Change of URL

Dear Readers, thanks for reading my erratic posts all this while. I wish to inform you that I have moved to a different location on blogger.. purely to take advantage of some new features.

Hence from now on I shall be posting at http://siddharthsid.blogspot.com/
cya there!
Cheers
Sid

Deezeetall

Lifes fast. My fifth semester has, as usual, subjects with six foot long names, which could easily pass of as abuses when chanted in front of a layman.

I tend to get very interesting lab incharges and examiners for my practical courses. I had some very interesting vivas in my first semester.. (by interesting I mean whip-ass vivas), and I have a gut feeling I am all set for a deja vu again this semester, after a relatively quiet 3rd and 4rth.

We have a data structures lady who seems to be a martian. She is the most cynical teachers I have ever come across, and the most student un-friendly. And here is the crash landing, she happens to be the better half(or should I say the worse half, tough to say) of someone involved in THIS.
(ok now I can imagine quite a few of you pesky readers rubbing your hand in glee with that nasty smirk n your lips.. well cut it out! Maybe would have been really funny had this not happened to me).
Probably that is why the authorities have had a heart and assigned just a one credit lab to her. The worst part is, that she knows me, thanks to my irresistibly wacky algorithms which pop up in my head and which are probably too much for her to fathom. Well, I am proud of my algorithms since they have been lauded by my teachers, so i rather not give much importance to what the lady says, but the sad part is, she has a whole credit of mine in her pretty purse. Maybe on day when she is not looking and there is no one around I could creep up behind her with something useful in my hand and........

Oh shoot. Next, worth mentioning is an assistant in a lab called Digital Integrated Circuits. Well the professor for that lab is quite a fabulous teacher, with vast knowledge and quite a knowledge bank which one can benefit from. But it's the assistant who I am more bothered about. The gentleman.. a thin wishbone figure, of medium height and whitish complexion, seems to be built of Digital Integrated Circuits himself, seems to have spent all his life with digital ICs. His pet one liner is " Aajkal digital ka zamaana hai".. which loosely translates to "It is the digital age". It is nice to have a pet one liner, but I get really bugged when someone uses it for every statement he makes, and that is exactly what the gentleman does. His sentences sound like these---

"You people must learn both analog and digital electronics, because aajkal digital ka zamaana hai"

"Please maintain silence in the lab! since aajkal digital ka zamaana hai"

"Get your ICs and breadboards issued! as it is aajkal digital ka zamaana hai"

"Today you will learn about noise margins using inverters... but aajkal digital ka zamaana hai"

"Why are you late bhaii? is it because aajkal digital ka zamaana hai ?

"Please handle the IC pins with care- as it is aajkal digital ka zamaana hai

Damn, I wonder if this is the way he speaks to his wife and kids also...

wife: sweatheart, let us go out tonight... it is lovely weather!
gentleman: Yeah! the weather is lovely, but aajkal digital ka zamaana hai

kid: papa can you buy me an ice cream?
gentleman: Why ice cream? aajkal digital ka zamaana hai

wife: honey let us try a different position tonight...
gentleman: there are many positions... BUTTTT Aajkal Digital Ka Zamaana Hai"

Well you can see I sometimes tend to observe people very very closely. I was once very tempted to ask him something, and when I could not resist I went up to him and asked, "Sir, up til what IC do we need to complete till midsems.." He frowned, looked up from his glasses, and said "up til whatever you manage to do in your lab, but in your end semesters, you will get everything under the sun!"
I was a bit surprised, and was about to walk away, confused, when he looked up again and blurted out.." Bhaiii Aajkal Digital Ka Zamaana Hai!"

And he doesnt speak DIGITAL with the "J" sound for G, he uses a typical colloquial accent and pronounces the J sound as Zz.. and I sound as Ee. So he goes Deezeetall deezeetall deezeetall deezeetall deezeetall... aaarrrgh!

Our Industrial Instrumentation professor, an old man with white hair, loves to talk about his industrial experiences and why he always loves a public sector job and how he became a professor. He loves rambling about his son and then how little tie he has to complete our syllabus. Our Industrial organisation and Managerial Economics teacher, looks straight out of a bollywood movie. Rather he seems to be an upcoming star in bollywood who has just done some ridiculously stupid movies and suddenly got every one's attention.. to top it all he is a feminist.

