Encounters on Gulf Air

When you change 4 flights in eight hours crossing two time zones, things get a little freak, especially if you have had a lot of wine on board (its free right?)

While on GF130 (that's Gulf Air) from Bahrain to New Delhi, the gentleman in front of me was hardly a teetotaller, after chugging three glasses of whiskey the dude wanted another shot, just for old times sake I presume. The steward, who looked arab but sounded jamaican came forward and in his polite tone asked Jack Daniels to ease it a little bit. But our fermented soul would not go down without a fight.
If the alcohol is free then why should it ever stop flowing. Its not like I am going to harm anyone. Let me be.
Something on those lines.
Steward replied in hindi, in his thick jamaican accent, that the guy should just sleep and enjoy the high for he ain't getting another peg. What continued for the next half an hour was a one sided negotiation between the drunk man and the steward, the steward simply brushing away all possibilities of a consensus, asking the man to go to sleep. He also said that drinking a lot would only make this man reveal the true animal that was inside him(for he didn't seem to have the capacity of an irish dock worker from any angle) which would only invite the police who would be more than happy to invene to bust his sorry ass.
Finally our man just reclined back on to his chair and started murmuring some gibberish.
Just an after thought:
I wonder if airlines possess strait-jackets.

Invitation

Party of the year!

It's going to be insane.

Loud music, lots of chaos and hopefully lots of people.

TIME: Post lunch till whenever. No RSVP, drop in whenever you like before 6.

Dress code: A fcking broom will do.

The things I have to do to gets things done. Sigh.

Nearly there!

Just one more exam to go and then I'm off to Egypt!

So everyone in Hyderabad, mail me your wish list!

Opening Salvo

Cliches suck. Big time. Yet we use them. Like hello world. Now just many fucking times have we seen this being used? Yeah Yeah I know, its like standard procedure, something akin to saying "hello" while answering the telephone or saying "check" while testing the microphone.

Why the baseless bitching?

No reason in particular.

Sometimes don't you simply want to find reasons to get worked up about issues which are always at the back of your head, yet you didn't give them enough importance earlier for they just seemed so trivial? But come the day when your head is exploding with rage and this acts like that little magnesium ribbon you read about during your school days, which were filled with those uninteresting experiments in those tailor-made-for-prisoners style text books which were wholly printed in just one color(as bizarre as bottle green). People living in developed nations obviously cannot associate with this phenomenon. For they always had glossy hard bound text books with real pictures and multi colored illustrations. Anyone who has studied history from the India's Central Board of Secondary Education text books will bear testimony to the fact that history was indeed written in black and white. When they did finally give color illustrations a shot, it gave rise to some pretty interesting pieces of art. Like the girl in ninth standard who for the first time read about the scrotum and little love ovals which dwell in them had to suffice with a violet nut and an orange vas deferens.

Yes, I agree immense digression has taken place in the last couple of paragraphs and you should give yourself a little shag if you managed to get to this point.

Be god with ye...

IIM CAT and BITSians. Results out!

The IIM results were out this morning, though not all at once. This year onwards, an extra IIM at Shillong was introduced(though one had to apply externally to the newbie). With the reservation shock handed to the CAT cleared junta in a smelly sack, I can only imagine the agony and frustration apart from the testicle crushing eagerness to know the result. Thankfully some of the seniors I knew personally have got through. So kudos to them. If you are aware of any BITSian who have got through just leave it as a comment, and yes a blog address would be helpful as well. So far I know only of:
Vernon Fernandez(IIM B), Rehan Jiwani(IIM C, IIM A WL 75), Dhruv Vishrani(Dum)(IIM L), Rakesh Lalwani (IIM A & IIM B), Saikat Banerjee (2002)(IIM B),Pavitra (Puppy) (IIM A), Swetha Raman(2002)(IIM L), Shrek(Music Clubber)(IIM C, IIMA WL 11)

Lets go Clubbin'

The water coolers are one of the premier hubs to ascertain any activity that's happening on campus. So much so that during the cultural and technical festivals there's a serious space problem and a cold war takes place where every club/association tries to strategically place their posters so as to clearly block the viewers vantage point and distort it to their advantage.

As I finished gulping down the cold water, half of which was splashed onto my hirsute face, splitting further into numerous tributaries, I stare at the wall which is filled with posters of quizzes and talks and meets but one such poster caught my eye.

It was about a club called TRENDZ. A club meant for "designin".

In my two years at BITS I have seen quite a few clubs emerge out of no where. Started with a tech boom catering to the ever increasing needs of Open source disciples who came up with BLUC( BITS Linux Users Club), though I did hear a rumour of another BLIC(BITS Linux Installation club) coming to surface.

Then came the environmentalists and the social entrepreneurs and we had MY INDIA aka Nirmaan aka Bharat Nirman Sankalp, aka you get the idea, set up a year before I came. From what I have heard, they have also set up camp at a lot of other places and generally help in social service and having tutorials for people in and around Pilani as well donating clothes to needy, something I got to know after seeing their propaganda-esque posters. Also was the emergence of bigger brand names such as Rotaract, a club that after some difficulty with the administration finally took off. Their modus operandi is to find innovative ways to create awareness amongst BITSians, mainly on environmental issues, be this through panel discussions, acoustic jams or open air documentaries.

Wall Street Club(WSC) of BITS-Pilani took off right under my nose, as one of my friends was (then) a core member of the club, and they basically wanted to foster the spirit of making money and introduce the n00bs as well as the pro into the world of business through late night skype sessions and even investing in mutual funds(the first of its kinds)

And then came Symposiarch, a club that has an active collaboration with the Languages Group of BITS Pilani. Comprising of a wide variety of people, they wanted people to speak out and from what I hear "wanted a platform where people could speak their mind through debates and group discussions, which would in the later future also help them in their GD/PI". The latest on their list is the Koffee with Karan version of BITS creatively called While the Coffee lasts.

These are amongst the lucky few that took off. Yet there were many which couldn't, which I am surely assuming had nothing to do with what they stood for. I strongly feel that its about time that BITS actually need an official Peacock Surveying Society or a Blue Cross or a Collectors Club.

With more clubs coming up this surely gives the students more opportunity to choose from and definitely makes it easier for the administration purposes. A student who wants to pursue something now has many choices to choose from instead of just on centralized clubs, instead now there are 5 centralized clubs. It also surely helps during festivals, where all the clubs need to host their events. More events obviously mean more people winning (for most of the events are clashing with something or the other and hence there can't be the same winner) which will surely boost the morale of the average junta who are anyways depressed with academics.

Obituary

It wasn't exactly an exquisite piece of art, yet I adored it. With 500 MB of memory and powerful earphones, it was my compensation for an IPod, with a 1.3 Mega Pixel camera, it was my makeshift digi-cam and with Monster Truck Madness installed, it was my time pass while waiting in long queues. Oh yes, it could make calls too.

After four years of begging, I had finally got a cell phone. Before that, my parents never quite found the need for me to have one. They never had a problem with me chatting with my pals at 4 in the morning. Whenever they felt that I might be going to a place where I’d need to contact them, my mom would give me her phone and for other times, they’d just hope that I wouldn’t get myself into a shady corner with no public phone booth.

Been nearly 2 years, and it has served me well. Squished in between books in my bag, dropped more times than the number of times a Mexican can fart, trampled upon, farted upon, played the ball in numerous dodge ball games, it withstood the test of stress and strain.

