One for the Road :)

The much hyped carefree, lecture-free, exams-free, guitar wielding, class la dancing and mass bunking college life, which mom promised me before 12th board exams, is drawing to a close in a week's time. So here goes a list of what I've liked and hated in the 4 years which saw my mush germinate (when u look closer) and interest in studies terminate...

Lines in italics under each point shows what i hate about the same

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

0. The ECE B Spamming gumbal.

FB chat doesn't work here :(

1. High speed Wi-Fi enabled campus

Ridiculous system administrator. However crude it may sound, CHarles Dickens is not bad!

2. Zatacka

"Thanks for asking"

3.Egg Biryani, canteen

Subsequent gabbu. Polo the hero

4. Ashok Nagar

The distance from home.

5. Sachin's resurrection, post 2007

Sharath's anti-sachin comments

6. Slapping people during night mode, Mafia game

Playing the Sappa Civilian role. Esp when handed a chit which bluntly reads 'Sappa'

7. Karthik, Shankar Mahadevan concerts

Hariharan's. The paciest song he could come up with was "Aathorathile Aala Maram" from Kaasi

8. Chaai Gang

Sumanth's "1 more km to go" bluff.

9. 1st year canteen drama orchestrated by Sharath & Viney.

"Changing my number" snub.

10. GRE

Concepts and M.S

11. Pah!

Hearing it the 114th time on the same day!

12. Sowcarpet :D

The 2 hour detour to Moore market with Motta.

13. Thomsam. FIFA. Sakthi

When at the receiving end :|

14. PEH

Only during weekends :(

15. Rani - Superstar Jalra

Nanbaaaaaa's standard 'thoooooooooo' comments for the jalra

16. Shweta's home-made cakes

Guinea pigged me for the first attempt.

17. Ford Fiesta

21 H.

18. Suraj's Maid water bottle

Drumming in sync with Suraj during interval breaks.

18. SMS commentary during IPL and every Sachin's innings.

Sowmya, the traitor, supported CSK in 2010 IPL final though she pledged her loyalty to Mumbai Indians.

19. Semester practicals

Plotting graphs and writing records.

20. Yamanuri's own language!

Sumanth's top score in FB word builder game & having to play truck rush over and over again to be on top.

21. Star Wars - Lord of the Rings fight

PK's funny attempt to bring Harry Potter into the fray. :P

22. Brainy project mates -> only editing work assigned to me

Playing Battle Painters alone when every soul around me is busy with project work.

23. Sai's first year mimicry comedy-keemady

Iron Shakthi joke :'(

24. Sleepovers at Sharath's place

Amma thaaye ( still in denial ! )

25. Besi beach for treats and retreats

Not having gone to Mahabs even once!

26. Editorial board

Coaxing people to contribute

27. Late to class, day after day. Year after year.

%attendance over the years : 85, 80, 75 and currently a little around dravid's Test strike rate

28. Egg puffs & Lassi @ stores

Chaat @ canteen

29. Lawn ;)

Professors passing by

30. Tickling PK and watching him go berserk

When done back to me

31. PS3 @ Blur

Lightened wallet

32. Abusing the Australian cricket team during Ashes

Viney's loyal support towards the Australian cricket team

33. Chicken at KFC, Wangs & Tasty Jones

Sandy's and Domino's

34. CAT

IIM - K

35. First ODI in a stadium. INDvNZ 2011

It ended faster than a 20-20 game!

36. Endhiran first day first show at the expense of first review

Car parking charge at EA

37. Saarang

Hindi video that I had to report on

38. Maiden short film. Three robbers and a funeral

The twist goes unnoticed

39. Nithin's snooker show

No more foosball at Grounded:(

40. B'day surpises

Good cakes wasted by smearing

41. Waking up at 8

Missed eventful bus journeys

42. Sakthi's room

Ranga's entry !!!

43. Singapore IEEE 'conference'

Water sports fiasco

44. EDC 50 biz associates (Suraj, Shwe & Viney)

Lost tupperware and Apple earphones. Net profit= -800!

45. Mayajaal

Stinky seats and overpriced Pepsi

46. Fooling Pavithra while playing cards

Having her in my team and she turns me in!

47. Right from first year, had Nanbaaa's company for lunch @ canteen.

Watching canteen food quality decline over the years :|

48. Everyone knows WHO

EVERYONE knows who

49. Sole school mate in college. Krishna.

Can't go around claiming I was the SPL, rowdy, casanova in school

50. Varuvaayngala?

Varela?

All good things come to an end.

The Butterfly Effect

Have you ever wondered about the fact that one small change in your life can alter forever your life and the way you see things? If one small factor changes in life, you might be missing out on something special... Now, let me illustrate the theory with an example taken out of my life.

On a fine Saturday evening…

Now, wait. THis story needs a preface!

Recounting sweet old memories is always a pleasant and gratifying thing to do. And when an unwritten story is told and told, retold and retold, over and over again, changes tend to creep into the tale which hyper emblazons the content but still serves justice to the original!

Back to the story...

