dilnama

Passport

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:31:00 +0000

Here are few tips if you are visiting the Regional Passport Office in Bangalore.

Website - http://rpobangalore.gov.in. Has a good amount of info.
Photocopies – take 3 photocopies of all proof documents. 2 copies have to be submitted along with the application. Original bank statements need to be submitted; they are not handed back. Submit photocopies of other documents.
Time - try getting the appointment online. Be aware that the application is buggy - I tried 15 times and always got the "Try again" page. The counter for the tokens opens at 9.30 am and people start queuing for it from 5.30 am. A Rs. 200 bribe to the constable can sometimes get you in, but not always. I started at 8 am and the token number was assigned at 11 am. The token counter closes at 12 and it’s up to the officer to give tokens to people still standing in the queue. I was able to leave for home only at 4 pm.
Workflow –

Queue up for token number
Get the token number
Enter the building ground floor
rest for 10 mins
Move towards right side wall and get the documents verified. To reduce the time at the counters this additional ‘pinning’ step has been introduced. Handover only the photocopies and the original bank statements and they will be stapled together.
Wait for the token number to be called out
Hand over the verified documents. Display the originals for proof.
Wait for the second verification to happen. This will be done by a separate counter. Documents will be handed back to you if it’s Tatkal. For normal applications the fee might be collected here.
Go to the Assistant Passport Officer on the first floor. You will be given a promised dispatch date for passport
Queue up for paying the application fees and handing over the application and documents.

The steps in bold are the ones where you’d need to queue.

Lunch - sometime between 1.30 to 2.30.

Passport size photographs – 5 in total. 3 to be carried to the RPO and 2 for the police verification later on.

Food – carry a bottle of water and biscuits/sweets. Go out for lunch when the counter is closed.

Affidavit – Koramangala Registrar’s office is close by, 10-15 mins by bike. Get any affidavits from there.

Try to ensure that the address in the bank account, election id etc are same. The address in my account statement can be used to locate my house easily. The one in the election id is difficult to trace. I gave the election id as proof of address thinking its a government recognized address and faced 2 problems:

Had to collect the passport from the speed post office
The police station had difficulty in locating my house

Missed calls

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:21:00 +0000

"Got to go to the office now. See you in the evening dear."

"Remember to call!"

"Ok. I'll give a missed call once I reach office."

"Let me know when are going for lunch. Give me a missed call then"

"Ok dear. When I'm leaving office I'll give a missed call on the land line. If I'm going to be late I'll give a missed call on your mobile"

*************************************************************************************

"Dont pick up the phone yet"

"Why not"

"I want to know the number of rings if its a missed call"

"Aunt, do you and uncle have a missed call code?"

"Hehehe. Yep. 1 ring for I miss you. 2 for I love you. 3 for I am having breakfast/lunch/dinner and 4 for Good night. There were 3 rings that time, your uncles having dinner. It will ring 4 times in an hour so"

Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:40:00 +0000

Delightful. Its hard not to grab your stomach and laugh out loud. Usually the interesting parts of the movie are used for the trailer and watching the movie becomes a 'fill up the blanks'. Thats not the case with Ajab Prem ki Kajab Kahani. The movie will push audience to forgive Ranbir Kapoor for the towel dance and Katrina Kaif for her movies before New York. Rajkumar Santoshi has produced a rib-tickling comedy completely different from his Andaz Apna Apna. The movie fits in nicely with the string of quality productions by Bollywood. Dont download this movie, watch it on the big screen.

know thyself

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:58:00 +0000

Remember the java coaching mentioned in a previous post? P is senior to me, has sound knowledge of Java and is a very good manager. He is leading the initiative. P came up to me today to talk.

P: Hey, I have the habit of barging into conversations and stating my views. Its one of my weaknessed. Do you... find it irritating?

(I left a previous session when P starting talking to my class, and generally do not have my happy face on when he starts to speak)

Me: (with a smile) To be honest, I was irritated the first couple of times. I understand now you did not mean to interrupt me. I liked it when you gave the examples today.

P: Great! Thanks. Good to know.

This conversation could have taken a completely different turn if P were not aware of his behaviour or I had confronted him and not listen to what he had to say.

Solar water cooler

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 07:53:00 +0000

Last year:
1. Open hot water tap. Water too hot.
2. Open cold water tap. Water still hot.
3. Open cold all the way. Done.

