dear blog
i'm in delhi. Its six pm and quite dark outside. i'm sitting on a bed. two, probably three blankets are strewn over me. my little cousin- B2 is in the room too. His favourite time-pass is football. a football and a wall can keep him busy for hours at stretch!
looking at the ball, i remember the time we(my cousins and i) went to a mall in noida.
B2 wanted to buy a football. after many discussions, arguments, pleadings with his parents, he had finally convinced them that he really needed a branded football. so there we were in a noida mall, entering every adidas, nike, reebok showroom looking for balls.
i'm not so much involved in sports. my only stint with football was when i was the permanent goalkeeper of my colony team in Pune. it was in the mall that i realised how diversified a seemingly simple thing like a football can be! there were some balls for grass terrain and some for 'Indian' terrain. everything of a football can be varied, apart from ,of course,its spherical shape. some balls did not even have trademark hexagonal pieces! different brands also had different 'theme footballs'. they could be anything- a skull painted black ball, a bluish ball with a cool quote, ball of some particular club etc. however the ball which held my attention for the longest time was the one which was claimed to be the replica of the official ball for Euro Cup this year. I think it was at adidas. the ball was said to be specially designed for maximum swing! we all gathered around that ball and touched it in turns. it was a very soft ball. but it was too expensive to even think about buying. then we moved on to another showroom. there, right on entering, a ball caught B2's attention. it was a whitish ball with some red stripes. it was quite a decent ball. B2 bought it quickly.
he couldn't wait to play with it. so, he kept on dribbling it on the way out. it was a long way out from the 4th floor. he just went with his ball everywhere-lifts escalators, stairs... it was when we came out of the mall that his mom took kis ball away, irritated!
now one year has passed. still B2 is before me, playing with the same ball. although he has an exam on monday, he wont leave his ball now. he ahs closed the doors of the soundproof room. so, bhua thinks that he is studying!! just now he asked me what i was doing. when i told him that i'm writing about him, he has got a little self-conscious and is missing every shot, trying to make it perfect!
"way to go, Ronaldo!" i tell him. before he aims for my laptop next, let me post this thing.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
CATch out....
yesterday, i appeared in CAT 2008. please close this tab now if you don't want to hear a loser's story,mostly grumblings.
somebody has said that it all depends on that day. well, that somebody was right! the D-Day started quite well for me. i had a good breakfast and reached the centre quite comfortably. i had about half an hour with me then. so i sipped a cola for the next twenty minutes. then i went on to take the test. during the test, i don't know why, i felt very nervous. i just wasn't in the mood to write the test. i didn't want to do anything else particularly. but i wasn't feeling comfortable there. at one point of time, i felt like telling it to the invigilator, but then i thought that she probably doesn't have the authority to shift me to some other room and also that i would lose a lot of time that way. so i just took some deep breaths and continued with the test. it was not that the questions were tough, i just didn't have the inclination to solve them! this is a very funny feeling!!i had somewhat prepared for the test. so, no new type of questions were there. but i just didn't feel like making any effort to solve any questions. all worldly matters, i suppose!
after coming out of the test room, i already knew how my test had been. at that time, i thought that i would not be able go to the IIMs this year. my project IIM has been delayed by one year. but not cancelled.
after the test, already furious at myself for wasting Rs 1300, i didn't want to waste another penny on cat 2008. so i walked all the way back home. It must be about ten Kms. that way, atleast i would have a reason to thank cat 08 if i get any slimmer.
well, the CAT's out of the bag, and i can't catch it now.......
Miss cat, run as much as you want now. be ready to be belled the next year. watch out!
somebody has said that it all depends on that day. well, that somebody was right! the D-Day started quite well for me. i had a good breakfast and reached the centre quite comfortably. i had about half an hour with me then. so i sipped a cola for the next twenty minutes. then i went on to take the test. during the test, i don't know why, i felt very nervous. i just wasn't in the mood to write the test. i didn't want to do anything else particularly. but i wasn't feeling comfortable there. at one point of time, i felt like telling it to the invigilator, but then i thought that she probably doesn't have the authority to shift me to some other room and also that i would lose a lot of time that way. so i just took some deep breaths and continued with the test. it was not that the questions were tough, i just didn't have the inclination to solve them! this is a very funny feeling!!i had somewhat prepared for the test. so, no new type of questions were there. but i just didn't feel like making any effort to solve any questions. all worldly matters, i suppose!
after coming out of the test room, i already knew how my test had been. at that time, i thought that i would not be able go to the IIMs this year. my project IIM has been delayed by one year. but not cancelled.
after the test, already furious at myself for wasting Rs 1300, i didn't want to waste another penny on cat 2008. so i walked all the way back home. It must be about ten Kms. that way, atleast i would have a reason to thank cat 08 if i get any slimmer.
well, the CAT's out of the bag, and i can't catch it now.......
Miss cat, run as much as you want now. be ready to be belled the next year. watch out!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Diwali Bonus!
in the last two days, i went to a lot of shops. but i bought stuff from only three of them. the first being crackers from a roadside temporary shop. after that, i got candles from a 'more permanent' shop, in a market. next i bought samosas from a samosa showroom. (Yes, there is a showroom for samosas, here in nagpur!) and guess what- at all the three places, the shopkeeper got distracted while handling my transaction and i ended up getting more than i should have!
it all started with the cracker shop. my brother and i had selected some crackers to buy. the shopkeeper took each of the crackers in his hand one by one and added its cost orally. he didn't keep it back in the bag, instead held them in his hand till he had all the crackers in his hands. then he put them all in a bag and gave it to me. but he had forgotten that earlier he was showing us a pack of rockets that supposedly would go up in the air and shoot a big sphere of colorful sparkles. that pack contained two such rockets and was worth Rs 35. after he had calculated the bill for us, he put that in our bag too, with all the other crackers. and i'm sure that he hadn't added the cost of those fireworks, as i was adding up the numbers myself too! in the evening when we burst the crackers, those rockets performed really well and the show seemed still better(with those free rockets) to me and my brother!
next we went to a shop to buy some candles. there too, the shopkeeper charged us for four packets but packed five! this is called diwali bonus!
then, today, i went to buy samosas. there, i handed over a Rs 50 note to the cashier to give me coupons for three plates of samosas. he got distracted by a sudden noise from the TV. then he handed me the change thinking that i had given him Rs 100!! i quietly accepted the change thinking that at diwali, incoming wealth should not be stopped.
i know that incoming lakshmi at diwali is auspicious. but i don't know whether bragging about is auspicious or not. touchwood.
HAPPY DIWALI !
a late afterthought: i shouldn't have taken that extra Rs 50(from the samosawala). i will donate this Rs 50 in parts whenever possible before next diwali...
it all started with the cracker shop. my brother and i had selected some crackers to buy. the shopkeeper took each of the crackers in his hand one by one and added its cost orally. he didn't keep it back in the bag, instead held them in his hand till he had all the crackers in his hands. then he put them all in a bag and gave it to me. but he had forgotten that earlier he was showing us a pack of rockets that supposedly would go up in the air and shoot a big sphere of colorful sparkles. that pack contained two such rockets and was worth Rs 35. after he had calculated the bill for us, he put that in our bag too, with all the other crackers. and i'm sure that he hadn't added the cost of those fireworks, as i was adding up the numbers myself too! in the evening when we burst the crackers, those rockets performed really well and the show seemed still better(with those free rockets) to me and my brother!
next we went to a shop to buy some candles. there too, the shopkeeper charged us for four packets but packed five! this is called diwali bonus!
then, today, i went to buy samosas. there, i handed over a Rs 50 note to the cashier to give me coupons for three plates of samosas. he got distracted by a sudden noise from the TV. then he handed me the change thinking that i had given him Rs 100!! i quietly accepted the change thinking that at diwali, incoming wealth should not be stopped.
i know that incoming lakshmi at diwali is auspicious. but i don't know whether bragging about is auspicious or not. touchwood.
HAPPY DIWALI !
a late afterthought: i shouldn't have taken that extra Rs 50(from the samosawala). i will donate this Rs 50 in parts whenever possible before next diwali...
