Another one passes...

The most important thing worthwhile mentioning is that another sem.,the 5th has passed. So, technically speaking more than half(5/8) of my engg. college life has passed ! Much like everything that I come across in life, these years were a breeze. Knowing so many different kinds of people, interacting with them, staying 24 x 7 with them, time seems just another dimension. All this confirms one fact, a person's take on life is clearly dependent on the different type of people he meets, knows and understands.

The picture in the blog is a tribute to the brilliant novel by Ayn Rand, which unsurprisingly remains one of the bestsellers even after 54 years of being published and will probably continue to remain so as the vivid descriptions of 'the ideal human' are intriguing and thought provoking. One begins to feel dual emotions of sympathy and pride for the protagonist who faces numerous hardships as he decides to live a life on his own terms, no matter what the outcome. His unperturbed attitude is something which might seem out-of-the-world, because it really is.. I mean one cannot help but wonder if a such a person does exist in reality. Can't wait to read ahead about how such a person values the emotion of love, is it just something that happens to him or does it bring some change in him? The pages of the classic which answer these questions are yet to read and grasped by me and just saying that I am eager would be an understatement.

Things of personal interest which need immediate attention is my growing mane (I'd like to call it that, though I know it doesn't even remotely qualify to be called one) which is not only uncomfortable but also gives me a 'weirdo' kind of a look which I'm not sure I can carry off properly. My cupboard beckons immediate re-arrangement, but as a matter of habit, being insolent towards it suits my personality, or rather comes to me naturally than heeding to its irrational demands. Conditioned myself for some grueling ppt.(pre-placement training) sessions and the standard mba prep. That's it folks, signing off for now.

Atleast the weather is pleasant ...

I've started reading Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" when I should have been reading Operating Systems and Microprocessors ! Supposed to have a lab. sessional on 'Advanced Programming' tomorrow.. the intent to study is defintely there, but the drive seems amiss. Apart from these trivial issues, my major concern is something of a larger proportion - No, its not the troubling situation in Pakistan or the terror in Nandigram - its more grotesque - its my protruding tummy. Looks like its destined to manifest itself into a more sizable portion of my anatomy. There is no dearth as far as the initiatives of change are concerned, the persistence is lacking - just as it is with millions of people of the 'about to be obese' brotherhood. Have plans of materializing more on my plans, but nothing is easier done than said.

Meanwhile, I took time from my supposedly busy schedule and saw OSO(Om Shanti Om for the few who are wondering) yesterday. Actually, entertainment is a very high priority activity and Farah Khan shares this line of thought with me. Ok, if you think I am going a little over the top, then it might be the other way round i.e. I'm convinced when Farah Khan wants me to convince that a package containing everything from comedy to reincarnation is entertaining.

Something very interesting that happened recently during my microprocessor lab. sessional exam a couple of days back. I resorted to (traditionally) unfair means of taking the programs with me in my cell and could successfully finish what I was supposed to write. So, my egoist half taken care of, I was ready to let the altruist in me take over and help those in need. Did help a couple of guys, and one of them actually gave me a gift in the evening. Now, this is what I call a true expression of gratitude. I'll treasure the pen as a souvenir of his nature and as a token of his appreciation.

Even if I don't do so well in tomorrow's exam, I'll have one reason to be cheerful... atleast the weather is great !!!

Totally "De-Quantified"

Had a class in 'Quantitative Aptitude' which went on as all the Q.A classes which preceeded it. Seems like my affinity towards numbers, or rather the lack of it is taking its toll on me. These ghosts of the past which I try to leave behind seem to be too stubborn for my liking. None of the problems appear solvable to me. And once solved, I keep wondering on how would such approaches strike me. Even though calling the optimist in me to the rescue does help to calm down the frustration, the realist in me knows its not enough. I've starting doubting the priority I've assigned to different things and contemplating if changed need to be made to my long-term plans. Giving up is never an option. The next better thing seems to be trying harder.

Class was a small affair as I didn't feel like sitting through the rest of the classes after the first one. The time was properly utilized in the form of a sound siesta. Second half was quite ordinary in the lab. Evening was spent in learning the basics of Flash for TGMC. Plans for checking out Q.A seems to need another procastination.

Looks like its got me ...

Lots of things to write about ... lets start with the recent ones ...

