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.