Monday, October 20, 2008
the perfect meditation or a total mental block !
for the past one month, i have not got a single good idea! forget 'good', not even 'any' idea. i don't know why, but my mind just doesn't feel like applying itself. i had to write someone a letter. (that someone is somewhere in maharashtra.) so, yesterday when i sat down to write the letter, i just sat still. i sat still for almost an hour! and my mind didn't have ANY idea. no flying ideas, not even any 'out-of-topic' ideas! i just stared into the blank page before me. no, i was not sleeping with my eyes open! i was totally awake. but nothing came to my mind. it must have been a perfect meditation! i guess thats how all spiritual gurus tell us to do meditation.
while in pune, i had joined a yoga course. my 'batchmates' there included a piece from every section of the society... working professionals, housewives, retired people, fat people, thin people, even one foreigner used to attend the classes. i was the only teenager there. the instructor had taught us meditation as "clear your mind -let all the present thoughts pass-let your mind be free from any thoughts-hold onto this state-breathe normally....." at that time, i used to wonder how can anyone's mind be "free from any thought" as that itself would constitute a thought! then i used to lie there just looking at other people's expressions while they were 'clearing their minds'. it was really funny! it looked as if the instructor had told them to "clear your throat-blow out your nose"! i used to really enjoy myself during that one hour. today i realised that i accidently practiced meditation. that too, to the perfection! not a single thought in an hour! really amazing... only i hope that this does not happen to me again soon...
while in pune, i had joined a yoga course. my 'batchmates' there included a piece from every section of the society... working professionals, housewives, retired people, fat people, thin people, even one foreigner used to attend the classes. i was the only teenager there. the instructor had taught us meditation as "clear your mind -let all the present thoughts pass-let your mind be free from any thoughts-hold onto this state-breathe normally....." at that time, i used to wonder how can anyone's mind be "free from any thought" as that itself would constitute a thought! then i used to lie there just looking at other people's expressions while they were 'clearing their minds'. it was really funny! it looked as if the instructor had told them to "clear your throat-blow out your nose"! i used to really enjoy myself during that one hour. today i realised that i accidently practiced meditation. that too, to the perfection! not a single thought in an hour! really amazing... only i hope that this does not happen to me again soon...
Saturday, October 4, 2008
NostalJOGia...
dear blog
yesterday, i went to the ground for a jog. it has been a long time since i last jogged. during these summer hols, i was in delhi, at my bhua's place. their colony, true to its name, inspires sporting spirits into all its residents. a wide road encircles the colony. the quiet road, with big, green trees on either side, makes a very soothing frame especially in the evening. On THAT road i used to jog.
the whole road made a lap of about 2.5 Kms. but while jogging on it, the distance just didn't seem to register itself in my body. i could keep jogging on it the whole evening! in the evening, the many other people also used to walk/jog there. most of them took clockwise laps. i used to go anticlockwise. that way, i got to see their faces twice in a round.(ya.. my speed was about the same as theirs.) each face carried a different expression. some faces wore a smile the whole round. it was as if they too were enjoying themselves on that scenic road. some faces took deep breaths. they used to exhale so heavily that i could hear them approaching me around the blind turns! then there were some totally calm faces. it seemed as if they were feeling the cool air grazing their skin. also, there were some faces from whose expression it seemed as if they were completing some punishment. Most of the faces in this category also wore earphones. i wondered which songs they were listening to.
so, everyday when i jogged, i used to encounter the same faces. everyday they used to wear the same expressions. possibly even mine was the same everyday on seeing them! yesterday while i was jogging, all those faces came back to me again. it seemed as if i was jogging in delhi. although there was no face which i particularly liked, those faces keept appearing before my eyes in every lap. i think i experienced nostalgia for the first time today.
after completing five rounds, i pledged to myself to jog everyday. but today, i didn't go, thanks to a very busy schedule. i pledge again, today, to go for a jog everyday...(read "if i feel like jogging, i will think about it.")
yesterday, i went to the ground for a jog. it has been a long time since i last jogged. during these summer hols, i was in delhi, at my bhua's place. their colony, true to its name, inspires sporting spirits into all its residents. a wide road encircles the colony. the quiet road, with big, green trees on either side, makes a very soothing frame especially in the evening. On THAT road i used to jog.
the whole road made a lap of about 2.5 Kms. but while jogging on it, the distance just didn't seem to register itself in my body. i could keep jogging on it the whole evening! in the evening, the many other people also used to walk/jog there. most of them took clockwise laps. i used to go anticlockwise. that way, i got to see their faces twice in a round.(ya.. my speed was about the same as theirs.) each face carried a different expression. some faces wore a smile the whole round. it was as if they too were enjoying themselves on that scenic road. some faces took deep breaths. they used to exhale so heavily that i could hear them approaching me around the blind turns! then there were some totally calm faces. it seemed as if they were feeling the cool air grazing their skin. also, there were some faces from whose expression it seemed as if they were completing some punishment. Most of the faces in this category also wore earphones. i wondered which songs they were listening to.
so, everyday when i jogged, i used to encounter the same faces. everyday they used to wear the same expressions. possibly even mine was the same everyday on seeing them! yesterday while i was jogging, all those faces came back to me again. it seemed as if i was jogging in delhi. although there was no face which i particularly liked, those faces keept appearing before my eyes in every lap. i think i experienced nostalgia for the first time today.
after completing five rounds, i pledged to myself to jog everyday. but today, i didn't go, thanks to a very busy schedule. i pledge again, today, to go for a jog everyday...(read "if i feel like jogging, i will think about it.")
Friday, September 5, 2008
to the MSoffice.
Dear blog
i am not a studious guy. still most of my life revolves around classes. all the interesting moments in my life happen either in the class or on the way to it. well, i will describe the latter events later.
yesterday, it all began with MS walking into our classroom. she had every right to do it because it was her class! but i had thought that it was some different class and had brought a different notebook. i was in the third row (which is like the front row for me..), feeling uncomfortable sitting directly in view of MS. soon, MS began dictating MSwords. after a while, a person near me started humming tunes of a very senti song of Taare Zameen Par. a smile(it may be a grin..) appeared on my face. MS acknowledged my smile with a full-second-stare and moved on.
just then, i saw a very small bird fly past the windows towards the sky. there, it flew in small circles. after a minute or so, many other such birds joined it and together they flew past the "screen" many times. suddenly, i felt something fly past me, just missing my right ear. that was an MSpinpoint, using a piece of chalk. just then, something came to my mind. it was what MS had said in a class just the previous day. after hitting a guy with a piece of chalk, she had said "i have played kanche a lot. My aim is very good!" . but she had missed me this time. this made me smile a bit. this time she gave me a two-second-stare.
next, she wrote down the beginning part of a derivarion and asked the class to complete it. to my surprise, everyone in the class seemed to know what to do! everybody was writing something or the other in their notebooks. i was looking at everybody like a radar. so, as expected, MS caught me. she asked me what i was doing. i had no clue what we had to do or even what the topic was. i said "i don't know." then by her look, i thought that today, i would be fired by MS. but, she didn't fire me from the class. looking at the question, she asked me what does d/dx mean. i don't know what i was thinking at that time as i replied "Integration "! that infuriated her and i thought that now MS is going to crash on me. i was right. she started firing questions at me, which i answered, thanks to a friend in whispering range. that saved me.
when the class ended, she told me to come to her office. i went to MSoffice. she asked me what i kept on thinking in the class. i felt like saying "MSwindows", but said "minor project". that sounded convincing to her and she told me to leave and to pay attention the next time. i wondered why MS always wants us to pay something? can't we live free? i returned smiling, i had survived a deadly attack by MS.
i am not a studious guy. still most of my life revolves around classes. all the interesting moments in my life happen either in the class or on the way to it. well, i will describe the latter events later.
yesterday, it all began with MS walking into our classroom. she had every right to do it because it was her class! but i had thought that it was some different class and had brought a different notebook. i was in the third row (which is like the front row for me..), feeling uncomfortable sitting directly in view of MS. soon, MS began dictating MSwords. after a while, a person near me started humming tunes of a very senti song of Taare Zameen Par. a smile(it may be a grin..) appeared on my face. MS acknowledged my smile with a full-second-stare and moved on.