This year:

1. Open hot water tap. Water too hot.
2. Open cold water tap. Water still hot.
3. Open cold all the way. Water still hot.
4. Close hot water a little bit. Water still hot.
5. Close hot water all the way. Water still hot.

We need a solar water cooler now.

New language

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:29:00 +0000

I've wanted to learn PHP for sometime now and started reading through the basic material at w3cschools today. Having used Java for the past 5 years PHP seems a fairly easy language to pick up. Going though the materials, and the fact that I'm training a few colleagues in Java, led me to draw this mind map:

I intend to use it whenever I start learing a new language.

Zoho - a 30 min review

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:12:00 +0000

Thanks Lochan for introducing me to Zoho. Heres a short review, written and shared using Zoho Writer

The good things:

I was able to use my google acccount to login - cannot stand yet another logon account
Zoho is great for students and people like me who cannot afford to buy a copy of Microsoft Office
Great editor - easy to use
Many important features are available, even in offline mode.
Can publish easily to four of the main blog sites - you can add others as well.

Areas for improvement:

Requires connection to the internet
- Preferably broadband? - havent tried with a slower connection
Javascript driven
- Google chrome is supposed to have the fastest javascript engine
- The code is open to everyone - how is the implementation hidden?
Percentage of boxes/computers which access the internet
- This will be a very low number
- Biggest deterrent for someone to use zoho - document cannot be saved as a word doc. Is there any other way to share this document with others? - oops, found the Export button. How did I miss that? PDF format! Even word does not allow me to do this! - Oh well, the doc export is crap. PDF looks fine.
Is autosave feature available? - looks like it
Uses Google Gears for offline mode - increases Google's monopoly

super slow lightning

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:36:00 +0000

you've got to watch this : http://www.thewebsiteisdown.com/

source : Rakeettttt....

dilbert

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:45:00 +0000

Got-their-goat news

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:55:00 +0000

This came by email today:

Would you be willing to pay Rs.5000 in fine to mock a silly rule?

Breaking news

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:42:00 +0000

Breaking news is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming in order to report its details.

Not any more people. I have some great breaking news for ya'all. Its now brocasted at pre-defined, scheduled, spots on telly:

Sarla tells all

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:00:00 +0000

Previous encounters with S a r a la

It was raining heavily this Friday. I ran to the bus with only my palm for protection against the downpour. The words cats and dogs would never been uttered by so many. I ran to my bus and looked around for my favourite companion. Silly Sarla was not to be found at her usual seat; but I was not disappointed. She was sitting in a corner at the back, right next to the only available seat on the bus. :-D.

If you recall, Sarla's company had started the appraisal cycle and she wished to be promoted.

Unlike previous encounters Sarla was whispering into the phone, like a normal person would do. I was lucky to be seated right next to her. Seemed like she wanted to avoid being overheard. But I had strain only a little bit to hear. She was on the phone with Ram, the agony uncle for her troubles at work.

'... kaNo. yen sigtu nange? motte. Harsha bere treat kotta yelrigu.'
('...yes. What did I get? Nothing. Harsha even gave a treat to everyone')

'innelli, CCD^[1]. treat bagge keltiya, thoo. nan kashta kelu andre... aiyoo'
('Where else, same old CCD. You are more interested in the treat than my appraisal. Aiyoo..')

'hoon. saaku saaku. munde keLu ivaga. nan manager bagge keLu. moDle heLona anta idde, paapa avnu anta, neenu avn mele nagad beDa anta sumnidde.'
('ok ok. Forgiven. Now listen to me reveal all about my manager. I thought of telling you a few days back, but decided that he was too paapa.')

'howdu, nanna promote madidre idella heL-tirlilla. vishaya keLu sumne, madya mataad beda. yen heLali, dodda joL party kaNo adu. avna desk hatra dinda yaavde hudugi sulidrunuu taLe yetti nodtane. yeshTe important kelsa irli.'
('yes, you are being bestowed this privileged information only because I was not promoted by him. Don't interrupt, chumma listen now. What can I say, he is a huge slobber. A drooler. Looses his concentration on work whenever a girl walks past his desk, whatever he might be working on.')

'yenu nagtiya. nijvaaglu kano. senior aagidrunu college hudgun-tarah maadtane. nanna yella friendsu adee heltare. keLu bekadre.'
('I'm not kidding, don't laugh. Acts like a college kid despite his seniority. Believe me. Ask my friends.')

