know-it-all

Prerana

2009-08-10T17:17:00.004+05:30

For those of you, who are not well versed in Hindi, Prerana means ‘inspiration’. My decision of coming to NITIE was a hasty one. I had made my mind to join BHEL initially but after getting selected in NITIE, my instincts told me to go for NITIE. So when I finally arrived at NITIE, I was looking for signs which could convince me that indeed my decision was right.

13 is my lucky number (I was born on Friday, the thirteenth) and I have had this habit of associating things with 13 to make myself happy about having such a coincidence (I know its lame, but that’s how it works for me). 13 guys got through the last list in NITIE and I happened to be one of them and that was the first motivation. Then when I arrived here, I got my roll no. as 211 from academic office (2+11=13, I know it’s lame again ;)). My marketing group happened to be Group 13 and I keep counting such coincidences and trust me, there are so many of them. I guess happiness which you get from such small things is sometimes priceless.

I was fortunate enough to get Section C since I came late (people in NITIE would know better ;)) and got the option to choose my roommate who happens to be a Gujju cum Maadu talkative chap who plays guitar and listens rock music and is willing to get up before me every day. What more could I have asked for? (except the Gujju part and he being in Coordcom and the issue raised by our dear communication professor who thankfully doesn’t teach us anymore :D).

Then came the committee selections here and I got selected in PMG ( Prerana Management Group) which is responsible for organizing the annual B school conclave of NITIE and one of the biggest events conducted in any B school in India. For more details, check out, http://www.prerana2k9.com/2009/07/we-have-pmg-16.html. It was again a coincidence that my mom’s name happens to be ‘Prerana’ so I was really happy about this. Giving interviews at 3 am in formals was a different experience and selection process gave me some really interesting memories. PMG is also a pure masti group and welcome party given by our seniors was awesome! (and that has still not given us inspiration to treat them back :P).

After that came the ‘Mandi’ and I guess I have written enough about it already, thanks to Dr. Prasad (pun intended).(http://knol.google.com/k/prats/-/4a6eln6namyq/1#)

The journey so far in NITIE has really been memorable with lots of Prerana from lots of people. Hope it continues that way. Just done with the first mid semester exam over here and after BITS, absolute grading seems too unfair :P.

PS: I am no devil ;), just a coincidence that I was born on Friday, the thirteenth.

PS2: Coordcom is our student committee which deals with the student batch fund and is better known as Vasooli Group ;)

Another attempt

2009-08-03T22:18:00.005+05:30

Hey guys,irrespective of my several failed attempts in the past, I am trying yet again to revive my blog. A lot has happened in recent past and 'life these days' has changed drastically. For those who don't know, I have joined NITIE( National Institute of Industrial Engineering) and pursuing MBA in it. Now please don't ask me what does 'T' stand for in NITIE and how does an industrial engineering institute teaches MBA :P. Just google it and know about NITIE (you all must be knowing by now that I would never stop bragging about my institute in which I study. Earlier it was BITS Goa, now its NITIE). I can help you out with few bullet points:

NITIE in Rankings:

* Received the 'Best Management Institute of 2009' award by the Bombay Management Association (BMA)
* Ranked 3rd in placements and 5th overall in Business World B-School rankings 2009
* Ranked 5th in Outlook B-School rankings 2008
* Ranked 6th in Competition Success Review-GHRDC B-School Rankings 2008
* Ranked in the Super League (Top 10) in Business Standard B-School survey 2008
* Ranked 9th in 'Top B-Schools in India' survey 2008 conducted by HT-Mint and CFore

I'll refrain from publicizing my college now onwards since you must have got a fair idea about it. Anyways writing a blog in an MBA college is a rare opportunity which I got today (FYI, I joined the college on 22nd June) and those who are doing MBA right now would know it better. I'll start writing about my NITIE experiences from next post.

PS: Happy friendship day to all readers :).

Life these days

2009-04-08T19:35:00.006+05:30

I have finally spent more than a week in the campus continuously and settled down :P. This is our penultimate month in the campus and life has never been better here. With no subjects and classes (though it hardly matters as I can see looking at others’ routine), I have the liberty and flexibility to do anything anytime.

This semester has been dominated by quickies (trips planned in less then 10 minutes) and our perseverance of staying outside hostel for as much as we can. Everything looks so much accessible and bogmalo is the new jhopdi where you can go daily and just relax. The other sensation has been the hukkah which I could not bring to the room because of so much of dancing around (DISCO’s) these days, but got to know of places where we can go every now and then. Pool has become our alternative to daily exercise with Kesarval conveniently placed. Hiring cabs has been forbidden now for Goa is a nice place with nice people ready to give lifts anytime and sometimes I just think why did I shelled out so much bucks on transport earlier. (even Sethi got a lift yesterday!)

The heat is trying its best to keep us inside but damn, we are good! Lunch takes average one hour these days followed by a trip to juice corner. Snacks have been tagged with the ‘choti jhopdi’ and dinner with whatever we do not visit in the day. It’s only breakfast to which injustice has been done but that is because sleep is really good at convincing us to ignore it :P. Now just about a month left in the campus, really want to make the best out of it. Tennis court would get completed by weekend and what we had planned of playing since the start of semester would finally be materialized. Lots of things happening for the first time in the last semester and others are reviving themselves in one way or another. We have actually started going to children's park and benches again (one of our first year's regulars).Road trips have become frequent and nite outs too. Discussing about our stay over here and the things we have done is the best time pass.It feels really great doing nothing and just living for the moment for you know these moments would be hard to come by again.

PS: Resist temptation from evil (i.e discussing maggi revolution). Amen.

Back...

2009-04-01T23:18:00.004+05:30

Yes, it's no april fool, I am back again on the blogging circuit after a break and I know you all must have missed me :D.
The past quarter has been most grueling in my college life and though I got time then and again, didn’t feel like writing. I am done with the final interview of MBA this year and with two rejects already, might as well have to repeat the entire exercise next year :P. But yah, that is the worst case because I know I can’t go through the whole process again! But you never know, this year has not been great in any respect so far for me or most of my friends, and have actually come to know and realized the impact of recession since we are the victims.( dot com burst always seemed a joke at that time). But hoping that things would turn around soon as I say good things take their time ;). So guys, not to worry, there are goodies for everyone in the store and it's just a matter of delivery. Just keep going and have faith and you'll sail through.

Anyways interviews are really all about knowing yourself and about your opinion on different issues. Things like ‘my biggest achievement’ or ‘my most embarrassing moment’ are something no one really ponders on but that is what you get to know about yourself during these interviews. I have been mostly funny, spontaneous and unconventional in most of them and would be posting my experiences soon. There was lots of learning, realizations and traveling during the whole process but I am glad that it’s over. Still jobless, might as well start writing more frequent posts and catch up on TV series and movies. Ciao for now.

PS: Other jobless people might as well wait for my next post which would be coming up soon.

Keep the Spark

2009-01-20T12:59:00.002+05:30

This is .... Inaugural Speech by Chetan Bhagat for the new batch at the Symbiosis
BBA program 2008.
Not getting time to write posts these dayz,I found this mail really good and thought of sharing with you all.

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college,leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are
few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt atingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park.A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks.. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find.. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?

Imagine the spark to be a lamp's flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn't any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement.

But it isn't the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won't be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday?

They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level.Striving for that next level is important.

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's design. Are you? Goals will help you do that.

I must add, don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever.. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school. Where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don't be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I've told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don't go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you.

But it's life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that's where you want to be.

Disappointment's cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don't know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release.

Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts , having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions
in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you.

In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty darn lucky by Indian standards. Let's be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don't. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don't get literary praise. It's ok. I don't look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It's ok. Don't let unfairness kill your spark..

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise.
Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I've told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, you eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends.And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.

Keep the spark in you glow through out ur life........

