The New Year Beckons!!!

The Dawn of a new begining!

I wish all my friends (online/offline) merry x'mas and happy new year!!!

Hello THIS is customer care...

Statutory warning: The probability of you confronting with a similar situation, described below is unity if u are a Hutch user!!!

I finally am spilling out all the filth that I had suppressed within me, for the past 3 days. With exams round the corner, it was a wise decision. I have finally managed to pull some time off to key this issue and share with u all the unshared agony in mine.

It was a minute past 12:00 AM on 25th of DEC, 2006 ... I was busy messaging R, updating her abt the status of my exam preparation. The day had witnessed some ruthless messaging by me and naturally the free sms count was nearing zero. Unaware of an an unforeseen 'calamity', that stood hiding to strike my account balance really hard, I kept messsaging. As usual, I got the reports from hutch abt the prev call/msg details. Since it usually costs me .5 Re/- per msg after finishing my 100 sms quota per day, I paid little heeds to the post delivery report. But soon I realized that the reports were texted differently. There was something fishy about it!!!

There u are ... I checked my account balance, only to find that every message sent to any local network was costing me 1 Re/- I uttered, "What the hell?". Without any delay, I called up the Hutch customer care (I doubt if they really do care?), to enquire regarding such an unprecedented action. I really was fuming coz, my current balance wasn't really enticing. Finally after 10 mins of continuous attempts, my efforts paid off and I got connected to the Hutch customer care (or rather don't care...).

Here is exactly what the convo went like, with the customer care execute -u ....

CC: "Hello sir, this some 'XYZ', how may I assist u?".

Me: "I wanted to know why I am being charged Re 1/- for every message I sent from 12:00 AM onwards."

CC: "Sir, (watch his words) we have been directed by the TRAI, to bill every message sent to any local network on national holidays @ Re 1/- to avoid 'congestion'. So every message sent from ur cell to any local network, will cost you Re 1/-"

Me: Phew! (Hey wait.... I have heard of this word , 'congestion' in computer networks and I know something abt it...). I was very irritated and so continued to bug him. I said, "Well, in that that case the TRAI should have imposed the same regulation on other GSM/CDMA service providers as well, isn't it?"

CC: Yes sir, (quite confidently) its true. This billing applies on all the national holidays, to all the service providers from here on.

Me: "Okkk!" Though not fully convinced, I didn't have any other source to cross check the veracity of his claims.

CC: "Sir is there anything you would like to know?"

Me: I uttered, quite subtly, "No thats enough for the day!"

CC: With his stereotyped concluding statement, "Thanks for calling HUTCH ...." I literally disonnected the call, coz I knew I wouldn't have a gr8 day ahead !!!

Now to the investigation phase of it.

I did a bit of enquiry with all my friends, the next morning, who have subscribed to different service providers (That covers providers from 'karlo duniya mutthi main' to 'Aisi azadi aur kaha?'). I was really shocked to know that none of them had been billed (or rather bullied) as per the so called TRAI regulations!

Now thats so cheap! Mind you, u can't have employees @ Hutch customer care passing on this 'bad news' (which is nowhere close to truth) to all ur subscribers and fooling them all the way! I decided I had enough of it...

Now why I am so much worried abt? Is it suchha big crime to hike the billing on spcl occasions to aid smoothening of traffic? Is it not the 'real' way of providing customer care? Blah Blah....

Thats enough of a substantiation! I got a few questions to Hutch as well. Lemme c if they are liable to any satisfactory answer?

1. If they are so very concerned about customers, then they should have intimated to all their subscribers a priori, regarding such a change in billing, probably with a note for the reason to do so. They bug me with all sorts of crap messages abt contests and others. Why did they not do it similarly regarding the change?

2. Why was I lied about the TRAI's false regulations imposed on all service providers?

3. If their networks aren't able to handle the projected traffic on a given busy day, I say, "F**K off" with ur service, who the hell needs it? Call it off, its more of a trouble than a service!!!

4. If other subscribers india can give the desired service, on even the busiest days, without having to layoff or deviate from their billing norms considerably, why can't Hutch do it?

5. If Hutch is so customer centric, it should have ensured that its floating user traffic was well within congestion levels or atleast close to a good QOS, even on so called national holidays, when its most needed! (mostly to wish ur near and dear ones).

6. If Hutch customer care executives can mislead its subscribers so convincingly, the days are not far, when the customers will switch over to other service providers, who are on their toes to grab the pulse of the market!

With reports around that Hutch is on an offering and there are powerful bidders going for it, I just hope to get a better QOS in the future.

PS: My final take on this issue. A couple of days from now, the new year celebration will be in full swing (precisely after 12:00 AM, on Jan 1st). Now i just hope, I don't get the same crap reply from the CC, "Sir, its a National Holiday blah blah....!", after wishing my friend a happy new year!

Examination Blues!!!

Finally pulled some time off and managed to give my blog, a whole new look :) My previous template seemed to have flooded with 'too much content' or rather links. So just wanted to give my blog a bit more simple and easy to read look!!! It was always @ the back of my mind to switch over to a 3 column template, which i finally have done.

How cruel is this winter?

You gotta prepare for exams when ur mind just simply refuses to remain awake! With eyes drooping and body aching to death, u are forced to slog all thru the night. Thats a tough ask, when the winter has 'cold fired' from all quarters and nights are chilling exponentially!!!

Having said that I am haunted by the so called 'exam phobia' or rather 'exam-perfomo-phobia'; which often has brought the best out of me, I hope I extract the most out of it. Nights metamorphose in to the wee hours of the morning and u still remain firmly slouched in to ur study chair, with ur TBs.

Oh God F1 all of us!!!

My cellphone inbox daily gets ameliorated and @ times cluttered with all sorts of 'anti-vtu' msgs. But then I feel it's a sort of liberation one gets, a sense of expelling the built in 'energy', that one accumulates, over the period of study(?) holidays; by constantly forcing oneself in to the textboks.

Given the fact that many books come out of the shelves and drawers (a few from the book stalls), only during Nth minute of the examination, the above senario of night-outs, is not much of a surprise. What better can be a testimonial, than ur friend receiving ur call (after a single ring) even @ 3:00 AM.

The funniest thing being ppl, outta here run over to M's xerox shop, just in case to find out if he has got any new VTU book of any of the subject! The prescribed books for sure seemed to have failed to entice atleast 75% of my friends outta here. Well I can't really blame them for, its the time factor thats limiting them :)

Everyone is slogging and what am I doing?

Gotta push buddies!!!

"Please hold on OS... I will be @ ur service shortly!!!"

Ek choti si SMS!!! (Sweet message service)...

I finally upgraded to blogger beta!!! So here is my first post on Blogger Beta!

Got this one from R. Found pretty nostalgic and hence posted it here. Cruising to the fag end of 7th semester, in the final year, reminded of my stay here @ BIET, davangere. Its literally been my own story (mostly), verbalized poetically...

Kuch baatein bhuli hui,
Kuch pal beete hue,
har galti ka naya bahana,
aur fir sabki nazar main aana,
exam ki poori raat jagna,
phir bhi sawal dhek ke sir khujlana,
mauka mile to class bunk karna,
phir dosto ke saath juice peene jana,
uski ek jhalak dhekne college jana,
dekhte dekhte attendance bhool jana,
har pal ek naya sapna,
aaj jo tute phir bhi apna,
ye college ke din,
in lamho me zindagi ji bhar ke ji lo,
yaad karke in palon ko,
phir zindagi bhar muskuralo.

PS: With exams due to start from 28th (Theory extrnls), and labs on 13th and 22nd (Seem to be quite an onerous task ahead....). I w'll be posting articles less frequently... Till the next post enjoy the nice little SMS :)

SRK hits chota parda with SRK - KBC

The King Khan of Bollywood to step in to the shoes of BIG-B.

Kaun Banega Crorepati—scrumptious fodder for those addicted to the idiot box is returning back this time with the Bollywood’s biggest brand name Shah Rukh Khan.

While the much hyped quiz show is going to be a respite from lackluster saas-bahu saga on television, Star Plus is counting big time on KBC to rake in big moolah.

KBC 2 anchored by Amitabh Bachchan charged the sponsors over Rs 3 lakhs for a 10 second spot and around Rs 20 crores for each episode. This time with Bollywood’s hottest star Shahrukh Khan making appearance on the small screen, the stakes are going to be even higher.