I could’ve given my scholarship treat (afn lunch after which I went to my friends place) any other day; I could’ve left my friend’s place a few minutes earlier; I could’ve boarded the direct bus to my uncle’s place; the bus(the one which I eventually boarded) driver could’ve avoided overhauling at least one vehicle; the traffic signal digital clock could’ve been started a few seconds earlier; some random laggard in a scooter could’ve come in the way to interrupt the journey; the lackadaisical ticket-checkers could’ve picked my bus and delayed the proceedings; I could’ve travelled by an auto to my uncle’s place as I had always done; I could’ve stopped somewhere to grab a snack; I could've taken any of the myriad roads and bylanes as I was totally lost and proceeding intuitively…

But destiny had other plans as it made me take the road that was meant for me. In the lucent twilight, as my heart skipped a beat, as a cool breeze killed the heat, I was swept off my feet, on seeing the most amazing jaw dropping sight (I’ve got my first poem inadvertently!)…

A cat kissing a dog!

Other factors that almost made it to my list of “Could’ves”

A dog could’ve chased me down the street of my friends place as I exited his apartment; I could’ve got off at the wrong stop; CM’s motorcade could’ve halted things for a while; In support of El Ti Ti E, some power hungry politician could’ve declared it as a holiday with buses safely parked in depots; I could’ve got off at the wrong stop; I could’ve dozed off after a tiring day and journeyed on till the final terminus; I could’ve made a huge mistake in my 12^th math board exam and chosen any of the other 229 colleges!

P.S - Google up the word butterfly effect to know its significance. And theres a wordplay on the title, for the discerning mind :D

My Journo Avatar!

Saarang 09 - the Fourth Estate event.
Prelims - Of the four topics given below, an original article should be mailed to the Fourth Estate organising team.

1. Catastrophes in 2008 so far.
2. Nuclear Trust Vote.
3. Prevailing Economic crisis around the world.
4. Legendary rivalries in sports.

Naturally, I chose the last topic, penned down an article about Real Madrid-Barca rivalry and sent the unedited version erroneously on Sunday, the last day for submission! And during electronics lab today, while I casually browsed through saarang's fourth estate page in my mobile, I found my name in the shortlist for the finals !! The first phase of the finals requires the finalists to choose any event in Saarang, prepare a report and present it on stage. In the second phase, the participants will be shown a video and given a few minutes off the record to prepare. The participants are expected to report "live" on the video shown to them. In short, I have to act, think and be a reporter for the next two days, presenting news and maybe even creating them!



THE EIGHTY YEARS WAR…

A civil war bisecting the nation, a battle not manifested by artillery army tanks and bloodshed, a cold contest that is not fought for imperialistic or monetary reasons… This is Real Madrid v Barcelona FC – a politically charged rivalry dividing Spain, militated by 22 ‘soccerors’ for salvaging the pride of their club, the ideologies of their respective culture and moreover living the dreams of the soccer crazy Spanish supporters.
SPAIN – During El Clasico !

The rivalry can be traced back to the troubled times of Spanish Civil War, when Real Madrid was the face of the despotic dictatorship and Barca echoed every Catalan’s cry for a democratic nation. Barca was a symbol of defiance against Fransesco Franco’s dictatorship and the regime was behind Real Madrid. The clubs were seen as representatives of two rival regions in Spain, Catalonia and Castile. While the Catalans voiced their demand for a separate nation, Real Madrid (Castilians) tried to reassert its authority over the nation.

The Spanish giants locked horns for the first time in 1929. The match, which rewrote the grammar of a sporting rivalry, was eyed as a clash of two nationalisms, as the clubs played not only for the 3 points but also for honor and pride. Immediately after the Spanish Civil war, the friction and intensity of the enmity reached astronomical heights and the Catalans gave vent to their feelings through the El Clasico.

NOU CAMP (BARCA)

SANTIAGO BERNABEU(REAL MADRID)

HEAD TO HEAD: (WINS) BARCA -59 REALMADRID - 68

.
"For Catalans, who see themselves as a nation that has lost so much politically, economically, and socially, a win against Real Madrid is especially pleasurable” remarked Jordi Josep Salvador, a Spanish sports affairs specialist. For the Catalans, Barcelona FC is more than a club( mes que un club). The El Clasico has seen footballic poetry from the finest pairs of legs in soccer history… Johan Cruyff, Maradona, Alfred Di Stefano, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Figo.

In war, there is no prize for runner-up. Barca and Real Madrid know it and this classic rivalry has produced some captivating matches, a few controversies that has hogged headlines and also legendary footballers, thus placing it in a stratosphere far ahead of any other sporting rivalry. Both the clubs have always had several local players from Youth Academies, who grew up with El Clasico’s intense history imbued in their blood. They make sure the rest of the team doesn’t forget that a lot more is at stake than mere points. The crowd chants and inspires their home team vociferously (if there was a roof in the stadium, it would be blown off by the thunderous sound!) while remaining hostile and intimidating to the visiting team with loud booing and shrill whistling.

Alfred di Stefano (the Argentinean legend) was up for grabs in the mid 40s and both the clubs were involved in an intense race to sign him up. He eventually joined Real Madrid; a decision alleged to be influenced by political pressures which led the club to unprecedented glory in the following years. The real fireworks though fly when a player leaves one of the two Spanish giants and joins the other. Luis Figo of Portugal moved from Barca to Real Madrid and he was welcomed frostily at Nou Camp, Barca’s stadium, with suckling fried pig heads and the like. Every time he came close to the touchline, a flurry of missiles and libelous words rained from the stimulated crowd in the stands. The match was ferociously fought and Barca eventually triumphed 2-0.

