Chronicle No. 2

Here goes my first Sunday in this God-forsaken place that is Bhubaneswar. Actually, I don't mean to be demeaning to the place or anything but, home feels sooo much better!! Well, whatever, I HAVE to spend 2 months out here, so might as well, enjoy the place.

The training has started off completely now. We have done a bit of UNIX, which will be wound up tomorrow. I guess I must thank PHS for making us do our C programming in UNIX. That has really helped me a lot. Hmm....must message him tomorrow for Teacher's Day. In addition to the Comps stuff, they are teaching us "Soft Skills". Its like going back to school!!! They teach you how to talk, eat etc. They are even teaching us a foreign language. The only problem is that the workplace is about 1.5km from our villas and the buses are available only at odd timings. No bus=1.5 km walk in the hot sun/dark, unlit road strewn with cowdung. How very romantic!!!

Went to the old city today to see the Lingaraj Temple. Lovely structure. It's indeed a Civil Engg. marvel. The carving on the main dome is extremely intricate and goes right up to the top, which is around 12 floors away from the ground. The temple complex has 1001 temples inside it!!! Loved the architecture and got quite a few good pics. Then, we went to see the Orissa State Museum. Nice small place. The only thing interesting are the small stone sculptures they have sourced from Orissa and Bihar. Extremely beautiful carvings. Definitely worth a dekko.

Well, I hope JD awakens from his slumber on Sundays to condescend to write something. And, I hope I never sail in the same boat as him. Me and not checking mail for more than a week?? Aaargh!!!

Chronicle No.1

Landed in Bhubaneswar on Monday, the 29th at 1:15 pm. Outside temp. - 34 degrees. Felt more like 54 degrees, esp after the cool environs of the plane's cabin. A long prepaid taxi ride later, RR and I found ourselves in front of the company villa. It looked like a very well-developed place in the middle of nowhere. On checking in, we found that as per company policy, no 2 students from the same college can share rooms, meaning that RR and I had to part ways.

Room was nice and clean, good toilet facilities, and water round the clock. Even the power cut is executed for arnd 30 min in the evening when it turns cool, so its quite alright. After a full Udupi dinner, which cost the whole of 20 bucks per head, I headed back to my room to find that my previously non-existent room partner from Jadavpur Univ. had now put in an appearance. Quite a nice chap, the only two problems being that he speaks in such a heavy Bong accent that I have to ask him to repeat himself at least 3 times before I can understand what is going on, and, he smokes. The former problem is pretty easy to solve. However, having heard of JD's predicament in Chennai, I solved the latter by requesting him to use the bathroom to smoke. He was game, so I am saved the trouble of having to cough for most of the day.

Today, I made a visit to the local Big Bazaar. Seems to be a nice place to come and shop every Sunday. Everything available at dirt cheap rates. Nothing much happened worth mentioning throughout the day.

Tomorrow, we start training. Hope it goes well. I certainly do not wish to stay outside Bombay for more than 2 months. My fingers are crossed.

Govt. v/s Judiciary

For the last two days, I have been seeing headlines about the public spat between the Central Govt. and the Judiciary splashed about everywhere. This leads me to think - Who will emerge as the eventual winner?

The entire dispute started when the Hon. SC (Supreme Court for this post!!) passed a judgement abolishing the reservation quota in private colleges. Although a majority of the college owners were overjoyed, this order sure made the Govt. see red. You see, they had their vote banks to protect!! The govt. started claiming that the Judiciary was infringing on its territory. On the other hand, the Judiciary curtly asked the Govt. to see to it that they do their job properly.

Well, in a way, the Govt. of India is right. India is a democratic nation and Parliament is the body empowered by the Constitution to make our laws. If we complain that Parliament does not act responsibly, then it is we who are to blame. After all, it is we who send our representatives to Parliament as MPs. Whatever be the case, Parliament SHOULD remain the sole law-making body in the country. The Hon. SC is simply expected to ensure that these laws are upheld in letter and spirit.

On the other hand, it can be argued that the large no. of PILs being filed in courts against the Govt. negligence forces the courts to look into the matter. After all, the Constitution guarantees every citizen the Right to Justice. Hence, it is implicitly implied that it is the duty of the Judiciary to ensure that this right is upheld. This leads to an internal conflict between the duties of Parliament and the Judiciary. Now, how can this conflict be resolved?

I feel that our esteemed Parliamentarians are to blame for this whole mess. If they discharge all the functions expected of them, then it will be no longer necessary for the citizens to resort to the courts for justice. Then, even the courts can carry out their functions without infringing on Parliamentary territory.

Coming round to the original argument, I feel that the executive viz. the Govt. will eventually emerge the winner, and rightly so. The only problem is that the powers of the Judiciary may be curbed in the process, resulting in denial of justice to a citizen in the future. Now, if only our politicians could do their job properly.......Sigh!!!!!

Another Futile College Visit

Had gone to college yesterday to make renewed attempts at trying to get a Transfer Certi from college. But, the guys in office were too smart for me. This time, the excuse was a fairly legitimate one, as compared to last time. FE admissions!!!Now what could I say to that?? With the pall of gloom that had now descended over my demeanour, I walked towards my former class with heavy strides.

On reaching the desired destination, I found, to my chagrin, that the classes had again been reshuffled, as regards classrooms. On inquiry, I found that this was PHS' doing (now why doesn't that surprise me??). It seems I was in time to witness another bombshell being dropped on the class. PHS wanted the total no of project groups in the BE class to be 12. It seems that the students were, somehow, unable to reach this figure. Now, they had it!!! PHS marched into the class, divided the class into 12 grps in his typical style and that was that. Thankfully, the groups were allowed to opt for their guides. This incident has, predictably, left the BE class disgruntled. Hope they manage to sort out this problem soon.

As regards me, I shall launch a fresh attack on the impregnable fortress that is the SPCE office and try to con them into giving me my TC. Akramaaan!!!!!

When will I get the Transfer Certi??

Had gone to college last week to get the Transfer Certi and the 500 bucks refund. Was stared at in the most condescending manner possible and curtly told by the Accounts chap to return the next week. Of course I should have realised this. How very stupid of me to go and bother them when they are soooo busy yapping about imp topics like why the trains are late and why that lady was looking so pale today and why Manmohan Singh should resign. These topics can affect the entire socio-political balance of the country and I actually have the cheek to go and attempt to stop all this??!!! All this information was conveyed by the contemptuous look cast in my direction by the Accounts chap when I tried to request him to do my wok ASAP. Damn - it made me wonder why I was even born!!!!

Now, I am again going to go and attempt the impossible on Monday. Lets see what new look I get from the office guys. God help me!!!

Glorious Pune

Had a nice extended weekend this time, so Dad suggested that we go to Pune. It seemed like a nice idea to Mom and me, so we set off on Sat. Pune was glorious and it was extremely cool due to the rains. A very refreshing change from Bombay. Plus there was no power cut, which was the biggest plus of all!!! Pune definitely seems to be improving. However, it seems there must always be a reason for me to complain about. And without fail, this time too, Pune provided me with one. Bad Roads!! Long potholes, wide potholes, circular potholes, even ones with no particular shape, which reminded me of amoeba. You name it, you had it. And not to mention, the slush all around. My car is back in its parking space looking like a wounded warrior which has just tackled some horrendous battle and just managed to scrape out of it alive!! I will HAVE to get it serviced ASAP!!!

Drive back to Bombay from Pune was fun, though. Smooth bypass road, smooth expressway = good motoring experience. Had to encounter very very heavy rain in the ghat. Visibility down to around 10m. Horrifying experience. But, t'was still fun!!! :-D Wouldn't mind doing it again!!! God Bless the person who first thought of the expressway!!!

Urgently Required - A Govt. for Bombay

Finally, Bombay is recovering from the deluge that submerged it for the past week. A lot of aspects of the average citizen of this megapolis have come to the fore. Be it the generosity of the people towards strangers, their willingness to help, their propensity to spread rumours or their eagerness to pose as victims and get undeserved aid, you got it all. But, amongst all this, one thing was missing - the so-called Govt. machinery. Where were those cars with flashing lights that we normally see on the roads? Where were those stupid village yokels who call themselves ministers and attend every opening of a flyover or a road? Where were those "Mamas" who are always eager to stop you if you dare to break a traffic rule? I am sure these questions are being asked not only by me, but also by thousands of my fellow citizens.

All this leads me to think. The State and Union Govt.s impose a variety of taxes on us, and manage to fill their coffers. However, very little is pumped back into the upkeep of the city. Where does all this leave us? I certainly feel shortchanged. How can Bombay be ruled effectively by a bunch of guys elected from villages, who don't have any idea as to how the city functions? What we need is a Govt. by our own people. We need a separate city state of Bombay a la Delhi. Then, our rulers will be truly answerable to us. We need a mayor with executive powers a la New York, who will be elected directly by the people. The entire BMC has to be restructured. Its current Commissioner has failed us miserably. In June, he was calling press conferences and tom-tomming the preparedness of the BMC for the coming rains. Well, Mr. Joseph, how does your foot taste?? Bitter, I think!! These guys hold us to ransom every year before Diwali and now, when they are needed the most, they disappear into thin air!! Alright, the rainfall was the highest in a century, but the extent of the catastrophe could have been curbed.

I thin its high time all this changed. I want a Govt. of my own for my city. I want a CEO who will be answerable to me, and whom I can oust if he/she fails me. Silly thoughts?? Naah....more like a Utopian concept. One which I hope will come true in a decade's time.

Why must side plates always be on your left??

