Siddharth's Blog- moved

Change of URL

2009-08-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-22T05:14:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

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....

2008-07-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-07T10:45:00.000-08:00

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

The Universal and CV joints

2007-12-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

This is what I got to assemble for my last Machine Drawing final paper.

It is often amazing that how, a seemingly small problem can be such a big headache in the pursuit of completing your task. And it is delightful to find a very simple solution to it, which was right under one's nose but just had to be give a slight thought.

If we have a rotating shaft, AC, which has a joint at B, such that ∠ABC = 30 degrees. We have AB parallel to the ground, and BC inclined at 30 degrees to the ground.

A torque is applied at end A, and the part AB rotates without any translatory motion, but the end C will rotate while revolving around a point which is the center of the base of an imaginary cone formed by BC as he slant height. So a seemingly simple problem is that we have to transmit torque at an angle, but it cannot be done with a fixed joint at B.

A very simple age old solution to it is what we call the UNIVERSAL JOINT. A universal joint is so called because it can transmit rotation motion at an angle upto 30 degrees. Here is an animation of how the universal joint works.

To compensate for the revolutionary motion of end C, the green pins must move constantly to keep end C at a fixed point on the surface of the imaginary cone we talked about initially. And hence we get an output at the end of the shaft, and the end C also remains fixed. Universal joint is also called the Hooke's Joint or Cardan's joint.

A small problem with the Universal Joint is that if the input shaft AB is moving with a constant angular velocity ω, the output shaft will not move with a constant angular velocity. Infact the output angular velocity will vary in "jerks". The motion will get jerkier as the angle between the shafts increases. If the shaft are incline at 90 degrees, the joint will get locked. The graph for the angular velocity of the input shaft and output shaft is as follows. It can be seen that as the angle is increased, the variations in output are increased. That is why this joint is used only in cases where the angle of transmission is upto 30 degrees.

ω2 is the speed of the output shaft
ω1 is the speed of the input shaft, set to 1
β is the angle between the shafts
φ1 is the rotation angle of the input shaft (angle b/w the input shaft and the green disc)
rotation angle of the output shaft = β - φ1
The graph between φ1 and β - φ1 is

CV JOINT
or the Continuous Velocity joint is the simple solution to the seemingly simple (but a big headache) problem of jerky output incase of a Universal Joint. The CV joint is as follows. [pic] The animation is quite self explanatory. The whole assembly is enclosed in a steel casing, and thus the joint is quite sturdy, but obviously more expensive that the Universal joint.

Animations and graphs, taken from WIKIPEDIA

NSITMotorsports, rocks its first show

2007-10-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

I with my team (adesh, nikhil, shashank, raghav, sahil, pooja, tippanna) have just returned from the Sasol Mini Baja Challenge 2007, South Africa, hosted by Sasol and University of pretoria. It seems to be the best day of our lives, the day when results were announced.

NSIT Motorsports have outperformed the other Asian teams @ Sasol Mini Baja Challenge 2007, South Africa in its very first season !!!

* Best Asian Team in Static Judging and 19th overall
* 2nd in Asia and 6th overall in Operator Comfort
* 8th overall in Design Report
* 2nd worldwide in Suspension, Steering and Brakes
* 3rd in Asia in Mechanical Design
* 3rd in Asia in Serviceability
* 3rd in Asia in Cost Event
* 3rd in Asia (behind vit and dce)
* 16th overall in Originality and Innovation
* Best Finish by an Indian First-Time Team
* Finished 22nd overall

Teams from India who managed to reach the challenge : Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology(NSIT) Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, Delhi College of Engineering (DCE), Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Sir. M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology (Sir MVIT).

Me kya, chak de fatte!. Months of hard work, toil, sleepless nights, eating nuts and bolts for breakfast, sleeping on GI sheets, getting bruised and burnt, ignoring sleep fatigue.... it has all borne fruit. The spirit of motorsporting kept us going, even in times of adversity, when the whole suspension went wrong, when time was less, when funds were low, and most of all, when we lost our dear Maggoo Sir. The think tank of NSIT Motorsports, the most technically sound person all of us would have ever met, respected by one and all. He was more of a friend and an inspirer than a team mate. We will miss you, we hope you smile down upon us from your heavenly abode. Probably God wants an All Terrain Vehicle for himself, that is the only reason I can find he called you up there.

2007-09-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

Im just through with my mid semester exams, for the 3rd semester. I am afraid all the talk about the toughest courses in 3rd semester for Instrumentation and Control have come out to be true. Electronics and analog electrical measurement papers were howlers. Questions like designing a car radio, measuring inductances in ac bridges... Maths and power apparatus were okay, and so was circuits systems.

The last to last week was a crazy one, I got an overdose of cricket, but it paid off. We (our team) is the winner of the cricket tourny at NSIT, on resonanz 2007. We have been playing cricket till even 2 am in our sports complex, under floodlights, and then going out for dinner, coming back to hostel at around4, and then getting up at 7 for our robotics workshops for Nexus(the robotics challenge at IIT Bombay's Techfest). The workshop's venue was NSIT for the northern region, we had guys from far and wide come over just for this.

The last week has also been no sleep for me. I have been burning midnight oil, like all others in the hostel, for the mid semesters. Sleeping by 3:30-4 am, and getting up at 6:30 am, to study again, and then exam time at 10:30 am. I am back home for the weekend and plan to sleep all Sunday, because its business as usual on Monday.

Mini Baja 2007 is approaching fast. Our team NSIT Motorsports has been working day in and day out on our ATV(all terrain Vehicle). We wish to atleast make an impact as first timers on the racetrack, at the University of Pretoria , South Africa. Visit www.nsitmotorsports.com for more.

On a different note, I recently spotted a sparkling, Chevrolet Impala, near the National Physics Laboratory. Time stood still as I gaped at it awestruck. I know not for how long I stood there, but i came back to the ground when a passerby bumped into me.

She is drop dead gorgeous.

Lastly, I am still looking for a decent place to by a macbook in Delhi. There is not a single apple store in India, which is pitiable. I keep getting mixed responses from everyone. Some wiseguy says its better to buy from here, another dude will say its cheaper at 5th avenue. It is indeed most annoying.

Clean your Room!

2007-08-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

It has finally rained in Delhi. The weather is sticky and humid now, but rains are nevertheless most welcome. Even a small drizzle or just a cloudy day is a Godsend in such heat. I wonder whether to call this global warming or my hectic schedule.

Last Saturday, my mother caught me neatly. I was dozing off on the sofa, trying to take a siesta, when she found the perfect time to tell me to clean up my room. Now I have never ever cleaned up my room. I never have organised my books, nor my papers, nor my gadgets, nor my utiities. They all go stuffed in my many drawers here and there, so used to I am to my mess that I an easily find whatever I want even I f I put it at the most unlikely place ever. But this time i was caught. I had nothing to do for a change, and decided to give it a shot.

Cleaning up my room I underwent the most amazing revelations of my own life. I completely relived my childhood and schooldays, such were the things I unearthed from my cupboards. Old question papers, entrance exam books, storybooks grandpa had gifted me when I was a kid, old photographs, school certificates, marksheets, "I love you letters" whose authors i never could find (i dont wanna be pompous ok? just telling the truth) and what not......

Apparently these forgotten things had all been buried under the "papers" of time and they had lain there quiet and forgotten, until the day i cleaned my room--->

My stamp collections! How avidly I used to collect stamps.. got pretty rare ones in that album!

These are old gifts from grandpa

And this feels soooo goooood!! I cleared it man

The mess from 1 drawer, all raddi.

And it got messier

And messier

More trash, finally it was done

My mom was ecstatic!

But now, I can't find anything in my room! :(

Call it a day

2007-07-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

Recently I was to visit signature towers in gurgaon, why? well thats another story.

We(Me,Aditya and Kartikeye) trooped into Aditya's car, with me on the passenger's seat for a change, and we hit the highway 8. Our job at hand was day-long. After lunch we sped off to our final destination in gurgaon(signature towers) in hope of finishing early to save some time for a game or two of pool, or counter strike.

In our pursuit, we ended up with a flat tyre in the middle of the road-just what was needed. Mind you, this was around 2:30 pm, when Delhi is scorching under a blazing sun. The tarmac was boiling, and the terrestrial radiations seemed to melt the rubber of my shoe as we got out. It was bloody hot. And we set down to change the God forsaken tyre. The heat was unbearable as we took turns in turning the jack, and finally fitting a new tyre, after which we were gasping for breath.

The new tyre seemed a bit fishy to me, so I suggested we visit a gas station and fix the spare before we carry on with our work. Gurgaon is a deserted place in the afternoons, and the gas station turned out to be in the middle of nowhere. It was an unused road leading into some fields which had a gas station. I got out to see empty barren land, dusty roads, and mirages all around, with heat aves flickering in the horizon.

It turned out that our new tyre had a puncture as well, and the replaced one had a torn valve. We ended up buying wo new tyres. In the meantime we had drunk gallons of water and dried or sweat soaked shirts. And I needed 2 cold showers after coming back from signature towers to stay alive.

I guss...sometimes the heat is too much for a car AC. (a very random post, ill post something useful and sensible soon)

Apple!

2007-07-03T04:24:00.000-07:00

We all love an apple dont we? It is big, red, juicy, nutritious, and whats more? Its just launched the new iPhone!.

It is beautiful, no doubt. People have been queuing up outside apple stores for days, to be he first ones to lay their hands on it. Not surprisingly, it is sold out at all stores, till the next lot comes in. The lucky ones who have managed to get one, have obviously become celebrities.

