Deja Vu!

The last PAF of this year, undoubtedly the best PAF of the year and probably the best in IITB PAF History. The title was Deja Vu and it was probably the first PAF in the history with central theme as IIT. If I were to try and draw a good analogy, Deja Vu was to IIT as Rang De Basanti was to India. Those who have seen it would know what bullshit this blog is in front of the actual PAF. But this blog is to share the PAF with many people who visit my blog but are not a part of the present IITB fraternity.
The list includes a few who lament for not being in IIT, a few who have already passed out from this institute, some fools who missed it for something that in any case would be petty before it, some who just dabble through this litter of mine and my many friends from other IITs. A word of caution: It's going to be long but I'll try my best to make it as interesting & picturesque as possible.

Just to introduce about PAF to the ignorant souls, PAF stands for Performance Arts Festival. These are dramatic shows of huge scale and budget (not very sure but somewhere around 50k) with each PAF organised by 2-4 hostels. PAFs are seen as one of the biggest events at IITB and the hostels which lift the PAF trophy don't leave any opportunity to show their pride and abuse to the losers.
Deja Vu starts with a regular scene of how parents urge their children (in this case, a guy named Sonu) for taking JEE (IITs being one of the most promising institutes in terms of getting a good job and adding to their own reputation). Sonu works hard and faces a lot many expectations from his family, peers, girls and the old. The result finally comes negative and he finds that his parents have given up on him; he also faces insult from others. He just couldn't take it anymore and he commits suicide. The prod work is amazing with OAT (Open Air Theatre) in the centre and the IITB main road in the background.

IIT Main Road and OAT (green coloured structure) in background

The whole scene was carried out by an odd 12-15 people on a continuous and rotational basis; they served both as different characters in different scenes and as the objects of use as and when they come. Only 2 characters (Sonu and his father) were kept constant and the rest exchanged positions as friends, relatives, computer keyboard, gate, seat, questions of JEE paper and what not! The swift rotation of positions and designations was just mind-blowing and was the first hint of a great PAF in its unfolding.

First scene team

Sonu checking his result on internet

Sonu committing suicide

The second sequence is about a guy named Dumdum talking to his own self (heart/soul) about his failure at IIT (3 backlogs, lying to family, lost purpose etc.). Dumdum and Sonu are from the same town/city and it was Dumdum's father who bashes Sonu's father in the first scene when Sonu fails to clear JEE. He is one regular proud father of an IITian and as is in most of the cases, a regular mis-conceived father as well. Dumdum sees many issues with the students, their dreams & goals and thinks of making a PAF on these which his self flatly denies.

Dumdum (right) with his self

This guy is called by his BTP guide and the later sincerely tries to uncover the problems and also offers help to Dumdum for passing his course and BTP. There is a short appearance of a Cracku whom Dumdum hates/is jealous of. The scene shows so simple but so-true thoughts going on in Dumdum's mind when he talks to the Prof and when he sees Cracku. The scene was like a mirror - reflecting the self of almost everyone sitting in the audiences to some or other extent.

Dumdum with BTP Guide

A number of symbolic gyrations were fused into the middle of the PAF showing the guy unable to realize his purpose of existence - credit given to people and society who are but an obstruction in understanding the purpose of his existence and realizing it.

Attempts and failure in reaching the goal

In another scene, character sketches of 2 of his friends are drawn. One of them is a mediocre guy (who claims to share the dream of making big drams one day) whereas the other (Laddoo) is below-average guy (worried on the girlfriend front). The two dramatic dreamers (Dumdum and mediocre guy) have also submitted one of their works to Prithvi Theatre and are waiting for result.

Dumdum with Laddoo (left) and mediocre guy (middle)

The PAF here takes a turn with showing the making of a PAF within the PAF by 4 hostels combined - 1,4,9 & 11 (11 being the girl's hostel). Things like despogiri of an IITian male (and gleams of hope from a PAF with girl's hostel involved) and typical subjects of PAFs (freedom, riots, kingdoms or other contemporary issues) were sarcastically dealt with. And here begins the mockery of the previous PAFs of this year and of the yesteryears as well (they didn't even leave Kasturi - H4's last year's PAF which was universally criticized). Then begins the visualization and script writing of the PAF team – it is about a kingdom with all types of shady people from the king to the aam aadmi.

Conceiving PAF within the PAF

For some minutes, I couldn't understand the relevance of these scenes but later I realized it when our protagonist (Dumdum) turns up and urges these people to consider his script of a solitary & depressed IITian. This idea is unanimously rejected on the basis that who would come and see a PAF about a solitary IITian; it lacks the most important thing - masala.

