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Showing posts from March, 2009

BTP Blues

I was kinda inspired to do this when I talked about a friends project and then went on to check a friends status message with said how to save BTP So tweaked Fray's How to Save a Life How to Save BTP Step one you say we need to talk He walks you say please sir it's just a talk He smiles politely back at you You stare politely right on through Some sort of window to your right As he goes left and you stay right Between the lines of fear and blame You begin to wonder why you came CHORUS: Where did I go wrong, I lost the string Somewhere along in the emptiness And I would have stayed up in lab all night Had I known how to save BTP Let him know that you know a lot Cause after all you do know some Try to stick up your his defense Without granting innocence Lay down a list of what is wrong They're things he's told you all along And pray to God he hears you And pray to God he hears you CHORUS: Where did I go wrong, I lost the string Somewhere along in the emptiness And I woul

WHO? writes for Sitcoms

It's 5.15 in the morning and I just spent the last three hours watching ' Samantha Who? ' with my girl friend and reading Contact in between. I love to watch sitcoms. They are fun and short. But I've never been really addicted to one. But this one, it's just, I dunno, I connect. I mean she is scared of elevators, but still gets used to taking them. Hell I m shit scared of those things but I still take them. Now you know what I mean. It's about this really mean person who gets hit by a car and she has amnesia but now she is like all nice and goody and stuff and is really trying to change and be a better person. Who hasn't wished for that? Whenever I do something I am not proud of I really wish i could go back in time and undo. At least I wished I would forget it and everyone else involved too. Well if Woody Allen could write plays on his life Samantha Who is my sitcom I'd like to have written. Coming to think of writing sitcoms, The Big Bang Theory and

Dab the Tab

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I just installed a couple of addons on my firefox. FOXTAB This is just awesome ! The navigation is pretty cool. It resembles that desktop navigation in Ubuntu. And like the iPod touch. Even 2D stuff is cool. And if you've got like 15 or some tabs on you can have this cool 3D layout and all that. Try it out!!! Firefox Showcase This is one serves the same purpose but in a 2D way and hence not that cool and hence its ok. Speed Dial I finally got one.

Pink coloured mosquitoes

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Prologue: Pink is a beautiful color. Mosquitoes are painful creatures. Here is a story: So there was this guy and he was out on a walk with a friend and then mosquitoes started biting him. It was unbearable. So he said he wished there were no mosquitoes at all. And his friend started arguing about the chain in the ecosystem and all that and gave reasons why mosquitoes need to be there. Of course the reasons were not very great, being an IITian that he was, he had to give geeky reasons. And been an IITian that he was, he also thought he was knowledgeable on any topic in the world including zoology even though it was not one of his subjects at +2 level and all the knowledge he had was his 10th CBSE biology which talks about food and nutrition and agriculture and how to store food and how to avoid rodents which makes him a great farmer. But zoologist Na-uh! But our IITian man yet gave reasons. And our protoganist who is a non-insti guy, which is why he got irritated by the mosquitoes in t

Trip to Pondy

Naah! not Pondicherry So my Roomie and I took a walk down Pondy bazaar , T Nagar. It was hot and stuffy and had too many people around the whole wide world. They were tiny lanes with insane items and insane prices to be bargained to half the price first quoted. Why did we go there? We seniors are going to pass out and we have like a few dinners lined up and at least for 2 or 3 we are expected to make an appearance in sarees. And the last time I wore a saree I realised its not just a saree; I need a lot of accessories to go along with it. Where best than pondy bazaar. So we walked those lanes stumbling against people. Our first bargain was bad; a necklace set for 200 when quoted 295 and he agreed so easily too. The rest seemed reasonably well bargained and worth it. But I think we spent too much on traveling expenses :P Landed back with 3 necklace sets, 2 pairs of earrings and 3 sets of bangles between the two of us, within 500 I guess. Sounds like a loot :) And now my head aches due t

Happy endings

Today I wrote my last quiz at IIT Madras. This last semester is full of 'last' things/events/incidents/statements that I thought I should not think about it. For all you know I might have a requiz or something :P But at breakfast table today, my Roomie (that's what I still call her) made this last quiz statement. I smiled and waved it off. But the thought stayed in. Why does everything seem sad and all that when it ends? Don't we all dream of happy endings? At least I for one believe in happy endings !!!