So here I'd like to honor a certain Greg Packer. The man who has shot to fame after managing to be the 'first in line' outside the Apple Store in 5th Avenue, NY-undoubtedly the classiest apple store in the world.

Source of image: Flickr photos from kenspackle

The note next to this jolly fellow reads:

"Hello NYC!!! I'm here in line already for an iPhone on sale 6 PM Friday June 29th. Donations for food + metrocards accepted!!! Thank you NYC for your support!!!

Notice how well-stocked he is, with fruits, fluids and other eats and entertainment stuff. And as expected he is one celebrity, after being the first ever to buy an apple iPhone. Now Greg is not jst any other guy, he is a professional line sitter. Yup, he is famous for being the "first in line" for many major events, leave alone the iPhone launch. He began camping before the 5th Avenue Apple store, approx. 110 hours before its release. And no customer came after him, until the release was afew hours away!

Quoting from Wikipedia, my favorite website:

According to a 2002 article about Packer,

"He was first in the line to see ground zero when the viewing platform opened at the World Trade Center site December 30, 2001.
He was the first in line in 1997 to sign the condolence book at the British consulate when Princess Diana died.
He slept outside in the snow in Washington in January 2001 to be the first in line to greet President George W. Bush after his inauguration.

Apple Iphone is currently available only in the US, the fifth avenue Apple Store. It is due to debut in Europe in late 2007 and in Asia in 2008. Sad.
By the way, the fifth avenue Apple Store is B-E-A- yutiful!

I personally have visited only one apple store- the one in London, Regent Street. That rocks too, and it is the largest apple store in the world!

I am currently fretting and fuming, over the lack of a single Apple Store in India, leave alone Delhi. But there is a ray of hope, the Mukesh Ambani-Reliance Retail is negotiating with apple to partner the incoming of the first apple store in India, lets hope this happens in New Delhi and fast!

Here is a rather interesting, infact very enjoyable video of the person who was first in line at the Apple store in CambridgeSide Galleria Mall, Cambridge, Mass. Do see it, it is absolutely fantastic!

White LEDs?

2007-06-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

the colour of purity.
Most of my friends who are reading this will have the same perception of White Light as taught to us in School(CBSE). That white light is the light obtained by adding wavelengths of Blue, Green and Red. This is a huge misconception and not entirely true. I feel betrayed sometimes, when I learn of things which were taught to us wrongly at school. This is criminal and reflects the "study-to-fetch-marks" attitude of our education system, but well thats another story.

Colour is a generic term for three of its characteristics. We call the sky blue, and even the ballpoint pen ink is blue. But certainly they are different. So what makes up colour, it comprises of three attributes.(HSB model= hue, saturation, brightness model)

Hue: This is what we normally call 'colour' and christen as red, blue green, orange etc. It represents the shade of the object. It is represented on a scale of 1-360 as follows(known as the HSB/HSL encodings):
Saturation: This attribute, in lucid terms, is what we know as the "contrast" of an image, or rather, the density of the hue. The lesser is the saturation, the more faded the image is, and hence the word "desaturation".
Brightness: Last but not the least. The term is self explanatory. Also called "Value" of the colour, varies from 0-100%.

NOTE: 0 Hue= pure red
0 Saturation=Gray, fuzzy image
0 Brightness= dark or a black image

So what does one do if one wants white light? Do we mix the three Red, Blue and Green?
Well, the preceding discussion reveals that mixing "red" "blue" and "green" just take care of the HUE. What about the other two attributes of colour?
White light is supposed to have NO Hue(note 'no' hue is different from 'zero' hue which is red) and 100% brightness.

The impetus for me to write this article was the Latest IEEE-Spectrum magazine issue, in which I read about a certain Pete Vukusic (Univ. of Exeter), who explains that white light is actually a result of random scattering of light within an object. This takes care of no hue, 100% brightness and the contrast or saturation as well. Quoting from Wikipedia.com,

the color white results when transparent fibers, particles, or droplets are in a transparent matrix of a substantially different refractive index. Examples include classic "white" substances such as sugar, foam, pure sand or snow, cotton, clouds, milk, etc. Crystal boundaries and imperfections can also make otherwise transparent materials white, as in the case of milky quartz or the microcrystalline structure of a seashell.

So I think it should be very much clear to a layman now. That light needs to be scattered in a medium, due to drastically varying Refractive Index to get white light.

The latest IEEE-Spectrum issue, talks about the perfect white that exists in nature- and that is the light reflected from the shell of an insect- a beatle called CYPHOCHILUS. Scattering light to obtain white is done by the clouds in ~ 1Km thickness, by milk in ~ 1cm. But the Cyphochilus does it in-hold your breath- 5 micrometers! Such is the extent of scattering from its shell which conjures up the finest White existing in nature. The scientist mentioned before- Mr. Vukusic, found through an electron microscope that the shell of the Cyphochilus is composed of an entirely random network of entangled filaments of cuticle, of the order of 250 nanometers in cross section. Since this highly random arrangement scatters all wavelengths of light, and orderly arrangement in some beetle families scatters only selected wavelengths, and results in imparting colour to shell- the wavelength which is not scattered.

This is the Cyphochilus - looks cute dont it?

What does this have to do with white LEDs? Well, the scales of the Cyphochilus have important applications in producing white LEDs. If a synthetic form of this creature's shell be developed and used for the casing for an LED, the scattered light would be white. This could revolutionaise the household lighting systems, as LEDs are very low wattage devices and look pretty too. Only disadvantage being that since the light has to be scattered, these White LEDs cannot be used for uni-directional light.

White LEDs are of course made today, but with a different procedure. Quoting again from Wikipedia.com-: (its a bit hi tech, i suggest the easy-going dont read it!)

Most "white" LEDs in production today are based on an InGaN-GaN structure, and emit blue light of wavelengths between 450 nm – 470 nm blue GaN. These GaN-based, InGaN-active-layer LEDs are covered by a yellowish phosphor coating usually made of cerium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Ce³⁺:YAG) crystals which have been powdered and bound in a type of viscous adhesive. The LED chip emits blue light, part of which is efficiently converted to a broad spectrum centered at about 580 nm (yellow) by the Ce³⁺:YAG. The single crystal form of Ce³⁺:YAG is actually considered a scintillator rather than a phosphor. Since yellow light stimulates the red and green receptors of the eye, the resulting mix of blue and yellow light gives the appearance of white, the resulting shade often called "lunar white".

Cheers

Woke up at 6

2007-06-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

On 3rd June, a Sunday, I had a crazy day, though I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

I had left at 11 in the morning and came home at 10 pm or so, all exhausted and thirsty. All I could do was drink lots of water and slump onto my bed, and sleep... like a log. I don't have dreams usually(I don't remember them the next morning) but that night I dreamt that I am in a street race. I don't know much about my ride, but its got blue LED lights, and black in colour, with silver alloy wheels. I make a perfect start, drag, and shift just after my opponent has. The crowd becomes a blur, as the engine noise engulfs me. The ride is supersonic, I drift through turns, go airborne over obstacles and make a sliding finish first. I get out, beers and cheers everywhere, I go up to the race master, snatch my wad of dollars, spit on my opponents car. And I see this chick, who is visibly crazy over me. She is running up to me and jumps in my arms, I break free, look at her, she is drop dead gorgeous. She looks at me with those black stone eyes, and says, in a gruff voice which reminded me of my dad..." Malhotra saaab! wake up you are late !!".

I wake up, but cannot make sense of anything, everything is blurry, and a faint back to bed. A firetruck siren is ringing outside my house, I try to shut my ears, but its too close. Wait that siren is familiar, hey! thats my alarm clock!1. Now why did I set the alarm to go off at an unearthly hour- 6 am?? SHIT- TRAINING DAY!

I walk outside my room, I haven't seen my living room flooded with morning light in ages. 6 am seems like a moonwalk. Dad has left for his morning walk, mom and dhruv are peacefully asleep. Well nobody remembers today is my first day at the training I guess. So I go into the bathroom, and brush my teeth, still half asleep but lost in deep thoughts.---->

When I used to be a kid, and get up for school, my mom would come to me and whisper in my ears, to wake me up, softly gently, and then she would come again and again until I finally got up. She used to be up and about, even at 5.30 am and would be in the kitchen packing my lunch and making breakfast. Dad would be cutting fruit for me, or peeling almonds. I used to be the center of attraction... getting ready for school. Even the cook would get up and start his daily chores, as my mom would sit next to me as I ate breakfast. She used to keep looking at me, ensure that I ate well, drank milk and ate almonds, don't forget my lunch ... adjusting my shirt collar here and there, before I left for the bus stop. Dad would be waiting in the veranda, to accompany me to the bus stop, lest i miss my bus and he be required to drop me off.........

And today, after ages, passing out of school, securing my future, and what not, I wonder whether I have distanced myself so much from my family, that I have to see the desolate living room in the morning, with zero activity, with dad off for his morning walk, and mom and dhruv sleeping away... no sign of the cook either? Am I justified in so selfishly taking everything for granted- my family and my childhood? Doesn't anyone care for the self centered 'me' anymore? Is it too late to have those days back?

ahhh.. Shoot, forget the bullshit man, who cares for anyone these days huh? I am wide awake now, with a bit of a hangover. I get dressed in the NSIT livery for the suzuki plant- crisp blue shirt, black trousers, black belt, black shoes and a black attitude.. I am stunning man!(ok i copied that one from Will Smith). I go into the kitchen, I guess I will have to fix breakfast myself. I see the kitchen lights on , I go in and there is my MOM bustling away, the toaster is on, the frying ban is hissing, the vegetables are chopped, ....
"Good Morning Ma! What are you doing?!"
Mom is visibly surprised at my chirpy entry, and replies in a matter-of-factly way..
" You have to go today young man, I am making breakfast, what on earth did you expect me to do?" Oh well yeah of course...(wooo hoooo! Nothing's changed after all!) I happily come out of the kitchen, dhruv is still asleep with his mouth open, aww cmon man its holidays for him. I catch a glimpse of dad in the veranda, with the newspaper.(Wow! im back in my childhood!) I go out to say hello. He says
"The driver is here for you, but I don't trust that fellow a bit, he is bound to get you lost... should I drop you??"
"No thanks dad, I ll manage, that was very thoughtful of you".

