Taare Zameen Par

For the first time, a movie in a theater managed to keep the full capacity crowd in its seats even after the movie was over and the credits were going on.

Very well crafted movie, and to say the least, the kid has done an exceptional job of the role. The movie highlights on the surface the issues related to kids and how each individual can be different, or rather, is different. More importantly, certain sections of the movie highlight the current scenario in the society where parents push their ambitions on their children's shoulders. This to a large extent is unjust as many a times the kid does not even get a chance to exercise its thought process to choose what it wants to do.

The soundtrack is amazing and supports the movie really well. Everyone will speak about what a perfectionist Amir Khan is, so I will not get into that. But yes! it does reflect in this movie too. I can go on writing about this movie as long as I feel like. But that is not the intention of this post. The idea is to tell you to go watch the movie. It is one movie that you shouldn't miss.


PS : The sketch of the kid done by Amir in the movie is mind blowing, and I wish I could do a self portrait like that.

PPS : It was after a wonderful gap of almost 3 years that I saw a movie alone in a theater. Felt really good, and I feel that I chose a brilliant movie to get back to my old self.

Kiss

I feel that I just tried to kiss an express train.

( Though borrowed from Rocky Balboa, the moment I heard the dialogue, I knew what I was going through. )

Phillip Adams says

Most of what he says should be known to people who are aware of the climate change scenario and the energy crisis too. But it is always good to re-realize a few things.

From 'Climate Change Action':

Saturday November 24th, 2007

Phillip Adams is the presenter of Late Night Live on Australia's ABC Radio National. He has been a contributor to The Times and The Financial Times in London, and to the New York Times. Honors include two Orders of Australia, and the Australian Humanist of the Year (1987) and the Republican of the Year (2005) awards.

I used to be

like you.
Now I am,
more like ME.

How does it feel

when you know you are going to flunk a course and still it doesn't hit you, though the eventuality has sunk in?
How does it feel to not feel?

Definitely not like Dexter.

It feels GODLY! ;P

PS: I hope that by god's grace the class cut off steeps to an all time low and I pass the course. And mind it, I am usually better. :D

Update : I passed the course comfortably. :)

CAM PAN

I wasn't aware that 'Nagin' by Decibel started making its rounds almost a year ago. I saw it a while back and wanted to share it with another friend so I buzzed him on gtalk and what happened next was this:

Vinay: woh suna hai kya

nagin by decibel

ASN: ob.. bahut purana hai

Vinay: oh! i didnt know that..

ASN: aur tu duniya ka sabse bada m***rc**d hai

Vinay: whenever you get shit like that pass it on

kyun be hara*i ?

kya kiya maine ?

ASN: it used to come on channel v.. pichle december me, channel v some rock contest etc

Vinay: oh!

ASN: kya kiya tune? saala m***rc**d

(By now I was getting all worked up, now what have I done ? What is it that I haven't told him ? Have I not informed him about the job offer I have got? I was confident that I had, then what was it ?)

Vinay: bol bhaai kya kiya

Silence..

ASN: i lost a life in pacman

Vinay: heeee he eh eheee

trippp

ASN: teri wajah se.. abhi message karna tha kya

Vinay: wogays!

sorry boss

carry on

Renaissance

Every now and then you find movies that beg to differ from the pattern. They start a new genre all together, and redefine the ways the movie experiences are meant to be.

This movie is not one among those. It is their grand daddy!

This movie changes the way people perceive when they watch something. The art work is godly and the way the motions have been conceptualized and eventually implemented are mind blowing. Take it from me, you will not pause the movie to do something else during the movie. You just cannot. But you may pause, a large number of times, to appreciate the art, to appreciate the way the sequences have been put together, to appreciate every inch of black and every half inch of white. And you will definitely pause, to stop, and stare at the screen in awe.

I might have made it sound like I was doing a piece as if I was Pablo Francisco. But this movie definitely deserves and calls for all the attention.

And when I say that I say that out of experience. I had not slept the previous night, and it was already 12 midnight when I decided to try this movie, and my eyes were totally weary. For the next one hour forty minutes, I could barely blink.

As an aside, the plot gives you the feel of a regular sci fi, but everything else just steals the show. So the plot eventually does not matter.

A user comment on IMDB -
''First things first, this movie is achingly beautiful. A someone who works on 3D CG films as a lighter/compositor, the visuals blew me away. Every second I was stunned by what was on screen.''

Watch the trailer if you have the time right now -


Unfortunately, I do not see this movie coming to Indian screens any time. So if you want to watch it, get a dvd and make sure that you watch it on a really nice screen and really good speakers. TRUST me, you will find it worth your time.

Psyche is out! Psycho is in!

For the record,
the old one :

Time for a new header,


Text by Czar, and Graphic design by Vatsap.

Surprise!

Life is full of surprises. Some times the surprises are pleasant and makes one happy, and the remaining ones are shocking/unpleasant/uncalled for. In general, life is full of surprises.

It would be nice to know that a friend got rewarded for nothing, but it would be more depressing to know that a friend got nothing in return for all the time and effort put in. What is common to both? - the surprise element.

Some how this particular phase of being in final year is really depressing. I hope it passes soon.

Ambition

The chat I had with a friend of mine went something like this :

Him (U): mama, something ive been dreaming abt for the whole day

Czar (C): hmmm ..

don buy the hummer though

U: :P

C: just buy the bike

U: will run it on hydrogen
:P

and go around the world

C: ha ha ha

trip

:)

then ll join you in the bike :)

U: enjai

sureaa!

C: sure..

U: :D

C: gnite..

Jigsaw

Ladies and gentlemen (though I have always wondered why 'ladies' comes first! probably because of the saying 'ladies first', but then, why ladies first?), this is to inform you that I completed the 'one thousand pieces' jigsaw puzzle that I was doing for quite some time now.

When I switch off the lights it glows, and I am sure that my first experience of dozing off looking at the moon light reflecting off the sea surface on the completed puzzle is going to be amazing.

In fact it is 335 am. I hope I wake up for lunch.

Rasam

Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Rasam is a drink best served haawt!

Right now

I feel like shooting someone through the cheek and see through the gory hole that the bullet made.

Dream Joke

Well, it is not really a Dream (adjective sense) Joke, But yes! it is indeed a dream joke in the literal sense. I thought of this in my dream just before waking up this morning, which was ten minutes ago.

By the way, Vatsap was on the dream too. We were traveling in a train together.

Anyway, here it goes :

I had to take a leak desperately, and the train was at a station. All this while the train had been moving really slow and had been irritating all the passengers. Vatsap, and I had to reach our destination faster, but there weren't any means to achieve the same.

Anyway, I could not tolerate the pressure anymore, and since I was not supposed to use the toilets on the train when the train was stationary, I got down to relieve myself and so did Vatsap.

The leak had just begun, the train started moving. Both of us had to rush back, but that would mean we had to hold back lot of fluids in our bladders. Vatsap said, 'Dude! let us make a dash later, but right now let us just get done with this'.

