Territorial Pissings

2006-09-19T08:44:00.000+05:30

Denied!!

I recently applied for an ICICI bank credit card, and was most surprised to see that my Application was denied. The man on the phone was most rude and told me that my "credit rating" was bad.

All my colleagues, with the same pay packages have all had their applications approved.

This is most ironic, cause, I do the same for a living. I accept/deny people loans based on my evaluation of the risk to my client (summa konjom sood :D)!

Now, thinking about a few possible reasons why my application got rejected.

I realise how idiotic I have been while applying for the card

1.) Banks routinely check for name-email matches, because many models suggest that people with the name -email matching are much liklier to be genuine.

Now my name is Ashwin Sekar, and the email id I gave them was acewinsekar@gmail.com

Their matching algorithm must be pretty inane if they could not pick up the 'Sekar' common to both. But still, I could have been more careful
Another mistake I did, was I did not declare that I had a computer and a telephone connection at home. Why I did not is pretty much a mystery to me now. It would have been treated as an asset thery improving my rating.

Pretty idiotic of me..

Now I have thought about the options I have to get the credit card I desperately need.

1. I can call up the bank and tell them about the problem and try to get myself approved. But this is most likely going to make the bank think that I am a desperate Customer and make them all the more reluctant to issue the card to me.

2. This seems a better way to me, although its more of a long term plan. The strat is to apply to many banks, and once they have gone through the preliminary checks, which anyone will surely pass, call them up and tell them that you no longer need the card.
This measure is guaranteed to boost up your credit rating( you are not desperate) and banks will be falling over themselves to give cards.

3. This is the best, Insider information from citibank and HDFC suggest that their algorithm for issuing credit cards is :

1st step: Graduate ? if Y -> Engineer? if Y --> Software Professional?? y -> issue credit card
| |
| V
V Check salary and verify address? oK? then issue card

If No---> a plethora of checks

So the easiest way is to convince them that I am a software professional.
How I am gonna manage that is another different story altogether :D

2006-08-27T22:59:00.000+05:30

Am I changing??

I of all people have been getting lots of enthu for work. I have been staying way past normal hours to finish work, and have even volunteered to work on a saturday... all these signs... are they the symptoms of the onset of workholism??

I hope not... I will give myself the benefit of the doubt and put this recent behavioural abberration, this deviant behaviour from the norms; to the beginning over-enthu phase which i experience from time to time.

Will keep myself under observation before passing judgement!

2006-07-21T10:57:00.000+05:30

WTF?????????????????????

The DOT of India has come up with ideas so brilliant to tackle the menace of terorism that it makes me wonder.... WTF???

India's progress is assured with such brilliant egg heads sitting at the corridors of power.

How else can one explain the decision to first ban blogs such as blogspot and then later arbitarily block all latest posts after the mumbai blasts. And my latest post (the previous one) has suffered the same fate too... %&***&&^

I can acess my previous post through http://kproxy.com... and thank god for that!, but it doesnt show up if i try to goto my blog directly!

Now will someone explain what the hell is happening???

I might as well go and live in china, the way things seem to be heading in the world's largest democracy... worrrrrrrrrssssssssst!!

Hoping this rant atleast sees the light of the day

2006-07-16T11:57:00.000+05:30

Its time!

The time is 11.50 AM, Sunday the 16th of July, 2006.

Today, I am leaving IITM.

Today is the final time , I will ever post a blog from my room.

Today, is the final time, I will walk along the long corridor to get water from the mess, the way we (the whole wing ) used to do.

Today, is the final time for many a thing.

Its ironical, that when i finally bid adieu, I do so tearfully, with no one to share my sorrow, while I sent my friends off so cheerfully. The four walls of my room stand silent testimony to my anguish, the extreme sense of loss that i feel now.

I miss all those great moments we spent with each other, without a care in the world. I miss the leg pulling, with me being the butt of jokes most of the time.

I miss those fart sessions at pointy's room.

I miss everything and everyone.

I hope junta keep their promises and keep meeting up regularly, where ever they are!

good bye friends... good bye IITM

thanks for all the lovely times.

Love you all,

A tearful Khatta

2006-07-01T00:00:00.000+05:30

A vida é cruel!!

Life doesnt seem worth living anymore. Nothing feels right. I sit in front of my comp at midnight, unable to sleep, with all my hopes, my dreams dashed.

My friend reminds me that I am supposed to be at work tomorrow at 8, but how could he even think of putting something as trivial as work over this .... this tragedy? its downright obnoxious.

Why does it always happen to me god?? Why cant I ever have my wish? Why does it have to be me against whom you are always conniving?

For the last 2 months, I have been fervently wishing for just one thing. But it wasnt meant to be. All because of a certain Jens Lehmann.

With time, I hope, I will get over this psychological scar, this body blow which has left feeling me so despondent and utterly hopeless.

Shit! I know I wont...

Germany Bt Argentina 4 - 2 on Penalties!

2006-06-19T14:02:00.001+05:30

Advice from all Quarters!!!

Here I am on the cusp of a big change in my life! gone are the good old student days, I am a big man now! I am going to start working from tomorrow!

So, I have been recieving well meaning but often contradictory advice.

Grandma says Look before you Leap while grandpa comes up with he who hesitates is lost

Mom says There's safety in numbers but dad believes Its better to be alone than in bad company!

A little more research lead to this....

Birds of a feather flock together but Opposites Attract

You r never to old too learn but u cant teach an old dog new tricks

Ask no questions and hear no lies but ask and you shall recieve

Doubt is the beginning, not the end of wisdom but faith will move mountains

Dont cross the bridge till you come to it but forewarned is forearmed

Silence is Golden but the squealy wheel gets the grease

A miss is as good as a mile but half a loaf is better than none

An old fox is not easily snared but there's no fool like an old fool

A good beginning makes a good ending but its not over till its over

If at first , u dont succeed try, try again but dont beat a dead horse

Hold fast to the words of your ancestors

but
Wise men make proverbs, fools (like me) repeat them.

p.s: hope to bolg regularly from now on again... feels good to be back!