As I eat breakfast, mom is sitting next to me, keeping an hawk's eye on my plate, lest I leave anything, and dad is peeling almonds. I think to myself "What a jackass you are Mr. Malhotra!! Getting lost in stupid reveries just for nothing! Wow its good to be at home in the vacations!

though I am not at home for most of the time..
will write a bit about training soon...
cheers as usual

Firefox Firefox Firefox

2007-05-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

Even though i try my best to identify the improvements made in IE7 over IE6, and force myself to give it a chance, time and again good old Firefox gives me reasons to believe that it is undeniably the best. The basal reason for this bias is-in lucid words-its customizability. We all love our belongings to be custom-made, to snugly fit our needs. Firefox accords to do just that. There are lovely themes one can choose from, i have an iTunes theme, which gives Firefox a very 'apple' look. It is called "iFox:Metal:.
Numerous themes like walnut, blue ice, red shift(rocks!), vista are freely available at Mozilla's website. The best part is that one can add extensions to the Firefox tool bar, with search engines like Wikipedia, Flickr tags, yahoo! etc. That mean you don't have to go to wikipedia to perform a search. Just choose a search engine from the tool bar, key in the keywords and voila!.

I make good use of the Firefox RSS reader too.(RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, an RSS reader reads and displays the updated content of a web page regularly, so that you know whats new before even visiting the page). I have added feed for BBC News, NSIT Quiz Club, Dictionary.com word of the Day, Nsit Lounge and F1chronicles. I get to know about the latest posts in the Nsit quizzing and F1chronicles blogs, get updated forum fresh information from NSITLounge before i even visit them. And whats more, I learn a new word everyday from Dictionary.com!

Moreover I love the way FF religiously checks my typing errors while I type, like it is doing just now. Very useful for forum posting and blogging alike. Another pleasing feature is hat how it restores your session when Firefox faces an unexpected closure, due to whatever reasons.

But these features can be made available in any browser, cant they? So why Firefox only? The axiomatic advantage lies in the independence of Firefox from a particular OS. It independently updates, and performs its duties, this OS or that OS.(very much unlike IE).

But the best two add-ons for firefox I have come across recently, are the ones i really want to talk about.
The first one is the Video Downloader add on.
All of us are very smart, i know. Everyone knows countless sites which allow you to download streaming videos like those on YouTube and Metacafe, by just pasting the link in the site. But this cute piece of programming, allows you to download videos without straying away from the page, just click the tiny icon on the bottom right of Firefox, and instantly the download link is in from of you. I have downloaded many a Youtube Video through this.

The second favorite add of mine is the Download Helper. It is a similar add on, but there is a slight difference, that the downlad helper allows you to "capture" the video. So you can not only download the streaming videos, but movies being played in an embedded flash player as well!.
I love the way Download helper works. It exists as a small 3-sphere icon next to the search bar.

whenever it finds a capturable streaming video on a webpage the icon jumps up and starts dancing.. yeah man it actually does.
So good old Firefox has made my life on the internet much easier, and faster too. At last i shall like to add a note about .flv files. This is the format in which the downloaded videos are saved, from both the above mentioned add ons. So whats an FLV file. Well flv was the format developed by Adobe(macromedia)flash player. It is the format in which flash videos are created. So do we need a flash player to view these vids? well you don't need one, but that is one of the ways. The best ways I have come across, to play flv files is the VLC Media Player.(courtesy Dhruv Malhotra). In fact it is the best media player i have ever had. It is free, fast, easy to use, and plays any goddamn video on the planet. It supports countless plugins, and never bothers you to download those elusive codecs. VLC stands for Video Lan Client.

well thats about it, phew! ill post about whats happening in my life soon, as i havent done that for ages.
cheers!

MY "EQ"

2007-05-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

It has struck me, that there are plenty of bloggers around me. Some of the most engrossing ones are those of my seniors or professors. Consequently i have been discovering newer blogging sites-Livejournal, Xanga, and the like. I was initially aware of only good 'ol Blogger and Wordpress. (Incase u are not aware there is a wordpress version of my blog too- www.siddharthmalhotra.wordpress.com ).

The site which has caught my attention the most is Livejournal. And that too because of the colourful blogs of two of my classmates, which contain a plethora of background themes, a myriad of colours, sights and sounds. Apparently Livejournal allows a great deal of customisation and "blogger" intervention in its templates. One can visit these here.. (hey but do come back huh, ive got more to write!)
Saurav's Blog
Vaishnavi's Blog

Pretty neat huh? Both write extensively about their own life and times... makes good reading. Rolling the mousewheel over thse pages, I couldn't help but visit Blogthings
a place which offers various personality tests and other tweaks to put on your blog or website. I randomly chose an "EQ" test, which is supposed to stand for"Emotional Quotient". But good Lord knows what is the application. Anyway, i went through 20 odd MCQ questions-most of which had pretty obvious answers and i am greeted with a small box declaring my EQ to be 137.
The code generated after the tests results in this:

Your EQ is 137

50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick!
51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese.intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely.
91-110: You're average. It's easy to
71-90: You've got more emotional predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that.
111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt.
131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin.
150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.

What's Your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient)?

This is after i am being very honest about my score. Well but when are these websites providing "cool things for you blog" learn that even a person with rudimentary knowledge of HTML can tweak the code big time, and have something like this.

Your IQ is 200, EQ is 197
You are the chosen one, we hail you, O lord of the worlds!! Show us light! We are mere mortals and seek your blessings!

50 or less: Me kya pajji, ki tussi apna te sadda time waste karde pae ho?

51-70: Haanji Bashshao tuhade ulte siddhe answer vekhne baad,
sadda vi dimag ulta par gaya hae. Jede sadde EQ seege ohna nu tussi encounter kar ditta.

91-110: Jo bole So nihaaal !

71-90: Hello?! mae pathee bol reha hoon! me kya dad di tabiyat bahot kharab ae.. assii london aa rahe hain. Haalat bahot kharab haegi, ussi visa lene gaye see, dad ne othhey bhi potty kar ditti.

111-130: Main aenve sansaad vich muh utha ke nahin aa gaya.... 5 saal maine white house te andey beche.

131-150: (after listening 2 an answering machine) Me kya, khote da puttar!.. phone utha ke kendya hai ki ghar pe nahin hai!

150+: Praava, mainu inni counting nahin aandi aa.

Well, my purpose was mainly to introduce the above mentioned websites, which will feature in my blogroll.

cheers

Do it bit by bit, byte by byte.... terabyte by terabyte

2007-04-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

For, a change, my vivas are pretty smooth sailing this time, unlike the first sem. (For all of you who have read "My last manufacturing Practical" and are smiling away and are sporting cheesy grins, stop it, else your screen will break otherwise!). Well maybe im speaking too soon, since these are just those assessment vivas and the BIGDADDY vivas are yet to come. The past week and the current one are literally squeezing me of my energy.

Last week i had my electrical viva, and i had been furiously completing my practical records before that. The morning saw me inside my teacher's cabin.. which looked more like an air conditioned automation cum electrical workshop where probably cyborgs are born everyday. 5-6 Robotic arms stared menacingly at me as i waited for my turn, their claws pointed toward me, ready to grab me by the neck. I was asked five odd questions out of which i answered three, but i know i could have done better than that. Still im happy that i did not do anything scandalous like i did in.. you know what.

This week the itinerary looks somewhat like this:

Monday: Physics of materials, viva+record

Tuesday: Programming, viva+hard copy of all programs and outputs

Wednesday: nothing really, but there is an Applied Mechanics project on the applications of the Theory of Simple Bending to be submitted, and my group mates, to whom im very grateful to have handled the major part.

Thursday: Oh what a cursed day! A Programming Test plus Electrical Test

Friday: Electrical assignment plus Applied Mechanics Viva and all the printed projects
(well, i got to make a whole project like thing for each visit to the AM/MS lab).

Should I cry? well no i guess i cant cry in printed text. Any way, so far Physics viva was smooth sailing and the programming thing rocked, yeah I probably taught our teacher a thing or two about programming logic and algos haha!. But no , no haha, there is a grave situation ahead of me, the semester is coming to an end, I must survive the wrath of the examiners.

On a lighter note, i have got my dear iPod back!!!. All credit goes to my homie, Sanchit- hacker, programmer, boxer, connoisseur of music, web designer, gamer, and now an Ipod Mechanic!!. He set my iPod right, removed two viruses from it (lovebug and iWorm) and reinstalled the iPod OS. It is really good to have it back. I have to stay up till late, and it used to get very lonely without my iPod. Of course, I had my PSP, but the poor PSP was missing the pod too. And now we three are reunited and good times are back again!.