Then it struck me, the moment of enlightenment. It was like all the principles I had ever learnt in my life were coming to focus and were about to be utilized in real life and I was about to be the medium. I was jubilant, excited, and truly happy.

I replied, 'Dude! Let us hold back and get back in the train. When the train leaves the station, and we realize it is really slow, let us take a leak then.'

I could see 'Why the fuck?' expression on his face. Before he could actually say it, I gave him the answer:

'The train will go faster due to reduction in mass of the system you see. Conservation of momentum.'

PS: I know there are flaws in the whole thing, but then what the heck! It was a brilliant dream. And I bet, if somebody had seen my smiling face during my sleep, they would have thought for sure that I was nuts.

PPS: This is the third class of my BTech Project guide's course I have missed in a row. I was doing work pertaining to the project late into the night and hence couldn't wake up in time. But then, that is not a justification good enough for a score of three. Lord save me!

Time &(is) Money

Today has been quite wonderful, though I have not really done anything productive. I got up pretty late in the morning emphasizing to myself that today I will be heading home for a brilliant four day vacation. Throughout the day I kept telling myself that its all right, I should resume all work once I come back from my deepavali trip home. The day went by and it was time to head to the station.

All was well and two hours before the scheduled departure time of the train, I left my room. The institute battery operated bus was right there on time and I reached the main gate in no time with Prasanna who had joined me at GC. Once there, the search for an autorickshaw began. The first auto rickshaw driver we encountered demanded a sum of Rs 180/- for the ride to the station. It appeared outrageous to us, and we did not even bother arguing and bargaining with him. Like hunks trying to prove their studness, both of us walked away from those autos standing at the main gate and looked forward to the autos on the road.

Five minutes went by, no sign of an auto. Then we saw the first auto from far and were really hopeful about the whole thing. The moment it was fifty metres from us, we noticed that it was already engaged. 'Ah! we will get one soon' was the thought we wanted to bring in our minds.

Another ten minutes went by and our patience was running out. By now, a bunch of juniors who had reached the main gate almost the same time as us had already walked away in the direction of the station hoping to get an auto on their way forward. This irritated us even more, as we did not know which was a better decision, ours or theirs. No success for another ten minutes did not really help the situation. Just before we were about to give up and do something ridiculous, an auto stopped by.

The moment the driver said, 'Yes sir!' when asked 'Sir station?', there was a huge relief and I was in no mood to let this relief leave me. It has been quite some time that I have gone home for a respectable stay. The last time I went home, I met my parents for a span of an hour en route to Malaysia for the Gourami Business Challenge. Now that a lot of things have come my way in the last one month, and I have had no time to share my experiences with people back home, I was in no mood to miss my train. I had to reach home at any cost.

I asked, 'Yevlo sir?'. In English, that would translate to, 'How much sir?' and snap came the reply, '180 kudungaa sir'. My eyebrows flickered for a moment, but then before I could say anything, he continued speaking and said, 'Sir, it takes a lot of time to reach the station in this traffic'. Before any further talk, we had tacitly agreed on the amount and were on our way to the station.

All the way to the station I kept thinking that now, no more is the fare based on the distance. It is based on time. Or thats what it effectively translates to. In a broad sense I might have realized in life that time is money, but today was different. I could in fact relate to the very specific nature of the statement that is a philosophy in itself. These are the first instances of transportation fares moving on time and not on distance I have witnessed in person. I am sure that such things are being seen across the world.

I think I should spend some time thinking about what would be the implications if every factor earned its revenues or benefits, in the broadest terms, based on the time it spent on the work.

Vague to some, but this realization has been profound to me.

PS: This post was composed on the night of 7th Nov, 2007.
@Vatsap : This was written on a train. :)

Update:
This is more of a thing that I had forgotten to mention. Thanks to Prasanna's comment, I was reminded. Basically, Prasanna and I had this strong realization that the driver was The Chosen One. We were speculating that I might end up missing the train as we were anticipating lot of traffic at the peak hour and our experience assured us that our speculation would be more or less true. It took the auto driver 25 minutes flat, in peak hour traffic, to take us to the railway station. He was The One. Period.

Gourami Business Challenge : Places

I have tried a different slide show package this time, Flickrshow. I gave up on the previous Java script as it was giving lot of trouble, and my dear friends who are really good at all, also almost lost their patience, and I was in no mood to put them through more trouble.

Just another day

It was a warm sunday afternoon. I had told my father I am going out to meet a couple of my friends. I was wondering whether I should be getting all dressed up to meet her. But somehow my laziness or my indifference, I couldn't figure out which one, made me act otherwise. I decided not to. Faded jeans, and a loose old tee shirt made me feel comfortable, and I felt like everything belonged to me rather than feeling I belonged to the place; you know, the amplified 'been there, done that' feeling. The bike responded quite well when I switched the ignition on, and it wasnt too long before I was cruising on the roads to the coffee shop. The breeze was warm, but it made me feel good. Ah! it was supposed to be a nice casual outing.

The coffee shop guy greeted me, as I was a regular there. I waved back at him and signaled him to get me my regular, a litchee soda with some french fries. Nothing special really, something that I, over a period of time, had realized is a really soothing combination. I sat at the table that I regularly sat at. I could see the traffic moving, and the relaxed faces of people driving as it was a sunday. The expressions would have been quite contrary on any other day. I waited for her. It was quite usual for her to turn up late, really late. I wasn't really perturbed. Three years with her, and two years away, had taught me a lot of virtues. Patience was the first. Indifference was next. I lit my cigarette, blew a few rings and waited.

Then came my soda, and the fries. They tasted really good on this sunday. There wasn't much of a crowd when I had walked in. Now, the place looked like it didnt have any more space to offer. I saw a teenage couple trying to find themselves some room in one of the cozy corners. I remembered the times when I was a teenager, and with the thoughts coming to me, I couldnt help but smile. The boy who was trying to help his girl settled down, caught my smile and gave a guilty as well as 'I will kill you' look. I smiled back. He sat down and didn't look at me again.

There was this another guy sitting at a table, which was at the far end of row of tables, the same as mine. My back was facing him, and I had witnessed him when I was entering the coffee shop. He had given me a weird stare then. Though I was oblivious to the rest of the things around me, it was his presence that had bothered me. I looked back once and he smiled at me, and I thought I had seen him somewhere before. Anyway, now he looked quite comfortable with the place too, and his thoughts left my mind. I was back to my usual self, and continued sipping my soda, and smoking my cigarette.

After about three quarters of an hour of the scheduled time, she entered. She was looking as beautiful as ever. She had this aura around her which was so magnetic and soothing. Something about her had always made me feel safe, secure, and on top of the world. I did feel all the same today. But I wasn't with her for the past two years.

She sat down and apologized for the delay. I gave her a casual smile and she understood that it had not really bothered me. She started speaking about her usual life. Her voice still had the same clarity and lovely tone that any man would love to hear the first thing in the morning. It felt good to know that it was still the same. She knew it very well too. But the only difference was that she also knew it did not make a difference to me anymore.

