Wonder Years..Indeed those were!!

It happened that night..

2008-08-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

"Life is shit.Out of the plethora of things that i could have done as a software engineer, why did i have to get something which has never been done before in my organization? No one to bail me out of this situation. Boy it's so fucked up. I must have done some terrible sins in my previous life to get such a himalayan task." And it went on and on. If any of you guys haven't been able to get a clue as to what i am talking about, be patient as i would explain in detail.I am working on a BI tool called Cognos, which is the most happening thing in the BI market. Indeed it is a very exciting tool with lots of amazing features. And don't for one second get the impression that i don't love working on Cognos. Life seems so perfect when i keep on getting results with this tool. But the problem arises when sometimes you get stuck. It is that time when you truly understand the meaning of the age-old saying "Life is not a bed of roses".Since our team is the first one to work on this tool, we have been assigned the task of mastering this tool. And so it often happens that when things go wrong ,we spend sleepless nights trying to figure out the problem,in absence of any help. And believe me if anyone ever had the experience of working on something which no one has ever done in the organization, he can better understand my situation(Of course both the excitement and getting mad part). Ok enough of Cognos fundae,let's return to that night.It so happened that i was stuck on what seemed a very simple user requirement, for the past three nights.Every night i was trying everything possible to crack this nut.But this one seemed really tough.I was going completely crazy.To add on to that i had got the deadline from the end-users, which unfortunately was the very next day.Believe me no one would have wanted to be in my shoes at that moment.I was depressed and frustration was clearly written all over my face.I was cursing everything that the Almighty ever created. Believe me the situation was real bad. But then i tried to calm myself down and decided to go out for a small tea-break . And then it happened. And i am so glad it happened.

I was still quite pissed with the entire situation and was shaking head violently to show my frustration.And then she saw me.Kate saw me.I was actually surprised to see her that late in the office.She too seemed to be stuck in some problem and she was just concentration personified.I could see the determination in those dark eyes.I stopped for a moment and started observing her from some distance.I was so lost in her that i completely lost track of the time.She looked so beautiful and captivating. The mere sight of this heavenly beauty seemed to have erased all my frustrations.I thought of quickly moving out before she got suspicious.But it was as if she had hypnotised me that i stood my ground and kept on staring her.I could see that she was herself trying very hard to solve some problem.Often she would get very excited at the prospect of finally successfully solving the outstanding issue. The optimism and anticipation in her eyes would quickly convert into dejection, but soon she would recover and go for the kill again.And every time she seemed more determined than ever before. As if she was saying ,"Bring it on.I am game for you".It was getting more interesting and riskier by the minute.But she was too focussed to notice anything else around her and i was just too much involved in this entire scenario to leave it at the climax.I saw her making so many attempts after that.Forty five minutes later,she had finally achieved and her persistence had finally paid off.With a thump in the air,she rejoiced as if she had won the World Cup. Suddenly she was laughing and humming some catchy tune.It was so much fun watching her.But then suddenly she turned around and saw me.I was caught red-handed staring at her.She shot mysterious looks at me.I thought that i was as good as gone. Oh shit,my angel would think of such horrendous things about me. Shit she would think that i am a stalker.I for once wished that the earth may crack wide open and take me in to save this embarrassment.I was cursing myself like anything, when she looked at me and gestured to find out what exactly was i doing ? I gestured back that i myself had no idea about that. She just laughed and all of a sudden the world again seemed a better place to live in.Though i was enjoying this light situation,i was cursing myself internally and wanted to quickly run out of the place.Before i turned around, our eyes met and remained glued to each other for quite some time.Though we didn't utter a word,our eyes did most of the talking.I was in seventh heaven now and then she smiled,lowered her eyes and looked with those passionate eyes again.I realised that all of a sudden i was feeling extremely rejuvenated.Though i wanted to stand there forever, the unexpected appearence of the watchman forced me to quickly return back to my seat.

As i sat on my chair,alone,i pondered over the sequence of events that ensued in the last one hour.I thought over what happened and why all of a sudden i was feeling so happy about myself,when i was so fucking frustrated an hour back.Without a word being spoken,she taught me something that i probably wouldn't have learnt that easily.One should enjoy every challenge in life.I know it sometimes gets really frustrating, but only when a person has seen the darkness of the night can he appreciate the light of the day.She taught me to give your 110% to everything you ever venture into and not to give up till you have finally achieved the goal.

And that was it.That night i kept braving all the odds and persisted to crack the problem deep into the night,till i finally succeeded and believe me there is no feeling than the feeling of having overcome all obstacles to achieve your cherished goal.That night i got to sleep very less , but it was so very peaceful. And rest assured i thought of my angel every passing second.Really something great happened that night!!

PS: Her real name is not Kate :).

Is it the end if NITTism?

2008-08-26T01:43:00.000-07:00

"The outside state quota in all the engineering colleges under AIEEE would be filled on the basis of All India Ranks, rather than the state quotas from this year..".I still vividly remember seeing this piece of article a couple of months back in a newspaper and soon after that i was lost in the pros and cons of this critical decision.Being an ex-student of NITT, i started thinking about the effect of this move on NIT's in general.

Nostalgia gripped me and took me deep down the memory lane to my school days when i was slogging day and night to get into NITT - my eternal dream ( I never seriously tried for IIT's).Since my brother had already gone through the AIEEE route,i had a fairly good idea about the admision trend in various colleges and the rank one needs to get there.It was heart-breaking to see students from some states with much inferior ranks easily getting the best colleges , while guys from states like Andhra,Rajasthan,Jharkhand,Bihar etc. settling for much inferior colleges and much inferior branches inspite of having much-much better ranks than guys from these more privileged states. Believe me it used to hurt a great deal!! It was such an irony to see that a Mech guy from Andhra was having better rank than most of the Computer Science guys of these states.I used to feel sorry for that guy!! I even had a dislike for the system because they would be allowing NRI's through the DASSA quota, even though they were less deserving because they never went through the struggle of cracking one of the most competitive exams of India. So, reverting back to the moment when i saw the above mentioned news article , tears of happiness rolled down my eyes. Justice and respect for merit at last,i thought.

Then i thought a little more about this decision and how would this influence my alma-mater. First thing that came to my mind is that the academic standards of NITT would increase by leaps and bounds. NITT would be flooded with nerds( Just kidding!!). Finally NITT would start to challenge IIT's more consistently.This new batch would take NITT to the zenith of success. I felt so good to think that the future of our NITT is in bright hands. Inspite of that i had a hollow feeling inside. I kept on pondering further before the answer struck me.

"NITT is like a mini-India" .We NITTians take pride in the unity in diversity as part of our NITT culture.It's amazing how individuals from every nook and corner of the country converge to this temple of education and become friends forever , cutting across all the barriers of caste,creed,religion,region etc.The best part in NITT apart from the education is the plethora of people,cultures and customs that one comes across.I personally from my stay in NITT feel that i know India better know than i could have ever known without this enriching experience called "NITT". It is the diversity that adds colours to NITT's culture. And with this new mode of selection that diversity would surely take a beating.From my experience in the engineering field and the trends over the past few years, i am pretty sure that many states would get wiped off from the scene and NITT would never be the same again.It hurts for me to envision such a NITT.

Apart from this aspect,this new mode of selection also misses one very crucial point.They have opened the doors for thousands of students of AIEEE factory who are being trained day-and-night by the top coaching institutes in cities.But what about the less-fortunate guys of the less-fortunate states who don't have access to such high-quality of education.The AIEEE board,i feel,haven't considered the non-uniformity of opportunities available across India.They are sadly mistaken to assume that the quality of education in the FITJEE's, NARAYANA's etc, in the big cities is the same as the insufficient technical education in the schools of Nagaland (Just a vague example).

I being a student and one who has already personally gone through both the sides of the coin , know how difficult it would have been for the AIEEE board to make such a tough decision. I don't know whether this is a right or wrong decison. All i can say is that this is a tricky decision!!

PS: These views are my perspective on the entire AIEEE scenario now. It is not aimed at any person or state in particular, it is just aimed at the system.

It still haunts me...

2008-07-23T05:10:00.000-07:00

The memories of that fateful night still haunt me.Thinking of that dark night still gives me nightmares.Even today i wake up in the dark of the night , terribly terrified, when i think of what happened that night.

I am not referring to an encounter with a ghost or the night before any college exam , where only a night out stands between you and failure, i am talking about what is known as The Death of NITT Dream. Every student who has ever stepped on NITT soil and has even a remote interest in sports dreams of winning the very prestigious RUBY CUP of NITT. I too dreamt of it ever since i first heard of it in the college. I made a good start to fulfilling my dream when my team reached the quarter-finals in second year before we were brutally defeated by our seniors. After giving a very disappointing performance in third year,we were all determined to give it one last try to live those moments of glory in final year.

I vowed to myself before the final year Ruby cup began that i will win this year's cup at any cost. I was at my best through-out the tournament. I gave some scintillating performances with both bat and ball to bail my team of many crisis situations. Our persistent efforts paid off as we reached the finals after toiling in for weeks.With our arch rivals too in the final,it had all the making of a grand final.I too knew that all my efforts would go in vain if i falter at the most crucial stage.I was geared up to rip the opposition apart with my toe-crushing yorkers.But it
was much tougher than it initially seemed.

We managed to make a paltry 59 in the allotted 20 overs because of the high-quality bowling of the opposition.The total would have been much lesser but i was able to pull together some late order partnerships after our famed top order had caved in.We did an excellent task of restricting them to 44-6 in 18 overs.We had managed to contain the opposition thanks to some spirited bowling and fielding by our team.With me and Pada,the greatest bowler to have stepped in NITT,each having one over things were pretty much under control.But then there was another twist to the tale.

Everyone was expecting that Pada would bowl the last over and let me bowl the penultimate over.But thanks to his nightmarish experience in Wisdom cup,where he was hit for a last bowl six to eliminate us from the tournament,he gave the himalayan task of bowling the last over to me. But i was still pretty cool with it because i was assuming that Pada,as economical a bowler we know him to be, would provide me with plenty of runs to defend in the final over. But as they say -Cricket is a game of surprises. And then we saw one.Pada bowled the worst six balls of his life conceding 13 runs and all of a sudden we were on the recieving end. When i was given the ball,everyone on and off the ground had given any hope of our victory. But i was determined to snatch my dream from the jaws of defeat.Let's see what happened next.

I sent a screeching yorker the first ball and the batsman could not even touch it. 5 balls to go with 2 runs to win.Their main batsman holed out in the next ball. It was getting extremely interesting by the minute. Another dot ball reduced the equation to 3 balls and 2 runs. Things turned in our favour as i took two successive wickets of the next two balls.I was totally exhausted because i was putting intense effort in each ball.But i couldn't have stopped here.I had to bowl one more ball before i could accomplish my college dream.I ran with every single bit of energy in my body and fired the perfect yorker. On seeing that the batsman could not manage to touch it,i fell to the ground thinking that it's over, i have finally snatched my dream from the jaws of defeat. But then the unexpected happened.The batsman ran even though the ball was in keeper's hand.Adverse situations often hamper your ability to think.The keeper for some inexplicable reason did not hit the stumps on his end and threw the ball in my direction, much to my shock.And the fielder who was supposed to backup the throws from the keeper made a complete mess of what was a simple run-out at the non-striker's end.And before we could realise we had lost the match,we had trampled our cherished dream beneath our own feet.The final year juntaa who had already started celebrating as soon as i bowled the ball,suddenly turned silent.The players on the field just watched each other shocked.I too blacked out for some time.Then i slowly regained myself and headed towards the loneliest part of my hostel terrace where i stayed through-out the night thinking about what happened on the field but my mind didn't seem to work.All i could feel that time was a flood of emotions in my heart and the painful tears in my eyes.I lay there whole night feeling so frightened.I tried to calm myself and sleep but the painful memories kept haunting me throughout the night.