At this point, I would like to mention Anshul Singhal's (I think the main person behind this PAF) studgiri. While the PAF team was visualizing the scenes of kingdom, they realize that an IITB PAF has to have choreo (dance) sequences and then they visualize having a salsa (sarcastically opposite to the kingdom PAF). A person there actually misses a step and also confuses the nearby couple and requests the sound box to replay the music. Now, I understand that a lot of effort is put into these things but asking for a replay in front of a crowd of 1000s can be nothing short of foolishness. And from nowhere, Singhal jumps into the sound box and shouts impromptu in the mike, "Band karo. Yaar, yeh choreo waale to hameshaa aise bhi puch hi maarte hain. Nikal jaao yahaan se (Stop it. The dance people always fail in performing up to the mark. Get out)." And the choreo junta walked out without it becoming a real puch. In one word, it was God-giri.

The salsa puch that was beautifully avoided

Anyways, our dejected Dumdum comes to his room just to find another source of dejection waiting for him - an XX grade, which means that he'll need to repeat the course next year. The mediocre friend who got a good job on the same day comes. He apologises for not being able to continue dreaming with him any further on the dramatics front (he is like the bakery shop guy of The Alchemist who thinks that he'll go after his dream after he has achieved and accumulated enough for a secured future). Our guy calls Prithivi Theatre to find the last ray of hope lost in the dark - a reject for their work.

Medicore guy gets a job

He pukes his anger and frustration on a freshman who isn't working for PAF as has a quiz the next day. The freshman complains the Authorities resulting in DAC (Disciplinary Action Committee) sitting on Dumdum (on a funny note, DAC is/was called as DISCO in IITD as I learnt from Five Point Someone). The DAC committees are notorious for their ways of handling such cases - the guy sitting in bulb light focus whereas the committee members in the dark (typical police station style) putting pressure on the offender from all sides by non-stop abuse. In the end, Dumdum gets an year of sit-back-at-home punishment, thus delaying his degree by one more year (a year delay already attributed to his 4 backlogs). This acts as the last straw in the camel's back and in all this depression, he decides to commit suicide.

Attempting a suicide

In an amazing turn of events, just as he was about to cut off his nerve on the right hand, his mediocre friend comes in his room and reports that Laddoo has committed suicide by jumping off from the Hostel's roof. In all these convolutions of thoughts and desperation, he continues with the suicide attempt but eventually fails. On the other hand, Laddoo succeeds (or in other words, fails his life).

Mediocre guy informs about Laddoo

Dumdum continuing with the attempt (symbolic)

The next scene is a sharp mockery on the Press who takes up an issue and use it for their own good. It also displays different attitude of people towards such a grave incident - a guy is running for getting some notes xeroxed and doesn't have time to respond, another doesn't want Press to make a story out of it, the third one doesn't know how people can get so depressed and the fourth one tries to give his expert comments as we see in the Fourth Umpire.

IIT Main Gate, Coffee Shack and the Reporter

The scene also showed some amazing Prod-shifting and revealed some mind-boggling Prod work as well. The main road of IIT is smoothly removed from both sides like curtains of a play and lo! We saw a live Coffee Shack (the most active place at IITB) - it was as if they had just removed the complete structure from the actual Coffee Shack site and put it up there at OAT for the PAF Performance.

In the next scene, our failed guy meets a psychiatrist (our Student Councilor) who tries to pacify and assure him of himself through various psychiatric techniques. But Dumdum doesn't feel what she says from within. And then enters our Cracku. Our guy is all :-O to find Cracku too coming for the psychiatrist's help who tells Dumdum that Cracku suffers from some Narcissistic Disorder. And our guy is suddenly all happy - Wow! Even Cracku has problems and even he is lost.

Dumdum with the psychiatrist

On his way back, he just thinks how amazing it would be if everyone has the red glasses similar to Mr. India's through which they can see the painful inner self of every person well-hidden into their happy exterior. The red lights are turned on and he sees pain in everyone's life; he realizes that this happiness and satisfied looks are mostly for the exterior demeanor.

Dumdum looking at "happy" people

Inner pain visible in the Red Light

In the final scene, the red lights are still kept on (meaning that the 'seeing-inside' work is still on). A lawyer puts Dumdum, his mediocre friend and his BTP guide on the vertices of a triangle and throws a number of questions before them, seeking insight into the matter. The crowd (including the real PAF judges) is both the judge and the observer of this trial. At every important point, the lawyer says to the crowd, "Point note kiya jaaye", which is received greatly by the chorus as, "Point noted". A very important point among these was giving more time to one's friends/classmates/wingmates - we crib that there is no time and there is heavy academic pressure but we always find time to see movies, play computer games etc.; there is no disagreement in the fact that these comes lower in priority than your friend's life. So both faculty and the student community should give more time to the student and that is the only way these sad incidents can be avoided.

