Wondering...

Well, all posts on blogspot are saved as .html If somehow I use the same title for another post, what happens then????
And till you brood over the matter, check out this site its cool:
World School Photographs

Cheers!!!

All India rank 3 and no admissions???

I know I had de-linked but this was too good an incident to be put off after the exams.
For those who came in late (and more so because of my narcissism), I took the GATE exams and secured all India rank 3.
With such high merit, even in the wake of the quota debacle, I could secure direct admission at such revered (ahem) college like IIT Bombay. And obviously my happiness knew no bounds when I saw my name on those offered direct admission, on IIT Bombay website (after days of postponing the display).
So out of all the modes available to pay the fees, I chose the easiest mode of sending a DD through speed post, which seemed hassle free. Or so I thought.
As the days went by, my I-got-admission-at-IIT-yey euphoria slowly gave way to why-haven't-they-sent-me-written-confirmation-yet worry. And under the impression of IIT being a very hi-tech institute, I sent in a few emails to the e-mail ids shown on the website. Few of the addresses bounced, the rest simply chose to ignore my mail. I felt the itch again, and sent the email to scores of other ids, with the same result.
Finally I decided to call (am a miser after all!!). After being directed to 3 different numbers, I got through. And imagine my shock when the lady at the other end says "Sorry, your DD has not been received here"!!
Blood drained from my face and I could only gasp. I asked, "what happens now", and the reply was a sugarcoated bullet "You give us the DD details and we will again go through the DDs received. However, if your DD is not there, your admission stands cancelled"!
Forget about being humble, I was a damn AIR 3!! How many times in IIT history has an AIR 3 been left without admission? Panic-stricken, I called dad and got the DD details and narrated the details to the lady in question. She politely asked me to call after 3 p.m.
I decided to check on the post office. After all, I still had their consignment number with me. There I was informed to inquire about the status on a couple of numbers. Calling them, in true government style, I was informed that the "server from Delhi has bogged down, so please call after 3"!
Undeterred I asked for their website and I got two! I went home and checked out both. One turned out to be a farce advertisement site, while the other hit the bull's-eye and I checked my consignment number. The site informed that my DD was delivered to IIT on 28th itself!!
Phew! I threw a slight sigh of relief and called IIT again at 3. And unsurprisingly, I was asked to call again at 5. I knew they were buying time, to think of a way to cover their own goof up. See, what they do, as the lady had told me earlier, was that whenever they receive any DD, they encircled the name of the sender in a list. That's how they would know who has sent in his/her fees or not. Apparently they had forgotten to encircle my name. I know it seems a very crude method, but that's what they have adopted.
I called again at 5, was told to wait and I listened to an awkward silence lasting 5 whole minutes. My STD bill was scaling new heights, as I hung up and called again. Again the same thing. Finally on the third call, the lady answered the call and informed me "we just received your DD. Your Admission is confirmed". Boy I felt relieved. I knew they were just saving face by that excuse. But who cares?!! I got admitted!
But a small doubt still lingered. I asked whether there was any problem since they had received my DD on that day, supposedly, while the last day for sending fees was already history. Thankfully there was none. How could there be, it was their goof up!!
In spite of the verbal confirmation, I asked my cousin there in Mumbai to verify it in person. The ordeal ended successfully with his confirmation.
If this is the amount of hassle I faced during admissions, I just wonder what will happen during my 2 years there!! I have kept all my fingers as well as arms crossed!! Hopefully, rather certainly, the faculty will be much much better than their admission staff.
Cheers!!!

De-linking for now...

Exams coming near. And extreme situations demand extreme measures. So I am withdrawing from the blog for a few days. Pray for me!
Cheers!!

Another arm up my sleeve!!!

Well i was rummaging through a 1983 book of science fiction lists (man!! People can get to writting anything to see their name in print!!) and stumbled upon a list of silly weapons compiled by a looney. A few examples, which I am copying from the book, nearly verbatim:
1. The swordbroad : Invented by tribe of male chauvinists, this armament consisted of a wife gripped by the ankles and whirled like a frail (warriors made frequent jocular allusion to the sharp cutting edge of their wives' tongue)
2. The rotator : A handgun in which bullets are designed to revolve as well as rotate, presenting an approximately equal chance of suicide!
3. The bullista : Weapon of admittedly limited range which attempted to sow confusion among the enemy by firing live cows into their midst, placing them upon a dilemma of the horns!!
4. The arbalust : Modification of bullista, which sought to demoralise and distract the enemy by peppering their encampments with pornographic pictures and literature - yet another dilema of the horns
5. The dogapult : Self-explanatory
6. The slingshit : Again self-explainatory

Can anyone top this list????? Something like chilled urino-cola or collecting hordes of mother-in-laws and sending them there??? Haha... Suggestions invited!!!

Cheers!!