A lot of time has passed since that dark night.My friends still regard my final over performance as one of the best bowling spells in Ruby cup.Victory or defeat is a part of the game,they say.I try to think rationally about the whole night.But soon it turns out to be a nightmare.I keep thinking what if i had bowled the batsman out or what if i had mustered the last bit of energy in my body and jumped to stop the wayward throw of the keeper? My mind is flooded with millions of "what if" questions.It still haunts me....

The Big Question ?

2008-06-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

Rahul and Chitra joined the same company last year. They started as complete strangers,but very soon they became very close friends. With every passing day their bond became stronger and stronger. Every night they would talk for hours and hours. Chitra would confide everything to Rahul everyday - the fight she had with one of her friends, how her boss was rude to her and what not. And Rahul would always try to cheer her up and solve every trivial problem of her. Despite their busy schedules, they would make it a point to meet everyday. On days when Chitra wouldn't show Rahul would become really upset. He would keep on thinking about her day and night. He would go to sleep thinking about her and would wake up the next morning hoping to see her again.

Rahul was going crazy now. He had no clue what was happening to him. Why was he thinking of Chitra day and night? Why would he stare at his cell for hours and pray that she would be calling him soon? Why would he search for her face in every girl that he watched? He tried thinking rationally about it. But he couldn't arrive at a logical conclusion. He was totally lost now. For weeks he kept on thinking about the same question. One night when he was walking all alone in the deserted streets of the city, something occured to him. Was he in love? Had he fallen for his best friend? Initially he tried to shoo the question away from his head . But it just kept on coming back. Was that remotely possible? He kept on denying it with every possible logic that he could invent. He closed his eyes and the only image he saw for the next hour was that of Chitra and her mesmerising beauty. He realised it was indeed true. He had fallen for her and he couldn't deny it any further.

He was so excited about the turn of events the last night. He wanted to share every bit of information with Chitra , like they always did. He wanted to confess his true love for her. He wanted them to be more than just friends. Over the next week he met her several times. He had spent so much time with her as a friend in the past one year. He imagined what it would be like hang around as lovebirds. The very thought of them being together infused immense happiness in his life. Chitra was perplexed to see this pleasant change in him and was quite curious to know the reason behind it. She even teased him saying that probably he had found his girl and would keep on bugging him to reveal her name, but every time he would shyly just deny it. He wanted her to know that indeed i have the found the love of my life and its none other than you. But somehow he was refraining from letting his dream girl know the sea of love that he had inside for her. Every morning he would wake up and prepare himself mentally to tell her his feelings . But somehow he was refraining from taking the final step. He was totally lost again. Why was he not revealing the truth to Chitra? After days of soul-searching he had found the truth and now he was running away from it? Why - this is the question that kept on playing in his head for the next one week.

One night when he was all alone on the terrace he tried to visualise the whole situation. Next morning he would go and propose her and then there would be no looking back. They would be so happy together and they would never fight with each other because they knew each other inside out. He felt so relieved to think about it and thoroughly planned for the next morning. When he was about to leave, he felt as if someone had knocked from inside.He wondered what was going on. Then it occured to him what if she rejects him? What if she just wanted him to be his best friend - nothing more , nothing less? And then he realised that it doesn't end here - things might get still worse. Would they ever be the kind of friends they used to be ? She had shared everything with him including her crush for guys and lots of other intimate stuff with him over the years. But wouldn't his proposal change the equation between them . He tried to rationalise with himself that it won't affect their friendship but deep down he knew that things will change. Now he was staring straight at a very critical question. Should he take the risk and confess his true love for the girl of his dreams or should he keep his emotions to himself and enjoy their true friendship forever ? He thought,thought and thought about his decision for the next few days.He re-lived the amazing moments which they had shared with each other.He remembered how their friendship was the "envy of the masses" and how much it meant to both of them.He perfectly weighted his decision and finally came to a conclusion. Their friendship meant more to him than anything else in the world and he was not going to risk it for any thing . And that was it. He gave up his love for his friendship. Every know and then he wonders what would it have been like had he taken the other route , but then whenever he sees the sweet smiling face of Chitra and how happy her friendship makes him , he just thanks god that they are still together and he forgets everything else.

Sounds familiar?? Indeed it is. People might have different opinions about this scenario.

Some might say that Rahul was stupid to keep his feelings of love to himself. But guys his gain was much less than what he could have lost.

Some on the other hand might say that he did the right thing by keeping his love to himself and saving his friendship. But then you have to give love a chance.

Which stand is right?? It is a debatable question. It's indeed the BIG QUESTION!!

My best college birthday - The funny part!!

2008-04-15T23:34:00.000-07:00

I had a gut feeling that this last birthday would be a bit different,but i must confess that my friends exceeded my expectations beyond imagination.My friends had brought a cake to celebrate my last birthday in the college.But this cake was a bit different.Normally a cake has only the name of the birthday boy,but this cake was different.It had the name of my long-time crush along with my name.Ok to make matters simple and to maintain that diva's anonymity,hereafter she would be referred to as 'Cleo'.My sixth sense was telling me that my friends are gearing up for something big later in the night.I was asked to cut the cake and the first piece was smeared all over my face.The 'Cleo' portion of the cake was carefully carved out of the cake and handed over to me.I too made it a point to thoroughly enjoy 'Cleo',metaphorically of course.For a moment i visualised that the cake piece was indeed 'Cleo' and accordingly i worked through the beauty of Cleo before finally letting it go inside me.More cake smearing followed and everything looked so perfect.I was having the time of my life with my friends.If anything was ever perfect,it was that divine moment with my friends.But what was i to know that my friends had more tricks up their sleeve.Seeing the expression on their faces,i promptly realised that the night was far from over.My heart skipped a beat and i was just dumb-founded to hear the question that followed next.My friends,led by the mastermind Dada,asked me to call 'Cleo' and ask her out for my birthday treat.I was totally shocked.Initially i thought they were just joking.But soon my i was proven wrong when these guys called her.I was so shocked that i couldn't talk to her.This really pissed off my friends ,but they were not ready to let me go so easily.So they took my mob and called her.I tried to postpone the inevitable by telling that i need to clean myself up before the daring act.Thankfully they agreed to it.We all went to the toilet area where they allowed me to clean myself.But what was i to know that it was another trap.The guys kept on hitting me and shouted "fattu,fattu" to 'glorify' me.I kept evading them for sometime but i knew it can't be done for too long.These guys called 'Cleo' again and i refused to talk to her.But my friends were persistent.I finally agreed to talk to her,thinking that probably my friends aee just fooling around with me and in reality are making me talk to some other girl who is also part of this devilish plan.Here is how the conversation went:(In the background guys shouting "fattu,fattu"... and the mob is forcibly handed over to me)

Cleo:"Hello".

Shishir:"Who is this??"(I was thinking that probably the guys are fooling me,but on hearing the Cleo speak i immediately realised that it was indeed happening.I tried to escape but the guys closed the door and i was left with no option but to talk to her and end the embarrassing situation.)

Cleo:"Hello".

Shishir:"Hi Cleo.How are you?"

Cleo:"I am fine.Happy Birthday".

Shishir:"Thank you."

Cleo:"How are you??"

Shishir:"Not well actually.These guys are beating me like anything."

Cleo:"Ok i am tired now.I will talk to you in the morning."

Shishir:"Fine.No probs.Good night".

And this is how the ordeal finally got over.My friends kept on shouting "Treat,Treat" in the background to force me to ask her for a treat,but she thankfully ended the conversation much before that.But my friends were still not satisfied and told me to ask her out for a treat in the morning.I went all nicely dressed for her in the morning,but unfortunately she never turned up.I finally got a chance to talk to her minutes before the exam in the hall as she sits just before me.I had thought a lot about how i would approach her.But things rarely go the way as you plan them out.This is what i had thought i would say to her:

Proposed Algorithm:

Step1:Start by apologising for the embarassing incident yesterday and blame it all on the occasion where my friends got a bit naughty and did some crazy things.Ask for her forgiveness.

Step2:Remind her of a similar incident during the Compskee Photo session and try to relate these incidents and end embarrassment for both of us by confessing my long time crush for her and further adding that "A crush is just a crush,nothing more,nothing less" to cool her down.

Step3:Finally taking this oppurtunity to start afresh as friends.I,coupled with DK,had thought of a pretty 'filmi' approach for this.I would with one hand shake her hand to spark off our friendship and with the other hand in a flash pull out a chocolate from my back pocket and knowing that girls have a special liking for chocolates ,completely take the situation in control.

Step4:And finally ask her out to come for my treat to celebrate our new friendship and my birthday.

Step5:Live the rest of my life with the beautiful memories of that one special date with a special girl.

But here is what actually happened(in the exam hall):

Shishir:"Hi Cleo".

Cleo:"Hi Shishir".

Shishir:"Hey i am extremely sorry for whatever happened last night.Actually it was my birthday and my friends got a bit naughty and that's why it happened".

Cleo:"It's ok,i understand".

Shishir:"Please don't mind it".

Cleo:"It's ok.I understand such things generally happen in the college."

Shishir:"Thanks yaar".(A beautiful smile and she turns back,before i could make some inroads..).

And that is how my birthday chapter finally ended.I explained everything to my friends and they asked me to try again.But i had had enough of adventure and was not ready for any more.As i sit here and recall my last birthday,tears swell in my eyes.I will never forget the love shown by my friends and all the adventures that we did on that crazy night.(Lots of other crazy things happened that night..).I forgot all the pain that i went through that night,how i couldn't sleep for the next two days;all i know is that i would cherish those moments forever,till my last breath.

Most memorable college birthday!!

2008-04-15T23:04:00.000-07:00

Birthdays are a special occasion.It's one time of the year that you feel really wanted,loved and cared for.It's a great feeling to have your loved ones and friends gathered around you .But the celebration of birthdays varies drastically over time.While the basic idea remains more or less the same,but nothing can come close to the birthday celebrations during one's college life.Anyone who has had the privilege of college life,can very well tell you the difference.The pleasant mix of love and pain that a college birthday inflicts on you is unparalleled to any birthday experience you had ever before.I too want to share one such memorable experience that i had on my last college birthday on March 25.It was around 11:40 pm in the night and i was shivering with the thought of the things that were about to happen in the next forty-five minutes.Having already seen the b'day celebrations of my close friend DK the previous night,i had a pretty good idea of the things to expect in the next hour.As the dreaded clock ticked close to beginning of the next day,i started my preparations and counter-measures to nullify the shock value of the bashing that i was about to be showered with.I immediately dressed myself in the thickest of the jeans i possessed and patiently waited for the crowd.Then it happened.

