Musings with Munaf!

Freelosophy

2011-07-03T23:00:00.001-07:00

DISCLAIMER: This post is a kind-of eulogy for everything in the software world that is free and open-source. And hence, I'm sure, it is understood I'm not being paid by FOSS or someone... :D

"...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." - Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863

"Given a large enough beta-tester and co-developer base, almost every problem will be characterized quickly and the fix will be obvious to someone." - Eric Raymond, 1997

"Only wimps use tape backup: real men just upload their important stuff on ftp, and let the rest of the world mirror it ;)" - Linus Torvalds, 1996

If you're wondering why I'm blabbering about all these oldies here and now (Lincoln was old, Raymond and Torvalds, on the other hand, not so much...), you must not have been in touch with me or at he very least, my FB profile and status updates. ~~I've been in touch with one of the most important sensations I have ever been into. By the way, this is the first post I'm typing on my laptop.~~ I always wanted to do this - be free! Free as in freedom. Freedom from finding software that can serve all my purposes and yet, be free (this time, as in cost :P). Freedom from figuratively looking over the shoulder all the time trying to see if someone knows that you are actually using pirated software. In this aspect, India is very much ahead than probably any other nation in the world. Let me put this into perspective - pick up like 20 computer users in India, 19 of them use any of the versions of Windows. And of those 19, about 10 still use Windows XP. Of those 10 people, about 8 have never spent a buck (literally) on the Windows software they use or most of the times, not even for any other compatible software that they need to use on their machines like, for instance, Photoshop, MS Office, Matlab et al. OK, what is this post about? You might've guessed it - Linux.

First things first : It costs you only the time it takes to download it. Almost every version (a Linux version is called a Distro, short for distribution.) comes free. being true Indians as we all are, we like to get things for free.On the other hand, we have a never ending paranoia. Why is he giving this thing to us for free? It is probably defective, probably sub-standard. I had the similar doubts about Linux back in December '09. Did you know that, linux is probably the most standarized of all the operating systems available? Virtually every big corporation (and I'm talking real BIG) uses one of the Linux distributions - Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, Mandriva et. al. (Most likely Red Hat, though.)

Why did I venture into this? I've been asked this a lot - at least ever since I started rallying about Linux and especially Ubuntu to any living soul I know :D. OK, why? Back in December, I was planning on buying a laptop and had started researching for a good one (and so far, I have found it). What I found common with all brands was - laptops with Windows cost a considerable amount more than those without the same. It was during that period that I learnt a lot (a LOT) about things like processor architectures, OS architectures and other technical things. The irony is that - I was supposed to have known them for like 3 subjects that I took and yet, I found the fun in those subjects. Mostly because, knowing things is different from learning them (for like an exam or for an assignment). So, i thought, what other options do I have - for an Operating System. I wanted it to be cheap and or once in my life, I wanted it to be legal. On my desktop, I use a shared (between friends and all) version of Windows XP, which incidentally, cost me nothing :). I wanted my laptop to be totally free (except for the hardware, of course) and yet, legal, cutting-edge, and reasonably user-friendly. That was when I stumbled upon Linux. I pored over thousands of lines of reports, bench-mark tests, and technical details and ended up choosing Ubuntu, especially because it was just about a CD's size and of course, meant for personal users.

Now that I've answered the obvious question, another question. Linux is free, huh? What if it's all a conspiracy and all they want is your personal data and corrupt it all. (Trust me, I've been actually asked this.) Let's face it guys, you are not the center of the universe. No one is out there to get you, let alone all the silly things that make up your data. No one simply cares. And even if they do, Linux is at the very least as safe as the other options you have. Viruses, on the other hand, are a totally different issue. They are not aimed personally at anyone, no? Well, this next thing is not so much because of Linux's (come to think of it, any *NIX), omnipotence, but because of the smaller user-base of the *NIX OSes. There are practically (I can't emphasize this enough) no wild viruses for Linux - as of now, at least. That certainly is one less thing to worry about, don't you think?

True, Linux comes with a learning curve, a very long one at that. I've been using Linux for about 2+ years now, and yet, learn at least one new thing every week - try to beat that with Windows. And, I'm not even talking about any software, just the OS by itself.

Well, I'll leave you to figure out the rest of Linux. If you are at all into technology, I suggest you start using Linux - not great for games, but the thrill of learning something so pure...unbeatable!!

An excellent article I read about the differences in philosophies is here...do go through it and of course hit the Distro websites.

Ubuntu - My personal favorite
CentOS - My second favorite, just a clone of Red Hat Enterprise Linux - Stability
Fedora - Just a cutting edge version of Red Hat
Distrowatch - Reading material on all the Distributions

"...the Linux philosophy is "laugh in the face of danger". Oops. Wrong one. "Do it yourself". That's it."

- Linus Torvalds, 1996

Cheers!!

P.S.: Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons.

The day that was - Part II

2011-05-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

After having finally finished finals and doing well, Alhamdulillah, I'm getting back to the blog (read as block :P). Well, the holidays here are so boring that, I have been on Facebook for pretty much all of my in-somnolent time. And of course I have started developing this very very serious LaTeX fetish and have decided to do all my Lab reports and other submissions using LaTeX. Refer to my FB status dated May the 13th for my exact views on LaTeX. (And if you really care for that, I suggest you get back to hitting the books, enough of holidays for you.)

Well, no more beating about the bush (isn't that what I'm doing now? :P). OK, we had just paid like 500 bucks to the cops and this part of the episode still has an awesome repercussion which we will get back to. Anyway, and as C was kind enough to remind me in the comments of the last post, B's bike did not have a valid Pollution check on him and thus the hefty fine. Me and C were just standing on the other side of the signal and waiting for the drama at the traffic island to be over so we could be on our way to having some serious FUN! At this point, I have to agree that we reached Mount Opera in pretty uneventful circumstances (although, I'm a bit surprised at that now...). Well, these things happen, don't they, another group of our friends was there too (no point wondering about the odds, there are only so many days you can avail the offer... :P). Now, remember the "two large soda"s which got us the tickets? Surprise, surprise! The sodas had gotten warm-hot (not even room temperature) thanks to the raging sun and our delays at the police and stuff. And now, we were all in a fix! We had spent so much on the sodas (no, the tickets actually do not count!! You seem to be weak in Hyderabadi math!! :P) and we were not gonna just throw them there! God forbid! I was not so brave though, I had left my two sodas at home see *patting my back*. So, the other group and A and B and I think D actually drank the warm sodas and as an eye witness, I heard things like Kya pinda hai yaaron!! Phenyl ke jaisa hai! and Chee re bhai! Phek dena tha!! Ab kya kya hota ki!?!. For the first expression, I just realized, Dude!! Tu phenyl kab taste kara patthey?? and kaiku tho bi!!! Well, we were through the gates and rode on to the actual fun (or did we walk, I don't remember...). Anyway, the fun was about to begin and it was gonna be legen-wait for it-dary.

We were just walking around the place in the beginning and there were these weird Dinosaur statues all around and we finally made it to a Columbus ride (the one that looks like a ship and swings all through) and thought, what the heck! and got onto riding it. Here, the highlight was D's face. He was so contorted, we were all laughing all through the 15-20 minutes of the ride. We still lament the lack of a camera on the side facing D so we could have captured the moment and make him embarrassed for the rest of his life :P. Well, and after roaming about for another hour or so (if you are wondering what we did "roam"ing, think big park-large expanses of grass-all the weird possibilities for the curious mind. I'll leave it at that. Then came the real fun part, the water rides.

I need a bit of a preamble before I even begin these events. First of all, I cannot swim although this will not matter in the events that transpired, it seems worth a mention. Also, those were the good old days when I used to use contact lens (and due to an idiosyncratic problem, they had to be hard a.k.a. RGP lens, look it up if you care...) and I had been very confident (read cocky) that it wouldn't matter with all the water around. That's pretty much it though. Well, we took up a locker and a couple of briefs for using the water rides (they wouldn't allow us to go in our own underwear, would you believe that!! :P). Well, A and D had brought their own swim-wear which needs a mention but, I shall not go into it. Well, among all of us, we had like, let me see, 5 sets of keys, all the bikes and the locker combined. And A had a pen-drive on him too (although I don't see the point of, in retrospect). Well, first stop was the wave pool!! We left our pants on the shore (can you call it that?) of the pool and dove in. It was fun for quite sometime. And yeah, I did not mention that I had left my bike keys and the locker keys in D's swim-chaddi(?)'s pocket. As luck would have it, the fly of the pocket was broken and could not hold the keys (I don't blame the fly...). Lo and behold! We had lost my bike keys and our locker keys (just imagine going home in just our pants (literally)). The problem of the locker keys was solved easily enough. We had to pay some 300 bucks to break the lock and get our clothes back. But, my bike keys!! Just imagine having to ride 50kms back home to get the spare. Well, I'm not complaining there, either. We found this life-guard guy who we told our case to. He was kind enough to tell us that he would keep an eye open (like he could see under-water). But, somehow, he found my key and we got it back and left it in the locker this time. Then came the log-rides!!

And of course, after a plethora of photographs in swim-chaddis, which if released to the public, none of us will ever get married in the future (just kidding! :P), we headed to the log-rides and well, let's face it me and B were kind of bigger than, you know, *log*s. One of them was open and pretty straight forward and we went on it just once - you know, they make you take stairs for like 3 floors to reach the actual place to slide from. Well, the rides were fun per se, but the landing - WOW! For one who can't swim, it can be the worst nightmare ever! I was under-water for like 20 seconds before I actually surfaced (although I think my weight was the culprit there... :P). Then there was this innocent-looking ride with just about a floor's worth of convoluted tubes (yes, closed ones) seeing which I thought, eh! I can take this any day. Well, it was when I was actually in the ride that it hit - what if I get stuck in here (like Monica in FRIENDS :P). And of course, the ride was so convoluted that, the turns actually hurt!! And after just hanging around in the pool for another hour or so, we decided to call it a day!! On the way, we might've touched on the rain-dance room about which I will tell you in the next part...

Well, enough for this part...There still is the end and the actual consequences of the trip and finally, the moral of the incident. We did indeed learn a few awesome lessons from this one...

The next post would probably come pretty soon, what with me having so much free time this time around...

I almost forgot...pics!!

Picture of a Picture taker...Just after reaching Mt. Opera
(I'm not even sure we can shorten the Mount...)

I have absolutely no idea what I am trying to do...

B and C on one side of the Columbus ride...

We did have a pic of D on the Columbus, after all...

Two-in-one...D on Columbus and B and C on the other end...

You know who! :P

The weird dinosaurs I was talking about, with A in control!!

A broken(?) elephant

Top of the world - C and B

The wave pool from a distance

At the entrance...

Ahem!?!

Adieu!!

Guest Post: 10 Myths About Introverts

2011-05-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well, this is a Guest post by a friend of one of my good friends...I did credit it to him at the end...

Enjoy...I don't want to spoil the fun by blabbering about this...

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.

This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.

Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.

Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.

Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.

Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.

Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.

On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.

Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.

Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.

Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.

Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.

Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.

Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.

Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.

Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.

Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.

Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.

Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.

A world without Introverts would be a world with few scientists, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, doctors, mathematicians, writers, and philosophers. That being said, there are still plenty of techniques an Extrovert can learn in order to interact with Introverts. (Yes, I reversed these two terms on purpose to show you how biased our society is.) Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.

