Briefly Circumbendibus

Berlin wall

2014-11-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back, I was in Berlin for an official trip and had a chance to visit 'the wall'. While history has not always been my stronghold, it has succeeded in gaining my interest recently.

Berlin was celebrating its 25 years of the downfall of the Berlin which clearly marked the end of Cold War. Being the center of cold war between the then USSR and USA, Berlin suffered from the difference in ideologies of East and West while reviving after Hitler's impact. This is one of those cities which is not ashamed to embrace the shame of the past which has helped the city greatly to rise like a phoenix after every defeat of mankind's important wars (WW1, WW2, cold war).

I was reading an article in Mashable with pictures depicting the rise and fall of the wall. Sharing the entire content here.

BTW, here are some of my tour pics if you are interested - https://www.flickr.com/photos/8878828@N08/

Sources:

http://mashable.com/2014/11/09/berlin-wall-construction/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link

http://mashable.com/2014/11/06/berlin-wall-fence/?utm_cid=lf-toc

1961

The men who built

the Berlin Wall

Constructing the Cold War barrier brick by brick

The 140-kilometer Berlin Wall was in fact two barriers. The first was constructed rapidly in August 1961. The second, parallel barrier, 100 meters into the Eastern zone, was erected in June 1962.

The area in between the two barriers was known as the Death Strip.

The wall was initially constructed as a wire fence. By its demise in 1989, it consisted of 45,000 sections of reinforced concrete. At key points, the wall was deliberately made weaker so Soviet military vehicles could swiftly break through in a time of war.

IMAGE: PATRICE HABANS/PARIS MATCH/GETTY IMAGES

No one has the intention of erecting a wall!

WALTER ULBRICHT

EAST GERMAN HEAD OF STATE, JUNE 1961.

IMAGE: KEYSTONE FRANCE

IMAGE: POPPERFOTO/GETTY IMAGES

IMAGE: ROBERT LACKENBACH/THE LIFE IMAGES COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES

East Berlin border guards adding barbed wire to the newly built Berlin Wall.

IMAGE: POPPERFOTO/GETTY IMAGES

July 5, 1962

On Berlin's Bernauer Street, the Volkspolice built a larger wall next to the old one.

IMAGE: KEYSTONE-FRANCE

East German workmen reinforce the Berlin Wall by putting glass fragments on top of the brickets.

IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES

West Berlin children building a play wall.

Berlin is the testicle of the West. When I want the West to scream, I squeeze on Berlin

NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV, LEADER OF THE SOVIET UNION

IMAGE: PATRICE HABANS/PARISMATCH/SCOOP/GETTY IMAGES

After World War II, the Potsdam Conference had divided Germany into four occupied zones, each under the control of one of the allies: France, Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union. Berlin, the capital, lay in the eastern section controlled by Russia and was itself divided into sectors.

The Soviets had already erected a heavily fortified barrier between East and West Germany, which made West Berlin a small capitalist island in the middle of a Communist state.

In the beginning, subway trains ran between the two territories. New passport rules proved ineffectual at stemming the flow of dissatisfied East Germans to the west, a flow which bled Soviet East Germany of economic power.

IMGE: PATRICE HABANS/PARISMATCH/SCOOP/GETTY IMAGES

Between 1948 and 1961, 3 million people had fled the Communist state, representing one-sixth of East Germany's population. By August 1961, an average 2,000 people made the one-way journey from East to West Berlin each and every day.

IMAGE: PATRICE HABANS/PARISMATCH/SCOOP/GETTY IMAGES

Before the wire barrier, it was still possible to move between East and West Berlin. The barbed wire rendered that close to impossible. But, as these pictures show, even the wire was not strong enough to contain desperate people.

IMAGE: PATRICE HABANS/PARISMATCH/SCOOP/GETTY IMAGES

So began the creation of what was officially dubbed the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart." Checkpoints between the two sides were shut down, and the wire became the wall.

For almost three decades, the wall cut Berlin in two. More than 100 people would die trying to make it across.

IMAGE: PATRICE HABANS/PARISMATCH/SCOOP/GETTY IMAGES

Sources:

http://mashable.com/2014/11/09/berlin-wall-construction/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link

http://mashable.com/2014/11/06/berlin-wall-fence/?utm_cid=lf-toc

Kamal.. Oh கமல் !