Loyalty seemed to trot in its circuit. It always did find it’s way back pretty much like the omnipresent pug which we all know from commercialism, despite its careless owner. Despite being quite dependent I always treated it like dirt, probably took it for granted too, ergo its little journey to the end of the world. That’s when it showed immense resilience and earned my respect. However the aftermath was evident. The incident did eventually take its toll on the gizmo. Gone were the days when it’d last awake all night long, gone were the days when I could put an alarm and count on it to wake me up for a 15 mark tutorial. Frozen screens would epitomize its new look which would obviously incur my wrath upon it. I’d through it around like stereotypical brute of a husband through manhandle his meek wife.

It has indeed passed its prime and was making its way for an untimely demise. And then today it happened.

After getting a 220 buck recharge, I switch it on and a message greets me

Start-up failure. Please contact the retailer.

Thought for the day

What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.

The Philosophy of Andy Warhol

Marketing Strategies

In a town like Pilani, where a samosa chat acquires the status of lasagne, the primary food station is a roadside stall (or simply called a redi).

The other day I was sitting at one of these redis and was contemplating over what to eat and I saw him squeeze around 25 lemons into a glass. My eyes just widened. As far as food is concerned my tastes are totally feminine. I love sour foodstuff. So I asked him he could make a lemon soda using that pulp.

“Umm…this has 30 lemons in it. You know that right?” He said in his rustic Hindi.

“Ahuh, imagine how sour it’ll be.” I said enthusiastically.

“I am sorry sir, but I cannot serve you this. I just cannot” He shot back.

And then he went on about how 30 lemons would simply kill me. It would just cut through my skin (him giving examples of how lemon juice can erode walls). He said it was his moral duty to stop me from harming himself.

Oh now we’re on to something I thought.

He continued saying how my health is quite important to him, for I was one of his regular customers. He later said that he wasn’t greedy and that, he could have very well made that mega-lemon soda which would have cost 50 rupees (for lemons aren’t cheap in Rajasthan these days), but then what? Would that make him a millionaire? No. Instead he was at a risk of losing me for a couple of days, which would result in losses far greater than 50 rupees to him (for I eat quite a lot).

There is cut throat competition amongst the BITS-Pilani redis. The redi owners (at least some of them), everything works on trust and honesty. You would rather build a relationship with a customer rather than try to get hold of his money (even if that is what you eventually want to do), for the student is going to be around for the next four years. It makes business sense to tell him that the redi pretty much belongs to him and that money isn’t an issue at all.

Also this particular rediwallah also knows that students can bitch a lot (after all he listens to them all day long as they gobble his food) and that he should provide them with the best service to his capabilities. And this makes them loyal which in turn makes these loyal customers as a sort of brand ambassadors.

Later on, this rediwallah also told me quite frankly how the other redi wallah( his main competition) is totally unlike him. How the other person would have readily given me the killer lemon soda with a smiling face. He also went on to say how in a college since we’re away from out parents, we’re like his children in some respect and it’s his duty to at least warn us before hand.

So by now:

1) He’s shown to me that he’s really cares about my health, for I am his main customer and that my health is quite important to me.

2) His competition is a money hungry leech quite unlike him

There is a reason why this redi wallah is so successful. Today he owns a taxi service, couple of restaurants, yet his major source of income is this redi which serves refreshments to over 400 people in BITS-Pilani. He is the undisputed tycoon here. And how does he do it? He keeps his customers happy and takes good care of them, because only if they are healthy will they spend more money on his venture. What he also does is that engages in some pretty interesting conversation. As a result you end up spending more time and hence more money at his redi.

I am planning to do my Economics thesis under him.

Elite institute of technology

The last few days, nearly everyone has updated their blogs and nearly all the editorials contain the same topic. After all no institution in India features mores in various forms of media than the prestigious IIT.

Content wise, it all been heard and everyone has almost taken sides. Yet this caught my eye. It’s an open editorial by one Aditya Jha, the global branding guru of Infosys Technologies, who also once in a while writes for outlook magazine. This time he chose the Indian Express to express his views. And quite interesting ones too.
While talking about the establishment of the hazaar new IIT that are going to be set up in various parts of the country, he says

The newly set up IITs are going to provide the HRD ministry with the democratic votes and moral position in an enlarged IIT Council, like Canada and Bermuda did to Dalmiya, that will drive one regressive law after another to finally reduce the original “big 5” IITs to a totally hopeless and supine position.

This strange analogy might still make sense to some but will this?

In a country of a billion people, what’s wrong with 10000 IIT-ians passing out each year? To begin with, it blows apart the core value of brand IIT: super brains.

Or this

Brilliance is elitist. There is a difference between brilliance and above average. The IIT entrance exam, the JEE, was designed to shock and awe and separate the brilliant from the above average. There is a difference between JEE rank 500 and 50,000.

If we end up producing 50,000 IIT-ians every year, we would, most certainly, be killing brand IIT.

For someone who has actually spent four years in IIT, one would expect that Mr Jha would know that all people who get through JEE are not exceptional or alternatively framed, everyone who missed out on the JEE isn’t really below average. Especially with the current pattern of the examination where questions are multiple choice, the JEE has certainly become an easier exam from the dreaded mains where the cut offs would be quite low.

Please let me clarify my point here lest someone points it out to me later. What I mean is that although its no surprise that IITians are quite smarter than the average lot (and some of them are really brilliant, I mean way above the rest of the lot), this in no way means that every IITian is “brilliant” or “super-human” as he claims to be.

If read carefully one can see that this isn’t a vent against allowing the OBC/SC/ST into the institution based on their caste or their past, but it’s a rant against diluting the IIT brand by allowing more people to gain access to it.According to Mr Jha, IIT should remain that hot blonde who can never be approached, the Holy Grail that can never be found, the horizon that can never be reached. By allowing more IIT’s to be built we’re merely destroying its sanctity.

Later he goes on to claim

Brand IIT is not about IITs; it’s about IIT-ians. And, mostly, it is about undergraduate IIT-ians at that. People who have done M-Tech from IITs always feel discriminated against. Since they never cracked the JEE, there’s no way they will be accepted into the tribe.

For his sake, I hope his boss doesn’t read this.

A quick look at the comments section of the article and one can gauge the agitation of the crowd upon seeing something like this.And he also acts cheeky by putting something like this in the article.

An IIT-ian friend of mine once went out for an arranged date with an air hostess in Hong Kong. As the music changed gears, the air hostess kept asking him to dance with her and my friend kept declining with a polite, “I can’t do the twist/disco/cha-cha-cha.” Finally, the air hostess lost her cool and is reported to have demanded, “What? You can’t even do the Can-Can? What can you do?”

To which, the proud IIT-ian responded, “I can do second order partial differential equations; can you?”

Now as Confused so brilliantly put it, how is this relevant? Seriously, how does solving PDE really make you super smart. For all I know, the IITian probably gave up an opportunity to score.

I don’t think Mr Jha read his post all over once before sending it to the Indian Express. Seriously I understand that one should be proud of one's alma mater, but seriously dude...

Crossposted on Mutiny.in

Critical analysis

Gone only...

