Musings in a Reverie

Translation in China

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 20:23:00 +0000

It's been ages since I got back, but somehow the surge of being able to access blogger after being in China for 2 months wasn't quite as strong as I envisioned it. I guess it got drowned out by the surge I felt for Facebook and Twitter.

Of course, it might well be too late for a detailed analysis of a lot of things. What's worse - I STILL don't have all my pictures yet. Forgetful person that I am, I backed up a significant portion of them on a friend's USB stick - and that friend was abroad before I realized how important it is. Seems it is on the way now, but knowing the Indian postal service, it will be a long time before i get it.

Anyway, I digress. This post is going to be about the funniest, and likely most repeated story my brief period of living in China (as opposed to travelling there) gave me. To set the stage, I must acknowledge that I didn't have the difficulties most laowai face in China - I had people that I knew, and who could speak English to help me out with a lot of things. This included registering as a foreigner with the police, signing my one-month rent agreement, and so on.

Through my first week, I had already started using my phone (I was limited - only a feature phone with no working SIM card) for an extremely important task - eating. Before you jump to strange conclusions, I used it to ORDER food to eat. Now, I'm not a fussy eater, and with few restrictions (even sometimes scaring my Chinese friends with what I am willing to eat), pointing randomly at the menu worked just fine. Still - after the first 6 meals I started wanting to know what I was getting before I ordered it.

So I started googling things, and found that I needed to create my own menu - and what better place to have it on my phone. This also applied to basic translations of things I needed (Beer was one of the first words I added. Followed by water). This place was the most helpful EVER

So after getting the characters, followed by some formatting and screenshots, I had the basic translation cards for food (I had done this earlier with simple phrases and addresses). Here are some examples

So all was well - ok not quite. My friends had their own life to lead, and the timing was such that they actually had a lot of really important things to do in the first week I was there. Basically - I had no phone connection, and in the first couple of days I couldn't get one. Seems no one was free to help me for some time. This was quite annoying to be honest - not least because Zhejiang University is HUGE, and I needed to keep walking outside every time I needed to make a phone call to the person who was meant to meet me outside the Lab I was interning at.

I had no intention of buying a SIM card myself - hell I had a hard enough time buying groceries, even without having to ask for anything. Anyway, on the first weekend I saw a shop really close to my place, and decided it was worth braving the risk to go in. Perhaps the guy would understand a few words of English?

Well - sorely mistaken. It took my ten minutes to communicate to him that I needed a SIM card. This was after I removed the SIM card and actually showed it to him. Luckily, he had a computer and I could see an active internet connection. So I grabbed the keyboard (he instinctively realized he had to get rid of the pinyin translator), and navigated to navigate to an english version of Google Translate.

For the next 20 minutes, neither of us spoke a word - there were even a couple of people who stood by, looking with amazement at this weird Indian chap who was typing away on the store-owner's computer. Now people knock Google Translate, but I love it. Thank god Google didn't piss the Chinese off enough for them to block the service. I got every detail I needed - the rates, the best deal given the exact places to which I was travelling, the English language service number.

The minute I put that SIM card in, I felt totally empowered. Not because I had a phone, but because I'd managed a complex negotiation, without either of us understanding a single word that the other was saying. In the end, it wasn't my intercultural experiences that helped me out - it was my propensity towards thinking of tech-solutions to any problem.

So - if you're travelling to China, and the trip isn't long enough for you to think it is worth mastering the language, do not fear.. even with just a feature phone, you've got a lot of options. The rest of the trip would probably be a lot easier for you if you have a smart phone, and can manage to get internet access (there are some apps that translate photographs of Chinese characters into english) - but keep the Google translate option in mind while getting hold of that internet connection from the local shop.

What's in a name?

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:20:00 +0000

I've been using the monicker "wayfaerer" in quite a few places... and it isn't uncommon for someone to stop and ask me what it means. As I mentioned in the very first post on this blog, it is essentially a middle-english spelling of 'wayfarer', which means a traveler or someone who goes on a journey.

Now although I've been on a few trips before, in Europe and India, this upcoming trip is the only one that really feels like a journey. As I mentioned, I'm off to China... and I'm going to be spending more than a month living by myself there. Its my first real experience like that, and in a country that is more than just a bit foreign... and for once, I feel like I REALLY connect with that alias.

That said, I'm totally excited.. I'm working in a really reputed lab there, so I can look forward to both academic learning in things I am really interested in, as well as life-learning. And even if the former doesn't happen.... which it might not because things look really complex (Blogger is blocked in China, so my advisor can't read that), I can be assured that I'll come back with experiences that will help me adjust anywhere in the world..... which can be a really useful thing.

One other thing I'm excited about, is that I get my own apartment there (or rather, I am paying for my own apartment). So no roommates, and the other trappings of college life that make being out of home a relatively simple experience.... at the same time, there's space peace and quiet. Things I value quite a lot. Perhaps my opinion would be different were I to spend years studying somewhere.. but for this one month, I'm glad about it.

The best part, of course, is that solitude isn't the hallmark of the trip. There are plans to go to Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing and a few other cool places in China, and I'll be travelling with people I know quite well. Following that, the Symposium (which I've mentioned before).. which means I'll be interacting with many many people. Seems like some type of exponential progression :)

So.. there it is. Learning, and fun lie ahead, and I shall be off in a few hours. What doesn't lie ahead, however, is my blog. Or Facebook. Or Twitter. Since all those things are blocked in China.... by what some people I know call The Great (fire)Wall.

So I'll be behind the wall... but those of you who know me can always find me on the various IM platforms that I am known to haunt... I have a feeling I'll be online quite a lot.

Look forward to a post in about a month and a half about the trip, and my experiences.... until then, read the archives. lol

Deviance

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:16:00 +0000

Today I just got out of the hospital after having a minor surgery. It was the first time I've been checked in to a hospital myself, and the whole experience was quite interesting

I was in there to correct a deviated septum... basically my nose bridge was bent, and that restricted my breathing. It was a problem that had been bothering me for quite a while, so I decided to get done with the correction once and for all... rather than keep suffering in small amounts over time.

Well, one thing I've already figured out is that being a rebel isn't always good. If it hadn't been for my damn rebellious septum, it wouldn't have moved out of place, and I could have avoided the surgery.

I was getting admitted at night, and the surgery was only in the morning. Since I was going to be there for a few days, I packed a whole bunch of things with me. Laptop, iPod, a book, chargers for all my electronic devices... it felt almost as though I was going on some type of long trip. In retrospect... that's almost exactly what it was. Come to think of it, I think this is what my dad's ideal vacation is (minus the anesthetic and surgery of course).

After getting to the hospital, there was some paperwork, and lots and lots of waiting. I was getting quite frustrated, since the plan was timed so that I'd be able to catch a show on TV. Well, that plan went up in smoke as I waited for what seemed like an eternity for people to take me to get a few tests done. What's worse.. I didn't get a wheelchair!

After watching so many people on all medical shows being pushed around in a wheelchair, I thought the least I could expect was to avoid all walking around during my stay at the hospital. Well.. no such luck. I had to walk the short distance to get the tests done.. and soon I was in the rather comfortable room, watching TV. I listened to my latest musical obsession (at least that's what other people seem to call it).. the soundtrack from the show Dexter.

For those who haven't listened to it, or watched the show..you must check it out soon.

The next morning was the surgery... someone woke me up at the unearthly hour of 7 AM (especially considering the late night), and started with some antibiotics and fluids being put into the IV. After that they decided to pack my nose with some type of cotton in order to prep my for the surgery.

The rest of it was a blur of activity.. I finally got my wish of being pushed around when I was put onto a bed and rolled out to the OT for my actual surgery. I remember seeing my CT scans, where the doctors explained what they would be doing, some regular conversation... and the next thing I know I was back up... the packing in my nose was changed, and I was quite confused (more than normal).

I got a memento from the surgery though.. the bits of my cartilage that they removed. One of the nurses was showing me that bit, and I requested her to keep it around. When I got a proper look at it I was shocked... I wonder how there were that many EXTRA bones in my nose. No wonder I had trouble breathing. Oddly enough, the container did echo some bits of Dexter. Those who've seen the show will be able to make the connection

Yes... I like freaking out people who are slightly squeamish. And yes.. my nose is still intact. Contrary to a belief being spread on facebook, the result is NOT a Michael Jackson style false nose. Most of it is still around.. and it looks no different from before.

Anyway.. one bit that I did not expect was that there was not much pain associated with the surgery. Not immediately after I woke up, and not several hours I had recovered from the effects of the anesthetic. Although I'd been told that the surgery would be painless.. it was great to discover that this was, in fact, the whole truth.

Following this, I had to hang around in the hospital while the packing in my nose had enough time to steady my now-tamed septum, and also so that I could be pumped with a variety of medicines in order to speed up my recovery.

The discharge report I got from the hospital said that the recovery was "uneventful". Spot on! In fact... it was annoyingly uneventful. I slept most of the first day, but after that.. I was horribly bored. The fact that I couldn't sit up for too long without my nose dripping blood didn't give me a variety of options either.

Most of my time was spent messaging people, listening to my iPod (Muse was the flavor of the day.. needed something interesting but still soft since I couldn't move my head) and watching television. I even got my laptop for a few hours of internet surfing in order to change up my routine.... it seemed so much like home, except that I had a bed that tilted as per my controls.