2006-04-26T10:41:00.000+05:30

Desponess redefined!

below is an actual conversation between a girl and a guy(if u can call him that) on orkut...

guy: hi jaan no angry plz .. frandship is god gift .. we all frandship and loveship so no fight and world peaceful forever

female: u havent read my profile properly..i have mentioned that people like you shud not send me friend requests...clearly i cant be bothered making you my friend..

guy: oh jaan .. no angry plz .. plz no hate meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee .. just love me and frandship me please

female: wat da...? oi..i dnt care wat ur "lovship and frndship" means...jus stay away..LOSER!!!

guy: i am heart patient plz no shout at me plz plz plz

female: doesnt seem like you understand english..phew! dont send me anymore friend requests..i am tired of responding..and i dont think you are a heart patient u mental!!

guy:oh comon baby i have scooter also .. i dance also .. veyr good hot boy .. we gonna have fun together mam

Need I say more?

the participants: the Guy and the hapless female

2006-04-11T09:30:00.000+05:30

Our Hostel night just got over and as tradition has it, we seniors got Toasted (more like roasted). Except the small font that was used, everything went wonderfully well!

We have been given the best farewell possible! Thanks everyone!

Since I believe in keeping almost everything in the open... here's what was written for me for the Rogues Gallery!(RG)

Please do realise that whatever has been written has been exaggerated almost to the point of it being fiction [:D]

Khatta

Lover boy Khatta has always lived on the edge. He has extreme views and his actions are extreme too. His escapades date back to the first year when as a freshie in Sarayu he was ragged by this notoriously permissive Sharavite who started the proceedings by carelessly putting her leg on top of his (and did he rave about this episode!). Second year saw Khatta at his comical best. Our man got off this sudden crush on a much sought after fresher from Delhi when he was working along with her as a hospi volunteer. After much deliberation on the exact way to go about it (it took just about 3 months) Khatta decided that enough was enough and set out to bare his heart out. And this is what he managed when he actually approached her. “XXXXXX, mmm. Er…..,actually….well……………er……….er………er….photo chahiye kyaa?” and Guess what ? Female puts bulb and says, “ haan haan chahiye” and puts pack for good. And thus ended the first (of many to come) love affair at IITM. The following sem saw Khatta fall for a 2^nd year M.Sc physics student in the Numerical Methods class- the reason quoted for this crush was how she was relatively new to C programming while how he himself was a relative stud in the field. The crush lasted exactly one day though. Khatta had this to offer on this sudden fall of affection. “Macccha, I fell for her because of bad lighting da!”(Editor’s note: Classes in IITM usually happen in broad daylight J). As Khatta graduated to the next sem his love interest also graduated from M.Sc to Ph.D for, now our man fell for ………. Guess what …………….a TA in the EP lab. This torrid love affair continued for the whole sem (did we say torrid? But did we forget to say one-sided?). This period saw our man Khatta put night-outs in the superconductivity lab just to fraternize with this TA. And fraternize with her he did. So much so that on the eve of his coming of age birthday, out came from Khatta’s mouth, “XXX, I am coming!” To objections from wing-mates like ‘ Macha she would be 24 da!’ Khatta had only this to offer, ‘how does that matter da?’ But then just as Khatta was planning strat for this delightful venture, he found his true love of life. And ever since, Khatta has remained committed and strong with his lady love by his side.

Ever since Khatta has firmly believed that he is THE FUNDAE GOD for all matters connected to women and generously dishes out advice to friends and suggests that they stick around him if they want to cash. From the time of discovering successful love, Khatta has believed that womankind as a whole (age no bar) is after him. Stories of girls fighting over him in the bus, aunties in trains wooing him, and nurses in hospitals taking unfair advantage of him have been narrated at length by him.

Khatta is the unchallenged god of goof-ups and bloopers. He talks first and only then bothers to consider thinking. The following conversation is just one of the infinitely many Khatta bloopers.

Female friend (FF): I went for swimming today.

Khatta (K): Did u wear a costume?

FF:?????? (bulbs) Of course I did.

K: One piece or two piece?

FF: (bulbs)???? WTF?

K(all serious): I want to buy a costume for myself. Hence I asked……

FF: bulbs and bulbs.

On a more serious note, Khatta is a great person to hang out with; Enthu god and great entertainer. He is the best wicket-keeper batsman Alak has ever had. Khatta is an adorably loyal friend and a committed boyfriend. He has his own way of getting things done- the crib to death way to everything. He is extremely frank (sometimes brutally so) and his life is one big open book. To this eternally cheerful Romeo we toast!!

MLTD: Meet R at the beach.

LLTD: Leave Vikas alone.

MLTS: Macha! All aunties are so nice to me da!

LLTS: I have had enough of the “kesari” da.

Famous Khatta Quotes: 1. Ducks are generally ducks no da K! (while trying to crack a treasure hunt clue)

2. Macha , pregnant women are beautiful da. K

3. Hey what is generally outside a box cannot be inside right? (in a moment of inspiration!)

4. ‘Macha she was showing her undi, and I didn’t even want to see it da!” (after a fairly close interaction with a certain meta female during hospi work).

5. ‘Shit man! The python is cashing da’ (in response to the pic of a voluptuous woman who had found it appropriate to cover herself by a snake alone).

2006-03-30T21:37:00.000+05:30

In a different League!

