RG's Blog

The Last Post...(Ever?)

2008-06-19T18:54:00.003+05:30

Hi,
This post is only here to tell you guys/girls that I am (and have been) blogging at an entirely new blog for some time now. Since some of you still visit this blog occasionally, I figured I might as well tell you the new location...

Argee.org - My new Homepage/Blog

I hope you redirect your blogrolls to the above link, heh.

See you there!

A Post!

2007-10-03T22:21:00.001+05:30

Hi,

So since I hadn't posted for a long time, here's a tiny post bout how my b'day went.

The 29th of Sept. was pretty drab and nothing much happened but me and some friends went to Red Robin on the 30th where someone else paid for everyone's food and I got a free sundae because of my b'day being the day before, also got one of those staff-wishes-you-a-happy-birthday things.

Also, got a lot of helium balloons which some people inhaled to sound funny and some people tied to each end of their spectacles so that they looked like antennae, some people tied em to their caps etc. Was fun.

My b'day gift from my parents was a really nice dSLR camera. I am working on making a photo blog with it.

Until next time,
Me.

My First Year Experience (H.W. Journal Entry)

2007-09-12T10:35:00.000+05:30

One of the first things that come to my mind when I think of my experiences at RIT as a freshman is orientation. It may seem unsurprising and somewhat obvious, since it does happen to be a long drawn process most of us are forced to attend, with international students like myself getting special priviliges like PALs and a few more days of running around.

However, it is not the inevitable fatigue and not so memorable lectures which makes orientation worth being mentioned in the first sentence of this journal. What struck me as extra-ordinary is the lengths RIT goes to to ensure that the freshmen feel at home, the dedication of the upperclassmen to assist in orientation and their willingness to help individual freshmen. And of course, I did learn quite a few things I did not already know, which was probably the only redeeming quality of those lectures. (Yes, I noticed they were trying to make them entertaining, but a lecture is a lecture!)

Then there is the Computer Science House. Never before have I lived away from my family in a residence hall, but I feel quite comfortable here. Personally, I believe all the credit goes to CSH. I already have some great friends, and the upperclassmen are so helpful that I am afraid to ask them for help (Ironic, but the nice folks will stop whatever work they’re doing to help freshmen, even if it is important homework due the next day). We have two drink dispensing machines on floor, a special internet connection (faster than Resnet!), and a LOT of events. The “lot” is in caps because I have been here for about two weeks and have already attended a barbecue, gone to mark’s twice, played dodgeball, played capture the disc twice, gone to a nice lake for a welcome back event, been in about 7 meetings and generally had a lot of fun. My only problem is that I have to get signatures from everyone (which are not so easy to obtain) in order to become a permanent member…oh, well.

Luckily I don’t seem to have any boring classes/professors this quarter, and also enough spare time to do my laundry on a weekly basis. I do seem to have some trouble getting rid of meal plans and meals at Gracies, I should probably be eating more (I’ve had 9 meals this week and it’s almost Sunday). First Year Enrichment doesn’t quite seem to be necessary, but then that’s what I thought about orientation which turned out to be useful to some degree. One of the few things I dislike about the campus is the size. Walking from one point to another takes a lot of time and is a bit tiring, at the end of a typical day I am too fatigued to move (but I still play capture the disc).

Also, I experimented with the RIT online service MyCourses as I was instructed to, though I did use it before the instruction. The system is quite user-friendly, but apparently some professors do not upload material and/or information. Being able to look at your grades per assignment is a useful feature, as is the ability to look at course content (I had forgotten what I had to write in this journal, actually, so I went and took a look at the course syllabus there). Some of the other sections such as chat, surveys and quizzes don’t seem to have anything to offer as of now. The complete classlist is also available, including students’ RIT e-mail addresses, another feature which has some practical uses. I am glad that I wasn’t asked to experiment with the Student Info. System, I do not know my PIN (I do not remember setting one, so I can’t say I forgot). I’ll have to go to the George Eastman building when I have time to get that sorted out.

Stuff

2007-08-31T10:03:00.000+05:30

I am having fun here, playing games and stuff.

RIT is pretty nice in that it practically has everything, including rock climbing routes which is on campus. Also swimming pools, all kinds of courts for all kinds of sports and lots of nice shops and eateries. All on campus.

I played some dodgeball today and went rock climbing, I was awfully bad at the latter because my fingers kept aching a lot and turned blue...

