Things to do in PS

Hello. It's been 2 weeks in Bengaluru, and there's so much to talk about. I mean, as I am getting pushed and shoved in the bus, I think of a blog post, as I am helplessly swindled out of 100 bucks by these bloody rickshaw drivers, I wonder how I'm going to put the experience to words.

Office has been good, got my cubicle and desk y'day. Office people are really awesome and cool. And no, I am not trying to suck up... not so soon at least :)

However that's for later. First things first. I see a lot of status messages, saying PS sucks, or rocks(same guy actually) or giving links about what they're doing and stuff like that. Now how much does your PS rock, is a difficult thing to measure. I am sure, you'll all agree, no PS could possibly agree like mine (if you disagree go piss on yourself), so as a goodwill gesture I'll be listing some of the things that I did during my PS-2 and you can judge for yourself how well you compare. (PS stands for Practice School, and its a 6 month paid internship during the final year at BITS-Pilani) My PS was in Singapore at Infineon (no no, the list hasn't begun, I'm not so brutal :)) It was my first trip abroad, I left with an empty passport and returned with no pages to spare.

So here goes(in no particular order, all equally awesome)

1. Attended a Coldplay Concert - best band in the world I'd reckon
2. Cycled 40km for a cycling marathon
3. Ran a full marathon - and fell in love with running
4. Went to Arab Street for an authentic belly dancing show, and danced with the dancer (no I wasn't drunk, not until then and I do have pics to prove it)
5. Attended the Malaysian Grand Prix

...if you're already green with envy, you had better stop, I am just starting
6. Saw a stunt biking event, back flips and stuff, in front of my eyes
7. Called friends over for a week to Singapore(Rushi and Dhruv... you guys rock)
8. Brought my family over for their first foreign trip to Singapore and Malaysia.
9. Went to Malaysia 4 times.(most Singaporeans haven't :) and its just an hours drive from anywhere in Singapore)
10. Saw Disneyland and fell in love with Snow White (HAHA, over these 6 months, I fell in love many tims over :))
11. Went to Macau and Hong Kong, for bunjy jumping(world's highest), gambling in the world's awesomest casinos, Lantau island to see the Buddha(here too fell in love with the persona of the Buddha), an awesome show that left me crazy and happy, drank Russian vodka at -22 degrees.
12. Tried more cuisines that I like count. More sea food than exists in the Arabian Sea
13. Went to LAOS, an authentic back-packers destination(I have been to places, even google maps has no info about :))
14. ohh before I forget, I did get to do a cool project at Infineon, which I finished and my mentor was impressed.
15. Had a pic taken with a prominent film actress ('twas Sameera Reddy folks, and regardless of what passers by tell you, it was she who asked, no insisted on a pic)
16. Oh, how could I forget the Madame Tussaud's Wax museum in Hong Kong. We almost molested most of the figures there :)
17. Made some really really awesome friends at CHYK (Chinmaya Yuva Kendra), who made the stay so much more awesomer.
18. Went to a Indian pub for a cricket match, and came out happy and awesome, despite not even knowing who won the match... this may not sound so great, but for some things, you just have to be there to know. :)
19. Drove a car at about 190kmph on Malaysian highways (why didn't I cross 200, you ask, it was the speed limit I say, and before you can smirk, I say again, the speed limit is of the car not the road- that was 130 :))
20. Kayak'ed down river Mekong for over 50 km, this was in Laos.
21. Tried Lao Lao, thats a drink where they politely insert whole anima parts in a rice based alcoholic drink, the ones we tries were, sea horse, millipede and bear's feet (close your mouth, yeah its true, and yeah I have pics again)
22. Jumped into the river about 6 times, mostly from a circus bar-about 3-4 m, and once from a gorge, about 8-10 m high. No pics here, but the video is on youtube :)
23. Learnt the guitar and swimming... well I haven't lied and don't intend to start. Both I couldn't realllly get a hang of but desperately want to continue here in Bengaluru.
24. Blogged a lot and also launched my website... blog is still active, as you can figuere, website ke liye, wait a little, I promise I won't disappoint. Will update not too far from today.
25. There are a lot more things that come to mind, but I can't mention for this is a public forum :), there are children reading this :) and I fear for my safety :).

I am now both tired from typing, and nostalgic from remembering all those fun times. I had a wonderful wonderful time there. 6 unforgettable life-altering months. I am sure, I am forgetting some stuff, so until I am reminded of them, you can go on feeling depressed about your life. :)

All the pics are in my album(the link is to the right) and you're free to comment.