Went out for dinner today with Mom and Dad to Balwas. As usual, nice ambience and food. Managed to somewhat drown out the sorrow of India having lost its first match of the season. The Tandoori Chicken course had me wondering. Wouldn't it be nice if side plates were on your right (for a right-hander), instead of the usual left? Yet, table etiquette demands that the side plate MUST be placed on your left. Nice idea if you were working for a detergent company. It would present you with a nice opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of your product. Or wait a minute!!! Hmm.....seems like the person who decided on the etiquette was a southpaw!!! Yes, that must be it!!!

Why, oh why, must side plates be placed on the left???? Aaaarghhh!!!!!

ILP - I Lack Patience

Was supposed to attend the Initial Learning Programme of my company from the 28th of July. Only one problem. No flights took off for C'batore on either the 27th or the 28th, coz of the heavy rains here. End result?? My company told me to go and join the next ILP starting on 16th August at either Pune or Calcutta.

So, now I am at home for at least 2 weeks with nothing to do. Guess BCL will have to help me out again.

Now, do I call this situation luck or a spanner in the works???

Submerged !!!

Was preparing for departure to C'batore the next day when M called in the evening. Said he was stranded and needed a place to shelter, coz of the heavy rains. V was with him. After some confusion which saw M and V end up in Tardeo, I finally met them at Grant Rd and got them home. Slowly, news of the plight of others started reaching us. P had got stuck in Bandra with a few colleagues and finally spent the night there. R and AB were stuck in office. RS had to camp at SCH's place. We were unable to contact SC, so his fate was unknown. Ditto for the rest. Experienced the frustration that, I suppose, our parents' generation must have experienced, what with cells not working and landlines dead.

Hail Thee O Rain God for bringing our Shanghai-drunk heads back down to the Bombay gutters. Hail Thee for providing an opportunity to flies and germs to thrive, guess they also need to enjoy sometimes.
Hail Thee for bringing out that indomitable emotion we call the Spirit of Bombay.
Hail Thee for reminding us that no matter what, we are always at your mercy.

Adieu!!

Well, my training in C'batore starts on the 28th of July. That means today is my last day in Bombay for quite some time. It'll be the first time that I have been away from the city for so long. I will really miss this place. Adieu, Bombay, the city of dreams, the lifeline of the country, the symbol of hope for millions, adieu!!!

Results are finally out!!!

Well, the Sem VIII results were finally put up yesterday in college. The overall performance is very good for Civil with 7 distinctions. Only 2 guys with a Second Class and one with an unfortunate KT. The rest have secured First Class. This is one of the best performances of Civil in college for a long time. My heartiest congratulations to the entire class on its stellar performance!!!

Met all profs yesterday and appraised them of the situation. All were extremely happy with the scenario. It is hoped that the unfortunate guy who got a KT will clear the subject in reval. Well, the class keeps its fingers crossed.

T'was nice to meet up with most of the members of the class. We sat down for a few hours and reminisced about the happy days. Sigh!!!!

Came to know later in the day that our class topper was only 6th in the University rankings. It seems guys from DMCE are at the top. I guess that was bound to happen, what with all their profs distributing marks as if they were Indian bowlers distributing runs!!! I think I am beginning to sound like Sidhu Paaji. So I will just shut up and sign off!!!

CIAO.

A Day out with Friends

Met up with R, G, T, M and GA today. T'was good to see them after such a long time. We first went to Vrindy's where we caught up with each other's lives. Finally, the era of going Dutch for rick expenses seems to be over. Everyone seemed to be keen to pay up on their own. Hmm...things are sure changing when GA offers to pay for a rick journey to college on his own!!! Lunch was on M as he suddenly decided to be generous and cough up the entire bill amount. Guess all that needling about he being the only one to have received a salary worked!!!

We then went to G7 to watch Viruddh. Nice movie. Review is in previous post. T'was nice to unwind and watch a movie lazily on a Sunday afternoon with friends. A was supposed to join us but she got delayed and by the time she called us up, we were already entering the theatre. Awww!!! Well, that was all I could think of!!! ;-)

Unfortunately, everyone had to get home for some work or the other in the evening, so it was curtains on our day out. We bade each other adieu and headed for our respective homes, hopeful of such wonderful opportunities of a rendezvous with friends would present itself pretty soon.!!

( Sniff!! What a touching reunion!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!)

Viruddh - A Movie for Mahesh Manjrekar

Went to Viruddh yesterday with friends. Liked the movie, in general. The papers seem to be right. Even I got the feeling that Mahesh Manjrekar has made this movie for his own satisfaction rather than for the masses.

The first half builds up the story of the retired AI employee and his ex-principal wife who lead a middle-class existence. They squabble over petty things and make up quickly too, getting mushy at times, a la Baghban. Then enters the only son who is here on a visit, with his firang girlfriend in tow. Hitler Mom makes them marry and everyone seems to be very happy. But then the son goes to a party and witnesses a killing. Trying to intervene, he gets shot in the ensuing scuffle. Down come their dreams in an instant when the news of the son's death reaches them.

The second half is about how the father tries to get justice for his dead son by fighting the corrupt system and a very unsympathetic police force. However, when all seems lost, the patriarch takes the law into his own hands and kills his son's killer in cold blood. I don't seem to understand the difference between the father and the son's killer. Murder for revenge should not be forgiven!!! And the court actually sets the father free without so much as a suspended sentence!!! Bad precedent for the young minds out there!! Tut, tut, Mr. Manjrekar, why the Vaastav mixed with Saraansh???

Performance-wise, John Abraham is surprisingly fresh and crisp. Maybe its those sparkling kurtas which give us that impression. ;-) Anousha fits the bill as the foreign girlfriend. Just keep out the overacting and unnecessary expressions, baby, and you will do just fine. Sharmila Tagore puts in a performance expected of her. Whether its as the stern wife/mother or the loving mother-in-law, she excels in every emotion expected of her by the director. AB is, of course, miles ahead of the rest. He renders the role of the grieving father with aplomb. Of note is the scene when he watches his laughter club members laugh, just days after the death of his son and tries to join them. How empty and full of grief that laughter sounds!!! AB, we bow to thee!!!

Civil might make a record !!

Well, heard the good news today that C had cleared his Sem VII KT exams as well as the original one through reval. That means that the class result was 100% for Sem VII. Which now leaves Civil in a position to try and get to the 100% pass percentage record which, for Civil, will be a great achievement. Hope we manage to do it. Sem VIII results expected soon, so we shall soon know.

Sarkar - The Desi Godfather

Went to Eros and watched Sarkar on Friday. Very good film. RGV seems to have regained his lost touch. AB's mere presence exudes a lot of menace throughout the first half. He says a million things without even speaking a word. AB's baby is good and comes into his element in the second half. He takes over quite seamlessly from the senior Bachchan but I guess he has miles to go before he can even come close to his father's screen presence. He sure seems to be headed that way though. Girls - Continue to drool over this hunk!!!!

The surprise package seems to be KayKay. He delivers a KO performance which is bettered only by AB. He is one very much underrated actor, somewhat like Pankaj Kapur (that's Shahid Kapoor's dad, for the uninitiated). Hope he continues to get such good films.

The roles of the women in the film disappoint me, though. They just seem to be there as showpieces. They had the potential to play a much larger role as the anchors at home but RGV does not seem to have given this angle much thought.

All in all, a good effort and I will certainly call it a very good tribute to that Baap of all gangster films - THE GODFATHER!!!!!!

The Vacation Dwindles

Slightly less than 2 weeks left for me to join my company. Now that I think of it, there are so many things that I feel I could have done but haven't. Guess this happens to everyone. Still a lot of shopping left to do. Gotta get shoes which can be polished but do not rot due to rainwater, a bag which looks formal enough but does make me look older and lots of other things that I cant even think of now, but I am sure I will once I reach C'batore.

Now, with S back in Cal for good, there is hardly anyone to talk to on phone. The others are working and I don't have the heart to disturb them and make them jealous of my inactivity. On second thoughts when did I have a heart? Yeah, I WILL call them up. HehHeh!!!

I am not in the greatest of spirits currently 'coz of this stupid 'flu which refuses to subside. This damn thing's left me feeling very weak and sleepy. Hope I get over this thing soon.

R coming to Bombay today at night. So, finally, I will have someone to talk to, even if its for a day!!!

CIAO.

Happy Birthday to RK!!!!

Time for the third birthday of the b'day spl month, as I call it. RK's b'day today. He turns 21. Must be good having your b'day on a Sunday when you have worked for a week. I still dunno what that feels like. Guess I will have to wait for at least a year for that experience.

Had gone to Pune on Friday for overseeing a bit of furniture shifting from Bombay. Pretty boring day it was with me having no energy left over even to go for a movie in the evening. Somehow, Pune seems to bring out the worst in me, at least in terms of mood!!! Saturday was a bit better, considering that it was my turn to drive. Still, the stupid scooterists in Pune don't leave you in exactly a very happy mood after a stint in the main city. At least, I managed not to knock down someone. Run from Pune to Bombay pretty uneventful except for the sight of the mangled remains of a freshly knocked down dog on the Pune bypass road. Gory sight that. Now I know how I must have looked when I dislocated my arm. Ugh!!!!

Pretty disappointing not to have any rains here recently. They lend a nice cool nip to the air which is not to be experienced at any other time of the year. Well, I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Since my last post, V, P, RK, RS, YD, AE have already joined work. Hope they are enjoying it. At least, I hope its better than college.

CIAO.