Lawyer, Prof (left), Dumdum (back) and Mediocre Guy (right)

Just when I think how gripping the whole PAF was, I realize that it exceeded at least 15 minutes from the given time limit and not even a single guy made any disturbance - we were all stuck to our seats just waiting to see what happens next. The PAF team got a standing applause and rounds of hugs from friends and appreciators. And I can understand why it made such a deep impact - there was something for everyone, some character for everyone.

Appreciation and felicitation

The two places where I think improvements could have been made were lights (mainly the moon - I found the light people fighting hard to focus the moon and move it as characters moved; rest lighting was good) and voice overs (again perfection is difficult when you have too many characters). The one perfect in all senses was Shantimrigyam - our first year hostel PAF, but then the script was masala kingdom once again.

All said and done, it still stands as the best PAF I have seen in IITB. A formal thanks to Hostels 1, 4, 9 and 11 for giving us such a performance before we pass out of this institute - there could be no better ending to these big dramatic projects and performances as far as we are concerned.

And they say it is 7*

Had a dinner with two persons from Shell - John Hoppe and Tom Hyde (the person who took my interview during the recruitment process) and it was in Renaissance - one of the best hotels in Mumbai.
Well, I have been to the place before and that was a pre-recruitment dinner with the UBS people. That time we (all shortlisted guys) were all into making an impression on them and were trying to hear all they say too because it could have proved useful for the interview. In all this, we had to ditch our concentration on the most important thing, i.e. food. When I came back, I had to order a Maggie in the hostel and well, as my friends say, it was a shameful thing to do. The UBS interview was just an icing on the cake in negative sense - a sad end to a sad happening.
And within two months came another invitation to Renaissance; this time from Royal Dutch/Shell (I never miss to highlight the Royal Dutch part ;-) ). And this time, I was determined to make this dinner a huge success. And there was another setback.
At UBS dinner, at least the food was typical Indian. Here, the food was total crap and I am not sure what exact menu it was - some mix of Chinese, Italian and Indian food but all (the soup, vegetables etc.) filled with leaves and arbitrary stuff I haven't seen in my life and which I didn't even find good. And there was this Chinese tea - just another version of hot water. And you are charging us a fortune for it. For what in the world? And then they say it is exquisite :-O. Even in the end, when we were looking for Desserts, we didn't even find normal Vertigo or Chocolate Avalanche. There were some arbitrary puffs and puddings which could be rejected on their very face. Thankfully we could make a special order for Brownie, which in fact was good.
IIT-D people were luckier in the sense that they had Indian people (Baljit and Deepak) with them and I am sure they had some great Punjabi lunch there (source: Nidhi Bansal).
All said and done, lemme also highlight the good parts of the Dinner. The first and foremost was meeting with John, Tom and the colleagues (meeting many for the very first time). Another was the beautiful backdrop of Powai and Hiranandani behind the glass wall. There was some good deal of interaction with all people there though we had to stretch out our ears when either of John or Tom spoke (we also came to know that there are some decibel limits in Rijswijk, the Netherlands office ... man, what will us Indians do there ... we are going to become the next whisperers :-P). But they talked about Netherlands and the seasons, they talked about the technologies, they talked a little about their plans and they talked about Shell! Amazing down to earth people and they looked highly motivated by the company's prospects in India and the upcoming projects. Even Nidhi feels the same from their meeting with Baljit and Deepak.
I know we are going to miss India and the food in Netherlands but it is going to be one helluva great work and fun there.