Conjunctivitis - guess it was almost inevitable. With the virus spreading at an unbeleivable pace, its tough to keep up those high standards of hygeine, especially in a hostel. Though it would be wrong to say that I didn't take any precautions, but I guess they weren't really enough. Guess I caught it yesterday at a friend's party... Anyways, not much of a concern, will get over it in a couple of days. ( don't let the pic. fool u, it was taken before I got infected, strictly for purposes of showing off )

There was a workshop by IBM which was supposed to teach us the tools required for TGMC, but it started and ended with 'Tivoli' - a backup utility software which seemed as an optional addition to our project. A slight info. regarding DB2, Eclipse or WebSphere might have been more helpful, but doesn't matter.

Meanwhile, life ticking as usual. Had the leftover microprocessor exam day before yesterday. Went off as expected, actually slightly better than expected. Had a slew of celebrations before and after the exam. Also, my team's TGMC synopsis seems to be almost over. Actually, it was complete, but as the last date for submission has been extended, we've taken the liberty to spend some more time on it for improvements. Whatever be the case, I'm more than keen for the coding to start as I have a lot to learn from this project as do some of my team mates.

Signing off for now.. hope to be back soon !

One Man, Many Missions ...

1425 hours : September 18, 2007

No apologies, no excuses.. it just always seems so cliché, only thing I can say that I was supposed to be busy with writing my mid-semester exams, registering for TGMC – The Great Mind Challenge, thinking about the advertising event to be held in our tech. fest, besides trying to cope up with mba prep. ! It happens with almost everything.. once you start to ignore something and put it in the back shelf, then you tend to postpone it for ever. And thats exactly the reason the blogs have not been coming. It seems like eons have passed since I have posted the last one. The exams went almost as expected, nothing extra-ordinary, very mediocre. TGMC work is supposed to be progressing, and I am sure the synopsis will be complete by the deadline – a typical engineer's statement as I would like to put it. The use-case diagrams have to be discussed with the rest of my team and have to be given a concrete shape. Does seem like a gigantic task at this point of time, but if it has to be done, then it is going to be done – 'by hook or by crook'. Advertising work is also progressing at its own pace. I have referred to a couple of sites for studying the trends in the advertising industry and all kinds of related shit. Also had a couple of meetings with the senior who is supposed to be in-charge of organizing the event. The only thing left to be done, and probably the only the only thing that needs to be done is framing the problem statement. Big deal, huh ? Nopes, when I know I can do it, its never going to be a big deal, just a matter of time and the right effort at the right places.

Meanwhile, I seem to have become an admirer of Deepak Chopra, the spiritual guru. His open-ended statements are the type whose meanings are obvious, but the sentences are brilliantly phrased and cannot easily be debatable. One of the statements goes like this “The level of enlightenment of a person can be judged by how comfortable he is with contradiction, ambiguity and paradox”. Now all paradoxical concepts have always been very appealing to me, whether scientific or general. According to me, every spiritual or religious text or phrase is ambiguous and can be interpreted in a no. of different ways. Its only limited to the no. of people who are willing to take the initiative to interpret it their own way and spread it to a larger no. of people. If his interpretation finds favor with a large no. of people, he is hailed and respected and his following increases exponentially. One more reason why I liked Deepak Chopra is he doesn't forget to show his humility at the end of the article. At the end he states that he has yet not achieved that state. Quoting my own paradox, it would be something like “If someone says that they are perfect, that is the first and the best evidence of their imperfection ...”

Hey Babyy !

0042 hours : August 27, 2007

This Sunday was not a typical one. Can't remember the last time I woke up as early as 7 am on a Sunday ! But then, this is probably going to be the norm now.. no more dozing till late as GD is going to be a regular weekly affair hereafter. As I am currently not overflowing with a dozen or so interesting topics, lets start with a dissection of my first 'GD training class'. The teacher, a 'smarty' who did his MBA from XIM-Bhubaneswar, now working in a financial firm was unable to make a healthy impression on me and most of my fellow batch-mates. He was definitely smart, confident, probably also knew a lot about GD's, but that in no way justifies his ridiculing of certain students, apart from trying to act as 'Mr. Know-it-All' about engineers. Some students were a part of the mock-GD which didn't even remotely qualify as a discussion. It was more of a series of verbal blasts of oddly-framed, mostly irrelevant sentences, often phrases directed at each other with tons of aggression thrown in. The instructor's not to be blamed in this case, he wanted to show what possibly can go wrong in such situations. His critical analysis of the situation started out on a good note, but was left without a proper conclusion, which again didn't seem OK with me. Finally, by the time I was on the way back, I had made up my mind to focus on how can I extract the best out of this resource available at my disposal. He definitely had certain desirable qualities and attributes. The onus is on us to derive the maximum benefit out of him.

