duffer's space

News: The Fast and Spurious

2011-09-26T05:27:00.000-07:00

"Ashwani Kumar Gupta, 38, a truck driver died in Chandauli on Monday morning after being brutally assaulted by an official of the regional transport office (RTO)."
(link)

"Anant Lal Gupta (50), a native of Kaushambi district, was allegedly beaten to death at around 5 AM by some members of the RTO staff, Superintendent of Police Shalabh Mathur, "
"RTO Department took the vehicle for weighing at the weighing centre and found that the truck was not overloaded, but demanded Rs 1,000."
(link)

Truck driver Anant Kumar Gupta was in his way from Delhi to Bihar with a consignment of medicines when he was stopped by Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials and five UP Police constables at Naubatpur in Chandauli.
s.

His crime: Refusing to pay Rs 5000 as bribe.

(link)

same views..different news.
Word to "journalists" reporting: Get your facts first. Its not just important to deliver the news, but to deliver the right news.

9/11 India.

2011-09-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

Today, as the world remembers an event that changed the course of history, a thought occurred to me. I'll go that thought later, but did the 9/11 attack on the twin towers in a city in the USA change the course of history? Saying that it changed the course of history would not be an understatement, as it gave the USA all right and reason to launch an attack on any of the Islamic countries on pretext of "peacekeeping" "protecting democracy ", "war on terror" and other fancy colourful diplomatic reasons.

So coming back to the thought that occurred to me was: What would have happened that if a similar thing had happened in India? (not that incidents in similar colour have not occurred ). How would we have reacted? Would the changing governments pursued the military forces and energies to hunt down one person? Would our governments levy higher taxes so that they could find this one person? But then our country does not need such reasons to put the nation's people under more financial trouble.

And by some bleak, unfortunate co-incidence and to utter embarrassment, if Mr. Laden would have managed to be captured at the hands of the Indian Afro-American Ops, (i.e Indian Black Ops), then what? What would our government do? The seeing the 'treatment' given to Mr.Kasab, question is not that difficult to address. Mr.Laden captured from his abode would have been brought to the country under heavy security which would even put the Mrs. Patil's security arrangement to shame. Then he would be taken to some suitable confinement, like a luxurious room in one of the Arthur Road or Tihar Jail, where Mr. Laden would have been given nothing less that a free of cost (not exactly free, since someone is paying, the tax-payers, being in this case. ) best security, best food and care to cater all his needs. After months of news coverage and miles of newsprint, the government would put him on trial and he would have been tried for his crimes, and Mr. Jethmalani would have jumped to this opportunity to grab some limelight by offering his services to defend Mr.Laden. Another 6-7 years would have gone with the case being postponed, failing witnesses, not enough supporting conclusive evidence, doubts on whether the person captured is Mr.Laden himself, regular sickness and failing health of Mr.Laden making him unavailable to be present in the courts, misleading evidences and hundreds of other reasons, the case would have gone no forward then the first day when the trial would have been started. Finally due to old age and nature taking its toll, Mr.Laden would have been admitted to the ICU of a Kokilaben Hospital amidst highest security where he would live his last days.

A confused fanatic

2010-01-25T04:54:00.000-08:00

i hope that this is not my last post. Recollecting the fates of the people who tried to raise their voice against stupidity and irrational thoughts, the only hope for me is that this little blog is not as popular or as penetrative as the other mediums have been. Anything said against them is not just hushed or sidelined, but it is brutally taken out of the picture, never to raise its voice again.

For a person who started his career as a cartoonist expressing anti-migrant sentiments, and has held that view all his life, supported it, raised voice against it, fought for it, made people fight for it, should be empathising when someone else shows similar sentiments for their home-town. First he raged attacks on the Dravidians, then the Aryans, and mind well they were still his countrymen. It really amuses me and boils my blood at the same time when this same fellow then says that the Australian cricketers should be not allowed to enter the country if one is proud of his country and has an ounce of patriotism left in him.

If he feels the anit-migrant feeling he shows are justified, then what the Australians are doing is no different, maybe the degree of displaying hatred maybe not that 'subtle'. I am not trying to justify Australians attacking indians, what irks me is the hypocrisy of this orange coloured mastiff. While doing no real progressive work, all they stand for is against something. Against Tamils, against non-marthi speaking people, against journalists not favouring them, against Muslims, against chirstians, against the cuddling couples, against liberalisation, against the north indians, and now , taking their hatred regime across the international boundaries to Australia. It is like, they are looking for opportunities and situations where they can say, "we oppose this".

For someone who's notions on patriotism and nation pride are obscured, is in no position to patronize it. What they(he and is army) stand for, is someting i don't understand, and sometimes i feel they themselves are not sure.

one of the best reviews i read..

2009-09-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

(this is from urban dictionary )
Cathcer

Catcher in the Rye is about some phony named Holden Caulfield. He goes around talking to kids and trying to give girls the time. That kills me. And he always talks about his dead brother and how great his goddam sister is and all. I think he's some big phony. He's always talking about how annoying everyone else is and how he wants to save kids and run away to live in the goddam woods, but he does the same thing everyone else does. I get quite a bang out of that. He'll probably be the kind of guy who always talks about how many miles he gets in his goddam car. What a phony. He's probably flitty. I mean he can never get really sexy with a girl. You know, really sexy. I can be very sexy sometimes. Women kill me. Anyway, he really drove me crazy while I was reading all about him, but after a while I started to miss him. You know, how when you have to shoot the crap with some phony about how they want to run off and live in the woods, but then you don't see them for a few weeks and you start to think what a nice guy they are. You probably don't understand. You're probably the kind of guy who posts stuff you think is funny on some phony website. Like that Oscar Wilde phony. That kills me. It really does. Reminds me of a phony I once knew, some mac who just came up with fake quotations nobody really give a damn about. It was a sad occurence though, it really was. You know the part that really got me. The part that sometimes he was actually funny. Stuff like that always kills me. ...

