iLLuMinATi OnLy!!!!

The Great Escape - Part II

2006-08-23T03:48:00.000-07:00

The story continues as promised...

Location - 1st floor, H-8, Tagore Bhavan, SVNIT.

Time - 05.20 am

Situation: Perky. Feeble light starts pouring into the corridors of H-8, stimulating rays of hope among those students who are awake. Encouragingly,other students start rising from their troubled slumber( power is still out... the Quitoes as bloodthirsty as ever). There's more company to look forward to. Nonetheless the hostel seems to be shrouded with dismay. I seem to have overpowered my sleepiness just for the occasion. A few of my friends arise from their siesta and we decide(yet again!) to begin another sojourn to the college gate(if feasible!)

Location - Shit Zone, SVNIT.

Time - 06.00 am

Situation: Desperate. The word used before could be used for the following two cases. 1) The water seems desperate to engulf our college. Shit Zone too has been encroached. The water seems to be flowing at a menacingly rapid pace. It would be only a matter of hours before rescue operations were required( I was day-dreaming about the Army trying to rescue me from the perils of the floods!!).

2) Me and 2 of my friends who set on this sojourn somehow make it up to the staff club without many qualms. A few metres ahead all that we could see was water. The road was nowhere to be seen. But a few people(not students) were spotted trying to move upto the Gate for reasons i couldnt comprehend. These people though werent getting wet simply because they were doing heroics on the median-like structure that separates the main road into 2 lanes. The median is about a metre wide with plants grown in the centre flanked by bricks 1 layer wide. It does take some skill to walk on this 1 brick layer particularly in this situation because there is water(intimidatingly dirty!) on one side and wet soil on the other. The very thought of walking on it seemed revolting to me but my adventurous pals decided to brave the difficulties and we set off despite a reluctant me, DESPERATE to retreat to safer grounds!!!

The walk along the path, as i would put it wasnt without a fair share of thrill. My 2 friends set the pace and i trudged along behind them with a remorseful look. Add to this, 2 dogs coming right behind me( They were not particularly ferocious ones... But i abhor dogs!!) Thankfully people coming from the other side shooed the dogs away. My concentration powers were seemingly at their peak for if i were to put even one foot wrong, things would become nasty(nothing life threatenin of course... but still very nasty... not to mention very dirty!) . As we went forward we noticed that the water was so high that it had even covered the median at 1 point. At this juncture we decided that enough is enough and made our journey back to the staff club. In the end, it proved to be an adventure without many mishaps!!!

Location - AG - 14, H-8, SVNIT.

Time - 06.30 am

Situation: Drab. The hostel isnt exactly buzzing with activity but more doors are open. Many more students are awake now. But its very much early morning blues for most of them. I was bored to the core. I took a bath and lied down to get some well-deserved sleep!!!

Location - Ground Floor, H-8, SVNIT.

Time - 08.30 am

Situation: Irritating. Some idiot(could be one of my friends'!!!) banged on the door without any remorse thereby arousing me from paradise(now... paradise lost!). I didnt exactly arise with a start. It was some time before i actually realized that someone was banging on the door. Once i opened the door the very scene that greeted me was mind-blowing. Every soul in the hostel seemed to be awake. And there were groups of students occupying every inch of the corridors. I couldnt understand for a wee bit of time, what was going on. Then came the enlightening! The water levels had swelled and the water had in fact reached upto a point where the hostel entrance was just a few feet away from the onrushing water. It was just plain scary to think of the rate at which the water had been engulfing the college!

Location - Ground Floor, H-8, SVNIT.

Time - 08.45 am

Situation: Brainstorming. The cell phones kept ringing. Anxious parents calling their wards to enquire about the prevailing conditions. There were rumors of chest high water near the Main Gate. Scores of students could be seen packing there bags with whatever stuff available in the vicinity of their hands. Some of them set on their journey back home. The only viable option of getting out of the college was the Gate at the posterior end of the college. The Main Gate could no longer be treaded upon. My fellow Chennaiites were undecided upon the further course of action. There were all sorts of suggestions and arguments to support them but nothing seemed to be concrete. This pointless banter went on and on and on without any sort of solution coming!

Location - Mess, H-8,SVNIT.

Time - 10.00 am

Situation: Hungry. Suddenly people realize that they are hungry(I had been hungry for a long time!!) and the mess bell rings to everyone's relief! The mess manager assures that this is the last meal they will provide as the water supply has been cut off!!! People start to panic more, the phones continue to keep ringing, the students continue to keep leaving!! But we, the Chennaiites(the Tamils actually!) continue to maintain the position of confusion and entropy.

Location - Ground Floor, H-8, SVNIT.

Time - 10.30 a.m

Situation: Out of Control. We the Tamils are still in a state of delirium(a strong word!!), as the water keeps coming towards to the hostel. The entrance to H-8 has 7 or 8 steps to climb before we get into the hostel and the water has already come as far as the 1st step. Time seems to be running out. At long last a decision is made by us, the Tamils. We decide to set forth to Bombay(a decision taken despite the floods in Bombay too!!). There are lots of things to be done before we can actually set forth(especially for ground floorers like me.. it meant shifting all my things to the 1st floor!!).

Location - Entrance, H - 8, SVNIT.

Time - 11.30 am.

Situation: Thrilling. After much deliberations our decision came and it would prove to be a quotable case of a stitch in time saves nine!!! We set off on our voyage(literally... wading through the waters!!!) to get off the college campus. News had come in that the posterior Gate was the only way to get out of the campus. So we the Tamils( with the Mallus and a few Kannadigas too!!) started a perilous walk in the water. The straight forward route was via Hostels 1, 2 and 3 but as we could see the water along this road was at least thigh high, climbing upto the waist at certain points. Hence we decided to take a longer route around the Shit Zone, Canteen, H-5,H-6 and SAC. At this juncture there was another turning point. Some of the guys came to the conclusion that the journey out of college would be a wasteful exercise and returned to the hostel. There were also rumors that since Bombay too was reeling under floods, trains were being cancelled etc. But we the Tamils stuck to our decision to get out of the college and braved the rumors, the waters, the wildlife in the water which included snakes, spiders, insects and other 6 to 8 legged horrifying creatures!! The road to safety, in our minds was just a few hundred metres away set with a series of obstacles though.