About cell-phone operators

Summers present a good opportunity to think about irrelevant and trivial issues, as if not solving them would lead to another apocalypse (the first was the inaugration of a college on the outskirts of Ahmedabad). And staring into the sky (after cutting out from the view, the green plant-nets that we have put up on the terrace) and trying to assure myself that the hot breeze will soon give way to a cool zephyr, I heard a beep-beep. Message. Checking it out, I found that it was an sms from my cell-operator saying I had a missed-call.
My point is, since they have already "wasted" their resources by sending an sms stating I had x number of miss calls, couldnt they be more customer-friendly by sending the numbers in the sms itself?? It would cost them the same, and would rather create goodwill with the customer. Or is it that they have become so blind in their race to offer cheap talktime that they are resorting to the most "cheap" methods to collect revenue?
And just a few minutes ago, I had the message again. The point is, when my mobile wasn't switched off right now, why didnt I recieve the call? Why does the server have to notify me about the missed-call, instead? Somethings fishy about this business.
Cheers!!!

Monkeyed...

Having a sister who volunteers at the Animal Help Fondation can be an interesting experience. Right now I am sharing my home with a dog, a parakeet, and two little monkey-cubs. One is about 1.5 months old, the other 3 months, both having lost their mothers. This 3 months old kid has started jumping in true monkey style (duh!) The other day, I was arm-twisted into watching over the elder monkey while my sister changed the others' nappy for the umpteenth time.
So I put two chairs facing each other and let the langur loose on them. So it starts jumping from one chair to another, without a break. Infants need little exercise before sleep captivates them. And few minutes into the jumping marathon, this kid starts having its bouts of bleariness. And then an amazing thing happens. Instead of stopping to doze off, like any intelligent forefather of the neanderthal man would do, this monkey keeps jumping while yawning and keeping its eyes open only momentarily.
And just when I was going to denounce it as stupid, a thought flashed in my mind. Think about it. We run from college to home, back and forth, and what initiative have we taken to learn new stuff? How many times have we worked on solving math problems without knowing why are we doing it? Isn't there a parallel between the monkey's acrobatics and the rut we have fallen into? Aren't we ourselves sleeping while hopping from one place to another?
Yeah yeah I know some of us do take initiatives and it sounds cliched. But think about the precentage of the Leanardo-da-vincis of all population.
Nope, I am not going to denounce the monkey kid as stupid anymore.
Cheers!!!

A Paradox??

Come to think of it. I have power to make you do, exactly what I want you to do. How?
Well, this is my command : "DONT DO AS I COMMAND"

Either way you are doing exactly what I want you to do, right??? Think about it... Haha

Cheers!!!

googled!!!

Was just wondering... when we had C programming as a subject in our college, we tried making different programs. One of them was a program to search a particular word in a sentence. And God! It was tough. Plus it was slow. Now try searching for something on google. The probable time for listing a million sites is about 0.2 seconds! And staring agape into the eyes of the million lightyears difference between our and google's algorithm, I coudnt help wonder whether what we learn or use in college is pre-historic. Think about it. To scan millions of websites in the time taken by sound to reach 3 times the length of a cricket pitch, calls for a genius algorithm, besides high processing speed. Hats of to the google geniuses!!
Cheers!!!

Check this out...

It is a rare ability to notice finer points in life and remember them while writting the blog. Its even rarer to present them in a very humorous way. Lovers of this kinda work may find themselves in a goldmine while visiting the blog of Mr. Oskar Whateverbox here Haha. Really check it out... It's worth the effort!!!
Cheers!!!

Instinctively thinking....

