Music & Melodies

I am not fond of much music & songs. Sorry I should say I "was". Donno how it happened ? but suddenly, started listening to good songs & appreciate them. I used to ask the question to my dear ones like why do they like musik ? And what drives them & what joy do they get ? Now time has arrived to question myself. I started feeling the hidden melodies in tracks.. May be I ignored them before.. But ultimately.. some refreshment to mind. Can be much more than that.. need to discover that treasure. I was deeply disappointed after knowing that Sainikudu was a flop at box office. This is the first movie i guess, I downloaded the audio songs & enjoyed the most. The Audio is superb.

Back to blogs!!!

Its been a long time since I left IIT and my blogs. Life changed a lot in this span. My continuous long student journey got a break. I hope its just a break but not an end. I joined Sarnoff on September 4th as a Software Engineer. Bangalore is a nice City. The climate is superb but traffic is worst. After a good amount of search for house, Sridhar Cheruku found one in Indiranagar. Cheruku, Srihari I are staying in a 2BHK house. Slowly I adapted myself to professional life. Office resembles our SPANN lab in IIT. All colleagues are very friendly. Learning new things.. Thats all for now..

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Finally I uploaded it!

Thnq video.google..

Watch the video prepared by my friends on the occasion of valedictory function. for more info, refer this posting

don't forget to switch on your speakers :).

If you want to watch the larger resolution video, visit this url

Save trees!

Dont think that I am goin to write about saving trees again like previous post.. This is all about my b'day on 25th June.. Most memorable one, celebrated by my friends.. Then you might wonder why did I titled it as Save trees.. and what is the relation with my b'day.. Coming to the point, I planted a mango tree today.. sorry Its not only me.. Sridhar, Namita also helped me.. so it become friendship tree. Only after doin this, I thought of posting blog about my b'day.. I had enough bumps on the day.. was very painful.. but the moments and happiness cured that pain.. Sridhar never gave bumps to anyone as far as I can remember.. but I became exceptional.. The most surprise thing on this b'day is a phone call from my dad at night 12:00. He never wished me at 12:00 for my b'day before. I felt very happy for that. Many friends have called and wished me. I got good gifts.. incidentally or accidentally, got 3 watch gifts. As this is goin to be final treat that I am giving to comm group, I thought of a big one. Utsav became the vennue for that.. apart from our comm group, Deepthi, Radha, Raghavendra were also present.. thats it for now.. It is already late.. time to go bed.. have enough work to do tomorrow..

Save Trees!

A picture is worth more than 1000 words.. It is not just the tress will help you in this kind of situations.. but this is just to remind you that grow plants. Think about our mother nature some times.. Plantation doesn't mean that you need huge space around your home.. a small growing plant in a pot outside your carridor will help in eco friendly nature. Atleast grow a plant on your b'day, once in a year.. the immediate result is "satisfaction". Try this out from next b'day :-).

I AM ON HUNGER STRIKE!!

Oh! sorry.. The title should be I was on Hunger strike. I m very busy with project.. so didn't find time to write.. I have participated in hunger strike for 24hrs to protest against reservations. It was 2nd day (22/05) of chain hunger strike that was initiated in IIT Bombay. With out hesitating, I gave my name to participate on 2nd day. 17, 35, 46.. These are the numbers on 1st, 2nd and 3rd day.. I don't have the statistics after that but came to know that the response was good.

I never expected that I might involve this kind of activities.. but felt happy that I did it for a good cause. Star News & Times now new channels have covered our protest and there were interviews as well. First time I was on small screen. But unfortunately, I couldn't see my self as that was live show. Pandey gave good points in the interview.. "Arjun Singh should implement reservations in Parliment first.. Ask him to give his minister seat for an OBC candidate" Pandey said. At first I thought passing 24hrs with out doing any activity is difficult so took few novels for me & my friends. Believe me, I read only one page.. Later on didn't find time to read at all. There were brain storming discussions on the issue of reservations. Few professors have also visited that place and supported us. Damn government not caring the striking doctors at all..

Today after reading the news about Supreme Court asking the center to give reasons for hike in reservations, I felt really happy. Here is a mail from my friend Narasimha regarding reservations.. go through it.

Death of Democracy!!

Just by reading the title, one can guess what am I goin to write about. Yeah! its about the hike in reservation. At last protest "fire" has also touched the doors of IIT Bombay. Yesterday, we around 600 students had formed a human chain outside our campus and carrying banners and placards. It was non-voilence protest. We have informed the police about our protest and nothing bad happened as such.. Five to Six News channels have come and of course, few news paper's journalists.. It is first time in my life I have participated in such a kind of move. Sridhar & I coordinated ourselves to hold a banner, "Death of Democracy" was written on it. We stood there from 4:30 to 6:30pm. I really hate this govt. for its act.. I saw the news.. the way police treating the protesting students is horrible..
As the banner shows in the photo... I believe that concentrating primary education is a must instead of post graduate education in India. I came to know that there are some reserved seats which are left vacant every year.. that means there is a lack of eligible students. We can only fill those vacancies only if students are provided with basic stong primary education.. so government should focus on that. There is no point in increasing reservation at higher level.. becoz I have observed that people who are coming through reserved category to higher education are economically good although not rich.. but can get jobs and support their family after graduation. If the reserved seats are increased, the quality of education decreases... our level of talent pool in this country looses its importance globally.. So the global industries move to competing countries like China to hire man power... We say that India is a democratic country. What exactly the word democracy means.. ? I found the meaning in dictionay site.. "The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community".. Where is the social equality in our country ? do you believe that we acheive social equality by increasing reservation ? At least I feel that supporting the backward classes economically if they are willing to pursue higher education after getting through common admission test procedure is the best option available.. I have put my views here.. If you have time to read.. go through the following articles which I have gathered in this issue.. But believe me they are worth reading to get idea about the issue.