Eighty years have passed, nearly 200 matches have been played, Fransesco Franco is six feet under pushing up daisies, Spanish Civil War is only a part of history books, but this fierce battle will continue, as it is more than a game to the Spaniards… Més Que Un Game!

A Glitch in God's creation

Couldn't sleep peacefully even for a second on my way back to Chennai...
COurtesy : The guy in the lower berth, exercising man's disgraceful doggone habit, louder than the train itself...

SNORING

A year that was at college!

Dressed neatly in light blue designer shirt and dark blue slightly faded blue jeans, I clomped towards the beaming main auditorium, trampling across lush green lawn on a pleasant august forenoon...
Big day it was for 630 newbies to the famed SSNCE for it was a new chapter for a happy go lucky student and a grander stage to compete with the best in the business for the studious population...
As I opened the huge brown doors of the audi, the chattering sound of everyone resonated loudly and it took me sometime for the intensity of the occasion to mellow down in my mind.Nervous but excited eyes,astute ears, yabbering mouths and restless anxious minds all set to undergo a major transition in their life.

That was 295 days ago, with loads of dreams,which never materialized and was unaware of the unexpected changes that would creep into me gradually as days roll by.

Set aside the subtle changes in me, there are few realisations derived from my experience in college wiht quashed pre-college dreams

#Chennai is not Madurai
#Class getogether is not 30 mins away... It requires either careful planning or immense luck
#While in school,you dream of wearing colorful funky dresses in college but then you hit reality after joining college
#Be careful about the number printed in your designer tshirt unless you want to be compared with the person of the corresponding roll number
#Will be promoted even if you fail
#NO more restrictions on participation of other coll culturals
#Noone can live a kollywood college hero life
#Remember canteen is always crowded and beware of funny conniving pranks of your friends!
#You have to indeed study in college, atleast to pass
#Been to Mayajaal numerous times bt not once after joining college
#Pop corn costs shoot up eight times the original price on entering a multiplex
#Average speed of a vehicle in the city(except that of the CM's) is approx 6 km/hr during traffic extremum
#Word spreads fast, not necessarily true

The first week of college wasnt that uncool as I expected it to be. Felt anxious about making new friends and derived pleasure from the same feeling that shown evidently in every other classmate's face.Classes did happen as against the most essential logic of kollywood movies that centered around college life,though with lighter intensity and better interaction, but all the same for me.. YAAAWN

People who were ready to unwind fastly formed close knitted friend circles way early.
Having utilised my weekly co-curricular classes in school to great effect for the purpose of doing a week's pending homework, there was so little for me to improve on and so vast an area to start! Hence i ruled out the prospect of playing any popular outdoor games and finally chose the less-competent squash, which is always short of players. An ordinary performance in internals coupled by a desperate show in the semester exams, a good year in quizzing for a non-stereotypical quizzer like me...

Altogether, my first year at college was a very normal one,lacking in adrenaline rushing moments and conspicuous activities but nevertheless, satisfying for a guy who takes life easily on the stride...


A year that wasnt at college
http://subadeshkanna1.blogspot.com/2007/12/haunting-dreams.html

Extreme Course on Enjoyment - Thats ECE !!

Parottas, Temples and XII C !

Saturday (22nd March) - As I set afoot on my hometown madurai soil, I shuffled my hair in response to the silent breeze in my direction. I was back in Madurai after my longest absence from the city, 82 days and I was exceedingly on a hyper and floating.Its a beautiful city with a flower like architecture and famous not for its Tata Sumos,ruffians and Veecchu Aruvaals (as demonstrated in movies) but for its Temples,Jasmine,Parottas and overwhelming hospitality.

Nothing had changed in the city, I observed, as the autorickshaw cruised through the traffic less yet busy streets of the earlymorning Madurai to my spacious residence in KK.Nagar. With open arms and a gleeful smile, my tata opened the door followed by a warm amiable welcome from the rest of the family. A feeling of unusual comfort crept into me as I stepped into my room, whose walls know me better than any other person or thing. After catching some Z's for a few hours, I woke up to my mobile screamin out Bon Jovi's Have a Nice day...

After buying some novels for my friend and hogging at British Bakery's flagship outlet at Town Hall road, 8-9 fellas visited our school for perhaps the first time after passing out. Desperately wanting to catch a glimpse of my 12 C classroom, I climbed the stairs while million memories of my school days converged in my mind. The 12 C bench, which saw me famously sleeping while standing and providing a solace to me when not being able to withstand lectures...there it was, moved few feet upfront but still bearing the scars of my pathetic artistic engraving and the sheen of having lodged the 12th grade blabbermouth me hasn't faded a bit.