Location - Away from Perdition, Behind SVNIT.

Time - 12.30 pm

Situation: Nonplussed. Just as we were leaving the campus we were greeted by the cameras and a guy holding a mike talking about the floods in Surat. The reception was not what we expected. We were curious for a few minutes and we wished for a few seconds in the silver screen. But it didnt turn out that way and we set off for the original and primary goal... SURAT RAILWAY STATION.

The adventure comes to an end here... All of us who set off from the college that day made it to our respective homes within the next 24 hours or so... It was the first time i( many others too) had experienced floods in my life and it is one experience i will never forget... It will remain a cherished memory forever in the annals of time!!!

Thanks for reading through.....

The Great Escape!

2006-08-14T01:55:00.000-07:00

This entry is based on a true story. Some incidents/names may have been conveniently neglected.

Read on!

Location: The Main Gate, SVNIT, Surat.

Situation: Grim. Monday 7th August,Time - 20.30 IST.

Students(like me) throng the gate looking for ways to escape the onrushing water.But there were others(students,of course,the real "engineers") who were at the gate trying to work out the speed at which water was entering the college and were thinking of ways to build a barricade in order to prevent the water from entering the hostels.

Location - The Canteen, SVNIT, Surat.

Time - 20.45 IST.

Situation: Closed. I mean the canteen is closed. Ran into a few seniors of mine. Talked jovially for some time about the floods that were engulfing Surat and in particular, SVNIT. Came up with all sorts of weird ideas to get out of college but nothing seemed particularly logical. For, what everyone seemed to think of, was an exit via the Main Gate, which by that time had become highly improbable due to reports(rumours??) of chest high water in a place called Sargam Shopping Center which stands a few hundred metres from SVNIT.

Location - Hostel No.- 8, Tagore Bhavan, SVNIT.

Time - 21.30 IST.

Situation: Tense. Every imaginable cell phone seems to be ringing. Or someone is on the line already talking with his parents.The whole hostel seems to be in a quandry. Students perambulating here and there without any reason. Insects flying all over the place. Stray dogs wandering around without a semblance of any notion. It looked as though the hostel had pressed a gigantic panic button!!! And then comes the lethal blow. That thing the whole hostel had been dreading. Pardon me its not the water. But it was the failure in electricity supply.Everything comes to a standstill. The hostel plunges into darkness. And then the unthinkable happens. The power is back as fast as it went.The hostel is back to its noisy best. The drone of the insects. Everything seems to back to normal(or is it abnormal??).

Location - Hostel No.- 8, Tagore Bhavan, SVNIT.

Time - 21.35 IST.

Situation: On Cloud Nine! The brief setback received by the students is taken in the stride. Things seem to be going normally.And then the unthinkable happens. Again! The power supply goes off again. The hostel bears a saturnine feel all of a sudden. There is an unmistakable, eerie silence prevailing through out the hostel. Students now find it impossible to sleep. The mosquitoes attacked like a Mongolian horde. Armed with a hiss-like noise they invaded the ears of those lying on their beds.Everyone trying to sleep were singularly made to wake up by the attack of the Quitoes. Nothing could stop them. No one could beat them to pulp with their fists simply because they couldnt see them. Encouraged by the success of the mosquitoes other insects followed suit with varying degrees of success. But for humans, the situation was sadly worse than grim.

Location - The Terrace of Hostel No.- 8, Tagore Bhavan, SVNIT.

Time - 21.45 IST.

Situation: Sang-froid. Incorrigible optimists(Ha! Ha!) continued to remain in their rooms thinking that God would bestow them with power(huh... i mean electricity!).Realistic students realized the depth of the shit they were in and decided to leave their rooms for the pleasures of the terrace. The terrace also had its fair share of problems but they could all be overcome, for, there was not a single individual on the terrace,but groups of studs discussing crazy things amidst a probable life or death situation. There were reports flooding in stating that,the girls hostel had already been broached by the floods. BSNL also started sending messages requesting people to take aid in shelters 20 feet above ground level.Reality was starting to get harsh but students bore a major brunt of it without much trouble.

Location - "Shit Zone", SVNIT.

Time - 02.10 IST.

Situation: Adrenalin-pumping. People feel the need to sleep however terrible the situation seems to be and that's how it turned out for a majority of the hostelites. Despite the gruelling conditions(remember the Quitoes and the power cut) students started to sleep without any ado.Within minutes over 80% of the hostel fell asleep leaving a select few like me to ponder over, what happens next. The time i felt was ripe for an adventure, so, me and 2 of my friends set off from the Hostel. We braved the dangers of the "Shit Zone"(a notorious place where crows gather and keep dropping shit on passers-by) and managed 2 get as far as the Library.The situation looked as though it hadnt worsened, for, the water hadnt encroached a lot of territory. As we came back to the dastardly "S.Zone" we realized that we had overlooked the water approaching from the left flank.We understood that the water in fact wasnt coming through the straightforward main road but had taken a route through the staff quarters and girls hostel.Till that point of time, i had never experienced floods in my life nor had i known that floods had brains!!!

Location - AG-14, Hostel No. - 8, Tagore Bhavan, SVNIT.

Time - 02.30 IST.

Situation: Boring. My friends bade me goodbye and dozed off in their rooms. No one else in hostel was awake except me so it was time for me to sleep as well. I tried and tried and tried for a long time but my efforts were in vain. I just couldnt close my eyelids in the presence of those marauding Quitoes.It was the most boring time i had ever experienced in hostel. Nearly 2 hours passed in my efforts to sleep.

Location - The Terrace of Hostel No.- 8, Tagore Bhavan, SVNIT.

Time - 04.30 IST.

Situation: Still Boring. I made my way up to the terrace again in the hope of finding someone awake. Thankfully i found a few friends of mine in the terrace.We discussed the reasons behind the loss of sleep and decided that we needed to get mosquito coils asap!! Asap in this case meant a few hours at least, therefore, sleeping again was an option that was ruled off, by default. We came to a decision that it was time again to check out the "flood-like" situation in the college and we set forth on yet another journey.

Location - "Shit Zone", SVNIT.

Time - 05.00 IST.

