AS I SEE IT

Fauji Brat

2012-01-31T22:10:00.000+05:30

Someone shared these awesome lines on Facebook...and they do sum up the lives of Defence kids..with families always on the move..

" My hometown is nowhere, my friends are everywhere. I grew up with the knowledge that home is where the... heart is and the family….Mobility is my way of life. Some would wonder about roots, yet they are as deep and strong as the mighty oak. I sink them quickly, absorbing all an area offers and hopefully, giving enrichment in return. Travel has taught me to be open. Shaking hands with the universe, I find brotherhood in all men.

Farewells are never easy. Yet, even in sorrow comes strength and ability to face tomorrow with anticipation… .If when we leave one place, I feel that half my world is left behind. I also know that the other half is waiting to be met.

Friendships are formed in hours and kept for decades. I will never grow up with someone, but I will mature with many.

Be it inevitable that paths part, there is constant hope that they will meet again. Love of country,respect and pride fill my being when Old Glory passes in review. When I stand to honor that flag, so also do I stand in honor of all soldiers, and most especially, to the parents whose life created mine Because of this, I have shared in the rich heritage of Indian Military life."

This post is for all the friends I have made in the 24 years of my life...friends whom I still cherish... :)

Only @ BITS

2011-08-17T21:30:00.000+05:30

If you are a BITSian, you will understand this...

Only @ BITS -http://onlyatbits.com

I experience these just some years back :) ...and now I feel old :(

The Soldier...

2011-07-26T09:34:00.001+05:30

On the 12th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas...here is a very touching poem about a soldier and his thoughts...of how the country and the countrymen have forgotten his contribution to the country...(btw I haven't written this poem...) and it is a repost...

"
How you play with us, did you ever see?
At Seven, I had decided what I wanted to be;
I would serve you to the end,
All these boundaries I would defend.
Now you make me look like a fool,
When at Seventeen and just out of school;
Went to the place where they made "men out of boys"
Lived a tough life …sacrificed a few joys…
In those days, I would see my 'civilian' friends,
Living a life with the fashion trends;
Enjoying their so called "College Days"
While I sweated and bled in the sun and haze…
But I never thought twice about what where or why
All I knew was when the time came,
I'd be ready to do or die.
At 21 and with my commission in hand,
Under the glory of the parade and the band,
I took the oath to protect you over land, air or sea,
And make the supreme sacrifice when the need came to be.
I stood there with a sense of recognition,
But on that day I never had the premonition, that when the time came to give me my due,
You'd just say," What is so great that you do?

"Long back you promised a well to do life;
And when I'm away, take care of my wife.
You came and saw the hardships I live through,
And I saw you make a note or two,
And I hoped you would realise the worth of me;
but now I know you'll never be able to see,
Because you only see the glorified life of mine,
Did you see the place where death looms all the time?
Did you meet the man standing guard in the snow?
The name of his newborn he does not know...
Did you meet the man whose father breathed his last?
While the sailor patrolled our seas so vast?

You still know I'll not be the one to raise my voice
I will stand tall and protect you in Punjab Himachal and Thois.
But that's just me you have in the sun and rain,
For now at Twenty Four, you make me think again;
About the decision I made,
Seven years back;
Should I have chosen another life, some other track?
Will I tell my son to follow my lead?
Will I tell my son, you'll get all that you need?
This is the country you will serve
This country will give you all that you deserve?

I heard you tell the world "India is shining"
I told my men, that's a reason for us to be smiling
This is the India you and I will defend!
But tell me how long will you be able to pretend?
You go on promise all that you may,
But it's the souls of your own men you betray.

Did you read how some of our eminent citizens
Write about me and ridicule my very existence?
I ask you to please come and see what I do,
Come and have a look at what I go through
Live my life just for a day
Maybe you'll have something else to say?
I will still risk my life without a sigh
To keep your flag flying high
but today I ask myself a question or two…

Oh India …. Why do I still serve you?"
-Anonymous

Mumbai 13/07

2011-07-16T20:02:00.000+05:30

I don't know whether Mumbaikars heading to work on the 14th July 2011 is a sign of resilience or resignation that nothing has changed and nothing might....

Another eligible bachelor goes :)

2011-06-12T19:31:00.000+05:30

Sender : Meet Sagar Singh Rajpal
Message: 'Hello, Good Morning :) I have good news to share. I am engaged :) chalo ab congratulate karo :) ...'

And I was barely awake that early in the morning as I paged down to find out what the joke was...And then it finally hit me :)

I called up Meet and my first sentence was 'Abe yeh koi message karke batane waali baat hai' and the standard reply to any good news 'Party kab hai' :)

And as I and Angad were talking the same evening...apne group mein Meet and Abhay hi the jinka sabse pehle engagement ka scope tha ;)
So this post is to congratulate my batchmate, my hostel wingie for such wonderful news. Here's wishing you and amazing life ahead...

PS: I hope I don't get the message next year 'Congratulate kar do..I am now married :) ' :P

Meet, party kab hai???

Travel cafe

2011-06-05T21:01:00.007+05:30

Yesterday Vishal, Mudit and myself had to spend to spend the peak afternoon time waiting @ Hauz Khas village for Vikas to come back from his office where he is interning for the summer.

The hands down choice was Kunzum Travel cafe (http://kunzum.com/travelcafe/). Now to admit the truth I had no idea what the concept of a travel cafe was or how was it different from a normal cafe. :?

So, it was a small cozy place with pictures sent in by travellers adorning the wall, travel books which one can either read at the cafe or buy. Free wifi and the unique concept of this particular place - you can have coffee and cookies and pay whatever you want...

You can sit the entire day and laze around, use the wifi and there is no compulsion to buy anything...you can sit on the sofa, the cane chairs or even on a comfy rug on the floor.

Spent a couple of hours lazing around talking about nothing in particular and wishing I could work from home from this great place. :)

Puff Away

2011-05-31T22:03:00.002+05:30

CIGARETTE: A roll of paper with fire on one end and a FOOL on the other....

On this Anti Tobacco day 2011, suddenly everyone except the smokers themselves was talking about quitting. A radio channel 104.8 FM went even further and invited listeners to leave messages to get Shahrukh Khan to quit smoking...bhai uski cigarette, uski marzi...and infact why persuade just him to quit, there are other actors who smoke..why don't you take messages for them as well..

What is the use of someone telling someone else to quit. I have a senior in office, very hardworking, and he has been blessed with a daughter some months back. But he needs breaks every couple of hours to go out to the shops just outside the office to smoke. Now he is educated, no doubt knows about the ill effect of smoking...I don't think he needs someone else to tell him smoking is bad before he quits.

Yes, you can tell about the ill effects of smoking to people who aren't educated, but since the tobacco lobby is so powerful in India, the plan to introduce pictorial warning is yet to see the light of the day after i guess 3 postponements. The next date is 1st December. Lets see what the next date after that is...

I feel that it is up to the smoker to realize how they are harming themselves and their families with their smoking...Nobody can do that for them.

Reverb

2011-05-25T10:24:00.000+05:30

Date : 25/05/2011

Venue : Reverb, The Great India Place Noida

Reason: Team Party o.O

Meet was supposed to give us a prty @ Reverb some years back when Vishal was in ~~Delhi~~ oops Dadri :P , but Vishal ka woh sapna sapna hi reh gaya :)

Lets hope the place lives up to its reputation..

Swim Season

2011-05-01T23:02:00.001+05:30

And swimming season 2011 officially starts today :)

Chat mangni pat shaadi

2011-04-01T21:40:00.001+05:30

Well, everybody has heard this phrase, but I saw this happen :)

Thursday : Girl meets boy ( who is the son of family friend but this is the first time the two meet..)
Sunday : Girl meets boy's parents.
Next Thursday : They are married :)

Congratulations guys..Wishing you a very happy married life..

Earth Hour 2011

2011-03-26T19:59:00.000+05:30

Well, its that time of the year when we switch off unnecessary lights for 1 hour on the last Saturday of March and feel proud that we are saving electricity and helping Earth..

Grow up...

Just one hour of switching off electric appliances for 1 day of the year doesn't make you a savior...do your bit everyday...it isn't that difficult.

Read my views on the same topic at Earth Hour 2010 and Earth Hour 2009.

Samskruthi 2011

2011-03-17T22:00:00.001+05:30

Today, we had Samskuthi...the annual carnival at CSC and the atmosphere was simply electric...It was like we were back in college.

Lots of stalls, lots of activities but the best part of the evening was the performance by the Hindi Rock band Musafir (http://www.musafirtheband.com/). They were amazing and belted out back to back power packed performances including a censored version of Sutta :)

And when they started playing Sutta, the crowd matched thier energy and sang along...poore college type wala mahaul :D

Now I do not know music..but as with most of the performances that I have seen, the energy is infectious and the efforts by the band members is what scores with me..

And listening to Musafir, I was suddenly missing Vishrut, Vishal, Angad, Govi, Abhay, Meet, Pandey, Phodu, Govil, Nimit, Purnoor, Puneet, Maddy, Rao, Popat, Sagar, KK and everyone who made those numerous DJ nights in college amazing fun...

Kadi Sadi Gali Bhul Ke Vi Aya Karo...

2011-03-01T21:12:00.001+05:30

Well, I am not talking about the movie or the album from which the song comes from...

I am moving to the 6th floor in a few days @ office while my closest friends on the floor stay back... The only positive of my new seat is the lesser value of acceleration due to gravity :\ . I guess its kind of rhetorical to say that I am not looking forward to the new seat considering that I enjoy going to the office because of the really great neighbours Rishi and Sugandha who make the day interesting ;)

Apni to history hi kharab hai...yaa to doston ka floor ya building change ho hi jaati hai :|

So I will be soon singing this song for my friends- Divya, Manu, Mohsin, Rishi, Sugandha, Sanjeev and Gourav :)

LOMA 290: Cleared

2011-02-22T21:58:00.000+05:30

So, after a lot of FB updates and a bit of studying too..cleared my LOMA 290 exam today :)

So that makes me an FLMI Level I certified in Insurance in the US o.O

Happy V-day :)

2011-02-14T18:01:00.003+05:30

Last year V-day status:
"I'm single by choice. Not my choice."

This year :
‎"Jahaan itne valentine nikal gaye, wahaan ek aur jod do...
Mathematical induction lagaao aur aagey ki ummeed bhi chhod do."
- via Abhay Murarka

Delhi Roads :\

2011-02-10T18:22:00.001+05:30

On yet another weekday, travelling towards home on roads that don't just require you to have a license...you need a 360 degree vision to look out for idiots who overtake from the left, the person ahead who suddenly breaks hard and decides to take a turn or the guy behind you who has suddenly realized that he is late getting to a meeting and overtaking you like a maniac will get him there on time..

Oh..and the bikers can zip from any direction and you have to stop to let them go...after all they did buy the road when they purchased their bikes...

And if you thought that with blueline buses gone, your problems are over...think again...as government seems to have given jobs as DTC drivers to people driving bluelines..

To a city where 1 pipe burst can cause a traffic jam over 3 flyovers and 1 underpass and about 4-5 km long..

Welcome to ~~Delhi~~ D(hell)i...

Delay by chance

2011-01-16T21:49:00.001+05:30

Date : 7th January

Time : 9:00 PM

Vishal calls me and tell me that he will be in Delhi to catch a train to Guwahati ( on the way to Shillong..). His expected time of arrival in Delhi 10:00 AM on 8th January ( by train on a winter morning ;) ). As fate had it..I was on-call on 7th night till 3:30 AM :(

Date: 8th January

Time :11 AM

Friendship is deadly...makes you do crazy things like running towards a metro station on one of the coldest days of the season in Delhi, catching the metro by running down the stairs and just managing to enter the compartment just so to save 10-15 minutes...

Vishal's train is late by about an hour...and well so was I...

Anyways while I was still in the Metro, I got a call from Meet to say that he was with Vishal and they were waiting for me...

Managed to get to the Railway station without any further adventures. And as always, it is gr8 to catch up with Meet and Vishal, talking about the good old days, swapping stories about the rest of the group ( special mention about Abhay Murarka - bhai, you better explain the stories I have been hearing about you!!)

AND then came the announcement - "Guwahati se jaane wali 12423 Guwahati-Delhi Rajdhani Exp 7 ghante ki deri se chal rahi hai. Guwahati ko jaane wali 12424 Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Exp apne nirdharit samay 2:30 baje ki jagah shaam to 8:50 par chalegi" :D :D

We then hauled all their luggage to the cloak room..spent an hour in the line as most of the trains were late, some by up to 37 hours.

Next Stop : CP

The scene was as if there was no heavy winter in Delhi. Most girls roaming about seemed to be straight out of some fashion week's winter collection.. ( Not that I am complaining...however after looking at them, we were feeling over dressed with 2 sweaters and a jacket :P )

Spent the afternoon walking in the inner circle, met Meet's roommate and his friends for lunch at Haldirams, then we met another of Meet's friend afterwards. Meet then had to leave for Noida so it was me and Vishal again.

We decided to walk back to the station as there was still a lot of time before his train left and the best conversations happen while walking. :)

Read Vishal's take on the same topic at http://biliex.blogspot.com/2011/01/lucky-delay.html

PS: Meet..pics bhej de bhai :)

Right to Education

2011-01-04T01:15:00.001+05:30

And so why am I suddenly talking about the RTE today???

Well, my cab driver today was a talkative fellow who was apologetic because he was late, he was late because he had to purchase forms for nursery admission for his son whom he wants to get admitted to a private school and not to a Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) School.

After talking to him, I realized how important the RTE is for a country like India, in fact I was very happy that the UPA Government has implemented the RTE, but as I read online, it was simply the sad old story that repeats itself everywhere in India...scheme to bana di, but implementation bhool gaye...

I know the implementation of RTE is a long term project, but shouldn't it have at least started now?

According to what I read; It has been 8 months since the act came into force on 1st April 2010, but private schools openly flout the guidelines of RTE by conducting screening tests for students and interviews for parents and Government schools...well they don't have the number of teachers required...and even where they have the manpower, the teachers are simply not interested.

And how and why would they be. From what I could find on the net, the average starting salary for a government teacher in a city is around 8,000-10,000 while it is even less for smaller towns. How can you expect a person who is earning such a petty amount to be interested in teaching...?

Well, I hope, there is some turnaround soon, so that even a 5 year old son of a cab driver can dream of becoming a doctor or engineer.

For more info on RTE : http://right-to-education-india.blogspot.com/

Polo

2010-10-25T21:07:00.000+05:30

No it isn't about the mint with the hole :P, it's about the sport.

Yesterday, we had gone to Race course for swimming and there we chanced upon a game of polo underway. The smart horses and the talented riders..it was gr8 watching the game.

Anyways the games got me remembering about our horse riding @ Bidar and hence this post goes out to all the friends, the horse riding and the football matches during and after the riding. :)

This post goes out to Angad, Manu, Anurag and Krish. Remembering you guys.

Jeene Ke Liye Bhi Waqt Nahi..

2010-07-22T21:20:00.002+05:30

Har khushi Hai Logon Ke Daman Mein,
Par Ek Hansi Ke Liye Waqt Nahi.
Din Raat Daudti Duniya Mein,
Zindagi Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.

Maa Ki Loree Ka Ehsaas To Hai,
Par Maa Ko Maa Kehne Ka Waqt Nahi.
Saare Rishton Ko To Hum Maar Chuke,
Ab Unhe Dafnane Ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.

Saare Naam Mobile Mein Hain,
Par Dosti Ke Lye Waqt Nahi.
Gairon Ki Kya Baat Karen,
Jab Apno Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.

Aankhon Me Hai Neend Badee,
Par Sone Ka Waqt Nahi.
Dil Hai Ghamon Se Bhara Hua,
Par Rone Ka Bhi Waqt Nahi .

Paison ki Daud Me Aise Daude,
Ki Thakne ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.
Paraye Ehsason Ki Kya Kadr Karein,
Jab Apane Sapno Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.

Tu Hi Bata E Zindagi,
Iss Zindagi Ka Kya Hoga,
Ki Har Pal Marne Walon Ko,
Jeene Ke Liye Bhi Waqt Nahi.........

-Unknown

Masala Chicken

2010-06-21T21:50:00.002+05:30

It has been a killer of a weekend and what a great start to it...Driving around Delhi at 2:00 AM :D

10:30pm

We ( read Rovin Jiju, Shiki Di, Aditi, Vinayak (aka Veenu) and me) start from our place at 10:30 after one round of Dinner for Paranthe Wali Gali ( @ Chandini Chowk) via Veenu's place at Safdarjung Enclave where his room mate and friend ( Aniket and Lakshmi) were waiting for us.

We started for Chandini Chowk in one car while Aniket and Lakshmi went to to pick Swati and then meet us outside Paranthe wali Gali..

11:10pm

We reach Paranthe wali gali where we are 10 minutes too late and the shops have all closed...Probably due to a heavy friday rush...

We debate where we should head next as a few more people arrive to be disappointed..

11:30pm

Its gonna be Masala Chicken @ Jama Masjid on a friday night and even at midnight, there was a crowd at the market at Jama Masjid

1:00am

After a heavy meal of Masala Chicken and Rumali Roti ( which was swimming in butter..and was pretty amazing) and extra dose of entertainment courtsey Veenu and Aniket, it was time for something sweet- Shahi Tukda, Firni and Halwa... we were so full that we were just able to taste these sweets...

Next stop : Chuski @ India Gate

1:30am

India Gate was in darkness and there were heardly any people at India Gate and just one odd ice cream vendor who had an empty cart :(

Since Rovin and Shiki Di had to drive to Chandigarh the next morning, we decided to call it a day

2:15am

Back home on a Saturday morning :D

Anything for you Ma'am

2010-05-14T21:49:00.000+05:30

Well, I just finished reading the ebook-Anything for you Ma'am a few hours ago, and if you are a fan of the typical Bollywood masala movies, the one where you already know the twists and turns and how it will all be a happy ending...you might like the book.

In the story, an IIT Delhi student who loves a girl who lives is Chennai ( who is also the classmate of the guy's sister..) plans and goes to meet her in Chennai.

The story starts from the an Industrial tour which our hero (Tarun) wants to bunk and go to Chennai within that duration. Now because it is a Bollywood type script, he is bound to get into trouble with the Professor in-charge in a drunken party in his hostel ( where our hero doesn't drink, but is caught in the wrong place at the wrong time- typically Bollywood.) The prof then feels that the hero is faking the excuse that his brother is getting married to bunk the industrial tour and then wants him to produce proof that his brother is getting married..How our hero then goes for the tour, searches for a doctor in Pune who can give a medical certificate that he is hurt and needs bed rest ligament, to how he goes to Chennai from pune, how there is an attempted robbery on the train, how he meets another IITian ( from IIT Madras this time..) who is heading to Chennai to get married to his love of 9 years ( who incidently was in Delhi while he was studying in Chennai AND who happens to be the brother of our heroine, Shreya with whom oyur hero, Tarun is in love with. Coincidently, the third person sharing the coupe with them the same Professor from IIT Delhi who was in-charge of the industrial tour and our hero was in his bad books of. How our hero saves him and comes in to his good books finally ( And if you haven't guessed it yet, the Prof is heading to the marriage of the daughter of a Prof from IIT Chennai ( who is his partner in some project.. ) who coincidently happens to be the father in law of the IITian's who our hero has already met on the train..So all three of them are heading to the same destination )

Ohh..I forgot..there are also some songs which the hero manages to conjure at the right time... :P

Typically Bollywood..or in Divya's words- Cheesy.