1. Propagonda - Which we distributed
2. OBC Reservations: An IIT Professor's view
3. Mail from an AIIMS student

Power cut!

Although there is a new trend of power cut once in 3-4 days for 5 mins recently in IIT, nothing special to describe about that except today's incident. It was around 9:10am. I am not wrong.. its AM only. These days I am getting up "early" in the morning around 8am by missed calls from my friends.. Just because of project meetings.. Sumo calling us early in the morning for project discussions daily.. of course he is just calling us to lab in the morning but.. he himself is not able to make at that time... what ever it is, my way of life changed.. I am now concentrating well on my project... being hectic, not getting time to write here. neway.. its a different part of story.. I was taking about power cut today which made me to find some time to write here.. I started to lab. can u guess ? what would have happened ? wht is the relation b/w power cut and my way to lab ? okk I will come to the matter.. I was stuckup in hostel lift bcoz of power cut. Suddenly it was very dark inside.. I didn't see the display.. so don't know where I am.. I thought of informing my situation to some one. Sridhar striked my mind. I called him. But before he could do anything for me, I dared to open the lift doors with my hands. Thank god! I am already in ground floor.. (came to know when I saw through small gaps). Finally, came out with out much difficulty and cloed the door again the same way I opened them. Thats the story.. I hope this would be my first and last stuck up in lift.

Jack died :((

Jack.. died 3-4 days back when I upgraded my machine to Fedora Core 5 from FC4. The surgeon had no other option than to say sorry.. Got confused ?? Its my user name in Linux box. I removed that account while upgrading to FC5. hopefully, he will come again in my next installation ;-). The new FC5 is amazing.. I worked for 2 days to get mind blowing looks to my desktop. You can have a look if you wish to see my desktop here

Late again!!

I don't know when do I become punctual ? As usual, got up at 9:29am.. was supposed to be present in VIP Lab by 9:00am. I got up by a strange although not a dreadful dream. I don't even want to say sorry to Sumantra... bcoz he asked me to come before 9am. Last time I told that cycle got punctured.. It was 9:50am when I saw the clock in VIP Lab. Sumantra said nothing.. but I saw this mail in my inbox..

Date: Fri, 5 May 2006 09:29:24 +0530 (IST)
Subject: Waiting!

...inside the VIP lab - come fast!
Thanks, Sumantra.

The final day has come!!

For the last 4 days.. I was very busy with many things.. like attending parties.. preparing videos for our valfi.. lab sysadgiri etc. First thing is Job treat from Qualcomm ppl (Kasi, Nami, Uday) & Kal. They gave party in hotel Tunga Paradise in Andheri.. a three star hotel. Earlier they planned to give us treat in Taj near Gateway of India.. but finally decided with Tunga on 27th as they realized that they aren't yet joined in job and filling their pockets. Although the food was not upto the expectations, first time in the history of Comm group parties, alchohol has entered. three of our batch enjoyed beer, vodka (don't know exactly). Strange thought has come to my mind to take a snap with beer glass (as if I m havin it) .

Next day our comm group decided to have a group photo session as Shilpa will be missing us.. (she is goin to Italy to do her project) and she won't be here when we leave. had nice group photo session.. same day I was busy in making videos for our valfi day.. We were in lab till 5:30am.. believe me.. I never worked like that for project till 5:30 in morning.. by the time I reached my room.. partly day light was there.. I could see sky clearly through my window.. Neway.. we really worked hard to create those videos.. So you can expect when this kumbakarna would hav got up on the next day.. of course kumbakarna can't live with out food so painfully, I got up at 1:30pm otherwise I would hav slept throughout the day.. In the evening, we went out for shopping.. all of us bought new kurtas.. then we got an idea to wear kurthas for our valfi day.. Bechari Namita.. she had to buy new jeans for this plan.. we went to Rajdhani after shopping.. stuffed my stomach with Rajastani & Gujrathi food.. The situation was like I can't have anything more.. really a heavy dinner..

The valfi has come(30th, April).. all wore kurtas for that occation.. the plan has worked out.. our comm group was something special in that occation.. as usual, we used our lab camcoder.. unfortunately, the food was so pathetic.. worst part is that no body was following Q system.. It was very difficult to manage.. This is really bad.. I don't know when do people learn good discipline.. Of course, even I am lacking that.. The profile reading has started at around 12:30am. We had some problems to setup projector intially.. I felt sad.. as I know the hard work we paid to make the videos.. but fortunately.. we were able to play with the settings and video has come but not the audio. Then we got an idea to put the mic near laptop.. "something is better than nothing, isn't it ?". We started with Pandey's profile.. he become very emotional when he was asked to say few words after profile reading.. I read Prasad's profile next.. I don't know how much he was able to understand as we wrote partly in hindi. Next was mine.. my profile was stared based on the fact that I am the youngest of our class... (in fact, under age boy to get mtech admission :)). Kalyan has read my profile.. my friends composed it very nice with fun masala.. all enjoyed it.. atleast I enjoyed... I got the feeling like I am lucky to have them as my friends.. though we were not together in the begining, as the time passed, we become good friends and the two years have passed unknowingly.. Only 2 months are remained.. neway.. looks like I am getting senti now ;-).. Last but not the least, Kalyan's profile was read by Sridhar. After this we had small photo session.. to recall these moments after we leave this place.. Next Vasanth's room became our halt to watch the videos we made.. by the time we finished watching those moments, we realized that it is already 6:00am. Once again.. I saw early morning day light through my window when I was sleeping.. I didn't expect that I will see it so early again..