Height of carelessness

In my post Final Midsems and Some Concerns, I tried to highlight some problems with the IIT academic system and the contributions of the students and faculty towards it. The best part of the blog was that I was able to change myself and I had started attending classes sincerely after that (barring Prof. Roy's where I had already missed loads of fundaes which were necessary for further lectures). And yet again, I am dwelling into something similar - this time my BTP (B. Tech Project) or the final year project as most other universities call it.
It has been more than 2.5 months and I have barely started with the second stage of the BTP which is worth a huge 15 credits (nearly one third of a regular semester). Now I have my excuses - the first month was all spent in job hunting and the next 15 days in celebrations, relaxation and the home trip. Not very genuine reasons but considerable. But the remaining one month (i.e. the last) has been a period of complacency and careless behaviour.
And this is not the case with me only but with more than 50% of my batchmates. Even I heard the likes of Aashwit Mahajan (both a nerd and a fighter in life) saying, "I just don't want an extension, anything else would do." Keeping in mind that he is hyping his carelessness and we all know he'll end up with some decent/good grade, the point worth noting is that the attitude of carelessness is all pervasive in our final year batch.
However, I believe in living life as it should be lived (adding value, doing something fruitful) rather than seeing what my peers do/expect and that is why this attitude has been bothering me for quite some time. And despite all this brooding and attempts, I have been unable to cross this activation energy barrier and initiate the task.
The worst part is that I believe I know the solution too because this is my experience that:
1. Interest generally develops once one begins the work, especially when there is some challenge and there is some success. Most of us fall behind, being prejudiced about the work and its results.
2. At times, work looks huge, unachievable but the most important thing in all these circumstances is to start, because once we start, everything else follows. I've observed this so many times and I see that during the course, we develop better and more efficient ways to do things and finally see ourselves as better and more efficient.

As it is obvious, this state of understanding is more difficult than ignorance because then I question myself, "Why not then?" And this is what I've been trying to dig out for the past week, always planning to do some BTP work (with ample time at my disposal) and always ending into relatively useless activities ranging from Orkutting to listening to music (as I said, relatively). And as I said this situation is more difficult because at the end of day, I find myself incompetent and irresponsible.
I was thinking on the similar lines in one of Prof. Roy's lecture and I guess most of others too were lost in their own preoccupations and somehow he caught it and said, "You know, I had a student who had the same small concentration span as you guys have now, but now he is working in an investment bank and with the boss sitting on his head, he can't even afford to take a single mistake. And he is doing the job very successfully"
This relaxed me a little because given the present concentration levels, I couldn't imagine myself holding on to Shell for long. But we needn't be concerned about it? I don't really think so. Everyone works under pressure when his/her job, reputation, promotion or for that matter grade is at stake. But what really matters is something else.
By now, every final year reader of this blog will become sure of my nerdness because the grades hardly matter to anyone now and I too am bragging around that I just want to avoid an FF and any passing grade would do. Bajju too was telling me not to worry as it is a matter of 2 more months. But really speaking, I am thinking of it neither in terms of grade, nor in terms of time. What really matters is to me is my attitude and character and these are the things which have their effects in long run and in all dimensions. It take time and sincere efforts on our part to develop, improve and groom them. I am seeking that improvement.
I wish for myself that work comes from within. I agree that everything in life can't interest us but then the reverse should too hold here - all guys of my batch reluctant to do the BTP. How is it possible?
I believe that that everything in life has a purpose and we are supposed to understand that purpose and work towards it. The same holds for BTP and even though half of the batch is going for a non-core job, we are expected to finish off the curriculum we chose. To think of it, not everything in life is acceptable because we want all goodies, all comforts which will but stay a dream.
Work has to be done for the sake of work and we all will understand it and hopefully follow too some time or other in our life. As is clear, this hasn't been a realization for me because although it has the knowledge part (again limited), it lacks the more important part - experience. But I believe that this realization will come for me and for all some day. Amen!

Keep Going!

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983. From world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: "Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?
To this Arthur Ashe replied: The world over - 50M children start playing tennis, 5M learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5,000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals, When I was holding a cup I never asked GOD "Why me?". And today in pain I should not be asking GOD "Why me?"

Happiness keeps you Sweet, Trials keep you Strong,
Sorrow keeps you Human, Failure Keeps you Humble,
Success keeps you Glowing, But only God Keeps you Going.
Keep Going!
--

A forward which I have already forwarded to tons and couldn't resist posting it on the blog as well. A very simple story but of profound impact because it teaches us a very basic but at the same time very important thing: to accept good & bad things or the so-called happiness and sadness with the same attitude.
I know I'll face immediate disagreements on this so please let me first clarify that this attitude doesn't ask people not to aspire for better & higher things in life. It just highlights the importance of acceptance of the moment, i.e. I have done this and I have received this - not accepting the result then is a folly. It is of course then our responsibility to become better because life is nothing but a process of improving and bettering things and ourselves. Stagnation is contrary to life.
I believe that there are still some people left in the disagreeing lot and I don't mind it because that is always the case. However, I would just point out that acceptance (of say a bad/inferior result of any action) is only wise and it doesn't imply that we have become complacent. Rejection of the result is but the denial of truth. It takes courage to accept failure and more so to stand again and work in the direction of betterment in the quest of finally reaching perfection!

Hakim finally gets a job!