My cigarettes and smoking was bothering her. Politely first, and then assertively which almost turned into an order, she made a request to throw away the cigarette and not smoke any more. I obliged. The obligation was only for the meet, but I guess she thought it was for the rest of the life. Slowly she started speaking about the three years that we were together, and I listened intently. Those three years were possibly the best times of my life, and I liked to relive them.

She told me she was happy now. The guy she was with was supposedly keeping her happy. Before talking about her current happiness, she spoke of her behaviour when we had to stay really far away after those wonderful three years. Circumstances, primarily our careers, had made us go different places. I had always thought, and she had always told me that we would still be together, no matter what. But that wasn't to be. She was lonely then, and as I had always known her, she needed a shoulder to rest on, and fortunately for her, she found one. I had to let her go. This is when the most important virtue kicked in, indifference, though it was second in line to come to me.

She was now happy, and all was well.

I took another sip of my soda and offered her one. She declined. I remembered that she used to have a liking for litchees too. Maybe she had had too much of it while with me. We were waiting for her order to arrive at the table.

She was looking at the traffic on the road, while I heard someone walk up right next to our table. She turned to look.

Bang!

She said, 'I am ss. . .' and collapsed. I could see the red blot on her white tee increase in size.

I turned around to face the man who was standing right next to me. He was the man from the last table. His gun was still smoking. He said, ''I knew she was trying to get back to you, and she would leave me''.

Before I could say, or do something, he kept the gun below his chin and blew his head off.

I sat there for two more minutes, took out another cigarette. The teenage boy was staring at the scene in shock. I got up, walked to the counter. The accountant was trying her best to smile. I paid in hundreds and asked her to keep the change. I smiled at the teenage girl, and walked out of the cafe.

--

I drove into the gates of my house to find my father giving my dog, Louis, a bath. He asked me to lend him a hand. As I was in my old clothes anyway, I did not bother changing into anything suitable. I wiped Louis with the towels, and was playing with him, when my father went in.

He came out with a couple of beers, and handed me one. Louis was wagging his tail in anticipation. My friendly pats told him he wasn't getting any of it. He understood and found a twig to get interested in.

The usual clinking of the bottles followed by my father asking me if I had any plans for dinner. I shook my head, to which he said that he had made plans for the two of us, and asked me to give the car a wash. We had almost finished our beer, when I stood to walk towards the car. My father patted my shoulder and said, ''He has been well insured and the policy loopholes are fixed. It won't be taken as a suicide. His parents won't suffer''.

He handed me another beer, snatched the twig from Louis, and took him for a walk.

I remembered the red blot only to dismiss the thought and walked towards the car.

Cycling - greener and further

I found a few posts on various blogs about Cycling, which I thought should be shared.

This was the first post I read and ended up visiting all the links in it. This one talks about New York getting its first exclusive bicycle lane. And finally this one talks about bicycling in Copenhagen.

Efforts are on by a bunch of enthusiasts in Bangalore who have started a store as well for road bikes and trek bikes. This is one of their posts on their blog which tells that there do exist lanes on some roads for cyclists in Bangalore. If you are from Bangalore, or planning to move to Bangalore in the near future then visit their site and hop on to a bicycle. :)

As we all know, globally , transportation is a major contributor to the GHG emissions, and in India the situation is only worsening by the day. Choosing to travel by a bicycle would not only cut down the emissions, it also helps in keeping oneself fit. Out here in IIT Madras, almost everyone travels by bicycle. I wish similar attitudes are followed outside the university campuses and academic circles.

Of course, there are a lot of things that can be wished for.

Being well aware of the climate change scenario, cycling to work as much as possible is something that I want to do among other things in the future.

Gourami Business Challenge : People

This is the first time I am trying out posting pictures through java script, and I must thank Harshal, and Srinivas for their help.

To see the next picture, you may click on the pictures tab on the top, or just click anywhere on the right edge of the image.

Set 1 : People at Gourami Business Challenge

Gourami Business Challenge was a whole new experience for me. Somehow after my return , I have not really got the time to blog about the time there. At least, I have now put up a few snaps. Wish to write about it soon.

And of course, then came Shaastra. Will be writing shortly about that too.

Update 1 : Script having some problem. Will be updated soon. Sorry for the trouble.

Update 2 : All is well. Everything is working fine now. Just have to work on making the arrows a little bit more transparent for the next set.

Acknowledgment: JonDesign's SmoothGallery for the Java Script.

Update 3 : All is down again. :( Got exams coming up, will try getting it up after the exams are done.

Zleep

I realized just now that I have been awake for 6 of the past 34 hours.

Quote

Something I remembered and reminded myself, when I was asked about a certain important upcoming event and how the preparations for it were going on :

''I know the pieces will fit in, because I've seen them falling apart.''

In any case, all is well! :)

Ponder!

I found this interesting exchange article on the price of sperm.

Interesting.

Life (?)

There are three parts of life, and a person can be in one of them at any given point of time. The first phase is the present and the non analysis phase, where in the person is just being the person. Doing the regular stuff, being in action, and living life.

Now, the second phase is about falling back a few steps behind, stop there and look at oneself from behind, seeing where one is headed. In essence, being a ghost and running behind one's present, while analyzing the state of affairs is what I am getting it. I hope you will be able to visualize it.

The last phase is about running ahead, and looking back and say 'ah! thats all'. This too, is on the lines of being a ghost, but it just represents a third view of one by oneself.

Life, I believe, is all about falling back and running ahead and analyzing the state that one is generally in. These two phases, or aspects of life are the ones that are the most beautiful aspects, and are the true reasons why one should live. The 'living' per say se, is just a mundane activity of doing few things that in one or the other way are necessary.

This post is in response to this post by one of my friends. I hope, he realizes the true nature of life, though I am not sure what I described is, in its true nature, the true nature of life. It holds for me though.

And then, as always, 'lite ra mama!'.

[ ]

There are moments which leave you clueless. Totally, utterly clueless. The title to the blog very well defines what my state of mind was during such a moment that I had today - blank. I am sure, I will never ever get another moment like that again.

My father calls me quite often. It is rare that he talks for long, and he compensates for it by calling me often. Today was different. After fifteen minutes of conversation came the shocker. And then he continued to speak for another fifteen odd minutes like nothing was said between us.

Highlights of the conversation:

My Father(F) : Gunda! I decided something today.
Czar(C) : What is it?
F : Nothing! I was generally watching this serial and you know this character who wants to get married to this girl who his father doesnt want him to get married to right.
C : Ok. So?

Trust me, at this point I was not able to fathom that my father had begun talking to me about such stuff.

F : Nothing! I wont trouble you about all this. You are my only son. Marry anyone you want.

Fuffff! Puff!! Wooosh!! Whatever else one can think of! Bang!

I will sleep a happy man tonight. Thank you dad.

Beginning of the End!

Venue : Cornucopia
Date : Fri. 24th Aug, 2007

Occasion : Munnu's random treat for having saved infinite moolah in the internships over the last two summers.