A Congregation over Lunch

Had SC,SCH,V,P,RK,M and SB come over to my place for lunch today. T'was rather fun to meet up again after a long time and do something together, even if it was for a short while only. M had office today and had come during lunch time. It gave us great pleasure in announcing to him our grand plans of enjoyment after his departure!!! Sure hope that he felt jealous of all of us throughout the afternoon sitting in his office. Naah!!! Missed his enthusiasm, actually!! Everyone seemed to be determined to put on a show of their best behaviour and this lasted until we actually got down to playing cards for passing time. The sheepskins were off then and the wolves' claws were beginning to show! Had a few good games and I managed to pull off the look of an extremely stupid person at cards!!! (Actually, I WAS feeling rather stupid!!) All in all, not a bad day at all, as compared to the large no. of boring days I am having at present.

On the personal front, there was also something to cheer about. Got news yesterday night that Dad had been promoted to the post of DGM, and that too, out of turn. Finally, Govt. offices have also started adopting this trend and I think its quite healthy. Let's hope this trend continues.

R left for Cal today so, I will have to wait for some time before I can trouble someone with continuous msgs. Unfortunately, she is the only one using the BPL service amongst my friends.

Nothing more to say, so I sign off!!

CIAO.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

Went to college on Wednesday to meet up with friends. Was nice reminiscing about college days and trying to predict everyone's future. Caught up with a lot of gossip regarding the dept. also. It seems admissions for ME (Enviro.) have already taken place and classes will commence soon. That is as soon as the main professor MMK manages to reserve time for it from his busy schedule full of invitations to conferences, prize distributions and "televised" interviews. After all, these are the main duties of a professor aren't they? Teaching is always secondary!!

As expected, PHS could not keep quiet and immediately announced 2 PG part-time programmes!! His policy seems to be like Brazil. You score 99 goals-fine, I don't care. I will score 100!! Entrance exam for the ME programme in CM was held on Tuesday. S saw RRR sitting nervously in the class before the start of the exam, looking very nervous. I wish we all were there to see this sight. It would have been fun to point at her and laugh as if she was some caged animal. As of now, she is not caged!!! Guess PHS asked to join the programme just so that he could have the pleasure of failing her in the entrance test. Or better still, let her pass the test and give her reams and reams of assignments, just like she used to give us when we used to be her students!! Way to go, PHS!!!

Its my birthday today so I sang myself a song today!! HAHAHAHA!! I sound loony don't I? Barrage of calls today from friends so I am quite busy on phone. Had messages from R and RS at midnight. Feeling rather sleepy today, though. Will be going out for dinner today at night with Mom and Dad. Lets hope I enjoy the year ahead.

CIAO.

The Birthday Season starts!!!

Its 23rd June today. RS' birthday today. The month long birthday season which has as many as 4 birthdays in it. Yaay!!! However, this feeling of happiness receded after a few minutes this morning when I realised that my company has asked me to read a few books before joining them and I have not yet touched a single book. I guess this will be like engg. exams. Last minute cramming!!!

Dad said that it was an important day in office for him. He didnt say why, though I kept on probing him for the information. Even Mom says she doesnt know. What can be so important for him today, of all days?? I must find out somehow!!

Rains continue to lash the city continuously, with hardly any respite. I wish the hostelites were here now. I am sure the skeptics amongst them would have been turned into believers when they saw this season's monsoon.

I dont know why I am rambling like this nowadays. Maybe its because I have nothing very interesting to do, except read. I really miss the sporadic bouts of malaria I would get because of the mosquito. I miss the bossiness and Just-do-it attitude of PHS. In general, I miss college. SIGH!!!!!

Is that a Bird??Is that a Plane?? No, its a Plane with Sumo on Board!!!! :-D

I seem to have got up on the wrong side of my bed today. I have a very stiff neck and I dont know what to do. Someone please help!! Slept almost through the entire morning to get rid of the stiffness. Problem is that it has worsened!!

Had a debate with Dad on the choice of airliner for travelling to Coimbatore for training for my job. Methinks IA is good, he thinks Air Deccan should do. Lets see who wins the battle.

My life's sooo boring now that I dont even have something to say on my blog!!! This is terrible. BooHoo!!!!

Sumo's Back !!

Feels great to be back after a long hiatus. Had gone to Pune and hence, could not write on the blog. Pune seems to be quite horrible at this time of the year, at least it was when I visited. The days are extremely hot and plus there is the added burden of power cuts which adds to the agony. A four-hour power cut is third degree torture for God's sake!!! I dont know what' wrong with MSEB. I am told that power cuts in rural areas last for 8 hours!! Can you believe it?? To top it all, a few weeks ago, in an MERC meeting, MSEB had the audacity to suggest that power cuts be imposed in Bombay and the resulting surplus power be diverted for MSEB's use. Thank God, Tata Power had the sense to veto this ludicrous suggestion outright.

Watched a drama and a couple of movies in Pune. Nothing much to write about. Strictly timepass fare. Good enough to evade the power cut, but just about.

Congratulations to M on starting his new job. Hope he does well. My joining date has been declared as 28 th July, so I have a long wait.

CIAO.

BURP !!!!!

Was invited over to M's place for lunch on Sunday. Central line trains were pretty tedious but it was good fun otherwise. Had a lot of fun at Mangu's place, esp. during the card-playing sessions, thanks to an over-zealous JD failing to realise that playing cards are ambigrammatical (Hope this is the right word !!) and, can be read from the other side too!! Food was great and M's parents and sister made sure noone went hungry.

Later, I went to do some shopping for monsoon footwear. Although my size is 11, size 10 can do, albeit its a tight fit. At least I dont have to go and order for specially made shoes or go about searching high and low for them!!! ( ;-) -----> VV)

Had my project viva today. Hardly felt like a viva, though!! We are so used to sitting in PHS's cabin that it now feels like a second home and we are never uncomfortable there. Plus, there is the added advantage of having an external who has no idea of what GA is!! Kinda makes my job easier!! HehHeh!!

Went to SC's place after the viva. Once again, a sumptuous lunch, excellent hospitality and AC in this sultry weather!!! WOW!! SC, M and their respective families, you guys rock!!! Everyone managed to poke some more fun at JD and his non-flattening stomach. :-) Got some excellent songs from SC's comp on my flash drive. Will help me on my drive to Pune tomorrow. Went to BCL later and got a few books. An Agatha Christie, and 2 Keatings. Oh, and yes, a British Autocar too!!! Should hopefully last me for the stay in Pune.

Mind's blank, got nothing more to say so will sign off. Next post probably on Monday.

CIAO.

Rating Sem VIII

This is how I would rate the curicullum for Sem VIII.

Point system is out of 10. Points are alloted for the following :

1. Interest in the matter
2. professor rating
3. easy in studying (assignments) during college
4. easy in studing for the exam
5. nature and satisfaction over the exam paper.

1. Construction Planning and Management: 8|8.5|7|10|5
2. Quantity Surveying Valuation and Estimating: 5|6.5|8.5|3.5|9
3. Soil Dynamics: 8.5|9.5|10|9.5|9.5
4. DDRCS: 8.5|10|5.5|7.5|3.5

Thus I give the following subjects the following rating

CPM : 7.7
QSEV : 6.5
SD: 9.4
DDRCS: 7.0

This gives SEM VIII an overall rating of 7.7

Nemore additions and suggestions ?

*** Note that this rating solely represents the view of the author.

Parineeta's too Cool !!!

Whew!! Finally, my work in the project has come to an end. Came back home at around 1700 hrs and promptly went off to sleep. 1830 hrs. saw me land up at Liberty to watch Parineeta. Lovely movie, excellent camerawork and stellar performances. All-in-all, a must watch for anyone who eschews good stories.

Got to go to M's place tomorrow. Someone please help me keep my eyes open!!! YAWN!!!

Who's bothered about the Project??

I had talked to PHS yesterday and he had asked me to be there in college by 1100 hrs. I dutifully reached at around 1055 hrs. What to do - I guess some old habits die hard!! I still have to learn to be "fashionably" late, a concept PHS is no alien to. Well, he certainly proved that today by making an entry at 1215 hrs. After a few deliberations about the project, it was decided by me with some help from SC and RS, that working on a project was an extremely silly thing to do, esp. the day after your last engg paper. So we decided to go and watch KKHH (which, BTW, is certainly NOT Kuch Kuch Hota Hai).

1550 hrs saw us land up at G7 for a 1515 hrs show, but what the hell!! At least I am a few kms away from college!! Movie was good for a few laughs and I certainly thanked my stars that any of my friends from the opposite sex was not with us. The show got crappy at times but then, what do you expect from a Balaji Films product?? I mean, c'mon, guys in coital poses with cats??!!!!!

After the movie, M spotted C and A and we rendezvoused with them for a while. All in all, it was a very nice first day of my vacation. Here's to a few more days like this one, albeit, with some work actually done!! (Heh!!Heh!!)

CIAO.

Ahhhh!!! College!!!

So...finally, the exams are over and so is the extreme torture that we all had to endure for four years. Now that engineering is finally done with, I suppose we all can now sit back and look fondly at the days gone by and eschew the memories, both good and bad. V suggested that I write about what I will miss and what I will not abt college. Found this to be a good idea, so here goes....

Things I will definitely miss

• Catching the early train to be in time for the 9 am lecture.
• Fighting for my favourite seat in class.
• Hoodwinking the profs into playing into our hands.
  
• Flashing gems of so-called easy logic which, I suppose, only I could understand.
  
• JD's laziness (Oh, and mine too!!!).
• SC's discourses on food (esp. non-veg.).
• JD's mauling by V and P.
• M's presence.
• Conversations between SCH and PHS.
• IMPLOSION!!!
  
• C and A's cartoon-like romance (no offence meant!!).
• Quizzing with S.
• Sitting in PHS's cabin for hours together.
• Mini get-togethers at Vrindy's (and Shetty's too!!).
• Site Visits (esp. Satara, Khopoli and the Airport).
  
