Sanky's virtual space!

Night trek at Antaragange

2010-04-10T13:12:00.008-04:00

This was my first trip with Bangalore Mountaineering Club (BMC). In fact, I cancelled my Chennai trip, as I thought night trek should be amazing. I always wanted to trek at night. The trek was at Antaragange, about 60km from Bangalore, near Kolar. Anyways, only 3 ppl from the Bekal trip could make it this time. The pick up point was Symphony theater (Now Shankarnag) in MG Road. I was expecting around 20 - 25 people, but as it turned out there were more than 60 ppl. Though at that time I was pretty excited seeing the crowd (Girls out numbered guys!!!!), but in hindsight BMC should have limited the number of participants to around 25. In any case, they kept us waiting for a while, before it dawned on them that the bus was in the next street and it would be better if we walked to it. Anyways, finally at about 10.30pm we left Bangalore. It was almost 1.00am when we reached Antaragange.

We began our ascent at about 1.15 am. Just then I realized I had left the memory chip at home and so my camera was pretty useless for the trip. Dodo, as usual, was clicking photos after photos. It was such a wonderful experience scaling the peak under the moon light. Finally, we , reached the top at about 2.30am and rested for a while. In fact we waited for quite a bit, for almost an hour before word came that the normal entrance to the cave was closed and that they were finding an alternate entrance. Finally, they found an alternate entrance, but it was too steep and risky. Only few people managed to explore the cave while we were waiting outside, awaiting our chance. Finally, it became too late for others to go inside the cave and we had to return, completely disappointed. Anyways, we thought at least the Sun god will not disappoint us and we waited at the top even as the cold breeze was embracing us. We were already soaking in the breathtaking view of the city beneath, when finally dawn broke. But there were too many clouds, yet again! And we just satisfied ourselves by clicking few more photos of ourselves. And we made our back in the bus, which had come to the top to pick us.

It was a nice trip but it would have been really great had we explored the cave. The sad part was BMC was not even ready to take the blame even partially, which makes me think if I will go along with them again. Anyways, I need to make few more trips with BMC to really recommend them to anyone, which am also little reluctant to do. Only BMC has to prove me wrong.

Bekal Fort

2010-03-09T10:05:00.011-05:00

A team of 6 Ambiants (actually 5 plus one non ambiant), ventured on a pleasure trip over the weekend. The team comprised of Shu, La, Ra(vi), Shyam, Sankar and Dodo (not necessarily in the height order!!!!)...... As fate had it, I happened to run in to Ravi, Shu and Dodo in pantry. They were discussing on a destination for a weekend trip. When they told me, I immediately jumped on the idea. After much deliberation, we zeroed in on Bekal Fort !! Dodo took care of calling the hotels and the boat house guys. Ravi took care of the logistics. So we booked a Qualis from B'lore (@Rs 7/- per km) and driver 'beta' at Rs 175 per day. After a sumptuous meal at Ravi's place, we left B'lore at around 11.15 pm.

Dodo was our official trip planner and also the guide. He was all set with map in his hands and we were deciding on the route to take. The driver said that the roads were bad in the routes that we suggested. But if were to take his route, we will be covering extra 50km. Finally, we decided to travel in the route that we suggested. B'lore, Mysore, Madikere (Coorg), Hunsur, Sullia, Puthur, Kasargod.... Each one had their defining 'Eureka' moments on this trip.

Let me start with myself, simply because I had the first moment (rather a victim)! The driver somehow got the idea that I was spying on him whether he was sleeping on the wheel or not. Just to scare me, he acted as if he was sleeping and driving little crazily. At one point, he almost ran into a bus and on an another instance, he swerved so much, that even Dodo got scared...Then the driver merely said he was trying to avoid a pit. Then we stopped for tea, which is when I realized he was simply trying to piss me off. Whatever, after that I started enjoying the scenes outside (the trees looked stunning under the moon light)...

At around 5 in the morning, driver wanted a break. So what place does he choose? A spot, right outside a house...Perfect spot in any horror movie in any language. In fact I got paranoid and was struggliing to stay awake. Anyway, after about 30 min, we continued our tortuous, winding journey in the Ghat section. It was 9am when we reached Kasargod. We were all gung ho about a lodge called Ktees Residency. We just could not believe what we saw. We had no idea that it would look like that (in the internet they have amazing pics). So people please be warned, if you are going to Bekal, do not ever think about staying at Ktees...(I think the word Residency was a 'bit' misleading)!!!! Anyway, we found another place called Fort Point. At Rs 400 (after 10% discount) per day it was pretty ok. We were bone tired after 9 hrs of journey and literally had to pull ourselves out of the bed.

Anyway, first we went straight to the fort. The cameras were already out, dishing out fotos after fotos, even before we actually entered the fort. With imagination running wild, each one was engrossed in taking pics and stiking poses...But from a particular spot (we had to climb a ramp like structure), the view was simply breathtaking. We were dumb struck when we saw the beach from top of the fort. My mind was busy scanning the fort to see from where Manisha Koirala came running to meet Arvind Swamy in the movie Bombay....Anyway, after more pics, more fun, we finally made our way out...The next on the agenda was food. We saw a restaurant named Kia Ora right outside the fort. Even though it was slightly pricey we decided to eat there. But little did we expect that fate would deal such a blow on our face (errr.....stomach )!!! First of all they took ages to serve the food, but when the food came, it was so bad, that I decided staright away I am writing about this place in my blog. Please avoid this place. Little did we know at that time, that it is going to be a gastronomically challenging trip!! Anyway, we had one memorable moment at Kia Ora. It was Shu's "graphic" moment. This is what happens to overly brainy, intelligent people.

Next we went back to the hotel to get freshened up and leave to the boat house. We hired this boat house from 5pm to 9am. We were little late because of the traffic. (This boat house was about 20km from the hotel). Once there, we quickly boarded the boat. It had a nice space to sit (chairs, tables et al). The first thought that crossed my mind was "Wow, nice setting for a perfect drink." Anyway, we were told that sun set will happen at 6.30pm and that they will take us to the beach. But we missed the sun set narrowly. After that, the boat came back and stopped in the middle of the river. The boat house stay was the highlihgt of the whole trip, thanks to Dodo. We were just sitting and chatting generally. Then we started playing UNO. It was such a blast. We only stopped when the dinner arrived, by which time, we had already started our 'Signature' moment!!!! The dinner was alright, infact it was the only good meal we had in the entire trip. Anyway, we continued with more UNO and later Rummy. That was when Dodo had his moment, 'Signature moment'....Shyam and I were laughing our lungs out!!! So finally we hit the sack at 1.00am. I had, by then, completely lost hopes of waking up for the sun rise.

But wake up I did, sharp at 6.30. However, the Sun god decided to play hide and seek with us. He hid himself among the clouds, refusing to come out. So I went back and slept again. But Dodo was at his best, captured some of the finest pics at that time. Anyway, finally we had breakfast as the boat was cruising towards the shore. The journey came to an end and our beloved driver was waiting for us on the shore. We were deceived by the sign board which said Kapil Beach 3.5Km. We wasted almost an hour looking for the place, only to realize that it was private. Anyway, we headed back to Bekal beach. Then started the fun time. We thoroughly enjoyed every bit of the beach part, dripping with salt water, covered with mud and felt content at heart. Finally, we went to hotel, checked out and started the long return journey back.

