So Sweet

Someone just told me something so very sweet!!! So very adoring and so very cute!!! Yeah, actually something about me............, yes ME !!!

It is moments like this that brighten up my Life and make it worthwhile. Suddenly makes me realize somebody does appreciate me for what I am and for what I have been.... And Thank You so very much for livening up my everything and assuring that I am not all that bad a person I conjure myself to be!!! More importantly, letting me know what you feel..........

Sounds Cliched. Can't help. Too excited right now............

P.S : Typed out a few hours back. Delayed posting it on the blog.

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MASS BUNK

Finally!!!
My first MASS BUNK in Kgp. And it's taken 3 years. 3 long years.
Feels good. Feels I've(We've) achieved something. And I seriously don't understand why I am feeling that way.

We had our ED(Engineering Drawing) Lab of our Machine Design Course scheduled at 14:00hrs today. Most of us were in the drawing room(our lab) by around 14:10hrs. The professor arrived at 14:20hrs and wrote down a screwjack design problem on the board. He then proceeded to give some instructions and then left us with work on our hands and said he'd be back after sometime. Not one of us had a smidgen of an idea as to what was to be done regards the problem. 5 minutes passed.... and everyone of us was out of the room, sipping coffee at the Nescafe outlet. Another 5 minutes later everyone was on their way back to the room. I guess, as I type this stuff out, the professor must have just gone back to the room to see our progress. Would like to have a look at his expression for once!!!
It might not be quite right to feel so exhilarated but then most of my friends in non-IIT colleges do boast of having mass bunked very many classes. So now I got something to speak of when they begin to brag about bunking and mass bunking. Maybe my animation right now stems from my having attained those bragging rights as well.

On a totally unconnected note, I broke my spectacles yesterday while practicing for the Inter-Hall Basketball tourney. That reminds me, I was detected with myopia when I was in class 4. I've been wearing spectacles since.
I hated my glasses in the beginning. They actually brought on many nicknames and I hated my glasses for bringing me such misery. But I grew used to them(both the glasses and the nicks) and gradually started loving my specs. I can't imagine a day without them. (Yeah, I can't see anything without them for sure ;) I just wanted to put that differently.) I love them.
I had 2 spares ready. And while I was digging my cupboard and bags for the spares, I found 2 other broken ones as well as a pair of contacts to go with my spares. I haven't used contacts just for the reason that I need to feel some weight on my nose. I've become so very used to spectacles. Love you. So now I have 3 glasses for repair. Whoa!!!

Another thing I'd read just recently and wanted to share here -- This article in IIT-B's student paper. Most IITians will surely find some common chord with the feelings of the author. At least, I felt quite bitter while I was reading this. You might not agree upon wholly with what he says, but then it would be rather foolish to discard all of what he states as being ridiculous and trashy. According to me, the system does need a change -- both the professors and the students as well. A lot of mindsets need to be changed as well and drastically at that.

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Varied Hues of Life !!!

Life is so colourful. My saying that wouldn't be much of a surprise, given today is Holi -- The festival soaked with colours and to me, more the festival of freeing the spirit and revelling in the joy of it.

It's my 3rd Holi here at Kgp and maybe that was why I wasn't so very enthusiastic about it this year. So were a few other friends who'd, I might say become used to hullabaloo surrounding the event every year. So with kind of dampened spirits we just strode out, got our shirts torn (This time my shorts were spared however) and had a few photos taken. Mild Fun, I must say!!!

If Holi wasn't that fabulous, then why was I ranting about Life being so colorful??? Well, it has to do with the various other happenings in my life. And don't be mislead. Colourful doesn't always need to mean groundbreaking achievements or shout aloud stories. Just having had a myriad of emotions to go through and also a mix of events taking place made me wonder truly how varied, multi-layered and multi-coloured LIFE was turning out to be.

This summer, am headed to TATA ELXSI, Bangalore for my 2 month summer internship. It wasn't my preferred destination in any case but then that was the best intern in Bangalore that my CG could garner me. How I finally got to choose ELXSI can form the basis for another post -- a long story. There were just four guys ahead of me on the CG basis and four of them grabbed all the companies in Bangalore that paid heavily. Heights of BAD LUCK, you can say!!! Am Bestowed with loads of that. At first, I was cursing my fate, my non-commitment to studies during the first and second years and what not. But then as time goes by, I realize I am not in a bad spot after all. I am beginning to like what I got -- not that I am forcing myself to. It's just that their field of work and their workplace excite me. So finally no qualms and it's a nice feeling!!! :)
And do check out their website. I started loving the company once I saw the website!!!