There is a Linear Integrated Circuits senior lecturer, who is proud of the fact that he is doing research with one of the most experienced professors in the Electronics department. He is pretty cool though, speaks clearly and fluidly, and knows what he teaches and does a good job at it. And he too loves to have his share of worldly talks.. about future studies, importance of technical educations and blah. I sometimes feel professors are lonely people, they only interaction they have with humanity is when they take up a lecture. And probably that is why they like to speak about any and everything, and teach at the same time. But good fun anyway.

To top it all, I have mastered the art of sleeping in class. It is the only thing that makes sense in my life- sleep. A two hour long lecture after lunchtime, in a hall with 100 students is an ideal setting for a nice afternoon siesta. The lecturers voice actually seems soothing while dosing off, like a lullabuy maybe, and the quality of sleep in a classroom on the back bench matches all standards. Besides, one wakes up fresh, alert and happy! My mates in the lecture hall make a point to wish me a good morning when I wake up. I have become quite predictable I guess. The credit for my Sleeping-In-The-Class skills largely goes to My Analog and Digital Communication and Linear Integrated Circuits lectures- especially because these are the two which take place in a huge hall with two sections.

Lifes crazy, really is, I have my room in the senior hostel now and yeah.. my mom gave me a new set of wheels- all for myself, official documents and everything! A black Lancer SFXI- It is mean black machine, with black windows, black spoiler, sporty body kits and silver alloys. A real gangster vehicle. I have become quite used to suspicious looks from the campus security, particularly at the gate. Yesterday I was refused entry in campus at 11 in the night, lest I turn down all my windows and open the trunk to get it all cleared. After all was found good, the guard opened the gate, and I gave him a friendly look and said,

"Cmon man, you cant be doubting a good old hosteler can you? I mean what trouble could a nice guy like me cause eh?"

The guard gave me a toothed grin, and said, "Just don't want you guys to get any hookers, girls in campus at night"

Me-" DUHHHHUHUHUHUHUHHHUHHHHHH yeah right! "

cheers
Sid

New Delhi Railway Station

I sat in a train @ Indian railways after almost 8 years! Last weekend I visited Jammu with family and friends. There is a very small percentage of people in North India who havent visited The Vaishno Devi Shrine... a 13 Km climb in the hills of Katra. I belonged to that small population until last weekend. I admit I thoroughly enjoyed my climb.. all of it was on foot. I was expecting my legs would be trashed after all the mountaineering, but had not an iota of cramp in my legs. Probably it was all the gymming and wicketkeeping which helped. Besides, we had an Innova to move about and got a chopper ride too, and came back to Delhi by air.

The New Delhi Railway station... is still by far not upto internationla standards. But there is a remarkable improvement. I had a very filthy image of it before I reached. I was expecting a bedlam, filthy platforms, smelly waiting rooms, no signages, shouting porters, and utter chaos. But I was in for a pleasant surprise. The announcements were clearer, there was less chaos, clean platforms, better signages- in all a much better affair than the last time I visited.

One thing in particular struck me. I always had to run behind my Dad carrying my bag whenevr we used to haveto catch a train while I was a kid. Because already there used to be so much chaos and people used to be rushing, and to save myself from getting lost in the crowd, I had to run to keep up with my father. This time, though my father did not accompany us, I was expecting I would have to run, to keep up with everyone, and save myself from the bedlam but i was pleasantly surprised that the crowd was moving so much in an organised way. Everyone walked slow, steady and everyone was clear where he/she had to go. I was quite glad saying kudos to the rail ministry for putting up proper signages, and neat LED signboards and well maintained overbridges.... then I saw a father.. with his little son running to keep up with him.

It was then it struck me... it wasnot the rail ministry or anything.... just that since 8 years ago...I had grown taller.

Look at it this way....

Look at it this way. We have earth. Which means the world to us. We think the world belongs to us, everything we see, perceive and understand is with respect to this earth and whatever happens on it. We have made our own norms, our laws, our constitutions and systems. For us, these set norms and constitutions serve as the absolute reference according to which we decide right and wrong.

If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is
"God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to
tell him is "Probably because of something you did."