One thing that I did like about the hospital was the food. It seemed that it was always time for some meal. Juice, a snack, lunch, tea, dinner.. the list went on. Surprisingly (this was the most surprising bit to me), the food was actually good. I would have no problem voluntarily paying for food from there if I was in the vicinity. I found myself enjoying every meal at the hospital.... it really made me wonder why hospital food has such a terrible reputation. Quite undeserved in my opinion.

Anyway.. today morning it was deemed that I'd been hanging around long enough, and the packing was removed. It was quite a bloody sight. Probably the only part of my whole stay at the hospital which actually hurt. When I left the hospital, it was strange to notice that the only bandages I had on were at the point where the IV was connected.... it didn't seem to fit, but I'm glad that more damage wasn't done.

Hardly as eventful, traumatic, exciting, or unexpected as a surgery post *should* be, but that's exactly what I thought as well. Still a bit peeved about the wheelchair though... it wouldn't have been too much of a bother to give me one to roam around in for a few days. Ah well... not everything can go the way one wants.

New Beginnings

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 22:02:00 +0000

I'm back! Well, for now at least... and hopefully at least a few other posts.

The last several months have had a lot packed in.

The year started off quite nicely. We got to celebrate New Year's after a long time, and although the night itself was far from being perfect, it still was nice to be able to be out at a time when everyone was welcoming the new year. My new year's resolution fared reasonably well for the first few months.. but as with most New Year's resolutions, it ended up getting eschewed quite soon.

This was soon followed by my second attempt at the GRE (my first attempt fared reasonably well, but not well enough), and the result was very satisfying.. though perhaps not perfect. As you could guess.. there was nowhere to go but down. ( actually everything COULD have stayed just as good.. but no such luck for me)

My semester started off with an accident on my bike. I ended up getting quite badly hurt... some scars that are still around (some of them are intriguing actually), and a few stitches. No one to blame but myself really. Seems like my short motorcycling career involving high speeds and reckless driving was waiting to catch up with me.

More recent events have, however put me in a contemplative mood.

The first of these has been my semester exams, which got me thinking about my attitude towards important points in my life. I've long followed the principle of "minimum effort for good results".. which had me put in the amount of effort required to get what I deemed were good results, worth aiming for. When things got important, that minimum was automatically raised and I found ways to ensure that I did not just 'OK', but well. It seemed like the crunch situations were made for me. I found myself automatically focusing at levels I never bothered with earlier. This worked out quite well... and I managed to get what I aimed for most of the time (one might question if I aimed high enough, but I've always been happy with it).

The principle got augmented to "minimum effort for acceptable results" over the last few years. Apathy towards exams builds quickly when very important ones are every 6 months, the focus is on regurgitation, and its possible to do quite well with a very small amount of work. Until recently, this too allowed me to get what I aimed for.

As you might have guessed from the mention of GRE, I'm planning to apply to grad school later this year.. which means my 6th semester is the last one I'll be able to show off on applications. Not much to boast about so far, but I had a desire to do WELL (in the absolute sense), since it would probably be the most important. I went with the assumption that as before, things would work out naturally in crunch situations.

Reality caught up with me. The exams went poorly, and there is no one to blame but myself, and the lack of desire to get myself working in line with my goals. This was quite a disappointment... not because I expected to do well (I realized I couldn't), but because my belief in the magical ability to pull one out of the bag took a deserved beating.

The other event is a bit closer to home. It didn't turn out well, and this was not in my control.. and the way things unfolded got me thinking about some qualities and ways of approaching situations that I value a lot. I tried hard (perhaps too hard).. but looking back it need not have been this way (i.e. same result, better route) if I'd thought about the way I view most other things: practically and logically.

While everything I've said so far is highly disconnected, the changes made me think about how to deal with a multitude of situations.

Its obvious that relying only on what works naturally is not always good enough.. effort and dedication are definitely important factors for anything to succeed.

However, it is also important to realize when you are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole (this is a blog...clichés are allowed :P ). I've realized that maybe my approach of dealing with academics and people could do with some mixing and matching. Effort when applied in the right amount can give great results. However, there is a point in both cases, beyond which the efforts put in stop yielding results... and the incremental effects of what is put in diminish rapidly.

It is also interesting to consider that many times, putting in too much effort into making something work may in fact be counter productive. In my case, I find that the most visible effect is that it disconnects me from my core strength: analyzing situations even-handedly. If you are too invested in making something work, you are unlikely to realize when the effort isn't having the desired results.

So the last few months have taught me that its essential to put in enough work to move towards what you want. Without this, you are left with a goal or a dream... but no movement towards it. At the same time, it is also important to maintain enough perspective so that you can judge whether the work is paying off... in order to be able to decide when to cut your losses.

With that learning, I've figured its time for me to start getting serious about my short-term goal: get into a good grad-school. I've probably spent the equivalent of a few months looking up programs and doing research about where to study.... its time to start putting in work to reach that goal.

For now, that work involves an interesting project, which I have the opportunity of pursuing in China within the field of my interest (if the noble great and benevolent Chinese Consulate grants me that longer-duration visa I need), for which I need to spend a significant amount of time supplementing my current knowledge before I start off.

And those are the "new beginnings" I hope to have... derived from the ending of an interesting* semester.

*Here interesting is the way Germans say it... meaning not so good

Sorry for the rambling post.. its been a long time since I've written anything. I'm sure it will get better... it feels nice to type out something though.

Getting around

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:32:00 +0000

So our Symposium that I described earlier is over, and it was a great experience in thousands of different ways, learnt a lot of stuff about organization and so on. But most importantly, we had a lot of fun.

Meeting people from very different backgrounds and spending a lot of time with them was really interesting (not the german interesting, which means something sucks). Through the symposium we had a nice mix of learning, and fun (nice mix = lots of fun lol)... I managed to connect with a lot of people, and it was remarkable how quickly these connections were cemented. Some became better because people spent a longer time here, but in some cases even that was not really neeeded.

Anyway, so much about the symposium (will try to put up some pictures later on). After the symposium, I joined a group that was travelling around India. First off, we had a sort of after-party in Goa, with close to 25 people, mostly from my batch. The time we spent there was amazing, just relaxing and unwinding after an unbelievably strenuous month and sitting in one place talking about random things. That was my first time in Goa, and I definitely have missed out on something for a long time. Fortunately I've got quite a long student life ahead of me, so frequent trips back are definitely still possible.

After Goa, a smaller group (10 people) traveled to Jaipur. A senior of ours decided to join us there. Following this we did a quick trip to Jaisalmer, back to Jaipur, then to Agra. At this point the group split up, and some of us headed to Varanasi before going to Delhi and flying back to Bangalore.

Sounds like something you'd do over a month right? Well, it was actually a little less than 2 weeks... and because of that, there are a couple of things I've learnt that will probably stay with me for a while.

Firstly, travelling through any place that you go to is important, whether its alone or in a group. Every city town or village has something different to offer, and before you go back home, I feel its necessary to have a bit of variety in the experiences.

It also seemed as though we should have spent a lot longer in each place, especially in the first part of the trip. Some cities are the type where you really want to see some sights, and its important to do that. At the same time though, I've started to feel that its even more important to absorb the place you're at, whether its by talking to people in the shops, or just walking around town looking at all the different things on the streets. It's fine if you miss a few things (as long as you wont regret that later).. but whats more important is that there's a lot of free time in between. This is how it became clear how much I detest over-planned travel (where you decide what you'll do at what time of which day)... and will make a serious effort to ensure that it does not happen again.

I also had the feeling that travelling with large groups simply isn't as much fun.. too much time is spent in organizing and herding people around, making sure everyone is there and so on. Even though the several of the people on the trip were great and one of the other things I've taken back from the trip is that I would like to be a bit more specific about the people I would like to travel with. There are many different mindsets with which you can travel, and I've found that its important to have people who have a similar one to me, to be able to enjoy a reasonably long trip.

The time we spent in Varanasi was with just 4 people, and I enjoyed that bit the best... simply because of the amount of time we could all spend together, and the type of fun we had, and this despite the fact that I liked the other cities we traveled to a lot more.

My favourite place on the trip, was Jaisalmer. Its a rustic type of place, one of those typically 'Lonely Planet' places, which has significantly more foreign tourists than Indian ones... and its beautiful. Its one of those places in India that has managed to look old world and charming, instead of old and dilapidated. The streets are narrow, but not over crowded.. they aren't exactly clean, but not disgusting by a long shot.. and more importantly, the view from every spot in the town is amazing. Whether you're looking at the fort, or out into the desert, or down towards the town, every scene seems apt for a postcard. We went on a short Camel Safari as well, through the desert (of course there were people guiding the camels), and we spent an evening on the dunes. Of course, as everyone likes to joke, my liking of a place increases when you have what is shown below. Its not the only criteria though! It only boosts the amount I like a place.

Anyway, enough of my rather boring thoughts on travel (not written for a while, so I'm very rusty.. the next post will be better I promise).

A day in the life...