Good to be back

2009-01-06T13:16:00.004+05:30

And here I am.Back to the place which has been my home and friends who have been my family for the past 3 years. This time it is special because we have come after a 6 month break and moreover this is our last semseter in BITS GOA.
I plan to do lot many things in this sem and a 'TO DO' list is being made with the assistance of my friends. We have ticked the first thing on the list and I think we should have done it way before and that is 'New year celebration in Goa'.Living in goa for past 3 years is different and celebrating new year over here is something else! To cut it short, it was the awesomest new year ever. If this happens when beach parties are banned and security is tight, I can't even imagine what must be the case like when everything was allowed. Nonetheless we had an awesome time. Be it the club we danced till 4 in night or the beach where firecrackers mesmerized us at midnight, or the hot Indian chicks( Foreigners are a common view now you see ;)) or the pole dance by drunk chicks in clubs, had a memorable new year!
Now coming back to campus life,had a dreadful time first two days since campus was deserted and I was allotted AH3. But my heart sways for AH4 and I finally managed to get a room in it. This is the hostel where I have had the most pleasant moments in Goa.Today we have our registration in some one hour. Campus is buzzing with kids I don't know, first yearites probably whom we are still to interact with ;). Nobody is speaking about placements and I think people have accepted the fact that there won't be any this sem :P. So better to enjoy the last sem. Two mba results out,the 'big' one is due this week. Lotsa thing in mind, but hardly any time to apply my thoughts on anything.
All I can say is it feels good to be back.Good to find the old faces moving pass the corridor. Eating at our joints(although they suck) and doing nothing but vellagiri which we are best at. People are skeptical that they would have nothing to do after two months. But as of now, I am enjoying the campus and hopefully would find ways to keep us all entertained :D.

PS:HAPPY NEW YEAR :D

The Day I was Conned

2008-12-20T18:14:00.001+05:30

I must confess I have never felt so stupid in my life. I have traveled in almost all parts of the country and in almost all modes of transport and when I boarded my train on15th Dec from Bangalore to Jodhpur, it was no big deal.

But yes, this was the first time I was traveling 45 hours straight (because I had to take my bike back to my hometown in the same train). I changed my ticket from 3^rd AC to 2^nd for the first time and I got an upper birth which I changed to lower birth (I have always preferred upper birth though; but my cabin had just two guys, so took it).For the first time I accepted food from a stranger (as I mentioned that person was to be my sole companion for next 48 hours), and ya ok, we chatted for quite some hours. For the first time I had just 100 bucks left with me during a journey and I really did not minded him paying my expenses (him being a businessman going on a business trip to Jodhpur to seal a deal with Bikaji Namkeens).

So let us talk about this businessman. He knew everyone and I mean everyone in the pantry car; from waiters to managers to the TT of the train. He had relatives at almost every other stop we had. He was on calls for almost the entire time. He was the owner of ticket booth of PVR cinemas, Forum Mall, Bangalore, he was the contractor of food in Rajdhani express and he had local businesses in railways and many other diverse fields. Every damn tea boy and attendant was treating him as he was the Prince and yes, he was carrying 95k cash with him which he showed to me. He was a fat small guy who looked stupid, and more importantly looked genuine. All this description explains why did I trusted the guy and why did I had his food and why did I chatted with him.

Now it was 3.30 am in night that I got up and found two of my mobiles (Sony Ericsson P990i and Nokia 3220) missing and my wallet secure (thankfully it just had 100 bucks ,so the thief must have shown some pity). I told the ‘businessmen’ about it and he said his wallet was missing too which had some 5k cash. Rest 90k he had it in his pocket. So he made me write a complaint letter which he said he’ll deliver to RPF Ahemdabad so that they can track the thief down and he also assured since he is a railway employee, they’ll be more vigilant for this case. In the morning he told that 1 Lakh rupee has been taken out from his ICICI credit card which was there in his wallet. Now he told me that he has to get down at Marwar Junction(a town near Jodhpur) for some work and he’ll be in Jodhpur the next day where we can meet up with my Dad for verification at Jodhpur station. I had his number and he gave me landline nos. of his home at Bangalore and Marwar. HE asked if he can borrow my Ipod for 1 day because he’ll be bored otherwise and he’ll give it back tomorrow when we meet. And I gave him, because after all we had become friends.

Next day I called him and he said he has some business deal in Bikaner and he’ll meet up tomorrow. And we spoke for him on 4-5 occasions on the same day and the next. Finally on 19^th, he said he’ll be coming railway station in 15mins and that was the last time I spoke with him. His phone was unreachable after that and I realized finally what a fool I had been. It took me two days to connect all the things and how he played his role to perfection to con me.Obviously all land line nos. were fake.

Probably first time in my life, I have been deceived in such a manner and I am just helpless and can do nothing about it. I can just imagine his face filled with satisfaction, he even pulled the last act of taking my Ipod to perfection, and what a fool I had been the whole time. I know I won’t be able to recover my phones or ipod or my 600 contacts or 1200 messages or pics or anything else. But I just wish I meet that person once more in this life and can get even. Just hoping to get my hands on him one day in future….

In short, this trip is something I’ll like to erase from my memory. Nothing good came out of it except few important lessons that you all can infer yourself.

PS: I may seem really stupid after the whole narration and probably I am. But I can just say one thing about that guy, he was good, fucking good.

Last Day at Broadcom

2008-12-12T16:01:00.002+05:30

Today is my last day at Broadcom and I really don’t know how to react or feel about it. I have been longing to go home for so long but when the time is coming close, it’s like I don’t want to leave this place. It’s hard to believe that almost 6 months has passed since I came to Bengaluru and when I look back, I see so many good things coming out of this internship and this place.

Living by yourself is a whole new and enriching experience. I remember the day I came here with so many apprehensions about the place and work. But everything worked out just fine. Had a real good time in the company and exploring this city. But now its time to say final goodbye and I know I’ll be missing this place.
I’ll miss my cubicle and my computer and the awesome net speed over here. I’ll miss the free phone calls and the free cold drinks and juices :P. I’ll miss the rush I used to make to come to the office when our instructor used to visit us. I’ll miss the thread on gmail which all of us used to stay in touch and telling stuff about their PS and their companies. And of course I’ll miss the chinkies!!

I’ll miss the tea that Jayashree makes for me everyday (after some motivation :D). I’ll miss the game of snooker I used to play with Sumeet and Gampa. I’ll miss all the stories told to me by Shantanu and his sense of humor :P. I’ll miss the grave look on Neeraj’s face. I’ll miss the tamil conversation between Janani and Jayashree. I’ll miss the wannab ‘Kaushik’ :P with his typical choices(eg- Sunil Joshi being his favorite cricket player).This guy is really funny. I’ll miss all our lunch and snack times and gossips on the terrace and in the ‘Bay’.
All in all I’ll miss all the pleasant moments I had with the other interns and my team members who made this 6 months look so easy and manageable. It was really nice working here and I really hope I get to work here some other time.

But as of now, I am leaving this place today and glad that this internship happened. Learnt a lot and made new friends. I will take lot of memories from this place and miss many more things(like the Coorg and Mysore trip :P). Hoping such times come again. Looking forward to the new year bash in Goa now.

“Don’ cry because its over, Smile because it happened”- Dr. Seuss(taken from Melange’05)

PS: My blog journey started from this place. But won’t end here ;).

Being a Bitsian

2008-12-10T10:48:00.005+05:30

As semester end is approaching fast, I have so many thoughts that it's indeed difficult to jot all of them down. One thing that surely separates this end from other semesters is that each semester we cribbed about final comprehensive exams and prayed them to get over quickly so that we all can run our home, but this time around every one wants to stay. Be it people who are doing their PS(practice school) or those who are still in college, every one wants to live the romance which is coming to an end with each passing moment.

People in college know that this is time to bid final goodbye to Goa and the wonderful lives we all had for past 3 years.Now is there time to see the corporate world closely and have all together different experience.And others who have to go back campus have accustomed to such an independent and unrestricted life that it would be really hard to be back in rooms by 11pm and eat at our beloved Atish's mess in the college. But I guess that's what happens to every Bitsian at some point or other and experiencing this cross road has groomed us all very well indeed.