If you know me, you would agree that I am not the kind of person who would accept the existence of God, nor the one who would shove away the idea in some far-away corners of time, never to be debated upon again. However there have been some experiences which have left me a bit perplexed by it all.
Every morning I have a routine. After my Internet session, morning calls and reading the cartoons of Ahmedabad Times, I take my old dog out for a walk. There is a railway line nearby, surrounded on each side by vast lands, which are littered by the refuses left by many. Unfortunately my dog has taken a liking to the agonising smells or perhaps he feels the movement in his bowels only when he sniffs the stench. Either way, I have to walk him through that land everyday. It takes a good 15 minutes which gives me enough time to brood and observe around, besides trying not to land on the landmine-like poops. A few stray cattle always wander around the blessed land, along with few packs of cowardly dogs.
The other day I noticed a cow (No I wasn't changing my preferences from girls to animals). She was fair, the one who is invariably named "bhuri". She had a bead necklace, or should I say, headlace, tied around her forehead, around her horns. This made her look cute and I couldn't help ponder over it. Normally I don't focus on the many cows and dogs around, but this one somehow caught my fancy. And I returned after watching her chew her food as if someone had surreptitiously passed her a chewing gum.
The next day I went for the walk, and found the same cow dead. Right in front of the railway lines with her stomach ballooned up and the stench of death filling the air.
A similar thing happened few months ago with a dog. Now I am not Satan, nor do I have a cursed eye, that kills anyone who manages to catch my sight. Neither am I superstitious, nor am I person who takes sadistic pleasures in seeing dead animals (of course if the animals are the top brasses of our college, its a different matter altogether). But I cant help wonder why was it that I was unconsciously forced to stop and watch these animals a day prior to their demise, and find something peculiar about them which I could not put a finger on. I wonder what forced me to think about them at all, and notice them. Is there some kind of a mental communication, or an unseen and undiscovered form of waves passing from one living organism to another, which I failed to understand properly? Or is it that I focus on all, but tend to remember them only when they are dead!!!
People call it instinct. Many times we look at a stranger and feel reserved about that person. More often than not our "instincts" are proved correct. Its an amazing ability to know a great deal about anything with just a glimpse. But the question is, what is the reason behind these instincts? I am a great believer in instincts and the best form of theory that I can come up with is that you and your behaviour reflects your thoughts and your past. The subtle nuances of a person's behaviour might seem inconspicuous to the conscious eye, but our brain immediately registers the tics and presses the defence mechanisms. Now it seems fairly correct, but the question still remaining is how does the brain know what signals are bad and what signals are good?
Well, for the time being, I don't think I will have the answer. But it sure will make me a bit nervous and thinking, if any being catches my sight near the railway lines again.
Or maybe I will just take my dog on another trail!!!
Cheers!!!

Chernobyl update...

Chernobyl updates...Reading the last few issues of the Reader's digest, I came upon an article on Chernobyl. Accordingly I have to add a few points to my previous post. Chernobyl happened due to following reasons :
1. The reactor was initially meant for military purpose, but was put into commercial power production by the higher "powers"
2. It was started even before its commissioning period was over.
3. No safety checks were made, nor were any doctors trained in radioactivity on site.
4. The whole building was constructed hap-hazardly and in a frenzy.
A school of thought believe the number of deaths was less than 50. Another school believes that the effects of radiations are only now surfacing in children. Either way it is hard to predict how many deaths are direct results of radiations.

My point still remains validated. USSR in those days, and even today to some extent, was a country of immense knowledge-pool. The number of Ph.D. holders per capita was, and probably is, higher in Russia then elsewhere. We all have referred Russian books on engineering and know how thorough and proficient they are in every field. And it is also a common knowledge that communists usually take the best of the brains in their military. If such a strong nation in terms of science, can make such a grave mistake of mis-treating science for the cause of politics, isnt there a chance of atleast one of the many nations proclaiming nuclear power, lose its sense and cause destruction? The fat and slim boys wrecked havoc in 2 cities, but today the nuclear weapons are capable of destroying huge chunks of a nation before you can say "I love Amrita Rao". Accordingly, is it still acceptable to deal with nuclear threats every other day? And as I had mentioned earlier in my other post, its not just the chernobyls. Take Bhopal Gas tragedy, kargil wars, vietnam, Twin towers, Pentagon, etc. How many setbacks are we to suffer, before we can pull ourselves out of this political drama and tread on a path of cautious scientific advancement, with priority given to life as a whole, of all living beings? Time to respect science once again?

Cheers!!!

The farewell which didn't fare so well...