The later part of the day was spent in an equally disappointing venture – `Hey Babyy`. Grossly below expectations. I hardly criticize a flick this harshly, but this one deserves worst. Ignoring the fact that I have a personal dislike for Sajid Khan, I find the direction absolutely direction-less. The star cast, especially Ritesh Deshmukh and Vidya Balan must have been out of their minds to have signed to a script which is so pathetically predictable. I haven't mentioned Akshay Kumar because he is an established actor and one mistake won't cost him much. Fardeen Khan never seemed of any use to me in the celluloid frame, so I am excluding him from the list too. Even if the story and script were given even a fraction of attention that the title track was given, Akshay could have managed the rest of the show. Typical cliché bollywood dialogues, predictable storyline, hapless repetitive comedy – I don't remember the last time I made such a bad investment ! 'Aap Ka Suroor' was a lot better compared to this shit which is supposed to be a rib-tickling entertainer. If this is all left of originality left in the industry, I would prefer lift-offs from other cinemas worldwide.

Two things that went right today was the Lassi we had at Ligaraj, Shahidnagar and the 'methi ke parathe' at the mess.

“Good food is the best anti-depressant and stress buster” - Anand Biswas

Unperturbed, Undisturbed...

Situations often arise, where you have to wrap yourself, your feelings, emotions and thoughts within yourself. What might seem right to few, may start to seem right to a larger mass after slight persuasion. Pride is one such avenue. It is a weapon used by people to justify their mindless acts. I'm not stating that pride is not important. It undoubtedly is.. again thats what makes it dangerous. History has been witness to ruthless acts of torture in the name of pride, but the actual message that was being spread was that of hatred. The only reason these schools of thought became popular was 'pride' - the pride of the masses was used to motivate them to support inhuman and brutal tasks which bore repercussions on world history till date. Something akin is going on in the environment around me. A foolish and unjustifiable act of violence is being justified by stating issues of pride. Agreed, there might be some reasons which enticed these people to resort to thrashing up someone. Maybe because I wasn't at the site, I couldn't see for myself the damage caused to 'our pride', maybe I would also get annoyed at the action which infuriated some of my friends, but at this crucial juncture of my career, it would be absolutely illogical and mindless to even support, forget being a part of such action. Some times when you realize that being altruistic is no more feasible, then one has no other option but to be egoistical. At this crucial point of life, when your slightest action of ignorance could be a cause of regret for the rest of your life, I'm in no mind to let 'pride' take over 'prudence', to let 'emotion' take over 'logic', to let 'adrenaline' take over 'gray cells'. Somebody might call me a coward, but to me it hardly matters. I'm wrapped up in a protective mental cocoon which makes it next to impossible for these petty things to manipulate my internal feelings, thoughts and their resulting actions. Because all said and done, I am going to be the only person responsible for my actions and their consequences.

I've decided to walk a path, now I'm going to walk it undisturbed, unperturbed...

Stretching my limits or .. stressing myself ??

Thankfully, I was able to open the site today and was able to post something ! I've written already numerous times about the connectivity here and thereby elaborating any further will start getting repetitive. Meanwhile, a lot has been happening in my life, from joining TIME (yes, thats where I finally decided to invest my time and money after a lot of thought) for morning classes thrice a week, and pre-placement training going on twice a week in the evenings, apart from regular college of course...life is not the same anymore. Accomodating so much in so less has certain consequences. I've started to feel that I've become much more robotic, methodical and predictable. Though I know that I cannot allow excessive freedom of thought to slow me down, somewhere deep down me, I am not in favour of this change. There still might be time to eat, sleep and go out a little, but there is hardly anytime I spend with myself, collecting and analyzing my thoughts, trying to guess in which direction I am heading. These are situations when the feeling grips me that "I hope I am not trying to hold on to everything and finally going to get nothing". I'm not being pessimistic, I'm just trying to be realistic ! Anyways, thoughts are free to have their way, but not me. I have certain commitments to myself that I cannot forego.

One often comes face to face with situations when he knows he is capable of something, but he has to prove himself to everyone concerned. I totally agree with the notion that if one thinks that 'the world is not ready' for him, its actually the other way round. So, there is a definite necessity of proving onself and it is this notion that is driving me nowadays. Unless there is a unique and distinguishing platform that one can establish himself, he is just another one of the masses. All his capabilities, qualities, attributes , everything is 'normal' - becomes 'expected'. But once there is a distinguishing factor, then even his smallest action, however insignificant it might be, evokes interest in others. This is the attitudinal change success brings with itself, the values you were ridiculed for, suddenly seem to have become virtues one can strive to achieve. My robotic, methodical life may seem frustrating for now, but it is in search of that 'distinguishing factor' that I'm ready to trade a fraction of my thoughts for, attaining which seems to be the only thing that matters. As a popular Linkin' Park song puts it "In the End, it doesnt's even matter. I tried to hard and got so far, but in the end.. it doesn't even matter" - there are no consolation prizes in life and even if there are, I have my mind on something else

I ' m b a c k ! ! !