Its 12 midnight, and here I am blogging away randomly. I have an All Important League cricket match against arch rivals Jamuna Hostel tomorrow at 7 A.M. I should be asleep getting as much rest as possible. But I am too excited to sleep. I would think spending 4 years at IIT should have been enough and brought a been here done that attitude. But this time I am as excited as a freshie, a newbie in front of his debut match (at IIT... sorry for the gen pseud). But its hard not to be excited. Alakananda is into the league phase (where only the top 4 hostels qualify to vie for the Schroeter Trophy) for the first time in the last 3 years. Its not as if we werent good enough before.We had a great opener, and decent batsmen all the way through, and an explosive bowling attack with 2 very quick bowlers. Yet all we did was disgrace ourselves at every outing, losing comprehensively even to minnow hostels. The method of defeat was embarrasing most times! Many times I have asked myself... what is it that we lacked? looking at the present team now, the happy bunch that we are.. a ready answer suggests itself to me! TEAM SPIRIT. It is such a pleasant change from the previous times when certain people used to be forever sniping at each other behind their backs. The team meetings are so much fun, with Ghattu, our esteemed captain most often being the butt of (cruel?...nah)jokes. But to his credit the guy takes it really well! And everyone is treated equally, with even the freshies coming up with good suggestions.Credit again to ghattu for letting that happen!
And during match situations, no one has ever shirked responsibility, with everyone ready to cover for someone else. Even the Extras have shown admirable commitement, with them showing up at every match and practice session and constantly encouraging. This again is so different from previous years when the captain had to announce the team only at the ground to prevent people from not showing up!

All in all... its been a pleasure being part of this team and has taught me a lot about what and how important team spirit really is!

Go team... Go Alak!!! We can go all the way now that we are into the leagues!

p.s: just in case my esteemed readers think, ghattu has been excessively praised above, here are a few ghattuisms:

Ghattu at the innings break in the match against Ganga: We have fucked, we will fuck again! talk about motivation for the team...Woah!!

Ghattu encouraging the bowlers: common guys, all it takes is one ball to get a batsman out!
Nikhil: no, in your case, even one isnt needed (referring to ghattu's 0 balls faced run out!)

2006-03-14T16:55:00.000+05:30

Tone it down will ya??

chk out this article which pretty much sums p my point of view towards Greg Chapell!

2006-03-12T22:07:00.000+05:30

Money's Worth??? You Bet!!!

Australia 434-4 (50)

*R Ponting c Dippenaar b Telemachus 164 105(b) 13(4) 9(6)

South Africa 438-9 (49.5)

*G Smith c Hussey b Clarke 90 55(b) 13(4) 2(6)

H Gibbs c Lee b Symonds 175 111(b) 21(4) 7(6)

A Score Board I can never ever forget!!

What a match, simply unbelievable! Still shell shocked at the moment! A match which has given new meaning to what a chase is all about!

Wondering what it would have been like to face the nerve wracking pressure the players would have faced! surely lost a few years... Surely, cigarettes are healthier!

Alakananda watched this match with the signal clarity of the TV being at its worst, and yet today was the day, when TV transported all our minds to South Africa to watch history being made! Never was the picture in the mind's eye clearer! never before has Tony Greig found so keen a listener,with all hanging on to his every word! Every one desperate for some memories of this great match to be cherished later!

This match today transcended all barriers, including the sound barrier! The Indian team wouldnt have recieved louder and more boisterous support from our hostel than the south africans today, and I am sure this would have been the case almost every where!

Hats off to Graeme Smith and his team for their towering achievement!

P.S: If ever there exists a cricketing god, he ensured that justice was finally done to the South Africans!

2006-02-16T19:32:00.000+05:30

So Proud!

My Friend(s) from Ambedkar Law college won a National Moot Court Competition in Goa recently. I am very happy and proud!

Wish I could have seen them trounce others on their way to sucess and at the same time had fun in Goa!

All the very best for the future Moots.

P.s: Awaiting a big treat. Dont forget me! your Best Friend (?)

2006-02-12T09:51:00.000+05:30

All's well that Ends well!!!

Though we are pretty much well into the year, but I must take you back in time for that is when it all started, my horrendous run of luck that is!!

First of all I cupped, flunked, got screwed in CAT-2005, and the results which were announced on new years day left me very depressed, if not surprised!

Then followed my previous semseter grades. Here I wasnt too disappointed not because I had done well, but because its hard to feel depressed and disappointed when your expectations are anyway at an all time low!

The only piece of good fortune I had was when I, expecting an F (ail) grade in Financial Management, managed to convert it to an E (pass, but barely) by putting fundaes to the prof, basically by genuflecting at her feet and pleading for mercy. whew!

No sooner had I rid myself of the morbid fear of failing in my last year at IIT (I feel it pertinent
to mention that I Have NEVER EVER failed a course!), I had to face upto the devilish task that lay ahead of me:
Con (vince?) some company into taking me! And believe you me , a task more formidable I have'nt had.

It was that time of my life when I would have to try and earn my bread. No longer could just chill and take life as it comes!

As company came and went, without even giving my resume as much as a second glance, my frustration only grew. Shit! I should have worked harder I would think. But then, As my friends Jumper and Ghattu always say, No point regretting not studying harder! These chaps kept me confident that 'hazaar companies' would come and someone would pick me up!
Well, As the line in my favourite movie The Shawshank Redemption goes : "Hope is a good thing!" and so I would wait to try my luck another day!

And so , The days did fly,
without even a whiff of a chance coming by!!

Oh God, Why cant my grades lie???

And then it happened, a firm called 'Baypackets'; suppliers of Software for the mobile/telephone
operators held a test which had a considerable part on Verbal ability, where I can hold my own
against any chap there is! Voila, Shortlisted I was! It was Interview time! My first!!!

Finally, I could use that Stunning white Zodiac Shirt which cost me a fortune!

Finally, I could use my not so brand new shoes (not after loaning them to many in the wing!)

Strangely, when the chance I had been waiting for came, I turned all jelly and literally started
doing what my blog title so proudly proclaims!

Anyway, my wing mates Sunt and Pointy(a veteran already in terms of number of interviews attended) put me fundaes, and somehow off I went, to face the big bad interviewer!