Situation: Sleepy. As we set forth on the journey we noticed an unusually bright flame from the ONGC refinery. We actually mistook it for the sunrise but soon realised that the sun rises from the east and not from the west!!We made our way through the dark road hoping that no1/thing pounces on us. Thankfully nothing pounced on us. But the spread of the water, as we noticed, was nothing short of relentless. The "Shit Zone" had been encroached upon by the water. Hostels 5 and 6 were already flooded. It was all just a matter of time before the whole campus went under water.....

(To be concluded)....

I-ran, " I(We are) am so scared!!!"

2006-05-19T10:28:00.000-07:00

I must acknowledge that i am not an IAEA weapons inspector... I dont hold any grudge against the Americans... I must also accept the grim fact that i do not possess any political clout in the USA or anywhere in the world...

But its high time people woke up....

Iran is a Muslim country( i think it is!!) with a real hardliner at the helm of affairs...
His name is Ahmedinejad... Mahmoud Ahmedinejad... A few of his quotes will make anyone wake up(Even me sitting in the most boring of engineering lectures!!)... Exempli gratia: Israel must be destroyed... Israel must be removed from the world map... Either he's really serious or he is downright crazy.... Thats not for me to decide...

Ahmedinejad has this nagging tendency to make fiery speeches in front of huge crowds thereby drawing lots of publicity...He openly declares that Iran have restarted their nuclear program... This brings in the USA into the picture... The USA starts playing the role of the "Universal Policeman" again... They ask Iran to shut down their nuclear plants... Ahmedinejad continues to defy the US and goes ahead with his program claiming the processes involved are only for the generation of nuclear power...

The US continues to poke its abnormally long nose into the affairs of Iran... There has been no solution so far... Ahmedinejad as ever continues to tread a very dangerous path... Goofy George keeps threatening Iran with the usual unilateral military action... Because they know that no other country will support strikes against Iran( at least thats my opinion!!) The United Nations(of America!!!!) promises to send its team of weapons inspectors to Iran in order to keep a check on the development of nuclear weapons... They are doing their usual stunts trying to prove they are not "puppets" of the USA which is what the UN is, in reality...

Pretty recently Ahmedinejad shifted a bit from his staunch anti-West, anti-US stand by shooting off a letter to the US president..The letter is supposed to be an effort of appeasing the US stand on Iran... It promises that Iran does not intend to develop nuclear warheads... Ahmedinejad has played a deft trump card here... The letter gives ample proof for other countries to overrule any action that the US can take in the Security Council... But this also means that Iran gets time... And could go the North Korea way... These people overcame the US sanctions et al to develop several warheads against the wishes of the US... The US has surprisingly been making Iran a bigger issue than the Koreans who in fact have the real warheads....

Perhaps that is the crux of the issue... Triggering action against the North Koreans could actually lead to nuclear war... And Iran which has no warheads is still only a fledgling nuclear nation.. The US could make use of the Iranian oil before they actually start making the warheads... Sounds plausible...

A few days back i also came across a cartoon in the Hindu which i think might actually be true..It was extremely well crafted... The cartoon expressed in words goes this way... It shows a guy entering the room of the US President with a 18 page letter in his hand( Ahmedinejad's letter is that long!).. Mr. Bush on seeing the letter says that he has never received a 18 page letter from anyone in his life and that he will not read such a long letter... It might be the actual case... I dont know..

If US plans to attack Iran all i can say is all the best!!! But just be beware... First it was Vietnam Then it was Iraq... Perhaps Iran is due next.... Well i meant the drubbing that the USA received at the hands of other countries!!!

Demo of Democracy in India!!

2006-05-08T03:14:00.000-07:00

Well it must be a billion years before the earth came into existence... And i think thats the last time i ever blogged.... Is it really so long?? Well not that long but long enough.... So u can consider this entry of mine as "a magnum opus" for some time.... I am still undecided on what to write.... Ok... Its time to enter one area i have never touched upon but i have been much fascinated by it... Make way for my entry into politics ( literally... at least gimme room to blog on it!!!)

India widely regarded as the world's largest democracy holds elections every year i think... There are elections for MP's, MLAs', Mayors' n what not...India's government at the Centre is elected for every 5 years but invariably some party pulls out of the govt after a year or so, true to its "secular" credentials or due to its election manifesto which must have stated clearly that either the govt allots it 10 ministers or we are out of the coalition within the next 10 mins ... Indian political parties with their leaders are the best set of negotiators the world can ever produce... Can handle any sort of deal...

Here's an idea of what democracy in India feels like....

- First atrocity is the multi - party system... There are atleast 6 or 7 parties contesting the elections in each state... Often noone gets the majority and there is a hung assembly...

- So we have a 2nd election where they again spend thousands of crores for some stupid candidate(s) who's spent half his life in jail... IF he loses he's sent to jail... Isn't it??

- When its election time each party campaigns for its candidates thereby spending huge amounts of money( where did it all come from??? ) to get to power... And all that for an MLA's post which does not give too much returns... You get a 5 digit salary and a lot of allowances but nothing compared to a top IT job i guess... Anyways spending lakhs of rupees for just getting a rather meagre salary is not why they wanna become a MLA...

- So whats the reason for becoming a MLA??? To serve the people.... Well i guess thats what the Constitution or some other Institution says... So do they really serve the people??? The only thing that they do is forget the constituency they stood in.... So what do they do? They swindle money from the MLA's fund for the constituency and not to mention the regular bribes from bigwigs and others... No wonder they are able to recover the campaign costs so quickly!!!

- And then each party comes up with a so-called manifesto where they pledge to do some great things for the improvement of the people... the state.. the country... what not?? they might even start pledging a fund against alien invasion... So what is the manifesto?? IT is a collection of papers that is thrown into the garbage once the election gets over... Nice definition right??

- Apart from the promises in the manifesto the parties make other promises... Significant promises which are actually implemented to an extent... But goes awry after sometime because some rival party finds out a shady deal in it.... For eg in the recent election in TN... DMK has promised rice at 2 rs a kg... A free TV etc... So the ADMK retorts with a 10 kg free rice offer... And to top it all.... Free Computers for students passing out from the 12th Std.... All this money comes from the govt supposedly.... Where did it come from right before the election???