Before signing off and mumbling " What a waste of time" plz do visit NSIT MOTORSPORTS: MINI BAJA website, as it is nearly renovated now. (see right panel for the link). Trust me it is better than my blog ;-)

Here is a video, feauturing Shashank sir explaining briefly our chassis.

cheers

"Spiritual Take on Health"

2007-04-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

I had to visit my physician the other day. There was an excruciating ache in my throat, a continuous stinging pain, which got magnified when I swallowed, or even by just moving my neck. I have had a sore throat before, but this was different. I had also been running fever along with this "pain in the neck". Such was its acuteness, that it often caused difficulty in speaking and eating or drinking was a torture.

I was diagnosed with mild infection of a God-forsaken organ in my throat called tonsils. I am on heavy medication right now, but let me get to what i want to write about, enough of jumping around.

I came across an old newspaper clipping recently on my mom's study, a clipping dated "24/11/2006" , from Hindustan Times, column Inner voice, which contained an article titled "Spirtual take on Health", authored by Sh. Sat Pal Arora. It is a profound article and certainly food for thought. Given Below is the gist.

Half of our diseases come from the neglect of our body and the over work of the brain(I like this!). We live longer than our forefathers, but we suffer more from a thousand artificial anxieties and cares. They fatigued their muscles, we exhaust the finer strength of our nerves.

The body is a divine gift and we are morally bound to keep it sound and strong. So never hurry and take up plentiful exercise, try to be cheerful and get all the sleep you need and you may expect to be well. (I like this too!)

There are two temporal blessings- health and money. Money is the most envied but the least enjoyed. Health is the most enjoyed but the least envied. Everyone should be his own physician. We need to assist and not force nature. Nothing is good for the body but what we can easily digest.
What medicine can improve digestion? Exercise.
What will boost strength? Sleep.
What will alleviate deadly evils? Patience.
Don't make a dustbin out of your stomach.

Perfect health, physical soundness and rugged strength are seen only where nature is the cook, necessity is the caterer and where they have no other doctor but the sun and fresh air. An old adage goes :

Joy temperance repose, slam the door on the doctor's nose.

(Sat Pal Arora)

cheers
Siddharth

Football on scorched ground

2007-03-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

The heat really got onto my nerves today. I attended NSIT after an epoch, with the intentions of attending some lectures and gain some knowledge which our gurujis impart everyday. But it suddenly was so bloody hot after 11 am. Even the usually-cool TT room was a bit uncomfortable.

The morning saw the guys of IC 2 staring at the noticeboard which were proudly showing of pages titled " Men's football and cricket fixtures". Most of us were in jeans, flotters(those sandals sort of things, i dunno what they be called), and we had our match with IC 1 at 3:30. Great. I visited the cricket field, where there was a match underway in full swing. The ball shined cherry red, even from the boundary rope.. very tempting. The sound of the willow on the cork really turns me on lol!

IC 1 greeted us in the football field sporting jerseys, football shoes, shorts... dressed for the occasion. And we guys some of us barefoot, some in jeans , still managed to pull out a win.. yaay! Not that we played really well, or our opponents played poor football. But we somehow won. In that scorching heat, under the blinding-copper sun which was baking the ground beneath us. I spent the next hour drinking fluids, iced tea, salty fruit juices that jovial juicewala makes.. My body needed to replace the salt. And my skin still feels so hot.

Hope we are better prepared for our next match, and we do well in the cricket tournament too.
cheers

And yes, ******* told me that he does not wish to be named in my blog, so if I ever need to mention him i shall do so by the word

"the one who must not be named".

The Six Mighty Sixes

2007-03-17T02:14:00.001-07:00

On a record-breaking day for the South Africans who steamrollered the outclassed Dutch by 221 runs, Gibbs became the first player to pile up 36 runs in a one-day international over.After hammering leg spinner Daan Van Bunge back over his head four times and over the ropes on the on-side twice, he also became the third man ever to complete the feat at elite level.India's Ravi Shastri and West Indian Garfield Sobers had achieved the record in first class cricket.

South Africa has knack of setting and breaking world records, don't they? Earlier it was the 434 run chase against Australia, and now this spectacular entertaining display of batting. They wen on to score 350+, in 40 overs, with a run rate exceeding that of the 434 run chase. This is the highest ever world cup total, with the most sixes in an innings, and we have Boucher hitting the fastest world cup fifty. Kallis featured in all three stands, and he hit Van Troost for six with each of the last three balls of the innings. South Africa completed their biggest one-day victory by restricting the Netherlands to a total of 132 for nine in their reply.
Records Records everywhere!

No doubt the Proteas will be amidst celebration in their dressing room, but I can't help sparing a thought for poor Van Bunge. His must be an unimaginable sate of mind. He must be sitting aloof, his team mates and officials avoiding him, leaving him alone to avoid any awkward moments. It is painful to be hit for six sixes in an over, the pain is much more in magnitude than the batsman's ecstasy, and yet the bowler is forgotten in such a situation. Cricket is a batsman's game no doubt.

I am reminded of reading about an Indo Pak final in Sharjah, in 1986, when Miandad hit a six off the last ball of Chetan Sharma when they needed 4 to win. sharma had bowled a low full toss with all good intentions, but Miandad's batting prowess saw Pakistan through. Chetan Sharma's carreer was pulverised after that match. I just hope it doesn't happen with Van Bunge.

On a different note, The `Six Sixes Challenge' had been announced by Vivian Richards before the world cup started, with tournament sponsor Johnnie Walker offering the $1 million to Habitat for Humanity housing projects for the first batsman to hit six sixes in one over at the World Cup.

cheers

2007-03-17T01:40:00.000-07:00

What sort of a situation is this. It goes something like,

I have got my midsems from 19th, 5 papers back to back as usual.
The World Cup is just heating up,
Iron Maiden is performing live at Bangalore, along with Parikrama, on the 17th, and I cannot go
I have no clue what exactly i have to study,
I stay up late at night with intentions of studying, but end up watching cricket till 3:30 am,
then I wake up at 12 pm, my sleep clock has gone haywire.

If only, these midsems....

Look at the staaaarrrss.....

2007-03-02T12:07:00.000-08:00

Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah, they were all yellow.

I came along,
I wrote a song for you,
And all the things you do,
And it was called "Yellow."

So then I took my turn,
Oh what a thing to have done,
And it was all "Yellow."

Your skin
Oh yeah, your skin and bones,
Turn into something beautiful,
You know, you know I love you so,
You know I love you so.

I swam across,
I jumped across for you,
Oh what a thing to do.
Cos you were all "Yellow,"

I drew a line,
I drew a line for you,
Oh what a thing to do,
And it was all "Yellow."

Your skin,
Oh yeah your skin and bones,
Turn into something beautiful,
And you know for you,
I'd bleed myself dry for you,
I'd bleed myself dry.

It's true, look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine.

Look at the stars,

Look how they shine for you,

And all the things

that you do.............

(Yellow, Coldplay)

No, i have not gone cuckoo.... its just that i'm remembering someone, rather missing someone today.I dunno why.

cheers! as usual

Moksha07

2007-03-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

Moksha just got over last week (22nd to 25h Feb). It has been a roller coaster ride for me. Though the next day(a Monday) after the finale was a holiday, the campus was a sight to see on Tuesday. It was like a dream, or rather as is everyone had been woken up from a dream, back to the reality of midsems, incomplete assignments, surprise tests ... I myself had not slept much during Moksha, and all i wanted to do on Tuesday was to go back to bed again and dream about the rock concerts, the fusion night, fashion shows... aaahhh.

I was basically involved in organizing CASINO ROYALE, one of the mega events all four days. It was a virtual casino, with games like Blackjack, Flash, Bluff, Lucky Seven, Darts and the like. They were played with virtual money, which were basically photocopies of original banknotes, with 1Re=Rs10 worth virtual money. It was a pretty enterprising step by the seniors, considering the players we had each day and the prizes they got on redemption of the virtual money earned. Passes for the night's concerts, PVR vouchers, Lifestyle coupons, Food coupons, Reebok Tshirts and the like. I myself was involved as the dealer for the blackjack table, which Gaurav sir had taught me, *******, Kunal and Gautam beforehand. On the whole Casino Royale was great fun, we managed to earn profit for Moksha too, learned a bit of gambling, and the best part, it boosted our friend circle like mentos in Pepsi(lol!).

*******, me and Kunal were also a team working for the publicity department of Moksha. It was quite an experience to go around campuses of LIC, LHMC, IGIT (girls' colleges, i know(*snicker)),MAMC and others, putting up our expertly designed posters, and becoming the center of attraction in no time.

And yeah.. i also won the Photography event. Its a great confidence boost ahead of the WHO annual Photo Contest.

As i keep reiterating, i don't wanna be very egotist, so let me just post these pics-day one to day four-Moksha 07. The title says it all.
AVALANCHE- The rock concert. Simply out of this world. We had bands from all over the country including foreign bands like Mother Jane. The m Clones performed too. There was a band from Chandigarh, all Sikh guys and one girl member, those guys began their performance with Vande Mataram and they were simply awesome. AVR, FTM and plenty of others satiated the crowds head banging needs, but FTM stole the coveted prize in the end. This stuff lasted till around 1am, and too tired to go home, with stiff necks, sore throats, me and kunal slept for a few hours and ******'s place.
MUDRA- The choreography contest, LSR stole the show, and they deserved it too. Their theme was a powerful one, about problems faced by women in the society it carried a message and to sum it up, an immaculate performance. NSIT came second. Around 7-8 Colleges participated including school of planning and architecture.
The FUSION night- CONCURRENCE. The headline performers were Mrigya, Advaita, and Parikrama. Advaita was awesome, Mrigya was even Better, and Parikrama its what made us attain moksha that night. I just wish i could relive that night again. Mrigya had members from Slovenia, and these guys, played violins guitars at a dizzy speed, their fingers were a blur, and the crowd could just gape and pay their salutations to them.