You can STILL read the book once though..and in case anyone wants, I have the ebook with me..

Earth Hour '10

2010-03-26T19:24:00.002+05:30

Well, Earth hour started in 2007 with residents of Sydney switching off their lights. In 2008 more cities followed.

In 2009, India joined the Earth Hour movement. Over 5 million Indians and 56 Indian cities showed their support by switching off, saving approximately 1000 MW of power in that one hour and making the first ever Earth Hour in India a huge success!

However, I have only 1 question...

Why save electricity for one hour when you waste it for the next 364 days....???

You can see streetlights switched on in the day, roadside billboards with 6-7 flood lamps for each billboard, unnecessary wastage of electricity in offices, shops, malls and homes...yet on the last Sunday of March, people overdo it to celebrate Earth Hour ( the concept of Earth hour was that people should switch off unnecessary lights and what most people actually do is that they switch off all lights and sit in the darkness...)

I propose that instead of switching off electricity for 1 hour on 1 day of the year; try to do your bit each day. Switch off unnecessary lights at home or at your office/shop, if your office has 100 lights where it needs 10, write to the HR, switch off your desktop at night and educate the people around you to do the same....

Earlier related blogs : Earth Hour '09

Earth hour in pictures

PS : You can still switch off unnecessary lights from 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM on Saturday 27th March and feel satisfied that you are doing your bit.

Quote of the day...

2010-03-12T21:16:00.001+05:30

Though this has been my status for a couple of days now...I thought I'll put it down here too..

" Whoever you may be, Wherever life leads you, You are always a Mom's child, a Dad's dream, a Family's future, a Friend's heart & Someone's life! Be the best of it..."

Creativity

2010-02-28T16:15:00.001+05:30

Well, I have a bunch of pretty creative friends and where else do you see the creativity apart from Gtalk status messages and Twitter updates...

Last week when Sachin Tendulkar was busy scoring runs for his amazing knock of 200*, people were busy putting up some really creative status messages...

Check out a few of them

Ankit Govil: GAWWWDDD

Rajesh Bhasin: God's last name is not Dammit !.... looks like its Tendulkar

Nimit Mehra: God is sachin not the other way round!

RT @vvkchandra: God wanted to play cricket. Sachin was born!!!

Kartik Chaturvedi: In real.....terms only god can bat better than the maestro himself....!

Kazi: Sachin -> The Rajnikanth of the modern world. There is nothing he cant do

Abhay Murarka: Rajnikanth is the sachin of film industry, not the other way round - a friend

Abhay Murarka RT: @virajturakhia: RT @VascoZ Sachin Tendulkar - Reducing the number of atheists in India since 1989

VishrutShukla : A spl award shld be given to Amla for saving Dhoni's boundary in the 49th ovr. W/o Amla we wld hav had a 199* and a dead captain ;)

Pranav Jawale RT @delhidreams: Boss to me: "it is perfectly acceptable that u watched d last 15 overs. now please get back to work."

Abhinav Pophali took a break from office to witness the miracle!!

Nita Chandrasekhar: And just when u start thinking there are no records left to be broken, he breaks one more! Hail Sachin!!

Manu Vats: Sachin 10dulkar not nly brings smile on millions of faces bt also solves various problems like reducing traffic on roads , keep ur boss hppy,saves ur phone bill.....He is a true genius nd an inspiration 4 me nd all.

Kushal Agarwal: Moksha mil gaya aaj :) Sachinnnn :')

About Sachin, I need not say anything. Period.

The Spirit of Living

2010-02-13T14:11:00.002+05:30

I recently came across an article in Hindustan Times about two blind men who run a shop in North Campus area in New Delhi...

Intrigued, I read further...

The shop called ‘Andhein Ki Dukaan’ (Blind person’s shop) is run by two visually impaired men, Pradeep and Umesh. The shop stands next to the Hostel For College Going Blind Students (Louise Braille Bhawan), Kingsway Camp and the shop has been selling snacks such as chips, biscuits and eggs and soft drinks since 1995.

It is very hard to even imagine two visually impaired men running a shop, even harder to believe that these men can now distinguish different products and money by touch alone. But Pradeep and Umesh can now distinguish a bottle of one cola brand from another; a fake note from the original..

I am sure that when Pradeep and Umesh must have thought of opening a shop, people would have mocked them, telling them that it will impossible, people would steal from them and they would be unsuccessful...It has been 15 years since that point and by God's grace, they have managed to survive and manage well.

These two men have shown that nothing is impossible if a person is willing to try...and it is this spirit of living that I salute..

P.S: I had blogged about another visually impaired man whom I used to meet on my way to office. Check out that post here...

P.P.S :Check out this news article in HT here...

Save our tigers

2010-02-07T13:26:00.003+05:30

Aircel “Save Our Tiger” is the latest campaign where it intends to draw attention towards dwindling numbers of tigers across the planet and bring forward the seriousness of losing tigers from our planet.

Tiger, the national animal of India, has been on key target of poachers and in 2009 alone India lost 86 tigers. From around 40,000 at the turn of the last century, there are just 1411 tigers left in India. The national animal is on the verge of extinction and if serious efforts are not undertaken Tigers will only reside in our history books.

In the international market, a tiger fetches at least $10,000, but broken into body parts, the value can soar to $50,000. Every bit of a tiger is in demand—the brain as cure to pimples and laziness, its whiskers for toothaches, the nose and eyes for epilepsy and malaria, the humerus bone for ulcers, rheumatism and typhoid.

The Penalty...
If an offence is committed against the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, there is a maximum sentence of three years imprisonment or a fine which may extend to Rs. 25,000 or both.

For an offence against a Schedule I or Schedule II (part 2) animal, or for an offence committed within a sanctuary or natural park, there is a mandatory prison term of three years, which may extend to seven years. There is also a mandatory fine of at least Rs. 10,000. For a subsequent offence, the mandatory prison remains same, while the mandatory fine is at least Rs.25, 000.

For an offence committed inside the core area of a Tiger Reserve, there is a mandatory prison term of three years, extendable to seven years and a fine of Rs. 50,000 extendable to Rs. 2 lakhs. In case of a subsequent conviction, there is an imprisonment of at least seven years and a fine of Rs. 5 lakhs which may extend to Rs. 50 lakhs.

Despite these penalties, the laws are difficult to enforce and to date, in spite of hundreds of cases, only 16 people have ever been convicted of killing a tiger.
.
.
If a person can earn upto $50K, would they even care for a fine of Rs. 25k or a jail term (bailable) and the bribe amount which would amount to nothing, but guarantee a safe passage for poachers??

What can you do?

There are various credible organizations working towards the conservations of Tigers in India. You can support them by donating the amount of your choice. Head over here to make a donation.

If you have a blog similar to this, you can write about the urgent importance that is required in this regard. If you have a social networking profile, update your statuses’ (or the likes..) to show your concern (every bit of word helps spread the message).

If you see or know any one in your village hurting Tigers, be it for any reason, educate them and if possible bring them to the law.

And finally, if your want to show your concern on tigers virtually, head over here to make
a mark.

Its time we raise awareness and force the government take steps to increase the guards and
forest rangers to reduce the ease through which poachers helped by local villagers can get to a tiger. Until we can't stop that..we can't stop the killing of wild animals- not just tigers..

Chetan Bhagat @ Symbiosis

2010-01-05T12:10:00.000+05:30

This isn't the entire speech that Chetan Bhagat gave @ Symbiosis Pune. This is just a summary of the speech.

"
Dont 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.
"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 is 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 thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. Life is not meant 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, scoring low in couple of papers, goof up a few interviews, take leave from work, fall in love, little fights with your spouse. We are people, not programmed devices........." :)

"

"Don't be serious, be sincere.!!"

The entire speech is available here.

This year

2009-12-31T11:59:00.000+05:30

Check out the my facebook status cloud for this year :) . Check out the app here

Wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous new year . The beginning of a new decade. hope it brings lots of cheers to your life :)
.
.
.
Waise..khush hai zamana aaj pehli taarik hai :D

Weekend :)

2009-12-26T23:03:00.006+05:30

Weekend-> 2 trips to Office,2 visits to GIP and 2 rides in the metro and trip to CP.

or

Weekend -> Catching up with friends at the Airport, Railway station and spending time with my cousin brother who is in town for college vacations.

And who says weekends are for relaxing???

During the first weekend, we had to go to the office for some online training on Saturday. Fortunately or unfortunately the thing refused to work. So we were @ Noida and we had nothing to do. So we spent the morning playing pool and TT. But then we realized that we couldn't do this the whole day, so while some people went home, others still playing Pool and TT, we decided to head to GIP (The Great India Place). Spend the entire afternoon doing nothing in particular...strolled about in the mall, went to a pet shop where Ruchika and Divya couldn't have enough of the cute puppies they had there and Manu couldn't wait to get out...and spend time @ CCD.

(At the pet shop)

(All of us At McD: From L to R-> Ruchika, Me, Mohsin, Manu and Divyanka)

We then headed back to office but the online thingy still wasn't working so we decided to head home...BUT my destination was Meet's place where we had decided to spend the weekend :)

Meet was still busy at office (I am now not very sure whether he works at BHEL or not...in office at 6:30 PM on Saturday :0 ) so Vishal and I sat in the park and talked and talked :)

When Meet returned, there was still some time before dinner, so we decided to head back to GIP (2nd trip in within a space of few hours..) but this time we took the Metro, and the station is just outside Meet's place...and it was a change from the overcrowded stuffy buses...

After we came back, Vishal picked up his guitar and we sang a lot of songs (in a bad out of tune voice...but who cares :P ). We talked and sang and finally slept at 3.

Next morning, I was the first to wake up at 10. We did not have any specific plan for the day, so we started off from CP ( kyonki..in the 4-5 months he has been in Delhi, Meet hasn't gone anywhere in Delhi...)

Going to CP involved another ride in the Metro, but this time it was pretty crowded...and Rajiv Chowk seems to be a underground city altogether...so much crowd, so many shops and all..

We roamed about in Palika, inner circle, had Chole bhature from a street vendor.

We then headed to the central park and we were actually Embarrassed (note the capital E) with all the public display of affection all around...

This weekend was equally good. Spent an entire afternoon with Shreya who was on the way to Lucknow...having 'Ghar ka khana' at Delhi Airport.

Today I had gone to the railway station where Atish and Ankur were coming from Goa. It was also Atish's birthday today, so it made the trip all the more special. It was great to catch up with them, couldn't spend time with them because both of them had to go in different directions...Looking forward to spending more time with them on 3rd when they head back to Goa.

And tomorrow, I have to go to my aunt's place to meet my cousin who finished first 6 months at Med School... :)

Positives in the midst of Chaos

2009-12-14T20:53:00.003+05:30

The past week, I finally started working and hence spend a lot of my time commuting between Delhi and Noida. In the midst of the all the traffic jams and the lack of traffic rules in UP, I keep observing a lot of things (as I have nothing better to do :|). Some positive scenes that I saw and can recollect.

-> The visually challenged man who leads an independent life, commutes to work daily by public transport and does not feel in anyway inferior to anybody else. I don't know why but looking at him lead an independent life makes me feel great. I had earlier written about him in detail. Check out the entire post on this topic here.

-> Good to see policeman standing at bus stops forcing buses to stop in a single queue and in the leftmost lanes (at least during times of peak traffic), thus ensuring smooth flow of traffic at least around bus stops.

->The DTC bus that goes from Delhi to Noida and back is generally quite full and there is not enough space to even stand. Although there are a few seats reserved for ladies/senior citizens/physically handicapped people. However they do fall short. A very heartening scene to see a some guys getting up from their seat (not reserved for ladies..) to offer their seats to some lady.

->The Delhi-Noida ticket use to cost Rs. 17/-. Then the UP Government increased it to Rs 27 and told Delhi Government to increase their tickets to the same amount or else close th route. Bluelines have already been phased out on this route (A positive step, while this is not what the point I wanted to make...). The DTC conductor now gives a Rs. 29 ticket as 4 separate tickets of Rs.15+Rs.10+Rs.2+Rs.2. And then the conductor tears off the 4 tickets to indicate the bus stop of boarding and getting off...and takes a very long time to process each request. People spend most of their journey waiting for the conductor to give them the ticket. Today I caught a bus from UP Roadways and observed how they have smartly embraced technology. The conductor carries a hand held printer, takes the money, enters the code for bus stops and gives a printout of the ticket. Impressive!

And you might think that I have written only about road, traffic and stuff related to it...I reiterate I take at least 2 hours everyday commuting :(

The first time...

2009-11-30T20:25:00.009+05:30

Most people know that Nimit blogs at huntersuniverse, however I just stumbled on another of Nimit's blog (which he started writing during the psenti sem) and had a gr8 time reading about the post which describes his first meetings with some of the people who became his close friends...

I am including some interesting portion of the post.

Purnoor
" There i spotted a tall lanky Sardar standing. To me seeing a sardar that time in BITS was like finding an oasis in a desert. So i tried to make small talk. I asked where was he from ? Instead of an answer i was asked a question in return ….. “Guess where?” . So I thought a sardar how tough can it be … Punjab… no … Delhi … No … Mumbai … No …. now i gave up. The answer was Kerela and I thought to myself … ” Ek sardar mila aur vo bhi illad”. Sometime into the conversation some asked me my room number, on replying AH4 364 …. the Sardar gave me a wierd look and after a second said ….” oye me in Ah4 363… we are neighbours” ….. And thats how I met Purnoor Singh Sodhi."

Boxer
" So one day Gill calls me up and asks me Vasco chalega. I reply “ok khaane chalta hu “. He was accompanied by an imposing figure. The kind of materials which bullies are made of. Some one you better be in good books of. He introduced himself ” Hi I am Shashank Tandon ” ” Or Boxer” said Gill. Later I came to know about this shrek. The guy just looks imposing he wouldn’t even have hurt an ant till now."

Maddy and Puneet
" One day a person comes to my room and asks ” Hey today is my birthday … will you come and dance” ( yea thats what he said!) So i went to the birthday party of a person whom i hardly knew. Later that room would be the room where some debates would happen which would go on till 4 in the morning … Room of Mohammed kheezer Hayat. In the same party i met a sleepy drousy fellow who i thought i definitely on weed – Puneet Gupta."

Vishrut
" Seeing a lamp light on opposite from my window and me cursing that guy for giving me a scare and after 2 months coming to know he was Vishrut. "

Rao
" I remeber hearing about an IIT ranker aamir khan look alike who used to solve every problem in thermo book , who in his first meeting lent me his LOTR and thus met Rao for the first time."

The credits for the post to one and only Nimit aka Nimmo.

Check out the entire post here. and the blog here.

1 year thence

2009-11-26T15:35:00.007+05:30

Most people vividly remember where they were on the night of Nov 26, 2008. Well as on most evenings, I was with friends @ Monginis chatting about nothing in particular. While coming back to my room, I got a call from home. Amidst the general chit-chat, Mom told me about random shootings in various parts of Mumbai. The media till that time thought it was some gang war.
But as we sat in front of the TV in the common room and watched in numb horror as the magnitude of the incident unfolded and news of the casualties started pouring in.

It has been a year now and not much seems to have changed.

Yes, we do have a NSG hub in 4 cities now, but there is still a finite time that the NSG will take to reach any other city from the nearest hub. What we need is the local police to be trained in counter terrorism action so that they can hold fort till the NSG reaches. Not like in Mumbai where police were caught on the wrong foot with not even enough weapons or even bullet proof jackets.

The capture of David Headley by the FBI clearly exposes the modulus operandi used by terrorists during most of the strikes. A US passport holder would never be considered a suspect by Indian authorities. Our president can be frisked while boarding a US airlines flight at Delhi Airport but...
And now the police is asking people who Headley had interacted with, asking them how they did not know that he was here to plan terror strikes. Well if the embassy officials and immigration people did not find anything wrong with Headley, why and how do they expect citizens would have guessed his ulterior motives.

The fake passport racket busted in Lucknow, UP raises questions of how terrorists could so easily bribe officials to get passports made in false names, without any police verifications (and the address provided were obviously incorrect too).

This is an unrelated issue, but everyone know how porous our border with Bangladesh and Nepal is. What I don't understand is that why can't we fence the entire like that in Jammu and Kashmir to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and terrorists with arms, ammunition and fake currency. From the Nepal border anybody can walk in or out without any checks. A person entering India doesn't even need to declare what he/she is carrying etc. This makes it very easy for them to bring in fake cash to India.

Anyways even 26/11 couldn't make Mumbaikars come out and vote. The reason for not voting was given as not much to choose from- BJP in disarray, MNS with thier "marathi manoos" agenda and the Congress which had handled 26/11 in such a manner. And RR Patil, the deputy chief minister at the time of 26/11 who was made to quit has been promoted to the post of home minister in the new cabinet of Maharashtra within a year of the incident. And now the Congress is talking about a Rs. 350 Crore monument of Sivaji in the middle of the sea to counter MNS's marathi trumpcard.
350 Crore in a state where farmers are committing suicide everyday and whose police force does not have bullet proof jackets and modern day weapons, is SHEER WASTAGE.

Most people know that our media is always in overdrive, making huge issues out of non issues. So when they witnessed 26/11, they just didn't know where to stop. And the senior officers of Army and Police seem to oblige them with information that was classified and should not have been disclosed. Some of this info could have seriously compromised the operation. Reported incidents include that of a politician hiding in Taj who was giving a telephonic interview which was being reported by most channels. It was seen by the terrorist handlers and informed to the terrorists who started moving in that direction. Also while the NSG team was being dropped on the roof of a house close to Nariman House was shown live on TV and the terrorists were ready for the NSG team and a soldier of the NSG was killed. But the media seems to have learnt its lessons and have decided that from next time on they would have a delay of a minimum half an hour showing such an operation on TV.

Our politicians are yet to learn the lessons. They are still trying to politicize the issue one year on. And though I feel BJP is correct in asking the government while 1 year after the incident most of the victims haven't been paid any compensation even when both the state and central government is a Congress coalition, why did the BJP have to wait for a year to raise this question (as the timing of the question is what the congress seems to be protesting).

After the incidents the home ministry started to reduce and remove security cover of politicians who did not have a threat to their life but had a large number of soldiers of the SPG (who have been trained in counter terrorism operations) simply as a show of strength. But politics on this issue stopped it prematurely. Some of the soldiers have gone been removed from security, but most of the politicians have resisted and we still have politicians who have 10-20 trained men protecting them, and some more for their families. But no body bothers about protecting the AAM AADMI.

Inspite of all these things, 26/11 did unite the general public as suddenly everyone realized that no one was safe- even the richest in a metropolitan city. And they have forced the government to pull up it socks and to punish those responsible and take steps to stop further acts. Hopefully the government will continue to act and not let the sacrifice of 173 innocent citizens go in vain.

Things I am missing the most...

2009-08-12T15:06:00.013+05:30

There is time for everything in life...and its called COLLEGE.

Today my cousin has finally got admission in a Medical college and so he'll be heading off to a hostel in a few days. He was asking me about college life and hostel experiences. Talking to him... remembering the great times I have had brought back many happy memories :)

So...