(L to R): Deja, Munnu, GRV, MaGaM, Caesar, Guggu, Prasanna, Lavigne

Update 1: I knew something was missing. Absboy is not there in the pic above. So here is another one:

Absboy is to the extreme right. Ravirala didn't make it this time. Forgive me for the lack of clarity of the snaps. Next time, we will definitely take a good camera along.

Fear : Life at IIT is coming to an end.

It was a wonderful outing and it was one hell of a time for all of us. After having dinner at Cornucopia, we had a gala time at hi-look at 11 pm. Then came the long walk from the main gate back to the hostels. On the way, we made a guest appearance at CCD, walking in and out of it in no time and created considerable noise. After that was the slogan shouting at Tifany's and Sharav.

Finally we reached our beloved hostel Jamuna, to find sophomores playing footer in the quadrangle. It was time to stamp our authority of being fourth yearites. We played for almost two hours and at the end we were all topless and sweating like pigs. The best part of the game was the slogan, 'Hip Hip! Bow Wow' which is a toast to the dog, i.e. Munnu. It was one of the best times I have had in the quadrangle. And I am pretty sure, it was the same with my wing-mates.

Time to watch a movie and we pick Chak De India. By the time we settle down in Munnu's room to watch the movie, we realize that most of us had really sore bodies. Munnu, while trying to have a shot at a header, was pushed when he was mid air, and found himself with a sprained ankle at the end of the momentary flight, which he thought would end in a legendary header. By the way, he removed the bandage only today.

By the way, we were having a bet on whether one of us will choose to not watch the movie as it was pretty late into the night. The loser had to pull hair from Munnu's chest and lick them. Munnu, being the data miner, realized the implications : irrespective of who loses, Munnu would have got his chest hair pulled, which isn't one of the most pleasant experiences for many.

Deja, as usual dozed off during the movie and still managed to put a post on the movie. The rest had a good time watching the movie. The night ended for us at 5 am in the morning, and some of us tripped for a little while longer on Munnu and eventually hit the sack.

PS: I am contemplating starting a photo blog as I have been posting images quite often and planning to buy a good camera too.
Credits : Aniket helped in editing the snap as the light and play of colors was really bad.

Guess_What

The gardener should be awarded for such a marvelous piece of art.


Or is it only me who thinks that it is what it is? Is it the ability to see beyond the regular? Is it the free thinking spirit?

Wah wahs and brickbats welcome. :D

Enough said! Enjoy the pic.

PS: Something to lookback upon.

Hunch!

I have a feeling Saddam Hussein is still alive.

Window Shopper

Initially I was just planning to show off the nice pair of glasses that I was trying out and how I look in it, by posting only the snap. But then I thought I should highlight a few things that I did as I had gone recently with a couple of friends to a reputed mall in the city.

I tried out a couple of tee shirts, a pair of shades, and a cap. I actually wore the cap at the beginning of the spree that we were on, and kept it on till we got out of the mall. So that is the kind of window shopping I do. I was also keen on wearing the shades through the remaining time that we intended to spend inside the mall, but then, my friends' advice got the better of me and I had to leave these shades back where they were.

The shades I am sporting in the snap are from Polaroid. I was keen on buying some aviator shades, and the salesman rightly pointed out that they are generally made for faces that are much bigger than mine and wont really suit me. He took the trouble to actually dig for a pair which were very much similar to aviator shades in their structure and did suit me quite well, or at least that's what I think. I really appreciate the efforts that the sales person put into finding this particular piece and I was actually serious about buying them.

Then came the surprise which always ruins the fun: the price tag!

Czar: How much for these?
Friendly sales person: Sir, these shades cost Rs 7200/- only.

I had genuinely asked him if they could be made to suit my eye-sight at the beginning of the conversation. Co-incidentally, he answered only after I had seen the price tag. Unfortunately or fortunately (the former represents the state before the awareness of the price and the latter, the state after the awareness of the price) they did not take up the work of fitting shades with glasses which were built to rectify the eye sight. He asked me to get it done in some authentic Polaroid showroom. At the same time, he insisted that I buy the piece in the mall itself as there was a discount on offer (which was small enough to be of any significant help to my wallet) and get the glasses changed in some other showroom as it would be done free of cost.

It was reason enough for me to safely say ''No! Thanks''. And I was gone.

Oh by the way, for those who think that all I do is window shopping, I did buy a pair of floaters from Caterpillar for myself, which did enough damage to my wallet anyway. And I intend to buy those shades at the earliest, and be assured, I will announce it when I do so. :)

Cheers to window shopping.

Credits: Vatsap for editing the snap.

Once upon a time

This post is dedicated to the only place I can worship: IITM

People come, people go. A few names stay, many leave.

The only thing that is perennial, is the place.

It watches over all. It sees the generation come and go. It witnesses all the blood, sweat and toil. It cradles the nuances of friendship, love, hate, achievements, let downs, anger, excitement and makes the times the most memorable for the ones who come by.

I have been in this institute for three years now. Three hostel nights have gone by, and I have bid farewell to three batches of seniors, all gems. I have had a fair share of bonding with many, and have experienced the joy of the company, and the sorrow of the goodbyes. I like this place, and I have known that for long. I have seen people trying hard to hold back their tears. I have also seen them cry, and hug each other trying to live together those last few days while realizing that very soon they will all be apart, gone in different directions.

These feelings of nostalgia have surfaced time and again during discussions with friends and good friends (Forgive me for that. The classification is a must!). Every year I read people write about their time at this place, about their friends and how they will miss these most cherished times. I have always related to them well.

But today was different. It was an overhaul of feelings I have never felt before.

I was in my wing comfortably seated on the parapet wall. There was a lot of activity in the quadrangle. Many people are yet to come back for the semester. I could see a few shuttling around carrying their luggage from the security desk to their rooms across the quadrangle through the pathway. Some were playing footer and the rest just standing and chit-chatting.

I noticed a familiar figure, that of a second yearite. I shouted and waved at him, and got the friendly smile and wave back. The smile was a mix of lot of affection and some apprehension, which is I believe, out of some respect that he probably has for me. Before I realized there were a few others who had noticed this howling of mine across the quadrangle. Many who noticed this act continued whatever they were doing. One had stopped a fraction of a second too long for me to understand that he was a fresher. From what I could see, he was done surveying the rooms, and was ready to move in. But what was funny was the way in which he was looking at me, and tried to take his eyes away from mine. There was a strange sense of phobia, anxiety, and excitement that was evident from his mannerisms. I was wondering what would be going on in his mind. What would he be thinking?

It was at this instant that it hit me.

A little short of three years ago, I was in the position that the fresher was in now. There were seniors who were standing in their wing and looking down upon the things happening around in the hostel and passing comments and having a ball among themselves. I thought that I must have been their topic of discussion. My thinking and scope did not let me think beyond this, and I never made an attempt at that moment to speculate if it was something else that they could be discussing. It has been barely three years, and here I am, in the role of those who I admired and looked upon. Time has whizzed by, and I didn’t notice. I am not even sure if I have come even close to what they were. They will still remain the same to me.