just then, i saw a very small bird fly past the windows towards the sky. there, it flew in small circles. after a minute or so, many other such birds joined it and together they flew past the "screen" many times. suddenly, i felt something fly past me, just missing my right ear. that was an MSpinpoint, using a piece of chalk. just then, something came to my mind. it was what MS had said in a class just the previous day. after hitting a guy with a piece of chalk, she had said "i have played kanche a lot. My aim is very good!" . but she had missed me this time. this made me smile a bit. this time she gave me a two-second-stare.
next, she wrote down the beginning part of a derivarion and asked the class to complete it. to my surprise, everyone in the class seemed to know what to do! everybody was writing something or the other in their notebooks. i was looking at everybody like a radar. so, as expected, MS caught me. she asked me what i was doing. i had no clue what we had to do or even what the topic was. i said "i don't know." then by her look, i thought that today, i would be fired by MS. but, she didn't fire me from the class. looking at the question, she asked me what does d/dx mean. i don't know what i was thinking at that time as i replied "Integration "! that infuriated her and i thought that now MS is going to crash on me. i was right. she started firing questions at me, which i answered, thanks to a friend in whispering range. that saved me.
when the class ended, she told me to come to her office. i went to MSoffice. she asked me what i kept on thinking in the class. i felt like saying "MSwindows", but said "minor project". that sounded convincing to her and she told me to leave and to pay attention the next time. i wondered why MS always wants us to pay something? can't we live free? i returned smiling, i had survived a deadly attack by MS.
Conscience calling...
dear blog
when you know that in the next five minutes, you can get five thousand rupees, will you try to get them? but when you also know that those would be at the cost of someone's career, would you still do it? what would you do if that someone is an honest,sincere, hardworking person? and what if you need the money badly?
my friends and i faced this dilemma today. we had just five minutes to decide whether to go for it or not. (mind you, I'm not talking of any kind of bribe). had we gone for it, there was a 0.1% chance of that person to land in deep trouble . at one side was my friend's conscience which wasn't allowing us to do it. at the other side was my mind, which was shouting- "this is the moment, seize it. we get the money, who cares about the rest?"
just at that moment that person, about whose future we were discussing, came out. he was ready to give us the money, ignorant of what awaited him if he did that. the paper which could have got us Rs 5k was in my hands. for a moment i felt like giving it to him and getting the money. but then i thought what if that 0.1% probable event occurs and he lands in trouble. i would then never be able to forgive myself. that guilty feeling then, would always accompany me wherever i go. so we told that person that we will come back him later. he might not have understood our actions at that moment, but when he does, he would thank us a lot.. but the only person whom he should thank at that moment is my friend- D , in whom we discovered a sea of conscience today.
dear Lord Ganapati
we did not do it the wrong way. now please help us out.
when you know that in the next five minutes, you can get five thousand rupees, will you try to get them? but when you also know that those would be at the cost of someone's career, would you still do it? what would you do if that someone is an honest,sincere, hardworking person? and what if you need the money badly?
my friends and i faced this dilemma today. we had just five minutes to decide whether to go for it or not. (mind you, I'm not talking of any kind of bribe). had we gone for it, there was a 0.1% chance of that person to land in deep trouble . at one side was my friend's conscience which wasn't allowing us to do it. at the other side was my mind, which was shouting- "this is the moment, seize it. we get the money, who cares about the rest?"
just at that moment that person, about whose future we were discussing, came out. he was ready to give us the money, ignorant of what awaited him if he did that. the paper which could have got us Rs 5k was in my hands. for a moment i felt like giving it to him and getting the money. but then i thought what if that 0.1% probable event occurs and he lands in trouble. i would then never be able to forgive myself. that guilty feeling then, would always accompany me wherever i go. so we told that person that we will come back him later. he might not have understood our actions at that moment, but when he does, he would thank us a lot.. but the only person whom he should thank at that moment is my friend- D , in whom we discovered a sea of conscience today.
dear Lord Ganapati
we did not do it the wrong way. now please help us out.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Higher, Faster, Stronger...in Hamirpur
dear blog
In Beijing, an olympics got over... in Hamirpur, our olympics are not yet over.. our olympics were no different than the beijing ones..
these also began with a bang- TCS took only 12 people. that was a bang!!! many people had been eliminated in the initial heats. those who were selected felt that they had received Gold medals. everybody made them feel so.. congratulations poured in from everywhere for the 'winners' . they were given a 'hero welcome' on returning to the hostel.
in the next big event too, called WIPRO, India(in this case, Hamirpur) performed badly.
some medals poured in, but they were not enough to justify our potential. It was only after the event SATYAM that our medal tally increased. and so did the talli count..
many events followed. many medals were awarded. everyone's medal was a gold to him/her. but our show is not yet over. the count continues....
In Beijing, an olympics got over... in Hamirpur, our olympics are not yet over.. our olympics were no different than the beijing ones..
these also began with a bang- TCS took only 12 people. that was a bang!!! many people had been eliminated in the initial heats. those who were selected felt that they had received Gold medals. everybody made them feel so.. congratulations poured in from everywhere for the 'winners' . they were given a 'hero welcome' on returning to the hostel.
in the next big event too, called WIPRO, India(in this case, Hamirpur) performed badly.
some medals poured in, but they were not enough to justify our potential. It was only after the event SATYAM that our medal tally increased. and so did the talli count..
many events followed. many medals were awarded. everyone's medal was a gold to him/her. but our show is not yet over. the count continues....
Monday, August 11, 2008
If you think you can, You Can !
Dear friends
Until i sat for TCS, i used to think that i would never be able to qualify the interview round. I thought that i have the worst communication skills in our batch. I even feared that i would completely choke during the interview and would run out of it midway. as it is, i am an introvert, i thought that i just wouldn't be able to interact decently with the HR manager. i had expected everything which could go wrong to go wrong!
But, all this was until the eve of the interviews. That was when i started my preparations on full steam for the interview. And that was when i started believing that i can do it.
Some tips to my friends- first, prepare all the 'expected' interview questions. by 'prepare' , i don't mean 'mug up'. just have the basic points in your mind regarding various questions. DON'T memorize the exact language for the answer, as the interviewers are very smart... they can catch mugged up answers in a sec! then they will ask you any question out of the blue, thus taking you into unfamiliar grounds.
moreover, whenever you answer any technical question, be sure to use only those technical terms, concepts, circuits which you know inside out. if you are even slightly doubtful of some term, don't use it.
another thing- don't try to bluff the interviewers, especially the technical ones! They are too experienced for that. also , take out some time to visit the company's website. It helps to have information about the company for which you are sitting.
arrange your formal dress well in advance. Also, do get the print outs of your resume in advance, not on the way to your interview room! These small things surely relieve you of last minute worries.
remember: determination and preparation give you the needed confidence to succeed.
On the day of the interview, be confident that you will make it through. Don't let anyone tell you that it would be a difficult one. Just remember that you have prepared hard for this interview, so you would surely succeed. And so you will!
ALL THE BEST TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS SITTING FOR SATYAM TOMORROW!
Until i sat for TCS, i used to think that i would never be able to qualify the interview round. I thought that i have the worst communication skills in our batch. I even feared that i would completely choke during the interview and would run out of it midway. as it is, i am an introvert, i thought that i just wouldn't be able to interact decently with the HR manager. i had expected everything which could go wrong to go wrong!
But, all this was until the eve of the interviews. That was when i started my preparations on full steam for the interview. And that was when i started believing that i can do it.
Some tips to my friends- first, prepare all the 'expected' interview questions. by 'prepare' , i don't mean 'mug up'. just have the basic points in your mind regarding various questions. DON'T memorize the exact language for the answer, as the interviewers are very smart... they can catch mugged up answers in a sec! then they will ask you any question out of the blue, thus taking you into unfamiliar grounds.
moreover, whenever you answer any technical question, be sure to use only those technical terms, concepts, circuits which you know inside out. if you are even slightly doubtful of some term, don't use it.
another thing- don't try to bluff the interviewers, especially the technical ones! They are too experienced for that. also , take out some time to visit the company's website. It helps to have information about the company for which you are sitting.
arrange your formal dress well in advance. Also, do get the print outs of your resume in advance, not on the way to your interview room! These small things surely relieve you of last minute worries.
remember: determination and preparation give you the needed confidence to succeed.