Here are the profiles:
* Uday
* Prasad
* Me
* Kalyan

Interesting!!

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But, the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades.
So, to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger & went farther than ever.

The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days,
the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste.

To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish & freeze them at sea.
Freezers allowed the boats to go farther & stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh & frozen & they did
not like frozen fish.

The frozen fish brought a lower price. So, fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish & stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin.
After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately,
the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste.
The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish.

So, how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan?
If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend?

How Japanese Fish Stay Fresh:
To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank.
The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged.

Have you realized that some of us are also living in a pond but most of the time tired & dull, so we need a Shark in our life to keep us awake & moving?
Basically in our lives Sharks are new challenges to keep us active and taste better...

The more intelligent, persistent, & competent you are the more you enjoy a challenge.

"If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are Conqueror.
You think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new solutions. "

Gateway of India!

The day has arrived.. even though I have been staying in Mumbai for last 2 years, I went to Gateway of India today.. It all was a sudden plan.. In fact, Suji has initiated.. Sri, Kal, Kasi were also there. The boating in Arabian sea near Gateway of India is a wonderful experience... It was for 30mins. I was looking at the waves... the boat was cutting those waves.. as this is summer, the sea is calm.. But I could feel the wave when boat was moving.. We were disappointed by the notice "Photographi is strictly not allowed orders by Indian Navy".. (You are right.. But i typed it as it is..) In the middle of jouney, when I was looking the sea water, the sea hit me with a wave.. My face became fully wet.. I tasted the water, very salty.. probably sea might have impressed by my wave gazing and wanted to kiss me once.. There were some big ships around in the horbour.. the 30mins have passed very fastly.. After that we went to Marine drive.. Though it is not first time, I enjoyed the cool breeze coming from the sea.. we sat there for some time.. It was dinner time.. we were looking for some restaurant.. there is one ice creame shope.. the icecream smell was coming outside of shope.. last time I missed it.. I have choosen "Honey Nut Crush" flavour.. was very yummy.. I thought I will never miss this icecream when ever I come this side.. After that we had dinner in Suvidha restaurant.. back to room by 12:00.

Speech by Mr.Butch Jimenez

This speech was delivered during the commencement exercises of the UP graduating class of 2003 by Mr. Butch Jimenez, the youngest commencement speaker in the university's history. He once dreamed of doing so, and it came true!!!


Butch Jimenez, head of PLDT's media and strategic communications department, delivered this speech at the UP Diliman Class 2003 commencement exercises - Manila, Philippines



What's better than...?

Let's start off with something really simple. What's better than a long speech? No doubt, a short one. So, you guys are in luck because I do intend to keep this short. Now, let me take you through a very simple math exam. I'll rattle off a couple of equations, and you tell me what you observe about them. Be mindful of the instructions. You are to tell me what you observe about the equations.

Here goes: 3+4=7, 9+2=11, 8+4=13, and 6+6=12. Tell me, what do you observe?

Every time I conduct this test, more than 90 percent of the participants immediately say, 8+4 is NOT 13, it's 12!

That's true and they are correct. But they could have also observed that the three other equations were right. That 3+4 is 7, that 9+2 is 11, and that 6+6 is 12. What's my point? Many people immediately focus on the negative instead of the positive.
Most of us focus on what's wrong with other people more than what's right about them. Examine those four equations. Three were right and only one was wrong.

But what is the knee-jerk observation? The wrong equation.

If 10 people you didn't know were to walk through that door, most of you would describe those people by what's negative about them. He's fat. He's balding. Oh, the short one. Oh, the skinny girl. Ahhh,'yung pango. Etc. Get the point? It's always the negative we focus on and not the positive.


You'll definitely experience this in the corporate world. You do a hundred good things and one mistake-guess what? Chances are, your attention will be called on that one mistake.

So what's better than focusing on the negative? Believe me, its focusing on the positive. And if this world could learn to focus on the positive more than the negative, it would be a much nicer place to live in.

Better than working hard

We have always been told to work hard. Our parents say that, our teachers say that, and our principal says that. But there's something better than merely working hard. It's working SMART. It's taking time to understand the situation, and coming out with an effective and efficient solution to get more done with less time and effort. As the Japanese say, "There's always a better way.

"One of the most memorable case studies I came across with as I studied Japanese management at Sophia University in Tokyo was the case of the empty soap box, which happened in one of Japan's biggest cosmetics companies.

The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a box of soap that was empty. It immediately isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason, one soap box went through the assembly line empty. Management tasked its engineers to solve the problem.
Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast.

But a rank-and-file employee that was posed the same problem came out with another solution. He bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soap box passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.

Clearly, the engineers worked hard, but the rank-and-file employee worked smart. So what's better than merely working hard? It's working smart. Having said that, it is still important to work hard. If you could combine both working hard and working smart, you would possess a major factor toward success.

Better than dreaming big

I will bet my next month's salary that many have encouraged you to dream big. Maybe even to reach for the stars and aim high. I sure heard that about a million times right before I graduated from this university. So I did. I did dream big. I did aim high. I did reach for the stars. No doubt, it works. In fact, the saying is true: "If you aim for nothing, that's exactly what you'll hit: nothing." But there's something better than dreaming big.


Believe me, I got shocked myself. And I learned it from the biggest dreamer of all time, Walt Disney. When it comes to dreaming big, Walt is the man. No bigger dreams were fulfilled than his. Every leadership book describes him as the ultimate dreamer. In fact, the principle of dreaming and achieving is the core message of the Disney hit song, "When You Wish Upon a Star". "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are; anything your heart desires will come to you. If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme. When you wish upon a star, as dreamers do," as Jiminy Cricket sang. But is that what he preached in the Disney Company? Dream? Imagineering Well, not exactly. Kinda, but not quite. The problem with dreaming is if that's all you do, you'll really get nowhere. In fact, you may just fall asleep and never wake up.