'aiyoo, bari nodtan ashte. mattenilla. adakke nange siglilla promotionnu. hudgirge kaDe partialty maadovnagidre nange sikta ittu. nan-kade nodod nodidre haage ansta ittu. aadre Harshange promote maad-da.'
('Aiyoo, he just looks, nothing more. Why do you think I was passed over for the promotion? He does not favour girls. Going by the way he gawked I was sure I'd definitely be promoted. But he recommended Harsha.')

'ohoo. neen baari manmatha. inna keLiLLi. hehehe. publicalle kerkotano. thoo. chi. asaiya. hudgir iDare antanu nodalla. avnde lokdalli maja madta irtane. '
('Ohooo. You are not Adonis either. Shut up and listen now. Let me reveal some more. Hehehe. He is disgusting fellow. Adjusts himself in full public view. Thoo, chi, sickening. Does not even care when girls are around. Seems lost in his own little world.')

'neen nagu. nange yen maadodu antane gottagolla. hudgurella inna dodda stories yeltare. adella heLoLLa bidu. neen heLu, nin kelsa hegide?'
('Go on, laugh. I was the one trapped. Couldn't decide between crying and punching his family jewels. The guys have more sordid stories. I wont go into all those details with you. You should talk now, hows work?')

'bidu andnalle, adella heLokke agolla kano. che che. neen heLu ivaga'
('No no. I wont say anything more. Its your turn now.')

Seemed like the juicy bits were done with. I opened my book. Went into deep slumber right after the first paragraph.

[1] Cafe Coffee Day

paris hilton, ahmerican president?

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:04:00 +0000

Thats hot.

The plan

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:29:00 +0000

The plan was hatched more than 61 years ago, executed exactly on 15th Aug 1947.

No one knows the who, what, where and how of it; the when and why became apparent only yesterday.

The plan was very precise, designed for one, and only one, purpose.

There was no plan B, as failure was out of the question.

Folks, due to circumstances unavoidable, masterminded by a select few 61 years ago, this Friday turned out to be a holiday. Can you imagine the devastating feeling when the realisation dawned on me? Silly Sarala could not reveal her delightful life this Friday.

I would like to be alone for a while now. Life will be gray for a week.

Happy Indepedence Day!

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:50:00 +0000

My grandmother is 84 years old. She sometimes has difficulty in sensing the time of the day, asks us whether its morning or the evening. She usually repeats her 'what time is it?' question. She has trouble sitting straight on the chair and I keep reminding her to use the hand rest for support. She, sometimes, even has difficulty recalling our names.

Today, however, she is all smiles. Shows very little signs of senility. Sits straight up in the living room chair the whole day. Asks me to switch to the news channel at 8 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon and 8 in the evening. Keeps telling me to call her when "flags are shown on TV". Asks mom to make some sweets. Amazing what Independence Day does to her. She even recalled a time when she went to a nearby school to see the flag hoisted.

I-Day is just like any other holiday to me. To my grandmom, and everybody in her generation, it means a lot more. For now, I do not have such passion for any 'day'. My generation, I guess, celebrates Valentines Days and Friendship Days with more fervor than Independence Day.

Think out of the box

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:31:00 +0000

Working technology industry requires me to design new components, modules, general 'stuff'. There is competition from all around, not too intense but make its presence felt from time to time, and that puts some pressure on me to come up with something new, something innovative, something not seen before by my boss. The oft repeated suggestion, guidance, is to "think out of the box". The phrase has been bludgeoned to death in the few years that I've been in the industry.

This is a myth. Nobody thinks "out of the box". They are merely forced to expand the boundaries of their box. May be even jump into a new box. The moment it grows bigger than everybody else’s way of thinking, the results you produce, the suggestion you make during meetings, is labelled "out of the box". All you've done is to do something the others could not think of.

Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty were great as action heroes (Phool aur Kaante, Khiladi, Balwaan). They switched to comedy, romantic, meaty character roles (Zakhm, Dil to Pagal Hai, Hera Pheri) when their action heroes produced lukewarm responses at the box office. Aamir Khan, Salman Khan initially succeeded acting in romantic/comedy roles (QSQT, Meine Pyaar Kiya) but gained popularity when they played action heroes (Baazi, Karan Arjun). There are examples in other fields as well where somebody refuses to stick to the stereotype and becomes a success.