Its nice to have come back after a long break. Almost a fortnight. This time I do happen to have a valid and legitimate reason - Linux Project Submission ! Remember about the project that I had mentioned in one of my previous blogs ? Well, its better if you don't and I wouldn't take the pain and nor would you be least interested in it. The thing worth mentioning is that the project was finally completed, and the final product was satisfactory and up to my expectations. Will have to put in some more effort for the presentation that is to follow the project submission. But, things would be sorted out only as the time to sort them out comes.

The other things I have been doing in this while is going to class, trying to listen - quite an appreciative attempt I must say.. Also been to King Khan's "Chak De India !". The flick was refreshing and made us believe that the money spent was worthwhile. SRK - fitter and dynamic as ever, leading a pack of spirited girls towards victory encountering many barriers - mainly of the mind. The movie not only depicts the standard sportmanship qualities as is expected of such flicks, but also showcases the pitiful state of affairs of sports and games in the country other than cricket. The cinematography was par excellence and the matches showed in the movie seemed very much real. Inexperienced actors cast as hockey players added the required 'realism'.

Also had a scholarship test for an 'yum-bee-eh' preparatory institute. Was fine by my standards, but my friends seemed to have "co-operated" better in the examination hall. Anyways, the outcome wouldn't hopefully be so bad. The weather is gloomy and cloudy - just as I like it the most. A beautiful day according to me. Nothing more substantial to write for now. But, this space would surely be updated more frequently again...

Sayo nara !

Will I.... , Can I ... ??

Sometimes some small incidents, events or happenings force me to doubt my assessment, my evaluation of myself, of my capabilities, my potential and most disturbingly, my chances of survival in this rat race. The pessimist in me which I try to keep subdued all the while seems to have come back with greater determination with the sole intention of controlling my thoughts, increasing my inhibitions and limiting my ambitions. He keeps reminding me of my shortcomings and ridicules the things I otherwise used to consider as plus points and advantages. Its easy to argue with an enemy by reason and logic. But what if the enemy is inside you? Whom are you actually fighting ? The enemy ? Or yourself ? I know this tone might seem reminiscent of the myriad superhero flicks that have capitalized on the tried-and-tested formula of the hero fighting the evil within him, but the reality is there exists somewhere within me, as might in many of you, a pessimist, a loser, a coward, a hidden side of me which I would always like to keep hidden. But unfortunately it does not have ego issues, so notwithstanding the innumerable times I get rid of him, he manages to stage some sort of a comeback. But, I am sure the optimist in me is stronger and would soon get the better of him. But the question is for how long? Well, I guess this question is also a result of the pessimistic personality dominating my mind at this point of time.. Gosh ! This is starting to get freaky !

Meanwhile, I came across an article in the papers(“TOI” to be more specific) about the advances in the field of identifying and separating genes. Going by the attitude of the current researchers, there would soon be a time where all the genetic codes that have been 'gifted' to us by our ancestors might be demystified. Such advances seem of particular interest to me as I would be more than eager to 'correct' my forefathers' “height” gene – which has been and will continue to be one of the areas I find myself in a huge inferiority complex. Those of you who are well endowed in this dimension would never feel what it feels like to be the shortest of the pack. The world laughs at you, ridicules you and when it doesn't, you feel its waiting for the next opportunity to do so, or worst, they've started to pity you. Its short of what I would call a curse. I've always believed that with longer limbs, I would have been a better athlete, had better chances in my swimming career, been a talk among the girls and what not. The list of regrets is endless, but I am helpless. I'm sure my father and my brother would have faced such situations and I definitely wish my next generation doesn't carry on the curse. Coming out of the personal angle, many people have some even more 'undesirable' qualities in their genes and would definitely be interested in 'rectifying' themselves for the benefit of their future generations. It would mean that anyone with the available resources would be able to create a perfect new generation ! The consequences of which are too complex to comprehend. It would be like choosing your next PC – get the features you want if you can cough up the money. Can these so claimed perfect humans then achieve a state of happiness ? I guess, as a Will Smith flick rightly emphasizes, “Its the pursuit which makes the happiness worthwhile”. If you get it without asking, you start taking it for granted. Moreover, the real problem would arise when these set of 'perfect' individuals compete with themselves. The outcome doesn't seem so encouraging. Differences, arguments will continue as there is no “gene” for ideals !