-The people's mandate is another element that adds a comic touch to the elections especially in TN... For the past 4 or 5 elections or so no party has retained power after a term in power... 2001- ADMK where the winners... 1996- DMK where tyhe winners... 1991- ADMK where the winners... and so on... SO what does this imply??? The people make their choice by cancelling 1 party... And that too by the method of Inky Pinky Ponky Father Had a Donkey... Hope u remember... Luckily( for ADMK!!) a majority of them somehow cancelled DMK out in 2001 so ADMK came to power!!!

- Election Results.... Would have been real fun... But the Election Commission decided to introduce Electronic Voting Machines... Sadists....Have denied fun for the people by introducing Technology into elections....

- Post Elections.... The party that comes into power does some really noble acts....

1st thing that they do is put the Opposition leaders in jail and claim it NOT to be an act of revenge... Cool nah??? If you have a real bad enemy... ITs high time u joined politics...

Then what happens??

And then they(politicians in power!!) live happily ever after!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

People??

Keep waiting for the next election.... The Opposition leaders have already started promising a golden era once they are re-elected!!

The Dogs Bark, But..... The Caravan goes on....

2006-03-31T07:13:00.000-08:00

Well when it comes to watching some Cricket involving India, particularly ODIs.... In the hostel TV room of course i am reminded of the above mentioned proverb.... THE DOGS BARK BUT THE CARAVAN GOES ON.... Let me explain a bit more in detail...

I was a bit surprised when i read a few days(or weeks..) back that the sub continent has one of the most educated crowds... That literally means people know the cricket they are watching... I was all the more surprised to see that the writer of the article wasn't some TOI dumbo but an accomplished cricketer- Bobby Simpson.... He had further written that Australia had one of the worst crowds... I don't know whether the things that he had written came directly from his brain.... I feel that the article was written more with money on mind rather than the actual thing that it had to contain....

Anyways my doubts regarding that article were confirmed ( actually yet again!!) in the hostel TV room... The 31st of March saw India taking on the English in Faridabad.... The English had put up a modest total of 226.... India were off to a very decent start with both Sehwag and Gambhir getting off to good starts.... India were 61 without loss at the end of 13 overs i think... Chasing 226... Thats a very comfortable way to chase against any team in the world... There were no murmurs of disapproval or anything of the negative sort going on within the TV Room... The opening duo were providing enough entertainment...

Then came the 1st wicket... Sehwag fell to a rather ordinary ball.... His poor form stretches longer... The TV Room goes bang with a bang "Oooooooooooooooooooo!!! Shit..... Salah.... Or something of that sort!!!"... A few balls later Gambhir commits suicide by playing a half hearted shot that no cricket lover would wish to see.... I dont think even the bowler would have seen the replay again!!! If some one gets out in that way there is a reason for the people to get angry... Thats what happens exactly in the TV Room.... Already a few of them are rising up from their seats... India are 70 for 2.... Still very much in the game...

Then the skipper goes in a rather awkward way... Tries to scamper for a non existent single... Run Out...India 72-3... It is here that i started feeling really let down by the people in the TV room.... The English bowlers were bowling a very tight line and length giving away very few opportunities for the batsmen to score runs... No wonder Dravid had scored just 5 runs of 23 balls and after the fall of Sehwag India had scored onl 17-18 runs in 8 or 9 overs.... Runs were coming at a premium... Dravid has been the mainstay of the team for a long time now... But once his wicket fell people actually REJOICED in the TV room... For the sole reason that he had been playing slowly... Not that he wanted to play in that manner...

What most people in India is action all the time... They want the batsmen to keep on scoring or the bowlers to keep on taking wickets... Which is possible only against a team like Kenya i suppose... One cant expect that to happen an English even if its a depleted one...

Then came the next blow.... Kaif comes in... Defends 5 balls solidly... Then gets lbw plumb in front to a ball that keeps pretty low... A ball he would have easily put away if it hadn't been for the uneven bounce of the pitch... Kaif too has been going through a lean patch of late... India are 80-4.... And suddenly the TV room is nearly empty... There are just 6-8 people watching the match.... And those people watching are the ones who make me really pissed off... They are the ones who act as though playing cricket is the easiest thing to do in the world... Though i have never seen them play cricket till now....

India are 80-4 as i said... The remaining people in the TV room are now actually supporting England... When India were 61-0 these were exactly the people who were shouting Go! India Go!! or something of that sort... And suddenly when India were down in the dumps they start calling for the heads of those who failed... Not that they are going to be dumped ...

This shows how poorly educated our supporters are( educated-- in terms of cricket!!)...They support India when we are going great guns... And desert them once they are in a disastrous situation... In local lingo people who score goals in both the sides of the field... :) And just think of that article written by Bobby Simpson... Recently even, MS Dhoni complained of lack of support to the team...

People dont realise that the present Indian team is going through a phase of rebuilding... They have lost Ganguly, Tendulkar and a lot of other senior players recently... But still they have performed very creditably at least in the ODIs... India have won their last 6 ODI's and 14 of the last 18... And they have won 14 ODI's in succession while chasing targets... Thats not a bad record at all... And as far as Tests are concerned... India have been putting a decent show... In the last 3 Test series' they have won 1, lost 1 and drawn 1...

Despite all these decent results there is always pressure on the team to perform... People want them to win all the time... Though they know very well that its not possible.... Still every time India lose people call for the players to be dropped... Such is the expectation that people have on the players...

And i am very concerned to see that though this state has been producing a huge chunk of the Indian fast bowlers in recent times, the knowledge of cricket in general is very poor... The main reason i got pissed off is because of people from this state... And one more thing i noticed was that most of the guyz changing sides where ones, who belong to the branch that Rocks!!!

No kidding guys... Dont worry MEN IN BLUE... The Dogs Bark... But the Caravan WILL MOVE ON!!!!

Kane and Abel

2006-03-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer was the 1st book i read after a barren spell in which i could touch nothing but academic stuff.... Started reading it on Saturday and finished reading it yesterday... This was my first read of a Jeffrey Archer book and there is no reason for me to stop reading his novels... Kane and Abel was a compelling read... You just cant stop turning the pages.... In short, its ADDICTIVE!!