2014-10-19T11:38:00.002-07:00

Kamal Hassan's instincts..

1) In 1978, his tamil movie “Sivappu Rojakal” got released. He played the role of a Psychopath killer (femicide).One year later, a guy called
Psycho Raman was caught for brutally murdering people especially women.

2) In 1988, kamal played the role of a unemployed youth in the movie “Sathya”. In 89-90’s our country faced lot of problems due to unemployment.

3) In 1992, his blockbuster movie “Devar Magan” got released. Its a village based subject. There will be some scenes portraying communal clashes. Exactly a year later in 1993, there were many communal clashes in southern districts.

4) We all know in 1996 many people in our country was cheated by finance companies. Our Kamal Hasan has clearly depicted this in his movie “mahanadhi” which got released in 1994 itself.

5) In “heyram”(2000), there are some scenes relating to Hindu Muslim clashes . We all know 2 years later, godhra(Gujarat riots) incident happened.

6) He used a word called ‘tsunami’ in his movie “Anbesivam”(2003).The word ‘tsunami’ was not known to many people before. In 2004, ‘tsunami’ stuck the east coast of our country and many people lost their lives.

7) In ”Vettaiyadu Vilayadu ”(2006) there are two characters called ila & amudhan who played the roles of psychopath killers. After 3 months of release of the movie, the noida serial killing came to light (moninder/sathish)

8) The world is talking about the Ebola virus now, but the star actor has once again made heads turn, as he had mentioned about in his film 'Dasavatharam' in 2008. In the scene where he tries to get back the parcel which contains the bio weapon, Kamal says "It's a synthetic bio weapon, It's a Ebola -Marburg combination. It's very lethal."

கமல் respect !

Reasons to travel

2013-12-10T15:47:00.001-08:00

I have been travelling quite a bit lately - Toronto, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, parts of Turkey etc. While I am elated at this new experience, I also feel humbled and surprised on how things could be so different and similar from what I thought I know. In short, I am learning !

Pondering about all this, I stumbled upon this short excellent article - http://thoughtcatalog.com/scott-percelay/2013/10/10-reasons-why-traveling-makes-you-a-better-person/

DST explained

2013-11-07T11:02:00.002-08:00

And finally, there is a proper and convincing explanation for the offset in time.

Visualize the countries

2013-11-04T23:11:00.001-08:00

Lankan Tamil civil war

2013-11-04T23:11:00.000-08:00

Read this post below from Quora that very well briefs about the conflict of Tamils in Lanka. More posts here:
http://www.quora.com/India/What-is-Indias-involvement-in-LTTE-movement

-----------------

The Sri Lankan Civil war has a complex dynamics. As a kid I lived in a region where Sri Lankan TV & Jaffna Radio was the only signal we got as Doordarshan often had poor reception. Many of the people there had very emotional relationships with Lanka. One of my 1st grade friends had a name Ravanan (his father's name was Indrajeet) and he used to say he will revenge for IPKF (happened during my kindergarten). Even as a kid he used to make small clay pellets to use with catapults that he said will use for Tamil freedom. I never understood then why he was such a lunatic.
------------------------------------------------
Part 1: Demographics
There are three main groups here:

Sinhalese - who are predominantly Buddhist or Christian. 74% of Srilankans are Sinhalese. These people are believed to have migrated from Bengal, 2500 years ago. Prince Vijaya.
Srilankan Tamils - who are predominantly Hindu. These people are there in the island, since antiquity. According to some people in TN, the Hindu character of Ravan was a Tamil. They form about 15% of the population.
Indian Tamils - These are people who migrated from India during the British era to work in the plantations. They are also predominantly Hindu, although there are also sizable muslims and christians here. These are the people worst affected in the war. They form about 11% of the population.

Part 2: India and Sri Lanka in Ancient History
In 3rd century BC, Sinhalese were converted to Ashoka's Buddhism (that originated around the Bihar/Bengal region), while the Tamils have always maintained close ties with kingdoms of Tamilnadu and hence Hinduism was their main religion.