After killing an amazing amount of time awaiting my turn, I went in and surprised myself
by answering allmost all that he asked, excpet a one on Internet Protocols, where "Smart Satya" had goofed up to give me the wrong answer, which I went ahead and confidently put to the interviewer. No wonder he had that smug look on his face!!

And then the wait began, Tea time, Dinner all I skipped hoping! Hoping for such a long time!
and to cut it short, They Bumped Me!! and I thought that I had done well!

Trudge back to the hostel, get consoled by wing mates, and dive into the great game again the next day! Back to Square One!

Bhagwan jab deta hai to Chappar Phad ke deta hai!!!

25th January dons, and I come back to IIT from a certain place, where a certain someone says "dont worry, You will get a job soon!"

Test One: Pricewater House Coopers: I come a cropper, Jumper gets through and gets selected in the interview too!!

One Ashwin down and 2 more in the wing to go! Hurrah! Congrats da!

Test Two: Global Analytics: English Component again, Me Through to Interview, scheduled at 14.30!

Test Three: Strand Life Sciences: Pseud programming test, but I get through! interview at 18.30

I goto the Global Analytics interview, and see who?? A CompSci grad from IIT-M. Rapes me left right and centre for not getting started on my B.Tech Project! Asks me to define a random process! Almost tempted to say: the interview process, but control myself!

Asks a few puzzles which I luckily manage to solve. Sample this: how to find the value of an input "N" due to which a program(cant handle inputs >= N) will crash, in the least number of tries? Also give an estimate of the iterations required. Taking inspiration from the British, my favourite answer to such questions has always been "Divide and Conquer", and voila its right! I add in a few details and he's pretty satisfied!

A few more puzzles later, since I seem to have done ok, I get sent to the next round: The HR round, My favourite round, since I get to do my favourite thing: fart! It goes really well and he asks me for my blog address, and I give it to him. Hope he likes it! I am serious guys!!

Come back to hostel, prepare for the Strand Life interview, take fundaes from PK, the 9 pointer stud whos got a $ 100 K Job in New York. He gives me a few questions and puts fundaes. Amazingly, the exact Questions get asked and I answer all. It was like a PK incarnate giving the Interview! Almost sure that I will get the job!

Saarang's Choreo nite is on, so proceed directly to the OAT in formals and am having a blast when the news comes through! Jumper's Message: pack the choreo and come out, you got Global Analycis da Bastard!!!

I start shouting like a maniac and apparently kiss someone on the cheek. Cant remember!!
Allmost all my close friends r there: Sunt, PK, OS, Whykass, Ghattu, Jumper, Pointy, Rohini, Pingala, and Swathi!

Get the bumming of my life with OS, PK and the wing reaally getting down to the task! Ouch, but wat an Ouch! The girls try it too, but its more like a balm!

Two Ashwin's down, one to go!

Ghattu and Whykass send smses to AIRTEL which flashes the message on the giant screen and I and Jumper start getting congrats from everywhere! Amazingly good feeling!

Looking back now, I think that the biggest feeling was that of Relief!! and happiness of course!

yipee! I am placed! Thank you god, and everyone else!

and abt the salary package, its not bad, not bad at all!! [:)]

P.S: Most importantly , the job is in Chennai and for ppl who know me best, they know how important that is to me!

P.P.S: I have since gotten my offer letter which says that they can fire me with a fifteen days notice! Brrr... Scary!

2006-02-01T21:51:00.000+05:30

Gay Games!!

Just recently noticed this phenomenon among northies(many actually) to address each other(Guy to Guy) with the prefix "dear"(most common) and "honey"(noticed a solitary usage till now)

eg. hi/hello dear kaisa hai??

now it may sound normal to others, but i most definitely would'nt relish being called dear, honey by guys!

Would'nt mind it from the girls though :)

knew northies were gay types , but literally so???

Any possible answers to this little puzzle are most welcome.

2005-12-25T09:56:00.000+05:30

Dada - Update!

Sourav has just been reinstated into the Indian team, with Sachin reportedly playing Santa!
Hats off to Sachin for that.

Its upto You now Saurav to make Mr. More eat his hat ( if anythings left of it, going by the numerous somersaults he has had to do!)

All the Very Best to you for that!

2005-12-21T18:23:00.000+05:30

Oh Captain! My Captain!

This blog is in dedication to the man who changed the face of Indian cricket. Saurav Ganguly, India's most successful captain ever, did not deserve this.

We are talking about a man who led Indian Cricket through the match fixing scandal, who led us to the finals of the World Cup.

We are talking about a man who looked Steve Waugh in the eye and did not flinch. In fact he beat the Aussies at their own game. He taught the usually feeble Indian team to stand and fight. His methods were'nt necessarily for the purists, but they were effective. For a change, we Indians had a captain who was a real tiger. We have had some great captains in terms of tactics in the past... Kapil DEv, Sunil Gavaskar... and our very own Sachin.

These men in the face of aggressive tactics from the opposition mentally steeled themselves and let their performance on the field do the talking, and likewise expected their teammates to do the same. But sadly, that does'nt happen too often. It was Ganguly who realised the need for tackling aggression with aggression to give confidence to the team and beat the opposition at their own game. He built with dedication a combative unit which unlike other teams in the past did not topple at the slightest sign of pressure.

He also put an end to regionalism in team selection policies and backed people he had faith to the hilt. Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Mohd Kaif, Virender Sehwag and many others all owe their now flourishing careers to the Bengali's careful nurturing.

Maybe Ganguly's time is up, maybe I am wrong in thinking he still has a couple more years left in him. But one thing I am absolutely sure of is this: Nobody, absolutely nobody of Ganguly's stature deserves to be treated like this. He is a national icon and Mr. Kiran More dismisses his dropping as a "unanimous decision taken in 5 minutes" ! The callousness is shocking!