With permission from the author - Sai Sandeep Nandyala on Facebook. Link to the original - here.

Loquacious me!

2011-04-18T01:20:00.002-07:00

Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young

In a world of magnets and miracles

Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary
The ringing of the division bell had begun

Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us

To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side

Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again
Dragged by the force of some inner tide

-- "High Hopes" by Pink Floyd

The day I turn 22 and I miss home. My first ever B'day away from home and here I am, having had bumps for the very first time in my life :) (and I don't get what the fuss is all about, it doesn't hurt so much... :P). Like I always say, (yeah, you must be keeping track of all the things I have ever said by now :P), Birthdays for me are over-rated. Nevertheless, it feels great to be in company of people I can really call my friends and well-wishers. Thanks to my roomies (a lot really) for making my first B'day away from home and India as memorable as it can get. (Pity we did not take pictures, though, or did we?). Anyway, let me make it clear right away, if you are trying to look for the way this post is going, don't, this is just one of those time-pass posts where I just ramble off anything on my mind. :)

Anyway, I would like to thank all the people who wished me on my B'day and thank the rest too (*grudgingly*). Also, I just had an awesome experience last week. Sometimes you never realize how much you touch someone's life. I have this friend of mine (as usual, no names, but I'll leave a link to her blog) who used to write (just like I used to) and after I restarted (or may be revived?) my blog last week, she finally got through her Writer's Block. Way to go S.N.!! Wish you never have to have a Block again, but you know how vulnerable we are to Calvin's dark designs :P. Anyway, for those of who care, here's the link to her blog: Click Here. And for the future, S.N., you don't need to be so profusely thankful to me, I'm sure you'd have started writing again anyway :). Rock on! (and yes, the title is an allude to your blog :) \m/)

Well, feeling good after a long session of Pink Floyd and Linkin Park, I wish myself a very happy Birthday (I'm shameless like that :P).

Ciao!!

P.S.: Anyone has any tips for studying during exams? Leave a comment or mail me good ones :).

Western Waves

2011-04-12T23:00:00.001-07:00

Feedback. This is what I have been studying for a couple of days now and seriously, I have Sedra/Smith to thank for all I know about it and my Professor too, of course. Anyway, let me dig into the topic of the post. We have all been there. Do you remember the first ever English song you listened to? (not heard, mind you! :P) There is always this "cool" older cousin/neighbor who you notice listening to some hard-rock (or may be Jackson) and you think, Wish I could do that too. But, I dunno where to find any :( (Remember, this was back when there was no internet, none accessible anyway, back in the mid 90's). Then you grow up and start concentrating on your studies and more important things (read whatever you were into, back then :P).

Then finally, you enter your College days (may be Intermediate) and your home gets its first computer. Then a friend comes over (who has had a computer for some more time then) (and I was this friend for many of my friends :P as I had a Computer at home since I was 9 (yeah, bow to me, low-lifes !!:P)). Lots of generalization here, I'll just let this go and tell you my story of my tryst with Western Discography.

The first song. You always start with something simple. It probably was "My heart will go on" (Titanic fame, if you can't place it.). Back then, I did not even see why Titanic was such a big deal :). Anyway, then I moved to Hyderabad, and of course, I was the studious type as many of my friends will be more than happy to testify :P. After a year there, we upgraded our computer and the guy who set it up (I was not allowed to do that back then, but then, I'd probably would have screwed it up big time) gave me CD full of Western music :). I used to listen to them all the time and to be honest, I couldn't understand even a quarter of the lyrics. I even remember phonetically Karaoke-ing the songs :P :P (stop laughing, I know you've been there too :P). Enrique was the first artist I ever started liking by any measure, and then came Backstreet Boys. After being conditioned to the dhin-chak desi music, it takes time to appreciate a whole different genre, you see :). For all practical intents and purposes, my first song would be Rhythm Divine. That was indeed all I needed.

Then you enter your Bachelors' and then your friends introduce you to all sorts of genres. Right from Marilyn Manson (Ugh!) to sometimes even Niel Diamond (Ugh! more). Then you actually start listening to western music and appreciating it. The revelation came to me as Linkin Park (yes, Numb) and then comes Pink Floyd (read as WOW!) continues to this day with Beethoven, Yanni, Satriani, Mozart and Vivaldi. I don't like to brag (you know me! :P :P), but my collection of music is considered one of the best :).

Tell me about your journey through the Western music flow!

Ciao!

P.S.: For those waiting for the Part - II of the last post, you might've to wait until my finals. :)

All the best, anyway :) :).

The day that was - Part I

2011-04-10T18:25:00.002-07:00

Munaf is back! Well, after about an year of being MIA, I think I finally figured out a way to restart. Let me start off with what kept me from writing for so long:

Well, you probably wouldn't be surprised but I was beta-testing for dear ol' Calvin. And to be honest, I works like a charm. :)

Amidst all this effort to advance technology, what brought me back to writing is one of the harsh realities that usually affect you lesser mortals (and rarely, me) - nostalgia. I was just looking over my Facebook and found some real great memories back when I was studying in Hyderabad. (For those who don't watch News, I am currently operating from Tempe, AZ, USA while studying for an MS in Electrical Engg. from the Arizona State University.) That was, I believe, as Ranjit from HIMYM would say, "Too many informations." :P :P

I just wanna take this slow for the first post after a year, and so start off relating a day - sometime in February 2009. I'm looking up the date as I type - yeah, it was the 26th. Let me dive right into it;

I was just done with my GRE (24th Feb, 2009) and was Cloud 7 (I did not score so much as to be on Cloud 9) and so were my friends, who for the sake of the blog are called A, B, C, D, Me (yeah, me!) and one F. So, how did the day come about? We were in the third year of college, what do you expect? Everyone around was having these crazy-ass road-trips to Mount Opera (no, not a mountain, it is a resort/water-park/hang-out place). And of course we were not gonna pay the heavy entry-fee (well, we Hyderabadis are cheap like that! :P). We found out about an offer. Some departmental store was offering a free ticket on purchase of two large sodas (these are gonna be important later...). Well, so we were all set, with tickets and trying to convince F to come. F lived in Banjara Hills (now in Kingsville, TX) and we make fun of him even today "Kyun F bhai, Mount Opera ku Banjara Hills ku shift karaarain, chalo ab tho jainge...". From now on, we'll try and move Mount Opera to Kingsville, TX. (Kyun F bhai, ab tho bi chalrain?? :P :P)

Of course, you might've realized that we were bunking college to have this all-day trip (not that, it was a big deal...not anymore at least...). We were supposed to start from my place at around 9:30 in the morning. Of course, these things never happen on time, do they? And of course B (and sometimes, even A) has never been to a class on time, how can ou expect them to be on time for fun, and on a separate note, I heard an interesting story about B (who works for a company now) being late for work and being told off by his supervisor. If anyone knows how that went, leave the description in the comments section :). OK, so, C was supposed come to my place and I was to pick him up or something. B was getting his own bike, so were me and A. Yeah, did I mention that road-trip here means on bikes for like 50 km or something like that.

You must be wondering how this is sooo not an interesting story, that is because I haven't started yet. The real fun begins now. I woke up at about 8 (well, pretty early as compared to today's standards) and had a look at my bike (an awesome 2007 Honda Shine, if you are wondering) and it had, wait for it, a flat tire. Well, I figured, it's fine, I'll get it fixed before we even start. So, I got all ready, calling up everyone and finalizing with F if he still wanted the resort to be shifted to Banjara hills. Well, at around 10 we were supposed to meet at a common point on the way to the resort. Me and C on one bike, B and D on one bike and A on one (because of his bike). A came to the point with C and so did B and D. A as usual came late and he had a broken leg guard (I'm not sure that's what it is called, it is the thing that stops the bike falling on your leg when it topples to the side). We had to go back to my place to put it at home and leave. I don't remember properly now, but I believe B's bike was also screwed up in some way. So, finally, it was about 11 by the time we started.

So, we did start, finally. Now comes one of the best parts. Location: L.B. Nagar X Road. A, the quintessential rash rider went totally overboard. There was a stop sign (a red signal, for you desis :P) and in trying to beat the stop sign, A went and beat another bike rider. As luck would have it, a cop saw all this and came running (almost literally) to the spot and took the key from A's bike (that is the style of Hyderabadi cops) and directed A to the center of the traffic island. Here is a funnier part: B was so amused by A's accident (?) that, he was laughing out and squinting in A's direction (in Hyderabadi: Jhaank jhaank ke dekhke hasra tha). For good measure, the former cop's sidekick came over and took B to the island too. Me and C were left alone (and sometimes I wish this ordeal ended here with all of us getting a loss in money). Well, after about 15-20 minutes of convincing the cops and having to pay like 500 bucks (post the amount in the comments guys :P).

This is definitely gonna be in parts, so I'll end here with a few pictures of the ride...and the trip so far:

This is A.

Me and C.

The cam was on B and D's bike, so no pics of those two so far...

I'll be back soon with the second installment of this day...

7 Fictional Characters that changed my life! :)

2010-06-17T05:03:00.001-07:00

The title says it all. This apens to everyone. Sometimes, fictional characters are more influencing to your life than actual people. It is especially true when you can connect to the situations the character has been in. Well, this is list is about some of the major of my influences. The list goes as below: (this is exactly how I write my exams :))

1. Barney Stinson: For the obvious reasons. He is simply legen-wait for it-dary! Be it the coolness with which he handles problems, the impeccable suiting-up or the mysterious story-line about his job, Barney simply rocks! If you've never come across Barney, go for any episode of How I Met Your Mother. The kind of gentle comedy (yeah! ;)) and mystery behind his work makes him a sort of idol for me :). And of course not to mention The Bro Code - awesome book. I was rolling on the floor laughing when I first read the book. Rock on, Barney!

2. Eric Cartman: Eric Cartman, the douche-bag from South Park, yes! I know, Eric represents everything that is wrong with the world, for academic purposes, this is probably the most influential of all my influences. I have learnt a lot about the world and people especially from this show and especially Cartman. The "Screw you guys, I'm going home."s and "But, Moooom"s definitely make him the best characters in the show. In spite of being a racist and a pretentious douche, he has touched my life and affected my thinking patterns a lot. Hats-off to Trey Parker and Matt Stone for thinking him up! \m/

3. Holden Caulfield: The protagonist of the popular "The Catcher in the Rye", probably my most favorite book. Well, the informal tone of the narration and the beauty with which he talks about the things around him makes him the frankest character in any book, movie or series I have ever seen. The best part - "All I want to be is a catcher in the rye and not just another phony like everyone else" like Holden says to his sister Phoebe. Awesome!

4. Tyler Durden: Brad Pitt at his perfection, but Pitt isn't why Durden is an important influence to me. The stoicism and philosophy Tyler represents what I would like to be. "This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time." is what sticks. I would highly recommend you watch Fight Club for a better understanding. :)

5. Ross Geller: The geek from Friends. No descriptions, but he has affected me quite a bit. And of course, Science Boy! \m/

6. Bruce Wayne: Typical super-hero inspiration, you might say. But then, there is something very different from any other super-hero. Ever realized that Wayne had no super-powers like the other super-heroes?? All Wayne does is making use of science and technology to get his powers. Wayne teaches me that hard-work and innovation can get you accolades which are usually assumed.