That is when the couple had their moment, 'WTF' moment....It was funny coz their mobiles were also in that bag only..Anyway, the hotel guys were eagerly anticipating our arrival !!! Anyway finally we left Bekal once for all. Except for that bad stretch of road, the driver was rocking. He drove in 90's consistently and we had amazing fun. This is when the driver himself had his moment when Dodo scared him to death by 'falling' asleep.....Thank u Dodo, for taking revenge on the driver. Oh I almost forgot Shyam's moment. It was so funny when he was trying to find the perfect location, hmmm, for you know what !!!!! He thought it was main road and then he had to hunt for another location.....

We stopped at Sullia for lunch, which proved to be another gut wrenching experience. The food was so pathetic that I was missing my cook's food badly. At this juncture we were debating on whether to stop at Coorg and spend some time there, as we reckoned that we will reach B'lore at odd hours and it will be difficult for all to go to their respective homes. But we decided against stopping and headed home straight, instead. We made one more stop in Kushal Nagar, where I had coffee. I broke my vow and had coffee after 2 years. I thought it was worth the experience. Finally, we left that place, with heart becoming heavy each second, as the trip was nearing its end. Lastly, we stopped in Mandya for dinner. Fate had the last laugh, as we had yet another horrible meals. It was the closing ceremony of the spate of bad food that we had over the two days. Ravi was so indignant that he strongly suggested that I write about that hotel too. I kind of forgot the name, it is something like Guruprasad or something, even though the board said Nandhinee also. Anyway, so guys avoid this restaurant also. We wanted to stop in Mysore, but then the driver took the by pass road, so we did not go into Mysore city. Anyway, finally we reached B'lore at 12.45am, settled the driver's bill and chatted for some time. Finally slept at around 2 am, knowing fully that Monday Morning was already waiting with a huge club in the hand ready to deal a blow on my head. I reached office at 12pm on Monday, still basking in the fun filled moments that I had over the weekend. It was made special by each and every one of you. Thank you guys and hope to venture into more trips.

Moratorium begins........

2009-09-07T13:21:00.003-04:00

Well, technically speaking few weeks left for the moratorium period to start...However, with classes getting over, and still a good fortnight away for final exams, am already having an eerie feeling. We have been 'awarded' this 2 weeks holiday so that we can hunt for jobs while at the same time revising for the exams. It has been 15 months since the course started, but these 15 days are going to be crucial. The sudden feeling of liberation has actually sent my mind on a free fall. Now, I want to do a million things, things which I could not or did not do in the last 15 months. For instance, I spent most of the time today playing sudoku, 'polished' my resume for one final time, cutting important articles in news paper, infact reading the news paper properly, calling people and so on........However one thing has not changed! Sleeping late.....This is one habit that has stuck with me for the past 5-6 years. I do not doubt for one moment that I will sleep before 3 am.....

Filling up space!

2009-07-31T16:53:00.003-04:00

It is 2.30 am and am wondering what to do! Mid terms got over today and been lazing around for the entire day. Assignments and presentations are haunting, but I prefer to take it easy, atleast for the weekend. Only 2 months away from graduation. I do not see the end of the tunnel, yet, let alone some light!!!! Now that internet is functioning again in hostel, I took a 'leisure stroll' across the web to see if something excites me. Found nothing interesting, so getting back to real world. It is still 2.35 only and I do not have the answer as to what I want to do.

Things that I considered doing today but subordinated everything to sleep.

1) Finish SAPM Assignments
2) Start reading Valuation by Damodaran
3) Start Tax Assignment
4) Read Derivatives
5) Gather material for IFM assignment
6) Read Cost Management book
7) Watch any movie
8) and the list goes on.....

It will be dawn in another 3 hours. Got SAPM class in another 7 hrs......What am I doing here now, I should have been in Chennai at this time, if only the darned classes were cancelled......
Anyway, at least I managed to fill some space in my long forgotten blog. Signing off....The best thing at this poing might be to catch some sleeep before the Sun makes a touchdown...

WordChallenge!

2009-04-08T09:11:00.006-04:00

A thing that has got me hooked on is this facebook app called WordChallenge. I love words and more so playing around with them. Infact it has got me so addicted that I virtually play it all the time......... The other day, when I was sitting bored in internship, i was playing this and I thoroughly enjoyed it. All you have to do is make lot of three, four, five or six letter words from the tiles of letters given. You get points for each word formed and extra time for words lengthier than 4 letters. When I was young it used to be numbers. Now its words. There was another facebook, Pathwords, I guess. I used to be addicted to that. But this one is more fun than that, especially because, pathwords allows really stupid words, which am not even sure, that they exist. Try it here.

A year gone by........

2009-04-02T09:50:00.004-04:00

Damn! It has been exactly a year since I wrote my last post..........It has been one hell of a roller coaster ride, since then. I pretty much watched all the IPL games, barring a few, before I packed my bags to b'lore to pursue my MBA (technically speaking, PGDBM)......Its 9 months since the program started but it just feels like y'day!!!!! Its internship time and am with BEL, Chennai. Well its really really great to be in Chennai with family, friends and food........Even the Chennai veyil is not a put off this year..............

Still not sure whether am fortunate or unfortunate to be doing MBA at this time........Anyways, lets see what is in store when placement begins in Q2. There are lots to write about the things that have happened in the last one year....But some other time for that!!!!

Goof ups!

2008-04-02T02:49:00.002-04:00

These days, I have become a pro at spotting errors. Thanks to the 'Caught Snapping' section in the Weekend Plus of The Hindu paper, where people can post bloopers or anything out of the ordinary that they have snapped, for a gift voucher from UniverCell. Anyway, I noticed one while watching NDTV few days ago during the Chennai Test match. There was a news reel at the bottom about the match and it read 'Chenoi'. It disappeared in a flash, before I could move. Not that it would have made a good material for 'Cuaght Snapping' section but a goof up is a goof up and someone (me me me) spotted it.

Some of the articles in msn are fun to read, for you can come up with tonnes of errors. Damn! I should have bookmarked them, coz' am not able to locate them now. And another habitat for errors is The Economic Times. Seriously, you do not have to go looking for errors, they will pop up right on your face and welcome you. It is not just typo that am talking about, but serious grammatical and idiomatic errors, which are simply unpardonable. Still, I read ET for the content. Oh there you go. I found out one article in msn, thanks to the fantastic team, who never disappoints me. Read the last paragraph and you know what am talking about. Interestingly, there is an advert for copy editor job. The work is so shoddy, that I do not mind doing the job for free.

Bakra'ed by Google.

2008-04-02T02:30:00.002-04:00

Damn, as much as I love Google, it is so not cool to be "bakra'ed" twice in a row. At least last year I was caught off guard, but this year, I was searching for some thing, details on Adsense to be specific, when I landed on their blog, which makes it all the more annoying. It is about conversation ads. Nevertheless, it was good fun, just have to remember not to open anything in Google site, next year, suspecting or unsuspecting......

