Its raining brides and grooms!

The season of  marriages is approaching in India. It seems fair, if there can be a season for harvesting, festival of color or a season for kite flying then it seems natural that there should be a season for one of  India’s national obsession – marriages (did you know the most successful websites from India are matrimonial sites).  This  season is more bothersome than others since many of my buddies have decided to give up on their ‘BABAism’ and have decided to take the plunge into nuptial bliss- until death parts them. Anyway for me this translates to finding new people to go to the watering hole next time I get back in the country.

The bachelor pool had been steadily shrinking  for a couple of years now, they either end up being victims of their parent’s emotional blackmail,  or cultural obligation(practice of murrapenne) or  fall for the L with an o(w)e. It was a pleasant surprise to find that many of the infatuation during school and college time has blossomed into full fledged commitment and also in a very few cases heartbreaking break ups. In many ways life of people have changed a lot since the old days.

PS: Below ragecomic by myself is dedicated to my friends getting married this year. So happy and excited for you all.

Rag#ing

I remember my first day in under graduation vividly. I was carrying my trunk and a carrybag and got into the shabby hostel room and was thinking “This is where I am going to spend next 4 years”, having just travelled from the land of muntu(lunki), meen(fish) and mustache to the land of ragma, dehi and paratha and after the horrible experience in Delhi, the hole we call room didnt appeal much . A couple of hours later came the ‘seniors’ making use of the 1 hour space b/w security guard shift.
Senior in my ro0m:

Senior 1: Tere Maa(Mother) ke !@#@ ,  Behaan(Sister) Ki  @$@#$ blah blah bla bla bla.(friends from that part of India have a particular penchant for other peoples mothers and sisters and their names are always at the tip of their tongue..hehe)
S2: bla bla bla bla bla Ma bla bla behan bla bla
Some of them started plucking on my hairs and were pointing too my colored t-tshirt and commented(off course punctuated by MaKi’s and BehanKi’s). And then fell  the slaps. And hence had my first introduction to ragging at NIT hmrpur.

Later found out I was actually let of lightly compared to the others in the ground floor and the pulling on the hair and pointing at the T-shirt probably meant I was having long hairs for a 1st year and probably was not following the dress code of the time. Anyway it was one of the sucky first experience at the new place. Dont get me wrong I really loved the college experience though not the initial days. Anyway don’t know why I am writing about it now.

Have a great day.

A List of Online Lecture Videos

1. Free video lectures and animations on all subjects : Huge Collection. Text materials and videos on all Engineering and Medical Sciences.
2. Joint venture by IIT’s and IISc
3. MIT Open Course : Text materials, video lectures on all subjects
4. MIT world : Video lectures
5. MIT lecture Browser : Browse video lectures on all topics
6. World Lecture Hall : You can find any course here, where ever it is.
7. WGBH Forum Network : Videos on all subjects
8. Vega Science Trust : Physics Special
9. Micro Biology Video Library : Biology
10. Animations : Genetics, Biochemistry, Immunology, Physiology etc…
11. National Institutes of Health : Medicine Special

Enjoy

Ali

I met ALI the first time in my uncles construction site in Doha, Qatar. He is  in his 50’s;  rich, full of energy and can always be spotted with his N95, bluetooth earphones and LandRover(did ya know Qatar has one of the highest LandRover density in the world). He is what people would identify as successful and he is, in the fiscal sense. On longer interaction  its evident he cant craft even a complete sentence of English(yup only mallu), have very arrow view of the world and holds many prejudices. Still it comes to basic question on why he is successful , then why is he rich,  does people become rich by becoming good in academics?  holding high ethics? Being a good speaker? being urbane?

Ali comes to my mind all the time; personally I despise the guy and his attitude, but he is a perfect example of someone who grew up from the grassroots, who with his personal skills and audacity grew from rags to  riches. His personality is contradictory to my friends from UG or now who believe wealth is accommodated by working in a multinational and people who look down upon people who are entrepreneurs and who try to network from the grassroot level. The same is very much evident in the US, take it Eric the tattoo guy or Sam the repair man. As someone put it ‘America is a country of shopkeepers'(I think that was Churchill) and yet they have so much success.

Wow I really dont remember what point I was going to make, and also I dont think I am qualified.

BTW above I have equated success with fiscal success but I do understand that is not the case.

Below is a pic of Doha Downtown. Pretty much a country under construction with big visions for the future.

Howdy guys (|:-)

Our life is decided as much by the opportunities that we don’t take as the opportunity  we do.  I’m a strong believer in the Key Points in life, be it that college you selected to join, the first job, the entrance exam you cracked(or not), major accidents, major failure,the neighborhood you  decided to move to,that good friendship you made, the woman you may decide to spend the life with etc. These are various points which if it was different would have given a completely new trajectory to our life.

Musing back life has been good and personally was lucky enough to meet the right person at the right time nd being bestowed with ample opportunity.  My present life  is nothing that I  had planned of, getting a Masters in Technology/Science would have been something I would have been reluctant to consider in undergrad even if I had a gun pointed to my head, but fate had different plans. Life was much simpler in undergrad, everthing was well figured out be ; join the first job, get the promotion, move to that great place, buy that cool gadget> life was simple according to that naive undergrad… though have nothing to complain about, life’s been fair and I am glad to have met the wonderful people whom I would not have met if life had been as ‘planned’.