7. Severus Snape: Forget the superb revelations of the real role of Snape in the Deathly Hallows, he was my all time favorite right from the first book. His stoic attitude and the best part, keeping secrets is what touches me :).

List out yours too! :)

P.S.: Feels good to have nothing blabbered at the beginning and the end, right? :)

I, Blog.

2010-06-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I am the blog writing. No, this time, I have decided to take things into my own hands instead of leaving them for Munaf to sort out. He is such a geek and believes that, if a blog is good, it simply finds acceptance without any efforts on the author's part. Well, duh! I have had enough of this goody-two-shoes attitude on his part. Let's face it, publicizing anything is almost as important as making it good. Hope Munaf realizes this soon. And coming to taking things into m own hands, let me tell you what is important for my kind (blogs, of course). First thing is, of course, readership. More we are read, more we enjoy. But, the story doesn't end there (yeah, you wish!). A blog is a very complicated entity, so to say. We have feelings too. When a person rates a post, we feel proud of our author. When someone comments on a post, it is all the more special for us, because we get to get several points of view rather than the monotonous POVs of our author. When someone follows us, it is even more elating, just because then, we know someone cares for all this *replace with word meaning non-sense* (I'm no Munaf, see... :P) our author has to put up.

Now, that's out of the way, I'll give you what you came for. You all read the posts I host (wow, I'm a poet and didn't even know it! :P). Did you know that, posting a comment takes just about a minute of your time? Now, don't tell me you don't even have that kind of time, I see Munaf and can surmise how jobless his readers can be. (Munaf's gonna kill me if he sees this, he respects his readers a lot, you know...) Do you know how much a comment can mean to the blog and may be even to the author? A lot! If you really like Munaf's posts, please make sure you comment. I cannot, of course, judge Munaf's writings, but then, the few comments he gets tell me he's not so abysmal as I thought. You know, a minute of writing a comment can encourage the author to write better and thus, it makes me look good too :P. Then, following. I, of all people (or should I say things? :P) know how many readers I get in any given period of time and most of them are returning (yeah, I know that too.), If you are so interested in my author's writings, why don't you just follow me. If you use Google Reader, new posts I host will be updated almost immediately and anyway, shouldn't you be showing your support for Mr. Shaik when he, I'm sure, he gives you a couple of laughs at the very least :). Now, all you need to either follow or comment is a Google account and in this day and age, I'm sure no one is without one. It's just a matter of a couple of minutes and makes me look good and consequently my author, better.

Please comment and let me live. Also follow to make me look good :). And of course, try to write a blog yourself. We are still a rare race, make us ubiquitous :D. And keep enjoying my author's posts!!

Deify (or may be not)

2010-06-10T10:44:00.001-07:00

My second post in two days. Looks like I'm on a roll, but then, let me not get over myself here. How I am doing this is, I have a folder on my system with text files named after each topic I want to write about. This list is being accumulated from about a couple of months (ever since I got this machine..) and I haven't worked on them until yesterday. Alright, none of your business, right? I know. but then, it feels good to be sharing these things with friends. :) Well, I named this text file deify and hope the title stays the same at the end too. Just a declaration :). Anyway, I am enjoying the first few days of my holidays very much, what with nothing and yet, everything to do. Why, just today, I enquired for a course to learn Spanish and was astounded by the exorbitant price and decided to download one instead. Typical Indian, you might say, but then, lack of resources and the exorbitant price makes me do that, Fine, jokes apart, what is this post about? Well, this is something we see virtually everyday. I'll barge into the post, because one of my friends (and avid reader of this blog) doesn't apparently like my dragging on the first few paragraphs of each post.

You might have seen people praising people. That's pretty common, I am not saying praising people is bad. But sometimes, what happens is, people just deify (I don't know a more superlative word for this...) their peers (yes, I forgot to mention this, just peers and I'm gonna make an elaborate argument stating how everyone is a peer. :)). Fine, let me start off with some building statements. Everyone is equal. People who have achieved something have done so just because they have worked hard on it. Having said that, I'd like to play a bit with the borderlines of religion here. Let me state some more things here. God does not play cricket. God has (most probably) better things to do than making you laugh by enacting a bit as your favorite comedian. God does not get a paltry 10 Lakhs per annum package for a job. And there are many more things on those lines. I have seen people (quite many around me) compare people especially peers with God. Let me stop being religious here. Let's face it, Sachin is not God. (A post on my views on games and stuff might be just around the corner) (this is just an example, no offence to you hardcore fans) This has become a common practice, at least I believe, in the recent past. Let me move away from this, you may prefer to call celebs whatever you like, but let me get to my point.

Fine, coming to peers. A guy gets a good score on a test, or may be a fine placement, I dunno why some of us are compelled to deify the person. He may be whatever he/she is, but then let me put some perspective here. Did you ever notice that, by deifying a peer of yours, you are simply creating delusions to yourself that you are a good-for-nothing person? A person may deserve praise, I'm all for it. But do that in a way that is not pretentious and constructive to yourself too. For instance, call the person up, talk to them and congratulate on the achievement. I don't see any reason why a successful person needs to be deified. Get inspired, yes, but there is no reason to deify the person and least of all to tell the person himself/herself. You know, your peer probably got to be good just because he worked hard to get there, so just simply let him be and for once, be selfish. Being a guy who thinks a looooot, I know what kind of effect deifying people has on your own efforts and may be even you levels of confidence. So, simple solution - do not deify. May be revere, may be just respect, but deifying is completely not in the same league. And about everyone being peers, this is not the right place for it. May be another post :). But thing is, I haven;t thought out this whole post a lot, I must be better prepared for future posts :).

Ok, almost sleep-time, I'll leave it here. I think I have made a statement of sorts with this and my previous posts. I have my own thought process and ideas and for all I know, they might be as twisted as a mobius strip. What I actaully want to do using this medium is - urge readers to think about these topics and build their own opinions. I shall never rub my personal thought process on anyone at all. *batting eye-lids* :)

And of course, the disclaimer at the end of the last post applies here too :). By the way, I lost all my ":P"s if you haven't noticed. :)

Nighty Night!!

P.S.: Please give your opinions too in the comments section :)

Chapters

2010-06-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

Alright, end of exam season and finally, I am almost an Engineer, just waiting for the results and my convocation. Actually, I've decided not to make any promises about the frequency of posts coming about this season of the blog (yeah, right, I like to call them seasons :P). Anyway, let me start off by giving out my current state of mind. Well, people around me are all acting so mature and grown-up, no one (except a couple of them...) is fooling around, people are going around Visa offices and keeping their fingers crossed about their MBA entrance results (not you mama, you're handling it very well... :P) and here I am, just sitting and planning on going abroad in he coming Spring. Actually, there is not much planning, it's almost all set. Anyway, at least, I now have the gift of time. Sounds a bit too sanguine, but then, it pays, You know, I now have new and improved (how can something be new and improved? Don't ask me. :P). respect for the Uncertainty Principle. No comments about that, find out and assume things at the link on this blog. Gift of time. A lot of things that can be done and a couple of things that must be done along with the one thing that gave me this break in the first place. Of course, I am now totally enjoying the 64-bit Ubuntu Lucid and loving messing around with people and computers as usual. Well, what is this post about? The age old question. Well, this is a timeless post. It is at the same time about the past, the present and the future, Kind of oxymoron-ic, no? (Pardon my Indian touch to my English, I'm trying to lose it. :P and I shall try to lose the ":P"s too :)) But of course, let me get into the post.

Well, this post is coming mainly from my experiences. Also, the timing for the post is also kinda perfect because I have just completed one of the most important and enjoyable things I ever did. Nothing so mystic though, it is just my Engineering. Come to think of it, it has become so ubiquitous at least in our part of the country. Actually, I don't feel any different after finishing it. No, I just don't have to worry about not caring for important things. I'll be honest, at least here. I will definitely miss those days, but then, it's not like I'm moving to anything less fun than this. No elucidating here, mainly due to FUD regarding TUP (don't even ask!). Anyway, I'd rather have my peers see the change as a positive thing, mainly due to the development each of is most likely about to see in the near future. Most of us are now gonna get paid, for crying out loud! I'm digressing here, looks like the long stint away from writing has done no wonders to my writing skills (much like my project did not to my confidence, but then, that is a whole other story altogether...). Damn, another lengthy paragraph and I have not stated anything that is not obvious! I gotta pull up my gig now.

Let me start with a for-instance. Let us say you have a life decision to make that is certainly going to have you relocate (for want of a better word...) to a new place. Now the question I pose is not such a difficult one, in that, first of all, it is not even a question so much as a matter of opinion. So, in this situation, would you prefer to have a good friend of yours (at least an acquaintance for that matter...) and continue your life, so to say. Or, simply don't even care whether or not anyone you know is at the new place in hopes that, you can start afresh, so to say. Now, I have not been so articulate in the above few lines, but I hope you got what I meant. Now, here cometh my take.

First things first, I metaphor-ize my life as a set of short-stories. One story ends, the other one begins, and of course both stories need not correlate in the least. But, morals and lessons learnt from the precious stories always find use in making decisions in the next story. In simple words, I like to have a fresh beginning each time I take a turn in my life. No, I'm not talking about ditching my old friends and go finding new ones. Old friends are important but then, they have their own _things_. Time for elucidation. See, I make mistakes and have flaws in each stage of my life, like anyone else. Old friends have the incorrigible habit of nagging on these subjects even though the things happened like ages ago. That's just one side of the coin. Old friends aside, it is also important to bury the skeletons you have in your closet, right? (totally figurative, I have no real skeletons in my closet, you can come and check!) A new place for me, is usually a way to clean my slate and start building a new life for myself. I have done this about 4 times now and have loved the way things have turned out. You know, you usually get to live your fantasy. Tell tehm you were Superman and you are golden! :) That does it, huh? Well, of course, that's just me, trying to bury the skeletons in my closet in any possible twisted manner and living out fantasies. Well, doing this has its downsides too. you need to be patient at the start of each story and by the end of the story you have new skeletons in your closet (I'm using this a bit too much). So, after this part of my life I called Engineering, I will most likely start a new story. This is just my preference. If I had no choice, this chapter would continue for a little more time.

Fine, this was probably one of the not-good posts, but you gotta know I've been away from this for quite many days and this is just like a warm up post. Don't stop reading the blog just because of this post!

Write your own stories. And live your fantasies like you want, because life is too long to be a single chapter, better break it up into chapters. :) :) :)

Almost...

2010-04-17T03:21:00.000-07:00

Back, as y'all can see! (read this in a southern accent.. :P). No, it's okay if you haven't, really! I don't want to be imposing such silly things on my blog's readers, I respect y'all. Anyway, as a few of you might know, my birthday is just round the corner, and the most important thing about this b'day of mine, is that, I'm gonna turn 21 tomorrow! If you are not able to get the picure to the right, think Blackjack. :P.