The feared NITT juntaa started pouring from every nook and corner of the Garnet hostel.The mere sight of the NITT crowd sent shivers down my spipne.By 11:50 p.m. my friends had all gathered outside my room.I could see the hunger in their eyes.For once i realised how does the 'butchered' feel in the hands of the butcher,how the prey feels at the sight of the predator.We had a light session among the friends.We took some snaps of each other(obviously with me in the focus) and cracked some jokes to lighten up the atmosphere.But then with precision another group came running in and then it was back to the usual business.I,who was smiling and laughing till now,suddenly realised the gravity of the situation.I was virtually dragged to the Ghati Triangle of Death,the preferred butchering place of our wing.What was to follow was a bit comical,not for me,ofcourse!!My friends all started betting and finalising among themselves about how many bumps do i owe them.With mutual consent each one of them settled for the number 22(I was about touch the 22 year mark).I started doing all the mathematical jugglery in my mind.Considering a rough estimate of about 30 guys and an average bumps of 22,i was about to be kicked 660 times.For a moment i thought fainting would be a good option.Probably the NITT butchers would be a bit merciful to me seeing my condition.But i took the risk.As the clock ticked past 12,the show began.The prey of the previous day DK kickstarted the 'ceremony' with a solid slap on my ass.There was no looking back after that!!I was like the temple's bell.Anyone used to come and ring it violently till he was completely 'satisfied'.Enduring the ferocious attacks of most of the guys was pretty simple and with time it grew a bit comical.Once Dada and Mayank were slapping my butt (some might say spanking :) ) with sleepers and it was not paining at all.I started shouting ,"Hit me.Hit me" and everyone burst into laughter.But the laughter was short-lived because the 'bumps-professionals' were soon to arrive on the scene.The mere sight of 'Bamboo' sent shivers down my spine.And he surely lived upto the expectations.The three famous 'butt-hole kicks' that he bombarded on me left me screaming with shooting pain .To add on to that,Islee and Sarkar added fuel to the fire by hitting some of the wildest kicks in NITT's history.When i had satisfied all of them individually,the guys kept on asking for more.Soon the guys pounced on me as a group and i just closed my eyes for the misery to get over.And finally the wait got over!!And then i was surrounded by my friends who wished me,hugged me.I thought the night is over.But what was i to know that the night had just started!!

My Sassy girl!!

2008-04-10T23:04:00.000-07:00

The other day i was just scanning the LAN for some decent English movie when i happened to notice a rather catchy title - My Sassy Girl.As any normal guy of my age would have done,i too jumped at the excitement of watching another teen flick and couldn't stop fantasizing about the fun i would be having for the next couple of hours ( for the obvious reasons of course :)).But what i was to know that i was about to watch something that would leave an ever-lasting impression on me.

My Sassy Girl is a 2001 korean romantic-comedy movie that created ripples throughout the Asia and elsewhere to the point that it started drawing comparisons to Titanic.The movie shows the life of the college student Kyun-Woo,who falls for the "sassy"(crazy) girl after crossing paths with the drunk girl on a late-night subway."My Sassy Girl is a genre-bending exercise that throws in elements of the teen comedy, the traditional melodramatic romance,and even some genre parody and blends them into a unique cinematic experience that defies categorization".The aspect of the movie that touched me the most was dual character of the "sassy" girl.On one hand you would be awe-struck to see such a sweet,loveable,innocent,beautiful Korean girl and on the other hand you would be amazed to see her sudden violent bursts,tomboyishness and her demanding and dominating tone.Be it the demanding call from her asking Kyun-woo what was he doing with him in the motel room last night,not knowing that he carried the girl to motel because she was totally drunk or asking Kyun-woo to exchange his shoes with her sandals to ease her pain or wildly searching and craving for Kyun-woo in the railways station,hugging him on seeing and finally punching him for leaving her alone ;the pleasant mix of girl's crazy and extreme character coupled with the Kyun-woo's embarrasment over the "sassy" girl's awkward behaviour is worth watching and cherishing.Despite all the horrible and embarrasing incidents with the girl,Kyun-woo endures as he is determined to help the girl's pain that she has bottled up.No matter what happens,he bites his tongue and trudges on.The best part about this movie was that it succeeded on all the fronts; be it comedy,romance,tragedy,timing or the visual effects,it was flawless in all the imaginable aspects.The direction of the movie is just too good to be true and there are some scenes that one would cherish forever.Be it Kyun-woo bringing rose during class to commemorate their 100-th day anniversary or the best of it all when he candidly offers advice to his girl's date on how to ensure her happiness by following ten rules in her absence,which he had devised from considerable pain,dedication and devotion to the girl;these romantic scenes are a treat to the viewer's eye.The movie revolves around just two characters and both of them have done proper
justification to their roles."From her unforgettable first appearance as a wasted commuter, to her rambunctious bullying of Kyun-woo, to the heartbreak she wears on her sleeve, "sassy" girl displays an unparalleled level of enthusiasm and dramatic range in portraying a young woman whose domineering exterior is but a smokescreen for her own vulnerability.As her opposite, the likable Cha Tae-hyun is the perfect comic foil/underdog for girl's bundle of untamed energy, and his 'constipated' facial expression, when faced with one of her 'outbursts', is priceless".

Hats off to Tae-hyun and Jun Ji-hyun for such a refreshing and touching performance.I just can't wait to watch the Hollywood version of this movie "Love Me If You Dare" starring Elisha Cuthbert and Jesse Bradford that was recently released.But i doubt they would be able to create the same magical effect which the Korean pair so effortlessly did.Let's wait and watch!!

The great college mystery..

2008-01-22T01:20:00.000-08:00

Ever since i joined the college , one thing always appeared very mysterious to me..I have been looking for the answers for the past three years..And im not pretty sure that i have got any satisfying answers till now..

Well here it goes..So lets go three or four years back into the past..So what do u guys see??You will see those hardworking individuals who used to work day-in-and-out to make it to the prestigious institutes of India..Most of the guys who have joined this college cleared IIT(ranks not very impressive though..) or missed it by a whisker..I could never actually meet any guy preparing for IIT or any other prestigious institution because i was the only guy preparing for entrance in my small tribal village/town (confused ??)..But i used to hear from my brothers about guys like you all preparing for IIT’s or other prestigious institutions..These were the guys who would study 10 hours on an average and 16 (the real psychotic ones..) as exams approached..I had even heard of cases that these guys were so crazy that they wouldn’t care one bit about the things happening around them..They wont eat properly, they will sacrifice the few playing hours in the evening to study a bit more..In short, there life revolved from one book to another,one tuition to another for those two years..And believe me a guy has to be really motivated to do tat sort of stuff!!

These guys whom i'm referring are no one else..but actually “you,me and almost everyone here..”..So what happened all of a sudden after joining the college ?? Where did that hardworking ability disappear ?? Where did the hunger go ?? How did this sudden transition come is out of my understanding..It pains my heart to see how these guys are abusing the “hard-earned seats” of this prestigious institute..I wonder why did these guys take the pain of studying so hard that time , if all they intented in the end was to let-go of the advantage which this institute offers..

I know there will be sections who would say “hey college life is for fun..blah-blah”..point accepted !! Totally accepted !! But is it only for fun ?? These guys are the best brains in the country..But wat is the use if you never intend to use it and just go the so-called “cool college way”..Our main aim here is to learn , make ourself technologically sound and at the same time concentrating on the non-academic stuff also..But their are some losers who do neither and just kill time by doing all bullshit activities ..Why guys ?? Why?? Where has that motivation gone ?? It really amazes me how do these guys manage to fail in the exams here..And the guys i'm referring to are the ones who defeated lacs and lacs of students all over India to emerge victorious..Many of them are state toppers itself..One reason i have often heard from people is that “Hey the college syllabus sucks , thats why i don’t study “..Now this statement suits guys who , bored of the shitty syllabus , do something creative on their own and learn lots of interesting stuff outside..The ones to whom i'm actually referring to are the guys who use this lame excuse to justify their “becoming cool and carefree” in the college..These guys are the ones who “abuse their hard earned seats”..

It is totally my perception..may even sound bullshit to some..But this is something i strongly disapprove becuase i believe we have been given the chance to study in this prestigious institution for some special reason..And the worst part is that this problem does not belong to any one particular institute in India..It is present everywhere including the big guns like IIT’s..It is indeed sad !!!

Still searching for the answers to these questions ,that have eluded me for so long…

Shame on you Bollywood!!

2008-01-22T00:55:00.000-08:00

Ya shame on Bollywood !! What has happened to Bollywood ?? Don’t they have enough talented and creative writers and directors who can come up with new,original ideas rather than outright plagiarism..Lets delve deep into this matter..

My first encounter with this unseen aspect of bollywood was not “plagarised” story , but “plagiarised” music..And it was none other than our own Anu Malik..Boy he is undoubtedly the king of this field..I had often heard that lots of hindi movies are inspired from Hollywood movies..And getting inspired is still ok , but bollywood chose the path of completely stealing every idea of its counterpart..I remember the first movie where i myself witnessed plagiarism was “Pyaar to hona hi thaa“..If you remove some Hindi “mirch-masaala” which they added to give it an Indian flavor..Apart from that its ditto “French Kiss“..Then a couple of days back i saw a movie called “Philadelphia” and immediately it struck my mind that i have somewhere seen its corresponding Hindi version..After pondering for a while i rememebered that “Philadelphia - Homosexuality +Heterosexuality = Phir Milenge“…I felt like researching a bit more on this topic ..So i came across a site with a link called “Bollywood Inspirations..” and i was shocked to see the list of movies that had all been copied from Hollywood..Some of those were the movies which i was very proud of ,thinking that this was something totally Indian and original..I am pretty sure you guys too would be shocked to know that “Rang-de-basanti” which looked so-very Indian is also one among them..Its plot was copied from the 1948 drama “All my sons“..Sad indeed!!What hurts even more is that Bollywood people will never ever confess and accept that “what I’m dishing out has already been dished out in the “firangee” version decades back“..And they so proudly present it as if its their own creation..The one that deserves special attention is “Koi Mil gaya..“..If anyone of you saw the interviews of Rakesh Roshan , he used to say that the idea of this movie came to him from his 3-4 year old nephew/niece (don’t remember exactly..)..Why din’t he say that it was copied from the 1982 movie “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial” and a bit of “Forrest Gump(1994)“..(not pretty sure about this part though..) Then there are the big names like Dhoom,Hum Tum,kaante and the list is truly endless..

Now the million dollar question is Why?? Why does the Bollywood resort to such cheap means ?? Indians are not that creative and lack originality..Na i won’t buy that!!One of the possible reasons as i got from Wikipedia is :
“The Hindi film industry centered in Mumbai, commonly known as Bollywood, is an extremely prolific industry. Because films are often made quickly, on limited budgets, there is much incentive for certain scriptwriters and music directors to plagiarize. In some occasions, they may mine their own work, lifting riffs and themes from earlier films, imitate successful South Asian songs or films, or copy movies or hit songs from other countries’ film industries (such as Hollywood, the Korean film industry, the Malayalam film industry, etc.).”..Fair enough !! Personally i think rather than copying movies in totality , it will be better if we copy their approach of picking new stories..My experience says that most of the good Hollywood movies are derived from some novels or some real-life story..(Monster..)..Why can’t the Bollywood do the same ?? We have some excellent literature that has been going un-noticed for centuries..I’m pretty sure if they concentrate on translating Indian novels into movies then we can expect lots of “Devdas” like-movies in the future..I will be personally very interested in the Bollywood writers make more “Guru” like movies on real-life stories..If hollywood can make “Beautiful Mind” on John Nash , just imagine a similar movie on Ramanujam will be an equally big hit..I’m really excited to see the movie based on Gandhi’s son about his view on his ideal father..that will be one heck of a movie..The sad part is that Indian juntaa is not game for such serious movies..They still want to see actor-actress dancing around the trees..Thats why probably art movies never really became that popular in India..Hopefully Bollywood will stop imitating Hollywood and show the true magic of real Indian movies to the world!!

