Learning to Fly

Asiad in Delhi ? No No No

2010-11-02T10:03:00.010+05:30

After defiance on the issue of term limits and retirement ages in NSAs, Randhir Singh is now requesting the government to approve IOC’s bid for 2018 Asian games in ...you guessed it... Delhi!!! Poor guy has been left alone after his close ally; a Mr. Suresh came under rough weather. Now aside from the fact that no procedural change has come about to rectify the mistakes of CWG 2010 (Construction delays, Corruption, too many seats to sponsors etc.) and also that hosting such events are glorified ego trips which are no big a waste of money than Lavish weddings and the blowout-preventer of the Deepwater Horizon, there is another strong reason that I personally oppose the bid for Delhi.

Why does Delhi always get to host big Sports events? Not just multi-sport events, F1, Golf … the list goes on

Now, the supporters of Delhi (usually residents of the city) come up with only one argument:

Delhi has had the advantage of building a lot of infrastructure. Shouldn’t we save a few billion dollars to the nation by staging this in Delhi?

There is of course an unspoken-yet strong and valid argument

All the decision makers (senior central government and sports officials) live in Delhi and want easy access to the events in addition to the free passes/invitations they will get. Not to mention easy oversight (they will not be easily cheated of their share in the kickbacks) of the projects.

There is no doubt that, as of now, Delhi is the best equipped city in the country to host such international events. Countries less vast and diverse than ours have had event hosting shared between different cities. Still, Delhi continues to be a pampered city, because of the 2^nd argument mentioned above.

Rs 70, 000 Crores (~15.5 Bn USD) were spent to host CWG 2010 in a lot of infrastructure Delhi .Beijing 2008 cost 36 billion USD even with it’s infra (which gets a lot of medals). So is there any validity in current infra argument? Also, in case there are any savings, the powers that matter will find ways to spend money e.g. Grander ceremonies; Big ticket performers, larger screens, louder fireworks.There is no saving coming out of hosting such events. If we are doing them ,w e might as well spread the development around.

So in conclusion:

India should decide; no more hosting for at least a decade. Money is better spent in building infrastructure: Stadia where locals can play and improve their game long after they are built. Even if we do host any event, keep it outside Delhi. Delhi is the capital of; and not the whole of, India.

And then of course, there is still the second argument…

Mouse

2010-10-25T08:33:00.000+05:30

Some days ago, my dad came to me with a complaint.

“I have been telling you take more care of your laptop. You have never listened, now see it is spoilt”.

Now even though I agree that my laptop needed more care than it got, my father would always find my effort less than desirable. He wanted me to treat a laptop like a desktop with its own proper place. So when he said it was spoilt, it was with doubt and surprise than I came over.

I - “What happened?”

Father – “Look nothing is working”

It turned out that the USB mouse was not fully responding. Flexing the wire revealed that there was some problem with the wire near where it went into the mouse. So the solution was easy; open the cover, cut the damaged portion and reattach the wires. So a 20~ 30 rs fix would put the mouse back into action.

But when I went to the electronics repair guy near my house, there was a shock awaiting me. The shopkeeper said that the work was pain and suggested I buy a new one instead. I imagined that he wanted to sell me a new one and make more money. So, I asked him if he had a new one. He did not and suggested that it is cheaper to buy anew one. That left me with lot of questions.

This guy is not a part seller and is exclusively a repairer. If he sent me away, how does he make money?
Did he really expect me to take his advice? Do people take such advices?

Almost everyone with a portable music player has gone through a new head/earphone every year. Sometimes I suspect whether the manufacturers deliberately design them to fail with weak connections and thin wires. The internet reveals that they can be easily repaired by anyone with a solder gun. But they are still thrown away due to lack of will and lack for repairers. We criticize “the western culture” for its “use and throw” behaviour. Lacking the income of those countries, what justification do we have for this wasteful conduct? Or is it another example of the haves –have nots difference in India?

PS: If anyone knows of a repairer in South-west Bangalore who will repair my USB mouse (and broken headphones), please leave a comment with the contact.

FIFA world cup 2010 : opinions and lessons

2010-07-04T13:13:00.015+05:30

Yesterday, the FIFA world cup 2010 as an event one is part of, finished. The Vuvuzelas have fallen silent. While 3 more matches are held to decide the Winner, they do not matter to the Spectator in my dad and me. Those who read my previous post will know that we at home cannot watch any late night matches and hence, the remaining part of the tournament will just be a statistic picked in the newspapers. So the play have been played and seen. After nearly a month of football, the 32 teams in the FIFA World Cup 2010 have been whittled down to just four. Here is Vinay wishing good luck for the teams and emotional strength to the Fans. Snejder and Robben decided to do bulk of the work after half time against Brazil. Schweinsteiger shut down the middle against Argentina yesterday .Germany, Netherlands and Spain will be hoping to be the first European team to win a World Cup outside of Europe while Uruguay struggle to keep alive South American interest in the World Cup. In a convoluted way, if the Dutch win, they can be claimed to be playing on home turf of a past colony. May there be more interest in the ball and less on the kicks and falls than the Brazil-Netherlands match. Paul the Octopus has picked up quite a big reputation. 2 more right guesses and Paul will become a huge urban legend. I do not know which species Paul is and hence, if he will survive till the next cup, but 2 of the 4 teams now remaining, which have to end up on the opposite end of his pick, will have additional pressure. Even though, there are 2 previous winners in the match-up, it will be nice to see a country who wins the world cup for the first time for a change. The world cup was good overall for a general viewer. Along with shock upsets I saw high-quality football. We saw politics too with Angela Merkel passionately supporting the German national team in a bid to divert attention from her problems back home. If only Blatter and friends were to allow technology use. Sigh!

So while, FIFA needs to learn to use technology and instant replay from its brethren associations, ICC itself has a lot to learn from FIFA. Firstly, participation, please check the following table comparing 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2011 Cricket World Cup

	2010 FIFA World Cup	2007 Cricket World Cup	2011 Cricket World Cup
No of qualified teams	32	6	14
No of matches	64	51	49
No of winners (all time) before event	7	5	5
No of Editions till event	19	9	10
No of Teams in the 10th Edition	16	14	14
No of matches in the 10th Edition	38	49	49
No of winners (all time) before the 10th Edition	5	5	5

Teams like USA, Chile, Ghana and Slovakia have shown performance in this edition and they had done that because of the opportunity given. The country men visiting the venue and sitting at home get to watch such inspiring performances increasing the popularity of the already well spread game. Now instead of playing the same ICC Full Members again and again the spread of cricket could have been increased with a higher number of qualified teams in the ODI world cup. The nature of Cricket; being the game of glorious uncertainties; creates a higher justification for allowing more teams to participate in the event. At a state, FIFA was getting more teams to play the highest tournament than ICC is doing. Instead of following FIFA, after India and Pakistan get kicked out in Group Stage, we have a less inclusive format of 2003 with 5 lesser number of matches than 2003. The reason: each team gets to play a minimum of six matches even if they are ruled out of the tournament due to early defeats. So, even with horrible performances the money-bringing Asian teams will play 6 matches and thus provide more money for ICC through Sponsorship and Television. ICC with such strong commercial focus talks of a zero-tolerance policy on corruption. It thus expects players to put the interest of the game above money while doing the reverse itself.

Football : Game with Great Players and Bad administators

2010-06-21T11:08:00.008+05:30

I did not know that my father was such a huge fan of football. Born some time before Independence, he belongs to the generation who believed in contentment and “Early to bed…”. So all these years either there was no channel showing the FIFA world cup or I was not home to know of Dad’s interest in the “world’s favorite game”. Until, that is, around a week ago when he asked the channel number for ESPN. Some time later, my mom starts complaining about the buzzing sound which was giving here a headache. My father was enjoying the match, Vuvuzelas or not. One huge relief for mother is that the scheduling of matches means that only the earlier ones can be seen at reasonable IST times. Did I mention my father believes in the early to bed maxim?

Having become an armchair expert of football through the magic of TV and internet, I have to admire the players. Cristiano Ronaldo and Fabio Coentrao’s dribbling and runs with ball in the North Korea match (btw Portugal is my father’s favorite team), USA’s attitude and sharp passes and Argentina’s talent pool. The surprisingly good performance has been from New Zealanders. In yesterday’s match against the defending champions, the all whites (weird name given that their cricket team is called black caps) made the perfect start as Smeltz scored to give them a seventh-minute lead. While Italian players were moving around at different paces , New Zealand defenders kept their poise, their shape and their spirit to create what is arguably, the greatest result in New Zealand's Football history. Given that they belong to a 11 member Oceania Football Confederation, none of whom have a professional domestic league , and rarely play the more famous teams, people are increasing their praise along with the insistence that OFC should merge with Asian Football Confederation else, New Zealand should follow Australia and join AFC . I strongly support the Idea of a merger more than a quit and move, though I believe OFC should look the other way. The 10 member CONMEBOL is currently the strongest confederation but the members, all strong football playing nations, do not get enough slots in world cup due to low numbers while UEFA; whose members are yet to win a World cup outside their home continent, continues the imperial domination of the sport. A 21 member joint confederation will now mean New Zealand gets to play the likes of Brazil and Argentina at least once every 2 years .The OFC members will now have much greater football participation; players and audience alike while current CONMEBOL gets more say in the game to help reform the administration and get more World cup slotting .

Talking of administration, what is Blatter’s and Fifa administration’s problem with technology in sport? Match officials’ manager and FIFA head of refereeing, has said refereeing is top class with some “human errors”. I admire FIFA referees. They have to work in high stress situation and 3 men are forced to decide on a situation in a game which requires a lot more. Without talking more about the well documented problem, a piece of news. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is the body that determines the Laws of football. Here FIFA has 4 votes while the 4 countries of UK have one each. In their meeting in March, England and Scotland Football associations, the only ones with a proper league, supported “the idea of investigating experiments into the use of technology on goal-lines” while others opposed for reasons only known to god and them. In May, the holy Grand Dukes allowed a non-compulsory trial to put 2 more additional referees behind goal line. The only possible justification FIFA could have is reducing the value of referees and creating unemployment .

Fraud on Ebay

2010-03-17T16:05:00.002+05:30

Pierre Omidyar started it to sell a broken laser pointer. Now a wonderful outlets for Fakes .

Now let us see if all the corporations shouting about fakes /copycats get this fellow corporation to take of the fake sellers making money for it.

Another CoP 15

2010-03-14T21:13:00.001+05:30

After the recent failure of 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference or the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, there is another COP 15 which started yesterday in Doha, Qatar. This meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will be held till 25th of this month. Since the UN General Assembly has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity, many conservationists believe that some positive results come out of the negotiations for the 42 proposals on board. Details on these proposals can be had from here. I will try to give a simple explanation to some of the important terms one will encounter below:

Appendix I: Contains animals threatened with extinction. International trade is prohibited except when the purpose of the import is not commercial Eg: Japan’s scientific whaling.

Appendix II: lists species that are not immediately threatened with extinction but are in danger unless trade is closely controlled. This also contains includes species whose traded products are similar to International trade may be authorized by the granting of permits from a Scientific Authority of the State of export in addition to the regular wildlife management body.

Appendix III: Has species which are unilaterally subject to regulation within a member jurisdiction for preventing exploitation. Other members support the effort by not allowing trade without permit from the exporting country.

Changes to Appendices I and II happen only in CoP meetings
Separate populations of a species may be included in different Appendices.

Class dismissed.

This conference has gained lot of attention because it will discuss banning the trade of high commercial value species, such as Atlantic bluefin tuna. For the first time, the conference will be held in an Arab country. I find it hard to decide whether the other 41 proposals are getting shoved to the backburner because of all the focus on Tuna or whether the Tuna topic is making people give second-hand attention to them.

The survival of 8 shark species will be on the line. Millions of sharks are caught every year, because some Chinese and some rich people without a life want to drink soup with their fins. If that is not an excess resembling Roman Orgies, do you know how they are harvested?

Trade in precious corals has been on between Mediterranean coast and India for a long time. The United States alone is said to have imported 28 million pieces of red and pink coral between 2001 and 2008. Ban on its trade was defeated the last time by a secret ballot.

International commercial ivory trade was banned in 1989.From 1997, some African countries were allowed to sell stockpiled ivory coming from elephants that have died naturally or was seized from illegal poachers. This act weakened the Moral prohibition against any Ivory trade. Now Tanzania and Zambia want to jump on the money train. Thankfully, there are other sane African countries which want to put a 20 year ban on all trade and attempts at delisting. I hope the second proposal wins.

Measures must receive a two-thirds majority of those nations present to be adopted, and are then enforced by laws passed in member nations. Let us wait and watch

Say it is not so...

2010-02-28T11:53:00.002+05:30

I have a sneaky feeling that the Next Blog >> on top of this page is not really random. It seems as if some kind of classification based Google algorithm is what work which takes you to a site similar to the current blog one is viewing. Worse is the possibility that my Blog is now clubbed alongside all the "mommy baby Identity crisis" {MBIC} blogs where a low self esteem woman becomes a mother and blogs as her baby to gain attention.

Recently, the N button above has been taking me to a lot of "our family" and MBIC blogs. So I gathered that it is only an indication of the distribution of types of blogs. So many families and new mothers have been blogging recently I thought.

Today morning, I stumbled onto this website by a hardcore gamer (he writes game guides to a JRPGs; that is Hardcore dude.) Then when I click on the N button; horror of horrors!!! I went to blogs about games! Continuing on, the button kept taking me to gaming blogs.

This is serious. Next up I need to check how Google indexes the blogs (and has anyone noticed how the editor specifies a capital G ?).

From youtube

2010-02-24T12:44:00.004+05:30

was an awesome movie? in every aspect, the story line may have not been original but everything else was just incredible. one of the best movies ever made.

This is gonna get a classic hitmovie.

Really good movie!

Nice cool movie as?

Going to preorder my DVD

What a movie debut.

All these are comments I saw yesterday for the trailer for The Last Airbender on youtube.

Before anyone tries to make any sense or gives out opinion, these are spam comments for movie sites where one can see movies for free . (I am still surprised how they promise to do it before the movie is completed).

Anyway I guess this is what happens when "pay per view" advertising is abused. Just get people to see the page and ad money rolls in . Expect to see more Captcha tests for human comments.

Thoughts from PC expo in Bangalore

2010-02-22T13:27:00.001+05:30

Visited Pc Expo yesterday at Palace Grounds. Only big company there to promote it's products was Asus (where the nice stall in-charge gave me a free copy of their complete catalog and also the contact to their distributor in SP road)

Almost all the other stalls were filled by operators out to rake either a quick buck or lots of High Net worth Individuals' contacts from the crowd .Games n’Gadgets stall had 2 Big screens where people could try out Wii and Wii Motion Plus . Plus they had a huge collection of games and peripherals on sale . While drooling over the titles and the box art of these unapproachable items (either too expensive or do not run on a PC). I noticed :

Price of a Playstation 2 (Released in 2000): Rs 5999

Price of a Final Fantasy XII DVD (Released ~ 2007) : Rs999 = 1/6 th that of the whole console.

Such economic incentives are why people promote software piracy and hardware counterfeiting . Bangaloreans seeking to make a comparison should visit any of the Big "Supermarkets " which have sprung up .If you do not find any store ,visit Gopalan Legacy Shopping Mall on Mysore road and check out the toy section of "total ". Anyone wants to play 2 player game ?

Another video from youtube

2010-01-30T09:48:00.003+05:30

Awesome Ad I saw today: a road safety video from UK

Lot of originality and creativity and importantly; a sentimental tug

Kraft takes over Cadbury

2010-01-19T21:10:00.000+05:30

In spite of opposition from Warren buffet and Britain's largest workers union , Cadbury’s is mow officially apart of Kraft foods .

I do not intend to analyze whether this makes financial sense or not. On the other hand I want to demonstrate how this whole incident is a clear case of end-gaming.

In September of last year while snubbing Kraft’s bid used the clause "fundamentally" undervalued the firm so that Kraft does not get taken over by the rhetoric about to follow. Kraft got the right message and knew it was a question of money, Cadbury management wanted a higher price and it was just a lengthy bargain session all along.It is quite possible that Cadbury was readying itself as a good target since spinning off Dr. Pepper. It was halfway through a four- year plan aimed at increasing the company’s operating margin and thus the earnings multiple it would fetch.

However, as the bargain started, Cadbury; is midst of closing down factories, started a marketing blitz with ads at expensive TV slots and “new” product launches. If Kraft would not give a higher multiple, they would increase the denominator.This helped them to state last week:

"Our 2009 performance is ahead of our previously upgraded expectations and we have excellent momentum going into 2010."

Oh yeah, like we do not know how you did it and how sustainable that momentum really is

In addition, Unite , UK lawmakers were used as pawns by Cadbury to show of their bargaining muscle. Kraft on its part, stated slowly accumulating outstanding shares ..Roger Carr, (Chairman of Cadbury) makes the following plea :

“Don’t let Kraft steal your company with its derisory offer."