A year from now, I will (hopefully :D) be receiving my degree at the convocation. But will I be getting a magical box which will let me preserve all that I have lived in the past three years? Is it possible to live it all again? I wish I could talk to them again. I wish I could make all the friends I have made, all over again. I wish I could live every moment once again.

Though I could relate to everything that was written, spoken, and done at the end of every eventful year by the people who were going to pass out, it was only today that I realized the gravity of it all. Kudos to all those who have lived in these corridors, and wishes to all those who will walk the same in the years to come.

I wish all my batchmates a wonderful year ahead, and intend to make it the most eventful one of my life.

Cheers to life at IIT.

PS: If someone could give me an image apt to put up with this post, I would be grateful.

Purple Haze

It was the first time I visited the Koramangala Haze. Bliss. Truly a haze.

Acquaintance with a road side pisser

I have been thinking of an assignment lately. This came up while a few of my friends and I, were on an outing and noticed a carefree senseless guy pissing on the road side. It would be a good exercise to take a handy cam and walk around the city on a weekend and find random people pissing at the wrong places.

A few questions that I would like to ask people who do not put any efforts into holding the fluids in their bladder and go around pissing on the road side, random compound walls while successfully embarrassing the general public who have a better sense of understanding of common ethics and manners: (mind you! These questions, I plan to ask while they are still in the act)

• Sir, how do you feel while pissing here?
• You couldn’t control eh?
• You’ve been having lot of water lately is it? Or you just had a lot of beer?
• By the way, what is your name sir?
• Since when have you been doing this?
• Where are you coming from?
• Relieved eh?
• How many times have you pissed on the compound wall of your own house?
• Do you, like, piss in patterns? As in, do you try making flowers, animals, so on and so forth with the track of the fluid coming out?
• You are on national television sir! Do you have any message for the viewers?

Once done with it all, I plan to hand them a rupee and ask them to visit the public toilets next time.

I seriously think I should find some time to do this exercise. Should be good fun among other things! :D

Hilarious - or do I find it so?

My friend is talking to his girlfriend over the phone and chatting with me on gmail. She has a dance competition/performance tomorrow and is nervous about it. He is speaking to her and trying to pacify her.

What do I tell him in the chat window?

My friend: juzt now.... ladys called.. speakin to her..
shes lil tensed abt her dance show tmo... so just lil talking.s

me: ok.. pacification of india
in the indian ocean
fuck... that was hilarious
i cant believe I just said that!

Never mind.

8RF

I have been tagged by Aniket, and have stayed so for quite some time now. My work has kept me busy and I haven’t been able to post anything for a while now. In fact, I wanted to post something about my work itself, but lack of time hasn’t let me to. Anyway, if you have the time go through the following.

Here are the rules:

1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

8RF about me:

1. I love giving bath to my pets, including cats. That was the case till I almost killed a kitten when I was four years old, and my mother made sure that I knew that the cause was the bath. Since then, I pity the cats. :P. I still love giving a bath to my dog though.
   
2. I smoked my first cigarette at the age of four. My father’s friend put a lit cigarette in my mouth, and left me coughing incessantly for the rest of the day. It made me feel like a man then. It is after ten years, maybe, that I realized that the feeling was just a result of some ads and movies that I had seen. Nevertheless, it was a kickass feeling.
3. Till 1^st standard it was my mother who used to do the drawings which were a part of my homework. Thanks to her spanking one day and asking me to do my work myself, I realized that I was way better than her at drawing, and there has been no stopping since. Now, I sketch sporadically, and some say I sketch well.
4. I ate thirty pickles to save my pride and honor when my uncle kept eating the pickles from my plate. He did it just to provoke me and only after I finished the thirty did I realize that he had eaten only four. Thank god! I did not have to visit the lou like they show in the movies. My digestive system took it all.
5. I think I have the ability to smell the presence of a snake. I am not sure about this, but I have this feeling that I can attribute a strange characteristic smell to the presence of a snake, and have been right on quite a few occasions.
6. Of late I have been obsessed with 100 bullets, and I think that it is the coolest thing that has happened to this planet.
7. I used to enjoy going to the movies alone during a phase of my life. I have not tried it recently. I guess, I will still enjoy it.
8. I had planned a plot to dump some mercury from the broken thermometer into the water bottle of a girl in my school days. I believe it was during my eighth standard. She is alive and healthy, which leaves me with only one conclusion: Thank God! Because recently I realized this.

Now that I am done with stating the eight random facts that first came to my mind, I tag CB, MGM, Paapi, Prasanna, Pi, KV, Varun, and Deja.

Tags taken up so far:

Pi's Mixtape, Paapi, Deja

How to watch Sivaji-The Boss

How to watch Sivaji?

Answer in 9 simple steps:

1. Figure out the timing of the song sequences in the movie.
2. Enter the hall at the specified timing,
   
3. Hold your breath tight.
4. Watch Shriya Saran sizzle in the songs in the amazing attires, sporting one of the most beautiful smiles that mankind has got to see and showcasing her well crafted and chiseled body.
5. Get the chills while seeing her.
   
6. Get out of the hall till the next song and dream about her, as the movie is so loud(in all respects) that it will actually take away the precious things that you have witnessed.
   
7. Watch the next sequence and dream more.
   
8. Get back home and blog about her.
9. Sleep and dream more.
   

I am sure CB would testify the same.

Leaders of tomorrow!

And that my dear friend, is my latest desktop wallpaper. Click here for more of them and an amazing campaign towards making people aware of global warming.

I hate Snipers

This one is from Frank Miller's Sin City.

Wallace thinks to himself:

''I hate snipers. You should have the guts to look a man in the eye when you kill him''

Kickass!

Reversed

One of my close friends celebrated his birthday recently. We had a ball of a time and everything was nice and good. I noticed that all of us who had gone for the treat including the guy celebrating his birthday were in full sleeved shirts, all tucked in and neat. I realized that we were all growing up. It was only 4 years ago that all of us were in tees and clothing that clearly reflected that we were 17 year olds. Now the mature look was reflecting from our clothing, attitudes and demeanor. The feeling set in that we were all growing up. It won’t be much time before we start earning our livelihood and have kids who will be celebrating their birthdays with their friends. Bah! Let me not go that far.

(The sore thumb was the eldest of us, who we call as big brother. He is the elder brother of one of my friends and is the guardian and advisor to all of us. He was the only one wearing a tee and claimed that he was becoming younger by the day.)

It was then that my friend Vyshak pointed out a concept. I guess it has been thought over quite a few times before and lot of people already know about it. How would life be if we reversed the life cycle?

I come into the world as an old man (when I am supposed to die in the existing system). I am born as an old man. I live my life backwards. I have a good business, industries and many sources of income. I make money as I grow young. I would have made enough money and experienced all the troubles and pains of life while trying to make all the money in my old age itself. Now I enter my youth, having made lot of money and possessing all materialistic things I would have ever wanted. I am assuming that with all the achievements backing me up, now I will have ample time to enjoy my youth.