Tamil kingdoms of the south India, especially the Cholas, have always fought the Lankans and have even invaded a few times. However, Lankans were also allied with another Tamil kingdom Pandyas (the arch rivals of Cholas). Since these native Tamil kingdoms fell in about 13rd century, Tamilnadu started having less of influence over Sri Lanka. Both the Tamils and Sinhalese had a lot of genetic influence from the Indian Tamils.

Part 3: Lankan-Tamil relationships
Things were normal for centuries. When Britain took over the island in 1815 they started their own "divide-and-rule" there. They brought communal representations for each community.

Since the 19th century, the Srilankan Tamils became the most progressive community among three and quickly climbed the ladders of civil service and governance. Even the highest job in the colonial rule was held by a Tamil -Ponnambalam Arunachalam. By 1948, when Sri Lanka got its independence, 60% of all government jobs were held by the Lankan Tamils who constituted less than 15% of the population. This brought plenty of resentment among the Sinhalese who felt disenfranchised and in that year two controversial acts were passed:

Ceylon Citizenship Act - Stripped the Tamils of Indian origin (who were there for generations) of their citizenship rights.
Policy of standardization - Instituted policy minimums that significantly reduced the Tamil involvement in education and civil service.

Since 1950s, Sri Lankan government pushed an active form of ethnic cleansing through the Sri Lankan state sponsored colonisation schemes which effectively meant Sinhalese have to distributed in those areas that were Tamil strongholds.

Part 4: Violence grips Tamils
In 1956, Sri Lanka passed the Sinhala Only Act that effectively made Sinhalese as the official language stripping Tamil of official recognition. This was followed by a massive riot against the Tamils in 1958 when Ceylon changed its official name to the Sanskritized Sri Lanka (from Ramayana): 1958 riots in Ceylon. The riots left 200 Tamils dead.

In 1974, during the International Tamil conference at Jaffna (capital of Tamil Eelam), Sri Lankan soliders used brutal force and led to the loss of 9 lives. 1974 Tamil conference incident

In 1970s, Sri Lanka banned the import of magazines and periodicals from Tamilnadu. In 1981, the precious Jaffna Tamil library (one of the biggest in Asia) was burnt: Burning of Jaffna library 1981. This broke the camel's back.

Part 5: Demand for Separate Tamil Land
By 1970s, the Tamils had thrown their towel due to the events above. Two separate groups of separatists emerged:

Tamil United Liberation Front: who wanted to achieve through peaceful means.
: had no hesitation to use violence and force.

They started demanding a separate nation for them - Tamil Eelam (the native name for that region with the green areas below.

In 1983 the worst of anti-Tamil pogroms happened: Black July. This was reported provoked when LTTE did its first ambush, killing 13 SL soldiers. Four Four Bravo

Part 6: Indian involvement. Training the Tigers.
As things started to get out of hand in Lanka, India was worried. There was huge pressure from Tamilnadu parties for an intervention. Meanwhile, Sri lanka started moving towards US and Pakistan, giving Indira Gandhi hard thing to worry about national security.

For India, these were the following considerations:

Sri Lanka was aligned with the US and Pakistan. India was at that time aligned with USSR (and it is rumored at USSR's KGB had a high level of control over Indian bureaucracy: 'KGB moles infiltrated Indira's PMO'). It was at the height of cold war (early 1980s) and India had to break the US-SL nexus. LTTE proved an ideal folly for India.
The brutality of pogroms in Sri Lanka was forcing droves of refugees into India. Historically, Sri Lankan Tamils had a high level of support in Tamil Nadu and politicians including MG Ramachandran & Karunananidhi put enormous pressure on the centre. Indira Gandhi needed one of these to shore up her politics.

Thus, India started involving herself. All over TN there were camps in 1970s & 80s, that started training the tigers. It is rumored that these were trained in the Arcot districts of TN where there are plenty of forests. Indira Gandhi helped train Tamil rebels, and reaped whirlwind. India trained 5 extremist organizations using RAW:Jain Commission: Growth of Tamil militancy

PLOTE
EPRLF
TELO
EROS
LTTE

Each was given its own camps across Tamil Nadu and some even went to Libya, Syria and Lebanon to get trained. They learned the deadly tactics of suicide bombing (LTTE was the world's most advanced in this deadly skill).