Jamshedpur in Pics

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Some really vague pics that need to go into memory :) SNTI (the edu thingy): Butterscotch block that pappe and I ate : Equinox restaurant: Cheque: Shoe at Bata: Gt1 garden yet again: Ahem! These beauty care products belong to a guy!

Sunflowers @ GT1, Jamshedpur

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There were like a million times when I tried to get sunflowers Never could I got substitutes but never really big ones Until :

IITkgp Revolts

The story has taken from Scholar's Avenue , The IITkgp newsletter. This Sunday, the 22 nd of March, shall go down as a black day in the history of IIT, Kharagpur. It was with great sadness and considerable anger that the residents of the campus received news of the demise of one of its own; third year Electrical Engineering student, Rohit Kumar. A resident of the LLR Hall of Residence, Rohit had been visiting the hospital since Friday, the 20 th of March, complaining of headaches. On Sunday, the headaches became increasingly painful and it was on his way back from the doctor that he fainted and fell from the rickshaw, resulting in major injuries. Following this, he was taken to BC Roy hospital by two students of LLR. The doctor on duty (who was present at the time when Rohit was taken to the hospital), Dr. N.K. Som, recommended that he be taken to Apollo Hospital, Kolkata and shown to a neurosurgeon. He stated that BC Roy did not have facilities to handle such cases and that it w

Recalling Summer Showers

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Summer showers really are the rains in the summer that give life to life forms. It's beautiful to watch them from under shelter and it's equally beautiful to watch them when under them. I thought I'll add these pictures to an old post from Jamshedpur days but as I looked back I realized I didn't blog about it. There was a day when in teh hot afternoon rain burst in the skies and there were these huge drops every where urging the soil to contribute the aroma, and three of us were watching television. My roommate from insti, a management internie from delhi and myself decided to stop watching the idiot box and start watching nature's beauty. We stood under a shelter and watched. Suddenly these girls decided to run out into the rain. they'd run out n run back in and do that again and again. And thenI got my umbrella and stood in the rain while these girls were running in and out. they urged me to do the same and finalyl, I let go of my umbrella. I stayed there unde

Summer showers!!!

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I always almost always (even in summers) have a hot water bath, which implies I can't take a shower unless the shower is connected to a geyser. The rare times that I do have a cold bath is invariably a shower. And this happens when it's summer and it's after 11 and it's too humid. Today I had a nap from 8.30 to 11.30 in the morning and woke up sweating under my bed covers (can't think why I was under the covers in the first place, it was hot enough at 8 30 itself) And thought it was the perfect time to have my first summer shower! I love it! Even though my ear aches due to the cold water and my head feels heavy and I m going to be in an AC ed lab for a the rest of the day :(

10 Advantages of having Big and Beautiful eyes

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I've only listed out the advantages of big eyes (beautiful follows .. lol) 1.Big eyes can be very expressive, especially when you want to give that rolling-my eyes affect and you can actually make the cornea roll over 270 degrees in slow clear motion. Of course you can do a 360 also, it just makes you look stupid. 2.You can scare away people by making opening your eyes more and making them look bigger as they tend to be bulgier and the arteries show out too. It works even better when you have dark circles under your eyes and porcelain skin that can be stretched to give vague glimpse of capillary blood vessels. 3.The white also known as sclera is so clearly visible that even a tinge of pink/reddening can be very easily spotted. Hence, eye infections can be easily noticed, helps you take immediate steps. 4.Just like how small eyes appear larger by applying kajal/kohl/eye liner (any other black/brown contouring), big eyes actually appear smaller. Don't ask me how it works. 5. Even

Grass Header !!!

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Report Gmail Bug

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I didn't see this edition till today morn!!!

Art in life

Had to watch Annie Hall because we (a group of people) are going to give a presentation on the life and works of Woody Allen . I was bored. It was 1977 film about a relationship; the beginning to the complexities to the end. But I can't forward it, I have to know it. So I watched it; the beginning to the complexities to the end. (but in two sittings, I just cant sit through the whole of it) Didn't really like the old movie but there was this one scene at the fag end that left a thought in my head. He goes to California to try talking Annie into coming back to him, but she doesn't. And his play has the characters have the same talk they had, except with a small difference at the end. He leaver her and is about to walk away when she stops him and goes back to him. And he says to the audience: What do you want ? It's my first play. You know you're always trying to get things right in art because it's real difficult in life . It's so true! I've done that

Undo Send !