For those who don't know him, Hakim is my school time friend and one of the best friends I've ever met in life. Our journey started in Standard X when this guy, who used to pass by grace (a system of letting the student pass if he's failing only by a few marks or so) in 2-3 subjects every exam, suddenly popped up as a new entry among all us toppers during the half-yearly examination and caught everyone's attention. Well, my prime reasons of approaching him were different (related to some her) but we finally ended up studying together in the board exams and we cracked it too. And we never saw back again!

Hakim: His normal self!

To some extent, I can be attributed (or blamed as some may call :-P) for his choosing Science as the subject. The combined study (catalysed by aunty's exotic food which I still relish) continued for 2 more years and we went to Kota after Standard XII. Our ways first parted when I came to Mumbai whereas he landed at VIT (Vellore).
His field of study, Biotechnology first appeared to him as the field of the future but he realized later that he is not game for intensive research which Biotech is all about. In my knowledge, he should be at least in the top 100-150 students at VIT both in terms of his abilities & skills and his CGPA score. However, destiny had more difficulties in store for this guy (well before this, he had found difficulties on the front of Girls and GOD :-P) and even after a placement of some odd 500 people, this guy stood unplaced for reasons which even he couldn't determine.
Things are relatively easier in IITs as we're done with 70% of our placements in less than 3 months and that too has been great. On the other hand, he has been waiting for a job for the past 8 months and it has been very frustrating, given the fact that a lot of junta supposedly less-deserving than him got one. Anyways, his run ended today when he got his employer in form of Easy Solutions (a software firm). And I can't express my elation in words!
And this stupid didn't call and rather messaged me about the job. On enquiring, he says he didn't do so because his pay is a bit less. So foolish of him! I just told him two things which two elders have told me at different times:
- You have to make a start, even though it isn't all that BIG
- Things even out in long run if you are dedicated and talented
I'm sure things will even out for him as well and just some patience is required.

I would also take this opportunity to tell that Hakim bhai is already engaged to Naiz, a beautiful girl who stays just in pichwada of Hakim's house :-). The engagement itself is a story worth a blog!

Naiz

He has so many plans ahead now that he is settled in life (mind you, marriage is not the one in the near future). And these plans also ensure that restlessness doesn't end for him here ;-). But well, it will surely be a sweet one!

Update/Edit:

Just came to know that another very good school friend of mine, also a room partner during JEE preparation - Chirag too landed up with a job with International Tractors and guess the placement site - one and only the Balle land of tractors - ooye Punjab!

Final midsems and some concerns!