My new blog for Cricket

2008-04-01T11:25:00.004-04:00

No this is not April Day stuff. I have decided to move my cricket musings to a new blog and use this space for other stuff. This is partly because I wanted to create a new space and partly because I liked Wordpress. Anyway, I have promised myself to write more from now on. I have blamed my laptop's malfunctioning for my laziness. But now I have decided it is high time that I key in my thoughts even if I have do not have the services of my laptop. Thank you to those people who have been checking in from time to time for updates. I do not have any valid reason for not writing except the one I gave above. So sorry and please to check this space when you need to unwind. Oh by the way, cricket lovers please check my Cricket Musings here.

And my good name is........

2008-01-18T11:13:00.001-05:00

A common question asked, when two people are introduced to each other, "What is your good name?". It beats me how this particular question evolved. I always show interest in names and sometimes try to follow the logic behind the names. As an extension, I also show keen interest in the way people speak English, especially in India as it is not our native language. Phrases like "Come here, no", "Give to me, no", etc., are all direct translation from theway we speak Indian languages. There are other terms like okay va, foodu, bulbu, etc. Still another phrase which has caught my attention is "I am coming there only", "I was talking with him only", etc.

These are all understandable because the way we talk our native language largely impacts the way we talk any foreign language. However, I still am not very sure how the 'good name' syndrome evolved? Probably it has got to do something with the respect we show towards our elders. Maybe someone started it, because they wanted to ask the name of an older person and probably thought it would be a disrespect if he asked it plainly. Earlier, it used to be the telemarketers or salespeople, who asked this. However, now this culture is prevalent even among the blue collar class.

I feel like retorting back by saying, I have lot of names, but I am not sure what my good name is? I even have favourite names. For instance my favourite name is Sanky, my father's favourite name is Guru, Friends call me Sanky, Sankara, Sanks or even Snake. But the most craziest of all names is Binchu (short for a totally weird name, that my cousin came up with and she calls me that to this day!). But my good name, am still not sure. So the next time, someone asks me this question, I am going to reply to them by reeling off my 20 odd names and let their imagination to select whichever is good.

GR(E)ASY......

2008-01-10T07:50:00.000-05:00

I have been meaning to write this for a long time. But lately I have been getting lot of enquiries regarding GRE. Hence, I thought this is the best time to share my thoughts on this. Oh yeah, I just came up with this title, as I wanted people to feel that GRE can be made easy and it is not as greasy as it sounds. Well do not ask me how the word greasy would fit in, it is just play of words. Sorry if it does not humor you.

Anyways, GRE is not as scary as people want you to think. It definitely is very different from all the exams you have given in your life. However, if you know how it works and if you have a strategy to attack it, you are well on your way to glory! This is one exam that will always remain very close to my heart. It is not a stretch when I say that I felt truly empty after giving GRE, as I did not have anything challenging to do after it. Infact I remember very clearly how I used to play with my classmates even a month after the exam was over. We used to ask each other, words and their meaning, mostly from Barrons Word list. And GRE is special because, it disclosed my writing abilities to me. I got 5.5/6 which I thought was great at that time.

So coming down to the exam itself, as everyone knows ETS administers GRE in computerized format. It is called Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT). This was one of the three CATs that I managed to bell successfully so far, and my one feeble attempt at belling the toughest of CATs was a huge bungle. Well you know what I am talking about. Anyway, as the name suggests it is an adaptive test, meaning the computer throws questions at you, however, they are not randomly chosen, but chosen so that the questions try to reflect your exact capabilities. Simply put, the computer assumes you are an average student, so the first question is relatively easy and depending on how you answer it, the computer selects the next question from a vast pool of questions and the difficulty level of successive question varies depending on your performace one the previous one. For instance, if you answered the first question correctly, the next question will be slightly tougher. On the other hand, if you got the first one wrong, the computer scales down your level and throws a relatively simpler question to see if you can crack it. Head spinning - No - I think it is so cool. And an important thing is you cannot bookmark a question and come back to it later, you have to answer the question on the screen before you can move on to the next.

I am not going to go into the structure of the exam, as you can find it from the ETS website. Moreover, I am not even sure if the format is still the same. But am going to tell you few important things which I will come handy when you take the exam yourself. I will also tell you what to do and what not to do. Please please give it some thought even if you do not want to follow exactly what I say. I know things that worked for me may not suit your style, but it will not hurt to have few ammos on your sleeve.

How I did it?

Please book your dates well in advance. I booked my exam date in May and I took the exam in August. It is very crowded out there, so have two more choices so that you can select any one if one is not available. Also those in college, make sure you book a date when you do not have other exams, for GRE is stressful enough, why make it more stressful? The next thing I did was to work with the book Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis. I do not mind repeating this, but it was one book that made me fall in love with the language. Ofcourse you do not have to go that extreme, but it sure does make things easier when you have to soak up about 3500 words, and makes it pretty interesting to learn new words. I finished this book within few weeks and then started cramming the word list. Sure it is boring, but then it is very very useful. You can make flashcards and review them often or play with your mates like I did. This is more useful because you are bound to remember words which you discuss with others. In the mean time start brushing up your 10th std Math. The Quant section should be a breeze for us brainy Indians. So that is how my prep went. Word List everyday with few Math thrown in to add spice to my day! Make sure you revise your word list atleast once, yes buddy, I mean A-Z, every single word. Or if you are struggling for time, make sure you know atleast the big ones, like A, C, E I, P, R, S, T by heart, which means you should be able to spit out the meaning, antonym and anything you know about the word, even if some one wakes you up at 3 a.m. Sounds like cliche, but well sadly that is the kind of preparation needed. Oh yeah, the toughest part in Verbal section is Reading Comprehension. It is difficult because the passages are obscure, dead boring, will put you to sleep, and will make you hate English. So I suggest strongly that you read the Editorial section of good newspapers like The Hindu, The Indian Express or any paper that you can lay your hands on. I religiously pored over the Editorial in The Hindu literally everyday and trust me, you will begin to see most of the words in Barrons and you will have proof that people after all do use these 'Big' words....

After laying the groundwork, I started giving the mock exams. Give as many as you can. It will be terribly boring, but that is the only chance you have got. Practice, practice and practice. Do exams from The Big Book, exams from Kaplan (the toughest of the lot), Cambridge, Princeton, Barrons or any exam. Make sure you do these exams on the computer, as this will give you reading practice, that is reading from the computer. The fianl 10-14 days leading up to the exam should be dedicated towards exams and yeah just keep revising the word list. You must be wondering why I have not talked about the Analytical Writing Section yet. To be honest I just kept putting it off, so one day, the day before the exam, I finally realized that I had done nothing about it. Phew ! All I did was to go through Arco's Essay book, the day before the exam, It did not take me much time to go through it, and by lunch time, I had written two essays, one each for Issue and Argument. That was all I did as far as the essays were concerned. And when I received my official score sheet I was totally surprised because I had gotten 5.5, whereas people I thought were better in English than me, scored 4-4.5, some got 5. So trust me, do not get worked up over the essays, they are the easiest. However, do not put it off untill the last moment and I assure you go through the Essay book atleast once and practice writing. Oh yeah make sure you use the writing software that comes with Powerprep and do not use MS Word or note pad, because the facilities in the GRE software are limited. I have a .pdf file of the essay book and in case you need it just e-mail, I will be more than happy to send it to you.