Saw a lot of low clouds and a full moon, I wish I had a camera then.

Ciao for now,
Rohit

I Like It Here

2007-08-29T21:17:00.000+05:30

Sorry for the long gap in writing, I was busy with orientation, I still am but found some time for this (this is lunch time I'm putting in here, by the way).

I like Rochester, it's a nice place with low buildings and lots of beautiful clouds. Since there are no buildings in the way you can watch sunrises and sunsets pretty well. I might be posting some photos, if I have the time. Our campus is pretty large and has lots of interesting stuff.

The people are all nice and helpful.

I am learning sign language from random people I ask and I'm learning pretty fast. There is this weekly event called "No Voice Zone" which is free and the students teach other students, I think it would be better than taking an actual class which is put in your course and which you have to pay for. David is the only guy I know who is fluent in sign language AND says the words while he signs them so he is ideal to practice with. Unfortunately he is a floor above me so I have to go up there when I wanna talk.

The computer science house is also nice. I don't really get to play videogames because it is much more interesting/entertaining to roam around the corridor and go into peoples' rooms and talk to them (and take their candy) so I do that a lot. CSH has an open door policy which means peoples' rooms are open when they are in there and not doing anything private/studying/sleeping. David has a basket of candy outside his room when he is in there so you can just take it without telling him or letting him know, he doesn't really mind.

Day before yesterday went to watch a hypnotist's show with my Orientation Assistant and a couple of people, it was pretty funny and entertaining. It was also free and worth it.

Yesterday had a choice between going to the RITZ sports zone or go to some music place so the CSH guys chose 'neither' and went to watch the movie Stardust in TinselTown (theatre) which was a very empty place. I mean we CSH guys were the only guys in the hall when we arrived and it stayed that way. What's more, when we left we saw like - one staff member in the whole place and no customers besides us...

The movie was okay though, typical fantasy plot which meant a lot of stuff didn't make sense, but it was okay to watch with people when you had nothing else to do.

Right now I have to go to some college fair in a short while. I haven't had the time to take photos but I will try.

P.S.: I thought I should at least put up some pics of my room, we rearranged the default layout when my roommate got here, so now we have more space and stuff to put in that space. Take a look.

Before:

After:

Updates from Rochester (Finally)

2007-08-25T10:41:00.000+05:30

Ladies and gentlemen, Rochester is fine.

Thank you,
me.

Okay that was a sucky update, it's 1:13 am, let me do a quick brief and then I'll probably be off to sleep. I promise to write a big one later.

Today was fun, blah blah blah, university is pretty cool, extremely huge and the people are friendly (friendly enough to let complete strangers watch movies in their room till 1:00 am and also allow you to steal their candy. (Verbal opposition is no opposition, especially when its a joke of a voice you're speaking in). David (the RA of the floor above me, the guy with the TV) was also kind enough to lend me an ethernet cable which is why I am able to type this as well as experience blazing fast speeds.

I took a lot of pics, lots to write about.

Wait for the next post.

Less Than a Couple of Days Left

2007-08-21T18:27:00.000+05:30

With less than a couple of days left, I visited my maternal grandfather and his dog today (grandma is working, was not at home). Wonder of wonders, he comes up with $600 in US currency and hands it to me, with $400 more in hand. He said it's for later unless I want it now, so I let him keep it.

And I also modified a poem:

When the world has gone to bed
I will be whining overhead,
Have to sit long, this I dread,
How I hate the flight.

And I fear the climb is steep,
feel the pressure, earbuds weep,
slowly end up in a heap,
How I hate the flight.

See you folks,
Next: Updates from Rochester!

What I did at School Today

2007-08-20T13:07:00.000+05:30

With less than 3 days to go to my departure, I decided to go to school today. This posts is a brief account of my visit, which was a bit shorter than I had planned because I was getting very bored and decided to go home around the end of the 7th period.

9:10 am, Reception:-
I told the receptionist that Mukesh Sir had called me. Unfortunately, he was in class at the time so she told me that I have to wait outside until he is in his office/at his table. I must say, our school has the most brilliant visitor management system that I have ever seen.

So I waited outside, with an NDTV reporter and her camera crew, listening to her go "So sad, I can't hear anything" (I assume she was off air) and then later blabber about "We researched the alumni and what kind of jobs they got, DPS RKP is the best school of India, this research took a long time" and stuff like that. Then she resumed her "So sad"'s and spoke to someone on the phone.