Gracias amigos ! Hope this hobby will help me to learn more about myself It has already started to..

The Unemployment Continues ...

Classes haven't started in full swing, nor have we got the books for this semester and neither have the mood to watch movies.. not to mention that we have left gaming long long ago – that leaves us, especially me with little options for whiling away my time! Also, I feel quite sleepy in the evenings to go through the ordeal of improving my vocabulary. Not to mention the hopeless speed we are victims to in the name of 'Wi-Fi'.. Even a simple and no-extra frills site like blogger.com tests the virtues of patience and persistence ! And its best if one doesn't keep his hopes of 'orkutting' alive.. few brave souls(count me in) have the courage to tunnel through the blocks imposed by the “@#$%*!” management. Orkutting here in this hostel requires the patience of a spider, which weaves its web and waits for the prey all-day long.. analogous to that we here have to wait for those wee hours of morning or the dark hours of midnight when the traffic is low and then finally we can proceed to make our kill. Not to mention the R&D(Research & Development) thats involved in this addictive passion, which involves being aware of the latest techniques, tips and tricks to pass through the blocks by the management, but also testing their effectiveness and efficiency in theses hostile conditions. Doesn't it seem that mere surfing could also be an adventure ? Wish I had a better figment of imagination.. pity you guys for reading this crap and expecting something interesting out of it ! Some suggestions would definitely be welcome..

Meanwhile, I'm currently in a dilemma regarding which of the management preparatory institutes would be most apt for me. One presents an overall attractive package, another claims its USP(Unique Selling Proposition.. for those who are blissfully ignorant) is that it can afford special attention to each of its students as they have lesser no. of students per batch. The third boasts of a national reputation and a weekly test culture of good credibility. Right now, at this moment my mind is pointing to the third option, but its not final yet. One thing is assuring, none of my decisions is going to be very right and neither can prove to be very wrong.

Been witness to another blatant lift-off by b'wood – Partner. An out and out copy of the Will Smith starer, The Hitch – duly Indianized with spoofs of other films, lots of comedy, a stupidly placed supersonic missile supposedly designed by a 8-9 year old kid and the inevitable b'wood trademark – song & dance. Nevertheless, putting the copyright issues apart the flick was entertaining – thanks to David Dhawan who knows how to tickle the funny bones of the Indian masses. Govinda was a treat to watch after a long time. Rajpal Yadav's comic timing demands special mention. Lara Dutta's new hair-do is refreshing. Katrina, needless to say is stunning as ever. Salman fits in fine with his part.

The 13^th Indian President, the first female ever to be appointed to the highest office in the country, has vowed to take steps against the rampant female infanticide prevalent in many parts of the country. The skewed sex ratio of 927 females to 1000 males is abysmally low compared to the world average of 1050 females per 1000 males. Meanwhile, another survey study pegs India at near to the bottom of the world's alcohol consumers. Is that a thing to rejoice or be ashamed of ? I am not sure what the tone of the report indicated. The writer seemed a little distressed perhaps at the feeling that his country is placed 150^th in terms of per capita liquor consumption. I am least bothered anyway...

Signing off for now... Gracias Amigos !

Unemployed , Restless , Directionless !

Well my situation, if evaluated properly would not exactly qualify to any of the words I've used in the title, but its one of those moments of the day when you feel that there is hardly anything that is going to interest you at this point of time and you wish to enjoy your 'solitude'.. but alas, that's even less engaging and soon you end up getting fed up with yourself !

That was yesterday, evening to be exact.. the day was perfectly normal, nothing out of the ordinary - started with 3 hours of worthless Microprocessor Lab, where my cell with a 2 MP camera turned out to be very useful as I could effortlessly take the photographs of the circuits and draw them later. These are moments when you really feel that "technology rocks". Well, apart from that we had absolutely nothing to do in the lab. except staring at the 8085 Microprocessor Trainer Kit and supposedly "familiarizing" with it, the rest of all the 3 hrs was spent in unimportant banter with my lab partner.

As I've already expressed that I was feeling strange in the evening and continued to do so till dinner. After that went to the terrace with two people who were equally unemployed like me and felt better to be talking and laughing. A point that I've been noticing from the time I've started my hostel life (i.e. 2 years), I've discovered the fact that 'bitching' isn't solely a girly thing to do ! In fact, in my opinion boys also talk a lot about others and have fun with some of their selected peers, maybe not to the extent that girls do, but I think they are equally interested in sharing their view points(especially the laughable traits) about their friends, neighbours, etc. and enjoying it. I feel, 'bitching' is a sexist term, there should be something that is equally applicable to boys !