The secret to Disney's success is not just dreaming, it's IMAGINEERING. You won't find this word in a dictionary. It's purely a Disney word. Those who engage in imagineering are called imagineers. The word combines the words "imagination" and "engineering." In the book "Imagineers," Disney's CEO, Michael Eisner, claims that "imagineers turn impossible dreams into real magic."

Walt Disney explained there is really no secret to their approach. They just keep moving forward-opening new doors and doing new things, because they are curious. And it is this curiosity that leads them down new paths. They always dream, explore and experiment. In short, imagineering is the blending of creative imagination and technical know-how. Eisner expounds on this thought by saying that "Not only are imagineers curious, they are courageous, outrageous, and their creativity is contagious." The big difference with imagineers is that they dream and then they DO! So don’t just be dreamers, be an imagineer.

Better than vision

You must have all been given a lecture at one time or another about the importance of having a vision. Even leadership expert John Maxwell says that an indispensable quality of a leader is to have a vision. The Bible also makes it very clear that "Without vision, people perish." So no doubt about it, having a vision is important to success.

But surprise! There's something more potent than a vision. It's a CAUSE. If all you're doing is trying to reach your vision and you're pitted against someone fighting for a cause, chances are you'll lose.

The Vietnam War is a classic example. Literally with sticks and stones, the Viet Cong beat the heavily armed US Army to surrender, primarily because the US had a vision to win the war, but the Vietnamese were fighting for a cause.

In the realm of business, many leaders have visions of making their company No.1, or grabbing market share, or forever increasing profits. Nothing really wrong with that vision, but take the example of Sony founder Akio Morita. He did not just have a vision to build the biggest electronics company in the world. In his biography, "Made in Japan," he reveals that
the real reason he set up Sony was to help rebuild his country, which had just been battered by war. He had a cause he was
fighting for. His vision to be an electronics giant was secondary. What's the difference between a vision and a cause? Here's what sets them apart... No one is willing to die for a vision. People will die for a cause.


You possess a vision.

A cause possesses you.

A vision lies in your hands.

A cause lies in your heart.

A vision involves sacrifice.

A cause involves the ultimate sacrifice.

Just a word of caution. You must have the right vision, and you must be fighting for the right cause. In the end, right will always win out. It may take time, and it may take long. But if you have the right vision and are fighting for the right cause, you will prevail. If not, no matter how sincere you are, if you are not fighting for what is right, you will ultimately fail.

Two final quotes

The first comes from the Bible, which says, "To whom much is given, much is required."

"There is no destination beyond reach of one who walks with God."

A final review:

* What's better than focusing on the negative? Focus on the positive.
* What's better than working hard? It's working smart.
* What's better than dreaming? Imagineering.
* What's better than doing something for yourself? Doing something for your country.
* What's better than a vision? A cause.
* What's better than a long speech? Definitely, a short one.

Hope you would like to look at the person who gave the speech and so here is the youngest commencement speaker in the university's history

Menardo "Butch" Jimenez Jr. Menardo "Butch " Jimenez Jr.

Source : http://www.up.edu.ph/jimenez.htm

Most vivid rainbow...

Wonderful, isn't it ? Not a photoshop trick.. Of course, I haven't shooted this pic.. I got this by fwded mail from my friend. I wish, I would see this kind atleast once in my life ;-). It has happened at February 2, 2006 at Elam Bend (McFall, Missouri).

Sensex hits an all-time high of 12,040!!

I don't know much about stock market.. I wanna know about it.. But just for time being, I wanted to post this image..
source of image: rediff.com

Finally I saw my guide!!

I would hav posted this blog yesterday.. but couln't find time to do that... I slept at 5:30am on previous day as I attended H11 valfi.. I thougt that I will sleep the entire next day.. but Sumo didn't give me that chance.. I heard a door knocking sound at 9:00am. With much of difficulty, I get up and opened the door.. Kalyan was infront of me.. I was not in a position to stand properly.. he gave me his mobile.. and told that it is from Sumantra.. I was so shocked to hear that and my sleep has gone totally.. Sumo asked me "have you checked your mail ?". with out hesitation, I told "No". "I have sent a mail early in the morning, two guests are coming to our lab. You need to show demo and bethere by 10'O clock", Sumo said. Who will check mail early in the morning at 6:00am (the mail sent time was 6:00am he asked me to send confirmation)? It is the time when birds gets up and most of the IITians goes to bed.. "Inform this to Sridhar, Suji as well and tell sorry to Kalyan" call was disconnected. This is how my day was started and I was in lab by 10am (of course, without having bath ;))

The guest was finally arrived and the demo went fine (Sumo helped me to explain things). There was one more demo at 2:00pm. So I didn't sleep again.. as I know that I can't get up if I go bed. Fortunately the other visitor didn't have much time to see all the demos and mine was one of those lucky fellows.. After this I had to attend a seminar related to my project topic.. I was helpless.. and went to Seminar room with Sridhar & Suji.

Sumantra along with other profs has sit on the front row and I was in 2nd row. Sridhar & Suji had also come to lab early in the morning.. without any fear in mind, Suji was sleeping.. I had controlled my self and was listening to Seminar.. Sridhar was closing and opening eyes as the speaker was looking at him.. Suddenly, I was disturbed (actually not its not me Sumo) Prof. Merchant woke up Sumo.. He was sleeping.. I didn't notice until now.. from then on.. I didn't hear wht tht speaker was saying.. I was observing Sumo.. I never expected.. he was sleeping like anything.. sitting in front row.. with much of difficulty, I controlled my laugh.. I told Sridhar & Suji to see Sumo.. It seems Suji's sleep has gone after seeing sumo..