This post is dedicated to all the great friends I made at college and have made the 4 years of college an awesome memory.

This post is also dedicated to my cousins Mridul and Sujoy who are both heading off to college (and hostels) and I hope they will have even more fun than I had @ college and hostel. :)

Here is a list of some of the things that I felt I am missing about my hostel life.. (and it turned out to be a long list...)

*Pulling (Ankit)Govil's leg (THIS HAS TO TOP THE LIST :D )

(That's me, Vishal and Shashank Pandey trying to find out what Govil is up to ;) )

*AH3 260 yaani my room :D

*Govil (aka Aashiq) and his disprins (This guy ate 4 disprins at a time and when everybody refused to give him disprin's, he got them couriered from home)

*Listening to Meet Radio Balle balle.

*The time we spent in Angad's room (AH3 237) (considering the fact that he was the first one amongst us to get a lappy).

*Listening to 'Shubham ke mast wale FUNDE'. Remember the HAC theory :P

*Pandeyji (aka Shashank Pandey) ke PJ's..(Notice the 'ji' at the end of his nickname..that's the respect for his jokes)

*Pulling Abhay's leg

*Abhay's room (AH3 254),which was our common room.. Whenever any one of us came back from any class..we used to invariably stop at his room..infact sometimes he went off to attend classes and we used to remain in his room...

*It happened a couple of times that Phodu (rarely also known as Abhishek) slept off in Abhay's room and poor Abhay had to go and sleep in Phodu's room.

*Vishrut's room (AH4 234) which used to remain absolutely spotless any time of the sem.

*Meet's room (Ah3 252) with his simple rules of clothes- clean clothes on the desk, dirty clothes on the floor. keyboard and mouse of his desktop on the matress on the floor.

(Meet's room in all its glory ;) )

*Exams ke time par kabhi Pandey ke room mein, kabhi Vishal ke room mein padhai karna...aur waha Govil ka aa ke DOUBTS poochna aur phir khudd hi answer bata kar nikal jaana aur phir sabka usse gaali dena.

*Meet's room again where he taught us the OP RE, OPTI and NUMAL hours before the exam. 2-3 people on the bed and 2-3 on the floor and Shokee (Ashok Mittal) coming in between to ask the syllabus hours before the paper.

*Food and chocolates from Nimit's home (AH4 364). His room was the venue of our initial RDC meetings :)

*Hostel mein b'day aur birthday bumps, those eggs and tomatoes aur agle din ki treat :)

*Playing baddy (aka Badminton) in the hostel..

*Common room mein baith kar koi bhi Cricket match dekhna...woh continuous commentary aur woh kisi bowler ki ball par 4 ya 6 padhna aur phir usse gaaliyaan dena..

*Going to the water cooler at anytime of the day (or night) and finding Phodu in his standard Baniyan-trackpant walking in the corridor...

*Shouting BAPPUUU while coming back outside Bapu's (aka Rohan Gandhi) room (AH3 245).

*The three indications of impending exams 1) Andhraites playing cricket in the hostel, 2) Sudden improvement in weather (read cool breeze and rains) AND 3)POWER CUTS

*Sitting in the corridor during power cuts and trying to study..and when it became too dark to study..just sitting there and gossiping..

*Baarish...aur baarish ke saath woh sondhi sondhi mitti ki khushbu

*The discussions on DC on everything from averages in different courses to random bakwaas.

*Cooking Maggi at 2 in the night (and eating it too :P)..

*Walking into the corridor after that and finding Pandey, Abhay, Phodu and Meet all awake and then discussing some point for hours..

*Lazing between classes at Monginis or the stairs near the Library..

*Meal times par apne hi corridor se hi zor se "VISHAAAAAAAAL" chilla kar Vishal ko uske room se khane ke liye bulana..

*Mess mein baith kar logon ki mast taang kheechna..

*Shaam mein Basktball Court ke peeche wali road par walk karna..

*The classes in LT.. and ST ( aka Sagar Thakur) and (Purnoor Singh) Sodhi making up songs...(Harshvarshan) Mohta taking down notes..and Meet and Sagar cracking jokes..

* Workshop course (for obvious reasons :P)

*Electronic Lab ki woh masti aur EMEC lab ka woh terror..(shirt tucked in, wear shoes and not floaters, with diagrams drawn with scale and compass..)

*Woh single digits mein number..and then calculating how much below the average did we fall..and then thanking God for relative grading...

*Those movies in the Audi and the 'nautanki' that we used to do during those movies..

*Sitting on the stairs of the Audi during Zephyr aur Waves right in front of the participants and then "encouraging" them..taking panga with other hostels...and pulling the legs of participants from other colleges..

*The T20 World Cup in the Audi after an exam...the rush of adrenaline and emotions...the last shot by Misbah Ul Haq, thinking that we lost the match, and then the catch and the celebrations breaking out afterwards..

*The Dj nights for any occasion and RDC (Rejected Dancer's Club) opening the dance floor. Nimit, Purnoor, Puneet, Vishrut, Vishal, Angad, Meet, Abhay, Anurag, Shubham and all the others who have made for some awesome Dj nites...

*Raat ko VGH par jaa kar baithna..aur waha baith kar Panjim ki lights dekhna aur gappe maarna..

*Sitting outside Shop Co after dinner ..

*GOD MADE MAN, WE MAKE THEM HANDSOME the quote on barber shop, the place where every time you go...you’ll come out with a weird haircut.

*B Wing ke bahar baith kar Kashi Dairy ke paranthe khana :)

*The 40 hours of train journey from Goa to Delhi (and the other way round too)..and the thousands of incidents that happened during those 40 hours

(The view from 2379/80 H. Nizamuddin- Vasco Goa Express)

PS: It's late at night and I can't remember more, though things can be appended to the list if I remember any more things.

Remember Kargil?

2009-07-22T15:20:00.005+05:30

Well, it has been 10 years since Indian Army recaptured the areas captured by Pakistani intruders and instead of celebrating our victory in Kargil, our politicians are busy downplaying the importance of the 1999 war in which over 500 of our bravest soldiers laid down their lives.

Two Congress leaders expressed to the press that Kargil wasn't something that was worth celebrating. Congress MP Rashid Alvi said he saw no reason to celebrate the Kargil victory. "Kargil isn't a thing to be celebrated. The war was fought within our territory. We didn't even come to know when the Pakistani army crossed over and built bunkers inside our territory."

Former minister of state for home Sri Prakash Jaiswal couldn't even remember when the Kargil war was fought and won. Asked about Vijay Diwas, he wanted to know when the day was celebrated.

All this when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took time out to take part in the 220th anniversary of the Bastille Day in Paris. But neither he nor any senior government official has time to participate in the 10th anniversary of the victory over Pakistan in Kargil.

Doesn't this attitude show that it does not matter to the country if our soldiers lay down their lives. Doesn't it demoralize our soldiers that we do not take pride in the sacrifices they make. why would anybody join the defence forces if no body is bothered even if he dies for the country??

I came across these ad's for the Veer Jawan Fund.

The agency which created the campaign wasn’t one of the big agencies in India. It was a small Delhi based agency.The ad was created with true bleary-eyed emotion. Some of the team members come from army backgrounds and understand not only the trauma undergone by the loved ones of war martyrs, but also the callous attitudes of successive governments towards them.

I'll include this poem which was also a part of the campaign.

He loves Hindi songs.
Just like you.
He hates injections.
Just like you
He cried each time Amitabh died.
Just like you.
He’s been in love once or twice.
Just like you.
He’ll bleed if you cut him.
Just like you.
He’s happiest at home.
Just like you.
He loves the smell of rain on sun scorched earth.
Just like you.
He cheered India at old Trafford.
Just like you.
He dreams for his children.
Just like you.
He’s gone to die for a stranger.
And that stranger is you.

Google Baba ki jai

2009-07-20T16:26:00.001+05:30

Remember I had blogged about the keywords that people used to come to my blog (which I had found out thanks to Google Analytics).

So now that I have got time to study the Analytics application, I dug in deeper as to how much information does Google get when you use Google search or any other Google service or even arrive on any site that uses the analytics.

And I have to admit…I am amazed by the amount of things that Google knows about you, your network and even your computer.

This is the basic dashboard for the Analytics. It gives you basic information like the entire traffic to your site for the previous month, the number of visits, time on site, location from where traffic has arrived on your site and a pie chart showing what percentage of traffic came directly, came via a search engine or came via a referral site, for e.g. someone else’s blog. And it also gives the pages that people landed on.

Each section also has a ‘View report’ button which allows you to see a detailed report. The first report is for VISITOR OVERVIEW

This is the page that appears when you click the view report.

The page gives details like the number of visits, the absolutely unique visitors, the time on sit, bounce rate etc. It even gives a technical profile and tells one about the browser the visitor was using, what kind of internet connection was he using.

The right hand side shows the visitor segmentation based on the Visitor profile-language, network location or even some user defined parameters. It can even classify traffic based on the browser profile which would include the browser being used, the OS, the screen colour (16bit colour or 32 bit colour), screen resolutions, java support and even whether flash was installed on the browsers or not.

This screenshot for the flash version shows that 507 visits in the last month used 21 different versions of flash. :O

The network location gives the networks that people were using when they came to my blog. 108 different networks for 507 visits.

Next is the TRAFFIC SOURCES tab which opens up a window which list outs the sources via which people came to my blog- the top was direct traffic, while Google was a far second. Other blogs too came in the traffic sources.

For all the visitors who came via any search engine, analytics also lists out the keywords of the search. The keywords include assignments on dsp, disprin cnf, vishrut meaning, google baba, IC 814 hijack, delhi+mussoorie+yamunanagar+route, where does aziz premji live, further study after bits dlpd degree…

So if Google can release this much information to users, then I can very well imagine what they do not release. Just imagine the amount of information they can extract from a single search that one does using Google search…

Na kisi ki aankh ka nuur huun..

2009-07-06T11:48:00.000+05:30

This is a poem by Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal ruler. I heard the para which I have put in bold, and found the rest of the poem. Quite a soulful poem.

Na kisi ki aankh ka nuur huun

na kisi ki aankh ka nuur huun, na kisi ke dil ka qaraar huun.
na kisi ke kaam an aa sake, main vo ek musht-e-ghubaar huun.

( I am not the light of anyone’s eyes,
Not a harbinger of peace to someone’s heart,
Not of any use to any one,
But just a handful of dust.)

main nahin huun naghma-e-jaan fizaa; koi sun ke mujh ko karega kya?
main bare biruug ki huun sada, kisi dil jale ki pukaar huun.

( I am not a life-giving verse,
No use to someone who listens to me.
I am a cry in the wilderness,
A call of a heart gone on flames.)

mera rang rup bigar gayaa, mera yaar mujh se bichar gayaa,
jo chaman khizaan se ujar gayaa, main usi ki fasl-e-bahaar huun.

( My colors of self-image are now gone,
My beloved from me is now stranded away.
The garden which the spring turned into wilderness,
I am the spring harvest of that garden now.)

na to main kisi ka habiib huun, na to main kisi ka raqiib huun, jo bigar gayaa vo nasiib huun, jo ujar gayaa vo dayaar huun.

( I am lover of no one,
I am rival of no one,
I am the fate of my ruins,
I am the river of a wilderness.)

pae faatihaa koi aae kyuun, koi chaar phuul chirhaae kyuun?
zafar, ashk koi bahaae kyun, ke main bekasi ka mazaar huun.

(Why should anyone sing a requiem?
Why should anyone place four flowers on my tomb?
Zafar asks: why should anyone shed tears,
As I’m buried helplessly in a vault underground.)

~ Bahadur Shah Zafar

First rains of Monsoon 2009:Delhi

2009-07-02T14:40:00.006+05:30

Here are some pics that I clicked day before when the first rains of this season at Delhi.. (They aren't fantastic like the ones taken by Angad, but they'll do ;) )

(That's how it looked..)

(Small kids enjoying the rain too.)

(Even the plants on our balcony seem to be enjoying the rains :) )

Would you be happier??

2009-06-25T20:31:00.001+05:30

Heard this song after a long time today...and the lyrics are pretty good too.. :)

Would you be happier- The Corrs

Have you ever wonder where the story ends, and how it all began, I do (I do, I do, I do, I do)
Did you ever dream you were the movie star with popcorn in your hand, I did (I did, I did, I did)
Do you ever think you're someone else inside, when no one understands you are (you are)
And wanna disappear inside a dream but never wanna wake, wake uuuuuup
Then you stumble on tomorrow, and trip over today

(Chorus)
Would you be happier if you were someone together
Would the sun shine brighter if you played a bigger part
Would you be wonderful if it wasn't for the weather
You're gonna be just fine (gonna be just fine)

Are you not afraid to tell your story now, when everyone is done it's too late (too late, too late)
Was everything you've ever said or done not the way you planned, mistaaaake
So you promised that tomorrow, be different than today

(Chorus)
Would you be happier if you were someone together
Would the sun shine brighter if you played a bigger part
Would you be wonderful if it wasn't for the weather
You're gonna be just fine
I think you're gonna be just fine
You're gonna be just fine
So don't worry baby

You're racing for tomorrow, not finished with today

Would you be happier if you were someone together
Would the sun shine brighter if you played a bigger part
Would you be wonderful if it wasn't for the weather
I think you're gonna be just fine

Would we be happier if we were someone together
Would the sun shine brighter if we played a bigger part
Would we be wonderful if it wasn't for the weather
I think we're gonna be just fine
I think you're gonna be just fine

Don't worry baby
Gonna be just fine
Don't worry honey
Gonna be just fine
Don't worry baby
Gonna be just fiiiiine

Random thoughts

2009-06-17T21:23:00.009+05:30

Just some random thoughts passing through my mind right now...

Thought #1
Just finished with a memorable trip to Lucknow... met Ankur and Shreya..and remembered those times @ BPGC. awesome lunch at Shreya's place and my first treat for becoming an engineer to both of them at Moti Mahal @ Sahara Ganj Lucknow. :)

Thought #2
Driving a two wheeler in Lucknow is SAFER than driving in Delhi. I always believed that traffic in Lucknow is a lot worse than Delhi, and it might be with no body following any traffic rules, but driving with Ankur on a two wheeler, I realized that drivers there were more tolerant than Delhi ones...

Thought #3
My cousin is giving his medical entrance exams these days and its common discussion about the very limited seats for general students, the donations for seats etc. Recently he had given the exam for MAHATMA GANDHI INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, WARDHA.What was uncommon about the exam for this college was that there was a seperate paper for Gandhian thoughts apart from the normal PCB paper. AND, the PCB paper would only be evaluated if the candidate score over 40% or something in the paper about MK Gandhi, and all the people and places associated with him. Now my question is that if you don't know about MK Gandhi, are you NOT good enough to be a doctor????

Thought #4
All these surveys about Engineering colleges etc and the fuss being made about them. Don't we all know how these surveys are done?

Thought#5
Why does MTNL net pack up when you need it most...I have been sitting foe hours waiting for the net to get connected to be able to post this entry and this thought has been added as a result of my frustration.

Yesterday I booked a complaint with the MTNL call centre that my net was not working.
Today, the exchange guy called came and checked if the ADSL light was coming on. Since it was, but no sites were opening, he told me that he will tell another guy to checkup and change some settings. Till last edited, I am still waiting for that second guy to come.(but the net is working on it's own :|)

Thought#6
The weather has been cloudy but...When is it gonna rain??

Life will go on....

2009-06-12T11:24:00.008+05:30

To quote Anurag’s status message that reads “And here we are...back at the fork way... (Hope the roads meet again)”

As I sit here today..it’s the same feeling that I had during the last few days on-campus. Everybody leaving for home and then for PS… nobody knew where life would lead us…kaun kahan hoga…kuchh nahi pata…

Exchanging permanent numbers so as not to loose contact…on the last few days, thinking how different it will be without the friends who supported me through thick and thin, in all those happy moments, and consoled me during those unhappy ones, leaving the small 10X10 room that had been my home for 3.5 years..my comfort zone, I had a feeling that life will not be the same again..

But then I came to ST..a new place, new environment, and the new faces…and quickly bonded with my PS mates...we became a good group..sitting and chatting during breakfast, then lunch and in between while taking a break. A special mention of Sanket, who was in the same group as me..just a cubicle away…we became break partners..calling each other whenever we wanted a break. Also Rishi and Krishna (aka Krishnamohan Radhakrishnan aka KiMo) also deserve a mention. They were also on the same floor and called on me and Sanket for breaks too.

Shashank Somanchi who was my mailing partner, we actually used the ST internal mail as a chat tool..ST ka 1/4th traffic to hamari mails se hi hota hoga… At exactly 4:45 PM nearly everyday, either one of us would mail the other asking whether we wanted to go to the cafeteria…99.9% of times the answer would have been yes, just to go and sit there to take a break…

The TR&D team- KP, Mayank (aka Mugga), Ritesh, Ranjot, Sudipt, Ankit (aka Ankita g - his ST mail username) who we generally met during lunch, exchanging incidents of the day, pulling Ankit’s leg (who is such a good sport that he never used to mind it) the table looked very similar to our dinner table at Goa..with all of us pulling Ankit’s leg.. (Read more about the friends at ST here)

And as I exchange mail id and phone numbers with the friends I made at PS…it’s the same old feelings again...

But this time I know..all my friends would always be there just a ping or phone call away anytime..

And that gives me the strength to go on…

PS: Heading to Lucknow tommorow :)
PPS: Will put up pics of PS as soon as Somanchi n KP send them across ;)

PPPS: AND finally I am now officially an Electrical and Electronics Engineer from BITS Pilani.

Nice One!!!

2009-06-11T10:00:00.003+05:30

This joke is courtsey Reader Digest...

"On a soft drink vending machine, somone had attached a note saying- Diet Coke is not working...

Someone had scribbled below- Try DIETING and EXERCISE.."

I protest

2009-06-03T16:02:00.003+05:30

Well, this post has been written because of the recent protests in three different places- Punjab, Khusrupur in Bihar and Melbourne Australia.

And while one can easily say that the protests were for different issues, one thing that was common in all three cases was that the protesters were Indians.

In one case, Indians students observed a peaceful protest against the recent racial attacks.

While in the other case protesters at Khusrupur were anything but peaceful. Around 200 protesters setting the station on fire and pulling up train tracks delaying dozens of trains.

And everybody knows about the Punjab issue too...a murder in Vienna...bus truck yahan jala diye...

So, why were the protests different??

Well, it has all to do with the reactions of the governments and government agencies. If the students in Australia or Sikhs in Vienna had dared destroying public property, they would have been made to pay or even put behind bars.

But in India, no mob has to ever think about the consequences. People are not afraid as they know they would not be made to pay for damages or even get arrested...That is a major reason that most protests in India turn violent even if they start as peaceful protests.

Also while people may argue that the Indian government knows that these people will not vote for them if they take action...while the Aussie government knows that the Indians there do not have voting rights...well that’s just the price of being second rate citizens in another country.(and apart from students...I do not know why any person would want to be a second rate citizen in some foreign country...yes, you'll have a high paying job, a nice house, be called an NRI..but still be an outsider in that country.)