How touching, If I were an Idiot and a shareholder of Cadbury, I would cry.

Yesterday, Kraft provided Cadbury management what they wanted; MONEY and when Kraft provided it the Cadbury board unanimously jumped up asking where shall we sign?

Looks like time for a lot of overtime for Cadbury's PR in near future.

Love the concept here

2010-01-06T12:46:00.001+05:30

Check it out

Commentary on PC Games of 2009

2010-01-04T10:53:00.004+05:30

Fallout 3
Mass Effect
Left 4 Dead
Grand Theft Auto IV
The Witcher Enhanced Edition
Crysis Warhead
Call of Duty: World at War
Far Cry 2
Saints Row 2

This was not meant to be a list of high selling ,famous games of 2009 . I was trying to go through what were the high profile releases and came up with this list. These are all ESRB M rated games from the last year . This shows the continuation of a despicable trend in games. Photorealism in games nowadays means more dismemberment with trails of blood from a dying human or better, zombies aliens and similar creatures where gore factor can be raised to very high level . Notwithstanding the money made by these games one cannot escape the fact that this is Exploitation . Strong profanity ? (more than Patton ,the movie about someone said to be a super-swearer even for a military man ), illicit drug use?, prostitution ? Bring it on!!! .Let us put a spin that these are "moral choices" Another noticeable fact is that none of these games are 2 player fighters which used to be known for "over the top" gore with complicated and convoluted finishing moves.

Before I forget , One non-noticed game last year was Audiosurf . That was Game play innovation .Plus it runs on systems one decade old. It looks nice without Pixel or Vertex shaders.

PCs rock : or why Game consoles are Bad.

2009-12-20T14:43:00.001+05:30

Now, I do not consider myself a Fan-boy, I am merely stating some facts:

My PC, assembled from off the shelf Items with the help of a friend in 2003, is still working.
While, Xbox 360; assembled from custom designed GPU and off the shelf Items by a team of experts gets the Red Light of death

or worse, scratches the expensive disks (console games cost at least Rs. 500 more than PC versions) one bought

And not to be outdone; PS3, also assembled from off the shelf Items by another team of experts brings the Yellow light of death.

The last video throws up some very interesting points:

The gas in the contacts revealed by the ray and the solution of cooking in the oven gives one an impression that loose contacts and improper soldering is the major problem Does it cost Sony more than 180 pounds to simply check the solders and redo it right? Even with the additional cost of PR for cover-up?

Sony representatives said that they were following “industry standards” .However they did not accept that when releasing me too online capabilities on their console or more recently motion sensing controllers. Instead they were raving about a gaming experience like none other

Lastly did anybody notice the girl at around 6:35? The one who does that girly clap girls like her buy and worry about the well being of PS3 instead of being repulsed by the mere sight of it ? She does that in-spite of what Ivy Valentine in Soulcalibur IV and this ad along with its worse cousin did to women’s self respect?Given what EA did for upcoming Dante’s Inferno? Knowing what Sony did to promote God of war: the game with a particular mini-game not to be described in polite circles?In a world where men consider themselves lucky to find a girlfriend who tolerates their playing shooters , girls like the one above are precious.

Nice ad for a newspaper

2009-11-25T13:30:00.000+05:30

I am one of those people who believe that newspapers are getting anachronistic. But that does not prevent me from enjoying well ads as they appear . I wonder though; why did not the US newspapers come up with a similar Ideas?

Golden Pen of Freedom Award

2009-09-17T10:33:00.002+05:30

World Association of Newspapers is holding its 62nd Congress in Hyderabad. The awardee incidentally, is Mr. Najam Sethi. Anyone who clicks the link will find that (!!!!!!!!) he is from Pakistan. Now , in addition to the usual issues of Jaswant Singh, Kashmir etc. on which he will be forced to give an opinion on, it will be good if he manages to motivate some of the famous channels to reduce sensationalism and do some hard work outside the cities. E.g. Can someone work on the Naxalite movement please?

India's Divide

2009-07-06T11:00:00.000+05:30

I get a feeling that the so called intelligentia of India is actually an intellectual elite .

Background events: The great shock in Indian cities on UPA winning the general elections 2009, persopnal observation that people around me seem to know more about Hurricane Katrina than Cyclone Aila,the occurings in Lalgarh,

Main event: Discovery Atlas, A nice show.

Basically, The indian episode concentrated on only 3 people:

A young boy becoming a priest in Haridwar
A cable operator in Dharavi
A marriage organiser in Delhi.

The italian episode concentrated on:

A young wannabe Palio Jockey in Siena
A race car driver in Rome
A freediver in Sicily
A mountaineer in the Alps
A fashion designer in Milan
A Gondolier in Venice

Now my question is : Why only three for India? Given that India is considered to be a land of great diversity: The makers of discovery Atlas, or specifically the "India experts" they must have consulted (I believe they did given that there are country specific narrators) do not know enough different stories among Indians . To me the most logical explanation is that they themselves have not much idea of India outside stereotypes and big cities. One of my friends from a Big city admitted that till a recent trip to Kashmir, he had not visited any village !!

The "educated" middle class of India seem out of touch from the others , I am not asking for any kind of " oh those wretched brothers" sympathy which a lot of people seem very eager to show . I am asking for recognition that there are thses other ways and means of living which people follow .I want to know more about my country and expect the so called experts to help me . Till recently the wiki pedia article on Folklore of India was filled more with info on the "folklorists" than the main subject itself.

Modern Japanese Storytelling

2009-06-09T15:11:00.000+05:30

My first introduction to Japanese Storytelling and the Industry of video games was this:

Long ago, our family was visiting an acquaintance of my parents and their son sat playing Super Mario Bros on one of the NES clones. Also, like with this video it was somebody else playing well while I sat gawking on. I remember asking him if I could play too. Amidst the wonder of watching the fingers of this guy while the red and brown image on the television danced to his commands (A jump B fire B also run) and the resentment of not being invited to play, there was a story I liked. I do not know whether it was a reflection of stories in the contemporary Indian Films, nevertheless I thought the story of the game I had just seen could make a hit movie.

Years later, I got an internship in Tokyo. So amidst learning to eat with chop sticks I decided to watch some Japanese movies to gain a cultural appreciation.We were surprised that the only non-Kurosawa non-anime one to be found in Ahmadabad was Zatôichi. Modern Japanese cinema seemed mainly to be Anime : 10 frames per second, obnoxious,big eyes, pointy hair cartoons for most of us and high art for those select few who always exist in any hostel. So it was a big surprise when I reached Japan and saw people drooling over Manga .I was also introduced to:

and

Over time I have been introduced to storytelling with complex motives and characters. ha com to realize that Anime Manga and the Japanese Games are the primary means of entertainment and thus the primary media of storytelling.Video games weren't originally intended to be a storytelling medium, specially given that most stories have predetermined outcomes and dramatic plot points that must be met along the way. However, notwithstanding the disaster Super Mario Bros. film became, Japanese games evolved along with their plots. Metroid Prime series let the player read and discover through items hidden throughout the environment .Japanese RPGs usually tend to place a greater emphasis on tightly orchestrated, linear narratives with elaborate cut-scenes fleshed out cast of characters and intense voice acting sacrificing the open-ended spirit of role-playing. It probably helped that most gaming in Japan happens on consoles and thus there was a Japan dominated medium.Most of the Japan's new rich owe their fortunes to gaming .Hayao Miyaaki, Hideo Kojima , Hironobu Sakaguchi and Yūji Horii are their biggest storytellers alive.

So this is what I believe; Modern Japanese story telling exists and will exist mainly in JRPGs and Manga. Given that most Indians cannot afford video games or comics’ subscriptions and overseas earnings are a big chunk of Hollywood, I do not see Indian and North American story telling moving away from movie predomination anytime soon.

I leave you with links to some great stories in recent Japanese games being played

The art of endgaming

2009-05-24T15:07:00.001+05:30

I see a lot of end-gaming going on.

Let me describe end-gaming: The term comes from Game theory: . Basically, it means that people behave as if the economic activity they are indulging in is going to end next turn: next year, next quarter/ next transaction. Usually people like to increase goodwill with business associates along with higher revenue.But in end-gaming it is a free for all of "Beggar thy neighbour"

There are naturally a lot of people who are like that, they believe that someone who leaves money lying on the table in a transaction for Goodwill is a “C****” (Hindi Expletive).Caveat emptor is only the beginning when dealing with them. But a lot of Indians are also socially minded, they believe that cheating is not good

I do not know what it is: the current economic condition; where people are actually having zero visibility beyond the next turn, the previous Bull Run; where most talent was devoted to grabbing a bigger share of a pie which was growing due to external reasons and given the sudden shrink, a sense of confusion? What is the reason that I see a lot of end-gaming going on around me? Positional bargaining is more prevalent rather than negotiations.

I do not know what will happen of all this. Will there be a business environment of more mistrust? Or will everyone be forced to be more assertive? Like the proverbial fire tempering steel?

Markets seem long

2009-03-28T11:20:00.000+05:30

The recent upmove has been very Scary, Only one negative day. there are theories floating around; My favorite one is that Indian Mutual funds are suing up all the cash they were sitting on since they need to show good year end performance (I do not understand why Indian mutual fund buying would drive up world Indices). To me, the market has bottomed out and I am convinced (enough to take positions) after Nifty broke 3000 that this is THE relief rally and markets can go even upto 4000.

Obama: War against Cynicism

2008-12-04T13:09:00.001+05:30

"whatever the opinion polls say, the white americans will never vote for a nigger"

If you ever interview these fellows they will describe themselves as optimists , but they are pathetic cynical fellows. There only utility to the scociety is the humour that the occasional wit that cynicism brings out. Still ,we see them doing well in leadership roles in the society.

I beg to differ from these fellows.

I believe that Obama is a man driven by Ideas and part time education from the "Hard knocks " school of Life. I was surprised that he did not make Hillary his running mate. I believe strongly she will be in his cabinet (Yes I believe Obama will win). I also expect a very hard first year for him, his change and Bipartisanship agenda derailed by narrow minded cynics who managed to get themselves elected will play turf politics.But that will help identify and isolate them. I do not see a miracle, but something close in the next four years.

Markets seem short

2008-10-01T11:39:00.000+05:30

I will not even go to the point of how many DMAs have been cut by Nifty on it's way down. The Lehmann happenings, uncertainity over Financial and manufacturing Giants will mena that the FII will want pull back on all "Illiquid " and "High Yield" stuff with Flight for quality.This can bring Nifty this expiry down low ... very low.The Bear market in India in now a fact rather than a conjecture. Bye bye 21000 Sensex for some years.

Communication

2008-01-30T18:52:00.000+05:30

“Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected”
Mahatma Gandhi

There is a course currently going on I did not attend in WIMWI called GGPLP. It touches upon the less privileged classes of the society. This subject naturally , generates a lot of passion amongst those who take it. When they try to pass on the message from such learnings to others, care need be taken to ensure that there is no alienation of the audience.

Which brings me to another observation , there are movies and plays: some serious "socially relevant" ones and some humorous "childish " ones . Some thespians prefer the "socially relevant" ones i.e. guilt trip, sad situations and long monologues to deliver the theme. The ones i like are ones that use humour, tease the participant to open up and then with love, give their truth.

Impressions: Delhi

2007-09-11T06:09:00.000+05:30

So what are my impressions of Delhi:

RED

and... more RED

beyond red? PINK

It is said that in the medieval period of Indian history, Red sandstone from Makrana in Rajasthan was the preferred Building material Now, searching for Makrana throws up info about its Marble mines . No reference to sandstone. (Must have been exhausted by the prolific building going on in Delhi).Anyway, Mr Edward Lutyens due to his preference for traditional stuff, continued the redness of Delhi.

Delhi is very well planned. The roads are Avenues , even outside the Ringroad. But Delhi has a lot of economic rent.(not the one a tenant pays but this one) . This might be common in developing economies and many other places. What troubles me however, is that rent seeking behavior is accepted and rent availability is maintained. Someone who does not bargain fiercely is an Idiot(not all the vernacular terms used are parliamentary). I do not understand why Delhi metro is so under priced given that the project required Japanese funding. Subsidization in Delhi is excused in the name of "National capital".

So , do I hate Delhi? No because of these two reasons:

1.There has been an actual increase in Infra for the common Man

2. All said and Done, the city has culture, Difficult for me , but it does exist.

The day of Transports

2007-09-09T17:41:00.000+05:30

This is an account of a day when I used without any predecision, modes of transport

So we start our Journey in a College called SMIT Majithar in Sikkim on the 2nd september on the 2007th year of our lord.

Sikkim to Bagdogra Airport: Tata Sumo
Bagdogra Airport to Delhi Airport: Bus in the sky (Air Deccan)
Delhi airport to New Delhi Railway station: Taxi
New Delhi Railway station to Chandni Chowk :
Chandni Chowk to Karim's ( An awesome restaurant) : Autorickshaw
Karim's to Chandni Chowk: Cycle Rickshaw
Chandni Chowk to New Delhi Railway station: Delhi Metro again
New Delhi Railway station towards Ahmedabad railway station: Indian railways Broad gauge line

Diversity

Impressions: Ahmedabad

2007-09-09T07:49:00.000+05:30

I have the desire to discover. I have a wish, to travel to and stay in each of the states of India . For that , I have made a clear numerical condition.

Travel to a state: It means that I will spend at least 24 hrs in local living /sightseeing in at least one district of the state.

Some years ago, I visited Calcutta. I caught a morning train from Jamshedpur, roamed Calcutta and caught the return train the night of the same day. Does not qualify.

The Goal is to "Visit" all states of India before I turn 30.

For a long time, Ahmedabad/Ahmadabad/Amdavad, where my current college of instruction exists,was the Northernmost I ever had been in my life.It wrested this title from... Jamshedpur.

So here are my impressions of this "home away from home".

Roads: Brilliant! excellently maintained . These good roads motivated me to take up bike riding. [The last /only time I rode a bike was when a cousin of mine bought a new TVS Victor years ago.] So riding a friend's Bike , humming "Dead or Alive" , I get a sense of why the bikers enjoyed their Long rides.

Traffic sense: Pathetic. I used to think traffic sense in TN is bad before I came across Ahmedabad drivers.

Food: lots of flashy places with great "Ambience" but unremarkable food. Except if one has the patience to visit the Old part of the city East of R.Sabarmati. West of the River, there are Lounge Bars, places where a nuclear family can claim to have gone out , savored "exotic" dishes or a group of college goers/neophyte career people can meet their friends/crowd and snob about their knowledge of other Cuisines.

Climate: When I realised that I was coming north of Jamshedpur whose Winters I had the privilege of experiencing, I brought on a lot of Cold weather protection. Most of them in Vain. The weather is usually Hot ( God bless the AC classrooms ) except in Winter when it cools down.

Hello again!

2007-09-08T07:35:00.000+05:30

In the beginning, I started blogging. This was so that there is a place where I could just type whatever I wanted to say without worrying about the presence/absence of audience.

After some time , the need for attention led me to reveal this blog to some of my friends. The kind souls appreciated my scribblings.

Later as these souls started appreciating and dropping their comments, I tweaked my posts to try make them popular, made the mistake of trying to play to the audience.

I stopped blogging because I could not structure my thoughts to create popular posts. The inner critic had won.

After a long time, certain events in my life ( not sure if I can talk about all of them in the future) led me to contemplate. So here I am , re cording my thoughts so that I have the time for others'.

Life so far

2007-03-07T01:03:00.000+05:30

Now in the last month of my last term as a PGP1.

When I came here I felt lucky. Not to have gained admission, but because I had managed to come here to get admitted in time.Decided to "hit the ground running" and learn.No gaming. Gtalk, blog and orkut access only on weekends. when the six day week set in, even they stopped.

1st Term courses were interesting especially after the hardcore mugging I had to do to clear the 8 courses in final semester. cases were interesting, imagining myself in the shoes of managers past taking the decision with uncertainity. I certainly loved the uncertainity.

Then came HR grades. Deja vu the mugging days of meta and the frustration of having spent half an hour describing when 10 minutes of term-dropping would have been enough. Maybe Prof. Sunil Maheshwari's material would have helped my CG

2nd term, adaptation, learnt the important of Glorious c.v. points in professional services.Discovered mathematical/structural finance. Enjoyed not having to mug formulae in probability. Played a maverick in summer placements. Actually realised that I am more flexible than imagined. Discovered so many gaps while conversing that decided to make communication courses my first priority in 2 nd year. Realised that I may not see India for a long-time after graduation. Decided to free myself up to roam around.

Today I Bid for the next term courses . Got courses in communication plus a highly contested one in structuring. Will be alloted some other ones later to fill up requirements.

So does that mean this blog is back ? up and running? don't know.