Next semester also gonna be the placements speaking about which has become a taboo as of now :P. Economy is on a roll(sense the sarcasm) and we are fortunate enough to be facing our placements in such a situation(yah its still going on).Also people will be waiting for the results of different MBA exams they appeared for and universities they applied for MS.

The end of the semester reminds me of the reasons I took PS in first sem:
1.Getting a job during internship
2.Had a gut feeling that I'll prepare better for CAT in Bangalore
3.Almost all my friends were going for PS in first sem.

Just had the (3.) to look forward to next sem. Thanks to recruitment freeze,no chance of placement during internship and my mediocre performance in CAT,I guess I didn't get what I had sought for.Anyways no regrets,looking forward to next semester.

PS: Infosys has got the distinction of registering as the first company on campus :D

Gateway Peace March-Dec 3rd pics

2008-12-05T13:57:00.007+05:30

Respond to 26 Nov - Take Immediate Action Petition

2008-12-03T11:55:00.001+05:30

Respond to 26 Nov - Take Immediate Action Petition

Bangalore Walks

2008-12-01T16:05:00.005+05:30

Citizens,

November 26 marks a new low in our country's sinking security situation. We are now at a state where every major sphere of our life has been attacked - trains, temples, mosques, cars, markets, parliament, parks, offices - and now hotels. When does this stop? We pay crores and crores of taxes and levies, without even 1 paise bearing a semblance of accountability. We have blamed everybody from God to our politicians for the condition we are in; but the fact remains that we have failed because of our own unwillingness to act and to demand accountability.

We must take action atleast now - an action that is drastic, cumulative of years of not doing anything. Let us demand for accountability! Let us make our so called elected representatives account for every paisa of the money that we have paid up to ensure our safekeeping, good roads, continuous electricity, clean water, to mention the basics. Let us have them justify their Z-class and Y-class security, while we burn. Where is the accountability? Let us bring it back.

Here are a few numbers to quantify things:

Number of terrorist attacks in India since 1993: 33

Number of terrorist attacks in India since 2001: 30

Number of terrorist attacks in India in 2008: 10

Number of people killed since 1993: 1300+

Income Taxes collected from individuals for the Financial year ending 31st March, 2008: Rs. 10,37,40,00,00,000 (103740 crores)

Sales, property, petroleum and service taxes collected for the Financial year ending 31st March, 2008: Rs. 6,73,83,00,00,000 (67383 crores)

Income from Police, fines etc.: Rs. 14,67,00,00,000 (1467 crores)

Expenditure on Anti-terror squads, Police upkeep, Police development/improvement, equipment upgradation for past 5 years: 3700 crores

Here is a list of attacks in 2008:

May 13, 2008 - at least 63 were killed in 9 bomb blasts along 6 areas in Jaipur.	63 deaths
July 25, 2008 - at least 2 were killed and 20 injured in 8 low intensity bomb blasts in Bangalore.	2 deaths
July 26, 2008 - 56 were killed and over 110 injured in 17 serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad.	29 deaths
September 13, 2008 - at least 15 were killed and over 110 injured in 5 bomb blasts in Delhi markets.	21 deaths.
September 27, 2008 - 1 killed and at least 17 injured in bombings at Mehrauli area 2 bomb blasts in Delhi flower market.	1 death.
September 29, 2008 - 10 killed and 80 in bombings in Maharashtra and Gujarat bomb blasts.	10 deaths.
October 1, 2008 - 0-4 killed and up to 100 injured in Agartala bombing.	4 deaths.
October 21, 2008 - 17 killed and at least 40 injured in Imphal bomb blast.	17 deaths.
October 30, 2008 - 45+ killed and at least 300 injured in Assam bomb blast.	77 deaths.
November 26, 2008 - At least 101 killed and 287 injured in a coordinated attack in Mumbai.^[9]	125 deaths and increasing

The disparity between the requirements for our country's security and the actual disbursement has reared its ugly head in 2008. We are now faced with the reality that terrorism is deep rooted in India and we must act! Our Prime Minister, for his illustrious career and stellar academics, is as effective as we have been in handling terrorism; his address to the nation being ineffective, lacklustre, passive and non-commital, to say the least. Our Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, is known more for his propensity to dress up and for chronic foot-in-mouth comments and actions. It is with good reason that I do not attach the standard "Honourable" to these ministers. So when do we take action? The time has come.

The frequency of attacks is increasing exponentially, there have been 10 this year! And we have not seen even one step in terms of affirmative response, let alone affirmative-preemptive action and safeguards. Let us not wait for these attacks to get any worse. Let us demand answers. But first let us ensure that we do our part in turning things around. Let us first prevent ourselves from succumbing to cowardice. When times have taken a turn for the worst, we must step up with courage. Let us step out of our homes to demand our rights. When our parents, spouses, siblings and other loved ones fear for our safety and try to deter us from taking that step, we must assure them that we are doing so for our own continued safety, for if we do not take action now we have failed yet again due to our own weakness, for we are now only a step short of civil unrest and war. Let us head out and demand action!

We must not remain calm as is being called for by our politicians. We must show our anger, grief and resentment, and press for action.

People of Bangalore, on December 8th, 2008, let us peacefully set out from our homes, offices, schools, colleges, malls and shops and converge at Vidhana Soudha by 12noon, and demand the presence of Chief Minister Yeddyurappa and Home Minister V S Acharya, to put forth the following demands, threats and assertions:

1. If there is 1 more attack we boycott our schools, colleges, offices and professions till our safety is ensured.

2. If there is 1 more attack we do not pay any taxes and fines (income taxes, service taxes, even sales taxes on petroleum and groceries).

3. For every year that has a terror attack, we do not pay taxes and fines.

4. Every minister's security detail is removed until all the terror attacks of 2008 have been investigated and verdicts handed out.

5. Our security forces are trained to world standards in 3 years, by pioneers in the field, from Israel, France and the United States.

6. NSG Commandos to be decentralised from Manesar, and 1 unit each to be present at 5 locations across India - North, South, East, West, Central.

7. Every Minister with even a single charge of crime against his/her name to vacate office immediately and disbarment due to this condition be made binding for any candidate.

8. Every single entry point in to and exit point out of India (flights, road, trains, water vessels) to have severe and restrictive identity and security screening. Any discrepancy with any person to warrant immediate deportation to last port of exit.

On December 8th, let us begin the movement to make sure that we leave no stone unturned to bring back peace and security to our country. Let us set out to Vidhana Soudha and call other citizens to join the movement. Let us draw people from their homes and residences to join the movement. Let us have students and teachers walk together from the classrooms. Let us have employees and bosses walk together from the offices. Let us have citizens from every walk of life join the movement. If we have people who are not computer-enabled, let us read to them this message and spread the call. For unless it is a mass movement, it has no effect. If all people from the big bosses of IT and Financial majors to the daily-wage labourer, are not present we are under-represented and ineffective. When unions can take out strikes for reasons unknown or unclear, we can form together atleast to demand our safety. If the 10 attacks and 350+ deaths of 2008 are not enough to evince your action, whose death will it take?

Please spread the call, forward this message without fear of censure from superiors and peers, for this is the time to act.

Let our voices be heard on December 7th!

With all sincerity,

Fellow citizen

PS:Why only four metros get NSG units. Why not Bangalore? If politicians like Deve Gowda, Mayavati, Jayalalilitha can get a dozen of NSG/Black cats, why can't every state get a small unit of say 25 NSG commandos for handling hostage crisis, hijackings.

Candlelight vigil and peaceful march on Sunday, December 7th, 6pm at Cubbon Road BRV junction to M.G.Road Gandhi statue.