It's a boy-girl thing!!

2008-01-21T04:57:00.000-08:00

Well this blog is about one of the interesting articles i read in some magazine a couple of years back..

So here it goes..The article was a survey that gave its viewpoint on a topic and accompanying figures..Well the topic dealt with the growing number of love affairs at school and college level and the figures showed the success rate of such relationships..I was amazed to find that only 3 out of 100 love affairs at school level and 12 out of 100 at college level finally translate into marriage in India..Phew!! The figures indeed are very discouraging for the so-called “love birds” of schools and colleges..Well let’s delve deep into the topic and find if that’s indeed true and if yes what are the possible reasons for the same…

As pretty much everyone of you would have seen and experienced that the facts mentioned above are indeed true..I have myself heard of 100’s of love cases of our seniors in the college but have only heard of two being converted into marriage till date..So what can be the possible reasons for the low conversion rate ?? Well personally i think that the major reason for this poor rate is the sincerity of purpose behind it..My personal opinion is that most of the people in college engage themselves in such relationships because it serves as a status symbol for them..So they are never that serious about the relationships..No wonder the success rate is that poor !! In case both the parties are doing it for boosting their status in the college , then its perfectly fine because it is harmless..But the problem occurs when one of the sides is just fooling around , riding high on his/her fake relationship while the other party is very serious about the issue and is really committed ..Then it gets really ugly !! And its very unfair on the other person because he/she has been used as a “status earning tool”..Nothing more,nothing less!! ..That can be indeed very damaging !! Most of these affairs don’t last that long and even if they survive the four years very few finally meet their destiny !!!

Being in 21st century i’m pretty sure boy-girl being from different backgrounds shouldn’t be a reason for this poor rate..Of the other possible reasons i can think of is probably we are not mature enough to handle such delicate stuff and we need more time..I’m not sure how much this funda is applicable to the college affairs , but it is surely very much applicable to school affairs..Whatever the reasons may be , it is sad to see such a low conversion rate in India ..Hope you guys can further throw some light into this matter!!

I'm still waiting!!

2008-01-21T00:51:00.000-08:00

Sitting alone in the dark of the night,
I'm reminded of a friend ever so bright.
That pushes me down the memory lane,
And all it gives me is pain,pain and more pain.

Reminded am i of those colourful days that we shared,
The midnight teas,chats and night-outs that we dared.
Those were the best days of my otherwise dark life,
Those were the days of friendship and no strife.

What was i but a troubled soul,
devastated by the ones close to my heart.
Then i met you
and my life seemed to re-start.

Life seemed so beautiful with you around,
Life turned to heaven,sorrows were nowhere to be found.
Like a teacher you changed my life forever ,
but how was i to know that happiness was meant for me never.

Inexplicably you turned your back to me midway through,
i was left wondering whether its a bad dream
or is it for true???
Devastated was i , my world tore apart
How stupid was i , thought that will never ever part.

Days,months and years passed,
I kept waiting ,still hopeful.
Hopeful tat we will be someday re-united by fate,
Hopeful tat we will be the same old pals , my mate.

The painful wait kept getting longer and longer..
but you my friend were nowhere to be found.
The painful wait kept getting longer and longer..
those sweet memories still exist in my heart and all around.
But still hopeful am i ,that you will re-surface to ease my pain,
But still hopeful am i,that defying all odds,we will meet again.

A tribute to courage, a tribute to Anne Frank..

2008-01-21T00:33:00.000-08:00

Ever since i saw the movie "The Freedom Writers" and heard a reference of Anne Frank and her famous diary,i wanted to read this timeless classic "The Diary of a young girl".And thankfully i finally got a chance to read this world classic- "a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit".

The book shows that how a young thirteen year old girl matures beyond her years during her stay in the "Secret Annexe"-the secret hiding place where she stayed for two years to escape the brutalities of Nazis against Jews.The book takes one through the different faces of her personalities - her self-critical approach,her self-awareness,her innocence , the purity of her heart,her desire to be loved and to have a partner..But above all,the books shows that how the war leads to the degradation of human spirit and crushes it beyond recognition..People have a misconception that maturity is a function of time , but Anne proved it that the circumstances and your response towards them matures you rather than time..The courage the eight people in the "Secret Annexe" showed in the face of hunger,boredom,constant cruelties of living in confined quarters and the ever-present threat of discovery and death is really exemplary..The thing that touched me was the way in which Anne has presented herself and her pure,innocent thoughts..She totally captures the thoughts of any thirteen year old-boy or girl - their transition phase,sudden mood swings,sexuality,innocence but Anne while being like all of them is still much more..Contrary to her age she is highly self-aware of her personality and has matured enough to see herself from someone else's point of view and to constantly be self-critical of her in a positive way to improve herself with every passing moment..

I love that part of the diary where she gets romantically attracted to Peter,but gives it up all in the end to heed to her daddy's advice , thus again acting beyond her years..The part of the diary that really touches the core of my heart is the one where she silently craves for motherly love and where she is constantly embarrassed and scolded by everyone in the hiding , but she doesnt react to it and keeps the whirlpool of emotions inside her..

She indeed rises above everything - the holocaust,Judaism,girlhood and even goodness and has thus rightly became a totemic figure of the modern world..

I salute you a thousand times you brave girl!!

7th sem diary - God is a great equaliser!!

2007-12-30T06:55:00.000-08:00

I was soon to see something which i had never ever seen before.The trader dude kept on refusing to pay the money to the chakka..Even after being threatened by them he didn't bow in front of them..Then finally the "chakkas" gave up and returned to sit close to where i was standing and started counting their "aaj ki kamaai .."..Boy they made an amazing 479 bucks in one single go..The trader dude finally stepped in the scene and offered to give the less aggressive "chakka" 10 bucks..She refused to take it..There was something very girlish in the way she rejected his offer..Probably that turned the trader on..And soon i was to witness for the first time a normal man openly flirting with "chakka"..This is how it went :
Trader (in typical dehaati tone):"Tere chehre se nazar nahin hat tee..nazaarein hum kya dekhein."(remember one of the all time hits..)
Chakka (Blushing beyond words.):"Jaa rey bahut dekhein hai tere jaise.." (with a teasing tone..)..
Trader :"Bechain hai meri nazar , hai pyaar ka aisaa asar,kuch to kaho,itna kaho ,hum aapke ,aapke hain kaun.."..
Then the chakka rose and stood face-to-face with that trader..All the while i was closely observing them , standing just adjacent to them..Then i saw the chakka make some very aggressive "intimate" moves on the trader and boy wasn't he blushing like a girl who has just been proposed by the man of her dreams..I stood there shocked and later laughing..Soon she/he turned her attention towards me and my throat turned dry..
Chakka :"Aur hero kahaan jaa raha hai??"
Me :"Chakradharpur..".
Chakks :"Wahaan itne raat mein..wahaan se toi bus bhi nayee milegi abhi.."
Me :"Mere papa lene aayenge mujhe.."
Chakka:"Oh gaadi mein.."
Me:" Haan.."
Chakka:"Motorcycle mein.."
Me:"Nahin car mein.."

Soon we were approaching Chakradharpur.When the train stopped at the station,the chakka did something which i would like to forget that it ever happened..When the chakka was leaving,she looked in my eyes and i smiled back at her..And the next thing i knew that she was touching my ***** and looking in my eyes..I was embarrassed and tried to forget that it ever happened..I stepped down the train along with my luggage and when the train was about to leave i saw the chakka and the trader "looking straight into the eyes" of each other..And when i was about to leave , i looked at both of them and for a moment i could feel that quite surprisingly they had "connected"..On my way back home i kept on thinking weird things :Is it possible for chakkas to fall in love?? Was it love at first sight for that chakka and trader??And why did she/he do what she/he should have never done with me??..Soon i realised something..The bitterness of my screwed-up trip had somehow evaporated thanks to the small little cameo act by chakkas and the trader and had been instead replaced by the thought of great things ahead..

So,this is how officially my 7th sem ended.Full of masti,pain,lessons and more importantly memories,something that i would cherish throughout my life..The sem was indeed eventful and has transformed me into a much better and equipped person to handle every situation of life head-on.

7th sem diary-Final nail in the coffin!!

2007-12-30T06:23:00.000-08:00

The "Geetanjali Express" arrived on time at 3:50 pm.I was soon running with all my might to secure a place in the general bogie.But when i entered the bogie, i very soon realised that i didn't have enough breathing space,leave alone the place to seat.The bogie was jampacked and was smelling of shit , to say the least..As expected i got some space near the toilet..I had a smelly trader and a poor naked kid to accompany me there..The wet floor didn't help my situation..I in constant fear of losing my luggage,placed it near me and that didn't impress the trader much..Finally i agreed to put my stuff elsewhere..Now that trader had kept some of his trade stuff , that he was taking to Mumbai,in one of the toilets and had locked it..He had put the remaining stuff near the toilet region thus completely restricting any moment watsoever..I felt like kicking him in the balls but i was just conserving my energy to somehow tolerate this disgusting situation..And it was just the beginning!!The basin was leaking water on the floor and every now and then someone or the other would come to spit there and that made the situation worse..The watery floor was irritating me but i just held on..The trader tried his level best to get nominated for the maximum beedis smoked in a single train journey..The smoke was killing me..And that shameless guy would spit openly near me every now and then..And soon he became the co-ordinator for the only functional toilet and the movements in the already jampacked region made it unbearable..Soon i was to find that these toilet trips were just an excuse to smoke inside the closed quarters..But there were some shameless creatures who didn't even bother to do that..Since the door were closed due to the cold,i was virtually suffocating in there..And to add on to that there was a "moonfalli waala" who was doing some brisk business and the people too were maintaining the high-standards of general class by throwing the groundnut-covers to every nook and corner of the bogie..And if that was enough there were a bunch of jokers besides me who were contributing some of the worst pj's i had ever heard..And then came the big one!!

Two "chakkas" appeared in the train..I immediately checked my purse and my heart skipped a beat when i saw that i had a 500,50 note and 3 rs as spare.."Koi saala dus rupaye se kam nahin degaa..".I was initially thinking that the "chakkas" are just showing some "dadagiri" or shall i say "chakkagiri" to scare us..But when the more aggressive "chakka" lifted her saree to scare a kid and started doing some unmentionable gestures to a middle-aged kid who refused to pay,i understood the gravity of the situation..Luckily i got the less aggressive chakka."Aur smarty paise dheele kar..".."Arey yeh kya sirf 3 rupey..".."I have only this much..."..After a stare."Wooh..Tum sab saale aisey hi kanjoos ho.."..And when finally the more aggressive chakka passed me , i had a sigh of relief..

7th sem diary-Goodbye 7th sem!!

2007-12-30T05:31:00.000-08:00

The exams were a painful experience as i didn't perform well in any of the exams apart from AI and Parallel Architecture.Well somehow they got over and we all guys headed for our destinations.I was with the bong group on the train and had one of the best train journeys of my life.Be it the reading of the novel "A thousand splendid suns",bakr with the group or the late night discussion between me,dada and mayank that irritated our immediate nieghbours , it was a truly enjoyable experience..But the best part of the journey was the "post-late-night talk" with mayank when we both poured our hearts out..My respect for this guy has just kept on exponentially increasing ever since we came close in second year and that day it truly reached the zenith..He is truly an amazing person and i am glad i have had the opportunity to meet him!!