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:04:00 +0000

A friend of mine who works in the software field shared this with me... hilarious stuff. Felt I had to post it somewhere. Something like a day in the life of a normal employee.. enjoy :)

(not)Working

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:57:00 +0000

The last several months have gone by with meetings, studying for exams for a really long time, and more meetings.
Lets not talk about the exams.. I shall defer all cribbing until after the results come. I have already begun work on my bit about how the correction as unfair, how the system sucks (which of course, it does!) and so on..
On these lines, I've decided that its worth my while to explore options to do a Masters Course. The research I've been doing is interesting. Lets see where that leads.

One of the other features of the last several months has been my Workgroup, which is part of the tasks relating to the Melton Foundation (read below). This is basically a team, that works online to come up with a certain project, based on the theme suggested, and guidelines provided.
The theme is innovation, and my team deals with social innovation.
This sounds cool.. especially to learn about some interesting things happening in India, but this is not a post about how something is cool. Its back to my raving and ranting :)

Now, I'm coordinator of my group... which is a post I didn't really want (time issues), but ended up doing through some cajoling. I have reached the conclusion that I absolutely don't like being in charge of people who are not bothered, or don't realize the importance/significance of something they're working.
Of course.. I understand that people all over the place are faced with this problem... people working with them just suck at the work, or aren't bothered, or both.... even so, apathy towards a shared task is something that I am realizing that gets on my nerves like nothing else. Which is saying something if you have read my other raving and ranting posts.

Its just an insight which I have gained.... I genuinely enjoy coordinating and leading teams (ok I know many people do), and feel I do a good job of motivating as well as contributing... but I'm trying to reconcile that with the level of frustration that develops in me when sincere attempts at motivation fail, and you don't have the option to fire someone. Any tips?

All this leads me to a decision. I am NOT going to diss the public sector managers any more. Imagine.. this is a part (not so small, but still only a part) of my life, which is voluntary. The results of the group, while having consequences, are not so important as we are assessed individually.... and basically, its all an exercise of sorts. Just this situation is getting me (and other people) SO riled up..... I don't even want to fathom the plight of those who have to deal with similarly apathetic people, in larger numbers, when the task at hand is of some serious consequence. OH. and they're being paid to boot!

Done. small rant this time.. lol.

Most of the last week has been spent on campus, which is not something I would do normally during my brief holidays.. but its fun this time. First there's something to do... and apart from that people from all over the world have come down, some of them a bit early... and they're just hanging around. Whats best is that we even get to interact with many people much more than we would have if our symposium (see below for definition) was in some other country.

Right now I feel all set for work.. tons of emails, of varying degrees of formality based on the person, meetings online everyday, commute to the workplace, one or two meetings followed by some serious work. After this brief period come attempts to find useful (or not) things to do, and extremely extended lunches. Maybe I'll get a salary for doing the same stuff once the recession is over. lol

No parking

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Sun, 10 May 2009 08:18:00 +0000

As I said in the previous post, we're planning a Symposium for a lot of people.... and in short its a lot of work.
Recently we had two of the Directors of the Melton Foundation come down to India for a visit, the basic purpose of which was to get planning under way, take stock of where we are and so on.

Most of the week was spent in meetings, and I felt like for a week we had stopped college and started working... interesting work at that. I actually thought it was great... back to the grind now though :(

Anyway, during all the overdose of talk about Indian culture, we decided to make a short trip to the McDonalds near college to get a bite to eat... we were passing through the drive through section and we saw this. Pretty hilarious actually... camera phones are a godsend lol.

It seems as though when there are rules, sensible or not, there's always a whole bunch of Indians feel the innate need to disobey them. Maybe its just convenience, but given the location of this area in relation to the street I would go for the first option.

I think the whole civil disobedience movement just stuck with our genes, minus the part about protesting against unfair rules... this is just doing whatever is convenient without caring who else it could possible effect. If instead of some bribe-able cop coming and attempting to tow vehicles parked wrongly, if the city were to buy a bunch of monster trucks that would just flatten any vehicle parked like that, people would follow the rules.

Melton Foundation: India Symposium 2009 - Navarithi

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 06:47:00 +0000

Wow! This is probably the longest period between post I've had since I started the blog.
For those few of you who do read my blog regularly.. apologies are in order.

As you may recall (from my Amsterdam trip post) I'm a fellow of the Melton Foundation. Again, as I said before, it is basically an organization that is affiliated with 5 universities in 5 different countries, and facilitates inter cultural exchange, and other learning opportunities both online and in person.

The biggest "event" that the Melton Foundation organizes is its annual symposium. The symposium is hosted in a different country each year, and consists of learning related to the "theme" (see below), and the cultural of the host country.

Anyway, 2009 Symposium is to be held in India, and I've been working tirelessly (with a team of course) to have the website for this Melton Foundation activity up. And a few days ago it was!

The name of our symposium is नवरीति or Innovation in English (thats the theme we chose). Navarithi is fine too

Check out the site (at least as a favour). I'm pretty proud of it since I was half of the core team that worked on it..
Melton Foundation India Symposium 2009 Website

The brilliant artwork on the site, some of which I've got on this post is courtesy Rohan Shetty.

Opeth in Chennai - review

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:23:00 +0000

Opeth performed for the first time in India, at the IIT Saarang festival in Chennai.
I still can't believe that they came... I remember thinking the first few people who passed on the news were having some fun at my expense since I'm a huge Opeth fan. But yes, India indeed (just not Bangalore unfortunately).
The show met and surpassed ALL expectations... but lets get a bit more detailed.
There are basically two ways to review a show/concert. One is to only talk of the performance (set list etc etc), and another way is to include the organization of it as well. I'll pick the second.

Lets start with the ranting, then get to the good stuff. The (few) metalheads in IIT-M who managed to get Opeth down for their fest, Saarang, have to be held in the highest regard by the entire Indian metal fraternity.
However, the same cannot (and will not... it should be put into the constitution or something) be said about the other idiots who were involved in organizing the show... that is the volunteers on the ground.
I'll pick a chronological ranting order. First off, the sound check.. it started off with Axe (the drummer) just doing some basic stuff, then Akerfeldt (vocals and guitars) came on and did another sound check... both times we all rushed in and after a while were shooed off after a little while. Almost all of us were taking the opportunity to get a few photographs of him

I don't get it.... the volunteers firstly were most obviously people who had never been to a rock or metal concert in their lives. The band had no issues with people being around during the sound check... actually they seemed really nice and even took photographs with some people, which didn't seem to deter the strong belief that all fans had to be thrown out of the empty stage.

Small issue though.

There was also some stupidity during the autograph sessions

The crowd management was the issue. There were huge queues built up at all the entrances for quite a while. However, no one was allowed into the arena (I'll say arena because thats what they called it, its nowhere nearly as big as the word indicates).

So, inevitably, we got tired of standing in a queue that was simply not moving at all for close to two hours, and decided to sit down.... in the queue mind you, actually many many people did the same thing. Now this situation apparently wasn't acceptable to the organizers, who kept walking about making people stand up. wtf! We were pretty pissed off, and rudely told the guy who kept coming around that we'll stand only when the queue starts moving. (Our altercations with him started when he kept insisting every 5 minutes that all the groups stand in "pojichun", and not stand next to each other to talk while passing those 2 hours).

Anyway, while making everyone stand up, and get into "pojichun" he constantly kept feeling many people up. All guys (he was a guy too). I'm ok with homosexuality as a concept and all that, but please... to all gay people: its NOT ok to constantly feel other guys up under the pretense of trying to keep them in line.
Next, due to the idiotic idea that they would not start letting people in until 15 minutes before the scheduled start time (thats right 15 minutes!), the show started before MOST of the line could even see the entrance. We were right up in front of our line, but this didnt help either.

The first opening act was Demonic Resurrection, and, to speak for my group of friends at least, we were keen on catching the show because they're a good band.
So when they started playing well before we could get in, we were very pissed off. When Mr. Pojichun walked beside us again everyone was yelling at him for starting the show before most of the crowd, at least in our line, were in...As he approached us, just near the entrance, we joined in. He then proceeded to put his finger on his lips. That sent me and a friend over the edge and we threw in a few swear words... he then whisked us off to another volunteer who took us to the cops saying we were drunk.

In short.. the took us to the fucking cops because they were too fucking stupid to let people in before the show started.
Anyway, both of us speak Tamil, and we explained the situation to the cops... who then used a breathalyzer to ascertain that we were not, in fact, drunk.. (it showed 0 in fact).
After that we got in... since the review has already become very long I'll keep the bit about the opening bands brief.
I'm really glad I didn't have anything to drink before going... even though I wanted to be sober for the concert, if it had been in Bangalore we would have spent some time in a pub and had a few mugs... nowhere close to getting anyone high, but it would have registered on that analyzer for sure.

Demonic Resurrection were really good... we just saw 3 songs, but those were great. Next up was Motherjane, who are talented, but it really felt like they played for way too long. Also, many of us had this feeling that most of their songs had a very similar riff.
If I remember right, this was where the weirdest bit of the concert was... after Motherjane, they decided to play some ads, which involved a free hugs campaign. It was a long annoying ad, but the bad bit was that the MC kept trying to pump the crowd up without any idea what type of event it was.

Now thats not what you try with a to bunch of metalheads, most of whom had traveled from other cities to watch a really heavy band.
So the first attempt "put your hands up" was responded to, as you must have predicted, with screams of "fuck off", and hands going up (showing him the finger).
After this he tried to get a mexican scream..... which provoked a long chant of "fuck you fuck you"... somehow it didnt seem like thats what he meant, although I'm sure mexican Opeth fans would have done the same thing.