PS2 files-part 2

2008-11-30T23:36:00.003+05:30

Koramangala- The place where we stay has given us the advantage to try restaurants of all
kinds.Some of our regulars:

a. Chandani Chowk: Floor is made of gravel,seats of stone,speakers in the shape of matki, bill comes in jewellary case and waiters wear a turban :D.So you can imagine. Somewhat expensive,but worth it. The only place where I had tea in kullar(mud vessel) and perhaps the maximum I spent on a cup of tea out here.Same goes for jalebi(but yah not served in kullar :P).
b. Dal roti: Due to some reason,we are no more welcome there(thanks to amogh) :D.Neways a nice place to have proper north Indian food. Malai kofta and Egg parantha(not as a combo :P) are just too good!
c. Yo China: One advice,never go there. Pathetic service and arrogant waiters.
d. Pizza places:The usuals; Pizza Hut,Domino's,US Pizza,Pizza Corner. Saved us often. More of a default option.
e. Anand: Perhaps the only place where I can eat decent aloo tikki and mirchi bada!Not to forget dhoklas. The taste atleast seems familiar to the North Indian food.
f. Mast Kalandar: Khichdi!!! You get a 'close to' home cooked khichdi. What more can you ask for.
g. Fornetto's- This is a newbie. Serves free soup in the beginning and is offering 50% discount. Cheapest food at good quality.On the last day we have planned to drink the free soup and get away after that ;).
h. Curry House- Awesome egg curry and gajar ka halwa(ya I know,weird combo).
i. Corner House: Death bar chocolate.Say no more.
j. Gangotri: Ask Prasoon. He is crazy about it.Infact they have even asked him to be the new face and brand ambassador of the restaurant.
k. Juice junction: Fruit basket and paneer cheese sandwich. Yummy.
l. Casa Picola: Pasta and stakes.
m. Gramin: Proper North Indian food with good ambience. And a place where you get decent lassi.
n. Aangan: Kadi Pakoda \m/
o. Kormangala Biryani House: As the name suggests,Best biryani in the area.
p. Paramount: Appam chicken :P. Dosa in chicken. sounds awful,but trust me its good.
q. Mushroom: Biryani and decent food.
r. Barista: I'll write a post about this place later.Just crazy about this place.
s. More than paranthas: Never been there. Suyog spent 700 bucks for 2 paranthas :P. so I guess you can skip it.
t. Parantha place:Just below our house. 15 bucks one parantha \m/.
u. Bakery: It had to be mentioned. egg patties have been our savior and so is the tea and bun which has been my breakfast(whenever I had a breakfast i.e)
v. Oasis: The best food court in any mall. You'll find from anything and everything under the roof.Also a place where you can watch cricket and not order anything :P.
w. Ammi's Biryani: The name suggest what its famous for.
x. Pizza port:I have not included in the usual pizza places because this is one of its kind. Everything you get here is like 1+1 free :D. Ideal place for home delivery.
y. Ghar ka khana: Another ideal place from where you can get food delivered home.
z. Kebab Magic- For non veg lovers :P

Am sure this list gonna help next sem guys. Bahut mehnat ki itni sari jagah dhoondne mei :D. phew.

PS:still more to come ;)

PS2 files-part 1

2008-11-29T15:10:00.003+05:30

I guess time to bid goodbye to Bengaluru is closing in.With less then two weeks left, I have so much to write about this place. Well I'll keep posting whenever I find time.Some of the unforgettable memories.And am sure this gonna help other batch mates coming next semester:

1.FORUM on weekends: Watching movie at PVR in forum mall has almost become a ritual here. Sometimes we have seen movies for the heck of it and I am even embarrassed to mention such movies! Tops the list is Mission Istanbul,so you people can imagine ;). The best of them(serious this time :P) was perhaps Dark Knight which I saw with some 20 more Bitsians.

2.Church Street and around:This place is in midst of bustling Brigade road and has the best food joints and pubs in town. It is said if you have not tried each and every restaurant on this street, your visit to Bangalore is not complete.Here are few of its gems(I'll refrain from mentioning the dishes as it will make the post too long,personal inquiries are welcome ;)). Three Quarter Chinese(awesomest chinese food), IndiJoes and Yokos(best sizzlers in town), Soul(pasta and stake), Javacity,Koshi, Stakehouse(name suggests what its famous for),and many more(please pardon me for forgetting few).And yah,there is amoeba where you can do bowling and play video games :D.

3.Rock gigs: This city offers the best gigs in the country and you can find rock fans in plenty! Best places to watch a gig are Legends of Rock, La rock, Purple Haze and Hard Rock cafe. We were fortunate enough to witness the last gig of Kingfisher rock fest at HRC. That place is a must see(eating there is not advisable :D,unless you visit there on the day you receive your salary).

4.Team trips:I was lucky to get a team where outings are frequent. Some of the awesome places we have been to are guhantara(cave resort,already written a post about it), then there is E zone where we did karting, paint ball, etc, Cosmo mall(bowling, video games etc) and few other places.

5.Hukkah places: Must have tried every place that offers hukkah in town.Mochas(obb
tops the list),had also become our weekend ritual until we found other places.It was like movie+mochas+dominos=weekend in our early days here.Then we found places like paramount(not all that great though,roof top ambience is good), soul(awesome hukkah with coke base;food is also great), Hypnos(one of the rare places that offers hukkah+drinks),to name a few.

6.Traffic police encounters:I won't say these were good,but yah unforgettable for sure.Its like you have to pay a road tax of 2.8k if you want to drive in Karnataka and obb I dint pay it.So I had made this calculation that even if am caught 6 times and charged 300 on an avg( with my bargaining expertise :P),I'll save some 1k bucks.But am doing better,getting caught once a month on an average(fingers crossed).

PS1: more coming later
PS2:Don't ask about my haircut

Those were the days

2008-11-19T13:18:00.004+05:30

One thing that is common to our generation is our craze for cricket.. We have been born and brought up in an environment where watching cricket matches is like a ritual and cricketers our heroes..Though I have lost the enthusiasm I used to have when I was quite young(I have turned 21 :O) and used to play it regularly,but even now, given a chance I won't miss a match and play a match for that matter..
Yesterday,at our flat,we had this discussion on cricket which brought the old memories and I could visualize each and every match we discussed..Like almost every Indian, I am a big big fan of Sachin..My flatmate Amogh is someone to whom you can't say anything bad about Saurav(and you should have seen the fear on Suyog's face when he said something bad about dada,and then me and Raju burst into laughter)..Raju bhaiya is a fan of cricinfo.com, and also someone who'll catch anyone who makes up any statistics(and that person usually is Suyog :P)..
Last night we covered almost all games in the 90's and it left our adrenaline pumping so much that I decided to write a blog today..All of us surely miss Sharjah and the innings played by Sachin and the sixes he gave to Mcgrath,Olonga and so many others..What Saurav did at toronto was mesmerizing and so was Yuvraj and Kaif's partnership against England..Not to forget Sachin's sizzling 186 against New Zealand,Saurav's blitzkrieg against Srilanka in Taunton, Laxman's marathon knock against Aussies, Srinath-Kumble partnership against Aussies at Banglaore, Sachin tormenting Pakistan in world cup,Kumble taking 10 wickets against Pak, there are so many memories that it will take days to write about all of them..
We also learnt some interesting facts about people like Mohinder Amarnath who has been out not only due to 'handling the ball' but also due to 'obstruction of the field'..and the explanation given by Raju is that "usne wicketkeeper ko utha liya hoga taki vo use run out na kar sake"..can't blame him,that is the only way he thought field could be obstructed :D..some other names also came up, which am sure, would only come to people who lived cricket in their youth.. people like praveen aamre,manoj prabhakar(I somehow hated this fellow and couldn't figure out why did he used to open till now), Vinod kambli,Robin singh,S.ramesh and many others who came and left..

Point is that in our generation,most of us have found cricket indispensable in our lives and watching matches has always been so much fun..In recent times I can remember the day we were shown the 20-20 world cup final between Ind-Pak in our college audi and it was so much fun watching it with 2000 more college mates..Trends have changed,new players like Dhoni, Yuvraj have taken the front seat, but still we all will remember those days..and it seems India is going on the right track these days,hopefully they'll perform the same way and give us more reason to celebrate..kudos to us and our passion for cricket :P..

