Is the road clear now?

Now that CAT is over, i am Back to Blogging (B2B). Not that i was busy preparing for CAT, but i needed to give CAT some respect by atleast trying to show the world that i was not wasting my time blogging when i am supposed to slog over CAT. You got it! if not blogging, then..yah..! i did waste time over a lot of stuffs.. but i am not disclosing 'em right here. I am sure you wouldn't want to know how i waste my time. Ah! i am digressing. Let's get to the point. What i wanted to blog today was about my confused state of affairs and also what happened at CAT and a bit of flashback, GRE and the future roadmap. I admit i robbed the idea of this blog title from Harsha.. but i know he won't mind. No more digressing.

Speeding back to the third year of BITS, i remember distinctly that i was very clear as to what i wanted to do in my life. I had infact fabricated a perfect (i know it ain't perfect, coz it didn't work out) .so... ahem..correction.. not so perfect roadmap of my future career.It was something like this - Do masters, then work somewhere in US of A, then tackle an MBA and do a management stint somewhere.. not exactly somewhere.. P&G was my dream... now you know why i use dove and colgate.. :) .. After these major roles, i had decided to open something of my own.. not at US of A... but at India.. All these seemed very easy and practical at third year of college. But it started bombing off rather too fast.. It started to tumble first with my exceptional grades in CDC's and then GRE. Cramming up all the Barron words failed to help me as I didn't get any words from them.. but instead from Big Book. Well.. i pretty much made a disaster out of GRE and decided to kick out my first destination in the roadmap - MS. Now i wanted to bell the CAT.

It was a good decision of mine to think of something like CAT.. but only the time i decided to bell was wrong.. Thinking of CAT just 3 months before it ain't exactly the brilliant idea. But i thought i should be the exception.. (** stops to get a good laugh**) .. I didn't anyway.. I know i can put the blame on my office work.. but i won't do that.. i would just say that the cat escaped my grasps. My hands are quite slipperly. I am sure this justifies why i didn't do well.

So where am i standing now?

Nowhere. I am still sitting at office and trust me- I am mighty thankful of it! In the times of pink slip atmosphere, one really needs to be thankful to be earning enough to sustain peacefully.
So i know i am stuck here for atleast an year. I was hoping for the cat to liberate me next july, but the cat died and i might have to be here even next july and the year next..! oh no! Hopefully not. Cuz i have already started the next show, GMAT :-)

In the meanwhile, i have learnt to see my roadmap in reverse. Start the entrepreneurship stint right now. When i say "now", it extends to a couple of years.. but i hope to see it shaping up.
The other reality of "now" is to switch off my mind from flashbacks and dreams and get back to the "now" world of coding.

farms and dreams

Couple o' years back,i had gone to Sriperumbudur, which is near Chennai. Its a beautiful place. Full of lush green fields, lots of trees-covering both sides of the road, cows and goats grazing lazily in the fields, farmers working on their crops, women balancing the sheaf of paddy and sugarcanes on their head, a lovely cool breeze that makes our heart feel elated.. a beauty!

We had gone there to meet our grandmother's friend. They lived in a huge farmhouse there. It was really amazing to be in that atmosphere, far away from pollution, traffic and noise! We were to stay there for the night. For sometime i sat with my grandma's friend, who was 80+ listening in awe to her amazing fables. She then talked about the farm and also about the silk factory they
owned.

Later i took the oppurtunity to explore the place.I decided to make my first visit to the silk factory. It wasn't exactly a factory, but more of an old house converted factory. Some 10 people were hard at work transforming the silk to sarees. The entire sight gave a shimmering look! I got some royal treatment there. I told them i wanted to try weaving. Soon i was actually weaving the silk threads myself! Feeling very happy i came out to explore the vast fields. I stood for sometime inhaling the beauty of nature and then i was in for some work..! I wanted to have a go at ploughing the field. The farmers said it wasn't a great idea and that i wouldn't have enough energy to lead the cows to plough the fields. But after my success at silk weaving i was adament and the poor farmers fearing the wrath of my host, let me lead one handle of the cows. I courageously stepped into the marshy area to pull the cows. I pulled with all force and they wouldn't budge. I tried 2 more times and the cows had enough of me. They suddenly turned back with a jerk and i lost balance and fell into the muddy waters. I looked a sight when i managed to get out from the mess. It was 10 minutes walk to the farmhouse and people on the way turned twice to see my disastrous visage!

I had a good wash and decided to end my adventures for the day and sat in the cosy hall of the old farm house.I saw TV for sometime and got bored. Everybody had left to visit some more neighbours. I went to the backyard and saw lots of seed packets.I decided to do
some gardening. It was almost dark but my enthusiasm didn't fade. I started to sow the seeds. I was so involved in it that i failed to notice i was nearing some prickly lemon trees. I totally got entangled in it and got scratched all over my face and hands. With great difficulty i managed to escape the clutch of the trees. Sigh! Another disaster.!