After having all the fun that I ever wanted to have, I head towards an amazing learning experience at the school. Then comes all the pampering of the innocent childhood. After all the time and effort spent in the old age, glory of the youth, and the learning experience in the childhood, I eventually get to sleep the best sleep in my mother’s womb. Bliss.

Only thing to wonder is, how will the relative life cycle of other people be with respect to mine? If you look closely, the whole life cycle gets reversed. So for the whole concept to work, I should be born to someone who in the existing cycle would have been born when I am on the death bed.

Probably there are flaws in the thinking. But it feels good to think that at the end of it, you don’t die, but sleep peacefully in your mother’s womb.

Claustro: the choice of phobia/philia

(x,y,z,t)= Some Darshini where I regularly go for lunch with other fellows (employees are actually called as fellows here) at TERI, lunch hour.

Dialogue:

A: Are you Claustrophobic?
Czar: Not really
A: I guess I am.
Czar: Hmmm..
A: But then, I have got accustomed to it now.
B: I guess I am claustrophilic.

( I am scratching I am head. The discussion so far was with respect to the Darshini that we were standing in. The population density is 2 per sq. ft in the area of the restaurant that strictly adheres to optimization principles when it comes to utilization of the space. So I am not able to figure out how one can get claustrophilic)

Czar(still wondering): But... how?
B: Dude, you are in Bangalore da.
Czar: So?
B: Wouldnt you love to be claustrophilic in some pub or disc with insane amounts of blessings from Almight Zeus himself to ogle over?
Czar: Ohhhhhh!!! *For once, I actually felt like an idiot*

It was a trippy momeny. :)

Full Circle

There are several view points and facets to this debate that has been going on for quite some time now. What does one mean by energy crisis?

How much energy does an average Indian consume? This question answers a lot of other questions about how developed we are and where we stand now in the world scenario. The highest per capita energy TPES(Total Primary Energy Supply) for a country stands at 23.24 toe/capita (toe – tonnes of oil equivalent), the country being Qatar. Developed countries like US and Japan stand at 7.91 units and 4.18 units respectively. China stands at 1.24 units and then comes India at 0.52 units. The world average for TPES per capita is 1.77 units. Click here for more 'authentic data'.

The above data must give us a wide angle perspective of what the energy consumption trends in the world are. India constitutes 1/6^th of the world’s population and consumes energy that is less than 1/3^rd of the world average. That is a tremendous imbalance, isn’t it? Should we set the imbalance right? Many say yes. Maybe people should start re-thinking.

Looking at such figures, and the regular reports that go around saying that the growth and development of a country are signified by the energy consumption of the country, tells us that India is not anywhere closed to being called a developed country. In fact, it has been, mind you, has been far behind even on the developing nations list. As every country has to boast about its pathway to development and glory, India too has to increase that figure and hence be called a developed country. Now what exactly are we supposed to do to increase that figure? Are our needs such that the number (TPES/capita) is expected to increase? And are the speculations true that we will not be able to cater to the demands?

So we decide to increase the energy available at an average(?) Indian’s disposal. We are taking steps to achieve the aforementioned goal. At the top of the list of the steps would be the idea of adding 1,20,000 MW of installed capacity in the next five year plan.

Something to open up our eyes:
With simple calculations we can arrive at the fact that even after we add 1,20,000 MW to our existing installed capacity, our annual per capita electricity consumption will only be a sizeable fraction of China’s current per capita electricity consumption. It is not very difficult to guess that China will not be sitting quiet for the next five years and might very well end up installing a few lakh MW of capacity themselves. In which case, the per capita electricity consumption for India becomes much smaller in comparison with China, which again, is below the world average.

I would like to throw light upon the fact that India as a country has never installed more than 40 MW in any five year plan. The idea of installing 1,20,000 MW in the next five year plan sounds overly ambitious to any layman.

Probably this is what is known as energy crisis.

We will only end up buggering the atmosphere and the environment by adding 1,20,000 MW capacity in the next five years. Indian think tanks are just trying to follow the trends that the west and developed economies have set. We just want to reach where they are today. Beyond that nobody knows what should be done. The developed economies are already on the path backwards, and will very soon be paying heavily in terms of environmental costs. India too, is trying to imitate its way to hell.

The needs always arise because there are facilities to cater to a new need. What I am trying to say is, needs are not perennially existent. They merely arise every time human beings find something new. I always used to think that need is the mother of all innovation. Of late I have been thinking that needs are results of innovations.

Human beings are a little short of traveling a full circle. And I believe that many of us have lost the capacity to realize the same. After talking to lot of people on this front and thinking a bit myself, I have started wondering how exactly should growth be defined? From an Indian’s perspective, one should realize that the existing scenario of a billion people killing for that extra piece of land itself is frightening. If we go any further, very soon there will be nothing to lose.

It is high time that we stop defining growth in terms of the energy one consumes and the lifestyle standards. We need to define our standards ourselves, and showcase that for everyone on this planet to survive happily, the standards need not always get higher and higher. Again, that very definition of ‘higher’ is subjective.

Till date, every budget was measured in terms of the amount of money one possessed. It will still effectively be the same. With the introduction of CDM, and Carbon Credits for entities, industrial houses and countries, carbon costs are making their way into the budgets and balance sheets of these biggies. It wont be far from now that carbon budgeting will be the way of life for every individual.

A person traveling by a bicycle will have to be paid by a person owning a SUV for the guy owning the bicycle is more environment friendly. A person staying in a smaller house will be paid by a person residing in a mansion for the former consumes lesser energy at home, and hence the latter has to buy his carbon credits to be environmentally friendly too.

All said and done, being environmental friendly will become fashionable and being green will make you richer. The green will eventually transfer hands. That was a brilliant pun, wasn’t it? :)

Black Google(?) - Blackle

Do check this out.

Irrespective of whether the facts about the amount of energy being saved are true or not, we should not ignore the fact that some energy is definitely saved.

So start using Blackle.

And in general, use darker wallpapers (preferably black) and switch off your computers when you aren't using them. People tend to forget that computers to consume power even during the sleep/stand by/hibernation mode.

So please do whatever little you can do to save whatever little energy you can.
You will be able to appreciate it if you manage to tell many more like you, and hence see a greener future.

Yahoo on Gmail ? (2)

Yet again! Check out the red ellipse that I have marked.
Click here for part 1.

Then and Now

1997 -

A young man riding down the road with his hair fluttering against his forehead and a happy smile. He looks around him and finds these girls everywhere on the side walkways. He takes great pleasure in smiling at them and they smile back, for he is one sweet chap who reflects happiness.

It is yet another day when the young man sets out on his way to the college and is riding down the road on his bike and is continuing his routine of smiling at the girls he sees walking by the side of the road.

He suddenly spots radiance like never before. His eyes stop at one place. His body moves relative to his eye sight and he keeps staring at the most wonderful sight that he has ever witnessed. He enters a trance. He feels the aura and the freshness around the object that has captivated him completely. For once, he actually feels like stopping and heading towards it.