Almost my entire gang thronged at Veeru's place and splurged into loud merriment for almost an hour. Dinner at Carnival followed. More friends to meet the next day and more matters to discuss about. After a long talk with my whole family, I left 647,KK.Nagar at 8.30 pm and started for the railway station. I sat upright on the platform bench, hoping the audio speaker nestled on a towering steel pillar to yell - Nellai Express has met with some problem and is rescheduled to leave the city only the next day. But it never did. The train was bang on time and I lifted my feet off the ground and got into the train.

And I was no longer floating nor on a hyper...

Jeppiar 5th standard...oops...ECE symposium

Being just a first year and also relatively new to quizzing circuit, you may raise an eyebrow over the way I criticise this event but you ll back me after reading this.

The JPR college's ECE symposium Quiz Prelims started at around 1.30 and having already missed out on finals of various big quiz events like Techofes and IIT's biz quiz, we were low on confidence and morale and we were badly in need of a victory for motivation. With all the big quizzing moguls assembled at SSN's Instincts 08, we had more than just a good chance of winning this one by storm. We knew what was coming at the first sight of the question paper. Some questions :

When was Benazir Bhutto assasinated? a.26th dec b.27th c.28th
What is the land of cakes ? a.Scotland b.France c.some country which I dint bother to see
The Manchester of India ? ( This one had no choices, a written one...tricky question by their standards! )
And I was actually rolling on the floor laughing when I noticed three questions in Match the following mode !
We handed the papers and the finals was to start in another 10 mins.
We qualified.


And at 1.50, the "grand" quiz finale started, equipped with overhead projector and a huge working crew. Seeing this big horde of quiz organisers, I felt the questions will be of decent material. And they announced Round two - Dumb C
~~ Dumb -C? I think am in the wrong place~~

After explaining the rules of the round ( 2pts maximum can be scored in this round ) , Pravin was asked to enact MNCs and they had told earlier that the Dumb-C will be based on simple things. Can anyone explain on what basis, multi-national companies 'is' an object ??
And the other team got 'college', where they just pointed to the floor and got it right.... I swore that I wont give a hifive ever again after seeing that team (all smiles) exchange highfives after getting college right !

The third round was a video round where a 20sec clip was played and questions were asked on our observation power. Like how many cars in the entire clip and the pick of them....
A black and white video followed by the following questions - What was the color of the horse and question 2 - what was the color of the shoe ! Duh, it should either be black or white...
I went straight to the so called quiz master and asked, when the actual quiz will start and when this stupid crap will end...And the reply was even more baffling, " This is a nontechnical quiz. So... " never completed the sentence.

So, in a technical quiz they ll show that stupid video of a car race and ask what circuit is used in the speedometer? What crap !

I had an ominous feeling that the next round will be even more worse than the previous ones and so was it !
Audio round was announced.
~ Yikes ~
We were played a 20 sec speech of someone in some language. Thanks to a misfunctioning audio system ( the speakers were deliberately turned away from us as if the speaker is right there inside it), we couldnt even makeout the language.
And the answer Fidel Castro in cuban language I suppose.
We lost the quiz.

I remember answering the second question Scotland when I was in fifth grade during Maggi quiz finals. And people here havent grown up.

SSN Instincts 2008

Hordes of hoardings galore, legions of students having a blast and voila... SSN Instincts is back this year, aggrandized to ultra-extravagance and providing the best platform for champions and aspirants to battle it out.

This three day cultural fest boasts a gripping schedule ranging from live alfresco rock show by the heavy metal band Scrath to Quiz events and with prize money so monumental that it may hamper its own credibility !

Having enjoyed a consummate fling at sweet success and participant's overwhelming extolling satisfaction over the past years, Instincts has always proven to be the talk of the town. Being one of the most favourite culturals in South India, the students turnout has scaled unbelievable heights and getting better and better everyyear.

Whether it is the fun filled informals or the state's elite racking their brain out in the much admired quiz event or the finest heads competing at various fine arts events or the dancers sweating it out in the choreo nite, Instincts assures 3 days of pure rocking fun, and in the unlikely case that you cant attend, then you are definitely missing something...Big time !

For a detailed insight about the various events
Check www.instincts08.com/schedule.html

Get a taste of whats in store at Instincts 08 by the few highlights that I've listed:

~~SS Music, the 24hr Southie channel will be conducting on-site Voice hunt contest

~~Vikram,the man of the masses and the Bollywood heartthrob is likely to be the Chief guest to inaugrate this three day bash.

~~ Terrific sponsors who have supported the fabulous event includes HCL,Satyam,Witco and a lot more. Also featuring media partners like SS music,Radio One,Pagalguy.com...
( I've just mentioned few of the innumerous sponsors)
The entire list of sponsors - http://instincts08.com/sponsors.html

~~ As already mentioned, an alfresco live rockshow by the band Scrath on Thursday eve

~~ The whole show culminates with the Choreo night on Saturday the 8th

~~ Myriad volunteers, on campus foodstalls and lot more...


And for Chennai people to commute to SSN through college buses, check out for busroutes - http://instincts08.com/bus.html

With a laborous organising crew spending backbreaking days and sleepless nights to make it a successful and an I-cant-believe-what-am-seeing event, Instincts 08 promises to be a cracker of a cultural festival.So, fasten your seatbelts as the adrenaline pumping action filled Instincts is all set and raring to go !