On the day of the interview, be confident that you will make it through. Don't let anyone tell you that it would be a difficult one. Just remember that you have prepared hard for this interview, so you would surely succeed. And so you will!
ALL THE BEST TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS SITTING FOR SATYAM TOMORROW!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Pehli Naukri...
dear blog
What an important day yesterday was! I got my first ever job offer!
My day started with the sound of my alarm, which had probably been ringing for the past five minutes. While in deep sleep, i dreamt about being stuck in a traffic jam. I was the only person in my car-which i now remember only vaguely. The steering of the car was triangular shaped. Sitting in the driver's seat, I was sweating profusely. My car was on the zenith of a beautiful flyover. But, there was an endless line of cars, lined up bumper to bumper, till the horizon. Then i looked back and saw an equal number of cars lined up behind mine. The dream appeared so real that at that time i really wondered how come i was there. I tried to recall whose car that was, where i was, doing what, going where!!. Unable to recall, i banged my hand on the steering. A loud, noisy sound of a horn followed. which blew the air out my ears. My horn received an overwhelming response from my 'neighbouring' cars, who too blew their own trumpets. The combined sound of various horns seemed to come from every direction and it became louder and harsher with time. It then i realised that it was the sound of my mobile's alarm, and the alarm of my timepiece, ringing together. I woke up, beginning to realize that all the previous "movie" was a dream. I just don't know what that dream meant. But it was quite an unusual one for me.
as soon as i got up, i got to know that the TCS presentation is at 1 pm. so i started revising basic concepts of c++. it was while dressing up in formals that i realized the gravity of the situation. at about 1:15 pm, dressed in formal attire, complete with a tie, all of us left MMH, marching ahead, still uncomfortable in formal shoes. It looked like a whole parade/ FashP of executives.The auditorium was filled with air of excitement, nervousness, anticipation and calculations(by TPRs).Soon, there was an informative presentation by TCS people. this was followed by the results of the written test. on hearing my name in the list of those selected, i was overjoyed. Out of 115 students in the written round, only 32 had made it to the interview round. then we were given a TCS form to fill. then we were led by our TPRs to the adm block of our college, where the interviews were to take place. i was the third person to be called for the interview. first there was a technical interview. i answered some questions and didn't answer some. but, overall, i wasn't happy at all with my performance in the interview. i thought of mine to be so bad that i had lost all hopes of being selected.
but, just two minutes after i came out of the technical interview, i was called in for the HR interview. I did not have any time to relax in between. so, i was a lot tensed. but the young lady interviewing me made my tension evaporate with the words- "Hello Prashant" . i also drank the glass of water on her table , when she offered it to me. there was no table between us.talking to her was fun. It did not look or sound like an interview. It was just like talking to a friend for about fifteen minutes. we chatted very frankly. there was no such thing as she asking me a question and me answering it. it was just a chat.. with equal participation from her and me. after some time, i even forgot that i was in an interview! it was when she said "Thanks a lot, Dear", that i realized that the chat had an essence of an interview. i thanked her too and walked back to the door, smiling ear to ear, for no reason. she was such an amazing HR manager that even an introvert like me felt at home with her!! kudos to her amazing personality!
this was followed by the interviews of the rest of the people. at about 6:30 pm, all of us were told to be seated in the conference room. soon the head of their team announced the results. earlier he had made it clear that the names of the selected people are in any random order. still, my name was the first one to be announced among those of the selected candidates. first i couldn't believe it. i looked around to see if there are any other "Prashant's " present. assured that its me, i tried to get up. as luck would have it, precisely at that time, my right leg sprained. i felt a sudden sharp pain. i tried to delay my movements as much as possible. But, as all of the eyes in the room were fixed on me, i had to be quick. i got up went over to their leader to receive my offer letter. on the way back to my seat, i acknowledged the applause given to me by TCS employees. i was overjoyed. i felt proud. but my mind was still blank- i didn't know what to do, what to say to whom and how to react! when the whole list of 12 people had been announced, there was a funny situation. nobody looked happy. nobody was even smiling. It was when their HR manager commented on us not being happy that we all smiled. The joy of being selected was yet to sink in.
what followed was frantic phone calls by all the selected people to their loved ones. Dear 'loved ones' , thanks for all your support!!
What an important day yesterday was! I got my first ever job offer!
My day started with the sound of my alarm, which had probably been ringing for the past five minutes. While in deep sleep, i dreamt about being stuck in a traffic jam. I was the only person in my car-which i now remember only vaguely. The steering of the car was triangular shaped. Sitting in the driver's seat, I was sweating profusely. My car was on the zenith of a beautiful flyover. But, there was an endless line of cars, lined up bumper to bumper, till the horizon. Then i looked back and saw an equal number of cars lined up behind mine. The dream appeared so real that at that time i really wondered how come i was there. I tried to recall whose car that was, where i was, doing what, going where!!. Unable to recall, i banged my hand on the steering. A loud, noisy sound of a horn followed. which blew the air out my ears. My horn received an overwhelming response from my 'neighbouring' cars, who too blew their own trumpets. The combined sound of various horns seemed to come from every direction and it became louder and harsher with time. It then i realised that it was the sound of my mobile's alarm, and the alarm of my timepiece, ringing together. I woke up, beginning to realize that all the previous "movie" was a dream. I just don't know what that dream meant. But it was quite an unusual one for me.
as soon as i got up, i got to know that the TCS presentation is at 1 pm. so i started revising basic concepts of c++. it was while dressing up in formals that i realized the gravity of the situation. at about 1:15 pm, dressed in formal attire, complete with a tie, all of us left MMH, marching ahead, still uncomfortable in formal shoes. It looked like a whole parade/ FashP of executives.The auditorium was filled with air of excitement, nervousness, anticipation and calculations(by TPRs).Soon, there was an informative presentation by TCS people. this was followed by the results of the written test. on hearing my name in the list of those selected, i was overjoyed. Out of 115 students in the written round, only 32 had made it to the interview round. then we were given a TCS form to fill. then we were led by our TPRs to the adm block of our college, where the interviews were to take place. i was the third person to be called for the interview. first there was a technical interview. i answered some questions and didn't answer some. but, overall, i wasn't happy at all with my performance in the interview. i thought of mine to be so bad that i had lost all hopes of being selected.
but, just two minutes after i came out of the technical interview, i was called in for the HR interview. I did not have any time to relax in between. so, i was a lot tensed. but the young lady interviewing me made my tension evaporate with the words- "Hello Prashant" . i also drank the glass of water on her table , when she offered it to me. there was no table between us.talking to her was fun. It did not look or sound like an interview. It was just like talking to a friend for about fifteen minutes. we chatted very frankly. there was no such thing as she asking me a question and me answering it. it was just a chat.. with equal participation from her and me. after some time, i even forgot that i was in an interview! it was when she said "Thanks a lot, Dear", that i realized that the chat had an essence of an interview. i thanked her too and walked back to the door, smiling ear to ear, for no reason. she was such an amazing HR manager that even an introvert like me felt at home with her!! kudos to her amazing personality!
this was followed by the interviews of the rest of the people. at about 6:30 pm, all of us were told to be seated in the conference room. soon the head of their team announced the results. earlier he had made it clear that the names of the selected people are in any random order. still, my name was the first one to be announced among those of the selected candidates. first i couldn't believe it. i looked around to see if there are any other "Prashant's " present. assured that its me, i tried to get up. as luck would have it, precisely at that time, my right leg sprained. i felt a sudden sharp pain. i tried to delay my movements as much as possible. But, as all of the eyes in the room were fixed on me, i had to be quick. i got up went over to their leader to receive my offer letter. on the way back to my seat, i acknowledged the applause given to me by TCS employees. i was overjoyed. i felt proud. but my mind was still blank- i didn't know what to do, what to say to whom and how to react! when the whole list of 12 people had been announced, there was a funny situation. nobody looked happy. nobody was even smiling. It was when their HR manager commented on us not being happy that we all smiled. The joy of being selected was yet to sink in.
what followed was frantic phone calls by all the selected people to their loved ones. Dear 'loved ones' , thanks for all your support!!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Friendship Vs Marks
In my college life, the only thing i have learnt till now is the following-
Friends can get you marks, but marks can not get you friends.