What is it?
I better rephrase it before I get jacked by some irrelevant organizations.

Who is it?
Thats the right question.

She is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. He feels that he should float in the air and then travel his way to her hair and slide down them, while breathing in the fresh scent of her hair. Then swing his way using her hair to her shoulder, stand on her shoulders and admire her flawless skin and the comlexion. He delves deeper into his imagination and her beauty.

Screeeeeeeeeeecccccchhhhh!!!!!!!!
Tyres skidding, and smoke coming out of them leaving trails of burnt rubber on the road.

What happened?
Nothing to worry. He is not dead.

Our lover boy had strayed a bit too much to his left and was nearing the footpath. Mind you he was still on the road. The other person had stepped down from the footpath and was walking on the road along the footpath. Lover boy was extremely upset and frustrated that people do not have the common sense to make use of the utilities according to their defined purpose.

What followed was a conversation between our young man and yet another young man who almost got him killed as he was walking on the road. Our lover boy almost knocked him down and starts questioning him as to why he was walking on the road when there is a footpath meant solely for pedestrians. Why should he walk on the road when there is so much space exclusively for those who want to walk?

The sad part is, he lost all the smiles that girls were giving him that day as they all witnessed the anger and frustration which was evident on his face.

Poor fellow.


2007 -

There is no lover boy story here. This is my own story. Rather, this is something I witnessed myself yesterday. In fact, I have been witnessing this since the time I started my work for the internship. I have to commute 15 kilometres one way every day and get to witness a lot of fun and different antics by people on the move.

I was stuck in a really bad traffic jam at one junction and was almost a kilometre from the signal. I was on my two wheeler right next to the footpath. I was looking at the glowsign boards on the shops that were like 30 feet away from me. The footpath stretched to around 10 feet. I was trying to read the things on the boards through my helmet and was finding it really irritating. I had focussed all my attention on the letters and was oblivious to everything else. There were people walking on the footpath and were proud of the fact because I am sure as hell that they were travelling at a faster rate than the people with their vehicles.

Suddenly, I hear lot of honking, and at the same time I observe lot of unrest among the pedestrians. Before I realize what was happening, I saw people on two wheelers riding down the footpath and the pedestrians had to move out of their way. I mean, it was ridiculous. The footpath is supposed to be exclusively meant for pedestrians. I mean, it does not make sense for people to drive down the footpath. And here I was witnessing this insanity.

I witness this everyday. People trying to save on time by driving down the footpaths and there is absolutely no space for pedestrians to walk. Incessant honking, pollution adding to the pedestrians woes and unrest among the motorists and people shouting at one another and trying to get ahead of one another in this rat race is really frightening.

This time around, it would have been the fictitous lover boy from 1997 who would have been the cause for unrest and the poor fellow who was walking, the victim.

Times change, don't they?

How big is your yard?

There are insane debates going on about the climate change, whether we are going to survive this century and more of the blah. Me ending the earlier statement on a dismissive note does not mean that these debates are useless and are of no consequence. The issues are of utmost importance and need to be addressed.

Everyone talks about the necessity to reduce the green house gases(GHGs) emission and curb Global Warming, but very few talk about the ways to do it. For a layman especially, it would be difficult to understand the jargon that goes around in the scientific community. So a mode of communication and education that tells people 'What to do' is of much greater value than the one that says 'What is happening'. Of course, awareness too, is a must. But the results are seen only with the actions, and in this case, the actions are responses to 'What to do' and not 'What is happening'.

One such effort that my friend's father asked me to go through is the publication by TIME magazine on 51 Things We Can Do to Save the Environment. And one thing that was quite amazing among the observations that the report makes is the fact that Bamboo can prove to be one of the biggest guzzlers of Carbon Dioxide, and hence people who address the issue of Global Warming should not go around shouting 'Plant Trees, plant More Trees' like amateurs. Instead they should get a bit smarter and specific and do things that actually help the cause and direct people towards planting more Bamboo trees.

As the article on Bamboos in TIME magazine rightly concludes:

''How big is your yard?''

Penelope Cruz

After a very long time I got my hands back on my sketch book. My sister had found a very catchy image of Penelope Cruz as a part of a LOREAL advertisement in some magazine and hence the result.

The scan is not the best version of my efforts, as the cheeks and the contours joining the cheeks and the nose, and the shadows showcasing the chin are not highlighted well in the scan.

Felt good drawing something after a long time.

P.S.: This post is dedicated to MGM for he is the one who implored me to draw something time and again.

Yahoo on Gmail (?)

I had just finished checking mails and was about to close the tab and get back to work when I saw this:


Yahoo news on Gmail?
I couldn't help but feel weird. I don't know what it feels like. It is just weird.

This is just too trippy to be true. Please pay attention to the ellipse that I have drawn in the screen shot. Open it in a new tab or window to see it closely.

Its been a wonderful day at work too. I am having a great time laughing.

Ink it

This morning, when I was leaving for my intern work at TERI, my father gives me a lecture that lasted almost an hour. He kept telling me how poor I was in documentation and how I need to improve on that. His claim was that until and unless I write down what I am doing and what are the steps to be taken further in the work, I will not head anywhere.

I was getting bored. But then he knew how to finish it all. I am sure he also heard it somewhere, but heck! it sounds kinda cool.

''The faintest ink is far better than the brightest memory''

I guess its high time I start documenting my work.

Mosquito Zapper

There is this amazing instrument that helps us eradicate the mosquitoes in our vicinity. I have seen several people experiment with it, including my friends and family.

All you need to do is press a red button and wave it like you are playing tennis with the mosquito being the ball. Poor mosquito is roasted due to electrocution, the moment the face of the mesh on the instrument comes in contact with it.

Couple of days ago I had gone to this restaurant for a snack and there was this guy who was trying to sell these instruments outside the restaurant. There were a considerable number of people at the restaurant and hence the seller was probably thinking that he has a big base of people to whom he can try selling his product. To any vendor, a large gathering of people is a boon. He/she (My good friend who always points out how sexist we are, please note that I realized it this time around) obviously stands a better chance of finding a customer from a larger base of people, of course, all other factors kept constant.

To sell the instrument, the vendor needs to demonstrate what it does. I wouldnt believe the impact of the instrument unless I see it myself. Simply put, he has to kill a mosquito everytime he demonstrates this instrument. Naturally, the mosquitoes are smart. In a short span, they realize that things are not really friendly around here and make a move. Now there arent any mosquitoes left to be killed, and hence no more customers can be lured into buying this particular instrument.

On the contrary, there always is a huge number of insects including mosquitoes near the drainages, marsh lands and dump lands. Hence, there will never be a dearth of subjects for demonstration of the instruments for the vendor at such sites. But then, unfortunately you will never find human beings who will be around to witness the spectacle of the mosquito getting killed while the vendor acts like he is playing tennis with this instrument. In this case, we find that the customer base has vanished.