We were asked to stay in lab as the visitor might come again as he didn't see all the demos.... I was in lab till 5:00pm. I will write this later..

H11 Valfi..

April 12th.. It was valfiday of H11 our girls hostel.. Namita & Sujatha invited our comm batch for that. It last till 4am in the morning... We enjoyed the night.. dinner was awesome. Of course, one can expect good colors as it is H11 ;-). Again.. we used our Spann lab resources very efficiently.. We shooted video on this occation.. we had cat walk on the stage when all junta went to have dinner.. those are memorable moments.. We made a new trend of boys reading girls profiles.. Kalyan read Suji's profile followed by Sridhar who read Namita's profile. Suji & Namita were so happy about their profiles.. I am eagerly waiting for the video.. here are their profiles.. go through them for fun..

• Namita
• Sujatha
  

Proper IITian!!

Now I became proper IITian.. full "lukkagiri" till 3:00-4:00am. Getting up at 12:30pm in the morning (you are right it is afternoon ;)). Not doin project work at all.. 3-4 weeks have passed since I saw my guide last time.. no mails from him/me. Full orkutting, chatting, writing profiles for valfi.. enjoyin parties.. attending valfis.. this is how I am leadin my life these days.. Sometimes getting fear when I recall about my project.. did nothing till now... Neway.. I hope that I will come come on track soon..

Busy bee!!

For last 3 days, I was hectic with different activities. 8th April is Suji's birthday... We celebrated her b'day in our SPANN lab. It was one of the memorable b'day that we celebrated in our comm batch.. we shooted video as well.. Sridhar did very well in this regard. The thing is we used videocam of our lab ;-). Hope we will have the same enthu and enjoyment in upcoming b'days.. whoz b'day is next ?? Yah! its Omkar.. next Raju.. Yeah! you are right its me!!! These are the end days of my IIT life.. passing time with lots of enjoyments... with out worrying about project work... I am literally doing nothing.. Sumo (guide) become very busy these days with his two courses and of course with his new marriage life.. Before Suji's b'day, I was busy in writing profiles of Suji & Namita with Sridhar & Kalyan.. I didn't expect that we will write such lengthy profiles.... I will post after their Valfi. Suji gave her b'day treat in Chakra restaurant in Sakenaka. The party was awesome with delicious course.. We enjoyed it.. and after that ice creams at Naturals.. I ate two icreams.. God is really great.. no no.. man is really great he made ice cream.. sorry.. Naturals shope wala is great.. such a tasty onces. Sunday I was busy with my TA duty.. Now I should stop writing this and do my project..

Saffron Spice!

Today Kalyan, Prasad, Sridhan & I went to Pizza hut... Actually, we wanted to know the price range of Saffron spice which is above Pizza hut here to have Sujatha's b'day treat. We got an idea.. that to go and order something light and meanwhile have a look on menu. We didn't expect initially that it is too costly for our budget.. in fact, non of us had sufficient money even to go Pizza hut (our bank ATM was not working..) but we thought that debit cards are accepted in big stalls.. the entrance of saffron spice itself gave us a shock by a transparent lift and music coming from pub.. After goin through the menu, we were puzzled what to order as the coffee was not listed in menu and we don't know the price.. remaining items were too coastly... We thought of leaving out by just drinking water.. but the waiter has already come.. so finally we ordered one coffee hoping that it won't cost too much.. So many high class people were around.. we were embrassed as we just order one coffee for Sridhar and remaining were sitting idle and just tasted the water.. Actually, we were not sitting idle but lookin around the colors.. :-)This was the final bil.. without even giving any tip, we left that to taste delicious pizzas..

H6 Valfi..

VALFI.. the so called valedictory function in our IIT was held yesterday for Hostel 6 passing out junta. Sridhar & Amit are the two graduating students from our comm group from H6. So continuing the tradition of Valfi, we wrote the profiles for both of them. Omkar read Amit's profile followed by Amit who read Sridhar's profile. Amit looked embrassed when his profile readin was goin on.. Sridhar was in good mood that he performed few steps for the song "kajarare kajarare.." The dinner was not upto the expectations.. but we enjoyed togethter.. with photo sessions in between.

I have the profiles of both of them.. you can just go through them for fun..

• Sridhar
• Amit
  

3 DAYS NOTES

I have come across a poster while traveling in Mumbai local train. We were going to watch a movie "Sri Ramadasu".
The Advertisement was "3 DAYS NOTES". The notes to pass X and XII class (Maharastra state board) just by 3 days reading... I had some thought for a while.. how our education system is getting worst day by day.. People don't realise the importance of learning.. they just mug up things, come out and struggle in life for jobs.. The problem is with the examination system itself. They don't really test the candidate understanding of subject.. If the same question like "find the factors of 8x^2-2x+3" repeats exactly with coefficients 8, -2, 3.. candidate tries to mug up the steps but don't understand the procedure to solve the problem. The question paper should be set to test the subject but not the mugging skills.. The government and education department should have an eye in these matters.. The parents, teachers should explain the importance of actual learning by examples to the students so as to discourage them to think about this kind of notes. Then only our education can be strong and our next generation can stand in top level on global village platform.

Trip to Shirdi & Nashik..

