Tuesday, 29th April 2003  (1:00 PM)

"Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask
in their glory and praise their system ...."

Just came across the transcript of a speech by Dr. Abdul Kalam.  The above sentence struck me right on the face.  Well, its actually very true.  We really are lazy cowards always cursing our system, but never doing anything to set it right !!  It does prick our conscience when we hear such words......

For those interested, you can find the transcript of Dr. Abdul Kalam's speech here.  

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Monday, 28th April 2003  (5:00 PM)

Reading ....

Finished with the 'Catch 22' book.  A great one.  I think my next blog will be about that.  Started with 'The Negotiator' by Forsyth.  Forsyth has been one of my favorite authors.  His books have so much riveting detail that it keeps you spell bound.  The Wodehouse book is half way through.  

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Monday, 28th April 2003  (11:00 AM)

Forwarded mails ....

Today, I got one of those annoying forwarded mails again.  I just hate this thing totally and consider it a real menace.  Can't people who do such forwards think for themselves ??  Some people know that it doesn't carry any value and that it is just spam.  Still they think.... Why not just forward it ?? No effort wasted on it .... Well, for you, it might be no effort wasted.  But think of the person who receives that forward.  He might find it really irritating.  

Forwarding nice jokes/pictures or links or any interesting stuff is ok.  But why forward such irrational and disgusting mails as good luck mails, friendship mails etc etc ??  Come to think of it logically man, does good luck come packaged in emails ??  Does your friend need to know the 'depth' of your friendship only through those sweet sounding words in such mails ?  And sometimes its so grossly senseless !!  Most of these mails say this (or something similar) "This mail has been sent only 4 times throughout the world.  You will receive good luck within 4 days of receiving this mail." !! What, emails come with timers eh ?  After 4 days, poof, out pops a good luck package from the monitor on to your lap !!  Come on guys ...think rationally.  And the most irritating of all these is the 'compelling' message in the end that 'forces' the person to forward that mail to everybody in his/her list.  Something like ... "Don't keep this message. it has to leave you within 48 hours"  Oh God.. so disgusting !! The last line will most probably be "Send it to 5 people, your life will improve slightly, forward it 10 people, your life will improve marginally, forward it 15 people, your life will improve drastically, forward it to 20 people, your life will improve tremendously " !!!  How do people cook up such things  ............

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Friday, 25th April 2003  (11:00 AM)

The current state of affairs ...

I was reading some of my unread mails today when I saw a mail from my friend, LP to the bisianz group, in which he had mentioned that this year, the number of admits to US universities seems to have diminished for BITSians.  He was of the opinion that BITS seems to be losing out technically.  The viewpoint of some other students of my junior batch was that it was better to be the topper of some insignificant college than to be an insignificant person in some great college like BITS.

Of course, I do agree that this year, the number of admits seems to have reduced. But I feel that it is a global phenomenon rather than for BITS alone.  These days, lots more students are applying for MS and you can't expect everybody to get an admit.  And the aid situation in US universities is not good enough.  As for BITS losing out technically, I just don't agree with that.  It might be that we are faring poorer than previous batches, but compared to other colleges, we are still doing a lot more better.  The competition that you face in BITS makes you perform better.   I have visited some colleges in my state and heard about the experiences of some students there.  There is absolutely no doubt that we are far better than them.  Of course, there might be a few students there who may be perform better than us, but overall, we are way ahead of them.  

And it is not just studies that maketh a real man/woman.  There are many other aspects that contribute to your personality and I feel that BITS gives you lots of them.  The 'department/club' culture that we find in BITS really shapes you up and brings out the best in you.  And nowhere else other than BITS, can I find students managing both their studies and their extra-curricular interests with equal emphasis and doing well in all aspects.  BITS, truly is a place to behold .......

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Wednesday, 23rd April 2003  (4:00 PM)

Some people are so irresponsible .....

There are some people in this world, who are so irresponsible in life that they can never be reformed.  They act in such an immature and offhand way in some circumstances that it irritates you.  For example, there is this, what shall I say, a 'distant' friend of mine who had borrowed some significant amount of money from me long ago. Its been 3 years since I have been requesting him to return the money.  This, after giving him enough grace period to return the money without me asking for it.  

I agree, people do have to borrow money in some tight circumstances. But the moment, we are out of it, we should make it a point to return that money with heartfelt thanks.  It is a shame for us if we bring ourselves to such a situation that we are asked to return that money.  Regarding the person in question, I have been asking him to return the money once every 2 or 3 months in the hope that he will act in a responsible way.   On each such occasion, he comes up with some wayward reason for not returning the money and then promises me to return it as soon as possible.  I have stopped counting the number of times I have asked him.  I just cannot fathom such sloppy and disregardful behavior.  God knows when or how they can be reformed to act in a prudent manner.......... 

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Tuesday, 22nd April 2003  (6:00 PM)

Sars in Pune !!!

What started off as a joke is now a reality !! The other day, we were joking that Sars might spread in Pune and people might be affected.  Yesterday, three suspected Sars victims tested positive, bringing our worst fears to reality.  The microbes have started their menace ......  Lets hope that the Sars virus is contained and eradicated soon from the face of the earth .......

When Sars broke out in Hong Kong, there was an article on paper which said that such an epidemic was due long back.  Goes to show that humans, despite the tremendous progress they have made in the medical field, are still unsafe in this world.  The human body is such a complicated system created by God.  If you think of the body in the cell level, you will be amazed how smoothly the human body functions.  But diseases and epidemics do break out in accordance with the law of averages.  Of course, till now, we have been successful in containing them somehow.  Yet, these microbes and viruses get mutated in some other form and strike again.  Just proves that no human can recreate the magic of God.  In fact, nobody can even modify or rectify something that He has created.  We are all under his Supreme control and yet we think that we are not so ..... 