In a short time, severe in-fighting among these groups emerged. In 1982, LTTE supremo Prabhakaran had a shootout his rival Uma Maheswaran in broad daylight in the middle of Chennai (Pondy Bazar). Although the police arrested him, he was released immediately on bail (presumably due to the intervention of RAW). Chennai court closes criminal charge against slain LTTE chief

Eventually, the other organizations either got merged or got destroyed by LTTE.

Part 7: India about-turn. IPKF
At the peak of the civil war in 1987, India dropped supplies in Jaffna: Operation Poomalai and foiled an attempt by SL army to win over the rebels. And then on May 1987, Rajiv made an inexplicable move to cozy up with the lankans through theIndo-Sri Lanka Accord. Under the terms of that accord, India was to deploy a peace keeping mission. As though to warn that SL government is untrustworthy, an SL solider attempts assassination on Rajiv when we was in Colombo as an official guest. He is a successful politician in SL now: Vijitha Rohana

That blind trust over Sri Lankans, cost India and Rajiv too dear. Just like his grandfather he labored some grand visions of neighborhood friendship only to appear foolish eventually. India was bruttally bruised in Ceylon by both the Lankans and Tamils. Indian Peace Keeping Force

Part 8: Frankenstein turns its head
LTTE was furious at this about turn by Rajiv. But, the monster had already been set loose. Close to 10K Tamils and 1200 Indian soldiers died unnecessarily. Prabharakan was in a blind rage and ordered assassins to kill Rajiv.

I was a kid during that time and we were spending our vacation in the island of Rameswaram (stone's throw from Lanka) when the assassination happened. It immediately set off panic throughout India. It was really scary time back then. That was the time I started reading newspapers, though too young to understand much. There were raids as India made a massive offensive against the Tigers.
Also see: Sri Lanka profile - Timeline

Since then, the public support for the Lankan Tamils have dwindled and given that the cold war ended in late 80s, India had no need for LTTE. Indian army provided increasingly strong support to the SL army that led to the eventually destruction of Tigers in 2010.

#Tamil #LTTE #SriLanka #Rajiv #Jaffna

Success traits

2013-10-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

Found this while browsing. Interesting list of traits defining path to success. I kinda feel that I have both, where do I stand ?!

Is he THE chosen one?

2013-09-08T12:08:00.001-07:00

Pretty impressive education and track record. Hoping for improvements to Indian economy.

Transit in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

2013-06-24T00:38:00.001-07:00

If you have plans to transit in Schiphol International Airport (Amsterdam) in Hollands, I would highly encourage you to have a layover for at least 3.5 hours. This would give you the required time to tour the city which is just 10 miles away. There are quite a few tour packages tailored for your time and pace. If you only have few minutes, please check out the airport for some great experience. There are good lounges, museum, library, shopping areas and of course people, people and more people.

The blog below lists the highlights of the airport:
http://www.terminalu.com/travel-features/10-great-things-to-do-when-transferring-at-amsterdam-airport-schiphol/3359/

Inspired Tamil songs !

2013-05-20T22:21:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable. Some of the most famous Tamil songs seem to be inspired (read copied) from other languages. Here is a good compilation of this list. Musicians, from old to present, have all contributed to the list !

Me? Change? Give me a break !

2013-01-30T10:59:00.001-08:00

I have been resting my bad leg for the four days because of a knee injury. Staying at home for so long has taken me back to my PSG Tech days. Sometimes, after bunking my classes, I will go back to my hostel room thinking of what to do. With no mood to work or sleep, I would watch funny videos, movies, play flash games and pass my time in the most inefficient way imaginable. Today, I realized that even though I have upgraded myself to youtube, facebook and twitter, the basic me has not changed a bit. After 10 years, I see myself wasting time to the max extent possible ignoring my duty of work.. Venkata - eppa da thirundha pora ?!