Our Comm group has planned for a trip to Shirdi & Nashik for 2 days.. out of 11, only 6 of us were ready for that.. so finally we started on Thursday night. We catched a bus from our main gate itself. I passed most of my journey time by talking with prasad. We had wide range of topics for discussions.. As the bus started lately, we missed early morning aarathi at Shirdi.. but still had good darshan. Shirdi is not new for me. I have been to there for thrice before. So I could identify the places to visit.. We went to Shani singinapur from Shirdi. Shani singinapur is famous for god Shani. we all surprised after knowing about puja material prices (Rs. 150/- just for few flowers and a coconut). The vendors are doing bad business by the name of god.. We didn't like that.. I wonder why government don't interfere in this matters and regularize things.. if not the government, some temple authorities should come ahead and look over the matters.. It was hell kind of thing when we were walking with out cheppals on a road in a hot summer afternoon.. we had to wear a doti with out shirt to visit the god.

We left Shirdi to Nashik on the same day. We visited Panchavati in Nashik. It is said that Lord Rama had used Five trees for identification of Sita's Gumpha. Sita's Gumpha was amazing.. We need to go inside the Gumpha to visit the gods... There were so many other places in and around Nashik which signifies Ramayana.. We have visited Kalaram mandir etc. We hired an auto for visiting all those temples.. 6 of us were tightly packed in side auto and enjoyed the journey.. Nahshik is also famous for Kumbhamela.. We stayed in Hotel Padma in the night.. and had a delicious dinner at Hotel Priya.

Next day, we hired TATA Eno for entire day trip. Triambakeswar was the first place to go in the morning. We had holy dip in the water near by temple. There is one Jyothirlinga out of 12 in total across the world in Triambakeswar. The temple was built in 1755. Very old and beautiful temple. Only people with doti (of course males ;-)) are allowed to touch the linga. So we purchased dotis and pandey helped us to wear it. It was a good experience. After that place, we visited Someshwar. After this straight away we went to Bhandaradara with lots of expectations.. This was the bad part of our journey.. we went to that place in wrong time.. The place is very beautiful in rainy season.. but in summer, there were no water falls.. we could do nothing but just enjoy in boating in dam water. As Prasad and I learned swimming, we enjoyed swimming as well. The car has dropped us in Kasara which is around 120kms from Mumbai. But suburban local trains are available from that place. We were back to IIT by 9:00pm. Totally, we enjoyed this trip.

April Fooooool !!

Today, I was fooled by Namita & Sridhar.. I can say.. I was fooled partially... but the plan was good.. Namita planned everything.. Sridhar pretended as if he is a girl. I didn't recognize his tone but was sure that it is a male voice. But still I was fooled. Anyway.. next year, I must be careful and more over, I should plan some thing to fool them ;-)

Dejavu!!

I recalled Aus Vs SA match incident after watching my last(I am going to pass out this year) PAF today . Because I didn't think that I might see a better PAF again after Aman Bagh [like Aus hit 434]. It was great and just unbelivable. Awesome play by H1,9,11 students. PAF Just rejuvenated itself, I think, by scrutinizing the most important issue at hand for whole IITB community, PAF has been used as a platform, never used before as far as I remember!!!! Everything was in it. God humour, flawless execution, good choreos.. perfectly handled the situation. Prod was looking so real, that coffee shack, for a moment I thought, was the
real one. The theme was about life at IIT.
The other side of story is that I watched this PAF in worst conditions.. I was late with my friends as we went Pizza hut.. So didn't find place and sat on floor just near the stage. It was a different experience....

Bhushan, Kalyan, me & Prasad.. after watching PAF.
PDV has captured us with his digicam..

ASOC Grade I license !

I appeared for ASOC Grade I exam to get license for operation of HAM Radio. After many days, I have seen the sunlight ;). Got up early at 7:30am. The radio theory practice section was so easy for me as I am from background of Electronics. Morse code sending/receiving exams were also fine. In fact, the sending test was so funny. They asked to send two people at a time simultaneously. Hopefully, I should get the license in 6 months. What to do man.. government system.. very slow.. :(.

Yahooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

My yahoo account was blocked yesterday. I was helpless.. May be, someone might have hacked my password and changed it. I wrote to Yahoo customer care and got amazing response from them, which I never expected. This is the last mail from them.

From: Yahoo! Account Services

Reply-To: Yahoo! Account Services

To: P L S S S N Raju

Date: Mar 24, 2006 12:12 AM

Subject: Re: Feedback - Why doesn't my password work?

Hello,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Account Services.

You will only be able to receive a new password if you still have access
to the alternate email address i.e. 'xxx@xyz.xv' currently
listed on the account. If you are still able to access this account,
please reply to this email and let us know. We will then be able to
issue you a new password.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Customer Care.

Regards,

Lee

Yahoo! Customer Care

For assistance with all Yahoo! services, please visit:

http://help.yahoo.com/

New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - better than ever!



Original Message Follows:
-------------------------

Dear yahoo customer care,

I am experiencing problems in login to my yahoo account from
yesterday. I am not able to login. I haven't changed my password. I
mailed you twice with the information that you have requested. First
time, you replied saying that the alternate email address
information is not matching. I have created this account 4-5 years
back. I have sent the information again.. what ever I can
recall.. so fortunately, the detail for alternate email address was
correct.
Second time you replied me aking the secret question.
The question is "xxxxxxxxxxxx"
Before writing to you, I tried to recover my password using the
"forgot my password" option in yahoo login page.

I have entered the details.. Of course, I was asked the same secret
question. As I have created it long back, I didn't remember the answer
I gave during my registration. So I was not able to get my password
back.
I may have given the answer as dog. But not sure.

please help me in this regard. I agree that you will protect security
and privacy of the accounts.. hence you verify all these questions. Is
there no other way that I get back my account ?? All my contacts &
yahoo groups
are in this account. Please understand my situation.

The thing is I didn't change the password. But still not able to
login. I don't know why you have blocked my account. I wouldn't have
forgotten my answer for secret question. But please help me.