Hangman game on phosphate !

Having received several warnings about being hypertalkative in class, chemistry mam ordained me,sharath and viney that we shoud never sit together in class.
Today was my turn to sit separately and me being a backbencher till that moment, took a seat in the farthest corner of the class, almost hidden from the professor's view.
And she noticed me sitting alone, aloof from the class proceedings,amused in my world of fantasies.She ordered firmly that I should move to the first bench,which had an empty place thanks to some dutiful bunkin hostelite.

Thats when I realized these things :

1.Never even consider playing hangman with your first-bench mate, who will turnout to be an absolute firstbencher nerd, listening keenly to class. Unless you feel like playing it on the names of chemistry compounds !

2.Dont bother talking to your benchmate, as he ll give a timid,uninterested 'oh' when you start gossiping about some hot rumour on the rounds

3.Never even consider doodling in your note, as the professor will give alarming and fearful abrupt gazes at you or your note from the blue, that ll catch you off guard.And especially when youve got one multipurpose notebook for 8 subjects...just like me !

4.You cannot stare/ogle/admire/gaze at any person of the opposite sex, unless you want them to dismiss you as a cheap ogling moron. As your face should turn more than 90 degrees, people will be able to notice the quick changes in your head position while turning towards and away.
This doesnt necessarily mean Ive experienced all this ;) jai anchaneya

5.There is absolutely no chance of dozing off for a brief while, as fear pangs will cloud your mind.

6.Mobile Messaging huh? lol...out of question

And when I finally decided to listen to the class after abandoning all hopes of finding an alternative,I took one look at someone in the first bench taking down notes ferociously and I ultimately decided against listening to class, as I dont want to be entitled as the next nerd in line !

Techofes 08

Techofes 08,the most awaited cultural fest(atleast by me) turned out to be a really lucky one...but sadly for my opponents. With my college seniors dismissing the quiz competitions as a slimchance events for rookie first years as me and getting an OD proving to be really laborous lately and having lost four quiz finals straight, I was quite unsure if techofes will be any different.
At Vivek audi, I searched for the quizzing kingpins of chennai, hoping they hadnt turned up (unlikely but still). And when my gaze fell upon almost every guy who proved better than me in all the quizfinals earlier... OMG!
Qualifying now, I felt, was alomst impossible as the quizzing bigwigs were all present at the audi,intact...

General quiz bombed; qualified for the harrypotter finals as a reserve team ; and then qualified for the sports quiz finals, the event where i could see victory somewhere in the horizon...yeah faintly.

All the teams turned up for the harrypotter quiz grand finale, ruling out any possibility for getting my team on stage.
And there was this sports quiz, where everything went on smooth till the twenty pointer question, where my brain went on a vacation as we were the only team not to have got the answer right.Infact we never answered,clueless.

If someone present at the event is reading this, it was that Jimlaker-Anilkumble victims question.

My brains started working in the final written round, we made a good recovery, but it wasnt enough to see us thorugh.

If some competitor is reading this, we were the team who managed to answer liverpool outta nowhere but stupidly dint write down Everton !

Finished fifth, and my affair with the miserable hapless unfortuante wretched *that fourletter word*ing run of failure in finals continued...

The paramount prize money on stake overshadowed some changes in schedule ( but how did all the harrypotter finalists turn up promptly? )
There were some rumours of the events being fixed, but it turned out2 to be a healthy and clean competition throughout with close finishes. Help desk ppl were a bit irresponsible but the organisers were friendly enough to give me a certificate after I lost my participant card. And there was a splendid choreo night to cap a glorious cultural festival.

Failure is a stepping stone to success... So look towards a brighter future with a smile :) we shouldnt mourn over the failures, completely forget it and move on


Now, had I got that fuckin Jim-Laker question right, I wouldve won thirdplace... holy goddamn shit !

You know,sometimes proverbs just cant pacify us ;)

Asia - Pacific IEEE students party...oops...i mean congress

IEEE student congress, happening in the subcontinent for the first time and that too at SSN !
I strolled towards the sports complex in the silent breezy night, unexcited of whats in store...
The entrance to the sports arena, separated a world of silent ordinariness and a world of once in a life time experience(s)....
As I entered the basketball arena, i found students from almost every country in the Asia-PAcific Region.
I walked up excitedly to the guy nearest to me, a Pakistani and we got introduced to each other. The next hour saw some 30+ such incidents and finally, after a 30 min chat with Mr.Martin from Netherlands about the working of IEEE R-8, everyone headed towards the canteen for dinner. Thats when I met Srinivas, a lively lad from Banglore and we sat beside each other with M.Martin right there in front of us. Martin was entertaining us with some anecdotes at his workplace, when a group of girls from Kerala took up the remaining seats in out table, ~did I say I was glad about that ;) ~ .