The next day was thankfully good. I had a good time building a bird table and feeding the birds, preparing some pongal with the farmers (it was during pongal yah!) and had fun playing with the kids around. when it was time to leave, there was heaviness in my heart.

It was such an amazing experience that everytime i pass a farmhouse, i remember my stay over Sriperumbudur. I hope i get to visit the place soon!

Drama all the way!!!

I had always wanted to blog this for quite some time.. and here it is!

The train of memories rewinds to second year, second sem (2'2). I distinctly remember this happened at VKD's, Intro to sys class. I quite forgot what class we had before IntroSys, but never mind! The story starts after that..!

So sometime in 2006..just before drifting to the sleepy mist of the IntroSys class, Sherin, Anandi and myself made our way to the IC to grab a cuppa elachi tea to beckon our conscience that had gone to sleep peacefully.. (nop.. i still don't remember what class was there before VKD's that had rocked us to sleep).. And just before we left, the delicious smell of fresh samosas magnetized us to the counter again. We got one each and it was then we realized that we were already late to the class by 10 mins. But our hearts wouldn't let us abondon the half savoured samosas.. So a brilliant idea struck us. To smuggle the samosas to the class well hidden in Sherin's jean pockets.

Poor gal! The samosas were not only oily but very hot too!! I should ask her if it left a scar on her..! On the way to the class which was at A block, Sherin even found time to propose to ..ahem.. her guy. (Yah! it was valentine's day!)

We raced to the class and i am surprised that VKD did not see the conspicuous samosa bulge in her jean..! The rarefied air conditioned atmosphere made the samosas quite.. or should i say, Sherin quite and then she soon drifted off to sleep. (I know, unlike her).. She only woke up to the calls of VKD after sometime...!

Truly a dramatic day to remember!!

What the world thinks....

I am at all contempt for the world around-
A world that does not permit a deviation of the norm.
Any breach of it pronounces doom for the doer-
For the reason that the world was not able to achieve the deviation.

Prestige now poses as the fountainhead,
The world is desperate to know what the world thinks-
Rather than what the self thinks.
This stops the progress of the humankind abruptly.

When the world gets a stand before the self,
The self is helpless.
It’s the act of majority against minority,
The world breeds pride, as it knows that the self never wins.

But when the self decides to take on the world,
The world mocks, ridicules, scorns and smirks.
The world laughs and tries to break the self from succeeding,
But the self persists.

When the self triumphs,
The world now regrets,
For its actions of the past has brought upon misery and wreckage,
Not on the norm breaker but on its own self.

I love JAVA

Just sit back, take a deep breathe and visualize this.
Its midnight. You are walking in the lonely highway. All is peaceful except for the chill whip of wind.
Suddenly from nowhere, a pack of ghastly dogs pounce on you from all sides. You are screaming. Wake up!

Going through the five day Java training delineates the dogs scenario. I was peaceful on the sunday before java monday. Monday did start with a cuppa coffee, not filter coffee, but JAVA coffee (with beans grinded). I remember getting excited when i got the "Head First JAVA" book. Wacky books boosts me up! I meant wacky seasoned with mighty smartness. I went ahead with a decent good pace. Finished 5 chapters in 2 days( for a JAVA fresher like me it is certainly hare pace). I was all in the optimistic wind till the moment arrived when the trainer finished watever i covered in 15 minutes flat!

Come on! This ain't justice! I spend 2 full days and she goes on to close it in 15 mins! All this time i was walking peacefully(doubts are always there), but i was calm. But at the 16th minute i was dead. Yah! its the Ghost of me blogging now. But i felt if i sit through the rest of this session, my ghost persona might also get killed.

Why is it that i cant sip (forget drink)JAVA but only BRU? Presently more bits are overhead than in head. I can't even go on to say "I don't give a damn!" coz i am expected to be a pro at it by the end o' the week!!
Presently i am in the process of analyzing the right brain patterns of the java consumers with non-java consumers. You are welcome to join me in this pursuit of coffee.

I am half way through the training and i know i will never live after that to blog. So give me your advance condolences.
I love JAVA!! (i meant the island!)

Lost in the rains - It happens only in India..!