Even his so called "proteges" have deserted him in his hour of need. Some people may call their silence as professionalism, but sometimes you got to do what you got to do! Rahul, Hope you are reading this!

Indians must learn to respect their heroes, past or present! Too often, new comers are annointed with the crown of greatness, only to be shown the door at the slightest of failures.
And yesterday's hero is treated like crap, with no respect whatsoever for the man's achievements! What is missing is moderation both in our affections and criticisms. Even if they have to be ousted, it can be done gracefully without humiliating them! Indian Sport is unfortunately littered with such instances of ill treatment at the hand of the Fat Cats( the officials) whose sole interest seems to be money.

But all said and done, Ganguly has always been a fighter, an aristocrat who has very often done as is his wont, whether people like it or not. And just like Kapil says, I dont want the prince begging for his place in the team.

The signs are good for he showed the stomach for a good fight in Delhi and isnt likely to go down quitely. Not for nothing is the man India's most succesful captain.

Fight it out, Oh Captain, My Captain!! Show them what you are capable off!!

P.S:Wishing you a grand come back, and a roaring return to form! You deserve it!

2005-10-29T19:21:00.000+05:30

With reference to my previous post

The worthiest professor of physics would be one who could show the inadequacy of his text and diagrams in comparison to nature and the higher demands of the mind.
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

2005-10-29T17:39:00.000+05:30

If only I was Endymion...

The end is near...The end of days... thats what the rain gods seem to believe anyway. The last 2 days, it has rained like the gods know of no tomorrow. IIT has been totally cut off to the outside world what with Mandakini hostel's ground floor completely drowned( a repeat of events 4 years ago), and we Alakites also suffering from no cable and internet.

This being the information age,The complete lack of any information is disconcerting!
1.I havent checked my mail for the last 2 days, something almost unheard of here in IIT.
2. Havent logged onto orkut.. God knows there are plenty of scraps to reply to.
All said and done, the only positive I can think of is that I had plenty of time (for a change), plenty to catch up on reading, on movies and on thinking(do not LOL gentle reader, its true I do think a little sometimes). Although ideally I should have utilised the time for mugging for Physics GRE, but this kind of weather is just too (in?)glorious and positively somnolent for any studying to be done.

I watched The Godfather after having had the movie on my comp for a record time! Enjoyed it although I felt certain parts were a drag.
I also watched the last scene of "Scent Of A Woman" for the umpteenth time where "when in doubt, *uck" Al Pacino sizzles as a blind Colonel.

Although I have managed to pass the time pretty well and just about survive to tell my tale of woe(of not orkutting), but what rankles is the realisation that a slave I have become to technology, how dependant I am on it for information and how restless I feel just because I cant check a few damn scraps.
Instead of appreciating the beauty and power of nature, here I was cooped up in my room watching movies on an ugly, no less idioter Box and fretting about all things big and small. Although I knew about my addiction to the Internet beforehand, but never before have the withdrawal symptoms struck me so severely before.
This cannot and should not continue!!
I have now resolved to make more time for the beauties of nature, for observing the beauty and fragility of it all!!
To contemplate the awesome destructive power of nature and man's helplessness in the face of nature's fury.
To realise the insignificance of mankind in the grander scheme of things.

And most of all to realise, in the words of Keats that
even in a world of ugliness, beauty can triumph!

I would like to end by quoting a few lines from his famous Endymion...

A Thing of Beauty

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits.

Easy to write it all down, but I dont know how I am gonna keep my resolution. Maybe to do that, I will have to go back in time and become a child again, maybe only in the age of innocence can you truly observe and appreciate the beauty of innocence, of nature.

But I am gonna try
for sure, I am gonna try!

2005-10-13T18:31:00.000+05:30

To the Virgins, to make much of time

I recently watched the movie "Dead Poets Society and a chap quotes this beautiful poem by Robert Herrick about how life should be lived! and happily the title's quite appropriate too!

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying."

Beautiful!
I have a new motto in life!

2005-10-07T16:50:00.000+05:30

Birthday Baby!

2nd October was my B'day and boy what a B'day it turned out to be!! I certainly will remember it for a long long time to come, and that too for plenty of reasons.

One shady reason was just before I got up, I had this dream that it was 2nd September and that I had forgotten to wish my parents on their Marriage Anniversary. So half-asleep I immediately called up my mom and wished her Happy anniversary only to realise that it was 2nd October. People would have heard of sleep-talking and sleep-walking, but sleep-calling?? Woah!

The number of people wishing me was stupendous, and it dint do any harm to my self esteem. Hey people seemed to like me! :)

The Mess Tatha was in a particularly benevolent mood and gave me enough sakarapongal to even satiate me!, me who has an insatiable appetite for Sweets.

I donated blood for the first time in my life and felt satisfied with myself about having done my small bit for society, inspite of the nurse bulbing and inserting the needle wrongly and giving me a big ugly lump on my hand.

My girl friend wanted me to come and pick her up from the main gate(of the insti) amd visit all the temples where presumably she prayed (for my good health) and I goofed around; occasionally trying to recall vestiges of the many slokas I had learnt in my childhood, a long long time ago. After the temple visit was completed we were to go to the stadium where I knew that
some of my friends were also to come and we were to just have a quite get together.
But as I enter what do I see? My whole gumbal had turned up and were all waiting for me. After the customary cheery greetings and my expressing great pleasure at their all being there, they got down to the primary business of giving me birthday bums.
The girls started it off and I as is my wont couldnt keep my mouth shut, I just had to comment that I could hardly feel anything and that it was like a soothing balm for the bums I had already recieved at midnight. That was just the kind of encouragement the guys needed and they set to work with a vengeance. Pointy put all his footballing skills to good use, and ghattu pulled his weight around well for the cause. But the surprise winner bummer was Rakesh Garwal, aka PK,who looks nerdy and one wouldnt normally expect it out of him. The $#$@*$# packs a reall punch! But he will get his just deserts soon as his b'day is approaching!. I cant wait.