After an ordinary dinner, assembled at the lush lawn in front of the auditorium. We were asked to form two circles and the outer circle went around the static inner circle till the music stops, when they have to introduce themselves to the people in front of them at that instant. Thats when i met Ali Mansoor Shami from Pakistan and little did i know that this friendship will last (and grow) throughout the programme . After four such rounds, we settled down, with our minds clouded with dozens of names - Po,Lee,Chiang,Ameer,Sandeep,Christy,Fleur,Srijesh...~ Wonder how some tamilian will call the Chinese guy Po ! ~

All the student imports were then asked to introduce themselves to everyone and also do a performance.
Am confused why certain people look at Pakistanis in a bad perspective, all i can say to them is their voices about Paks are just a piece of complicated absolute pure shit. The pakistan group, which turned out to be the most entertaining group at the event, sang some popular hindi songs ; A Newzealander performed haka, the tribal dance of their National Rugby team ; Four Australians sang some of their yesteryear rock songs ; Three Japanese exhibited some martial arts ; Seven Chinese students voiced some songs ; A lone wolf from Thailand was made to sing a song ; Students from Delhi,Bangladesh section (about 28 ) danced and sung some HIndi hits ; then, it was our turn- madras section to sing, and so we did after an intro ; and the team with the strongest number 67, the Kerala section, danced to songs from four languages, with everyone's mood upbeat, the dance slowly gained pace and finally everyone there were dancing, or atleast trying to.

A humdinger of a day, capped by the dance towards the end... After a near midnight walk with my new friends, I headed back to my room, with a big smile... So IEEE can after all be so much fun !

After the breakfast at 9, the President of IEEE, MR.Terman adressed the gathering, followed by other topnotch officials in the IEEE organisation. After a mundane lunch, we headed back to the auditorium, for an integration activity, which turned out to be a quiz event, with Muthu from third year taking up the role of quiz master. It was a compilation of really interesting questions, which had us all hooked to it.After the celebrating the birthdayof Jennene, an IEEE spokesperson with a large cake, a dance fest was performed by the ssnites and the multinational crowd loved every bit of the onstage proceedings, which ranged from Bharatanatyam to Folk to Western... Following dinner, about 120 of the 230+ delegates ( i mean students) assembled at the auditorium for a series of informal events like Juiced, different kinds of proposals and arm-wrestling face offs. And then was the best event in this whole program - a free for all dance, where the organizers left open the dancefloor( the stage) to everyone... With some initial hesitancy like most others, I joined the 100+ lot on the stage, as we waltzed around, slamming against each other, performing unorthodox steps, with some stints of group dancing to all the popular peppy hindi songs. Unforgettable - its not everyday that you get to dance with a 100+ lot from 10+ countries ! We headed back to our rooms, unwilling...

The next day promised even more fun as we were having lunch and looking forward to the much awaited group activities. Arun, Sonia,Jason, Rizwaan, Jitendran, Hiro, William and me were pooled into the same team. Prashanth, a classmate of mine joined later. After a name-telling game, we were asked to build a miniature structure of Tajmahal with ten newspapers. With some initial dilemma over choosing different ideas proposed within the team, we finally decided on one and started erecting our tajmahal, * for ;) * . Our construction was selected the best by the judge, thanks to our specifications that went into placing sirens over a mini police jeep !
The next event proved to be an interesting one, a modified form of Ship Wreck. With the given ten minutes for discussion over, we had to send someone from our team to tell the crowd why they are going to push a particular person off the ship and justify their decision. Hiro volunteered to do this and on stage, he said we are going to push George Bush off the ship, and when queried, he just said..." because he is george bush ! *also some stuff censored* " . Though our group dint do well in the justification part, we were praised to be the team which had most of the fun from these events !! Cheers 'Zeitgeist', our team name ~ wonder what it means :D ~

We had a great dinner, and I played a prank with tamil language on Arun ( a keralite), a prank well planned and well executed. We were almost coaxed into the auditorium for the multic-national cultural program, after offering some resistance while having a photo session. . My college's music troop, which has been dominating college culturals in chennai ( or so was i told), did some feet-tapping songs. Songs, dances from all the sections, with the Newzealander's performance of Haka stealing the limelight. He even invited people to join him in the dance on stage. And many other teams who later came on followed suit. Chinese danced to a mesmerizing piece of music, Australian played a song with guitar, Taiwanese read out some poem, Keralites, boasting the largest number, did a series of songs and dances, Delhi section was the most boorish, as they played some old skit, Hyderabadis were the last on stage dancing for the song Chal chalre Hyderabadi. Clock read 12.20, two hours past the schedule !

With yet another ordinary breakfast, followed by Student branch presentations, the gift-exchanging time finally started. I got to exchange my elephant crystal statue for a mini phantomish mask from a Taiwanese guy. After hoggin at the lunch buffet, people exchanged their contact details and took an array of photos, as cameras clicked away snaps of moments that will never be forgetten by anybody there... Even the word IEEE, brings a big smile on you :-)


place ur cursor over any pic to get the title displayed

B(a)day !

Happy Birthday to myself !!!

An average performance in EDC, twin failures at iit and kurukshetra quizzes, totally about three hours of travel in PTC....

Where did all those 'happy's in "happy birthday" wishes showered on me go??!

Rookies day out !