It so happened that 2 ppl decided to plunge 'emselvs in shopping n games yesterday - Me and Sherin. When we started early from office for no other reason but this, we couldn't help observing the lovely patterns the clouds were making and the cool breeze that decided to entangle the hair while travellin' in d bus or the very slight drizzle that gave a invigorating feel. All was very well to keep up our spirits high till we reached KR puram. The rain took its claim and gave a heavy downpour. Still with umbrellas to our resuce,we stayed calm. But unfortunately we got down much ahead of our destination. We were walking to the side of the road- keeping out of the huge puddles that spread like a carpet before us. But what is the use of being careful? The motorcyclers and the auto drivers found pleasure in making their wheels depress through the deepest puddles near us and thereby having the fun of seeing our white dresses turn brown, with our faces and lappy bags not spared with wet mud. We could only curse and continue. Once we were at big bazaar, we exhausted ourselves aplenty. We went to the game zone and played ball games...egg games....video games and what not! All was fine inside the AC'nd zone that kept the outside temperament in dark. When we exited from the bazaar, the guards warned us to stay back till the rains subside. But we were adament enough to push our way out of the crowd gathered to find shelter from the extra heavy downpour. With our hands full of purchase covers and food(we had got parcel pepsi too), with the heavy lappy on our backs and the umbrella, we looked a sight! We struggled against the rains and strained our eyes to catch a sight of an auto. It was very dark and roads were flooded. We now didn't care a tuppence about our white attire. We waded through the waters with the umbrella in front to shield the sharp droplets making depression in our faces, we tried to stop an auto. We were almost standing in the middle of the road in an attempt to stop an vehicle. But we were highly unsucessful. The rains always increase the atrocity of the auto drivers. You should hear the exhorbitant amount they charge for going a short distance. Intially the autos we managed to halt demanded 100. then it went upto 120! By the time we decided we were ready to pay 100 bucks to save ourseleves from the brief storm, the autos deserted. The next couple o' autos refused to give us a ride. They preferred to take in families. What logic! I was splurting out so many curses that would have ruined a typical paradigm of what a iyer gal is. We were totally at a loss and even wondered whether we would reach our home at all. We could feel our mobiles vibrating and ringing in our wet hands, but with the load in our hand and the heavy rain, we couldn't even attend it causing nervousness to the people at the other end of the phone. We were fully drenched by the time we managed to get into an auto for 70 bucks. The auto journey too didn't provide much of a relief. Imagine the plight of an auto jammed between a huge truck carrying iron rods on one side and a bus on the other. I was showered with the occasional muddy water inside the vehicle more than once. And one more fear was making through the drilling waves in the roads. The auto's engine coughed and sneezed all the way. Imagine the relief we got when we reached near home. The auto driver cribbed and cursed us for asking him to take a particular route. If he didnt have to take the route we specified, why in the heaven's sake should he have taken it in the first case?
Finally! we made it. The pepsi like a waterbag, my pizza and finger fries floating in water and lappy bag carrying more than a kilogram of h2o!
Now, the important aspect that comes out of such an experience is the desire to bang the auto drivers on a sharp rock or alteast a wall. If they don't want to take in the people, why the hell should they drive at all? It doesn't make sense. It is acceptable to charge a lil extra in case of rains. But charging some crazy amount is damn crazy. Making their wheels splash the muddy waters on the poor pedestrians is another game they oughta stop playing! But waiting for the day these will be solved may just happen to be an illusion.! It..huh..happens only in India!!

Light..!

There are always the lights that you can depend upon-
In the moments of the silent distress...
There are always the lights that you can call anytime-
In the moments of solitude...
There are always the lights that you can celebrate with-
In the moments of the joy and ecstasy...
There are always the lights that you can ride with-
In the moments of relishing the goodness of nature...
The lights do not flash in the closeness of self,
But it always shines brightly in the closeness of the soul.

The Apple Tree

There once grew an apple tree,
In the midst of the public free.
Two fruits sprouted from the tree,
Seeking the dawn of the darkness free.

One apple was the normal sight,
The other was the eccentric height.
The former was in the search of light,
The latter was meek to use its right.

One apple was delicious tasting,
The other was just a sour bantering.
One gave a sick man a feel invigorating,
While the other yielded only a health weaning.

The day came to pick the apple right,
Two contending for the prestige fight,
The first apple was chosen to be the fruit alright,
Leaving the other to the deserving plight.

Reminiscence - Last sem @ BPGC

Now, why did i specifically take up the last sem? simply 'cuz it rocked!

There are few things that personified the last semester at BITS Goa.

Amnesia when coming to the memory of classrooms, falling in love with the wooden cot in the hostel room, competing for the best human movie database of the year, fan club of Bhuyan, river side ambling, patrons of IC and Nescafe, unfaithful to higginbothams, group discussions @ venue AH1 119 and on and on.. whoa! those were the days bounded hard in the ocean of reminiscence.

It was january 08 and i was the first to reach the hostel.I Was feeling very low since we were shifted from GH2 to AH1. I opened the door of my new room, AH1 -120 and flung all my bags on the raw cot. I opened the balcony with the intent of getting some fresh air, but the wind refused to come in as it was blocked by AH2.

I sighed. Suddenly a girl knocked at my door and smiled very sweetly. I smiled back wondering who she was. She told she was in the adjacent room. I thought my memory was so weak that i had forgotten people of my same batch just in a matter of 6 months. It was then i realised that she was a junior. One wing of the ground floor was to be occupied by the juniors! I heaved a sigh of relief. My memory had not been blighted then!