(captured the essence and the flavour of the book!)

Happy Blah Blah Day

2009-08-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

happy fathers day
happy mothers day
happy friendship day
happy womens day
happy valentines day
happy doctors day
happy wot-not day

Marketing scams!.. big marketing scams.. The only people who make us remember that these days are important days in our lives are the people on T.V , media, people selling pizzas, movies, greeting cards, ice creams, chocolates, and other such accessories which on any other day would seem like a waste of time rather then the need of the hour. All of a sudden, on these days, people have cravings for a coffee, pizzas or feel like watching a movie with or buying gifts for their cherished ones. Well, if u need a calander date to remind you of your cherished ones, you are better off without them.!

The people on the T.V and other broadcast media like radio or newsprint are the ones who seem to be most interested in these seemingly important part of our lives. They make it their moral resposibility to make us realise that "you are so much lost in your useless wretched life, working day in day out like a dog that you have forgotten your cherished ones, your family , your friends, so you need a day to remind them that you do rememeber them. Here,we have created an opporutnity for you and all you have to do is buy the products we are advertising, because this is the only way you can express your heartfelt emotions for them. Buy them a card, share a pizza, watch a movie, buy a new shirt, coz this is the only day in the entire year you can do it, rest of the days are not so good for such activites, for expressing your sentiments (if you have any) or for getting back to your loved ones"

The worst part is, you cannot avoid these bashers however hard you try. Pick up the paper, turn on the t.v, turn on the radio, and lo! there they are , announcing their presence loud and clear. You walk into a mall, a coffee shop, a pizza joint, a restaurant, anywhere and you'll see this big sign boards, hoardings announcing the commencement of these events well couple of weeks ahead. Special offers on these days, discounts, lucky draws and all other alluring tricks in the book. Well, if they are going to "celebrate" these days, i'd like to vote for a few days I'd surely like to "celebrate"
Happy:
-mind your own business day

-don't bug me day

-leave me alone day

-give piece of your mind day

-hug beautiful gals day

-get laid day

-swear day

The way these days should be celebrated are self-explainatory, the name says it all. The only trouble is... how does one come up with marketing stratergies to promote these. hmm.. i wonder

‘Give SC/ST students more shots at JEE’

2009-04-13T04:26:00.000-07:00

As the elections are coming closer, the government is coming up with novel ideas to uplift the nation. The only way that this can be achieved it seems is giving the so called unprivileged classes more chance to enter into the highest education institutes in the country, as if that was the first priority of the 'unprivilege' class. Why dosen't the government think of giving them free cable T.V, free internet, or say free train tickets, cheap flight ticktes, discounted rates at Pizza Huts and McDs, discounted Pepsi and other Cola drinks. If getting higher education is so necessary, I guess these things would also count as necessary. Why dont they have discounted rates at 3-star and 5-star hotels too, that way they can afford thngs like that and thus get more acceptability in the society.

I have a better idea. Why don't these buggers come up with different question papers for them.. Lets make the system even more favourable. Say from the class First itself the method of conducting papers should be in this format

Set A : for general class
Set B : for OBC
Set C : for SC/ST

I have even thought of typical questions for Set C

Q1) Can you write your name : Y/N ____

Q2) (optional) Write your name:______

Q3) 2+2: _____ (carries extra marks)

Q4) Which is far, moon/sun :______ (Hint: It is not moon)

ending with a thanks note : The government wants to thank you for taking your precious time and putting efforts to complete the paper. Wish us and the country all the best

Fair enough?

2009-01-01T03:11:00.000-08:00

An advertisement on TV shows a girl trying to get a job, but due to are natural complexion, a brown one, she is rejected for the job. She tries some cream, 10 days.. or 14 days (different companies claim different periods), and viola!! she turns like a beauty contest contestant over a fortnight.. and gets the job.!

Beauty magazines and fairness creams have been promoting and glorifying fair skin ever since i have been watching television. Ponds, Lakme, Revelon, Garnier, Nivea are some of the major players who have been instrumental in marketing these so called "fairness " cream. With advertisements depicting people with fair skins are more successful than the not-so-faired one, the marketing strategies have become more and more inexorable. The worst thing is, a "developing" country like ours, proves a more potent market for such products. And we call the American and Brits as racist.?? What are we then.? Having accepted these ads, having accepted that people with fair skin are superior to the one with not-so-fair, how do we call them racist.? Whats worse is that, after the advent of this new species called "metrosexual men", these creams have now started to target the males too.! Ads showing guys with fair skin being able to woo girls, or get the female attraction has been the chief propaganda.! What happened to the "tall dark handsome" fellow?? what happened to the tanned skin toned girls?

I don't understand but why we have this tendency to believe or trust a fair (the skin tone and not the persons intentions) person more easily than the one with say not-so-fair, or brown or dark complexion?? Is is the word "fair" attached to it? Is it since white is related to pureness and black to dark? Is it, since we were ruled by the whites and the sense of superiority has not yet left us? Or even worse.. that they really are superior? i really wonder...

My phobias.

2008-07-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

there are some of the things which i suffer from, say it disease or mental limitations, but i do have my own fears. here are a few i can enumerate.
1) dumbophobia.: i describe it as fear of dumb people. people whom you would rather avoid than talk. Talk with them is a challenge to human mental endurance limits. Over contact to these people can lead to pulling of hairs, going eeeeeekkkkk !!, or even thoughts of murdering these people. I try to avoid such people as a safety precaution for them.