So here are some tips and suggestions:
1) Pace yourself, spend more time on the initial questions. Make sure you get the first few right, say the first 5-6 questions, but definitely the first 3. It worked against me as I got my second question wrong in the Quant section and I could not improve my score beyond 750. Believe me it is very easy to get 800 in Quant.

2) Answer all the questions. Never, never, never leave even one question unanswered. I had 5 min to answer the last 8 questions in Verbal section and I did not know this secret at that time, but still started clicking feverishly till I answered all the questions. Ofcourse, I got only 580, but my classmate who is zillion times better in English than me got only 530 because she left about 5 or 6 questions unanswered.

3) If you are stuck with one question and you think you have done everything, but still not sure of the correct answer, try to eliminate as many choices as possible, then make an educated guess and move on. This is not the time to prove the computer that you can crack a very tough one, just guess and move on. Infact if it is a tough question then you have probably done well enough to earn it, so give yourself a pat and move on. However, this is not always true, and dont try to play guessing games.

4) Decide on the universities you are applying to. Yeah the time to do research on uni's is before GRE and not after it. You save hundreds of dollars, if you are applying to say minimum of 8 unis. The ETS reports your score for free of cost, to 5 unis that you mention while taking the test. So for the remaining unis you have to pay $25 to ETS for each uni, that you want to apply to.

5) Do not take any exam on the day before the exam. It could be demoralizing if you get bad score and give you false hopes if you get too good a score. However, the Powerprep is fairly an accurate estimate and your actual score will about 50 points more or less than what you get in Powerprep. Just relax on the eve of the exam. But if you feel upto it, then go through the word list or do some math, topics that are difficult for you. But do not try to learn anything new and I stress it do not give mock exams on this day.

6) Cover yourself in layers on the day of the exam and this point cannot be stressed more. For if you are not comfortable in the room, then the chances are good that it will affect your score badly and you wil not want to repent it later.

7) Ofcourse, this is not the day to practice the Indian Standard Time business. Please be in the exam centre atleast 30 min before the scheduled start time of your test. The process takes fair amount of time and the last thing you want is to get panicky. If you are not sure about the location of the centre, try visiting it atleast once before your exam day, even if you think you know the city very well. You don't want surprises in this front.

8) Take some snacks and water with you. Make use of the break time and take a bite or two. Stretch yourself.

9) Please be aware that the money you pay ETS is mostly used for research purposes. That is the precise reason why you have to answer an additional section, called the Experimental section, however, you will not know which is the experimental and which is the actual one, nor will you know whether you will get Verbal or Quant as experimental one. For instance, I got two Quant sections and one Verbal, one Quant was terribly easy, the other Quant was very tough. To this day I have no idea which was experimental, but I assume the easy one was experimental. Do not try to second the guess the computer and waste your time on this. Just answer whatever question it throws at you, earnestly.

10) Memorize the directions for all the question types. Even one second that you use to see the directions once the exam starts will be counted against you.

11) Finally, few thoughts on AWA. For Issue, write down pros and cons for the given topic. Then start typing madly, and write few sentences on each point. Two or three should be more than enough. Once you have written about 3 paragraphs (One para for each point), then compose the final para. Then only write the introduction. There is a reason for this, because your essay could evolve as you write, so that way you will not waste time changing the intro, and you use that time to edit your essay. For Argument, try to notice atleast three flaws. The essay topics are so structured that there are atleast 3 flaws that you can identify easily. Write them down and then compose three paras, one for each point. Then compose the concluding para and finally the intro para. However, the intro for Argument is fairly routine and you can even decide on the intro para even before your exam. Still I felt it made sense to compose it at the end. Make sure that all paras are fairly equal in length and it is enough if you write two are three sentences for each para.

Finally, this has gone long, very long than I intended. But if you took something useful out of it, then am very glad. I have lots and lots of Cd's with me, with tonnes of material and loads of practice exams. So if you want them just write to me. I will be very glad to send them to you. I do not want to charge anything for these, because I myself got them from many sources. I even had to pay Rs300/- for two cd's that I bought from some one in geocities. Howver, I do not intend to make money out of this, I just want people to do well in their exams. However, I will charge you for Cd's and postage. But if you are in Chennai, and if you can bring your own cd's then you can drop in and get the stuff burned. If you want the cd's please write to me at cooldudesanky@gmail.com.
All the best for your exams!

Test of fortune !

2007-11-25T08:40:00.000-05:00

The 1st Test match between India and Pakistan at Delhi has lived up to its expectations and proved to be a cracker of a contest. Ofcourse there were no demons in the pitch and scores of below 300 by both the teams suggest that it had more to do with the players and their mind. The title does not suggest that the team with fortunes has emerged as the winner, but rather, it indicates how the fortunes kept veered from one team to the other, as each day passed.

In the end the players with character weathered the storm, whereas the others just wilted under pressure. Misbah was the man who steered the boat out of difficult waters for Pakistan and once again he proved that unless he does something really silly, it is quite difficult to get him out. And he is getting better and better at it. So much so, that for a moment I thought he would catch himself out in the second innings ( I was just wondering how innovative he could get!). I just feel bad that he is already 30+ and he sure has lot of cricket left in him. Akthar was at his fiercest best, but sadly he did not get many support. I wonder why Malik did not bring himself to bowl, just to ease the pressure off the four main bowlers. Pakistan clearly did not have many options, unlike India, who had the privilege of additonal bowlers in Sachin and Sourav.

Kumble's debut match as captain has swung in India's favor and he will be remebered in this match for the way he shuffled the bowlers and how he used Ganguly as the 3rd seamer with great success. Ganguly responded well by removing Yousuf in the 1st innings and Misbah in the 2nd. He has also justified the move to send him ahead of Laxman, in the 2nd innings. However, I feel Laxman should come ahead of Ganguly. That will give him more freedom to bat, if he knows there are 2 genuine batsmen to follow him, rather than leave him to play with tail enders. I wonder who the man of the match will be. The choices are between Laxman, Kumble and Ganguly. I have a feeling it is going to be Kumble, with Ganguly having almost equal chance. Should not take more than an hour to knock off the remaining 32 runs and the overnight batsmen should do it without further loss.

Whats up with BCCI?

2007-11-22T10:32:00.000-05:00

I was just wondering what has gotten to BCCI? The accusation of Shahrukh khan did not go down well with most of the public. As much as I do not approve of SRK as a great actor, still I think he is a wonderful person. Everyone knows that it was a very stupid thing to say. The billions of dollars of revenue that is pouring in to the BCCI has clouded the eyes of the officials, so much so, that they have gotten into an accusation mode, bitching everyone on their path. I personally think SRK would not stoop to such a low level. These days, films with big names are hyped up the day the announcement of the film is being made. So everyone is aware of 'Big' movies and the expectations are high. Even if he did try to promote his film, I do not find anything wrong with that.