Me being an amateur in the field of reading novels felt from the very beginning that it was one meant to be finished off as soon as possible... I hadn't heard of many favourable reviews of Archer's works but he's been a famous author nonetheless with his own share of controversies( I think he was sentenced to a reasonable term in jail!!) I started off as i had literally no other options left, except for an imperious 700 page book on World War II which had such a tiny font that it would have taken a few years for me to complete...

The book deals initially with the lives of the 2 protagonists, Kane and Abel, in their youth.... The book is divided into 7 parts if i remember right, with each part describing the events taking place in the lives of the protagonists in a particular time span... William Lowell Kane is born, son of millionaire parents who's family has been into banking since his grandpa's time... Abel is born in a village of Poland as Wladek Koskiewicz who loses his mom while giving birth and is fostered by a poor family... Both of them excel in studies and find very few rivals to compete with...

Life then changes drastically for Wladek who finds himself ruined after the devastation of Poland in World War I... He loses his friends, relatives and everyone he knows and is frisked away to a camp in Russia... He escapes from the camp with the help of a stranded doctor and makes his way to Turkey... In Turkey he's on the verge of death, but is saved by the British Embassy officials who then transfer him to the Polish Embassy...

All this time William Kane has had the luxury of spending quality time with his friends... He also makes a handsome sum of money through his shrewd investments... But his father also dies in the sinking of the Titanic... William is groomed as the heir to his father's bank and he rarely disappoints....

Abel meanwhile makes his way to the USA with the help of the Polish officials... He grows climbing up the ladder in the US...

What happened then?? What was the relation between Kane and Abel?? Is it a story about 2 friends who make it big in life?? Or is it a story that concerns a bitter rivalry???

All these are for u to read and find!!! As i said before this is a must read!!! Try to lay your hands on it whenever you get the opportunity!!!

A very poor entry... I know... I have been running outta ideas of late... So please do suggest a few ideas!!!

Choiceless Childless Choices( Tagged!!)

2006-02-18T08:29:00.000-08:00

This is yet another personal post which i am doing just because 1 of my fellow college blogger's

S.L.N.Chaitanya

has requested me to rise to the occasion and write about a girl( yes, i am straight!!) who i would prefer as my life partner... I must thank him for giving me an opportunity, at last, to use my brains for such a noble but of course meaningless purpose..

Eight qualities for my MS.PERFECT seems to be a bit on the higher side but god willing i shall put my brains to this difficult test... And hopefully come off with flying colours!!!

Here goes!!!

1) Must have a fair complexion
2) Tamil speaking
3) Long hair
4) A decent ability to sing( Don ask me why!!!)
5) Fairly intelligent and smart!!
6) One who can understand my way of life and move along with me!!
7) Must have some knowledge of football or any sport in general!!
8) A not-so-religious girl!!(Thats asking too much... as most tamil people are highly religious and never fail to wake up in order to worship their deity.. But well i can always wish for 1 who departs from the tried and tested routine... can't i??)

Those elite people of the supposedly " soft" gender who get to read this blog( I put it as elite because i know i serve only a few clients!!) , please take this up as a challenge... I will settle for a girl who has only 6 of the above mentioned 8 qualities( or is it rarities??)... If you are still lagging behind the benchmark don't worry... There's plenty of time left... You know i am just 19 years old... So all you femme fatales have time aplenty to achieve the goals i have set...

So are you game??

Since this involves passing on the baton to eight different people, i hereby declare those unfortunate souls to be as follows:

Sidin Vadukut ( I know he isn't reading!!)
Krishna Prakash
Manu Raveendran
Rithwik K
Sandeep Prakash
Vivekanand Muthukrishnan
Sanjeev PCH (He's too sensitive... Hope he puts up a good entry on this stupid subject!!)
Anubhav Agarwal

Come on people... I have passed on the baton... The blog's in your court now!!!

I still have a valid doubt... Does any female read my blog??? If yes please do post some comment!!!

The Life of an Engineer!!

2006-01-28T13:21:00.001-08:00

It's My LIFE!!!!

The poor guy woke up at 7,

Disrupting a dream in heaven.
Classes were set to start at 9,
The very thought tasted like brine,
So he prayed to the Lord,
Save me, O Mighty God!!

The boy got ready for the lecture,
While his face got a dim texture.
He had his breakfast in the mess,
Hoping that Almighty would Bless!!

The boy strolled into the class hall,
Witnessing the commencement of the roll call.
The lecture began much to his chagrin,
But the words went down the bin.

The sorry bloke dozed off,
While his friends had a silent laugh.
All of a sudden, he woke up,
Looking just like a frightened pup.
He's slept well into the 3rd lecture,
As though he were in a stretcher.

He stares at the writings on the board,
It resembled to him, a Mongol horde.
The next lecture came and went,
While he gave his thoughts no vent.

The lunch break broke the routine,
And with it brought some protein.
The boy felt a bit of comfort,
For, the need was just a 2 hour effort.

Thereafter, He clung to every word,
But his mind continued to be a free bird.
With the end of lecture 5, came in lecture 6,
But then the boy got into a fix.
1 of the lecturers had set an extra 2 hour class,
Which would be a big pain in the ass.

The boy then decided to bunk,
And all his hopes were sunk.
He had a long walk to his hostel,
Praying he wouldn't end up in a hospital....

The End!!!

S.Vivekanand

2006-01-15T05:52:00.000-08:00

Away From The Blogging World!!!

Its been a pretty long time since i posted an entry... A bit surprising considering the fact that i have been as jobless as ever barring a few days where i found myself real busy.... Well anyway you blokes can expect more entries from me henceforth.... Keep your fingers crossed...

For now the most important update from my side is that 4th semester of engg has begun... Time seems to be flying like a Concorde... I am still writing the dates on my notebooks as 2005... While Jan 06 is halfway through... Its really comforting to note that i would be half an engineer by May 06... Which means that just(what!!!!????just??? am i kidding???!!!) 2 years are left before i complete my course... This sem to promises to be as boring and uninteresting as the previous 1.... Classes are really a pain in the ass... I dont know how i am gonna attend them continuously...

Apart from this life's been moving on smoothly... As usual doing nothing except playing some game or the other in the PC or in the college ground!!!!

Well looks like i will have to conclude yet another boring entry... Hope you didnt get too bored..

Cheers...