**And then it strikes again**
It was indeed a wonderful journey.I was wondering how on the earth did i ever manage to have a perfect journey.My sixth sense was suggesting me that something bad was about to happen to me.I reached Kharagpur .I hugged my friends and started walking towards the entrance.I had never imagined what was about to follow:
TT:"Ticket please..".
Me:"Sir i had a combined ticket with my friends who are going to howrah."
TT:"That's none of my business.Until unless you produce the ticket you are an offender".
Me:"Ok sir i will get the ticket for your consideration".
I ran to my coach and saw Nahata.I told him about the situation and asked him to come with the ticket .He told that the ticket was with another friend,Jalan.He assured me that on telling the TT that i am a student and that we had a combined ticket the TT will surely agree.And at that moment the train started running.I didn't know what to do!!For a moment i thought of catching the same train and go all the way to Howrah along with my friends.But i didn't follow my sixth sense,something i would repent for sure.I confidently started walking towards the entrance,only to be caught by that TT again.
TT:"Hello Mr. ticket..".
Me:"Sir,i had a combined ticket with my friends and they have left for Howrah just a couple of minutes back."
TT:"That's not my problem.You are without ticket and an offender and thus have to pay the fine."
Me:"Sir believe me i have come with a proper ticket.If you want you can talk to my friends on the train.See sir this is my i-card .I am coming all the way from Trichy.Sir why will i lie to you??I am a student sir.."
TT:"See its your mistake .If you had a combined ticket you should have kept a xerox of it and get it signed by the TT for our consideration.Now you will have to pay the fine.."
Me:"Sir i understand its my fault , but sir believe me i am not lying.."
I kept waiting for that time and then i started walking back , when he started shouting at me and called his "hungry" friends too to have their share of me..
TT:"Hey Mr. where are you leaving..You come to the office with me.."
I kept pleading all the time,but never did i allow myself to cry..I kept pleading but to no avail..
Finally ,knowing what they exactly wanted i asked "Sir how much do i have to pay??"
TT:"You will have to pat Rs.434".
Me:"Sir i don't have that much money.Sir please reduce it.."
TT:"Ok how much do you have??"
Me(Luckily i had spent considerable money during the journey..):"Sir i have only 260 Rs.Sir i need to reach Chaibasa from here that will cost around 165-170..And sir i haven eaten anything today ..That will cost me another 35-40 Rs.I can only give you 60 Rs. sir.."
TT : "No-no that won't do.Ok show me your purse.Do you have any cards??"
Me:"Sir see my purse i have only 260Rs.Sir i have a SBI card but its empty because i totally exhausted it in the semester.That's why i am going to my home to get money from my parents."(I never knew i was so gifted at lying:)..)
TT:"No no 60 won't do".
Me:"Ok sir i will not eat and remain without food till the evening..Ok you take Rs.100 from me"

That finally settled the matter and he let me go after giving some "advice".I was so hurt by this incident.It was not the fine that was hurting me.It was the greed of that TT and the corruption in general that was hurting me.That guy knew pretty well that i was not lying but he won't let go because for him this was an opportunity of the lifetime".I wanted to leave that place at once.On my father's request i booked a ticket of "Geetanjali express" and had no option but to take the ticket of general class.What was i to know that i hadn't seen the worst yet!!

7th sem diary-And now the sad part!!

2007-12-30T05:18:00.000-08:00

My life was never perfect.Not that i ever expected it to be.And the same happened in the 7th sem also.I was having the time of my life.But then somebody nipped in the bud.Guess who?? My internals.Boy i was performing really badly in the exams-at least two of them.Not that i didn't study for the exam.Its just that this time i too adopted the "cool college strategy" of starting to study one night before the exam,something i'm not pretty comfortable with.I did very well in four subjects,which were pretty theoretical in nature but the other two subjects were pretty application oriented and one needed sufficient practice to crack those exams.But unfortunately that was not to be.I was really embarrassed to be in the bottom twenty of the class in compilers and graph theory.And my "critics" did not lose one such opportunity to question my credentials in the so-called "fundoo compksee" subjects.Be it mayank,dikvaa,madu ..they all had the time of their life mocking me in front of the entire class.It hurt me but as cyber said,"You have nobody to complain to but yourself coz you are solely responsible for the entire mess".Ya he was probably true,but i didn't care.I knew i could have still comeback very strongly and shown that "good-for-nothing" dikvaa who i really was!!But was it worth it??No.I had done the same thing repeatedly for the past three years and now i had achieved my goal.I had lived enough for my dreams.It was time to live for myself.I wanted to do all the things that i had sacrificed in the past three years.But still somewhere in the corner of my heart it hurt me!!

And then it got worse!!
It was our compilers lab exam.I was one of the few guys who had done the lab assignments on their own,thanks to guidance from satya and cyber.But still i was not pretty confident of cracking the lab exam.I had heard from mayank how he had fooled the lab assistant the previous day.Considering the kinda dumbo lab assistants we have i thought it would be easy for me too in case the need arose.When we got the question in the lab exam,i immediately completed the theory part , thus ensuring that i would at least pass.Then i started coding and boy that "shift-reduce conflict" error really started pissing me off.I knew that i had coded correctly.I was so close to the answer yet so far.Only one guy among the 35 guys had shown.I had a master plan.I knew the output that was supposed to come.I wrote a simple C code containing the solution and compiled it to get the executable "a.out".Now i deleted the C source code that contained the answer.Now since my initial lex and yacc code were not compiling and hence they were not giving the "a.out".So , this is what i planned to do:
**I would write a shell script that would run the lex and yacc files and then clear any error or warning message that would pop because of the mistake in my source code.
**Then i would run my cleverly-generated "a.out" and get the output.
The method was foolproof and luckily i knew the lab assistant pretty well.I thought i will take the risk.And then i did something which i will repent through out my life.I called the lab assistant to show the demo.And since these guys are so dumb and have no idea about any compskee stuff,he called "Leela" mam.I froze.My temperature started soaring up.And then things got worse!!"Hey check whether he has hard-coded anywhere...These guys generally do such things.".The only thing that i remember was me praying to the God to rewind my life by five minutes.I was shivering and every goddamn eye in the lab was on me.I started seeing the public embarrassment i would have to undergo.And then she appeared.And this is what happened ::
Leela madam :"Show me your code".
Myself(shivering):"Yes mam!".
Leela madam :"Check if he has hardcoded anywhere.K no hardcoding.Ok run your code".
Myself(thought of impressing with some technical jargons..):"Mam i have written a shell script that compiles the lex and yacc code and finally gives the executable a.out".
Leela madam :"Ok run".
Myself:"Yes mam..".
Leela madam (after analysing the output for some time):"Ok change the variable name from 'a' to 'z' in the output and show me the output".
Myself(shivering..shellshocked..totally lost):"Yessssssssssssssss mammmmm..".(I was in such a state of shock that i couldn't even locate 'z' in the keyboard.Finally the lab assistant helped me with the search and i made the desired modification.I ran the output and as madam expected the output didn't change.)
Leela madam:"How come the output hasn't changed..we changed only one variable name right??".
Myself :"Madam let me correct it and then i will let you know."
Leela madam:"Ok do it immediately".
Myself(I fiddled around with the keyboard for sometime and then along with others slowly pushed my answer sheet to madam and left the lab).

Though nothing "disastrous" happened , even though madam knew that i had hardcoded the output but she couldn't figure out how??But at that moment i felt so low.I realized that i had lost something in the last ten minutes.No,not the grade,but my self-respect.Others would have thought it as being cool,going the "college way " attitude and all that crap.But i knew that this is not who i am.I hung my head in shame to think that i had degraded to that extent , just for a worthless grade.I wanted to trade all my happiness of 7th sem for those ten minutes because that experience made me feel the way i had never felt before..I was hurt by my actions,tormented by my deeds for the next week..But that's life!!"To err is human ,to learn from your mistakes is divine".I hope i have learnt my lesson!!

7th sem diary-It's party time guys!!

2007-12-30T04:43:00.000-08:00

After i got placed it was party time through out the semester.I have lost count of how many treats we had over the course of next 3 months..Every day we will get some bakraa, we would butcher him and then the bakraa will give us the treat..Every alternate day we were going to some restaurant in the city..So much so that the restaurant guys had started recognizing us..
Finally my time had come,when i could do whatever i liked..I asked myself what i liked the most..And the first thing that came to my mind was movies..Boy over the course of the coming months,i saw a hell lot of movies,as if that was the only motive of my life now..I made it a plan to watch at least three movies everyday..In between i also watched some sitcoms..The ones that really attracted me were - "The Wonder Years" and "How i met your mother??"..Boy i just love watching movies and sitcoms!!Meanwhile i had also started participating in some of the activities in college...

**CRY CLASSES**
After much persuasion by Mayank and Kastu i finally agreed for the CRY CLASSES..I was very nervous to start with..But as i started taking classes i really fell in love with it..It was a challenge to stand up in front of those bright kids and to answer their questions..I was screwed on more than one occasion by my students..But i took it positively and tried to teach them to the best of my ability..In the process,i also overcome my stage fear to an extent and developed the confidence to speak in public..I took only 5-6 classes but i can never forget the impact they had on me...

**WISDOM CUP**
I always had a burning desire to prove my critics wrong who always questioned my non-academic abilities..I gave a fitting reply to them by giving consistent sterling performances throughout the tournament and emerged as one of the best performers of the tournament..I will always cherish the memories of that tournament and will try to carry on the confidence that it has imparted to me..

**DRIVING SCHOOL**
Meanwhile i had also enrolled for the DRIVING SCHOOL.We were supposed to report at 6 in the morning every day.Boy for a college student that's a himalayan task!!Anyways somehow i and dada managed to do that on a regular basis for the next 25 days.It was fun learning driving on our famous "NITT Tracker".Boy i had a really hard time locating the neutral on its screwed-up gear system.We were nearing the end of our driving course and after a dozen of trips outside college had become quite comfortable driving four-wheeler vehicles.Next in line for us was the "two-wheeler" and our instructor made us believe that it's a matter of just half an hour.And that's how it turned out to be!!
So we bunked classes and headed to get our driving license in our "tracker" and "god-knows-which-model-scooter-cum-bike".We had a painful wait of two hours before we finally arrived at the test center.Surprisingly the test went as well as i could have ever hoped for.The whole exercise looked pretty simple , but the corruption that i had to see both inside and outside the institute during these classes seemed a bit disturbing.But all that was lost when we realized that we had got the "license to explore"..The thought of the great things that lied ahead was amazing!!

**BAKR SESSIONS**
Whenever you think of masti in NITT,you can't leave BAKR far behind..I still remember the endless BAKR sessions i had with dada,sid,cyber,ghati,vishal,daa,mayank,madu..It really gave me an opportunity to understand my friends better..I came pretty close to cyber this sem..I had a rare privilege to see the non-academic side of this fundoo..I got to see what a wonderful and down-to-earth this guy is!!I also got the chance to know dada better..Had loads of fun with him in our BANGALORE-CUM-CAT trip..But the one guy who really impressed me this sem was my own roomie..I was really amazed to see such delightful changes in him..This sem gave us an opportunity to bridge our differences of the past one year and emerge stronger and closer than ever before..Sometimes i think what will i do without them in the future when none of them will be around me in Hyderabad??..But things can't always be the way you want them to be!!That's life for you!!