Friends can get you marks in the following ways-
1) DIRECTLY
You don't know one answer in the exam. You ask your nearby friend. He tells you the answer.
2) INDIRECTLY
a)On the night of the exam, you can't understand one topic. You go to your friends, who make you understand the topic.
b)Your friends tell you about important/expected questions/topics for the exam. They also brief you about which topic is easy and which topic will take time. So, you can make a better decision on 'when' and 'where' to start.
On the other hand, if you don't have friends, the going can get tough. In the exam, you would have no one to turn to, if you are stuck on a question. If you can't understand a topic, then you would have to run to the teacher's office and wait for him to get into the mood to expolain that topic to you. Also without friends, you would have no chance of knowing a commonly known leaked question.
Agreed that marks can get you jobs easily, but what's the use of that job if you would have to celebrate that night's drink in your singlet, alone? In colleges like ours, almost everybody gets placed. So, a higher pointer does not guarantee a higher pay package..
When the times are tough and you feel like crying, you will cry on the shoulders of your friends, not on the face of your A-studded marksheet!
After all, in life, it is the friends who get the work done, NOT marks. eg. my trainings were all arranged by my dad's college friends. Though i regret that my friends' training couldn't be arranged with mine, the point is that had my dad not made friends in his college-time, i would be training-less! (Well my dad's an ideal case as he's got both marks and friends!)
Friends, remember that even in the newly induced Relative Grading System(RGS), our batchmates are not our enemies. They are not even our competitors. They are all our friends-friends only who can save our boat from sinking in the shitty sea of RGS.
So people, don't run after marks. Run after(and for) friends!!
Friends can get you marks, but marks can not get you friends.
Friends can get you marks in the following ways-
1) DIRECTLY
You don't know one answer in the exam. You ask your nearby friend. He tells you the answer.
2) INDIRECTLY
a)On the night of the exam, you can't understand one topic. You go to your friends, who make you understand the topic.
b)Your friends tell you about important/expected questions/topics for the exam. They also brief you about which topic is easy and which topic will take time. So, you can make a better decision on 'when' and 'where' to start.
On the other hand, if you don't have friends, the going can get tough. In the exam, you would have no one to turn to, if you are stuck on a question. If you can't understand a topic, then you would have to run to the teacher's office and wait for him to get into the mood to expolain that topic to you. Also without friends, you would have no chance of knowing a commonly known leaked question.
Agreed that marks can get you jobs easily, but what's the use of that job if you would have to celebrate that night's drink in your singlet, alone? In colleges like ours, almost everybody gets placed. So, a higher pointer does not guarantee a higher pay package..
When the times are tough and you feel like crying, you will cry on the shoulders of your friends, not on the face of your A-studded marksheet!
After all, in life, it is the friends who get the work done, NOT marks. eg. my trainings were all arranged by my dad's college friends. Though i regret that my friends' training couldn't be arranged with mine, the point is that had my dad not made friends in his college-time, i would be training-less! (Well my dad's an ideal case as he's got both marks and friends!)
Friends, remember that even in the newly induced Relative Grading System(RGS), our batchmates are not our enemies. They are not even our competitors. They are all our friends-friends only who can save our boat from sinking in the shitty sea of RGS.
So people, don't run after marks. Run after(and for) friends!!
Monday, April 7, 2008
The unprecented Race !
dear blog
today, i was a part of a peculiar, unprecedented race! It was a race in which everybody had willingly participated, but no one wanted to win.
it was a race where there was no finish line, no time limit. it was a race in which the one who lost would be the happiest person on the earth. there was indeed a victory in losing, more so in seeing the other person win!
in the race, everybody tried to move the slowest. for this, they employed various techniques. one such technique was to convince the judges that the other person was running faster! another one was simply to threaten the judges to altogther not participate in the run than to be the winner. the judges desperately wanted to see a winner. when they saw each runner one by one passing by them and still not ready to lead the pack, the chief jury member could be seen banging his head in frustation. what a weird race it was!
here, the 'fastest runner off the field' was not convinced enough that he can lead the other runners. the more the jury tried to convince him, the more distant he projected himself to be from the goal.
another candidate, who had sacrificed his precious prime time to be in the race, too was reluctant to emerge as the winner. he too wanted only to participate and not to win!
however, there were two 'front-runners'. they certainly had an edge over the others in the minds of the jury.but, it was a race where each of the 'front-runners' had so much respect for the other that he could not get past the other. each wanted to see the other as the winner.
even after a long time, the judges were in a strange dilema. the results were fuzzy. all were ready to be equal but not above someone else.
it was truly an utopian dream...
today, i was a part of a peculiar, unprecedented race! It was a race in which everybody had willingly participated, but no one wanted to win.
it was a race where there was no finish line, no time limit. it was a race in which the one who lost would be the happiest person on the earth. there was indeed a victory in losing, more so in seeing the other person win!
in the race, everybody tried to move the slowest. for this, they employed various techniques. one such technique was to convince the judges that the other person was running faster! another one was simply to threaten the judges to altogther not participate in the run than to be the winner. the judges desperately wanted to see a winner. when they saw each runner one by one passing by them and still not ready to lead the pack, the chief jury member could be seen banging his head in frustation. what a weird race it was!
here, the 'fastest runner off the field' was not convinced enough that he can lead the other runners. the more the jury tried to convince him, the more distant he projected himself to be from the goal.
another candidate, who had sacrificed his precious prime time to be in the race, too was reluctant to emerge as the winner. he too wanted only to participate and not to win!
however, there were two 'front-runners'. they certainly had an edge over the others in the minds of the jury.but, it was a race where each of the 'front-runners' had so much respect for the other that he could not get past the other. each wanted to see the other as the winner.
even after a long time, the judges were in a strange dilema. the results were fuzzy. all were ready to be equal but not above someone else.
it was truly an utopian dream...
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Ludhiana...
dear blog
i could not describe my life to you in the past month. now so many things have happenned that in my excitement, i can not decide which event to describe first and how...
in the past month, one great thing which happened to me is that i went to ludhiana, as a part the SRIJAN(our annual college magazine) team. The trip was a mixture of fun, food, hardwork and breathstopping risks( ask KD!). Ludhiana city is full of good cars. every parking lot looks like an auto expo with shiny, powerful, imported cars from all manufacturers lined up one after the other!! we even got ourselves clicked in front of some amazing cars.
we also got a first hand experience working with the printers. their designers amazed us with their speed and and proficiency on various design softwares. there, in photoshop, what they did in five minutes would have taken us a whole day to accompolish. before we could even blink, they had made designs fror us. when we opened our eyes after the blink, we saw another design on the screen!they were cool even out-of-their-office. we even hung aroung with them in ludhiana city on a sunday shopping spree. (we can remember those pure vegetarians' faces even today while watching us relishing tasty fried chicken at KFC!!)
our return journey was another adventure in itself. on missing our direct bus, we sat in a bus headed to Jwalaji. That bus driver was seriously mad. he drove at a constant speed of exactly 60kmph for about an hour in hilly region. in hills, 35 kmph is considered 'superfast'! short of any work, we even calculated his speed. we noticed that after every five minutes, the milestone showed five kilometres less than the previous time. moreover, that bus was devoid of windows glasses. wind gushed in 60kmph.it felt really spooky. we felt as if our aerodyanamics were being tested in a windtunnel! then, our hearts missed a beat when we saw the driver and the conductor merrily enjoying their 'martinis-stirred and shaken by the bus'. however, the most inexplicable thing of the driver was when he stopped in front of a hotel for about 30 seconds, for no rhyme of reason at all. the road was clear, no one came out of the hotel to meet him and it was freezing cold on a scary night. Why the hell did he stop there?
the lightening speed had driven out all air from our lungs. we had our lungs refilled only on reaching home-Hamirpur. then, maggi and hot cuppas of coffee @ nescafe was what put together our literally-blown-out bodies....