2005-12-28T00:24:00.000-08:00

Something else for a Change!!

My posts have concentrated more into the day to day activities of a weirdo like me... So i felt instead of continuing this degenerative process( u guyz seem to be really fed up!!) its time to liven things up(at least a bit!!)... Well let me think now...

Yesterday i watched the movie called SE7EN.... A fantastic movie... A must watch i must say.. But i think all of you might have watched it more than once by now... Kevin Spacey who plays the role of the John Doe who is responsible for all the gory murders of the "sinners" plays a small but very influential part in the movie... He appears only for the last 30 mins or so but the dialogues that he delivers in the car to the detectives will surely make people think... The way he plays mind games on Detective Mills is rather ingenious... The climax though was rather predictable... I felt from the very beginning that Tracy would come to some harm or the other... But Tracy's character seems rather irrelevant to the movie.. She hardly makes an appearance in the movie but her significance is suddenly revealed in the climax... Morgan Freeman to has done a neat job in the movie playing the detective who is on the verge of retirement...

John Doe's character is the one that makes you think... Did he the right thing by murdering all those people?? At times you tend to side with him particularly when he explains the professions of the "sinners" he murdered ruthlessly... You actually feel that he' s done the right thing when he has got the society rid of a lawyer who protects criminals from the law n the disease spreading whore as he puts it... Of course they are those sort of people for whom one would vouch for... But you begin to realise soon that Doe is a person who seems to have taken the law into his hands... The truth is that he enjoys killing people and he accepts it without any ado... He loves killing his victims and he does that without any sort of mercy...

Anyways it was a movie that surely makes you think of society and related issues.. A masterpiece... Remember the 7 deadly sins... GLUTTONY...GREED...PRIDE..LUST..SLOTH..WRATH...ENVY....

You commit any of those mentioned above... You never know... There might be another Doe waiting for you!!!

2005-12-11T04:17:00.000-08:00

Truly Astonishing!!

Well i am proud to announce that this is my 10th blog entry... I never thought that i would continue this so far... It comes as a pleasant surprise that i still havent forgot my blogger ID or password... Because thats the thing that happens whenever i register for something which i find interesting initially and forget about it after a few days or months... The reason for the sustained interest could be that i havent found anything as interesting as this stuff... At least in recent times this has been the case... Another very important reason is the contribution that fellow bloggers have made... Your comments are reason enough for me to continue blogging ( In spite of the no of comments being on the lower end).. But as i said befor its reason enough for me to continue blogging...

Besides i havent found anything with which i could kill enough time in these sickening times called hols... Its a wrench to watch Chennai being flooded with water, water and more water when a few years back there were people who were getting ready to depart the city in search of greener pastures..( sorry make it blue rather!).. And that too at a time when most students, be it college or school students are on the verge of some relief from the usual exams, projects and whatever that keeps them busy wherever they study... Its so frustrating just sitting at home watching a new cyclone approaching the state every single week... I think the people of Florida would join hands with me regarding these cyclones or hurricanes... There's a limit for everything and when u see that some quantity has increased by 154% then you sure are angry and helpless... 154 refers to the percentage of excess rainfall that Chennai has received this year... I think it would be only a matter of time before the MET Dept officials are in a quandry over choosing the name of the next cyclone approaching TN...

Well time to conclude this entry... I salute all those " dignitaries" who have taken their precious time off to visit this good for nothing page... Thanks once again!!!

2005-12-05T09:45:00.000-08:00

My 1st footblog is off the shelves... Chk it out at bafanabafana.blogspot.com

Thnx..

2005-12-02T00:03:00.000-08:00

The Footblog!!

WEll its high time i started writing something about topics which are more relevant to my interests... Ever since i started this blog i have been tempted to write a lot about certain things in which i can claim that i have a decent amount of knowledge.. And the time has come now... Football has been much more than a passion ever since i began following it... I think i launched my footballing career when i was in my 9th standard i guess...

The statement made above is a highly misleading one... My so called footballing career doesnt necessarily mean that i play football as though my life depends on it.. Rather i am trying to drive the message that i started "Watching" football in my 9th... Hope that puts a rest to the hype i generated... But having said all this i must say that there was a time when i was watching football as though my life really depended on it.. I couldnt live without watching the English Premier League or La Liga or Serie A..

But now those days are well behind me... I have got used to the hard hitting fact that i cant watch football even in my house nowadays... All because of the stupid CAS thing that the "stupidddddddeeeeeeeeerrrrr" ( i regret the error in spellin!!) Indian Govt brought in... The only silver lining is that 8 months out of 12 i live away from Chennai which means i get to see at least a few of the important matches like the Champions League quarters, semis etc. but unfortunately not the finals... The thing that makes 1 mad is that the CAS thing prevails only in chennai and nowhere else in India... And all this continues to go on despite the fact that Mr. Dayanidhi Maran( a Chennaiite) is the Minister for Information and Broadcasting... How ironic??

Well i am just hoping that 1 fine day people will take notice of the hardships fellow football fans like me must be facing in chennai... As for more news on football i am planning to open a new foot"blog" soon... What do you say??

2005-11-28T22:53:00.000-08:00

Hello There!!

WEll its a long long time since i posted a blog entry...It seems like years since i opened this page.. But here i am hoping that there are at least a few of you people out there looking for my presence here in this vast ---- i dont know what to call it... Anyway this entry marks my re-entry into the blogging world as i have stated before and i dont wish to elaborate any more on this....

Anyway i guess the time has come to update you all with those rather bizarre things that i have been goin through during my absence here... First of all and probably holding more significance than anything else in a student's career ya ya i am talking about exams... Well that dreaded thing came to an end on Nov 24th i think... And with that ended what was definitely my worst sem in college and probably my worst academic year in the 19 years of educaton that i have been through... Anyway i dont want to remind myself about that debacle and plunge my self into deeper miseries....