1. Yahoo! ID: xxxxxxx
2. Date of birth (mm-dd-yyyy) xxxxxxxx
3. ZIP/Postal Code xxxxxxx
4. Country xxxxxxxx
5. Alternate (non-Yahoo!) email address that we currently list
This I forgot..
I did not give any alternate email address during registration.
If I changed it later on, I guess, it should be either
xxxxx@asdas.cas or xysd@asdfss.sdfd

6. Your new alternate email address, if it needs to be updated (please
note, this cannot be a Yahoo! Mail address)


7. Secret Question and Answer
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ?
I am helpless.. I forgot this too..

Please asist me in this regard..


- Raju.

Aman Bagh..

Aman Bagh.. today's PAF name. wonderful performance by H6, H13, H10 and Tansa. One should witness it. This is one of the best PAFs I have seen.. nice choreo.. gr8 voiceovers... lovely acting.. realistic scenes.. It was just like a movie kinda experience. The story was about communal riots between hindus and muslims. From the begining itself, this PAF has dragged the attention of audience by showing wonderful sets. In my opinion, this PAF should get first prize this year. Good thing is that Sridhar is involved in this PAF. He played Violin for background music.

Lunch parties!!

Back to blogs after 3 days! In fact, I would have written yesterday about our visit to Jayalaxmi madam's house. She is a PhD student in our lab. Had a great lunch at her home. People ate such an amount that they were not able to walk at all ;). I enjoyed the homely food. And today, Prof. Sumantra has invited us for lunch at his home at 1pm. Sujatha was missing among us. This is second time we were invited for lunch. The special occation is his marriage with Srodda. We enjoyed the food here as well. I recollected last time pulav.. when I saw pulav today.. Same one stuffed with heavy dry nuts.. was really yummy. We were there till 8:30pm. We had wide range of topics for discussions.. Srodda is very talkative.. Depak & Sumantra told their incidents in SPANN lab..

After dinner, I went to SAC to enjoy PAF (Performance Art Festival). The story was a bit boaring about Tajmahal... but the performance was really good. The sets were nice.. After PAF, watched the movie "Anukokunda oka roju".... Done so many things today ;)

HOLIday HoliDAY!!

Its second and final HOLI in IIT. Like last year, I sacrified my T-shirt. Of course.. there should be some improvement over last year... so my friends didn't even left pants.. Altogether, this holi is another memorable one. Enjoyed coloring faces of fellow frnzs. This year, we walked up to girlz hostel.. there we played with Sujatha, Namita & Radha.. I tried a lot to apply color on Vamshi (was my btech classmate as well).. but that fatso didn't open door at all.. Now while writing this blog, the holi in my btech days is goin like a movie in my mind.. how we used to play with eggs.. I missed all those frnzs and days..

We were served a delicious lunch in our mess. Stuffed my stomach with that tasty food.. and had a nice sleep in the afty.. Again, in the night, our Comm batch went out for dinner at Akarshan. The food was damn good!! had a nice dinner..

I want to post last year photo as well..

Last year memories..... (Holi 2005)

Started HAMming again!!

After a long time, I started attending HAM class today. Our batch is planning to give exam on 27th of this month for HAM license. As there is a long gap, I didn't performed well in listening excercise :(. I have to practice a bit. I resumed swimming after 4-5 days (stopped bcoz of fever). Good that I am slowly increasing the time to spend on project. One more thing is Sumantra has invited us for lunch at his home on 18th.

I am sleeping for more hours daily... I wake up in the afternoon daily.. this is really bad.. As I am starting project again, I have to reduce my sleeping hours.. otherwise it is difficult to manage everything.. reading books, swimming, HAM etc. Currently I am reading "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking.

Three world records in a single day!! Well done SA!!!

Wow!! Amazing performance by SA against Australia in today's one day international cricket match at Johannesburg (SA). It can't be described in words the way South Africans played today.. Awesome performance!! Australia put a huge scrore of 434 in front of SA. Indeed this was a world record of highest score in one day matches. Really difficult to acheive!! But, the SA succeed in chasing this big total (scored 438) only because of their team spirit and positive attitude which I admire a lot... I watched the part of SA innings at Garry's Menu restaurant (in HN) along with my friends. We (I, Sri, Namita, Prasad, Sujatha, Kalyan and Pandey) went for dinner there. Initially, we were confused about the place.. but finally decided to go Garry's Menu. Infact, it was the good decision (Aur kahin jaate to match dekhne ko nahi milata na :D).. We enjoyed having a very good starters and average main course along with 4s and 6s of SA's players.. Again.. I was in miserable condition when all were planning about Naturals (Ice cream shope) :(. Helpless man! I really controlled my heart.. :((. I couldn't do any thing else than just to select Choco almond flavour for next time.. Of course, definitely, I will have more than one but this is compulsary flavour :D.


Before going to Hiranandani, We visited Kaladarshan, an art exbhition by IITians in Gulmohar Building... Really great art... Even Vasanth has added few of his photos in photo section.. While watching those photographs, I thought of buying a digicam as soon as possible.. The modern art was also good.. Worth watching them.. I gave some thought about my drawing while watching land scape shading paintings.. Why am I not making any drawings these days.. I should have improved it if I continued.. At least, I must find some time after I join in Sarnoff ;). Altogether, a good show by "Rang" team..

Last but not least of today, I got an unexpected call from one of my old friend Purnachand (another intermediate friend). I felt happy that he called me today. We spoke each other after 6 years.. We recalled our classmates and discussed about our present lives.. He said he might shift to Banglore from hyderabad.. So I must meet him after I join in Sarnoff. We spoke for near about 35-40mins.

THE ALCHEMIST!