Remember the chatter about the OBC/SC/ST quota last year. The row which made Arjun Singh into an instant villan and increased the number of hits belonging to his name by a crore-fold. Well, there have been some updates to the whole issue. And they're pretty SHOCKING. The supreme court today gave a nod to the 27% of seats to be given away as charity to the OBC's.
According to Rediff News:

A five-judge Constitution bench cleared the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 providing for the quota, by a unanimous verdict...The verdict came on a bunch of petitions by anti-quota activists challenging the Act. They vehemently opposed government's move saying caste cannot be the starting point for identifying backward classes. The inclusion of creamy layer in the reservation policy was also questioned by the anti-quota petitioners.

Well seriously speaking for all the brouhaha about how the nation's population majorly falls into the above mentioned categories, its tough to accept the fact that most of the people giving the JEE belong to the backward classes. Its also tough to accept the fact that when you go to write the JEE, one of the most competitive exams our country has to offer ( though it has become relatively easier), you're basically fighting for just half the seats, which to begin with aren't a substantial amount.

This decision is going to be implemented from the 2008-2009 academic year across the IIT's, IIM's and other government colleges.

The IIM's are going to be the ones losing the most. Seriously the top management institute in Asia cannot have half the seats( which are around a thousand to begin with) going away by reservations. But from what I know, the reservation factor in IIM's comes only once the candidate has cleared CAT, which makes it a somewhat better process as compared to the "easy" way that seems to be case in the JEE.

I guess now the best thing to do would be to switch on the TV. Every channel will be showing the protests and there will be panel discussions and probably some hunger strikes I suppose as well. This will be followed by satires, editorials and what not. The government is really going to get it this time.

Also, I can almost count the number of seconds before I see every person on my gtalk list change his status message to "Proud to be a BITSian". As proud as I am about my institution, I feel this is a concern for all Indians.

Attack of the clones

Indeed it is.

And they're pissing me off. Those darned LGMF's (no relation to Little Green Men FYI) and those moths have engulfed my premises. Then there are those strange looking insects who for the lack of a better name have simply been called, "Peter" or "Michael", but as any BITSian would tell you, these are the most dreaded of the lot.
A tryst with Peter (who seems to have a strange affinity to people's crotches) and you'll be busy scanning the shelves for all sorts of Itch guards and Ring Guards. I've already decided to keep my nails lest some serious skin scratching be required.

Gone are the days when I could sleep wrapped up in my razai, gone are the days when my door would be open and lights switch on, I guess summer is seriously the time when we SHOULD practice and ore importantly market all the power saving tactics and events such as the Earth Hour. For people are low on enthu and seriously not too keen to turn on the lights.

This is also the time when I wish there were more lizards in my room. Despite my uneasiness around them, I still would want them, so they somehow seem on my side. But then that's probably because I haven't woken up with one staring down my throat.

Filling forms

There's something about filling forms manually that makes me very uncomfortable. In today's one-click and then refresh world, where I am accustomed to filling forms online, when I do fill manual forms once in a while, I just go blank.

Yes I know that was a bad one.

But bad puns aside, watching me fill a form is a treat for you black humor lovers. Like a retard, slower than a snail, my eyes squinting at the form so that I don't make a spelling error. Its like I can see the future. But despite the foresight I end up committing the blunder and end up writing the D as an O. Though higher up in the hierarchy of form filling sins are screwing up the cases and the worst of them all, filling the wrong blank.

Those darn boxes aren't of much help too.

I always take 2 copies of a form if I can help it. It helps me calm down, re assuring me that there's always a plan B.

Origin of creativity

Here's another comic strip I came up with in my free time.

Craigslist for BITS

Buysell, it's the BITSian version of Craigslist. Well sort of anyways. It's been high time an online system was made to sell stuff. The site started couple of days ago and since then has gathered quite a following. They have as an "introductory offer" revoked all membership fees for the time being( thank you very much). You can trade cycles, books, computer accessories , actually just about anything.

The site also is pretty uncluttered and has a clean look(unlike craigslist :P).


P.S:Though the fact that the site is hosted by one Cube Inc does raise suspicion among regular junta(atleast those who are familiar with who Cube is, or is it Qube?)

Also I'd personally advice these guys to change the name of the site to something else for there exists another Buysell.com, based in NewZealand. But since the BITSian site seems to be hosted on a local server, it shouldn't matter.

ADS-7UP's new Brand Ambassador

Experience MARIO'S HIGH!

DRINK

tribute to XKCD

Here's my tribute to one of my favorite webcomics. This is something I came up with while in my Measurement Techniques lab.

On open letters

Enough open letters written by bloggers are surfacing the internet these days. Letters to celebrities and politicians, letters about decisions been taken, mistakes been made, letters about what could-have-been. Letters from people with strong opinions and who probably even share a concern.

Hawkeye had an interesting article the other day on his blog where he shares his opinion on Open letters.

They Suck.

I have written one (or two) in my blog. I now feel very ashamed about it. Every open letter I read makes me cringe. Open Letters are usually defined as letters read by everyone else except the intended recipient. Mainly because the writer does not have the ‘vakku’/ is not important enough to attract the attention of the intended recipient.

I couldn’t agree more. Having seen enough open letters on the World Wide Web, I can safely assume that the people, to whom the letter is directed, seldom get to read it. These include our esteemed politicians, law makers or any authority. Open letters are more of a vent post than anything else. The satisfaction of typing ones thoughts down in a rather “in-your-face” manner more often than not, is compensation enough and no further effort is made to ensure that the open letter reaches the person it is intended to reach. At best, it receives comments from friends, fellow bloggers, stumblers and random passers who share the concern, and sometimes even generates enough publicity to uplift the blogger to than status of an “activist” but nothing more.

Open letters could also perhaps be an interesting way to generate more publicity for your blog. Apart from that it probably also boosts the writers ego. I mean, obviously, if a letter written by you generates 30 comments, most of which are a positive pat on the back, you would obviously consider your job done, even if the person the letter was directed to was sipping orange juice, completely oblivious to the fact that somewhere in some corner of the world wide web there exists a letter directed to him/her.

An open letter can only work if its the other way around. If a famous person addresses it to a group of people, like Steve Jobs’ letter to Ipod users, or Abdul Kalam’s letter to kids of high schools. For a blogger to get his point across to someone important, either the open letter has to receive a lot of media publicity or maybe he/she has to look for an alternative. Obama Girl anyone? If not that then maybe in the official forums of a company which has responsive moderators who will give a damn about your opinions. Another way might be through letters to editorials of popular dailies (for chances are they’re more popular and read by a larger diverse group than your blog).

Mirrored at Mutiny.in

Summertime

Summer is going to be very interesting. Compared to the lethargy that ruled last year's summer, this summer will hopefully be action packed.

First off, if the guys at the passport office don't mistake me for a criminal, I shall be packing my bags off to Cairo for 4 days. It'll be awesomeness beyond awesomeness.

Also, trips to Goa and Bangalore are being planned as I write this entry.

And the Practice School system, viz is compulsory internship for BITSians after they complete their second year, their results are out. I am so happy that I got it in Hyderabad. And what more? Chances are they give stipend as well. Probably one of the very few who do. The station is Ratna Infrastructure.

Some other plans also under wraps for this summer. Plan to get more involved and active this time around.

Here's to an eventful summer.

Un-social networking

After seeing my Linkedin profile one day, a friend of mine asked me:
“Dude why are you on this website?

I gave him the best answer to my capabilities:
“It’s a professional social network. It helps me maintain relations with other like minded professionals and helps in networking. Isn’t that sort of self explanatory?”

He retorts: “But how has this ever helped you?”