And the result of the two protests is evident too...In Australia, the cops lathi charged the crowd and dispersed the crowds and ended the protest whereas in India, they mob got whatever demands they wanted. And though I am not saying that the cops should lathi charge innocent people, but then governments should not blindly give in to such blackmail too.

As in the case of Punjab protests, nobody protested or burnt public property in Vienna, but the mobs had a free run in Punjab and not one of them was arrested.

They say that a mob has no faces- but I say catch some protesters and make them pay the price..and from the next time, such people will never dare to damage public property.

Added as postscript on June 8, 2009 10:15 AM, an hour before my final seminar for PS II.

A Times of India columnist also shared his view on similar lines a day after I wrote this entry. Check them out at http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/clicklit/entry/come-let-s-burn-a . Very well written article.

This Day..That Year..

2009-06-01T21:15:00.001+05:30

On 1st June 2005- I gave my BITSAT...

...and since then...what a journey IT has been :D

Weekend getaway from Delhi

2009-05-31T17:07:00.006+05:30

21 May09

The week end was approaching and on Thursday, we came to know that my sister has a scheduled holiday on Monday. So we decided to take a leave too and head to Dehradun. Here is an account of the extended weekend and extended fun that we had.

Day I

Route taken- Delhi-Karnal-Yamuna Nagar- Saharanpur- Mohand- Dehradun

The road till Karnal is a part of the Grand Trunk Road (which extends between Kolkata to Lahore (now just till Amritsar)) and is one awesome road. It was a wide road and not with very heavy traffic. From Karnal we left the National Highway and got on to a State highway towards Yamuna Nagar . The road is single laned with pot holes. But after some distance, the road improved, pot holes reduced but the traffic became very heavy.

Reached Dehradun by about lunch time, and then went to see our house. The place was looking great…the house is a part of a society that is built on top of a plateau, closed to the river Tong and another rain fed river. The weather was gr8 too…all cloudy...a welcome break from the dusty and hot Delhi weather.

(Tall teak trees and clouds)

We didn’t do much on the first day, only got the house cleaned, installed a ceiling fan and a few light points and connected the Cooking Gas that we had carried along from Delhi etc... and came back to stay in the officers mess of the Special Frontier Force.

Day II

We had planned to have a small pooja at our house, so that we could stay there whenever we visit Dehradun. After the pooja, it is customary to stay at the house at night. We had nothing much to do and had all the time to enjoy the weather and the place.

And what a great weather it was, dark clouds- away from the maddening and polluted Delhi, it was a pleasant and welcome change. We decided to go for a walk in and around the colony, as it had started drizzling.

As we came out of the colony gate we saw an unguarded mango tree with plenty of raw mangoes. We tried everything to pluck those mangoes-shook the tree and even pelted stones and did manage to get plenty of mangoes. By then it started raining heavily so we strolled back home for a hot cup of coffee sitting in the verandah and enjoying nature. Incidentally there are huge teak trees (may be 50 feet or even taller) outside our row of houses and they seem to be enjoying (like us) the rains and dancing to the tune of wild breeze.

(Trying to pluck some raw mangoes :))

It was so hard to resist such weather that, we decided to go for a walk again, did a bit of trekking too. We went for a long walk on the bank of the rain fed river and on the way back sat down on the parapet wall close to the river and Pa couldn’t resist telling us what he would do if we came to stay at this place for a longer duration.

(Thats Pa with his YOGA pose ;))

It rained all day. We generally can’t see stars in Delhi thanks to the pollution, but in Dehradun it was also impossible, thanks to the clouds this time. A local there told us that the weather has been similar for the pas

t couple of weeks with rains, nearly every evening.

Also Dehradun being on the foot hills of Mussoorie, one could easily see the twinkling lights of Mussoorie (in between the cloud cover) and it was a breath taking site. In fact I am feeling jealous of the residents of Dehradun who would be watching this everyday. I did try to capture the scene but because of the distance, cloudy weather and night time, the digital camera actually did not do justice to the scene, but anyway I am including a pic of the same here.

(Mussoorie at daytime)

(Mussoorie by night, not very clear though)

Day III

We had to start back today because we had just taken one day’s leave, but it was difficult to leave Dehradun when you think of the weather in Delhi.:(

We took a different route this time and followed the following route,

Dehradun- Mohand- Roorkee- Muzzafarnagar- Meerut- Delhi

Though this route was a bit shorter, but most part of the route was single laned and had heavy traffic without a road divider. After Roorkee, the road was in parts four laned with dividers and then use to suddenly change over to single lane at transition points the roads became nearly undrivable with more pot holes than roads. (The road and flyovers are under construction). So in all it took us more time to cover a lesser distance and a beautiful extended weekend came to an end.

We have been told to try a new route next time after Yamuna nagar via Ponta Sahib to deheradun, as it is supposedly an awesome route via jungles and ghats. So soon, we'll probably be heading to Dehradun via this new route.

Why did AIIMS need a private doc for PM's surgery

2009-05-27T10:50:00.002+05:30

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to reveal how the decision to bring a private doctor, Ramakant Panda, to conduct Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cardiac surgery was arrived at. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, 76,was operated upon at AIIMS by an 11-member panel of doctors led by Ramakant Panda of the Asian Heart Institute (AHI), Mumbai.

The decision to ask for the information came on an appeal filed by Jagdish Chander Jetli, who had asked AIIMS why Panda was chosen to conduct the prime minister's heart surgery.

Jetli contended before the CIC that "The public has the right to know why a premier institute such as the AIIMS, which is staffed by the best doctors in the country and with the best of medical facilities, had to invite a doctor from outside to conduct the operation in its premises. This is a matter of great concern to the public and inviting a doctor from another institute has eroded the reputation of AIIMS."

Here is what the public had to say about this piece of news..most of them criticized the reservations for this, but a few defended the decision too...

Yan,India,says:Why was a SC/ST/OBC reserved passed doctor not selected for such an operation ??? That would have helped the backward community greatly. Any comments on "Practice What You Preach" ??

Atul Saxena,USA,says:Truth is bitter : We are loosing image of both Premier Institutes IIT's and AIIMS world wide because of reservation factor in teaching staff and education. Inviting outside doctor is indication that no body wants to die and if this facility is given to common public they will do the same what PM did. It is an indication to all of us to understand, India need change. No more miss-use of Vote collection tool. Uplift SC/ST/on the top of it OBCs without using reservation and there is a way to fix it. Sooner is the better for Progressive India.

R.Sundara Raman,The Netherlands,says:Get real. Can we take care of our prime minister with the best health care. Why should we bicker about this . Remember our TamilNadu chief minister M.G.Ramachandran was sent to USA on tax payer's expenses in the 80's. We should be happy that the treatment was in India.

S Sood,India,says:It shows that our Govt doctors are good for nothing.They are not raliable and dependable.What will happen to the public? This is misuse of Public Money.

Pankaj Maheshwari,Mumbai,says:With due respects to Dr Panda, it was a decision enforced upon by the then health minister A Ramadoss who wanted to underline that he was the boss and to settle scores with Dr Venugopal of AIIMS owing to his personal animosity with him who is the best cardiac surgeon. In his blatant use of power to satiate his own ego Ramadoss put the reputation of AIIMS at stake and sowed doubts in public minds regarding efficiency of AIIMS doctors.

Dilip S,Bangalore,says:I think this concern is fairly reasonable. It does make us lose faith in institutions that are we've been always told are some of the best in the world and not just in our country.

RR,USA,says:Simply because AIIMS is a play ground for politicians like Ramdoss, Arjunsingh etc and selection of a private doctor by PM/PMO reflects their confidence on their cabinet and prevailing quota/reservaion system in every "Centre of Excellence" in the country. There should be a law passed that President/PM,Governors and all Ministers, MPs, MLAs et., should only be treated by BC/SC and ST doctors in Sarkaari hospitals. Then either things will improve or the Country can get rid of the rubbish.

Basavaraj Vannur,Chennai,says: They don't rely on the doctors appointed based on quota. This is true about reservations and its effects. Mr, PM why this double standards?

Sharad Pandey,varanasi,says:well if it really happened due to a special request from the prime minister and family then i guess he has set a bad example as the head of the country.

AJ,California,says:Because AIIMS may be full of doctors from the SC-ST category!!!!!!! They may have entered through the back door using the reservation system but you cannot use them to operate on the Prime Minister! They should operate on poor people.

Bharat,says:My opinion is they were not sure about the capabilities of those SC/ST/Minorities candidate who got to be at AIMS thanks to Mr.Arjunsingh.

Vijay,Bangalore,says:Here is the reason that will come out.... We have AIIMS and then we have reservations. So when the PM required a coronary bypass, he suddenly panicked. They wanted a "Reputed Doctor" while the common man can make do with the reserved ones... Welcome to the jungle, and welcome to reality. How unfortunate, where caste plays a bigger role than merit. :( Oh country, my country, what has come of thou...

Sushil Verma,usa,says:If the Prime Minister of the country does not have confidence in the competence of Indian doctors, what kind of message it has for the people of the country.

K B Shahi FRCS,uk,says:There is nothing wrong in it. It does happen in all over the developed world. The cardiac surgeon who did our PM's operation has got special interest and experience of redo operation. He is the product of the same instition. He was the best in the eyes of PM and the institution. It does not mean degradation of our Institution from any standard.

My lessons in life- Aziz Premji

2009-05-22T14:15:00.000+05:30

Respond instead of reacting
=============================
I am very happy to be here with you. It is always wonderful to be withyoung people. The funny thing about life is that you realize the value of something only when it begins to leave you. As my hair turned fromblack, to salt and pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to realize the importance of youth.

At the same time, I have begun to truly appreciate some of the lessons I have learnt along the way. I hope you will find them useful when youplan your own career and life.

The first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with ourstrengths. From the earliest years of our schooling, everyone focuses on what is wrong with us. There is an imaginary story of a rabbit. Therabbit was enrolled in a rabbit school. Like all rabbits, it could hopvery well but could not swim. At the end of the year, the rabbit gothigh marks in hopping but failed in swimming. The parents wereconcerned. They said, "Forget about hopping. You are anyway good atit. Concentrate on swimming." They sent the rabbit for tuitions inswimming. And guess what happened? The rabbit forgot how to hop! As for swimming, have you ever seen a rabbit swim? While it is importantfor us to know what we are not good at, we must also cherish what isgood in us. That is because it is only our strengths that can give usthe energy to correct our weaknesses.

The second lesson I have learnt is that a rupee earned is of far morevalue than five found. My friend was sharing me the story of his eightyear-old niece. She would always complain about the breakfast. The cook tried everything possible, but the child remained unhappy.Finally, my friend took the child to a supermarket and brought one ofthose ready-to-cook packets. The child had to cut the packet and pourwater in the dish. After that, it took two minutes in the microwave to be ready. The child found the food to be absolutely delicious? Thedifference was that she has cooked it! In my own life, I have foundthat nothing gives as much satisfaction as earning our rewards. Infact, what is gifted or inherited follows the old rule of come easy, go easy. I guess we only know the value of what we have if we havestruggled to earn it.

The third lesson I have learnt is no one bats a hundred every time.Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the head. The moment it does, you arealready on your way to failure. And if you do encounter failure alongthe way,treat it as an equally natural phenomenon. Don't beat yourself for it or any one else for that matter! Accept it, look at your ownshare in the problem, learn from it and move on. The important thingis, when you lose, do not lose the lesson.

The fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility. Sometimes, when you get so much in life, you really start wonderingwhether you deserve all of it. This brings me to the value ofgratitude. We have so much to be grateful for. Our parents, ourteachers and our seniors have done so much for us that we can never repay them. Many people focus on the shortcomings, because obviouslyno one can be perfect. But it is important to first acknowledge whatwe have received. Nothing in life is permanent but when a relationshipends, rather than becoming bitter, we must learn to savour the memoryof the good things while they lasted.

The fifth lesson I learnt is that we must always strive forexcellence. One way of achieving excellence is by looking at those better than ourselves. Keep learning what they do differently. Emulateit. But excellence cannot be imposed from the outside. We must alsofeel the need from within. It must become an obsession. It mustinvolve not only our mind but also our heart and soul. Excellence is not an act but a habit. I remember the inspiring lines of a poem,which says that your reach must always exceed your grasp. That is heaven on earth. Ultimately, your only competition is yourself.

The sixth lesson I have learnt is never give up in the face of adversity. It comes on you suddenly without warning. One can eithersuccumb to self-pity, wring your hands in despair or decide to dealwith the situation with courage and dignity. Always keep in mind thatit is only the test of fire that makes fine steel. A friend of mine shared this incident with me. His eight-year old daughter wasstruggling away at a jigsaw puzzle. She kept at it for hours but couldnot succeed. Finally, it went beyond her bedtime. My friend told her,"Look, why don't you just give up? I don't think you will complete it tonight. Look at it another day." The daughter looked with a strangelook in her eyes,"But, dad, why should I give up? All the pieces arethere! I have just got to put them together!" If we persevere long enough, we can put any problem into its perspective.

The seventh lesson I have learnt is that while you must be open tochange, do not compromise on your values. Mahatma Gandhiji often saidthat you must open the windows of your mind, but you must not be swept off your feet by the breeze. You must define what your core values areand what you stand for. And these values are not so difficult todefine. Values like honesty, integrity, consideration and humilityhave survived for generations. Values are not in the words used to describe them as much as in the simple acts.

At the end of the day, it is values that define a person more than theachievements. Because it is the means of achievement that decide howlong the achievements will sustain. Do not be tempted by short cuts. The short cut can make you lose your way and end up becoming thelongest way to the destination. And the final lesson I learnt is thatwe must have faith in our own ideas even if everyone tells us that weare wrong. There was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude customer. Everymorning, the Customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting,grab the paper off the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. Thevendor would pick up the money, smile politely and say, "Thank you, Sir." One day, the vendor's assistant asked him, "Why are you alwaysso polite with him when he is so rude to you? Why don't you throw thenewspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow?" The vendor smiled and replied, "He can't help being rude and I can't help being polite. Whyshould I let his rude behaviour dictate my politeness?

In my youth, I thought of myself as a rebel and was many times, arebel without a cause. Today, I realize that my rebellion was another kind of conformity. We defined our elders to fall in line with ourpeers!

Ultimately, we must learn to respond instead of reacting. When werespond, we evaluate with a calm mind and do whatever is mostappropriate. We are in control of our actions. When we react, we arestill doing what the other person wants us to do. I wish you all thebest in your life and career.

I hope you achieve success in whatever way you define it and what gives you the maximum happiness in life.

"Remember, those who win are those who believe they can."

(Address by Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Corporation, in the "Shaping Young Minds Program" (SYMP) organized by the All India ManagementAssociation (AIMA) in collaboration with the Bombay ManagementAssociation (BMA) on February 9, 2004 at NCPA in Mumbai on " My Lessons in Life. )

What the hell

2009-05-20T11:54:00.001+05:30

For the past 2-3 days, my mobile phone can be only used as an alarm clock...

Because...my mobile doesn't have network.
Also I can't use my landline phone @ home to call anyone because though it has a dial tone..it is still not able to connect a call...
And I have to check my mails in office because the net @ home is not working...

The reason for all this-> MTNL employees are on strike.

Also elections now over, the power cuts are back again...before elections..when temperatures were touching 45...there was not a single power outage..and now at 40 degrees they claim that it's too hot so the consumption has increased..

Politicians ke ghar par power cut nahi hota..illegal colonies mein illegal power supply kabhi band nahi hoti...And it is ONLY the middle class people who have to bear the power cuts...

What the hell.

Elections 09: The Lessons

2009-05-16T13:53:00.002+05:30

Election ke din agar aap vote nahi kar rahe..to aap so rahe ho- Tata Tea's Jaago Re campaign

This is the second elections after I became eligible to vote, however couldn't vote in the State elections as I was im Goa...so for all practical purpose, this was the first time I was voting.

Though I have to admit, none of the people who were standing for elections came to campiagn..though there are some 900 houses inside Asiad Village. Though some Congress worker had come earlier to distribute calenders with photos of Sonia Gandhi and Ajay Makken (the guy who is standing from this area..)

But I still went to vote (though because it's a secret ballot I can't tell you whom I voted for :P). The polling booth was infact waliking distance from my place. And there wasn't much of a line...voted and came back.

But watching the news giving the polling percentage, it was actually a disappointing figure..till 3PM it was just 38% voting in Delhi...which increased to 53% when voting closed. That still means that nearly half the population did not vote.

The reasons for not voting included missing names from the voter lists to the holiday on voting day. In fact school vacations are also on. In UP, election was on a Thursday, Friday was a holiday. The Monday before the elections was a holiday too. And the Tuesday and Wednesday of the week was also declared as holiday for Government schools (citing the reason that the teachers have to be on Election duty on Thursday and they might have some last minute work..) So all in all the whole week was closed for school children and 2-3 days off for most of the population of the state. So which person will not take 1-2 days leave and enjoy 9 days of holidays..and jab 9 days ki chutti hogi...to koi ghar par to baithega nahi...sab ghoomne hi jayenge..I think its high time we stop giving a holiday on election day. Voting doesn't take an entire day...Vote and get to work..SIMPLE.

In all countries that have democracies...the majority of voters are the middle class. Not many uneducated people vote...however in India is the exact opposite. Also with such a large population working in MNC and staying in the same place as the one where their voter id were made. This means that they are not able to vote as opposed to they do not want to vote. The EC should seriously consider making the procedure for transferring a voter id from one place to another easy, hassle free and fast so that more middle class people vote.

And now when the counting has begun..we will see political parties getting down and dirty trying to woo smaller parties...but according to the trends..looks like Congress led UPA would be back in power...

ST@ST: The PS Still Continues...

2009-05-10T15:29:00.010+05:30

Somanchi has now become the joke supplier to the BITS_Trainees@ST... He got a little busy a few days back and was not sending any jokes. This resulted in decreased efficiency of our work. Mails flew around requesting Somanchi to send jokes and on a day when he was absent, here is a mail send by Mayank in sheer desperation ( inspired by 24)...

" Subject: RE:

Every Body This is Special Agent Jack Bauer.... It's a CODE RED ::: Put out an APB on SHASHANK SOMANCHI effective immediately...suspect is highly trained and heavily armed with jokes..Zero in on the suspect using laughing protection and extreme caution..USE NON-LETHAL FORCE suspect is to be taken into custody and ordered to release his 'biological weapon of mass construction' - his PJs into the ST Trainee List ASAP failing which he should be neutralized covertly. Consider all ST security personnel at your service. Redards, Agent Bauer(Mr. Anderson/Mayank Kr. Singh), Special Agent,Ex-CTU currently a trainee,STM.
"

Well PS still continues, and has such moments too...but it has become too drag now...maybe it has to do with the fact that its nearly 4 months now or the fact that we have been asked to start working on the final reports now.

Also another observation: My bus driver (see earlier posts tagged PS to know more about him) is similar to Michael Schumacher. Both of them love the rain to drive. Recently when there were rains in Delhi, and every vehicle was driving slow, our bus fellow got us home in record time, faster than any of the dry (as in not rainy :P) days..

Also had a gr8 start to the week..thanks to the news that Nimit, Meet, Lalit, and Prateek have got into BHEL in the second innings of BHEL Placement. Congrats to everyone who has made it…

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T14:27:00.004+05:30

Well It's mother's day...and I am at Faridabad, at my Grandparents place. And though the day doesn't seem much different from the rest of the days...because one can always take time out to tell your loved ones that you love them...