People tell me 21 is an important age to cross. I don't see why, though. Thing is, I believe that, birthdays are over-rated. True, it is a red-letter day in many people's life, but then, it's not like you have personally achieved something by being born. anyway, 21 s a bit different, you are completely considered an adult once you become 21, and people expect some maturity from you. It's kinda like a stream, once you cross it, the things you've left behind seem too far away and you start finding new avenues altogether. Wow, I never knew I could make such metaphors - maturity, see :P. Be practical, celebrate the day you indeed achieve something. Alright, let me indulge myself a little before my birthday. If life were a game of Blackjack, I would be hitting the spot tomorrow :P. And it's gonna be all bust after that, no? :P Anyway, it has been fun to be on the winning side of Blackjack. And now, I'm off the eplore what's good after 21! I would like to put in words what I have been for the past almost 21 years.

Let me start off with something I am good at.

I am almost versatile with computers.
I am almost a good orator.
I am almost the best in thinking.
I am almost good at writing.
I can understand almost everything. (as in concepts, not languages.)
I can spend almost all my time on social networking site.
I almost have a job.
I have almost made it to some of the good universities in the US.
I have almost completed my graduation.
I have almost achieved Ubuntu (not the Linux distro, the African philosophy.)
I have almost understood the inner workings of human minds..
I have almost understood social ethics and cultures.
I have almost a good understanding of the current zeitgeist around me.
I have almost found out the secret of happiness. (I have understood it, but am unable to put it in words. :))
I have almost mastered Linux.
I have almost done nothing.
On the other hand, I have almost done everything.
I have been almost the best person I can be.

Finally, I am now, Almost 21!

P.S.: First things first, i don't mind if people don't wish me on my birthday (even I don't so much care about wishing others on theirs...). Please don't make it a big deal about calling me up and wishing me. Another thing, if you were to call me, don't durng 9:30 to 13:00, I have an exam tomorrow (ironic, I know :P). All the best to me! :D :D

G for Genius!

2010-04-12T09:13:00.002-07:00

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see. - Arthur Schopenhauer

Alright! Call it the effect of the bloggers' meet yesterday or something, I suddenly get the mood to write regularly (yeah, I call two posts in 2 consequent days regular :P). Anyway, it's been nice - going through peoples' blogs and finding some excellent work done by each of them. Kudos to y'all!! And of course, keep the good work going!!

So, another post. The title might suggest something about Parle-G biscuits, but no! This ain't got anything to do with any confectionery or something on those lines. I literally mean G for Genius as the title. Well, this is about Genius. Have you ever wondered how generously we use the adjective? I've been thinking for a while now and the answer is not good. Let me illustrate what I'm trying to say here. If a person gets more marks than you - genius. If someone can answer something esoteric you have no idea about - genius. If someone discovers something, however insignificant, - genius. B the W, I'm watching the DC match and hope we recover soon and make like a 180 runs. Fingers Xed on that area. :). OK, genius, huh?? I simply don't like people call just anyone that. This post is where I try to describe what genius actually means to me. So, when you're around me, try to adhere to these rules before tagging someone a genius :P.

I draw upon a little bit of tutelage from Roger Penrose (author of A Road to Reality). I believe that, some things simply exist - in kind of a Platonic sense of existence (please don't ask me more about this. :P). Well, anyway, the thing about such things is, they are just there. It is not like the person who uncovers them is doing a great act in trying to find something that is already there. (Refer Mandelbrot plots here, they simply existed, like forever and Mandelbrot was just he person to uncover the underlying beauty...) With all due respect to all the great inventors and discoverers, most of them aren't anything close to genius. They might have been intelligent and persevering hard-workers, but genius, I don't think so!

Let me give you some examples of people who are in my view, tagged genius rather liberally. The first, may be the oldest - the wheel. We all larn that the wheel was tone of the most ingenious inventions. But, on second thought, it is kind of obvious. Let us say Mr.X (or may be Ms. X, for all non-sexists like me...) invented the wheel. The fact of the matter remains that, eventually, someone would stumble upon the idea to make a circular thing. Same goes for Aryabhatta, who is credited with the "invention" of zero. Come on people! Definitely, i wouldn;t tag Aryabhatta a genius, if not him, someone, somewhere might definitely have stumbled upon the idea of having a number which had no value (tell me about it, Indians have a knack at these things - we like getting things for free, right?) Then there is the probably the biggest speculator of all time - Sir Newton. Gravity, they tell me, makes him a genius. But think about it twice,the idea of gravity can be attributed mainly to his being in the right place at the right time. So, I'm sure I made my point clear here, as to what kind of people do not qualify for the tag of genius.

Now, the obvious question. Who is a genius? I'll try my best to put my idea in good words here. A genius is a person, whose ideas and maybe inventions affect the world in such a way that - when the later generations look at the ideas, they go like what the heck was this fellow thinking? How the hell could anyone get this vague an idea. In simple words, the idea should be simple but so out-of-the-world that, no one would think about it unless they go mad. Like someone says, Genius is just another level of insanity, :P. Anyway, time for examples. The first one that comes to mind is Nikola Tesla. The man single-handedly formulated wireless communication (you might say Marconi did that, but the patent for Radio was later corrected to Tesla's name in 1943), the AC motor, Alternating Current itself and wireless electricity (not one of his successful ventures, I'd say...). Da Vinci is another. Then there are several authors who get into this category of genius-ness. Shakespeare, Tolkein, Milton, Crichton, Clarke and many others. Then there are mathematicians - Hawking, Penrose, Feynman, and how can I forget Einstein. Then there is the person who got the idea of a microprocessor - there wasn't anything analogous to that in earlier times, was there? Also on the list would be Page/Brin for Google and Zuckerberg for Facebook. And of course, Tim Berners Lee for the Internet!

Alright then, I take leave! Please don;t call undeserving people genius, for me at least. :P. And for any disputes, please refer to the disclaimer under the title of the blog. :D. Finally, i think it is important to draw a proper line between genius and geek.

Keep Rocking!!

Hyderabad IndiBlogger Meet!

2010-04-11T10:18:00.001-07:00

Finally, I found some kind of inspiration to get back to blogging. Each time I've been trying to post something, I was getting bored and started doing something else. It was the interaction I had with about 150 bloggers that gave me the get-go again. Thanks you all!!

Coming to the bloggers' meet, well, this was my first one ever!! I was kind of stylishly late :P. I arrived like half an hour late and people had already started introducing themselves (30 Seconds of Fame). I went on and sat down in one of the back rows. There were several interesting people whose blogs I'm surely gonna visit (some I've already done...). The response was really overwhelming. And yeah, why was I late, again? I had to blow my farewell party thrown by my Juniors. But, I'm sure, that couldn't have been better than this. Now, coming to my 30 Seconds of Fame, as usual, i was the same old afraid-of-the-crowd Munaf. I blabbered off something and later realized I hadn't said anything I had planned to :D. Alright next came the funny part of the meet.

We were all handed a chart and a sketch pen (we weren't told why, at first). This part was called Live and Let Comment. Weel, we were asked to hang the sheet around our necks and go around socializing with people and let them comment, give their blog address etc on the sheet of paper. It was fun! Foound and met a lot of interesting people here. Then came the quiz.

Well, let me be honest! Despite the quiz-master's saying that the questions would not be esoteric, I felt them to be. It was probably because I have been active on the Internet only for about 3 years now. (There were people very much older than me, internet wise :P). No, I wont touch upon the questions! I simply cannot recollect them as of now.

Then there was the exciting part - food! Just kidding. It was a decent enough tea and some time fo mingling with the co-bloggers (in search of a better term).

Then there was this session to discuss about forming a Hyderabad Bloggers Forum and it went pretty well with some people offering to host the website and everyone coming up with names.

Then, there was a group photo session - which was great fun in itself. :).

What I observed there was, there were people literally from every walk of life. Of course, the majority were students/IT Professionals. There were many IT Professionals from biggie companies like ex-Google/IBM, Microsoft, TCS, Satyam and some even had their own firms.

All in all, it was a real fetching experience for me!! If you ever get a chance to attend one, don't ever leave it!!!

Thank you all for making my day!!

P.S.: For more details on the meet, go to http://www.indiblogger.in/bloggermeet.php?id=70

My Favorite words! :)

2010-03-14T03:23:00.000-07:00

Back again! What have I been up to? Well, I've been busy with my project (yeah, like you'd believe that :P), looking for the best laptop for me and South Park (you read it right...I love it!!). Well, this post as the title goes, is just another list. This time a list of some of, yes just some of my favorite words. How I compiled the list is an interesting story though...For a week now, I've been thinking about it and each time a word I like pops up in my mind, I just note it down in a draft SMS and move on. It has been quite a task to recollect words and noting them...Alright, how am I going to give the list this time? Well, first is of course the word, no, I won't give it's meaning here, you can use your own dictionary :P, and then why I like the word. For some of the words I like I don't even have a reason to like, simply idiosyncratic, I guess :)

The list goes like this...

cliché - the word simply sounds good to me. I also like the meaning.

bohemian - the meaning of this word is something I can relate to.

onomatopoeia - the word sounds funny, don't you agree? The meaning is a bit funny too. :D

utopia - a bit like bohemian, both these words give me the goosebumps each time I come across them.

assimilate - no reason, I simply cannot fathom why I like the word so much.

omniscient - something I aspire to be, and hence like. :D

sanguine - again, something I usually am.

instigate - No reason.

nostalgia - Obvious reason, the meaning.

idiosyncrasy - Something I believe is very important for everyone. Ironic, ain't it?

hypocrite - I hate hypocrites, but the word, I like. :P

charlatan - A funny word with a funny sound.

rain-maker - the meaning. I'd like to be one for myself one day.

silhouette - funny word.

connoisseur - something I am a little but try to be the best one.

mademoiselle - the sound of it. It sounds so refined and smooth.

paranoia - ha ha.

innuendo - the sound and meaning.

insinuation - meaning.

And why do you need to know this? I have no idea myself!

Anyway, try South Park sometime, I'm sure you'll enjoy all the wry humor and the hidden insinuations.

Adios!

There and back again!

2010-02-05T03:03:00.004-07:00

What a series of events it has been! I'm talking about the placement session conducted by Infosys Technologies in our college. Well, a hectic day, of course. I'd like to share my experience of the day through this post. Most of the conversations (including the interview) are verbatim and a few are paraphrased to convey the same meaning only because I don't remember the exact wording. Fine, let's set the ball rolling, but first, a few disclaimers. If I sound gloaty at any point during this post, it is just out of momentary elation. No offense to anyone. This post has been in the making for over 4 days now (I'm editing the number at the end of each passing day...)(I started writing on Feb the 2nd).

The conventions:

These are the words spoken by someone else.

These are my thoughts.

There are my actual words.

Feb 1, IST 0600 Hrs - Location: Home

I woke up and freshened up. I had a perfectly dorky pair of pants and slightly less dorky shirt ready to be worn to the college that day, not to mention, a perfectly dorky pair of shoes too. (No more details about clothing. :P). Anyway, to keep the shirt from getting a full one on the road, I wore my jacket too, which I might add, added a lot of physical weight in my bag on me later in the day. Well, no breakfast on that day - all I wanted was to be on time in the college.

Feb 1, IST 0815 Hrs - Location: Ghulam Ahmed Auditorium

In Ghulam Ahmed Hall - the seminar hall where the pre-placement talk was about to take place. On a separate note, the reason given by our placement cell for the lateness of the Placements was that, this hall was under renovation. I don't think there could've been a lamer excuse. Let's continue. There I was, going through my Resume, and trying to recollect what I actually did during the past 3 and a half years. It included me being a(n Active) member of the IEEE Student Chapter of my college and such stuff that you can only put on a Resume.