• Motley Crew.
• Nirmiti.
• Sem. Hall.
• Mr. A. P. Kadam.
  
• PHS' and the mosquito's lectures.
• Car discussions with C.
• RS' chimp-like antics.
  
• My most special friends (S and R).
• SPCE

Things I will definitely not miss

• RAH's lectures.
• Class politics for CR.
• Tated as CR.
• BDD and Applied Science.
• The two instances my shoulder got dislocated.
• G and AM's singing.
• MMM's afternoon lectures.
  
• Project Grp. formation at the end of Sem VI.
• RCOE's fests.
• RRR.
• Exams.

Phew!! Thats it!! Thats all I can think of now. Anyone wanting to add to this list is free to do so in the shoutbox. I have not yet bid my final adieu to the college yet. That will be when I finally finish with my project, though only God knows when that will be (Probably, even he doesnt know!!). Hail PHS!!!

CIAO.

Message for the Last Day of Exams

Four years ago, we made a tryst with destiny.
And now, the time has come when we shall redeem ourselves,
Not wholly or in part but very substantially.
Today at this 15th hour, when the world sleeps,
BE Civil shall awake to LIFE and FREEDOM!!!!!!

Too Bored to Blog

I had thought that the extended periods of staying at home would allow me to do some regular blogging. But, I was mistaken. As I no longer go to college, I dont have much to share. Its the same boring routine everyday. Study, read paper, study, eat, sleep, study. So I dont think I will be able to blog regularly, at least until the exams are over.

I am sooooo bored!!! Sigh!!!!!!

College is officially over!!!

Long time since I last wrote here. But its been a very hectic submission time and its finally over! Yes, you read right! My engg. submission days are finally over!! I am over the moon with joy. We are also done with all our vivas for the first time in our engg. life and believe me, it feels good.

I had my last interaction with the mosquito today for my Structures viva. So this will perhaps be the last active mention of the mosquito on this blog. Feels so sad that college is finally over. Anyway, I had a very good viva today and the external played into my hands by asking me about the programs I wrote for the batch. Methinks I cracked the viva. That is a very good feeling and I am quite elated to leave with a good impression. Thnakfully, the mosquito didnt ask me much, with the external hogging the limelight.

Most of us in the Structures batch went to Silver Beach after the viva to celebrate our liberation from college. We all had a whale of a time there what with the boys having a good game of football and the girls making do with a frisbee. We were joined by GD and R from the Foundation batch. All in all, it was a grrreat day for all of us and surely one we will remember for the fun time we all had together.

There's nothing much more to say as my mind has gone numb with a mixture of joyous and sad emotions. So I will just sign off. More in the next post, which will follow soon after!!!

CIAO.

And The Sem VIII Exams Begin!!!

Just gave the CPM viva yesterday. And boy, was it a harrowing experience!! PVP, one of the old guard of the college was the external examiner and he certainly made sure that no stone was left unturned in the quest to make us realise how grossly underprepared we were. It was a bloodbath right from the beginning, when I entered the cabin of PHS, our internal. Even PHS, who is normally the big bully of the college, was reduced to trying to defend his teaching in front of his former professor!! It was nice to see a reversal of roles for once. Anyway, I hope that everyone gets good marks in this viva.

Last Wednesday, everyone in the class had a collective bout of malaria in the afternoon due to the mosquito's test. Boy, was that test lengthy or what!!! To add to it, we had absolutely no time to prepare for it so we were groping about blindly in the dark. Plus, there's always the DDCS submission, which is going to be another headache for us. God save us from these profs!!!!

Dante's Inferno of Hell

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Third Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Moderate
Level 2 (Lustful)	Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Extreme
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	High
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Very High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Extreme
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante's Divine Comedy Inferno Test

Well, I got the link for this test from Ranj's blog

Awaiting Final Submissions with Trepidation

Well, now that the CPM submissions are over, it's time for all of us to concentrate on QSE. RRR is ready to create trouble at the slightest provocation so, I suppose, we should all beware of her malicious intentions. I have got quite a bit of QSE to write so I will be quite busy for the entire day tomorrow. So much for hoping to watch the F1 race in peace!!

Had a pesticide spraying session at home today so we all went out for dinner. I must say it was a welcome change from the same old routine of write-eat-write-write-write some more -sleep(maybe)!! Balwas provides very good food and I am thankful that there are such hotels in Bombay which can cater to my palate. Ice-cream at K-Rustom's was the cherry on the cake.

Passed through Marine Drive while returning home. There was quite a big crowd gathered at the Police Chowky under the flyover where the rape incident took place on Thursday. There was tension in the air and a couple of riot control vans were also parked in the vicinity. Some locals were holding up placards saying "Rapist More should be hanged!!". Well, I dont quite agree. But, I certainly feel that such people are a menace to society and they must be severely punished by the law. I mean, come on, is it no longer safe to walk with your friends on a well-known public promenade at 4:30 in the evening???!!! Thats ridiculous!! That means all our sisters and female friends are at risk. This will not do. I feel the Dep. CM should take interest in such pressing matters rather than try his hand at moral cleansing by banning dance bars! He will try and make students attend kirtans next, while his state police force goes around raping a few more innocent girls! The Govt. is beginning to misuse and misdirect its power and its high time we, the people, did something about it. In the meanwhile, here's hoping that More is not seen for a long long time in public, at least, not until he is no longer capable of committing such heinous crimes, if you get what I mean. ;-)

The Structural mosquito is back with a vengeance!! His first bloodsucking session is scheduled for Wednesday. God help us!!!!

CIAO.

First Submission is Done!!

Hmm...its been a long time since I have blogged. 13th of April seems such a long time ago. Still, this was to be expected, I guess, going by our experiences in the previous 7 sems. Actually, as compared to the earlier sems, this one seems to be pretty tame!

Nothing awfully interesting to write about, though. The past week has been full of submissions, especially the CPM one. I never expected PHS to take such a devilish turn, especially towards the end of the semester. RRR looks like an angel when compared to him. At least we are able to bully her into reducing our workload! Over here, it works the other way round.

Well, quite a few good news regarding placements in our class. Only 6 ppl remaining to be placed. Hope we touch 100% this time. This will set a nice benchmark for the rest of the college. Finally we will be able to lay claim to some record. Hope that day materialises. Till then, I keep my fingers crossed.

Alongwith the submissions, the malaria epidemic is also spreading rapidly in the class. The Structural mosquito continues to haunt us with his never-ending lectures on designing efficient water tanks, which he probably wishes to infect!! God, I hate mosquitoes!!! Buzzzzzz!!! Get lost, you ##%^@%^$#!!!

Read an interesting anecdote in Mid-Day on Sunday. One reader had sent in this one.

Scene: Economy class of a London-Frankfurt flight. A negro businessman is sitting quietly working on his laptop. A 'prim and propah' spinster, stylishly dressed, is seated next to him, looking decidedly uncomfortable. Finally, she calls the air-hostess.

Lady: Excuse me, but could I have another seat? I am not exactly very comfortable here.

Airhostess: Why, Ma'am, is something wrong?

Lady: Cant you see who I am seated next to?

Airhostess: Well, Ma'am, I think we are fully booked but I will still go and check.

(goes and returns after 5 mins)

Airhostess: As I thought, there are no seats available in the Economy or Business Class, but we do have one seat in the First Class.

Lady: Well......can I??

Airhostess: Ma'am, as a rule, we don't allow passengers from Economy class to upgrade to First Class, but this is an exception. I understand the problem and we can make an exception in this case. We surely cannot make any human being sit next to someone so disgusting. Sir, if you will please take your hand baggage, a seat awaits you in the First Class!!

*******************************************

Lets end this post by recording my thanks to Mandela, Luther King Jr. and all those other great ppl who championed the cause of the blacks to achieve an equal status in society. HAIL THEE!!!!

CIAO.

(Me 2 lazy 2 think of Title) :-D :-P

Well, all the unplaced guys from class had come to Grant Road for placement interviews and also came over to my place on my request. That is all, but TP. Poor guys had not even had lunch and were absolutely famished. Unfortunately, I was able to tell Mom about their arrival only just before they actually came due to which, the extent of arangements she could make was limited. Still, I hope that the frugal snacks at least gave them enough strength to last out until they reached home.

Today, not unusually, was a bad day. MMM droned through all the lectures of the morning and made me wish I was never even born. And if that was not enough, Mom called during the break saying that I was urgently required at the Passport Office, as they had not included one form requiring my signature in the envelope containing the forms, making up the application.

After a mad dash to the Bengal Chemicals building, the clerk now told us that alongwith proof of date of birth, proof of place of birth was also required. Now, I had applied for a duplicate copy of my birth certificate in my local Municipal Office, but had not yet received it. The clerk was not ready to accept the municipal receipt as proof and insisted on having the birth certificate. Then, it was a mad dash to Nana Chowk in Grant Road. Dad kept up a frentic pace in the car and had Mom petrified. We reached Nana Chowk in 12 minutes and took another 10 to secure the original copy of the birth certificate. Another maniacal spell of fast driving by Dad saw us reach the Passport Office in just 9 min! Now, that stupid, errant clerk was forced to accept the application as she could not find any more faults in it. Yaay, what a moral victory!!

Hope the passport comes soon, though. I need it before I have to join my company. Nothing else of significance took place today. At least, I cant recall anything important. So I am signing off now.

CIAO.

Sumo Speak

hi guys i am over here tooo. more in next BLOG till then BYE.

madmangu

Sumo Speak

hi guys i am over here tooo. more in next BLOG till then BYE.

madmangu

Its Submission Time !!