We were alloted rooms based on ID No and branch. I found that myself and appu were cut off from rest of my kernalites by the juniors. Very soon, the hostel was bustling and the placement fever started to shoot up.

The first month was horrible in a way. Everyday checking the company list, trying to get as much info as possible about the pattern of the tests, eyes going red over the RS Aggarwal (red with sleep ofcourse!), getting a brand new smart file(hoping that the interviewer will give a job seeing the new blue file), comforting myself with the thought that if i don't get a job, i can still have a shot at SAP Labs..

I was soon listed for Wipro. I was quite lucky! While everyone was bombarded with C and JAVA and DS, i had a session on SAP stuff... the interviewer was working as a SAP consultant at Wipro and he was very happy to see SAP Labs in my resume. It was a long session and i was made to tell every little thing i knew about SAP and finally i made it!
The other buses were also in and everyone got a job at hand.. peace! Then Oracle retail came. I was intially exuberant thinking that they were coming for marketing but i was shattered when i came to know that it was for s/w dvlmt. Amidst story telling, puzzles and algos, i was in... and so were other 7 others from kernel.

After the much dreaded placements came to a close, it opened the doors to heaven.
It was fun every single day! I remember vaguely going to the computer networks intro class. That proved to be my last visit to that class and DM never saw the traces of me. The only class i actually landed up going very enthusiastically was Professional Ethics handled by Bhuyan. To be candid, i took the course thinking that i can easily bunk all the classes. But i was wrong! With just 11 people in the class, it proved difficult to bunk! Nevertless, Bhuyan actually landed up teaching so well that we started to enjoy the class (which is very rare otherwise)

Everyday schedule was more or like this - get up at 8 - Atish mess - back - sleep - get up at 12 or so - go to Kavitha's or Swathi's room - check if Appu got up - go to Nescafe - back - movie - IC - back - prison break (in loops) - stroll - back - movie - conference (yah!) - blabber - DC - browse - sleep early morn 3. Songs like " Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place" turned real...! Then the numerous vasco trips! I remember we used to go to vasco at times just to plunder Udupi hotel's aloo jeera fry and temptations' vanilla shake!

We used to particularly enjoy the river side strolls, always trying to figure out the path to have a dip in the zuari river! Then the hunt for snakes..! Actually we needn't hunt for them as they are graceful enough to present themselves. Then the puri and elachi tea combo breakfast at IC deserves a special mention. Atish too deserves a very special mention (ob!). It was very refreshing to irritate my side rommie now and then and have a good laugh over it. There was this space outside my room where i would sit for hours together and watch the sky grow dark and let the stars do their turn.

There are simply too many things to pen down or rather blog down. Physically i am at blore but i still am very much mentally at the shining sands of Goa!

Ah!! reminiscence!! go away!

Delineation of Life

Stumped with twists unexpected,
Loaded with hiccupping surprises,
Hammered with unknown terrors,
Bundled with streaks of delight,

Wrenched with varied desperations,
Surrounded with strange ecstasy,
Faced with the urge of lachrymose,
Fleeted with the aroma of bliss,

Blighted with the failure of self,
Rocked with the comforts of kin,
Estranged with the plight of world,
Blessed with the salubrious well-being,

Depressed feelings sinking at intervals,
Surged with blessed fosters,
Engulfed amidst diabolic reapers-
Is all that takes to delineate the enchanting chapter “Life”

Enthrallin' Ponmudi

It's almost 3 years back that i made a trip to Ponmudi. It had been one of the best among the places i have trekked. Ponmudi aka The Golden Peak (malayalam translation) is a hillstation near trivandrum in Kerala. Its located 61 km north-east of Trivandrum at an altitude of 610 m.

We hit the road from Coimbatore. The en route to Ponmudi is bewitching. You can find the roads sheltered above with the umbrellas of lush green trees. God's own country, we know it to be kerala. God's own home is Ponmudi. The traces of forests soon gives rise to the vast tea estates. The tea estates en route Ponmudi is not as big as the ones that you would find in Munnar or Chembra peak. Nevertless they send out a soothing fragrance that just finds your olfactory in proper channel even inside the car.

On the way, we saw a lot of elephants ambling and taking its own time to cross the roads. Deers were also in plenty and we saw a couple of peacocks dancing along the sides of the roads. There were a couple of small waterfalls on the way. It was quite a climb to the top of the peak in the car. The car coughed and hiccupped. Thankfully we reached ponmudi by sunset. the entire ambience was marked with the chuckling of heavy billed Malabar hornbills. Its an amazing sight to see various wild birds migrating east and west flying gracefully. At times i really felt like saluting to the birds. They had such a graceful and majestic appeal. The shrill notes of the blue-black Malabar whistling thrush add to the surrounding. It was like an open aviary. There is also a place of interest called "Echo Point". We had lot of fun responding to our echos.