Alright, enough of philology and semanticism, I'm calling quits for the day. Need to pay my college fees and do the registration business, then have plans of going for a movie and also enquiring about the details of the MBA preparatory course I intend to enroll in.

Gracias amigos ! Take care and keep watching this space... Encourage me with some comments !

New hopes, aspirations, goals, ambitions !

This, my friends I am afraid is going to be one of the blogs where I would try to sound ambitious, which of course I am .. but it is very much expected at this point of time as a new academic year has just started and it is customary to make resolutions, mainly related to academic seriousness at this juncture ! So why should this time be any different ? I don't have a grudge with the year 2007, so why not just begin with the proceedings...

Lo and Behold ! The Ten Commandments that should govern my life are...

<1> Thou are responsible for thy fate, thus work harder


<2> Thou shalt not indulge excessively in momentary pleasures


<3> Remember thyself and keep thyself "focussed"


<4> Honor thyself and all who honor thyself


<5> Thou shalt not murder thy desires and hopes


<6> Thou shalt "try" not pay heed to any distractions


<7> Thou shalt not cheat thyself


<8> Thou shalt not "fabricate" excuses


<9> Thou shalt not covet neighbor's leisure


<10>Thou shalt learn from thy friends and foes

Time's runnin' out !!!

Its always the same feeling I get every time a long vacation comes towards the end - both of satisfaction and regret ! Satisfaction as the boredom is about to end and regret coz nothing really worthwhile has been achieved in this span of leisure either ! My ambitious Linux project - yes, what came out of it - I did manage to work occasionally on that and successfully implement a few things - but as the budding engineer inside me would like to put it - "Nothing can and should never be completed before the deadline is reached" ! Among the other major feats I managed to have achieved within these vacations is thoroughly going through a session of "Word Power Made Easy" in the quest of 'building a superior vocabulary' - quite an achievement I should say.

Been to Chennai for a week to visit my brother and sister-in-law (the hindi terms 'bhaiya' and 'bhabhi' definitely sound more appealing to the ears). Fixed their screwed up desktop - which was brimming with viruses and continued my leisure vacation experience there too - only thing that was different was the sickening hot and humid weather of the city. Its a nightmare and global warming in my opinion is showing its effects all round the globe and not just in countries who are 'supposedly' more responsible for the phenomenon. Its high time India and all other developing countries realize that it is not solely upto the developed world to take up this challenge of taking steps to reduce or control the effects of globally occurring phenomenon. It would definitely be an egregious (thats a new word I've learnt ! It implies a mistake of enormous proportions.. in case if anyone doesn't know) mistake that any country that refuses to take reponsibility would be committing.

Leaving global matters aside and coming back to my personal experiences this summer, I had been courageous enough to have attempted and successfully watched the Himesh Reshammiya(forgive me for any spelling mistakes in the name - HR would be better) flick "Aap Ka Suroor" in Chennai on my bhabhi's birthday. Well, honestly speaking that was not our first choice, but it was the only show we could catch keeping our time constraints in mind. But the courage and the daredevilry of the act nevertheless deserves appreciation ! Surprisingly(and thankfully), the movie luckily was not as 'nasal' as one would expect it to be, but the songs definitely are. An overdose of the 'nasal' twang is certainly not so welcome, but the brilliantly captured German locations certainly are. Overall, a very average product for normal people and a blockbuster for all 'HR' fans.

I guess that pretty much sums up my experiences during the summer, now looking forward to resuming the college life..

Gracias ! Goodbye and take care ...

New Hobbies Developed !!

Due to the ample amount of time available at my disposal, I hereby decide to spend some of it fruitfully in the pursuit of something which might be help rather than just whiling away all of the precious resource(TIME !!). I've started solving crosswords in the newspapers, but the problem is that the hints are so vague, I hardly seem to be able to find the connection. For example take this, the hint says "Send out for a taxi,Peter".. after whacking my brain for about half an hour, I got so frustrated and finally saw the answers on the next day's paper(I was solving yesterday's crosswords !) and the answer was "Expatriate" ! Gosh.. I failed to see any ocular connection between the hint and the answer ! Similarly frustrating was today's crossword !

Then decided to dig up my bro's "Word Power Made Easy" which he won in some competition and neatly wrapped it up in cellophane to protect it, but never got the time to actually go through it. Even though it is the 1994 edition, it hardly matters. Not that the words added in these 10-15 years are going to make any huge difference. Once a good book, always a good book. Lets hope I can stick to my plans and come out with a better and improved vocabulary ! Gone through a few sessions of the book, and I must say I found it very interesting and I would definitely recommend it to anyone genuinely interested in improving their vocabulary.