KBC 3 will have 104 episodes and for each episode Khan will be paid around Rs 30-50 lakh. With such high figures and even higher popularity, the sponsor and spot rates on the show are bound to inflate. Star is counting big time on SRK’s charm to woo the advertisers.

"Next week we are meeting clients in Delhi and Mumbai. We will tell them about the details of the show. KBC is back four times a week from Monday to Thursday 9 to 10 pm with Shahrukh Khan in it. We are expecting a huge premium out of it," Star Entertainment India CEO, Sameer Nair said.

The show will go on air from January next years and will be slotted between 9 to 10 pm, for days a week. The channel heads say that the show timings have been positioned keeping in mind the cricket World Cup that starts in March next year.

However, with previous sponsors Nokia and LG having already invested Rs 20 - 45 crore on cricket, will KBC sponsorship run into rough weather? Is it going to be tough for the show to find big-ticket sponsors?

"KBC is certainly going to be a big thing in 2007. Post cricket it would be on top of our priority but a lot depends on the TRP’s it will be able to deliver. Since Shah Rukh Khan anchoring it, of course it will rank high but at the same time it might conflict with the brands he has endorsed," LG Marketing Head, Sandeep Tiwari said.

Star has converted the show to an annual seasonal one with a 13 week run. And with a brand new 5-year contract with former owner Celador, Star seems willing to bet on KBC for a long run.

PS: I am sure there is huge expectations from King Khan. First it was the Don, now KBC. Dunno whats next? Welcome back SRK!

Re-(don't) view - DHOOM 2...

L to R: We all Suck in the exponential order!

The week before was spent in depression and this week in utter sleeplessness, courtesy my proj guide and internals. Literally ye dono ne to mera din ka chain aur rato ki neend uda di hai! Bhagvaan, is pyare se bandhe par kuch to rehem ka!!! I never should have made such a decision to watch this utterly hyped, desperately disappointing, mo-wee(p) called DHOOM-2. Why did I watch? (actually I just saw it...).

It was the joint impact of the happiness of having discovered that K had got back his pen drive, which was supposed to be lost, with me allegedly being the cause of it. The other big news was, tomorrow we got CIP (a crap subject!). Now thats a perfect time to schedule a prospectus hangout for a matinee show. We were 7 of us. K, S, G, V, M, J and myself. We had huge expectations from D-2.

Just to remind readers outta there, that the author resides @ a place which is semi-urban cum semi-rural cum semi-local cum semi-global village cum city called Davanagere, located @ the heart of Karnataka. So a movie @ Aruna, which is precisely 0.74536633% of a PVR version outta here (It does offer you a G class sort of thing, but only for VIPs).

Enough of the prelude, lets get to the crux of the post. I had read this review of D-2, initially I felt that the author had just exaggerated too much, but man you were damn right!

It didn't take more than a few minutes for me to judge the fate of the rest of my journey @ the theatre. But the kind of optimist I am, I didn't give up so soon! We slipped in to the seats A-32 to A-37, and me literally sandwitched b/w S and M. We were seated quite far off from the nearest fan, so it was gonna be a tough show ahead. I must say that, a few gals in front of my seat had a bit of a prob with the seating arrangements, so they shared a seat! Boy, a big big blunder, as the duo soon realized...

The movie finally began after a short trailer of Kabul express (check this one out, seems worth a balcony, @ PVR). I have got very specific comments on a few scenes of D2, so shall re-view them specifically. Here we go...

• The crown robbery sequence, where Hrithik (Aryan/Mr.A) is shown performing a few breathtaking stunts. Well you gotta give it to the director, for coming up with succcha crap thing like that! I knew I was watching D-2, but arey Bollywood walo, physics naam ki bhi koi cheez is duniya main hoti he yaar. Koi itni short range se bullet se bach nahi sakta. Koi sand par itni kalai se skate nahi maar sakta and the biggest thing that bugged me @ the end of the seen was, why did all those black suited guys, (The ones whot resemble guys, as in blue star ad...) shoot Hrithik @ his chest or abdomen. Crap! He is a six+ footer dude, atleast one of them could have tried for fore-head or a leg. Hey wait, Hrithik is supposed to be alive, for our hero hasn't entered in to the movie yet! I just held myself from saying WTF, but uttered okkk...
  

• Now to the second scene, where Abhishek, allegedly makes a perfect bollywood istle type of entry on the silver screen. By far the scene that contradicts all the laws of physics. Ask me what’s wrong in the scene; well did you observe the trajectory which he makes off in to the air, to brilliantly shoot the so called silly bollywood istyle villains. Boy! he should have come from a min of 50ft- 100ft, below water to get such a lofty trajectory (roughly). And guess what my dear, he is not a dolphin for sure, to make such a thing so skillfully. Again physics ki dhajjiyan udayi gayin he. Okkkk I am neither a physics professor nor a die hard fan of it! But what was he doing under water?
  

• After the diamond robbery, I was about to say, wow! But wait... I was again haunted by another physics paradox! Hrithik escapes via a drainage opening (manhole) and @ the other end makes a volcanic eruption sort of entry! Now that’s too much dude... I mean was he fired off his feat, by tying him to Agni missile or what? A good 25ft above the ground, from a good 25ft below! Amazing buddies!!! Again the chase sequence where Hrithik is chased aerially via a helicopter by Abhishek, is yet another crap! Well I must say, that if can't shoot him (Mr. A), with a thing like a sniper or shotgun, you gotta be cooking for ur wife @ ur home and not chasing a super robber (A- that’s the sign, Hrithik leaves behind, after every robbery) like him.
  

• The most insane character of the movie? U would unanimously vote for Uday chopra(Ali Akbar Fateh Khan). I know it’s a Yash Raj banner movie, but just to salvage his already drowned career, you can, in no way fit in a clown like him! Does he make you laugh? At some stages, I got convinced that he surely seemed to be a premature pass out Nimhaans, as a patient of course. You will get sick with his idiosyncrasies! His virtual fantasy with Bips, (I will come to her soon...) has been promoted as an ad for a matrimonial site or something like that! Don't get amused if you find any snap from the movie @ the home page of a matrimonial site! The guy ALI is simply wasted in the movie. If he is in the movie, simply for his excellent biking skills, lemme disabuse all your myths, he an utter waste! He doesn’t even get closer to Hrtihik's skate boards, in a chase sequence. Such is his excellence! All in all an utterly disgusting character! U will get sick of his PJs. M almost drowsed off after the interval, not to mention after watching the so called and supposed to be hot scenes of Bips, where the self proclaimed and re-incarnated hottie, makes an unwanted entry is a routine beachwear. Was the directory running short of substance? Or was he utterly confused as many of the viewers?
  

• Now to the first new entry of the movie, Bips(ACP Shonali Bose). The viewers know that she is hot, as she herself admits (or rather say in her own way, a bombshell). But gimme a break, it’s supposed to be an action thriller and not a Monday night romantic comedy as in star movies! The way she needlessly hugs Uday (No I am not jealous!!!), and the way the silencer honks @ the back drop! All of them might seem good for the first few times, but u will soon start to get irritated! C’mon the director seems to have judged that anything shown (pathetically) sleazy sells in bollywood. And Uday shud not have been shown as suchhha pervet guys, he really doesn't deserve it. C’mon the guy for sure needs some respect, as he is shown to be begging for one, to the Khadoos (and at times edaaa) ACP Jai Dixit! Apart from her sleazy outfits and faked smiling gestures, Bips was a needless entry!
  

• Now to the female version of Hrithik, or as he says, 'Parchayi' (shadow). I must say that, Ash (Sunehiri) has really shed a few ounces of lipids. She seems okies with her typical more of a smirking than a smiling face! The only other character (apart from Hrithik), which shows some maturity in acting. (Well I can't really blame the rest, for the script is so sick... I wud give away another 100 tickets for free if anyone could precisely explain me the exact storyline of the movie!). Ash sells gud in the unnecessary dance numbers. Her only asset to prove her presence in the movie. Given that fact that, she was there to replace Esha deol, she seems to have done her job well. Nothing seemed to end perfectly as an LL with Hrithik. She, at times tries too hard to impersonate Angelina Jolie, of Tomb Raider! But don't even think of it, she is no where close to her... All in all, you gotta bare with her irritating facial gestures, which mostly seems confused!
  