We had meant to stay for one day only. But thick fog cut us off from rest of the world. We were the only people in the resort. It was amazing to be in total solitude just having the nature for company. We were stranded there at the top of peak for 3 days!

On the way back, we took another route that were the region of plantations – rubber, pepper, cardamom and tea. The tappers can be seen going about briskly gathering the milky fluid from rubber trees collected in coconut shells. We also passed a number of rivulets and rapids, some even gushing across the road.

The sheer wilderness and eternal beauty of Ponmudi will mesmerize you!

Awesome Uttarakand..!

Nothing gets more exciting than an adventure in the Himalayas. Uttarakand(UA) is not known to many as a tourist spot. But it covers the best ranges of the Himalayas and is simply breathtaking!
We started from Delhi; morning 3.30 AM by car. It was very foggy. Not surprising as it was in the peak of winter. We had planned a 3 day trip. One night stay at Chowkori and a night stay at Kausani. Nainital was the first destination. The best part of Nainital was the Naina lake. It is also called by the locals as "I" lake as it is in the shape of the letter "I". I felt that the sun must be in love with Naina because, you should see the lake!! It was glittering thousand times more than a diamond! It was a relishing boat ride in the lake. It was freezing cold, around 1.5 degree celsius. The wind whipped across the face almost causing a scar. But all the cold pain was submerged by the beauty of the place. Next, we took a ride in the winch way. It was truly spectacular! It was about 20 minutes ride to a mountain there. The winch gave us amazing top views of the naina lake, naina temple and the mountains surrounding the lake. Once we had reached the other side, we started to trek. We climbed the mountain for about half an hour to get the first peek of snow. Wow! it was a sight to behold! It was the most purest white snow. It almost gave me a divine feeling. I managed to get a couple of good shots of the snow and by the time we got to the bottom, we were ravenous. Winter really works up your appetite in a jiffy. We found some dhabas there and had hot soup and pakoras. Since very few people land up coming there for sight seeing, the shop keeper took almost 40 mins to get the soup and pakoras ready!

Our next halt was Jim corbett national park. Unfortunately it was not open. But we managed to find a hole to squeeze inside the park. It was a park cum museum. It was amazing to see the spectacular catches of man eaters caught by Jim Corbett. We heard some voices and saw some guards coming. They were shouting at us in punjabi and were calling people claiming that we had broken into the museum. We made a run for it and was soon speeding through the not so smoot hair pin bends of the himalayas. The hairpin bends in the north are not like our ooty or kodaikanal bends, but more "Ghatarnak". They are called as "Ghatarnak mode". One slight touch from the opposite vehicle and we would be rolling deep in the valley below. But it also gives excitement to be sitting in the edge of life to see places that people are afraid to explore. Soon, we were the only living souls in that range. The snow mountains were closing and it was simply awesome! There were also trees that were brilliant purple, orange and yellow colors. Everything was going very smoothly till we landed up facing the landslide. The whole area was graded and fully covered with dust. But kudos to my dad's excellent driving skills, we made it to the other end crossing the land slides. We then halted a bit to relish the beauty of tranquility and also to give rest for our car. All that we could hear were our own breathing and the birds chirping. The surrounding was so quiet that we could even hear the sound of every leaf rustling. We had some bread for lunch and continued our way to other ranges. We crossed 4 ranges( approx 68 hairpin bends) and reached chowkori in the evening. we just made it to capture the beautiful sunset there. We watched it spell bounded. The sun rays were like golden beams on the white snow. It was like honey dipping on the snow. We reluctantly left the sunset spot to find a hotel to spend the night. We soon found one which offered a wonderful view of the snow. We had dinner in a hut. It was freezing cold and we were all loaded with 4 layers of clothing to stay alive! The paneer dishes were scrumptious and we climbed our way to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

We got up early in the morning to catch the sunrise. The digi cam almost cried since i was taking pics almost every single second not wanting to miss capturing the sunrise forever. The sunrise proved more scintillating and we had chai, sitting in the special hand woven chairs made by the local tribals.We then started to continue our exploration to the other ranges. It was raining and the hotel owner asked to halt for sometime and proceed as it would be risky to ride in the rain. But we decided to take the risk. The roads were very slippery and we skidded more than once, but soon sun started to take mercy on us and we were almost at Kausani. Kausani is the personification of heaven. It is one of the closest to the nanda devi peak and the place we stayed had amazing views of the entire snow peaks. We had a quick lunch and had a long siesta in the resort with snow reflecting in our eyes. Around 4, we started to trek to a view point to get the best of the scene. It was long trek, but we made it to the view point. We spent sometime there and got back to the resort. We were the only people in the resort and the people working there were amused to see south Indians in such a lonely northern place. We considered spending night in the tent but the temperature was running in negative, so we decided to snuggle in the warm rooms with warm blankets. The next morning was the best morning in my life. I have never ever seen the sun look so smashing! It was a brilliant sight. I also managed to get a classic shot of a bird taking bath in the sun rays. We then finally left Kausani to Delhi. One the way, we made a visit to the "India's most ancient temple". The floor was freezing cold and i almost became numb after taking 2 steps. The temple was in ruins but there was certainly something very holy about the temple. We had stuck a label in the back of our car, "I Love Coimbatore".This caught the attention of many people in the temple. When we got back to the car, we heard people arguing the whereabouts of this unknown place-Coimbatore!! One man was actually commenting that it was in Nepal! We tried to explain them that it was deep down the south of our country and bid adieu. We then reached the china border, took shots with Chinese kids and we seriously considered driving into china. But the border guys weren't friendly and we had a long drive back to Delhi and we reached home by night 11.50. It was a trip worth remembering!