And yesterday I was watched Taare Zameen par (for the n th time now...) and this particular song still evokes the same emotion that it elicted the first time I heard it...

This one is dedicated to Mom with all the love in the world..

"

Main Kabhi Batlata Nahin

Par Andhere Se Darta Hoon Main Maa

Yun To Main,Dikhlata Nahin

Teri Parwaah Karta Hoon Main Maa

Tujhe Sab Hain Pata, Hain Na Maa

Tujhe Sab Hain Pata,,Meri Maa

Bheed Mein Yun Na Chodo Mujhe
Ghar Laut Ke Bhi Aa Naa Paoon Maa
Bhej Na Itna Door Mujkko Tu
Yaad Bhi Tujhko Aa Naa Paoon Maa
Kya Itna Bura Hoon Main Maa
Kya Itna Bura Meri Maa

Jab Bhi Kabhi Papa Mujhe
Jo Zor Se Jhoola Jhulate Hain Maa
Meri Nazar Dhoondhe Tujhe
Sochu Yahi Tu Aa Ke Thaamegi Maa

Unse Main Yeh Kehta Nahin
Par Main Seham Jaata Hoon Maa
Chehre Pe Aana Deta Nahin
Dil Hi Dil Mein Ghabraata Hoon Maa
Tujhe Sab Hai Pata Hai Naa Maa
Tujhe Sab Hai Pata Meri Maa

Main Kabhi Batlata Nahin
Par Andhere Se Darta Hoon Main Maa
Yun To Main,Dikhlata Nahin
Teri Parwaah Karta Hoon Main Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata, Hain Na Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata,Hain Na Maa
"

Love You Mom

This happens only in India..Part II

2009-05-06T15:58:00.003+05:30

It can only be in India that a terrorist can raise irrelevant issues and stall court proceedings against him.
Ajmal Qasab, the lone surviving terrorist is making a mockery of the justice system of the country. It has been more than 5 months after he was captured and all this time we couldn't start proceedings against him because he did not have a lawyer. Now when he has a lawyer, all he seems to be doing is delaying proceeding by claiming Qasab was a minor when he committed the crime to his cheeky demands for things like Flavored toothpaste, perfume and permission to walk outside his cell..

Next he might want to contest in the general elections here...

And talking of the elections, you have to be a Gandhi to do this in India. Talking to media persons yesterday, Rahul Gandhitalked about nepotism in Indian politics and he wanted it to end.

This coming from a politician whose parents, grandparents and great grandparents were all politicians and came into politics thanks to this 'Vanshvaad'. Now he talks of how bad it is for the country...Waah re India..

This happens only in India..

2009-04-29T11:48:00.003+05:30

It can only be in India that Salman Khan, who was himself, involved in a case of shooting a black buck and a case of drunken driving that even resulted in the death of a road dwellers will now appear in an advertisement against HIT and RUN accidents.

The message that Salman gives at the end of 90 second ad: Apni zimmedari se mat bhagiye. Responsible or zimmedar logon ki zaroorat hai iss desh ko (Don’t run away from your responsibility. This country needs responsible people).

Incidentally, the responsible guy Salman faced a jail term for 2 years for the accident and another term for 5 years for killing an endangered animal (this too can happen only in India, a jail term for killing an animal was more than that for killing a man...). Though he did not spend much time in jail for either offence.

Next they might want Varun Gandhi in an ad for Minority rights or Sanjay Dutt can act in an ad against keeping weapons at home...

Also after the number of queries regarding which team am I supporting in IPL II thanks to my status message today, well IPL II is nothing like IPL I, woh excitement nahi hai..but still I do watch some matches. The teams I am supporting are Deccan Chargers, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians. It is not that I like these teams very much, its just that I don't like Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight riders and Chennai Super Kings.
Sab relative hai :P

The truth behind Kandahar

2009-04-21T20:04:00.006+05:30

As the elections come nearer, the muck slinging increases too (and muck ke saath saath joote, chappal and 'Biryani') with BJP calling the Prime Minister weak and the UPA not being able to refute the claim trying to claim that BJP government was weak in dealing with terrorists during the Kandahar hijacking.

The UPA claims that they dealt with terrorists effectively because they sent the NSG to fight off the terrorists in 26/11. Now what did they want the BJP to do during 12/99.. send NSG to the hostile Taliban controlled Afghanistan to fight off the hijackers??

The UPA also seems to forget that 5 dreaded terrorists were let off in exchange for the daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the leader of PDP and ex-chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. And the Prime Minister at that time was VP Singh who was an ex-Congress member who left the Congress after the Bofors scandal in the Rajiv Gandhi Government. When they let of 5 terrorists in exchange for 1 hostage, Kandahar mein to around 200 the...

Anyways Somanchi came across an article in the Daily Pioneer, and since we were discussing it a few days back sent me the link too...check out the original story here. I know its a long article, but you can read it to know what really happened...

Was it really an ‘abject surrender’ by the NDA Government?

by Kanchan Gupta

There have been innumerable communal riots in India, nearly all of them in States ruled by the Congress at the time of the violence, yet everybody loves to pretend that blood was shed in the name of religion for the first time in Gujarat in 2002 and that the BJP Government headed by Mr Narendra Modi must bear the burden of the cross.

Similarly, nobody remembers the various incidents of Indian Airlines aircraft being hijacked when the Congress was in power at the Centre, the deals that were struck to rescue the hostages, and the compromises that were made at the expense of India’s dignity and honour. But everybody remembers the hijacking of IC 814 and nearly a decade after the incident, many people still hold the BJP-led NDA Government responsible for the ‘shameful’ denouement.

The Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi, designated IC 814, with 178 passengers and 11 crew members on board, was hijacked on Christmas eve, 1999, a short while after it took-off from Tribhuvan International Airport; by then, the aircraft had entered Indian airspace. Nine years later to the day, with an entire generation coming of age, it would be in order to recall some facts and place others on record.

In 1999 I was serving as an aide to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the PMO, and I still have vivid memories of the tumultuous week between Christmas eve and New Year’s eve. Mr Vajpayee had gone out of Delhi on an official tour; I had accompanied him along with other officials of the PMO. The hijacking of IC 814 occurred while we were returning to Delhi in one of the two Indian Air Force Boeings which, in those days, were used by the Prime Minister for travel within the country.Curiously, the initial information about IC 814 being hijacked, of which the IAF was believed to have been aware, was not communicated to the pilot of the Prime Minister’s aircraft. As a result, Mr Vajpayee and his aides remained unaware of the hijacking till reaching Delhi. This caused some amount of controversy later.

By the time our aircraft landed in Delhi, it was around 7:00 pm, a full hour and 40 minutes since the hijacking of IC 814. After disembarking from the aircraft in the VIP bay of Palam Technical Area, we were surprised to find National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra waiting at the foot of the ladder. He led Mr Vajpayee aside and gave him the news. They got into the Prime Minister’s car and it sped out of the Technical Area.

On our way to the Prime Minister’s residence, colleagues in the PMO provided us with the basic details. The Kathmandu-Delhi flight had been commandeered by five hijackers at 5:20 pm; there were 189 passengers and crew members on board; and that the aircraft was heading towards Lahore.

At the Prime Minister’s residence, senior Ministers and Secretaries had already been summoned for an emergency meeting. Mr Mishra left for the crisis control room that had been set up at Rajiv Bhavan. In between meetings, Mr Vajpayee instructed his personal staff to cancel all celebrations planned for December 25, his birthday. The Cabinet Committee on Security met late into the night as our long vigil began.

Meanwhile, we were informed that the pilot of IC 814 had been denied permission to land at Lahore airport. With fuel running low, he was heading for Amritsar. Officials at Raja Sansi Airport were immediately alerted and told to prevent the plane from taking off after it had landed there.

The hijacked plane landed at Amritsar and remained parked on the tarmac for nearly 45 minutes. The hijackers demanded that the aircraft be refuelled. The airport officials ran around like so many headless chickens, totally clueless about what was to be done in a crisis situation.Desperate calls were made to the officials at Raja Sansi Airport to somehow stall the refuelling and prevent the plane from taking off. The officials just failed to respond with alacrity. At one point, an exasperated Jaswant Singh, if memory serves me right, grabbed the phone and pleaded with an official, “Just drive a heavy vehicle, a fuel truck or a road roller or whatever you have, onto the runway and park it there.” But all this was to no avail.

The National Security Guards, whose job it is to deal with hostage situations, were alerted immediately after news first came in of IC 814 being hijacked; they were reportedly asked to stand by for any emergency. The Home Ministry was again alerted when it became obvious that after being denied permission to land at Lahore, the pilot was heading towards Amritsar.Yet, despite IC 814 remaining parked at Amritsar for three-quarters of an hour, the NSG commandos failed to reach the aircraft.

The hijackers, anticipating commando action, first stabbed a passenger, Rupin Katyal (he had gone to Kathmandu with his newly wedded wife for their honeymoon; had they not extended their stay by a couple of days, they wouldn’t have been on the ill-fated flight) to show that they meant business, and then forced the pilot to take off from Amritsar. With almost empty fuel tanks, the pilot had no other option but to make another attempt to land at Lahore airport. Once again he was denied permission and all the lights, including those on the runway, were switched off. He nonetheless went ahead and landed at Lahore airport, showing remarkable skill and courage.

Mr Jaswant Singh spoke to the Pakistani Foreign Minister and pleaded with him to prevent the aircraft from taking off again. But the Pakistanis would have nothing of it (they wanted to distance themselves from the hijacking so that they could claim later that there was no Pakistan connection) and wanted IC 814 off their soil and out of their airspace as soon as possible. So, they refuelled the aircraft after which the hijackers forced the pilot to head for Dubai.

At Dubai, too, officials were reluctant to allow the aircraft to land. It required all the persuasive skills of Mr Jaswant Singh and our then Ambassador to UAE, Mr KC Singh, to secure landing permission. There was some negotiation with the hijackers through UAE officials and they allowed 13 women and 11 children to disembark. Rupin Katyal had by then bled to death. His body was offloaded. His widow remained a hostage till the end.

On the morning of December 25, the aircraft left Dubai and headed towards Afghanistan. It landed at Kandahar Airport, which had one serviceable runway, a sort of ATC and a couple of shanties. The rest of the airport was in a shambles, without power and water supply, a trophy commemorating the Taliban’s rule.

On Christmas eve, after news of the hijacking broke, there was stunned all-round silence. But by noon on December 25, orchestrated protests outside the Prime Minister’s residence began, with women beating their chests and tearing their clothes. The crowd swelled by the hour as the day progressed.

Ms Brinda Karat came to commiserate with the relatives of the hostages who were camping outside the main gate of 7, Race Course Road. In fact, she became a regular visitor over the next few days. There was a steady clamour that the Government should pay any price to bring the hostages back home, safe and sound. This continued till December 30.

One evening, the Prime Minister asked his staff to let the families come in so that they could be told about the Government’s efforts to secure the hostages’ release. By then negotiations had begun and Mullah Omar had got into the act through his ‘Foreign Minister’, Muttavakil. The hijackers wanted 36 terrorists, held in various Indian jails, to be freed or else they would blow up the aircraft with the hostages.

No senior Minister in the CCS was willing to meet the families. Mr Jaswant Singh volunteered to do so. He asked me to accompany him to the canopy under which the families had gathered. Once there, we were literally mobbed. He tried to explain the situation but was shouted down.

“We want our relatives back. What difference does it make to us what you have to give the hijackers?” a man shouted. “We don’t care if you have to give away Kashmir,” a woman screamed and others took up the refrain, chanting: “Kashmir de do, kuchh bhi de do, hamare logon ko ghar wapas lao.” Another woman sobbed, “Mera beta… hai mera beta…” and made a great show of fainting of grief.

To his credit, Mr Jaswant Singh made bold to suggest that the Government had to keep the nation’s interest in mind, that we could not be seen to be giving in to the hijackers, or words to that effect, in chaste Hindi. That fetched him abuse and rebuke. “Bhaand me jaaye desh aur bhaand me jaaye desh ka hit. (To hell with the country and national interest),” many in the crowd shouted back. Stumped by the response, Mr Jaswant Singh could merely promise that the Government would do everything possible.

I do not remember the exact date, but sometime during the crisis, Mr Jaswant Singh was asked to hold a Press conference to brief the media. While the briefing was on at the Press Information Bureau hall in Shastri Bhavan, some families of the hostages barged in and started shouting slogans. They were led by one Sanjiv Chibber, who, I was later told, was a ‘noted surgeon’: He claimed six of his relatives were among the hostages.

Dr Chibber wanted all 36 terrorists named by the hijackers to be released immediately. He reminded everybody in the hall that in the past terrorists had been released from prison to secure the freedom of Ms Rubayya Sayeed, daughter of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, while he was Home Minister in VP Singh’s Government. “Why can’t you release the terrorists now when our relatives are being held hostage?” he demanded. And then we heard the familiar refrain: “Give away Kashmir, give them anything they want, we don’t give a damn.”

On another evening, there was a surprise visitor at the PMO: The widow of Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja, whose plane was shot down during the Kargil war. She insisted that she should be taken to meet the relatives of the hostages. At Race Course Road, she spoke to mediapersons and the hostages’ relatives, explaining why India must not be seen giving in to the hijackers, that it was a question of national honour, and gave her own example of fortitude in the face of adversity.

“She has become a widow, now she wants others to become widows. Who is she to lecture us? Yeh kahan se aayi?” someone shouted from the crowd. Others heckled her. The young widow stood her ground, displaying great dignity and courage. As the mood turned increasingly ugly, she had to be led away. Similar appeals were made by others who had lost their sons, husbands and fathers in the Kargil war that summer. Col Virendra Thapar, whose son Lt Vijayant Thapar was martyred in the war, made a fervent appeal for people to stand united against the hijackers. It fell on deaf ears.

The media made out that the overwhelming majority of Indians were with the relatives of the hostages and shared their view that no price was too big to secure the hostages’ freedom. The Congress kept on slyly insisting, “We are with the Government and will support whatever it does for a resolution of the crisis and to ensure the safety of the hostages. But the Government must explain its failure.” Harkishen Singh Surjeet and other Opposition politicians issued similar ambiguous statements.

By December 28, the Government’s negotiators had struck a deal with the hijackers: They would free the hostages in exchange of three dreaded terrorists — Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Omar Sheikh — facing various charges of terrorism.

The CCS met frequently, several times a day, and discussed the entire process threadbare. The Home Minister, the Defence Minister and the Foreign Minister, apart from the National Security Adviser and the Prime Minister, were present at every meeting. The deal was further fine-tuned, the Home Ministry completed the necessary paper work, and two Indian Airlines aircraft were placed on standby to ferry the terrorists to Kandahar and fetch the hostages.

On December 31, the two aircraft left Delhi airport early in the morning. Mr Jaswant Singh was on board one of them. Did his ministerial colleagues know that he would travel to Kandahar? More important, was the Prime Minister aware of it? The answer is both yes and no.

Mr Jaswant Singh had mentioned his decision to go to Kandahar to personally oversee the release of hostages and to ensure there was no last-minute problem. He was honour-bound to do so, he is believed to have said, since he had promised the relatives of the hostages that no harm would come their way. It is possible that nobody thought he was serious about his plan. It is equally possible that others turned on him when the ‘popular mood’ and the Congress turned against the Government for its ‘abject surrender’.

On New Year’s eve, the hostages were flown back to Delhi. By New Year’s day, the Government was under attack for giving in to the hijackers’ demand! Since then, this ‘shameful surrender’ is held against the NDA and Mr Jaswant Singh is painted as the villain of the piece.

Could the Kandahar episode have ended any other way? Were an Indian aircraft to be hijacked again, would we respond any differently? Not really. As a nation we do not have the guts to stand up to terrorism. We cannot take hits and suffer casualties. We start counting our dead even before a battle has been won or lost. We make a great show of honouring those who die on the battlefield and lionise brave hearts of history, but we do not want our children to follow in their footsteps.

We are, if truth be told, a nation of cowards who don’t have the courage to admit their weakness but are happy to blame a well-meaning politician who, perhaps, takes his regimental motto of ‘Izzat aur Iqbal’ rather too seriously.

Google Baba ki jai

2009-04-19T21:15:00.001+05:30

I tried out Google Analytics, which analyzes the traffic to any web page. I had applied it to my blog and it has given out a list of keywords that people searched to land on my blog. Here are some of those keywords.

(The Analytics page)

A few of them were okay and I could make out which post had they must have landed on...

(The ones which had something to do with BITS...)
-www.monginis.net
-bitsian status+blog / gtalk status available busy status (The GTALK post)
-pilani
-dean nattu
-www.bits exam for higher degree.com
-the acknowleagement
-bits pilani
-blogs related to bits pilani dlpd exams / bits dlpd exams papers / typical pass marks for bits -"dlpd" (thanks to the Invigilation of the DLPD exam that I had gone for)

And some of them which were not about BITS

-holika dehen time in delhi 2009
(Holi 2008)

-a blind man would be happy to see it / blind man
(The post about the BLIND MAN)

-are padma awards worthwhile
(Padmashree awards)

-quote good mornings / good morning quotes / lion and gazelle quote
(Good Morning Quotes)

-"kissa kursi ka" /
(Campus Elections)

-bas bhi karo
(On the tough life of EEE'ites at Goa )

-siachan
-reasons for leh air crash / air force crash leh
-khardungla pass in leh / army post in khardungla
(On the detailed LEH trip)

dsp assignment / assignment for dsp / dsp + assignment
(On THE DSP ASSIGNMENT)

captain anuj nayyar family / touching poem for a soldier
(On posts related to the Indian Army and Kargil)

delhi earth hour
(Self explainatory, the Earth Hour 2009 post)

dwarka fly overs acidents
(The accidents on the Dwarka Flyover in Delhi)

(One of most searched post has to be this- the post on my journey and Indian Railway)
side upper berths netravati express
rac ticket should confirm or not / can we cancel rac ticket / can we sit with a rac ticket
non confirmed tatkal ticket cancellation
how much do i get back it i cancel a tatkal ticket on wl
how much percentage these rac tickets are confirmed?
cancellation of tatkal reserved tickets / cancellation of tatkal tickets
coach krzyzewski "being on the train"
garib rath cancellation refund

However some keywords that I can't say much about...

-shashank tandon / boxer blog "life as i see it" / naya blog
-shashank aasan (No comments...)
-"shashank somanchi"(This has to be Somanchi..iske paas PS mein kuchh kaam nahi tha thode dino pehle tak to...According to him he has read about "Everything from Non Aligned movement to Origami")
-rajesh bhasin+bits (Yeh bhi Bhasin ne khud hi dhoonda hoge baith ke Google par)
-what did foodking sharath study in iim-a (For once, even I'd like to know the answer..)
-st microelectronics campus exam / st microelectronics + recession
-prabal sharma stanford
-bits goa site:blogspot.com
-utha timeline
-neeraj gadgil
-ravemzdin andhra/ravemzdin+blog/ravemzdin
-hot andhra chics bits pilani (yeh to Shubham ko hi dhoondte hue aaye honge :P)
-google analytics bitsaa.org
-my life line assignment
-ek choti si kahani (Simply NO COMMENTS...)