Be it the "Six sixes in an over challenge",the morning gym sessions,the late night volleyball sessions,bathing in cauveri,trip to th temple city , we had loads of fun this sem...

7th sem diary-And then DESHAW happened!!

2007-12-30T03:24:00.000-08:00

I was fighting a race against time because AURIGO was coming to the campus soon and i needed to get a company before that!!My senior had informed me that DESHAW was coming to the campus on 8th.So i had already started preparing for it..I knew this was my best chance because DESHAW is the only company that gives importance to CGPA and boy i had loads of that!!Boy DESHAW proved to be a tough nut to crack..As opposed to previous year papers,this time DESHAW was much-much tougher ..Thus they were testing us on many fronts simultaneously..It was one hell of an exam!!I was not that hopeful of clearing the written but luckily i did and in fact i topped that test!!So my interview was the first next morning..And boy they lived up to the expectation!!They screwed me all-round up for the next 90 minutes..Two of the interviewers were pretty cool , but the third one was really testing me and trying to create enormous stress during the interview!!Boy i was so dejected after the interview..I thought that i had given away the best opportunity that i had..At around 7 in the night they called us to fill one form and then after they were supposed to announce the results..In the meantime i had told my dad that i had DESHAW interview today and i didn't perform that well..I was so low that time that when they were about to announce the result , i almost broke down..And then finally it happened ..

I had been selected for DESHAW..I was shouting at the top of my voice as i headed out of T&P..As i reached the hostel , i informed the near and dear ones..Boy but the night had just begun!!..My friends were all waiting for me and i could see that they had the same look in their eyes as a butcher has before it "butchers"..And boy i can never forget what happened that night!!They hit me mercilessly as if there was no tommorrow..I lost count of how many times my ass was smacked but whatever it was , was surely not a pleasing number :)...Then i was taken to gate where i was given a "kela-andaa-mixture-cold drink" bath..Boy i still remember i had developed such a big bump on my ass that i couldn't sleep the whole night..Thus i turned upside down and kept watching movies whole night long..It was so painful that my situation became very bad next day..I had to take a heavy dose of painkillers to ease my pain..The pain finally subsided after a week and it was not two days after i got placed that i realized that i had finally accomplished my dream!!And the real party was just about to begin,baby!!

7th sem diary-Placement kelas!!

2007-12-30T02:04:00.002-08:00

**Placement season kicks-initial nervousness**
I had been doing summer internship in Bangalore for two months in Aurigo and due to my and subbu's remarkable performance there , we had been awarded with a PPO in Aurigo.Thus,there was less pressure on us to get jobs in the college.But i knew that i didn't want to get into this company.The work there was amazing but it was just a start-up and i didn't want to start my career with a start-up , especially when i had much better options back in the college.Thus i knew that i have to secure a job in college before Aurigo arrives at the campus.Thus , there was a lot of pressure on me coz neither was i well prepared for the companies that were about to storm the campus , neither did i have much time before Aurigo turned up to the campus.I had to make the most of the limited opportunites that would have come my way before 24th Aug,when Aurigo was scheduled to come and at the same time i had to prepare a hell lot..I was in a panic mode!!

**Google arrives**
The first company to come to our campus was Google.I was supposed to attend a telephonic interview and luckily that was being taken by our college senior,Sundarajan.My interview went decently,though i could have performed better.I was surprised when i wasn't selected for the second round.Kela No. 1!!I was not that dejected coz i knew that i wasn't a Google kinda guy!!

**Microsoft ka kela**
The next company was Microsoft.They had an initial written round where they had asked three DS questions.I cracked all three and was quite hopeful of being called for interview.When i was entering the mess then i suddenly realized that i had made one blunder in the first question.I froze there,my heart stopped beating,my hunger died,my eyes swelled with tears..I ran to my room and cried for sometime beneath my pillow..My friends didn't help my situation by teasing me with the tag of "Microsoft guy" constantly..I was acting madly..I still remember how i was lying
along the metallic rods outside my room as if i'm dead and had no reason , no motivation to live any more..I remember satya coming to me and consoling me..I calmed down myself and somehow motivated myself to prepare for the next company..Then at 4 all of a sudden i got a call from Vivek that my interview was supposed to start in another 10 minutes..Boy i was shocked..I was not expecting the call and thus had made no arrangements..I hurriedly collected stuff from friends and rushed to T&P..As i look back now,i think the thing that saved me was that i used to always write logic first and then code as suggested by my seniors..And boy that did prove very crucial..Once in T&P,we were seated for another round of test..Three questions were given to us and i quickly did the first two but didn't do the third one that well..Anyways out of the 24 guys , 10 guys were eliminated and i was lucky to be still there in the final 14..As luck would have had it,my interview was the first and it was supposed to be taken by a lady..Boy she was mid-age and beautiful:)..Anyways my interview started with she analyzing my written papers..She immediately asked me to point out the error in my first DS solution..I immediately told her my mistake and the she popped the question, how would you improve this solution?? I kept on beating around the bush and she grew tired of giving me so many chances for that question..In the end she said that you are pretty close to the solution.."give me the exact word im looking for"..and boy i still couldn't figure it out..Then she asked some other questions which i didn't answer satisfactorily..The irony of this whole experience is that all the while when she was screwing me all ends up , i wanted to think of the solution but quite surprisingly all i could think at that time was how beautiful was she and how beautiful her eyes were!!..Boy i still can't believe my mind was doing such dirty stuff amidst the most important interview of my life!!Finally my interview ended and immediately the HR called me to inform me that i have been eliminated!!Boy i was hurt but i knew i had only me to blame..

The eventful 7th sem..

2007-12-29T11:18:00.000-08:00

Well, i have finally completed the 7th sem of my college life and arguably the most exciting and happening sem of my college life.I did lots of things that i had always wanted to do but could never do in pursuit of my goal.I still remember those days when everyone around me used to do all kinds of crazy stuff and i used to silently study in one corner of my room...But i knew that "No pains,no gains..".So i acted the only way i know - perseverance to achieve my cherished goal.And i did finally achieve it and boy that was the best feeling in the world-to have accomplished an Himalayan task and to prove myself among the very best in India.And what does one do once the goal is achieved - its party time.That was what i did in 7th sem , but between these i did some really crazy things that i could have avoided.Lets go through "the best semester of my college life " in detail...

A tribute to beauty....

2007-11-13T03:34:00.000-08:00

Here is a beautiful song by James Blunt dedicated to the five most beautiful girls in my life..

James Blunt - You're Beautiful

My life is brilliant.

My life is brilliant
My love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I'm sure.
She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

Yes, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
She could see from my face that I was,
Fucking high,
And I don't think that I'll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last 'till the end.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

La la la la la la la la la

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
But it's time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.

A day worth forgetting...

2007-11-09T04:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday,that is Nov 8,was a day that brought joy to millions of indians across every nook and corner of the country.And why not?It was Diwali..The festival of lights,the festival of joy..I am pretty sure everyone would have had the time of their lives yesterday..But sadly god had written a different script for the hundred odd final year students of NIT,Trichy..And the script surely did an excellent job of adding salt to their fresh wounds...

The final year is supposed to be fun in engineering colleges all over India..With everyone placed,people generally take it easy in the final year,make it a point to enjoy the life to the fullest before again plunging in that world of high expectations,hectic life etc..And more than the students the college faculty know more about this because they have seen this trend for decades now..And that's why they generally tend to be very lenient about most of the final year issues..be it attendance,grades,marks,passing students,reducing classes and assignments..u just name it,they do everything in our favour in return for the three years of sincerity that we show to them..They look like god-send angels ..But ,and here is the big question what can one do when someone's luck is so rotten as ours,who unlike other previous batches have been made guinea pig right from the first year,have been targetted by the teachers coz of being "the fundoo AIEEE batch"..We all people had just one consolation all the way through ..Probably the fun in final year will compensate for all the previous injustices..That is what we thought!!But,naa..this is our batch..And this is their last chance..They won't leave us before giving us one last punch..And that was it!!

So how is our final year different from our seniors? The amount of classes we had in this semester was much-much more than any senior batches could have thought of in their wildest dreams..The assignments dished out to us are much tougher..The teachers still want to screw us in lab exams..And they are very strict about the attendance,more than ever..Unlike the previous batches where teachers used to help students with less attendance,the current set wants to punish the students for every goddamn reason they can find on earth..They have banned netlab during the nights,which used to be the key hours for final years coz the rest of the day is fully occupied by the remaining years..Give us a break,teachers..Now the million dollar question is how are the above arguments related to my topic in first place?

Actually our classes got over on Nov.2 and our final exams start on 22nd...so what would any college student do in such a case??Rush to his home..More so because this is the festive season..So why didn't you go,shishir?Coz i have a borderline attendance in one subject and that teacher still plans to take 3-4 classes,missing which my attendance will really go for a "toss" and boy these people make u beg badly and embarrass badly in such situations..I din't want to go through that pain..Shishir,why don't you take the risk,like few of your friends who too were in the same situation?Good question..I did go and approach this teacher once regarding attendance stating that sir i should be given attendance for the classes that i missed due to placement and what he said next confirmed one thing to me-these teachers never went to college and hence they can never understand our mentality.."You have to decide whether your placement is more important to you or my class..You should understand one thing..You can work in a company only if you have a b.tech degree,for a b.tech degree you have to pass all subjects,for passing you should have proper attendance..So you should think about your current before thinking about future..."..There was nothing more to say or listen..Because of this i thought i will stay along with few of my friends and we will enjoy among us..But god can be evil somedays and boy i got the proof yesterday!!

So here it goes..It started at the dinner yesterday..Diwali is associated with mouth-watering dishes and sweets..So we were expecting something decent by NITT standards..And the next thing we knew that we had been offered the famous DOG RICE on the eve of Diwali..We were determined to somehow eat enough to fill our stomach and then retire in our rooms..But there was another twist to the tale..To start with,the food was DOG RICE and to our surprise it was the worst we had in four years with an excessive "meerchaa.." topping..Boy i was sweating!!After battling for forty-five minutes we gave up..The thought of going out came to my mind,but then it struck that on the eve of diwali every goddammn eating place is closed here..Disappointed at the way we were in "The festival of joy" , i went to my room..Thought that India's win will neutralise the pain of DIWALI SPECIAL DOG RICE..But TEAM INDIA or as i once famously called them in gururaj sir's class in first year "The team of chokers and jokers",proved them right why they are a bunch of suckers!!I am pretty sure Indian players can write a best-seller named "101 ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of certain victory!!".."Screw the Indian team..i will watch a movie and then go to sleep and forget about this forgettable diwali.."..I should stress on a point here that two other factors were irritating me all the while..First one was my cold and the second one was that i was missing my family so much because i knew that this was probably the last opportunity for the next one year to ever meet them together..Nor only i had been deprived a chance to meet them,i was starving and disgusted..And then came the perfect icing on the cake!!On the eve of "The Festival of Lights" , it went pitch dark at 1 in the night..We were helpless ,we could have done nothing..Tried gossipping for a couple of hours ..Tried my level best to sleep but the flies who were feasting on us had some other masterplan for us..Submitted myself to the flies and kept on thinking about those glorious days when we spent the "diwali" back at home with our families..Coz i know they will never ever come back..Sad that the last diwali which i could have possibly spent with my family had to end on such a disappointing note.."Last"..ya once into the corporate sector life is uncertain!!Miss you all!!

Sweet revenge...

