'TRAIN'ING ON A WEEKEND

My last post was on Independence Day which of course had nothing to do with that day .There has been a brief lull mainly due to nil activity out here and also due 2 lack of topics.So u might have guessed it that this is going 2 b a totally aimless one and irrelevant,with the only aim being updating my blog!Shall start off with a round up of the weekend.We r supposed 2 have free noons on friday but as tuff luck wud have it v had an Industrial lecture,that too 2 of them.The timings were 2 to 3-15pm and 3-30 to 5 . I shud say i was pretty happy.Inspite of it being the peak siesta time i managed 2 listen to a prof from Malaysia.Probably the word 'Malaysia' brought about a renewed interest.But the irony was that i peacefuly slept throughout the next one inspite of downing a coffee at 3-30!Evening i just whiled away time and chatted with a couple of frnds.

The title comes into picture now.At around 10-30 my friend got a call frm Hyd saying his granny had expired and so he had 2 rush home.3 of us chumma embarked on a wild-goose chase to the Central without knowing wat v were doing.There are hazaar travels lined up near the Chennai Central and like a 'black' ticket in a theatre 15 min before the show v got a black ticket for a train 2 Warangal @ 11-15,obviously at a premium that too 100%, and 11-30 was its departure time.The next few minutes v were simply running on the road like thieves being chased by cops at 11-20pm and a bag with one of us{Gabbar Singh} made the picture perfect! Also v were boarding a train and it looked like a straight lift from a Bollywood 70's flick.Gabbar and his 2 assistants{we},totally drenched in sweat, entered the train with the booty bag{i mean his clothes bag} and the co-passengers needless 2 say had some kinda unknown expressions on their faces.We heard the announcement and jumped out of the train and Gabbar went away peacefully 2 warangal {and later caught a train 2 Hyd}.It was 11-30 pm and now v had 2 go back to IIT. We decided 2 save some dough and go in the electric train,which had its last train at about 12-30.Also it being late in the night the frequency was quite low and bad luck embraced us once again as the train pulled out jus as v bought the ticket.We had 2 wait for another 30 mins
for the next train and the mosquitoes had a field day{rather night} feeding on our blood and the sweaty environs only made things worse.Add 2 that non stop smsing by a crack pot friend of mine asking "wat happpened... whr r u" etc.We reached IIT at about 1 am and had 2 cycle all the way from gate 2 hostel which is about 4 kms.I was totally drained out and exhausted by the time i reached but i had this sense of triumph having been able 2 help a friend in distress,that too when no solution seemed possible at that hour.I patted myself and said "Good work da Rajeeva!!!" and crashed.

Saturday was bad-vheri vheri bad because net was down{I know u did not expect that reason} till 7 pm.The good thing was that i completed a decent portion of "Tell me ur dreams" which would have been impossible otherwise.Had some insipid food as usual and came back.I was elated when i found out that net was back.Kewl! As usual replied 2 my scraps and was on duty non stop.Ob u know wat duty means-chatting,orkutting,music,movies.Now dont say vacation means studies as vacation is for enjoyment and studies-well no comments.I chatted with a few close friends till about 3-30 am and crashed.

On Sunday again i was on duty.I thought of taking a break{studies} but work pressure{:D} was too high and so no break till evening.Later I completed that novel and did something which was related to engg for about an hour.I wud not like 2 dwell much on Mech fundaes,not because u might not understand it, but i myself will not know wat i am writing if i do so!

Hmmm.... so yet another topic highlighting my joblessness and guess i am going overboard.But relax guys!I shall try 2 post something decent next time.We have an Industrial visit lined up this weekend and i seriously have 2 dust my books if i entertain any hopes of getting something into my head.Shall try 2 post about that next time. In the meantime i shall try 2 review some books which i have read recently.

WEEKEND-COUSINS AND NOSTALGIA

Isn't it quite surprising that the tears of yesteryears bring about laughs while on the contrary those laughters bring about tears today?I felt the same this weekend.My uncle called me up on saturday saying granny and a cousin had come down to their place and told me to come there.I spent the noon watching a movie ,chatting with a couple of friends and then left for their place in the evening.