Thankfully, it was 9:20 by then and the receptionist was able to talk to sir and let me in.

9:25 am, eGurucool lab:-
Went and met some people, not going to name them because I am bound to forget someone. I will list the people I met at the bottom of this post. Frankly, I remember who I met but not where I met them. And it's hard coz I met the same people more than once too.

9:29 am, Canteen:-
Apparently Kartikeya had planned to show me around school so I went with him and Anwita to the canteen where they took some width out of my wallet. Of course, I don't mind because I am leaving and this is my last chance to avoid "you didn't give us a treat" remarks which were otherwise bound to be made later. Arguably, the last sentence was nonsense because a lot of people know I don't mind such stuff anyway.

Then just roamed around a bit, met Ankit and Raghav who were going to get some momos. Ate one, stood around a while listening to them, then I went back to the lab (there was no teacher I knew in the staff room) and stayed there for a while.

Godzilla knows what time it was, eGurucool lab:-
Hung out a while with Aditya, Raghav, Srajan and some others who I don't remember by name. After hanging around a while I got bored and went and met a couple of teachers. Then, because I was really bored and had an iPod in my pocket, I went to the OAT.

10:45 am, OAT:-
Sat and listened to my iPod. As cool as our school is, it lives up to its reputation. What I mean to say is, I was not alone. Not only that, there was a bunch of folks practicing for their assembly for the bunkers' entertainment. After listening to about 4 songs, I had had enough of the isolation and went towards the teacher's canteen.

11:00 am, Outside Library:-
Met with Raghav again, who was skipping Value Ed. with the now headboy. Roamed around with them for a while, with the iPod headphones in my ears. No teacher said anything. No student looked twice. The reason: It's not abnormal at our school.

The only abnormal thing was, nobody could confiscate my stuff, which was cool. After a while, the bell rang and the folks I was hanging out with went to class. Which is when I went to the teacher's canteen and had a glass of coke. Then I went, you guessed it, back to the lab. (That is, after meeting Kanika, Aditya, and a bunch of teachers)

Time Unknown, eGurucool lab:-
I hate writing "eGurucool". It looks so weird.

Anyway, I remained in the cabin with Aditya and the Mac (it misses you, Sid) for a long time. The keyboard wasn't working very well, only certain keys like F and U were working. We got it to work at the login screen by typing Sid first (which it was able to type perfectly well, amazing), and then typing the password. Sadly, the Mac realized that Sid wasn't actually there, and the keyboard stopped working again. The keyboard was then replaced.

I went outside and stood around for a long time, I was very bored by then and although Kartikeya had said he'd be coming in the 7th period, I was pretty sure by then he had lied (it was 12:00 pm). I stayed for a bit anyway coz I was to be picked up by my mom and she was gonna take a little more while.

I left around 7 minutes after the beginning of the 8th period.

People I met:-
Mukesh sir, Manas, Ankit, Radhika, Raghav, Abhijit, Srajan, Ishaan, Kartikeya, Anwita, Dipanshu, Aditya, Akshay, Sahil, Kanika, My sister, Mr. Subodh Kumar, Mr. Mohitendra Dey, Mrs. Prema Pandey, Mrs. Anita Rathi, Mrs. Kaumudi Sharma, some others whose names I either do not know or forgot. Sorry guys.

And yup, that's it. I'm home now. Now I have to put some miscellaneous stuff into the packed suitcases.

Other Stuff:

New song of the week
DBZ comics updated

7 Days to Go

2007-08-16T15:02:00.000+05:30

So I have 7 days to go before I leave.

Those of my readers who seek purpose in life should leave now. Unless you specifically seek sense in nonsense and the answers in the incoherent babbling of madmen. If that is indeed the case, you are welcome to read this post and leave a comment on it (or not).

I am trying to write a post, and I have nothing to write about. Therefore I have assigned one of my neurons (call him Joe) to go down to the nonsensical-story department to get me something. While we wait, I recommend listening to the Song of the Week. You don't have much time though, brain signals are fast. I was able to type this only because Joe is a retard among his kind. Ah...Joe's back. The story of the day, then, is..."Genesis".

Here is how it begins:

Once, long ago, when the fabric of time was just a thread waiting to be woven and space was just infinite darkness, there was an all powerful being. The powers of this being consisted of being able to create worlds and creatures.