I shot back: “Well, so far it hasn’t to any significant extent but it will later, hopefully.”

This really got to him.

“Dude Rishabh! You know I am sick and tired of Social Networking. Seriously man! Orkut was bad enough and then finally when I got off my lazy tushy and signed up for Orkut, I realised I was a tad bit too late for it for all my friends were now on Facebook.”

Facebook, ah, the plight of so many of us. With its never ending applications and it “uncluttered” look, why it would irk me so much, I wonder.

He added, “And now there’s a professional networking site, Jesus man.”

He continued, “You know what I want to do Rishabh? I want to make an un-social network. You know, what’s the point in doing something that everyone’s doing? I want to innovate. So here’s what I propose: Just leave social networking. Anyone can make friends there. It’s futile. What’s cool is that I give you a month’s time and hundred real life friends and you have to lose them all. Piss them off; ignore them, anything, but after a month I don’t want to see any of their filthy faces in your friends list. Now that seems like something a Venture Capital should be willing to seed. That’s what I am talking about.”

Pranks at BITS

Though the pranks played here at BITS-Pilani might not match to the extravagant and elaborate hoaxes at MIT, on the occasion of the April Fool's Day, the students here decided to have a little harmless fun which well didn't involve any vandalism but certainly helped pop a vein.

Sometime around 12, a lot of my friends' gtalk status message changed to 'Bangalore' or 'Agilent NOIDA Yesss....' This immediately grabbed my attention for this could only mean one thing. The list of the Practice School Station ( the compulsory summer internship a student has to undergo after his 2nd year at BITS-Pilani and Goa campuses). Since most of these people on my list were unknown to each other I thought that obviously the results would have been out and quick;y asked all of them what the link was. They instead said that they'd be more than happy to tell me what station I had got. This was where my suspicion started and was strengthened by the fact that the PS website working( it would have broken down had the results been declared from the overflow) and well obviously had no links to the result.

I guess now that this is done, all I can do is wait for the Google Prank to be put up.

On faith

...Swearing to God was the ultimate act. If you swore to God and it turned out that you were wrong, even by accident, even just a little, you still had to go to hell. That was just the rule and God didn't bend that rule for anybody. So the moment you said it in any context you started to feel uneasy in case some part of it turned out to be slightly incorrect...

-Bill Bryson, The Thunderbolt Kid

Travel Woes

This is how things are supposed to work.

When a businessman is diversifying his empire after having monumental success with his existing ventures, and the newer ventures also cater to more or less the same audience, and on top of that he builds personal relations with these customers and adds that ‘you-are-doing-business-with family’ feeling, or the even more popular, ‘I’d-rather-die-than-double-cross-you’ attitude, after a point of time you fall for it and hope that it works out for the best.

And then you realise that he is instead outsourcing his work from people who clearly don’t look like they’d win the credibility award. Still, you expect that the deal would be satisfactory since his being involved gives it some sort of credibility (if not certification).I am obviously talking about the hawker outside my hostel that’s running a taxi service, a food stall amongst other activities.

What you certainly don’t expect is to get off from your flight and having to search half and hour with your luggage for your cab whose driver is conveniently sleeping and has parked the car in the most mathematically distant spot. Also what you don’t expect, is to be greeted to the intoxicated aroma of his guzzle-fest and possible debauchery and for your own good beg to the one up there that its all to do with the previous trip.Once the driver opens his eyes, your suspicion is strengthened for that’s the deepest hue of red you’ve ever seen. But then come on you could be just over-reaction. The poor chap just got up from his sleep, what do you expect?He opens his mouth and your assumption is validated.

Your pals in the campus few hundred miles away are busy challenging one another to online races, little do they know that your are in a little NFS Death-Guaranteed of your own with last second cuts, screeching sounds and the works. With your heart in your mouth, you tend to ignore little such as “Hey this isn’t the car I booked in the first place. I wanted a Tavera, I got a Sumo” or “It’s the dustiest place in the world, yet the dude want to let down all the windows”.

Every time I make up my mind that I am surely not booking my cabs using this chap and every time I end up doing exactly that.

Suggestive though of the Day

The only grinding I got to experience was in a Delhi Bus to Noida
-Anonymous

Spirit of HOLI

A western song that capture the spirit of Holi in entirety
Purple Haze

Catch them Young

There was an interesting proposal (which clearly started off as a rant against the system) which my friend concocted as we were talking about the pros and cons of Indian education.

The bulk recruiters ( you know who you are), who visit campuses in huge Volvo buses and simply engulf the students with arms wide open and snatch away a sizable portion of the population only to dump them into their cramped workspace, my friend had an idea for these guys.

For most (almost all) of these companies, the only prerequisite (if any) is that the candidate must be aware of basic C programming and can to a certain extent speak English. And oh yes, pass off that rigorous aptitude test they so carefully set ages to make.

My friend proposes that they should instead hire students (read outsource) directly from the tenth standard (or at the most 12th) for by then the student is highly comfortable with C, C++, HTML etc. I don’t think that the folks at my college who made it to these companies ever learned anything beyond the school syllabus, or even if they did, it’s certainly of no use to the company. The aptitude tests? Surely, a tenth grade student has a better chance at cracking them for he’s a seasoned problem solver (thanks to various comics and dailies). This way the companies can heavily cut down on the costs and also get most of their work done. Students can then learn the other stuff (such as Java and other computer languages) while on the job or can opt for technical courses.
The companies can approach the school authorities formally or ask the bloke in the administrative unit for the student roster (a transaction would take place obviously), quite similar to what web2.0/Insurance companies are using banks for. Or they can even hold their tests on one of the hazaar Sundays in a little hall down the street.
After four years of education if you are going to end up in one of these companies doing the same thing that you learned while in school, then why not go for it right after school?
The point being that the bus companies (for that’s what they truly are) know what they’re looking for, so then why not start off at the grassroot level?

Posted simultaneously on Mutiny.in

Marketing Practice

Okay, now I do understand that you need to market your product in order for it to capture the interest of your target audience. And one way the corporates do it is by showing happy people endorsing the product, or rather showing that the people are happy with the product. But seriously, this happy?
He's not won a lottery you know.
Now German wing knows better and they go for the more sober yet cheerful look. The confident smile and the not-so-tight grip on the notebook shows that the man under scrutiny is quite content with the security a Norton Antivirus provides his precious work with. Unlike the ultra ecstatic yuppie on top, the German endorser looks just the type who would lure potential buyers into possessing one of these CD's and not let them have doubts about the products efficiency.

Guess part of it has something to do with all of us being cynics inside. No one can stand someone being too happy with a product ( Which is probably another reason why we just can't stand Linux or Apple users)

Jailbreak

Reminiscent of the Shawshank Redemption, the Chilean Policemen discovered( much to their amusement) a tunnel, equipped with ventilation and noise barriers.

The 279-foot (85-meter) long tunnel resembled an underground mine structure, built with cement and wooden beams and boasting electrical power and carts for hauling away dirt and rock.

Read more

Back

The Singapore trip was a blast indeed. It does feel great when everything has been paid for. Met up with a couple of pals from school. Respect for the SMU and the NTU campuses!

The quiz didn't go too well. We didn't win, but hey, we're getting IPODS which isn't that bad considering the runners up get 3 days in Singapore (we decided to stay 2 extra days there by extending our tickets)

The other teams were great fun, especially BIT-Mesra, IITB and NIT-Trichy.