Venkat - knee injury (ligament tear)

US - social security issue

2013-01-06T19:30:00.001-08:00

Every pay check, the workers in USA contribute to the Social security fund. For the immigrants or employees living in US for a short term, this is a money going to a black-hole. There are no returns for the dollars that are paid as SS tax. Here are a couple of articles in NewYork times describing the issues, the second one giving a more visual representation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/opinion/sunday/social-security-its-worse-than-you-think.html?smid=pl-share

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/06/sunday-review/social-securitys-flawed-forecasting.html?smid=pl-share

This has been one of the major issues / concerns in US. The promising solution to this problem is to raise the taxable income. Currently, as per the article, only $113,700 of the total income is subject to SS tax. Even if one earns $1 million as annual income, one will be paying SS tax only for $113,700. This may not completely solve the issue, but helps to stabilize the SS funds and not run into deficits.

Welcome 2013

2013-01-01T11:53:00.002-08:00

Happy new year. Hope 2013 brings more fun, excitement and prosperity to our lives.

+2 results - Namakkal sweeps the accolades

2012-05-21T23:20:00.000-07:00

Tamilnadu Directorate of Government Examinations have declared+2 Results today May 22 2012 (Wednesday). Pass Percentage- 86.7%

Toppers List: (With Tamil as 1st Language)

1) State 1st Rank - 1189 Marks (out of 1200)
- - Sushmita from SCV Hr Sec School,Namakkal

2) State 2nd Rank - 3 Students - 1188 Marks
- T Manikandan from Namakal
- T Kaarthika from Nammakkal
- B Ashok Kumar from Namakal

3) State 3rd Rank - 2 Students - 1187 Marks
- Maheshwari from Namakal
- Prabha Sankari from Namakal

Centum 200/200 Statistics:

- Mathematics - 2656 Students Scored 200 out of 200
(2720 students in 2011)

- Chemistry - 1444 Students Scored 200 out of 200
(1243 students in 2011)

- Physics - 142 Students Scored 200 out of 200
(646 students in 2011)

- Biology - 616 Students Scored 200 out of 200

Tags: +2 State First, Second, Third Rank - TN 12th 1st 2nd 3rd Ranks - State Board Plus Two, HSC, 12, Plus 2 Top Marks - Highest Score - Pondicherry Puducherry Public Exam - Centum Hundred out of Hundred 200/200 Statistics - Mudhal Manavar Peyar - Thervu Mudivugal

Congrats to all successful candidates.

P.S: Thanks to vaartaahaa blogspot for sharing this.

Indimerica

2012-03-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

I read this recent article on NY Times. Pretty interesting observation by a not-so-biased author.
#AusterityVsProsperity

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/opinion/sunday/how-india-became-america.html?_r=1&hp

Run Baby Run

2012-03-04T21:09:00.003-08:00

I have been using mapmyrun.com for logging my workouts/runs and looking at the stats (some motivation for my next run). Today, I was quite surprised to notice the beautiful integration of Google Earth for each run. Hi5 for the new visualization.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/67820650#

#google_earth #mapmyrun

My Valentine

2012-02-14T00:57:00.000-08:00

Hard struck Cupid's arrow
Just seeing her dazzling shadow

O'girl, beauty can ne'er personify you

Kissing thy nectarous lips
Endowed me with immortal bliss

Enchanting eyes & graceful smile
Even in my grave, 'll keep me alive

Never love, leave me never
Clever love, be with me ever

Cornelian dilemma

2011-12-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

மூன்று வருடம் நெஞ்சினில் சுமந்த அவளுக்கும்
பத்து மாதம் கருவில் சுமந்த தாயிற்கும்
இடையில் நடக்கும் போரிலே,

தோல்வியுற்று மாய்ந்தது அவனும், அவனின் காதலும் !!!

End of First Semester !

2010-01-09T21:02:00.000-08:00

First of all, wish you all a very happy new year. Adios 2009 & welcome 2010. I could have never wished for a better year with God showering his blessings over me throughout the year. Many things have changed positively around me and in me as well. Now, 2010 seems to be promising and I hope it turns out even better.

All these days I had been following the 'Think before you ink' rule in blogging but I had been doing only the first part while my blogspot went to hibernate. So, here I am to blog my random thoughts which might or not make sense to you.