Another achievement I must rant about here is my getting insanely high marks in a mid-semester examination in KGP. This midsem I almost had a cent percent score in a subject in which I badly wanted to score. A FIRST for me in many respects (in KGP). A huge MORALE BOOSTER for my endsems, but I better hope the other subjects that I'd not performed satisfactorily won't turn out to ruin my party.

Project work is on in FULL SWING!!! Deadlines to match and Loads of stuff to read. Only the mind is not willing to co-operate. I was googling and downloading stuff for my project having bunked the InterHall Basketball practice, hoping to find something substantial for my project and lo, I am here blogging it out. Which reminds me of tomorrow's deadline. So let me bid goodbye and get back to doing something more purposeful.

Auf Widersehen.

And hope to blog more regularly (and hopefully not morose stuff like this!!!)

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St.Valentine must probably be turning in his grave!!!

St.Valentine was never a messiah for love..... There are numerous versions of how the day came into being. And there are an equal number of stories about the history of the day.

I was browsing for the actual history of the day when I found this link and many more such. The article on Wiki does not show a unique legend on whose name this day is celebrated. There seem to a fairly large number of St.Valentines or Mr.Valentines. Quite surprised infact, that such a widely celebrated day does not even have accurate history. All botched and made up for the convenience of a certain few commercial ventures/brands that make the most out of mislead people.

Of all the stories I came across, I'd prefer to believe the one about Valentine performing marriages when they were deemed illegal and hence being beheaded. He secretly married couples when marriage was forbidden by the Roman emperor and he was beheaded on this day.

It isn't a bad thing to celebrate LOVE. But these days, People use his name and create a lot of brouhaha and ruckus about being in love and use his name(and in particular this day) to do all sorts of rubbish. So, I guess, he must literally be at unrest in his grave as to how unimaginatively his name and intentions are being misused disguising lust and infatuation as love...................

P.S : Well, it isn't the frustration of not having a Valentine that I am showing off here. I am single and I am fine with it. All I am irked at is the non-sense I've seen people do on this day...... Literally!!!

LIFE

Somewhere along the way, mediocrity creeps in. You become complacent. You take things too easily, take things for granted. All seems fine for a while. And, then suddenly, a loud THWACK on the face.

LIFE IS A BITCH!!! It slaps you hard and how.

Suddenly reality presents itself before you. The gravity of the situation knocks the wind out of your sails. Before you can realize that you are mired in a deep pit, it moves ahead, seemingly with a fierce fervour. Now you try to drag yourself out with whatever you can find hold of. It’s an epic struggle. Most give up while the prudent, stubborn few fight on to get back on track. The lucky few who resurface find that it’s too far ahead now. You have been thrown off track. So you now know all you can do is to play Catch Up. You keep sprinting desperately with determination and HOPE – an immortal soul. But then…………….

Note : Intern Blues

New Year. New Sem

Wish you a HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR

(I know its quite late in the day but then its the wishes that count I guess!!!)

Exit 2006. Enter 2007.

As if it makes much of a difference. Life still is the same I guess. The old problems stay. Newer ones await in the wings. So what significance does a New Year hold??? I might sound quite cold and preposterous when I divulge I do not attach much importance to a New Year's Day. It just is another day in this bland routine cycle called Life. Isn't it???

Four or Five years back, I would have been busy on New Year's eve preparing a list of resolutions for the New Year. I also had the habit of making this resolution thingy on my birthday as well. So twice a year, I usually made a list of resolutions and twice a year i wouldn't stick to what I ordered for myself. As the years flew by, I realised I was making a futile effort in trying to change my way of life. Every passing year has been a confirmation of my not sticking to atleast a single resolution I decided upon. So as I grew older and, rightly, wiser, I decided I wouldn't make myself look stupid anymore. So I bid goodbye to writing lists which also meant a lot of energy and time and paper and ink saved. So right now I am not forcing myself to act differently in any sense. Just nice being just ME.