2) hysterophobia: Walking with tranquility, with your mind humming "i can see clearly now the rain is gone" , and all of a sudden you ever heard an high frequency sound out of nowhere, as if someone was attacked by Frankenstein. On close scrutiny you discover that some female species of the human kind had encountered a harmless little cockroach on her way, which made her shriek at decibel levels that were unacceptable to human hears. I actually fear such species, not the cockroach , but the one that shrieked. I fear them coz it simply make me go berserk, feel like hitting the notorious shrieker. They can't differentiate if they were attacked by an cockroach or a T-Rex.!

3)too-fast-too-friendly phobia: have you encountered people who are too fast to friendly types, the ones you are likely too meet on a train or bus or maybe some other public place. Before you realize the person is spilling his stories, his accomplishments, woes and worries before you. I fear them, i really fear them. I usually bury my face in a book or a newspaper to avoid such person. They start expressing their views so loudly that you could go deaf! I normally try to avoid such scenarios.. i really can't handle it, i am not the too fast too friendly type.

4) I-forgot-your-name- ophobia: Ever been to a marriage, a social gathering where you meet this uncle/a of yours you were introduced in the last social gathering, you kinda remember their face but dont know what their name was.? What do you do.? you end up talkin to them in a nice friendly manner without having a clue who they are.! I have a fear for such situations. Not only in family circles, such a scenario can happen anywhere, anytime. You are standing in a queue, be it a movie ticket or a railway ticket, and all off a sudden you see a face that disturbs your gray cells, tells you that you have met this person and don't remember where, and all of a sudden the person calls out your name, loud and clear and you don't know how to respond.! All you end up doin is "hey.! Hi there.!" makin the silliest of grins you can come up with, and talk to them for the next 20 minutes of your life without having any idea who the person was. Asking them their name would be too rude, impolite and you can't do it.! I Still dont know haw to come out of this situation.

i have few more i would not want to go in details.
5) Mushyphobia : Fear of the mushy types

6)Prudeophodia: Fear of the unnecessarily acting prudes

The worst part is.. they are all around , one just can't escape.! God give me the strength to overcome these ordeals.

The 3 questions..

2008-07-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

After 2 yrs into a ph.d, ya, you can gauge the boring and uninteresting nature of mine, there are 3, yes 3 questions that one should not ask a ph.d student. Besides not having a clear precise answer, these questions touch (read hurt) the integrity of a grad student to the very downright. These questions, I consider more manner less then asking a lady her age.

Q1) "Hmm.. how many publications you said that was.??"
Come on! thats us as rude as asking a guy how much he earned (unless he earns like Bill Gates). The question touches the very conscious of the poor grad student. It makes him* feel more pathetic than already he is. It hurts..!

Q2) "When are you thinking of getting married then!?"
No.. Never, yes never put that question (unless he is already married). He already has something that demands constant attention, makes do crazy things, keeps him awake at nights and makes feel that life would be better without it. One would not want to feel all these over again.

Q3)" oh! doing a ph.d. so when are you finishing, completing your ph.d.?"
Ever heard the term 'God Forbid' .?? ya thats the .. mot juste here. Do not ask it, its rude, outrageous and also totally uneasy for the poor guy. Its like asking..... i can't think of one thing that i can compare this situation to, and you know why.? coz there isn't a more morally hurting a question than this one.

One should at all costs avoid these questions. please.

* all hims and hes can be replaced by him/her or even a her if the reader feels anything discriminating towards the other sex. I am no sexist, but believe me , its too much of trouble writing him/her everytime .

waste and haste

2008-04-18T04:01:00.000-07:00

Some of the things that are bound to happen with me when i m in a hurry.

Things that will be invariably lost/mispalced
keys (now. whr did i keep them.. :-?)
cellphone
comb
watch
wallet.

other shit that happens
spilling of water (thr goes the shirt.. no hav to change it.. damn.!)
getting a phone call that will eat atleast 8-10 minutes (err.. ok. ya.. i c .. can we talk this some other time)
socks are smelling and don't have a replacement (yuk.... )
cycle tyres don't have enough pressure (damn again!)
auto rickshaws seem to go on a strike (ma friend murphy is smiling.. )

itsy bitsy stuff that can irritate you enough to start pulling your hair...

the F word, and B word

2008-01-06T06:16:00.000-08:00

"Westernization is taking over ".. oh i've heard this shit a zillions of time. Ya, true but the most hideous part is that its also taking over the swearing part. Its no common sight to see/hear someone using the F word. "what the fuck..!!" . hey did i actually say the F word. oops.! Or sometimes, "What an asshole.!" or even Bitch, is not uncommon. This list of definitely not exhaustive. Its not the offensiveness, but the acceptance of this words that bothers me. Using these foreign swear words seems to be kind of fashion statement.

The irony is that when words with similar meanings (or the same meaning) are used, but in the local languages, they seem to mean ( or atleast ppl react) differently. People feel more offended when the local language equivalent word is used. Even girls who do not (or are hesitant to) use the local language equivalents can be seen using the F word, and many others quite liberally. Hey, i am no sexist but still where are the days of good old gentleman etiquettes or the dandy ladies..??

Just another of the many examples of acceptance of westernization.

Fone Phun

2007-12-30T02:40:00.000-08:00

Part- 1

"hello sir/madam we i am calling from dont-trust-us bank"
"err.. hello"
"sir are bank is offering loans/credit cards at lowest/free rates"
"o.k"
"Sir you have been nominated/selected for our you-suck scheme"
"But i din't nominate"
"Sir its a random selection procedure. Only the lucky ones get selected"
"oh.. I See..!"