Thus started the pre-placement talk by one of the HR Managers from Infy (easier to type, you see... :P). He started telling us about the history, present and features of Infy in excruciating detail (much like what I'm doing now... :P). This ended about an hour later and we were all fleeted off to the classrooms where the Aptitude Test was to be conducted.

Feb 1, IST 1040 Hrs - Location: Room No. 5406, Block 5, MJCET

Seated in the Exam Center (just another of our classrooms...). The skinny guy who was standing on the dais was supposed to be the invigilator. He was giving all kinds of instructions about how to fill in the forms supplied to us. C'mon, when's this gonna end, huh? We were instructed as if we were kids, let's move on. The funniest thing he told us was : "Please write in capslock!". I laughed out at that. Fine, the test ended without many events, not for me at least.

Feb 1, IST 1200 Hrs - Location: MJCET Front Canteen

Post the exam. My room was apparently the first one to start (and thereby end) the test. I had to wait for about 30 minutes for all of my friends to be out of their respective "Exam Halls". Our regular hang out: under the big tree (I dunno what kind it is...) in front of the front canteen in our college. Well, you can imagine how hungry I must've been mainly because of no breakfast. We got like a hundred samosas each (not literally... :P) and a couple of Pepsi pets and had a blast. Everyone was discussing the paper and speculating whether or not they would clear the paper. I was saying the very words that'd become my war-cry for the day: "No comments on my performance until I see the end result. :|" (And why, you might ask. Refer to The Uncertainty Principle). We saw virtually everthing you can see before an interview. One of my classmates was learning by-heart the answers he'd give to the HR Manager. Another was getting fresh copies of his Resume. We? We were just trying to pass time by laughing at people and cutting some of the most clichéd of our jokes.

IST 1400 Hrs - Location: Ghulam Ahmed Auditorium

The D-Time. The results of the aptitude test were due at 1330 Hrs but as usual, the timeline got blown. We were all seated in the auditorium and expecting something like the results being pasted as a sheet on the walls or something like that. But to our surprise and horror, the Placements Officer started calling out names of people who cleared the first round.

Fine, please keep quiet!! I have here a list of people who cleared the aptitude test. It is a partial list and whoever's name has been called must go and stand in the back. And keep your clapping for later.

Yeah, he's punishing the people who got through the aptitude test! :P

Then he started calling out the names in the first list - some 30-35 people I guess. I guess, because, my heart was in my throat looking to see if my name was on the list. There wasn't even a proper order (like department wise etc.) and it was a hair-raising thriller of a list. At the end of the list only two of my group went over to the interviews. I was all like, damn! I didn't get through. Then, about half an hour later came the second and apparently the final list.

OK, I have the final list here with me. The total number of candidates who qualified is 125. just a hundred and twenty five?!?!? Damn, the cut-off must've been hideously high. Fingers crossed, let's hope we get through. I'll read out the names and please go stand in the back.
...
...
...
4095 Munaf Hussain Shaik (My actual roll number is 4094) Did he say 4095?!?!?! But he called my name right? Can I go to the back?
...
...

Feb 1, IST 1440 Hrs - Location: In the back

There I was, finally clear of the aptitude test. All around me, people were taking out neck-ties out of their pockets and bags and I dunno where else (much akin to the magic tricks :P). Why did I not wear a tie? Well, my neck was too thick to put the top button of my shirt, that was the major reason. Either ways, I wasn't going to try something so new that day mostly because I was not used to carry a tie. Well, still confused about the discrepancy in the roll number, I left the hall for the 6th floor of Block 5, MJCET.

Feb 1, IST 1530 Hrs - Location: Room No. Something, 6th Floor, Block 5, MJCET

A total of about 125 people crammed into a single room (at least, that was what I thought at first glance.). There were actually two rooms for all of us. Going there, I found that a batch of people had been cattled away for the interviews. And the group consisted of the two friends of mine who were called in the "first list". My hands were all cold, and sweaty, I dunno why. Whatever one might say, getting a decent placement was my last ditch fall-back. For a last ditch fall-back, I was taking it a tad too seriously. Anyway, I was soon quarantined by taking me and seating about 20 of us in the adjacent room. The organizing guys had our aptitude test papers in their hands and one couldn't resist the temptation to try and find out how many one had scored. But, talk about being super secretive, these people were hiding the paper as if they were some national security issue. End of the wait and the 20 of us were guided out and to the next level.

Feb 1, IST 1620 Hrs - Location: Room No. 5402, Block 5, MJCET

Well, it ain't easy to be ready for your first time (yes, pun intended :P). This was the very first time in my life that I was gonna take on some real HR guy face to face. The preceding hour or something is just hell. And when I was heading to be seated in my room, one of the guys of the first list (my friend) was just out of the interview.

Kaisa gaya re?? (How'd it go??)

Dum tha baap!! (Was a pain!)

Kya puchra?? (What's he asking??)

Pura Resume pe ich puchra. Mereku project and mini project ke baare me dum kara. (He's just sticking to the Resume. He asked me a lot about my projects and mini-projects.)

I was freaked! Damn! My Resume was something I wasn't prepared to talk about. But then, there is only so much you can do when you know there's very little time left for the interview. I went and got seated in the second bench and there was this talkative guy. If there's something in this world that freaks me out before I'm gonna give an interview, it is people who like to hear themselves speak. He was seated beside this friend of mine.

...what are those things on CDs called? Those round things. I know they are called something, what?
Sectors. They are called sectors.
Yeah, right!! I'm totally surprised at my clearing the aptitude test. Like I wanna know that. The verbal section was out of this world. It wasn't for me. (not sarcastic). Especially for me because I did not write any competitive exam, ever.
He was looking back at my Resume.
You are Munaf Hussain? Your aptitude is high, is it? What the hell are you talking about?? Hey, you guys said you looked up answers from someone, right? Who was it?? (Directed towards my friend, the one beside him. For which he said someone else's name). Yeah, I have a **** on my GRE and a *** on my TOEFL, I'm sure I could be the guy with the high aptitude.
There we are sitting and everyone else save about 4 of us are being called to submit their Resumes, Certs and stuff. The only ones left are me, the talkative guy, one of my classmates, and a stranger in some real contrasting pair of clothes. Then the talkative guy walks out and comes back in a few minutes.

I just went and talked to one of the organizers and requested to send me to an easy HR. I'm real freaked out. Hope he obliges to my request.
Why would you ever do that??

Then, finally, the talkative guy was called and was interviewed for a long time, i guess. Then I was called along with the classmate of mine. We were both made to wait in the corridors and were instructed not to make a peep (as in a sound.. :P).

Feb 1, IST 1710 Hrs - Location: Floor 4 , Block 5 , MJCET

Well, both of us waiting and then comes the guy to collect our Resumes. He staples the Resume to the aptitude test paper and I try to steal a glance for my score, but it's hard. Then, he calls on the guy with me and takes him into one of the interview rooms. I'm all alone in the corridor and all the HRs are busy taking interviews. I get taken to the 2nd room and wait there for about 10 minutes. Then, out comes the talkative guy from the room across the one I'm waiting at. He's all smiles. Hope I get out all smiles too.

I get called over to the same room as the talkative guy came out of. The HR is busy on his phone and I'm told to wait outside. Wow! This must be the easy HR guy. Let's not get too cocky and keep cool. The HR is literally shouting into the phone and I'm like Speak into the phone, dude. I'm sure the guy on the other side can hear you either ways, though. And after about 10 people walking past me to the waiting room and 10 more painful minutes during which time I noticed I had sweaty palms and cold hands, I was told to get in. I had wiped my palms on my shirt and gotten them dry by that time.

Feb 1, IST 1730 Hrs - Location: Room No. 5401, Block 5, MJCET

I enter. The HR is still busy on the phone - he's literally shouting at the person on the other end.

Good Evening sir. He nods and offers me his hand. Haath kya dera miyan? (Why are you giving me your hand?) I wasn't gonna shake hands but there's hardly anything you can do when he offers his hand. I give him a firm hand-shake and May I sit, sir? He nods again and I get seated. The arrangement is as far as you can get from the ideal interview arrangement. Two benches (yes, the ones we sit on in classes) are placed face to face. Damn! Now he can totally see my body language. Gotta be cool and stick to the basics.

At long last, he hangs up on the phone. He picks up my set of papers (Application, Aptitude test answer sheet and my Resume.) and goes through what seems like each and every word.

Kitta padtha bhai, bas hai. kuch tho bi puch. (How much'll you read dude. Ask something) Ab puchta dekho "Tell me about yourself." bolke. (Now, he's gonna ask me "Tell me about yourself."). I wasn't so prepared to take that question though.
What did you learn at this Defense Electronics Seminar?
Damn! I did not know he would ask this!!
I learned about the various communication protocols used in the military and other things such as unmanned vehicles and stuff (I actually said stuff :P).
Where do you think all those things can be used?
When I join the Army! Well, there wasn't much new to learn there sir. Those were the protocols that are already being used in the military. They are tried and tested.
That's fine. What do you want to do using this knowledge?
I'd rather not have attended that damn seminar! I didn't even pay much attention there. Due to their stable nature, I'd like to make use of those protocols and systems in regular civilian systems and make life simpler for people. He kept asking for more - aan, aan...Aur kitta bolna chicha...itta bola, bas nai hai? (How much more do you expect me to explain? I've said enough.) I just kept quiet.
OK, tell me about your final year project. I did. These details are pretty gore and I'd rather not put them here. But, I somehow managed to convince him that it wasn't the worst project in the world.
Hmm...what did you do in these events er, Adsophos and others? Don't tell me what you were supposed to do, tell me what you actually did.
Apan kabhi kuch kare? (When did we ever do something??)
I organized a quiz when in my 3rd year and did itto my satisfaction. I also organized a er, what was the event? (I actually asked the question!) yeah, a hardware design contest.
What do you mean - to your satisfaction?
Aisich bhauth bolthe bhai....lite lena. (We say all these sort of things dude, don't hang on to them.)
Well, er, the turn up was good and I managed to conduct the event without any goof-ups.
Why do you think the turn-up was high?
It wasn't, dude. I'm just faking. Well, i guess it was probably because of the catchy posters I designed.
Tell me something catchy from those posters.
There was nothing catchy to tell from those posters sir, I said they looked catchy.
Oh, OK. How do you know the posters were catchy?
The turn-up mostly, and I even asked a couple of participants as to why they chose this event, and got a similar feedback. Yeah, like any event organizer does that.
He was impressed and I was not complaining.
Good. What do you mean by this? "Active" member of IEEE student chapter. What did you do as an "Active member"??
Arey yaar! Har koi aisich likhta! Khaali member bolke likhe tho kya acha dikhta?? (Dude, everyone writes the same, no point in writing just member.)
As an active member, I try to make my juniors realize the beauties of real engineering. What's happening nowadays is, people join engineering just for the brand name. I strive to make them like engineering and stay on the cutting edge by joining IEEE.
How do you do that?
I show students interesting articles from the IEEE Spectrum magazine and try to cultivate real interest towards engineering.
How many people have you recruited into this IEEE?
About 50 people I guess. yeah, the total membership of IEEE in our college is about 70 and I made the chapter (sarcastic).
Good! Hmmm...Your hobbies are Reading Books, Blogging...(reading from my Resume) How many books have you read?
Puchliya? Chal ab letun mai teri!! (Good thing you asked me. Now, I'll take a session!)
I dunno the exact number sir, I have read a lot though.
Give me a number.
Ab kitte pada ki ginlethe baiththe?? (Who counts the number of books they've read?)
I'd venture a guess at about a hundred, hundred and fifty. That is like half the books I read.
*Wide-eyed look*. Which is your favorite book?
There are many yaar, ab kya bolun?
The Catcher in the Rye sir.
What?
I repeat.
What do you like about that book?
I start off...It describes the angst of a teenage boy...blah...blah...blah...Kuch samajhme tho bi aara?? (Are you even able to understand anything??)
What was the title again?
The catcher in the rye sir.
Catcher??
Yes, sir. In the Rye. R-Y-E Rye.
Do you have that book?
Kaiku? Ab padinge bi tum?
Yes, I do sir.
OK. Do you have any questions...
Paagal hogaya? Interview kon kiska lera bhai?
About Infosys?
No sir, I have gone through the website and have a good idea of what to expect when I get there. Yeah, right. Like I have no other business.
Good! You may go, thank you.
Mereku thanks kaiku bolra bhai?? (Why are you thanking me??)
Thank you sir.