Why does BCCI think it is illegal? Does it somehow hamper their money making activities? Like when the 'Top guns' misappropriated funds during the match between India and Australia in Hyderabad. Even now that they have patched it up with the actor, the acerbic allegation will always linger on the thoughts of cricket lovers and cinema goers alike. Will BCCI realize that it is getting itself into a quagmire and unless it reconciles with people it has hurt, the consequences will be there to be faced. By the way, am looking forward to the T20 tournament conducted by ICL. More on ICL later........

Excerpts from Businessworld....And more !

2007-11-20T11:58:00.000-05:00

When I read Shashi Tharoor's interview in last week's Businessworld, I wanted to write about it immediately. But I could not write it as I was busy with CAT preparations. Anyway, the point he made about globalization caught my attention really.

"Globalisation is like a fast train. It stops only at a few platforms and not every place in the world is connected to it. In some places, the platforms are there but the train doesn’t stop. We have to find ways to get more people onto that train".

He also talks about Indian politics, International politics, besides globalization.

Anyway, the this week editor's note was very interesting. The editor starts off by criticizing the makers of Om Shanti Om , for the 'obvious' lift from Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical, The Phantom of the Opera . The point he wants to make is that a bunch of returning NRI's are making news for their research, which is original and imaginative, as opposed to stealing other's works.

That crushed my desire to watch Om Shanti Om. The only reason for me to watch it was Deepika . I do not have a very high opinion about Farah Khan's directorial qualifications after seeing Main Hoon Na. And am not a big fan of SRK either. Though I must admit I loved Chak De and liked SRK in Chak De, but not otherwise. Main Hoon Na was half-baked. The scenes were rather nonsensical. I can't believe people enjoyed that movie. Ofcourse except for Sush, there was nothing likeable in that movie. Anyway, so my point is Om Shanti Om is getting rave reviews and doing a good business world over. Apparently it was the biggest grosser in the US, surpassing the collections of Lions for Lambs. So much for a movie that was lifted.

Anyway, I read the stories of both Om Shanti Om and The Phantom of the Opera, but really could not establish an obvious connection. Ofcourse there is a Chandelier crashing scene in both the movies, but otherwise I could not fathom the association between Arjun Rampal's character and that of the Opera Ghost. And I checked www.itwofs.com, the leading website on plagiarism in the Cinema Industry in India. I did not find any mention about this. So I am not going to give a verdict on this, yet, as I have neither watched Om Shanti Om nor The Phantom of the Opera. For the time being, I have to subscribe to the editor, Mr. Jehangir S. Pocha's words.

Metro Rail in Chennai: Will it be the million dollar solution to our traffic woes?

2007-11-19T06:09:00.000-05:00

I was lying down on my bed thinking what to write next? I fought the temptation to write about cricket yet again. Then I remembered the news that I read few weeks ago, about the approval for Metro Rail project in Chennai. I had written about the sorry state of affairs on the roads in Chennai in my earlier blog entry, National Helmet Day. I was also thinking if anyone wrote about these things. I did find couple of nice blogs, Good, Bad & Ugly Chennai and Rising Sun . While the former (By Vinod), gives a broad view of happenings and 'mishappenings' in Chennai, the latter (By Uday) talks about issues concerning the traffic in particular, in Chennai. Both of them were good read. Good job guys.

Uday has painstakingly analysed lot of causes and has come up with lot of solutions to handle the traffic concerns. While some of them are feasible the others may be just good in theory. However, I thought I will mention few additional solutions. The approval for Metro project has certainly left me feeling elated. I vaguely remember that were talks going on for eons about a New Rail System for Chennai to ease the traffic congestion. They even had to shelve it because it was not feasible. I am not sure if it was Metro Rail project was Mono Rail Project. Anyway, I certainly believe this was long due. We do have excellent MRTS service, and with the new line between Beach and Velacherry opened this week (I guess it is today!). Yet, I believe the Metro Rail would definitely ease the suffocation on the over burdened roads.

In addition, I believe we should introduce a system of Congestion charges. The idea is to charge people who use important roads and areas during peak hours a fixed amount. I saw this when I visited London. The London streets are hectic to drive (it did remind me of the nightmares I had in New York) and they impose congestion charges. I must admit it is very effective. To avoid congestion charges we parked our car in a hotel parking area and the charge was only £18 per day. We can similarly impose charges for using roads like Mount Road, Guindy, Koyambedu and other arterial roads. The idea is to encourage pooling and also to use public transport. This also has the added advantage of attempting to conserve oil, what with the cost of a barrel of oil rising feverishly (it stands close to $100 a barrel now). However, we need a very efficient public transport system for this to be of any good.

The next thing that we can do is impose a hefty fine, like I said in my earlier blog entry. The payment should not be made immediately but can be made payable to the department concerned with traffic, separately at a later date. This will also give a chance for the people to contest their case in a court. Still, I think educating people on the basic laws is the primary thing to do. First of all, the Transport Corporation should take action against the wreckless MTC bus drivers. It is true that it is very difficult to maneuver a bus, but at the same time the way the MTC drivers go about their business leaves the people anguished. I still feel that a change is possible. If each of us give it a thought and try to make a change, 'Singara Chennai' can be a reality. Can we?

Oh no not again, Kallis !

2007-11-10T23:18:00.000-05:00

Jacques Kallis, muffed an opportunity to score a double century, yet again, to get the dubious distinction of a batsman scoring 9000 runs without a single double ton. Still, he proved once again, why he is one of the best Test batsman around today, pulverized the depleted Kiwi attack along with Hashim Amla, to take South Africans within a winning distance. Nothing can go wrong possibly for Proteas from here and it should only be a matter of time before the formalities are completed. This is what happens to great players when they are cornered. Kallis came back roaring after he was dropped from the T20 team. Yeah, you know am talking about Dravid too. Its just matter of time before Dravid blackens the face of people who meted out 'injustice' to him.

Kallis quips
"I'm blaming that on Wynberg [Boys High]. They didn't teach me to count to 200 - they seemed to stop at 180" on why the double ton is still elusive.....

Did the Wall Collapse?

2007-11-10T10:11:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to write this ever since the Dear Wall stepped down from captaincy, but never really got around to pen my thoughts. But now I have to, given the fact that the selectors overlooked him for the next two ODI's. A lot have been said about this and I second the notion that Dravid should not have been dropped, but not for the reason widely cited, that is Dravid being one of the big three and has done a lot for India. Remember Steve Waugh, oh well, I know you are saying that is Australia and the standards are high there! I agree, but then that is not the reason why I think he should not have been dropped. On the contrary, I believe anyone not performing well should be given time off to prove in the domestic circuit, before they can play for India. It did certainly work well with Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan.

The very fact that Vengsarkar said Dravid was rested, rather than say he was dropped, annoyed me. He did not even have the chutzpah to say that Dravid was dropped. Anyway, I seriously believe Dravid deserved few more chances. I agree his performace against Aussies was dismal, but remember he did not fare very badly against England. And what did Sehwag do to merit his inclusion in the squad? Infact I remember how he was hustled back into the team for World Cup, even though he clearly did not have enough time to prove his worth. I think Dravid did the right thing by stepping down from the thorn(e), er....throne. People might have thought that the inscrutable wall had collapsed. But I think it was a mere dent in the colossal wall. A dent if not plugged at the proper time would have deteriorated the entire wall.