I m so psyched about official mails, so I go on typing, reading, editing, rereading and rerereading till I m very sure that it's the perfect mail in the world. Once the job is done, I click send. Shit ! Where's the attachment whose importance I so carefully explained with the most chosen of words to keep the cover letter as short and apt as possible?? I've done this mistake infinte times and a quick mail promptly follows first adding the attachment and then explaining my stupidity. Fortunately it mostly shows nervousness and not stupidity. BUT I've always needed an UNDO SEND option on my mail!!! I got to hear of it yesterday. Gmail added undo send option but in labs. Nevertheless it's working perfectly fine so far. It allows you to un-send your mail within the next 5 seconds or so. To activate it, go to the labs tab on your Gmail.

The Chennai Book Reading Survey

It is said that Chennai has the highest per capita book readership among all the metros. This statistic is often quoted to say that Chennai is a "well-read" city. A friend of mine is working on a project to check the validation of this statement, for which he launched a survey. Please take a couple of minutes to answer the survey. And take another couple to forward it too. He also believes that everyone in Chennai has only 3 degrees of separation, and so is marketing it through viral networking (commonly known as word of mouth publicity) and wants to test the mathematics behind it. So Chennai, please contribute! Survey owners — Amrutash Misra (alumnus IIT Madras, PS Senior school) Suchitra Sastri (alumnus Wharton b-school, PS Senior school) Webs space provided by — Amrit Vatsa (alumnus IIT Madras) Bezier curve representing results — Arun (slinky) (IIT Madras).

Red Ants

They are small tiny six legged insects that are red in color and their bite stings. Wiki says : Fire ants are a variety of stinging ants with over 280 species worldwide. They have several common names including Ginger Ants and Tropical Fire Ants (English), aka-kami-ari (Japanese), and Feuerameise (German). How stuff Works says: Ants have tiny waists so they can wriggle their end parts freely! An ant’s waist has one or two movable parts. These parts allow the ant to twist and turn in different ways—an important feature for moving about an ant colony. The ant's most highly developed sense is that of smell. Ants have abdominal glands that secrete a variety of pheromones, chemical substances that cause specific reactions by other individuals. Pheromones act as alarms, sex attractants, and trail markers; and they help individuals recognize each other. Ants have a well-developed sense of taste, and can distinguish sour, sweet, bitter, and salty tastes. Their sense of touch is keen. Touc

One Small Love

I heard this song an hour ago at the Shut Up and Vote Tour by Thermal And A Quarter in IIT Madras. It's simple and it's beautiful. It screams out for hope. And here is what they say about it: In our small, tired world, there's too little space for anything. And then we cram in terrorism, recession, traffic jams, politicians, elections, pink slips, pink chaddis, climate change, crop fail... They said it was written in protest against the voilence agaisnt women in Karnataka.

New Widgets!

A few new editions to my blog. Random Spark A random blog post Related Posts : well related posts Your Say! Skribit widget where you tell me what you want me to write about. So all those who use feeds, drop by my blog and tell me what you want me write on.

6.30 am

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It's been so long since I woke up early and watched the sky fill with day light. The sprinklers come to life and the fresh smell of water on grass leaves a tingling sensation on the way to mess. In mess you see very few people and its a pleasant feeling to have breakfast with all the early risers or never sleepers :)

Gender Issues

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Are women on top? Is the question asked in the ET editorial on Saturday. Well, I answered. They heard. But I just can't find the link. lol. Update: here is the link from the e paper. And the snapshot of the really unclear e paper :)

Entertainment!!!

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Jade Goody is terminally ill and is planning her funeral. And her friend Shilpa Shetty shall visit her. And this is the clip:

People on People

According to today's economic times article : Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call's executive editor Mort Kondracke said "US intelligence officials say Pakistan is the likeliest source of terrorist attacks on the United States. It's the most dangerous place on earth: nuclear-armed, menaced by terrorists, economically in crisis and mired in political turmoil." While Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has declared himself America's ally in the war on terror and has permitted the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to use Pakistani territory to stage missile strikes on Al Qaida targets, "he has not been able or willing to crack down on extremist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which perpetrated last year's Mumbai terrorist attack". Noting that "those groups originally were created by Pakistan's military intelligence service, the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), to stage attacks" in Kashmir, Kondracke said: "They are widely

Jaago and Sing!