One week too late

2006-07-21T16:09:00.000+05:30

[Due to unavaoidable circumstances, this article predates the date assigned by a week.]

The following is not a book review, nor does it say that I completely read the book being mentioned below.

Last week, we had 4 quizzes on 4 successive days. One always feels a kind of void when, after a period of rigorous activity, there is a sudden period where nothing needs immediate attention, no deadline to keep. But the fact that in the previous week there was concentration on some goals, cutting down the other activities, creates a premium value in the mind for our time. So, I enquired among seniors what they would do in such times. Not getting an answer which seemed worthy of pursuing, I started browsing my mail.

One of them was sent by Purva in which she mentioned a book by Arundhati roy called ‘the algebra of infinite justice’ attaching the adjective beautiful to it. I remembered seeing it in one of the seniors’ rooms. So, I decide to collect some opinion from seniors. The fact that most of them had gone home for the weekend simplified matters. My second shot was a bull’s eye.

Me: (Appropriate dorm name), do you know who has this book called …..

Ravi S: Yes I do. I am reading it right now.

Me: How is it?

Ravi S: It is good actually. (The kind soul must have remembered my earlier enquiries) If you want, take it for the weekend.

Ravi then made it clear that any damage to the book would automatically mean that no less than 5 seniors would individually ensure that I had a painful death.

Coming back to my room, I stared at the contents. I settled for the last essay called War talk because it was of 9 pages. (Theoretically, it is impossible for me to have time to read 40 page essays, because IAM In IIMA)

Ok the first article, War talk “summer games with nuclear bombs”.

The reading did not start smoothly, p.297 second paragraph “As diplomats’ families and tourists… “Why haven’t you left the city?”…target?””

---Is it really true? Because for me, famous western journalist I n India = Mark Tully. I do not remember him leaving India.

The reading then went smoothly .She cleverly managed to bring the Narmada issue into this through the non-violence connect.

p.300 “…clear-felling forests, uprooting hand pumps…”

Halt! Uprooting hand pumps? Did they really do that? There is a reference, so must be true, there is a link in the reference, type type type click... .headline was some article about amir khan! (Ah the Fanaa controversy) Next link, type type type click.

What in the name of !! It is true, cutting power to a place about to get submerged, I understand, what in the name of sanity are they doing going around blocking hand pumps. Madhya Pradesh showed a deficit in its budget this year. No wonder, Hello MP Govt. guys! leave the bloody hand pumps and worry about cutting your expenditure.

P 303 “…for music, art, literature and everything else that defines civilization.”

civ·i·li·za·tion
n.

An advanced state of intellectual, cultural, and material development in human society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences, the extensive use of record-keeping, including writing, and the appearance of complex political and social institutions.
The type of culture and society developed by a particular nation or region or in a particular epoch: Mayan civilization; the civilization of ancient Rome.
The act or process of civilizing or reaching a civilized state.
Cultural or intellectual refinement; good taste.
Modern society with its conveniences: returned to civilization after camping in the mountains.

I hope therefore that she was thinking of all the above additions in the ‘everything else’.

Finishing the essay and going over the thoughts in my mind recorded above, I started wondering, “Is my dislike of the above concepts due to any inherent prejudice against her? Was my opinion really as objective as I could get"

Next I read the title essay of 22 pages which was a breezy read (except where she mistakes Kosovo conflict as part of Muslim-non Muslim conflict p. 228 but that is ok) . This cleared up my mind. No prejudice against the author then.

Now I had a dilemma. There were two articles of 32 pages each: one called “the ladies have feelings, so…” and another titled “democracy” (I could not have theoretically read both because IAM In IIMA)

Inky Pinky Ponky… the longer title.

P.188 end of the continuing paragraph “…emaciated labourers digging a trench…optic fibre…digital revolution…few candles”

Good use of words to bring out a contrast. Not as commonplace as my experience of seeing non emaciated workers putting OF cables in IITM .Sleeping in the mornings and working in the night. Their candles were actually burning pieces of cable.

I see a great preference for highlighting the rich-poor divide. Firstly, a fact; this is not some unique unpardonable aberration occurring in India as the opinion generated by the author. I invite the readers to type rich-poor divide in any search engine and none of the articles which show up are from India/by Indians. Secondly I do not believe, this increasing divide means an actual drop in the quality of life for the poor.

I agree that the increase rate for the lower strata in no way comparable to the one for the upper strata. But the lowest stratum has improved this position.

The poor of India are better of now than 50 years ago.

How? One clear example is the fact that we, Indians, do not have starvation deaths.

In spite of the increasing pressure on resources, In spite of majority of Indians being Poor. In spite of The Apathy of the Haves, The death rate is lower.

P.196~197: She gives a thesis on why she is considered a writer-activist “…because in my essays, I take sides…a writer…uncool, unsophisticated thing to do…but is it mandatory for a writer to be ambiguous …euphemisms for pusillanimity?”

[Pusillanimity? Does it mean meek as a kitten? (Pussy and animal?) (Shorty! Christo! Purva! Sudarshan! Dictionary!!! Desperately want one of you)]

I have not read the novel of the author .I would not have read these essays if either of Purva or Ravi S had not read and liked it. But I will still call her a writer-activist .Why?

One fine day many years ago, I came across the news that some Indian had won some literary prize.

Some days later, saw the same person, with hair cut short, protesting with the narmada bachao andolan.

Some more days later, saw the same person getting into some controversy with the supreme court.

Hence,for me she is a writer turned activist writer-activist.

The post is becoming long (and theoretically I cannot put up long posts because…)

Some highlights:

P 199 last Para: “Is Corporatization... going to pull India….close the gap…give those…”

I do not know, but writing such articles which seem aided by thesaurus and barron’s word list certainly will not.

P 201: “…bananas with mosquito bites…”

What? Then I imagined that mosquito bite must be the name of a particular condition. Googled: bananas Mosquito bites. This is what turned up.

http://www.google.co.in/search?hs=GLz&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=banana+mosquito+bites&btnG=Search&meta=

Arundhati roy seem to have a control over the words she types she uses references to strengthen her point .She also slips her opinion as fact in between.

I do not know what to conclude this post as.

Anyway because… I have to study.

A Study in Recruitment

2006-07-16T11:47:00.000+05:30

One of the classes of HRM, we were studying a case on recruitment. Two of my misconceptions which the Prof clarified were:

Recruitment is the process of attracting the suitable candidates and has nothing to do with receiving applications. That part is called selection.
For Any Job, overburdening is not required. The Ratio of applicants to Final employees should not be high.

Now, the second one came as a rude shocker for me who: competed with at least a thousand humans of my age(at those particular moments) at various stages of my education. I was witness to IITians applying for posts where that the final employee to applicant ratio was less than 1 % and getting emotional when they did not make it.

But the above mentioned learning has placed all these events in a new light.

There are some organizations for which, there exists value in high ratio of applicants to final list:
Examples:

Educational institutions: A high ratio means good perceived value among parents/Recruiting companies.

Consulting companies: They have to sell themselves to their customer companies. (Our organization has the best of the best).That is one reason many consulting companies adopt select campuses. They do not want to say that they took guys rejected by a competitor.

Investment banks: We have the best people from the best campuses .So networking is assured.

But what makes HRM people in IT organizations (Let us face it, they are competing on cost) and Consumer goods Companies be proud of the fact that they have high ratio?

Please do not blame the Indian population numbers (The population is to be blamed for many problems, but not this). If that were the case, people would be happy that they were employed, work hard and show company loyalty like the Japanese after WW2.Most of the people leaving your organizations would have been fired.

Instead what we see is opposite, this high ratio the HRM guys are proud of means that those who get in , want value for the change in their lifestyle they underwent.(For many that means sacrificing their favorite games/hobbies). They want more than what the company gives them. Result: High attrition rate caused by people leaving the company.

So guys, if the company is not getting any value with the high ratio, do not get burdened with too many applications to read. If you believe too many people will apply anyway, talk about the long hours in the Pre-placement talk. Tell them that the chances of promotion are very slim after 40. Do not let fear guide you . Go for the employees- employer fit. The low number gives you people more time to study people. Why worry that you did not get the one who had mugged up the most in his/her exams. Most of you seem to opine that college learning is not worth much. Instead get guys who know the truth. They are people who will trust the company more because of the honesty you showed during recruitment. They are people who will be content at their career-path.

I have not been alive for long time. But I do believe that having a Contented employee is more valuable than some one whom you can exhibit among your peers as a prize catch

Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.

Benjamin Franklin

My First Flight

2006-07-09T11:41:00.000+05:30

Background:

My BTP viva occurred on 15^th June.
I left for Bangalore the same night to attend to the 60^th birthday celebrations of My Dad.(Birth star fundaes)
Left Bangalore on night of 18^th June to Chennai to collect my provisional certificate.
Left Chennai the next night to Bangalore.

All the above movements were in the Volvo Buses of KSRTC.But this post is not about those travels.It is about my first Flight Journey which happened on the evening of 20^th June.

On 20^th June, My parents and I left Home at 1 p.m. to catch Flight IC 610 to Ahmedabad.Leaving at 5 p.m. (if you are surprised you have not seen airport road traffic at peak hours). We reached the airport at around half past three. I eagerly get out of the cab to……..disappointment.My idea of an airport derived from movies was that of a large busy place with incessant announcements and bustle. The Bangalore airport terminal is smaller any of the 20 odd bus depots in the city.

Clearing the security checks, while waiting for the announcement to board, among other things,we saw:

A K Anthony the former chief minister of kerala.
The lightning test facility of HAL (from outside).
Kingfisher airhostesses; (I was hoping for some sign of an exclamation from my mother but... nothing. Moms nowadays have become too liberal.)

Sometime later, we were aboard the plane, a 150 seater Airbus A320 , I got the window seat to the right. Due to the fear of overshooting the baggage restriction, we traveled lightly(it was 30 kg per person . I even called up chintamani to find out if they allowed us to take a combined single piece totalling the weights ). We had taken a suitcase weighing a heavy 25 kg! and 3 pieces of hand baggage measured to fit the dimensions specified. Imagine our mental state when people brought in multiple bags and started putting them everywhere including on the space above our seats.

Anyway, we were all buckled up and instructed as the plane was being taxied to the Taxiway. (I realized that an Airplane cannot move back on its own). As the plane was moving towards the runway, I saw the wing oscillating due the lift being created. Then,

Panic! What if the wing fails due to fatigue!

I tried to calm myself and by lazing out on the seat when an airhostess asked me to upright my seat. Still I stretched out my legs and tried what I could in that position. The plan turned into the runway and started accelerating. I was concentrating on the swallow hard part when suddenly, my toes felt like they were in a vice. That is when I realized the reason for sitting upright. Then I looked out as the wings were no longer oscillating, the plane was pushing on my back with full force when suddenly, my feet were lifted from the ground.

That must have been the best (and most expensive) coaster ride of my life.

I was recovering from the adrenaline rush when the pilot rolled the plane right. I went @$##% $#%#% (silently by good fortune) .That was bloody scary. I was looking down at earth on the left and all that is preventing a fatal contact is a set of two hollow metal slabs. I do not imagine I did anything till we rolled back to a more balanced position.

Slowly, the aircraft gained altitude. I played show and tell with my mom .I recognized even Yelahanka airport. It felt as if we were traveling very slowly. 5 minutes into the flight, we were still next to Bellary road,when the clouds started covering my view. Chocolates were being served. There was a magazine in the seat pocket. I was reading an article about Delhi metro in Alliance air’s in-house magazine when,

“Veg or Non- Veg?”

“3 Non- Veg please”

AI’s in–flight food is designed to keep people happy and plump: even Brown bread had cheese in it. I stuffed up everything and started gawking out again.

The view was …Fantastic! Magnifico! … Wow!

I never ever imagined that cumulo-nimbus clouds looked so beautiful from above. Grey, off-white, white, silver white, even over-pixellated brilliant white. It was like a sea of vanilla Ice cream with lot of whipped cream on it and silver paint sprayed on it.

The plane started rolling left and an announcement came for us to latch seat belts and for cabin crew to return to stations. The captain had decided to move through the clouds.

There is a lot of literature on flying through clouds. None of that can explain the feeling of sitting in a plane, flying god knows how far from ground, looking outside to zero visibility. It is like being sealed from everything else, comfortable in a tube . Only when there is a jolt/change in altitude that we that we are in a perilous situation kms away from ground.

When we came out, I looked out to see if there was any sign black soil of the Deccan trap. There was none. “The plane is very slow” .I got bored and tried going to sleep. No sooner,

“Your attention please, In Five minutes we will reach Mumbai…”

:O:O:O:O:O:O:O

There outside was the Mumbai-Pune highway, the Ghats and then …the wings stared coming apart!!

The method an A320 brakes is stretching the ailerons downwards along with the fuel booms. That is a bloody scary sight for a first timer, especially a metallurgical engineer when he notices the aileron desperately vibrating hard, prevented from coming out by some rivets.The fear backin bangalore airport was nothing compared to this one. Fretting fatigue, Corrosion aided fatigue, Miner’s law…….

After we landed, I switched on my mobile and messaged Arpan. There was a sum of 6 bucks left to talk. I started messaging Arpan hoping that by the time Airtel guys realized, I would have made some profit, alas! To rub salt to the wound, Arpan stopped messaging too.

After god knows how much time spent skimming through the complimentary issues of newspapers, the plane started moving again. Light was going down as the plane took off. It rolled above Arabian Sea giving me a 30 brilliant view of Bombay coast from Juhu (recognized by the sea shore residences) to Malad creek ( looks like a river and is north of Juhu).

Looking out, all I could see were the flashing lights of the wings getting blurred. Finally I cracked the mystery of aircraft lights. They exist to prevent collisions between aircrafts. They are two lights: red and white on both the front and back of an aircraft wing.A combination of these actually signals whether the craft is: Holding altitude, climbing/ descending. (I forgot the exact details but red on both sides means holding altitude).

Grub time again. Vegetarian but nonetheless double the amount required for a normal human. So, being quadruple stuffed, I went to sleep. While everyone else in the plane must have been tensed by each bump of the flight, I was happily dreaming that I was in a Volvo bus returning to Bangalore (the A.C and the jerks simulating the road journey well).

My mom woke me up; Announcement was on for straightening the seats. Ahmedabad airport’s was smaller than that of Bangalore. Ahmedabad was like an oven with hot air blowing at the face. (This was after sun-down).

We took a taxi to IIM. The size of the campus and the dorm rooms completed my day of surprises

If I ever become the leader of the world, I promise that evryone will get to fly in aplane at least once.

Update to my five list

2006-05-23T13:54:00.000+05:30

5 World music tracks[Those songs we do not understand but still love] I'd listen to any day.:

Kandisa-Indian Ocean
Bridge of khazaad dum –LOTR
La Bamba- Richie Valens
Rome is the Light- Gladiator
O fortuna-Carl off

5 instrumental tracks I'd listen to any day.:

Council of Elrond –LOTR
Toss the feathers-Corrs
Sur le Fil- Amelie
Theme from Lawrence of Arabia
Main theme – Star wars

To Arpan and Neha

2006-05-03T20:05:00.000+05:30

Neha Jain: and they went away.....

Basically she has been putiing Senti status message for the last many days.

Arpan is not convinced that we will get in contact after passing out.

Had parallel chats of 129 and 84 lines with school mates i was not in contact for 7 years.

THe Arrow and the Song

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

5

2006-04-21T14:45:00.000+05:30

Tag acknowledgement: Sreejith Narayanan

Five things I can't live without

1. Oxygen containing air
2. Water
3. Food
4. Something to remind me of those who gives me a sense of belonging
5. Something to do

Five movies I'd see many times

Caveat: I dislike seeing a movie more than once. I do it only if I am totally Idle/have to get a friend /close relative to see a good movie. Did it for Crash a few days back. Thus, five movies I’d see again with the Folks

1. Dead Poets Society
2. Shawshank redemption
3. The Truman Show
4. LOTR –All three as a Marathon
5. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Five places I'd love to go any day

1. Home: Add Full Bangalore
2. IIT Madras: forget the Rest of Chennai
3. Pune
4. Jamshedpur
5. Mysore

Yes I ahve not travelled much in life.

Five places I'd love to visit

1. Anyplace in India I have not been.
2. Bab-el-Mandab Strait
3. Northeast France
4. South Island, New Zealand
5. Pantanal- Brazil

Five websites I visit day in and day out.

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/
2. http://www.google.co.in
3. https://www.orkut.com/
4. http://www.cyclingnews.com/
5. http://www.janes.com/

Five books I've loved.

1. Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
2. Asterix series
3. A Tale of Two Cities
4. Jeeves series
5. The Count of Monte Cristo

Five English songs I'd listen to any day.