i could not describe my life to you in the past month. now so many things have happenned that in my excitement, i can not decide which event to describe first and how...
in the past month, one great thing which happened to me is that i went to ludhiana, as a part the SRIJAN(our annual college magazine) team. The trip was a mixture of fun, food, hardwork and breathstopping risks( ask KD!). Ludhiana city is full of good cars. every parking lot looks like an auto expo with shiny, powerful, imported cars from all manufacturers lined up one after the other!! we even got ourselves clicked in front of some amazing cars.
we also got a first hand experience working with the printers. their designers amazed us with their speed and and proficiency on various design softwares. there, in photoshop, what they did in five minutes would have taken us a whole day to accompolish. before we could even blink, they had made designs fror us. when we opened our eyes after the blink, we saw another design on the screen!they were cool even out-of-their-office. we even hung aroung with them in ludhiana city on a sunday shopping spree. (we can remember those pure vegetarians' faces even today while watching us relishing tasty fried chicken at KFC!!)
our return journey was another adventure in itself. on missing our direct bus, we sat in a bus headed to Jwalaji. That bus driver was seriously mad. he drove at a constant speed of exactly 60kmph for about an hour in hilly region. in hills, 35 kmph is considered 'superfast'! short of any work, we even calculated his speed. we noticed that after every five minutes, the milestone showed five kilometres less than the previous time. moreover, that bus was devoid of windows glasses. wind gushed in 60kmph.it felt really spooky. we felt as if our aerodyanamics were being tested in a windtunnel! then, our hearts missed a beat when we saw the driver and the conductor merrily enjoying their 'martinis-stirred and shaken by the bus'. however, the most inexplicable thing of the driver was when he stopped in front of a hotel for about 30 seconds, for no rhyme of reason at all. the road was clear, no one came out of the hotel to meet him and it was freezing cold on a scary night. Why the hell did he stop there?
the lightening speed had driven out all air from our lungs. we had our lungs refilled only on reaching home-Hamirpur. then, maggi and hot cuppas of coffee @ nescafe was what put together our literally-blown-out bodies....
Saturday, March 29, 2008
to admirers,readers,fans and friends....
dear blog
this post is dedicated to all your readers, admirers and fan(s).
i had been thinking of starting a blog site for the past one year. Basically, i wanted some space where i could scribble anything i liked. but the instant that made me create an account is thanks to one of my roomies- 'Tackle'.
next, is a whole paragraph dedicated to my FIRST FAN!! he is the one who actually waits for my next blog. he is the one who makes me write my blog on time. after i write something, i wait for and care about his reaction and comments the most. he is the only person who enjoys the luxury of getting all of my blogs in his mail, as soon as they are written. he is, whom we call, Mr (N-1) .
now comes the turn of my first reader. whenever i write any blog, the first person to read it is DJ. it is partly due to him being my roommate and partly due to the fact that he quickly tells me the genre of my post- frusty, saadu, gach, cool, awesome, faadu...
another person who appreciates my blog(whether it is forced or natural is immaterial..) is PaanDude. he lives two doors away from my room. still ,I instantly know when he has read my blog by his loud, maniac 'Ravan laughter'.
more readers include KD, '2-penny-treasurer' , jojo, 'sood', 'monk-who-sold-his-hair' , my cousin - 'The Economist' and Meenal. sometimes, some of my classmates unexpectedly come to me and tell me that my blog was good. i just love the feeling which it gives. It is this feeling that makes me write regularly.
last-and-the-least , i would like to thank Mr AK-47 , for creating the interesting moments in my life, about which i can write.
this post is dedicated to all your readers, admirers and fan(s).
i had been thinking of starting a blog site for the past one year. Basically, i wanted some space where i could scribble anything i liked. but the instant that made me create an account is thanks to one of my roomies- 'Tackle'.
next, is a whole paragraph dedicated to my FIRST FAN!! he is the one who actually waits for my next blog. he is the one who makes me write my blog on time. after i write something, i wait for and care about his reaction and comments the most. he is the only person who enjoys the luxury of getting all of my blogs in his mail, as soon as they are written. he is, whom we call, Mr (N-1) .
now comes the turn of my first reader. whenever i write any blog, the first person to read it is DJ. it is partly due to him being my roommate and partly due to the fact that he quickly tells me the genre of my post- frusty, saadu, gach, cool, awesome, faadu...
another person who appreciates my blog(whether it is forced or natural is immaterial..) is PaanDude. he lives two doors away from my room. still ,I instantly know when he has read my blog by his loud, maniac 'Ravan laughter'.
more readers include KD, '2-penny-treasurer' , jojo, 'sood', 'monk-who-sold-his-hair' , my cousin - 'The Economist' and Meenal. sometimes, some of my classmates unexpectedly come to me and tell me that my blog was good. i just love the feeling which it gives. It is this feeling that makes me write regularly.
last-and-the-least , i would like to thank Mr AK-47 , for creating the interesting moments in my life, about which i can write.
Friday, February 15, 2008
proxy of the semester
dear blog
what a wonderful day it was! First, i got up at the right time to attend AK 47's class. In the next class, i did, perhaps, the most daring act of my life!
It all happenned like this.. My friend- T0 (pronounced 'Tee knot') and I walked up to the microDARDonics class 15, minutes after the time, confident that the teacher would let us come in. We entered to find only about 20 people ,in a batch of 60,attending the class. Just as we sat down on the last bench, we complied all the data. The data was the roll numbers for which we had to call out proxy attendances. We divided them equally amongst ourselves. So, i had to answer the roll call four times.
During the lecture, we got two more requests from our friend from Agra, to call out some of 'his' proxies, to reduce his burden. He was originally sent by his 'Board' with a mission to to call out 8 proxies, apart from his own! We agreed to call out two of his proxies. So, each of us had five roll numbers to call.
At that time, my lecture notebook looked something like this-
microDARDonics
15.2.08
05409
05422
054XX
054XX
05XXX
(the actual roll nos have been censored on public demand!)
the numbers on the page were the rolls numbers for which i had to say 'Yes Sir' or whatever i liked. In the rest of the lecture, we discussed many other important issues like organising the mass bunk for the practical class that day, the design of some pages of SRIJAN, the state of our college 10 years from now, US presidential elections and the effect of global warming on Hamirpur.
still, when the lecture seemed nowhere near its end, we started playing tic-tac-toe.
finally, after 11 games of tic-tac-toe, the teacher stopped teaching and picked up his attendance register. We pulled up our socks and got ready for our jobs. Things went on smoothly till the roll number 440.
It was then that the teacher realised that there were too few people in the class and too many on the attendance sheet. So, he cancelled the whole attendance and started taking our attendance again. but this time, he didn't go roll number wise! He went seat wise. He asked every person his roll number and then marked him present in his register. this way, he had planned to cover the entire class, minus the proxies.
I was sitting on the last bench of the fourth row. so, my turn came after a lot of time. just as i had answered my roll call, an idea stuck me. i noticed that the teacher took about five seconds to search for a roll number on his register and mark him present. during this time, he just looked at his register. so, i wondered if i could quickly move to second bench of the fifth row in five seconds, to call out a proxy. also, he being a new teacher doesn't recognise me. luckily, i was wearing a huge pullover at that time. in one 'five seconds' i took my pullover off and kept it on the bench. in the next 'five seconds', i reset my hair and straigtened my T shirt. in the next 'five seconds', i quietly moved to the second bench and sat with one of my classmates started cursing me in 'Full Spirit'. It was then that my 'new neighbours' realised what i was upto! someone told me to go back. some other guy told me that i will be dead meat if i get caught, which, according to them, i was sure to get. somebody else told me that the teacher would recognise me for sure. some other said that i will get a suppli. even the girls sitting near me started whispering. probably they were telling me to back off. at that time, i heard a voice- loud and clear- 'You can do it! Go Go Go..' that voice came from my mind! that voice was louder than all the wispers around me. hearing that voice, i told everybody to shut up and act normal, which they thankfully did.
