I liked it a lot. I asked my other friends to play with me, and they retorted back " Are you a nerd? Chess is for old people and politicians." and I consider this as a highly offensive and derogatory remark, but time has changed. Now when you hear someone playing chess, the general impression is that the person has intellect, patience and sharp thinking abilities. Playing chess is nowadays not considered to be old-fashioned, thats very good. There is a tremendous uprise in cultural restaurants like the ones where you'll get to feel like village, being served on plant leaves by waiters dressed as villagers. Hubble-Bubble(Hookah) have found a decent place among all classes of people esp. youngsters. These entities were considered outmoded once, but now with time they are back in a city resident's life.

What brings them back in action? We have not reached at a saturation level where nothing else can be invented anymore, but then why do we redeem outdated stuff? One reasoning I propose is that we may not pretend but from inside we consider too much modernization as a fad and we have some sense of cultural heritage. We accept new world of ATMs, wi-fi readily, but we do not wish to let go what our previous generation has accomplished. This way we maintain a delicate balance between modernity and old practices and extract the best out of both worlds.

June 4, 2005

Just a talk

I'm feeling lonely now, I just wanna talk. No serious stuff, no crude philosophy, no hidden implications, no thought provoking, just a simple talk, afterall blogs are meant to exchange ideas.I have never read any book apart from glancing upon coursebook and few others. Last night I took midnight walk with Bhavesh, and then me and Vivek were talking near GF junction(not EF, its GF). I said "I wanna read a novel", but dont know which one to start with. Since I'm impatient so I wanna start with a 200-250 page book. Bhavesh suggested Harry Potter series, though it doesn't appeal me much but still I feel that I need an easy one to start. Vivek proposed 'The Alchemist', pretty good one. Its not that I'm completely ignorant about books, but I've never shown the courage and patience to finish a book entirely. So people please suggest me a good book to start with.

Sadly Orkut is blocked in our college, all those thing which are imbibed in our life are taken away by college. They don't allow chatting simply because it consumes bandwidth. What's the use of bandwidth anyway? They blocked parlis when it was getting familiar with DA-IICTians and Orkut which was so deep-rooted in our social lives. We are basically online bugs, ICTians, dwelling in e-world, thinking like a computer and yet our arms are cut. Naresh rightly said that the spice is lost. One US airlines filed a petition against Jet Airways, India that they are directly related to Al Qaeda and should not be allowed to operate in US, and their supporting evidences, guess what they say "since Jet Airways (India) Ltd was planned and started in 1991, it has been funded by Al Qaeda 'Specifically Designated Global Terrorist' Dawood Ibrahim". Firstly these developed leader countries exploit poor countries and take all their wealth away and then they accuse without proper vindication.Ironically the accuser is itself named Jet Airways, may be they are facing identity crisis.


Tonight a booze party is planned which if realized will be my first experience(apart from useless beer). Lalla the pioneer, Anna the experienced, Kunal Sengupta the host, Zubin the newbie, me the newborn and we'll find one more to set the hostel ablaze.I have heard that people do very funny things when they drink for the first time, so tonight if you are beaten up or your clothes are torn apart by me without any proper reason, just stay cool. However I always think that people get high, but they act more ... let's see if its true.
You guys know Peter leko??? The hungarian chess legend... he's on a 'commiting blunder' spree. He has put himself in 'mate in one' position in a drawn game. Poor guy...they are publishing a book What is wrong with Peter Leko?? Chalo, I wont make you feel bored anymore..signing off bbye

June 2, 2005

And life goes on...

Yesteryear have gone by and life has changed. So much has happened, so much has transformed, sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter, happiness, sadness and all flavours, and life goes on. Come what may, life must go on.

I love blogging and for last one month I've been away, but life goes on.

There are people whom I've disliked for genuine reasons and I had to ask them for help... and life goes on.

There are trains by which I never wished to travel, and I had to... and life goes on.

I've studied some courses and learnt a lot, but could not reflect it on my marksheet... and life goes on.

There are people whom I loved, respected and satisfied and they die without giving me any chance to return all the favours that I was bestowed upon since the beginining of my time... and life goes on.

Someone important in my life is feeling pain and I am sitting by them helpless... and life goes on.

Someone gave me life and gives up life ...and life goes on.

It did not rain when I wished so ...and life goes on.

Someone stood by my side helping me a lot ...and life goes on.

Someone loves to talk to me and consider me as a true friend, I'm thankful to them ...and life goes on.

A giant wave of destruction chases people and kills them, drowns them, take them away ...and life goes on.

Power goes off before you could save your documents ...and life goes on.

An explosive revelation, mental agony, trauma, RECURRENCE and everything goes blank... and life goes on.

Nostalgia strikes, something missed, something gained, something to retrospect... and life goes on.

So many opportunities lost and still hopeful... and life goes on.

Someone is traumatized and life springs back to normal for them and it goes smooth ...and life goes on.