All said and done, Delhi metro is better than Singapore MRT.

You can enter anytime you like, but you can never leave

The social networking websites bombarded the internet as we entered the new millennium and have being continuing to do so till date. First it was Orkut which made the public go mad (at least in Swadesh) but that was until the cleaner and sleeker Facebook arrived. Just as how there was a social class created amongst the social networking sites in the US where the educated University going people migrated to Facebook from the ubiquitous Myspace, where every layman had an account.

That was the past.

The future is a nightmare.

Facebook is as cluttered as a college going student’s room. It’s got a list of hazaar applications. It’s just the most irritating thing on the planet. It’s got a widget for everything and I mean everything. I get a million quizzes a day which will compare my performance to the three hundred pals’ of mine and then analyse them. Facebook has been minting a lot of money from these. So once you’re fed up of this you think to yourself that I just want to get out of this mess and so you deactivate your account. But here’s the catch: deactivating your account doesn’t delete your profile, which still exists on Facebook’s servers. Quitting it isn’t as easy as you’d have thought. The manual process makes you sweat more that you’d have at those cricket coaching sessions. As this article rightly says:

Mr. Das — who described his plight by quoting lyrics from the Eagles song “Hotel California” that say, “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave” — has found himself cast as an unlikely mascot for disgruntled Facebook users. Several of them have found his empty profile and sent him messages, “ranging from Eagles song quotes to those of support,” he said.

I joined Facebook out of sheer peer pressure. Everyday I’d check my inbox and what would greet me were five new messages from my contacts from Orkut asking me to join Facebook. When I finally did, I realised that I had way too many contacts on Orkut, so now I had to accept all those guys all over again and has to confirm how I was connected to them and anticipate their writings on my wall.
I compelled to start-up with a social community meant for people who are sick of all the other communities.

Posted simultaneously at Mutiny.in

Dotted

I had two mutually exclusive discussions with Atin ad Saurya where I proposed the following theory.

Dots make a word/statement profound regardless of its intellectual/factual weight.

For example: The word 'Believe'. Suspended by itself, it doesn't really grab your interest nor would you give it another look if you saw it as someone's gtalk status message. But place three dots in front of it and the word suddenly becomes of super dense and profoundly profound. 'Believe...', there's so much hope and power in that word now. It's almost as the revamped version urges the looker to take action and awakens the activist which lives amongst everyone of us. And before you know there's music in the background inspiring you to the brim

Another example: 'God hates us all', well this just sounds like a guy cribbing. Again place the magic dots and voila!

God hates us all...

This would make an atheist out of anyone.

P.S: Heard it through the grapevine that one of the suggestions for the theme of this year's techfest, APOGEE was Soch...think

Ahoy!

After applying to them for the second time, I am finally on board. I like being part of group blogs. This one puts special emphasis on voicing ones opinions. As they themselves say:

"We don't want a 100 word post that ends with a question."

This is going to be fun.

P.S:The link to the site has been put up on the sidebar under the "Contributor subheading"

Small talk

There's a wheel that keeps rolling. Most of us relate it to joys and sorrows, or rather still, good and evil and so on. Truth is, it encompasses everything, it's just that the spotlight is cast when a particular feature transcends the rest, usually associated with something dramatic. Another rather peculiar observation is that people who claim to be atheists, agnostic and spiritual-not religious also quite regularly use the phrase "Oh god!", "omfg", "For god's sake". The last one of the lot being my favorite for it portrays human nature oh so well.

This week if plotted on a graph sheet, satisfaction versus date, would give a x(power n) function. Hopefully, it continues this way.

The first cycle of the great test fest has come to a temporary halt, with the second innings about to commence in a short while which should give just about enough time to take a bath.
Also, summer is inching closer. I can already spot kutcha clad boys roaming the streets of the campus, welcoming the cool breeze into their groins.

Now for the main news:
WOOHOO!
WOOHOO!

I am going to Singapore to represent BITS -Pilani in the IMS Quotient 2008. The semi finals will be hosted there. We're amongst the top 8 teams out of more than 5000 teams all over India who took part in the contest. Lots of prizes up for grabs. Hopefully we'll put on a good show there as well. This week is going to be expensive, with all those assured treats that I have to give.

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Wish

Please please please, could the couriers and postal department just stop working for the next couple of days.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Lets see!

Not all monkeys are to be worshipped!

Cornered!

Posts by Navin & Abhilash about how blogging might affect the corporate scenario later on made me think about whether blogging is really as impressive as we made it sound.

On one hand, you can use your blog to advertise your products as is exercised by Malcolm Gladwell and Seth Godin. There is surely a huge market for Viral bloggers out there, but that's when you use it with corporate intentions, what about ones personal log entries where one opines?

What if in the future( or is it being done already) recruiters start to scan your social networking accounts and blogs in order to get a real insight into your personality? Would that be ethically correct on their part? And would it be smart on your your part to go around exercising your free speech and maybe jeopardize an opportunity coming your way( mind you the other way is also possible)?

I can think of anonymous accounts or rather under a pseudonym as a suitable alternative to this issue. The reason I say this is because:

1. While your anonymous, you have the power of choice as to whom to disclose your identity to.

2. You can fully be vocal about your issue without thinking twice about the repercussions as as your corporate life is concerned.

WWF

‘Matches 145, clash!’

‘Oh shit! I can’t believe your Undertaker beat me!’

The melee of card clutching youngsters could be seen everywhere. School buses, corners of class rooms (when the teacher wasn’t looking obviously), canteens and homes. WWE (then WWF) was truly a sensation. In an era when Playstations hadn’t quite become available (leave alone affordable, wait a second, are they affordable yet?) to the Indian market and computer games hadn’t graduated above those that required a RAM of greater than 16 MB (ah, sweet reminiscence), WWE ruled. It was a plague, every kid would clutch on to it as though it were his life savings, religiously following the sport on TV. Cheering the face, cussing the heel and becoming a theist whenever a bra and panty match would take place, WWE had taken over.

The story line would be discussed over the lunch break with enthusiasm far exceeding that of when some folks sit down and chat about which soap had the maximum number of divorces. A difference of opinion would invoke fights of the highest order and would sometimes create havoc and even destroy friendships (and forge new bonds).

I would buy thermocol once every fortnight and would make a virtual table out of it. Then we’d have the greatest of all matches- TLC. The sheer joy of lifting my 12 year old langotiya yaar and pushing him through the chasms of hell and breaking the pseudo table (and hence winning the game according to the self imposed rules) would easily overshadow another moment. Glory indeed!

We would also partially heed their advice, the famous ads where the gods would themselves ask us to “not try this at home!” No kicking, no punching at the “shame shame”. We’d share their joy, their grief during the darkest hour and cheer them, these neo-gladiators with bodies of steel.

Post 2004, I gave up on wrestling. The unbelievable solace that WWF provided couldn’t be matched by the unbelievably juvenile plots of WWE. I didn’t see myself cheering these new stars for they didn’t have the same zeal, nor did they seem loyal to the game. And the old ones didn’t seem the same as before. They seemed to have evolved into something more commercial, someone the fans couldn’t associate with.

Or maybe I grew up.

Analysing Movies

Rachit's post motivated me to go to the supposedly last Recreational Activity Forum ( RA F) movie.

The movie was Shehanshah.