After the last exam of my first semester, I wanted to cease this blogging hiatus. But I was quite drowning in enjoyment, particularly watching TV series like Prison break and How I met your mother (btw, both are good.. watch them when you find time). Ya, my first semester in Virginia Tech comes to a close and believe me, I have no idea how fast it could be. But it has been a great semester, my start of life in US. My experience in this whole new world has been great here so far.

With a Graduate Research Assistant job at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, the semester started very smoothly and no financial worries. To my knowledge, the free education system cannot not really work well in many places, but mine has always been a special case. I have loved my studies so far and hope to do so even in the forthcoming semesters.

On the disappointing side, I did not get a chance to visit many parts of US. I just made a nice trip to Asheville (NC) with my friends here during the thanksgiving hols. The trip was wonderful and the rafting experience has made it memorable. Last week, I had been to Seattle and enjoyed my stay there for 3 days. Hope I explore more of US soon !

Realization Point..

2009-09-16T22:17:00.000-07:00

It was yet another day in my busy life (ya, I am busy nowadays. .trust me). I sat with my laptop with coffee in hand. For every sip of coffee, I was thinking of the various deadlines of projects, assignments, dates of quizzes etc. Suddenly, the network was down and I was not able to connect, even to google.com. I was turned off completely and it seemed like the whole world has come to a halt.

No sooner the connection restored, my mom reached me in skype from India. She was really sad and inquired about me and my health more than usual. Wondering why, I stopped her and asked why she was worried about me, when she told me that it was more than a week since I spoke to her. "What? A week? Mom, stop kidding.. I spoke to you a couple of days back and ..", just when i realized 'ya, she is true. It was 8 days back when I last spoke to her'.

I started to realize (tardily as usual) on how I'm into the internet world more than real one - mails, chats, twitter, blogging, facebook, orkut, news etc. And truly, Google is my best friend now, to the extent that I can't imagine a life for a day without it. Ridiculously, I can live without speaking to my mom for more than a week but not without google for a day. What a major transformation !

I am not able to stay from internet for more than a hour. My heart pounds for getting myself connected online - to refresh inactive mailbox every five minutes & keep waiting for non-coming incoming mails, to check the online list of buddies in instant messenger when no one even cares a damn to ping you and so on...

It is an unfortunate fact that we are trying to spend more time finding friends online than meeting the real ones next door. We are ready to spend hours scrapping, tweeting, blogging ourselves to really live this second life rather than seconding to live our real life.. So sad !

First Impressions !

2009-09-12T13:43:00.001-07:00

It has been just a few days since i made it to the United States - with all excitement and expectation. As a stranger in this strange land, I have observed a few things which I would like to share with you.

1. People are friendly and ready to accept other communities

2. Friday nights and parties go hand in hand.. all souls follow the unwritten rule - get drunk and enjoy

3. Vehicles stop for pedestrians unlike in India

4. If you see someone in their eyes, they will surely smile and wish you at least a 'hi' / 'how u doing' etc. And if you do not return their greetings, you are considered too 'rude' !

5. Honking is considered insulting and if you blow your horn, you can mostly see the other party raising their middle finger against you

6. No one is in a hurry, unless they really are !

7. The buses are so punctual that you can even set the time in your watch

8. There is no biasing or discrimination based on someone's job - a server or a company CEO are treated in the same way

9. You take away a life of an american or his freedom.. both mean the same to him

10. Roads and rules reign. Starting from seat-belt to speed limit to parking lot time, once has to follow intricate rules. If not, you are busted

11. Craziest football freaks are out everywhere

12. You name a cool car, you find it somewhere near you. Cars are cheap and the main mode of transport. Surprisingly, trains are least preferred except in some places

13. Most of them work out everyday to maintain their physique

14. Dogs do not bark, crows do not caw and no animals on street

15. Last but not the least.. American chicks are extremely good looking and it is really difficult to pick the most beautiful woman in a group. And not surprisingly, they care a damn if you ogle at them or not !

Welcomed to USA !!!

2009-08-28T20:47:00.001-07:00

A first time international trip is always exciting. As an Indian, I wished not to take Air-India and so booked Qatar airways - the cheapest of all. It all started with disappointment when visitors were not allowed inside Chennai Anna Terminal due to Independence Day security reasons. As many effusively sentimental people bidding farewell to their loved ones, my parents were there with tears in their eyes as we departed by 4:45 am (IST) flight.. It was me and Naga together (and that continues till now! And finding a way to stop it).