So how on earth can there be effective mass marketing for this product?

Mosquito, poor mosquito!

Déjà vu - SUVs or Auto Rickshaws??

This post is best understood by those who have played NFS Most Wanted and have suffered the worst set backs and the horror of two massive heavy SUVs bumping you head on.

Today, for the first time in real life, I felt what I generally feel when I play NFS Most Wanted.
It was total madness. The situation was precisely scaled and hence, equally dangerous.

In the game, I am driving a car which acts as the subject and there are SUVs which are the objects. Here I was, driving my two wheeler which became the subject and there were two Auto Rickshaws which turned out to be the objects. Considering the laws of scaling, the situations were not quite different.

Two Auto Rickshaws came onto me exactly the same way the SUVs come onto me in the game. I mean, I cant even press (R) for the reset option and hence come back into one piece onto the road, or press Alt+F4 and quit the situation. All I could try doing was, somehow survive the next fraction of the second and pass through safely.

I somehow did it. I survived.

I stopped my vehicle, looked back, looked up, kissed my hand, returned home and played NFSMW.

Phew!

P.S.: I dedicate this post to Munnu with whom I have enjoyed the best sessions in NFSMW.
I wish you were riding pillion with me today. It would have been good fun. :D

Spiderman 3 - Coincidence exemplified

Sorry for the laziness for so long. I am home and I have every right to be so.
The review for spiderman 3 goes something like this:

Person A (Spider man himself):

1. Have you ever asked yourself what is the probability of you getting bitten by a mutant spider and hence you becoming spiderman?
2. Now what is the probability that you are making out with your girl friend on a cobweb as giant as a basketball court and co-incidentally a meterorite from god forsaken sky falls within twenty metres of your make out zone?
   

Please understand the magnitude of the surface area of the earth and that of the meteorite in calculating the probability.

If you have been successful in deciphering the above two answers, I would like to bring to your notice that the probability of both happening to one person would be the multiple of the two factors obtained. I leave the math to you.

If that was not enough read the following:


Person B (Sand Man):

1. What is the probability that you are being chased by cops and while evading them you co-incidentally jump a barbed fence which reads 'KEEP OUT. PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS ZONE' or some whacky thing like that.
   
2. Also, what is the probability that you end up falling into a pit that is meant for some particle physics experiment and incidentally the experiment is timed to begin the moment you fall into the pit? Mind it, your body degenerates into sand particles after the experiment and you become the Sand Man. Now that you have successfully figured out the probability of the above events happening together, let me add a certain twist to the whole picture.
   
3. What do you think is the probability of B being the killer of A's grandfather?

Add two more characters to the story of co-incidences and stretch the story a little bit.


Person C (Harry Osborne):

C: You killed my father.
A: No I did not.
C: Yes you did.
A: No I did not.
C: I am going to kill you.
A: No. Wait.

The fight begins. C suffers a head injury and forgets everything only to remember everything later.

C: I am your girlfriend's new boyfriend
A: Oh!
C: I will kill you
A: Lets not fight
C: Lets fight

C suffers yet again... This time it is 3rd degree face burns.


Person D (A vague free lancer photographer who wants to take Peter Parker's place):

Coming back to the probability method:

1. What is the probability that you are at a place taking snaps of A unless you are A himself?
2. What is the probability that A is trying to shed the foreign substance that has taken over him in church, and you are present in the same church.
   
3. And then you enter the stairway and stand right below the bell, and the substance now captures you as its host?
   

Now comes the most important character,
Person E (Mary Jane):

''I love you A.
You dont have time for me.
I have saggy stuff.
I have a screechy voice, hence they threw me out of the troupe.
C, I think I want to spend some time with you. Lets kiss.''

I scream ''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!''

more ''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!''

''I am stuck in a giant black web. Please save me.''

some more ''AAAAAA!!!''

''Lets kiss.''


More blah and the final verdict:

Multiply all probabilities that you found in the above cases, add characters C and E, add a few more glamorous models and unnecessary guys, and dedicate a multi million dollar budget to the graphics and there you are... Spiderman 3.

The movie just had to be there. Coincidence exemplified.

My final verdict: Why would anyone make a movie that actually dilutes... wait a minute... destroys the legacy that the first two editions left behind?

Vome sweet vome

What is more precious than the sleep in the bed that you have been sleeping for 18 years of your life?

1. Your dog welcoming you
2. Mother's smile
3. Father's generosity (pocketo moneyo)
   
4. Brilliant weather
5. A dozen mangoes a day?

Na!
None of them.
They come close enough though.

After a gap of four months, I will be enjoying the pleasure of the brilliant nap.

I love my home.

IITian

This is not a brag post. It is just a reflection of a good friend's definition of an IITian. I am tripping over it. Brilliant fun. Here it goes:

"An IITian is one who does not fit any definition"

SP3 - The experience... Blah!

May 7th

Two of my friends and I decide to watch some movie, late night show. We end up deciding on watching Spiderman 3. Efforts went in contacting as many friends as possible and figuring out ways to get tickets for the movie. We finally decide to buy the tickets in black if need be and end up taking auto rickshaw till the theater.

Once we reach there, we wait for almost an hour to realize that we aren't getting any black tickets, and hence we need to book tickets for the next day. We end up buying tickets for the noon show for the next day.

Time for grub. It was 10 pm already and the nearest restaurant was Saravana Bhavan. We shuttle between the buffet and serving sections twice to decided upon the amount of money we are going to spend. Eventually we end up at the serving section and order the grub, which appeared to us exorbitantly priced, but then poor souls thought that the grub would be sufficient for our hungry stomachs.

Now comes the interesting part. The food arrives in vessels and containers that I remember having had my food in when I was a little kid. I meant, a little kid by age. I know I am still a kid though. Anyway, coming back to where I was. The food was not sufficient for one of us, let alone three of us. That was the second part of the dismal happenings.

We head back to the institute and get ripped off by the auto rickshaw dude this time around. I will come to the specifics later.

May 8th

We head to the movie in yet another auto and almost got ripped off again. We manage to enter the theater just in time and sit through the painfully coincidental movie, but filled with action that has become so cliched over the three editions.

As we had managed to wake up just in time to catch an auto for the movie, very evidently we had not had any food for breakfast or lunch. So it was time we had something to keep our growling tummies quiet. So 'Juthe' decided to buy sandwiches and cool drinks and get ripped off again.

Movie finally got over and we had to listen to the ugly rants(which, mind you, are not justified in the city of Chennai) of the auto drivers about the cost of fuel sky rocketing, their earnings and more and trying to coax us into paying them a fortune for the ride back to the institute. All this, at 3 pm under in scorching heat, while coughing incessantly and the fear of catching the fever that you had the previous night yet again.

The whole exercise cost me a brilliant Rs 400/-. All this for a movie that I did not even enjoy. What a waste! I know I am cribbing like a cry baby. It is justified. It definitely is.

And the review is coming up.

P.S.: Never think of eating American Chopsuey at a South Indian Restaurant. NEVER.