Well, the dreaded time of every semester is here. The profs have now started hounding us for submissions. RRR was the first to start off, with the foundation batch being at the receiving end for most of the time. I mean what does she think of herself? Its very easy to ask us to repeat us the assignment but does she realise that her's is not the only subject we have to study? I suppose not! These young profs seem to feel that just because they were harassed during their days in college, they owe it to the system to set the record straight. Pathetic attitude, I say! Well, there's just one sem left. Now that we have lived through 7 semesters, surely we can scrape through another.

The BE farewell was held in college on Thursday. But our gr8 profs couldnt resist troubling us and hence, decided to keep lectures. Well, I have become used to this by now, but I sure hoped to have some respite from this rigmarole for the farewell day, at least! Alas, it was not to be! Practically everyone carried a change of clothes to college that day as it was extremely hot as well as humid in that week. So much for travelling light on that day! After the lectures on that day, the profs came to class and addressed us. SYM was the best of all and he gave some pretty pertinent advice. The rest were all mediocre and didnt offer anything substantial through their speeches. RAH actually thought it was a lecture and went on rambling endlessly until they were low murmurs of discontent from the back of the class. MMM droned about in his typical style, but thankfully, kept it short.

After changing into our dress clothes, we boys returned to college from the hostel, fearing that we had taken so much time to get ready that the girls msut have reached before us! But then, girls will be girls, right? Expectedly, they were not there and actually did not turn up for a good 45 minutes after we had arrived in college! Everyone from the class looked resplendent in their snazzy outfits - the guys in their blazers and the girls in their sarees. After we posed for a lot of photos as if all were brainless models, the programme started but it turned out to be a dampener.

The class then congregated in the Sem Hall to have a private jam session. It was extremely successful with most contributing to its success. We all chuckled at the stupid guys from the rest of the college wilting away in the heat, downstairs in the quad, while we were enjoying ourselves in the air-conditioned comfort of the Sem Hall. LOL!!

Nothing much took place after that. We all had dinner and started feeling tired. R and A wanted C and I to fetch their bags for them from the department. Their excuse? They couldnt climb one floor in their sarees! And people call me lazy!! Anyway, they made such pathetic faces at us that C and I decided to go and get the bags, if only to avoid being stared at weirdly for the rest of the evening! At least that was my reason!

We all went home after that like good kids. Thankfully, I got a lift to the station in C's car alongwith A. I reached home at around 2230hrs, and promptly flopped onto my bed and slept. After all, I had to get up my energy for the extra lecture arranged by MMM the next day, had'nt I?

CIAO.

Misuse of Membership

Looks like Jaidutt has not understood the reason I invited him to be a member of my blog. I have invited Jaidutt and Mangesh to be members of this blog so that they can comment on my life from their point of view, however stupid my life may be! This membership is certainly not for putting up some copied info from other sites and blogs. I request Jaidutt to desist from doing this and concentrate on actually writing something original. Please Jaidutt, I wanna know your views and not someone else's.

Howland student builds model of century-old dam

Andrew Hallett has known of the Howland dam all his life, but he never truly understood the history, inner workings and exactitude of its design until he had to build it himself. At one-eighth scale, that is.

"It was designed real well considering that it's stood for almost 100 years now," the Penobscot Valley High School senior said Thursday. "For the time period in which it was built, it's a very good job."

Not that the fledgling civil engineer thinks the dam is perfect.

"There could have been a couple of changes to it that could have made it better," Hallett said. "For example, they had to make the cement spillway by hand, so I don't think they reinforced it too well. That's why it has little cracks in it - and a couple big ones, too. Other than that, the people there have kept it in perfect condition."

The 18-year-old's attention to detail and apparent design talent made his 4-foot by 8-foot model of the dam a winner of the 2005 Civil Works Model Competition. The contest is held statewide by the Maine section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

He received a plaque from Adam Meyer, a project manager with Engineering Technologies Inc. of Bangor and a society member, during a SAD 31 board meeting Wednesday night.

The society holds the contest annually to inspire high school and college students to pursue civil engineering and related arts and sciences, Meyer said. The contest requires students to do models of local landmarks to scale.

"What better way," Meyer said, "to inspire people to pursue this than to have them go out and replicate the design of something around them?"

A lifelong Howland resident, Hallett's first choice was the dam. To understand its design, he toured it several times and interviewed 20 to 30 people to grasp its maintenance and history, he said.

Building the model took about 80 hours, he said. He used wood, cardboard, plaster of Paris and joint compound, among other things, to make it.

And he is quick to point out that he had help. PVHS physics teacher Ellen Simone guided him through the construction and contest entry process. Fellow student Randi Rackley contributed her painting skills and helped create the model's landscaping.

Another student, Matthew Osborne, did much of the heavy lifting. "If I needed an extra hand holding something, he grabbed it," Hallett said.


Howland student builds model of century-old dam - Bangornews.com Staff

Engineering students provide water to Thailand Village

And what are we doing these days ??? Completing stupid assignments :(


A group of engineering students traveled to Thailand over Spring Break to help bring a small village clean drinking water. They have returned, deeming their project a success.For months prior to their trip, engineering majors David Cihocki, Robert Cucugliello, Mason DeFrank, Justin Pusey, Christopher Yanavich, Diana Garcia, Steve Hazel and Dana Kaminsky worked on a two-mile long PVC pipe with the help of engineering professors Yusuf Mehta and Jess Everett.It was installed in the village of Pateung, Thailand to ensure the villagers would have access to clean drinking water. Before the installation was complete, they ran out of clean water by early afternoon everyday.

"The project was a success," said DeFrank, a junior civil engineering major.

"The primary thing that we went for was installed and running by the time we left."

The group, along with the help of the Pateung people, installed the two-mile long pipe in a trench down a mountain side. It leads into a 1,000-gallon storage tank which is equipped to supply the people with clean water all day. The villagers helped the students by digging the trenches.

"The villagers got a mile of digging done in a day," said DeFrank.

The students stayed with the villagers in community homes in the Southeast Asian village, which didn't turn out to be what they were expecting.
"It wasn't quite as primitive as we thought before we went," said DeFrank.Although they have no running water, a majority of the 75 houses in the village have electricity. However, most houses have only one outlet and one light bulb per house. Some of the wealthier people have televisions and even satellite dishes.

"When you see all that, you question why we're here. But they still lack basic knowledge," Hazel said. "I felt justified in our project."

Just friends or Best Friends

Just found this on a blog. it makes a good read

In our lifes all of us,in fact each one of us have so many people we call as "friends" these friends we consider very dear to us and close to our heart but then All of us even have some friends whom we call the "best friends".why is it so??why we consider some friends more special than others??I beleive its because these friends are the ones we trust more,like more,like to be with,because we know if anyone goes wrong with either of us two the other will always be the first one to help and be there.hmmso delicate yet so powerful is the bond of friendship.
How to identify best friends??hmm..lets see if we really can....

Friend: calls your parents by Mr. and Mrs.
Best friend: calls your parents dad and mom.

Friend: has never seen you cry
Best friend: has always had the best shoulder to cry on

Friend: never asks for anything to eat or drink
Best friend: opens the fridge and makes himself/herself at home

Friend: asks you to write down your number.
Best friend: they ask you for their number(because the can't remember it themselves)

Friend: borrows your stuff for a few days then gives it back.
Best friend: has a closet full of your stuff

Friend: only knows a few things about you
Best friend: could write a biography on your life story

Friend: will leave you behind if that is what the crowd is doing
Best friend: will always go with you

Friend: Will always thank you or say sorry for the events.
Best Friend: Never uses this words but just feels them in the heart and will do everything possible when need arises.

I Just hope everyone has some best friends in life for such friendship is a treasure to find and possess all your life.


aloksave's Blog

Super Saturday

Hey there to you all once again. Looks like the great JD has finally arisen from his self-imposed slumber and decided to exercise a few of those rotting brain cells of his. I must say, though, that I am impressed! So many posts in one day! Thats not bad at all.

Had gone to DMCE yesterday for their techfest. I had intended to give TPP and Tech Quiz with R. Ended up participating in Debate and Brainstorming, thanks to AM. The TPP went off smoothly and we were able to complete within the stipulated time of 10 mins. Implosions, after all, is a topic both I and R love and it shows! AM, R and I gave the Debate elims after that in which all I did was to convert the points given by R and AM into bombastic language. Guess this approach was liked by the organisers coz ours was the first name to be announced as finalists.

Quiz elims were a dud as far as we were concerned coz it was not at all a quiz. You could, infact, call it a simplified GATE paper. Even the Civil engg. quizzes are better organised in our college! I guess Motley quality is unreachable for these guys. Anyway, I hope they learn fast.

Brainstorming had direct finals in which AM and I were asked to speak on the topic 'How to tackle Tsunamis'. We had a lot of help from RS and SCH in this regard and I would like to record my sincere thanks to them here.

Then, after a really stupid quiz final, it was time for the Prize Distribution. TPP prizes were swept by SPCE with AM and YD getting first and I and R getting second. We also won Debate and Brainstorming. One guy from TE won the second prize in the AutoCAD competition. So, all in all, it was a good day for SPCE. I am glad we were able to show the quality of our college to the DMCE guys who are always flying high in the air, thanks to the large dollops of marks awarded to them by their generous professors. Contrast that with our profs who can give Scrooge a run for his money when it comes to giving marks!!

Tomorrow, we have the risk of malaria coming down for around three days. Confused? Actually, MMM is unavailable in college for 3 days. I guess we should wholeheartedly embrace this golden opportunity and brace ourselves for the malarial onslaught which will begin on the 15th of April. May God save us from the Buzz!!