The flight (airbus 320) took off promptly and sailed like a paper in breeze. Anybody would love the ambiance - the food, beautiful stewards around etc. The transit at Doha (9 am Doha time) was in fact really good. It was a large airport and the first international terminal I stepped in ! The journey to Washington was long & tiring but equally exciting. We reached Washington DullesInternational terminal by 16:20 (US Eastern time) and had our immigration & custom checks ended fairly well. Suddenly, I realized that I was IN US ! I mean.. I have reached my dream land..

When you are on such a high, you can obviously expect an abysmal low. At 18:15, We came to know that our flight (UA) to Roanoke which was originally scheduled at 21:55 was rescheduled to 18:30 giving us an ample time of 15 mins (!) within which we were expected to complete baggage check-in and security check. And as thought, we missed the flight before reaching the domestic terminal with next flight to Roanoke only at 13:30 next day. In such a pathetic situation, there was a rescuer - Nag's uncle, who had come to see us at Dulles to wish 'bon-voyage' but finally had to say 'welcome to Baltimore' ! A night stay at Baltimore was fun, thanks to Neha - a 6 yr old smart, cute American Indian and the last qualifier - Nag's cousin.

Boarding the flight next day, we reached Roanoke by 14:15 and had to wait for 5 hours before someone from college came for pick-up. We reached home at Blacksburg at around 21:00 hrs as planned, but delayed by a day. But who cares, I have been welcomed to United States !

Journey into the dream!

2009-07-19T03:36:00.000-07:00

Life is a beautiful journey - just like the one in train. You meet many people, they come and go - the passing clouds, but life goes on. It was my last day in Bangalore and just a couple of days back, I had resigned my job. I was traveling in Mysore Mayiladudurai Express on way to Trichy.

With loads of baggage but no one to accompany and assist me, I felt being lonesome and helpless. The Sunday night at Bangalore City Junction is always a messy scene. Shoving the crowd with heavy bags, I successfully reached my compartment. But soon, I felt the pleasure in solitude. Inside the compartment, I could see the faces of passengers with diverse emotions - some happy of pursuing their dreams (like me), some sad of parting their near and dear ones, some indifferent (may be bcoz of frequent travels).

The iron caterpillar whistled clamorously to signal its departure. People started waving their hand, just as a sign of farewell. It was like all the people in front of my compartment sighed and bid farewell for my journey. That is one advantage when you travel alone. You can enjoy every moment and cherish the beauty of nature, people and life as a whole. I often feel or assume such dramatization happening around me, when I am alone.

It so happens that every time I get into a train alone, I wish some beautiful girl (fine, at least an OK type) should sit right in front of me. My wish list is always unbounded; after all it is a WISH list. I wished that she should somehow be related to me by some chance so that there is a possibility of a 'HI' being exchanged. I rushed through the compartment and checked the reservation chart only to see a 53 year old MAN (named George Emanuel) in the window seat right in front of mine. My wish has always been a wish and has never changed into reality even once. I know, I am no Chetan Bhagat (as in one night at call center) or Surya (as in vaaranam aayiram).

Blaming fate as usual, I started reading 'The week'. The TTE came to check our tickets. As the train reached Hosur station, a girl (needless to say, she was damn good looking and even familiar) showed a RAC ticket to the TTE. The Good old man allotted her a seat right in front of mine. Just then I came to know that the 53 year old George has not turned up (Ofcourse, I thanked God a million times). Suddenly, I heard a voice saying 'Excuse me'. With a thud in my heart, I turned to see the beauty. She brought to my attention my bottle that has leaked water and wetting the baggage area of hers. Oops... Now my turn for an excuse!

In a short time, she called again. I wondered what mistake I have made this time. She asked if I am from Trichy. I replied in the affirmative. She quickly asked if I can identify her. All of a sudden, my brain loaded her history into its RAM.. ‘Meenakshi’.. She had come to my school once for participating in Miss. Campofez contest – a cultural event for identifying the bold and the beautiful girls. We took our engineering entrance exam coaching in the same center. I found my chance for a few words to be exchanged. We started sharing our information. We were deeply engrossed in our conversation when suddenly I heard some voice asking for my ticket. The TTE had just come and the train had halted at Bangalore Cantonment station. My wish has always been a wish ...