PS:Don't ask about CAT ;)

Sometimes all you want is a 'break'

2008-11-03T23:42:00.004+05:30

27/10/08.Well thanks to my home trip, I got time to write this blog.Life has been busy lately and my intuition again proved me right. I had the feeling that my PS will start once CAT will close in and it really has :-|..A lot has been going on since past few days..With the economy going down, recession has been predominant in my Simcat scores too :P.. And it has been my longest stay outside home, so it was natural for me to feel home sick (am one of those 'pampered kind')..
And yah, I finally managed to grab a week off and come out of everything and be at the place which is closest to my heart, Jodhpur( ya ya people say I say a lot about Jodhpur, all the time, but common yaar,itne time baad blog likh raha hun, itna to allowed hai ;)).. I shut down the part of my brain which contained the folder 'work' as soon as I laid my foot on the Sun city of India and it suddenly all came back..
Be it the namkeen(read 'pyaj ki kachori') or 'the' CCD or kaju katli, or hanging out with old pals, its such a delight to stay here(I intentionally missed out on Mom's food because those who know me know that writing anything about it won't do justice as to how awesome it is).. This time my cousin(10 year old)is here who is celebrating his first diwali in India (angrez hai).. so he's all excited about two wheeler ride and crackers and of course hindi!Two days already gone and I could not even blink..
All I can say is it feels really nice forgetting about all the crap which can never go away and will be waiting for you eternally..But living without it even for 7 days can change the things for you which you might not realise..Just hoping that the dry spell will go away and things will be better once I get back and be ready to say "Bring it on"..By the time I post this thing, situation maybe worse and you may not get to see this post and if you do, then I'll say I(read 'U') got lucky :D..I have not been writing about "billi and usko ghanta bandhne ki koshish" because even I fear few things (people think I don't :P).. But I think I'll have to come out of the expectations being build upon me for this one exam because Bits had helped me in erasing this fear of expectation as people never expected me to do anything here ;)..I have missed on IIT's before and won't be surprised if I miss on IIM's too..But there was BITS GOA waiting for me and I have no regrets what so ever in joining it and so I know if its not that then something else is in store for me..So its not the end of story..But yah its end of this blog and I think I drifted from the topic and it was all random what I wrote..I needed a break and I got it,rest I'll know once I'll be back in Bengaluru :D.. \m/

PS:Bengaluru is still very much the same and so are the simcats...still I decided to post this blog :P ..

DLPD-zindagi 1 jhand hai ka 'kyu' hai

2008-10-03T13:49:00.003+05:30

Well I was unfortunate enough to be selected for the DLPD(distance learning program of BITS) invigilation here in Bangalore and thus had to get up at 6.45 am on Saturday(don't remember when I got up so early last). Reached there at 7.45 as instructed to us, and to my disappointment we started our work at 8.30 am( could have slept for 1 more hour :( ).But I was wise enough to be at the end of the queue and luckily got the corridor invigilation job. Staying there for 8 hours made me pity our teachers who used to do this job at all times. It really sucks watching students writing exams and making sure that no one copies. I was still able to roam in the corridors and take naps now and then but those in classes were having a really hard time..
I was so happy when it got over and went to watch Wall E with my friend. After that my friend(a chicken freak) insisted me to eat at Chicken County(supposedly the best chicken in town). I thought this will make my day better but I was in for a surprise(rather shock). The place was horrible and food even more. Had a fight with the manager and after long debate, got some rebate.Then I had craving for Barista and with my friend I went on its search to find police waiting to stop us.But I managed to ruff past them and was happy not to be caught. But it did not lasted long when my friend took me to some wrong way and we again landed up facing cops.The bargaining started at 2900 bucks and the cop came down to 200 after much resistance from my side. But then I saw a localite bruising past the cop without a helmet, and he didn't even care. I already had had enough for the day and could not take it anymore and the cop had to pay for that. I started shouting at him as to how they take advantage of students like us and blah blah and finally the cop had to give the money back to my friend :D.. a victory indeed in the end, I lost my craving and did not go to Barista. Just prayed that nothing happens till I reach home.
The best thing of the day was that I got to know that there was no power in our flat for the whole day and those fortunates who did not go for DLPD ended up doing nothing.Just a consolation though. But had enough ups and downs for a single day which prompted me to write this blog.

PS:had a chat with my friend the same night and my frustration can very well be seen . On second thoughts had a funny day! :D

11:27 PM Akshay: ka ho gaya rey?
me: aj to c**** hua din tha yar
Akshay: kyu, kya hua?
me: 1. blore mei sabse jaldi utha. got up at 6.45
2. c**dap DLPD mei 8 ghante marayi
Akshay: kyu?
ohhhhhhhhhhhh
11:30 PM haan
me: 3. then aneesh ke kehne pe best non veg restaurant gaya
Akshay: dats smthng gud
me: 4. sabse bakwas khana khaya... waiter se lada.. fir manageer se lada. and paise kam karke finally nikala
Akshay: perfect!
11:31 PM me: 5. police ne dekha.. ubhe chakma dekar aage nikal gaya.. accident hote hote bacha.. but bachh gaya pakadfne se
Akshay: wow, adventurous
me: 6. thoda aage gaya..
11:32 PM 7. dusri police ne pakad liya!!!!
Akshay: lolest
me: 8. 2900 fine manga.. came down to 500.. after much bargaining gave 200..and finallt settled on 100
Akshay: nt bad
me: 9. was goin barista that time..but mood off ho gaya.. so came back home and had a shower abhi
11:33 PM Akshay: bt pakra kyu?
oh my god, pakda*
me: night checking
and i dnt have road tax
wch costs u 2900
Akshay: yeh bhi dena hota hai waha!
:O
11:34 PM sahi hai yaar, mast din tha...unique tha yaar
me: m******** hai
mjhse 500 loe liye
fir ek local band agaya
use chod diya
without helmet tha
vo
meri sanak gayi
Akshay: lol
me: vaise hi din kharab tha
11:35 PM Akshay: fir ragad diya use?
me: suna ne lag gaya mai poilce wale ko
ethics etc ke uppar
bola kamana hi hai to students se kyu kamate ho
sharam nai hai
etc etc
uski phat gayi poilice wali ki
100 rs rakhe
baki wapise diya
kaha anesh jko ki apne dost ko le jao
Akshay: kya baat mere sher
11:36 PM me: fir thoda feel good aaya
uske baad ghar aaya to good nes mili
ki pure din lite nai thi
so aur thoda feel good aaya
11:37 PM fir abhi cool hone ke liye nahaya
so ab bttr
Akshay: lol, soja mere lala
me: ya sleepin

Rock On

2008-09-19T12:38:00.002+05:30

I don't want this blog to turn into a movie review types blog but just couldn't help writing about this movie..Well its a story about 4 guys who chased their dreams and irrespective of different life styles eventually landed up doing things which they always wanted to do..music was there passion and they pursued it in spite of hurdles associated..Well it made me think that what do I want in my life and expectedly I could not think of anything..and am sure most of you reading this also must not be knowing that doing what will make them most happy..and if you know,its really great..
There is no answer to all this,there is just life...this is no thing that you'll search and you'll know what you want in life or what makes you happy..stop analyzing life,just live it.. analysis is what makes it complicated..the best thing in life comes free and unconditional and you'll know that some day or the other..rest of your life is a long time,and it starts now.. so if you know what you want to do,then well and good..and even if you don't then also there is nothing to worry about..there is lot of time to experiment and try..it's said you know when you are in love..I guess same way you know when you are happy..and trust me, what ever thing that maybe you should do it(I hope you not confusing with things like "boozing in bar" :P)..And from personal experience I feel things just work out fine,its just they take time..You just need to be patient till that time comes..
Just enjoy whatever you are doing right now because cribbing about it will only make it worse..Your time will come when you'll know what you want to do and you will be able to do it..have faith..that is the only thing that will keep you going..