Dilli Darshan

2009-04-16T14:30:00.002+05:30

I have to admit...I have seen Rajasthan, Gujrat, the entire south, parts of Madhya Pradesh, Leh but I have not seen most places in Delhi properly (ticket le kar...history padh kar... ;) )

So last weekend, when one of our family friends were in Delhi, we planned to go and see India Gate and Qutub Minar (actually to show thier kids..). The last time I had gone to any of the monuments was in class III or something when we were in Delhi...

So after around 13 years...I went out on a proper Dilli Darshan...

1st stop: India Gate

And I have to admit, sirf India Gate ke saamne khade ho kar hi ek patriotism ki feeling aa jaati hai...Uske sirf dekh ke hi ek PROUD feeling aati hai INDIAN hone ki...

2nd stop: Qutub Minar

To think that this monument is within 10 km from my place and I have never seen it. Quite a lot of history about this place too...the area includes the Iron Pillar, a mosque, a couple of tombs and an unbuilt Minar which was planned to be twice the Qutub Minar. Anyways we spent some time sitting in the lush green lawns, then had lunch at Andhra Bhavan and then headed back home.

However a fortnight hasn't passed since the Earth Hour wherein Delhi switched off lights at Qutub Minar too...well the next pic shows the reality- At 11 AM in the morning, most of the flood lamps at Qutub area were on. Ek ghante to band kar li..jab karni chahiye tab ON padhi hai lights...Waah re Dilli...

And yoyo after finally 8 months of using a keyboard without a spacebar and a partially working 'y' key, I now have a new keyboard. :D

PS: I have not written this post now (during office hours..), it is just scheduled to be published now :P

40.2

2009-04-15T12:49:00.001+05:30

Well That was yesterday's maximum temperature at Delhi(the highest till now for the season)...It is just mid April, but the mercury is already sky high...Pata nahi baki Summers mein kya haal hoga...

Today I also managed to observe a few more numbers since I wasn't feeling sleepy in the morning (Only God knows the why and how..) and did not go off to sleep in the bus. I observed that our bus driver took 13 minutes to cover the 5-6 km of travelling in Delhi from my stop (South Ex-1) + 6 km of the DND Flyway + waiting + paying the toll at DND too..
Further he covered the 23 km of Noida-Greater Noida Expressway + 4-5 km within Greater Noida in 30 minutes... No wonder he is one of the fastest drivers at ST. USki bhi galti nahi...our bus covers the route from Greater Noida to Gurgaon via Delhi (one of the longest route that any ST bus covers)..agar fast nahi chalayega..to din bhar road par hi hoga..

And another number info for you. My PS Diary for this week has been written in 5 minutes and 40 seconds flat.(because we were suddenly told that she was coming today..)

Me off to get my PS diary signed now..CYAO

Media or Hype

2009-04-09T15:25:00.001+05:30

Well, in the recent times, both have come to mean the same thing. The media is supposed to act as a watchdog in the working of the government. The media needs to act responsibly and give us news.

A few of the news items on news in the past few days that have really irritated me. Just go through them. I am sure you too will know what I am trying to say...

When Sanjay Dutt/Mayanta was asked in some news interview (I don't remember which channel) that whilst Mayanta had changed her name after her marriage to Dutt, Sanjay's sister Priya Dutt retained her name after marriage. Sanjay Dutt gave his personal views on this statement "I would have been angry (or something) if my wife would not have changed her name after marriage". (This is not the exact comment but it meant the same)..
Bas when this interview was aired, this comment became national news on both TV and print media. Everyone from the National Commission for Women to celebrities was very keen to give their "expert" opinion on the topic. Delhi Times asked readers for their comments on this news item. Even viewers were divided. The "comment of the issue" however as expressed by some guy from Delhi who wrote "Meri wife mera sir name rakhne na rakhe…kisi ke baap ka kya jaa raha hai..Aap ke paas koi kaam ki news nahi hai kya??".

Another issue that did not deserve the airwaves it got was the recent by-pass surgery which our PM Dr. Manmohan Singh underwent at AIIMS. AIIMS is close to where I stay and the 4-5 days the PM was in the hospital, a lot of media vans were parked around the place literally creating traffic snarls on the 6 lane Ring Road. 2-4 log to ambulances mein hi mar gaye honge Hospital pahuchne se pehle..but why would the media be bothered about that. They had much more pressing issues at hand. Thanks to the omnipresent media people, every one in the country knew what our PM had for breakfast, lunch and dinner the few days he was in hospital, who all came to meet the PM (and if these visitors were willing enough, we also knew what they discussed with him). Everybody also came the exact procedure of a by-pass surgery (again thanks to the media people who caught hold of some cardiologist from some hospital in Delhi who explained the detailed why and how of a by-pass surgery. (bas 2-4 mantriyon ka aur bypass ho jaaye to sab ghar mein hi by-pass surgery kana shuru kar denge :P)

Somewhat similar to the recent "news", another news item that caught the country's attention was the shoulder surgery that Shahrukh Khan underwent. The media was in overdrive, interviewing him before the surgery and afterward too, and in the middle coming out with an entire time line of ''The day SRK was operated." Starting from when he landed in India (from London..as we came to know thanks to the media) to when he slept off after surgery. Also next day the whole country knew that he had Khichdi and curd for dinner after the surgery. However my question is – why do we need to know what he did during the day or how would it have made a difference to the country if he would have had Tandoori Chicken instead of Khichdi.

But recently the media broke all limits A few days ago there was a small news item about a girl from Noida whose ex-boyfriend had passed around a MMS of the girl, who had stripped off on camera. The news got the space it deserved, somewhere on page 5 or 6. However a bunch of hardworking media people from Media Today went an extra mile to get hold of the clip from somewhere. Also the next day's newspaper had a 2 page article with screen shots of the clip. She should have thought about the MMS leaking when she made it. Though she would never, even in her wildest dreams have imagined seeing it in the papers.

Another item that I couldn't leave out was the Chand-Fiza story. When Haryana CM Bhajan Lal's son converted to Islam to marry (for the second time) a ranking official of Haryana Government, it was on the news. When he suddenly disappeared from his house, the whole country knew. When his wife Fiza attempted suicide, the country immediately knew. When an FIR was issued against him by his wife, and now when he divorced her through SMS, it was half a page news with media people asking Muslim clerics whether divorce via SMS is valid or not...but my question is how does the extensive coverage of such piece of news affect the common man in any way??

Till a few years back, journalism was a very respected career and journalists were considered brave people who traveled to unknown places to report the happenings/events. Travel to aaj bhi kar rahe hai, but maybe they are looking at the wrong places or wrong news...

But I guess its not the fault of the media too. Everybody seems to have opened a 24 hour news channel, and to increase the TRP's the media people have to search for news and this is a major reason that every small bit of news is made out to be an earth shattering news. All channels now come with experts for everything...a couple of political analyst, some ex-players of each sport to discuss the sporting events etc.

There is no news left now, it has become pure sensationalization...Most news items on TV now come with their own background score with the music completely in-sync with the news. The tone of the narrator also adds to the whole effect. If it's a murder the music is spooky in a bid to try to scare the audience. If its a show throwing incident ( like there was a new attack on Navin Jindal today), woh 10 seconds ki clip is repeated n times and news people show all previous show throwing incidents starting from George Bush. In-fact each news item now seems to be straight out of a Bollywood flick with a complete storyline, actors and music.

It's high time the media realized that they have to act responsibly, have to raise issues which affect the citizens of the country...and not just any piece of news sensationalized to suit their needs for TRP. We just need a bit of NEWS...nothing more.

Maybe after the public awareness for politics...they will realize the hype that media creates and do something about it too..

Bakwas Research

2009-04-09T15:22:00.004+05:30

Research has shown that Mondays and Fridays (or in general days that start and end the working week) are the least productive days. Wednesday is the most productive day and Tuesday 11:52 AM is the most stressful time of the week.. :O

Logo ke paas kitna time has aisi RESEARCH karne ka..

Waise its Thursday today, tommorow is a holiday for Good Friday and I don't feel like working too..and that is the reason I am going through such research results...

I also went through this link..you can check it out too.. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/rupeesurvey.cms

Earth Hour 2009 - In Pictures

2009-04-02T16:17:00.000+05:30

Click on the images to see them fade. (From 2nd image onwards)
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/earth_hour_2009.html

Irony of life

2009-04-01T10:57:00.006+05:30

The footwears that we wear are sold in AC showrooms but vegetables that we eat are sold on footpath.

If you need them, Police or Ambulance can't reach you even in an hour but Pizza is delivered in 25 minutes...

where are we headed??

PS: This post is partly inspired by Upneet's status message and partly my own lack of work...

Earth Hour 09

2009-03-28T18:33:00.008+05:30

Well, Today the world will shut down all unnecessary lights for an hour in support of the Earth Hour 2009.

A great step, where individuals, societies, and corporates will shut down unnecessary electrical appliances as an expression of their resolve against climate change.

(That's GOOGLE supporting the Earth Hour)

A lot of statistics for the Earth hour 2007 and 2008 show how much electricity would be saved . According to the statics in Times of India published today, during the 2007 event which began in Sydney that year Energy consumption reduced by 10 2% for one hour which has an equivalent of taking 48000 cars off the road for a year. In the 2008 hour which saw participation of more than 400 cities lso reduced consumption by huge amounts.

BUT can we really save the world by switching off lights for one day (actually 1 hour)???

The best example of blatant wastage of electricity that I have seen would definitely be my neighbor's room in the campus (none other than Shree Shree Ankit Govil-for all those who don't know about him can know more about him here ) . He had this real irritating habit of leaving the light and fan and laptop on even during the long hours that he wasn't in his room (for obvious reasons!!!) .We even tripped the electricity to his room in anger, but he didn't change much .The only time his lights were off were when he pretended to sleep and was busy chatting .Sometimes he even left it on when he went off to sleep .Ab isse zyaada kya wastage.

Well that was just an example, but you can see wastage of natural resources everywhere. From the lights on the roads that are lighted all during the day to the wastage at shops and malls etc The justification is same-"We are paying for it why shouldn't we use as much as we want??". I think these people would give the same justification even when there will be no electricity left??

Why do we just switch off electricity only for one hour on only one day of the year...baki 364.25 days ka kya???

Think about it

Life @ ST : Aaj ka joke...

2009-03-26T20:21:00.003+05:30

Aaj ka joke courtesy Ranjot..(original source unknown..)

Pehle Ali Baba aur 40 chor the...

ab sirf Ali baba aur 30 chor bache hai....kyon??
.
.
.
socho socho...

socho socho...

socho socho...

think yaar..kafi aasan hai...

socho socho...

socho socho...

socho socho...
.
.
.
.
Well the answer is

Recession yaar...Cost cutting :P

You might be an Engineer if

2009-03-24T21:08:00.002+05:30

You might be an engineer if you prefer the phrase

' there [are/can be] n number of [ways/reasons/possibilities/...]'

over

'there [are/can be] [many/several] [ways/reasons/possibilities/...]'

Courtesy: the status message of Rishi Mathur, one of my PS mate @ ST.

Elections 2009

2009-03-22T16:41:00.003+05:30

Well...its election season and yesterday some Congress people had come to our house (we thought they had come to campaign...aur mere hostel ki yaddein tazaa ho gayi)..but they just gave us a calender with photos of Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and a third person who I assume to be the MLA from Hauz Khas constituency. That was most probably the first and the last time we have seen the faces of our representatives for the next 5 years.

And again in the evening there was an ad for Congress Party on the TV. It was a completely LOL ad. The achievements of Congress it showed were

1) It showed a black and white video of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru unfurling the national flag at Red Flag. It also announced that Congress was the party that got us independent. They forgot to mention that Congress was the only party that existed at that time...and people who didn't believe in the Congress idealogy had no other party to go to....

2) Another clipping of Mahatama Gandhi with his Chakra. He was also a party member. Again trying to take credit for independence of India.

3) Indira Gandhi with the slogan 'Garibi Hatao'..though even after so many Congress governments at the centre they haven't been able to reduce the 'Garibi'.

And that was all....uske baad ki koi achievement nahi..koi kisi ka naam nahi....Maybe there is no achievement they can show or no great leader since Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi....

And the party that is trying to project itself as the party of the youth has no achievement since 1980's. Yeh hamare desh to aage badhayenge.....what a joke.

A song for those good old days..

2009-03-21T22:43:00.001+05:30

Aaj aise hi purane gaane sun raha tha..aur yeh bahut hi apt gaana aaya...

Dil Dhoondta hai..phir wahi fursat ke raat din...

Monday to friday subah 9-5:30 tak office aur phir ek aad ghante ki travelling...srsly miss those days in the campus..agar aur kisi cheez ke liye nahi...to sirf is liye ki aaram se so to sakte the...kya chilled out life thi woh...

Maut ka Flyover

2009-03-20T14:22:00.000+05:30

Wells that is what the media has dubbed the Dwarka flyover...

And in the past few days there have been a spate of accidents on the flyover that connects Dwarka suburb to the rest of the city...And after 7 people have died in 6 days on this flyover...it does seem to justify the name...until you pause to think whether these accidents are cause due faulty construction of the flyover only.

Even media seems to be divided on the issue. While one of the TV channels lead a tirade against DDA, the Delhi Development Authority, which has built the flyover for making only 2 lanes on the flyover while another channel blamed it on speeding(which happens to be a more correct conclusion).

I lived in Dwarka before we shifted to this place and it was while we were there that the flyover was being built. The flyover was built over the heavily populated Palam village. They had demolish houses too close to the main road in Palam which was actually just a single road in each direction. So how is it DDA's fault that they could not get the state government to allow them to demolish more houses. They had to make it over the existing road...which is what happens on most flyovers.

The channel also blamed the DDA for not putting enough signboards to warn motorists about the turns. They also pointed out that there were no cat eyes at the edge of the roads on these turns. They now want the DDA to build speed breakers near the curve, thus indirectly agreeing to the fact that if the motorists slow down they will be be safe. Also, the last time I had visited Dwarka, there were cat eyes on the curves, though some of them might not have been working. But there are enough signboards warning motorists about the dangerous curves and telling them to slow down.

And when DDA has given the speed limit as 30 kmph on the flyover because of the curves, are they at fault if people don't follow them.

The media also blamed the DDA for building the side of the flyover which were not very high. Now if that media team has never seen a flyover before and don't realize the the sides are built of a standard height. Then how is it that they feel that only the walls of this particular flyover are low??

The second channel blames it on speeding, and in a innovative way of proving that driving at 50 kmph on the flyover is safe. One of their reporters drove on the flyover at a constant 50 kmph and did not come even close to skidding...That also proves that the accidents definately happened to bikers who were much above the speed limit...not just the one given by DDA for the flyover, but also the overall speed limit for Delhi.

Another channel laid out the blueprints of a lot of flyovers in Delhi and was busy telling viewers how many of them were unsafe and not correctly built...Well...should the Government break them all down??

And when there are so many accidents on straight streches of road...because of over speeding... And most of the vehicles being built these days...you don't even realize how fast the vehicle is going...a speed of 80-90 kph also seems like 50-60 kph. And if you drive at 50 kph in Delhi...which is very rare considering the number of traffic jams that occur in the city...you will soon realize that everyone(incl the autos) is overtaking your vehicle..And then most people feel ki jab koi speed limit nahi follow nahi kar raha to why should I??

You also need to see how beneficial it has been for the lakhs of people who stay in Dwarka.I still remember during our boards, we used to take a margin of an hour when going for the exam before the flyover was built.There was no surity of when the railway crossing (over which the flyover is built) would open.Now its a comfortable life...

I am not saying that only those bikers were at fault, but then if you over speed at any curve, you can skid and crash and the curves on the flyover are no different...thats the only conclusion I can draw from the whole incidents.

PS at ST: The StarCast

2009-03-17T15:06:00.004+05:30

Well..it has been a couple of months since PS II started...and ab to sab logo se jaan-pehchan ho gayi hai..And like minded people have ganged up now..So I thought I'll introduce you to some of the friends I have made @ PS.

KP aka KumarPrashant-I think KP was one of the first guys I had met when I had joined Goa...College mein to zyaada interaction nahi tha...but PS mein to khoob acchi dosti ho gayi hai...KP ke mast waale funde hi generally hamara breakfast time ka discussion hota hai.

Somanchi aka Shashank Somanchi-My namesake, he is by far the quietest guy among all BITS trainees. Campus mein we lived in the same corridor and there too...he was the quietest one. I still remember the late night movies in Abhay's room and in the middle (a half asleep) Somanchi coming in and requesting us to reduce the volume...
I think he is the reason that afternoons mein ST mein neend nahi aati...because we keep mailing each other the entire afternoon and our conversation generally begin with "I am feeling damn sleepy...Whats up at ur end??"

Akshat-He was the sole reason ki hamara Embedded System Design ka project complete ho paaya tha..3 baje bande ki train thi..aur 11 baje bhi bhai lab mein baith kar project complete kar raha tha..I think that gives you a fair idea of this guys dedication.
Aaj kal to zara Gymming-shimming chal rahi hai...aur ST ke LAN par mast links with lots of movies dhoond kar bhi share kar raha hai.

Sanket Jain aka Sankat-You have to hear his PJ's...bilkul below poverty line wale. Breakfast ho ya lunch ya Lunch ke baad Sanket Jain ke phatte sun full time on.There is no way that you will not laugh at his jokes.
Both of us are in the same group, so kisi ki bhi treat hoti hai to hum dono ko bas ek doosre ka sahara hota hai...And because me, Sanket, Rishi and Krishna share a pantry so we keep meeting between meals too...

Rishi-Ab iske baare mein kya boloon-he is the only guy from Pilani who has been placed in Cosmic Semiconductors(Agar aap BITS waale ho, then you surely know what I am talking about). A guy with a great sense of humour, he can match each of Sanket's joke with one of his own.

Mayank-This guy is also Sanket's roommate, subah shaam Sanket ke phatte sunta hai. Thoda asar to hota hi hai..though PS mein sabse tough life inhi ki hai..he stays back at ST till 7:30 PM to work everyday. Shaam mein ek din inhone socha ki Gym jaen thodi der. Waha pahuchne se pehle hi inke mentor ka phone aa gaya and his mentor tells him "Where are you..itni lambi break le li hai Next time I will not call you up, I will directly call your PS instructor.." Well uske baad se Mayank bhai se GYM ki shakal bhi nahi dekhi hai..

Ankit Agarwal aka ANkitag (Thanks to his ST internal mail ID)-Well, inke baare mein aap samajh jaoge when I tell you that he was the one who had written the acknowledgement I had posted in the last post. Jab Sanket missing hota hai, to uski kami Ankit poori karte hai. Yeh bhai ab to employees ko kisi tool ki training de rahe hai..

Sudipt-Iske baare mein kya kahoon after all he is the man who has got calls from all 6 IIMS. Inke mentor ne inhe kaam de diya hai and a deadline of 2 months..aur keh diya hai ki usse pehle mere paas mat aana...agar pehle bhi khatam ho jaaye to bhi mat aana.

KrishnaMohan aka krishna-Another IIM guy he has got 3-4 IIM calls and he is also Sanket and Mayank's roommate. Even after 3 years at Pilani, his Hindi is a gone case..And one of the very few people I know who doesn't eat potatoes...I can't imagine how he survived in Pilani for the last three years.