Indian Institute Of Technology, the Mt.Everest for those in pursuit of greatness… And two aimless fellows…

I got down from my Uncle’s car and waited near the entrance of IIT, Madras- a place which has proved to be a heaven for some and elusive to most other aspirants.
I stood rethinking whether or not I should enter the premises. IIT Dept of Management Sciences quiz event, 25 grand at stake and a top official from Tata hosting the grand finale, so a big event, but felt I was the biggest misfit in there. Govind, my team mate, equally hopeless about the quiz arrived finally. We waited for the Eco-friendly bus that goes around the college in loops the whole day. And during our ten minute wait for the bus, two guys from some B-School got down from an auto, paid their overpriced fare and walked past us.

I gave a smile to Govind, he reciprocated.
~ still not too late to leave~

But we dint chicken out, and we were hoping to get atleast one question right in the whole competition to just induce some confidence so that we come here again !
The bus had inadequate space and I had to bear with my hunchback like posture all through the journey.

~being a six footer sometimes sux~

An IITian offered to guide us to the quiz rendezvous and on the way, he asked us if we were IITians !

~ Dude, I never wrote JEE all my life ~

He lead us into the wrong building, apologized and he finally found his way to where we were supposed to go, some auditorium.
We were the youngest of the lot in the arena, as no first year will be so stupid to be present in a national event. All the quiz teams, which had flown in from all parts of the nation were ready and eager for the curtain raiser, with their final magazine current affairs revision and had rough sheets other than those provided by the organizers.

~ Shit, We dint even have a pen with us ! ~
Govind borrowed one from the event manager.
And the show began. We guessed some 15 out of 25 questions put forth. And got just 10 right.
We went over to the seniors from my college, heads down. He queried if we got atleast 3 questions right. Ten we replied and got a big pat, but little did we know the essence of the pat...
Presuming that all the other teams would’ve got 20+ right, we silently bolted out of the arena and headed for CCD within the campus proximities.

One pm – Me and Govind hoggin at some cakes and sandwiches, and also drinking ( soft) to our Successful Mission, having got more than one question right. And we checked our mobiles to find that we had missed calls from two numbers which were in a CUG. Strange. I called up a number to find some geek telling me that our team had qualified for the finals. I replied, who is playing this bloody joke? The voice urged us to be there at 1.20 !
And so we had got TEN questions right, not 'just' ten questions !
WE QUALIFIED !!! IIT MBA QUIZ FINAL, defeating all the stalwarts from B-Schools...PHEW!!

We indulged in a suprise merriment at ccd and ordered more stuff. And after paying the bill, one look at the watch left Govind bewildered. 1.40 pm !!!
We ran like mad to the auditorium. Just in time for the quiz.
~ thankfully the quiz master was late as ever ! ~

Subadesh Kanna and Govind of SSNCE, the quiz master announced, as we took our seats on stage and while floating in euphoria.
And no blank sheets with us! I walked over to the organizers and got one.
The stage set for a grand finale...

~ Now, wheres the pen? ~

I borrowed it again from the organizer cheekily.
The quiz kicked off. After two hours of utter bewilderment, with momentary nuances in our attitude, the quiz was finally over. The scorecard read 65,50,37,25 and then meekly in the end, it read SSNCE Govind and Subadesh - 15 !
A T-Shirt and a certificate is not all that we got, but some gasps from the winners on knowing that we were first years and first timers to the competition.

Call it an underdog's day or a nohoper's moment of greatness or an overdose of serendipity but nothing can take the two hours of unalloyed glory from us !

And this is just the beginning...

19, 6.3 x 2,1500 and more...

As I got off the train, six pairs of eyes were watching every movement of mine,
Playin Reconnaissance with the master of espionage ... Hell with them.
I started walking down the empty pavement, with those six pairs of bloodshot eyes still following me.
If eyes could kill, I wouldve been dead by then.
Nailed.Nowhere to go. I sprinted across the street to nearest crowded spot.
I jumped into the waiting vehicle and shut the doors on them.
Escape.But only after getting a taste of hell.

Isnt this good enough a start to become a #1 Newyork TImes Bestseller?

Well, this is just a journal of my trip to Yercaud and the six pairs of eyes are those of the stray dogs in the bylanes of Salem ;)

There was this mahindra van, with a banner(just a A4 Sheet) reading PSG 77 .Got into it.
I had to bear with all those so-called funny jokes ( that ve been told ages ago) throughout the twohour journey uphill to Yercaud. Anu, a SRM MSc student commented on the two other lads other than me as very silent, and one look at me she said, hmmm a prankster pretending to be a sadhu. Unmasked in an instant.

Finally, my wish to see some cool friendly U-19 human materialiazed when i got down from the van and gazed at the Star Holidays Resort welcome board.
A stalky, short tenth grader with an aura of innocence..Rishi was my first friend there. We had contrasting interests but managed to be hooked in a conversation for a long time, while waiting for our Master Suites to be ready. And when all the expected families arrived, the rooms were ready and the programme was already running two hours late !

The Park in rite in fronta my suite

From Left...Kavi and Sruthi

Rishi

The clerk handed over to me the key to my Cottage.

No. 19...Uh - hoh

The number 19 usually gives me Circuit Creeps! The first time I flunked in a test in college ( as a matter of fact,in my entire life) .My debut in Failuredom.Reminds me of those sundays (which turns out to be the eve of ciruits exam), when i should be going through problems where circuit diagrams look like some puzzle in yesteryear tinkle book with heaps of reference books stacked beside me, but usually I end the day with hours of gameplay and dawdling.