Anyway, Opeth came on... and this where the fun starts.

They started off with Heir Apparent, from Watershed. Thats a song that was really written to be performed live, because it sounded brilliant, and was executed perfectly.

Next up: The Grand Conjuration, from Ghost Reveries. One of my favourite songs by these guys, and as far as I remember perfect execution. In fact, it seemed slightly sped up, but maybe that was because of the adrenaline of watching these guys perform. \m/

Godhead's Lament - As with all Opeth songs, this is realy good too, however I wouldnt put it in the same league as many others. I thought they would play Serenity Painted Death from Still Life. Opeth's songs are a class apart anyway, and the performance was still really good.

Wreath, from Deliverance was next. And this was absolutely KILLER... Another one of my favourites (as you'll see my Opeth favourites are a reasonably long list). From the first big drum roll I could see that most of the crowd enjoyed this one just as much as me... lots of headbanging ensued, while the crowd went mad. \m/

As expected, this was followed by a song from Damnation..They played Hope Leaves, with an extended solo. At first I was trying to place which song they were merging (a la Megadeth with Mechanix), but it was something completely new. That bit of change was brilliant.
The best part about this song was the place I was standing when they played it, had awesome sound.

Next up was Lotus Eater, from Watershed. Some people I talkd to don't really like Watershed or this song very much. I disagree, and when the first note of the song came I was screaming my head off. It doesn't sound like a song that is too forgiving for live performances though. There were a few seconds where it seemed like the harmonized vocals on the album didn't come out properly. Very minor... but my favourite part of the song. However, my favourite part of the song, i.e. the keyboard jam in the middle didn't come off too well. I'm unsure of whether this was because of the sound being bad.. but it just didn't sound very good. The rest of the song was perfect though (its a long song so thats definitely worth mentioning)... the transition into the recorded outro was also really smooth. This too is on my favourite list btw.

After this, staying with my favourites, they played Bleak from Blackwater Park... All the transitions were performed without any issues.. and they played it up tempo too (at least the heavier bits). Amazing take on the song, which itself is captivating. \m/

After this they played the Night and the Silent Water from Morningrise. I really like the first several minutes of the song, but some of the bits towards the end caught me a bit by surprise, which only made it more enjoyable. I'd say it was an unexpected pick, although it is on the Roundhouse Tapes. I would have definitely preferred Nectar to this though, since they're of similar length.

Next up was Deliverance. No announcement was needed for this song, the minute it started, everyone started headbanging and going wild.... it was almost like a calling. I was also in the best section of the crowd as far as the people surrounding me were concerned... everyone was ecstatic by this time (at the shows length thus far, as well as the fact that they were playing Deliverance). There were several simultaneous moshpits formed. That was the most beginning of the most enjoyable performances of the night. Needless to say this song too was on my favourites list. \m/

Demon of The Fall. From what I've read, this is supposed to be a crowd favourite.... and little wonder. The announcement of this song was preceded by another, saying that it would be the last song.... which prompted massive amounts of chanting for more.
Anyway, again, on my favourites list... I absolutely love this song, and the euphoria of the previous song was amplified when the song started playing. The song has a break, which was extended to work everyone into an even bigger frenzy. Great execution of a great song \m/

Of course we knew they would have to play an encore... there was just too much excitement for them not to. What we didn't realize was that the organizers had no brains at all.... they decided to do some Nokia announcements. Fucking idiots even played an ad with some terribly lame music... it really seemed like this guy was trying to MC between events at some small college fest. They even did some lame stuff (not the second free hugs campaign I feared but almost as bad). Tying up the crowd repeating some incredibly lame stuff to them playing more.
"touch opeth, feel opeth, play opeth" if I remember right. Fucking loser... they even made a weird show about presenting the phone to Mikael, and him playing coil off the phone.
Of course, it was great that he had some amazing quips to make those idiots look even stupider than they already did... "Phones are good, but heavy metal is pretty much better". lol

Anyway, once Akerfeldt started talking it became quite funny... he's awesome with the interactions with the crowd, extremely relaxed, joking and chilled out, none of that taking yourself too seriously nonsense... and he did an awesome job of making fun of the stupid organizers.

Anyway, after all that rubbish, he said they would play two more songs. The first of those, was The Baying of the Hounds. Again, on my favourite list, and this is one of those thats really high up on the rankless list. I was thrilled to bits when it started, because I'd never expected them to play this one... brilliant surprise.
I had also gotten a temporary energy boost due to the anger that surged when the MC started talking crap, and this worked well to completely enjoy the song. \m/

I'm sure not too many (among those who didn't have the set list) expected that they would sign off with Drapery Falls.
Maybe we should have though.. I think thats one of the songs that really captures their style well. As with the previous one, one of my most favourite favourites lol, and again, quite a surprise... I even knew the lyrics of a lot of it, and the energy boost was still active. Really well done too, Akerfeldt's clean vocals sounded pristine... and though the sound was a little iffy, it still was great... all the intricacies of the song came out. \m/

There was only one song that I really missed... Blackwater Park... overall it was a great mix of all the albums, very appropriate for a live show in my opinion. Of course with a band like Opeth, there are so many good songs that everyone goes back enjoying the show but still wishing other stuff was played too. Things that I wish were played: Blackwater Park, Funeral Portrait, Ghost Of Perdition, Face Of Melinda and Windowpane. But I was really happy with the set nontheless.

The fact that the ended their unbelievable, 12 song, 2 and a half hour (i think) long show with 4 brilliant songs made it all the more special. I really hope they come back sometime realy soon , with a new album too.... but this time to Bangalore. It was acknowledged by EVERYONE, that more than half the people at the show were from Bangalore...

Anyway, that was a LONG review, so I'll stop here...

PS: If you like Opeth, and didn't go for reasons under your control (even remotely)..then you really missed something spectacular, and should really regret it.

Setlist - Opeth in Chennai

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:14:00 +0000

A review will follow very shortly, but until then, here's the set list for Opeth's performance on the 25th of January in Chennai:

1) Heir Apparent
2) The Grand Conjuration \m/
3) Godhead's Lament
4) Wreath \m/
5) Hope leaves - with an extended solo
6) Lotus Eater
7) Bleak \m/
8) Night and the Silent Water
9) Deliverance
10) Demon of the fall

---encore----

11) Baying of the Hounds
12) Drapery Falls

OPETH OPETH!!

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:39:00 +0000

The Mumbai massacre.. horrible, gory and tragic.
At this point there is, with good reason, a huge number of opinions in the blogosphere, print as well as television media about this.
Everyone seem to agree, the security apparatus in our country needs to be revamped, and we also need to have a far more effective way of dealing with threats once they surface... ie if prevention is not possible, then the reaction has to be good.
We have a long way to go in developing infrastructure and training for this.
I have much deeper views about the whole situation, and the way its being handled, but I'll save that for later.
This post is a happy one. No im NOT happy because of the blasts you bloody sicko!
But. Opeth is coming to India,it was confirmed on their website several days ago, but i didnt say anything, JUST in case it got reversed. Didnt happen. They'll be here.. on Jan 25th, IIT Saarang.

This prompts the all important question: WTF?
OPETH is coming to India, to play at a college fest? That sounds really weird... but hats off to those IIT guys, apparently there are some people in there who really really know their music, and have the budget to back it.
I'm slightly pissed.. Chennai doesnt have anywhere close to as vibrant a metal scene as Bangalore, and I'm sure the number of Opeth fans are much higher here. More importantly, they should come here for a real concert, not to headline a damn college festival.
It shoulda been a concert in Bangalore, like Megadeth, except with better sound and a MUCH better headlining act.

I wont go on with this tyrade though.... basically they're coming, and forunately Chennai isn't too far away. Even more fortunately its happening during the meagre holidays I have. I'm going for sure, how many of you would I run into there?

However, this update happened before the previous incidents I mentioned (Mumbai) occured.
Although this might seem petty in relation, I really really really hope they don't cancel the gig because of those incidents.

OPETH!! lol

If you still haven't heard them and are vaguely into slowish kinda rock check out their Damnation album. They might be a metal band, but on this disc there is almost no distortion, only clean vocals, and soft songs. Very prog type (Porcupine Tree type prog)

If you're the metal type, check out all their others! My personal favourites are Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries and Watershed, but honestly every one of their albums is amazing.

Either way, make sure you check their music out

the new TV depression

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:30:00 +0000

So its been a month since I've been back... and its been a rather quiet month, even my monthly ritual of cribbing about internals took a break this time. College is getting a bit more boring, and nothing at all has changed.. normally stuff does when a new batch comes in, but that isn't the case here, they just disappear into the cracks. Literally.

I normally watch the news when there's nothing I like on. Which happens often, because I always tend to move in front of the television during these extended periods of time. BUT the world's economy is crumbling. This has resulted in news channels giving unbelievable amount of airtime to describing the crisis, in brief, and repeatedly.
They wont go into the details of any long term causes and effects,, its a 24 hour (almost) news cycle.... that stuff doesn't change for years and years, wtf will they talk about after a while
So instead, they talk about every single stock exchange in the world. Generally going down. Hundreds of times. Then move on to the next "show", where a different fellow does the same thing.