This being was, understandably, not content with existing in darkness with a thread to play with, so after he had woven the thread into a quilt so gigantic that even the infinite space wasn't able to contain it unless it was folded over many times (it was shifted into another, fourth, dimension to make space for other things to exist), he had only one desire.

To create sentient beings.

So he labored many days to create a world full of different creatures. Although the being had sewed the quilt of time, he was lacking in the skill to make clothes, therefore all his creatures were naked. So he gave them a layer of fur to protect them from the weather. All except humans. Especially human females. Because this being had modeled humans upon his own appearance and was female.

It/She could not bear to look at fur clad humans because this would protect them from the elements and thus eliminate the possibility of sentience or free will because all of the humans' needs would have been taken care of.

It/She had made a tree, which had an apple on it.

This apple was destined to fall on the head of a man named Isaac Newton, so it/she forbade the humans from eating it (but the other creatures were allowed to eat it, they didn't because it was a perfect world and no one was hungry. Except the humans because they needed to have free will).

Alas, one day, a snake coaxed the humans into eating the apple. After that they knew about gravity and everything that was not supposed to exist until the time that the apple fell on Newton. The all powerful being was very angry.

It/She sent the humans to the moon where there was no atmosphere, so that they could die. It/She sent the snake too, but it couldn't die (because it was a perfect world and no creature needed to breathe, except the humans, as they needed to have free-will). But the humans were now clever after eating the apple, and they discovered gravity many times on the moon until there was enough to create an atmosphere so they could breathe.

Then the moon was called the Earth and the Earth was called the moon, so the humans were now on Earth and the other creatures were all on the moon (except the snake). And the moon was bigger than the Earth before, so now the Earth was bigger than the moon.

Then, in an unexpected fit of cruelty, the all powerful being put all the creatures from the moon (the perfect world) on the Earth so that they became mortal and dependent on the surroundings. It/She also made it so that the snake needed to breathe, but made a mistake so that now it could not smell but had to taste the air instead.

All the plants and stuff was also moved, and the original Earth (the moon (the perfect world)) was left barren. It/She also made craters on it so it would lose it's perfection.

Now the humans were happy because they had free will, and the all powerful being was angry when he saw this. So he made a sun and stars and planets and cosmic debris, and said "One day, one of these will kill you".

And now, the scientists say the sun will kill us.
The astrologers say that the planets are already killing us.
Hollywood says that asteroids/meteorites will kill us.
Some people say they died because aliens from the stars killed them.

That is the end of the story, if you want to know what happened after that you can look to history. Mythology has done what it can. Joe says he has also done what he can, but he cannot die because he knows that there will be no one to replace him. It is a pity, really.

Song of the week, DBZ Comics

2007-08-15T12:01:00.000+05:30

The comic blog, that is,
http://dbzcomics.blogspot.com
is officially dead and I will not be making any more comics.

Edit: Was revived again.

Also there is a new song of the week feature, I will change the song when I update the comics. The songs are supposed to reflect my mood, the season, or just be random sometimes.

That's all for now.
No more posts until this one has 5 comments.

PS: It's Independence Day. Enjoy.

50 Posts, Finally

2007-08-14T08:14:00.001+05:30

Looks like I have, finally, achieved the creation of 50 posts on this blog (not all are published). This one happens to be the 51st. I am probably writing this to prove that the comics aren't all that are going on in my life (and certainly not the only recent content you can hope to find on my blog).

Hmm...What should I start with? Let's see, I woke up at about 7:30 today, had a cup of coffee...

No, let's start with yesterday.

Yesterday was a fine day, I enjoyed making a comic which I refuse to share as of now. I have a few more ideas which will hopefully be realized today. Besides that, sis took an off from school because the investiture ceremony was gonna take place and she didn't want to watch it. Reasonable, at least until they put some chairs on that lawn. Somehow, her being at home always results in skipped lunch, though I did have some sweet corn soup.

This is where I had a power cut. Right at this point in the post. I started writing at 8:15 and am gonna finish writing sometime after 9:22 (which is now). Isn't that just wonderful?

Anyway, yesterday I also played a bit on the Gamecube and wrote an e-mail to FUNimation about the DBZ copyright and consent agreements, which they have yet to reply to. I also signed up for adsense. Don't worry, I am not going to turn this into an ugly blog with ads all around, it will just stay the way you see it.