Planning to call up a old friend and catch up with all that happened since we lost contact ...and life goes on.
People offer help, sympathesize, offer help again, maintain a distance, restate their helpfulness, avoid and finally forget ...and life goes on.

Someone serves painstakingly with dedication and when the the job is over, they are asked to leave and they find a new job...and life goes on.

Someone throws a party and the evening becomes lively, thanks to them ...and life goes on.

Time passes ...and life goes on.

Plans fail without fail ...and life goes on.

But we are strong and accept whatever comes, because life must go on. Life does not go on forever, and your last breath may be the last one. This is the time.

May 2, 2005

Moronic Delites

What makes a man happy? The answer is happiness itself. Happiness is conglomeration of success, love, contentment, fulfillment of dreams and a number of such abstract things. Just saying that a 'successful' man is happy or someone having a hour-glass figure girlfriend is happy may not be true. I feel that joy is ephemeral but anguish is enduring, at least it makes a greater impact on subtlety and tranquility of mind. Sadly for me, I don't rejoice my accomplishments as much as I lament upon my defalcations. May be it's not the right attitude to bank upon, as the overall happiness goes below zero.

Joy is indeed short-lived. Like say there's an exam tomorrow and you've not even started studying(not an atypical case). You just browse through the whole syllabus and filter out one or two easy topics and cram them. Now what, the whole paper is greek to you and suddenly you see a question related to something that you studied last night, and that fosters a wave of ecstacy!! On one such moment, have you ever thought is this joy profound and salubrious? Solving one question will not get you anywhere but the ephemeral sublime joy cheers you up. All fools are happy, not all happy people are fool. On similar terms, while playing football occasionally we find someone hitting a 30-yard shot with immaculate precision and everyone goes gaga over him, but that's just a chance which may not be refashioned. Sometimes we are wandering around canteen knowing there's no money in pocket and suddenly we discover a old torn 10-rupee note in the backpocket which the Brijwasi caterer will happily accept for a cold-drink, though his joy is ephemeral too like ours.

What if we start discarding all these moronic delights? What if we dont make ourselves happy on trivial matters everyday? What if we dont find anything to cheer upon eternally? Those petty, inanimate trivial joys make our day, not everyone has a party-every-night life.There are people who are really unfortunate and not successful to a great deal, there are people who cannot afford to buy happiness. Life is not a rollercoaster for many, and for them these moronic delights are not moronic. Not for me too, but still I titled this blog as 'moronic' may be because there's lot more to come,rejoice and roll over again.

April 29, 2005

Three years

25th February 2002: I filled up the form for DA-IICT
12th May 2002: National Entrance Test Conducted
24th June 2002: DA-IICT counselling, seat allotted
29th April 2005: Semester VI Completed
Three years have passed, three years of college, three years of ICT, three years of solitary confinement, three years of relentless rummage, three years of virtuous gentility,three years of something more...
So here do I stand at the end of third year of the coveted engineering(based on the major assumption that I'm not getting F in any course this sem). I've never been successful in envisaging about the future, but a reminiscence of past has always been rewarding.


Sem I- New day, new start, new friends, new motivation, new life.
Highlight: Hookup with a tall supposedly most beautiful girl of this college
Sem II- Carelessness, Sleep, Bunking, Movies, untidiness, recklessness
Highlight: Approaches to Indian Society result
Sem III- quagmire, homesickness, crushes, fighting with Hardik,developing some interests
Highlight:JAVA project and the world's most infamous viva, nightmare!
Sem IV- Coming back to life, cool, easy, information theory, thinking about GRE,CAT etc, self-motivation
Highlight: ummmmmmmm... none!
Sem V- Leaving hostel, Chakka's lectures, disastrous midsems, bewildered objectives
Highlight: Shifting to 1318, Sector-2
Sem VI- Ok this is fresh!! A synopsis!!

MCS- Attendance was a nightmare!! Due to some unavoidable circumstances I missed most of the attendance. Still not sure that he'll pass me or not on this basis. However the course was great, loved the concepts.
SEN- he he he ...roflol....
SEN project was epitome of teamwork, with everyone knowing how not to work and blame on others.
MLA- How three hours can change a life???A disaster!!! I gave 5 out of first 5 popquizzes, did well and was nearing a probable A, but last three hours of the course i.e. last lecture(sixth pop quiz, that I missed) and two hours final exam ruined everything. The quizzes I gave were of weightage 5 and some of 10, and last one which I did not give was whopping 20, and final I fucked up so A to C/D in 3 hrs, unmatchable!!!!!
RFE- I dont like smith charts. Actually if you're planning to make numerous circles on a piece of paper then make them concentric,otherwise it will look so dirty and messed up.
LAC- easyyyyyyy, ma'm always went easy on me... had fun discussing in class..never I opened my mouth more than what I did in LAC.

So this is the story, the languish end to a misery... and more to come!