People constantly trying something fresh, expand their horizons, and go out of their peer's boxes, not their own. If you think of something new, the chances of that thought being used repeatedly, till it becomes boring to yourself, are very high. That’s when your box has expanded and you move on to something else to cure the boredom.

Thinking out of the box is a myth. Expanding the box is the reality.

Random Stuff - II

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:24:00 +0000

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I use this Firefox feature very often now (some more here), I use this whenever I want to look up a word while surfing:

1. Go to your most frequently used search site, right click on the search box and select 'Add a Keyword for this search':

2. Enter the shortcut you'd like to assign for the search:

3. To use the shortcut, type the assigned alphabet (I've used a single letter, give multiple letters also a try if you'd like) and the search string. Press Enter to invoke the search in the same tab or use my preferred way - Alt+Enter to invoke it in a new tab:

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Yesterday, 9th of August, Infy and I had our 3rd anniversary. No celebrations.

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Sarala dreams

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:59:00 +0000

Fridays with the sweet Silly Sarala continue to be entertaining. I don't dread facing a dull friday evening any more :-D.

I finished my work earlier than usual, so had a full 3-seater on the bus for myself. Unfortunately, this meant that there was a risk of being deprived of Silly's conversations. All the forces of nature were in my favour when she got on to the bus. If a statistician calculated the probability of choosing a seat, the one beside me would have scored the highest. Silly is not one to go against nature's will.

Saralu had a nightmare. She calls her sister (couldn't quite catch her name, sounded like Lilly) and goes:
"neNNe ratri yenta kanas bittu gotta? Billy idanalla, adage maadta idda!"
(yesterday night what a dream i had, you know? Billy^[1] is there no, he was cooking!)

"naanu araamagi TV nodta iddini, ivnu zefrani pulav maadta idda. zefrani pulav kaNe, aiyoo, rice dish anko, saaku."
(I was araamagi sitting and seeing TV, he was making zefrani pulav . you dont know zefrani pulav? aiyoo, its a rice dish)

"tarkaari cut maadtini andru beda anda kaNe. naanu full happy kaNe. Muttina Torana nodta koodkonde"
(i told i'll cut the vegetables, he said no! i fully happy. sat watching Muttina Torana on TV.)

"hadinaidu-ippattu nimisha aad mele yenu smell bantu kaNe, adige maNe inda. yenu anta nodudre anna yella kade, goDe mele, gas keLage, floor mele, avna kivi meloonu. aiyooo yaen pajhiti yedu ankonde"
(after 15-20 mins i smelled something in the kitchen. aiyoo, the walls, floor, the gas stove, even his ears were covered in rice.)

"beralu sutt-kondidda, uff uff anta idda, yeneno tarkaari, yaav yaavdu tarah cut maadidda kaNe. nagodo, aLodo gotaglilla. clean maadodu nanna taLe mele barutte anta yochista irvaga yechra aiytu"
(he was blowing on his burnt fingers. strange vegetables, in all shapes and size were all over. i could neither cry nor laugh. i jolted out of the dream just when it was upto me to clear the mess)

The bus had not left the campus yet. Someone got on to the bus just when it reached the gates. I just hate it when that happens. Here were were, two of us enjoying all the space on a three seater and this guy barges in to make my ride uncomfortable. He was sweating because of the sprint from the security turnstiles to the campus gate and just plonked himself between me and Silly. I could feel Silly narrate the same tale to her mom and then her dad but could not make out anything because of the incredible hulk. Grrrr.

[1] Billy Balachandra, the husband

Random stuff - I

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 04:19:00 +0000

If you are interested, some celebrity blogs:
Karan Johar
RGV
Amitabh Bachchan
Amir Khan
Salman Khan

RGV has a nice post on the making of Rangeela.

Tired of telemarketing calls? Give this a try first, then go for this:

Yes, again!

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:10:00 +0000

Fridays with Sarala, Silly - Part III.
Part I, Part II

Turns out our boostu girl has a name, nice one too. Sarala, 'simple' in many Indian languages. Silly Sarala, bombat name no? Her friends call her Saralu. She hates the few who call her Sallu.

Silly works for the BPO arm of my company - I should have guessed it on first encounter, but the non-BPO accent^[1] threw me off. She is married, to a nice fella from what I overheard. Hopefully the smaller, low level details will be unravelled in subsequent Fridays.