Yes, yes I quite understand. The only well documented fact about this movie seems to be the monologue from the omnipresent savior of humanity, "Rishte mein to hum tumhare baap lagte hain, Naam hai Shehanshah"

But as I sat in the auditorium with several other mourners I realized that the character of Shehanshah is quite a smart chap. Not only has he a good sense of economy, he knows which role to play when. Now this is something lacking in Superheroes and many unsuccessful entrepreneurs.

He is a cunning chap. Police officer in the morning and a crime fighting superstar studded in black (with a steroid enhanced arm covered in silver) once the sun sets. He doesn't shy away from his duties nor does he give up on the money making opportunities that come his way. He takes bribes from the goons and pretends to be the stereotypical police officer, slacking on the job, chewing that pan which seems to replenish its juices on its own. But come dusk and he transforms into this mean crime fighting hirsute machine with an uber cool baritone.

So lets sum up Shehanshah then:

He acts like a lazy bum while on his day job, networking with high socialites and businessman and maintaining contacts and gathering enough information which he later uses to his advantage while he is "bustin' ass" in the night. He's earning decent too, with all those leather briefcases he's acquiring. And well its only fair, crime fighting is after all a job and why shouldn't one demand a compensation for one's services? The great thing here is that he's also portraying a clean image to the public.

And yes he gets the girl as well.

It had always been a curiosity of mine regarding the mode of income of Superheroes.

These are the Superheroes we need to worship, who have a keen eye for a good deal.

P.S: Meenakshi Sheshadri was surely well endowed back in the day.

Fornication to save Rainforests!

People are always on the look out for some innovative ideas. As is the case in most start ups, the primary idea isn't anything revolutionary, its something ordinary, something which makes us go like "Yeah, so?" but what matters is how you implement it.

A Norwegian organisation which goes by a self explanatory name Fuck For Forests(FFF) has sex in public places to raise money for saving the rainforests. Now I was scandalised as well deeply impressed by the idea. On one hand the idea of having sex in public is still a taboo if not unacceptable in most countries. On the other hand they are raising money for a cause.

The idea receives cent per cent on innovation. The reason I say this is:

However noble be the cause, you can't expect to take money from people if you don't give them something in return. FFF gives it target audience exactly what it wants in return for saving the world's rainforests.

They have sex in public, they have sex on stage during concerts, basically they have sex anywhere they can.

After their first year they made nearly 100,000 USD from their website by selling merchandise and membership.

The problem from this sort of start-up can be that they'll be mostly on their own. I don't see any huge NGO (WWF doesn't accept their money) or Govt Organisations coming forward to help start-ups like FFF. The internet proxies will add to their woes. Also their reach will be quite limited as far as on ground activities are concerned, not many countries are that liberal to public pornography.

But despite that they still have a huge base according to me. If your product is good, people will buy it, the same applies to porn as well. They might not be able to have hoardings and bill boards, but I can safely assume that word of mouth publicity for a venture like this can work just fine. Also, I don't think the initial investment for this would've been anything significant.

FFF is currently working on projects with tribes and locals in the Amazon rainforests.

IMS

It was fun.

St Stephens though were brilliant, they crushed us in the next round, the north zonals, which were also on the same day.

The quiz was quite workoutable with some brilliant questions and as such very few questions "hand-picked" from other quizzes. One issue which did piss a lot of people was the emphasis on bollywood of yesteryears which comprised nearly two thirds the quiz. Quick witted Charanpreet Singh, the QM was pretty good and witty though he had a "I-am-getting-late, I-have-to-go-to-office, so-better-be-quick" style of hosting.

Interesting viewpoint: There were so many banners there saying that smarties will fly to Singapore and that to win this quiz you have to be a smartie. Everywhere I looked I could see the word. Smarties was also the word resonating from the compere, who kept on emphasizing the need for IMS for MBA prep. Shuchi suggests that perhaps IMS actually stands for I'm a Smartie, or something like that.

Another ad maybe?

Great ADs in poor taste

Our Stakeholders never miss an opportunity to score!

**** INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE ****

A billion strong or weak?

While having a discussion with my wingies on the eve of a SPM test, I came up with the following hypothesis.

India should become a super in the recent future. People say that India will be a super power second to China. But I feel that might not be entirely true.

Lets consider China's case. What has happened there in the recent years is something of anti-baby boomers. Though people secretly still produce more than one child and don't report it during the census, the overall population growth rate has certainly declined compared to the last census which was way back in 1990.

I feel the next few decades and the immediate times after that are going to be very crucial. China will move into a newer time where they will not have as many young people as they did have earlier. This they will realise only once the current generations comes to age. There are chances of work being outsourced to India instead. Its just a possibility after all.

Yes obviously this hypothesis makes a lot of assumptions some of which might not be quite accurate but all I'm saying is that its a point of view. Reports show that by 2050 India would've overtaken China as the most populated country, and that too if we take official records, in reality, it could be much before that.

According to the 2001 census, about 35% of India is 0-14 range and nearly 60% is 14-60 years. Currently around 75% of the population is below 38 years of age. The numbers are large, it all depends on which way you look at it. It can mean a billion mouths to feed, where as it also means double the number of hands which can work. A billion strong or weak?

Did any of you guys ever own a community on Orkut?

Yes that giant social networking site which has been crushed to rubble by Facebook. I did, and was quite proud of it. It was a community called "IIT Aspirants" whose ownership had been tranferred over to me while I was in my 11th. Watching it grow from a humble 20 odd something to a whopping 9000+ and still growing was quite fascinating and then t mails. Oh the mails. Tons of them. Advice, rankings, validations of facts and the thank-yous. I had for some time become one of the most credible sources for info on competitive exams. Agreed after a point of time I did a sub standard job as an owner courtesy the banning of orkut at BITS last year and thus appointed moderators. However after I log into my account after what would have been 3 months I notice that I am no longer the owner of the community.

I punch in furiously into my google toolbar and find this

The current Owner is some guy called Vendetta(6), the queer part being that he's Cuban. The moderator is some guy whose screen name I suppose is Evil Genius, he's from Quetta, Pakistan and some girl called Kavita.
And these are the related communities

!?

Social Entrepreneurship has always been there.

Pluggd.in has a recently had an article on how sustainable is social entrepreneurship in India.
The author felt that Amul was the only social venture which actually made it big as was reflected in the blog post

How many national scale, socially relevant, market oriented, impact making businesses can you name in India?” is a question that I asked at a recent gathering of friends. This is partly due to the fact that the only answer that springs to my mind is “Amul“, partly out of a certain confidence that the other person too cannot name any other business and partly out of a genuine desire to know. This question has intrigued me for some time now. Why haven’t there been many more Amul’s in our country? God knows there are enough and more social problems to be solved!

And almost instantaneously there were comments from people retorting. One such person said there have been similar groups such as Lijjad Papad and Fabindia.
Though Lijjad papad has received enough publicity, FabIndia on the other hand according to me has been doing brilliantly. Its great how they have created a niche for themselves in the garments industry and have actually made themselves in a huge brand. Generally as is the case you find similar handmade products only in exposition fairs or in some shady corner. FabIndia on the other hand have made it a retail business with chains of FabIndia's all over the country selling high quality really low priced garments. Here is a link into their back ground.

I've read somewhere that at any given time there are at least 5 people in this world that look identical to you.
Another place, another time:

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April 4, 1979 – January 22, 2008

RIP

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In collaboration with Atin Bhattacharya

As Forrest Gump would have put it in his own words, "That's all I have to say about that!"