I was meeting a couple of cousins-one after a few months and the other after a few years.They were F-20 and F-18 respectively.{Of course if it were M i would not have mentioned}.After spending some time with my granny one of them called me and thus started a long chat session.Initially i did the usual leg pulling but after a few minutes i was no match 2 their wits.2 females completely outmatched a male and on many occasions i was left speechless and also fuming.Probably "Revenge of the sis"!They also managed to convince me 2 take them to "Mangal Pandey" and/or lunch the next day .Frankly i feel girls have mastered that art{no offense intended plz}.Then we recalled our childhood days . I have a great bunch of cousins ,both paternal and maternal, and in summer it was only destination Kumbakonam{Thanjavur district,TN} for all of us from the maternal side.It is a huge,ancestral,century old building with wooden balconies and a green courtyard which houses many trees.We continued the discussion till about 9,gorged on granny's goodies and resumed our session which went on till abt 2 am!

The next morning granny treated us to a sumptuous breakfast.After a futile visit to the theatre i was in no mood to dine out and we returned back.We resumed our "bheegi bheegi yaadein" - Kumbakonam. We also had great neighbours there and they being of our age added to our joys.For boys it used to be 24*7 cricket while the girls used to sit indoors playing carroms or watching TV. Lunch/dinner was the meeting time and it used 2 b chaotic and commotion all around,with the boys teasing the girls and getting blows from the elders.We had a jumbo sized wooden swing and boys and girls used to fight for it daily and invariably someone had to intervene to solve the dispute!Each of us had a tale to tell and it was sheer ecstasy when we recalled those moments.We recalled our visit to Kodaikanal{1995} and a visit 2 the theatre to watch 'jeans' {1998}.We also talked about each others' school crushes,college life etc.It was evening by then and one of them suggested calling up a few cousins.We revived some of those memories when we called our cousins in Banagalore{2 sooper kewl guys},Thanjavur{3 robust naughty guys},Surat{2 sweety sisters} etc.We decided to meet atleast once evry year and this time most of them have confirmed their participation in december at Kumbaks.Granny left on Sunday night and one of my cousins also had 2 leave.The other cousin had some meeting in college the next morning and so i returned 2 my room on Monday at 11 am.

It was an amazing weekend for me with great memories which i will cherish throughout my life.They called me up and wished me all the best and i too followed suit.I am now lying in a pensive mood in my cot.Wordsworth{in Daffodils} came to my mind- "those memories change my solitude to bliss".My eyes are already moist now and i do not wish to wet my cheeks with tears{it has not happened for the past 5-6 years} so i will be putting a full stop now.I have only one crib-I should have taken my sweety sisters out to lunch.
KOI LAUTAA DE MERE BEETHE HUE DIN.....

FIRST DAY OF 3RD YEAR

MONDAY MORNING BLUES

Aaargh...Yawn.. The alarm was screaming at 7 am and i peacefully shut it down and dozed back. At abt 7-45 i realised that i had not yet done my "boni"-attending classes so far this yr.Tom Sawyer's invention of "ills" came 2 my mind but here i was my own master and all i needed was "determination"! Classes officially started on Friday but for lazy bums like me it had not yet started and i did not want 2 procrastinate the "boni". I jumped out of my bed and completed all the daily chores{minus of course taking a bath} and managed 2 reach jus 5 min late for the 8 am class. As expected it was half empty{for proponents of optimism well -half full}.I was happy that i belonged to the better half of the class.

1st hr- The prof let us in with a warning saying "First time xcused". No sooner did i park myself than i found myself being drawn into the whirlpool called sleep. I tried 2 take help frm my neighbour but he was already down by then.The classroom seems 2 b having soporific properties embedded in it-thats wat i feel. After trying few things 2 keep sleep at bay i gave up and thankfully went unnoticed.