1. Eye of the Tiger-Survivor
2. Title Track - Singin' in the rain
3. Everyday- Bon Jovi
4. Learning to Fly- Pink Floyd
5. Complicated- Avril Lavigne

Five Hindi Songs I'd listen to any day [Excluding all A. R. Rehman ones ]

1. Main Zindagi ka saath- Hum Dono
2. Kahin door- Anand
3. Bulla Ki Jaana-
4. Yaara seeli seeli- Lekin
5. Aye Mere Pyaare watan- Kabuliwala

Five Tamil Songs I'd listen to any day

1. Vandha Naal Mudhal- Paava Mannippu
2. Rasathi- Thiruda thiruda
3. Chinna Chinna Asai – Roja
4. Anbendra – Minsaara Kanavu
5. Anjali- Duet

Five Kannada Songs I'd listen to any day

1. Bhagawantha Kai kotta- Bangaarada Manushya
2. The Dialogue before the battle in Babruvahana
3. Omkaaradi- Nammoora Mandaara Hoove
4. Bhaagyada lakshmi Baaramma-Nodi swami naavu irodu heege
5. Bombeyaatavayya- Bhookailasa

Five famous personalities I respect.

1. Gandhi
2. Martin Luther King
3. Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence
4. Nelson Mandela
5. Marshal Georgy Zhukov

Five fictitious characters I like

1. Jefferson Smith
2. Eleanor Arroway
3. Sherlock Holmes
4. William BJ Blascowicz
5. Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea

Five people I would like to tag

1. Neha
2. Sriharsha Aradhya
3.Vibin
4. Sukrut
5. Gajendra

A study in Cuteness

2006-04-16T16:35:00.000+05:30

There are many things in the natural world which might be called short circuits. Elaborate mechanisms for certain purposes (circuits) which can get subverted/otherwise wasted. A big example is Masturbation. The Orgasm following sexual intercourse is there to increase the Bonding between the two partners which in turn means they will cooperate to raise the baby. Not something to be done when one feels bored.

One of such Short-circuits is the Cuteness

The attraction to Cute humans does not originate in the desire for a future spouse. It originates in the desire for the protection of the species.

Close your eyes and imagine someone/something you find cute. Hold that Image and check whether these features occur in the image.

It was a Baby/Baby Animal
Big Eyes
Small nose
Large head
Small Limbs
Dimples
Rounded muzzle/face.

If none of the above was in your Cute Image, Mail me

The above features are characteristic of the Human/Animal Babies.

Unlike many other animals, the human tribe/Social group invests its resources for bringing a child into this world. Pregnant and Nursing women are cared and protected. A mechanism for protecting even the kids makes sense.

In case of emergencies like the attack of a group of predators or in case of Forest fires, the fleeing group needs to carry away the low-mobility Kids. The individuals strong enough to carry the kids are attracted to unattended babies by the cuteness. They want to protect it irrespective of whether the parent is to be found nearby. Hence the cute babies stand out so that we at least chck for them before running away at full speed.

[For Example: In many movies there are scenes of rioting /violence where a lone baby is shown amid adults running about. The protagonist desires to protect it. The audience also greatly sympathizes with this action. ]

Cuteness and adolescence have been associated together. One of the First Crushes of life [all the crushes for some] is said to be someone cute during Teenage days. My Stand here: At an age when the body is still getting ready for adulthood, it is useless for the mind to search for a spouse.

So what is the attraction due to? Why the Crush at the Cute Boy/Girl In class /Neighbourhood or on the screen?

The attraction here is with a purpose to protect the person rather than to go the family way with her/him. Juvenile animals in Many Mammals participate in protecting the Babies. Similarly, Human Teenagers have enough strength to pick up babies and run. So this attraction for cute images develops in adolescence.

Another Evidence for my contention is the decline in this Desire for one’s spouse to be cute. As Teenagers mature they move away from cute boys/girls to Intelligent , good listeners, sense of humour, character, hot bodies, good talkers etc. In actuality they now start the actual search for the spouse.

So out comes my advice. If on thinking about one’s Love of life the first thought in the mind is he/she is so cute It means that a short circuit is occurring.

Do not marry someone you Find Cute

Another net dredge

2006-03-18T14:44:00.000+05:30

Enjoy.

A man and a woman and their cats and dogs were walking along a road.

They were enjoying the scenery when it suddenly occurred to them that they were dead. They remembered dying and that the cats and dogs had been dead for years. They wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a tall, white marble wall running along the road. They followed it and at the top of a hill saw that the wall was broken by a stately arch that stood glowing in the sun. The arch's magnificent gate was made of pure mother of pearl.

The couple and the pets walked toward the gate on a golden road. As they got closer, they saw a robed official at a desk to one side.

The man called out, "Excuse me, where are we?"

"This is Heaven," the official answered. "Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the woman asked.

"Of course, ma'am. Come in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up." The official snapped his fingers, and the magnificent gate began to open.

"Can our friends come, too?" the travelers asked, motioning to their cats and dogs.

"No, we don't accept pets."

The man and woman thought for a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued on their way.

After a long walk, they came to a dirt path, bordered on each side by a row of pine trees. They took the path and soon saw a farmer leaning against a tree, reading a book.

"Excuse me!" the traveler called to the farmer. "Do you have any water?"

"Yeah, sure, there's a pump right over there—help yourselves."

"How about our friends here?" the travelers asked, gesturing to the cats and dogs.

"Sure, there's a bowl by the pump." They went where the farmer pointed and soon found an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The travelers filled the bowl, gave some to their cats and dogs, and then had a drink themselves.

When they were finished, they walked back toward the farmer who was standing by the tree waiting for them.

"What do you call this place?" the travelers asked.

"This is Heaven," said the farmer.

"Well, that's confusing," the travelers said. "We met an official at a place down the road who said that was Heaven, too."

"Oh, you mean the place with the marble wall and pearly gates? Nope. That's Hell."

"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"

"No. I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind."

An Ode to Nihilism

2006-03-16T16:08:00.000+05:30

I do not know why these thoughts came to me yesterday. But they did and are typed here.

Staring at a sphere of Hydrogen

Slowly to helium dying

Is a blob of Carbon and hydrogen

Not to forget nitrogen

Moving a sheet of carbon and hydrogen

So that the radiation

from the sphere of hydrogen

Removed from it water

A compound of hydrogen

So that blobs much smaller,

the skin, Did not endanger

of the bigger blob Of carbon and hydrogen

Inside the blob’s skin

Inside a shell of calcium salts

electric discharge starts

Stops, then restarts

The blob worries

That light from similar blobs

Separated across the sphere

Of silica Iron aluminum

From whose meager carbon and hydrogen

Are formed our blobs

Similar blobs scattering

Scattering salts around,

increasing entropy

Only reason they can give is what the action does

Inside the blobs’ skins

Inside shells of calcium salts

Dopamine firing starts

That light from similar blobs

Will not fall on a membrane

Passing through a fluid

In front of the membrane

Firing electricity on towards

Inside the blob’s skin

inside a shell of calcium salts

To where the signal darts

Saarang Post part 6

2006-03-13T10:37:00.000+05:30

Day 5: Every Saarang, the morning of the Final day is the Nadir .No prelims where the crowd can join in. Most Event coordinators are anyway still in Hangover after the Main quiz Finals. Most outstation Participants take this time to pack their bags. There are certain Treasure hunt styled games every year .This year’s was called RUSH which we could not enter having been late to come up with a team. Most venues are reserved for conducting event finals which are attended by the finalists and their friends. I chose the Sports quiz Finals.

True to tradition, the event overran the allotted time. So, shift to PHLT to accommodate Mono-acting. My memory tells me that Aravind Shankar and I were the only two spectators to survive the exodus. Arun Roshan walked in some time later with his Psychedelic T-shirt. Reason warded of Hunger as long as it could before acquiescing.

Returning, I witnessed the Mono-acting in closing stages. My client walks in for the last performance.

To cheer him up, I drag him to WTGW finals (Again no link .We IITians are soo esoteric in our choice of pastimes).

Chinmay, one of your important achievements on 29^th Jan 2006 was introducing Nikhil to the wonderful game of What is the good word?

The A.V. Quiz final was scheduled to commence at 1530 hours, but I was blissfully seated in MBA 2 without any jitters. I had confidence, on Rohith Bhat, he would definitely not have allowed the event to start without Chinmay’s arrival.

Our team for AV quiz was called We Dig Marathi .Since no one asked the reason for the name during the quiz, Thou shalt suffer.

Our team was:

Shorty: Maratha from marathi land.

Yogi: Kanadiga (called Dig in IITM) from Marathi land.

Me: Tamilian from Dig land who imagines he knows Marathi

Shorty is a very good human. He is well traveled (Went alone on a road-trip of Europe) and of course good at picking languages. But his recall is frustrating.

One of the ‘connect’ questions had Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiat as a clue. The only connect I could make out is rubai which is a 4 lined verse written with some particular meter. I suggested the possibility of the connect being some form of poetry.

Shorty: No da, there is nothing in poetry called Kaeiri (Another clue whose actual spelling I do not know)

Final connect: Forms of poetry

Shorty: Ya ya now I remember, Kaeiri is……………

My English vocabulary cannot describe what I felt at that time.

[One undeniable effect of the effect of mob frenzy on human beings is seen in Rock concerts. Intermittently one witnesses people flashing a hand sign. Depicted below is the hand sign symbolizing the devil which was painted on the backdrop of O.A.T. (Open Air Theatre)

(Parents of all lands unite,

look what satanic messages your children are absorbing.)

This below is the “I love you” sign in the American Sign Language

One observes rock show crowd (of both the male and female kind considered immune to mob mentality ) flash hand signs with any three digits of the hand outstretched. The only reason they do it is because some happening folk around them are doing it.]

Parikrama went overboard trying to start with a bang. They initiated the concert with Highway to Hell, from AC/DC :the song whose loudness is used to:

Wake up people by configuring into alarm softwares
By law enforcement officials to force fugitives to surrender
Scare birds away from airports

[This section might have been more suited to Day 2. Anyway,
Flashback: Saarang 2003 Opening night at the OAT was Shaan’s concert performed with a sore throat. It was the first Concert of my life as well as the first time I danced (or whatever name one deigns to bestow). Nikhil and Arpan were there .They were also there on the day of my last concert in OAT. Thanks guys for being there]

After the descent of Parikrama’s sound output, Led Zepplica took over. Bored and lacking any serious fan of Led Zeppelin, we packed.

Nikhil zestfully introduced all the assembled to the game of WTGW. The Led Zepplica sound overflow from the auditorium made for goods background music. Rohit Bansal was humming along to ‘Stairway to heaven’ when suddenly, no sound.

What happened?

How come there is power here?

I bombed myself in the leg by agreeing to play Word building game with the rule to allow 5+ letter words.

Start:

Now it was unto me and I was clueless. [Everyone who is chuckling is hereby challenged to come up with any word other than mankind without consulting a dictionary]

Challenged Prakriti and got a D.

Next round:

Purva: D

Neha:A

Prakriti: C

Me:?????????????

That was when my mobile beeped (the old one)

A guardian angel had messaged me: O

Now, the trick was to say O:

after a gap so as to not arouse any suspicion
In a manner which exudes confidence which comes from a sudden brainwave.

Ex: Wide open eyes to imitate pupil dilation, false evil looking grin [Necessary to carry through the bluff because the angel, due to the overconfidence in me, had not messaged the word.]

Finally, Nikhil took the bait and Arpan was trapped.

The assembly was dissolved Sine die

Reaching my wing in the Hostel, Sreejith informed me that Police had come from outside and Unplugged the Concert. I remember making a remark on Director should have stopped them... he has authority before sleeping.

Epilogue: If it weren’t for certain events, this part of my first peer-reviewed series of posts would have been called hangover .The next day , I wake up to find a different version of what went wrong with led zeppelin show. A road I do not want to tread.

Chintamani had the greatest of the after effects. Many instances came to pass where I mentioned my client to him. Enigmatically these would bring on a violent change to his calm demeanor. Apart from the Saarang mentions, were circumstances like the one hence mentioned:

Chintamani:’ when was the last time you saw a Horror movie?’

Me: ‘In Pune, with Raghuram and Kumar ….’

Chintamani (Showing signs of vigorous allergy)

Chintamani even went to the extent of threatening to liquidate Nikhil if he came to meet him. He went on a Manhunt enquiring every Metallurgy Final year student the following questions:

Are you from Meta?

Are you from Mandak?

Are you Kumar Nikhil?

Chintamani called Nikhil his ‘beladingala bale ‘[ a kannada movie where the hero falls in love with but never sees the heroine recommended If you do not get Kannada, get subtitles :)] Consequently, it was with great gladness that I witnessed their meeting: God bless the souls of Ram Subrahmaniam and every one in Spic-Macay for organizing the Satyajit Ray movie festival .

Of course, Acknowledgement time:

Thank You Saarang guys for the wonderful Saarang in Particular R.G. for all those workshops.
My Quiz team mates for putting up with me.
The friends who gave company when I required.
The reviewers for the patience in reading my posts.
Everyone who commented on these posts.
All the readers who read and did not comment.
Everybody else:)

Dredged from the net

2006-03-05T07:45:00.000+05:30

Breathtaking view.

Lunch Atop a Skyscraper, 1932 by Charles C. Ebbets

One of the most popular posters.

No wonder

Saarang Post part 5

2006-03-04T14:06:00.000+05:30

Day 4: The operation to clean my Room reached its logical conclusion at 2:30 a.m. We managed to fill up the drum/bin (picture here ) with Junk, mostly paper, notes I wanted to give to juniors but in which, they didn’t seem interested .

(No gross details)

Bottom-line: ATM card not found

I slept at almost 3. For the relevance of 3 AM in life ask some one from 2002 batch of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department of IIT Madras.

Strangely enough, I got up again around half past 6. I do not know why, but during Saarang and ever since, I have been getting up without alarm around the same time. I used to find it difficult just the previous semester. Also to be noted is the fact that I do not have any 8 o clock class. Probably body’s adaptation to 26 credits.

I reached CLT at 9. Animation Workshop registrations were just about to begin. Only event occurring near enough was LM solo finals. Some lady was putting on histrionics. In the CLT lobby, I found Sahil Kini to talk to and try solving the daily puzzles

(Ethics You ask ?Two words: Daily Quiz).

Finally registrations occurred and I was free to go to the bank to withdraw money in the old fashioned way (or the new fashioned if the tax stays).

The AV quiz cords upheld the tradition by arriving late as well as making a tongue in cheek dedication to Mardi gras.

Observe the picture below.

The three guys actually reading /attempting the quiz form our team. In front of us, heads down, are Deepak Baid and Arpan Nalwaya. The blurred guy behind: Nikhil Rangaraju. All of us knew each other. Sometime after the commencement of prelims, Arpan and Deepak walked out. Official Reason: No third team member. When confronted with the fact out comes the cliché: anyway nothing would have happened.

Kumar Nikhil, meanwhile, was out making mammon playing consultant to a Jee coaching centre (he now plans to buy a DVD writer with that).

Sometime into the animation workshop, I realized that Shorty did not like 3D animation. Sensing an opportunity to avenge all the occasion when he had pained me with discourses on anime, I merely returned some of his statements in modified form. They were calling us to the desk in batches while running Final Fantasy 7; Advent Children on screen.

Initiate: Full tempo heavy artillery pounding

“Just see how wonderful the hair is moving”

“Look at the simulation of all volcanic smoke and dust”.

“Check this out, the dust hurled by the bike is so natural”

To know the efficacy of my efforts, ask Purva who suffered collateral damage (Sorry mate), Shorty will make evasive statements like “I was not pained… just…”

The presentation of 2D animation was marvelous. (I drew a recognizable human for the first time).The presentation on 3D animation software started well. But the presenter went on tweaking the face he was modeling to make it perfect. This bored the audience. Purva left, Shorty also left, I did not.

I believe it to be impolite to abandon a presentation and exit. So many people had put so much effort to make this dream of theirs a reality. It is common human courtesy that you should not leave. I took the Moral high ground and did not leave. I took a nap =))=))=)).

Waking up, I witnessed him finish the finishing touches and give a quick introduction to some actually useful features of Maya.

Next Stop: CLT for host performance. Jam final session was concluding. I wanted enough people to vacate so that I could get a front row seat. But in the exodus, I found Arpan, Neha et al.

Me: What do you people imagine you are doing?

Deepak: We are hungry.

A hungry people listens not to reason, not cares for justice, nor is bent by any prayers.

-Seneca the younger

How was the host show?

If I return for next year Saarang: Don’t go. It is never good. All hype............Even if you attend, go to the last rows, away from the cacophonous loud speakers.

If I do not return: Splendid, better than pro shows. LSG is God. A Pure rock fan from the time before the junk composers.

[Note: Prof LSG also managed to sublimally insert matrimonial ads for Hariharan (Cubba) and Karthik (Bapu) during the concert.]