Overall, I'm having pretty average, typical days which may just be a good thing. I have also begun to loathe newspapers, and I am giving the reasons below.

Newspaper companies have become shameless and unconcerned. They do not care about what crap they are publishing, as long as it has loads of ads in it. I remember reading the same story in two different newspapers, and I found that the name, age and extent of injury of the victim were very different. Amazing.

Besides, I also hate celebrity news. I believe individuals should not be mentioned in newspapers unless they deserve merit, have accomplished something great, or are the victims of a crime. Celebrities are none of this. Why the hell are they in the newspapers? I do not know.

Also, look at the headlines, how weird they are. "Sensational attack on woman in GK" - What is this? "Sensational"? Is that the right word to use here? You can say brutal, ruthless or even astonishing; but I think calling it "sensational" equals to some kind of weird marketing tactic or something, it is an advertisement word.

That's it for today (the coffee) and also for yesterday. Now, if I may be excused, I'd like to have some breakfast.

DBZ Comic #3

2007-08-12T16:28:00.000+05:30

DBZ Comics, Evolving Slowly

2007-08-11T19:28:00.000+05:30

Dear Readers,

I have decided to start making a comic strip/page/whatever on a regular basis. Maybe weekly...I dunno yet. This comic will not be drawn by me, it will be based on scenes from the series DragonBall Z, in custom chronology with custom dialogue.

Do leave your comments, I will decide whether to continue or not on the basis of your response. In case you're wondering where comic #1 is...it's here.

Blood, Teeth and iPods

2007-08-10T21:50:00.001+05:30

Hello People.

Posting after a week I think. Been visiting the dentist a lot lately, had some problem with an old filling that cracked, so now I have a new filling and a new crown.

Also got my blood tested. The sugar is surprisingly fine, but apparently I have some problems with cholesterol. Also tried getting CounterStrike Source to work a few times but to no avail. Got Condition Zero to work on Hamachi though.

Hope you understood that?

Anyway, life is going on as it does. Leaving Delhi on 23rd Aug.

Keep in touch, those who can.

The Einstein and The Eddington

2007-08-02T20:24:00.000+05:30

The sun was setting on the links,
The moon looked down serene,
The caddies all had gone to bed,
But still there could be seen
Two players lingering by the trap
That guards the thirteenth green.

The Einstein and the Eddington
Were counting up their score;
The Einstein's card showed ninety-eight
And Eddington's was more.
And both lay bunkered in the trap
And both stood there and swore.

I hate to see, the Einstein said;
Such quantities of sand;
Just why they placed a bunker here
I cannot understand.
If one could smooth this landscape out,
I think it would be grand.

If seven maids with seven mops
Would sweep the fairway clean
I'm sure that I could make this hole
In less than seventeen.
I doubt it, said the Eddington,
Your slice is pretty mean.

Then all the little golf balls came
To see what they were at,
And some of them were tall and thin
And some were short and fat,
A few of them were round and smooth,
But most of them were flat.

The time has come, said Eddington,
To talk of many things:
Of cubes and clocks and meter-sticks
And why a pendulum swings.
And how far space is out of plumb,
And whether time has wings.

I learned at school the apple's fall
To gravity was due,
But now you tell me that the cause
Is merely G_mu-nu,
I cannot bring myself to think
That this is really true.

You say that gravitation's force
Is clearly not a pull.
That space is mostly emptiness,
While time is nearly full;
And though I hate to doubt your word,
It sounds like a bit of bull.

And space, it has dimensions four,
Instead of only three.
The square of the hypotenuse
Ain't what it used to be.
It grieves me sore, the things you've done
To plane geometry.

You hold that time is badly warped,
That even light is bent:
I think I get the idea there,
If this is what you meant:
The mail the postman brings today,
Tomorrow will be sent.

If I should go Timbuctoo
With twice the speed of light,
And leave this afternoon at four,
I'd get back home last night.
You've got it now, the Einstein said,
That is precisely right.

But if the planet Mercury
In going round the sun,
Never returns to where it was
Until its course is run,
The things we started out to do
Were better not begun.

And if before the past is through,
The future intervenes;
Then what's the use of anything;
Of cabbages or queens?
Pray tell me what's the bally use
Of Presidents and Deans.