Errata: Stuff I initially forgot

26. Brewed our own beer at home, seriously we did man! And it was wheat beer, not the ubiquitous lager beer.

A tribute to PS-II

During office hours, one of the things I do to keep from succumbing to the seduction of the Goddess of slumber, is repeatedly checking my mail and clicking on the Stats link of my blog. The last couple of days this number has been dwindling :( I guess my readers have moved on to bigger more serious stuff, to the world of Acads and CG, B-plans and APOGEE projects (btw APOGEE is an acronym, and is spelt with capitals!!) But what can I say? Things aren't always what they seem. Sometimes its the simple funny joys of life chasing butterflies, staring at the sky, reading and following a blog that proves more fruitful, yes even in the long run.

It's these little things that make life worth living, that make you smile before going to bed and make you look forward to each new sunrise. 

We BITSians are severealy critical of what we have, and constantly point fingers at the system and the people running it. But we also deny ourselves of the truth, that this is exactly how-in the 'real' world- things work, and exactly how you work things.

Living in the comforts of BITSian hostel I never realized the joys of travelling, of those fleeting moments when I was watching a rerun while my friends were out playing cricket. My idea of fun, was not my own, but of what I thought would give me pleasure- movies, games, sitcoms. When I count back my days in BITS, the moments are the times when I truly did what my heart desired, my first and second year basketball trials, my forays into politics, joys of photoshop, the tenuous running bug that struck me late in psentisem, blogging obb et al.

Life stood still, giving me an opportunity to do whatever I may like. And what did I do, nothing. I had always wanted to learn a musical instrument, to be a fitness freak, to read everyday, to run a marathon but...

I won't deny that I was told this before, and I didn't listen to it myself. Nor is it a coincidence that I am saying it now, long after I no longer have the decision to make. I do not want to seat myself on a pedestal, having attained enlightenment, to be worshipped by some and stoned by others. I did know this, when I was there. And made the choices, do I regret them now, yes, but do I have the right to regret, no! 

Everything you do or rather you don't do is a matter of choice, over which you have control, may not be fully, but whatever you have is and should be good enough, else you're even more worthless than you think, if you run away from your choices.  

All I am saying is - realize that the choice is yours, do what you want. If you want to study, go on. If low marks affect your mental, physical and parental balance, go ahead. But keep in mind that the choice is yours, own up to it and be a man (figuratively speaking that is ... I don't want to hurt the feelings of my large female readership :) ) Don't curse the system, and the people, that there were too many tuts or this or that, that you had department work blah blah blah. You have work because you made the choice, and if you're not strong enough to stick to your guns, go find another body to rot. Your soul is wasting a perfectly good human life, the line is long, and there are a lot more willing to take your place, and do good.

All this may seems totally indifferent to the title of this post, but it is this time at PS-II, here in Singapore, that I am able to truly gauge the value of it all. All that I couldn't do in BITS I try and fit it in here. I am cycling a 42 km marathon this Sunday, have booked tickets for my first concert, that of Coldplay, on the 23rd of March. I am learning the guitar at home after work, keep a book handy during my long bus rides, am running another marathon for 42km later and practising everyday for it,  am keeping a pesudo-daily diary, am learning stuff to design and upload my own website (watch out soon, but please don't be too expectant), and most importantly I am being a good engineer at work. 

I no longer watch TV, and the many series on my 1TB harddisc are all but gathering dust. Something during PS, during my stay here, seeing how people are totally into their work and family lives and fight to follow their hobbies, made me realize this. Time is precious, but its utility is inversely proportional to its availability!

Times of Yore

Here I am again. Hope this is not too much trouble, and I hope you're not addicted. Because if you are, I'm here only a while longer, to be gone, not knowing when I'll return.

No, no, I'm not feeling psenti. Just random shit. Btw, my paper went fine. It was more of a test of my writing skill than actual factual recollection. If I write to the point, I'll fill only 5 lines, but its a 10 mark compre question, so I am obliged to call upon all my writing prowess and vocabulary skills and fill in 8 sheets. 

A simple sentence such as, "Valmiki authored Ramayana" is transformed into "According to historical evidence, which surprisingly conforms to local wives' tales as well as local heresay, one is brought to believe, however unlikely it may seem, that the immensely historically and philosophically important scripture of Ramayana, the story of the ideal man and his quest to hold his ideals dear to him, despite all obstacles was penned down by the great writer Valmiki with divine intervention and under the supervision of the Gods". So now you also know why I blog.

Leaving that aside, yes I am feeling a little psenti and spend a lot of time reminiscing. No, not about BITS, that would just bring tears to my eyes. I try and compare how much things have changed since school.