Light music had nothing to rhapsodize. Main Quiz finals are always considered esoteric. But this year it began with what has become the latest chartbuster in IITM:

Eef you come today

from the very popular movie Operation Diamond Racket. The audio didn’t work. Hence the quizzers from IIMB pitched in their voices. The inebriations had begun. Feeling sleepy, I retired.

Saarang Post part 4

2006-02-27T10:41:00.000+05:30

Day 3: Main Quiz Prelims till 10:30 a.m.

Missed Sports and Entertainment quiz for Photography workshop. This session was supposed to be integral and separate but due to the Zeal of the audience (who all desired customized advice on the brand /make of camera to buy) the session could not be completed.

If you people have kept track, my client is missing in recent mention. The reason I found out when I called him up in the break. Our man was attending Dramatics.

OH OH!

In the break, amid the blare of 3 stalls, I met Niteesh Joshi, senior by an year.

Niteesh: Jacob is arriving tonight with the tickets for Jethro tull concert

Me: Good. Can you also get me 2 tickets For the Jal and Shivamani concert? My mom and Sister are interested.

Niteesh: I am not sure if he is bringing them. I will keep them for you in Bangalore.

Me: B.T.W. what was your Cat percentile?

After a discussion on strategies for abstract G.D.s and a Pizza for half a century, I was back at the workshop. Saw lot many familiar faces now. The speaker had learnt his lesson: He had completed 10 tips in the first session, now he was almost through with 12 in the 10 min I had delayed. Of course, that created a problem:

What was Tip 11?

Purva was the only one who seemed to be jotting down anything but even she could not help. So Now, it was unto Uthpala Raghavendra rao(R.G. ) after the session.

Me: Machchaa, can you show me Tip, 11 again?

R.G.: Don’t worry, we will share the complete presentation.

Me: Peace

R.G. let it forever be etched in the annals of the holy web-dom that thou did not fulfilleth thine promise till this day, the twenty sixth of the February in the 2006^th year of our lord.

The JAM moderator Jimmy (the pioneering? protagonist of the Emami Fair and Handsome Ad) had prior commitments and so, the Jam Finals and Main Quiz Semi-Finals had to be swapped.

There were six Guys tied (at 11.5 points and 1.5 stars) .So; there was a Super tie-breaker.

The first round of 4questions all went above our heads. Last question: about origin of the Phrase Bottom-Line .Onlu one guy got it.

Thus it came to pass that Chinmay Hegde and I were ejected from Saarang Main quiz 2006. He stayed back while I left with my client and met Aditya Jeurkar outside. This Human had just composed 12 Haikus on the spot for the creative writing contest.

In the night, after the Decibels show was the Music by Duo Bertrand et cie. The Alliances françaises shows in Saarang have not received much publicity, but they certainly are Gooooooooddddddd. Duo Bertrand et cie continuing the tradition set by Matmatah, Started playing without a Sound check, a tune which literally swept everybody. They Rocked, Jazzzed and folked.They introduced the Audience to veuze Bagpipe and Chapman Stick. Also the famous event involving Aditya and S.M.S. occurred .For details contact:

Aditya

Kokonad Sinha

Nikhil

Me:D

After the concert, Sreejith asked me to contact Jacob a.s.a.p with money and buy the tickets.

[Background: My A.T.M. card expired in September. I could not locate my Mom’s card for a week now. Thus I was ‘subsisting’ on ‘interest-free loans’ from my friends]

Sreejith’s tone was such that I now thought I had a Cash crunch. Aditya and Nikhil bailed me out.

Meeting Jacob:

Me: Sreejith thought you would not give tickets without Cash

Jacob: Ya Slitia true.

Me: Then where are the Complimentary CDs?

Jacob: :D

ME: :D

Returning to Hostel, I was telling Sreejith all this when Vimal (my room neighbor remind me to type about his sleeping and eating patterns) got angry.

Vimal: Why should you keep asking others? It is your Job to keep your room tidy and things in order…..

At 2330 hours commenced Operation Clean 247 Jamuna

An insider joke for IITM Junta

2006-02-24T12:40:00.000+05:30

Today Lunch time.

My room neighbour: Let us go play Badminton in the evening.

Me: Today there is SAC meeting in the evening.

After sometime,

Adarsh: When is the SAC meeting ?

Me: 5:30 P.M.

Adarsh: When will they rem0ve The Nets?

Me: There is no meeting in SAC .SAC meeting is in CLT

Adarsh: (my room neighbour's name)e @%%^%$^

Me:R.o.f.l.

Some answered questions

2006-02-24T09:46:00.000+05:30

I went home last Tuesday for GD/PI of IIM Lucknow. In the period I got answers to 2 questions which have been in my mind for some time.

Q1.Why do blue garments look good on light skin tones?

Ans: Presence of a higher blue component in white makes it brighter. (Yes, this is the reason for using the blue apparel whiteners).
Now for my explanation;

Imagine someone with light skin is wearing a blue garment .when we look at them, the eye perceives a light tone with a lot of surrounding blue. These signals combine in the brain and the surrounding exposed parts of the observed person (usually face and Hands) appear brighter and hence more attractive.
The surrounding colour effect is apparently well documented. Click here and/or here to get convinced.

Q2. Why do mountaineers and people in hot climate consume so much Chili and pepper?

Ans: Seemingly antithetical, the 2 conditions require individual answering.

Mountaineers: The above mentioned spices increase the blood pressure and the rate of heart beat. (The reason why those with hypertension as advised not to consume them) Now a mountaineer in cold, low oxygen surroundings needs the higher blood flow rate to ward off frost bite and blackout. Also, pepper clears Sinus blocks.

Hot Climate: Credit for the Answer must go t o M.D. (My dad) who has lived in Kolar, one of the hot and arid districts of Karnataka). Click here.

Saarang Post part 3

2006-02-20T19:31:00.000+05:30

Day 2: Day of hectic quizzing. Now that I reminisce about it, there were only three events I attended.

India Quiz Finals: My first Saarang Quiz Finals. (Standing Ovation please). A mere mortal reading the next day’s newsletter would be pardoned for assuming that this was an insignificant event. But that speaks more about the incompetence of the coordinators to:

Find the time to collect information and type, instead resorting to copy-paste to fill the pages

Get the newsletter distributed on time at the hospi desk at least one day.

The coordinators (quiz ones) had gone the distance to get Questions. There were sitters (to prevent audience from leaving), and some rack the brain and find some clue to guess ones

There was this particular connect involving 3 pictures. One was Periyar (Tam bias?). Everyone was guessing this guy

As some Vaikom Basheer(Me 2 bulb) and giving some Tamil-Nadu politics connect when the right answer was movements for making some language an Official language in India. (If you are still reading, I would like to inform you that the guy in picture is Potti sriramulu who died while on a fast to make Telugu official language and the pic is of Purushottam Das Tandon who advocated Hindi as Official language of india)

If you look at the schedule you will notice that there was a mask painting workshop going on at the same time. I asked Aditya to go over and paint the mask I had made. He had no problem Painting them. When the Quiz Finals finished, Devvrath Khatri (hold those smiles till you learn his nick-name) came over .He showed Pictures of Masks. I asked him to show the mask Aditya had painted.

Devvrath: I did not see him there. Ya your mask was there unattended.

Me: Shorty!! (Kindly substitute this space with relevant Un-parliamentary words)!!!!!!

Odyssey quiz: Useful non-geeky Trivia: the special Nokia Phone alert for Messages is actually the Morse code for S M S.

. . . _ _ . . . ( 3 short beeps 2 long beeps 3 short beeps)

(See, I did mention that we quizzers are interesting, hilarious, charming …)

The Quizmaster continued his Cartoon network Bias with the Prelims question:

Which game has the following terms: Attack Ring, Weight Disk, and Bit Protector?
WE: Curling? Think of some tribal game, any game where somebody died? :-SS

Answer: Beyblade.

:(((( .

Anyway we had to come back .Concert to attend. Did I mention anyone that I dearly missed my Avon Wildfire when the Buses charged Rs 7 per person to Gajendra Circle from Gate?

Light Music Professional Show: Read the Newsletter for info on how good the concert was. Shankar Mahadevan had very Good Crowd Presence. He was spacing the Peppy ones with slow ones as Breathers. Some in the Crowd might complain about the lack of a single Tamil Song but he did appease the Tamilians in the crowd with a Medley of all his Tamil melodies. I still remember Singing along “Enna solla pogirai” from Kandukonden Kandukonden and noticing Prakriti with a surprised look on her face. ‘Tam song’, I told her. (Way to go Messiah).

During one of the hiatuses of the Melodies, I noticed that Nikhil (of the Kumar Class) was getting out the Line formation and entering the blind-spot of the Stage which would have severely endangered his mission (to enjoy the show). To safeguard the interests of my client I followed protocal G8T9 and initiated immediate contact . :)).

Me: what are you doing here?

Nikhil: Do you notice the guy in red sleeveless shirt?

[I pride my ability to see. It is the primary, most developed sense among humans.I was also complimented some time later on this faculty of mine. Turning around, I saw one matching the description occupying the position I had just vacated.]

Me: Yes, what of him?

Nikhil: He has been giving Gay vibes from the beginning.

Me: Arpan’ Jijaji is next to him!

Nikhil: Jijaji manage kar lenge. He is cool. (Though I second the motion, it certainly was a weird feel)

After the Physical exertion, we ate at the stalls (Did I mention that they were expensive?) and went roomwards.

Passing Comment

2006-02-19T23:09:00.000+05:30

Check this out.
Seems More like an attempt by Nasa to keep the Funds Flowing .

Internship post revived/Part 2

2006-02-09T13:57:00.000+05:30

Due to the demand expressed by the readers of my blog and the efforts of Chintamani, I present the next part of the e version of what I scribbled During My Internship at G.K.N. Sinter metals Pune. If you want a recap, Click here.

22/05/05

Today:

8 am- Reached work

9 am- Doing nothing

9-9:30- Grub

Till 12:30-Wait for some Vendor

12:30- Deputy Manager of Lab talks to vendor and asks me to meet him after grub.

Till 1 pm- Wait

Till 1:30- Grub

Till 2:00- Wait for stores in-charge to give me Gate pass

Till 3:00- Wait for transport to get his clearance

Till 3:30- Land up in front of M.I.D.C W-116, S-Block instead of S-116, S-Block. Whatever is W-116 doing in S Block Anyway?

4:05- Finally inside the destination

4:50- Leave Company. No cash in hand. No balance in mobile.

5:20- Back in room

25/05/05

Why I eat where I eat

I am facing a Jet Lag. My body clock is running at Chennai Local Time. I still get hungry at all the times (in IST) I used to eat in the mess. But here the grub starts at the time grub would end there. I have been so hungry.

My night mess here, I have a special order for grub at 7:30 pm. It is in a house in the same street as a colleague Mr. Rajgude.

Also my appetite has been erratic.So Basically ,till I find a place of eating where the Soda is less and the food is cheap enough.

26/05/05

Observation: 1. Imagine you are in a bus or a similar mode of transportation. A stranger comes from behind and sits next to you. One prefers not to look in the general direction of the newcomer. He/she is almost invading your private space. It is like Sneezing with eyes open. One can force the self to do it. But the instinct is not to do so.

Observation 2: In Pune’s multiplexes, one finds a broad spread of different complexions among men .But the women will almost exclusively be in lighert complexions.Does it suggest a Bias of Neo-rich men for Lighter skinned consorts or a Desire among women to have lighter complexion?

30/05/05

I am feeling sleepy. Not mugged for CAT. Still I want to write this article before false memories set in.

Friday morning, I had to catch a bus from Pune University to Pimpri, Take bath and reach the plant before 8:00.Naturally, I was in haste and hurrying towards work, when I was overtaken by a girl/ woman(Sudarshan will not want me to put Female here) (which is probably the only time it has happened but that is not the reason for the post). As she overtook me, I saw only her profile in close up and my mind went “WOW!” All I now remember of her is that she wore a white top. She went left while I turned right. I just glanced at herfrom behind once. I don’t think I will meet her again, even if I meet her, I wouldn’t recognize her, and I don’t remember her face/hair style nothing. Just the emotion.

31/05/05

Pleasant overcast conditions for the past 3 days. Right now, I am sitting on the steps. Drizzle falling just in front. Sandy (room owner’s dog) dragging his chain around across the wall. Makes me think of taking time off for myself. Go eat chat (chinaar has brought grub from home). Pune, though close to Mumbai, does not have those typical fast foods. Here they are usually ‘Pav’ based. There is ‘Misal Pav’, the Pune equivalent of ‘Bread and Beer’ in terms of calorie count. Then, there is something called ‘Kachi Daabeli’ (raw dabeli) which I am afraid of trying out.

One question I have been mulling over recently. Why do I push myself and those around me? Why does the sight of someone taking shelter in rain egg me on to walk on? Why do I set tighter deadlines and budgets for me and my team even though a more lax one exists? Why do I push the girls I know to situations where they have to decide whether I can be ‘trusted’ or not?

Today, of the 3 projects, 1 almost came to completion. Now, I set a deadline; finish all 3 by this week. Why did I do that? I just wanted to.

Saarang Post part 2

2006-02-08T23:51:00.000+05:30

Day 1: I woke up at half past six. Usually a Heraklean feat .But this time I needed no alarms, First memory of the day; gazing out of the window. Was it the effect of the Circadian cycle, (or the effect of Hydrostatic pressure) I do not know. I performed my daily morning activities (surfing the net…what were you thinking).

Askmen totally Rocks.

At circa 8:30 I was about to lock the room when Gtalk starts ringing.

Arpan: Got up?

Me: (was it a grin or a chuckle) Yes, thanks a lot. Wake up Nikhil and ask him to come early and register.

[The previous day there was a mention by Nikhil of his desire to attend the Movie-making workshop. I being his self appointed participation agent had learnt that the registrations were to start at 1000 hrs. Also I had got infected by his enthusiasm for this workshop and decided that attending the workshops was a good substitute to sitting in C.L.T.]

Newsletter had not arrived at the Hospitality Desk.

Note: One immutable panorama at the beginning of a day in any fest occurring in IITM is a group of most handsome, charismatic, understanding, charming, hilarious ( any other virtue left?) future engineers/managers pondering over the very critical matter of the days’ Quiz/Puzzle/Crossword. This day one could also have witnessed M. Rajesh Kumar Reddy performing an act of indecent exposure before the moral police woke up.

At 10: a.m. I.S.T. [IITM stretchable time] I was denied my mental warm-up by a voice;

“Registrations for Movie-making workshop are going on in the Hospi-desk.”

I was trying to contact my client to inform him of the development and suggest haste when,

“Mask-making workshop will start in Indraprastha”

[What is Indraprastha? Depends on who you ask:

Me: Just a piece of turf between the Central library and the O.A.T.

Saarang Coordinators: A Fun area created for the Sake of Saarang's Outdoor Activities.

Certain Humans from Bangalore: A very Bad name.]

I had planned on attending Biz Quiz Prelims. But because the engineers of IITM believe in stretch-ability of time, I had to choose between quiz and workshop. Opted for the later (Rohit believes the decision was idiotic). But when the event did not commence at 11:00 Yogi (my magnanimous team-mate) and I went to get the prelims question paper at the least.

This time, it was lack of question papers which encouraged us to return.

Poor Aditya became a victim of quota system and missed the chance of attending the former workshop, so to cheer him up,I dragged him to the later.

After more than 100 minutes of mess, sticking newspaper bits onto a mould, witnessing Aditya give up and substitute Vinod for himself, humming O.S.T.s and Pacifying Yogi and Chintamani that I was on my Way to India quiz prelims, I proudly showed my effort to the instructor. He delicately dislodged the mould to reveal a gaping hole in place of the nose. Nowhe then proceeded to stick A5 size pieces of paper .I looked sheepishly at Vinod, whom I had advised that small pieces were necessary to depict the contour accurately.

The Workshop by Nagesh Kukunoor was excellent. That Guy has Clarity of Speech.I hurried out as soon as it was over, had CL classes. Never sit in skewed corner position for a Group Discussion. 3 abstract topics where I spoke exactly four times. I was then substituted and a Case study was given.

Topic: An introverted IITian joins a manufacturing company with strong trade union. A specialist worker for a sensitive assembly operation is becoming inefficient. Our IITian tries interchange of workers which affected productivity because the replacements could not cope with the high pressure work. They start demanding additional incentive and overtime which the management has to naturally oppose .Our Man finally suffers an emotional breakdown.

“Discuss the main issues in the case and what would be your approach to this particular situation.” 25 minutes.

The Way discussion happened:

The aspirations of an IITian and his struggle to get into IITs and the IIT education.
People skills of engineers.
Problems associated with Trade unions.

Sudarshan, Chintamani and I were sitting on the bench and hence did not roll on the floor… laughing.

Rangoli is a Gujarathi, Rajasthani restaurant in T.Nagar.Run by the Saravan Bhavan chain, the food is completely vegetarian.I recommend visiting it. Have the 130 buck unlimited meals. Do not have much experience in the afore-mentioned cuisines but I can certainly tell that it is Gooood.