The overdose of stock market news has saturated our screens with varying shades of red, forcing me to remember (fondly) similar scenes in overly gory movies. I'm not a big fan (read: I am not violence obsessed), but at least something interesting happens in them before the screen is flooded with blood.

Now the alternatives are the latest soap/"reality show"/random film persons love life, or Ganguly's retirement. They go on and on and on. The idiot retired, let him decide if its good or bad, he's been in the news for way too long. India should impose a maximum airtime limit on all cricketers, at least on news channels.
I'm hoping the guys who fund those commercials with cricketers in them stop having enough money to pay them too. Seriously too many of them everywhere... its really irritating. I shudder to think what will happen in the next year, I'm sure there are more retirements coming.

The American election is ok, but there too... everyone ran out of stuff to say a long time ago, its been repeated repetition for a while now.
The world of news is seeming more and more like a CD player stuck on repeat. The player is jammed, and the record is really short, and after a while, you either throw it out the window (extreme), or just stop listening.
Yeah I know no ones uses CD players anymore, but the analogy wouldn't work with an ipod.

I managed to finish Midnights Children (all of the above made me move back to reading), and I remain a bit disappointed. I simply do not get what makes so many critics go on and on extolling the virtues of this book. My only thought at the end of it... weird.

Anyway, looks like the post got a bit too long .

what a trip!

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:04:00 +0000

If you remember I had this long post about the Melton foundation with some very vague stuff about what it does.
One thing it does do is send poor Indian kids on trips around the world, and I just got back from one.
We had something called a Junior Fellow Orientation, basically the formality of accepting us in, along with workshops about various things which are supposed to help us improve our intercultural understanding and so on. The nice thing... it was in Cologne, Germany.
Basically all the people (25 in all) who were selected from the 5 different colleges come together to meet. The weird bit is that we had stuff to work on prior to this, and had many discussions online, and even talked about random things at length on MSN, but had never met these people.
We didnt have much of an idea what they were like at all, except for perhaps one or two.
And guess what, it was all a huge surprise. And everyone had a blast.

Stereotypes were shattered, and we got to know people we thought were kinda strange on email. Actually everyone turned out to be a lot more fun than we expected, and smarter too.
This lasted for 5 days.. 5 days worth of workshops till 7, followed by a night out, drinking german beer (even though im not the biggest beer fan it was quite good), which is incidentally cheaper than all bottled water there.

Anyway, connections were forged and I know I've met a whole bunch of awesome people who'll be friends for a long long time to come.

After that we traveled. NOW, the title starts meaning something because we went to Amsterdam.
It felt like a completely different world. How everyone wants the world to be. The definition of being chilled out about things in the world. Coffee shops are brilliant, we actually even found one or two coffee shops that only serve coffee.
For those who dont get it read something about Amsterdam.
We went to a place called a smartshop too, that's where they sell mushrooms and a few other soft drugs, going in was a completely different experience. They have menus with all the effects listed out, and a helpful superbly polite (and hot) lady at the counter.

The coffee shops were amazing too, space cakes and muffins, and a separate menu for weed and hash. I knew all of this was there, but seeing it first hand was completely different.

I'm sure you've seen no smoking signs, but how many times have you seen signs that read "no smoking tobacco in this section, only PURE"

Anyway, every day in Amsterdam was trippy but still fun, I was close enough to being in my senses to enjoy everything as well.

Next stop Paris. Beautiful city. Everyone who went there said exactly that. Every building looks like a monument, and the monuments look really grand. I have to say the Eiffel tower turned out to be everything it was hyped up to be. The view was grand, and the blue light they'd turned on looked killer. We even sipped champagne on the top... an experience to remember. We got out just in time to witness a sparkling lighting of the tower... looked like New Years eve or something.

sunset as seen from the Eiffel tower.. I took the pic

The Louvre museum was great too, and I was thankful that I invested a little in headphones that tell you more about many of the more prominent artworks in collection based on a code you enter.. it was really insightful. The collection was amazing, and we got to see some of the most famous works of art ever. My personal favourites were the Coronation of Napoleon by David and The Wedding at Cana by Veronese.

Apart from that we visited Notre-dame, Invalides, the Sacre Ceur, and the famous Champ Elysees street as well.
We even ate snails, which was a great experience... and they tasted good! Oh and wine is cheaper than bottled water in France too.
I wonder whats with Europeans and alcohol.
Sorry I know many of these things need pictures, but most unfortunately I left my camera in germany, and all the pics taken are on other people's cameras. I'll add them in as soon as i can, either on this post itself, or a new one.
Anyway, though its hard, I have to stop thinking about how brilliant the trip was and get back to the drudgery, now further exaggerated, that is my daily college routine.
Check the post soon for pics

its always 2 things

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:48:00 +0000

The last couple of weeks have been somewhat eventful..
Watched Dark Knight a couple of days after it opened... I'm probably the millionth person you've heard saying this, but its brilliant. By far the best super hero movie I've seen, and I suspect it will retain that position for a while (until the sequel comes out).
Its been quite a while since I've watched a really good movie in a theater, and this sequel did the complete opposite of what most do.
Firstly I love the touch of realism Christopher Nolan has brought to the world of Batman, pretty interesting, especially since Batman's primary appeal is the darker side, as well as a comparatively realistic side (he's just filthy rich.. not from another planet or mutated because of a spider).
For the side-characters, the casting of Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman is just brilliant, I especially like the emphasis on Morgan Freeman's character... pulls Batman down just a little bit closer to being normal.
Don't expect the physics of everything to work out.. it is a superhero movie.
As for the three main characters... I felt even initially that the casting of Christopher Nolan was a stroke of genius. Aaron Eckhart seems to fit his part quite perfectly.
Coming to the much talked about part of the Joker... I must say, for once in life all the hype has been worth it. Despite all the build up I was still truly amazed by Heath Ledger's performance. Chilling and amazing, he brings that dark aspects of some versions of the comics right out there... The comics portray the joker as a nutty moron who laughs like an idiot. Here he's almost schizophrenic, intelligent and truly crazy.. his smiles are far more scary than they are funny.
Its a pity that his best performance turned out to be his last.
Heath Ledger for Oscar!

The storyline itself gets a little convoluted around the beginning of the second half, but even though its a long movie I must say I enjoyed every bit of it, and am really looking forward to the sequel to this.
Hopefully it wont disappoint.

On a completely different note, I learnt a valuable lesson too. Don't go somewhere with people who don't plan much if you intend to stick by a plan yourself.
I was convinced (with some considerable effort) to go somewhere, on a almost spur of the moment decision with a few friends, for a couple of days. I needed to be back, apparently they didnt really care. While there the assurances to get back got overturned as easily as the plan was made, and it resulted in me riding home in a random bus alone and quite angry, hoping to reach in time to make sure my birthday wasn't completely screwed up.
Thankfully the last bit didn't happen, and there was nothing really lost in the whole experience, except perhaps faith in one level of promises. What also resulted was the realization that I was correct in thinking that most of the people i know college really cant be relied upon for anything that is important to me.
It isn't all that profound, I always felt many around me were "flakes", but its nice to put a profound spin to a little rant... haha

There are things I am really looking forward to, which should make this next month a great one, however college reopening is definitely not one of them. Somehow it still hasn't registered that in a week I'll be looking at strange teachers talking more random bullshit, most of which goes over my head, which generally rests on the table. One week, have to make the most of that.

new type of reality show?

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:26:00 +0000

So after reading that last post I myself would have expected a serious noted bashing of the very essence of Indian politics, how we should be looking towards a clean nation. blah.
I myself am a far more lighthearted (and some say lightheaded too) person... there will be a little mildly serious stuff but later.
Firstly, for those who do not already know. You missed something.

In a nutshell, there was a trust vote going on.. i refuse to explain what that is.. the cause of this was because the government wanted to push through a nuclear deal with the US, one of its important allies didnt agree and refused support. The government then had to prove majority in the Lok Sabha.. therefore the trust vote was primarily due to the nuclear deal, although technically speaking it was on the government.
Ok, so there was a 2 day discussion on this, all the MPs (thats Member of Parliament for those idiots who were scratching their heads... if you arent from India or the UK you are forgiven though) giving speeches and so on. Everyone talked, some people talked utter nonsense, some people gave heartfelt moving speeches, and almost everyone yelled at the top of their lungs when anyone else was speaking. Unfortunately there were no instances of microphone or chair throwing, or other fights to the death. Raucous lot, but not that entertaining either.
Anyway, as the talking droned on and on with many MPs repeating the same points over and over and several sleeping away, the time for the vote to finally began to approach. Three MPs from the BJP burst through, rushed to the front and threw bags filled with money, lots and lots of money, and claimed another party bribed them. Everyone went crazy, I mean seriously crazy.
I would like to say I fell off my chair, but that would be misrepresentation. Honestly, I was almost prone on the sofa, and when I saw this I laughed so hard I literally rolled off, narrowly missing the glass top table in front of me.
I mean, you should have seen them, the MPs themselves looked like those sidekicks of the lame-ass 80s bollywood villains. Actually it turns out that one of them actually is, lol, being indicted in two (this is what the Congress fellow said), or at least one (this is what the anchor said) past bribery related scandals.
Anyway, I learnt two important things from this.
Prison Break might be exciting, but it can NEVER be as shockingly hilarious as this. I believe we should force all television writers to hire three Indian MPs to help improve television entertainment as a whole
Second, there is a WELL in the house. I mean seriously, a well. When they said they dropped it into the well i thought it was either a confusing reference to a historical event, or that another bunch MPs threw money into a well. But no, they call the stretch that extends between the animals.. *ahem* MPs, and the chair the "well". Who comes up with these things?