The shortest line, Einstein replied,
Is not the one that's straight;
It curves around upon itself,
Much like a figure eight,
And if you go too rapidly
You will arrive too late.

But Easter day is Christmas time
And far away is near,
And two and two is more than four
And over there is here.
You may be right, said Eddington,
It seems a trifle queer.

But thank you very, very much,
For troubling to explain;
I hope you will forgive my tears,
My head begins to pain;
I feel the symptoms coming on
Of softening of the brain.

~Dr. W. H. Williams

I Made A Comic Strip

2007-08-02T13:09:00.000+05:30

Here's my first comic strip =P

I didn't exactly make it from scratch, just a matter of cutting and pasting and a little pixel art on game screenshots. I have seen these kind of strips before so it shouldn't be a problem calling it a "comic", heh.

I wonder if I should start a separate blog for these:

(Click to see full size)

Unrefined Poem - Sucketh

2007-07-24T15:12:00.000+05:30

The warmth slowly leaves my blood,
as I hear your harsher tone;
I will not speak as I did,
slowly my heart turns to stone.

It would sooner turn to ice,
hard and cold, it would suffice;
But though it's hard, ice breaks apart,
I cannot stand a broken heart.

I used to help you out, with glee,
and never once I thought of me;
The errors of my ways revealed,
the love is gone, my lips are sealed.

I have lost everything today,
there's nothing left for tomorrow;
And as if this was not enough,
you gift me still more sorrow.

I wonder how eternal grief
could spring from a silence so brief,
broken only by beating heart
and footsteps on the parting path.

A deep wound, that does not heal,
shall bleed, and bleed to kill;
And though they say love will return,
I do not think it will.

This Post Has no Title

2007-07-23T08:53:00.000+05:30

Hello, folks.

I don't really have anything to write in this post, I wonder why I am writing it. I got to read Rowling's last HP book and can safely conclude that she has gone, so to say, completely potty. More than a few reasons why I say that, but I'm not going to list them as I have more important things to do.

Now I am going to ramble about nothing in particular and write down utter nonsense just because I feel Rowling is unworthy of having a whole post dedicated to her. Hmm......Nah, just enjoy a funny picture.

July 21st, Captain's Log

2007-07-21T20:26:00.000+05:30

Pre Scriptum: Something for Calvin & Hobbes Fans

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released today. My sister had pre-ordered it and has been reading it since 6 am. She will only be done by noon tomorrow, or later. Although, after looking at how Rowling is practically ripping people off with unabashed overpricing, I wonder how greedy people can get.

Besides that, I went to C.P. and G.K. today to try on a couple of suits I'm having tailored and help my parents do some shopping, respectively.

Not much else to say. Found some weird song for Anwita which was pretty hard to find. Hindi. Unpopular. Such songs are just a bit rare on the web, it seems.

Because this post is so short, I will attach a fun image for you to enjoy:

Life Is A Beach

2007-07-19T12:21:00.000+05:30

Have you ever stood on a beach, facing the sea, close enough to let the waves wash over your feet?

The same waves that bring in the shells and gently touch you are responsible for pulling the sand from below your feet - so that you sink deeper and deeper with every wave.

Overlord - Your Master, Not Your God - Part 1

2007-07-18T20:01:00.000+05:30

Once, long ago, when speech was but a toddler amongst illustrations and grunting was the language of the times, there was an evil abomination.

So evil was this creature that at the merest whisper of his name, even the toughest of Neanderthals hid in their caves, under rocks and whatever cover they could find, including under leaves (Unfortunately, this is not a joke. One ill-fated man was found hiding under a maple leaf which, as you can guess, was very much inadequate to hide him). Those who passed under his shadow and were spared by his evil designs were left paralyzed in fear for the rest of their lives, which were shortened quite a bit from gazing upon the creature. His blood-curdling cries from among the hills alone were responsible for innumerable deaths of all kinds of flora and fauna. No animal with a sense of smell keener than a monkey was able to survive the poisonous stench of his being.

What creature could be so horrible, so evil, so devastating? It was none other than the cousin brother of Jesus Christ, the Devil. This is not known by many, but just as God had sent his son to save everyone from damnation, Satan had sent his spawn to ensure the very fate for mankind (I should also mention, God and Satan are blood brothers). While the prehistoric christian Neanderthals debated conversion to Buddhism, or even Islam, their fate was fast approaching.