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Monday, 21st April 2003  (11:00 AM)

Reliving old memories ......

Old memories are like chocolates that are too tempting to resist.  How much ever you have them, you are still left asking for more.  You just cannot stop yourselves when you are with old friends, discussing those golden moments in college, spicing up the conversations with good humored banterings aimed at everybody.  

After a very long time, I met my friends, Gora, Halwa and Sombu.  And what a great time we had !!!!  We first thought of going for a movie, but in the end, it was a better decision to put laccha.  We went to Sombu's house at 10 pm and it was a marathon laccha session till 2 in the night.  With songs of Run, Gemini, Kadhal Virus etc running in the background, it was the perfect atmosphere for a good round of laccha.  It was with a refreshed feeling that I slept that day.  And a wonderful trip to Lonavla/Khandala with Gora and my other Pune friends was just the befitting end to the great weekend.  In the end, I was left wondering when I will get a similar opportunity for reliving those glorious old moments.....  

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Saturday, 19th April 2003  (11:00 AM)

Surprises Galore ......

It was a galore of surprises that awaited me yesterday.  It started with a surprise party thrown in by all my group members in our canteen in the evening.  I was stunned with a mixture of surprise and delight, for they had treated me as their equal and wished me.  Well, what can I say but "Thanks" for all that they have done for me.  And a special thanks to Vikas for not messing up my face !! :-) The next big surprise was from my friends at Pune, who gave me a real surprise at night.  Of course, I got screwed around a bit, but it was all part of the fun.  It was a nice feeling to sleep that day with so many surprises.

And the surprises continued today also, with Jacobi, Imran Kedar, Piggy and others.  And a nice one from Intranet, Veritas too !!  And what a better finish to the day than reliving old memories with Gora, Halwa and Sombu !!  And with many other 'expected' surprises throughout the day, it was simply a tremendous feeling throughout the day ........

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Friday, 18th April 2003  (3:00 PM)

People change ......

The internet revolution has made all of us lose our identity as physical beings. I realized today how long it has been since I met one of my closest friends and how much he has changed over the past few months. The person in question is Kana (real name: Karthik Narayan).  Today, I was chatting with him when he said that he has removed his french beard and that he has reduced his tummy and built up a good body. It struck me that I have never seen him with a french beard !! When I informed him about this, his response was that he has been having his frenchie for the past 1 year !! We have been chatting daily for many months and never did it strike me that the person at the other end could have changed physically. I used to imagine my friend as he was one year before and this 'normal' change in physical appearance appeared to me as really abrupt though you may feel that it is only a change in beard !!!

Now I am really looking forward to see how he will look like in a frenchie !!! I never had such a feeling before, but today, on knowing that he had a frenchie before, I am desperate to see him adorned with a frenchie. I asked for his recent photo but he says he doesnt have any recently scanned photos :-( Now, I have resorted to imagining how he would look like in a french beard. I don't know why, but I can't prevent picturing his face to myself once every two or three minutes ....

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Thursday, 17th April 2003  (12:30 AM)

Sac out ¹ !!

Today, I was just ruminating over how I had spent my life in my psenti sem².  When I think over it now, I feel as if I have wasted 5 months of my life doing nothing !!.  But, it was nice to spend a life like that after 4 years of hardwork and toiling in BITS.  Life at BITS is made up of so many ups and downs.  One moment, you feel so elated and in the top of the world, and the next moment, you are brought down back to earth with some harsh reality.  

As for the life in my psenti-sem, the day started only at 10 or 11 am when we got up lazily.  Breakfast ?? What is that ??  We spend an hour or so reading news and putting laccha³ on anything and everything under and over the sun !!.  12 noon : Time to go to mess and have lunch.  After lunch, another enthued⁴ laccha session  or a movie in my comp.  If nothing else, crash !!.  Get up at 5 pm and directly go to redi⁵ for chai.  Another laccha session in the wing corridors after that or songs in my comp.  8 pm: again mess and after that off to the audi for a RAF movie or to C'not⁶ for another enthu session.  Back to the bhavan for a midnight movie and a nice crash with sweet dreams after that. Thesis ??? What the hell is that ?? 

1. Sac out     : The act of having a jolly time.

2. Psenti-sem : The last semester in BITS.

3. Laccha      : General discussion performed by a group. topic could be anything. Lasts for hours together.

4. Enthu        : Enthusiasm.  Highly contagious especially when in high numbers.

5. Redi          : Small roadside chai shops.  Favourite evening hangout for BITSian guys.

6. C'not         : Connaught Place.   Not of New Delhi, but of local Pilani. 

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Wednesday, 16th April 2003  (9:30 PM)

My First Blog !!

Hi Guys !!  This is my first attempt at writing blogs.  I don't know how well it will take off because I am not a very prolific writer.  Here's hoping that I receive good feedback from you for my blogs and that my attempt at blogging becomes a success.

My first blog is dedicated to one of my closest friends called Solar Suppandi (real name : Sairam K.).  When he started blogging, I thought "What the hell !!" and here I am.  Not that he is not a prolific writer or speaker.  He can write or talk for hours together about anything and everything.  You can look at his blogs here.  The fairer sex amuses him so much that he spends most of his time with them.  But if you want a warm and considerate friend on whom to depend on, Sairam is your guy.  He will be there to help you whenever you want him.  

I have to thank Solar for more reasons than one.  Even the template of this site has been more or less copied from his site only.  

Well, that ends my first blog.  Hoping that this blog, written in this new year (Vishu , as it is known in our family) continues to grow and becomes a success.

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