K.. then.. Gracias for now !

Unemployed @ home !

Hello everyone.. Back after a break of few days due to some inconsequential problems (my landline was somehow unable to connect to the web). Been here in vizag since Sunday, and its been the typical vacation till now.. nice gloomy weather, no need to go anywhere near the books, in touch with some old friends.. and ample time to relax !

Managed the courage of going to 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom', but couldn't tolerate the whole of it.. was horrible to say the least. It seemed like a series of music videos.. can't imagine how the film makers expect the audience to accept such crap, notwithstanding the fact that the film is star-packed, the stars also need something to impress upon.. unless of course if you are an SRK or a Hrithik Roshan! Is this what is supposed to be new age film-making... snazzy, eye-catching videos luring the audience to an equally dismal show ? "Aap Ka Suroor" - another film which I believe will belong to the same category. Hope there aren't many unemployed people like me to make such flicks a hit and in the process encourage more such 'ambitious' ventures.

Korean Films Rock !!!

I've already mentioned restlessness I've been feeling for a couple of days.. and to pass my time, I've decided to watch movies - a lot of them are pending ! Started off with "Little Manhattan" - absolutely delightful piece of film making. The little guy's thoughts and actions seemed so familiar, so real.. not to mention the cute girl..

Don't know how many of you have watched Korean flicks. But if you have seen "My Sassy Girl" and "100 Days with Mr.Arrogant", then you would have been totally bowled over by these brilliant romantic comedies.

Finally got myself a ticket for home.. missed class today for it. But it hardly matters now, as I've mentioned before, I'm fed up ! Had a discussion regarding Islam with one of my friends(online) and she brought to my notice some very interesting facts. Though I usually don't like to discuss religion, but the facts seemed quite shocking. Certain links she sent me attacked the very foundation of the religion. The material seemed enough for a novel like "The Da Vinci Code", but I guess would attract more violent protests than ever seen. Suddenly, I feel like reading what Salman Rushdie has written in "The Satanic Verses" to have captured so much attention. Only time will tell whether I would be actually transforming this thought of mine into reality or it will slowly wash off from my gray cells like millions of other things which have previously succeeded in having my attention.. Gracias for now ...

Feelin Restless...

Too much of training.. too much of Linux, Java, SQL ! I suddenly feel so saturated.. as the time to depart for home comes nearer, the more restless I seem to become. I've decided finally that I'll be leaving on the 23rd, can't stand this training any further - half-filled classes, extended breaks, restless teachers and over energetic students ! I've had enough of these, and I desperately need a break..

Saw Mr.Bean on a holiday yesterday - wasn't upto the expectations. Ocean's 13 was better than 12 but Ocean's 11 was the best in the series. Tried out something new the previous night - slept on the roof of our hostel ! Was a lovely experience - the cool breeze was a relief compared to the closed confines of our rooms, the starry skies encouraging us to relax.. but the best part was the discussion we had.. girls.. abt. all the girls we fell for and the consequences, cursing lady luck and most of all laughing at all the stupidity we ever did for them.. It was fun..

Yuppeee(proj. almost done) !! A believer in "Anekant"

We had a discussion on our project today.. and to our delight.. myself and Ravi have already completed over 70% of it ! But, it seems the project needs a lot of documentation.. wud force the "dormant" members of my group to proceed with that..

Lunch was again a treat by one of my friends.. a belated b'day party.. God why don't I have friends who have b'days in all different months of the year.. ate to my hearts and stomach's content ! The food was delicious.. and as always I respect good food and can't bear any insult to it.. so left nothing and was full to my neck ! And as goes the age old truth .. a good lunch must be followed by a long, undisturbed siesta ! Its all a man can desire.. leaving the carnal ones, and the unputdownable lure for electronic gadgetry and of course the everlasting crush on sport bikes and convertibles.. well.. i guess these needs are very basic in nature.. aren't they?

The network still sucks in my bed.. so i am surfing from my neighbour's.. not a very bothering affair.. Recently in the papers, I read about a concept called "Anekant" i.e the power of the mind to see both sides of the coin. It says that good and bad, life and death are not different affairs but a continuos one.. everything has more than one way to be interpreted, one just needs the maturity of mind to be able to do that. Anything from history to the astrological columns in the newspapers including all the religious texts are meant to be interpreted in many ways. One of Jefferey Archer's short stories had four different endings... and he asked the reader to choose any one of them according to their liking and understanding of the story. The concept of Anekant is undeniably true as it is necessary to restore balance.. if you can see a good side of something, there is bound to be a bad side, which is probably still unexplored.