Does the conversation rings any bells.?? Of course it does. I Don't think if anyone is spared from the likes of telemarketers. They can ring you up anytime anyplace. People normally get annoyed or a frown appears on their face when talking to them. Normally the conversation ends with "Sorry I am not interested, thank you".

Even i used to get annoyed. But of late I have started enjoying it (sometimes to the point that i wish some telemarketer would call). Instead of getting vexed with these callers, try to give it back to them. How?? as soon as you realize its them, start firing questions as fast as you can as many as you can. Here are few of my favorites.

Which bank did you say?? Can you spell it for me?( they normally do.. they don't have other options)
How old is it ?? When and where was it established?
(huh.!! sorry sir that i am not sure of...)
who are the board of directors?
(huh. err.. mmm ...)
Do YOU have a credit card from the bank?
have YOU taken a loan??
(if yes then ask somthng else)
(if no.. tell them you are trying to sell me something you yourself don't believe or trust..!!)

Keep on answering everything by. "So..." The other pesron will come to a point when he will have no clue what to say.!

Ask them why are you trying to sell it to him..??Ask him if he is enjoying this..?

If its a girl, i tell them i am talking to you since no girls call me and apparently you are the only on who calls me. Thank her for calling.

by this time the other person is sure to hang up.

Part-2

(cellphone rings, its an unidentified number, you don't know who is it)
"Hello"
"Hello. post-office. I needed to know whether i can.. " (you cut short the converation)
"sorry wrong number"

Wrong numbers can be fun too. For a short period of your pathetic life you could be someone else. Talk with the other person. You can be a banker, a Roy, a hotel manager. anything the other person is looking for. some of the nice ones i can remember are

"hello some-name-i-dont-know"
"hello"
"i needed tractors for tilling land"
"oh sure. how many ?"
"two"
"sure i'll send them right away! just tell me ur address"
"some place i dont have a clue abt"
"They will be there in an hour or so".

after half an hour i had a call from the same person
"Sir those tractors have no yet reached"
"oh.! its a heavy rush out there. They will be there soon"
I never got a call back. Still am wondering how did those tractors reach?

Then there was this guy who called me in the morning (i hate wen people do that)
"hello sakharam..!"
"err yes"
"could you send some bananas over here"
"mmm.. sure, how many?"
"about 3- dozens"
(3-dozens.!! y would a someone want 3-dozens of bananas this early, i wondered..)
"oh sure.. i'll send them straight away"
never did i hear a complain that the bananas din't reach him, still a mystery..

There are many other instances, but these are the ones coming to my mind right now..

lazy.....

2007-12-30T02:03:00.000-08:00

laziness.. one of the worst enemy..
or is it..???

why would someone come up with an idea to make bicycle when he could walk.??
why would someone make a car when he had a bicycle?
why would someone come up with a programming language like C when similar tasks could be done using assembly language..??

simple.. they were looking for easier modes of doing the same task. They were lazy to do the task which required more hardwork. Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.

Washing machines, dishwashers, mixer grinder, elevators, all these inventions are to aid the lazy ones. These lazy ones are the ones who inspire, if not perspire to make living easy. The list could go on.

Writing too much for this post would be contradictory to the ideology of the post itself. (actually too lazy to think anything futher)

Incidentally one of my lazy friend inspired me to write this post.

A study in scarlet

2007-09-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the work leading researchers or experts in their fields have been doing.

"A unique study comparing the abilities of human toddlers to chimpanzees and orangutans found that two-year-old children have social learning skills superior to the apes, researchers said " (full article)

Man..! those people must be having some real dumb kids to motivate this kind of study..!

"Japanese researchers has found that people who regularly wake up before 5 am faced an added risk of developing heart disease." (full article)

must be my kinda guys who need reasons backed up by science to keep them sleeping late..

"Researchers in the US have determined what many of us already knew: women think of long-term relationships while kissing, and men think of sex. " (full article)

Like we needed a study to prove that.!

" researchers hit on in the study, in which 1,041 US university students took part, included the fact that men like their kisses wetter and with more tongue contact than women, and that women place more importance than men on the state of their kissing partner's teeth." (full article)

ENLIGHTMENT.!!! btw ..who funds these kind of studies.??? and why..??

"Science is confirming what most women know: When given the choice for a mate, men go for good looks. " (full article)

Well done Holmes.!

So these were some of the things that the leading researchers of the world are doing.!! Where do these guys come up with such great research problems..??

The Tale of Two Umbrellas.

2007-09-08T01:59:00.000-07:00

something that happened the previous week....
In Mumbai, the place where "it rains cats and dogs" would be an understatement and if you are umbrella less, you are in a heck of a trouble. I had managed to survive with a raincoat, post-ponding buying umbrella due to procrastination and one fine day i struck gold.! (i can't give the date, time or location for obvious reasons).

I had observed this nice umbrella for two days, kept open to dry. Two days must be enough for any umbrella to be dried up of any water particles. Since i was umbrella-less (poor me..!) the devil crept inside and said TAKE IT.!!. I thought, not a bad proposition. Since nobody came to claim the umbrella for two days, apparently it was no longer needed. And here was I, for a needy person, God Himself had put the umbrella. Who am I to refuse God's word. So thus i happily took the umbrella.