For all the people who are cribbing about a variety of things ranging from corruption to the sanctity of the house, we all knew these things were happening. I mean, do you seriously think many of these people even know what they are voting about? Who cares about the ethics.. this is reality television at its best, go on I say. The best part is you even get to laugh at most of the country for taking things so seriously..

2:1 and opposition

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:44:00 +0000

So my second semester in college has come to a close.
As always the end of exams signals amazing freedom from the clutches of horrible textbooks, especially of the subjects you hate..... however, as has always been the case with me, after the initial rush, you start to think how exactly are you going to spend all that free time. At the same time, you ALWAYS crib about how short the vacations are.. which is what I am going to do in the next paragraph
Our exams officially began on the 6th of July, and ended on the 15th. If you count those two... that comes to 42 days.
Our holidays are from the 16th to the 7th.. a grand total of 21 days.
Thats 2 days of exams for every fucking holiday. I think its time to start setting minimum standards as far as holidays for college going kids (or in some cases uncles too) are concerned... 1:1 is a MINIMUM. The universal holiday equivalent to minimum wage.
Anyway..
Everyone has a to-do list for the holidays, and somehow, most of the people I know spend a reasonable part of the holidays cribbing about how there isn't much to do (I am the leader here)... luckily this time I have a few backups in the form of a technically endless supply of movies (read previous post).
On another note, the last several weeks (those many many weeks my exams stretched over) have been filled with many intriguing activities that have demanded my attention. Many many world events, and a few huge sporting events too.
I supported Federer at Wimbledon. He played great throughout, and played at a lower level for much of the final. Then when he had a chance to come back, he played badly again.
I supported Germany in Champions league.. same situation, except they never had a chance to come back.
I've been a Mavericks fan for years... and all those years they've played well in the season and like shit in the playoffs. Ok, so my support is probably not a good thing.
Anyway, whats got me a lot more interested is the whole nuclear deal issue. Its all over the news, everyone is talking about it, millions of people are getting educated on political arithmetic as a result, and I find it VERY pissing off. My issues are not with the left... well I never liked any of the things they've said, and personally think they've fought tooth and nail to regress as far as possible... but I do respect the fact that they are standing by their principles that go against the nuclear deal. I do not, however, respect the principles much.
I am more angry with the BJP. It is unbelievably obvious that if the BJP led NDA coalition was in power at this point, they would have been fighting to sign the agreement, the politicians in India don't really seem to understand the concept of parliamentary politics. Being in the opposition implies that you are not the part running the government.
It does NOT mean your one and only job in life is to oppose everything anyone bring up! I mean wtf... half the advisers themselves say that the NDA would have taken the same decision... but they take appear to take opposition so literally, that they find something to oppose in every single attempt to push something that they themselves would have pushed anyway if it had happened 5 years ago. This goes for many of the economic reforms as well that this government has proposed too....
Now Indian politics has stooped to a new low, politicians no longer even have the decency to let corruption, and political favours for unrelated things remain well known secrets. They want to rub everyone's faces into the fact that they have no morals and have no regard for the fact that they have to wield power responsibly... look at the situation with Reliance and you'll see what I mean.
A number of other things have been going on in the world... but this is the one most harped upon by the media, and its the most annoying as well.

Many episodes of Family Guy await!

bsnl, bigflix and other stuff

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:03:00 +0000

Have you ever been driven out of your house by technology?
I'm not talking about some advanced AI that was envisioned in the 60s to be easily available now... I'm talking about the damn phones. So whats the deal with high rise buildings? In our wonderfully envisioned city they seem to fucking rise above the cell phone towers.... this limiting access only to the balconies of my apartment.
You might ask why this has (not THAT) suddenly become an issue.
The answer... BSN f****** L. Excuse me, I just finished watching a movie by Quentin Tarantino... seems to have a hangover.
Looks like they fixed the lines and the internet, but as so many people annoyingly repeat, looks can be deceiving. No grouse with the internet... except of course that all broadband plans in India don't seem to give enough bandwidth at a decent rate.
The problem now, is with the actual landlines. Sure they both work.... but not properly. Whenever I call someone (not everyone... just some select people), they complain about hearing an echo. Now the cordless phone thats in my room is screwed enough to not really be able to talk on it for more than 10 minutes... but when I tell my parents that, they say its a good thing. As a result I have to constantly shuffle between the balcony and my room to sustain a conversation, without having my prepaid account balance going down to zero. I'm getting more exercise from talking than ever before.. thats not the only irritating thing, the wind that mysteriously strikes my floor with seemingly immense force is also very annoying. Maybe its because I've lived on the ground floor all my life. Or maybe its because of climate change.... more likely its because I like to find things to crib about, lol.
So yes, BSNL still sucks.... not quite as much as earlier though.

On another note, I registered on bigflix.com. Really cool site, you would have probably seen the ads on tv, and gotten sick to the core of the same three idiots acting like the same three movies over and over. Its a movie rental store, but so much easier.
Anyway, apart from the fact that their ad is contributing to over saturation of advertising, the concept is quite good. Its simple, you register for a fixed period (ranging between a month and a year). You pick movies from their well stocked list (I'm comparing to the local DVD guys that almost everyone I know goes to here) and add things to your queue. Now you have the option at the time of registration to pick a plan where you can keep 1, 2, or 3 discs at one time.
The rates are pretty reasonable. For example... the 3 month, 2 disc plan costs 1200, with a 750 deposit.
So if I was to watch one movie every day.. that would come up to around 12 or 13 bucks a movie :)

Now comes the best bits... there is no charge per disc, there is no time limitation on how long you can keep the discs (except for the really new ones), and the best part, especially for people like me: You don't really need to move an inch.. they deliver and pickup everything, free of cost.
So basically you call for a pickup whenever you're done, and you get new movies when you give back the old ones.
Let me say, that despite the fact that they have many movies, they dont have some really famous, amazing and acclaimed movies. So filling up your "famous movies to watch" list completely isn't likely.
Anyway, overall, they have a pretty decent selection of English movies compared to all competition, and supposedly an excellent selection of Hindi movies (wouldn't really know too much about that... the famous ones are there is all I can say)

Very impressed with their efficiency so far... registered late at night, and they were here by lunchtime the next day with the first 2 discs. Called for the first pickup at 9 today, and they were here by 1.
Needless (actually not needless) to say, the merchandise is ALL legal, which also has the downside that you have to wait for about 4 months to watch a movie you missed at the theaters. So maybe you shouldnt heap insults on the local dvd guy you go to just yet.

Now the problem with this whole deal? MY FUCKING EXAMS ARE STILL GOING ON. Dammit... talk about being overeager to subscribe... i figured it'd take at least a week for them to start getting stuff to us. Do NOT make that mistake.

On a more somber note, I realized it really really sucks when you do badly in subjects that you thought you'd be able to handle well. Even if all the numbers that matter end up being the same, the happiness you get out of doing well in something that you know you're bad in doesn't come close to the disappointment you feel when you do badly at something you are (or at least think you are) good at.
Maybe that mean that people in general have a tendency to be quite arrogant (in thinking if not behavior).... that we have a Dickensian urge to wallow in misery (in more realistic terms, "feeling slightly down") rather than just taking things as they come? Food for thought.

Yes I've been watching Northern Exposure, and Yes, i hate Dickens.. not all his works (a couple are good), but rather his style of writing in the stuff he's famous for. Being forced to study Great Expectations in the 11th and 12th instilled a great deal of resentment. So if I call something ****** Dickensian, its not an adjective. Its a **@3** abuse. Ok looks like Reservoir Dogs is still in my head... Maybe I should watch Requiem for A Dream again.

A real pain in the ass.