Now that he has been given more time than needed to perfect out the dent, the results are clear for everyone to see. He made a double ton to pull his state out of an abyss, as he has done for India innumerable number of times. I would like to question the inclusion of Sehwag. With zillion batsmen lined up, we should have scored over 350 comfortably, given the start from Sachin and Gambhir, in the second ODI at Mohali. And when India had batted out 30 overs I sent a text message to my friend saying, if at all India lose, it would be due to the absence of an additional bowler, specially, Murali Kartik, who bowled so well against Aus and in the first ODI against Pakistan. So would the selectors revert back to the winning combination of the first ODI or still persist with lacklustre Sehwag? Well, I will have to wait untill tomorrow morning to see. In the mean time, I am hoping Dravid will find a place in the fifth ODI. Well, I assume Dravid is an automatic choice for Tests. I am not expecting any surprises here, unless the selectors have the gall to 'rest' him.

I tried a lot not to include this part, but I couldn't resist doing so. I would like to point out that when Dravid was dropped, no effigies were burnt, no stones were pelted at any selector's houses. The whole affair was unruffled. He is not the man of the masses, like Sourav or Sachin. But am sure he has a loyal fan base, who do not give much ado about mass heroism. Hail Dravid ! Can't wait to see you back among the thick of things.

Potttteredddd.............

2007-11-09T09:20:00.000-05:00

Yeah, finally I gave in to the Potter mania.....I finished reading the first five books and watched all five films in a space of one week ! Sounds like crazy, isn't it? Even few months ago, I wouldn't have imagined reading Harry Potter books. Infact, I had a choice, way back in 1999, either to read Potter series or Lord of the Rings series. Since my dear cousins wouldn't part with Potter books and also they were half way through their respective Potter books, I had no choice but to read LOTR. I should admit LOTR resurrected my interest in reading after a lacuna that lasted for about 5 or 6 years. I set a record for myself by finishing all the three LOTR books within 10 days.

Anyway, I do not know what aroused to me to embark on the 'epic' journey, but I must admit it seized my attention completely once I began it. It might be due to the endless Potter talk earlier this year, with the much awaited final book and 5th film having released within a short span of time. As luck would have it my room mate happened to have all the 7 Potter books. So I procured them from him immediately. And my other room mate burned all the Potter movies released so far. So that is how Potter finally had me floored, and now I can't wait for November 2008. Yeah, that is when they are releasing The Half-Blood Prince.

By the way, the 5th book I obtained from my friend was totally weird. The story was so completely different and I have no idea how it came into existence. I was thoroughly disappointed when the movie started differently from what I read, because this was one movie I was waiting to see. So then I searched the net for the plausible reason for this seemingly devious occurence. I even read somewhere that J.K. Rowling gave complete freedom to the makers of the film and she wanted to see a fantastic film. I was fuming at this point, because I am a staunch believer that a movie should always be a faithful adoption of the book. At this point I stopped reading the books. And only after a month's time did I realize there existed another version of The Order of the Phoenix, the true version, ofcourse ! So now am back again, reading the 5th book yet again. Yet, I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the other version, I even wish that it was the true version.

Some tidbits from the other version:
Harry starts body building and many girls are placed under Imperious Curse, so they start making advances toward him.
Harry and Hermione fall in love, Ginny and Malfoy fall in love, Lucius is sent to Azkaban.

If any of you have read this version please let me know, I am just dazed by this and if someone can enlighten me how such a book came into existence in the first place. Please e-mail me for a free copy. Any Potter fan reading this?

Global Warming!

2007-10-19T13:32:00.000-04:00

Well, I am really not an authority on this subject to go around lecturing people. But, I just feel it is my responsibility as much as it is yours, to prevent global warming from making a hell out of the paradise that we live in! In fact, we would be held responsible if the future generation do not get the privilege to see the earth as it is supposed to be. So what can we do? First of all, please watch the movie An Inconvenient Truth, if you have not seen it already. We all think that we know what global warming is, rise in earth's temperature, which leads to melting of polar ice caps and finally the land gets submerged under the water. Well, that is true and there is more to it. The very fact that is happening gradually fails to spur us into action immediately. If someone warned you of Tsunami tomorrow, you know how you will react. But I hope not, that we will only act if we experience a catastrophe due to global warming. That could probably mean a loss of billions of lives.

It is imperative that we act today, now ! It is the small things that we do, like turning off the lights when not in use, using fule efficient vehicles, which will add up and the end result could be that global warming is a history. Please do visit Climate crisis . It is very informative and it certainly drives home the point. My favorite line from the entire movie is this,
"Political Will is a renewable source of energy".

It certainly is a witty statement, but buried under it is the truth that the issue is political as much as it is environmental. Whereas, I cannot certainly be involved in the US politics, I can still make myself useful by making people aware. And finally, I sincerely hope that America gets a better president, better still Mr. Al Gore, the Nobel Laureate for peace.

Twenty20 Cricket !

2007-09-22T09:48:00.000-04:00

I am back in this space after a hiatus of 3 busy months. And yeah ofcourse I had to break the shackles, with cricket, again ! Lot of things happened in the past 2 weeks in the Twenty20 World cup and lot has been written already. But I just want to put down few thoughts of my own. Once again it is in South Africa that India has put to rest the demons that arose from the World cup in the Caribbean.

Indian were clearly the underdogs, the least experienced in the T20 format, having played only on e game before this World Cup. Australia and Sri Lanka were touted as the favorites to start with. But the line up for semi finals is rather a surprising one. England lost their way completely in the Super Eights, even though they were the one who initiated the shortest version of cricket and supposed to be the most experienced. South Africa done themselves in against India, after being confused about which target they were chasing. Sounds familar, eh? Graeme Smith chose the word 'disappointed' about his team's performance, probably he could not think of any other word. They were below par even by the fielding standards of India, let alone that of a team coached by Jonty. The name Philander always struck a chord with me (People who read my article on names will know my penchant for amusing names), but only in this game did I realize the true meaning of his name. Phil means loving (as in Philanthropist) and I have my own interpretation of his name. Once again, no offence meant ! Philander as I came to think of it meant Phil+squander, one who loves to squander. He dropped two catches and then when SA would have wanted him to make amends by atleast nudging singles around, to make sure they were still in contention. Infact I was thinking that Graeme Smith would have serious words with him after the game, 'coz they cannot afford to play Aussies with this standard of fielding. As it turns out Smith was spared the trouble. However, SA have yet again slipped when it mattered the most.

Australia finally showed why they are at the helm for ages. They have this ability to raise their game at the most important time. Even though they had a dismal start to the proceedings, they eventually found a way out, thanks mainly to the openers and Stuart Clark. And then there is Pakistan, who shocked themselves against India, much to the happiness of Indian fans, but kept their wits together to ensure a spot in finals. Malik just hit a six to complete the formalities, as am writing this. They would meet either Australia or India in the finals. If it is Australia vs Pakistan, then it would be a one sided game in favor of Australia, even though history says otherwise. If at all it is Pakistan vs India (yeah, I still feel there is an outside chance that India will make it), then it is going to be the most intense match of the entire tournament (that would be a fitting finale for this wonderful tournament)....