So after the guys had derived sadistic pleasure from bumming me(or rather my ass) black and blue, they settled down to watch me cut the cake and after that broke into a cacophony singing happy birthday. A slight diversion here to describe the cake, it was a lovely piece of work shaped like a heart and pale pink in colour(MY gf's handiwork I presume) with Ashwin (thankfullynot katta or it would be katta kutting a cake)written on it. I then got cake plastered all over my face, but anyway it felt good to have my cake and eat it too. After the cake was polished off, it was time to open the gifts they had got me! Yeah, Gifts! and there were so many!!
There was a beautiful alarm clock shaped like a house (Sigh! guess I cant bunk classes now
with the usual excuse of having crashed off), a nice T-shirt, greeting cards that made me go weak in the knees, Books(I love them), a rather nice ceramic doll which depicts a man dancing with a girl(I like to imagine thats me and my GF) and then of course a most beautiful watch (of which i have written before!).
So soon after much back slapping and pulling each other's leg, everyone started dispersing and I rounded the great day off with another trip to the main gate with my girl friend,
where we went and had Badam Milk(totally mind blowing) at Hot chips. Sometimes I feel it got over too soon. I had so much fun!

Forgive me guys for putting senti and all, but Thank you all for putting so much fight for me and arranging all this. It felt really great and your warmth and affection overwhelmed me.This certainly was one of my best b'days and certainly the best I have had in my last 4 years at IITM.
Thank You all! thank you Ghattu, Pointy, Sunt, Undi, Pyaare, Jumper, Whykaas, Matcha, PK, Pingala, Swathi, and last but defi not the least, thank you Rohini(for everything!!).

P.S: For some reason or the other 3 of the guys couldnt turn up, Jumper because he was doing duty for IITM in Roorkee thulping others on the way to 3 silvers and 1 gold, Vikas because he had gone to visit his friend, and Matcha because he couldnt be found on time! It would have been totally super if they also had turned up. Missed you all!

2005-09-27T13:29:00.000+05:30

Lovely Love!!

This one's for err.... You are the Best

Recently SK and me were discussing what exactly is love and he just refused to believe that it has to be experienced to know what love is. He kept asking for that extra thingy which diffrentiates love from Infatuation.

What is Love? hmmm.. as a person who thinks he is in love... i think i have to try and answer it.

Love is:

Feeling of happiness at the others success, and sadness at the other's grief
Feeling of frustration when u dont meet or see each other
the urge to Keep logging onto orkut every few minutes to chk if she has left u a scrap.
The sense of grief/remorse that overcomes u when u have a quarrel.
Doing something just because she wants u to.
Compromise
That extra thingy u feel when she's with u.

I am sorry Karthik, but to me it seems like u will only discover 'that extra thingy' when u fall in love.. Thats the way the world works sometimes , u gotta accept the truth.
A Feynman quote will settle the issue I think(although its about the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics) : "... for the fundamental law of physics we still need mathematics,"...... "... the more laws we find, and the deeper we penetrate nature.. Every one of our laws is a purely mathematical statement in rather complex and abstruse mathematics... it is impossible to explain honestly the beauties of the laws of nature in a way that people feel, without their having some deep understanding of mathematics. I am sorry, but this seems to be the case."

Dear karthik.. the same with love...it is impossible I think to explain the beauty of it all to a person who has'nt experienced the same. How much ever you may try to quantify it, i think it finally boils down to "that extra thingy" as u choose to call it.

The above was my answer to the question about what exactly love is, but now recent events have occurred which made me realise what a big blunder I had been making. I had completely missed out a point which I now believe is the underlying fabric of love itself!

My B'day is approaching and my Girl Friend, nah my soul wanted to buy me a gift. Nothing exceptional about that, many young people gift each other on birthdays. She wanted to buy me a watch, so that i would stop carrying my mobile to exams and more importantly stop answering when she called (have Done it three times!). And she wanted me to come along, so that I could choose for myself what I liked. Now when we reach there, I am completely taken aback when she pulls out a thick wad of money and announces her budget; which is staggering.

Now there is again nothing exceptional about people giving expensive gifts to profess their love for someone, although I wouldnt advocate it too much since I believe the expense of the gift is in no way a true indicator of love. A gift when given from the heart is much more valuable. So I started berating her for wanting to spend so much and how it was'nt right. Then she reveals to me something which completely bowls me over!
She had been working as a sales girl, doing odd jobs, doing surveys etc to save up the amount for the gift, a gift for Me!! She was without second thought giving away her months of labour, her Blood and sweat literally just so that she could buy me a gift. She could have spent the money going to movies, buying stuff for herself, basically enjoyed the fruits of her hard earned labour. But no, she spent it all on me in a flash. She decided that the joy of giving me something, of seing me happy was worth much more than all that i have enlisted above.
She Had sacrificed all that for me, and that My friend I believe is Love!!

The desire to give away all, the desire to give up on so many of the things you have always wanted to do, just to see that Smile , that feeling of unrestrained pleasure on another person's face!

What else can that desire be called my friend, but Love??

This, I sincerely believe now is the most enduring definition of love!

Hoping to keep this thread going... Further introspection may bring out something even better

2005-09-27T01:54:00.000+05:30

Water Trouble!!

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink ;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

Famous Lines ... ones which tell us the primacy of water, the bascic need that it is, and how when not met... All Hell Breaks Loose.

One doesn’t need to reiterate that water is one of the most important of all natural resources, and is vital for all living organisms and major ecosystems, as well as for human health, food production, and economic development. Ever since the first civilization arose in the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates river basins, water has always been a matter of great concern.

And in today's world the single most important concern is water conservation, and that is why the events described below are disturbing and require our careful consideration to find a solution.