Just coming back from CL442 mid-semester exam. And with this, we are done with our final midsems of IIT stay (there might be one of Prof. Roy next week, but lets take it officially done). Like the quiz, the paper was a good one (given that it was theoretical) and had good variety of questions which could be done well if one has attended the lectures. The only midsem other than this was 'Principles of Management' and had good problems - general in nature but demanding careful dissection of the associated aspects and good insight into the management concepts.
However, my experience of examinations throughout my IIT stay hasn't been very cheerful (and I am not talking about grades here, which if not the best are quite good). Somehow, I have found that most of them don't demand much creativity and intelligence on the part of the student and most of the questions are routine classroom examples and problems quoted in the book (to the extent that me and Mayank joke many a times these days - "Yaar yeh log (Profs) chahte hi nahin ki hum padhe").
Thanx to the IIT Junta (including myself) that most of us don't even care to do that minimum and the grades we get reflect the need of an examination of same or lower standard for the next time. I remember how Prof. Anurag Mehra had once turned down the request of an open-book examination in the Mass Transfer II course saying that we don't even perform well in routine exams and an open-book exam will just add to our worries (for reasons I guess everyone knows).
At this point, I would also like to refer to Rishi Jajoo, the Harvard Student who was at IITB for a semester on a study abroad program. In the latest InsIghT issue, he pointed out some more issues concerning the academic front including teaching style and competency of Profs (to which I would also agree to a large extent) and the lack of hard work on the part of students (copying assignments and lab work). Since he wasn't here for long, he didn't realize that most of the examinations are also easily passed by just mugging up the notes and cogged assignments.
By now, I am pretty sure that I must have invoked fury of most of the IIT Junta who is reading this blog but may I ask them (and I have asked myself too) our purpose at IIT? Of course IITB provides a ground for all-round development of one's personality which should be properly utilized, the topmost priority remains as academics. I have seen people arguing - Nahin padhna, kya kar loge? or Hamaari apni priorities hain and IIT is no one to decide on that. This is like spitting on a road where it is not allowed except the fact that this is not directly punishable here. But there are some indirect consequences of that.
India and especially IITs & IIMs haven always been applauded for producing great leaders. But as Rishi points out - it is not for the academic grilling here but the so-called cream that churns out of the competitive IIT-JEE and CAT examinations. And sadly, JEE is becoming easier every year. I am not sure about its effect on the quality of the students clearing the coveted examination, but it can only be neutral or negative. What I want to reason from this fact is that despite the quality of input to IITs, a good atmosphere of learning and development (possible only when both sides do their job well) will surely foster better leaders of tomorrow than what they are producing now.
Rishi also questioned the lack of diversity of interests of students at IIT Bombay. Since this is another BIG and important issue, I would like to cover it in a different blog sometime (of course after some approval of the ideas posted in this blog :-P).
I don't know who is to blame in all this matter. Profs of course want their students to score good and feel better and then an overall bad performance of students raises questions on their performance as an instructor at the Department level (which mayn't always be the case). On the other hand, a collective transformation in the attitude of us students will be nothing short of a miracle.
It is always better to take some positive moves for change rather than keep playing the blame game. On part of Profs, sincere personal efforts have to be made in the direction of improvements in teaching style, course content and problem selection for class and examinations (don't know who'll tell the profs who don't introspect). As students, we should approach courses and professors with a more positive approach, try to take interest (and believe me, that half battle is won when an attempt is made) rather than staying prejudiced just by our own outlook or senior's feedback.
I would end the blog by telling about my discussion with a non-IITian friend of mine who has apped this year and is still awaiting a positive response. I was just telling her about the crack app scene at IIT Bombay this year (especially the Chem Engg Dept) and the immediate response was, "Yahi to problem hai ki hum IIT se nahin hai". I am still positive about her getting an app and so for the waiting junta here at IIT Bombay, but would just like to add that this is a unique platform available to a only a meager point percentage of student population in India and properly utilizing this opportunity is in our hands.
There is a lot to change in myself too and I'll try not to give final-sem-excuse for not being sincere in class the next time. Individual change is our first responsibility and once that is done, we can take some steps in the direction of collective change as well. Wishing all the best to everyone!

A perfect day!

I generally don't like 'just reporting' on this blog and prefer dissecting the situation or happening but I'm limiting myself this time for the sake of occasion. Someone has truly said, "Great things always come unexpected." The yesterday's Pune visit was a perfect example of a perfect day I had, with almost everything unexpected.
It all begin on Monday night when Mayank buzzed and asked me to come with him, Sabby and Lord Voldemort (aka Bajjy) to Pune for ChEA Symposium work. I had a few works and 2 midsems on my head and I denied the idea. However, he kept pressing and I just thought, "Chalo yaar, chalte hain. Dekhte hain kya hota hai." Later, I also realized that it would be a good break from the bored routine life of a final year job-waala lukkha.
We were to leave the hostel by 6.30 the next morning and therefore I woke up at 4.15 am for getting done with bathing and meditation, and getting early was something I was really aspiring for (quite unlike my fellow IITians) from many days which the lukkha life was always denying me. And to my surprise, I was all fresh despite a 4 hr sleep. We left the hostel at 7 and went to Chembur for getting a bus. And to our great surprise, we ended up in a Volvo. The bus trip via Khandala and Lonavla (injected with good breakfast) was nice and we reached Pune by 11, discussing the work details in final 5 minutes :-P.

Volvo Pleasure

Mayank and Sabby left for Praj whereas I and Bajjy went for a light Brunch. Then after a few calls to Shobhana and Shweta, we charted our plan and left for Shivaji Memorial Society College. We did publicity in Chem Engg and Management departments and the respect we got there as IIT students by overwhelming. Daydreaming, we left for Cummins then (:X) and I must say that despite the less crowd at that time, which was disappointing (Bajjy was still elated), I could feel some axe-effect at the place which really took away all the tiredness and brought some fresh hopes in life ;-). Being the only guys there, we also earned some good glances :-D. After a lot of running around, we could locate Madam Jail (initially we took her for Jahil :-)) ) and were done with our work. Luck favored us and we also got to meet DY Patil College students there and we did that Publicity there itself. After that, we went to the reputed MIT and did further publicity in Polymer and Petrochemical Departments. Unimaginable respect was bestowed on us at these places too. Finally done with work, we met Mayank and Sabby and had some fattes at MIT Canteen (a broader and diverse version of our Coffee Shack).
From here, we left for NCL to meet Shobhana (old HLRC friend). I was under constant bantering with her name right from the time we left the Institute and well, these guys here started up murmuring songs like Ek baar aaja aaja and Bahaaron Ful Barsaao when we were standing outside NCL awaiting her and I was all ROTFL. Thankfully, they stopped as she came. Mayank and Sabby left for station from there whereas me and Bajjy roamed aroud NCL with her. Bajjy was sure missing Manisha as he was cornered and targeted by us two (I also appreciate his tolerance and conservativeness). We went into good old days and came to present. Bajjy showed some rare generosity too by paying for the treat in canteen :-P.