Newzealand has been the eternal semi finalists, barring the one time when they won the ICC Knockout beating India in the finals. For the first time, their top order fired in this match only to lose the game. Pakistan were more than happy to chase as they have done successfully, ofcourse except against India, where they managed a tie. Sri Lanka were the favorites along with Australia, but after Jayasuriya failed to give them the starts they wanted, they faltered against the rejuvenated Aussies and the Inspired Pakistanis. And finally, India, who were thought as the underdogs. But little did people know that Dhoni would play the cards to perfection to script 2 emphatic wins, and they were within a hand's reach against kiwis only to blow it away in the end. Dhoni has showed he possesses all the qualities that a leader should have at the highest level. But still its been only a few games and hope he continues doing it in the longer version (oh yeah, ODI is the longer version and Test the longest). He has received excellent support from the young team who have all played their roles to perfection so far. However, they will be tested a lot against the mighty Oz, and India need to maintain the fielding standard they exhibited against SA. Yet, they need to stop spraying the ball around, if they fancy their chances of making to the final, especially Sreesanth. Alright the game is just 45 min away and lets see how the Indians fare against the Aussies. While many people frown upon the shortest format, we should not forget it was conceived to entertain people (ofcourse not to forget the money involved) and it has lived upto the expectations !

National Helmet day !

2007-05-31T10:15:00.000-04:00

Come June 1st (technically 4.15 hrs from now), one can see a sea of helmets on the roads of Chennai and other cities in Tamil Nadu. Yeah, the much needed "Must wear helmet" for all the two-wheelers come into effect from Friday. I personally feel this is a welcome change in the ever chaotic traffic that is an omnipresent feature in India ! However, there are certain other things that need to be done in order to bring a semblance of order on road. First and foremost the driving pattern in ECR. I was shell shocked to see how the vehicles over take one another. When I mouthed my surprise, the answer I got was,"Thambi you are in India, not in theUS". Ofcourse I realize that, I was born and brought up here, I am used to the pandemonium that exists, but this was utterly ridiculous. I mean going to the right extreme of the road, just to overtake the vehicle in front of you, is totally absurd. Adding to my fury was the fact that police men lined the entire stretch of ECR, and they did not bother to pull over any of these wreckless drivers. I think stricts rules should be enforced to curb the unlawful practices. Probably slap a hefty fine like Rs 1000 or 2000, evereytime they do this !

The sad part is people do not realize that it is a serious offence. Just because everyone does it and that we have been doing it for a long time does not mean it is a right thing to do. We do need more organized traffic, until then the deluge of fly overs that are mushrooming all over the city will not help ease the flow of traffic. This subject was dealt with in Anniyan, but that is as far as it got. That is the problem with us. We applaud the movies which make us think, but forget it the moment we get back to the hectic chores of daily life. Now Sivaji, another Shankar's venture promises to offer something along similar lines. It looks to me like a promising movie, especially because 'Thalaivar' has nevere acted in a movie which talks about social reforms, even though there are lot of punch dialogues and 'karuthu' throughout the film. There is no doubt that it will be a blockbuster, but if we can put into practice things that we see in films, I think a change is possible. A transformed India is our dream, but a dormant one at that. If we can dream together and make it a reality, that should be the greatest thing to have happened in my life ! Until then let's celebrate June 1st as National Helmet Day !

Inspired by Five Point Someone!

2007-05-31T09:27:00.000-04:00

On a second thought, I guess, I should also write about Chetan's debut novel. Even though I said it is a time pass read, it does make you question the education structure in our country. In many countries there is more flexibility in the subjects you study. For instance subjects like Economics is still not popular in India and I think an option to choose a completely unrelated allied subject should be made available, rather compulsory! Science group remains the most attractive option even to this day and Commerce field is seen as the last alternative who did not make it to Science group. Ofcourse there are few students who are really interested in Commerce, but barring these few students, much of the candidature comes from the bunch who could not make it to the Science field. Engineering and Medicine are the clear winners when it comes to "What do you want to become when you grow up" types of questions !

I really feeel I would have done better with an Economics option or even a course on Finance or Accounting, at least as an elective in my B.Tech course. If I was made to study Electronics or Electrical Engineering as compulsories in my Industrial Biotechnology major, there is no reason why Economics or Finance could be made available. My cousin studied Latin in her 12th standard (in the UK), and in fact her university required her to take a totally unrelated subject in school, as a general rule. I thought that was a very attractive rule. A word of thought on Engineering and Medicine in Tamil Nadu. The very procedure by which they select students who will become future engineers and doctors is highly flawed. For one thing, the entrance exam is not very competitive, at least the Mathematics portion is pretty tough. But the Biology portion is a cake walk, but that also is done with from this year. Now the future boils down to the high school marks and with no entrance exam, it only adds to the woes of the CBSE students. Whereas a practical mode of education should be inculcated even as early as school level, rules like these only confound the students who are already at crossroads in making a very important decision in their life.

Whereas CBSE is superior to the State Board, it still does not help the cause of the CBSE students. For one thing, the national level entrance exams are clearly competitive, negative marking included, not all students are guaranteed a seat in a college. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu government ensures that most of the students get admission, even though through an imperfect method. Clearly CBSE students cannot compete with State Board students for admissions, at least through the Single Window System, based on Annual Exam results alone. So what happens to the CBSE students? I do not have an answer. I guess I have digressed from the main topic, that is to establish an education system which is more practical, a bit, I thought a word about the plight of CBSE students is worth mentioning. It could be because I was a CBSE student myself.

Books from India !

2007-05-31T08:19:00.000-04:00

Two books that I quite wanted to read for some time, since, my friend told me these books existed. The fact that my friend is not an avid reader of books made me all the more curious. Anyway, the books I am talking about are Five Point Someone and One Night @ the Call Center, both by Chetan Bhagat, an IIT and IIM-A graduate, credentials that would make your parents proud and neighbours jealous. Five Point Someone was a general time pass read, as it would apply to any college, even though it is marketed as an IIT book. But ON@CC is definitely a book worth reading more than once, as it deals with a life that goes unnoticed by many people.

The story revolves around six call center employees and the night that transforms their life, when they receive a call from God. It does make one think about what we are doing with our lives and how often we fall victim to our circumstances. The call from the God is the high point and more interestingly the author presents God like a friendly authority, still not taking away the supernatural feeling. Chetan's English is very simple and is an easy read. You do not have to run to the dictionary every time you come across a 'big' word, unlike traditional novels. I finished both the books in one day. More over you come across words which we use in everyday conversation, but that does not make the novel dull, in fact, it connects you very well with the real world. I think it is a must read for everyone in India, at least people in the age group 20-30, because it deals with us. Vroom captured my attention from page 1, because you see a lot of people who claim to be anti-Americans, but in all reality they are craving for a luxurious life and are jealous. There is a lesson to be learnt from this and I feel it is up to us, the youth, who must stand up and fight for the cause of the nation, if we really want to India to become Incredible India.