As the importance of the day waned, so did the greetings I'd send. The only recipients this year were my aunt and my school teachers. I did not spend a buck on the phone wishing a friend or relative. It also had to do with the mind tuned to the fact that lines are always busy on New Year's day and it would be a gargantuan task to just get to someone on the phone. A calm day infact.

And oh, Thanks to the Timetable that is adhered to in Kgp, I had to spend a sizeable chunk of New Year's day( 10 hrs to be exact) in the train, for the third year running. So few of us had a small cake cutting bash in the train itself. The cake cutting had more to do with the growling stomach(s) than being a celebration instead. And with Jan 1st almost always being the start of the spring semester every year, it is generally a semester of hope. Every semester at the start I hope to do well and this time it is no different. Sitting pretty on my good performance last semester, I wish to carry forward the momentum this semester. But then Spring Sem has always been my Achilles heel. So I need to carefully tread and see that history isn't repeated. I know I can mess up big time. Hence I need be careful.

Add to that the fact that CAT is just 10 months and a few days away, so I need to prepare a routine for my preparation. 6th semester also comes gift wrapped with a project. So its project time as well. And we need to get geared up for a 2 month internship after the semester and the hunt for an internship too intensifies this sem. Hence the semester finally equates out to CATting + Intern Hunt + Project Work + CG. Wow!!! All in all, a Gala time awaiting me I guess.

So, I sign off the first post this year with no resolutions -- Will just be Me -- and also with clear cut goals for the semester -- the measure of success meant for another post right at the end of the semester. Adios till the next one.

Photo Courtesy of Hallmark Greetings

Ordeal for a BROADBAND Connexion

Homecoming is always sweet. You are home and so you are the KING. At least I am when I come home after a long gap. Mommy just dotes on you and Pops brings all those things YOU like. Mommy doles out the recipes from her Huge Arsenal that wouldn’t fit Pops diabetes routine but nevertheless fares I’d die to gorge on. A welcome change from the bland Mess khana and other kgp stuff. Lots more love fill the day.

Two or three days pass until normalcy is restored. After the initial euphoria settles down, comes the laziness. There is not much on earth you can do but idle away your time. Watching TV and reading the odd magazine consume most of the time and then it is time for you to miss, inarguably, the most important thing in your life for the past 3 years – Kgp’s LAN. It just is something whose absence, you feel, leaves a gaping whole in your daily itinerary. You have grown so used to it and made it such an essential part of your life that its absence really hits you hard.

You feel disconnected from the entire universe and you just can’t stay with that feeling. The closest you can reach is having an internet connection at home. Even though the internet connection might not promise all the benefits that our beloved LAN provides us, something’s better than nothing, you’d agree.

So you reach for the nearest and fastest ISP provider and he promises you the connection in a day when you pay the exorbitant amount. You might argue that any measly sum would seem exorbitant when you pay nothing for the 24 hour net supply in Kgp – in addition to DC++, the source of all movies, sitcoms, series, videos, music there is on the planet. But then that’s the way it is. Whichever way you look at it, TATA INDICOM Broadband is about at least 10 times costlier than BSNL’s Dataone connection. I still rue the fact that there is no BSNL landline at home or else I would have surely preferred the latter.

2 days pass and there is no sign of any personnel from the Tata Indicom. So you go and shout your dismay there and warn and threaten him (The frustration of not being connected is what is supposed to be blamed for all those actions, I suppose). A week passes by wherein each day you barge into the ISP office and threaten and plead him for the connection. Fed up with the daily nuisance he lands up one fine day in the house and the connection is done.

Now that the internet connection has arrived, you feel a bit ecstatic. You begin surfing and then the problems begin. Half the time the server is down (I had to ring up the call centre and register 5 complaints in the span of 6 days) and the other half isn’t much better either. Fluctuating speeds and intermittent delays dampen your enthusiasm to browse. What’s even more annoying is the blank messenger window. Normally it shows one full screen view of online contacts but now with most kgpians relaxing in the comforts of their homes, the empty window makes me feel much more cheesed off. It wasn’t all that worthwhile in the end.

P.S: Typed 2 weeks ago. Troubling Net connection and now the nuisance-making computer caused the delay. Still damn frustrated.