With Shobhana at NCL

Quite against the charted economical plan, we made a return from Volvo again. Watched Kalyug on our return in the bus (Gosh! How can they play such a movie in the bus with kids, girls and the old). Anyways, despite the unreal larger-than-life personality of the Protagonist (not only his physical strength and his perseverance but also his character ... aise log kahaan milte hain aajakal duniya mein?), I liked the movie's idea and its simplicity in execution. The music too rocks!
Thanx to Bajjy's perseverance, we ended up having dinner at BTC (Bhagat Tara Chand). The marginal utility of the food had decreased tremendously the last time I visited this place. But this time, it was just a perfect addition to the perfection of the day!

Basking at BTC

The whole day passed in a grand manner. Other than ChEA's generosity, I would also like to praise the execution capabilities of the Symposium's OCs here (and thank them too for such a great trip!). We just expect another such work-picnic (did I say work?) to Goa after the grand success of the Symposium and the B-plan competition. Amen!

Whats booze good for?

Just returning from our Batch daaru Treat. And well, I was the alone non-drinker and thus am still in a condition to write something.
Everyone was taken into non-stop laughter mania by Singhania's performance. Don't know what affected him like that but even people like Dopa and Jaini couldn't stand before him even once, leave alone the scapegoats Daga and Manav. I couldn't even have imagined that beer and the so-called 'joint' can take someone to that stage. Hehe...now I understand the Dum maaro dum, Mit Jaaye gam stuff. The party o/w too was a hit and I believe that everyone who came enjoyed. However, some other issues - some light and other serious left me thinking even after the treat at 4 am in the morning (and I am still sane :-P).
First of all, I have apologies for my classmates (especially Avinash) who really wanted me to participate in the daaru treat and I denied them till the end. I know that it breaks heart and more so of a drunken man (hehe) and I am really sorry for that but there are things where I really can't compromise. And I never understand this compulsion of literal daaru participation. I mean it all boils down to participating in the fun which I was really able to do (accepting the fact that one doesn't fully open before 20 people w/o daaru but then there are other priorities in life as well).
Another arbitrary thing worth noticing was the way some people were serving and pushing daaru (many a times neat) into other people, while maintaining mild and small doses for themselves. The pleasure they get from this indulgence is beyond my comprehension.
However, the most important issue that arose in my mind was the condition that these people end up with after having so much of daaru and dope. I always thought that these things help people forget stuff and enjoy some higher state of joy or excitement. However, to my great discontent, I saw some people indulging into dispute and asinine activities which I never saw them doing in sanity. A few others were totally out of their mind and were just clutching their heads. And then there is pressure of others not to sleep or rest but to stand and stay till the end which makes thing worse for these people. A few others would wake up tomorrow morning feeling all dizzy with a headache. Really very few in my opinion will wake up w/o thinking - 'I won't touch this thing again in my life'.
If done in control, I think this stuff won't come as bad as it came today with a few of us. I lack experience with this yellow liquid (or for that matter, the grass) and therefore might be wrong in my observation. Daaru lovers might want to highlight my mistakes which they are whole-heartedly welcome to do. Accept my apologies by default :-).

Dravid is the man

Well, I was going to write on India but this photo really did catch my attention. Such aggression on the face of a person considered to be a very calm and patient guy was surprising. However, a series win against Pakistan in such a convincing fashion and that too after a loss in Test series ... banta hai yaar.
India has displayed the best works of the game in the last three matches and the credit goes to everyone. The combination of youth and old is awesome and the way the batsmen (especially Yuvraj), the bowlers (on such flat pitches) and most importantly the fielders (wow, what catches!) have performed has left everyone in awe and wonder.
However, we are yet to prove our mettle against the likes of Australia and England, especially on their pitches which is not going to happen in the coming India-England series (when will India get out of subcontinent against these teams???). The coming series will be more of a confidence building activity and I am expecting a clean sweep in Test series and pretty good chances of winning the one-day series win as well.
I just wish that Rahul Dravid doesn't turn into another Sourav Ganguly (the aggression and self factor) and also that India doesn't become complacent with the recent success (hoping Chappell, Dravid and Tendulkar will keep a check). Amen!