Ritesh and Ranjot-One of my school friend at Pilani has told me earlier that two of his good friends had also got ST...so they were two PS mates from Pilani who I knew before the first day atPS. They have breakfast at PG so we generally meet them at lunch.And Ritesh is one of the 8 people from BITS who has got an admit from Stanford..PRO banda hai...

And whenever we sit down together for a meal, it feels like sitting down at the campus mess..and not just because the plates are similar, but because wahi harkaten karte hai...wahi ek doosre ki taang kheechna...wahi ek doosre ka din kaisa raha uski kahaniyan sun na aur bade bade plans banana.
.
.
And that sometimes makes me feel nostalgic remembering the things that these are the same things that we used to do at Goa too...in fact mealtimes used to be the best times of the day for having animated conversations, Ankit Govil ko mess ke across chilla ke taang kheechna..and ek doosre ke mast wale funde sun na.

Ab bas table aur table par baithne waale different hai...waqt...bas waqt badal gaya hai...aur kucch nahi...

(but don't worry bhai log...phir waise hi baith ke timepass karenge kabhi...)

ST.ST: The Acknowledgement

2009-03-16T14:33:00.014+05:30

Well, its time to start working on the mid-semester PS reports, infact at ST, we were told to complete the report before the week long closing at our PS...but hum bhi to true BITSians hai...on the last working day..out of the 25 people a ST, only a minority had even started working on the report...

Jaise hume bola gaya tha ki sabko thank karna hai acknowledgement mein...but ek bhai saab ne isse literally hi le liya hai...One of the creative guys at the PS came up with an great acknowledgement page (sabko thanks kara hai usne ;) )

Check it out (btw I have removed names of company people and PS faculties from the report to protect their privacy :P )

“

Acknowledgment

My sincere thanks go to the many people at ST Microelectronics, Noida who helped and encouraged me during my time within their department. In particular --------------, Director, India Design Centre as well as Dean PSD, for giving me the opportunity to work with the ST team in India. I am grateful to Co-ordinator of the PS program at ST for facilitating the smooth conduction of the PS II program.

I offer my sincerest gratitude to my supervisors who have supported me throughout my training program with their patience and knowledge whilst allowing me the room to work in my own way. I attribute the level of my Bachelors degree to their encouragement and effort and without them this report, too, would not have been completed or written.

I am indebted to my PS II faculty, who evaluated my work at ST from time-to-time. Also, ---------------- and others at ST, for their willing support, advice, and hard work in many aspects of organizing and conducting the WiCkeD workhop.

In my daily work I have been blessed with a friendly and cheerful group of fellow students. Sanket Jain, Kumar Prashant, Shashank Tandon and Rishi Mathur and others have provided good arguments about Analog Circuit Analysis and helped me regain some sort of fitness: healthy body, healthy mind. Kumar Prashant often made sure none of us starved and none of us went thirsty (or sober). Sanket Jain kept us entertained with his huge repertoire of anecdotes and stories. Rishi Mathur amused us with his dry wit. ------------- has impressed me with his willingness to learn how to use Virtuoso Schematic Editor which I now consider to be in his capable hands. He also kept me on my theoretical toes with her questions.

Beyond Electronics (which sometimes seemed to be nothing more than a distant dream) -------------and ---------------- have been companiable housemates for many weeks as well as colleagues and possesses the greatest quality in housemates. Thanks chaps, keep up the good work.

Finally, I thank my parents and siblings for supporting me throughout all my studies at BITS.
"
Ping me to know the name of the great guy who has written this Acknowledgment. :P

Things I am missing most

2009-03-13T19:22:00.003+05:30

Vishal has written a mast waali post about the things he is missing about college...

check out the post here

Jaane do

2009-03-02T20:30:00.000+05:30

Aaj bahut dino baad radio par yeh gaana suna...has been one of my favorites...simple lyrics and simple music...and about things that generally happen to normal guys...

Jaane do by Agosh

Choti si baat ko dil mein lagao kyu
Jaane do
Jaane do

Choti si baat ko dil mein lagao kyu
Jaane do
Jaane do
Itni si baat pe aasma hillaao kyu
Jaane do
Jaane do
Jindagi haseen hai mastiyo ka scene hai
Gadbadi jo hogi to hogi, jaane do
Jindagi haseen hai mastiyo ka scene hai
Gadbadi jo hogi to hogi, jaane do
Socha socha kahe ko kosana
Vo kisi ki car mein bait kar chali gayi
Jaane do
Jaane do
Choti si baat ko dil mein lagao kyu
Jaane do
Jaane do

Garmiyo ki chutiya sardiyo ki chutiya
Holiday home work, jaane do
Vo haseen ho gayi hum jaawan ho gaye
Phir bhi na team work, jaane do
Heh hey hey hey
Soch lo baby
Meri mano aur jaane do na
Heh hey hey hey
Dekh lo baby
Phir phechano aur jaane do na
Sochna sochna baalo ko nochana
Kyu, to
IIT exam mein funde gol ho gaye
Jaane do
Jaane do
Choti si baat ko dil mein lagao kyu
Jaane do
Jaane do

Ladkiyo ka rootna aapne dil ka tootna
Kismeto ka footna , jaane do
Aur phir ministero se lekar thanedaro tak
Sabka humko lootna, jaane do
Heh hey hey hey
Soch lo baby
Meri mano aur jaane do na
Heh hey hey hey
Dekh lo baby
Dil mein thano aur jaane do na
Sochna sochna baalo ko nochana
Kyu, are
Jisse pyar tha kabhi
Uski shadi ho gayi,
Jaane do
Jaane do
Choti si baat ko dil mein lagao kyu
Jaane do
Jaane do

Jindagi haseen hai mastiyo ka scene hai
Gadbadi jo hogi to hogi, jaane do
Jindagi haseen hai mastiyo ka scene hai
Gadbadi jo hogi to hogi, jaane do
Socha socha kahe ko kosana
Vo kisi ki car mein baith kar chali gayi
Jaane do
Jaane do
Choti si baat ko dil mein lagao kyu
Jaane do
Jaane do

A bit about the band 'AGOSH' :
In 1994, two Mechanical Engineers from Roorkee(Shaleen & R. Anandh) and a Chennai-based mathematics graduate dropped dreaming dreams; they sipped ``chai'' but were drunk on music. After some firm handshakes, a band was born. Mechanics and Mathematics went out the window. The trio broke their studious cover and with lyrics based on "typical-middle class mentality" formed a music studio called "Aqua Regia" (chemically speaking, its three parts hydrochloric acid, one part nitric acid and dissolves GOLD). They renamed themselves as 'AGOSH' n then came out with an album named 'Paisa'.

ST@ST:The Exam

2009-02-27T18:42:00.000+05:30

"
The first half an hour of the exam passed quickly...
The next 1 hour was really boring...boring because mere paas kuchh karne ke liye nahi tha..
The last half an hour also passed quickly looking at my watch..
"

Before you start imagining that I had gone without any preparation for some exam...and even before you start thinking which exam was I busy giving in my PS sem (when all competitive exams for MBA are over..), let me tell you that I wasn't giving the exam..I was just INVIGILATING :P
.
.
.
A few weeks ago, our PS instructor visited our PS. Before he came, he had asked all those of us who lived in Delhi to mail him our addresses. We had already given him our addresses once,so we weren't sure why he wanted it again.

When he came on Thursday, he told us that the DLPD exam would be held all over the country that weekend. Also they required students who would invigilate the exam. Not many were willing till he told us that we would be paid 1000 bucks for 4 hours on each day. Well,both KP and me stay real close to the school where the exam was to be conducted, so we both volunteered. Sanket, who stays in Noida was also keen on coming.

So, on Saturday we reached the venue at 9:30 AM. We were given a bundle of answer sheets and an attendance sheet and told to go to any of the classroom. We were told not to allow any cheating. :|

We entered the classroom, and it seemed as both the opponents were sizing each other. Some of the students (who happened to be professionals working in the industry) were trying to judge whether I would allow cheating I was trying to guess which of these people who try to cheat. Anyways, while taking the attendance sheet around, I saw the hall tickets of the examinees who came from all over...there were people from small companies to team leaders from Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra, Alcatel, Cadence, ST, Border Roads Organization, a scientist C from NPL and even a scientist E from DRDO. :O

Anyways most of the people were okay..but there were some who had either becomes friends while waiting outside the exam hall or had come from the same company. They were the people who were trying very hard to cheat. I vividly remember three middle aged fellows (they must have been in their early 30's..) who had come from Gandhinagar. They tried all possible means to cheat, but they couldn't manage much.

Each exam was for 2 hours. In the class that I was invigilating in, students were sitting in alternate seats for 4 different papers (BITS waalon ne poori koshish kari thi ki cheating naa ho paaye ;) ).One of the paper was of Embedded System (wahi course jo hamne bhi last sem mein kiya tha...aur uske baad se kisi ko bhi woh course lena recommend kiya hai abhi tak ). Well, I was curious ki Embedded Sys ka level kya hai. Though I had heard (that too from a faculty) that the level of the DLPD papers were abysmal and that people got numbers just for writing anything...the actuality of it did shock me...The paper was damn easy (itne aasan mein to Krap ko bhi sharam aa jaati ...which is saying a lot...considering the fact that hamare paper mein ...in a class with average CGPA above 9, the average in the T1 and T2 was single digits (and yes I was below average CG in the class.)). The paper consisted of 5 question. In the first question only a flowchart was to be made. In the second question the students had to write the differences between SRAM,DRAM or something. In the third question ek system (jo hame poora design karna tha) uska sirf batana tha ki kya components lagenge and kaise connect honge.

Embedded was a very complicated paper for them. Even Maths I seemed to them what Numal or DSP felt to me (kuchh samajh mein hi nahi aata tha ki kya ho raha hai..aur kyon ho raha hota tha :| ). A student, appearing for Maths I left the cass within 18 minutes of the exam starting. And out of the entire paper (5 or 6 questions), three questions were on matrices. And I saw most of the people struggling with questions like finding out the inverse of the matrix. And out of the 8 people out of 24 in my class who left the exam hall within the first 45 minutes, 6 of the people were appearing for Maths I paper.

Elsewhere when Sanket tried to stop 2 girls from cheating in his class. one of the girl rudely rebutted him with "Aap lo jab industry mein aaoge to aapke interview hum hi to lenge..Agar aap ka chehra yaad reh gaya to dekh lenge ".Sanket later told us that this statement really made his head swim for some time. We told him he should have told them "Yeh papers check hone to Pilani hi jayenge naa Agar aap ka naam yaad reh gaya to phir dekhte hai ki number kaise aate hai tumhare.".(This part of the story later.)

Well..after the exams finshed, me, KP, Sanket and Kiran bhai (he's an ME student from Pilani) went to Ansal Plaza that was close to the exam centre.Thoda time wahin timepass kiya..and then we all headed back home.

I guess I must have done a good job on Saturday..because on Sunday morning, when I entered the same class which I was in on Saturday..kuchh logo ke chehre to utar hi gaye (which included the 3 guys from Gandhinagar too). I and KP had gone togeher because akele kafi bor hue the 1st day hum log.
.
.
Anways a few observations regarding DLP that I made

I just knew the full form form of the DL part was Distance learning, uske aage ke alphabets ka full form ussi din pata laga-for those who still don't know, its Distance Learning Programme Division.

The papers go to different faculty in Pilani to be checked (and they are paid extra for that too). They generally don't have time and in turn pass on the papers to people doing research or doctorate under them who in turn pass it on to higher degree students doing projects under them for a not-so-small amount of money.This I know because some of the higher degree people doing thier PS with us have in fact checked the copies. Also the payment is directly proportional to the number of copies checked and number of questions in the paper.The amount is inversely proportional to the level it has come down. The
prof at the top of the chain gets an amount X. The Phd student gets a percentage of that amount and the student gets a part of the amount the Phd student gets.

Also the people checking the papers are told the give marks liberally so that nobody flunks (again as told by a faculty).This fact became clearer when one person who on both days had left the exam hall within the first hour told me on Sunday that he had a CGPA above 8 5 (Shit even I couldn't manage that. :| )

There were also some people who genuinely worked hard A guy from Samsung told us that he had mailed the doubts he had to the e-mail id they had been told, However there was no reply reagrding his dooubts.Shayad Pilani ko bhi koi interest nahi hai..

One of the PS instructors was more direct, he did say ki "sab level dilute kar diya hai DLP se..."

Well..invigilate karne par paise(actually Rupees :P) bhi milte hai.We were told we would be getting 1000 bucks.Which was half truth.We were actually made to sign a receipt of Rs 1600.When we asked that why was this being done the person sitting there gave some shitty reason. It seems that the particular school was not taking a cheque for the services being rendered (to save some tax it seems). So Pilani showed in its records that it had paid every invigilator Rs 1600(on paper). And the 600 it saved on that was used to pay that amount to the school. My question is that Pilani payed the school in black (i.e. non taxable money).I am sure that Pilani could have found some other school...jaha aisa kuchh nahi karna padhta.

I still don't understand how a higher degree from BITS Pilani that says Distance learning is going to help a Scientist E from DRDO in any way..or anybody of them for that matter.

Uss degree ki koi VALUE hai bhi???

ST@ST: Moments

2009-02-24T22:57:00.000+05:30

As most of you have probably realized, PS II is not all about work. Thodi der kaam karo, uske baad break leni hi padhti hai..

And at ST, the trainees are not supposed to have any net access, but some mentors save their passwords for net access…but unfortunately mere ko manuals hi padhni thi..so net access ki zaroorat nahi padi hai :( . To abhi tak net access maang nahi paaya hoon.

Anyways we use the internal mail that has been provided to us- for chatting…Consider these snippets of our conversation.
Rishi
@krish: Oh my god, working so seriously :O
@others: kya baat hai, kya baat hai
Aaj to fursat hi nahi mil rahi hai kaam se.

Shashank (reply to all)
@Sanket: Mar jayega padh padh ke (mera copyright dialogue :P)
@others: Bahut kaam kar raha hai Sanket..aaj to monitor on karne ka time bhi nahi mil raha..

Sanket (again reply to all, thode time baad)
Chalo bhai…time ho gaya chai ka….jaldi pahucho saare…

Within 4-5 minutes, me,Sanket, Rishi and sometimes Krishna meet in the common pantry for a break and a drink (chai, coffee ya soup :P )

Our PS instructor visits us every Wednesday. So that’s the day we write our PS diaries. On one Wednesday when our PS instructor called me and told me that he would not be coming on that day..here are some of the mails that went around.

Me: Please note that our PS Instructor will not be coming today.
So PS diaries bharna band karo..aur kuch kaam kar lo :P

Rishi: Damn..abhi khatam kari thi yaar..

Kp: Shit..5 din ki diary likh li thi yaar

Somanchi: Shit..my day just got longer :(

The instructor called Rishi sometime before he came on an unscheduled day, so Rishi mailed everyone about the new development. Check out the mail for the same.

Rishi:
Suno Suno Suno

Tiwary ji (our Instructor) 12 baje aa rahe hai
Auro ko bhi bata dena

Dhanyawaad

Aapka pyaara
Rishi Trainee

(Check out the salutation- actually ST has given us id's that shout aloud to the rest of the world- "YEH TO TRAINEE HAI..LOL")

Mornings are generally more productive for most of us…after the great that ST gives us at subsidized rates..generally neend to aati hi hai…

Here is a conversation between Somanchi and me, all on e–mail discussing how sleepy both of us are feeling.

Somanchi: Me feeling bored and sleepy :(

Me: Me too…I think I'll go and grab a cup of coffee and come back.

Somanchi: Today has been the least productive day so far, I don't even feel like working.

Me: Ya..today everybody around me is feeling sleepy too…

Somanchi: I just went to the bathroom, washed my face, drank 2 cups of water, 2 cups of tea and came back. If I feel anymore sleepy, I'll bang my head on the table to keep myself awake.

On another day I mailed Somanchi asking him about his project. Here is the convo that ensued-again all of this via mail.

Somanchi: I have to write some PERL scripts for something.

Me: Oh so basically software job da..

Somanchi: yaa..Software team naa..what else would they give..

Me: Oh…kk
So like me, you too will write some code that'll change the way ST works ;)

Somanchi: Yaa…my life's ambition getting fulfilled. :P

Waise it seems Somanchi ke paas kaam ki kami hai... because according to him he has chatted with everybody on his g-talk list to such an extent that people now tell him to shut up and work... and he has googled and read about topics from Cold War to Origami.. last heard he was reading about Research and Analysis Wing..pls koi usse baat kar liya karo ;). Believe me…when you are feeling sleepy..aise mails really work wonders..saari neend bhaag hi jaati hai… :)

Gravity

2009-02-24T21:56:00.000+05:30

Seen on the sides of one of the 3 floor high crane used in Delhi Metro Construction

"Challenging Gravity Everyday.."

Now that's the spirit \m/

ST@ST : The Firefighter

2009-02-22T22:42:00.003+05:30

Ab iss recession ke time par, I have another vocation to turn to-apart from engineering and Saddi Cycle shop.

Last week ST conducted a 'Fire Safety Training ' for the new employees and trainees. It was conducted by an ex-Army officer who is In-charge (Security) at the Greater Noida establishment.

It was basically a presentation to be followed by a practical session. The presentation was quite informative, covering basic concepts of fire, fire-safety, how to handle a fire extinguisher, precautions during earthquakes, what to do in case of a snake bite and basic first aid. But we were all looking forward to the practical session.

In the first part, a small fire was lit in a drum and we had to use a fire extinguisher to put out the fire. Because we were about 15-20 people, and if everybody had to get a hands-on-experience, it would be difficult to light up the fire so many times after it gets put out using water. So what we did was to use a wrong type of fire extinguisher, which would not actually extinguish the fire. (dimaag laga bhai ;) ). It was a great experience actually using an extinguisher.

In the next part, we were given a demonstration of extinguishing a fire using a hose pipe that is used by fire engines etc to put out fires that engulf higher floors of a building. And then we were told that we could have a go at it too. The pressure was immense, in fact if you let go, you can seriously injure somebody. It is very difficult for a single person to control the hose at full pressure. In fact the guards who have to learn firefighting also had trouble controlling the full force.

Finally we were shown all the fire exit in the building.

To ab agar naukri nahi lagi…to bhi mera future 'HOT' hai, Fire department mein to naukri laga loonga. :P

Reserved Against Cancellation

2009-02-19T22:37:00.005+05:30

The topic would have said "Wait listed" but thank god, our ticket got updated to at least an RAC.

Well, Me and Pandey had to go home for CAT and we booked our tickets not too far before the date of journey, we got a wait listed ticket. However our history in Goa Express was good, with tickets getting confirmed, so we took a risk...in fact a big risk. Our tickets in both directions were WL.

And though Vishal had told us that when he had come to Goa after summer vacations, the particular train had some new kinds of coaches with 9 berths in each coupe. For those of you who haven't travelled in train recently thanks to the Spicejet and Deccan..well there used to be 8 seats in a coupe.