The same day few of us friends had planned a trip to somewhere (no details). I had kept my heavenly umbrella on the bicycle carrier. We had to catch a bus to reach our destination. When we boarded the bus i realised that i had forgotten the umbrella in the bicycle itself.!! oh no.! No use of turning back (as the bus had already started). thought, let bygones be bygones. and went ahead with the trip. So, when we reached the destination, and were roaming about, God saw upon me again.!! There near a waiting stand was kept an umbrella. The stand was empty. We were wandering about the spot for half an hour or so. No claimers yet. God wanted me not to get wet, i thought. Must obey. So i did what i had to do. Grabbed the umbrella and went ahead with the day.

When we returned, i rushed to see if the umbrella was still there on the cycle. and behold.! it stood there as it had been left. That's two for the day.. I gave one umbrella to another needy friend of mine thinking, maybe God not only cared for me, but also for my friends.

Yeh India Hain..!

2007-08-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

i have a knack of losing things, and to add to the list .. now i lost my cellphone..! anyways i am not writing here to crib or to cry over the lost phone. I had read somewhere that if you have the International Mobile Equipment Identifiaction (imei) number, you can hope to recover the phone or atleast block the phone so that it cannot be used. So when in one of the great moments of life, when a splinter of intelligence sparks in your ever-so-dumb mind, i had written down the imei number. So i had high hopes of stopping the one who possed my phone to use it when i founf that number. (revenge is one of the prime motivators of human actions.) . So with high hopes I set off my journey for the nearest nokia care centre, which happened to be about an hours' journey.

I boarded a bus, which happend to have an empty seat, just near the door. I hapily sat down, waiting for the stop. Looking at the bus conductor i wondered if the things they showed in Men in Black were true. The guy would came towards the entrance and did the most disgusting act which humans have invented, a very common thing found on the roads of india (i dunno about other countries though) He came near the door , made this disgusting sound from is thorat, and then goes a S-P-A-T.. he just spat on the bus entrance steps.. Just like that.!!! yuck..! and i had to see this..! so much for the empty seat. I thought ok... everybody needs to spit. Then after 10 minutes.. the idiot repeated his act.! before i got down, this act had been performed 3-4 times. When i was getting down, i saw a board in the bus, written Spitting and Smoking strictly prohibited. !!! So much for the journey..

As soon as i managed to locate the nokia care centre, I was surprised to see a queue outside it. For a moment i could't understand. People queue up for different reasons, but outside a nokia care centre, none of those reasons would fit. On a closer inspection, i saw a notice put up saying, "Battery replacement time 11:30 to 2:30". The the pieces were falling into place. People just wanted to replace thier battreys, whether they belonged to the replaceable category or not. Anyways, my purpose was different so i din't have to stand in the queue. I went inside with high hopes, managed to free one of the attendents from those battery changers, and explained my problem. I told him that if i had the imei number you guys could lock the phone. The reply which he gave was the least expected. He started with "Yeh India hain..! hum lock kare.. to isse todne waale bhi hote hain". But i told him that its their task to lock it.. wheter it can be unlocked or not its none of thier concern. and he repaeted it "yeh india hain.. koi faayda nahin." I asked if i could lodge an F.I.R.. , he repeated his catch line again. He jsut told me to forget about recovering the phone. Screw him..

Back there.. in the bus, i had an urge to tell the bus conductor abotu his conduct, but something stopped me. I din't knew what. But after coming out of the nokia shop, i understood that this feeling "yeh india hain..kuch nahin ho sakta" had somehow creeped in me too.. and maybe all of us..

The Greatest Endurance Teacher..

2007-07-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

Endurance.. courage.. hardship.. ability to survive in adversity, these are just a few qualities required to sustain ones existence in this world. One has to go thorough different and difficult situations before acquiring these acquires these qualities. But for people living in hostels, away from home, face these grueling situation almost everyday. The play ground-- Mess.( for the ignorant class.. its the place where food is served)

The wikipedia defines the mess as: A mess is the place where military personnel socialise, eat and (in some cases) live.

military personnel!!! people who are ready to face anything...! Hey thats not us. we are students..s.t.u.d.e.n.t.s! It would be total insanity to call what they serve as food. The kitchen, is a scientific research area, and the cooks are last of the scientists from planet Zok. They try new recipes (or chemical formulas) and test the effects on behavioral pattern of young human race representatives.

Once you enter a mess area, look around the faces.. you surely know you are in for trouble. The fun starts with the mess workers themselves (at least in my hostel). They are the most hostile creatures i have ever met. You ask them anything, first you get a frowning look, and as if that was not less they guy would answer in such a manner that you won't dare to ask anything again. Then you look at the vessels in which the food is kept. If its your lucky day.. the food is recognizable, at least one has the satisfaction of knowing the stuff that the food is made of. But sometimes you keep on speculating the ingredients that went in making of the food , till you are at your wit's end. Sightings a worm, fly, new species of insect in the food are not uncommon here. So.. how does one manage to eat????

The trick is to eat in a company of atleast 3-4 people around you. This takes of your mind from the objects in your dish while you talk all the nonsense in the world. Chat about the day, the classes, the profs, the girls, the stupid fat guy sitting on the opposite table.. anything, just anything that takes of your mind from the food. Before you realize, your stomach is filled without even realizing the trouble you went through.

The mess (befittingly called so) has managed to reduce eating from a pleasure to a bare necessisty, and also building your character.!