After relaxing for a little( i dont mean it) while, all the 30 odd families assembled at the Hall for tea and then the much anticipated Games started in the Grand ( i dont mean it again! )Auditorium.Some event managers from Bengalooru were running the show for us. It started off with the usual Elimination game, where i lost in the first round.
Meanwhile, I met a pair of twins...christened Ram and Laxman, standing 6'3" who towered over me and two other big guys Mohan and Vishwa. And while playing swing at a park right in front of my cottage, I met Rishi's young sis Sruthi and another little girl called Kavi. Two polar gangs, U- 15 and A -20 and I am an integral part of both !

Back to the auditorium, the B'lore bloke called upon some five gentleman to the stage and when noone volunteered, he pointed me out ( gosh...wasnt he talking about gentlemen! ) and the game goes like this...My mom has to tie as many rubberbands as she could within a minute...the sad part is tat..it must be done on my head ! We eventually won, given the fact that the rest of my contenders were well over 50... A perk worth five bucks was all that i got for enduring with myriad insults and comments. And fuelling the already burning fire, i was asked to rampwalk with all those rubberbands sticking out of my head ! ( praying that the girls are blackened out for a few moments)

I gave a sigh and perched in the last row. I yelped at anyone who talked to me. But glad that everythings over.
It didnt though, as the compere beckoned me to the stage again...that gentleman with blackshirt!
~Now what?~
I had to pick a coin from a plate full of flour.
~Haha...Am game!~
Thats when he said. I had to that handcuffed, using merely my mouth.
~sucka~ I couldnt back out, too much pride at stake.When this second horrible game was over, I had to rampwalk yet again ( one more time, let the girls be blinded! )
Ahaan, everythings over finally.
The Bengalooruean was exlplaining the rules of the next "game", something related to dancing and singing.
I gave a wicked smile at the victims-to-be.
And that sonofa***** pointed me out again...That gentleman with black shirt!

~Uh-huh!~

And the hotel caterers had conjoured up a sumptous meal,
parakarathu,odarathu,nadakarathu,podrathu and some vegetarian stuff i dint bother to look at...everything so delightfully placed on the table for us to snaffle at.
Watched Real Madrid V Barca football match at midnight with Ram,Laxman,Vishwa and Mohan ( current PSG student), though except Mohan and me, the others could argue about why there shouldnt be a legside in football. Played Swing in a park at 1.30 am with Laxman and chatting on worldly matters.

Broad daylight streaming inside and hitting my just opened eyes, silent room, wow...lovely. My mom yelling at me to wake up, dad announcing that there is just five more minutes to gearup for a tour around Yercaud, bang bang bang my friends hitting the door hard and screaming for me to join them...~sheesh~And everythings back to normal. Instead of using the tour van, me and my A-20 gang went around in Ram's car.

A castle like main building, horse stable, splendiferous soccer stadium, excellent track and field ground, stunningly worldclassy six tennis courts, six badminton courts, horse riding, swimming pool, monstrous dormitory, a lovely lake, exotic statues with intricate artistry, a glorious church, dozen emus and varieties of animals,a fabulous fish tank and also classrooms...A monastry, sanctuary, stadium, themepark, museum blended into one...thats the Montford School !

HOrse stablea t Montford


Ladies SEat View point

The soccer field at MOntford...... Emus in a school !!!

At montford....Me and Laxman ...... Montford school Main building

We continued on our journey to Shevroy viewpoint ( 1500 m), the highest in yercaud. Perched up near the peak is a temple, which claims to home a cave that leads to Mysore, as a means of escape for our "brave" rajahs. After returning to our terminus a quo i.e the hotel, we have a magnificient luncheon and head towards a coffee estate.After some lectures given by the workers about the ripening of coffee plants ( me commenting from last row), me and Ram set out on an adventurous expedition downhill towards a prohibited area, in the coffee estate and after some cautious steps down the convolute bunch of trees and twigs, we landed near a glorious stream ! We were thinking of naming it "Ramkanna stream" as the first ones to set our eyes upon it when we heard numerous voices that ended our moment of exuberance...yaaruppa athu?? from behind...Uh - hoh!

Me at the coffee estate

An evening free of boring trips to dull and sultry view points...I started playing swing with my U-14 friends in the park.Me and Ram had a twenty minute walk just to buy few balloons for Sruthi. And there were moments when I wished I had a lil sis like her. A bonfire to end the day, where my A-20 gang were asked to sing! When the rest of the city sound asleep, me along with Ram,Lax,Mohan and Vish started dawdling and gossiping about all sorts of gibbetty stuff till two AM !

Ram kanna stream !

The next day's start was an exact replica of the previous day, and we went out for boating ( even glided the boat in reverse direction!) ,Bakoda Point ( baffled about its etymology), Gents and Ladies Seat ( Ayyo they are view points! ) and headed back to Headquarters. After a heavy inexpiclably tasty lunch, there was a grand farewell party and we bid adios to each other... A trip which I thought was boring all along, only to realize that it wasnt so when I was about to leave....

Bakoda Point

View From Gents Seat View point