I have started and finished reading the book "THE ALCHEMIST".. which was presented by UBD yesterday. The book is really nice... I liked the way Paulo Coelho narrated the story of Santiago, a shepherd boy. Now I understood why this is the favorite book of UBD. The climax is really good.. It conveyed the power of dreams.. Even though the destiny of strange tribal man and the boy is same, it is the boy who ultimately succeded to reach it by realising the power of reccurent dreams..

My health is good today.. but still I m suffering from cold. I am thinking of visiting doctor tomorrrow. Let me see how things will go.. Today, I started my project again after long time. I have to stick to it..

Its Party time!!

I am so surprised to see hot sun today. Just yesterday it was like rainy day and today.. it is usual sunny day.. It is not a good sign. I am feeling much better than yesterday. Today we gave job treat in our SPANN lab. Finally Sumantra (My advisor) could manage to attend the party in Gulmohar along with her wife. We invited Prof. UBD, Prof. Merchant and others from our lab. It is really good to see everyone in our lab along with professors in such party kind of atmosphere. I can say that the party was a grand success even though 2/3 of total was present. Not surprisingly, party has started at 9:00pm (supposed to be started at 8:00pm) Indian timing man!! we have taken nice snaps with Vasanth's camera. The charge less batteries troubled us a bit.. but we managed by charging parellelly in Gulmohar :D. The best part is small presentation ceremony by UBD. We didn't expect this but he brought few presents for us who are graduating this year. He reminded of my admin work in lab while giving the present. I felt happy for recognizing my sysadgiri in lab. I forgot to say about the present. It is "THE ALCHEMIST" by Paulo Coelho, UBD's favourite one. I heard about this book but never come across. Just yesterday, I asked Vamshi about this book to read. But I couldn't find that time. Now I have to read this. Because of my seviour cold, I didn't eat ice cream today even though my heart was forcing me.. Next time in Natural's (ice cream shope) I must try 2-3 at once.. :D. Overall, all are happy with the party.

SPANNERs @ Gulmohar.

Fever day.. Holiday !!

What a weather! No one can expect this cool breeze in hot summer.. It looked like rainy season.. I switched off my fan.. Can we imagine a summer hot day with out a fan ? Suddenly the weather has changed.. and I got fever :D. So I didn't go lab today.. I spent all the day (like a holiday) in my room watching movies. In fact, It rained moderately all the day.. I enjoyed watching rain, the powai lake and the nature through my room window.. By the way, I didn't write about the movies I have seen.. first one is Crash (Paul Haggis). I selected this as it has got best picture oscar award in this year. It is drama kind of movie which depicts the current life in America with racial discrimination (black & while). It was a bit heavy for me.. Secound one is Cast away (Robert Zemeckis). Prasad advised me to watch this.. He watched it for secound time with me.. A nice movie.. I like the way Tom hanks tries to survive on a crashlanding island. Forgot about the good news.. Suji has got job in BHEL.. that too in hyd. So she has become first one to crack off campus job in our batch. Because of cold and fever, I didn't go lab to enjoy her ice cream and pizza party :((. But she promissed me a treat after I am alright... So I am praying god to take away my cold and fever soon.. :D.

Water Kingdom!!

I must have written this blog yesterday.. but helpless.. I was so tired after we were back from Water kingdom. Water kindom can be better described as a holiday spot.. where one can spend a day to have more fun and enjoyment.. atleast we had enjoyed than expected. Twelve of us left IIT in the morning from main gate and reached the place by 12:00pm I guess ( I don't have watch :)). The journey over sea by ferry from Gorai beach to the island was a nice experience. Even though I brought my slim digicam, it was of no use :( as we were in water most of the time, I didn't carry it.. The 5 sliders were the best part. We enjoyed a lot there. The yellow one was unforgettable one.. which is a long straight slider of 4 floor building height. I felt as if I was falling in the air.. but finally landed safely in water.. Initially I was scared to try that.. but finally joined my friends. Ohh forgot about Rain dancing.. all of us participated in it and enjoyed a lot. Shantanu and alok performed well in dancing.. I tried dancing by shaking legs and hands initially :).. but got some rhythm at the end. At the wave pool, we had good time.. as few of us know swimming, we reached the starting place of wave generation and jumped over the waves.. Altogether, We enjoyed the day at water kingdom and started at 6:00 in the evening to IIT. We recollected some of the best moments on our return journey.

No Titile :)

After a long time, I decided to post new topic here. In fact, it is the first one in my personal blog. I don't have anything to say specifically in my mind.. But still have some "enthu" to write here... Getting bore ? After reading these lines ? ok I will start..

These days I am enjoying my life.. What excatly the word "Enjoy" means ??
I always ask this question my self.. my mind gives me the answer that everyone has their own definition to it. In my last vacation, I have met my schoolmates after long time. We had a great fun time in a restaurant. Some of my friends have taken hard drinks. I refused to have it as I always do. According to their definition, going to a bar, having drinks, chatting with friends at that moment is a form of enjoyment..
I wonder why do people like to drink.. eventhough they know that it is harmful to health and reponsible for so many things.. They feel it as a symbol of status. I think movies are playing big role in encouraging students to habituate such kind of things (even cigerettes). Some of them feel these drinks improve their body physique. The movie actor (Salman Khan) was reponsible for few deaths..... this has happened when he drove his car after taking alchohol. I always try to warn my friends who take alchohol.. most of the cases they don't listen at me.. but I still try and try..
I think I have changed my track from enjoyment... So these guys (my schoolmates) felt that I don't enjoy and ony thing is I always read and read ( according to them people at IIT are like "muggers" and their own (my friend's) definition of enjoyment is only spending time in going bars, chit chat (useless discussions) while drinking and going to movies etc..). I feel that they should read "Five point some one" to know about IITians.. Of course, I don't take vodka ;). Neways, I don't have much time now.. I will continue this at some later point in time..