Last Minute Panic

2007-07-13T03:08:00.000-07:00

The strip reminded of some real tough times of life....(atleast it seemed so when i was going throug those times..) last-minute panic the greatest motivator, the greatest inspiration, gets the best of you in toughest of life situations.

well.. wat i am referrring to are those submission dead line and the exam-prep times.. Tasks that would have taken hours of hard work in a normal situation are reduced to matter of minutes. Theories and equations which you pondered over for days and still couldn't make heads or tails of it, become crystal clear in just a single reading..! Some of the more skills aquired during last minute panic stiuataion (read as 2 days before exmas)
-optmizing time (which subject to be given more time)
-calculating risk factors (mmm...this chapter will probably be asked as option question)
-resource managment (getting the minimum number of pages photocopied..!)
-increased efficiency (more output per time)

and almost after going thorough all these, the first thought that crops up in the mind..from the next sem.. i am going to study regularly which somehow i manage not to do it.

Lost keys..

2007-06-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

I am a champ, the best.. too good at losing keys. Just this morning i lost one.. DAMN IT.! This might be the 3rd or fourth instance of losing keys in the fast 7-8 months. (that include losing a bunch!) Thats one of my worst fears ..ya i admit it.. losing keys is one of my worst fears. But i guess i am not the lone warrior in this arena. Many of us has the nack of losing them. But sometimes i feel its these stupid keys that keeps wandering off to unreachabe, untrackable areas. But these keys are not alone the nasty trouble makers.. there are a few others too. Some of these coming to my mind are.. hmm

Pens..!(and other stationery like erasers, pencils blah blah..)
handkechiesfs.

n here are some of the things we eventually find i.e. .. after turning the entire house upside down .

the remote (but we do find it. but gives us a hell of a time searching it..!)
specs
watch( now.. where did i keep it..!!)
my cellphone.. where d hell is my cell phone.!

Thats all i can thnk of right now.. I bet there are other things too, just don seem to recall them. But then good ideas can also be put in the list, u lose one.. you really can't find it again..

but thankx to those lost keys.. i got something to write about (kind of an inspiration or rather frustration i should say..). something i had been thinking of doing for the last few weeks. I hope i don need more lost keys to keep me writing.

''Bakar'' : Total nonsense talks.

2006-05-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

every college has its own lingos.. the IITs has globalized words like junta, pain etc. This post is not to discuss all those lingos, but to one of my colleges' favoutite word.. or rather favourite thing.. 'BAKAR'..

Bakar could be defined ad the fully useless, nonsense talks which require no application of mind whatsoever. It pratically comsumes 90% of the time, one spends at an engineering college..! hours and hours goes by before even you realise it. After six years of life at college.. i realise that this Bakar is not a part of college life... but it is the college life itself..! one cud discuss from sports, politics, sex, technical stuff and the list goes on.. some of the favoutite topics are..

bakar on people around you: most of the times we just go on talking about the ppl that surrounds us.. " xyz guy is the most dumbest of all i have seen...", "the xyz prof is the worst.. how did he become a prof..!", " abc is really a cool guy..". All the qualities of a particular person are studied to the minute detail, which the person being discused might not even know..!

bakar about Girls : thats the most intersing and a favoutite among guys.." she is damn sexy man.. " , " did u jst see her..!", ' Wow..! i am in love man..!". " She is hot..!!" and it goes on.. but the one that really gets interesting is " .. how did a guy like that get a such a hot girl..! Life is really unfair man" and thus starts the frutration of a lifetime.

Sports(read cricket) bakar: More of a seasonal topic. The topic is on its peak during any tournament. "dravid is the best.." "indian team is hopeless.." .. " that was a pathetic perfprmance.." ..and so on.. analayisis of the game goes on for hours and hours..

sex bakar: do i need to to write anything here..!

food: the food available in the cafeteria is also one of the popular subject. Though the discussions on this area lasts only for 12-15 minutes they do update your infprmation about what to eat and what not to eat.

Technical bakar : once in a while this also takes place. But only once a while.. its on height during the placements.." what are the cmos charecteristics?" . " what is the complexity of blah blah algorithm?", " whats the difference between array and strucure..??" .. trying to clear fundas 15 minutes before the exam.!

Movies: " seen that movie.. great" .. " what a stupid movie".. " how cud someone think of making a movie like that.." this goes on and on.. on..

Frustrations bakar: usually contains abuses and things like " the administration is hopeless..", "we are victim of the system.." , " why does this happen to me..?", " how did a pathetic guy like that get such a good girl.. " , "life sucks man..", blah blah..

this list cud go on and on. The word Bakar has become a part and a parcel of this institute. It is this Bakar that actually helps us to develop some of our soft skil like communicatio, public speaking, getting along and so on. The different views of pweople also stretches ones thinking.

So this is for all BAKROOS (ppl who do bakar) continue this bakar legacy..!!

Back ..!!

2006-05-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

after more than 1 and 1/2 month... i am back on the blog ciruit..!! this one month or so was actually responsible for completing my thesis.. Somehow i finally managed to convince my guide and my panel members that i had actually done some work during the past year..

the biggest change happend during this period.. a change took place somthing that never happend since last six months of my life.. If you have read early-to-rise and to-bathe-or-not-to-bathe , u wud know it was impossible for me to get up before 10:00 and take a bath DAILY..!

but for the past month or so.. my life has change,.. I wake up between 7:00- 7:30 a.m.. and more over take a bath daily..!! UNBELIVABLE.!! now that it has become a routine.. i really don like getting up late..
still unable to figure out What the hell happened to me..!. Belive me its really a pleasent experience to get up early..

More posts on the way..!