PS:this post is for all my friends who think they are not having the best of things right now..so people ROCK ON\m/

What an irony

2008-09-11T14:21:00.004+05:30

I was tempted to write this post after I was drenched by the rains of Bangalore for like tenth time in past 2 months! And now I am not sure I even like rains or not.. first time it was sure fun, second time too, and maybe third time.. but I guess I have had enough of rains this monsoon..
Then I wondered what it used to be like when I was in my hometown Jodhpur, a part of Marwar, the not so wet zone of Rajasthan :P ..
I spent the first 17 years of my life in Rajasthan and who could have thought that I'll be doing my engineering in some place called Goa?? I still remember the day my barber asked me "Bhaiya aap padne ke liye kahan jaa rahe ho" and I replied "Goa"..and he was like :O "Goa???? wahan padne ja rahe ho aap?"..and I don't blame him..Because you can only think of the beaches and the rains and certainly not anything even close to studies..The rains which I have witnessed in Goa in past 3 years and now in Bangalore, I think makes up not only for the last 17 years in Jodhpur but maybe the entire time I have yet to spend there..
I remember monsoon was like the most awaited thing in Jodhpur and every one used to become so excited and we used to plan all our trips in rainy weather..and now the first thing that comes in my mind when I see droplets of water pouring down my face, "Not again!(sigh)"..And yah, it could be all together a different thing for a person living in Mumbai and now working in Delhi..WHAT AN IRONY
Moral of the story(well I hate to write it,but I guess that makes my post a little serious,just experimenting ;))-
1.Everything is balanced in this world..If you are not getting a thing right now,there is surely something good in store for you in future..and sooner or later you will realize that
2.Excess of everything is bad :D (be it rains)
3.Everything has its own charm..Be it the monsoon,be it winters,or summers or anything else for that matter...Just enjoy it at present.
4.Small things like getting drenched in rain can make you write a blog :P

PS:I still love the weather in Bangalore and for that matter Goa too..its simply awesome!

yoyoyoyo

2008-09-02T12:35:00.006+05:30

yoyoyoyoyo..if you are a Bitsian,you can't miss the enthusiasm and energy in this powerful expression..and if you are not,am sure you'll still not miss the enthusiasm and energy..Well being in BITS has given us a jargon which I find difficult to resist even when speaking to people not from BITS..that is OBB..(OBB--->obvious)..its like you can't resist the temptation to use such powerful words and my all non Bitsian friends have also got infected by the same..
I don't know from where did yoyoyoyo originated but whenever I feel happy about anything,it comes out spontaneously...As far as my friends remember it is one of the products of DC++..the lifeline of our campus..for those of you who don't know it is a place where we can share our 'stuff'..after some test,some one might have got pissed and started with it.."yoyoyoyoyoyo, I screwed my test!!" There was no looking back after that!
It has resulted in a special bond between us..I remember shouting yoyoyoyo for no good reason on several occasions and it always felt good!Be it while conversation between 1st floor and 2nd floor,or a normal discussion about any damn thing,or a outing with friends yoyoyoyo could come out of anywhere..and the frequency of its usage always increased manifold during exam times... even now when I chat with people around, we celebrate any achievement or happiness by this yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyo..
Well sometimes small things can give happiness which you sometime need desperately,and yoyoyo is one of those things..so you can always yoyo to get instant happiness :)..Of the many things I have taken form BITS,yoyoyoyo is surely one of them..its presence has become indispensable in our jargon and our celebrations..

PS:Following chats led me to write a blog on it today.Though I knew I'll write it some day.
____
Prateek: champ hai tu!

Sent at 11:59 AM on Tuesday
Nimit: i know
thank you
yoyoyoyoyoyyo
vaise tu bhi hai

Prateek: yoyoyoyoyo

Sent at 12:02 PM on Tuesday
Nimit: yoyoyoyoyo
_____

shubh.malhotra: lol
yeah
ob DC

Prateek: yoyoyyooy

shubh.malhotra: yoyoyo

____
Status message of few people:

Gaurav Paruthi: yoyo PB !

(PB being prison break)

YOGESH(GDK || V) ARSENAL HAV RISEN!: yoyo 2nd one !

Disclaimer: Spamming by yoyoyoyo is not being promoted by this post :P ..

lol@us

2008-08-27T12:04:00.003+05:30

I went to Taj Residency a few days back to attend a conference on EDA tools(skip the name if you are not studying electronics)..I was pretty excited about it since the opportunity to eat free food at Taj has always been tempting :P and one of my friend who had attended the same conference in Delhi said that free goodies will be provided.. So I reached that place at 10 am so that I don't miss the breakfast :P..But when I stepped inside, half of my excitement went away when I saw the long queue of people waiting to get breakfast..I couldn't help smiling at myself, that it is not just me, who wants to have a piece of Taj..
The organizers were distributing a bag containing a jacket and t-shirt and people were just not happy with 'a bag'..they wanted more.. I could get hand on just 1 :D ..anyways the conference started and it was not all that boring which I had expected..The lunch was scheduled at 1 pm and it was 12.45 that I realized people had started leaving their seats(though the speaker had not finished) and by 12.55 people were almost rushing to the buffet!When I went to eat at 1,there seemed to be an endless queue..and I thought "WTF,these people are suppose to be elite members of electronic community all over the world"..LOL@US..I clicked on some snaps to pass time and got food at 1.30..
Then a thought came in my mind..My purpose of coming to the conference was over..I had food,I got goodies,so now why the hell should I wait and listen to 3 more seminars :D.. Though had a some what guilt feeling, I quietly left the place..But when I came to the parking lot, I again was surprised to see so many people going home after lunch..It was not just me and the guilt feeling just vanished into thin air.. I again laughed and thought this will make for a nice blog :P..
Now comes the interesting part..When I came home and checked my bag,I found a ladies purse in it..I thought its strange that these people gifted even a ladies purse..But since it was free, I thought whats the harm..I'll gift it to some one else :P.. I opened the purse and found some cash and then it struck me..I ,by mistake, took someone else's purse in hurry.. WTF.. I saw a phone number written on it and dialed the number to return the purse and guess what..the person at the receiving end could not understand Hindi nor English!! Now who could possibly not know any of these languages!!! I got to know that the lady was from Coimboitre,Tamil Nadu and after many phone calls and messages managed to get her address!!But by that time she had left for her hometown..I had to mail the purse.. :-|So I'll say over all experience at Taj was not all that great..LOL@ME..

sad but true

2008-08-24T22:47:00.003+05:30

Well before u read my blog, I strongly recommend you go and watch 'Mumbai meri jaan'..this movie is the inspiration behind this post..and after a long time I have seen such a relevant film..as the name suggests, the movie is about Mumbai but can very well generalized to whole of India..5 stories run parallel in the movie.. it's about the blasts taking place in local trains last year and how common man got affected by it..be it a poor guy who wants to feel powerful(could be by making hoax call of a bomb to panic people) or a white collared job guy who wants to leave India and don't want to travel in local trains again,or a common man who thinks Muslims are always behind such blasts and thus making prejudices against the race,or a reporter who always used to make some story out of anything and when lost her lover got to know how it feels when a journalist ask you such a dumb question after a loss "aapko kaisa lag raha hai?".. and the last story was on a Mumbai policeman(Paresh Rawal) and the way he delivered the dialogs and conveyed message across the viewer is appreciable..
Movie beautifully depicted the media and how do they make stories and do anything to get them which make their TRP's high..'Rupali bani Rudali' was one such example shown(Rupali being the reporter who lost her fiance)..Seriously kabhi kabhi thappad maarne ka man krta hai TV channels walo ko..well cursing media will take a whole day for me to write..even we are equally responsible because after all media exploits our mentality but let me discuss this all sometime later..Also the sensitivity of a poor guy living in slums and dilemma of a middle class man whether he should go abroad or not and the prejudices we make solely on the basis of religion and how wrong can they be ,have been displayed wonderfully
I was in Bangalore when the blasts took place last month .. One thing I have understood is that this is amongst those things that we don't have control on..It can happen anywhere and you can't help it.. And neither you can run from it..you can't just sit at home and 'feel safe'..At the end of the day, local train is the most convenient way to travel,so you'll go by it..life moves on and you can just be more vigilant and hope it doesn't happen again..that's it..SAD BUT TRUE..