As soon as they had realized that neither Buddhism nor Islam had been founded yet, and considered the fact that God was probably still angry about the whole tree-of-wisdom issue, they decided to pursue the only logical course of action they could think of. They formed a hunting party to take the Devil down.

Sadly, this plan fell through when the brave hunters forgot to plug their ears and became victims of, no not the Devil's screams, but of yet another song by the ancestor of William Shatner. With the failure of their plans and no hope in sight, the Neanderthals withdrew to their sad, damp dwellings to await death at the hands of Satan's offspring.

Oh, but they had no idea...

To Be Continued

Dhruv's Last Day

2007-07-13T15:11:00.000+05:30

Pre Scriptum
Sorry about the kiddy undertones (understatement?) on the theme...it was the only unnamed one I had on hand...couldn't come up with anything good on such short notice.

Today was (is) Dhruv's last day in India. A few friends met at Basant Lok, Vasant Vihar (near pvr priya) to bid him farewell. This is a record of stuff that happened today:

Well, I was one of the first to reach. Actually, I was the first to reach. No doubt about that, because tied at second position were Dhruv and Gursartaj, who arrived a good hour later. While waiting for their arrival I roamed around the place a bit and then took a seat in Barista to wait. After calling Dhruv, I figured I had enough time to eat one of Barista's overpriced sundaes. I chose strawberry. Not bad, except the creamy stuff at the bottom - which had the texture, and nearly the taste, of shaving foam. After waiting a bit more I went into Reliance Webworld where I discovered that because 15th August is approaching they do not let you access the web, and indeed not even your webworld account, without a photo id. Talk about consumer rights.

After a while I met Dhruv and Gursartaj at McDonald's. Dhruv had brought my Exun shirt for me with the message "it's too small to fit you". Then we sort of drifted around and a little later, Jasmeet, Aniket and Tarun joined us. Gursartaj left. After a lot more roaming, sitting in Barista, and general chit chat, we went to the back of the complex where Nirula's is. Some bird left a mark on Dhruv's shirt, so he wore the one he'd brought for me instead. Soon, we ended up in McDonald's where we ate our fill of burgers - and unintentionally but fortunately spared one for Shomi whom we met while leaving McDonald's.

Then we went to Hookah and had some fun (the idea of fun here is to stuff your bodies into an overgrown bed/couch hybrid and smoke a hookah that has no taste whatsoever except a not so pleasant aftertaste). Nobody believes Aniket is 18 years old. I will try to give you a description of the flavor of hookah we got - it was like air when going in and like tasteless smoke when going out, except that when going out it condensed on your tongue and you got to taste it. Tasted exactly like the cream off a pastry when highly diluted and taken in through the nose. Exhaling smoke was fun when done by others, not when done by yourself. In other words, it sucked (pun?). Yeah, no fun, no taste. I wonder why we were doing it. Then I had to leave because I had to get home by 2:30, just as I got up the guys broke a glass. I didn't stay to see what happened, but I was joined by Aniket who accompanied me all the way to the road, where I had to catch an auto (rickshaw).

I'm home now, but Dhruv has told me to call him when I'm free at around five and he'll meet me around my house somewhere. I'm cutting off the post now, more after the break.

==================

I'm back. It's 6:42. Looks like Dhruv and I just spent 40 minutes walking.

Well he came here, I went downstairs to meet him and he returned my shirt. Then we began walking, talking about stuff. As usual, we ended up walking pretty far and we were halfway to Dhruv's house by the time I decided I should head back.

Which is when we parted ways, with a hug and some farewell words, Dhruv walked to his house and I walked to mine.

It is only on the way to my house that I realised - Dhruv's gone. Maybe not till 12, but gone for me anyway. He is a pretty good friend and a good person. I wouldn't say he is a nice person, because no one is really a nice person - some people don't deserve being treated nicely, and some people just can't be treated nicely. Not all the time.

So yeah, he's leaving India. But it's not as if he's died, we're still gonna meet on Skype and stuff.

By the way, Dhruv, everyone's waiting for those series of posts you have promised on your blog...

16 Ways to Annoy In-flight Co-passengers

2007-07-12T08:48:00.000+05:30

This post is for all those going out of Delhi/India, the idea is to have some fun in those long, long flights. I don't know about you guys, but watching in-flight movies again and again makes me reach for the sick bag.