It was in such a Jolly and satisfied Mood that I retired for the day. Same music as the day before, started Winamp and Crashed.

P.s.: the adjectives used in the Note are courtesy Rohit Bhat.(I am a very decent and humble human)

Saarang Post part 1

2006-02-08T18:31:00.000+05:30

Saarang 2006 was the best Saarang I had (Every senior used to say the final year Saarang is the worst).

So I will be writing about what happened this year.If you think this is Verbose, Read Umberto Eco’s “The name of the rose”

Prologue:

Time: Some days before Saarang this year. Kumar Nikhil and I were walking back to hostels and the meandering conversation reached …Saarang.

Me: “…Any plans for this year?”

Nikhil:”…I never get to know when event is occurring .either I am too late or the place is filled up.”

Me:”I will take care of that if you will agree to accompany me to events.”

Nikhil: (In his signature style) “O.K. da”

[Suggested O.S.T.:Yeh Dosti from Sholay]

That night the tickets for the Light music Concert got exhausted in the Hostel S.A.C.

Day 0:

I Had Internship Viva in the Afternoon. It was the first one in this Academic year to have gone well. As I was reporting the questions, Nikhil turns up. I remind him that Inauguration is at 5:00 and offer to wait till his Viva got over.

Nikhil: “Don’t wait da, there is a computer serviceman in my room right now. Arpan is supervising him. I will pack him, get grub then come over.”

I went to Inauguration with Aditya. The memories of the inauguration include:

Sreejith messaging, Calling up and finally turning up in IC&SR auditorium for his room keys.
Our Director Reintroducing the audience to relative gradingand
Madhukar seating Hariharan in the seat we saved up for Nikhil

Having nothing to do but wait for the Classical Concert, I followed Arpan and Kumar Nikhil who went to the placement Office to talk to Professor T.T.Narendran. Could not find Professor there, Found the two chatting to Prakriti who was to be interviewed by Modelytics (Supposed to be a Portmanteau of Modeling and Analytics).

Me: Should I leave?

Nikhil: No, Wait we will go to Concert together.

Note: One of the very bad things one can do to me is having me wait with nothing to do or think.

3 companies were doing placement stuff at that time .So I went around, wishing Good luck to everyone knew (though I do not remember wishing Prakriti and considering the result, my wishing skills must have become rusty).Ultimately, I decide to help Prakriti. One of the questions being asked was “...try to analytically arrive at the number of credit Card users in Chennai”

So, I discuss with Nikhil the numbers which need to be plugged in.

Ex: Should we consider 40 lakh to be the population of Chennai City or take it to be 50 for ease of calculation?”

I don’t know if the Candidate herself got Pained but Nikhil certainly did. So, I decided to keep myself away from the group so as to not psych her out.

Then, Sourav Chatterjee comes out of his interview. Just when I was about to exhaust all topics I could discuss with him, Prakriti went in for her interview. Suddenly every body realized that there were 4 people standing there who did not have a pass to the Light Music Concert: Kumar Nikhil, Purva, Arpan and I (Duhh!!).

Now, started Full assault, Phones were ringing (Elsewhere in Institute for we were the ones calling), zealous efforts were on, Vibin called up to ask where Bremen is, we were moving though things were not. Half an Hour later all we had were three promises of “I will try”.

By then the candidate Prakriti was out. Now, we started a discussion on an efficient way of dealing with Customer attrition due to unprecedented change (Basically how to keep Loan takers who are getting a lower interest rate elsewhere). By then the List was out she was placed (I do not think I Congratulated her either.)

Nikhil and I now left for the OAT.

We went, We saw (the queue), We returned.

We caught up with others near the Stalls. Check out the other Blogs on how expensive the Food was. One jobless individual is a pain .Six start a Group Discussion on:

Frogs or Lizards as pet animals.

[The G.D. must have awoken my faculty of sight for I then noticed that Prakriti was wearing a shirt with left handed buttoning. The practice of making Women’s wear with buttons on the left and Button-holes on the right is a relic of the times when ladies used to be dressed up and buttoned up of course by maids. It is amusing that all the working women (including ultra-feminists) who are supposed to be independent are still showing off this symbol of their dependence. Poor Prakriti, who I deduce is Right-Handed. Louis Philippe has come up with Left Handers’ Shirt for men. But scouring the net did not reveal any right hander’s shirt for women. I bet there are, all over the globe, thousands of Left-handed women who look at a Right-hander and think, “So Miss/Mrs. Normal, let us see you struggle to put those buttons on."]

In conclusion, it was decided that G.D. did not give enough mental exercise so it was decide to that we play Cards. Let it be known herewith that No money transfer occurred (except Nikhil giving me money for buying Gobi 65). In spite of advise Nikhil bought Coconut water.Arpan and Purva went to get Playing Cards. I do not remember where Deepak Baid and Neha Jain went. Prakriti, Nikhil and I were in front of Sharavati (I recommend the readers to Visit Jog falls, built on the actual river, during Monsoon) adjusting the Benches when 2 Mini buses pull up nearby to offload their passengers.

Nikhil: I think there are Girls inside them.

Me: What was your first clue, Sherlock?

Nikhil: I peeped inside.

Voice (of one of the girls who pulled up): Hi Rāvan.

According to Prakriti,

The look on Nikhil’s face: Priceless

(And I was too busy, discussing the disadvantages of travelling between Bangalore and Chennai in the day, to notice)

Arpan and Purva turned up with the cards. I was taught the game of Judgement (I will give a link when I find one). I placed joint-third among six other expert players (can I put it up in my résumé?).Taking Pity on my drowsy face (It was around two, I guess), playing was adjourned.

We bade Godspeed to the ladies and Rotated around to behold the pleasant vista creatable Sreekanth Reddy creating a lovely sight as he parked his cycle in the vicinity possessing in his hands passes for the Concert in the number of the Holy Trinity. :))) .The coconut water was really kicking in so Nikhil cycled on while the three of us walked. I reminded Arpan to wake me up the next day. Went to room and crashed to the sounds of Yanni’s Port of Mystery.

Mobile loss

2006-02-06T13:43:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, around 9:30 we (Chintamani, Sudarshan, Kamesh, Srinath and I ) get down from the bus.I ask Chintamani the time,he wore no watch so I reach into my pockets to …

Dude I can not find my mobile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Must have left it in the bus!!!!!!!!

Everybody produced all the change they had and asked me to hurry. Try and catch the bus.

One hour later I am at vadapalani bus stop. I was Blue, Down and everything sad. I did not remember anyone of my friends’ numbers, not even my sister’s. No contact all alone.

The Bus back started moving. It passed through a Road called Lakshamanaswami Street .I thought of A. Lakshmanaswamy mudaliar. He must have had lot of international contacts. He did not have a mobile, What if he lost, say his address book; an expensive Address book.

That is when it hit me; all I lost was an expensive piece of electronics and few unique numbers. I still had my friends. This was an accident, a series of unfortunate occurrences. I was wearing pants with deep pocket opening, and sitting in the seat behind the one above the tire with the raised leg rest. I checked for my mobile 30 secs too late. Four unfortunate occurences can cause a catastrophe.Mine was not so Bad.

Haiku

2006-02-06T07:52:00.000+05:30

This is a list of haikuised prose from the article Adithya and I co authored.They follow all the Haku rules(especially mood of confusion) so enjoy.

This article is

About some humans: basi-

cally a parti…

Those who are wonde-

ring why I have used these terms

Click here}.Reports

They each have their own

Distinct fashion identi-

ty. No known commu…

But this is a sis-

terhood united by their

eyes: Eye liner in…

They would rather be

Dead than be seen in public

Without eyeliner in …

So this is about

A group of humans (let us

Call them Homo sa…

In the good old west,

Such traits are a property

Of Punk Rock Fans. But …

They have neither an-

ger nor social alie-

nation.Their preferred …

Humor apart, the

reason these girls are being

described is because…

Spooky as it may

seem, they all have a common

mental virtue: An…

They are emanci-

pated, but not the femi-

nists who believe that…

They are mathema-

tically and mechanic-

cally impaired but …

They treat others as

humans; not male /female. They

are neither diplo….

They know they are far

from perfect and are com-

fortable with the

Question

2006-02-02T11:38:00.000+05:30

From the beginning of my blog I have not mentioned the name of any girl. Even the three girls I link to are not named. Probably it is due to the way I was brought up .Till some time into engineering I used to get angry at those who mentioned a girl’s name along with mine in a manner of impropriety. It was a wonderful pastime for many: just make a passing comment that some girl has a crush on me or vice versa and watch while I put up a fuming performance of chastising them.

Coming back to the blog, it sometimes seems to be childish to not to mention the name. My friends anyway found out the name of the girl mentioned in my Internship article. I do not know if she would mind the fact that I have mentioned her without permission. There have been instances till the beginning of my third year when I have been rude and curt to many a girl due to the fear that conversing freely with them might give an impression that I am sexually attracted to them.

On the other hand is the Experience and wisdom of my elders.

I do not know. Please comment.

Quality Policy

2006-02-02T10:17:00.000+05:30

Our warden and instructor for Last semester’s Operations Management Class Prof G Srinivasan said once that every organization should write and put up a quality policy to show what they stand for, a path they will follow in spite of perceived loss. ‘Inspired’ by it I decided to try and frame my own Personal ‘Quality policy’.

After 3 months of thinking:

I have realized that quality policy is very difficult to make and requires a lot of thought put into it.
I now present to all the draft quality policy. In lieu with tradition it shall be bulleted and subject to change of wordings.

Quality Policy

Open Mind and ear
Assist those defined in appendix
No use/promotion of abusive substances except when prescribed by a qualified medical practitioner. Exceptions: Cofee, tea.:(

No support, buying or use of any product or derivative of endangered species.
No consumption/promotion of Beef/Pork.
No wastage of food.

Appendix

More than a year ago (Nostalgia ...slow music)I wrote about my dislike of closed minds. I have realized through the humanities course in last three years of undergraduate study that nothing is absolute. Total rational thinking is not possible because without axioms we cannot start any debate. We have to believe in something to do anything. With this belief comes opinion and difference of it.So however'far fetched ' and 'improbable' the thought, I will give it a thought.

Definition: The person eligible for the above shall be present in the images of memory which link to a previous massive dopamine neuron firing.

To put it crudely, one with whom I have had a happy memory. They would come under the description of Family/Friends/Acquaintances.

I have been lucky that a huge number of individuals have been surprisingly good and kind to me. Especially at times I least expected such a thing. So I feel like doing what I can to make them feel good. Under normal circumstances, none of these will need my help. But, as Aditya says;” Shit Happens”. If and then, I hope to be there, at least with an ear and a shoulder.

This list includes all forms of alcohol, and Bhang a legal narcotic preparation.

Beef here includes even buffaloes which some Hindus consider as consumable.
All the 6 billion + humans in this world have come from less than 10, 000 individiuals on the coast fo present day Ethiopia. Just one % of the present number wasting 1% of their food is enough to have starved our ancestors.It is a question of being empathetic: One of the accepted human traits. Feast is different from an Orgy.

Complicated

2006-01-11T19:30:00.000+05:30

Presently Listening to Bon Jovi- Have a nice day and Enya – A day without Rain. Typed here without permission is the lyrics of the Song Complicated. It is Kinda representative of what I am.

Take a look around, this is what I see
Is there anybody else that feels like me, yeah
You sweat, you sweat, you bleed, you bleed
What you get ain't what you see
Up is down and black is white to me

[Chorus]
I'm complicated, I get frustrated
Right or wrong, love or hate it
I'm complicated, you can't sedate it
I heard that song but I won't play it
It's alright, it's OK, you wouldn't want me any other way
Momma, keep on praying cause I ain't changin'
I'm complicated, yeah
I'm complicated, yeah [Chorus]

I'm smart enough to know what I don't know
I'm fool enough to stay when I should go
You work, you work, you cry, you cry
You watch your whole life pass you by
Sometimes you've got to close your eyes to see

[Chorus]

Is there anybody out there
Just like everybody out there
Just want somebody out there just like me

[Chorus]

Is there anybody out there
Just like everybody out there
Just want somebody out there just like me [x2]

Another study in relationships

2006-01-02T23:39:00.000+05:30

What A means to B, C can never find out. All one can make are assumptions and allusions. Even in case of well studied and prevalent relationships like say father –son mother- daughter. What X’s father means to X cannot be fully known to Y .What Y does is refer to his/her relationship with father and draw a parallel. But this Fact does not stop us from making Sentimental monologues like ; "How could you do this . For your own ......"

Now my question is: with this knowledge, why do we insist on naming relationships.

Why was Alexander so distraught at Hephaestion’s death?

Expert:They were lovers.

Ohhh!(The noise of understanding)

Why do these two spend so much time together?

Expert:They both are from same caste/ college /whatever

Oohhhhhh!(The noise of understanding magnified because the person now thinks that he/she looks like a fool not having realised the connection earlier)

Format

2005-12-01T22:12:00.000+05:30

Recently My LAN card’s connection with the cabinet slot came loose but not ;loose enough that it came out.
The ever Genius that I am , I reformatted the C drive and reinstalled windows. Today, 2 days after the Devraj Service guy Mr Arasu reconnected me back to the world, I reinstalled Google earth to realize that everything I had marked after days of fight is gone. I had marked:

MY home and landmarks around the two houses I have called home.
B.E.M.L. Bangalore Complex where my father worked.
G.K.N. Sinter Metals Pune where I did my internship.
Head quarters of Activision, id, EA not to mention the upcoming Lucasarts Complex.
Hazaar heritage sites ,Wildlife parks and military bases including Area 51.

Too sad to continue.

An Univ Code

2005-11-27T20:48:00.000+05:30

Bharath has inspired me to write about a topic which is

Useless to be debated because the dominant opinion is Fickle than the minds of the students it concerned.
Controversial enough for media to make a story and run it..
Generates enough enthusiasm for lazy bloggers like me to post.

Ok Dress code.

Set of rules 1

Dress Code for Men

General Dress

Hair must be cut in a traditional, conservative style–not shaved, spiked, tangled, or shelved. It may not be colored or highlighted.
Sideburns should not extend past the middle of the ear. Men are expected to remain clean-shaven.
Necklaces, earrings, and bracelets are not permitted.
Hats may not be worn indoors except in the gym.
Men are not permitted to get tattoos or wear body piercings.

Abercrombie & Fitch and its subsidiary Hollister have shown an unusual degree of antagonism to the name of Christ and an unusual display of wickedness in their promotions. In protest, we will not allow articles displaying their logos to be worn, carried, or displayed (even if covered or masked in some way).

Morning Dress–dress shirt (no denim/chambray) with tie, dress or neat casual pants (no jeans, cargo, carpenter, or sloppy pants), dress or leather casual shoes; sweaters should show shirt collar and tie knot (no sweatshirts).

Afternoon Dress–collared shirt (no crew necks), neat casual pants, dress or casual shoes (no slides or sandals), socks above the ankle, sweatshirts or sweaters.

Sunday Dress–coat, tie, and dress shirt; dress shoes; dress or dressier casual pants.

Recreation and Work Dress–jeans, t-shirts, shorts at athletic facilities (not as spectators at sports events), sleeveless athletic shirts (indoor activities only), socks required (including at work).

Dress Code for Women

Classroom/general dress consists of a dress or top and skirt; however, pants may be worn for some recreational activities. Shorts may never be worn outside the residence halls and fitness center.

Tops

Tops must be long enough that the midriff is never exposed.
Sleeves are required. (Sleeveless tops and dresses may be worn with a blouse, jacket, or sweater.)
Necklines may come no lower than four fingers below the collarbone.

Skirts

Hemlines and slits or other openings should never come higher than the bottom of the knee.
Denim skirts may be worn for casual dress (not to class or other professional-type events).

Pants

Loose-fitting pants may be worn between women's residence halls, for athletic events, and to homes in the area.
Loose-fitting jeans may be worn between women's residence halls and when participating in activities where the durability of the fabric is important, such as skiing and ice-skating.

Ease

All dresses, skirts, pants, and shirts must be loose-fitting, having a minimum of three inches of ease at bust and hips.
An informal way to measure ease is to stand up straight and pinch the loose fabric on both sides of the hips or at the bust line. Without stretching the fabric, there should be at least a 3/4-inch fold of fabric on both sides.

Other

Sheer clothing may be worn only when the garment underneath conforms to normal dress regulations.
Hose must be worn for all professional-type activities including class, church, and recitals.
Combat boots, hiking boots, or shoes that give this appearance are not permitted.
Hairstyles should be neat, orderly, and feminine. Avoid cutting-edge fads and cuts so short that they take on a masculine look.
Students are not permitted to get tattoos. Excessive makeup is not permitted. Earrings may be worn only in the lobe of the ear (maximum of two matched sets). All other types of body piercing are prohibited.