The ever-killing despair

The app time is running hot and many here at IIT are getting admit/scholarship/fellow from Premier Institutes across the USA. However, many expectants are still waiting, including Shobhana and Ajinkya. The worst part is that these people (including many others; Ajinkya a little more positive though) haven't even got many rejects and this generally drives them into concluding that their chances are pretty dim.
Even from my experience, I can tell that this is a real tough time and I would not mind comparing it with slow and brutal butchering of one's patience and faith. However, I have always felt that we stand nowhere against time and that waiting is what is really expected of us. I know it's relatively easier for me to say this, given the fact that my waiting has rewarded me with Shell. But really speaking, who knows of future - not to be negative, but I may end up finding my career goal diverging from what all Shell can offer. So even Shell is just a superficial reward in one sense. Finally, everyone is looking for that tranquility and sense of satisfaction.
So how can a (supposedly) good app get one what he/she really wants ... because most of the times, we even fail to understand what we want from life. I hope that is not the case with my friends. But I've only one request to them - respect time. Referring to Steve Job's speech at Stanford University - Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
I know that most of my 'learned' friends would find this difficult to digest, but at any level, patience and faith transcends logic and intellect. One just needs to wait, observe and accept.

Shell :-)

Yes, this feels like it. Something I was missing when I got through PWC. And this is HUGE. I don't even remember how many times I hugged Zubin and Qavi in Placement Office (even poor placement nominee Bedi :-P), but it was definitely > n.
And today is Basant, a very auspicious day for me and now lucky too. What can I say? Training starts in Amsterdam and final placement in Bangalore <:-P. I'm in Shell!

My Ambigram!

Got the inspiration to have mine from Dan Brown's Angels & Demons. But this doesn't come even close to Illuminati in beauty :-(.
You can make yours at http://towerofenglish.com/ambigramambigram.html

Rang de Basanti!

Note: Please do ensure you have watched the movie before reading the post.

Very few times in our life are we actually stirred from the very inside of our existence. And this movie did ensure that this happens and at least this happened with me.
I really feel I have watched some real movie today after 'Life is Beautiful'. The two movies end in a strikingly similar fashion - end of life for some purpose. However the paths to the end are very different. Roberto Bengini works very simply and peacefully to save his son in Life is Beautiful. However, Rang de Basanti rests on passion of its protagonists and purpose they come to understand in the later part of the story. A bigger purpose indeed.
It is difficult to accept that a few of us can go out and kill some person and then go to the radio station and connect ourselves to the whole nation. However, that was the filmi part of the movie. The real essence is in Siddharth's final answer to a question - "Do you think you are going to change things like these? These politicians will continue to dominate and ruin our country like these...". And he just answers - "Every one of us has to bring a change in ourselves. Each one of us has a responsibility which we must fulfill".
I really believe this is the way life has to be lived. It must have some purpose. Rather than blaming others, we should be bold enough to accept our responsibility towards the overall state of the system. And if others don't support, we should at least fulfill our part. Who knows. If not the antagonist, the unwary roamer may flow into the slow current and does some good to the world.

Finally a job!

It was not really the same as I thought or what others said they felt after getting one. And I never knew why - I was feeling just OK. Conditions are different today and I feel the much awaited lightness after landing at PWC (Price Waterhouse Coopers).
Dunno the reason, but it really didn't feel that light after landing there. May be it had to do with the way my interview went and made me confident that they aren't gonna take me after such a bad ending to a good interview (and for that matter, I wasn't really depressed but then I got a call from Shoumik telling me that I was placed). Or the fact that I couldn't meet the company people and shake hands and accept the offer in a traditionally anticipated manner. Finally I am happy and am just waiting for 2nd February when my placement will be officially done with.
The Placements are a real test of one's poise and patience. Mine was much late than what I and others had expected. To add to it, I signed and sat for this company without fully understanding the work profile (which ultimately is impossible too). But well, I am a believer of 'connecting the dots' and the problem was only with the waiting.
I am eager to see the remaining friends and batchmates get placed because this 'waiting' is something not everyone can appreciate.

The first one!!!

It was real hard for me to finally decide to get a Blog of my own because I am not one of those who want to collect memories and incidents. I feel that things that are important remain in your heart and mind for the desired time and therefore to have forced memories in some or other way is just useless.
However, time has its own compelling beauty and something happened today that made me wish to have a blog of my own. As of now, I am against posting that particular incident, but I may do so in the coming days.
Ending here in my own cryptic way :-P