Remember, in school, we were made to wear washed, ironed and spotless uniforms, shiny black shoes with matching black socks, neatly combed hair and cut nails. And now?? Forget wearing clean clothes, I haven't bathed for a week, and my utterly stinking socks are lying right next to me. I have worn this same pair of socks this whole semester-placements, tea party, cricket, jogging and what not. My hair hasn't felt a comb in years, and my nails resemble claws.

Then I remember the note books. ohhhh, just the thought sends shivers down my spine. The books had to be covered with brown plastic covers, and neatly labelled, with an index. Red lines were drawn after each answer, double for names of lessons. The teachers used to correct each book... can you imagine!! each and every f***ing book. I seriously have trouble believing that. And at the end of the lessons stuff like, V. Good, or V.V. Good. The more Vs, the prouder I'd feel. Just a Good was just not good enough. 

And parents!! that part was seriously hilarious... every now and then, one weekend would be open house, wherein parents were called to receive their wards' report cards and hear their class teachers either complain about their son talking too much in class or not paying attention.

The best part was definitely the monitors. Everytime I remember this part,  just ROFLMAO. Each class had a class monitor, the syudent who stood first in class, who's job was to write down the names of the people who were talking... seriously man talking, not kissing or making out, just plain simple talking. And each added instance of talking would invite a cross next to your name. And the punishments, finger on your lips, kneel down, stand on the desk and murga ban. 

How much things have changed, forget having covered and corrected notebooks, or covered books, or even just books. Ab to xerox notes zindabad. Forget the Vs before the Good, as long as you're Av+ you're jumping for joy.

Parents aren't called for just report or rather grade cards. If parents are called in BITS, most come to know of what happenned reading the mess notice boards. Rest of the parents, the same one's who came every open house, could be congratulated if they know one course you're having this semester.

Monitors aren't selected, Presidents and General Secretaries are elected, with all dhoom and dhamaka. The punishments though less severe, are now nightmarish. I'd go through a hundred murgas, I'd kneel and walk like that from C'not to VK, if spared one meeting with you-know-who. 

Summer holidays with the family are now foreign internships. Anything at all to add one extra line to the resume. Talking of Basic Instint was taboo and now Jenna Jameson moans aloud all day all over Bhagirath Bhawan. Hand held video games used to excite, but now even NFS Undercover seems drab.

We have changed, a lot and seemigly for the better. But are you sure? There were meaningless rules then that we blindly followed and now we have this fake freedom, this 'independence' that we so take for granted. Then, we walked on paths that others had laid for us, and now that we're independent, we take predetermined paths to "success". Are these different???

Compre time treat.... my blog

Its a weird feeling, that I am feeling. I used to look hither and thither for good topics to blog about. But surprise surprise, a simple incident like my encounter with the demons of windows and my unseccessful resolve not to get screwed, seems to have generated some interest. Either that or its just Compreites(if you have a better word do tell me) having nothing else to do to pass time, and having fun at my cost. Whatever the reason, I like it!!!

Thus despite having my first and second-last compre tomorrow and not having finished half the syllabus and maybe needing a night out and that too for an unnecessary course like Heritage of India, I shall not break my promise and shall try to make your fuck-ed up day a little more meaningful.. (whatever that means)

Now regardless of how stupid and silly I feel pacing up and down the corridor flipping through a billion photocopied(not xeroxed) notes, I can't help but notice a little of the subject matter, and as far as confusions go this one's a blue whale. (as in a very big one... sorry out of similes)

The course has a large part dedicated to Upanishadic philosophy and Vedanta. Amidst all the crap, there are mentions of an ultimate reality, of a superior being. The Upanishads say that the path to moksha or enlightenment is through knowledge or Gyanakarma. The bad news is this is not Mathematical or Electronic knowledge.. probably CompSci stuff(if you're confused here read my earlier post). Else Issac Newton would have attained moksha 15 times over. No, it's knowledge of Brahmana or the super soul. Retracing a few missing facts, Upanishads have a monoistic theme, implying that they stress on one ultimate reality, as opposed to dualistic, about which I don't know shit.

Basically, you have the atman(the soul), the Brahman(super soul) and nirvana(not the band.. you fucking retards, salvation). So one goes through lives, suffering all along, that it if you call, chatting with you friends on gtlak, owning a MacBook Air, priding over a 1TB hard disc(sorry but it had to come out ok...) and all the fun stuff you do here on earth, suffering. Then one attains salvation, merges with the Brahman and attains everlasting happiness. There is no mention of what this happiness consists of, the course is conspicuously silent on this fact.