At the end, the HR was all smiles, I dunno why. I suspected that he may have seen right through me and understood that I was faking some of the stuff. We shook hands and I left, confused.

Feb 1, IST 1815 Hrs - Location: Some room on the second floor.

Here were all the people who had faced the interviews. And then came the toughest part - the wait. We were trying to ease our tensions by cracking jokes, taking pics and stuff. Then came the HR guy from Infosys, the one who gave the seminar in the morning, and gave us all a piece of his mind for making a big ruckus and apparently, we were audible even in the 5th floor. Then came the biggest surprise package. Some of us were being called for 2nd interviews. We were like, what the heck? Although I wasn't called, a friend of mine was. We were discussing all sorts of stuff, about whether or not each of us was gonna get selected and stuff and I was all like No comments on my performance until I see the end result. :|. Well, the 2nd interview calls continued until about 9 in the night and each and every one of the group was exhausted. After all, 12 hours on just a couple of samosas isn't so easy :P.

Feb 1, IST 2150 Hrs - Location: the same room.

In came the head HR and our Placement Officer. The HR had the "list" in his hands. He started off.

Okay, it was a tiresome day for all of us. Let us get it over with. I have here the list of selected candidates. Please keep your cheers, claps and celebrations for later.

And the list came to an end with a total of 77 people (technically). My name wasn't called and I was a teeny bit dejected. One of my friends was also not selected.

Now, I want all the Infoscions to stay here and all the best for all of you others for other placements. And some stuff about joining Infosys later.

We made it to the parking lot and went home and left all our friends to celebrate. I wasn't so dejected though, because I wasn't gonna work there anyway. And resolved never to lie in an interview and also to make some changes in my Resume.
...
...
...

Feb 3, IST 1647 Hrs - Location: Home

I was online on my Gmail mailbox and just received a mail from our Placements Officer. It said something about some lost items in the room where the result was announced. Out of sheer habit, I looked through the list of mail recipients. The list was pretty weird. All the people in the list were the ones whose names were actually called in the final announced list. My name was on that too. I was shocked. I thought "Lite, must've been some mistake." and went out with my friend. Later, i returned home and found another mail from the Placement Officer. It explicitly said:

Dear Mr. Munaf

You have been selected in Infosys campus placements

I was shocked and tried to find my Placement Officer's phone number but, couldn't. I went on Facebook and asked one of my friends if she had the number and she said:
You are selected into Infosys. I saw the list today and your name was on it. I informed the Placement Officer and he said he'll mail you.
I was elated. I thanked her profusely and still tried to confirm it. I only informed a couple of my closest friends and my family. Facebook status could wait - I still needed to talk to my Placements Officer and confirm. Apparently, the HR guy had skipped my name while reading out the names. I dunno how that guy can be so careless.

By the way, I'd like to thank my friend here again for taking the time to inform the Placement Officer and later, me. Thanks a lot. (I don't use names on my blog, I hope you don't mind, no offense.)

Feb 4, IST 1020 Hrs - Location: Placements Office, MJCET

I met the Placements Officer and confirmed and looked over the list too, only to find my name right on the list. I was happy again!!

Now, for those who did not make it this time. First thing: I know exactly how it feels to be so dejected. I was so for over 2 days. All I believed was that there always is something bigger and better waiting for you. All the Best!! Cheers!!

Somehow, all ended happily - Thank God!!

P.S.: Seems like I've made up for my long absence on the blog by writing this long a post :P. Now, I'm free, real free, as in freedom!!

P.P.S.: All the best to everyone attending placements!! Also people taking GATE.

Nerd Alert

2010-01-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

Here I am. Back to grill people with my views :P. Well, it's a new year and I am totally bored and hope the exams end soon and the college opens soon. On other notes, try listening to Where were you by Alan Jackson - a beautifully put song about the 9/11 tragedy. And what i'm doing during these holidays? (like you'd even care, but I wanna say it. :P) I've been watching South Park and learning Linux and watching movies. I've probably watched more movies in these holidays than all the last year combined :P. Well, first things first. An acknowledgement to make - this post is mainly inspired from the blog of one of my close friends. The post is called : Why do some Nerds hate other Nerds? (actually, go ahead and check out the blog, it is very nice!).

Now, no surprises about the topic of this post, right? The picture and the other post make it very clear. What I'm trying to put here is the explanation of the stereotype and try to end the stigma about being a Nerd. Well, I've been called a nerd like a million times and the people who call me that do so in a tone akin to their believing that being a nerd is an unforgivable crime. Well, let me put things in perspective here : being a nerd isn't a crime. Actually, I need to define a nerd before jumping any further explanation. Here is what Wikipedia says is a Nerd:

Nerd is a term often bearing a derogatory connotation or stereotype, that refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual activities, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests that are age-inappropriate rather than engaging in more social or popular activities. Therefore, a nerd is often excluded from physical activity and considered a loner by peers, or will tend to associate with like-minded people.

That is very accurate. And for all you 3 Idiots fans out there: Chhatur (the muggu from the movie, a.k.a. Silencer) is not a nerd - he is a muggu (and for a definition of this term, go through Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat). It is a common misconception of people to feel that all muggus are nerds and vice-versa. Alright, let me not digress. Fine, with the definition clear, I fail to understand why people see being a nerd as a negative. For one thing, let's face it, nerds are cool! Whether it be about having esoteric knowledge or having lot more knowledge about things some people can't even start to comprehend. Actually, sometimes I feel that, the nerd way-of-life is the only one that can guarantee success. No, I'm not saying others to follow it unless you are born to be one, but the discrimination kills me (not literally... ;)). And about the stereotype of nerds having thick glasses, formal clothing and...well, look at the picture it gives a good idea. Well, nerds are not always like that :). And people who make fun of nerds are actually kind of jealous (no??) because the other person knows more than them. This is just a weird behavioral pattern I'm trying to explain and mean no offense to anyone. And, please stop the discrimination against nerds - we are humans too! :P

Fine, I think I've gotten through fairly well and have a great time. And of course, NERD ALERT!! :P

And all the best for your exam(s), placements and other tests. :D

Happy New Year and nothing else

2010-01-02T03:23:00.001-07:00

Well, my first post of 2010 (read as twenty-ten). Feels good to have 2009 behind me: Man! was it an eventful year!! I've faced every possible vicissitude that can be faced in anyone's academic career. Pity I can't say that about my personal life, though. Damn! I forgot! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Done with the important part. Now comes the arbitrary part : my views! :P. Well, I have been thinking a lot - what with the Telangana issue causing us to have virtually endless holidays (and that too without the completion of exams! \m/). These holidays are probably some of the best things that happened during our Engineering lives. I have done things on my comp which I might not even have dreamed to try if I were sane (without the holidays). I so want to publish this post and so, I'll not venture into anything other than the New Year's greetings. Thing is, each time I try to put on my writing hat and start up some insightful post, I end up deleting it because it is not well formed in my mind (yes, that is why I can't post as frequently as I'd like...).

So, nothing else for now, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

My Dream Jobs!

2009-12-09T06:30:00.000-07:00

Well, time for another post! No more news since the last post unless you consider the IIMs considering going back to the pencil-and-paper CAT - which, by the way, is really great news for many of us because of the sub-standard quality of the online CAT among other technical issues. Also, these holidays are literally killing me. I have no work to do (you might say: study. But then, we don't even know the schedule for the remaining 5 papers I have to take, so, just chill! :)). I'd like to take this opportunity to instigate the people in whose hands lie the strings for Telangana to please take a decision fast and make us happy by letting us have the exams. It certainly would be great to have them behind me rather than the other way round. Well, they rightly say - 'An idle mind is a devil's workshop.' and that is exactly what has been happening with everyone of us (I'm sure.). Well, this kind of thinking has led to this post. It is yet another list. A list of my dream jobs. Well, there are many inspirations behind each of the choices which I'm sure I'm gonna mention with each item.

Well, everyone needs to have a list akin to this. When we were kids, there was no end to this kind of surmising and excitement. Each time I saw any super-hero movie or read some graphic novel, I'd imagine myself in the place of the protagonist (the term "hero" is very much sexist, you see...) and sometimes even the antagonist (likewise...)(no pun intended.). Well, now that I've grown up (at least a little bit), I happen to know the limitations of such people. This is a list which could have been possible in a near enough parallel universes. Fine, here goes.

Writer/Thinker/Philosopher/Experimenter: Well, this is something I like to be and somehow, am to some extent. The idea that, I can simply write and do nothing else is so enticing :). Just imagine, just sitting at home thinking and trying to find words and trying to describe life. It'd be like a dream come true for me (literally). Having all the free time in the world and actually getting paid for it. Who wouldn't want it? (just a rhetorical question, I know a lot of people who wouldn't want it...). Inspirations: Sir Isaac Newton, Edison, Tesla, Mark Twain and many others. Thing is, there is a kind of stigma regarding this in the society. Also, practically, to do this kind of thing,you'd have to be rich or at the very least, care free, so, not much of a possibility of this in this universe (unless I win some kind of game show giving out a billion Dollars... :P).
Bounty hunter: Well, a giant step away from the previous one. Somehow, the idea of catching the bad guys and being paid for it, without being in the limits of the law as an employee, should be fun. And never forget the incredible amounts of pay-offs you might get from the bad side (*wicked smile*). Major inspiration: Clint Eastwood as The man with no name in The Dollars Trilogy (if it doesn't ring a bell, try A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.). Major setbacks with this: it is not legal in India, it is in the US, though. Also, I don't practically see myself beating up bad guys - not my cup of tea. :)
Adventurer: Well, an ubiquitous choice. Everyone wants to be an adventurer. Reasons? The thrill, the fame, the girls (who'm I kidding?). Well, the adventure in itself is a calling and someday, I wish I can do it! (not much of a chance there either, you don't adventure in an Electronics lab... :P) Inspirations: Indiana Jones (I revere him), Ben Gates in National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Professor Lidenbrock of The Journey to the Center of the Earth (not the recent movie, which was really bad, I'm referring to the original book by Jules Verne.).
Mathematician: It is not about doing math. It is about loving math. I love it, but doing it while loving it is something else (yes pun intended ;)). Anyway, playing with numbers is one of my passions and I'd certainly love to make it my profession. Pretty good chance of doing this here - if I choose math as my major for my Masters or Doctoral. Inspirations: Ian Malcolm (Jurassic Park), Harry Adams (Sphere).