Set of rules 2

Students should not wear jeans, t-shirts, skirts or sleeveless and tight-fitting outfits. They are enjoined to dress conservatively.

The longer one comes from Bob Jones University, Greenville, SC 29614.

Differences

Length: D)
The first one uses terms like normal and cutting edge fads. No conservative crusade.

Also check

https://www.liberty.edu/studentaffairs/deanofmen/index.cfm?PID=2925

Now back to the show.

I agree to a dress code if:

It is similar to a uniform {say what you want not what you do not want}.
The way justifies the means if the reason is right.

http://www.annauniv.edu/vc/cell_banned.htm

So the dress code is so that anna university colleges can have more discipline in the campus?

http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=327352

So the code was to improve the academic performance of the students?

Knee jerk reactions caused due to xenophobia or kainotophobia are definitely not good in terms of any decision. It causes unnecessary complications.

One offshoot of the debate is the question: What is indecent?

in·de·cent
adj.

Offensive to good taste; unseemly.
Offensive to public moral values; immodest.

What is Good taste or public moral values?

There lies the debate.

Like Professor Chaudhary has said, the task of dealing with “indecent” behaviors should be the prerogative of the individual instructors.

So I oppose the decision of Anna University because:

· It was not given the thought it deserves.

· It was a tool for some people who could not deal with the occasional problems themselves.

The outsider

2005-11-25T22:28:00.000+05:30

From time Immemorial I have been gregarious but, without a sense of belonging.Many know who I am . Very few have any idea about me. My acquaintance to friend conversion has been almost nil.

In school, seniors [the one batch that existed] and juniors have known me but very few in my year can be called as having been my friends. Certainly there was no dear close friend. I have no idea what they are doing except for one who found me in orkut.

In my pre university college .There were groups .I was ‘friendly’ with everyone .But I belonged to none of the groups. One guy actually remarked,” I have to be careful talking to you .We do not know what your friend circle is. You act same with everybody.”

Even in IITM, lots of them know me. Everyone in my certainly knows me .But I would not be in any one’s list when they make an off the cuff list of friends. I am in no one’s ‘Gumbal’.

One reason I can think of is that I rarely express my true emotions. One batch mate has actually called me as a worthy double spy. Those who have seen me angry have seen a mock charge, a pretense I put up to hide the fact that I was pained, feeling insecure at five people mocking me, restless: that My rebuttals were actually back firing, that some thing I did in my past was recounted to their amusement, that I forgot such incidents when they happened with them.

So gods bless the Soul of Norman Vincent Peale.

Back or Am I?

2005-11-13T23:47:00.001+05:30

Long time since I blogged. {The journal entries do not count they were old material}

What was I doing?

In short I do not know.

In elaboration, I

· Wrote my GRE [SCORE IS 1380 WITH 800 IN QUANT ( a statistic no body must be interested in )]

· Was cursing myself for having psyched out in Quant which preceded verbal.

· Cursed ETS for having set a question based on mode (a statistical triviality I do not care about to learn even now but still enough to worry) which was the reason I psyched out.

· Was Gaming

· Was Surfing the web.

· Downloaded Game trailers and viewing reviews of games.

· Wondered how Games like Command and Conquer generals, Final Fantasy 8, and Baldur’s gate 2 could become so famous.

· Got frustrated at the truncated ending of KOTOR 2.

· Tried to imagine what the makers of Dungeon Siege 2 were thinking.

· Thought unparliamentary thoughts at all M.B.A s and middle men in the Gaming industry

· Got angry at Microsoft word for showing unparliamentary as unparliamentarily.

· Did some PREPARATION for the M.B.A entrance exam.

· Managed to Convince the Sports secretary and the sports adviser of my college that I have enough ability to organize a sports tournament.

· Compared myself to at least 5 among juniors and 100 in my year.

· Wondered many a time if I needed psychiatric counseling.

· Got told by almost everybody that my room is dirty.

· Thought at least 50 times that I should start my app work.

· Changed my list of the universities twice.

· Decided at least 20 times to put up an article only to give up.

· Thought of 9 topics to post on to forget them.

· Typed Sreejith’s Orkut Testimonial thrice Only for him to not get them

· Thanked Providence or whatever it is for the Family, friends and Warden of Hostel I have.

· Got angry at Microsoft word again for showing Circumspected as Circumspect.

· Saw first 4 Seasons of Seinfeld

· Got frustrated that I might not after all get S in MT 401.

· Decide to meet My School Classmates next time I visited Bangalore.

· Stayed at home all the time I went Home

· Brooded over whether I should put up this article.

· Gave up on this list making thing.

Internship Records

2005-10-22T11:07:00.000+05:30

I did not realise how much hatred i had in those first few days.
Anyway the internship notes will be discontinued as my thoughts have changed.

My internship part 1

2005-08-15T22:35:00.000+05:30

Today I managed to get Aditya type the first part of a log I kept during my internship.

14/5/05

First day at work. Basically mugging job. S are there in prof. paramanand singh’s course next sem. Felt hugely better (grammatical mistake, I know) when Aditya called me in the evening. Shifted my residence. Proper stranger in a strange land. Missed everyone in the family. Missed Insti. Missed Insti Junta. Aditya was laughing when I told him of this. Got a huge nostalgia. Gargantuan yearning for the company of someone I know ,however less I knew them back when i knew them. Was recalling everyone I know, starting with especially the two closest people (by distance): aditya and one more 14 hour journey away.[Of course, when you think of a girl and say to yourself I wish she were here, and then, the next millisecond or whatever human reaction time is for thought, the realization of your wish hits you, the tendency is to stop the train of thought at that radius ]

Any iitian had he/she have a chance encounter with me, would have got such a greeting that there would have been questions about my intention w.r.t. him/her. Didn’t feel so bad even when I first came to IITM though that was the first time I left home.

Anyway, I am drained. Ate wada pav (debut) for rs 3 ½ and veg biryani for rs 35.

The stay in IITM is similar to life. Part of the goodness is because it’s temporary. It is a fleeting phase. The people enjoy the company of some very good humans.People who’ll become great. Whom you are lucky to have as wing mates, branch mates, or maybe bench mates in some course.

15/05/05

Second day of my internship. Legs are recovering from the time they had. I met this character from G.C.O.E.P. [:)))].Changed the pen just now. My attempt to imitate chanakya. The first one was company issue. Yes, the character. He believes that everybody must mug up all the phase diagrams. I have been getting introduced to a lot people. Been gracefully ‘listening to guys I’d have said, “machcha stop repeating the same &*%#” . The summer internships are a good idea. I don’t want to join industry at this level. The only contact at this level I want is that of consultancy. I am already bored of seeing the same furnaces, hearing every new guy put me fundaes on sintering. I have been increasingly getting sure that I’ll put S in powder metallurgy next semester.

Ah Yeah, the guy. His fundaes. “Meet all the operators (all!!??). Make them feel they are important. Then find out the compositions which expand on heating and which ones shrink.”

Me – “how can I know the compositions sir? “

He – what do you mean? Come with me. (Took me to a tray) pick up that card. … What does it read?

Me(among other things)- AN 20.

He – aye, that is the code for composition.

Me – exactly now how do we know what the composition is?

(Aside)You @#$#!*@$ what do you think I am? You?

I am not a snob. I am willing to sit with the operators, spend time, hear their stories of experience, or any thing... But please don’t insult my intelligence by repeating the same definition again and again.

Rang up my home, as well as Harsha’s home and Aditya’s mobile – no response from anywhere. Finally, got kashyap arora, whom I entrusted the job of getting me Dr. Uday’s number. Called up jhandu’s contact. Jhandu had gone for grub. Here I am hungry; the landlady who said she’d introduce me to dabbawala is out. I AM HUNGRY. Kumar Nikhil just called up. He’s about to have dinner. AARRGH!! !

Positive thing about today – didn’t have to mug much.

Met one friend of flat mate’s from Bidar. Promptly asked his name and forgot. Now will go and try to catch the landlady.

Looks like I’ll be writing a lot during this internship.

Post grub – Two types of people are conspicuous in the industry.

A – Young eager beavers. They can tell you the exact percentage of constituents and textbook definition of phenomena. Basically mugged up stuff.

B – Older wise guys. They are similar to IITians. They have seen so many different mixes and techniques that they don’t care any more about the details. Get the compositions (they just remember where it is available) and make sure the mix is right. Kumar nikhil and raghu have Sunday off.( Mine is Thursday:(()

16/05/05
I have lost the black pen issued to me.

I have realized a truth – my Saarang fixation was because I missed it and not because of anything that happened during it.

The look of smooth metal,
the play of light
when a dull surface slowly
gets machined to reveal
the shiny metal.
Brilliant.

17-05-2005

There’s this character I met today.

Me – Hi sir. I am vinay. I am here for summer internship.
He – ok. (Curt)
Me – we have not been introduced.
He – ok

End of the conversation.

One week into internship and no proper work assigned. (Working week)

My daily itinerary:

Wake up
Bath.
Go to factory.
Stay beyond the required time.
Come back, check out an eatery.
Come back and crash.

During work, my attempts at not speaking IITM lingo has lead to an opinion of my being inarticulate, ignorant of hindi.

I love IITM because here is where I learnt a lot. And not just about acads.

17/05/2005

Finally I got a proper project. I will decide on a fancy title later.

Two of my floor mates went home for vacations. The landlady asked me to move into their room. There were talks that somebody from tata motors would come to my room, I moved because I wanted a cot. After getting the cot, I went out to check where north is. And then:

1. Homesickness – big dipper is so low back home or in IITM [Similar latitudes.]

2. Realization. India is so big.

Throughout the day I have been having a feel of so much to do so little time.

Next part first holiday.

Coming Up

2005-08-07T08:54:00.000+05:30

An article about my internship.
Basically an e version of a diary i kept .
Time of release depends on how aditya and his typing skills.

A study in Myself

2005-04-27T22:18:00.000+05:30

“ ..I have been lucky to have had wonderful seniors who have treated me like an equal...”

--A senior talking about his stay in my College.

Here is a guy known for his sports since his freshman year. He obtained his respect from many seniors [some known to be less than patronizing to other juniors]. They respected him not for what he is, but for what he achieved when he played .More than for his enthusiasm; which he has in loads, he is still recognized as a good sportsman [albeit for the level of our academician dominated institute].

That started me thinking, and introspecting …, and it hit me, I am doing what those people did.

There is this junior .She is good in some thing. I respect her for that compared to her batchmates. Just because she is said to have some talent, I probably would treat her better than her peers. My behavior is based on what she can do rather than who she is. In fact, I can’t claim I know her well. But if I meet her anytime her talent will be a prejudice on my mind. If I smile when I meet my friend, it will be because his/her face brought a sense of joy [somewhere in my brain a stored good memory released some particular chemicals which made me glad.] .But when I meet her, if I smile, it will be because I see a good “_____”,not a good human.

This is something I do not want to do. This is probably something she would not want to be done.

A study in Adventure Fiction

2005-04-09T14:54:00.000+05:30

The adventure literature; (novels, novellas, sagas, ballads etc.) have been full of references to the protagonist being a brave dashing man. Have been that is; till Ian Fleming’s “Casino Royal” which brought James Bond to the picture. This change, I believe is due to 2 reasons: the cold war [of course] and a historical truth.

The First World War is a clear demarcation in the way battles are fought. Imperial nations went to war assuming that the better men; and hence the better nation, would triumph .They all realized in 1919 that machined had triumphed men on the battle front.

Sure, before the Great War, the protagonist may have had a secret identity, but when he went to work, he was anything but covert. The three musketeers do more sword fights than the number of times they charge the muskets. [Something they are actually trained to do].That of course is partly because, unlike today’s snipers guns, muskets were inaccurate and useful only in groups. Also nobody likes a hero who shoots from far like a coward when he can dispatch his enemy with his sword.

But the war ended such ideas. Cavalry rushes behind ‘my captain’and patriotic last stands were no longer useful. The writers needed a character that did something significant alone. A HERO. Where could they look at? Generals were old and thus unattractive and unromantic. Monarchs were powerless .Scientific research had already become institutionalized (so no young wiz kid developing a super weapon or super cure).One candidate was the reporter .Tintin started out as a young journalist who enters and exposes the fallacies of the Soviet Union. The other option, which proved to be more useful was the spy; the silent hero, risking everything, saving the world from its new found “W.M.D”s and most importantly, getting women to swoon to his charms. The spy and his derivative, the hit men have dominated the adventure genre of books and movies. [Indiana Jones is fantasy] till the late 90s.The kids/ teen fiction still had the old version protgonist, but then they are actually detective in nature.

Nowadays, there seems to be a transition back to the old model .The themes are: the medical man/ woman [who of course is characterized in a way highly desirable to the respective opposite sex] who stops a bio terror attack, the lone expert who fights a giant institution etc.

A study in history

2005-04-07T21:48:00.000+05:30

I love History (sans dates and names) especially how common people actually lived. Sometimes I get angry at movies or books (particularly period drama and 'semi-fiction' like Da Vinci Code) which get their history fundamentals wrong.

One thing I have noticed is that when it comes to innovation/pioneering, communities/cultures seem to have a pattern.

First is the turmoil situation. A period with lot of 'gaps' in people's thinking. This is the time of churning of ideas when some painful fundamental questions are asked.

Next comes the pioneering/curiosity stage. People are willing to risk everything to satisfy curiosity .This is when some radical ideas emerge. Many of the risks pay off. The answers which are obtained,profit the seeker. The community prospers(wealth + happiness).People are amazed and attracted.

Now follows the last stage which I do not like. As the community prospers it becomes robust and less dynamic. So many individual enterprises have diminished effect. The time is ripe for the entry of the mercenary .Dormant during the first two stages,(except while cribbing about the situation)prosperity makes him/her active. This stage is also the snob stage ,when hierarchy gets rigid. 'Trench mentality' is rampant. The mercenaries start sucking the value out of the community. The intellectuals gets sidelined or ejected.
This of course leads to decadence. In the days of old, the culture would get over run or implode into disorder. Now usually, it becomes a sad or painful or horrible place to live.

As an example is the New England area in US of A. The birth place of Thoreau and Franklin now competes for the position of “snobbiest city in the world”.

The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding puts this observation in an interesting and elucidated manner. These observations are seen by us all.
This knowledge pains me when I think of my home town Bangalore.

PS: Even organizations are said to have this plush office theory. If the chief works in a cramped office, with people getting in and out, the company is supposed to be working. If he however, is in a big luxuriously furnished one, without any disturbance, the company is in a bad state.

A study in education

2005-04-07T12:58:00.000+05:30

Our educational institutions do more than teaching and giving an identity (The alma mater sentiment). They also mould our thinking

I believe that in communities where parents will get their children educated (cities, suburbs etc.). Co educational school is more useful than a single gender one.

Reason: Have u ever noticed (if you are an Indian) that almost all the desperate for boy/girlfriend people have had been in a single gender school (at least during adolescence).Note that I am talking about those who desperately struggle and fight for a consort, not those with one.

My friend Sri Harsha types about the Valentine’s Day craze when people ‘want to be loved’ this desire is prominent in a S.G. school where anyone who gets the company of ‘others’ is an achiever. For them, the members of the opposite gender are people who can only be dates/lovers/spouses. They never are any of: classmate who learns too much by rote, the senior who lived five roads to the north, some arbit person only seen in assembly/prayer or the hated cribber who begs for marks.

My mom says that ‘in co-ed colleges “…The girls will keep control over the boys…” and vice versa'.
It becomes a question of belongings. You do not belong to the ‘cool group’ if you cannot flash a companion whose looks determine your status. In co-ed institutions eloping is not a fantasy. This may be because any one’s looks and charm do not hold as strong a sway over the mind if there is some one else similarly good looking or slightly lesser you see everyday.

Almost three months after the prohibition of young females entering my hostel came into effect. The truth is that many (not necessarily relatives) have entered inside (not necessarily to meet a single resident).

Such incidents, which earlier would mean nothing (unless the two did something), now become symbols of wit (and of course masculinity)

But this does not mean I totally oppose the concept of single gender schools. They are the reason our grand parents got literate/educated. They are still needed in parts of our huge country where schools are yet to reach. I just believe that its time for these institutions (in educated areas) to move on and become co-educational.

The divine right to comment and advise

2005-04-05T21:58:00.000+05:30

"Why do you care?"" Who are you to ...?"

Why is it that some one who has known some one who had a tragedy gets a right to talk and more importantly advise about it?

Prof: Where is this guy ?He has not been attending classes. Is there some serious problem? You people can tell me.

The advised [aside]: Why the $)*^*&*) does he care?

Prof: Well, I am asking you because I had a class mate like that ... finally committed suicide in front of my eyes.

The advised [to himself]: Then it is ok. He has the RIGHT

Friend: Dude why are you allowing this petty topic to ruin your marriage?