One band, 5 cities, a million youth- All coming together for music with a difference to be the difference. Jaago Re! One Billion Votes presents Shut Up and Vote Tour by Bangalore based rock band, Thermal And A Quarter (TAAQ) in co-ordination with Janaagraha and Tata Tea. No ticket, no passes. Entry is absolutely free. Watch the campaign anthem now! Make sure you are present to witness the musical extravaganza at • IIT Madras, Chennai on March 20 • Presidency College, Kolkata on March 23 • Pragati Maidan, Lal Chowk Delhi on March 25 • D.Y. Patil College, Mumbai on March 27 • St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore on March 28 Mark your calendar today! Forward this to your friends and bring them all to a un

Will Smith !!!

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I think he is the hottest man alive!!! Forbe thinks he is the most bankable star!!! The stars were ranked on their ability to attract financing for a project, box office success, appeal to different audience demographics amongst other factors. And our man got a perfect 10!!!

Are you below 25?

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Apparently only those below 25 years of age can hear this! And it's extremely annoying too!!! Find out: Created by Train Horns

Busy B schools

Yesterday's news on TV said IIM A avg salary dipped to 12lacs from 17lacs IIM B avg salary dipped to 12.5lacs from 17lacs IIM C avg salary dipped to 14lacs from 16lacs And economic times published it in a very sad tone today. But I think it is a good deal. It's not too bad. What do you think ?

Robocon2009

International Robocon2009 is scheduled to be held in Tokyo Japan from 20th to 24th August 2009. Theme declared by Tokyo is Kago, the traditional Japanese palanquin, carried by human beings - an interesting and challenging objective for designes/fabricators to work on. IIT Madras wins Robocon India 2009 :) The IITM will now represent India at the Asia Pacific Robocon International competition

International Women's Day

The theme of International Women’s Day 2009 is women and men united to end violence against women and girls. Here is a brief look at the history of Women's day . May be we should take a look at where our country stands.

Election post Again

Here is a mail I received today: Hi Doston, It is time for the 2009 elections (April 16th - May 13th) and we have a responsibility at hand. To make informed decisions and exercise our right to VOTE. May sound like a cliche but JAGO. Here are some sources of information. Please pass on the message to your friends and family, peers and associates. 1. Lot of useful information and article on Times of India Lead India website http://lead.timesofindia.com/ home.aspx 2. The Jago Party Website http://www.jago.in/ 3. Election Commission website http://www.eci.gov.in/index. asp 4. Election Schedule, Key Contenders Profiles, Constituency break up and Previous Election Results on http://www.indian-elections. com/ May we build the India we deserve :) On a totally different note: All insti junta please vote for your hostel and your insti on 12th march afternoon.

Open up, Free up

Today's main article in economic times editorial seemed extremely personal to the writer. The tough decision for this month’s column was whether to write about the prognosis for consumer demand in India, post the global meltdown,India slowdown, e-sops (as ET elegantly described vote inducing election expenditure), or whether to write about what lessons placement committees (mostly comprising students) of top-tier MBA schools ought to learn and act on, after the 2009 stressful placement season. This column opted to discuss the latter, because we want to urge future leaders of India Inc to use their intellect and education to courageously depart from the past and do things differently for the different world of the future. If they are content being status-quo-ist in their placement models with the justification of “ hamare khandaan ke purane rivaaz hain ”, they are out of step with the mindset that winning companies of India Inc and the world want and need. These were the first

B school Blues

IIMs extend campus placement period Slowing economy may end IIM placements boom IIMs feel the pinch as recession dampens placements Recession strikes, no jobs for management freshers But like I said , I can always become a writer :P

Voting is Duty

as much as it is a Right. 5 phase elections for Lok Sabha from April 16th to May 13th Interestingly there are a lot many initiatives by private entities to help public vote. Like the Jaago Re! One Billion Votes ' : non-partisan nationwide movement that aims to awaken and enable the citizens of India , especially the youth, to register to vote. [ 1 ] It was launched by Tata Tea and Janaagraha (a non-profit organization.) And also the Lead India '09, Lets make this vote count : A Times of India initiative Apparently we have about 714million voters. (One billion I thought was the population). The world's largest democracy is going for an election. I beleive we should also have the world's largest votes being polled.