Phoney Conversations

2006-03-05T06:22:00.000-08:00

did u ever notice the various gestures or movements of ppl talkin on the cell phn? .By mere observation.. one can easily make out with whom the person is talking . i call it as phone body language. here is how a person act ( or reacts) when is talkin to

friend : starts with .. " oh..! hi..! xyz" n a big big colgate smile. voice level higher than normal, hands goin up in the air, things like " kya baat kar rahe ho..!" "WHATTT..!" lots of "OH MY GOD"s, again hands flying here n there in the air. loads of laughing.. " ha ha he he" n "did u hear abt abc.?? what?? when??" the person may also do a bit of moving up n down. usually ends with "ok. bye see ya..!"

Mom : starts with a normal " hi ma..". hands in the pocket. normally the person dosen't moves a lot. lots of "i m fine" n also "everything is o.k." "studies are fine" "weather is fine.. litle bit of cold"
ends up with "o.k. mom bye.."

Dad : in a suppressed voice " hello dad". the person dosen't even dare to move around. a lot of " o.k"s , the convesration usually goes like " yes.. yes.. no o.k fine.. no.. everythings fine.." ends with.." err dad. (pause).. needed some money..." n then "o.k. i'll manage..!"

girlfriend : a soft "hello.. how r u dear??" " what were u doin??" the person will fold his hands.. hold the cell phn really close to the mouth.. voice level, not audible. little bit of kickin in the air, kickin rocks, kickin grass... time to time the person closes his eyes ..lots of "oh really..! how??" n "...and then??.." also a number of " miss u"s .the person is usually seen in some isolated corner , near a tree/pillar or sitting alone on a bench.
the end is interesting one. " u hang up.. no u hang up." this goes on for few minutes. then silence. n then ." u din hang up.. niether did u..!!" this drama goes on for another few minutes before one of them finally hangs up..

These are the mostly talked ppl on the phn. whom else does one need??!!

the Dada controversy

2006-03-02T04:34:00.000-08:00

the million dollar question : should dada play or not??

everyday, in the newspapers, this issue takes a substatial amount of space..
the man who has given indian cricket a recognition, a winning attitude, an impressive batting record (12 odi centuries and 22 test centuries), should he play or not.?

but my question is... why such a fuss?? dravid's statemnt

"Anil Kumble has been left out of the team and there has been no greater cricketer in Indian cricket in the last decade and a half. No one has won more matches for India than Kumble has. But Kumble did not play a certain number of games. That was in the interest of the team. Kumble did not play in a lot of World Cup matches. If Kumble can sit out, I don't see any reason why there should be an issue on anybody else (being dropped) in this team — and that includes me and Tendulkar. I was clear about that, it was not a difficult decision for me to deal with "
for complete interview

really inspired me to post this blog.
why isn't the media, the newspapers question when kumble is dropped. He is the highest wicket taker for the country ( some 490 test & 330 one day) when he is dropped for some unkown reasons the media sits quietly.. is this jst becoz he is a bowler..?
He is the senoir most player, a true match winner. I don say that he is the best leggie or the most deadliest of spinners nor am i a die hard kumble fan. but he has the ability to take wickets somehow..

i don understand why ganguly issue is so much hyped n nobody notices when the same thing happens to kumble. reminds me of G.B. Shaw's for journalists “unable to distinguish between a bicycle accident and the collapse of civilization.”

Another day at "synapse"..

2006-02-25T12:03:00.000-08:00

end of another great day at synapse at daiict. again a lot of hooting, shouting and all the crazy stuff an audience does. my voice is totally gone. still one more day left.

but the great part.. i got a first prize in the instrumental category..! never expected it though. had not even registered for the event. but the students told me that i cud get entry at any point of time.(advantages of being a t.a.) practised for some half an hour or so with the guitarist. Finally some recognition..!!

as audience we went as crazy as one cud get. sang songs n then when we ran out of songs started singing songs from those stupid ads of vico, nirma, lifeboy, etc..

music competion, singing, dance competion.. ooh.
still one more day to go.. 2mrrw the big event, fashion show. gonaa really go crazy in the audience..!

Rock rocks??

2006-02-24T11:18:00.000-08:00

during this ongoing festival in my college "synapse", today there was this rock competiton. Some 4-5 teams came to participate. i did went to see that program. (coz it allows us to have dome shouting, hooting, passing stupid comments n of course seeing some beautiful faces in the audience). but these are some of the things i did't understand..

1) why do the performeres wear only black t-shirts ?

2) are long hair Necessary?? does that make u think like a musician?
(is there some kind of dress code for rock bands??)

2) except for the band, does anybody understand the lyrics??

3)how many of the audience had ever heared these songs before??

4) is it really necessary for the singers to shout at top of ther voices while singing??

5) does one become a zombie ones he starts liking rock??

6) Is it sane enough to call it music??

7) is it call rock coz it makes ppl wanna throw rocks at the performers??

8) why do these ppl take half n hr in testing the sound system?

9)how does speaking "Check check" in a dozen of ways helps..?

10)how does one judges such a programme?.. its just a question.. which one was bad n which one was worse..!

To bathe or not to bathe..

2006-02-23T14:44:00.000-08:00

the most difficult test for an engineer (livin in a hostel) is not the mid-sem or the final exams.. it is the first question that comes to hs mind when he wakes up should i have a bath tday?? remembers when did he last hav bath.. if he clearly remembers it .. no point in taking a bath.. if he doesn't .high time to take a bath

for me.. during my first year this is how things went..
first 2-3 weeks : must take a bath once in 24 hrs..

next month : once in 48 hrs .. that should be good..

third month : hey.. no hot water today..! hurrah.. no bath..

n things went on like that.. deo.. talc.. these were the best inventions by human race. During winters things went from bad to worse.. bathing everyday was considerd as a sin. bathing by itself posed a challange. one had to summon up all the strength and courage he's got to pour that first drop cold water on ur body. with grit determination.. (even swearing in some cases.. if i love her, i'll have to do this.!!) one fimnally manages to overcome the first hurdle. The journey from there becomes then easier. rightly said that the first step is the most difficult one.

sometimes if the gyser works ( it does for some weeks a yr, when the authorities do get it repaired) life becomes much easier.

during these four yrs of engg. i had actually mastered the art of looking completly as if u just had a good bath. These are 3 simple steps:
step 1: wash ur face rigurously. take atlest 10-12 minutes in washing ur face. give a proper rub.

step 2: Apply light hair oil. The quantity should be controlled. just enough to make ur hair shine.

step 3: wet ur hands. just run it trough your hair to give it a wet look.