Pepperoni vadam

It was a foggy morning. The sun was yawning, scattering fresh light that penetrated like a needle through the early morning fog. I strained to see more of the panoramic view through the rusted grills of the window. My eyes were sticky with sleep and were closing in a rapid fashion. I rubbed hard against my eyes and stumbled through the old wooden door. There was a loud clang and the resounding tremors of vessels rattling. I stopped short. I felt a pang of fear grasping me with all might. I fumbled against the walls and managed to make an impression with a switch. Light flooded all over the room. I strained my misty eyes to make sense out of where I was. To my horror I discovered that I had walked into the kitchen of the old outhouse and had upset most of the vessels. I felt a sting of desperation to get away form this dingy place. I looked at my hands with a feeling of sadness and a hint of aversion. It was almost brick red with slashes of deep colored lines cutting the hands in no particular fashion. I leaned against the wall and my eyes found its way to an old dirty bag that looked like a dead rat in the corner of the shelf. I went to explore the bag, first making sure that it wasn’t a dead rat. I sniffed hard at it and finding it to be innocuous, I ripped it open. I let out a terrifying yell that would have probably woken up the entire street. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. I bent down to pick up the object of my pain. It was an old heavy hammer. I was boiling with anger and banged the hammer against the wall and let out a huge sigh. All was quiet for a moment. But that was only for a moment. I felt some powdery substance raining on my head. I was contemplating what it could probably be when the entire wall collapsed, partly burying me in the debris.

*

It was only yesterday that had been just like any other day. I had got up around 10 in the morning and was having bed coffee or rather bed milk. The peace of drinking milk in the bed with the ambience so very quiet was spoilt suddenly with the buzzing of my mobile phone. I sighed hard and reached out for it cursing who could be calling so early in the morning. I saw my small cousin’s name flashing in the display. I answered.

“Good morning! Calling so early?”
“I never knew 10 in the morning was very early for you,” retorted my cousin sardonically.
“Ah! Don’t you dare mock me, your treat is at stake,” I said with an ominous hint.
“Forget it! When are you coming to the hotel?” she asked impatiently.
“I will be there in an hour”
“Great! And make sure you bring your purse full,” my cousin reminded.

I took an extra deep sigh. I was going to treat my cousin today for a reason that I really didn’t remember.

I was soon speeding through the smooth roads of the ECR to a lesser-known hotel. My small cousin had insisted that she wanted to taste food there. I was soon at gate of the hotel. She was already there and greeted me with a big shriek and almost dragged me inside. I looked around the place with interest. I had never been to such a damp and a soggy hotel. It had those faint yellow and green bulbs hanging randomly from the thatched roof making it difficult to capture everything even with eyeglasses on. My cousin had already selected a corner and I seated myself opposite to her.

“What the hell!” I exclaimed unconsciously. “What kind of place is this?” I demanded her.
“Why?!? It is the hottest spot in the city now!” she replied exuberantly.

I smirked. I thought it would probably pass as the coldest spot in the city.I glanced at the menu card and let out a gasp. It was what I would describe as ‘crazy menu’. For one thing the menu was in tamil. Rather English spelt tamil. I am no great scholar at tamil and I had difficulty to decipher the dish names. All the dishes were given crazy or what they might have considered as ‘funky’ names like ‘lakalaka briyani’ and ‘gethu curd’. I was almost in splits when the waiter came to take the order. Trying to suppress my laughter, I ordered for a plate of ‘lakalaka briyani’ and my cousin ordered a plate of ‘Thiruvilayaadal roast’. During the wait for the most anticipated meal, my cousin couldn’t stop praising the taste of all the dishes in that shop. Soon our table was covered with the ordered dishes. I was totally devastated to see was in front of me. It was auburn rice mixed with traces of decayed beans and the smallest specks of carrots that you might have to use your magnifying glass to find it in the brown heap. I felt like throwing up but I controlled my strong emotions. I was surprised to see my cousin gobbling avariciously at the over roasted thiruvilayadal. I made an attempt to taste it. The moment I inserted a piece of it into my mouth, I jumped. My tongue was on fire. I was dead sure that the hotel owner must have brought the entire chilli stock in the country and was using it without discretion. My cousin was still stuffing herself wiping the plate clean. It was now sparkling as if it was straight from the store shelf. I kept my feelings to myself as we left the hotel.