Yeah baby, Parikrama is the best thig that could have happened to rock music. "

Never stop listening to rock cause u don't know what u might be missing"

KAILASH KHER performed for NSIT, on "FAHRENITE"-the big nite(Mis-spelling intentional). That guy simply rocks, he had everyone dancing to his "duniya oot patanga songs" in no time. Kailash Kher is a hit!. I don't have a picture of ROUGE-The fashion parade. It was i think the most entertaining event for us guys, saw participation from around 8-9 institutions. All I have is videos of those lovely rampwlks, of the most gorgeous girls you ever saw. So no pics for you. All i can say is that the girls from LH, had all us guys plunging into reveries of infidelity in no time. They were professionals man, unbelievable dresses, fantastic catwalks. Much to everyone's surprise, DCE bagged this one. They were not bad either, but seriously, LH deserved it.
Xbox 360 consoles, at Moksha. Frankly speaking, i was addicted to xbox gaming @moksha. I spent all the time i was not in the casino at the Xbox area.

Bungee jumping @moksha. You know why it is called Moksha now, don't you?

The gaming arena. CS, AOE, Quake 4, NFS U2.

The CASINO ROYALE team, with their certificates. We're the dudes.

A holy place called NSIT.

cheers

EDIT: ******* does not wish to be named in my filthy blog. Hence the starfields

Ye Olde Delhi

2007-01-31T06:30:00.000-08:00

T'was the day before Muharram, I happened to visit Old Delhi. Tagging along, with me , were "The one who must not be named" and Aditya - two of my IC batch mates at NSIT. Our impetus - to buy some hardware. But that's another story.

It has, more often than not, struck me, in the past half year how much my lifestyle had changed after 11th standard. My outings were limited to web world, or an occasional outing with friends. But as far as going out with the animus of "exploration", "sightseeing" etc were concerned, it was a no-no. This visit happened to be another occasion, when i had that feeling of visiting unexplored lands.(not that it was my first visit to Old Delhi)

The streets are jam packed. Jam packed as in jam packed. Not so with cars, but with the people-the commonalty. At best rickshaws or 2 wheelers. Delhites are sagacious enough to not to bring their cars to Old Delhi, one might find a first timer or two though. God bless the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

Purani Dilli, is a myriad of sights and sounds. It is a mosaic of colours, people and lifestyles. The sky is sepia with crows and eagles encircling the dome-structures of the ancient buildings. The Sky. You can tell the purani dilli sky from others. Let me put it this way- suppose you are put in a simulation of a time warp, in which you find yourself in a different place every minute, you might not be ale to tell where you are immediately, but the minute you land in Chandni Chowk, you know you are there. It is the atmosphere, the perfectly blended congestion that keeps Old Delhi and New Delhi distinct.

Lajpat Rai market is an electrician's paradise. It is common knowledge, i need not rehash, one can get the best variety of electrical hardare ranging from scores of designs of PCBs to ICs for evry purpose, adapters of all types to LEDs, micro controllers to motors- everything under the sun, and that too at the best bargains.

In our pursuit of a fitting shaft and an ideal geared motor, word of mouth led us to Meena Bazaar.(Meena's market lol). It has got a cluster of shops which can be comfortably patented as a motor market. One gets motors, motors, motors and motors. Some motors too. You find big motors, small motors, fat motors, light motors, bulky motors, tiny motors, high RPM, low RPM, gears, no gears- just name it. Great shopping.

We navigated our way, through the streets of Purani Dilli, to Chawri Bazaar. Our animus-to find a "Khairat wala" ( a lathe worker). Though we found one, he warned us about a power cut, it happens in cycles in old Delhi. First Chawri Bazaar gets a power cut, then Chandni Chowk, after a few hours, the Lal Kuan and so on.

All the effort in walking had our stomachs growling. Wary of the diseases with big names, we decided to find Mc Donald's and avoid roadside food. But while walking along the majestic and imposing premises of Jama Masjid, the smells of kebabs sizzling on 'kadais', jalebis, paranthas, tikkis, naan bread, had our devilish eating instincts take over. We ended up blurting," Screw Mc Donald's, screw the hygiene", and before we knew it, we were tucking into the roadside food.

Having been fueled up, we trooped along, this time headed for Lal Kuan, still scouring for an expert lathe worker who could cut fine grooves into a shaft. But as i said, thats another story. The lanes grew narrower, and we found them seething with people. The situation was such, that we had to abandon our rickshaw and start walking. Lal Kuan is the workshop-hub of the area. Workers in the countless workshops are busy grinding, filing, shaving, cutting, chamfering, beveling, welding and hammering away. This is their life and livelihood, and they do their jobs with immaculate precision. One of them agreed to do our job and asked us to go to meet Shoaib, who had the cutting tool of the desired dimension. Shoaib took us to his nephew, in a lane still narrower, but livelier....

Ye Olde Delhi, I feel, is the real Delhi. It is our heritage, the people- the maulvis, the burqua clad ladies, the workers, the cotton merchants are a part of it. On my way back, I saw a huge billboard that screamed "INDIA POISED- IT professionals, GDP, booming economy, blah blah blah.." I still cannot lay my finger on what made me very amused at that. Maybe that's another story.

cheers

Moksha 07

2007-01-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

Wanna attain moksha????
The easiest way would be to visit MOKSHA07 on 22nd to 25th February.

Moksha07 Website

Come be the canvas............
cheers

Back to where I belong

2007-01-10T06:53:00.000-08:00

Holidays are over, so it's NSIT all the way now for some time. The "Delhi chill" is really getting on my nerves, it is so bloody hard to wake up in the morning. Otherwise, the mornings, crisp and cool are actually pretty comforting. It has taken me 3 days to understand my timetable-the subjects and faculty for this semester. Engineering institutes have this habit of giving everything in 'coded' form (dunno about non-engg colleges), the coding is so rampant that our professors are more popular by their codes, than their real name. TC ma'am, Prof. LST, ADG etc etc. And my timetable is embellished with these triads of letters and numbers, but now I've deciphered it to a manageable degree. But do the timetable in charges expect us to dream about the fact that FH is not a teacher but "first half"!?#$@$@.

Anyway, the subjects seem to be pretty interesting, and all my teachers are one of their kinds. Our Programming teacher, is a sober gentleman-short and stout, who speaks in undertones. His jokes are so subtle everyone bursts into laughter minutes after he said it- he has a sense of humour though.

Talking about sense of humour, our maths teacher has arguably the most satirical one I've ever seen. He teaches at the speed of light, writes and erases like lightening. It has been just 2 classes and lord knows what all has been already covered. His teaching keeps everyone on their toes, alertness has to be at its pinnacle, for, a momentary drift of thoughts is bound to have you missing at least two problems and leave you with a teacher speaking Greek and Latin for the rest of the class. This guy is a magician in mathematics, as much as he is a skilled in sarcasm. His first class saw a student enter barely five minutes after himself and as the student headed for his seat, pat came the order

"Kaha jaa raha hai?? Jaa kahan raha hai... bhaagj a yahan se!!"

And the rest of the people outside did not dare to enter. It is a spectacle to watch him take the attendance- 60 students in 45 seconds(yeah i measured it).
"Roll number four hundred sixty onetwothreeefourfivesixseveneightineeneletwelvthreenfour............."

Our electrical engineering professor is one of those"idealistic" teachers. He wants his students "not only to learn but to apply the knowledge" He keeps stressing that marks are useless if you haven't learnt to apply your knowledge. Armed with an invariably smiling countenance and a well trimmed moustache he reiterates
"Marks are not important........."

The physics professor is the HOD of Dept. of physics. An aging, but a jolly person. Extremely energetic and jocose. He too has got one of those soft smiling faces... reminds me of Santa Claus.

Not to forget my Applied Mechanics teacher, someone who loves it when students give the wrong answer. the best part is that he always knows what the wrong answer would be.

Besides theory, I've got plenty of practical subjects. Electrical Instrumentation Engineering Lab, Physics lab, Applied Mechanics/Strength of materials Lab, Distributed computing.

cheers

Im Nin Alu Ofra Haza

2007-01-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

If you have read y previous post titled brainwashed, you would know i am hooked to my PSP game GTA Liberty City Stories. I have been wondering where to find a lovely song played by Panjit Gavaskar on Radio Del Mundo in the game, and finally i GOT IT!!!. Here is the music video(you tube link) - Im Nin Alu by Ofra Haza

Just for the record, the lovely Israeli singer, Ofra Haza died of unknown illness in 2000. Let this be a tribute.

Back home!!!

2007-01-01T23:17:00.000-08:00

It is the new year season, warm wishes and festivity all around. The thickest blanket of fog has just set in on Delhi, marauding into the flight schedules. I just made it in time, came to Delhi on 31st January, 1.30 am. After this all i am seeing in the news is murdered flights.

I had left Delhi on the 22nd Dec. On the airport I had the chance of meeting the Women's cricket teams of Sri Lanka and Pakistan; both on their way back home after losing the Asia Cup to India. But their losses seemed to be the last things on their minds as they busied themselves in girl talk and playing cards. A happy lot.

The IGI airport, i must say, has gone from bad to Worse. It is as PATHETIC as ever! The same dreary lights, morbid faces of the milling crowd, luggage strewn everywhere, creaking and groaning conveyor belts, mothers comforting crying babies on their laps, sitting on their belongings.....

I left for Colombo, where we spent a night, and then for Kuala Lumpur International airport the next day. KL airport is one of the finest i've ever seen, it is a pleasure to be there. It has the guts to claim itself as the best airport of the world and i think it is a deserving candidate. It boasts of sleek architecture, glassy walls, good interconnectivity between terminals by aerotrains, its just.. too good.