So on the D-Day we reached the train to find out that thankfully our status was RAC, i e we had a berth to sit on at least...
However We reached our seat( notice the plural in "we" and the singular in "seat" :|), and found that indeed our coach had 9 seats in each coupe...well that wasn't the shocker, the real shocker came when another guy came on the same seat and that was a revelation that RAC was now given to 3 people instead of the 2 people who shared a seat.Earlier the side lower berth was given for RAC, so two people could somehow manage, but ab to we got the lower berth for three people, aur middle berth open karne ke baad to there is not enough height to even sit. :(

Well luckily for us, en-route to Delhi, our berth got confirmed, so thankfully it was no problem. The journey was uneventful though most people seemed to know each other. 70% of the people who passed our seat stopped to talk to the people who shared our coupe. It was later that we came to know that all these people were going to some "Maha Sammelan", well that explained why we didn't get any confirmed tickets.

And surprisingly the train reached Delhi before time...so I had to wait for my parents to reach..and it was real cold on the platform..

CAT to lite tha..had done all my preparation in the train itself..woh dekhte hue to number theek hi aaye hai.

While coming back,our status moved up from WL to RAC just hours before the train had to
leave. And again the train was jam packed,most people going back from the "Sammelan". The third person who had n RAC ticket was an old lady from some village in Maharashtra who knew no Hindi or English, and me and Pandey did not know any Marathi From what we could make out, she did not know the concept of RAC, she believed that the seat was hers and that we were basically traveling ticket less. I was losing my temper trying to make her
understand that the seat wasn't just hers.

Sample this convo we were having

She:Blah blah...(grumbling in Marathi, what I assumed was telling us to move off "her" seat)
Me:This is our seat too.
She:Blah blah...(still grumbling some crap)
Me:( Using sign language too) 3...Hamare paas bhi ticket hai... RAC... confirmed nahi...
She:( now complaining to who ever would listen to her)
Me:Ab to nahi uthne waala main Goa tak...jao bhaad mein..
Pandey:(Finally entering the conversation, apne patient tarike se) Jaane de na yaar...

Finally one of the lady's relative who was sitting elsewhere came and told us to move. Unfortunately for him, I was real angry and he understood Hindi, and I blasted him left right and centre. I told him "Ab to TT ko bula...tabhi sone doonga tujhe aaj to..". Kafi der mein usse kisi Marathi ne RAC ka concept samajhaya, phir uski samajh mein aaya...

Till late night,the middle berth was empty, so I and Pandey tried sleeping there,with my legs reaching out to the middle berth in the front. Pandey also slept in some wierd position.

Even after Pune, the train didn't empty off...finally after Satara, those crowds got off..incl. our "nice" companion. Till that time, we had not had any dinner, so we brought some namkeen and soft-drinks. When we had nearly finished, some cops who were making rounds reached our coupe. They saw 2 guys having namkeen and lots of bottles (soft-drinks
and water bottles etc) lying about and stopped to check.

Also finally after 30 hrs of being on the train, the TT finally made an appearance. He saw our tickets (which had been printed when our ticket showed a WL of more than 50) and politely asked "Aap ki tickets confirm ho gayi thi??". Both me and Pandey are like "WTH, you should be telling us that".

But now we come to why I wrote this post. Well,Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav, the railway minister presented the rail budget a few days back. And ever since he has become the Railway minister,he has not increased the ticket fares. And yet he continues to show a profit for the Railways. A few observations that I made during the journeys that we have made on the Delhi-Goa route in the last 3-4 years of how the Railways is still making a profit.

* Number of bogies in trains increased.

* Number of seats increased from 72 to 81. The 9 extra seats in each bogie, for the entire train, that on an average has 18 bogies (A/C and non A/C combined). If we consider even the 13 non A/C coaches, assuming people travelling the full distance, which costs around Rs 500, the money Lalu can earn on a single journey of Goa Express is more than 50K. Now calculate this amount for the thousands of trains running each year.Isse kehte hai PROFIT.

* The number of Tatkal tickets, which cost about Rs. 150 more than the normal ticket have been increased. Railways have also started giving out WL for Tatkal,which are non-refundable, so even if the ticket doesn't get confirmed you can't get your money back. Also only a very small percentage of people who buy tickets under Tatkal cancel their tickets,so most of the WL tatkal tickets end up raking in profit.

* No of bogies in Goods train increased. Therefore,more bogies=more goods being carried=more profit.

* And on Delhi Railway station, I saw a Rajdhani Express standing. The train had full length Airtel ad's painted on the train. I cannot even imagine how much Airtel would be paying for these ad's.

* Lalu ki ek aur ambitious plan tha...to let the filthy rich people have a train named after them for some price. However the plan couldn't materialize, warna we might be travelling in Birla Express or Ambani Mail ;)

These were just a part of the strategies he has employed to change the fortunes of the Railways...and he has been successful, and he has been called to quite a few B-schools, in India and abroad to tell the success story. In-fact..however corrupt he might be, you just have to respect the guy for the implementation his brilliant ideas.

However..getting up the side upper seat is a near impossible task...bas koi Vishal jaisa hi ghus paayega..someone small and definitely a person who can perform aerobatics.I dare the Railway minister to get into that seat. :P

Valentines day aur Recession

2009-02-13T22:34:00.002+05:30

Valentines day aur Recession...aur uss par Billu bhai aka Abhishek Arun ka mast wala quote-

"True love is when you tell your Girlfriend that you work in SATYAM..and she still accepts you"

Madhan bhai ki bhi mast waali observation

"She married one, loved another. He became her husband, the other her password!!!"

Lage Raho Madhan bhai and Billu bhai..

Google Talk

2009-02-12T21:14:00.001+05:30

Whats the first thing that you do after logging into your Gtalk Account?

Its Obbb re...you check everyone's status message. Different People, Different status. Sometimes even Different People, same status....

On a rare minority of people in my gtalk list use the 'Available','Busy' or 'Idle'message. Logo ki saari creativity inhe messages mein hi to dikhti hai aur kaun kya kar raha hai...yeh bhi samajh mein aa jaata hai..

These days the placement seasion is on and statuses read "(Shubham is) a victim of recession" or "When it hits ur Fren its Recession, When it hits U.. its Depression :P"(Shokee).

With the coming of exams..log padhai kar rahe ho ya nahi..status zaroor lag jaate hai..like "DND, unless i m d only one who can diffuse d bomb which is about to blow"(Gangwar) or "Study as if you were to live forever. Live as if you were to die tomorrow.."(Prateek) or "YOU DEESTURB ME, I KEEL YOU. SEEMPLE."(Bhiday).Though in the last sem with electives, status messages like "Kitne T1, T2 , Compre aaye aur gaye...bt hum wahi ke wahi ;)." come forward.

Want to let everybody know about some one's b'day or some event then your status reads "Happy Birthday " or "Please come down at 12 to wish XyZ a Happy Birthday"

Want to inform people about some important meeting then people have sm's as "BITSAA presents a lecture on MBA basics @ 5:30"or "Yahoo coming for placements tommorow @ 9".Some other SM's are situational. For instance, say on Republic Day about 75% of the people will have their SM's as "Happy Republic Day" or another common one is "Proud to be an Indian".

Concluded an event (with reference to Mime Club or Music Club, (yahi ek aad club hai jo ache se kaam karte hai hai ;) ) successfully the SM's are "Mime Performance Rocked as usual..." or "Cheers to Music Club...".

With Valentines Day coming there are desperate SMs like "I need a date" or "Wanted a Love Guru !!"( Rajesh Bhasin) or "Searching for someone..." . Billu bhai's awesome message on recession and Valentines day reads "True love is when you tell you tell your Girlfriend that you work for SATYAM-and she still loves you" and Abhay's message on the same subject reads "Due to recession Girls are finally marrying for love.". Then there are some SMs(like Abhay's or Bhaven's ) which have link to some mast fundoo sites.

But the best ones are the ones which convey a message or has a funda behind it. I remember one SM that read "there are some things in life that money can't buy ........ but for the rest I NEED MONEY.."( has to be Pandeyji to come up with something this good). Others of that kind I like are of the type"destiny is calling me... so i put your call on hold!" or " I get enough exercise pushing my luck" or "Progress isn't made by early risers or hardworkers,but by lazy people, trying to find easier ways to do the same job." (Henry Ford) .

Sometimes I do see different people with the same status messages like Shubham and Chillu both stating "A victim of recession". Another example was when a few days back Vishrut and his room mates( thats Bhasin, Kazi and Bhaskar) got WiFi net in their room, all thier messages were similar.

Thanks to Gtalk that it has provided such an wonderful option apart from the boring "Available","Busy" and "Idle" SMs. So next time dont leave your SM any one of the default boring ones. You may be lucky and someone might like your SM and in turn you...

Also Vodoo(Manish) and rDx(Kushal) have embarked on the difficult mission of trying to analyze the gtalk status messages of BITSians...

Check out their efforts here.

Both of them have done a gr8 job at being vella's..maybe being at PS-II does that to people..

Cheers guys...Continue the gr8 job ;)

Celebration

2009-02-10T20:26:00.002+05:30

Celebration means......

Four friends.
Bahar barsaat.
Four glasses of beer.

Celebration means......

Hundred bucks of petrol.
A rusty old bike.
And an open road.

Celebration means......

Maggi noodles.
A hostel room.
4.25 a.m.

Celebration means....... ..

3 old friends.
3 separate cities.
3 coffee mugs.
1 internet messenger.

Celebration means.......

Rain on a hot tin roof.
Pakoras deep-frying.
Neighbours dropping in.
A party.

Celebration means......

You and mom.
A summer night.
A bottle of coconut oil.
A head massage.

Missing the best days of my life :(

Good Morning (with a quote)

2009-02-10T07:23:00.001+05:30

Every morning, a gazelle wakes up. He must run faster than the fastest lion or else, he'll be food.
Every morning, a lion wakes up. He must run faster than the slowest gazelle or else, he'll die of hunger.

Regardless of whether you are a gazelle or a lion, with the rising sun, you must run. And you must run faster than you did yesterday or you will die.

Where is my Padma Shree??

2009-02-09T22:30:00.005+05:30

Real good read, check out the comments that people gave on the Times of India website about the Padma Shree awards.

Vinay,Tokyo:Is India raising or falling ... what does these award means?

srinivas,mumbai:didn't they get any better person? are we short of great souls who had given sweat and blood for this country?

Gaurav ,Atlanta:what in the world has Ash done to deserve this? Just pose at Cannes? That way Mallika Sherawat should get it too...

piyush:sister nirmala = aiswarya rai..how fair is this???

gourab:outside bollywood & cricket (both of which are now equivalent after IPL ) india is so void ....

sam,br: I am wondering why Mallika Sherawat and Emraan Hashmi are not included in the list.

Vikram S,Mumbai:Can this country ever look beyond Bollywood and Cricket? Infact we aren't even numero uno in anyone of these?

gaurav,Delhi:I dont understand why Akshay and Aishwariya got this award. What happened to the other Olympic medal winners, boxing, wrestling etc. The way the govt is doling out these award these should soon start selling in local grocery stores

Venu,guwahati:Gr8 ... for next year .... I will also apply seeing this year list I am sure I will get it ... though I hit sreeshanth twice ..

K:What has Aishwarya Rai done to deserve a Padma award ? Where's my Padma award !!!

Manali,NSW:What the hell is wrong with these people? Why choose Ash and Dhoni, are the Padmas so cheap that they can be given to just anybody. What have they done that was a benefit to the nation? There are far more better common people who do such good things for the nation like educating poor, keep cities clean etc etc. In Australia they hold various such awards to honour the efforts of these "common people" who genuinely do something worthwhile for the community. They should be giving these awards to the common man. The other day I was watching an ad on NDTV of Indian of the year.. What was SRK doing there? these people are crazy. They get enough respect and money when they do stage shows and movies. The real person who deserves these awards are common man within a country who does something for the country. Give these awards to Indian Army,Navy most deserved category. God Bless India! Peace out!

C. Sachidananda Narayanan,New Delhi:I am waiting for a Republic Day when our government announce Padma awards to Arun Gawli, Raj Thackery, the founder of Sri Ram Sena, Pramod Muthalik.

Swati Sharma:After reading so many comments on the Padma Shree I am sorry for these peaple who just critisize the success of others , may be because they are big failures in their lives. I have 1 big question for them WHAT HAVE THESE PEOPLE DONE FOR THEIR COUNTRY ? I think people should not forget that the padma shree awardees have with their hard work and talent earned respect in their respective fields.& Everybody should appeciate their success. Congratulations to all the winners.

Mera Padma Shree kaha hai?? :(

Yeh kahani pehle kaha suni hai??

2009-02-06T20:15:00.001+05:30

I'll tell you about a true incident that happened to one guy from Pilani who is doing his PS II at Pyramid Consultants Noida, and you can yourself guess where you have heard it before.

Well, this guy, was going to his PS at 10:30 in the morning ( itna late!!!) when he was stopped by a couple of KNIFE weilding men on a bike. Bechare ka MOBILE and wallet le liya..and then they let him go.

And now to guess where we have heard this before..well it is from none other than my pyara padosi Shree Shree Ankit Govil Bhopali. He had gone for a movie at INOX Goa, where he encountered KNIFE weilding men who took away his NOKIA 1100 ( green light wala :P ), but left his wallet and mobile of the person with him.

What actually happened was that his mobile feel off somewhere while he had gone for a movie on Diwali 2007.Well he came back to the hostel and he cooked up this story to tell at home.
We actually did not know that he was such a big fan of Bollywood ki aisi mast wali kahani cook up kar li...however his parents told Adi's parents who also stay at Bhopal who asked Adi to be careful of gun wielding men.And when Adi came to know this whole story...well phir Adi to Adi hi hai naa...poore college ko ab pata hai ki kya hua tha....

Anyways Noida mein to aisa hote hi rehta hai...nothing new, I have heard of people who were taken forcibly to shops and made to buy costly stuff from credit cards and only then let go...but bhai Uttar Pradesh hai Mayawati ka raaj hai..aur kya hona hai..

On a brighter note its a WEEKEND and India is now 2nd in ICC ODI rankings \m/

Happy Birthday to Me..

2009-01-31T21:17:00.001+05:30

Well its 30th January and I have finally become eligible for marriage ;) .

After staying in a hostel for the last 3 and a half years, of missing my parents and family on the last 3 birthdays, this time I am actually missing my friends from college, the birthday celebrations at midnight, the calls and messages from the special people in my life that started soon after.

Ghar par to kafi civilized celebration hoti hai yaar...from mom cooking my favorite dishes to maybe my cousins coming over in the evening,but college mein to kisi ke bhi Birthday par civilization jaati thi bhaad mein, with Adi bringing a chain( jis se sirf darata hi tha,maarta kabhi nahi tha), VNV bringing eggs and tomato's to the birthdays coming during monsoon...bhagwan rains kara ke waise hi awesome celebrations kar dete the...and sabse best used to be Pophali beating the birhtday boy with his slippers....

But it used to be great fun yaar...

Article From The Dawn

2009-01-29T19:45:00.004+05:30

An article from "The Dawn" Newspaper, Pakistan

Daddy?
Yes, son.
Are we going to have a war with India?
Perhaps.
Oh, goody. We will thrash them, right? Like we did in 1857!
It wasn't in 1857, son.
Oh, okay. But whom did we thrash in 1857?
The British, son…
And the Hindus too, right?
Well, not quite - we were on the same side then.

Did Quaid-I-Azam fight in that war along with Muhammad bin Qasim and Imran Khan?
No, son. The Quaid and Imran were born much later and Muhammad bin Qasim died many years before.
Then who ruled Pakistan in those days?
There was no Pakistan in those days, son.
But there was always a Pakistan! It has been there for 5,000 years!
Who have you been talking to, son?
No one. I've just been watching TV.
It figures.
Daddy, why are all these people against us Arabs?
Arabs? But we aren't Arabs, son.
Of course we are because our ancestors were Arabs!
No, son. Our ancestors were of the subcontinental stock.
Sub-what?
Never mind. You seem to like wars, son.
Yes. I like to watch them on TV.
But real wars are fought outside the TV, son.
Really? What sort of a war is that? Never mind. Daddy, you look worried.
Of course I am, you little warmongering punk!
Daddy! Why are you scolding me?
Because TV is talking rot and so are you!
Daddy, are you supporting Hindus?
No!
Daddy, have you become a kafir?
Keep quiet! No more TV for you! Go watch a movie on DVD or listen to a CD.
Can't do that.
But we have so many DVDs and CDs, son.
Not any more.
What do you mean?
I burned them all.
What?!
I burned them all.
I heard that! But why?
They are all Bollywood trash and spread obscenity.
Oh, God. Son, go do your homework. What happened to that science project you were working on?
It's almost complete.
Good boy. What are you making?
A bomb.
What?!
A bomb.
I heard that! But why?
Because I am a true Muslim who hates America.
But only last week you wanted to go to Disney Land.
That's different.
How come?
Mickey Mouse is Muslim.
No, he isn't.
Is so. He converted when he heard azaan on the moon.
On the moon?
Yes.......Daddy, do you want to see my science project, or not?
Gosh, that bomb? But your science teacher won't like it.
No, she wont.
Really?
Yes. I plan to blow her up as well.
God, what is wrong with you? Go call your mother!
She can't come.
Why not?
I've locked her in the kitchen.
But why?
I will not let her out until she covers herself up properly!
But she's your mother!
She's also a woman!
So?
So she should be hidden.
Hidden from whom?
The whole world and Tony.
Tony?
Yes, Tony.
But Tony's a dog.
Yes. But he's male.
Son, have you gone mad?
No. By the way, I've made sure Kitto starts covering up as well.
Kitto?
Yes, Kittto.
But Kitto's a cat!
Yes. But a female cat.
But she'll suffocate.
Oh, she's already dead.
What?
I said she's already dead.
I heard that! But how?
I buried her alive.
You what?
Yes. To avenge Tony's honour. But now I will behead Tony.
But why?
To save mom's honour!
Oh, God!
Don't say God. Always say Allah.
What's the difference?
Daddy, do you want to be beheaded too?
No!
Do you want to be stoned to death?
No!
Do you want to be flogged?
No!
Do you want to get your arms chopped off?
No!
Then stop asking silly questions. By the way, I won't call you daddy anymore.
What will you call me then?
Whatever that is Arabic for daddy.
I don't know any Arabic, son.
That's because you are a kafir.
Who the heck are you to tell me who I am, you little fascist twit!
What's a fascist?

An irrational, violent, self-righteous mad man!
W... aaaaaaa...
Why are you crying?
You scolded me you kafir.
Okay, I'm sorry. You have to be tolerant and rational, son. Now be a good boy and go read a book instead of watching TV.
I have no books.
Of course, you do. I bought you so many books.
I burned them.
But why?
They were all in English.
So?
It's a non-Muslim language!
But we are speaking English, aren't we?
W... aaaaaaa…
What now?
Zionists made me forget my Arabic.
But you never knew any Arabic, son.
Yes, I did until you and mommy gave me the polio drops
Okay, tell me, can you do me a favour?
Sure, dad.
Can you blow up something for me?
Oh, goody! Of course, dad. What should I blow? A hospital, a hotel, a barber shop...?
No, no, something a lot more sinister.
Mom? Tony?

No, no…
What then?
The TV set!
Blow the TV set? But why - I don't want to do it, mom won't like it too.
Just do it!
Uh... Dad?
Yes.
How come you're so undemocratic, we outvoted you 2 to 1!!