Scene One: Bogs, Sarayu Hostel

A Friend brushing with the tap running! I enter and ask him to close the tap.
He 'Brushes' me aside saying tere baap ka kya jaata hai? Insti hi to pay kar rahi hai.
I too Brush aside the incident as an aberration! Surely there wont be too many such people and that too in IIT, we are the educated elite after all!

Soon I discover... apparently not

Two Years Later...

Scene Two: Bogs, Alakananda Hostel

The Freshies have arrived for the new academic session and along with them have arrived the "mataks", popular IIT lingo for the
M.Tech's. They take possesion of half our wing. They appear quite harmless and as is their wont, seem to mug away at odd times and all times. They are all people who like to keep to themselves and hardly ever interact with us B.Tech's apart from the occassional indecipherable doubt about the washing machine's workings etc, which of course is a constant source of entertainment for the wing (because of the accent), but thats a different story reserved for a different day.
But what has caused much consternation amonst the B.Tech's ranks are the new ways these mataks have discovered of wasting.
Water, especially when one of the B.tech's is the Gen Sec of the Hostel who has got gang raped for the lack of water in recent times.

possibility one: matak comes to wash face( yeah they do this regularly.. there's even one who roams around like a zombie at night with his face covered in some kind of face pack) at night before crashing, finds no water... simple solution leave the tap open for the others( Read as Sunt, the bog sec ) to close after he gets up hearing the water flowing in the mornings.

possibility two: a matak wants to take bath, opens tap to check for availability of water , and by jove a miracle... it really is available. Matak about to go inside the bathroom, but hey whom should he see coming? His neighbourly chum with whom he simply has to discuss the days events , all with the tap running of course. All the time My Blood Pressure runs higher. I do cut in on their "sweet nothings" and close the tap, but the callousness shocks me!

possibility three: This is the worst kind. Matak shaving/brushing with the tap open. I tell him to close the tap, he looks at me as if I have spoken "words which should not have been spoken", as if I have committed Blasphemy. I am given a stare which would have done Courtney "Stare" Walsh proud, and I am forced to beat a hasty retreat whispering to myself... whew a close shave!!

More than the water wastage, its their complete lack of concern and appreciation of the severe water shortage that plagues this institute which bothers me. And what is worst is they have just refused to learn, inspite of repeated warnings/requests both polite and harsh. We are at a complete loss to set right this situation. Of what use is all this education if all it makes you do is
behave even worse than an animal! What else can you say about a person who takes being told to close a tap as a personal slight, as a slug fest which has to be won no matter what?

What do you with such people? Pray, I guess... oh God please knock some sense into them.

Maybe I should give them R.K.Narayan's story about Raju Guide who gives up his life for the drought stricken people of a small village? Maybe they should read Coleridge who describes poetically the misery of the ancient Mariner...

But Maybe such people are'nt just worth the effort? Maybe the only thing to do now is to replace all taps with the push-release type (found in trains), It actually seems like a decent enough idea since even when people are trying their best to close the taps in between mouth rinses etc, their is always a certain time when fresh, clean water just goes down the drain! I would like a few comments about this idea... and if the railways can succesfully implement it, why cant we??
Surely the inconvenience of a tap which keeps cutting out the water is insignificant compared to the huge benifits involved? It will also encourage mug usage which is at a minimum at the moment( Usage of Stored water instead of the running variety)...

so please do get back to me as soon as possible.

Note: This is not to say that B.Tech's are perfect, and all the problem is because of the M.Tech's! I have just taken their example because what is described above is what exactly happens in my wing. This has not been written to offend anyone.

2005-09-24T16:07:00.000+05:30

What A Loser!

The Last Two weeks have been bad for me.... I have lost everything! well almost...

Lost My calculator(what is an engineer without his tools?)

Lost my emerald ring. My pati gave me that one.

Lost my Black Beauty (My cycle which has seen me through many a trial and tribulation.... my trusted steed... riding it felt as smooth as this )

Lost my UPS.. it stopped working.. as dead as a dodo....that counts too! All APC abusers may go here

My Mobile Lost its voice...has'nt stopped vibrating though( some +ve ! huh)

Lost 170 marks in GRE.

Lost my pen... thats nothing new.( My friend's wondering if I ever owned one?)
ok, I Lost Sunt's pen!

I suspect quite a few things will join the above if I ever get down to cleaning my room. I wont!

This has gotta stop or I will lose my mind.

Time to lose myself in Play... Bye

2005-09-23T21:48:00.000+05:30

Important Dates

a Long Long time ago.... 21 years and a few months to be precise

I Was Born

much dint happen for a long long time again....

fast forward to 5 years ago...

she sat next to me in the bus Sigh! Sigh Again...
The whole school used to sigh...
when she used to pass by!!
The look on my friends faces.
I could almost hear them crying... Him???? no, lets think positive...
I could hear my friends say...ya he's a greek god...If anyone, had to be him! thats much better.
and you know the best part?? she knew my name!

3.5 years Ago:

I begin my Assault On that most prestigious and the the most demanding undergraduate entrance exam in the world called the JEE (sood thanga mudiliya??)
...i dint say that, The Hindu did...chk it out
After 6 gruelling hours, its over...i come out unscathed

3.4 years ago

On Top Of the World!!