Then, when my turn came again, the teacher asked me my roll number, in full pain(!). i could not believe it. i thought that he was asking the one sitting behind me. then he asked me again. Probably the changed colour of my clothes( grey pullover to brown shirt) fooled him. anyway, i utterred 'four twenty two' , in full confidence with a serious face. he stared at me for one full second. that was the longest second of my life. i thought that he had recognised me. then, my heart leaped up when he marked 'my' attendance and moved on to the next one.
Soon the attendance was over and the teacher left the room. I felt like a hero! the whole class hailed me! those who were cursing me earlier now gave me high fives! even the girls were smiling at me, when i changed back into the pullover. even long after the class, people, including the topper, hailed me all the way back to the hostel. even i don't know where i got the guts from at that time! everybody was full of praise for me.
today, only one proxy was called. and i did that!
later in the evening, anybody, from any branch, whom i met had heard of my heroic deed. it feels great. people even said that it was the 'proxy of the semester'! i'm on top of the world!
this day will be fresh in my mind forever...
what a wonderful day it was! First, i got up at the right time to attend AK 47's class. In the next class, i did, perhaps, the most daring act of my life!
It all happenned like this.. My friend- T0 (pronounced 'Tee knot') and I walked up to the microDARDonics class 15, minutes after the time, confident that the teacher would let us come in. We entered to find only about 20 people ,in a batch of 60,attending the class. Just as we sat down on the last bench, we complied all the data. The data was the roll numbers for which we had to call out proxy attendances. We divided them equally amongst ourselves. So, i had to answer the roll call four times.
During the lecture, we got two more requests from our friend from Agra, to call out some of 'his' proxies, to reduce his burden. He was originally sent by his 'Board' with a mission to to call out 8 proxies, apart from his own! We agreed to call out two of his proxies. So, each of us had five roll numbers to call.
At that time, my lecture notebook looked something like this-
microDARDonics
15.2.08
05409
05422
054XX
054XX
05XXX
(the actual roll nos have been censored on public demand!)
the numbers on the page were the rolls numbers for which i had to say 'Yes Sir' or whatever i liked. In the rest of the lecture, we discussed many other important issues like organising the mass bunk for the practical class that day, the design of some pages of SRIJAN, the state of our college 10 years from now, US presidential elections and the effect of global warming on Hamirpur.
still, when the lecture seemed nowhere near its end, we started playing tic-tac-toe.
finally, after 11 games of tic-tac-toe, the teacher stopped teaching and picked up his attendance register. We pulled up our socks and got ready for our jobs. Things went on smoothly till the roll number 440.
It was then that the teacher realised that there were too few people in the class and too many on the attendance sheet. So, he cancelled the whole attendance and started taking our attendance again. but this time, he didn't go roll number wise! He went seat wise. He asked every person his roll number and then marked him present in his register. this way, he had planned to cover the entire class, minus the proxies.
I was sitting on the last bench of the fourth row. so, my turn came after a lot of time. just as i had answered my roll call, an idea stuck me. i noticed that the teacher took about five seconds to search for a roll number on his register and mark him present. during this time, he just looked at his register. so, i wondered if i could quickly move to second bench of the fifth row in five seconds, to call out a proxy. also, he being a new teacher doesn't recognise me. luckily, i was wearing a huge pullover at that time. in one 'five seconds' i took my pullover off and kept it on the bench. in the next 'five seconds', i reset my hair and straigtened my T shirt. in the next 'five seconds', i quietly moved to the second bench and sat with one of my classmates started cursing me in 'Full Spirit'. It was then that my 'new neighbours' realised what i was upto! someone told me to go back. some other guy told me that i will be dead meat if i get caught, which, according to them, i was sure to get. somebody else told me that the teacher would recognise me for sure. some other said that i will get a suppli. even the girls sitting near me started whispering. probably they were telling me to back off. at that time, i heard a voice- loud and clear- 'You can do it! Go Go Go..' that voice came from my mind! that voice was louder than all the wispers around me. hearing that voice, i told everybody to shut up and act normal, which they thankfully did.
Then, when my turn came again, the teacher asked me my roll number, in full pain(!). i could not believe it. i thought that he was asking the one sitting behind me. then he asked me again. Probably the changed colour of my clothes( grey pullover to brown shirt) fooled him. anyway, i utterred 'four twenty two' , in full confidence with a serious face. he stared at me for one full second. that was the longest second of my life. i thought that he had recognised me. then, my heart leaped up when he marked 'my' attendance and moved on to the next one.
Soon the attendance was over and the teacher left the room. I felt like a hero! the whole class hailed me! those who were cursing me earlier now gave me high fives! even the girls were smiling at me, when i changed back into the pullover. even long after the class, people, including the topper, hailed me all the way back to the hostel. even i don't know where i got the guts from at that time! everybody was full of praise for me.
today, only one proxy was called. and i did that!
later in the evening, anybody, from any branch, whom i met had heard of my heroic deed. it feels great. people even said that it was the 'proxy of the semester'! i'm on top of the world!
this day will be fresh in my mind forever...
Thursday, February 7, 2008
introspection
engineer toh i will become.. but what next?
i have become so careless. i just play(that too only on the PC),eat and sleep. i just don't think about my future.. what am i gonnna do in life? i just enjoy the small , petty things in life like eating, sleeping, partying. i just don't think about the larger goal. actually, i have not yet decided about any larger goal.i know that i have a sharp mind. but that was just His gift to me. i have not made any use of it. i just waste it day after day , passing time, copying assignments, playing the same old games, watching movies. God, please make me realise that time is precious. Please guide me toward my destiny. pls make me realise what i have to do,achieve on this planet. everybody has already got their trainings fixed. i have not even thought about it seriously. i just couldn't take time out of CS,AOE. i have to improve. that has to happen very soon. otherwise, i will go down. and would also take those people who believe on me, down with me. i just can't let that happen. life is precious.
i have all kinds of luxuries with me because my dad is a great man. i have not done anything to deserve that. i just waste his hard earned money on patties,samosas and maggi.my dad wakes up everyday at 5 am. i sleep at that time everyday, after finishing two movies. where is all this taking me?
what should i do? everybody around me is busy. but i just sit idle, watching them work hard, but still feel nothing. no tingling sensation wakes me up from my deep slumber in life.
see i'm going to sleep even nw. btw, i haven't even touched any book for weeks. this is bad. why the hell am i taking my life so lightly? why am i not geting serious about my life?
my mind, please realise that life is precious.
i have become so careless. i just play(that too only on the PC),eat and sleep. i just don't think about my future.. what am i gonnna do in life? i just enjoy the small , petty things in life like eating, sleeping, partying. i just don't think about the larger goal. actually, i have not yet decided about any larger goal.i know that i have a sharp mind. but that was just His gift to me. i have not made any use of it. i just waste it day after day , passing time, copying assignments, playing the same old games, watching movies. God, please make me realise that time is precious. Please guide me toward my destiny. pls make me realise what i have to do,achieve on this planet. everybody has already got their trainings fixed. i have not even thought about it seriously. i just couldn't take time out of CS,AOE. i have to improve. that has to happen very soon. otherwise, i will go down. and would also take those people who believe on me, down with me. i just can't let that happen. life is precious.
i have all kinds of luxuries with me because my dad is a great man. i have not done anything to deserve that. i just waste his hard earned money on patties,samosas and maggi.my dad wakes up everyday at 5 am. i sleep at that time everyday, after finishing two movies. where is all this taking me?
what should i do? everybody around me is busy. but i just sit idle, watching them work hard, but still feel nothing. no tingling sensation wakes me up from my deep slumber in life.
see i'm going to sleep even nw. btw, i haven't even touched any book for weeks. this is bad. why the hell am i taking my life so lightly? why am i not geting serious about my life?
my mind, please realise that life is precious.
Friday, February 1, 2008
EST
my dear blog
today, i discovered that i have become a standard....
well, my story has a week long history. last week, it was my record that i was five minutes late to every class, be it in encountering lectures by AK 47 ,BJ 51 or Entertaining, attractive(Phile..) practicals! it is another story that some cruel teachers don't give me attendance... So, a saying has been developed, based on peoples' experience..