2nd hr- A young man with a crumpled T-shirt entered in and i thot that some M.Tech or Ph.D muggu came in 2 assist the prof . To my surpise he turned out 2 b the prof. He started off with a world map showing where he grew,studied and stuff . Probably he found it amusing or interesting but v thot it was stupidity. He gave us a gift and dropped a bomb too. Gift:-no attendance-- I beamed like a child who was given an unexpected toy;Bomb:- No reference book,no notes,only classroom... -- I was as angry as a child whose chocolate was snatched away!! Started something vague which was overhead transmission-OHT.

3rd hr- I was determined 2 atleast scribble something. Managed 2 scribble a decent amt.I wish 2 emphasise-decent by my standards.I felt on top of the world.

4th hr- Due to my misfortune entered late so had 2 sit in the 1st bench beside a "My-day-incomplete-without-teacher-licking" guy. He ,hold ur breath,had a pencil,red pen,blue pen and a scale.Phew! I did not have that even in my school where neat notes mattered a lot. Again that hr was OHT and time was ticking away at a snail's pace . I managed to stay awake but ob was not listening. Once someone asked Dharmaraj "Wat travels faster than light" and he said "the mind" . It was quite true as my mind had encompassed the entire universe in that hr except the classroom!

Back 2 hostel. Had something seemingly similar 2 the aloo,sambar,dal shown in the train in 'ANNIYAN' . I had a surprise in store as there was no 5th hr and i had a short nap. I was ecstatic when i found that there was no lab in the noon and the very thot of a free noon on the 1st day lifted up my spirits.Wow!!

I attended 2 some small jobs only because orkut was not functioning. Evening passed away slowly bereft of any activity.It was time 2 dig into some food. A few freshers were sitting with us in our table in the dining hall and suddenly i saw a worried lookin guy with a bag running around here and there. He came 2 our table and asked the freshers "hey did u write down chemistry notes" and at the other end few guys were talking of something called vector product. I was immediately transported 2 the days wen i used 2 religiously write down notes ,and it seemed some years away. Me and my frnds jus shook it off with a toothy grin and came back 2 our "bindaas" days which is something i am not at all truimphant about.It is something like law of dimishing "interest". If u draw a graph of my "acads enthu and interest" vs age it wud b a perfect sinusoidal curve with the peak being my 11th and 12th class days.I am one of the few "celebs" who gave up studies in the very 1st yr but the situation is better these days.

My only aim as of now is 2 be in time for Tuesday's classes and i have taken a resolution 2 listen 2 the prof's lectures and make notes atleast for 1 full day. I am jus hoping and praying it does happen........

CHENNAI vs HYDERABAD

CHENNAI vs HYDERABAD: A candid assessment of the 2 cities

3rd post in 3 days..jump start 2 my blog!
I jus cannot fathom y most of the Hyderabadis call it "hydra-bad" ,which they claim is the anglicised version as in "calcutta- kolkata" or "bombay-mumbai" , with the bad part being pronounced in the same way as the antonym of good-"bad". The other "bad"s do not suffer this ignominy namely Ahmedabad,Ghaziabad etc. If it were 2 b a purely posh,Anglicised name I wud have rechristened hyd as "Hydra good". Okie i wont go abt extolling the greatness of Hyd now.

I grew up in the wonderful,laidback,Nawabi city Hyd. My stay in Chennai -where "barota","bajji" and "sundal" stalls r as ubiquitous as "chaat bandis" in Hyd, is {and will certainly be}relatively very short compared 2 that of Hyd but enuff for this blog. Also innumerable visits in my childhood do supplement the comparison.