2007-11-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

Ever since i came to this prestigious college,NITT,my only concern was my academics..Right from the moment i woke up to the moment when i retired for bed,everything was somehow related to studies..I toiled hard for three years,didn't commit to anything else but only my studies..My friends would always engage themselves in extra-curricular activities and win lots of prizes..I kept sticking to my plan and followed it day and night..Eventually i was awarded for my dogged determination..I got a dream job,amazing academic record,enviable projects..I was happy...But deep down inside i knew i was kidding myself..I knew that my life was not supposed to be that unidirectional.My friends used to tease me "That anyone who can toil as hard as shishir can have a good academic record..so he is not a big deal.." blah-blah..I knew that these guys are stupifying themselves by having such a notion..They used to tell me that "Shishir you can just study..you can't do anything else.."..I knew they were wrong..Because i knew i was much more than that and not only that , i had in me to perform much better than them in their chosen field...Its just that i gave up everything i was ever good at to do well academically right after class IXth..I used to tell that i used to be very good at sports at school and still i am very good,they would laugh at me and make comments on my ever-increasing belly..I remember those days when i used to be so good at quizzes and sports..I remember those days when i was the undisputed king in Table Tennis and Cricket..So i had a burning desire to prove all these people wrong..I wanted to win the events at college level just as they were..And i knew it that i will pull it off!!!

I came pretty close to achieving it in last year "Wisdom Cup".But it was not to be.What on the earth can one do if the best bowler in college(Manish Chaudhary) gets smacked for a last-ball six to knock us out from the semi-finals..Bad luck-thats all!! We got one final shot at it this year..This year the wisdom cup saw the participation of 40 teams in a complete knock-out format..Boy and it was one hell of a tournament!!

Match 1 :
Our first match was against PG Gultis.Well that was the easiest match of the tournament for us .We had a rollicking start with Vivek blazing his way with a quick fire 50 odd..We ended up scoring 88 of 10 overs.I didn't get a chance to bat.But i did do what i am very good at.I bowled two overs for five runs and had two prized scalps.

Match 2 :
We started the match with a distinct disadvantage.Our captain,Manish, and Ronnie both had gone to their homes .So we played a depleted side against the second year Oriya team.We had a disastrous start when vivek got for a golden duck.Pati somehow steadied the team and i scored 8 crucial runs to take our team total to 69 of 10 overs.In bowling,i bowled my heart out.I got hit for a six in my second over.Boy that pissed me off!!And the next ball i bowled a scorching yorker to shatter the woodwork.We bundled out the team for 61 and i ended up with match-winning figures of 3-14 of 3 overs.

Quarterfinal:
This match was against Giri,the college opener's team.We batted well to score 78 with pada hitting some lusty blows.I got out to a golden duck.My first over was a bowler's nightmare.I bowled 5 fulltosses in the first over.Though i got the prized wicket of Giri and conceded just one run in the over,i was very disappointed.I more than compensated for it in the next over when i bowled the dream maiden over and got another wicket.Bad light stopped the play and we won the match next day in my absence, as i had committed to CRY class,but not without some pathetic performance.

Semi-final:
This was the big one.It was against our boycott second year juniors.It was supposed to be the match of the tournament and as they had claimed ,"They had come to hand-out the most embarrassing defeat we will ever have".Our batting flopped again with the exception of pada and we somehow managed to score a respectable 67 of 10 overs.The first over was again horrible.I sent down four full-tosses , but conceded just one run and got the key wicket of "Tiwari" , brilliantly caught by pada behind the wickets.But then my bowled the best two overs my life , cleaned up my own "pota" all ends up and ended up with the proud figures of 3-13 of 3 overs.The match was marred by a small fight between pada and one junior named rana.That shameless junior was making such dirty comments on the seniors that pada lost his patience and had it not for us that junior would have got a beating of the lifetime .They were bundled out for 47 but it was much closer than that.The kind of support that they got and the hooting made it really challenging for us.But eventually we overcame them .

Final :
The final of the tournament was a complete "paisa-vasool" encounter.We batted first and were in a very disturbing position after having lost the three key players of our team with hardly 20 on the board.Then pada made a bold decision and sent me in.I knew if i can do well,its this role only.In all the previous matches i was sent at such a position where i was supposed to hit every ball.Unfortunately,i am not pretty good at hitting.I combined well with jv and we had a decent partnership before jv got out.I stayed a bit longer but just when i was planning to cut-lose i was decived of a slower ball.I scored crucial 16 runs.Thanks to a decent performance by the tailenders we managed a score of 76 in 15 overs.Our batting had disappointed us one again.It was now left to our bowling to make amends.But it was always going to be a very tough task.I opened the bowling.First three balls were dot balls.I erred by bowling a full-toss of the fourth ball and was smacked for four with arrogance.I was fuming.I sent down a scorching beamer and was hit for two runs.With this i had already bowled the most expensive over by me of the tournament-7 runs.But i was not ready to give up that easily.The next ball i put all my effort , amazed him with my face and shattered his stumps.It was a sweet revenge that was made a bit dirty by me when i showed him the middle finger on his way back.The match was evenly poised,then tilted in our favour before they hit two sixes in two overs.We were down and out.Meanwhile i bowled two very economical overs.In the last three overs,they needed 14 .I bowled the 13th over.Gave away three runs but got one much-needed wicket.Pati bowled the next over and gave away 4 runs but took two crucial wickets ,including that of the danger man.So it boiled down to 6 balls 7 runs and 2 wickets.Pada bowled the first ball as dot ball.Next ball the batsman ran crazily after touching the ball.I sent the ball to pada and he was run-out.5 balls,7 runs,1 wicket.The next ball again the batsman touched the ball and set away straight for single.Pada removed bails in time to seal the victory for us.We all went crazy .We were dancing,shouting and having the time of our life.

For others,it was just another victory.But for me it meant much-much more than that.It was a dream come true for me.It was a signal to all those who doubted my non-academic capabilities,it was a re-inforcement of the faith in my abilities .I don't think people will ever doubt me after my wisdom cup performance(15 overs,12 wickets,52 runs)..But the quest doesn't stop here.I am hungry for more!!

Transformation inside the four walls of a room..(3)

2007-11-07T21:21:00.000-08:00

Then something happened last week that has forced me to see myself in a new light.Suddenly the daemons have shrunk in appearence,suddenly the pain,anxiety has reduced..So here it goes..

I am a member of CRY Club of NIT,Trichy.Every year we held c,cpp classes for the juniors to help them improve in the respective subjects.But this year it was different.Due to an unfortunate ragging issue,the first years were not allowed to join the course offered by us.To add onto that ,the second years were being taught the most important compskee subject "Data Structures" by none other than Mohan itself..Mohan i must let you know is the dumbest teacher to have ever stepped in compskee department..even a tenth grader will be knowing more than him in the field of computer science..And then there was a rumour that this year CPC might not be conducted by seniors..These set of circumstances motivated us to do a course on "Data Structures" itself..Now that the topic of the classes was decided,the real problem kicked in..All the fundoo compskeees had prior commitments in the form of GRE,AGRE and what not..Still somehow four teachers were arranged for the four batches of second and third year...Everything was going well..Then something happened..Abhishek "Cyber" Verma,decided to withdraw from taking the classes due to some unforeseeable reasons..And that was it!! That set the panic button ON!!..Mayank and kastu were desperately looking for teachers and there were none apart from me,capable enough to handle the advanced batch of second year..But there lied the problem..I, who had an enormous stage fear,was approached for the job..I declined the offer plainly ,not because i was not capable enough to teach them , but because of my stage fear..But after repeated plea by mayank and kastu , i had to give in..So i was assigned the task of handling advanced batch of second year..

So after giving a nervous,but decent presentation for the Network lab in the afternoon , I left for the CRY Class in the evening..My first day topic was "SORTING IN LINEAR TIME"..I entered the class and introduced myself and asked for their brief intro too..I felt guilty for showing off a little during the introductory session when i proudly said that i am currently placed in "D E Shaw"..But i did that only so that just in case they didn't know who i was , they will be impressed with my achievement and won't keep on crying on the replacement teacher who had come in place of the great "Kastu"..Well after the initial formalities, i went about my task smoothly..I explained them the three important algorithms and even cleared all their doubts..When the class finally got over,i felt so happy..As i was about to sleep that night i suddenly realized that i really enjoyed teaching the juniors that day and after a few initial hiccups,i fared pretty well..Over the period of next three-four days i really became very comfortable with them and enjoyed answering their questions and clearing their doubts..Not only was i growing in confidence,i was becoming more dramatic in the class..I would do all sorts of hand movements to show my enthusiasm for the subject and seeing their response i assume they were also appreciating my lectures and taking keen interest in the problems that i was dishing out to them..I too on my part was giving my best effort to use all my experience and expose them to the best problems in all topics..I was in a way working harder than them because i seriously wanted it to be a very fruitful learning experience for them..In between they too asked me a few doubts,gave some test cases that nullified my proposed algorithms..But i would make sure that i find the answer for each of their questions and give them the answer in the next class..I wanted to teach them more , but my prior commitments like my wisdom cup matches forced me to cancel the remaining classes..I was more than satisfied after taking this course..but just one thing bothered me..made me doubt myself for a moment or two..I remember throughout the classes a girl named , Ramya , kept on smiling and laughing behind my back..By the way,just in case you guys don't know about her, she is an amazingly beautiful girl and has a very refreshing smile!!..Ok thats not the point..And she is the highest ranker in her batch..So was the course just too easy for her that she didn't bother to concentrate or was there something funny about me...Thought of asking her sometimes..But then i realized how the teachers feel when he laugh behind their backs..This course also gave me a chance to see teaching in a different light and the issues related to it..And must confess that it is indeed a very demanding job...

I grew in confidence during these classes..I won't say that i am very comfortable on the stage even now , but surely these classes have given me the confidence that "I can and i will overcome my stage fears.."..I have the courage now to stand before a crowd and voice my opinion..I guess thats the reason why i have again volunteered to actively involve myself in CPC-Software section..This will again give me a chance to reach the crowd..Ya there will be occasional hiccups on the way..I might be sometimes embarrassed not to clarify simple doubts of students,but i know "someday i will become the person i always wanted to become...."..Indeed those 8 hours spent with 20 odd juniors inside those four walls have transformed me!!

Transformation inside the four walls of a room..(2)

2007-11-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

So as i said i was a very well-known guy back at school..Especially in the teachers' circle,i was quite popular..And unfortunately,a little too well-known to our principal ..It was the beginning of class XIth.Our school was planning to introduce Information Practices in the school curriculum for the first time in its long history..So our school had arranged for a guest lecture from "ARENA MULTIMEDIA" to encourage students to let them know the sea of opportunities that IT/IP open for you..The lecture was as usual boring and i watched and looked at the guest with the least interest..I was all the time just thinking about my entrance preparation..Nothing more,nothing less..Finally the lecture ended.I was happy that i could go to my home now and continue with my prep rather than wasting my time on such useless matters.But then it happened..A bolt from the sky and that too when i least expected it..Our principal sir called for me and asked me to give the vote of thanks..I was shell-shocked..I was sweating..But i had no options..If at least he had given me five minutes,i could have thought of some lines and vomitted that on the stage..I don't like to be on stage even when i am fully prepared..But here i was on the stage ,in front of all my juniors and teachers,and with no clue of what to say..But had to blabber something for at least two minutes..I stood up and went to the stage.."Good afternoon everybody..We just now had a guest lecture from ARENA MULTIMEDIA..It was very informative..I would like to thank them on the school's behalf..It was really very informative.."..blah blah..I don't remember how many times did i use "very informative" in that short vote of thanks,which was so full of broken sentences..The way i was speaking at that time was really embarrassing me,but had to somehow pull it off!!Finally two minutes got over and i slipped away from the auditorium,took my bag and ran as fast as possible to my home..If at all i have to rate the most embarrassing moments of my life,boy that will be the among top three for sure!!I had only thought in my mind for the rest of the day..What will be the ARENA guys thinking?? "If this is the state of arguably the best student in the school..(believe it or not the quality of the best student is often used to define the maximum potential of any school)..does it deserve to be called a proper English medium school??"..