Second thing i could say which stands out is the sheer time that i have been travelling since 25th... First we had to take a train from Surat to Mumbai where we had to wait for nearly 4 hrs or so for the train to chennai...The train from Mumbai to Chennai seemed to be going on & on & on... But it finally landed in chennai on 26th and surprisingly just 45 mins late... Looks like the Indian Railways is setting higher standards nowadays... Then i had to move on to bangalore on the same night(26th)... That was the worst part of the whole travel episode... The train which was scheduled for 21.45 wasnt even allotted a platform till 22.00 and it came to the station only at 22.30... And it started off around 23.00 n reached bangalore around 6.30 in the morning...So by then i had travelled nearly 40 hrs by train and that too continuously... And i managed to get myself back home by train(yet again!!) from Bangalore today early in the morning... A fair amount of my sleep has been plucked away from me because of all the travel that i have been through... So the time's come for me to go and hav some well deserved sleep...

Till then.... Its me!!

2005-11-11T14:25:00.000-08:00

The Return of the King!!

WEll....welll...wellllll.... Here i am back where i belong after a pretty long time(by my enviable standards)... After a rather sedate start 2 my bloggin career where i saw a few highs like ppl commentin sumthin relevant 2 wat i had blogged(Tats a start!!) it has been pretty much dull especially this month where this seemingly is my 1 st post... It cums a surprise 2 me coz i am basically a guy who's bent on killin time n i still don understand how this turns out 2 b my 1st blog of the month...Anywayz...

Things haven been goin on, the way i planned them 2 b this sem... Its been the worst spell of my life as far as academics is concerned... Hav been hittin new lows every week literally... N there looms the greatest danger of them all... The END SEM EXAMS!! The exams r scheduled 2 start frm 17th Nov(Hope i got it right.. Not too sure!!)and things are lookin very bleak... Coz we hav got 6 exams 2 rite in a paltry 8 days... The only comfortin thought abt this is the break tat v get after these god damn exams... Newayz academics cms 2 b my sole enemy(so far!!) tat i even hate 2 rite abt it... So i wil stop that rite now...

The other thing tat has kept my mind occupied is India's meteoric rise in the ODI series against the Sri Lankans... I used 2 b an avid cricket fan sometime back... Used 2 be a great cricketer too(Hey hey no kiddin!! Am serious!!) but i haven tested my capabilities for a pretty long time now... Nearly 6 months since i played cricket big time... ANyway comin back to India's performance it has been a very heartenin performance by our country which has left many an educated cricketin fan rather bewildered... No 1 expected us to finish off the series so very quickly.. I mean when was the last time India won a series so convincingly and tat too winning 4 matches straight... I think this augurs very well for the future of Indian Cricket... Hope that the "boys" can carry on the momentum into the forthcoming matches against Sri Lanka(Test Series), South Africa(5 ODI's i think) n in Feb i think they will b facing the Pakistanis as well not to mention England's Tour of India which is also scheduled sometime early next year... They have already proved that Saurav Ganguly is not being missed(either as captain or batsman) and Dravid has been doing a great job wid both.. His brains and his bat.. I think he is the only eligible candidate for the Man of The SEries prize against the Lankans though he might have missed 1 or 2 matches...

This has been India's best performance in recent times obviously and we need to appreciate the effort that the players have put in... Not to mention the effort of the new coach(relatively) Greg Chappell who i thought wouldnt survive the battle he had with "The Prince of Kolkuuuttttaaaa"(Remember Boycott)... Hats Off Guyz!! Keep the good work going... Well that phrase was written basically because i would have something to build on... ANyway i think this all that i will be able to muster for this post... Will be back whenever time permits to update my current situation... Thats it for now... Keep bloggin..............

2005-10-30T10:51:00.000-08:00

The Computer tat never was!!

Well the PC was 1 of the gr8est inventions of man... Books hav attributed its invention 2 a whole lot of ppl... N the ppl who came up wit the first computers thought of really crazy names... Imagine ENIAC, UNIVAC etc ( No wonder scientists r considered weirdos!!) Neway evry1 in the world must hav a basic idea as 2 wat the present-day PC is all abt... WEll i hav better things 2 xplain than sharin my knowledge abt a PC which is presumable low again...

Neway i hav cn a few PC's in my lifetime( which too has been few in terms of yrs lived)... neway i hav always noticed tat wenever i hav a PC at home it has always been a pain in the ass 4 the user... I hav never had a decent PC which works "fine" 4 more than a few months... Take my most recent PC 4 eg which is now nearly 4 yrs old... ( Shud i call it recent?? WEll i used it in terms of relativity.. Sorry!!)... The only thing tat this PC does most regularly is tat it hangs up b4 u can even think of postin a new blog... IN fact i am confident tat i wil not b able 2 finish this blog in 1 stretch.... So i hav saved it jus in case... The sorry condition of my PC makes me more frustrated than ever...

N then the previous PC i mean the 1 b4 the present 1 tat i hav got was 1 tat went thru many upgrades n other things... But the net result once again was the same as my present PC... Is it jus tat i hav got such rotten luck?? Or is it the fate of a majority of ppl out there??? Jus imagine my situation if i get stuck in this line witout savin the previous lines... I wudn feel tat the comp was causin the prob... I wud rather think that the blog wasnt destined 2 b posted... N i mite even stop bloggin...Wat a titancic loss tat wud b 4 the bloggin community!! Neway i am jus hopin tat i wud hav a better PC in the near future... Hav got 2 conclude this blog... Am real scared... Cheers

2005-10-21T02:01:00.000-07:00

The Fear of the Dark!!!

The title tat i hav given 4 this blog sounds rather crazy... Coz i am not gonna say nethin tats got sumthin concerned wit ne gun-wieldin terrorists or sumthn abt devils or ghosts... Rather i hav planned 2 rite sumthin really pleasant, soothin n wat ppl wud think 2 b heart warmin.... Well the ppl tat i mentioned in the previous sentence refers 2 an elite category of students who tend 2 hate wat they r destined 2 do... Well i guess students r "manufactured" 2 study....

V--- the students of this gr8(allegedly) country r said 2 b the future of the nation... How many times hav u heard tat?? Well i think i hav heard it 4 an unbelievable 1000 times now n i still don get the faintest of ideas as 2 how V r the future of the nation.... There r a million enggs passin out of our nation every year or shud i say "manufactured"??? Well i dunno whether a million enggs r "made" but lots n lots of enggs pass out each n every year.... So here comes Q No. 1??? Where do V go now???