The first thing that strikes u on landing at the Chennai Central is the unbearable stench emanating from the umpteen gunny backs filled 2 the brim with fishes. Ppl say "singara chennai" but i feel "Stink aara Chennai" wud b better .The other thing is the perfect discipline which the coolies diligently follow. They never enter the train unlike their hyderabadi counterparts where a plethora of coolies simply barge into the train oblivious 2 the troubles of the disembarking passengers and the air full of "maa ki.." and "behen ki .." stuff!!. Of course the coolies do charge exorbitant rates and that is their forte. The modus operandi is 2 pick out the bakras-non tams, frm the trains and convince them in a smooth,genteel manner in a "khichdish" lang infested with tam wrds and a few gult words being thrown in here and thr. For eg. he will offer 2 carry ur baggage till the auto stand and quote an outrageous,out-of-the-world 3 digit figure which will leave u shell-shocked. More shocks at the taxi stand where the guy will quote exactly the double of the prev 3 digit and triple if u have a comp which is a kinda ' white elephant' . If ur a tam, well all u can do is a bit of bargaining and reduce it slightly but u do run the risk of being rebuked in the choicest of tam expletives wen u have reached ur destination, on not complying to his demands! The autowallahs also deserve a mention here . The state-of-the-art digitalised meters in the autos will surely catch ur eye but wait, they r purely for decorative purposes and agreeing 2 a pre-fixed flat rate will not burn that big a hole in ur purse as against metered fares. I do not recall any instance of entering an auto or taxi with equanimity in Chennai.

The N.Indian stuff in the restaurants will leave u fuming and leaves a lot 2 b desired. Very few hotels dish out quality stuff and it is beyond the reach of students. Did someone say "Be Roman while in Rome"?? Well the "roman" stuff or "chennai" stuff namely idly,vada etc er quite good in the eateries . Regarding entertainment the theatres r not at all good and this is very disappointing for movie buffs like me. On many occasions i have seen movies in black with many empty seats indicating a tie -up. I badly miss the 35Rs ticket in Hyd!!

After all the flogging-to-death time for goody stuff akin 2 my first post. The traffic sense is amazing and a hyderabadi driver will never find it easy here. The theatre{drama} circuit is quite bright and the reverence of Chennaites towards religion and God is well known. The city is up by 6 am with evrbody sporting "vibhuti" unlike the laidback attitude of hyd.The hyd attitude of "chalta hain" or procrastination has caught up with me big time and i am one of the innumerable victims of that attitude. An evening near the beach will rejuvenate ur spirits and the tides have washed away my worries many a time. The transport network is xlnt and the local trains have an amazing frequency at a very cheap rate. So i do not loathe Chennai too but do have certain points against it.

Hmmmm yet another exhaustive post. Bears testimony 2 my "vettiness"..
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So which is better?Without an iota of doubt PHIR BHI DIL HAIN HYDERABADI