“So how did you like it?” I asked my cousin.
“Yah! Fantastic taste!” was the immediate reply.

I shook my head sadly and I shifted my gaze to the calm waters of the beach. I was about to dip my legs into the soothing waters, when my cousin started to make some impatient noises.

“What next? Shall we go home?” I asked her with not much of a hope of getting the reply I wanted.
“No way! I am still hungry. Do you call one dosa a treat?” she demanded.
“I didn’t stop you from ordering more” I replied.
“Let us go to pizza place,” she suggested.

I really didn’t have an option but just to obey her. It was better to adhere to her wishes than to get a homily from my parents for not taking care of my little cousin wishes. We were tucking in the pizzas when my mobile started to ring again,

“Hey! What’s up?” my friend’s voice shot over the phone.
“I am at the pizza place with my cousin,” I replied.
“Whoa! Then you get me a pepperoni pizza,” she cajoled.

I was probably in a good mood to have accepted her wheedle. Actually, anyone would be in a good mood to be eating a scrumptious pizza after tasting the ‘lakalaka briyani’.

*

We soon left the pizza place with the NV pizza in my hand. My friend lives in the winding street of the conservative, religious colony of people. It would probably be the only area in India to have the maximum stock of Brahmins at a single place. I marched up to the steep steps of her house and rang the bell. No reply. I pressed again. It was then my cousin pointed to the huge lock dangling in front of me. I was vexed. I had spent couple of hundreds on a pizza, which I won’t be able to devour. I tried reaching her mobile and found that she was out of coverage area. I cursed and we started walking towards our vehicle. I left my cousin in her house and I was contemplating what to do with the pizza. Sinking it in the adyar bridge seemed to be an interesting idea. It was then I remembered that my mother had asked me to get some ‘vadams’ and ‘appalams’ from a ‘maami’ living at the conservative colony. I parked my vehicle outside the gate and found my way to the door. It was the typical old-fashioned house with a big garden and a spacious veranda. I placed the pizza on the veranda and waited for the maami to come. She was soon welcoming me and said that my mother’s orders were ready and she needed some 15 minutes to get it packed. I made myself comfortable in a very old rocking chair that probably belonged to her great grandfather and with all the morning happenings, I dozed off in the chair. I woke up suddenly hit by the smell of the pizza.

I was aghast to see what was taking place before me. The two little grandsons of the maami were devouring the NV pizza. I rushed at them and took the pizza box away and asked them to spit it out. I knew a little too much about the ‘aachaarams’ of their family and I became disconcerted. I ran with the box to the outhouse to dump it in a bin. I opened the rusted door and looked around for a waste bin. It was then I heard the maami calling and as I was about to rush back to the house, I tripped on something and sent the pizzas flying. It landed on a vessel, which was filled with some liquid. I realised that I had put the pizzas in the ‘javarisi vadam maavu’.
By this time, maami was already on her way to the outhouse to see what was happening. I quickly shut the door and ran inside the house.

“I thought you left!” maami said smiling.
“Er..no. I was actually taking a stroll in your garden.” I mumbled.
“We are going to pondicherry today and we will be back only after 2 days” maami said.

I soon paid and left. But even after going home, the guilt of making the javarisi vadam into pepperoni vadam was pricking me so much that I came to a conclusion. I searched the attics of my house to find the vadam making recipe book and I learnt the recipe by heart and decided to sneak into the maami’s house in the night to set right the blunder committed. I went to her house and saw that they had already left for pondicherry. I made my way through a hedge to the outhouse and checked the door. It was thankfully not locked. I went in and started to make the arasi vadam maavu by myself with the guidance of the torchlight. It was quite a huge outhouse with another room and kitchen. While I was busy in the preparation, I dint hear the sound of someone locking the outhouse door and leaving. What had happened was that the maami had realized on her way to the bus stand that she had forgotten to lock the outhouse and had asked the neighbour with the duplicate key to lock it. Amidst lots of burns that I landed up saving for my hand, I finished the maavu. But I was locked in the house.

I was still sitting among the mess when the sun poured through the window. It was also then I realised that there was another exit to the outhouse through the other room that I didn’t care to see. I thankfully made my way to my house and crept in without waking anybody and took a bath and made myself clean. I started to read a book.

*

Two days later, I heard my mother telling my father that someone had broken into vadam maami’s house and had ruined everything there.
I saw my mom looking at me. I replied,

“It must have been a cat” and continued to read my book.