More in the next post.

CIAO.

"Cargo Cult Science" - by Richard Feynman

Hi !! These are excerpts from R. Fenyman's Caltech commencement address to new students given in 1974. It is also included in his highly popular book "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Fenyman!"

I think it will be an interesting read for all us engineers.

"if you're doing an experiment, you should report everything that you think might make it invalid--not only what you think is right about it: other causes that could possibly explain your results; and things you thought of that you've eliminated by some other experiment, and how they worked--to make sure the other fellow can tell they have been eliminated."

" In summary, the idea is to give all of the information to help others to judge the value of your contribution; not just the information that leads to judgement in one particular direction or another.

The easiest way to explain this idea is to contrast it, for example, with advertising. Last night I heard that Wesson oil doesn't soak through food. Well, that's true. It's not dishonest; but the thing I'm talking about is not just a matter of not being dishonest; it's a matter of scientific integrity, which is another level. The fact that should be added to that advertising statement is that no oils soak through food, if operated at a certain temperature. If operated at another temperature, they all will--including Wesson oil. So it's the implication which has been conveyed, not the fact, which is true, and the difference is what we have to deal with. "

" We have learned a lot from experience about how to handle some of the ways we fool ourselves. One example: Millikan measured the charge on an electron by an experiment with falling oil drops, and got an answer which we now know not to be quite right. It's a little bit off because he had the incorrect value for the viscosity of air. It's interesting to look at the history of measurements of the charge of an electron, after Millikan. If you plot them as a function of time, you find that one is a little bit bigger than Millikan's, and the next one's a little bit bigger than that, and the next one's a little bit bigger than that, until finally they settle down to a number which is higher.

Why didn't they discover the new number was higher right away? It's a thing that scientists are ashamed of--this history--because it's apparent that people did things like this: When they got a number that was too high above Millikan's, they thought something must be wrong--and they would look for and find a reason why something might be wrong. When they got a number close to Millikan's value they didn't look so hard. And so they eliminated the numbers that were too far off, and did other things like that. We've learned those tricks nowadays, and now we don't have that kind of a disease. "

" Other kinds of errors are more characteristic of poor science. When I was at Cornell, I often talked to the people in the psychology department. One of the students told me she wanted to do an experiment that went something like this--it had been found by others that under certain circumstances, X, rats did something, A. She was curious as to whether, if she changed the circumstances to Y, they would still do A. So her proposal was to do the experiment under circumstances Y and see if they still did A.

I explained to her that it was necessary first to repeat in her laboratory the experiment of the other person--to do it under condition X to see if she could also get result A, and then change to Y and see if A changed. Then she would know the the real difference was the thing she thought she had under control.

She was very delighted with this new idea, and went to her professor. And his reply was, no, you cannot do that, because the experiment has already been done and you would be wasting time. This was in about 1947 or so, and it seems to have been the general policy then to not try to repeat psychological experiments, but only to change the conditions and see what happened. "

" But in 1937 a man named Young did a very interesting one. He had a long corridor with doors all along one side where the rats came in, and doors along the other side where the food was. He wanted to see if he could train the rats to go in at the third door down from wherever he started them off. No. The rats went immediately to the door where the food had been the time before.

The question was, how did the rats know, because the corridor was so beautifully built and so uniform, that this was the same door as before? Obviously there was something about the door that was different from the other doors. So he painted the doors very carefully, arranging the textures on the faces of the doors exactly the same. Still the rats could tell. Then he thought maybe the rats were smelling the food, so he used chemicals to change the smell after each run. Still the rats could tell. Then he realized the rats might be able to tell by seeing the lights and the arrangement in the laboratory like any commonsense person. So he covered the corridor, and still the rats could tell.

He finally found that they could tell by the way the floor sounded when they ran over it. And he could only fix that by putting his corridor in sand. So he covered one after another of all possible clues and finally was able to fool the rats so that they had to learn to go in the third door. If he relaxed any of his conditions, the rats could tell.

Now, from a scientific standpoint, that is an A-number-one experiment. That is the experiment that makes rat-running experiments sensible, because it uncovers that clues that the rat is really using-- not what you think it's using. And that is the experiment that tells exactly what conditions you have to use in order to be careful and control everything in an experiment with rat-running.

I looked up the subsequent history of this research. The next experiment, and the one after that, never referred to Mr. Young. They never used any of his criteria of putting the corridor on sand, or being very careful. They just went right on running the rats in the same old way, and paid no attention to the great discoveries of Mr. Young, and his papers are not referred to, because he didn't discover anything about the rats. In fact, he discovered all the things you have to do to discover something about rats. But not paying attention to experiments like that is a characteristic example of cargo cult science. "

" So I have just one wish for you--the good luck to be somewhere where you are free to maintain the kind of integrity I have described, and where you do not feel forced by a need to maintain your position in the organization, or financial support, or so on, to lose your integrity. May you have that freedom."


Source : "Cargo Cult Science" - by Richard Feynman

Jaidutt's Forum

Hey Sumo thanks for the link. I'd appreciate if you put the following banner, above the link



Insert the banner by adding the following (<)a href="http://www.jaiduttlad.tk/"(>)(<) img src="http://us.f1f.yahoofs.com/bc/4e3068ec/bc/Images/logo.gif?bfs87TCBQoOqFHKR" alt="www.jaiduttlad.tk" (/)(>)(<)a(>)

10 stories that could be pranks - but aren't

1. A Japanese inventor has devised solar-powered clothes which can top up the battery on an iPod or mobile phone.

2. The Home Office is being asked to pardon Anne Boleyn, 500 years after she was executed, because she was "obviously innocent".

3. A study of men who attended lapdancing clubs found one man, named by researchers as "Graham the philanthropist" who went five times a week and believed "he was helping the women to make money quickly so they could become financially independent".

4. A family of four ate 20,000 Kit Kats to win prizes worth £12,000. "We had them for breakfast, dinner and tea," said 53-year-old Pat McGovern of Teesside.

5. Joss Stone has earned £5m, shooting her into the top 20 of a rich list of young entertainers. Will Young is worth £8m.

6. A Belgian police training manual which aims to help recruits understand body language has caused a row by likening George Bush's facial expressions to a chimpanzee's.

7. Thousands of visitors are rushing to Death Valley to see a remarkable range of wild flowers which have bloomed there.

8. A tow-truck driver in South Africa has been arrested on suspicion of tampering with traffic lights to make accidents more likely.

9. Conmen in Slough are getting people to pay £400 for laptops, before handing over bags filled not with computer but with bottles of water.

10. Christopher Eccleston, fresh from getting critical acclaim and near-record ratings as the new Doctor Who, has quit.


Unbelievable aren't they

SOURCE : BBC NEWS | Magazine | 10 stories that could be pranks - but aren't

What is blogging? .... For the uninitiated

BBC - Webwise - Ask Bruce - What is blogging?

Found this of BBC Web

Fridays are Fun!!

Hmm.. another Friday dawned today. As expected, the mosquito had arranged for an extra lecture. Today's topic was Staircase Design. Sounds verrry interesting isnt it? Well, it actually was! Surprised? So was I! Except for the part when MMM' s droning went into the ultrasonic range, I was able to follow each and every part of the lecture, which, in itself, is an achievement for both, me and MMM. Way to go, MMM. Buzzing rulz!!! Oh ya and BTW, what's with that leg of MMM's? Looks like he performed some vigorous exercise yesterday just before coming to class, and wanted to show off. Else I cant explain the impromptu performance he gave to the whole class. Well, he sure ended up showing off quite a bit, if you get what I mean!! Seriously, I dont mind profs letting their hair down, but I sure draw the line at them lifting their legs up onto stools more than half their height!! MMM might end up having a bark worse than his bite. Considering his increasing canine traits of scratching and lifting legs in public view, I suppose that day isnt too far.

Earlier, I had promised P and V that I would definitely mention them here, albeit in a not so flattering light. But now that I think about it, it seems that would give them too much of free publicity. So no brickbats for you here, V and P. :-D

After a quick lunch, it was time for a session with PHS. We had quite a bit of progress today before we got stuck at some point, as is the norm. Even PHS could not bail us out and I finally left college leaving the problem unsolved. Guess I will have to put in some extra work this weekend.

R and I are going to DMCE tomorrow to present our favourite Implosions paper. AM, YD, RS and SCH will also be there. So its going to be a pretty good contingent from SPCE. Hope we bring back quite a few laurels. There's also a quiz so I am keeping my fingers crossed. More news about this in the next post.

CIAO.

A Day full of Happenings

Well, guys, lots of news today to share. K, M and I were sitting in PHS' cabin doing our project when the following drama occured. Characters are as follows :-

ANG - Tortured Schoolboy
RRR - Local Bully
K, M and Sumo - (themselves)

and presenting

PHS in the lead role of the "Even Bigger Bully!!!"
*************************************************************
Scene:-

Bigger Bully is doing his administrative work. K, M and Sumo are doing their project work. Enter Schoolboy.

Schoolboy:Waah!! Sir, Local Bully does not listen to me, waah!!! She says she will not give the Attendance report to you. You dont come to college.....Blah......Blah.....is this my responsibility?? Waah!!!! She says that you did not tell her to report to you.

Bigger Bully:(smiles evilly) She says that does she? She can hardly do any work properly. She has not even done the library work I gave her one and a half months ago!! This is the height of incompetence!! (evil smile slowly disappears)

Schoolboy: She says that you are never to be found in college....Blah.....Blah!!!

Bigger Bully: She says that? (more evil smile) We shall see!!!(lets threat hang in the air) You dont worry beta, she will not harm you. M, am I not in college from 11 to 7????