• Well as I had mentioned, M got up finally, just 20 min before the movie climaxed. The first thing he utters is, "Lo maams, what happened till now, brief it lightly!” I was about to trash him on spot, but soon got conscious of the so called theatre etiquettes. I just told him, "For god sake, gimme a break, it’s not a serial, that I recap to you the highlights of it. Damn it!". We are watching a sucking movie, paying a gud 35/- bucks (That’s quite an amount, considering the fact that it’s not B'lore PVR theatre, buddies), in the last row of the balcony and here my neighbor comes up with suchaa an irritating stuff. Slouching back in to our seats, that were positioned kms away from the nearest fan, we literally waited for the D-moment of the movie! Finally after that entire chase vaas thing, Jai and Aryan are face to face at the top of an unknown falls! Hey, forgot to tell you ppl. A scene, that probably leaves even a lay man flummoxed as to how is it possible, and that finally made me utter WTF... Aryan takes off from the top of a place, probably a 1000ft high altitude, but he makes sense, the dude has a got a parachute. But what comes on screen next, is something, that will make your heart skip a beat or 2. Our so called able ACP, jumps off from the same alti without parachute !!! (God knows how he gathered suchhaa nerveand courage...). C’mon the scene blows u off ur senses, when he clings on to Hrithik’s back without even the slightest mistake effortlessly! The new bond, Daniel Craig should learn a lesson or two from our ACP yaar. Whaaa maan gaye bheedu, tumne ne to sirf physics ki hi nahi, poori aerodynamics ki hi dhajjiyan udadhi...
  

• The final the thing that irritates you too much, even to the extent of forcing you to resort to bombard the silver screen with your shoes or sandals, is a pathetic ending. C’mon dude we were expecting not suchhaa crap littlie thing to happen for the past 2+hrs. No FIR, no ENQUIRY, faisla on the spot. A crap, dialogue from Abhishek, "Chalo pyaar ka case hai, isliye maaf kiya". Would you believe that?
  

The next thing I remember was me walking downstairs. With a numb feet, as they rightly were, for I literally had slouched in to the chair for those 2+ hrs. I could see my friends outside, waiting to watch the evening show. I am sure, they would have gone thru the same exp.

PS: I am worried now, really worried! Wondering, about what? If john Abraham in D1 is replaced by Hrithik in D2, think what D3 would have in store for us. I can't take it anymore. Gimme a break! Plz stop it ppl. S said that TOI (Totally Insane Journal) rated this movie with 4 stars. All I managed to say was, WTF.... Plzzz don't watch Dhoom-2, not even if you have plans to buy a cool bike like those in D2.

When was the last time...

Just jotting down a few of my random thoughts as they rushed thru my mind. This is pretty much the wee hours of the morning, something that I haven't seen staying awake for the past 1 week. All the following thoughts are random to the fullest extent, both in content and order of presentation.

• When was the last time you had a telephonic convo with a person for a gud 10-15 min and wondered whom u spoke to a little while earlier?

• When was the last time you ever carefully watched the ppl who dance around the 'HERO' in the dance sequences in movies/albums? (If at all u have the habit of doing so!)
  

• When was the last time you swtiched on the TV, just to see Ads?
  

• When was the last time u ever talked with a stranger in a bus or train all the way to ur place and forgot to ask his/her name?
  

• When was the last time you felt why the whole world doubts your potential and why you need to prove ut potential to every one around you?
  

• When was the last time you ever felt why you like /dislike a person right @ the outset, even though you don't know him/her?

• When was the last time you were rendered paranoic after an unexpected success?
  

• When was the last time you felt lonely, even after being in a large social gathering?

• When was the last you ever questioned someone who said, "why this way?", as "why not this way?".
  

• When was the last time you laughed your heart out @ a joke?
  

• When was the last time you slipped in to a nap, during a seminar or a class?

• When was the last time you walked around in the garden freely, without worries or tension?

• When was the last time you helped your mother in the kitchen?
  

• When was the last time you slept asthough you never would get to sleep again?

• When was the last time you preferred a pani-puri/bhel over a Pizza?
  

• When was the last time you called your friend, just to say a 'HI'?

• When was the last time you read a page in the book for more than a hour, unchanged? (obviuosly bcoz of lapse in concentration:).

• When was the last time you helped someone cross the road flodded with traffic?

• When was the last time you fought with ur bro or sis over trivial things with utter innocence and reconciled?
  

PS: Have you ever felt u are running short of words to express urself? Well I currently am. Lemme stop @ this...

To be or not to be?

To be or not to be ... depressed?

I am trying hard to battle it out. But I am trapped hard in this whirlpool of depression. I am not able to share it with anyone outta here. So with utter desperation, I blog my mental status. Its killing me bit by bit...

Nothing sounds gud, looks gud nor does any convo interests me. I seem to have been avoiding any important discussion or chat with any of friends. I feel a lot more relaxed being alone. Something is bugging me from within...

I had been to the Uth fest @ NITTE, enjoyed it to the fullest. Ever since I have returned back, I just don't seem to be in tune with the happenings @ the college. I haven't been able to communicate with my friends to the fullest. Every convo is half broken and I seemed to get irritated pretty soon. My minds has gotten pretty fickle over judging issues and ppl around me.

To escalate the tension, are the 'dead lines' from my guide to submit the proj synopsis by the end of the coming week. I am in search of a good proj for my final year. Hopefully we shall manage to find one.

A few probs with my cell as well. I must say, I have been literally handcuffed with the absence of my mobile. My probs seem to be cumulative. Damn it!

I just wanna say to V1,V2 and V3, "Guys, if I have been pretty insensitive to u ppl in the recent past, just forget it... Coz nothing said (or unsaid) or done was purely unintentional. I know my behavior to you might have left u bewildered, but then I am victimized by this depression stuff. Hope to come out of this stuff soon."

PS: I just hope to get out of this state @ the earliest!

Be a part of making history!

The "New7Wonders Foundation", which is the body behind the New7Wonders campaign, has the express aim of documenting, maintaining, restoring and reconstructing world heritage under the motto:

"OUR HERITAGE IS OUR FUTURE."

The "New7Wonders Foundation" calls on all citizens of the world to support it.

Through film, television, the Internet and books, people shall be alerted to the destruction of nature and the decay of our man-made heritage.

Monuments in jeopardy, perhaps in a dangerous state of decay, can be saved by publicizing their beauty and highlighting their plight to the international community.

The "New7Wonders Foundation" was created in 2001 by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber, with a mission to protect humankind's heritage across the globe.

The initial stages of the New 7 Wonders campaign were financed by Weber himself, aided by a small number of committed N7W Members. You, too, can join these members, who remain firmly committed to the project and its aims to this day.

All N7W members have the right to a listing on the N7W Memorial Wall.

Fifty percent of all net revenue raised by the New 7 Wonders Project is to be used to fund restoration efforts worldwide. One such project is the mission to recreate the giant Bamiyan Buddha statue in Afghanistan, which was featured in the Swiss Pavilion along with the New 7 Wonders project at the 2005 World Fair in Japan.

The Foundation, which is based at the Heidi-Weber-Museum in Zurich, Switzerland (an architectural landmark in itself, as the last building designed by renowned architect Le Corbusier), is now well advanced in its aims, with many milestones already reached.

Now, the N7W campaign is in its most exciting, and crucial, stage.

At the end of 2005, the N7W panel chose 21 candidates from the top 77 nominees that had earned the most votes, and these 21 are now in the final stage of the competition. The official N7W 21 finalist candidates were announced by the panel's President, Prof. Federico Mayor, on January 1, 2006 in Zurich.

The final round of voting for the New 7 Wonders will continue throughout 2006 and half of 2007. Then, on July 7, 2007 -07.07.07, the dream of the N7W initiators will become a reality as the globe joins together to celebrate the New 7 Wonders of the World, as chosen by the world's population using modern communications technology.

The list of 21 finalist monuments are as below:

1. Acropolis, Athens, Greece.
2. Alhamra, Granada, Spain.
3. Angkor, Cambodia.
4. The Pyramid of Chihcen Itza, Mexico.
5. Christ Reedemer, Brazil.
6. Colosseum, Rome, Italy.
7. Easter Island Statues, Chile.
8. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France.
9. Great Wall, China.
10. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey.
11. Kiyomizo Temple, Tokyo, Japan.
12. Kremlin/st. Basil, Moscow, Russia.
13. Machu Pichu, Peru.
14. Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangau, Germany.
15. Petra, Jordan.
16. Pyramids of Giza, Egypt.
17. Statue of Liberty, New York, USA.
18. Stonehenge, United Kingdom.
19. Sydney Opera House, Australia.
20. Taj Mahal, Agra, India
    
21. Timbuktu, Mali.

On September 5, 2006, in Athens during the launch of the New7Wonders World Tour, the location of the Official Declaration of the New 7 Wonders of the World was announced: Lisbon, Portugal.