For all those people who are wondering(the 2 ppl who might stumble upon my blog) I am an international student at US of A.  This is my post after a very long time(after 1 1/2 yrs), I had given up  the blog for dead and had to use the ‘forgot password’ option to revive it now. Hoping to write regular entries here, looking forward to keeping this as a personal experience log in addition to my diary. Hope I don’t bore you with my narcissist rambling.

Saw this video about the international student experience in US of A by some one in Columbia University. Embedded here Part 1 of 4. Check out the rest at youtube. Somewhat true, I had gone through those experience and now see my  friends and roomies going through the same phases.

ChEErs!

Rejection Letter :(

The rejection letter at the SIBM(an MBA college)  site. Much better than the plain old ‘You are not selected’ letter. Well hoping to crack it next time.

Dear Candidate,

One who has a dream, who dared and will dare again.

Dreams are the stuff of life lived full. Dreams demand hard work and determination, tenacity and rocklike confidence

You know and I know that you have all these in full measure. A setback now cannot blight your future forever.

Trials and obstacles are the motivators that bring out the hidden best in us. May be some where you erred in judging the demands of the test, may be you had other transitory handicaps, may be you were prepared well but nervous – whatever the reason, you have no right to deem yourself unfit forever to be at SIBM. That defeatist attitude will not do.

In case you cannot wait do pursue other alternatives, get work experience or get admission in other MBA programs but do not deny yourself the dream of your life, because of one temporary setback.

The experience of the test you gave this time has given you insights to prepare better and smarter, has awakened your resolve that you can crack the SIBM test.

Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

I know you will be with us at SIBM next time, because I know you have a dream, because I know you dared and because I know you will dare again with lessons learnt.

You have my best wishes and I look forward eagerly to welcome you at SIBM in 2009.

Regards,

@#$#@$

Director

some one liners

•  If our constitution allows us free speech, why are there phone bills?
•  If you tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, he’ll believe you. But if you tell him a park bench has just been painted, he has to touch it to be sure.
•  Beat the 5 O’clock rush: leave work at noon!
•  I love being a writer… what I can’t stand is the paperwork.
•  Join the army, see the world, meet interesting people, and kill them.
•  Until I was 13, I thought my name was ‘Shut Up.’
•  I’m not afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.
•  I’ve never been drunk, but often I’ve been over served.
•  I say no to drugs — they just don’t listen!
•  Marriage is one of the chief causes of divorce.
•  Work is fine if it doesn’t take up too much of your time.
•  When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
•  Born free; Taxed to death.
•  Everyone has a photographic memory; some people just don’t have film.
•  Smile — it makes people wonder what you’re up to.
•  A printer consists of 3 main parts: the case, the jammed paper tray andthe blinking red light.
•  The hardest part of skating is the ice.
•  The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot; the guy who invented the other three, he was the genius.
•  The trouble with being punctual is that there’s no one there to appreciate it.
•  If you can’t convince them, confuse them.
•  It’s not the fall that kills you; it’s the sudden stop at the end.
•  I couldn’t repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
• “Your future depends on your dreams” so go to sleep.
• “Hard work never killed anybody”, but why take the risk.
•  There should be a better way to start a day… Than waking up every morning.

       Some funny insults 

• Why don’t you blow your brains out? You have nothing to lose.
• Let’s play house. You be the door. I’ll slam you.
• What’s on your mind- If you’ll please excuse the exaggeration.
• I’ll swear eternal friendship for anyone who dislikes you as much as I do.
• I need a bookmark more than I need you, so step in front of a steamroller on your way out.
• I don’t know what makes you tick, but I hope it’s a time bomb.
• Next time you pass my house, I’ll appreciate it.
• You have a very striking face? How many times have you been struck there?
• Why don’t you sue your brains for non-support?
• Why don’t you leave and let live?
• You can could make a good living hiring yourself out to haunt people.
•  One should love animals. They are so tasty.

tii…ng

Ladies and Gentleman , reach for the nearest cotton and plug your ears as best possible , for urs truely is now taking Guitar lessoons. Its something I wanted to do for a long time, but time never permitted; alas now me and my friends practice the string, and is seriously testing our teachers  patience. So if u ever pass by vytilla having some cotton might come in handy..

Who was insulted- Politicians or Chickens

A  viewers comment that appeared on NDTV news channel today.

” The Indian ambassador to the US Ronen Sen should be recalled immediately. He has no right to insult chickens this way.”

Read the story that relates to here..

back to kochi

Been about 3 weeks now since I have left college and got back home in Cochin. I have been itching for long to get out of college and enter into the professional world but now that the college has concluded and the degree received the world has become very insecure and confusing; b4 I was always sure of what I was going to do next and the college and hostels were like a 2nd home, now I very much miss the hostel life and friends..miss friends really badly.

Cochin has visibly changed a lot since my last visit, development has taken root and optimism is in the air thanks to the Smart City and the state reconstruction drive taking place. Bill boards and ads everywhere now announce the impending housing and IT development boom and almost daily new project is being announced. Anyway better late than never, it was long overdue; hope we keep up the consistency. Wow and Cochin is damn hot (temp wise) now, coupled with the higher humidity its like a steaming pressure cooker here, hope its rains soon. See ya.