A word on the novels set in the backdrop of IIT's and IIM's. I read an article today in The Hindu, which clearly states that these institutes are used as a backdrop for marketing these books. I guess that helps the cause of these books, as I feel these books should reach maximum readers. In fact, when my friend suggested Chetan's books to me, little did I know that they were published in 2004 and 2005. I did think that they came out in 2006, because until I left India, I had not seen these books in bookstalls, or even for that matter in the road side shops. Now lot of these books are making a foray into the bookstalls, the latest being "Above Average" and one other book that am struggling to remember, but it is quite possible that is "Everything You Desire" as mentioned in the article. I remember seeing another book named "Games that Indians Play", though I am not sure if I can categorize that book along with these books! In any case I will definitely read all these books and waiting for more from Chetan and others.

Indian Embassy in the US !

2007-05-31T00:23:00.000-04:00

I think this is a proper outlet for all the anger that has been seething inside me for more than a year now ! However, this is not yet another grumbling of a soul which was hurt by the nonchalant behavior of the typical Indian Government. I just want people to know how Indians are treated by Indian Government officials, not in India (which, everyone is immune to.....), but in a foreign soil, about 10,000 miles from India. Everyone who has gone through the process of applying for a duplicate passport in the US will know the pang of grief that stabs the heart, leaving a permanent scar!

The story began when I lost my passport (no not in the bar !!!), and was left totally bewildered in a foreign country not knowing what to do! It was almost a month before I figured out what should be done and I filed an application for a duplicate passport on 18th September 2005. I later realized that the biggest mistake I did was to send the application by post. The website suggests that it will normally take them 3 months to issue the duplicate passport. When I called them in November they said I will have to wait for at least one more month. But in December I began to doubt that they even started processing my application. The only answer they gave me every time I managed to talk to them ( Yeah, you must consider yourself lucky if they even attend your call, for they are always 'busy' and you always end up reaching their voicemail), was that they are waiting for clearance from India. Now Panic sets in and I was left in dark. I could not get my Social Security number without my passport, among other things. I was officially non-existent those few months and there was no way I could prove that I was I, except for the copies of my old passport that I had made (for which I was applauded!!!!).

Anyway, so finally I decided to make the 'holy' trip to Washington D.C. and give them a surprise visit to find out what was happening to my application. 2536, Massachusetts Avenue, Washington D.C. welcomed me with closed doors. It was about 9.00 am I guess and the basement (which is where all the consular activities take place) was already buzzing with activity. I did not get much help there, so I went upstairs and the door is a heavily guarded one, which will be opened if the security guard happens to be in his seat. From what I observed, I doubt if the employees are provided with a card (similar to FAB card) to enter the building. Even they had to knock the door and I religiously opened the door for so many of them, that I could have made some money if I charged them few bucks for each hour, given the fact that the security was on AWOL for most part of the day! I wanted to be seen like a good guy, so that at least one pair of eyes might notice my service to the nation and reward me (of course by issuing my passport). When I went in they told me to go back home (Raleigh of course) and wait for few more months. When I explained them it has already been 4 months, they did not seem to be bothered. I insisted that I will meet some one in higher position and will not leave until then. I was given an 'appointment' for 2.30. It was already 12 pm by this time. So off I went to grab a bite and I remembered the Indian restaurant in Union Station.

I did take the appointment bit seriously for I thought of all the things I should say when I meet the 'Big Daddy' and tell him how awful it was to live like this. Only that I should have known better. This is a Govt organization and an appointment only means that they do not want to see you again. Anyway, so the 'Big Boss' is in some kind of meeting and he will not be available until 3.30 pm. I told them I do not mind waiting. So the time passes by and I meet lot of lovely people who will have similar things to share, for all of them met with the same fate of waiting game! Anyway by the time it was 5.00 pm I was almost in tears and kept nagging the people at the front desk. But for the old lady who kept talking I would have gone hysterical. However, there was one soul who took interest in me and all the other people waiting there. Her name if I remember correctly is Sheetal. She looked like a goddess to me and everyone praised her profusely. I talked to her and told her my predicament. I have no doubt that she was instrumental in getting things done there and we all told her that she will move up the rungs of the ladder very fast and will reach higher position soon !

Anyway to cut the long story short, I was finally called to the basement at 6 pm. I thought finally I get to meet the guy whom I was supposed to meet at 2.30 and I quickly recalled all the things I had to say. I was in for the biggest surprise when I went downstairs for they showed me the glistening black book with the three lions staring at me proudly and they told me,"This is your new passport". Emotions flooded through me and I felt truly grateful. But at the end of the day I was totally exhausted but it was the 36 page book, my newly acquired priceless possession that kept me going. The only complaint I have is, they could at the very least told me that they are getting my passport ready. I do not mind waiting and in fact I came prepared to wait for the entire day or however long it took me. But I could have at least sat there with peace instead of in a constant turmoil. It left me with lot of questions for which I still do not have the answers!

Why do we find it so difficult to be compassionate with others, especially for some one in a situation like me, where I would at least expect them to be kind, understanding and supportive. But I was treated with disdain. But for a change it was not just the Indians that they treated like this, even the American nationals were treated the same way. There was a businessman, who was leaving on Sunday and still did not have his passport stamped (I went on a Friday). Americans being very diplomatic when chiding someone, said that they found this place totally disorganized and the organization was very incompetent. I was tempted to tell him that, that is how Government organizations in India are run. Trust me I do not want to come across as a person who have numerous complaints against the Govt, for am exactly the opposite. I am on Govt's side in many of the issues (more on this in a future article). I just want people to be aware of this. I would be very happy if the Indian Embassy in the US (I am not sure about the Indian embassies elsewhere!) is run by better people with changed attitude. After all, it is our missionary abroad and much would be gleaned by the people in America, about India from the way the Embassy is run. I wonder if some people even have any work to do at all, for I remember seeing one man in full suit walking in and out for the entire day, doing nothing. I would be the first person to be overjoyed if we see a better Indian Embassy in the future !

The Final Countdown..

2007-04-23T20:04:00.000-04:00

The much anticipated Semi Finals begins tomorrow with the Kiwis pitted up against the '96 world champions. I hope it is not a replay of the previous encounter between the two teams in the Super Eight. Australia has left a dent in the NZ team after they mauled them in the Super Eight match. New Zealand has got Oram and Bond fit for this game, which is a good news. But it is time for the top order to regain its lost touch, especially Fleming, who has a century to his credit, even though it was against Bangladesh. Styris has been the man for New Zealand, this series, with 462 runs and 9 wickets. But like I said earlier in one of my blogs, it is Shane Bond who is Fleming's trump card. Bond is the most economical bowler in this series, but I still feel his best is yet to come. He has troubled the batsmen, but has not really been among the wickets. His best is 3/31 and am sure he can do much better than that. Also New Zealand will be wary of Malinga factor, who is a force to reckon with, even though I will never hail him as a great bowler. The fact that he has picked up 15 wickets, even after missing about 3 games, still does not impress me. Sri Lanka looks like a very formidable side at the moment. They have played to their strengths and most importantly their captain is among runs now, helping himself to 4 fifties and the leading run scorer for them. But still both the teams lack the firepower to dethrone Australia, so it should not matter much for Australia, whoever wins this game. I have a gut feeling that Sri Lanka are going to pull it off against New Zealand, even though I wish that does not happen !