The Portuguese event agency Realizar Impact Marketing, known for its innovative, international multimedia, will create and produce the event on July 7, 2007, which will be broadcast around the world.

From left to right: Bernard Weber, Founder and President, N7W; Manuel Vaz, CEO, and Paulo Pereira, Presidente, Realizar; Jean-Paul de la Fuente, Head of Value Development, N7W.

The New 7 Wonders of the World will be announced during the Official Declaration ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 07.07.07.


You can join the N7W Society now. Become an official part of this dynamic community and support this historic project.

... be a part of the making of history !


Get complete info on this mega project:

http://www.new7wonders.com

PS: I have casted my vote. Now what do you wait for? Its just a click away...

Swarm - Your window to the web!

Fed up of Googling? Wanna know which website people around the world visit more often?

Well you finally have got this site, that just fufills your appetite!

What is Swarm?

The Basics:

Swarm shows you what websites people are visiting, right now.

Swarm is a graphical map of hundreds of websites, all connecting to each other. It updates itself every second with where people are going and coming from. As sites become more popular, they move towards the center of the swarm.

Website traffic is symbolized with thin lines. Each time you see a line appear, it means someone has moved from one site to the other. You can gauge how many people are swarming around based on the number of lines.


Why use this?

Swarm is a useful tool for browsing the web, not searching it. You need to come here with an open mind and you may find some really cool stuff.

Community:

In addition to a forum, Swarm allows you to chat about any link you see. When you see a little chat icon flash, it means people are actively chatting about that link. You don't have to wait for the icon to appear, you can begin talking about any link you find (and hopefully someone will join in!)

Firefox Extension:

You may be asking where Swarm gets its data. The answer is in a Firefox extension that you can optionally download. When you download the extension, websites you visit are anonymously sent to Swarm. There is no registration, no email and no personal data ever given to Swarm. You can also turn it on and off easily. Learn more.

The Firefox Extension is the lifeline of Swarm. Please help enrich Swarm and join the community by downloading the extension.

PS: I did find swarm pretty handy, in knowing where the world's internet traffic is heading towards. Just give it a try, you might stumble on an interesting site...

Being a last bencher and more...

It was one of my final year resolutions... I have finally moved back, not in time, but in space!

Given the initial condition that I am a very lethargic guy, something that I have imbibed congenitally. I am true licensed version!

I remember how I used to enjoy being in those 'almost last benches' of the class, where I could easily have slipped in to a lofty nap, amidst the most 'interesting classes' (I wonder if there were any???), unperturbed. I used to drowse off in the classes without even the slightest clue to the lecturers, that I was enjoying the state of mental dormancy!

Well my engineering life began, with me literally getting 'adhered' solidly like a feviquick, to the first few benches of my class room. Amidst the whole rat race of 'image building' process in engineering, thyself seemed to have forgotten its true identity, one of a true lethargic creature! Yes I have been slogging quite relentlessly all these 3 years and need to do it in the finally year as well... I had all the plans to prolong and reproduce my prolific track record here @ engineering as well. But as fate would have decided it, all my 'Best Laid Plans' seemed to have flopped!

I had been literally categorized, biologically as Homo-Sapien-De-Nocturnale. (A nocturnal creature, often mistakenly addressed as human being!). If not for the whole campus fiasco, I wonder if would ever have managed to pull myself, out of this vicious circle. I am finally done with it. I have moved back!!!

Well those were only trivial reasons to substantiate my resolution. But when I digged more on that, I found out why my mind seemed so desperate to move back. I must bring it to the notice of the reader that, I am someone who has been totally morphed to suite to the needs of a perfect slogger, a basic requisite if your plan to be a success-full engineering (student?). So all these days, I had been literally slogging, even if I hated to do it. Ooops! But now my mind seems to have saturated a bit, and is desperately trying to engage in to doing 'different things'. Well nothing hazardous though, it’s just, that I am responding to my most innate instincts.

Now to the crux of the issue. Howz it to be like @ the last benches of a classroom?

At the outset, it’s just a heaven! But lemme tell you what, I have also found new ways to 'listen' (to what???) in the class, amidst the highest noise levels! I have also found a better place, from where I could ward off some really boring classes like CIP (Constitution of India and Professional Ethics. Man it sucks!). A gud time to fiddle with my mobile!!!

Given that, I am only 83 days old residing at the last benches in my engineering career. But I have undergone a 'rich' experience, which has changed my perception of an ideal classroom, something that I carried with me all these 3 years sitting with V1. My engineering career was carefully incubated (credits to my profis and V1) in the first benches for the past 3 years. I have finally decided that I had enough of it and I wanted to redeem my 'Last Bencher' title!

Now pretty seriously, why did I move back? I wanna check...

1. Is performance in exams = Spatial position of a student in the class?

2. Are last benchers really that notorious and prankish, as they often looked up on as?

3. I wanna really get a bird's eye view of my class, when the class is on. I am quite jealous of my friends, who boast of enjoying it.

I am almost half way down in this controversial venture. (V1 and V2 are upset about my decision. I must say that they are a bit over paranoiac!)

So far so gud :) I am enjoying my stay in my new niche. I am proud to be a last bencher! A whole new 'League' of Last Benchers has grandly endorsed me... Looking forward to having some good time outta there...

Well I am pretty conscious of my decision and I have contemplated over it quite profoundly.

PS: I had mentioned about me going mobile shortly. I have finally gone mobile. I really have got tons to write about my mobile musings. I will post them shortly. I would present before you my detailed analysis on a new emerging research topic, 'Mobile Message Redundancy' or MMR :). Oooops! One more message, is it an MMR?

THE FLAWLESS GENIUS!

In Spain they call him Mr Formula 1. It is an appropriate name as Michael Schumacher has dominated the sport in a manner not seen since Juan Manuel Fangio.

Name: Michael Schumacher
Nick name: Schumi, The Kaiser, Mr F1, The Red Baron, Rain Master/Rain King
Born: 03-01-1969
Birth place: Huerth-Hermuehlheim, Germany
Nationality: German
Debut: Spa, Belgium

I am not an F1 geek!

But thats Schumi, who makes even the remotely interested people in F1, a die hard fan of F1!

I happened to read an article, in a daily about this legendary F1 maestro. It was not just like any other article that quoted stats and merely 'testified' his caliber, but was about the man whom we know very little about. The article clearly elucidated and proved beyond doubt, why schumi is the greatest of the great.

His professional career is for sure exemplary, but what makes schumi close to every one, is his 'Larger Than Life' gestures in personal life as well. He stands out as a role model to millions of his fans, with his 'clean personal life', something that one hardly gets to see in most of the so called celebraties.

Schumi's way to top wasn't a cake walk. For someone who came from a realtively poor family, schumi had an innate talent, driving on kart tracks (at the age of 4), which continued later on, on the F1 tracks as well. Schumi's 'Never Say Die' attitude is what has led him to scale great altitudes, which to many F1 aspirants is only a fantasy.

Schumi is also best acknowledged for developing very unique strategies in F1. Be it his fastest laps or his grip to drive with the same exuberance on even rain drenched tracks or his most popular 'pitstop' strategy (with Ras brown, strategist) tie-ups, schumi has always stood out of the herd to elvolve out victorious in even the most remotely favourable conditions.

Its surely a mockery of this great talent, that luck seemed to be so hard on schumi. He lost out in his last 2 Grand prix championships, largely because of technical flaws.

After the Brazilian Grand Prix, Schumi quoted, "Today my racing career comes to an end,". "Obviously, it is a special moment for me, and I am proud to have lived my career with some fantastic people, namely everyone who is part of the Ferrari family."

Schumacher, 37, retires after a prolific 16 years in Formula One with most of the driver records, including 91 victories and 68 pole positions.

A few from the media fraternity were probably harsh on Schumi, who wote articles about him titled "Farewell Schumi, to the Flawed Genius", (utterly insane and a derogatory remark!) .

Kudos Schumi! The whole world misses your brilliance and so do the F1 tracks. Its hard to imagine F1 without Schumi.