V---- the students of India r runnin out of time.... Y is tat so?? I'll tell u... Go 2 ne decent coll u can think of... B it private or govt run or watever it is... ok?? N c the list of companies tat hav come 4 placement or hav already come 4 placement.... The answer is pretty simple... Out of 10 companies(say) u wud notice at least 6-7 Software firms or sum company tat is related 2 Software or IT... N u wil c another statisitic as well... If 200 students r placed frm tat coll v can easily xpect 150 students 2 b placed in those software firms.... ok???

So wat do v conclude frm the previous para?? Its child's play... There's a limit 4 everythin tat u can think of in this world.... The only conclusion tat i can c is tat the present IT boom will not last 4ever... It is jus a bubble waitin 2 burst.... In a few more years there will b hardly any takers in colls 4 students.... The ever green core companies will cum n go wit the students they want... But imagine the situation of all those ppl who wanna get placed in sum software firm.... Software firms cannot keep recruitin enggs the way they hav been doin 4 the past 3 or 4 yrs... There's a saturation pt... Nxt yr on v mite c fewer students gettin in2 IT comps... The no of students not gettin placed(in an IT firm) may not c a significant reduction but even a small reduction wil point 2 an impendin crisis... SO here comes Ques No 2?? Do v hav ne place 2 go??

V hav all cn a lot of FDI n such things comin in2 Indian Biz... There's been a lots of hype n hope in ppl's minds... So where do v classify India in terms of Biz??? Is it jus a lot of hype?? Or is there hope?? Well if u ask me the question i wud say tat there's rather only a lot of a hype... V hav cn ppl tellin tat India's gr8est asset 2 b its man power.... India's still a developin country n the only way v r gonna get developed is by reducin over towerin population.... While Foreign investors realise tat India is literally synonymous wit cheap labor n gr8 efficiency v hav yet 2 realise tat... While v hav cn ppl leavin our country in search of greener pastures v fail 2 get the importance of all these ppl leavin our country... Though it is said tat v get a lot of money thru these NRI's v wud hav been much better off if these ppl had served our own country...

Neway i think i hav discussed a lot of things in this post... N i feel tat a lot of things here mite sound like crap 2 ppl it mite make sum sense.... N more thing is tat i started of this post wit the title as The Fear of the Dark.... Well i still am not able 2 place the reason y i gav it as the title... Neway this post has given me a new personal record... I have never typed so much newhere in my life...I guess i deserve a pat on the bak...Thnx... Neway 1 more thing is tat i thought of ritin sumthin abt futbol n here i am ritin sumthin abt students n the situation prevailin in India...Neway tats it 4 now...

Cheers

2005-10-17T23:40:00.000-07:00

Well tat comment makes me all the more determined 2 post new posts here n tat is jus wat i am gonna do... Thnx 4 the comment Mr.Anonymous... Though it wud hav been better if u had revealed u r self coz i seriously don mind the comment tat u made... Well not only am i extraordinary but every person in the world is extraordinary... The only thing is tat i mite b an xtraordinary time waster as u said... Neway i don understand y postin a blog at 6.00 pm is an awkward thing 2 do...

Neway comin 2 wat this post is all abt... Well as usual there's NOTHING special... This is jus 1 more time wastin tactic yet again.... Life's goin on mighty borin as usual... Missin a few things n ppl out there... Out where???? Don ask me... Neway this week's gonna b another week of academic torture... AM bein f*****d up big time wit all these tests, submissions,vivas etc etc etc... Sorry 4 the strong words bein used coz this is 1 place where i can share my true feelings...

WEll looks like the time 2 conclude this blog has come... Gotta attend class now... Long time since i bunked classes n it has rather bcum a habit 2 attend classes regularly nowadays.... Wil b bak real soon 2 update this n am lookin fwd 4 more comments...

2005-10-06T05:59:00.000-07:00

Where do i go from here??A long n hectic week is gonna cum 2 an end 2 morro(hopefully)...Over the past few yrs my academics hav been goin frm bad 2 worse n i still don understand the reason behind this.... Well neway 4get abt academics... I am fed up of tat horrendous thing.... Neway can ne1 out there explain wat a blog actually is?? I mean i do understand wat a blog is used 4 n all those things but cud ne1 out there define a blog in techie terms......

There's this thing tat i c wenevr i open my blog.... 0 comments..... So do ne of u ppl look at my blog? or am i wastin my time?? Well tats not gonna discourage me coz the primary thing tat i do is waste time..... So this is jus a new way of wastin time tat i am experiencin.... I think i ought 2 xplore more ways of wastin time coz i am runnin outta ideas..... so if u ppl kno of ne ideas plz do temme....

Looks like i am runnin outta time once more... Hav 2 get goin.... Wil b bak 2 update this thing asap.... Till then.... Hope u ppl miss me..... Hehehe......

2005-10-04T03:12:00.000-07:00

Hello guyz looks like this is my 1 st blog ever.... N i dunno whether i wil b able 2 keep addin 2 my posts.... But well it looks like bloggin is fun.. There cms 2 b a plethora of bloggers in here n though i don read many of them i do a find a few of 'em interestin... N though it may sound weird there r a lot of ppl who in fact comment on stupid blogs... Imagine tat.... Well i don think these ppl hav go nethin else 2 do other than read blogs n postin sum stupid comment....

It looks as though the time has arrived 4 all of v guyz 2 start studyin.... Well at least u need 2 give it a thought....Well here i am poised 4 yet another gruellin week where there r a lot of things tat i need 2 get completed.... Journals... Tutorials... Graphs n wat not?? Looks like there isnt much sleep ahead this week.... It cms a long time since i had a really gud comfy sleep.... Sleepin late in the nite has not bcum commonplace it has rather bcum a habit.... Its 4 u ppl 2 decide whether the habit is a gud 1 or a bad 1!!!

Neway the way things cm 2 b movin there's hardly ne time 4 me 2 think abt ne other activity like playin sumthin or nethin like tat... Life's bcum rather montonous n borin.... Cms 2 b too predictable.... Neway i think i'll conclude my 1 st blog wit this...

N lookin fwd 4 a few comments frm all u ppl out there waitin 2 pounce on yet another stupid blog.... Whoever u r plz do make it a point 2 send me a really stupid comment..... At least try 2 make me laugh.... Wil b bak later 2 update this post(Hopefully!!!)