VACATION MUSINGS

A 3 month vacation exists only in dreams for any engg student and even i was quite surprised{and elated too!}when i heard of it. But now its part of my life. Like any other vacation even this time my parents had audacious plans ,only that it saw light for the 1st time in many yrs. V planned a trip 2 N.India with granny and few rels but i did not even have the slightest idea that it was gonna b a purely pilgrimage trip though i shud have envisaged that coz with granny around it is given. I was done with my 2nd yr eggjams on may 11 and had 2 park myself at a diff place daily in chennai{ i mean have hazaar rels so daily a different house} till 20th.Then began a long and ardous train journey 2 delhi.After scanning the entire compartment i found out that there was no F 18-22 so all the more boring!But i managed to complete "Da vinci code" {ya a bit late } during the journey.
Delhi was soooper.Evry house boasted of 4-5 cars and it was quite evident that they led quite a flamboyant lifestyle.Replete with sparkling roads, sensational gals,sprawling malls etc Delhi did not seem like the India v know.For a while i thot i shud have opted for IIT DELHI!!! After the usual sight seeing in Delhi{double meaning also 2 b added} and stuff v started off 2 Haridwar.It was a kinda package tour with 100 ppl in 4 buses and much 2 my displeasure it was full of 60+ "mamis" and naamam sporting "mamas". I never knew it was gonna b an out and out iyengar trip. I had great hopes of finding some good company for "kadalai" but all my hopes came down crashing and i had 2 bear the non stop pestering of those oldies. For the next 7 days or so it was only "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" , Carnatic music and other typical iyengarish activities.I thougt my walkman wud save me frm that but my sis who is an ardent music buff brought in the same things saving a few non carnatic cassettes which lightened up the scene somewat.Even the food was jus abt ok but i pardoned the organisers after i learnt how difficult it was 2 go to Badrinath.
Comin to the trip it was amazing 2 say the least. Those serpentine ghatroads with the Ganges flowing deep down in the valley was breathtaking .My heart was filled with child like joy {donno y!!} when i saw real snow for the 1st time and it was an exhilarating experience.The badrinath temple amidst snow clad peaks was awesome and i was thankful 2 my parents as it turned out 2 b a "pilgrimage cum pleasure " trip.The Ganga was biting cold even in the peak summer .After purifying my body and soul with innumerable ganga snaans at Haridwar ,Rishikesh ,Devaprayag etc v went back 2 Delhi. I was hell bent on visiting the Taj but my granny was dead against! Her take was that it was a "tulaka samadhi"{muslim's grave} and the devout Hindu that she is ,she refused 2 budge an inch frm her stance and i lost out another opportunity. The irony is that this was my 3rd tip 2 Delhi without a glimpse of Taj :(. V went to Mathura,Brundavan,Gokul {again "dhaarmik sthaan"!} and came 2 the fag end of our trip.
It was back 2 Hyd on jun 3rd after a memorable trip and my only crib was not goin 2 agra and kedarnath,{which is a non vishnu temple and ob my granny was against}. I was ready for a fresh foray into the big bad world and i was a total "aawara" in hyd. I watched, hold ur breath ,13 movies and my mom obviously was quite indignant and had 2 face her wrath after umpteen untold visits 2 the theatre! Visiting the net cafe became an almost daily affair and at one point of time i ran out of dough due 2 my lifestyle! But it was good 2 b at home enjoyin mom's delicacies and catching up with frnds and stuff. I did miss lunch and dinner on many occassions and was severely reprimanded for that. Also my sis was preparing for JEE so cud not watch much TV at home and that kept me outdoors for most of the time. The only positive outcome was the reading habit which i restarted after a 3 yr hiatus.I did manage 2 read 3-4 books which is quite decent by my standards as I am quite infamous for my reading pace!
All said and done it was a good 3 months . Now it is back 2 sq one in my hostel and i had 2 do a lot of cleaning and stuff yest. Classes will commence in full swing by 5th and it will b a good 4 months before i go back 2 "home sweet home". I do miss HYDERABAD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOSTEL LIFE

In my 9th and 10th classes like any other young teenager even I was very eager 2 enter college and have a posh bike,a great gang of frnds and a hep lifestyle. Little did I know that I was 2 enter a world where the vroom of a bike and the smoke that it gives out wud rusticate u frm college!! Of course rusticate is 2 big a word , powered vehicles are banned in our campus and v r fined heavily for riding one. All I have is a solitary cycle now which seems 2 crib often these days and is always in danger of being stolen !! I hope it is safe now as I have not seen it for the past 3 months.
A typical day starts at 8 am { how I envy u guys whose classes start at 9-30 or 10} and I am certain that not more than 5-10% of the students wake up before 7-30 and I do not fall in that category. A visit 2 any of the hostels at that time will surely have u in splits. The cacophonic sound of ‘n’ no of alarms blaring out is the first thing which one will notice. A glance towards the wash basins will show sleepy faces inching their way in and out and cursing the long queue!. Chennai is infamous for its water prob and our campus is no exception. You will have a super sensational start 2 ur day wen u discover that there is no water that morning and find only air rushing out of the tap! Freshers religiously take bath in the morning and v have 2 put fight 2 dig the fact into their heads that doin so will leave the late risers with no water and so the 1st thing one does in the ragging sessions is 2 take a word from him saying he wont take bath in the morning.I pity the guys who r caught in the loo in such horrible situations. Fortunately I was not a victim so far and hope not 2 be one in the future!!! Other idiosyncrasies which all the guys follow religiously are- taking bath only in the evenings; generously applying deo and wearing crumpled,battered,wo