If you ask me, it will be like a scene in Mahabharata, in Lord Indra's assembly, with fully clothed (:P) beautiful mistress dancing in the middle, and the guys wearing weird ornaments and multicoloured lungis(a t-shirt would be better any day of the year) all bloody hypocrites following Indra in repeatedly saying "waah waah waah waah" and Narada Muni appearing every once in a while "Narayan Narayana".

Now if you ask me what I like, I'll go with the sufferring here on earth. I mean c'mon guys, when the Vedas were written there were flying monkeys, multiplying arrows, demons who lived for millions of years and still performing tapasyas to live forever, even though every God they please refuses it. Who knows what's there after moksha? What if it all just ends, and turns out to be the matrix. However not true this is, I like my Matrix, even if whatever mess food I eat is programmed by the architect to taste bad.

What of you just find a book on Brahman, gain all the knowledge you need, and then just die on the spot having attained salvation. Worse still, what of you're a virgin. It gives me nightmares. So I am just gonna flip through my notes and wherever I feel I am learning too much, I guess I'll just open up the 'stuff ' folder on D drive. :)

Eventful trip home

After the terrific surprise to my parents, the homemade delicacies, burning down of demons, a trip to BITS-Goa campus and other stuff, I believe I should continue posting on the eventful trip. We last saw me leaving for Delhi to catch a flight home. So I continue from thereon.

We all awoke at around 7am, well just me, everyone else was awake and staring at me. I had a brilliant sleep at the back of the Tavera, my favourite place to sleep, unless there's too much luggage. I awoke to the beauty that is Delhi, not to say that the city is very beautiful, just the other-side-greener-grass theory. The vibrancy of the place cheers me up, everybody is in a hurry. Pilani is always sleepy, or rather in Pilani I always am. Delhi is nice, and our hangout is C'not. What did we do there so early.. buffet breakfast @ Nirula's. Those who've been there, done that are probably licking ther lips and feeling their wallets. Those who haven't can talk to the former, and feel the envy.

Now the driver was in a weird sort of hurry, a hurry that defied most bounds of logic. Since most of us have been through a hurried group being driven by an even more hurried driver, I will go straight through to the airport. I'm sure I looked like a terrorist there, with a weird haircut, unbrushed, unshaven and unbathed for a week and 4 days respectively(c'mon guys, 'twas OASIS). Having arrived 2 hours early I went about everything coolly. As I was punching in my cabin luggage in the overhead compartment, I heard a voice calling out my name. Looking back I saw Meenakshi Raman ma'm and her daughter Priya smiling. What a coincidence, huh? Now you know how difficult it is to have a conversation when the plane is about to take-off, so I just smiled back, Hello'd and got to my seat.

The plane was not overly booked. It was filled with many foreigners. Foreigners..leaving for Goa. Hmmm I wonder why? :)

I don't like moving about the plane much, I was tired, and there was a couple aheard of me, doing what couples do( making giggling noises and ignoring everybody else) so I just went to sleep.

I woke only to brilliant night lights below. I love to look down from the window and revel at man's creation. The streetlights, headlights and all the other lights glimmer and glitter like a diamond neclace. It's like the sky is both above and below you, but it's the one below that captivates you, because its so alive. So many colours, some moving curiously, some strong and extra-bright, some twinkling childishly, and some just standing and waiting. The sight makes you forget all else and just take in the view.

Once we landed, I met them at the luggage conveyor belt, and told them in detail about the vagaries of my trip. I best thing about doing something unorthodox and unnatural as the look on people's face when you tell them what you've done. It's very satisfying, and gives up a very false athough realistic sense of achievement. Damn cool.

Now of course, they asked about my whereabouts. And of course, I told that I had to catch a couple of buses to home, and of course, they invited me to come along to be dropped at the nearer bus stop. So basically as it turns out, K E Raman, sir, picks me up from the airport, and later invites me to the campus for a get together, held as celebration of BITS-Goa's winning of OASIS championship. very nice turn of events, what say?

Again it doesn't end here, there's half a post worth of material, so I'll make a short post later. Abhi sona hai. bbye..

BITS-Pilani: Where the Journey Begins...

In times of solitude, which are many and long, during my psentisem (last semester at BITS) I have tried to figure out this place. I mean seriously, what is it in this sleepy desert village that it takes in some of India's best raw unpolished talent and turns them into such wholesome fine young men and women. The question has always baffled me.

Most youngsters who enter Pilani hardly know anything about the real world, as most of what they know comes from Physics and Chemistry tomes and can see the world only from various frames of reference. Newton's physical world and today's practical world are as different as chalk and cheese.