Its appraisal time at the BPO. Silly only proved my suspicions from a previous encounter with her distant-colleague, who, fortunately for me, was less silly. Apparently, if what I over-heard is correct, SS has 10 peers and her manager can pull only a couple of them to the next level. SS calls up a close buddy, Ram, to express her anxiety. Completely confident that nobody even remotely associated with her is on the bus she goes:
"Lo Ram, yeno madLi, yibraNNe C3 levelGe kaLstananto avnu"
("Oye Ram, what to do, he will only send 2 people to the C3 level, it seems")

"Naanu isht dina kelasa madidella waste madtano avnu. prati dina correct timeGe bandu, poorti kelsa maadi hogtino. aa Harshantara proxy hakolvo, yella kelsa sariyaage maadi hogtino. yeno madodu nananna avnu select maad-de idre?"
("All these days I have worked without wasting time, coming and going on time. not putting proxy like that Harsha fellow. What to do if he doesnt select me?")^[2]

Unfortunately, I was robbed of the opportunity to listen to rest of the interesting exchange of ideas on manager-management. Silly must have had a suspected that she had me completely engrossed in her 'private' conversation, moved closer to the window and started whispering into the phone.

[1] Ahmerican accent for the unfortunate few who are unaware of the IT lingo.
[2] Thankfully, my company does not believe in rewarding people who work for the stipulated number of hours; I would not have met Silly.

why do people argue?

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:48:00 +0000

Kitty: "What is the use of arguing? No one ever convinces another."
Levin: "Yes, you are quite right, for the most part, people argue so warmly only because they cannot make out what it is that their opponent wants to prove."

Levin had often noticed in arguments among the most intelligent people that after expending enormous efforts and an immense number of logical subtleties and words, the disputants at last became conscious of the fact that the thing they had been at such pains to prove to one another had long ago, from the very beginning of the controversy, been known to them, but that they liked different things and were disinclined to mention what they liked lest it should be attacked. He had experienced the fact that sometimes in the middle of a discussion one understands what it is that one's opponent likes, and suddenly likes it oneself, and immediately agrees with him, when all proofs become superfluous and unnecessary. Sometimes the reverse happens; one at last mentions the thing one likes, for the sake of which one has been devising arguments, and if this is said well and sincerely, one's devising arguments, and if this said well and sincerely, one's opponent suddenly agrees and ceases to dispute. This was what he wanted to express.

She wrinkled her forehead, trying to understand. But as soon as he began to explain she understood.

Kitty: "I see: one must find out what one's opponent is contending for, what he likes, and then one can..."

She had completely grasped and found the right expression for his badly-expressed thought. Levin smiled joyfully: he was so struck by the change from the confused wordy dispute with his brother and Pestsov to this laconic, clear, and almost wordless communication of a very complex idea.

-From Anna Karenina

Tolstoy's discourse on arguments is in the context of Levin and Kitty's courtship - how they started to communicate with very few words. Don’t let that undermine the message he has conveyed. Although most of us understand the 'anatomy' of an argument subconsciously, it is very useful (and important) to bring this up to the conscious mind. Arguments will always be part of our life, be it professional or personal. Understanding what the argument is all about, rising a bit, just an inch, above the situation, diffuses it much more effectively than breaking heads arguing just for the sake of it, just to satisfy our egos. I’m sure courting couples and the married crowd will be able to identify with this more than anybody else.

Now for some fun, go watch this:
More Cowbell, Skit on Saturday Night Live (SNL), will turn you into Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken's fan, if you aren't already.

Why sso seeRrious?

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:06:00 +0000

Why so serious

This is the most amazing movie I've watched in recent months; the special effects were out of this world, the action scenes mind blowing, screenplay well crafted, the actors well suited (Rachel Dawes was an exception, I liked Katie Holmes more). 100% entertainment and paisa vasool. The Sunday 10 am show at Fun Cinemas, Sigma Mall, was packed, even with the bomb scare^[1]! I heard the guy from the box office yell out that only a couple of seats were left^[2].

Beware though, after watching this it will be difficult for you to like any other movie. Ok ok, I admit, thats exaggerated a bit.

It starts with the Joker and ends with him. There are very few movies where the title role, the supposed protagonist, is overshadowed by another character. Heath Ledger, may he rest in peace, has done full justice to the Joker.

The darting, slithering tongue (I thought I'd get tired of it, but ended up loving it); the evil, weird, insane laugh; oooohh, the word play, almost like a sword fight, with Batman; the insane, unflinching desire to have anarchy rein over Gotham; the taste for destruction; the disappearing pencil act; and more, make this the best Joker ever. Batman tries to drag the movie down with his brooding and contemplating mood swings, but Joker always lights up the screen with his wits and insane plots.