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:38:00 +0000

Its been a while, and for once I have a reason.
Not the one about exams going on... thats happening but they've never stopped me from whiling away my time online.
Its BSNL.
@)*!&$#$*@()!@#(!)(#@#*&@)U%#)$_#!@#

To put that nicely, BSNL sucks.
It was a regular day, almost a month and a half ago... quite sunny because it was summer then. A Saturday. I had an important meeting online (for the Melton Foundation, which I've described earlier).
I switched on my computer to find that the connection to the internet was not working.
And it NEVER changed for a whole month and a half.. actually a month and three weeks.
We complained, and they said the whole area has the same problem because of some digging (more on that later), and would not accept our complaint. Two days later, our neighbours (and i live in an apartment, so its even the same fucking wiring) had their net working. As we kept yelling at people who probably didn't understand a word of the abuses we hurled at them, we began to think that it would eventually get better after a while.
We bit the bullet, registered for the dial up service that our phone company (yes BSNL again) offered, and my parents went about the work that was important to them... something about how the stock market needed attention.
In the meantime, for the very first time in my life, I actually had work that required the internet. Collaborating with 5 random people from different countries is never easy, and because so so much worse when half the things on the internet don't open because of your slow connection.
Anyway, we sort of worked around that, and our project went ahead at a slightly slow pace. It truly felt like I had regressed ten years, and it is only when you have a dialup connection that you realise, how large all the webpages you visit are.
Anyway, you would think I'm cribbing about a bad internet connection.
But you are so wrong.
Around 3 weeks ago, the phones died.
Not our phones. EVERYONES phones. There are 115 apartments in the building I live in. Every single phone died. And so did the phones of an estimate 4500 people in the locality.
The culprit? Half-witted, completely uninformed diggers. No not the same thing, again, like i said, more on that later.
Anyway, these idiots managed to cut the phone lines. And guess what? They wouldnt let the BSNL people work on the line they cut.
The result was that I had ABSOLUTELY no internet connectivity. These were the last 15 days we had to submit our project... and as you know those are the days when everything happens. Literally, everything. So I had to sit in a cyber cafe, which was bad as it was.... worse still, I had to sit in one every single day, and work there too. So I was doomed to pretty ordinary ones.
Now the woes of the non existent phones continued for a long time.
In the meanwhile, we bought one of those data cards.... don't even get me started on them. The speed they provided was measured in bps. As i explained to a friend, that is around 50 times slower than a dial up connection. LITERALLY.
And behold, one fine day the phones worked again. And behold, within 3 hours they died. AGAIN.
This time the culprits were people who just came and stole the cable. The whole fucking cable, to the entire locality. I mean wtf... did you know people do that on a regular basis?
Anyway, looks like !)#&@*()&*#!#_!@)*( BSNL didn't have new cables, so phones stayed in their coma for a few more days.
After all that the "not so broad" band still didn't work for a few days, and finally I'm back online.
The funny thing is, at that time I needed the internet and didn't have it.
Now my semester exams have started, and I need to stay offline... and from the length of this post that doesn't seem to be happening doesn't it.

Coming to the digging. It appears to be the sole intent of bangalore to screw the lives of the people who live near me. They dug up the 2 biggest roads connecting everything to this place. Then they dug up the smaller roads which reached those roads. Then they blocked of the even smaller roads that reached the roads that reached the places that the main roads reached.
Thus, as of now, to go to a place thats 2 kilometers away, I have to travel a total of almost 6 kilometers. And it takes more than ten times the amount of time it took earlier, because every other person on this side of town seems to be on that same bloody road... the one which gets choked when two small cars stand side by side.
And get this, after all this horrible stuff, they decide to further dig up the road that leads to this mess from my place. Building some sort of drain apparently.
They have a diversion which would scare most motocross racers, and literally becomes a river when it rains. The monsoons are starting here too.

Problems galore! Well at least the internet is back.... so the downloads that have been waiting for so long can continue:
Family Guy - most seasons, 1 to 6 if I'm not wrong.
Metalocalypse - 1st season, and whatever episodes I can find from the second
Discographies of Morbid Angel, The Gathering (slightly weird but I like the little I've heard of the vocalist), and Dimmu's "In Sorte Diaboli".
Any tips? Not music... I've got an unbelievably long list of bands to listen to.....
I mean TV and the like, love prison break, Family Guy is great, Metalocalypse seems good too, liked Simpsons when it was funnier than it is now, and I've seen almost all the episodes of Sienfeld (just a representative thing).
Oh, I'm not a big fan of friends, and I can't stand things like the OC.
All this is for after the exams are done.... these things somehow always take ages and ages to download, so I need to plan well in advance.

Anyway, it looks like I've gone on for long enough, until the next ranting session, so long.

The month that was (well somewhat at least)

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:51:00 +0000

Yes its been another month. Somehow i feel that I'm completely neglecting my blog, it used to be a little more important to me before....
That might not be a bad thing, normally it just appears that since there isn't any set time for me to get back home, I just don't bother.
Now I answered a tag in my post last month.. and was amazingly surprised to see that 3 people ACTUALLY responded. Of course, silver linings always enshroud a cloud, and there were several comments on how people couldn't believe that I actually managed to sit and answer the entire thing (insulting since it wasn't THAT long either).

Another internal passed by a few days ago.. and there have been a few things I have noticed.

Firstly, BMS is an amazing college during elections... it appears to be a centre for our state elections, thus ensuring that even on the days other colleges are open, our classes are cancelled because the teachers are busy with election duty. Now I don't know (or care) if the teachers going for election duty is related to the college being a centre.

Our internals got postponed by a week, and now our university exams are as well.
It is my wish as a student that the terribly disordered and truly hilarious position our state (Karnataka) is in, with our ex Chief Minister (the last one) refusing to hand over power be maintained for the next 2 years at least. And it is my earnest request that all fights, squabbles, bandhs, riots and other activities that would force educational institutions to be shut down be focussed in the months of January, June and July.

On the subject of internals... I looked around my class a LOT during my internals. (its happening too often to be frank), and i noticed that many many people were wearing cargoes. This trend continued to display itself during the time I spent in college.... it doesn't take much of a brain to figure why, but the numbers were honestly surprising. There was also a meteoric rise in the crowds outside photocopying stores. The next time I'm not sure when my internals are, I'll be sure to ask those people, I honestly think they'd know better than my friends (who are others like me).
It also appears that the second semester of college is where everyone slacks off. People who slacked off before do so more, and the overall concern for things academic drop. However people never EVER get tired of messing with my hair. wtf. How long does it take to get used to it and move on with life (this applies to everyone,with only one exception)

As you can see this will keep getting more and more general... perhaps after another 10 observations I will get an idea for a book on philosophy, or better still... management. Management books don't even have to pretend to make sense.

Oh, for the metalheads: I had a post about KRYPTOS earlier that talked about their upcoming album. Its FINALLY out.. and I'm trying to get myself a copy (it isn't available in music stores). Expect a review sometime soon.
Something I am more excited about is Opeth's latest album Watershed... I've been listening to the leaked album over and over again for a while now, and i completely LOVE it.. the album is sublime, and they don't seem to put a step wrong. The official release date is June 3rd, and right now they're touring the US with Dream Theater and 2 other bands. How I wish those two could come to India together... Anyway, this is the artwork.

Here's a link to download one song, and the video is on the same site.. just keep your cursor over the videos and they will scroll. A youtube version of one of the songs (called Burden) is below.. its not a video really, just some visuals put over the track.. really nice song though, wait for the whole thing to load before playing it if you can.

Last thought: My format is getting much too repetitive - college, random bullshit, followed by something about music. Really have to do something about that (I was going to say formulaic... and then i realized you only say that when the formula works)

My First Tag

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:24:00 +0000

Ok i've been tagged by Prithvi
It seems WAY too long for a normal tag, but i'll try and respond anyway..

5 things you wish you could say to people
1)Fuck off (haha i say that all the time though).
2)Stop asking me why im quiet, i just am.
3)The fact that I have no need to talk 24-7 does NOT make me depressed.
4)Linkin Park is NOT metal, if you own a shirt of theirs don't let me see it.
5)Make up your mind dammit.

8 things about me
1) I'm a metalhead.
2) I apparently tend to give the impression that I'm arrogant, at first at least.
3) I can be quite cynical and sarcastic.
4) I spend way too much time online, not doing anything useful (until recently)
5) People say that I have the potential to do well, but it never motivates me to put in effort... actually I put more effort into minimizing the amount of work I have to do than anything else (I know it doesn't make sense).
6) The fact that I make a lot of "rude" comments, and make fun of people all the time does not mean I'm not capable of being nice, I actually am when it comes to most things that matter.
7) I despise it when people tell me what to do without having a valid rational reason behind it.
8) I'm normally extremely lazy as far as walking goes, there are times when i decide not to eat because I'm too lazy to walk to the canteen (although these situations aren't regular)

One way to win my heart
Be someone I like

5 things that cross my mind a lot
Music
Boredom and joblessness
Sleep
Alcohol and other intoxicants
"Maybe I should find something better to do" (thats crossing my mind as i write this)

One thing I wish I never did
Stop playing the guitar when I was 8, damn I could have been really amazing by now if I'd stuck on.

Three turn offs
1)Really fat people wearing tight clothes
2)Women who compete with men for the amount of facial hair they have
3)People who don't have the ability to have a semi-serious conversation

4 things i want to do before I die
1) Go skydiving.
2) Watch Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Dark Tranquillity, Apocalyptica, Dream Theater, Arch Enemy, Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, Nevermore and Slayer perform
preferably at the same place.
3) Write professionally(a book, opinion columns in a good paper... anything)
4) Live in Amsterdam, at least for a few months.

One confession
The times I spend staring at nothing looking thoughtful are rarely actually spent thinking deeply about the meaning of life or anything similarly impressive/intellectual.. I just do that because there isn't anything interesting to say or do.