Now the irony lies in the fact that what is taught here is in concurrence with what they have learnt, a continuation of their science studies. The curriculum doesn't have courses on leadership, self confidence, integrity or a drive for excellence, but then how is it that everyone I see around me, each and every one that is going to pass out this year has all these qualities. I can feel, almost see future CEOs, entrepreneurs, scientists, professors and venture capitalists. I can list people who will stand out in any crowd anywhere, but they don't here. Here they are just part of the herd.

A lot of us come here as stars of our muhallas and schools, teachers' pets with dreams of bettering others like us. It is only a matter of days, (an hour for me; the initial interview was sufficient) and then it hits you. A shock that most are unprepared for, that there are others, many many others like and better than you, that too in every way. The realization hits you again and again and again, as you see those around you shine while you're just looking for space to breathe. The seclusion of Pilani makes it all the better or rather worse. There is nowhere for you to hide, nowhere to escape, everywhere you go you see the same people, the same faces, and are rudely reminded of your mediocrity.

The environment is such that one finds a way, one HAS to. It is in this journey of self discovery, this battle for survival, this fight for recognition that one finds something that one likes. Something that one cares for, that had always been buried within, and gets the best at it.

This is why you will see that most of us, as rightly pointed out by a certain friend of mine, are generalists. We will be good at a lot of things because we've tried a million things. Failure doesn't depress, there's no time for that. It's just a step closer to the goal.

Most of the things I've said will be found in any self-help or motivational book. All I can say to this is that, BITSian life is a book in itself with you in the lead role, and all our stories are worth publishing.

What is so special about OASIS?

What is it about OASIS? What makes it so special that ghots(read very very studious BITSians) emerge from their shells and begin a celebration of life. I have seen OASIS from every perspective other than as an alumnus. As a silent participant, as a semi-involved organizing committee member, as a StuCCAn(member of Chief organizing committee) at the helm of matters and now counting down to 20th October as a satisfied psenti-semite(my last sem on campus).

Now we have plenty of wonderful wonderful things to tell about OASIS- seclusion from the vagaries of urban life, truly awesome organization by totally inexperienced persons, the peaceful clear night sky, the music in the air, the 96 hours of non-stop celebration. But these somewhat fail to explain why all and sundry revel in it so much.

Most similar organizations would say that they do it for the participants, for cultural exchange, to get people talking about their college, and for popularity. But not OASIS. OASIS is organised for selfish reasons. We BITSians love to be the best at things, and OASIS is one of them. We do it for ourselves, to satisfy our inner passion to do something BIG during our BITSian lives. Every OASIS just HAS to be better than the previous year’s, the participation HAS to improve, the events HAVE to be better, the outstis HAVE to feel more at home and leave with wider smiles and a heavier heart. If we were doing this for others, this fire would have been ousted within no time. But the fact that OASIS has been up and running for nearly 40 years testifies to this.

And you know what, this is the bestest most special thing about OASIS.

General Secretary: Why? What? How?

Quite a lot of people have asked me one of these questions, multitude of times. Both before and after the elections. Thinking back I realize that it wasn't a well thought of decision. Yes! I admit it. I put everything at stake and that too for an election, wherein whether I won or lost, the rest of my BITSian CDC/UC life would have been nightmarish. It is a good thing that I couldn't think this clearly then :D

So why did I do it? I do have a bunch of prepared reasons to throw at your average interviewer, but I have to be honest here. It just felt like the right thing to do. That's it. It wasn't like I was convinced that I'd be the best there ever was, ever will be. Not that I didn't want that, but that's not the point. Was it ambition? Was it the the cliched "I want to change the system". To an extent yes.

The thing is one can never know for sure, in a situation like this. One cannot say whether one's convictions will fail, whether one will give in to temptation, whether one will be complacent. If you had asked me then, my answer would have been HELL NO! But if you had asked me then, whether after a year, I would remain true to myself, and I had given you an honest answer, it would be, "I hope not."

The point I want to make here is that no matter how good or how bad a person seems, one can never be sure whether he will change, whether he will be the best President/General Secretary, because he doesn't know it himself. He may be the best candidate, but the best post-holder?? You can't say. Now this is a property of democracy, that the person who seems most confident, most suitable to the people gets elected.

So finally it just comes down to convictions.

On a lighter note:
The irony of the whole matter is that I had initially wanted to contest for President and then due to unprecedented circumstances, I withdrew and filed for General Secretary. But the most eventful, the most testing period of my tenure was when I was a stand-in President during the election time.

Another weird thing is that for the first month I was handling both these posts. Later after the elections, Ravi Teja was handling both, and now when finally things seem to have settled, Ravi gets injured and Vijay handles both. Is there a jinx that I'm not aware of here?