My first job

I also blog here now.

(click on it and it'll transport you to my page)


The first thing everyone says about it is that its like the"facebook" for desis. A little bit of research shows that it was started by IIT-D passouts and is a Banglore based start up. Also they received 7 million dollars from Sequoia Capital India, this is the same company that funded Google during its early stages.

Lets see how it goes.

Changes.

Thats what been new this semester. I'm cleaner, fatter and hopefully my sleep-cycle won't be messed up.

Oh and this caught my eye while I was browsing the net

Bad Santa

More updates coming soon

So we're in 2008 now.

My new year was pretty decent, Scandinavian bikini clad damsels dancing. One of them had the belly of Achilles with six packs, and complementing that was the 4 month pregnant madam. But thats the law of averages.

Getting caught in a traffic jam at 3 in the morning tells us that we have truly transformed into a neo-urban (ok i invented that up, both mean almost the same thing) city, though I don't know if thats such a great thing.

The year concluded with some great news. Lets see if it continues.

What's inside my head.

As kids we always learnt that whenever some one is in trouble or is having a rough time, or basically life is treating them like a bitch, give them a helping hand and try to be understanding and caring.

But

Sometimes its just way too funny how they land themselves up in such DEEP SHIT!

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The Next Best Thing to Naked.....

Western toilets epitomize dryness.
The only liquid drops gracing the concrete are the ones coming from within you. The only problem is the pricking feeling in your arse once you're done with the works. At first I thought I was doing it all wrong, but then there's no two ways about it, is there?
I wonder how orthodox Indians manage on airplanes, especially long distance flights. Or do they carry a bisleri along with them.
Probably another reason why Indians can never dare to put rugs and carpets on their toilet floor unlike some of our Western counterparts. The curtain near the bath tub is a vestigial accessory serving no useful purpose.

Back home for around 3 weeks.

Air Deccan has been revamped with red.

The seats are now non-reclining. Its written so on the seats with a dash of politeness lest some horny Sardarji engages in kushti with it, thinking that it's got stuck. Obviously, the rest of us too couldn't figure it out by ourselves.

Free mineral water bottles are being supplied.

Finally something thats free on this airline. You'd think that this sudden benevolence was almost pity. Earlier one had to ask for water, which according to them was common sense for one will only drink water when one is thirsty right?

They're also awfully efficient. The tea sachet that expires six months after its been sealed just has to be disposed off the plane during the last few days of its supposed life. So what if it tastes of marijuana(do I see eyes widening with anticipation?)? It's technically still tea.

And obviously three people can't all be reading the in flight magazine at once. So one for three shall suffice.

But just when you'd think that where's the difference you notice an obvious difference You're actually allotted seat number now! You don't have to risk your life in a stampede anymore.

Ok enough cynicism

Seriously, its tough to control a boner. The Kingfisher hostesses have taken over.

As the first semester of second year comes to an end with the grand finale-comprees, one sees the gradual change that one was spoken to of. People are more casual and the pandemonium of the first year has certainly decreased. Or maybe it just a passing thought, since (was it cube who said?) Truth is just a point of view.
It's about this time that one also begins to (re)discover ones contemplative side, or is that because ones got noting better to do? As everyday passes by, one feels that one has truly discovered what one wants to do. At 13,14,15,16,17,18....I thought I had the whole world figured out.

Now I am not so sure.


Here's to a new beginning(yet again)

P.S: Did I just write the entire post using "one" instead of "I" o "Me"???

Cyberoam is the latest tamasha at college these days.
The authorities have recently come up with this new method to piss students off. All the sites have been classified under various genres and at any given time only some of those genres are active( and at some time none are active). This resulted in some awkward moments for the institute where they were confronted by students who complained that they couldn't open the college website. Snapshots of the webpage were circulated through the LAN.
The situation right now has "improved". The hidden sarcasm because well, though cyberoam has marginally reduced, the pages take forever to load. Each page needs to be refreshed i( i>15) times. I suppose this is part of some holy programme to impart the virtue of patience amongst students. Though the consequences of this may be the loss of the F5 key in all computers before the end of semester and an induced case of Tourettes Syndrome.

Comeback

So I start posting after nearly a 3 month hiatus.

The semester has been quite a testing time for me. More courses but lesser to study, lots of free time and hence lots of time to think.

The blogging will resume nowonwards.

BTW, Keep Guessing i.e the BitsQuizLog i.e the Bitys Pilani quizzing forum(open to all) is active and kickin'

The link to it is in the sidebar. Do have a look, some really good questions are put up there. Most of them work outable.

Cheers everyone!

‘…didn’t realize that. Anyways, so the hip-hop wars continued. There would be frequent Mexican stand offs, perhaps even shoot outs in certain hoods. The pandemonium caused by the east-coast west-coast rivalry was reflected in the music. Almost every song was reminiscent of gangsters and bitter relations.’

‘Tupac died and many others followed’

‘Tupic was a dude! He could do anything he wanted!’

‘Oh, you mean like Jesus?’

‘Yea, but then this bloke could sing and had chicks all around him’

‘So did Jesus, it’s just that they were in the barn, with the other animals!’

This Week:

All thanks to Krishnan(for informing me about it), I won a 255 bucks Gift voucher from Odyssey( a book store in Hyderabad) for winning a quiz competition organised by the Hyderabad Quiz Club. The guy who partnered me, I don't quite remembered his name has to be the best quizzer in Hyderabad, all his guesses were hitting the bulls eye. JK's team came second( he was the quizmaster for OHT 07). Perfect way to end my stay in Hyderabad.

HP was unleashed and well...all who have read the book will agree with me when I say that well....we all sorta guessed the end didn't we?( barring a few flashbacks comprising the climax) and serious Albus Severus? Won't he be taunted by his little wizard buddies!

Pune seems to be one stop congregation of all urban college going junta. They seriously have an excess of them. They seem to be haunting every nook and cranny, infesting their wretched souls upon every kiosk, every counter, every table. Honestly, if you ever feel the absence of bright tee and dark jeans clad youth(especially feminine), you know where to head too.
Another thing about Pune, it acts like a slow poison with a burning after taste. The moment you land there(airport), you are greeted by lush greenery. Every hue of green is snugly arranged and it makes for a great viewing. A drive though this bio reserve is truly spectacular and then the reality rams up that tiny little orifice in your buttocks! People drive here to kill! The roads are magnificently adorned by extra deposits of tar which gives one an excuse to miss those rides in the amusement park. The not-so-lucky ones' tyres get stuck in the strategically located depressions. The perfect killjoy!
Pune is like the kid that wanted to be cool, but sorta lost his money.
But then there's a bright side to pune as well, they have some real nice eateries. Lovely bakeries that serve delectable savories. The cops are friendly. They are, atleast to a boy whom they catch sandwiched between two attractive women( he isn't aware that they are his cousins and wouldn't believe it either) at midnight, letting him go without any corporal punishment or sexual impairment( and no fine).
By convention every street MUST have an institution either spiritual or educational in nature catering to a medium or small proportion of people( some of which have to be foreigners, also by convention).
They have an amusing conversion system when it comes to autorickshaws, bodmas is extensively applied.
Conclusion:Pune is better than a lot of other places.