PS:Me and my friend were planning to see 'Phoonk', glad that we did not get the tickets and saw this instead :) ..

Monday Blues

2008-08-19T14:37:00.003+05:30

zzzzzzzzzzzz...thats all you care about these days..Monday has become the nemesis for me.. whatever time I sleep Sunday night, getting up on Monday seems to be like the worst thing that can happen to anyone..My office timings are 9.30-6.30 pm.. this Monday,after strenuous efforts, I got up at 9.30( after putting alarms of 8, 8.30, 8.45, 9, 9.10, 9.20) and had a guilt that I am always the last one to go to office amongst my flat mates..
Then I had a glance on the right side and saw my friend Rajat(1st pic above) enjoying sound sleep..his office time is almost the same as mine but his office is nearer to our flat..oh man,I wonder why did I get up.. still then I thought, others must have already gone..Amogh's office starts at 8.30 and Suyog's at 8( don't even ask about Prasoon,he's insane,and his bed have always been vacant,irrespective of whatever time I get up(4th pic above :P)and I'll have to take permission of Prasoon before I can put his pic while sleeping :D).. Prasoon gets up at 5.30 or so and reach office by 7am.. I first used to pity him,but now I don't..that fellow gets up by 7 even on weekends.. abnormal case..rest of us are mortals..
So I went to the other room and guess what,found two log heads on the floor(2nd and 3rd pic above)..those two bastards were still sleeping..I groaned but nobody reacted..Everyday Suyog is like he'll leave home early tomorrow(by 7.30) and each day Prasoon tries to wake him up for like eternity..unfailingly,Suyog is late everyday..
Amogh purposely gets late so that he can pool an auto with some hot chick in yahoo..But most of the time he gets similar people like him who had the same dream :P..
I get late because I just love sleep so much..its the best gift from God..we can just sleep anytime anywhere and forget all the crap going around..
Rajat's statement after listening my views on sleep "zindagi mei sote hi reh gaye to kiya kya?total waste of time"..and this guy these days is like "abhi 10 hi to baje hain"..went office at 11 yesterday..I guess wherever I go, sleep follows..I have given this disease to all my friends in college..(even Sethi and Anurag have started sleeping for 8 hours!they used to be immortals sometime back).. People have often commented "koi itna kaise so sakta hai" and I have always proved them wrong..
But this Monday is just too big a hurdle for my dream sleep :( ..Just not fair to get up at 8 after two holidays..and only I and Rajat have not bunked our PS so far at our flat..that day is not far i guess :P..

PS:I still reached my office at 11 this Monday \m/ \m/ ..
Amogh is doing his internship in Yahoo,Prasoon in HAL, Rajat in Oracle, and Suyog in Intel..

Sony World-2

2008-08-14T13:16:00.004+05:30

Sony World!!#@!%!#@!#!
In continuation to my previous post..
I was caught yesterday at Sony World for driving on the pavement and was fined 200 Rs.. either some police wala saw my post yesterday or Sony World is really Satan :-|.. will go on a hunt today to find some alternate route..I can't take it any more :(.. don't even feel like describing the whole incident.. had to plead for like 15 mins to convince the traffic police that I had Karnataka road tax papers at home(he was asking for 2600 bucks!!) and which I dint :P.. managed to bargain and finally gave him 300.. he gave back 100 seeing my innocent face :-| ..
and when I told this incident to a friend,came the reply, "aur bolo Sony World ke baare mei"...
I hope nothing happens today...

PS:13 is suppose to be my lucky no.(I was born on Friday,the thirteenth)... Sony World made it unlucky for me yesterday

another PS:another flatmate was fined 100 Rs on two occasions at Sony World itself yesterday.. and other flatmate missed his bus both times and had to come by auto..all in all, a bad day for all of us..

Sony World

2008-08-13T12:47:00.003+05:30

Well actually it is just a normal junction in Bangalore..nothing special about it..But the day I have set foot here,it has been 'bete noire' for me..Be it 8 am,8.30,8.45,9,9.15,9.30,9.45,10 in the morning( other decimal values in between these times are also applicable,just sampled a few for simplicity :D) or 6,6.15,6.30,6.45,7,7.15,7.30,7.45,8( again sampling) in the evening, it has always created hurdles for me.. this hatred for this junction has inspired me to write this post :P..
Well the total time I drive my bike to reach office is 10 mins..and total time I rest at Sony world is 20 mins..so I take half hour to reach my office :-| .. My friend Sumeet,who sits behind me is witness to the anomaly in hypothesis of probability that the chance of me getting a green signal is 25%.. because not even once,mind you,not even once, have I seen that beautiful color which I so long to see when I reach Sony world..I assume the probability is 0 in this case..if it had not been for the deposit we gave to our landowner, I would not have hesitated to change my residence( and why did we actually chose that flat in the first place,that is a different story all together :P)..
It's not just me,Sony world has to offer so many scenes everyday.. yesterday I saw a bus driver who left the bus,sat on the footpath, and started smoking beedi..generally people do all kind of massage,stretching etc as soon as they stop here..some start calling their girlfriends..the other day, a couple were on an Activa, and suddenly at the stop,wife got off and started having a fight with her husband on some issue..and it lasted for 10 mins!! pedestrians and two wheeler owners have quarrel everyday for if you don't drive on footpath,you cant think of crossing Sony World even in half hour( and am talking about everyday and not any special occasion)..
A piece of advice to all my fellow Bitsians who'll be coming to Bangalore next semester..If you are in companies like Broadcom,TI,SAP, Accenture, Cisco,Intel,Business Objects and few more,take your house such that you don't have to pass through this junction at least!!this junction is pure evil!!I abhor it!May God give me courage to pass this indispensable junction in my journey :( ..

Hariyali Chicken

2008-08-11T00:24:00.001+05:30

For all veggie lovers,the title has got nothing to do with food,so please carry on :).. n for the cannibals,I assure you its still spicey and worthy enough to read..Well continuing from my previous post,we started our journey on friday to 'guhantara',a cave resort,at around 9 am.. In the middle of the journey somebody suddenly asked, "are there any interns"? and unfortunately I was the only one..fir kya tha,they called me up front and started ragging( and mind it, I was never ragged in college :P)..initially they told me to do the normal proposing to a girl and stuff, acting as bus conductor etc..but I did a grave mistake by wearing a t-shirt with the caption "Life is unfair. So many girls,so little time".. One of them asked me to elaborate on that for 5 mins..then came my reply "It does not hold true for Broadcom, where there are just 4 girls out of 30 in my department..here I have so much of time,but no girl around :P "..(btw neither does it hold true for BITS :D)
Now you all must be wondering, what the hell is hariyali chicken and what the crap am I talking about :P..enough of suspense,I guess..each of us was given a colour to chose once we reached the resort..I chose green and my team's name was "Hariyali chicken"..other teams were "Blue tooth","Orange Flame" and "Pink Panther"..Had lot many games such as advertising product,Dumbsheras etc.. Later we played beach volleyball and cricket..after the lunch(which itself will need a post to describe,am skipping it for your sake) we all dropped in the swimming pool followed by rain dance in the evening..we were declared the winner because of our innovative name and enthusiasm in all games and we won most of them...on our way back,"Singh is Kingg" became the slogan of all the drunkards..whatever the song others might be singing, "Singh is Kingg" somehow managed to come in every song..I guess all sorts of permutation and combinations of rythms and tones must have been experimented with "Singh is Kingg" that day.. it was really hilarious..
The best part about the trip was that not even once I felt that I am working in a company and not a student anymore(this thought haunts me many a times)..It was so much fun interacting with managers,singing songs with them,dancing and playing..indeed it was the most memorable day in Bangalore so far..