With the intro out of the way, we come to...
A list of 16 ways to annoy co-passengers unfortunate enough to be in the same flight as you

1) Take the aisle seat and refuse to let anyone pass. Cite your right to relax in the seat you paid for.

2) Press the hostess button on their side, on their behalf. Do this every few minutes.

3) Strike a conversation with your neighbor. Reply mostly with the phrase "that's what you think".

4) Tell your neighbor a long (very) joke. Forget the punchline. Repeat.

5) Ask people what gender they are.

6) Ask your neighbor what his lunch preference is. Whenever he visits the restroom, summon the attendant and get the wrong lunch on his/her behalf.

7) Continuously open your carry-on bag and say into it, "Have you got enough air in there?"

8) Hold the buckle of your seat belt in one hand. Keep holding it while using hand gestures to emphasize your points. (For better results, hold an end in each hand)

9) Connect one end of your seat belt to an end of the belt on the seat next to you. Put your luggage above the armrest and the seat belt. Call the setup a security measure and refuse to let anyone touch it.

10) Break the headphones you're provided with, complain. Repeat when you get new ones. (Break your neighbor's headphones for good measure)

11) Ask the in-flight attendants whether it's okay to "take the gun out" now.

12) Ask your neighbor to look for the number of the winning boarding ticket in the newspaper.

13) Press the button to summon an attendant when the fasten seat belts sign is on. Ask friends to do the same. Works best when traveling in a group.

14) Wander around the plane, visit the galley. Ask the attendants what their lunch time is and return at that time to bother them (they don't have much time to eat anyway).

15) Talk to people on Skype on your laptop. Since you aren't allowed to use cellphones on a flight, this is the next best thing. Especially annoying if you don't have a headset. And a built in microphone.

15+) Use a webcam for video conferencing and point it at people who aren't looking their best at the moment.

16) Play gunshot sounds on your laptop at full volume.

The Reason

2007-07-09T10:13:00.000+05:30

A video I made long ago, but didn't put on here. Dunno why. Maybe I'm ashamed of it or something...

All Dressed Up and...

2007-07-08T06:44:00.000+05:30

With little more than a month left for my departure, I was taken shopping by my loving family. Rather, I was dragged there. There are few things I hate as much as I hate shopping for clothes. Changing in the trial room tends to give me a headache and I would never voluntarily do it.

Which is exactly why I have fewer clothes than would be deemed appropriate for where I stand. Therefore, a very large number of jeans,corduroys, t-shirts, shirts, nightwear, kurtas and whatnot were bought for me. Not surprisingly I was left with a splitting headache after the whole ordeal. I'm sure that salesman hit the mother lode on commission, which is unfortunate because he did not aid me in my protest resulting in my being forced into the trial room again and again. At least there was a fan there, which prevented me from going berserk.

Yeah, and there was another thing that helped which was this tag on one of the jeans I bought (yes, I. In fact, it was the only jeans I was willing to wear). The reason being this tag on the back:

S P A R T A
This is our finest and
toughest jeans ever made

The finest and toughest jeans ever made by "Sparta" was marked at Rs.1495, a great deal by any measure. Of course, I will be testing out the toughness claim. The judgment on finesse will have to wait until I am able to post a pic here, thereafter you may draw your own conclusions.

After the shopping for clothes, I went and did the only reasonable thing you can do when in a market with 2 females and a headache. I had an ice-cream and slept in the car. After mum and sis had done their shopping (which took at least thrice as much time as my shopping and yielded far fewer purchases), we just went home.

If details matter to you, I went to GK market (M-block I think, but who cares). Also, I saw Ishita Lamba again today, which is weird because I also saw her yesterday during a pre-departure orientation at KG Marg. It's almost as if she's stalking me isn't it? Or maybe she just likes the places with a 'G' and a 'K' in their initials, coupled with some coincidental common circumstances. I didn't say hi just in case it was a case of stalking, I wouldn't wanna encourage her. If I see her tomorrow, I will probably go completely paranoid.

So now, I am at home and I have...uh...not much to do. If any of you has any suggestion as to anything I can do, please tell me. However, it isn't as if I'm getting bored, I can amuse myself just by breathing if need be. Let's hope such a day never comes.

P.S.:
The new player I made, SpluRGe, is not fully developed yet. If you pause or stop the music and then click "play" it will resume from the very beginning. If you pause it, please use the pause button itself to resume.