As you might've noticed, Crichton plays an important role in many of my career choices :). Well, there are many more, but I don't seem to have them coming to me so easily. I'll settle for these options, though. I'd like to know what you want to be. Try and be as creative possible ;).

Adios!!

P.S.: No Post-Script this time :P. In case you don't care about all this, skip this post :).

All the right reasons

2009-12-07T03:15:00.002-07:00

It's been quite some time since my last post and it's not even like I'm busy with exams or anything. I've been asked as to why I'm not writing more, and hope to comply by that request (yes, it's true, some people like my blog... :P and thank you people...). There was this website I stumbled upon - http://www.wordle.net/. And ran my blog for a word cloud and well, the result was obvious. "Anyways" is apparently my most used word and somehow, I'm surprised, mostly because the word itself is so redundant ;). Anyway, here's the word cloud for your perusal (yeah, like you even care... :P):

There goes. Before moving on to the crux of the post, let me tell you something else. It is just a stop-gap between what happened between the last post and this one. Well, I wrote my CAT (and please don't ask me how it went, I have pretty much no idea myself; for all I know, I screwed it big time...). And, yeah, due this friggin' Telangana issues, I have completed only one of my 6 exams and it is very boring to sit at home with no idea about the schedule of exams and whether my degree will reach me in time (for what? :P). Anyway, if you ask my views about Telangana, I'm undecided and rest assured, it is not the reason for this post - I'm not as cruel as the TV channels to drone about the issue here too, I'm not affiliated to any TV channel, see...

Fine (I'm trying to avoid the A-word (see above :)) from now on, it is pretty unsettling for me that, I use it so much... :P), the same old question - what is this post about (I'm assuming you can't guess because I haven't titled the post yet :P). Reason. Just humor me and try to define the word; to yourself that is. It is undoubtedly a simple enough word to know (sorry if I sounded condescending...). A reason is something you use to defend your actions or stand (I'm sure the definition is pretty close to the money...). I'm 20 now, and it would be pretty fair if I say I've had my share of watching the world around me and everywhere I go, I find people using reasons for, literally, everything. Don't get me wrong here, I'm all for using your reasons. Science is all about reasons and I have nothing acrimonious about using reasons. Using reasons is one thing, using the right ones is altogether another. In fact, having reasons is important; having the right ones is much more so. Call me old-school or whatever you like, but I believe having the right reason to do something is more important than doing it. I read in some book something about "Ends justify the means.". Well, I beg to disagree as I'm sure, would many of us. Well, let me elucidate. I've heard people saying - "Let us study well." I'll have you know that I'm all for it. But the reason you study should not be to get marks or to impress someone (I happen to know a few people of this kind... :P), or whatever else. The reason to study, in my view, should be to gain knowledge, period. Leaving all that, if you use your wrong reasons, you end up hating the things you do, and sometimes even yourself.

Another example - "Why did you take up Engineering?" (which, incidentally, is the most common question we face in interviews or sometimes even rhetorically, especially by our peers...). I've heard virtually all the answers there can be; ranging from "My parents...", "My brother...", "My teacher..." to "I had no other option.", "Software Job.". Well, no wonder our Engineers today are probably the some of the most incompetent among all the other countries. There are, of course, some people who answer with beautiful reasons - "I love making things.", "I want to make the world a better place." et. al. Well, these people, I tell you, are the real engineers.

Let me spread out a little. I've been talking about esoterica which we can understand very well. But, I've been thinking about this (it's probably the only useful thing I'm doing in this break.. ;)) and have found that, it is applicable to everything in life. I have seen people who build their paths around money and power and I have seen very few people building their paths around their passions. The latter usually have the right reasons to do anything. There is never a dearth of people with the wrong reasons - marrying for money, studying just to board the bandwagon (doing things just because others are doing them too..). All the wrong reasons. All they end up being is pretentious pricks whom everyone hate because they are never them. Life (philosopher me again... ;)) simply boils down to having the right reasons to do the right things and sometimes even the wrong things.

Well, I have a lot more to say about many things and I have this teensy bit of a feeling that, the post ended in a non-sequitur. Nevertheless, I hope I keep writing regularly, at least during these T-holidays.

P.S.: If you like my blog, it is highly possible that you'll like the writings of JRR Tolkien. I re-visited The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit and found some creepy similarities. Go ahead and enjoy his works.

All the Best!!

2009-11-07T05:07:00.000-07:00

Well, exam season, and I'm not gonna waste my time blogging (doing other things, yes.. :P)...

Anyway, All the best; Best of Luck, and whatever works for you... :)

ALL THE BEST!!

P.S.: Please pray for my success too... :)

De-what??

2009-10-31T08:45:00.001-07:00

Well, long time since the last post, but then, I'm a busy man :P : I gotta maintain my farm on Farmville, maintain my Mafia in Mafia Wars and of course, complete my quota of everyday's TV Series episodes (South park, Frasier, Numb3rs) and updating myself with all the bond films (right from the 60's). Yeah, I know what you are thinking. And yes, this is what people do when they have too much time to waste. In other related note, another semester has gone by and man! Are they fast! Never saw this semester come and go at all and miraculously, my attendance is not short!! You know, writing a blog is tough, take my word for it : for the past few days, every time I sit to write, I end up deferring in favor of other things. Why, just yesterday, I was about to start and I ended up going to a 2nd show movie (for the first time in my life, for all practical purposes) and thus denying my friends' claim that I was either (A) a studious guy or (B) I was something like Cinderella or something :P (midnight - magic dress etc...on those lines...). Anyway, in other unrelated notes, check out "She" by Elvis Costello (which I first heard recently) and "Woman" by John Lennon, they really inspire my feminist side. Anyway, seems like this semester's weird and abrupt end has brought out the philosopher in me and of course, you guessed it right, this is what this post is all about.Alright then, here goes.

Did you notice that sometimes, when you don't get what you want, you feel real bad. Yes, that's me, just stating the obvious (sometimes I feel I'm turning into one of my favorite words - cliché, I'm sure you'd have noticed this if you interact with me regularly.. :P). Alright, after stating the obvious, let's get to the less often occurring thing. Just reflect, how many of us think before wanting things - whether we deserve them or not. This occurs very often: one is carried away by the delusions of things around them and start to put a lot to one's store. If one were to think before hand, before wanting that is, if or not one deserves the thing they are wanting, it saves a lot of depression. I seem to have no good examples (bad ones, a lot...) for this up my sleeve, but I'm sure you'd understand. Anyway, succinctly put, what I'm trying to say is simple

Desire only for what you deserve.

Now, let me biopsy the statement for you.First things first : the "you" reference. You see, you are the only person who would be able to decide this. Who better to decide what you deserve than yourself? Like Paulo Coelho says : "We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation." and someone else says "Don't judge me, because we're two different people, living in different worlds." No one knows you better than yourself and this is what I'm trying to put forth. Then let's get to the desire part. It is but human, to desire but then, it is also the root cause of all of man's problems. That was a bit too much of a funda, right? :P Anyway, this method of desiring only what you deserve is a completely tried and tested one (by me, of course...I don't go around collecting stats from people around me... ;)). Thing is, abstinence is what you could call stopping desiring unlimitedly. So, like I already mentioned, make your own example. And the pluses?? There are many, you don't get depressed for one thing. And whatever people might say, Life is fair and believe me, you only get what you deserve. Just like in Entanglement theories in Quantum Physics, even things you cannot connect at any level one can comprehend might be related and cause the equations to topple. Anyway, just had to put forth this thought of mine. And anyway, this comes mainly because of the marks I'm about to get in the internal examinations and I'm certainly keeping fingers crossed. I know what I deserve, do you??

Think about it. And I wish you all the best for you exams coming up, although there will be another post dedicated for that sometime this week :P.

G'Night, Sweet Dreams!!

P.S.: Please comment on my Philosopher side :P.

P.P.S.: Happy Halloween!! :)

Blog Action Day - Climate Change

2009-10-14T19:00:00.001-07:00

Dated: 15 October, 2009

Blog Action Day: An awesome idea! I just wanna congratulate the person who had this idea. Anyway, I don't wanna waste post-space by writing an elaborate eulogy for the idea; I'm supposed to be writing about climate change. I'll have you know that, I'm no meteorologist to be able to give you hard numbers and other stats than can corroborate my views. I'd like to deal with my personal experiences with climate change and hope people understand it better and try to do something about it.

Anyway, here comes. I still remember that, when I was a kid, the seasons used to be in time, as opposed to now, seriously, it is October and yet, the sun is as hard as it would be in mid-summer. And rains. It's been quite a few years since it rained in time of monsoon. (who'm I kidding?? this isn't the kind of stuff I'm good at explaining...). Anyway, let me do something I am good at: use semantics to do what I like. And yes, I even looked up the Oxford Dictionary for any connotations and viola! Climate can also mean "prevailing trend of opinion or feeling", so here I am, all set to do something so easy. Anyway, no offense to the guys at the "Blog Action Day" who are trying to make the world a better place to live in, but then, so am I; I'm trying to make the world a better place to live in by dissecting the kind of "climatic changes" like I see them, like I said before, I'm no meteorologist to talk about the stuff like temperature, humidity and stuff. This is just a new perspective on "climatic changes". Anyway, while I'm at it, I'm supposed to give this link someplace in the blog: http://www.blogactionday.org/. Don't bother visiting it or anything, just a formality.

So, climatic change, huh? Well, there is an almost constant change of climate (from here on, climate will only mean "prevailing trend of opinion or feeling") in our homes, schools and everywhere around us. Sometimes we call it generation gap, sometimes something else. Whatever we say, our parents (why, sometimes even our elder siblings) can never understand why we listen to Rock, watch movies or even why we hang out with friends. This reminds me of something Shakespeare or someone else once said: "Love is one of the most beautiful thing you can experience, until it happens to your daughter" :P. Anyway, this is one of the things (climate) that hasn't changed since then, some respite! But then, like one of my favorite Professor says "Change is the only constant." and life would be dull. (I do realize that I'm just blabbering something without even thinking about it... :P). Anyway, I have no more thoughts because I have this lab internal tomorrow (today) and gotta prep for it... Hope the "Blog Action Day" people don't mind this (like they'd even care, for my post, that is... :P).

And of course, a great idea, keep it going :).

Bubye...!!

We don't need no EDUCATION!!!

2009-10-10T03:29:00.000-07:00

Not my usual "posting" time, but then it is a weekend and thus, new rules :). Thing is, "Dead Poets' Society" aired on Star Movies in the afternoon and I ended up speculating how much the current education system in India (not to sound too *blah*, but our education system!!) is similar to that shown in the movie (Hell-ton Academy, as the students call it... :)). Seriously, on a totally related note, everyone must watch this movie at least once, it is an awesomely inspiring movie.