M: Ummm......yeeesss sir.

Bigger Bully:(flashes triumphant smile) OK we will see about her tomorrow!!!

Schoolboy: Sniff....Thank You, Sir, you are very kind.

Bigger Bully: Its ok, bachcha now you go back to your table, ok??

(K, M and Sumo snigger quietly)

End of Scene
***************************************************************
I suppose you guys must have got the hang of what happened by now. You know, I admire RRR's guts. But the poor thing is under the impression that she can get away with this. The sleeping tiger has awakened!! Never underestimate the fury of a tiger that you kicked awake!! It will be fun to see the look on RRR's face when she leaves the cabin with the seat of power in SPCE. I know it will be difficult to see the redness on her face, given the limitation her colour poses but I am sure that the deep red tinge on her cheeks will overcome that!!

After this, all the other events in class seem to fade away into oblivion. The mosquito has now become our official class teacher. He seems to take more than 80% of our lectures. If I ever learn mosquito language, I shall have to remember to credit MMM very lavishly for it. Coz its he (??? at least I think its 'he') who taught me how to properly use those buzzes and drones!

PHS dropped a few more bombshells. The project presentations of the entire class will now be held on the 29th of April and the CPM viva's most probable dates are 2nd and 3rd March. Gr8 news isnt it?? Please leave behind your comments here.

More in the next post, hopefully some news of RRR being royally screwed!!!

CIAO.

And Life goes on

When I checked my blog, I found that my last entry was just after Rose Day! Hmm..it sure has been a long time before I have found the time to post something here.

Nothing much has happened since my last post though. I went to RCOE alongwith my project group, sans K and presented our project there. It was actually a rush against time as I had a test in college on the same day in the morning and MMM's lecture in the aftrenoon. We managed to rush to RCOE by rick and were promptly told that we would have to wait until after lunch to present the project. After a lot of pleading on our part about the lack of time, they finally allowed us to carry on immediately, albeit in a smaller amount of time than usual. The unfortunate part was that the presentation on GA which forms a major part of my project was not working and the CD with the backup copy was lying at the house of the "very efficient" guy from TE-Civil (let's just call him 'Madan')!!! ##@@!!%%&&$$@@**!!!!! Anyway, due to the lack of a Powerpoint presentation, R and I managed to present the project in little over 15 minutes. As expected, noone from the audience understood a word about our project, but the judges seemed interested and were asking pretty relevant questions. At the end, they seemed impressed enough to make me feel hopeful of a prize. But, alas, it was not to be. As it turned out, we didnt win. However, the silver lining was that AM had presented his paper on Galvanised Rebars the previous day and he got the first prize. So our class was not empty-handed, at least. Guess, my RCOE jinx stays firm!!!

MMM continued with his droning throughout the week and even wanted to engage an extra lecture yesterday!!! Thankfully, his 'evil' plans were thwarted by the presence of mind of the entire class which provided a very viable excuse of being unable to attend college due to balloon-throwing incidents!!! Well, I suppose he will find another way of getting back at us, I am sure.

PHS also went on with his Mumbo-Jumbo, starting with PERT networks this time. Seriously, if you want to train a guy to eavesdrop on conversations, send him to PHS. In 2 week's time, if he can understand what PHS is saying then I think he can make out any conversation held behind closed doors!!! Think how useful would that be to the CBI or RAW.

Indian cricket is in a bit of soup right now with SRT back in the pavillion. But, with Viru there, one can heave a sigh of relief. VVS is also beginning to find his touch. Poor Dada has had to drop down the order so that VVS can have a crack at the bowling. Anyway, here's hoping that he finds his touch soon. Methinks India will have to do something special from here to gon on and win the match.

Hmmm....more in the next post. Gotta go back and watch the match!!!

CIAO.

Rose Day!!

Well, it was Rose Day in college today and there was an air of anticipation in the morning. I went to college thinking it would be fun to see the girls carrying themselves awkwardly in their sarees. V and P were the first girls to arrive in the class. They were looking pretty good in their sarees but seemed ill at ease. Then R and A made an almost simultaneous entry into the class. While A looked good, she looked only a fraction of last year's saree-clad version. As for R, well, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Guess my laughter sums it up. She again looked pretty OK but seemed to be the most uncomfortable of all the girls in the class. Poor thing, she seemed to be in a tearing hurry to get home.

We held an impromptu photo session in the parking lot and methinks, it was pretty good. All of us got our photos clicked in various poses with me and C mainly playing photographer. In the midst of all this, PHS made an entry in his car and we accosted him as soon as he got out of his car. Poor fellow!! But, it must be said that he immediately agreed to pose with us for the photo.

MMM and PHS didnt bestow free lectures on us and hence, we had to wait until 2:30 before we could go out to eat. By this time, all of us were absolutely ravenous. Vrindy's was full and it was quite a while before we got a place to sit. By this time, I was almost at the end of my tether and was ready to snap at anyone crossing my path. Thank goodness no one did!!! Well, there's more fun scheduled for Rose Day but I and S decided to call it a day and we went home. Its my day to drive today and I feel driving is a much better pastime than sitting in that stuffy quad, waiting for your ears to go deaf!!

Nothing more to say, so...........

CIAO.

India Wins!!!

Well, its been a mixed weekend of sorts for me, at least. On one hand, I have spent a lot of my time completing the DDCS floor system so that I can submit it in time on Wednesday. On the other hand, its been fun watching the Indo-Pak match which has been very exciting to say the least. Fortunes have swung wildly from one side to the other. Thankfully, the match ended on the right note for India, with Jumbo scalping 7. Dravid also played very nicely, achieving the enviable feat of scoring a century in each innings of a test. He deservedly won the Man of the Match award for this.

Plus, there was F1 today!!! I watched almost the entire race and was definitely not disappointed. The Tiffosi were disappointed as their team again lagged behind the rest of the main teams. Renault continued their good showing as they notched up yet another win, this time by Alonso. Sadly, Fisi spun out and lost out on valuable points. Schumi came in 7th which was pretty disappointing by his standards. Guess, Ferrari will no longer have any doubts as to when they should debut the F2005. It HAS to be running at Sakhir!! Toyota kept up their strong showing with Trulli coming second and a surprising 3rd for Heidfeld in the FW26. The field order looks completely topsy-turvy this season. Looks like we are in for a very exciting 2005 season. Red Bull continue to impress with every race with DC showing the way. Karthikeyan seems to have introduced a semblance of reliability into the Jordan team. He looks steady while driving and at the same time, manages to finish his races instead of retiring like most of his predecessors. Keep it up, NK!!!

Tomorrow is Rose Day! My final one. Lets hope we get a few good rose cards in alongwith the fishpond, which I mentioned here earlier. Most of the guys will be in formals with ties. I say most coz K and S are likely to play spoilsport here. The girls will all be at least an hour late as they will have to spend that extra time learning how to wear sarees and not trip over them!!! LOL!! Sorry girls, just a small joke at your expense. R says that she is a useless girl. Guess we shall all see a useless woman tomorrow. But, she will be useless all the same, methinks!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

CIAO.

Friday Fever

Well, its Friday again and we all have started to look forward to the weekend ahead of us. Well, it sure feels nice that your profs will not be able to torture you for two whole days!!!

Today, the mosquito had another extra lecture. I went to college with a heavy heart (and, incidentally, a heavy body too!!!LOL!!!) thinking it was going to be another sleeping session. But, it was not as bad as I expected it to be. MMM buzzed quite well and the sums were also pretty easy. The only problem was that M took it upon himself to be the first in performing all calculations. This provides quick answers to MMM, no doubt, but it also makes him think that the entire class has understood the particular step and he moves on. Oh come on, M, this is not a race!! We admit that you are the fastest calculator in the entire class by a large margin, but not everyone can pick up the steps as fast as you can. Please try and bear that in mind, its a sincere request from me.

The day after that was pretty enjoyable, on the whole. I showed MMM the program I had written for EE and he suggested a few changes which I may 'condescend' to incorporate if I feel like it!! LOL!!! While the program was compiling, he asked me about my future plans. It was actually a mini career interview for me in his cabin today!!

Before this, JD and I enjoyed a cheese grilled sandwich (Yummy!!!). R, G and I also went out and had ice candy. It was heavenly, especially in this sultry weather. Well, I also ended up feeling that my shirt was being neglected while I was enjoying this cool treat and so, also fed my shirt a bit of candy!! LOL!! MMM was staring at my orange stained mouth when I went to him after this. Guess he must be thinking that I have a lot of vices, one of them being eating paan!!!

At the end of the day, we all pooled pur meagre brains together and tried to think of a few witty lines to write for the fishpond to be held in our class on Monday. But, we could come up with only a few, which was very disappointing. Hmm, guess I should cut out the 'advertising' from my list of interests in my CV!!! Anyway, I hope to have a few brainwaves this weekend so that I can at least cover the entire class in some way or the other.

Me having a blogger's block now, so more in the next post.

CIAO.

Beware of Malaria !!!