PS: No matter if Alonso managed to pull off a brilliant victory @ The Brazilian Grand Prix on 22nd Oct 2006. But the same race unarguably gave the whole world a sure testimonial of schumi's caliber! I am sure his performance till date clearly seperates the Great from the Good!

~IT's My Life

Deepavali, a few memories....

Deepavali is back again, in its fullest and truest colours. It has knocked @ the doors of my life with something new, each time it has been around. As it truly signifies, it symbolizes the victory of good over evil. It also signifies the beginning of a journey from darkness towards light. I am all the more thrilled this time to celebrate deepavali, in full swing.

Today as I sit back to jot this one down, my mind subtly tries to read those very 'old files' saved in my 'HDD' (God's ultimate gadget, the Human Brain!). My mind is deluged with a zillion memories of my childhood days and how I used to celebrate deepavali. I simply miss them.

During my school days, deepavali for me used to be nothing more than a golden opportunity to burn crackers and of course buy some new dresses, thus enrich my wardrobe. There wasn't a better opportunity for me flaunt the new clothes in front of my friends, than deepavali. I still remember how I used to quarrel with my brother over the issue of sharing crackers. I always @ the vantage point, since the 'Younger Brother' factor always favored me. My brother @ the other end, used to subtly grumble why I was given more 'priority'. I feel it was simply to make me feel secured, when my big bro was around (he used to bully me a lot). I suppose we were too small to understand those issues then.

Deepavali also reminds me of those very typical incidents associated with its celebrations. The day used to begin typically with an oil bath, something which I hate taking one even to this day! I used to create a scene @ my house. I was succhaa stubborn little package then! It was always my father, who would console me and somehow convince me to have one, in return for some baits (usually more crackers!). Most of the time, I would be forced to play ‘Treasure Hunt' thing, to discover where the crackers were hidden. I just used to love it. I have fresh memories of it being played effortlessly by me, even for weeks. When I used to discover them, it used to bring in me, a sheer sense of jubilation. I was never a good sport @ burning big crackers, like rockets or a seven shooter or even a hundred wala. So my bro enjoyed the opportunity to burn the bigger ones and I simply loved the way they produced the flamboyant colours when they exploded in the sky!

Times have changed and so have I. The concept of burning crackers late night, no more entices me. I feel I am better off with these 'chemical stuff'. I have off late (since my pre-university days), resorted to 'eco-friendly' methods of celebrating deepavali. I 'burn crackers' on my AMD powered PC. I see them burst out in to colours, not in the star studded sky, but on my 15" LG monitor. The whole world seems to have been squeezed in to a 15" Gizmo. Deepavali, no longer allows me play those 'treasure hunts', nor am I such a stubborn small package anymore! I don't get to quarrel with my brother over such trivial things with such a blissful innocence any more.

I guess being 'grown-up' has got its own short comings. I miss my childhood days, where I used to quarrel with my brother over trivial issues like cracker or flaunt my new clothes in front of my friends. Today I hardly get to enjoy the 'music' of the loud crackers. I seem to have lost even the remote innocence, one has in his childhood. The same innocence which allows you to celebrate festivals for the mere sake of enjoyment, not knowing what it really signifies. Those were the days when I didn't know what Deepavali meant, but I used to enjoy! But today when I know what Deepavali means, I am pathetically searching for reasons to enjoy it. What an irony?

Life seems so incomplete without festivity and what bigger can it get than deepavali? While I key these thoughts down, my mind seems to log this query to the god almighty! "Oh god, give me back my childhood days. Coz they are simply priceless".

I will definitely find reasons to celebrate deepavali in grand style. I wouldn't allow life's materialism take a toll of my happiness.

On this occasion, I would like to wish all friends a very happy and a prosperous deepavali. Hope the year ahead brings happiness and prosperity in your lives!

PS: As I complete to jot this one down, I have a confirmation from my father. I am finally going mobile! Hurray! At least that should keep me rocking for a while, during this deepavali.

Words Fail Me!

What Everyone Who Writes Should Know about Writing

Well I have been haunted with this idea for quite some time now. I came across this book in Amazon.com. I happen to read it's editorial reviews, felt as though that I have discovered a real gud one!

Here are a few reviews of the book:

• Patricia T. O'Conner's Words Fail Me is written in the same lighthearted tone as her snappy grammar guide, Woe Is I. This time out, O'Conner tackles the writer's art. "Good writing," she says, "is writing that works." This book is the perfect text for the novice writer who tends to gravitate toward comedic instructors. "Crummy spelling," says O'Conner, "is more noticeable than crummy anything else." Organizing your material "may be a pain in the butt, but it's thankless, too!" "Write as though you were addressing someone whose opinion you value, even if the reader is ... a stingy insurance company that won't pay for your tummy tuck." O'Conner's material isn't new--like many such books, Words Fail Me advocates the use of small words, fresh verbs, and only well-chosen modifiers--but rarely is a primer so amusing. And the clever titles strewn throughout--"Taking Leave of Your Tenses," "The It Parade"--provide added pleasure, particularly for anyone who knows how hard it can be to put a headline on a piece of writing. --Jane Steinberg
  


• Patricia O'Conner's Words Fail Me presents so many practical insights into effective writing that I suspect it would be valuable to almost any writer. And there's a bonus: she has a great sense of humor. She debunks the faux pas fallacies that snobbishly tell us how not to write -- don't use contractions, don't start sentences with conjunctions, etc. And she tells us how these supposed `rules' came to be. Wisely, O'Conner's most important rule is this:
<>
"Your first duty to the reader is to make sense. Everything else -- eloquence, beautiful images, catchy phrases, melodic and rhythmic language -- comes later, if at all. I'm all for artistry, but it's better to write something homely and clear than something lovely and unintelligible."

I read quite a lot, mostly nonfiction (philosophy, reference, science, theology, and wilderness travel). Inevitably, reading compels me to write -- I've submitted more than fifty book reviews to this forum. Yet I'm never quite happy with my writing. This is not unusual. "Your favorite novel or history or memoir is just someone's last revision," says O'Conner.
As a student I disliked studying the nuts and bolts of English. Words, their accuracy, economy, and artistry, interest me far more now, and this book is the first "how to write" text I have read. At the risk of belaboring the obvious (because good writing doesn't): it was a good choice.
Highly recommended. - Wesley L Janssen

PS: I would, for sure try to get a copy for myself.

Problems with Blogger!

Hello friends, I am currently facing a few formatting problems with my posts in blogger! So plz bear with me! thnx.

Update: The problem has been fixed!

Friends proposed and ...

Hadn't had the oppurtunity to blog for a few days (Well not too much really, only 4 days!). A lot of things have happened outta here @ my college.

To begin with, the computer science forum, in collaboration with Red cross (Youth wing) had organized a blood donation camp, on 14th Oct, 2006. It was a huge success. A total of 138 volunteers, donated their blood. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to volunteer it, as a donor.

We also had the slections for various events, the winners of which would be represting the college team,@ 8th VTU Uth Fest, to be held @ Nitte college of engineering, Mangalore. The Fest wud start from 8th, Nov, 2006. I also had participated in 2 events, Debate & Quiz . Well I am not worried about debate, what really is 'bothering' me is, if in case I make it through in quiz, (I must confess that I am not so gud @ it) I would have to do something what Munna does in Lage Raho... (Visit library and start read quiz books!). Boy! the 'worst thing' about Quiz was, there were many questions about movies and music, (English, I am okies with it :D) and I have managed to answer them well.

Did I say quiz? Well wait, I got one more thing to share with you. Today there was a quiz event organized by ISTE. I attended the quiz prelims along side 149 other teams. I was teamed with my friend 'Sa*****.M' (I need to be very spec here...). Well, we never really thought that we would make it to the nxt round, along with 19 other teams! (I dunno why were so confident about, rather why Sa*****.M was?). The results were out by 4:15 P.M. and guess what? We had qualified and Sa*****.M was missing from the campus! To make things worse I was not supposed to change my partners. Phew!

Well, V came up with this jack pot idea, as he often does. We manged to call our friend Su*****.M. The fact the we got more than one S******. M, here in my class, really helped me a lot. Well, the next thing we did was to somehow convince the organizers that he is the actual 'Sa*****. M'. (They had not seen the real S). We finally finished with the 2nd round, 'fortunately' this time there was no way, we would qualify! Thank god u saved me!