Our earth is minute. What means the world to us is just a miniscule illusion. We make desperate attempts to venture out of earth and try to fathom the cosmos...but in vain. We, as a result, become so full of ourselves. Our petty problems make or break our mood. We are bothered because someone was rude to us. We are hurt because we feel someone doesn't care for us. We seek attention. We conspire and gossip about others. We hold grudges, we favor some who we think is important to us. We strive for earning moolah, we want swanky cars, big houses. We love our gadgets, like to be loved, and look good, pretty or smart. And all this very well happens with me too, I am no messiah, just a human like everyone else. We end up giving so much importance to the world we live in that we completely neglect the bigger picture. Which is that we are part of a fathomless universe... and death is going to level everything. Humanity has ever been faced with a burning question- what is the purpose of our existence, when we donot bring anything with us when we are born, nor do we take anything with us when we die, on this holy earth.

We are all very well part of this world, involved in the set norms and constitutions, all one should try to do is not take the world to seriously. We should strive to have a more thick skinned and unconcerned side to us. Because it is your insensitive side which would never betray you and help you think clearly in whatever adversity-physical, emotional, mental or psychological, you are faced with. I am saying this out of my own personal experience, and this is why I like to preserve a non sentimental facet of myself. We need friends... it is rare to find someone who proves his friendship to you- it will take a lifetime. The friends you have currently will most probably be oblivious of you a decade from now.

"Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young."

Human beings like to believe things, but only those which are convenient. One would like to believe that someone somewhere, who is your ideal match-your soulmate-your love, is waiting for you. And the day one finds him/her, one will know and fall in love. One likes to believe that that someone exists some where. Humans love to be convinced about the existence of God. It is convenient, to have someone you can pray to in difficult times, someone you can ask for mercy and again believe that you are forgiven without any indication if God has actually forgiven you. We need someone to trust and give us moral support and hence we believe in God. Yes true, there is a divine power. But we are all blinded by giving physical forms to that power, nullifying the very purpose we had believed in that seraphic for.

GOD IS YOUR OWN CONSCIENCE. The purpose of a prayer is to get in touch with your inner self, to introspect, to retrospect. Being in touch with your inner self gives you the moral support you need. It is your faith in God which is the origin of this enlightening feeling. Giving a physical for to the Almighty shifts your faith in yourself to an idol. A lack of touch with your inner self makes you feel low, depressed and emotionally drained even after you endlessly pray to an idol. The divine energy you pray for will not come unless you realize the fact that your God is inside you and resides in your soul as your conscience. Listen to your inner voice, else it will slowly be muted one day.

When I was a kid my favorite relative was Uncle Caveman. After school
we'd all go play in his cave, and every once in a while he would eat one
of us. It wasn't until later that I found out that Uncle Caveman was a
bear.

Humans similarly, like to maintain that they are the most superior creatures of the earth. Humans have to cover themselves in layers of clothing, humans need to have friends, humans get their feelings hurt, humans cry, humans are insecure, humans have problems which are not even applicable to other creatures of this planet. Superior? But maybe it is our brain which makes us superior. We have highly developed brains, we can think to an extent which compensate for our physical inabilities. But look at it this way- our brain is what makes us have emotions, feel sad, happy, have grudges, have feelings, fall in so called "love" with someone. Animals donot have grudges, they have set patterns of mating, they donot fall in "love" or marry - they don't have to, they donot have emotional problems, or wear clothes, they donot have to find jobs, pay taxes and matters of economics, politics and society are irrelevant to them - they have lifestyles fixed by mother nature herself- it is a fact that all animals are more close to Nature than we humans.

The earth which we call ours- we actually donot seem to belong to it at all. We just seem to be guests, who will disappear with time. In what way can humans say they are superior to other animals? The best we can do is study the Nature and not try to change it. Natures powers are far too divine to be tamed by us mortals. Science brings us closer to nature and science is what may one day help us find our purpose of existence. All of us, whatever profession we may be in, should have a scientific bent of mind and a rational approach to all happenings.

If you're a young Mafia gangster out on your first date, I bet it's real
embarrassing if someone tries to kill you.