Our first destination in Malaysia was Genting Highlands. It is amazing how Malay roads manage six lanes even in the mountains. Genting was a CRAZY place. I completely freaked out their. Christmas celebrations were reaching its zenith, the whole mini-city was as colourful as ever. Genting has a fantastic nightlife, no body cares about sleeping, and all we did was party day in day out. It was quite an experience to visit the official hub of Ripley's Believe It or not. It housed some actual artifacts, and some surreal stuff.

One of the best things ive done is the Skydiving Training at Genting. You get clad in a jumpsuit, helmet, elbow and knee guards, goggles and earplugs. Then one is made to enter a vertical column shaped room, which has a huge fan below it. It produces winds clocking 200 km/hr and lifts you off the ground, it is quite an art i must say to maintain you balance in the air. I had to have a few tries, bumping the walls and the floor, when i could get stable and fly around. In the end one is rewarded with a cool certificate stating that

"Siddharth Malhotra has flown in winds of 193km/hr or more and Genting highlands"

Other crazy stuff included a free fall, in which a carrier takes you to a height of 200-250 meters or so that too on a mountain and then while you are admiring the scenery, suddenly the carrier lets go and before you know it, you are in the middle of a free fall, screaming your lungs out. Their were some really topsy turvy roller coaster, cruises, haunted areas, Expeditions, 4D movies, water parks, loads of shopping as usual and what not.

Next Stop was at Kuala lumpur. I had checked in the Legend hotel, which is a posh hotel of the city, and i had a room overlooking the skyline with its prized Petronas towers, and it had, huge wardrobes, sofas, refrigerator, microwave. televisions, kitchen, automated panels.. many things i wouldn't use, but what the hell who minds. It was on the 30th floor, amidst other skyscrapers.. a sniper's paradise.

in any city, i feel the best tourist guides are the taxi drivers(not in India though, where the taxi drivers are sure to take you for a ride). Taxi drivers in Kl know practically everything about their city ranging from finance, economy, to traditions and customs. People are crazy over Shah rukh khan, Amitabh Bachhan and Ashwarya rai. I visited a chocolate factory, batik workshops, Kl telecommunication tower, Petronas Towers ofcourse, KL cricket ground, National memorial and national museum amidst other things.

Singapore was the next destination. Singapore, is derived from the sanskrit word- SINGA-PUR which means LION CITY. Their mascot is a lion headed mermaid, because they call themselves a lion city in the sea. Singapore is a lovely place, their strict laws and discipline is reflected in their impeccable landscapes, outstanding infrastructure, and flawless city-planning. Airport was so-so, not as good as KL. One of the funny things i got to know was that singapore is desperately trying to increase their population. The government actually pays the parents 1000 S$ for their first child, 3000 S$ for their second and 4000 S$ for the third and the rest!!!. Actually singapore has an aging population and the couples prefer to be DINKS- double income no kids. The per capita income is very high- a staggering 24000 S$ whoa!!!On the whole it is a gem of a country, housing the friendliest people i've ever seen.

It really surprises me, that how a small nation like Singapore , which doesn't have the best of flora and fauna, still manage to be the top tourist spots, just by their impeccable presentation, and a huge nation like India, which probably has the most diverse fauna is rotting under the clods of poaching and extinct animals. I am talking about singapore night Safari and orchid parks, they are IMMACULATE. Jurong bird park is heaven on earth, and a special mention to the temples of singapore.

Sentosa island is probably the worlds hottest tourist spots. I had a ball there, there is so much to say about it that words are not sufficient units, so i better let the pictures do the rest of the talking. As they say, a pic is worth a thousand words. I shall upload more pictures by tomorrow at flickr.

cheers!

Christmas Holiday

2006-12-21T09:08:00.000-08:00

Dear visitors, i am going to Kuala Lumpur, Hangzhou, Colombo and Malaysia(and lord knows what else is on the itinerary) for a holiday. I intend to bring scores of photographs, and write about anything i miss while on the tour. i shall update my photo-blog too, with all the photographs, in case you were not aware check out the "My Photography" link on the right side panel.
Sadly for me, i shall be missing out on
-DPS Alumni reunion(well i suppose no one remembers me now, except maybe Rai sir, Mrs Aibara and Mamta ma'am )
-Gulati's Birthday(Happy birthday gullu)
-Kritika's Birthday(happy birthday kritika)
-Christmas in Delhi
- meeting a few friends ive not yet met 4 a long time
till then
cheers

HT Youth Nexus

2006-12-20T23:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, i was playing Table Tennis at harinagar sports complex with my homie from detroit. As we were sipping 'Bunta', dhruv called me up. If u r in delhi and have been reading the newspapers, there is no way u would have missed the advertisements screaming about "HT Youth Nexus". Dhruv told me that theres gonna be a rock show tonight, i agreed to come. I asked Gulati who agreed to come along to.

I have no clue where vishwavidyalaya polo ground is, so metro is the obvious choice. I wonder, how the trains manage to accelerate at the same rate with the coaches jam packed. Jam packed as in JAM PACKED, no place to breath even. And still statistics claim that it has not helped reduce traffic.

We reached or station and came out, not knowing where to go. Dhruv told us to reach polo ground. We headed in the direction where the lot of college girls were heading to or coming from, it made sense to do so. Polo grounds were nowhere in sight, so we asked a rikshawala, who told us it is a good 3 kms away.

The whole thing is a 3 day event that is a part of I love Delhi campaign that is to span a good 50 days, today was the first day, and it was not bad, but not very good either. There were plenty of hooligans at the venue too, all DU crowd i suppose(no offense to DU, im myself a du student theoretically). When we reached there was a fashion show contest going on. It was put up by DU students only.

And believe me there were some really hot girls walking the ramp. Who is interested in fashion?, when u set the trends around yourself, but the outfits those girls were wearing, kept me, gulati, raghav and dhruv hooked on near the stage. I surely wasnt feeling cold watching the show, but im sure those girls must be shivering.(dont ask for pics , cause i was too busy watching besides the glare of the lights was too much for my camera phone)

MTV VJ Anusha Dandekar, who couldn't stop talking about her movie with John Abraham, was there to adjudicate the show. I dont remember who won, i think Maitreyi college, KMC and one more.

There was an RJ hunt also going on, by fever 104 FM. One of the contestants said somethings like, ..... "Hello i am NITIN, and u are llistening to .... NITIN!!! I am going to play some tracks that are really going to make all u very lovely delhites out there veryy.... uh... very... uh....... HAPPY!!!"

The best part was the rock show, there were three bands, Them Clones, Parikrama, and Prestronica(sorry for wrong spellings). They really played some head banging stuff. Food was not very good, but the chicken kathi roll was palatable. Overall, an event worth going to, considering it would get better as it progresses.

cheers.

I would like to buy a hamburger!

2006-12-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

I bet u came here to have a gud laugh, well trust me and check out
this video.
(allow buffering to complete and see it at one go). Just try not to laugh.

120 and going

2006-12-18T00:23:00.000-08:00

Im glad people signing the guest book have liked my blog...especially people in punjab. The counter crossed 150 today and I had atleast 70 visitors today! Thanx 2 everyone, im very humbled.

Alack a day

2006-12-17T23:58:00.000-08:00

Ive never driven so much as i did yesterday.
It all began when rohan called me up at 12.30 to come to sri fort sports complex. Well, a sunny sunday, driver's day off, who would mind driving down the ring road. But i had spoken 2 soon. Just when i was about 2 leave, i had my brother, the homie from detroit, convince mom to tell me to take him to harinagar to ick up some stuff fro his robot he is making to compete in Techfest-iit bombay. I drove like crazy must have looked like a street racer out of nfs, and finally after dropping homie home, i set off for sri fort.

So much for the sunny sunday drive, maddening traffic- even on a sunday-with ind vd RSA test about 2 start, with india standing a chance!. On reaching, i found rohan, dhruv, pankaj , prateek and akash already there, amidst some discussion. We decided to go to aiims, to play, where there were no real membership hassles(atleast thats what rohan said).

We were six people in 3 cars, me and dhruv in my car, rohan and prateek in rohan's, pankaj and akash in pankaj's. It was quite a sight to watch as a convoy of 3 cars entered aiims, greeted with stares all around. We made our way to the sports area, and met a huge locked white gate. We risked parking in a tow away zone, and wondered what next. A staff guy told us we had to go from the other gate. But who wants to go back all the way, so(rohan's idea again) we climbed on the gate and jumped on the other side. When four of us were through, with me and prateek still perched on top, a security guard, came charging at us, hurling all sorts of adjectives. We tried to give him a slip by telling him that we were aiims students, when he caught us completely off-guard. He said that no way we looked like students, leave alone aiims students.

I looked around and saw what he meant. We were in sweatshirts, untucked shirts underneath,
low rise jeans,unrily hairstyles, arriving in tandem in hondas and hyundais. After another session of discussion, we set off for south extension webworld(rohan's idea), and on the way i saw few aiims students, neatly dressed, in crisp shirts, few books in hand, and walking with confidence, cool.

After all the parking hassles, we were all hungry, and to save time we decided to eat at java green to save time(rohan's idea again) , but what the hell, they had so little to offer. More confusion, ,more ideas, and we landed at mc D, ate and went back to webworld, where the server was down. (curse the server!)

The same convoy came out of south ex, this time headed for GK, where thankfully there werent much parking probles, and we ended up playing pool till evening. I drove back home, dropping dhruv on the way back.