It happens everywhere

2008-08-07T14:40:00.003+05:30

Well I have been tempted to write this post after being flooded by mails from my team '3315' here in Broadcom today. Actually tomorrow we are celebrating tape out of a chip and thus have plans to go to a resort some distance from the main city.So the initial plan was to take a bus from here at 8.30 early morning and reach there by 10.Since then there have been infinite changes in plan regarding the bus timing, route to be taken, games to be played etc etc.Some one is cribbing about the time too early(even I am :P),some complaining about alcohol and blah blah..not to mention some groaning ki 'kal jane ka mood nahi hai'
But this reminded me of the last trip I had with my friends back in college.I was the one who had arranged for the bus that day and as the usual case,'people' were late and obb things never go as planned.But IT HAPPENS EVERYWHERE.If it doesnt happen,then its unusual and something unexpected.Actually there is no fun without small fights over petty issues,scoldings for doing things (am not sure about those who were at receiving end that day :P)not expected to be done :D(been there,done that ;))..If you are told to get ready by 10 then its obb ki you want people to come by 11..and if you say 'Don't do it', its implied you mean 'please do it'.And its not just school or college these things happen,its the same in companies and probably anywhere you'll go.These make such trips special and memorable :).
Every trip I have had so far has had its share of glitches and surprisingly thats what I remember most about them.No fight,No fun. It makes me wonder sometime 'who wants a perfect life(trip)'?Lets hope that we dont have a perfect outing tomorrow ;)..

PS:'permission nai hai' wala funda I could see only in school and sometimes in college too ;)...atleast vo ab nai hai :D

and yah I just got this message,and I dont think this is final either :P

Few other reminders:
1. Please carry suitable swim wear if you plan to use the swimming pool.
2. We will pick up "liquor" enroute.
3. Bus will start at 9:00 A.M sharp and will not wait further--->lolest

To be or not to be

2008-08-05T22:27:00.003+05:30

I suppose toughest question that a Bitsian face in his college life is whether TO BE OR NOT TO BE in campus in 7th sem..we have a option to do internship either in 7th or 8th sem and placements in the sem we stay in campus..well there are so many factors on which this imperative decision depends..
Its usual trend that people with high CG and preparing for CAT/GRE stay in the campus and others go to get better PS..But whatever any one chose,its never the same..6th sem is the last sem when all batch mates are together..then its time for farewell and say goodbye..
Now its been a month since I am in Bangalore,and some of my friends are doing their internship in Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad,Singapore :P etc etc and others are back to campus..I have been in touch with all of them and no doubt we all miss each other..
For those who in campus laments about college being 'no fun'...no proper internet facilities, and no classes!imagine people crying about not having classes and dying of boredom..its never the same..deserted corridors,locked rooms of friends who left, placement pressure,maybe water and electricity crisis(for BH4 guys :P) and what not..not to forget applying to universities and CAT..
For those who in PS have to change their lifestyle completely..get up early,stay in office for 9 hours..get acquainted with corporate world..maintain all the expenses, ghar-ghrasti and what not..getting adjusted to tiffin food..prepare for CAT/GRE simultaneously with office load..some start blogging and some start reading blogs :P..its always tough to adjust in new city..some have to struggle with coding,some with hardware..
But being human makes us think that the other side is better off..I think its either become a trend or human pysch has mutated to be sorrowful and regretful..Its like either people are not happy or they think they could be happier..we all took decisions after giving it a thought and knew what will be the ramifications..will it make any difference if we keep reminding ourselves that 'had it been that ways'..we should cherish the time we spent together and move on with the memories..there's so much ahead to look forward to..don't have regrets,be cheerful and live life king size..make the best out of the time you have..life is short,make it bigger while you can..
Living the romance which is coming to an end with each passing moment...
when i get sad,i stop being sad and get awesome..true story
Love you guys

Chinkies

2008-08-04T11:14:00.001+05:30

chinkies..for those of you who dont know,they are the most fascinating class of the opposite sex(so please exclude the male stewards you find generally everywhere)..the first thing that comes in my mind when I hear this beauitful word is 'WOW'..well the second thing that comes is 'DU'(delhi university) and surprisingly now it has been replaced by 'Bengaluru' :D.. man, never thought i'll find zillions of chinkies down south.. I was apprehensive about the crowd before coming to Bangalore (and as a Bitsian one always fear the dreadful ;)).. but as soon I stepped on this so called 'pub city', it's been a delight to see chinkies all around.. be it '80 feet road' next to my house or forum or brigade road or mg road or any damn place here,it's filled with chinkies..and not just chinkies but 'hot chinkies'(vaise that is obb)..
But as in the usual case with everything these days even chinkies are seen with a note *conditions applied*... mostly they are accompanied with male friends(who are most of the time scary)or they run away as soon as they find any stranger nearby..So mostly they work as visual treat to the human class(by human i mean both sexes, because some of my female friends also like checking out chinkies :P) Still its a treat to watch them..But you all must be wondering why did I bring up chinkies all of a sudden...
So the story goes like this..the second day I came to bangalore,me and my flat mates went to have dinner..as soon as we were out on the main road I saw two chinkies coming straight forward..all of us saw them and obb were mesimerised by one of them..suddenly I realized that she was walking straight towards me..omg,i thought the day has come..me and my friends did not slow down and neither did she..I did not bother to see the other girl with long hair as I aint greedy..one was enough to make my day..she was still coming towards me and I towards her,and it seemed she was drunk,but who cares..now the proximty between us was tending towards zero and 'it' was about to happen and the whole world became still..
just then I heard a male husky voice "come here,dont go there" and " sori,she's drunk"..omfg the other person was a chinka and not a chinki with long hair!!! why the hell they confuse people like us!!!none of us were able to make out that he was a guy until 'he' spoke..and all my hopes gone..after the sudden shock,all of us bursted out of laughter.. it was really a funny incident..and to top it,we continued to fight for next few days,everyone claiming that chinki was coming for 'me'.. But I knew in my heart, she was coming for me..and she would have,if that #!!@#!$ wouldn't have stopped her..

weekdays and weekends

2008-08-01T17:02:00.001+05:30

well since 3 years i.e while i was 'studyin' in bits goa, one thing was phenomenal (dre wre many more, but later on them)..weeknds had lost their essence..bcz wtvr day it was,i used to get up late, wtch people cmng back frm clases nd sumtimes cmng bck frm lunch :O ..i thnk i m born in the wrong country,bcz my sleep cycle seems to resemble sum odr country in the west.. n infact dre wre times when i had got up on saturdays(%@# emf class, generaly avn surprised tests) nd used to take the rest of the week off barring few pracs..
but the day i av set foot upon Bangalore,things av changed.. its like office timings r 9.30-6.30 nd hence i av to get up at arnd 8..nd guys,trust me,its too early for me!i dnt know hw av i managed till nw,but this has made me realise the demarcation between weekdayz nd weekends..nw i luk fwd to weekends as soon weekdays start..more the 'friday' is near, more jovial i m..nd monday mornig. dnt even ask!!!!
on weekdays, its like u sleep at 12 or so,get up at 8..go office cm back..call tiffin wala fr dinner and wtch sum tv series,nd sleep again..as soon as it comes thursday,weekend plans seems to blossom.. fri late nite muvi is a ritual now and sat it has to b mochas and dominos..fr late nite partyin u get jst 2 dayz,fri n sat..nd sometimes it stretches over to sunday, and it has long lasting effect on monday :P..
all in all lyf's still rocking in bangalore,its just that i av lost my sleep on weekdayz..but i think it had to happen one day or the other..nd btw today is fri, nd 10 of us bitsians r goin fr 'mummy 3' :)..lets c if i get the opportunity to bunk ps 2 ;)

where do i start

2008-08-01T16:17:00.001+05:30

well its been long time since i av been planning a blog..but nw when actually i av made one,i dnt knw whr to strt..vaise thnx to Broadcom,the company whre m pursuing my training at present, for givin me ample amount of time,to strt off ths blog..i had ths misconception tht blogs r written by dose who r d ultimate vella people on earth,but i gues its more thn tht :D .. so newyz nw i av stepped into blog waters, n hopefully my comapny wil permit me to dedicate my precious time on blogs nd bloggers..nd as fr the name of my blog,it basically reveals m a smug,n mayb i m..baki people who know me know me well..lets rock n roll..cheers