**

Back To BITS (Virtual)

Sitting in the quiet, rather too quiet ambience of Oracle, i can't help pining for the college days.
After watching Love Story 2050 (yah! i know it sucked!), i can't help wishing how amazing it would be to have a time machine to travel back a couple o' years. I still have a very lucid memory of the first day of BITS Pilani Goa Campus. The first day-first class was a tutorial and i never had any idea of what exactly a tutorial class was. So what should i do? i promptly called up a friend at BITS Pilani and asked about the tutorial class and got the reply that the tutorial classes were meant only for surprise tests or quizzes and this implied that i could skip the class. So i was peacefully having the breakfast in the newly constructed mess with new sparkling plates, that i suddenly happened to see people rushing from the mess with a bag on the back. I realized there was something wrong about my peaceful siesta at the mess and made a run for the hostel. I soon reached the class. It was English language skills. Great! first class and i made it late!

Memories are something really wonderful. It sticks to our inner conscious and always surges on being invoked. Sometimes i can't help feeling that 4 years of M.Sc(Tech) Information Systems basically proved to be a meteor.Yah! It really shooted damn fast. But not that fast to have refused to leave a mark in my memory anyway.

I would always describe BITS Goa as the fantabulously amazingly awesomely brilliant place!
You might feel that it is a hyperbole but on the contrary it is a litotes. Surrounded with lush green scenery with a dash of brilliant blue waters, it is more striking than any other 5 star resort that you could lay your eyes upon.

My very first question when i stepped into the college was,"whoa! where does academics fit into this marvelous scenery?"
Later i realized that academics did really fit in and it was I who didn't fit in.
But still i really have no qualms about not spending my time "productively". Infact i learnt better things. The 4 years of BITS life taught me 3 valuable things.

1. How to beat the most laziest person in the world.
2. How to beat the person with maximum number o' snooze hours
3. How to get permanently attached to the computer screen.


I would be doing a great injustice to the college if i forget to mention DC. Those green bars, red bars and other assortment of colors amidst which you would find the most amazing collection of collections!And here i am, sitting in the office contemplating whether i would be fired if i download a song! First year indeed was a disaster for me in terms of acads.I remember that i became comforted only when i read Chetan Bhagat's "Five Point Someone".

Second year was marked with loads of midnight chattings, strolls in the park every single night, lying in the wet grass of the park, swinging in the swings meant for kids.(Nah! it didn't break),making prompt visits to the IC, monginis, those were the days that personified laziness in the true bliss sense. Sometimes i wonder how did i escape without landing up in the ACB(Academic Council Board). But i had a couple of courses to help prevent my cgpa going below the threshold. I was quiet complacent.Hah!

Third year was supposedly the "rigorous and hectic and dangerous year". But trust me, i really didn't feel any difference. I am sure it made a hell lot of a big difference for people who decided to be studious. I still continued to have fun. When you are surrounded with people like Rose, meaw, mals or sherkutty its hard be confined in my room and turning the pages of the boring books! Pentagon rocks! (plizz its not the US Pentagon, but a simple pentagon formed by 5 simple souls)

Final year saw only one semester of college. But it turned out to be the best for me. Hardly any courses and hardly attending classes, i can't expect more! Three places became the place of abode for me, swats and kavi that semester. The IC for its delicious churned veg omlettes, samosa and cutlet chats and sizzling puris. Kavitha would be angry if i don't include the IC eleachi tea. Then the scrumptous aloo tikki buns of Nescafe fame and third, the entrance of the AH1 common room where we would sit and keep chatting for hours together, collecting the envy of all others who had a high courseload. I had an excellent side roomie that sem to pass time. Appu proved to be my best mokkai partner! I can't believe that she is leaving to US now and also i can't believe that i am in Oracle now. But that is the "moment of truth now" (POS is it?). And with my team lead walking past my desk more than 5 times now, i would better stop blogging and get back to pretended work!

True Anthem

Men have fought with each other for power,
Men have fought with each other for prestige,
Men have fought with each other for love,
But never have men tried to conquer mind.

Difficult to decipher by both self and the world,
Mind - the most volatile substance in existence.
Have men ever tried to tame it?
But the world asks why to tame it.

But the hidden meaning uncovers a different fear,
The fear of taming the mind.
We live for the world,
Why to conquer "self"?

Very few men are heroic to tame it,
Who fear not what the world will utter,
The mind is root of our existence,
Mind shapes our very character.

To conquer the unconquered,
To master the unknown,
To discover the undiscovered,
To live for the self.

But the world lives for the world,
When collectivism buries the self,
When the "I" gets engulfed in midst of "We",
We are embarking the world of hell.

Saunter in the wonderland

Splashes of raindrops hitting the contours of the countenance,
Feeling the draining of the dew on the skin,
Walking along with the dance of waters playing with the legs,
Soaking the feet with the freshness of the mud below,
Shifting the gaze to the rainbow of colors above,
Feeling the friction of the cool wind against the cheeks,
Swallowing the crispness of the smell of the new born earth,
And lying among the honey dews of the heather,
I find a smile of content gushing through me.