Viola..! ur ready.. 15-minutes n ur good as new.!!

dr jeykll mr hyde...

2006-02-21T16:48:00.000-08:00

jst read this blog http://itsbanana.blogspot.com/ where the girl says that she has her angel-sh side and a devilsh side..
but then this is in all of us .. we all do have our own dr. jeykll and a mr. hyde.. the two classic chracters from r.l.stevensons "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" It concerns the way in which an individual is made up of contrary emotions and desires: some good and some evil. In the story physician Jekyll who it transpires has created a drug that separates his good and evil natures - purifying the doctor himself but with the ghastly side effect of periods spent as the monstrous Hyde.

But then Hyde Eventually takes over dr.jeykll : moral of the story.. the evil is potentially more stronger than the good..!

i guess, its in all of us .. another person living in us.. which jumps out at any time.. ready to be the bad guy.!!

early to rise??

2006-02-20T23:27:00.000-08:00

'early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy n wise' goes an old saying..

but for me, the most difficult (nearly impossible) task is to wake up early.. its more than two years now, that i have seen a sunrise..!! dunno how ppl in some parts of the world manage to wake up at 5:00 a.m or 6:00. this hostel life has made it an impossible task to open the eyes before 11:00 a.m...!

winters are the worst ( or best..!) one just likes to lie in the bed till u realise ".. oh my God... i am late.!!" n then rush through ur morning procedures. what happens is even though my eyes open .. it takes me more than an hour for transition from nearly awake to completely awake.!

school days were quite different.. used to wake up at 6:00 a.m. can't jst imagine how did i do that for 12 years..! but then one had that perfec alarm - 'mom' that would never fail. the most unbelivable part is that i used to get angry even if i woke at 6:15.. jst 15 minutes late from the regular time. but now if i ever see the clock at 6:00 in the morning.. means that i have been awake for the entire night.. n its time for me to say good night..!

now that the summer has come .. i might (read can but will not) wake up early. but then for me early means somthing around 9:00 a.m.!!

back ...

2006-02-19T10:18:00.000-08:00

writing blog after almost a month.. phew..
not that the month has been busy.. but due to some extraterrestrial ( read unknown) reasons i cud not write..

first of all . grt win by india today.. as greg chappel sais.. frm chokers to chasers.!

spent almost the entire day watching the match.. if india wins.. wow..!!! grt.. it was woth watching the match..

if they don't .. well its a day wasted.. wat a wretched performance.. shud never watch cricket.!!!

deciding to watch a game itself is a gamble.. thats why a i like to watch highlights... never a waste of time..
and the best ting is.. if u don win the match.. no point in watching the highlights.!.

n also u see only the best moments of the match..!

but then.. the element of surprise .. the devil of all devils ..curiosity thats what makes us watch those entire 100 overs..!

google...

2006-01-07T03:58:00.000-08:00

sometimes i feel that the makers of google rightly deserve a nobel prize.. i mean if google was to stop know(jst imagine), half of the internet traffic wud come down.. software industries growth wud be hampered..

espescially the research insitiutes.. i don know what will they do.. for me (atleast) google means " someone or something that answers all ur queries" the word has enterd our vocabulary.. when someone says 'google it', u know what the other guy means.

a day wasted..

2006-01-04T05:34:00.000-08:00

every day b4 i go to sleep a funny thought comes to my mind. i look at the entire day behind knowing that i had wasted it in doing things which were of no importance.. foolishly surfing the net, listning songs. chatting with people, chatting on the net, playing cricket, movies.. n other time wasting activities when i had other important things to do. the last thought that comes to my mind is' " tommrrw will be not wasted".. but then this happens everyday.. though i m tryn to improve each day.. i am still nowhre near where i cud have been..

n then there is this remorse over a day wasted, then a week wasted.. n so on. out of 24 hrs of the day i normally seriously, put effort in only abt 3-4 hrs of useful wrk. the rest... wasted. n i realise that its not time i have wasted, its me i have wasted.

hi all..

2006-01-02T06:44:00.000-08:00

i don have a clue wat this blog space is goin to be about.. then why did i start this blog page..?

i came across this post on information theory ( which happens to be one of my interests) i wanted to write a comment. but it would not allow to do so till i had a blog page of my own ( could figure it out why one would need that) so eventually i had to create this page.. n e ways i'll try to keep this blog space alive.. you ppl out there also help to it..

i little bit abt me (might help..!)
just a nbdy in dis wrld not tryn to be somebdy.. blah blah... u have read this kind of stuff zillions of times. to put it straight.. i m someone who is has been styudyin for the past 20 years of his life.. ( 3 yrs were spared coz they don put u in kindergarden till u r old enough to learn smthng.) . at present i m doin my m.tech.. n prbbly will be continuing that for the nxt 6 mnths.

ur comments are mst welcomed.. its true afterall.. that the best things in world are free.. i m nt talking abt the cmmnts, i m talking about this blog space..!!