The second one was also equally embarrassing.At this point i must tell you that our principal was very much interested in giving all "fundaas" and philosophies all the time..So one day as usual we were having the chaat morning assembly..And then i don know what happened to him , he took a stanza from our prayer and said that "You have been reciting this poem for ages now..Can anyone explain to me the meaning of it??"..And the very next moment he was staring at us twelfth graders..No one volunteered..And he started his morning tamaashaa.."Shame on you twelfth graders..blah blah".I thought probably guys will raise their hands and along with them i too will raise my hand.."I raised mine"..And then in the state of utter miscalculation and to my shock no one else did..everyone was looking towards me as their saviour..What next?? I was asked to explain this "enlightening concept" in the next assembly."Holy cow..!!"...But thankfully , our principal just like me forgot about the entire issue and life was back to normal again..Until one day , "Hitler's wife" made it a point to live upto her husband's words..So there i was ..least prepared ,sweating like a pig..And unlike other situations in the past i had no clue what to speak here..Just blabbered something about god and his greatness and embarrassed myself to the brink..

That was it...No further "accidents" at school.Then i joined NIT ,Trichy..The ragging opened me up a bit..But i was as expected very cool when in my friend circle,but the same frightened kid on the stage..Kept myself away from any stage appearence what so ever for the first three years,with occasional microsecond stage cameos..One that obviously stands out is my first year "SECTION DHAMAAKA" skit performance - "The Modern Sholay."..Though the skit was a blunder,i had fun and i contributed to the skit in ways more than one-be it background singing or playing the villager...Group activity on stage was never a problem..I did a couple of english skits back at school also..It were the individual performances that bothered me..It was after third year that i got ample oppurtunities to be on the stage..

The first one was our presentation at Aurigo..I still remember how sincerely i prepared for that..But the presentation was a catastrophe to say the least..But my partner "Subbu" handled the situation pretty well..Then came the RFC presenation for our network lab ...I would say it was a decent performance , though i never looked towards the audience..But things were soon to take a positive turn and i was game for it...Keep reading for the concluding part of the series!!

Transformation inside the four walls of a room..(1)

2007-11-07T20:42:00.000-08:00

Well i am generally a very stage-shy fellow.I don't remember why,but that is how i have always been.I remember back at school how nervous i used to be before any presentation in the school morning assembly.The situation was much pathetic in Barmana,where i did my initial schooling till class IX.I still vividly remember my first major stage performance back in class VIIth.I was supposed to make a speech on some topic.The speech was supposed to be completed in 3 minutes . And the next thing i knew and before anyone else had a chance to realize,i had created the new world record by completing the speech in one minute flat.Nicknaming me "Rocket" seemed to be the obvious choice for the event coordinator,Hussain sir.I used to have sleepless nights whenever i had to give a stage performance.I still remember how my dad used to motivate me in plain terms to evade the stage fear ."Jyaada se jyaadsa kya ho jayegaa..koi tumhe maar thodee hi degaa agar tum achaaa nahee bol paaye to..".Well does look a reasonable argument to get rid of the butterflies in my stomach..I would repeat these words and all the philosophies of the gurus like "Dale Carnegie" which i read a lot..But the moment i used to step on the stage all these motivational quotes used to go for a "toss" and my only concern for the next five minutes used to be to blabber something at the rate of knots and then run away from the public,friends and family as far as possible..I used to motivate myself by saying that "shishir somehow pull this one..life will be back to normal after this nightmare..".

Then i moved to my hometown , Jhinkpani (Jharkhand),in class Xth.Now i should stress on a very important point here.I was always the school topper right from class VIth.And as is always the case , the entire school looks up at us as guys who are supposed to be good at each and everything.So for these obvious reasons my teacher will force me to participate in all the speech,debate competitions.I used to come up with every goddamn excuse in the world to save myself from the nightmare.I remember vividly how in class Xth i was thrusted with the task of competing with the big guns at district level in speech competition.And since it was handed over to me by Padhi sir,whom i respected a lot,i had no options but to give in..So i prepared for one complete week on the topic that was given to me-"Impact of Divide and rule policy on Indian history"..or something like that ..don remember exactly..So i sat and planned to write the entire speech myself because its easier to memorise and "vomit" something that is your own brainchild..Once the speech was ready the next task was practice sessions after the school everyday..And here lied the "real" problem..The very thought of stage kicked the dormant "stage daemons" back to life..The major cause of worry was that my guide used to always ask me to maintain eye contact with the audience to reach out to them with your words and do all sort of weird hand movements..But deep down inside i knew that the moment i saw into someone's eyes i would forget each and everything that i had mugged for weeks..Then i came with a strategy-comical,embarrassing but highly effective..I invented a special body movement for all my stage performances..Start from the extreme left of the audience ,keep on rotating your neck away from the left section of the crowd towards the right again and then back to the left again.All the while keep on blabbering something..The key point to be noted is that the neck should move at a constant rate , so that you cannot maintain eye-contact with anyone watsoever..And one more thing..Keep your hands stretched out all the time,one for each direction and occasionally both , as if you want to "reach out to the audience"..Well with the strategy chalked out , i was ready to rock our district level debate competition..

So we arrived at SJDAV ,the school that was soon to witness history in the making..So after patiently waiting for an hour and a half the competition was about to start..In the meanwhile,my "pre-stage" fears had taken backstage amidst the raining of beautiful chics from every nook and corner of Singhbhum(W)..I must confess i am not a despo , but for us guys from remote regions where "chic" scarcity has been a problem for ages , seeing "haryaali" once in a while is God's way of compensating for all the injustice he has done to us in the first place..And boy are we fools to miss out on such a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity??..ha ha ha..Ok getting back to the competition,it started on a dull note with boring speeches from every "tom-dick-harry" in Chaibasa..Then the real competition started..And guess what?? I was given the first slot among 20 odd participants there..Suddenly the "daemons" kicked in again..I was sweating profusely..And then the moment came.."Our first contender for the evening is Shishir Prasad from DAV Public School,Jhinkpani.."..For a moment i thought i will faint..But somehow the thought of Padhi sir came in my mind and i thought "this one is for you , sir..."..And then i stepped onto the stage..And without any formalities just started blabbering on the stage..I myself had no idea what i was doing..Thankfully , my speech was stopped mid-way through due to some problem in the crowd..Then padhi sir came to me and said.."What are you doing shishir??Zaraa dheere bolo..i know u can do it..!!"..Something happened..it was not what he said , but the manner in which he said that really propelled me to give my level best..And much to the shock of everyone ,and above all me i topped that competition..I don't know how i did it,but i did it..One year down the line my speech photo was published on the cover page of DAV Ranchi zone magazine..But that was it ..I had made a promise to myself..."Shishir ye stage sabke chakkar mein mat padna..its not worth it!!.."...But the school had some other plans for me..

As i said i was the school topper.To add onto that i was always very good in sports ..I guess that made me the obvious choice for leading the school in virtually each and everything..I was made the school captain,house captain and had a major say in sports..When you are given such responsibilities ,stage becomes a close friend of yours and you tend to spend lots of time on it..But i as usual would always come up with my academic commitments and avoid it..Over the next two years i did numerous quizzes and morning assembly sessions to improve my comfort level on the stage..But all this happened long after i had the two most embarrassing stage moments of my life..Wanna know about it..Keep reading!!!

Wonder years..Indeed those were!!

2007-11-07T20:12:00.000-08:00

I always had a special liking for sitcoms . I remember the first one -"Desperate Housewives" created such a spell on me that i screwed up my lab exams the next day because i was up all night watching this very exciting serial.Following that i watched a couple of my sitcoms like "The 70's show" and "How i met your mother".But in the last five days i saw a sitcom that will remain etched in my memory forever - "The Wonder Years..".

The very concept of this serial is that it will touch each and every viewer's heart and create a whirlpool of emotions inside him/her."The Wonder Years" is an Emmy-Award winning television drama that captures the life of the lead character "Kevin Arnold" - his childhood , his adolescence.But watching it,it feels like that its not just a story of "Kevin" , but in some way its the story of each and every one.Each and every event in the serial takes you down the memory lane and you just can't help but see yourself in the character of "Kevin"..It takes you to that sweet phase of your life called "Adolescence"..You are reminded of everything - be it the childhood friends,those carefree days,fun at school,hanging out with friends in the evening,running after girls,the "teacher" you had crush on,the fights with friends,the scoldings of your parents,how you felt that your parents were always harsh on you and never understood you,teen issues,secretive sex talks among friends and much more.. The serial was just showing the life of "Kevin" , but i felt that i re-lived my adolescence once again as i saw the lead protagonist of the serial living his teen years and how each experience then taught and shaped him into the person he is today.

The serial has some very interesting characters.Paul,Kevin's best friend,is the type of friend you would die to have .He was there with Paul through each and every phase ,be it good or bad.They fought with each other so many times ,but each time it made their bond stronger.Norma,Kevin's mom,is an ideal woman,wife and more importantly an ideal person.She cheers up the family during all the tough times they faced ,leaves no stone-unturned in the upbringing of her family.She is very understanding and understands each character in the family in-and-out.Jack,Kevin's father,is a person who is a bit embittered with his life because he ended up doing something which he never wanted to do.He is shown as a strict person , but deep down inside he is a wonderful person who loves his family more than his life and whenever any member of his family was in trouble,he was always there to bail them out.Wayne,Kevin's brother,is a kind of brother you would hate to have because of the way he torments him right through the serial.You would be forced to hate his character,but in the end it is shown that he is good at heart and how he acts beyond his years and takes control of the family when Jack dies.Winnie,Kevin's childhood sweetheart,is the perfect girl next door.She is beautiful,innocent and madly in love with Kevin , but for some reason their feelings for each other always remain dormant for the first couple of years, before they actually get together.She is also shown to be a bit "confused" as she keeps on dumping Kevin , even though for him she is the only girl in his life.

The most interesting character is ,of course,of Kevin.The best part of this entire serial is that unlike other serials they don't show the lead protagonist to be "ideal","perfect".Kevin is not perfect.He commits mistakes and that too lots of them.He is sometimes jealous of Paul ,for him making into Basketball team when he couldn't,he sometimes says mean things about Paul and Winnie,he fights with his dad and resents him,he is often disrespectful to teachers,he sometimes does crazy things that brings shame to the family . But unlike others ,he learns from his mistakes and grows and matures from each experience in life.He does lots of things he shouldn't have done , but then he does make amends at the right time.He is a man with no ego.He is not afraid of apologizing when he is wrong,he is not afraid to voice his opinion if he believes in what he says.

This sitcom has indeed brought back the sweet memories of the days gone by,"the wonder years" that will forever be in our hearts and the ones that will never come back!!Watch it out guys!!