Birthday

2006-12-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday SHALU!

(seems like everyone is gonna have a hard time convincing u to get married lol!)
oh my i realise its past 12 now, her bday was yesterday, the15th dec, technically speaking.

Brainwashed

2006-12-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

If u see me these days, u'd b lookin at a seemingly lost, zombie -eyed, apparently underslept guy, who doesn't even seem to have eaten anything for breakfast. Well, the thing is ive somehow gone on a GAMING SPREE. What i mean to say is i sleep earliest by 2.30 am, get up earliest by 11.30 am and what do i do the whole day... by jove gaming! I dont usually know what time is it or what day is it, seems im junking myself out pretty well. Well not being very egotist, lemme write about what playing on my gadgets.

1. Need for speed most wanted black edition- PC game

(MIA is so hot !)

2. Counter strike condition zero- as always, evergreen.

3. Grand theft auto liberty city stories (40% complete)- on my sony PSP.

4. accompanied by an increase in visits to webworld.

Believe me those heavy duty games all at once is actually 2 much, im not complaining though, im addicted.
Something about GTA LIBERTY CITY STORIES, the psp game, is especially a pleasure to complete. GTA is an old game now, but liberty city is new to me, ive played san andreas and vice city before. PLaying on a PSP is entirely a different experience, it is the sweetest gadget i ever had.

Liberty city has got a lot of indian things in it. For eg.- the radio station -RADIO DEL MUNDO. It is hosted by a guy in the game who has got and indian english accent and calls himself PANJEED GAVASKAR. A really funny guy. There are SOUTH INDIAN , ARABIC, HINDI, and songs related to HINDU RELIGION being played on it. Asha bhosle's DUM MARO DUM is one of them, RAGHUPATI RAGHAV RAJA RAM, is another. cool eh?

Some of the onle liners Gavaskar uses are-
-"sometimes i like to play percussive tune on the bellies of pregnant women.... and sometimes i dont."
-"it is like a goddess with three breasts!"
-(after dum maro dum song) "That is the music! not all music has to be played with guitars, and drug addicts with an unhealthy habit of molesting girls on the back seat of a car. Music is that which makes u dance in the rain, makes u take ur clothes of, and remember the erotic shrines we built...."
- "Wah! hare Wah!"

And whats more there are even sikh gentlemen driving the taxis in Liberty City.
The game is all about how Tony Capriani fights to get liberty city under the control of the Leone's gang, working under his boss Salvatore Leone. Its got 3 islands to it. Excellent graphics and gameplay experience.. well it keeps me awake till 4.30 sometimes! (shit man , i need to get a hold of myself)

Any ways, so far so good, its holidays yaar.. kee farak painda.

"Out of my Comfort Zone" an autobiography Stephen Roger Waugh (Steve Waugh)

2006-12-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

Well, no, i have not developed the habit of reading every tom dick and harry's autobiography. I have realised many people are not aware of the real name of he all time great STEVE WAUGH; it is Stephen Roger Waugh.

It is indeed a fulfilling experience to lay hands on this manuscript, atleast for all 'crickety' people. Though not through with it, i have completed a major section of this heavily bound, 800-odd page book. It has got a lovely texture, clear printing, interspersed with lovely, heart-warming photographs from the life of steve waugh. He has written about his life with astonishing ease and fluidity- as a sibling to mark waugh, as a schoolboy, a teenager, an amateur footballer to an aspiring cricketer, a struggling newbie to the captain of Australia and even his ugly experiences with the political and pecuniary aspects of the game , to which an average spectator is oblivious. Scandals, clouds of doubt, injuries, hostile players, calamities, politics, thick and thin- this man has been through it all. And all his experiences good and bad seem to blend and reflect in his serene,ocean like face, with slight wave like wrinkles, as he carries a light smile on his lips and looks at you with those squinting eyes wearing the famous "baggy green" aussie cap.

Going through the autobiography, one not only knows this man better, but learns a lot about life from his anecdotes of greatness- both on and aff the field as a family man. His family comprises of his wife, who has been a pillar of support, and his two daughters and a son.

Waugh seems to have a lot to do with India. Ofcourse, for the australian team, touring to india has been tough, with the heat, humidity, inhospitability, spicy food which often made them end up in bed with upset stomachs. Despite these trifling issues, aussies really know how to enjoy themselves. The photographs show them in rajasthan bangalore delhi and other cities, taking elephant rides, watching snake charmers, climbing coconut trees, visiting beaches, haridwar-the banks of the Ganges and even villages. The humility of steve waugh is reflected by the way he captures innocent street children in their candid moods, dhobi ghats, fishermen at work and even beggars, with his camera. Again i must compliment his collection of photographs.

Humility is something which sets the final stamp of 'greatness' in any high achiever. And this very quality is jam packed in steve waugh. He describes his experience on meeting Mother Teresa and working with "Udayan"- a rehabilitation home for children with parents suffering with leprosy.Waugh played an active role in making udayan start including girls as well.

Overall, a fantastically written book, with amazing use of words and full of incidents to learn from. 100% reccomended for anyone who has even a slightest to do with cricket.
cheers

Stay a strong unit, and enjoy each other's success
Play each game as if it's the most important of your carear
Dont hesitate, always back yourself
Never believe the game is lost
Aim to be the man of the match every time you play
Improvise, think on your feet
Learn something from every match
Do little things right and the big picture will fall into place
Enjoy the fact that you are representing your country-have pride
The best fielding side nearly always wins
Know your game and what your goal is
Have fun-have a laugh

-Steve Waugh to his one day team when he was made the captain
(the last one is the best isn't it?)

cheers

Ganguly Returns

2006-12-07T08:49:00.000-08:00

Dada is back in the indian squad for the India vs RSA test series, (and so is super selector) . Everyone knew in the back of their minds that sourav would be back sooner or later, but the news channels seem to be jumping up and down (as usual) as if india has already won the world cup.
Not to name any , i saw today in the news the news channels were already telecasting their "Khaas Karyakrams" or a special program devoted to ganguly's 83 in a warm up game.

Awwww c'mon guys it is only a warm up game and the opponents were not Republic of South Africa but Rest of South Africa. Not mentioning pathan's knock of 111*, these news guys have one correspondent at sourav's house in kolkata, one in delhi, one in bombay, one in hyderabad (none in south africa), one in the news center, all clutching their mikes in the small area of the screen devoted to each of them as if they are reporting an indo pak war. And then we have another guy who has got a teenager with him (who seemingly knows as much about cricket as a louse about coughing), who shouts in the mike,"Yeh Chappel ke mooh par hi thappad nahin, par poore BCCI ke mooh par thappad hai!!!!" Wah! Wah!.
One can imagine what the "Khaas Karyakrams" will be like if Ganguly fails to score in a match--
What happened to DAda's Vaada?
Daada ki scoring me bhaada!
or
Kya hua sourav ko?
or something like
Dada ki innings ekdum Saada!

cheers

Home of the Brave

2006-12-07T08:05:00.000-08:00

My favorite rapper, Curtis James Jackson , popularly known as 50 cent, is starring in the movie
Home of the Brave. The cast includes Jessica biel, Samuel Jackson and Christina Ricci ooohh lal la!. It is R rated, well thats quite understood, whenever there's fifty in the house, things hafta be R rated. Way to go homie!!

Manufacturing Practical

2006-12-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

Well it was today.

The last theory paper was manufacturing and i had screwed my head studying and still it is pass-fail for me. The times have been tough for me lately.

But anyways, i reached the nsit central workshop at 12:30, to discover my batch's practical was scheduled for 2 pm. I loitered around and found yash sitting at nescafe. He was carrying a load of ED(engineering drawing) sheets, gotta know that the poor fellow had just recovered from dengue and hadn't been able 2 attend the ed exam, and had taken a special slot from AVM sir for today morn.

I found some guys from who had just come out after their manufacturing pracs. I got all info about the viva ques. and the attitude of the external examiner. I realised i shud have studied. I spent the next 1 hour trying to recollect all the theory i had studied a few days back, but im sure i went into the my practical prepared no better than what i was in the morning.

The break up--- 40marks for ur job and workpiece+30 external viva+10+20 internal assessment.
I went up to the main desk picked up a chit--- "fitting shop". Fair enough. I knew i cud handle fitting shop. The other options were welding , sheet metal and machine shop.