Not bad.. actually managed to finish most of it
I tag:
Aditi - shallow waters
Shayan - verbal diarrhoea
Geetanjali - Fill in the Blank
Ken - Definitely Maybe
Alka - Barbed Sulk s
Necropolis

Hopefully at least one will bored enough to respond

Yes I AM still alive

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:19:00 +0000

I truly feel like I've been neglecting my blog.. last post was so long ago, that I don't recall a lot of the stuff that has happened since then, which works out well in one way... shorter post.
Theres been one pretty important thing, and that would be getting into the Melton Foundation. Ya, I know none of you have a clue what that is... didn't mean to make it sound like you should.
Its basically an international organization, that aims at bringing positive change by tapping the talent of people from diverse cultures. It has 5 partner universities, One each in the US, Germany, Chile and China... In India the partner college is BMS.
There are around 6 people who get selected into the foundation each year.. and the selection process is quite rigorous here. The idea of the foundation is to build an international network of people dedicated to helping each other and others, and the idea of limiting the numbers is because the foundation puts in a lot of resources into each person, and they want to ensure the people who are deemed worthy get as much as possible.
We have to complete a "traineeship", which essentially gives us a taste of how things will be in the Foundation and lets us opt out if we want, and also to judge whether we are committed enough for them to put in their resources.
The work of the foundation is extremely varied, and I'm not really going to get into it here... (it includes social service), instead I'll mention the things that I knew before joining
They have meetings of all the members in one country every year (called a Symposium)... travel to this place is free. The induction programme is in Germany.. so if I do make it (and most people do) I get to go to Germany in September. woohoo!
Apart from this we get laptops, also out of the budget of the Melton Foundation :)
The selection process was pretty gruelling, but fortunately, two other members were among our group in college.. and we've gotten to know the other three pretty well too. The seniors are awesome fun as well, so all in all its been a brilliant experience so far (and we haven't even gotten the real perks yet). There's even an air conditioned room specifically for the Melton Foundation.. we've already made plans to spend most of the summer there.. lol (unfortunately we get keys to it only when we become proper members).
Incidentally, the Foundation was formed by Bill Melton, He was the original founder of VeriFone Inc, the transaction automation company that has made credit authorization terminals ubiquitous on retail counters throughout the world. He was also an early investor in America Online and served on its Board of Directors for several years. Thats pretty much where the budget and all come from.

Apart from this, there have been a few things going on as well... work for our fest started a while back, our fest is supposed to be the biggest in Bangalore, and considered quite an event in the calenders of most people actively involved in extra curricular activities.

The rock show (called Whiplash) is huge as well, and this time, the winning band will open for Def Leppard when the come to Bangalore (May 16). I'm really looking forward to that, some killer bands should be there.. with Bhoomi headlining. In case you're a student, into music, and from Bangalore make sure you're there. Whiplash is on the 13th of April, starting at 2. There's no entry charge, you just need to show your student ID at the gate to be allowed in.
Check out the link to Bhoomi's myspace, and listen to "Dead Time Stories", really nice track.. brilliant vocal harmonies, and an amazing solo.

Here's the basic poster (the actual one has text and stuff.. but this is whats important) the logo at the bottom right was designed by a good friend of mine, and is probably the highlight.

Credits :
Photo of Andreas Kisser at Sepultura's India concert, by Arpan Peter
Logo by Zahra Khan
Photoshop work by Manjeeth

I've been involved in getting sponsorships for the fest, so there have been quite a few meetings, something pretty different from what I'm used to, but an interesting experience nonetheless (and quite fruitful as well). Add to this the fact that the Melton Foundation was organizing a Movie Festival which we helped out with (4 international movies were screened at college... one from each member country), and that left me with a few things to keep myself occupied in the past few weeks.
Results came out as well, and although mine are just average at best, I think they were rather good given that I never got around to studying until the last couple of days. Hopefully i'll be able to ensure this semester is a little better.

Till next time (which will hopefully be soon), cya

Rock Ethos 08 reviews

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:34:00 +0000

In reference to my earlier post.. Rock Ethos was a HUGE success.
The turnout was unexpectedly large.. especially for the afternoon session, and the crowd was great. No one really cribbed about the fact that there were no covers, and all the bands did a good job as well... i managed to stay for almost the entire thing. The sound was great throughout, and except for slightly low PA volumes on a few bands performances, i dont think that there were any other sound issues.

My favourites were Inviktus, Inner Sanctum, Extinct Reflections, Kryptos, Myndsnare and Bhoomi. Those five bands played really well, and my type of music too.

It was the first time i've heard Bhoomi properly, and i was quite impressed.. damn tight, nice vocals.

I've always liked Inner Sanctum, and i got to hear a couple of their newer tracks... which are brilliant as well, actually i think Human Disregard is their best song yet. Head-banged like crazy to them.

Inviktus was amazing on the day... their songs, as usual were simply brilliant. i remember watching them at NLS 05 and thinking they werent all that great compared to Demonic Resurrection... wonder wtf was wrong with me then.
They pulled off a really great set on sunday... and i like their new songs A LOT.... wish they had played memories of ice though, i love that song.

Extinct Reflections, as i have mentioned before, are a simply mindblowing band... everyone went completely crazy when these guys came on stage, and with good reason too. Amazing set there.

Kryptos played a slightly different set compared to normal, More old tracks.. Loved the fact that they played Clandestine Element and Altered Destinies, two of my favourite tracks from the first album. Sphere VII was missed though... apparently they scrapped that due to time constraints. I've heard these guys play better, and was looking forward to hearing a few of the newer tracks again... but they were really impressive nonetheless.

Illuminati definitely deserves a mention as well... heard these guys quite a few times, and their really good. The songs that i remember extremely well are the older ones: the guitar song, yada yada and use protection. They were one of the softer bands of the day.. they play rock, the typical definition of it. They pulled of use protection (their trademark song) and yada yada especially well, other songs were great too. The entire act was funny... and intentionally so, i think everyone around me was laughing

The top two for me would be Inviktus and Extinct Reflections... primarily because i know their songs well enough to properly enjoy them, i think Bhoomi was great too though.

And for those of you who couldnt make it... damn you most certainly missed something.

2nd sem

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Start of my second semester of engineering. The first thing i learnt was that my class was on the 7th floor..... for those of you who dont study in a bangalore engineering college that might not seem like a big deal. But here it most definitely is. Thankfully the elevator works, but thats all there is to say about it... an average of 30 people try to cram in to it, despite the fact that there is only room for about 10.
Much more importantly, it seems to stop on every fucking floor. I mean wtf, why would someone press the damn button unless you plan to stick around and wait for the elevator to get to you.
The result of all this, is that we wait almost 10 minutes every single time we want to get down... and around the same to get up. The extreme discomfort of coming down when a class of 60 is desperately trying to squeeze in has led me, with a lot of prodding, to shed my laziness and actually climb down on occasion. Climbing up, however is out of the question.

The second thing i learnt, is that the teachers who take our classes are lazy. And when i say lazy i really mean it... there are a few that simply dont show up. EVER.
I still haven't got my schedule written down anywhere, and i've always missed the first hour since it starts a little too early.. but the sad part is, half the time i go up after missing 2 classes, to attend the third one before leaving... i learn that class is cancelled. It has happened so many times, that if the people i know are around, and see me coming up, they automatically assume that class is cancelled.

Apart from this development, college has suddenly become immensely boring, it seems as if there's absolutely nothing to do. Which doesn't gel well with the fact that home feels exactly the same way.... I wonder how things can change so much within just a few months, last semester was always fun... even if we didnt do anything i had no issues with hanging around in college for long hours.

Rock Ethos - 08

noreply@blogger.com (KK) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:48:00 +0000

Been meaning to post about this for a while, but my internet connection has been a real pain in the ass.

Anyway.. Rock Ethos (the site isnt fully functional at the point when i write this, but try anyway.. its got enough on it for information) is a rock fest which is going to be held at Palace Grounds, in Bangalore, on the 10th of February.

I think thats a good enough reason to come for some, but this is a lot more than just another fest.

The main objectives of the fest are
To promote original music, and develop the Bangalores (and eventually the whole country's) rock/metal scene
To give bands a platform to perform
To create a larger and more cohesive rock community that supports the scene.

I think the first one is the most important, and its most obviously being done. NO COVERS ALLOWED. Its an all original festival, that will feature 13 bands, each with a 40 odd minute set (this hasnt been confirmed yet, but is most likely)

Another important thing. Entry is FREE

anyway, the bands featuring (in random order) are:

Bhoomi

Motherjane

Myndsnare

Kryptos

Threinody

Extinct Reflections

Inviktus

Spitfire

Illuminati

Galeej Gurus

Slain

Whitenoiz

Inner Sanctum

(it took quite some time to check those links out before posting.... bloody connection is still not working properly)

To me Inner Sanctum, Extinct Reflections, and of course Kryptos and Myndsnare are the major attractions... because i've seen them all before and think they're brilliant.

Another thing thats great about this fest..... it showcases local talent, and it does it in one place. So you can go for something like this and actually listen to that band you've heard about but never actually heard..(There are a few on the list who feature in that category for me)

Incidentally, although this is mainly about the music, there will be other things happening as well.... theres going to be a beer festival, Food festival, a gaming arena, there were even some mentions of paintball.

Recap

Venue: Palace Grounds, Bangalore (Mekhri Circle Entrance)

Date: 10th Feb 2008 (thats a sunday, so yes you most probably will be free)

Time : 12 pm (thats noon for the confused) to 10 pm

Entry: FREE

Make sure you're there.... if you aren't majorly into the Bangalore scene, you'll probably be quite surprised by how good some of these bands are.
And tell everyone you know as well...... nothing to lose, its free.