IF YOU MEET ENDLEY ON THE WAY, THEN YOU ARE ABSENT!
so, whenever somebody sees me approaching him, on the way to a class, he starts running!! Or, when somebody comes 5 min late to a class he comes on EST(Endley Standard Time).
This happenned even today. I got up one full hour before the class, but still reached class exactly at EST! By the way, classes are interesting nowadays. Its just today that in PAIN-in-the-neck's class, the 'senate' of our class passed the resolution to bunk today's tutorial and practical classes to watch the T20 match. (Its another story that India played pathetically.)
But as my roomie tells me, our mid-sem exams are approaching at neckbreaking speed. So i'm off to study Control Systems now.. my dear blog, see you at 08:00 pm EST tomorrow!
PS: I don't care if AK 47 visits my blog, because if he does so, he might only write one of the popular sayings of my blog on the blackboard the next day!
today, i discovered that i have become a standard....
well, my story has a week long history. last week, it was my record that i was five minutes late to every class, be it in encountering lectures by AK 47 ,BJ 51 or Entertaining, attractive(Phile..) practicals! it is another story that some cruel teachers don't give me attendance... So, a saying has been developed, based on peoples' experience..
IF YOU MEET ENDLEY ON THE WAY, THEN YOU ARE ABSENT!
so, whenever somebody sees me approaching him, on the way to a class, he starts running!! Or, when somebody comes 5 min late to a class he comes on EST(Endley Standard Time).
This happenned even today. I got up one full hour before the class, but still reached class exactly at EST! By the way, classes are interesting nowadays. Its just today that in PAIN-in-the-neck's class, the 'senate' of our class passed the resolution to bunk today's tutorial and practical classes to watch the T20 match. (Its another story that India played pathetically.)
But as my roomie tells me, our mid-sem exams are approaching at neckbreaking speed. So i'm off to study Control Systems now.. my dear blog, see you at 08:00 pm EST tomorrow!
PS: I don't care if AK 47 visits my blog, because if he does so, he might only write one of the popular sayings of my blog on the blackboard the next day!
Friday, January 18, 2008
A Headshot by AK 47
dear blog
after many days of mental preparation, i finally made it to the 9:25 class today. well almost..
it so happenned that those three alarms ringing at my head since 8:40 , coupled with my roomies' curses , made me put off the alarms and get up at 9:15 am. As my cell's stopwatch told me, i got ready in a record time of exactly 7 mins 42 secs. (mind you that included all that daily stuff!!!)
skipping breakfast, i hence began my great journey to my classroom. From DBH, the ECE Dept seems light years away at 9:23 am. On the way, i met two of my classmates, who too were struggling to make it through to that class. On the way, some fellow traveller asked,
" Whose class is it?"
"Its AK-47's", the other fellow traveller replied.
We started running. We all knew that AK 47 is lethal. Moreover, one of my fellow travellers was the college's 'Best Athlete'. So, i had to strive harder to catch up with him.
Taking giant leaps on the slippery road in dense fog(risking our lives..) , we finally reached the classroom ,panting.
"May we come in sir?"
"Yes..." The prof started saying something. Without hearing the whole sentence, we rushed into the classroom.when we were right in the middle of the classroom, he finished his sentence..
"..but you will not get any attendance!"
We wanted to run away , but had to sit down. After all, you cannot walk away on AK 47!!
MORAL OF THE STORY- IF YOU WOKE UP TO SEE 9:15am, THEN JUST GO BACK TO SLEEP AGAIN.
after many days of mental preparation, i finally made it to the 9:25 class today. well almost..
it so happenned that those three alarms ringing at my head since 8:40 , coupled with my roomies' curses , made me put off the alarms and get up at 9:15 am. As my cell's stopwatch told me, i got ready in a record time of exactly 7 mins 42 secs. (mind you that included all that daily stuff!!!)
skipping breakfast, i hence began my great journey to my classroom. From DBH, the ECE Dept seems light years away at 9:23 am. On the way, i met two of my classmates, who too were struggling to make it through to that class. On the way, some fellow traveller asked,
" Whose class is it?"
"Its AK-47's", the other fellow traveller replied.
We started running. We all knew that AK 47 is lethal. Moreover, one of my fellow travellers was the college's 'Best Athlete'. So, i had to strive harder to catch up with him.
Taking giant leaps on the slippery road in dense fog(risking our lives..) , we finally reached the classroom ,panting.
"May we come in sir?"
"Yes..." The prof started saying something. Without hearing the whole sentence, we rushed into the classroom.when we were right in the middle of the classroom, he finished his sentence..
"..but you will not get any attendance!"
We wanted to run away , but had to sit down. After all, you cannot walk away on AK 47!!
MORAL OF THE STORY- IF YOU WOKE UP TO SEE 9:15am, THEN JUST GO BACK TO SLEEP AGAIN.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
another day...
dear blog
i sleep a lot. i think i did also tell you this in my previous post. But, today was the height.. I had three classes today, starting at 9:25 am today. well, due to the incessant ringing of thre alarms near me, i got up from bed at 9 am. i wore a jacket and just as i took out my toothbrush from the almirah, some thought( which i can't even remember now, but it had sounded quite convincing at that time..) came to my mind and convinced me to go back to sleep. Then i stood there still for over five mins, pondering over the pros and cons of sleep Vs class. finally, 'sleep' outweighed 'class' and again i was under the covers.
the heat of the blanket had so engulfed my mind that i didn't even set the alarm for any subsequent classes. finally, my long ride of slumber screeched to a halt when my roommates screamed at my face(for nearly 5 mins), after they had returned from their classes at 12pm. Already mad at myself for missing three classes in a row for no rhyme or reason, i skipped lunch.
after that, i went in the royal tutorial of our dear sir- Mr Rao . I was so bored in that class that on returning to my room, i again went to sleep, and got up only to have dinner.
another day in my life has passed, without me making any use of it...
i sleep a lot. i think i did also tell you this in my previous post. But, today was the height.. I had three classes today, starting at 9:25 am today. well, due to the incessant ringing of thre alarms near me, i got up from bed at 9 am. i wore a jacket and just as i took out my toothbrush from the almirah, some thought( which i can't even remember now, but it had sounded quite convincing at that time..) came to my mind and convinced me to go back to sleep. Then i stood there still for over five mins, pondering over the pros and cons of sleep Vs class. finally, 'sleep' outweighed 'class' and again i was under the covers.
the heat of the blanket had so engulfed my mind that i didn't even set the alarm for any subsequent classes. finally, my long ride of slumber screeched to a halt when my roommates screamed at my face(for nearly 5 mins), after they had returned from their classes at 12pm. Already mad at myself for missing three classes in a row for no rhyme or reason, i skipped lunch.
after that, i went in the royal tutorial of our dear sir- Mr Rao . I was so bored in that class that on returning to my room, i again went to sleep, and got up only to have dinner.
another day in my life has passed, without me making any use of it...
Sunday, January 13, 2008
the fateful night..
Its all wrong. I feel sleepy, dizzy and lazy. It should have been night. But its DAY! I have just finished watching the first season of 'How I met your mother' series. The episode are good, but my eyes are bad now. All the letters on this screen seem dizzy as i write them. I feel sleepy, though i don't want to sleep. i sat down to watch HIMYM at night. but now its day. I just went out of my room. Its ALL day. The daylight is hurting my eyes. I just want to stare the thick dense white fog which surrounds my hostel now, till eternity.
The whole hostel is unusually quiet. Is it so everyday like this at 6 am? Except for some stray dogs, there is no movement around me. Everywhere its just fog.
I am starting to feel hungry now. But the mess will provide me food only after 8 am. "I have to keep myself awake for two more hours." This was the last thought which i remember now, at 7 pm. God, I have been asleep for 13 hours straight. 6 am to 7 pm!!
I will have a complete night out again....
The whole hostel is unusually quiet. Is it so everyday like this at 6 am? Except for some stray dogs, there is no movement around me. Everywhere its just fog.
I am starting to feel hungry now. But the mess will provide me food only after 8 am. "I have to keep myself awake for two more hours." This was the last thought which i remember now, at 7 pm. God, I have been asleep for 13 hours straight. 6 am to 7 pm!!
I will have a complete night out again....
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