Well before u plan to charge me of playing 'cheap tricks' I employed to attend the 2nd round of the quiz, lemme tell you, after looking @ the paper, We were supremely confident that we wouldn't make it to the next round! So guys, fortunately, I haven't caused any potential trouble to anyone!

PS: Enough of this frivolous stuff! I am currently in search of a project (a substantial one) for my final year. My search (Google) is on. Hope I would find some good project!

My 1000th

My blog stats have finally crossed the 1000 mark. Hurray! Something that will propel me to deliver a bit more verbally in days to come. It has been exactly 3 months since I have entered in to the blogosphere, and I am enjoying every bit of my stay here. It has been a real awesome learning experience for me. Like any mortal blogger, feedbacks and suggestions are the best source of motivation and of course the best 'food' to survive in the blogosphere! So keep sending them to me.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to few of my friends, who have helped me, and constantly inspired me to blog! Karthik, Vijay, Harish, Srikanth, Santosh and many others.

I also am pretty grateful to all ISB bloggers, who are so refreshing and inspiring in their content. I just love to read their blogs. Kudos folks! U people really rock! In particular, I would like to thank pratima, chiranth, anu, mama. They are simply the best!

My blogging journey, as a reader began in and around the month of July, when I finished with my 6th SEM exams. I accidentally happen to visit this blog. I was really inspired by the author's style and content. Hence I decided to start a blog of my own.

As evident, I might seem to all as a fickle minded guy, especially when it comes to presenting the blog content. But, look @ it the other way, U will discover me, as someone who always craves for something new!

My blog has undergone the following changes (Its true to the best of my memory!):

• I have changed my blog template at least 3-4 times. I dunno how long will I stick on to this one.

• I have added (and deleted) quite a few links regularly. I always do this '+ - ' thing with my blog a lot.

• I have off late added these useful daily updates which have helped me enrich my vocabulary. I need to work on that!

• I have been subscribing to different 'free counters'. I suppose this is my nth free counter, ever since I started this blog. I am a real freak!

• I have finally got a separate ISB blog roll. I simply love to read them.

• I have changed my pic on the profile page of my blog, atleast 3-4 times! This apparently is my 4th pic I guess.
  

PS: Last but not the least, I would like to thank all my readers, for sending me some of their valuable suggestions and timely feedbacks. They have for sure helped me, and will continue to help me evolve as a more seasoned blogger.

The 2006 winner, The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Youngest ever woman wins Man Booker Prize at age of 35

Kiran Desai was tonight (Tuesday 10th October) named the winner of the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for The Inheritance of Loss, published by Hamish Hamilton.

The Indian-born writer has a strong family tie with the prize as her mother Anita Desai has been shortlisted three times since 1980 but has never won. This year, however, her daughter, Kiran, has won the acclaimed literary prize.

Author of the 1998 universally praised Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, Desai is the first woman to win the Man Booker since 2000 when Margaret Atwood scooped the prize with The Blind Assassin. Her winning book, The Inheritance of Loss, is a radiant, funny and moving family saga and has been described by reviewers as ‘the best, sweetest, most delightful novel’.

This is the first time that Hamish Hamilton has published a Man Booker Prize winner although they had two shortlisted authors in 2005.

Chair of the judges, Hermione Lee, made the announcement at the awards dinner at the Guildhall, London, which was broadcast live on the BBC 10 O’ Clock News. Harvey McGrath, Chairman of Man Group plc, presented Kiran Desai with a cheque for £50,000.

Hermione Lee comments,

“We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Man Booker Prize for 2006 is Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss, a magnificent novel of humane breadth and wisdom, comic tenderness and powerful political acuteness. The winner was chosen, after a long, passionate and generous debate, from a shortlist of five other strong and original voices.”

Over and above her prize of £50,000, Kiran Desai is guaranteed a huge increase in sales and recognition worldwide. Each of the six shortlisted authors, including the winner, receives £2,500 and a designer-bound edition of their book.

The judging panel for the 2006 Man Booker Prize for Fiction is: Hermione Lee (Chair), biographer, academic and reviewer; Simon Armitage, poet and novelist; Candia McWilliam, award-winning novelist; critic Anthony Quinn; and actor Fiona Shaw.

The Winner

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Hamish Hamilton, £16.99

‘Kiran Desai is a terrific writer. This book richly fulfils the promise of her first.’ - Salman Rushdie

In the north-eastern Himalayas, at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga, in an isolated and crumbling house, there lives an embittered old judge, who wants nothing more than to retire in peace. But with the arrival of his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, and the son of his chatty cook trying to stay a step ahead of US immigration services, this is far from easy.

When a Nepalese insurgency threatens the blossoming romance between Sai and her handsome tutor, they, too, are forced to consider their colliding interests. The judge must revisit his past, his own journey and his role in this grasping world of conflicting desires - every moment holding out the possibility for hope or betrayal.

Kiran Desai was born in India in 1971, and was educated in India, in England, and the United States. Kiran studied creative writing at Columbia University. She is the author of the critically acclaimed Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard and The Inheritance of Loss.

More on this: click here...

The Other Side of Outsourcing!

A Thomas Friedman / Discovery Channel look at high tech outsourcing to India.

Me, myself and my sick monitor!

The last three days have been quite eventful. A lot seems to have happened outta here.

My monitor has been bugging me a lot. There seems to be some problem with it. I better fix it, before it gets too late. It simply doesn't 'listen' to me, unless it takes a bit of a hammering from my side. Red alert!

I also watched the movie Davinci Code. I hadn't had the oppurtunity to read the book, so wasn't biased or pre-conceived. I enjoyed the performance of Tom Hanks (The Oscar boy!). Must confess that the movie for sure will get u watching it over and over again. (Probably because of ir's uncanny storyline, if u happen to watch it without reading the book, DC).

As I had mentioned in my previous post, regarding dedicating a new blog for bringing the insanities of orkut to limelight, we have opened this blog: orkut insanity. It's a team blog, run by 3 of us ZOD, Bee and myself. Hope we will bring everything under the sun, about orkut to limelight. Feel free to contribute to it.

We had been expecting our 6th SEM results, pretty anxiously. Finally the mystery unfolded on Friday afternoon. I must confess that luck seems to have for sure leaned towards me. (Sorry Harry, I have picked ur orkut status lines!). Luckily, I managed to pull off a decent score.

After that blog entry on 'Deciphering orkut scraps', my friends, who have read that article on my blog, seem to have become very conscious of their entries in to my scrap book. I have not received any such 'Decipherable scraps' off late. Folks, the article was written for the sole purpose of providing some phun and nuthing else! So feel free to stick to your normal orkuttian literature.

PS: I happened to visit this site called Resolve Query. I recommend all of you, to go out there as well and pay a visit. Quite a resourceful site indeed. Thnx to the site owner and it's contributors.

Inspiring Story! Free Hugs Campaign (music by sick puppies)

I happen to find this video showing a very inspiring and a novel campaign! As it illustrates, sometimes all we need is just a hug! A message worth spreading...

~IT's My Life

Deciphering orkut scraps...

Disclaimer: The author owns the copy rights of this blog entry and it shall not be reproduced in any form whatsoever. Any resemblance, to any kind of orkuttian literarature in this blog entry, is purely co-incidental. The author, shall bear no responsibilty, whatsoever, for any kind of direct or indirect refrences to any orkut user (Online or Offline).

Off late orkutting seems to have smitten me for sure. I have been orkutting quite stupendously. So this naturally has helped me gain a bit of proficiency in orkuttian literature ! After a week long 'deep analysis' of various orkuttian profiles and known scrap book entries (nope, I haven't indulged in to any sort of fugitive work!). I proudly present before you my 'Winter Thesis' work on a very novel and emerging research area called 'Deciphering Orkut Scraps' (probably this might very well fetch you a nobel prize or something equivalent). I must confess that even though orkut scrap literature is pathetically stereotyped, at times one also finds a few really gud and off beat ones as well. I have off late been exposed (rather victimized) by suchhaa pain in the neck sort of orkuttian scraps! I have quoted below a few typical scraps from the orkut literature and their latent meanings. It's a small effort from my side to decipher the so called 'cryptographic orkut scraps'. Here we go...

1. Howz life out there? (or what's up @ ur end? or how r u doing?)

>> The most toughtest of all the questions. You are trapped! U open up a new conversation if u answer it or will get mercilessly bugged up, if u remain quite, with a zillion interrogative questions about why u didn't reply.