You have got to love the mobile inside the fat man. Neither the protectors of the law (police, the DA, batman, the judge) nor the law breakers (Maroni, Gambol (the black mob head), the Chechen, aforementioned fat man) never knew what the Joker is capable of. Neither did I. It was a delight to see the man unfold chaos with just a few killings. Enough about the Joker. Now go, watch the movie.

I have to add a note about the action sequences. They are grandiose. I could not help go wohooo, wooowww, oooh, yehhhh; when Batman lands on the roof of Scarecrows van, when he literally flies off with Lau, when the batbike emerges from the batmobile!, when makes the batbike do a vertical flip, when the 18 wheeler ^[3] overturns. There are more!

Michael Cain as Alfred, Aaron Eckhart^[4] as Harvey Dent and Two-face, Gary Oldman as Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Lucious Fox, all add the expected masala. Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes was a bit disappointing, only because of her birth, that she is not Katie Holmes who played the part in the previous movie.

[1] This was the last Sunday, 27th of july. Bit late on the review as I was busy at work :-(
[2] The tickets were at half the prime time price ;-)
[3] I did not count them
[4] Was very good in Thank You For Smoking

The first failure is already here!

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:41:00 +0000

I was expecting an email but in a very unconventional approach the results were posted on Reliance Fellowship's applyyourself page. When the email did not arrive ^[1] till evening, I checked the application page and was disappointed to read that I was not selected. There was no particular reason given, just the usual about number of applicants, not satisfying all the selection criteria and also that there will not be any individual feedback given. This is a wake up call, time to stop relaxing and start concentrating on applications to other schools.

Apparently, there were 1400 entries. That's a huge number considering the very low level of publicity. I stumbled upon it only when I went to the Stanford website to check if they've announced the application deadlines. Googling it would not have given much information couple of months back, the Stanford Financial Aid page was the only place it was announced. And only a few bloggers and MBA web sites talked about it when I checked couple of weeks back.

[1] The email did arrive when I writing this post

the lazy blogger

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:33:00 +0000

Holy Catfish! I just scared panicked dread I have not updated this since petrol was cheaper than a bottle of Grange!... You would not believe that my hands were chopped off and I was waiting for bionic ones. But I'm sorry you'll just have to take my word for it..

I am overwhelmed with an awfully big adventure, sleeping, just generally being the life of the party to every Lost Boy that crosses my path, my day is a magical flight from the second I am woken by murderous Teletubbies to 11pm at which point I fall asleep on the couch. I am plotting and planning. life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.

I swear on the bones of my ancestors if one more person emails me to ask why I haven't posted today I will start posting pictures of toe fungus, or fecal murals. Honestly! Assuming I don't get distracted by counting my chest hairs..

Havent blogged for a while? Use this to generate one :D

Not again!

noreply@blogger.com (dileepkamath) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:20:00 +0000

Met the 'Boostu' girl again! I could not believe my rotten luck when the office bus left the campus on Friday. Very high price for not taking time to see who my neighbour is on the bus. I became aware of the situation only after she dialed the number and said her first hello. This time the first conversation was with her mom about the agalkayi^[1] she had sent sometime back. She does have the sweet accent of a typical bengalooru girl, each word uttered with full sarasa sallapa. Surprisingly she got right to the point. Did mom use it or throw it away? Why didnt she use it the moment she received it? Amazing how the girl could stretch that topic to 5 mins.^[2] Thankfully, this conversation was not repeated with the dad or the sister.

The second topic started off with an announcment to everybody around that her kid sister was dumb as a donkey. Apparently, wires of the geyser at her sister's house had decided to breath some fresh air and broke out of their plastic casings. The sister, for some reason talked her landlord, the father, the mother and the helpful neighbour downstairs about it. Eventually she ended up using water heated on her gas stove. Boostu girl couldnt fathom the reason for all this - How could the sister even think of spreading the news to everybody? Was she out of her mind? All she had to do was call the electrician.

I couldnt stop LOLing in my mind. It was like the recap shown before a new episode of a TV soap starts. Sit next to her to get a recap of whats happened in the family over the past couple of days.

[1] Bitter gourd
[2] I have to learn how to do that. A necessary skill for writing long essays for applications.