Me on a train, with the JEE results to be announced. call up my aunt from some arbit station on the way to Hyd from delhi
result : successful
The rest is just a blur what with the congratulations and the adulation. sigh; those were the days!
Grant interviews to future JEE aspirants, most of them girls.
I then chart out My masterplan for conquering the world in just three easy steps:

1. Win President Gold Medal for topping in IIT
2. App to MIT/Stan and get an MS
3. Come back and start earning truckloads of money

3.3 years ago:

Enter IITM,The excitement of staying away from home, of living alone.... no interfering , just complete freedom!
Like the grub for a month...(a record according to my friends)
Make n friends... have a blast
get a worst level nic with a worrrrst funda.....khatta, and dont ask the funda.
Made to Watch and provide the background score for my first err.. X rated movie lets say; by a concerned senior(at my lack of knowledge)
learn hazaar new stuff, have fun trying out for NSO selections in different games (make it in 3)

I am having fun i think, should have experiened all this long ago, so much for staying at home This is Life!
then reality strikes..... i want my mommy... sniff
Quizzes come , get screwed, and then the truth dawns... Conquering the world isnt exactly likely
Make my peace with acads, mug to survive becomes my motto.
and ya... before i forget, start losing weight (credited to the mess grub rather than for my passion for exercising)

9 months ago: My first SMS Date
I meet her ( Not the same her as referred to above ) at saarang. What a girl!! i have a crush on her within the first few

meetings (in groups mind you)
work up the courage to type and send those fated words "Will You come out with me?" via sms. she accepts. yipee... yahoo...
Go and see 'Black' and then walk around in the IIT campus (nature walk she calls it, but i wasnt observing much nature except...)
P.S: and then there were many! ( with the "many" referring to the number of dates.... the other option is'nt possible here atleast in IIT)

Aside: Thank You God! You have finally answered my prayers, took your time though!

Notice many guys getting tagged... taking the liberty to answer a few of the questions... helpful when you are'nt exactly bursting with ideas.

5 songs I know all the words to:
Dire Strait's Romeo and Juliet, Beatle's She Loves me yeah yeah!, I wanna hold your Hand!, Imagine I am in love with you (Ya, Love does things to ppl) & Hallowed be thy name

5 Snacks I enjoy:
Kesari, sakarapongal, Ladoo, mullu murukku & dahi bhalley( a delhi delight)

5 Things I would do with $100 million dollars:

1 Hoard it and use my bank balance to get married
2 buy her tonnes of gifts
3 buy myself a ferrari
4 build myself and her a house overlooking the ocean
5 take my family on a world tour

5 places I would run away to: (necessarily in order of preference)
her house
my house
Rio carnival
Disney land
cant think of any other place

5 favorite shows:
Byon kesh bakshi
Tehkikaat
Different Strokes
Small Wonder
The plannets funniest Animals

5 greatest joys:
Seeing her
Eating
Sleeping
Class getting cancelled
Passing a course with >= B grade... a rarity, thats why
A sixth Joy... riding My Black Beauty ( My 14 year old Street Cat.... Got stolen recently! May those rascals never sleep again.... pidari, rasculite, echal kala paradesi pasanga... My Blood Boils!)
Btw: all the abuse is purely pointy's... lest he accuse me of plaigiarising his work. Thanks to him for letting me use his creative outbursts!

5 favourite toys:
My comp
My Mobile
My Digi Cam...
A pen to continually twirl about my fingers
A pencil to continually twirl about my fingers(sorry had to do it to make up the numbers).

2005-09-21T19:32:00.001+05:30

Being the best you can be

After 3 years of studying at IITM, after getting thulped time and again in the quizzes by practically everyone most of the time(i did come first once!, a miracle), after seeing the stud things stud junta(read as practically everyone but me) do here, i think i can quite be forgiven for not predicting a very bright future for myself, for not being too confident of my
abilities (whatever little i have...(see it shows, the low confidence)). it also resulted in me not showing too much enthu for my studies, how does it matter when you are gonna be last anyway reasoned my tired brain! So it went on like this for quite a while, with equilibrium having been firmly established( w.r.t both my Branch Position and my mind). Now the readers
will have to bear a digression which doesnt really have a bearing on this topic (but this is my blog and I do as I please). Saarang came, the IITM cul fest for the uninitiated, and I as is my wont was wandering around looking at all the "sights" and sounds that make saarang the great event it really is! so what did i see? It was a girl I had met recently at a marriage and a really smart one at that ( how did I know you may ask,but take my word for it... i recognise intelligence in others when i see it... 3 years in IIT hasnt been for nothing after all!). anyway we got talking. It turned out that she was planning to come to the show by KK with all her friends and asked if i would like to come! needless to say i jumped at the chance and brought along all my wing members (and boy did we have fun), ok anyway we all became good friends and started meeting regularly at the beach etc. Then it so happened one day, that one of the girls had a problem with her computer, which i thought was trivial and told her how to solve it... and she said the magic words.. you are so intelligent! boy did it sound sweet. and time passed the girls actually assured me that i was pretty brainy. After the initial feeling of euphoria of having been called brainy eased and i got back to earth, I started thinking( ya i do that sometimes), maybe i really was brainy(ok a little), maybe i wasnt the dunce i had convinced myself to be. Then the answer hit me, it was relative grading at work again, my bane for so many years at IIT.
Then in a flash of lightning i realised the truth of it all!
That My existence on this earth wasnt a complete waste after all, someone could actually find a use for me. I realised it doesnt matter whether you are good/brilliant when compared with others. It is basically 'You Vs You' out there , you Win when you never Quit, when you always fight not necessarily to be the best,but to be the best you can be and to do the best you can do! In the final equation that is what counts and matters. Its ok if you dont make an earth shaking discovery, or earn tonnes of money, but its not okay if you dont work hard, its not ok to set lower goals for yourself, and most importantly its not ok if you dont enjoy the most beautiful thing of all... Your Life!
I urge all you people like me who at some point of time have felt like giving up, to try and put fight once, just once and you will realise there is much satisfaction and joy to be derived from the fact that you tried your best!

2005-08-06T09:57:00.000+05:30

Well, What Am i doing here???
I am going to try and chronicle my life and the events that influence it as time goes on! thats the intention at the moment anyway...
Why Am i doing this???
Hope is a good thing... goes the line in Shawshank Redemption... I am hoping some of u will chance upon my soliloquies and hoping that some of you will actually like it.
Who am I???
I am Ashwin aka Khatta in my 4th year of Engg at IITM.

Thats about enough for now i guess.... better get back to mugging (may god save me in GRE)