The advised: Why do you care?

Friend: Because I my elder brother…

[A long sentimental story later]

The advised: Yes, I think you are right.

Are the natural in-built empathy and sympathy not enough

Pokemon: the new G I Joe?

2005-03-15T22:07:00.000+05:30

Yesterday ,Sriharsha was a panelist in a panel discussion about gender gap.He was talking about the fads of the various generations.I wondered “Are Pokemons the new g I Joe?"

What makes Pokemon or G I Joe so good?I will say it is the detail (not frames per second, but); the customizability of your favorite character.Even though Pikachu is the hero's pokemon, I personally know kids who like Bulbasaur or Charmander more.

Some statistics:

Though G I Joe had well defined good and bad, there were no less than 65 of the good guys to choose from (including Lady Jay and scarlet for macho girls) and 24 cobra leaders /masterminds to hate.

Everyone who likes his/her Pokemon has a favorite one: There are 150 of them to choose from: each with its own attacks strengths and evolutionary levels.

What appeals these people is not whether the show is about saving America or appreciating the environment (that talk is for the parents to allow the kids to watch the show ) but the complex alternate scenario they are put in ( the world with pokemons or that of the special commando forces).
Also this is not specific to these 2 generations alone. The time in between also had its share of such Pseudo real Scenarios .Star wars the real reason for whose success is the Mystical “force” rather than the Light saber fights of the new trilogy.

We idolized Captain Kirk for the different aliens and planets he encountered.

Finally, all of you (between 15 and 25 and watching T V since 5 or from before) who are giggling that none of these ever afflicted you; take this acronym

W W F.

FAVOURITE MOVIES

2005-03-11T11:38:00.001+05:30

LOTR trilogy
Casablanca
Dr. Strangelove
Mackenna's gold
Bond movies[Connery ones]
Guns of navarone
Where eagles dare
The great escape
Monsters inc
Ice age
Finding nemo
Forrest gump
The usual suspects
Castaway
The good the bad and the ugly
Star wars [I have seen only episodes 1 & 2]
Back to the future trilogy
A few good men
A fistful of dollars
Lost in translation
Dead poets society
Truman show
..... to be continued..

Movies I want to see

2005-03-01T13:12:00.000+05:30

Vera drake
Collateral
Finding Neverland
Master and commander
Mystic River
Pather panchali
Million dollar baby
Sideways

A STUDY IN ANTHROPOLOGY

2005-02-28T22:44:00.000+05:30

Subject: A group of humans found in India.

Authors: Aditya V. jeurkar, J Vinay

This article is about some humans: basically a particular type of older girls and young women.{Those who are wondering why i have used these terms click here}

Reports of there existence have been confirmed from Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai. They each have their own distinct fashion identity. No known communication has been noticed between the different populations.
But this is a sisterhood is united by their eyes: Eye liner in their eyes.They would rather be dead than be seen in public without eyeliner in their eyes.So this is about group of humans (let us call them Homo sapiens eyelinerii {adit})
In the good old west, such traits are a property of Punk Rock Fans. But India being India and humans being humans,The ones the authors are referring to restrict themselves to heavy metal[the results of which are the reason this article has been written].They have neither anger nor social alienation.
Their preferred form of greeting is a hug [2 handed reports author, dominant handed says coauthor]

Humor apart, the reason these girls are being are described is because of their minds. Spooky as it may seem, they all have a common mental virtue: An open mind. They are emancipated, but not the feminists who believe that a woman has to do something because some man did it. They are mathematically and mechanically impaired but are not dumb. They treat others as humans; not male /female. They are neither diplomatic put-to-sleepers nor rude.They know they are far from perfect and are comfortable with the fact. This makes them pleasant humans to be with.

As an Example of their property to create a good impression, the coauthor has provided the following retelling of true incidents.
28 JAN: authors decide to put up article
28 Feb: The main author finalizes his part which is reproduced below.
Disclaimer:The views expressedare of the main author himself.

They…
They laugh without restraint. Love cute things like soft toys.
They crowd out other thoughts for a moment. A nice stroll down the amnesia lane as Robin Williams says in Dead Poet’s Society. I have known them for quite a time and I simply love them. I have my reasons. Not by choice but by chance I came across them. I have been friends with them and have come to love them. I don’t love them because of their eye-liner, nor because of their spaghettis.

But I like the way they live. I love their free thinking. They are not mere copy cats. They pick and choose. They are not just clothes-horses, who strut their low and tattered jeans and flaunt their cleavages. Nor are they always busy texting someone on their trendy cellphones. I love them because they don’t chase glamour. Simple, nice clothes and eye-liner are more than enough for them. I love eye-liner for a strange reason. There are so many non-descript girls and these girls stand out amongst all of them.

Looks. I won’t say they are completely indifferent about looks. But looks matter to them to a limit. They are not after drop-dead looks and an hourglass figure.

I like their tongue-in-cheek manner of commenting on things. But they do not hesitate to tell you that they didn’t like something you did. I like this candor and self-respect they have.

Most of the times they are witty, in an unforced way. They come up with cute names for simple things and that makes me laugh. They write, in a neat hand, letters full of elegant similes and subtle humour. Most of these girls go for arts and thoroughly enjoy psychology. They are open while accepting new thoughts and ideas. They don’t have to argue with you. I like the grace with which they speak, and charm with which they state their points.

Many of them are skilled listeners. They will listen to you actively and ask pertinent questions. Frankly I find their holding long eye-contact while talking very seductive. The word is a little harsh but I meant it. Your friends can be seductive. They pay frank compliments and I find it very charming.

I haven’t seen them bored often. They talk to everyone from children to elder people. They go to romantic movies and cry. They go to comedy shows and burst out laughing. A long visit to a nearby café on Sundays is always a welcome offer for them. They chat a lot there and if they don’t have any opinion about something, they will listen to you. Something new truly fascinates them and their eyebrows show that.

In this world of squares, they definitely have a different profile.

A relic

2005-02-19T12:21:00.000+05:30

This is a draft post i had forgotten and unearthed in a recent"delete stuff make space in memory" mood.

i do not know the date when i wrote it but those with enough enthu may try finding out.

so here goes nothing.

Today is the 3rd day of saarang

Or should we say day2?

As I go around: attempting the events I imagine I am a stud of, I see apathy among the IITians themselves. I do not know the reason for it, but definitely it does not seem to be a 3rd year phenomenon.

The only juniors I see around [except at pro shows] are vols of some sort.

Dude where are the general enthu puts people with dreams of cashing with some diva [with no less effort by her attire and make up] who is going to be enamored by the fact that he is an IITian.

A reply not a new article

2005-02-19T11:21:00.000+05:30

AS a tribute to my meagre html skills and familiarity with blogger,I am posting a comment of

a comment as a blog entry .

//*start*//

Sorry for the late comment ,quizzes

Firstly octa,
Thank you
Danke
Gracias
Merci
Grazie
Obrigado
あなたに感謝しなさい
너를 감사하십시요
谢谢
dank u
BbI

Now for the fun part

I detest those with a closed mind. But you love the Russians.. Is that not a contradiction?

This is a comment which requires an article of its own.

Come on, man! Be chivalrous and call them GIRLS! Do you consider them … girls as females?

Sorry if I have made that mistake. I was talking about the age group of 15 -35. I believe girls would include younger ones and women would include older ones.

We are the great species of animal because... they could build relationships and create the huge communities which make what we call Civilization. Note that almost all civilizations were built exclusively by a single … and never has any civilization been built by a collaboration of both sexes!

What do you mean by building a civilization? If you mean being the king I assure you that there were N number of back seat drivers who were females .If you mean waging wars etc. then is it not more important the role of someone who sits at home and supplies an endless number of future fighters or baby producers. I was talking about the huge communities. Out of the 7 hominid species [8 including the hobbit] only one survives .Why? Not because of some exceptional mental capability vis a vis others, but because of what I described.

In romantic movies, you get enough material to make a movie by potraying the development ...spend money to become a hitman and eliminate anybody even remotely connected to it!

:)))))))) development eh, let me see
Harry met sally: Meg Ryan sorry got carried away

Guy pisses off arbit girl he is supposed to drop
Repeats procedure years later but girl is not arbit anymore.
FINALLY guy realizes no female other than the one he used to piss off [who also is now "Lonely"] will marry him.
And yeah I forgot, “and they happily lived ever after” {tissue paper/hanky please,}
Of course, entry by some n arbitrary couple who give “enough material” and a David Lynchian connect.
{P.S. all Meg Ryan fans kindly note that I have praised her.
Also, I hate "My bestfriend’s wedding", so all Julia Roberts fans please comment.}

Better safe than sorry...

Hey octa, carry an umbrella tomorrow it may rain, Better safe than sorry
Do not live in the first floor, the floor below you may collapse, Better safe than sorry
Do not live in a hostel, what if there is an earth quake? Better safe than sorry
Never ever go to a beach in your life, Better safe than sorry
Never ever believe anybody in your life (even your parents) , Better safe than sorry

need more?

Society is based on the bedrock of appropriate … parameters are inherently flawed.

Whose speech /essay did you cut-paste this from? (also) this requires an article of its own.

Tell me something… distinguishes mankind from the brutes you so happen to love!

“… from the brutes you so happen to love!”???????? Sorry, went over my head .

Nobody makes a five year plan or conducts a Grand jury trial with appeals if or if not they want to hug somebody [except probably aphephobes.]

PS: … this link out.

Congrats Octa, glad to know you started seeing beyond the 1st 50 entries in Google search.
The point is that people read the account and start interpreting an affair in it. That is the reason it was put there. Khapish ?

A study in relationships

2005-02-09T00:15:00.000+05:30

I hate prejudice. I detest those with a closed mind.

Today, I had a talk with the warden of my hostel. He had to bow down to the Institute diktat of a blanket ban on young females from entering the rooms.
I am not a guy who girls would be romantically attracted to. There is almost zero probability of any girl coming to my room for any purpose during my stay here. Still, I am pained .Why? Because, I hate paranoia. This seems to be an easy way out. Isolate them .Create ghettos. Finally, when they are convinced that they are from different planets (which is good for the publishing industry) and are xenophobic enough of each other, start raising a cry that someone is chauvinist /insensitive.

One of the ultimate ironies of the traditional gender roles slapped on us is that; although they strive to keep chastity on every innocent mind, they accomplish quite the opposite. The segregation of the sexes is so complete in some communities that every female-male friendship is assumed to be sexual; every interaction is viewed through the colored glass of sexuality and due to the fear for reputation/society, rarely do we see men and women become friends. Can a man and a woman just be friends? Forget friends, is it possible that a man says he likes hanging out with some woman, who is not present/future relative ,because she is interesting(not her cleavage)/funny /good listener? I'd say yes. Human beings are gregarious animals. In spite of what all the self styled experts say, we are not like lions/tigers/any other of the polygamous/polyandrous animals. We are the great species of animal not because our forefathers were promiscuous but because they could build relationships and create the huge communities (without bringing sexual desires /intentions into picture) which make what we call Civilization. It’s a distortion of values that these relationships have been made difficult; that the platonic part of our lives is defined by the sexual. If chastity were the objective, repression is clearly not the answer. Not just Indian but even the western/developed /whatever people think the same. (Ex When Harry met sally: A horrible boring movie remembered by that one pathetic line alone.)
Dozens of books and articles are published each year on the history of homosexuality, but virtually none on the history of friendship.There are hundreds of dating only sites but no friendship only site

It is not just the scorning geriatric relatives or neighbours who do it. Any woman who has said this or similar statement to kid brother/son/nephew/student/grandson sometime in their life:

“ARE you not ashamed to fight with a girl?”---may rest assured that they have done their bit for the promotion of male chauvinism. They have prevented the endangered species of M.C.Pigs from becoming extinct. One more human has been socially handicapped.

All of this is, I believe, in no small measure is aided by the dual legacy of the Freudian revolution and the Victorian era. Freud’s part in sexualizing everything is obvious enough, but it may not be as clear that the Victorian era is also to blame. For a variety of reasons, the Victorians put forward certain rigid standards for behavior that had not previously existed. We have been indoctrinated on appropriate behaviour so much that even males who touch each other , who express strong feelings for each other, and who demonstrate that through dramatic behavior are assumed to be sexually attracted to each other. The seniors of the society in the Crown jewel lapped it up perfectly (and why not ? It gave them a chance to brag about culture ,traditions etc.and hold on to their entrenched positions) .Those who do not believe me just look around in your towns /cities .The most "conservative"( not religious) families are those who managed to keep their power through the british occupation .They are the people who are snobs ,who look down upon you when u r hugging/ playing /squabbling with ur cousin who is of the opposite gender .This just goes to show how well the Victorians and their slaves did their work.If any of history's bachelors were alive today, they would all be judged Homosexual.Everybody is assummed horny unless otherwise proved (which of course is very difficult ) allowing them to rule like shamans of yore.

On the other side of the divide, if we can only lift the Victorians’ blinders for a moment we see a very different world: a world where friendship is considered the occasion for deep emotions and exaggerated behavior. This other view is much older than the one the "Ancestors" bequeathed upon us . It is a world where friendship is not a footnote in a book about romance, rather it is a living force of its own, considered one of the highest forms of human emotion and behavior, and worthy of profound sentiments. There we can all read the description of Socrates and Diotima and say, "Oh, what a beautiful portrait of friendship" (/"Machchaa ,high funda friendship da" if u r from my college).

The purported attempts to keep sexuality from becoming a big deal have backfired. On the contrary, sexuality has become a very big deal. It creates a self feeding cycle. Only people desperate for a romantic partner get to have any acquaintance in the opposite gender giving more ammo to the paranoid to say “See, I told you so.” Personally, I believe that if someone can’t have a working relationship, with those of the other gender, without the idea of sleeping together coming to picture ,if that person can work only with members of same gender as self, there is something biologically wrong with that person. Dude/(feminine of dude), are you really human ?

Subject:Pink floyd --singing

2005-01-30T17:20:00.000+05:30

Over the years [3 in number],I have been to many concerts and competitions of western music[ie rock and pop for the non indians] .one glaring fact that stood out was the lack of people who sang the songs of PINK FLOYD Every competition has someone at least one Deep purple and one hotel california but i have heard only once a rendition of a floyd song [wish u were here].
Being jobless, i gave thought to the matter and believe the reason is their way of singing
I mean see the lyrics of wish u were here which i believe is the simplest of them all

They[Floyd] do not sing a line at a time ,they definitely do not repeat the tune of singing and sometimes sing 1.75 lines at a time .Without a pattern it is very difficult for somebody other than the composers to remember the songs[Sorry die hard floyd fans but u know it is true].

I do not know what to write in conclusion and so this article finishes here.

Akhil’s axiom

2005-01-29T16:48:00.000+05:30

Before a single nerd sees a single babe , she is taken.
--Akhil (a friend)

Sriharsha's theory

2005-01-29T16:32:00.000+05:30

Now that Saarang is over, I have time to type about it.
Every year myths are created about putsing with women [means swooning divas who think u r a god] with the guest participants and visitors [primarily the latter].

Every Saarang leaves in its wake hundreds of frustrated hearts [mostly of the masculine kind].
After having witnessed 3 Saarangs my friend sriharsha v aradhya has come up with a theory on why certain people Win love/crush/romance while other similar ones are left wondering .The details can be had from his blog as and when he puts it up.Till then I will just provide the gist of it for the over curious.

Basically the above referred to activity can be successfully accomplished only when the 2 are former acquaintances.Believe me this is true :from experience and logic too.In spite of what some others will make you believe, it is difficult for anyone to start liking you in just 5 days [even if it is Saarang time] to make a Boyfriend /girl friend of you.

So allthose who will hence attempt this activity, be cautioned, if u want to get a girlfriend/boyfriend during Saarang/Mood I /whatever, try only when you know the person before.If by any chance anyone brags about having puts just during Saarang:
a) Relax even if he is true the female must be playing up to him[that will make a good story for her to relate to her friends].
b)Relax coz even if all above does not happen, you will witness a comical drama between them(of course they will break up) and you will be left relating the anecdote at all your meetings.

Upcoming

2005-01-21T09:36:00.000+05:30

An article on the cultural festival of my college called SAARANG

My Favourite Pastime

2005-01-13T19:05:00.000+05:30

Right now it is Downloading. Being addicted to the high bandwidth in the institute, I felt itchy in the holidays where the nearest broadband destination is a sify center about a km away.Downloaded a demo of Call of duty pacific assault. 500 mb it was.
In no small measure to the amount of framing i gave up on it.

Another one would be Surfing ,again the result of insti's net facility.My fauvorite websites? Click here and here to find out

Bath

2005-01-13T19:01:00.000+05:30

4 days since i took a bath. Pretty common to IITians .Similar the number of days i have been sleepy in the class.

Why The name?

2005-01-13T18:56:00.000+05:30

From Pink Floyd's song