The problem statement was to shape a given trapezoidal scrap of rusted metal into a square 48mmX48mm with corners rounded off to quarter-circles of radii 10mm. Not something we had done before, but i think i managed it pretty well. In the middle came my turn for viva heres how it went---
The examiner turned out to be a stern looking gentleman, clad in a safari suit, and with an air of being "Mr. Know-It-All".
VIVA:
Examiner:how was ur theory paper
me:(sir i screwed it). Sir it was not i what i had expected.
examiner:why?? what was wrong with it.
me:(i knew nothing)sir it was more of application based, rather the book i had studied did not cover many ques.
ex:1 book padoge to yahi hoga. shud refer to all the books on a subect. having ample knowledge is the basic pre requisite for engineering.And this is manufacturing engineering, you have to be aware of everything, every part of every machine, every tool!!! This is not computer engineering, where u sit in a a lab with air conditioned comfort and get many tries to get a silly program running!!! That is the problem with u guys, u ppl take MP so lightly, you dont get a second chance with your workpiece here!!!.
And am sure ur paper was not out of course.. this is NSIT, of Delhi University, Learn to respect what u r taught... bow bow!!!.. blah..there is.. ..growl!!... qualified faculty... bark bark!!....good engineer!!.. balh blah .. blah.. we are fools here?.. balle balle!!..........library has all course material.......oye hoye!!..snarl!!!.... blah blha blah blah..... is that understood??
me:?
ex:IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?
me:yes sir!!!
ex:What is the flux used in brazing??
me:sir?
ex:what is the flux used in brazing!!!??????
me:sir!!!... sir.. borax sir.
ex:what is the formula of borax
me:(sweating now):sir ithink B2O3.
ex:B2O3!!!!!! that is not borax. Borax is Na2B4O92ekjbq3k3jbblah blah!!!!!
me:oh sorry sir i think i got confused b/w borax and boron oxide.
ex:B2O3 is not boron oxide!!!.. it is boric anhydride
me:(why the fuck do i open my big fat mouth!!):oh umm mumble
ex:(picking up a double barrelled shotgun):What is this???
me:Sir a oxygen cutting torch.
ex:wats the diff b/w welding torch and oxygen cutting torch?
me: Sir the nozzle of welding is a common nozle for acetylene and oxygen whereas a cutting nozzle has a central nozzle for mix of oxygen and acetylene, surrounded by small holes for a gas to heat the metal .
ex:(pointing to a machine)hmm. What is that machine, that machine and that one??
me: Sir radial drilling machine , vertical milling machine and HMT Vikram's Centre Lathe machine.
ex:what is the use of an alternator in welding.
me:??
ex: u dont know alternator??
me:(how in the blue hell should i know?) Sir for generating AC
ex:Dont act smart!!. NSIT me hoke bhi alternator nahin pata, pitiable!!!! (Arrey, were the uses of the alternator written in my admission slip? Did i miss it?)
ex:what is the flux used in soldering???
me: sir ROSIE!!!
EX:it is ROSIN!!!
me:(why do i open my big fat mouth?)
ex:what is TIGW??
me:sir tungsten inert gas welding,,,,, explain....
ex: I know that!!!
ex:what is herf?
me:sir a small hole of uniform diameter created when gas cutting is initiated
ex:THAT IS KERF!!!!..H.E.R.F is high energyr ..lah blah.frequency..blah blah!
me:oh!
I cant remember more, i was just glad 2 get back to my workpiece.

Im sure i wont get more than 10 in viva. But the workpiece i made was a spectacle to watch. It shone like silver, and ended up having beautiful curves.
After 3 hrs of filing, inhaling iron filings, chalking, punching, measuring and all covered with chalk and iron filings and rust, i came out in the open air...... free from manufacturing aaaahhh!!.

i spent some time at nescafe, eating chocolate muffins with soup, listening to old song the nescafewala had put, to clear up my senses. and left. Here is a pic of my workpiece shining under the tube light.

cheers

The Royal Enfield Thunderbird

2006-12-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

This beauty of a beast is something which i own, and i can say that very proudly. It is one of the very few things in my life which gives me feeling of being peerless. It is a gift from my dear old grandpa and my dear old dad, whom im very indebted to.

Specifications(for the techies)
engine:4 stroke,air cooled,single cylinder,349 cc
bhp:18.5 bhp @ 5500rpm
torque:27.5nm @ 3500rpm
weight:163 kg
pleasure of riding: infinity per sec

For the non techies, who for some reason i find the most approachable ppl in this planet, this bike is very different from the regular bikes u find in the indian market, of manufacturers like hero honda, bajaj, tvs etc etc. Giving due respect to these manufacturers, these 2 wheelers have been targeted at the regular commuters by bikes, like office goers who look for things like mileage, lightness, price etc in a bike, and very rightly so. Thunderbird is a whopping 350cc bike, compared to the regular commuter's 100-200 cc. Royal enfield bikes are bikes for riders, those who ride in style, for the sheer pleasure of riding a huge monster, which thumps as u ride it, making your chest swell up with pride. The legacy of royal enfield is well accepted amongst all bikers. Thunder bird is the latest cruiser by RE(royal Enfield) It has got an orgasmic engine noise, ice cool stability at high speeds, it is a high speed bike basically. I ride it inly for long trips, and i get off, feeling like Arnold schwarzennegger. It is an ideal vehicle for the road to inner peace" . This bike won the 'Best Cruiser Award" from BBC Wheels.
The first pic is of my black TB.

"Posting for the first time" blues

2006-12-02T11:13:00.000-08:00

Dear earthlings,
I have never had a blog of my own, though ive been part of many , coz, ive always thought whats in a blog, its so easy 2 make, like dear old blogspot claims "HOW TO CREATE A BLOG IN 3 STEPS".
Ahh well, here's the reality.

How to start ur blog in fifty one steps!!!
1. Find a free blogging service, such as www.blogger.com

2. Register a catchy yet philosophically deep name for your new blog: "lifesucks"; "All Things Me"; "Lifehacker"; "Playing With Matches"; "The Internet Slacker", "I Stalk David Hasselhoff".

3. Consider one of the many pre-made website templates offered by the blogging service, or one created by you.

4. Turn your nose up in disgust at the thought of using a pre-made template for your blog.

5. Spend the next seventeen hours creating a functioning website from scratch. If using Microsoft FrontPage^TM, relocate all children and elders to a safe area out of your "profanity zone".

6. Complete your self-made blog template by clicking on the "Publish Website" command in Microsoft FrontPage^TM.

7. Watch in shock as the aforementioned seventeen hours of hard work gets permanently deleted off your hard drive by Microsoft FrontPage^TM.

8. Swear so loudly all dogs within a five block radius begin running in circles and howling.

9. Declare "Screw It" and choose from a pre-made template. Always choose one with lots of kittens and flashing animated gifs.

10. Make sure the template is ready for your first blog entry. You can do this by going to your new blog's URL address and seeing if the page loads properly. It will have no posts yet, of course, as you have not actually written your first blog entry. (If you do see a post written by yourself at this specific moment in time, read it! You've traveled back in time to warn yourself about the "Publish Website" command in Microsoft FrontPage^TM).

11. Click on the "Create Post" selection. The window will reload with a box for you to type text in.

12. Put fingers to keyboard in preparation to type your first blog entry.

13. Realize in horror that you have absolutely no idea what you're going to write about.

14. And you've got a whole blog ahead of you.

15. Stand up and get an alcoholic beverage to calm you.

16. Pace back and forth while racking your brain for a great post.

17. Cast resentful looks at your computer monitor while drinking the alcoholic beverage.

18. Come up with a touching yet funny childhood memory you can write about, like when you and all the other fat kids in the neighborhood used to take down the ice cream man not unlike a pack of lions ravaging a wounded gazelle.

19. Or, make your first post about how much you love pets. Remark on the fact that you let your pet pit bull out of the house every night to get some freedom and exercise even though the sirens from the ambulances tearing through your neighborhood constantly interrupt your sleep.

20. Or, make a heartfelt confession about how guilty you feel that you could never be a vegetarian because you salivate every time a nature documentary appears on the television.

21. Sit back down at your computer desk with your great idea.

22. Complete your first post.

23. Experience a fleeting sense of satisfaction that you now have a blog with an actual entry, even though it details your sexual attraction to Yoda.

24. Immediately phone all your friends and family to tell them the URL. Remind your grandmother that 'stiffwoodysdiary' in your blog's address is spelled "all one word".

25. Reload your blog incessantly every two minutes to see if anyone has made a comment.

26. Become enraged when the very first comment made on your very first blog entry is "yuo are teh sUxx0r!" from Anonymous

27. Go outdoors to calm down and get some fresh air, since you've spent twenty-two hours now working on your blog.

28. Tell every person you encounter - jogger, police officer, frantic paramedic - your blog's URL.

29. Head back home when an idea for a blog entry comes to mind, such as the rudeness of paramedics who can't be bothered to talk about your blog because they are busy helping some whiner with pitbull bite wounds on his throat.

30. When back at your computer, immediately refresh your blog's page to see if any more comments were made while you were gone.

31. Grip the edge of your computer desk when the second comment reads "I said yuo are teh sUxx0r!" by Anonymous

32. Click on the "make new post" button on your blog.

33. Realize with horror you've totally forgotten the good writing idea.

34. Stand up and get another drink.

35. Sit back down at your computer desk.

36. Write your second post: how people who make dumb comments on blogs should be strung up by their genitals with barbed wire.

37. Complete the second post.

38. Stand up and get a third drink to calm you down from the blogging experience.

39. Watch TV while thinking you shouldn't watch so much television since experiencing life would probably make for a blog that's actually interesting to read. By going out more, you'll be able to continue to spread the address of your blog to bemused strangers, too.

40. Accept phone call from your grandmother asking you to change 'stiffwoody' in your blog's name to something more polite.

41. Refuse and hang up phone.

42. On the way back to the television, refresh your blog's page again to see if there are any more comments.

43. Experience relief when third comment is a non-abusive one. Become incredibly depressed when you discover it is written by a fellow blogger asking if you ever fantasize about wearing lederhosen while flailing midgets with kielbasa sausage, and if you'd like to meet up with him for same.

44. Stand up and get a much larger, stronger drink.

45. Consider making your third post. Repeat verbal declaration made in step #9, forget blogging for now, go to bed.

46. Just before you fall asleep, realize with horror you'll need to repeat steps #11 to #45 daily to keep your bragging rights about owning a blog (which, ironically, nobody reads).

47. Slip into an uneasy nightmare about being forced to type the word "sUxx0r" on a flaming keyboard while chained to Jabba the Hutt, who keeps demanding "More! More! Jakatooie Blogga Dooie! More!!!"

48. Wake up in the morning. Scream.

49. Read the new comments posted on your blog. Scream again.

50. Repeat for the rest of your life.

51. Welcome To Blogging!

cheers!

cheers!!