We just had our farewell. I heard people say they had mixed feelings then... The only feeling I came back with, from the event, was slight confusion. With a tinge of disappointment. Okie, not just a tinge, but a whole "tange" of disappointment.
When I entered college (No I am not speaking verbatim from the speeches of many on the dais yesterday) I had a vague idea of what the farewell might be. I had confused convocation with farewell, though even today I don't see why they should be any different. And the bubble burst in the 2nd year when I came to know that we aren't going to wear any black gowns (whatever they are called) with a hat on top, promenading through swarms of eager and happy parents and teachers onto the dais and stuff. Well, so long to convocation.
But farewell, I knew we would have. Two in fact. One organized by the college (i.e. yesterday's function) and one organized by our juniors (the lazy idiots still cannot come to terms with their responsibility of throwing us a grand farewell party, the way we threw their fresher's bash) And running through newspapers and the internet and reading other people's experiences, I thought it will be a "zara hatke" experience, with lots of fun, dance, laughter, food, girls, shows, felicitations, etc.
And how did the event fare in those terms? Well, we were made to sit in a hall, which didn't sound very bad, considering that the mercury outside was giving threats to the CNN tower, already hovering around 45 degrees mark. Thank Claude and Linde for the air conditioner. So far so good.
And then it starts.
Some people from our batch were rounded up to give their feedback, supposedly on behalf of their branches. As usual, they took it personally and went on describing how they have rummaged through the four years, accomplishing this and that, with very few talking on behalf of the whole class. An exception being the speaker from our branch, who lived up to many expectations from the mechanical junta. Some of his comments left a clear sarcastic feel in the chilled air, and was lauded by all mech de latthe. But such orations were rare. I tried enjoying the event by playing a game. Me and my friends were to rate each speech given by fellow students on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being most honest, 10 being the most sycophantic. But after scores of 8, 25 and 99, I understandably gave up. On a plus point, some people tried to be different. An orator made sure our juniors will have a nightmare soon, when he advised about organizing a weeklong yoga and spiritual workshops, purely because the management devils will make it a compulsion instead of a voluntary workshop. But, can't really blame the students for their un-candidness. Who all can speak against the autocracy?. One couple even tried to enact a cross between a drama and speech and what not. Needless to say, they failed miserably and half the audience hid their faces in embarrassment. Well, the farewell had begun!! And the events so far only made me feel happier about it.
If the speeches by fellow students were boring enough (can't blame them though), the ones following them, from the "higher authorities" were lessons in crappy-crap themselves! After being described as "raw material" for a "chemical reaction" lasting four years, with the help of "catalysts" to form "products" of Nirma University, I could only wonder why most people use Nirma powder for cleaning toilets. Initially I liked the "chemical" speech, purely because it threw open the gates of laughter, even though sarcastic. But later, as I came to know that the HOD in question gave the same speech innumerable times at various events in the last year or so, I could only be amused about the hollowness of it all. Our boss didn't disappoint us. After being received by a standing ovation from the mech junta (who else can muster the courage to do so?), he went on his usual drab reminders about life. As I said, he didn't disappoint us. And the biggest boss, the head of them all, hasn't still figured out that on farewell, you are not supposed to deliver a presentation on motivational books, specially with completely unrelated animations picked from the many forwarded emails on friendships and life. It wasn't amusing to read Henry Thoreau besides an animation of a rabbit jumping around, at the same time being stretched. Accolades to the lack of imagination. And in between the speeches, were the worthless commentaries from the comperes. The guy couldn't help but crack non-humorous jokes (he seemed to have a congenital humor deficiency) and the girl couldn't help start laughing at every little whisper from the audience. They sure made up an interesting pair. Imagine our delight when the doors of the chilled auditorium were opened to let us out in the sweltering heat outside. At least we were spared from further oratory tortures.
Our hopes were still high, since we were promised food. But it was hardly a feast. It was the only time in my life, that I had a "limited" chhole puri dish, and "unlimited" gulab jamuns. Another innovation from the authorities. I wonder if it came from the ever-so-advertised NirmaLabs! "Food" for thought???
The last, but the most "face"-saving event was the photo-session. Thankfully the dictators only had to sit and smile along with us, leaving no room for further mis-adventures in management. And we strolled back to the bus-depot.
It isn't a wonder why I had no sad or happy feelings on farewell. In fact, I didn't even realize it is the end of 4 years. It was business as usual, the same crappy stuff from the college stables. And I walked back, with neither grief nor happiness in my heart. I did feel slightly sad when we mech-de-latthe were alone, after finishing submissions, walking through the various "ad-daas" we used for the 4 years, merrily clicking away photographs. But other than that, I have felt nothing special.
I am sure I will miss the college, maybe just the friends and our times together. But the farewell event surely postponed the sinking-in of the feeling by a couple of years or so. Well, after all, it was a fare well which didn't fare so well!!
Cheers!!!

Anti-anti-Gujarat-waves...

Today there was an encroachment drive going on at Baroda. We all know the nuisance caused by structures, be they religious or otherwise, created in the middle of the road. 20 temples and 2 dargaas were razed. Surely all of you will thus agree that there was nothing communal about the drive. Yet we witnessed a near-riot. Was the fury of the mob justified? No. They were given enough chance in last month, and even the court had supported the drive.
But that isnt the major issue. THe real issue is the negative propoganda of the news channels regarding the unfortunate event. Expressions describing the event as gory, inhumane and "typical of Gujarat" were doing the rounds. Time and again we have witnessed such sensationalism in the media.
At Dora in Kashmir, 22 people were killed by terrorists. They belonged to a wedding party. Now see the news coverage. Much lesser than the "bad boy Gujarat". Havent we witnessed this partiality earlier too?
Friends, is there an anti-Gujarat wave going around? If I were to answer that, it would be affirmative. You can take this issue, or Narmada issue or whatever other issue. Gujarat has done the best rehabilitation program for oustees in Narmada project, and it has been acclaimed by many professional bodies. Yet its always Gujarat who is made to look out as a devil. Why? Just because we have a better industrial growth rate than most other states? Is it because we have one of the highest per capita incomes in the country? Is it because Gujarat is the safest place in India, for women and children alike? Or is it because other states dont have the capacity to match our development speed?
Just think.
Jai Gujarat.
Cheers!!!