While in Pune, I also got to watch DIE HARD 4.0

The movie has to be the dumbest action flick I have seen. Okay Okay, I know that might have been like a massive slap across the moobs of you macho men but I can' help it. But hey, I never said it was a bad movie. It was very good, good in the sense that at any point of time, some one could walk into the hall and start watching the movie and yet not feel as though he's missed anything substantial. Computer genius not getting due credit for his mastermind project decides that its payback time and tries to bring the nation to a halt and cause a firesale. Wow! That's uber original!
Bruce Willis has done a commendable job in beating the cyber criminals( a chinki assasin included) to pulp, without even hurting his fists.I still feel the movie has been given tooo much hype, I'd watch Con-Air anyday.

And now in Delhi. its 2.34 AM and the people I want, aren't online. Might not update for a few days, or maybe the next post directly from Pilani.

Cya all there!

Charminar

I think I’ve never (and shall never) seen so much life, as I’ve seen on the streets.

Charminar should’ve been nominated as a Wonder. But then how does one explain the beauty of Charminar to one who hasn’t been there? I accuse even the fraud Hyderabadis (you know who you are, myself included) of laying claims on this massive structure and calling it their pride when in reality they are incognizant to its history, its culture, its heritage.

Charminar isn’t just a building; it’s a way of life. Calling it a merely a monument with four minarets would be equivalent of molesting it of its glory, for its so much more than that. The Mecca Masjid, the Lad Bazaar, the trillions of Irani Café’s, the sea of people, some burqua clad, some lying on the road with torn trousers with their hands outstretched, some adorned by rings of all hues. It’s a different world, a reminiscent of old times, which hasn’t yet been touched by the nefarious forces of the neo corporate world. It has evolved, yes, but in its own way. Only the ignorant go on effusing about the riots there for its clearly visible to the ones frequenting the place that perfect harmony exists, be it for the sake of mutual growth of business, but it prevails nonetheless.

It’s almost romantic to see how amidst the plethora of Muslim enterprise and culture the Hindus have craved a niche for themselves here and there.

One can always lose one’s self as well as get lost in the gullies (really narrow streets). Gullies which twist and turn a la rattle-snakes, which with every turn present another facet of this part of Hyderabad, be it women clad in jhathaak( so much so that shades are required to shield you from their radiance) clothing, hawkers selling boulder sized gol guppas or the blinding colors of the Bangles in the numerous bangle stores.

And then there’s the exotica:

Rumors of a street which sells exotic and no-so-exotic birds reached my ear through Vivek. We checked the placed and were shocked to witness the melodrama. Birds from all the corners of the world were caged. I was a little hesitant to take pictures for the fear of being mistaken as a PETA activist, which would’ve surely resulted in some serious impairing, if not an unceremonious death (after which we’d have been sold as meat by the way things looked around here). We witnessed wild hares trotting, cute pups tethered, turkeys, sparrows and roosters chilling out in their respective cages, given up on life. We saw a Macaw, which was on sale for two lakhs; however this was the least of what we amazed us. What really shocked us was this: This bloke putting his hand inside a bustling cage thus causing even more furor amongst the tiny winged beings. His hands which were mammoth in comparison to the infinitesimal bird, cornered it and grabbed it entirely and put in a paper bag, which one would usually encounter at a grocery store. Following which he dispassionately tied the neck of the bag with a black thread, with the bottom of the paper bag still swerving in random directions. People also buy crows, then direct them towards their neighbors house thus unleashing upon them a bad omen and decorating their (neighbor's) life with misfortune and sorrow.

Three hours out on the streets and I was convinced that it’s the one stop shop for all your needs, you could find anything here. Vivek joked that you could even find individual keyboard keys here; somehow I got the feeling that it wasn’t a joke.

Come night time and the entire area is lit up. Its a mania and one can very well appreciate the need to pedestrianize the entire region. As you look around you, you notice that you’re eyes transformed into a kaleidoscope.

Closing thought: The Biryani of the old city surpasses everything else in terms of its superiority (Yes you Hyderabad house, Paradise worshippers; I'm pointing my fingers at you) and taste.

Keep Guessing

The first BITSIAN quizzing blog has set up. It's open to one and all.Do come everyday and keep the statcounter ticking. Most colleges have one( Jadooooopur has one too), so why not us?
To promote participation we're handing out free I-Pods/Smutty mags/Sneakers to everyone who just stumbles onto our blog, so do leave a comment(preferably an answer to the questions). We're dedicated, we'll track back your IP and send you the goodies :P

The name of the blog is KEEP GUESSING!

The rules have been put up on the top right of the blog, do mug them up real nice.

Alea Jacta Est

Harry Potter: The wait is over!

All around me I see people raving about how they were the chosen few to witness a phenomenon. The First Day First Show (FDFS) of the latest Harry Potter flick: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (OOTP). It’s almost as though the theaters could suddenly cater to a hundred fold extra audience just for this show. I am one of the few who got to watch it on the second day (by which time half the world had seen it)

J.K Rowling is surely having a gala time as the movie has shattered all box office records (just like all Potter movies do) and is raking in the moolah. It’s second in terms of first day earnings. Director David Yates took over from Mike Newell. And Wikipedia had this to say about the movie

Rowling wrote on her website on 19 december, 2006 that she was given a 20-minute preview of the film, which "looks fantastic"; after seeing the final product, she proclaimed the film "the best yet". Unlike some authors, Rowling has consistently offered her praise for the film adaptations of her work

Having seen all the Potter movies, except the Prisoner of Azkaban( for which I have to whip myself considering I feel it has the best climax of all the Potter books), I can vouch for the fact that this one has the best special effects, an aspect of the movie which has received unprecedented publicity. But then the reviews have been mixed. I agree to some extent with some of them. It’s a book about magic and magical worlds; sadly there isn’t much of magic in this one. The jokes are a lot more subtle, though not many.

Some other things which I noticed:

Personally I didn’t like Emma Watson in this one. Okay Okay I know I am going to have stones pelted at me for that but then hey…it’s my personal view. I preferred the cute Hermione from the first movie. People grow up I know. However almost everyone who’s seen the movie is totally mesmerized by her, so it’s probably just me.

I completely loved Imelda Staunton for her portrayal of Dolores Umbridge. She was flawless. With the Ministry’s backing and the power of pink, she simply stole the show. For me, the movie was all about her. Every dialogue she delivered those perpetual giggles and the style. Marvelous!

Luna Lovegood, played by Evanna Lynch was another spectacular role. She was so cute and so…erm…loony, as it is supposed to me. It’s almost as though she was meant to speak in riddles and was living in this endless dream sequence

Grawp was adorable, really cute and shit. But something about him struck me.

Does he resemble someone else we know?

And seriously, they have to make Voldemort scary.

This cannot be the ultimate face of terror which is supposed to freak the hell out of everyone, so much so that people shudder to utter his name.

Nor this

I get a feeling that he was made intentionally made to look like a douche so that children (who actually believed in works of fiction) wouldn’t piss in their pants.

I think most people loved the movie even more so because of the disaster of the previous one, which was in plain words: Boring!

This one thankfully has enough lines for everyone (well almost), unlike Goblet of Fire where everyone had a word limit of around 50 words.

Most hardcore Potter fans will love the movie despite its minor glitches here and there, though some people are rather shocked at some details not matching with the book. It was a 700 page book and a two hour movie, come on! Some parts just had to be edited and reframed, get over it and enjoy the movie for the other stuff. All in all I’d say; go watch it, definitely worth a watch.