A Breakthrough !!

It was wonderful when myself and Ravi got together to do some scripting for our project. After some initial problem due to the firewall, we successfully wrote a simple shell script which was effective and did the required task. Now, it seemed that the project will probably be not that tough as we were anticipating it to be. Lets hope we finish a major part of it before the vacations.

Missed breakfast again.. Scripting blues this time ! I regret missing Puri.. but let bygones be bygones ! The light drizzles seemed like blessings from above which accompanied by the cool breeze was absolutely delightful. But, the class wasn't as effective as it could have been due to the errant power supply. Nevertheless, it was beneficial. Exception handling seemed important. Also got "Bheja Fry" from one of my friends, though the file seems arrogant enough to play after a certain point.


Forced myself to read a couple of editorials from "TOI". They only seemed to substantiate the already obvious fact - that India and China are developing and progressing their economies at such alarming rates that their involvement in future global issues would soon be inevitable. The G-8 is an old concept which no more seems to fit in the neo-world order. Countries like India and Brazil are proving their influence by independently stating their views on global issues, which are being noted by those who matter. Looks like the next generation is going to see a new face of India, good for them.. u and me !

A new nightmare to live with !

Spent the previous night doing what I had decided against (playing Counter-Strike).. My friends from the Civil branch were very persuasive.. so finally I decided to give them some action and check whether my frag count would again be at the top.. and it was... used to give me a nice feeling within.. but not anymore.. I'm retired from this addictive passion of mine (Its best if u don't want to know why) and now I play for no team, no one, but myself.. and that too very rarely and I would like to keep it that way..

The day started with a negative note.. no electricity and calling the weather just humid would be an understatement ! It was horrible.. first the heat and humidity, then the water supply goes ! Pitiful state of affairs.. Spent almost the entire morning on the bed (Counter Strike Blues)- didn't have the energy or the courage to anything other than that ! Also skipped breakfast in the activity.. Its an engaging one, believe me !

The air-conditioned class room was a releif from the horrid weather atleast, but the project name for Linux seemed hot enough to make us sweat.. "Creating back-up utility at various levels for systems over the network on tape devices" or something close to that ! Still have no idea about it whatsoever except that we need to learn shell scripting and a few other concepts.. lets hope the project will force us lazybones do some good work at last.

I 'm starting to find blogging quite interesting.. nice place to express whatever is going on in your mind.. and in the end you feel a much lighter person after putting your thoughts to writing ! I should be thankful to my friends who've given me the idea to start blogging on blogspot .. Its fun and good time pass ..

Continuing the thread !

Well.. I m back again.. don't really know how long this new hobby of mine is going to persist. But nothing can be started if one fears he might not complete it. Especially discouraging is the network connectivity here.. two simple and uncomplicated words to describe it best - "fucked up". Patience is a virtue - any inmate of my hostel who pathetically prays for better wireless signal will confirm this age old saying. Passive criticism never improves the situation, so enough of complaining..

The training given by Red Hat did fall a lot below expectations, atleast till now.. can't be said the same about the open java that is still to be taught. The teacher, good though failed to keep most of the students (count me in) interested. I actually felt pity for the poor guy, we kept pressing him for breaks which extended everytime and forget about asking him to take the attendance till he got fed up. I guess the situation might get a little better, as someone else is taking Open Java from today. This guy seems to have some life in him and posseses some command. Lets hope I can get to salvage some of the money I had to pay for this.

These days Ifind all the people around me seem to have suddenly turned into movie freaks ! My roommate makes it a must to watch atleast two flicks a day ! Gosh ! It really wonders me.. day after day.. for several weeks.. he seems in no mood to stop ! I've found my indulgence in "Hitman : Contracts" , trying to be a 'Silent Assasin' but usually ending up as a 'Mass Murderer' ! Going to watch "Next" now. Heard good things about it from friends.. time to check it out.. ciao ! sayo nara ! Good bye..

A new beginning !

Thought of making some alternate use of the internet other than just (trying to) surf orkut & download movies from the local network.. So, i m here 4 a start.. had already ventured into online blogging thru Yahoo 360 , pursued the hobby 4 a few months and then grew tired of it.. orkut started taking most of the damn time in my 'busy' schedule !

Hopin to meet some 'characters' - thats wat i call interesting ppl. ! Hello blogger.com.. lets hope u succeed in keeping me engaged !