Well, it was a HORRIBLE day today. Downright torture. The day started with MMM floating into the class 15 min late. We began to breathe a sigh of relief that the lecture would now be only 45 min long instead of the customary 1 hr. Our hopes were soon to be dashed! The CR (damn that fellow!!!) told MMM that the next lecture was free as ANG had gone with the SE guys for their Survey Project. Now that he had an open invitation, MMM began to continue with his droning but RRR came and cut him short, saying that she had booked this lecture beforehand. Now for the sigh of relief??? No Siree!! MMM gave us a mournful version of Arnie's 'I'll be baaaack' look and left. Ominous signs!!! Sure enough, he was baaaack at 1100hrs to continue with his droning! One would think that enduring 2 hrs of this extremely irritating species of mosquito would be enough torture for the day, but MMM had other ideas, at least for the Structures batch. There was the elective lecture to be sat through. With a strong sense of foreboding, we all trooped to the spl. tutorial class reserved for this spl. form of Modern Torture! It was not as bad as we feared and we simply ended up getting a good dose of tectonic geology, all read from the ever interesting IS code!! I guess you could call it a 'Lori- Telling Session' (Thanks for the joke, RS!!)!! But wait, it was not over!! There was still a 3 hr tutorial class to attend! But, thankfully, MMM came just once and droned about for around 10 min or so and left. So that was it!!!! Phew!!! We had finally gone through the longest of contacts with MMM and emerged unscathed at the end of it!!! What a victory!!! It kinda makes me feel invincible.

The Foundation batch had it easy, as usual!! They were not required to do the DDCS tutorial problem yesterday during their tutorial and they have not even started on their floor plan for the sheet!! Lazy Guys!! LOL!! No offence to you foundation guys, but please dont mind if I let out my frustrations a bit.

Anyway, I have nothing more to say today, so I will sign off.

CIAO.

Ho!Hum! And we are back in College!!

Well, N*****I is over and so is all the euphoria surrounding it. Now, the festival season has also ended and we have to all start studying in right earnest. This sounds so boring doesnt it?? But, its true and I am also in a very foul mood hence, you will find little humour in my post today.

Nothing of great importance happened today. Lectures took place as usual and PHS once again flexed his authoritative muscles by engaging an afternoon lecture, instead of his scheduled morning one. Sometimes, I wonder how our department can be so foolish as to allot a lecture to him before 1100hrs on any given day. And they keep on repeating this mistake year after year.

I got my camera roll developed today. The photos have come out well, especially the one my project group took with the great PHS. C is a very nice photographer and I must remember to congratulate him tomorrow.

I have nothing more to say so I will end this post here. More in the next post.

CIAO.

And Finally, the News of the Prize!!!

Well, as I had said in my earlier post, I was hoping to get a prize for the presentation given by me and R at MHSS. I am happy to say that my hunch was right and we actually won the first prize there!!! Yaay!! R and I turned up at MHSS to collect the prize just as our names were being announced. Call it a photo-finish if you like, the only problem being that I had forgotten to take my camera along!! As a result, we ended up with no photos of the time when we actually won for a Paper Presentation. So much for happy memories!! The prize was in the form of a big gift-wrapped box and R and I opened it as soon as we left the auditorium clutching our prizes. To our dismay, we found that it was a vase!! A vase???!!!! For a paper presentation??!!! Oh forget it, the less said about it the better. When I went home after dropping off R at Bonbay Central station, even she was surprised. But like all moms, she got over the surprise and started feeling rather pleased that she had got another article for decorating the house.

The next day was N*****I. R and I were giving a presentation there too. The pp went off quite well, but T (one of the judges) s*****d us royally. That made us lose all hopes of claiming a prize for that event. I also participated in STAAD and Case Study Analysis events on that day, the only saving grace being S and I being hopeful of a prize in CSA.

The next day dawned and it was time for the Technical Quiz, my favourite event! We started off pretty well in the quiz and were leading by the end of the first round. But, in the picture round, one team, unfortunately from our own college, started blitzing the answers, sometimes even before the pic had been displayed!!! We complained to the organisers about foul play and they, thankfully, managed to get everything settled by scrapping the round. Anyway, all's well that ends well. S and I won the quiz and I looked forward to the next event of Structural Modelling. But, G and I couldnt make a good enough model like last year and hence, we lost out on the prize. The next awaited event - The Prize Distribution.

R was upset at not getting a prize for paper presentation and so, she went home. I might have considered a similar course of action had I not been sure of a prize for the quiz. Finally, it so happened that S and I won for the quiz as well as CSA and we each bagged a cool Rs. 750/- in cash!! To add to it, I also won the second prize for the STAAD competition and took away an extra Rs. 500/-!! Expectedly, all my friends started pestering me for a party but I had already decided to save away the money, so I had to disappoint them. The other good thing was that a lot of people from my class won a prize, including a first for RS and SCH, and hence, there was a general mood of bonhomie all round. Hip Hip Hurray!!!!!

Well, its back to studies now as the sceptre of the QSE test on Thursday now looms large on the horizon. More in the next post.

CIAO.

We Imploded MHSS!!!

Well, I finally have time to write my blog again. Nothing much has happened since my last post. 2 paper presentations had been selected for the MHSS festival. R and I had decided to present our famous (or should I say, infamous) paper on Implosions. The pp went off really well and we ended up impressing the judges as well. Hope we manage to win a prize. Anyway, it will be an excruciating wait till tomorrow afternoon, when the results will be announced. RK and RP also presented a paper on Project Management. It was also a good performance but I feel they lacked a certain amount of confidence. Anyway, I hope they have made a good enough impression on the judges. Well, only time will tell.

After the presentations, we went to my house. We managed to gorge on a few savouries as we had hardly had any lunch, especially RK and RP who, I dont think, had managed to have even a morsel at lunchtime!!! We were joined later by G, GA, BS and AB. The assorted party now came to life with the arrival of these characters. Then the real hero, the shrikhand, made its entry and everyone was then engrossed in savouring its flavour. I was nervous as to whether they would like it or not, but they seemed to love it. I LOVE YOU MOM!!! RK, as usual, wanted to remain glued to the computer, playing NFS 6 but I managed to wrench him away from the comp so that I could play a few songs of my choice.

VE declared the pay for all those placed with them and this was the main topic of discussion. Pretty boring, one would think. I would agree, and by the looks of today evening, so would R, though I must say that she looked bored througout the visit to my house. The only humourous event was when R brought the tray into the kitchen, just to help out my mom. The guys sitting outside could not keep from taking a dig at her and accused her of practising housework for G. LOL!!! Well, I must add that this dig, though perfectly justified otherwise, was rather ill-timed today, as it made R feel embarassed in front of my parents. Looks like some guys in our class need a course in Social Finesse.

BS had a field day lying to everyone she spoke on phone today. She was supposedly at VE at even 1930hrs!!! To add to that, the people she spoke on to phone were dumb enough to actually believe her!!!

Nothing else of note happened today. Only that MMM decided to drop a bombshell on us by saying that he would be engaging his lecture tomorrow until the local festival actually started!!! Buzzzz!!! Get lost, MMM!!!! Oh, sorry guys that was just a mosquito I mistook for MMM. My apologies.

More in the next post, hopefully the news of a prize.

CIAO.

Good to be Blogging again

Well, its been a long time since I had a chance to update my blog due to the workload. But, since today is a Sunday, I decided to sit down and write something.

Much water has passed under the bridge since I last wrote. College went on as usual and we were once again submitted to the worst kind of mental torture that must only have been bettered by Hitler and his Gestapo!! Sometimes, I think the Bombay Police should make criminals sit for our lectures. They will start chirping out information like parrots in no time!!

N*****I is coming up this week and R and I are struggling to get our paper ready for the event. This time, I am participating in 5 out 6 events so its going to be a pretty hectic festival for me. To add to that, the reigning OC has decreed that the participation fee shall be Rs. 50 per event, as compared to a flat fee of Rs. 50 last year. These guys have really started fleecing us. The only silver lining is that the prize money is quite a lot this time. Lets hope that I win back some of the money I will be spending just to be given a chance to participate. R and I will also be presenting our Implosions paper in MHSS on Wednesday. I must say that I have hopes of getting a prize there. Lets hope that the day finally dawns when Implosions bags us a real prize, and not just a consolation one. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Indian Idol results were declared yesterday. As I expected, Abhijeet Sawant was the winner. That guy doesnt just sing, he croons. I love that playback quality of his voice. Plus, there is his million dollar smile. All in all, I think he is a worthy package for being the Indian Idol. As regards Amit Sana, it must have been disappointing for him to lose out after getting so far. But, I must say that he was the deserving runner-up. There seems to be nothing wrong with his voice, but he doesnt have the personality to be Indian Idol, methinks. Anyway, before you Sana fans start complaining, let me clarify that these are just my views and they are certainly not binding on anyone. There!!! I have just cleared myself. Phew!!!

Well, I cant recall anything more of importance to put down here so I will sign off. More in the next post (God knows when that will be!!!) LOL!

CIAO.

Back to Serious Work

Well, the Annual Day was held yesterday with great fanfare. The speeches were held as usual and they expectedly managed to bore everyone present except the speaker himself ! The only interesting speech I heard was that of Dr. G. He indeed seemed to be a very intelligent man. However, the poor chap had to stand and give away prizes to award winners, half of whom were not present ! Guys, if you win an award, at least bother to come and receive it ! After the boring official ceremony was over, the Marathi play 'Eka Lagnachi Goshta' was staged. It was a very hilarious play and the actors had everyone in splits. The jokes managed to evoke laughter from me even though I was seeing the play for the second time. Prashant Damle - You ROCK !!!

Today was work as usual. The day started with MMM droning to the Structures Batch about the importance of attending College Annual Days. God, when will that guy improve?? The rest of the day passed off without much drama. PHS decided to convert the day into a personal holiday, so that was that. A seminar was held in the afternoon on the Opportunities Available to a Civil Engineer. The speaker was pretty good and he managed to hold the audience's attention. This was a rare occurance and hence, I admire the speaker for his public speaking skills.

JD gave a party later in the evening on the occasion of his placement. We enjoyed a lot, albeit at the expense of the weight in JD's wallet ! LOL ! Anyway, more in the next post.

CIAO