VISA power !

2009-07-02T20:33:00.000-07:00

All is well that ends well. After slogging for days and having sleepless nights to prepare the financial documents, the D-Day had come.. 29-Jun-09 - the day I had my visa interview. Let me share my visa interview experience with you.

Reached consulate at 6.45 am. Seventh candidate for the day to enter the Chennai consulate first building where security & document checks are done. One cute, lovely, good looking lady verified my documents and guided me to the second building. To my surprise, I was the first (!) to enter there to take my interview. Thank God, there was a tv showing CNN IBN news, which distracted me out of my nervousness. With pukka documents in hand, I went to counter 1 for my interview. The visa officer (VO), a young man in his mid thirties greeted me with a smile.

VO: Good morning
me: Good morning, sir. How you doing?

VO: I am doing fine. How about you?
me: I am doing fine as well.

VO: So, which university?
me: Virginia Tech

VO: Why specifically to that university?
me: Because of its reputation and research facilities. Also, the funding chances are good.

VO: Oh.. Good. What will be the kind of work after you complete your MS?
me: Network Administrator, sir. (This is the best part. There are many better positions for MS
graduates. I still wonder why i told N/w admin.. I suck !)

VO: Fine. Who is your sponsor?
me: My mother, sir

VO: How much money you have in your account?
me: I have XX in my savings account and YY as my FDs.

VO: Great. Your visa has been issued. Your passport will reach you in three days.
me: Thank you, sir. Have a great day. (But.. is that it? I was expecting more Qs and documents to be perused, tho not completely, but at least a couple of them).

I was on cloud nine once the visa was granted. Had it been the other way, my one and a half years effort would have been in vain.. The interview lasted hardly for 3 mins. My financial documents were not checked at all. But that does not matter as long as the show ends well.

To the 'Mother of Presidents' in US, here I come to become a Hokie ! :)

Bye Bye Nokia ...

2009-07-02T01:15:00.000-07:00

As I had said already in my older post, the first company is usually the favorite & best for most of us. At the least, it has been true in my case. 22-May-2009 was the last working day for me at Nokia. I have often imagined this separation as the two hands in the logo moving farther rather than otherwise. :)

The agility of time in these two years is ineffable. It has been a fruitful and somewhat challenging experience here. In these two years, I have seen Nokia going through sea change - from a leading mobile company to an Internet company, though my work was not much affected by this change. ;)

The transition from 'student to employee to student again' has indeed been smooth. After bunking classes and enjoying my life to the fullest in college, this professional experience has groomed me as a matured individual to a great extent. People saw me in spotlight which made me look respectable and that pushing me to behave in an adorable manner. I realized my potential at Nokia after a dismal performance in my UG. Yet, I failed to deliver my best here once my MS plans took shape. No man can serve two masters and I was forced to serve my GRE master better (a regrettable act).

My interaction with my team was limited, thanks to the work process and me being a silent observer in most places. Even then, how can one forget the mentoring sessions, appreciations, team lunches & outings, B'Day bashes, T.T matches, wildcraft trident (farewell gift) and last but not the least - 24 x 7 internet ! Keeping all these memories with me, I am moving forward to the next phase of my life at Virginia Tech, where probably more responsibilities are waiting for me.

But before my next challenge, I would like to take a moment to thank my team for the support and wish everybody all the best. :-)

P.S: (long one.. again)
I would like to tell my pathetic performance during my farewell at Nokia. I anticipated a formal meeting where my team will wish me for my career and that I would stay casual, rather bombastic about my dream admit. I wanted to do, in fact, perform really well during my farewell. But the result was otherwise. Actually, all my team mates were totally casual and the most formal fool in the scene was 'me'. It is pathetic about the way I reacted.. in truth over-reacted ! It is still a mystery - why I am being so formal in being social? In my work atleast, is it because of my technical inability or intimidation of corporate life? The question remains ...