2. Nice to c u in orkut!

>> I am really amazed when ppl say this. what do people mean by this? Does it in any way, remotely mean, that I look nice only on orkut eh? (Like people check that column in their orkut profile regarding pets: Like them in zoos!)

3. R u online? (When u receive an instant scrap as reply from ur friend?)

>> The most dumbest of the questions one could send on orkut! I'm offline would u believe it? U know what, orkut allows users to send scraps being offline these days! (I have been tempted to say this on several occasions, but somehow out of modesty I have refrained from doing anything like that).

4. Keep in touch.

>> Well it has a plethora of subtle meanings. One of whose many meanings is as follows, I don't have anything much to scrap now! The ball is in your court, pass it back to me if your interested or let it die bouncing (in an exponentially decaying fashion) in ur court.

5. It's been pretty long since I scrapped u.

>> Well before you get too excited to answer this one, plz take some time off, to see his/her scrapbook. 9/10 times, this is used as a powerful tool to find a new source of scraps! It often ridicules me why people suddenly remember u when their scrap book entries dry up! Just chk on them.

6. C da this is ur first scrap! I am the first to scrap u!

>> Is it? Wow! I wouldn't have known about it, if not for ur timely acknowledgement, thnx. I mean, this crossess all limits of insanity! C'mon plz don't expect your friend to be so dumb!

7. Wow tum bhi orkut main? (I saw it in X's scrap book)

>> What does that mean ha? I know orkutting is legal, but c'mmon u can't humiliate me like that! I am not an outlaw!

8. Looking gud eh? whats cooking up dude?

>> Well thnx or wait.. what's me looking gud, has got to do with me cooking up something ha? @#$%%%? I dunno why ppl try to smoke out everyone's personal affairs unnecessarily in the public.

9. kya beta hai yaar... orkut pe..... koi special reason?

>> Yeah, don't let this go public. It shud be between us. I am working on CIA's new mission to track down offending users in orkut, who are trying to introduce some malacious traffic! C'mon every one knows why people join orkut. (If u still have doubts about it's objectivity, visit orkut's home page)

10. Keep scrapping!

>> I wonder if it's a request or an order. But in any case, u need to shower atleast a few scraps in to his/her scrap book!

PS: Well, my search continues for more of such weird stuff on orkut! Will post them as and when I find anything new. My new mission is to get to all (weird) types of about me: sections in profiles!

Munna Bhai and Gandhigiri...

Finally, I managed to pull some time off my whooping sleepless schedule, to watch the movie 'Lage raho munna bhai' - Munnabhai meets Mahatma Gandhi. After watching the movie, I felt as though I never could have found a better way to know Mahatma and his philosophies. Lage raho... illustrates it in such a lucid and a rolling-in-the-aisle humorous manner.

Murli Prasad Sharma alias Munna Bhai (Sanjay Dutt) this time around plays the role of a history professor, pretending to know everything about Mahatma Gandhi. He happens to meet Jhanvi (Vidya Balan) by winning a quiz contest on radio. He gets trapped when Jhanvi asks him to come over to her place, to deliver a lecture on mahatma and his ideologies. Now he gets compelled to read all about Mahatma. He spends days together literally in the library, to learn every bit about mahatma. That’s when he has his first tryst with the man himself, Mahatma. Only munna manages to see Mahatma (must say, a very novel concept in itself), while he is invisible to the rest of the world. Mahatma promises munna to take him on a road, which is difficult to travel but success @ the end of the journey is assured.

The rest of the movie demonstrates the concepts and ideologies of truth and nonviolence in the simplest possible terms (no hi-fi jargons) or to say, "In the akkha mumbai istyle". The movie literally proves the relevance of Gandhiism in today's world. We might boast of being in the 21st century, and might have framed out new ideologies for tackling problems. We may ridicule and talk cynically of the outdated ideology of gandhigiri. But folks, watching 'Lage raho....’ made me feel that, we probably need to re-work our philosophies. The movie has so many scenes where Gandhigiri clealry wins over so called Gundagiri. For e.g.:

• Mahatma speaks via munna, to show how the world has failed pathetically to imbibe any of his principles. We might boast outrageously of having named our roads, built statues and even printed Mahatma’s photos on our currency, but have we ever tried to implement any of his ideologies? Our methodology, of trying to keep 'Mahatma alive' materialistically, has been nothing more than a mere folly.

• Munna asks Circuit, (Arshad warsi) to pardon him for having him slapped. A message, asking sorry for a mistake committed by us is not a shame, but it requires some real guts. I mean how many of us dare to do it. For many it’s a question that hurts their ego, even if they are @ fault.
  

• A protest by munna, Jhanvi and others to get back their 'II innings home" from Lucky Singh (Boman Irani). The scenes are so fabulously picturised in illustration of how the so called age old concept of 'satyagrahas' can really pay off (No, not the ones you often get to see these days, where violence rules over real objectivity of the protest).
  

• Munna confesses in front of jhanvi, that he is not a history professor. A very simple message to prove that any relation built on the foundations of falsity is sure to die premature.
  

• Finally, the ultimate victory of truth is spectacularly shown where munna convinces the groom (Abhishek Bachan makes a guest appearance as the groom) and his family that the bride Simran (Diya Mirza) is the ideal choice. She dares to come up with the truth in public. A re-emphasis on the importance of the underlying concept of essence of truth and trust in any relationship.
  

These were just a few scenes I have quoted above, but when the movie is looked @ in entirety, is a perfect blend of entertainment and a social message to enlighten the masses of India (& abroad) about the real ideologies of mahatma, in a simple, easy to comprehend manner. One just wonders and looks @ the whole movie in awe, "Were mahatma's ideologies all this simple? ", "Is Gandhigiri the ultimate solution for all the niggling problems that one faces in day today life?”. Hats off to it's director Rajkumar Hirani and the entire team of Lage raho munna bhai for coming up with such a wonderful movie.

I am sure that this movie for sure has awakened the youth, as more and more people from India and abroad are really loving this whole concept. Now the youth community seems to chant this new mantra, "Say no to Dadagiri, embrace Gandhigiri!".

PS: I happened to visit this website, where one could stage his/her views on Gandhigiri. What do you wait for? Just go out there and stage your opinions. Try Gandhigiri, may be it might help!

Breeding fragility...

Internals have left no efforts in bugging me throughout this week. I have been mercilessly deprived of the much needed sleep. Finally I have got a break (till 2nd Oct), which gives me some time off this ruthless slogging. I am back outta here before my 15" LG monitor, all set to rejuvenate my extremely enervated neural cells (courtesy: Internals). I am back in to what I am really passionate about, blogging!

This week has been quite an 'eventful' week. The first day of this week beginning with a strike in protest against the delay in announcement of the results by VTU. There was quite a bit of a row on the whole issue, but things seemed to have settled down after the university finally managed to announce the results.

The week not only got me in to some real slogging, but also has left me emotionally jeopardized. My mind has sort of been deluged with a lot subtle queries. I have failed pathetically in answering those queries, (Nope, even Google failed to get me the required answers!). I have been battling it all the way, and it just simply seems to exacerbate the complexities of my life outta here. I badly need to find some convincing answers.

Now getting back to the crux of the whole issue. I have been haunted by this whole concept of 'Winner - Loser' labelling. What comes along with it, quite cumulatively, is the whole "Breeding fragility' stuff. A few incidents I have witnessed off late, have made me to contemplate really hard on this. I am left with a perplexed question, "Who amongst the two labelled entities (Winner or Loser) is the strongest? Are the people whom we admiringly call up on as the so called 'Winners', really strong enough? I have seen it very closely, when one encounters success in a row, 9/10 times it makes him/her vulnerable to becoming more and more fragile, and hence forth lose the even the slightest power of resilience to evolve out victorious, from any of the failures in life.

I might be sounding outrageously cynical here, but let's face it folks! In light of intense competition these days, one just gets mercilessly crushed, if he/she happens to be victimized by this plague of repetitive failures. No matter how successfull you might have been in the past, the world aks for a testimonial from you every time. These days a new trend has emerged, the trend of brain washing from teenagers or youth that 'Losing' is a 'shame'. While the obviousness truth is failure is always an integral part of a competition. When they graduate to adulthood and they tend to carry these very misconceptions and their mindset gets tweaked to a state of a "win win" state and they hardly prepare themselves for an unforeseen failure. When failure actually strikes, we stand hopelessly in an utter state of submissiveness, begging it to let go of us. We need to change this abnoxious attitude. The biggest challengee in life often shakes the very roots of your potentiality and you are mercilessly asked to prove yourself again. I guess this is the norm.