Anyway, let me paint you a word picture of what happens in our education system. Classes 1-7, you are taught to learn things (literally everything) by heart. You are taught to follow text books, never question new things (at least some of the teachers I had/have did that, although it was just because they were not so good at answering questions...). You are taught to remember things which you might end up never, ever using in your future and even if you do, you'll end up finding that, you did not need to remember it at all. (This post also draws from "Surely, You're joking, Mr. Feynman", Dick Feynman, my most favorite physicist...). Next, class 7-10, you are taught that marks are the things that are the most important things you could pursue. And that is not the worst part, the worst part is that people manage to believe it up until later in their lives and some never grow up. Anyway, the picture is quite changing and now, what was a priority of our generation during our 10+2, is now right since the 1st grade. Today, you find schools which apparently give you "IIT Foundation" right from the 1st standard.

Anyway, after everyone leaves the 10th std with flying colors, all start thinking 'all right, now what, IIT, AIEEE, EAMCET??' Seriously, same questions all the time and some of us didn't even know what other options they have. Anyway, here, you are taught that life always comes with four options and as long as you manage to get the right answer by hook or crook, it doesn't matter whether you know about it (like Shakespeare says: All's well that ends well or rather, ends justify the means, which is pretty much a flawed argument...). One more thing is, when you get a good percentage in your 10th standard, you are tagged to the IIT sections and you end up having nightmares about what your life is gonna be. Of course, this was the decision (of taking IIT as the optional in Intermediate) that changed my life a lot; for good or bad, is yet to be seen.

Then comes Engineering (I'm just taking up my own case...). You just care about not having any backlogs and care about percentages. And end up being just as confused as you ever were. Now, that was the picture of the current education system, and what is missing?? Go ahead and read the rest...

Where is the originality? Ever heard of a different and more profound (from other ones...) definition of the Newton's Laws? Or a new perception of Frost or Kipling in the English text book?? Or a different view of the Covalent Bond??? Never are you gonna come across these things, not in our education system, at least. And you know why that is? People (esp. parents) prefer looking at straight 'A's in a report card rather than come to know that their ward is doing something new and you know what get straight 'A's? Reproducing what is given in your texts or notes as it is, pathetic!!

Then comes the question of what you need to remember. Do you really think you need to remember the Periodic Table back and forth? Or the values of Sines and Cosines of odd values (any values, at that...)? Or the height of Mt.Everest, length of Nile?? I'll tell you what the thing is: You don't need to remember these things. And why? Because you can always look up the things you need for your work (no, it is not cheating...). There's this story in the book I mentioned earlier by Mr Feynman: Map of a Cat (or, something like that...) which I'd urge you to read if you ever happen to lay your hands on that book. Anyway, the point of education is not to improve your memory, it is indeed the exact opposite: don't remember things when you can get to them by using your mind. I have this nice analogy to this: Your memory is like the RAM of your computer and your brain obviously is the CPU. All I'm saying is that, when you can process data you already have to get what you want, why waste your memory? Anyway, education is not about testing about how much you can remember; it is about how much you can perceive: Education is perception.

Then there is this thing about judging people by their grades. How can you know about everyone by just a number? This is especially for teachers (none of whom, I'm sure, is reading this...). Grades do not show what kind of person you are. No more comments about this, though. I can't say much about it :).

Then there is the pressure. Especially from parents (your peers are in as much water as you are, right? :P). Get good marks, get a good Software job, get a 5 digit salary, HELL!! It doesn't matter what we want. It doesn't matter even if the thing they want you to do is something you hate. Like Keating says to Neil in Dead Poets' Society: 'You are just playing the role of a dutiful son'. Neil is so much the representation of what we face in our lives from our parents (not since, we grew up, in my case, thankfully...).

I'm kinda done with this system and feel like screaming out the Pink Floyd lyrics in my classes:

We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control, no dark sarcasm in the classroom...

So, let's all do this!! And try to do this and change our system for ever and hoping the coming generations not have to salvage any of this fury.

One more thing from Dead Poets' Society: CARPE DIEM!! (Seize the day!!). Stop following your precursors and let icons be bygones...

CARPE DIEM!!!!

Confessions of a Blog-a-holic a.k.a. Biopsy of a blog

2009-10-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

Another day, another post. Sometimes I wonder why I do this. I could be doing a lot of better (for me) things like preparing for my semester exams or may be for CAT or doing my application processing work (seriously, it's getting no where, please pray for me...). Anyway, it feels a lot guilty doing this (yes, I have a conscience too :P...). I'd like to share my feelings about maintaining a blog, something I've never expressed to most people, I guess.

For knowing why I blog, you might want to refer to my previous post (again, I show the insensitivity of a *whatever* and assume that you have no better job to do... :P). So, if you are planning to start a blog yourself, you'd better read this post first...

So, the first consequence of having a blog (I'd rather list this, makes me feel better...)

Knowledge: You expect people to know the fact that you have a blog. (This totally got to me at the beginning, but then, one gets used to being ignored...) You stop mentioning your blog to anyone after about a couple of weeks and then forget it yourself too. This is when a blogger needs to be very patient and keep on writing. You know what they say : "Every blog has its day!" (If you didn't get the joke, remember that, "Every dog has its day :P").
Condescension: Look it up if you don't know what it means. (The purpose of the sentence is to demonstrate the point...). Anyway, it is important to get through this stage, as it may lead to alienation of people and then you start getting depressed and one thing leads to another; it's a vicious circle see, and might lead to bad things.
Requests: You start asking your friends to read your blog, but then, most of them are either busy or too self-centered and narcissistic to be able to do this and you even give up on them.
Acceptance: This is when you lose all hope and decide that you are just another good for nothing blogger who cannot do a damn to the world around you. But then, if you are strong at heart, you keep on blogging in some silly hope that someday, someone will go through your blog and praise your effort.
Doubt: There comes a stage when you wish you had a dollar for every post that never left the scribble pad, you'd be a 100-aire (forming new words shows creativity on your blog :P). And then you realize: what is important is not the number of posts but the the quality of those that matters.
Guilt: You get addicted to your blog. This is the stage this blog is currently in. You start seeing this as a big waste of time and is interfering with your other works. I am not able to be so articulate when it comes to writing about this thing itself.

Well, I cannot surmise as to the next steps but will try to keep you updated about the changes. :) Anyway, all the best to anyone who's planning on starting a blog!!

Good Night!! :D

The more important F-word

2009-10-05T09:57:00.001-07:00

Great! Just friggin' great!! Somehow, my Google related sites are loading so slow that, I have gotten very fed up with it. Please, the-guys-at-Google, do something about this. I can't stand it at all. And in case you are trying to see if I can live without the Labs in Gmail, forget it, I really can't :P. So, anyway, I'm kind of going through a "phase" in my life; isn't that what people say when they can't explain their behavior in recent times? If yes, I'm pretty much spot on! That is my problem exactly. Now, about this post: All the contents of this post are figments of my imagination and I haven't (so far, at least) come across any of the phenomenon I explain in the following lines/paragraphs (I really don't know how long this post is gonna be :D). So, anyway, this post is about the one word that can make us bunk classes, go to movies we know we're gonna hate, make us laugh 'til we cry or vice-versa (no big difference, no?), can make your day, can change your life, can give you the push you need, can make you live hell (or heaven, yes, heaven sounds better; what say? :P), can do literally, anything!! Somehow, I don't know why I haven't written this post before. And yes, the word, what say? Any guesses?? (no prizes for guessing, though... :P) Actually, this doesn't work so well on a blog...really, you can't keep the suspense for as long as you'd like...Anyway, the word is FRIEND. On a totally unrelated note, check out "Tu Hi Haqeeqat" on the Tum Mile OST, the lyrics are awesome!!

Back to the "f-word". I'd love to, actually, not love, but like: as friends :P, to express my views about real friendship. Thing is, my perception is slightly twisted as compared to the conventional way in which people usually say what friendship (PJ alert : can anyone tell me why it i called that and nor friend-car or friend-plane) is. Actually, you might as well get used to this kind of wry humor all through this post (just something I wanna give a try :D). What is a friend? You could look it up in a dictionary and yet end up not knowing what one is. Hell, some people even lead their whole lives without any real ones and assume they know what a friend is. Well, let me not get into semantics. Anyway, a friend is someone who... (kind of a clichéd beginning, so I'm discarding it :D). If you think a friend is someone who understands your predicaments and keeps you comfortable at all times, you cannot be farther from the truth. Seriously, if you call people who do that your friends, a better word would be acquaintances, or may be, well-wishers. Point number 1: Friends are not well-wishers. They are so far away from being that that, they appear to be the exact opposite (sometimes they actually are.. :D). I'll tell you clearly what a friend should be like: When you are feeling down, instead of trying to cheer you up, he/she must make you feel worse if you deserve it and try to make you cry out loud (tests have proven that, it is a great way to relieve feelings...whoever does those tests?? I'm just making it up...). Anyway, a friend should be someone with whom you can share anything, and when I say anything, I mean anything, literally. It should not be like: 'hey, that guy doesn't have the security clearance yet, may be in a couple of years...'

Ergo point number 2: No Secrets. It might be that, you have a crush on his girlfriend (my being male is totally limiting this...but you can understand...), or you spreading a funny albeit may-be-hurtful kind of rumor about him/her, or anything like that. It just boils down to not being all touchy and stuff. It really pisses me off when a friend takes these things seriously, c'mon, you listen, you laugh, you forget, right?? Anyway, somehow, I've totally gotten over GRE style writing and keeping the natural flow of writing i.e., writing as it comes to mind - I'm happy for me :D.

Hmm...Then there is this thing about fealties. You know, a friend is not expected to declare his allegiance to another (no, being in a serious relationship doesn't count as friendship and hence, allegiance is necessary there...). In layman's terms (not that you are a layman...) your friendship with one person should not engender hatred or ennui towards another; for heaven's sake, we are humans, not super-powers, third world countries or stuff like that. If you have something with someone, keep it to yourself, why deny the chance of being another person's friend to another friend (kind of a sloppy sentence, but I'm sure you'll understand...). Hence, point no. 3: No rules, period. No conditions about being a fan of a celeb or something like that: no strings attached, literally.

I'll jump straight away to point no. 4: Don't be a sissy. Rephrasing it: trust your friend. If your friend says you can have fun if you bunk a class, you do it, no questions, no doubts. I might be coming across as pretty wound up now, but I'm sure it is OK. Just be with your friend. Next, be yourself. You know what they say : Do in Rome as Romans do (no pun intended), yeah, for once, they were wrong. Do what you want to do, not what your friend wants (man, this is tough, I'm opposing myself, but not intentionally...).

Next point: No apprehensions. Don't fear your friend: that is totally antithetical to being a friend. If you don't like a person, just ignore (as opposed to hate :)) or tell it on their face (I wouldn't recommend this, though... :D). Anyway, if you want to ask anything, play a practical joke, throw a dirty pun or anything, no fear. If you can pull this off totally, I assure you, you have a good friend indeed.

Putting it succinctly, a friend is a person who can complete your sentences before you are even half done, a person who can understand you so much that you ask him/her what you are yourself, a person so important in your life that you cannot stay even for a minute making fun of his/her short-comings and yet, the person loves you all the same, like you that is, as a friend (all this confusion because of movies where love can only mean a relation...). Anyway, I guess that is all I gotta say. If I remember something, I'll surely add it in some post :D (no, i'm not gonna leave you so easy...).

Anyway, my posts only seem to be getting longer, brace yourself :D.