Never take anything or anyone for granted. Time is the greatest healer, everything is transient. The people you have you around you will not be there in future, you will miss them and come to terms with how you took everything for granted because you were so full of yourself. Be cheerful, donot take anything too seriously. When you succeed, never congratulate yourself too much, and when you fail, never castigate yourself too much either. Think big, never get over involved in gossip. Have fun, and remember to be humble and have healthy ambitions. Play sport, respect your body-be thankful for the fact you are alive in flesh and blood, and have got a chance to live like a mortal on Earth. You have been given a lifetime, live it but donot forget the bigger picture.
cheers
Sid

Hello readers! been a while since i posted. Been doing lots in life. Vacations underway, got few tasks up my sleeve, and already been through a lot this year! Have a new semester starting next month, looking forward to quite a few things.
Do visit a few good links:
www.nsitmotorsports.com (yeah we are back in business!)
www.nsitonline.com

Cricket for the soul

The sun was just rising and the air was still.

The ground was deserted but would soon be buzzing with activity. There was mayhem on the trees as the winged creatures went about their daily business of finding grain. Sitting on the grass on the popping crease I could smell the pitch. It was hard, no moisture and not a blade of grass could be seen. The turf turned from brown to golden as the first sun-rays of a new day fell on the pitch. It would be a dry, warm day - a bowler's paradise. Nevertheless, being a batsman, one had to develop a close connection with the pitch. It is the patch of earth a batter would intend to spend most of this day on.

The seconds ticked by sitting on grass watching the sun rise, the ground seemed to prepare itself for hosting an important match. I blinked as the heavy roller was brought out. And the day began with the usual practices- rolling, marking, setting the ropes, sightscreen....

One did not need to walk on the dry grass to make out the outfield was fast. The temperature seemed to be around 30 C and the air was dry, very dry.

It was just one of the days when one felt naturally at ease. The day when one doesn't want to speak much at all, nor think much. The day when one felt amazingly sure of oneself. The day when your gut feeling of being on the batting side first becomes true, and as you pad up as the opening batsman with your usual partner. One can listen to your captain trying to tell you something, you listen to it alright but somehow cannot hear it, as you nod, your face is expressionless but is relaxed. Walking out to the middle my walk was slow but steady, mixed with a brisk jump and stretch now and then. A nod at my partner and I knew he would face the first ball, without exchanging any words. It was also one of the days when I felt a telepathic link with my batting partner at the other end.

All this might present a very ideal cricket setting, but it was probably not. The fielding side had prepared there sledge taunts really well. The bystanders were shouting random stuff, some abusing, some cheering, but a bedlam in conjunction, the wicket-keeper one of the most talkative you have come across for a long time, and a third man who you cannot see, shouting adjectives at you from behind.

Facing the ball amidst all the good and the bad things, I felt amazingly detached form everything. Like I said it was the days one felt surprisingly sure, and intuition was at its best. The bowler starts his long run up, a lean mean figure running towards you, his long hair waving, and a grimace on his face. He takes a very high jump and his slender arm poised to hurl the ball at me with all its might, as I shuffled slightly and the projectile was fired.

Time seemed to stand still, all shouts abuses and cheers slowly faded and everything went still as the ball seemed to hang in the air. It was just one of the days when you felt that you had all the time time study the ball and time yourself to perfection. The ball was cherry red, it gleamed in the sunshine, the seam position seemed to be perfect. It landed on the turf as the bat was poised in a graceful back-lift, and then the willow came crashing down on the red leather, manifesting itself as a square cut which could have blown the fielder's hand away. The faded sounds seemed to come back... cheers from the crowd, claps from your team mates, and sighs from the bowler as the ball flashed onto the boundary. And then there seemed to be no looking back, it was just the ball the bat and the boundary, as the bat did all the talking.

You tend to take a special notice at the strike bowler who is spitting venom on you trying to distract you. His words fall on your ears, but donot seen to register, they are all muffled. After all it is expected after every over of yours is welcomed by a triplet of smashing fours or sixes.

Just one of the days when you play with effortless ease, with flamboyance which seems to be a gift from the heaven, when you donot need to look towards the scoreboard, and somehow feel very detached, the only attachment you have being the game and someone or something which might cross your mind now and then after every over. Even if sweat is dripping down your body, and you are comfortably thirsty, you feel pure, and driven by an internal force which keeps the detachment alive.

Cricket is no longer a game of practicing, it is evolving into a mind game. Poor form good form, is all in the mind. One can beef up his form, just by getting in touch with his mind. Like I said, it was just a day when,as usual,

the sun was rising, and the air was still.


-----------------------------------
Hello all, posted after a long time, ive just recovered form chickenpox.. yeah u heard it right, and my exams are round the corner. Hoping to have fun with my mid semesters
cheers
Sid