One cannot completely blame the so called 'values', one imbibes from his surroundings. A lot also matters on how one learns from his/her own experience, to accept failures in life with the same grace as any other success. With my personal experience I could tell that the very first time you encounter a setback, it’s really hard to digest it. Its very difficult to overcome the state of 'INERTIA', a state of continuous success. But as one gets to see they gray shades of life, one starts to grow really strong. Fortunate are those who have developed this capacity to take both the results with the same sportive attitude. I sometimes feel that one needs to lose a few times, before really getting an oppurtunity to relish success. Failures, as I said make you stronger. The more you 'run away' from failure, the more are the chances, that you will be prone to breed fragility.

Are you subtly breeding mental fragility? Just make sure...

PS: I happened to share my setback @ IBM with my friend, he sort of 'consoled' me saying, "Suresh, you have been enjoying success till date, now enjoy failure." Now that’s what has left me utterly puzzled! I am left wondering what made him say that and how do I 'enjoy' a failure?

Inaugural Function of EC FORUM, 2006-07.

Our EC Forum kick started it's activities for the academic year 2006-2007, with an inaugural function on 18th sept, 2006. After watching these pics, I felt I missed out on a wonderful event. I have uploaded a few snaps of the event, hope u enjoy them all.

Master of ceremony.

Let this year bring with it success and glory...

A presentation about EC FORUM.

Address by the Chief guest.

Varsha's vocal charisma...

DK's mimicry in full swing!

How to write a famous blog?

Blogs, or web logs, are the fastest-growing mode of mass communication on the planet. Articles about blogs, a form of online public journal, have appeared in the New York Times, Time, and Newsweek. The "blogosphere" has affected elections and corporate policy, and some blogs have thousands of readers a day. Moreover, they are fun.

Steps

1. Go to a simple blog creation site. A few common sites for blogging are: wordpress.com, Inthewire.com, Blogger.com, freeopendiary.com, or the ever popular Myspace.com. You can also try using a Google search for free blog hosting sites, and you'll easily find one that fits your needs.

2. Choose one that appears to be "User Friendly" for you. I've known a lot of people who start a blog not knowing a single thing about making their site individual to them, and, let's face it, HTML codes are a hard trick to learn, so check it out. If it looks a little to hard to create, and navigate the blog site and you're confused, then don't use that site. I tend to use Inthewire.com, because even though it may go down for a few weeks at a time, it's the most user friendly.

3. Choose what type of blog you want to create. Carve out a niche and pick a catchy title that captures the essence of your blog. Remember that a blog, like your clothes, is an extension of you. For most people your blog site may be the only thing they identify you with and you want to be sure that who you are on the inside is reflected on the outside...er...inside of net...you know what I mean.

4. Some claim that posting at least once every day is best; Some also say that three quick posts a day are far more effective than one long post every three days. Others claim that when they update a blog every other day they get more readers than when updating two or three entries in a single day. Whatever you do remember that for most bloggers, it's all about reading and many of them would prefer content rather than quantity. Once you get started you'll find that you attract a certain readership, and you may have to adjust how you work your journal to appease and keep the readers you've obtained.

5. Some recommend putting together about a month's worth of material before you tell anyone about your blog. I recommend that you just start writing and fame will come in time. Feel free to go back and rewrite entries to make everything just the way you want before or after you "go public." You can edit any entry at any time with most blog sites. Writing a popular blog doesn't happen overnight. The essence of the blog stems from journaling which means the blog is FOR YOU. Work it how you feel most appropriate.

6. When you're ready, tell close friends about your blog and ask them to tell their friends. Often if you use it as another way to network with those people around you, you'll get a better response. If you push it too hard don't be surprised if they ignore your blog because they feel you're fishing for compliments and attention...remember, blogging is about you, and the more attention you put into yourself, the more people are going to notice.

7. Look around the Internet for blogs you love. Read and post to them religiously. Leave a note that actually has something to do with their site so that they know you actually took the time for pay attention to the material posted; do not expect anything back in return. Just commenting will cause others to be more likely to visit your and do the same. Often when you make comments to sites a link to your own personal site will already be included with your comment, unless you are posting from one hosting site to the next. If your at ITW and you read a blog on Myspace then it would be appropriate to include such a link.

8. Build a network with other people in the blogosphere - make friends online. This is the best way to get readers and a great way to meet people you would otherwise never know. If you get one thing from blogging, this will be it.

Read more...

PS: I dunno if all the above would really help u build a unique identity in the blogosphere. But whats the harm in giving it a try. What do u say?

Disabusing myths!

Mood: One of serious retrospection!

I was in utter dilemma whether or not to jot this down. But I have decided to write about it. I happened to take up IBM (E&TS) as my dream offer, in the recent campus recruitment drives. We were being recruited for the post of R&D engineer. We took the written test in KIT College, Belgaum, on 18th Sept, 2006. It had 3 sections, 1st section was aptitude (1hr), 2nd section was a software test (15min) and 3rd section was a hardware test (30 min).

I screwed up my chances of getting placed in IBM. The shortlist they announced, crashed all my chances of becoming an IBMer, as they call themselves. Yes! I failed to get through the written test.

All was okies, until today morning, but as the day progressed, my mind seemed to have been deluged with a plethora of retrospective questions. Well if u are wondering what’s so special about it? Let me tell u, what has left me disappointed or rather put me in to some thinking, is the way I lost it. I must confess here that I had taken the test very lightly. The first of the series of blunders I committed.I knew I had lost it right from the time I subimtted the papers back after the tests. As the results were out, I hardly had sensed any sort of disappointment, coz my preparations were simply not up to the standards.

Today I met 3 of my friends, who managed to make it to the very end in IBM. Lemme make my self very clear, I am not 'disappointed', but what is haunting me, are the issues that I discussed with 2 of my friends, Vivek and Vinay. The discussion was something like this…

11:45 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. (Vivek's room):

We saw Vivek reading the OS textbook, something that we have never seen him do, at least not when the internals are not around. Some of the things that we discussed outta there...

Me: "Guys, I think my engineering life has gone off track and I feel myself totally lost and left clueless as to what I did all these 6 semesters during my stay here @ BIET. I mean we have been in to Electronics and Communication, and we hardly have got any proficiency in even a single subject. I am not able to name even a single subject in which I can claim to have an in depth knowledge." I continued, "Guys, I feel I should have spent more time in gaining an in-depth knowledge on atleast a few of my subjects. I think I spent most of my time in doing 'frivolous things', probably something more than I should have done. I have decided that I will not do it from now on. My IBM 'failure' has, for sure awakened me to reality. I think I have gotten in to the habit of awakening after a setback."

Vivek: A bit disgusted (with himself) and slightly disappointed said, "I agree with u guys. I think we have done too much, probably more than we ever could have done. I think I need to take a break. I feel, I have almost lost that yarn to learn, I wasn't this way when I joined engineering. It's not that I don't have the potential; it's only that I haven't been able to spend ample time on my academics. (Guys lemme tell u, Vivek plays a similar role in our documentary "Woh college ke din", which has got exactly the same shades). I have decided that I would spend some real slice of my precious time concentrating on my academics, so that I do gain some knowledge in atleast few of my subjects."

Vinay: Some one who always thinks very pragmatically, said, "I think we haven’t lost anything yet. Guys, atleast all 3 of us have got job offers. What if we have lost in IBM? Just think of those who still haven't made it in to any company. Now coming to the point that we spent a lot of time doing 'frivolous things', lemme tell you, none of us, fortunately have got our academics screwed up! I think what we lack, is just the right orientation. I think we just need to reduce devoting our time towards extra curricular activities and concentrate more on academics. Let's not forget, that we have gained a lot from 'them' as well. We have learnt how to work in teams; we have gained a lot of insight on organizational skills and many more. Let's try to focus more on academics. Don't worry guys, all will be okies."

I felt somewhat convinced. The mental storm seems to have settled down and things are becoming clearer. But I have decided for sure that I would spend some ample time of my final year in grooming my skills to equip myself to meet my company’s requirements. My failure @ IBM test has really gotten me in to some serious retrospection. I have, for sure picked up a lesson or two. Thnx to it!