NATCONG 07 Kodaikanal

Ohk... so the days of brainstorming, the nights of partying have finally come to an end. Well trust me it was one helluva of an experience. Imagine... your sirst national conference and on the first day you get to elect the new MCP!!!
The experience was totally different from what i had expected; the MC were also humans, easily approachable, friendly; high fliers from Jaipur were as easy to talk with and the enthusiasm of the new kids of kochi n indore was mind blowing!
Now its all over; the sexy kodai weather, the tasty kodi chocolates, that lovely rxperience of boating on the lake in semi darkness, the uncomparable experience of driving down the hill, with the clouds beneath us, its all over, but not for ever.
Such experiences will come, if not kodaikanal it would be some other place... but it will surely come back! and how can i forget the impact that it has on my personal life! not only it increased my social circle tremendously i made some really close friends in this week. the care that we showed for each other when one of us was sick, really makes my eyes go wet now...
i can go on and on like this... but i guess its time to stop and savour those sweet and bitter memories...

Delhi Trip!!!

hmm well da trip's been over 4 quite a while now but surely it has left a mark on ma life...not only in the things it taught me; but also wid respect to the frnds i made over there!!! long live r frndship!!!

Delhi: Learning 1

bhai log dilli se salaam....
life mast hai aur dilli ki sardi bhi :)
yahan aye abhi zyada time nahin hua par 1 cheez zaroor seeekh li... dont trust the auowallahs over here...vaat laga dete hain saale!
chalo till nxt time....

yeh meri life hai....

kyun aajkal homework kam orkut jyada hai...
lagta hai fail hone ka pura-pura iraada hai...
kal tha topper aaj 40 bhi jyada hain...
lagta hai fail hone ka pura-pura iraada hai...
kya mujhe pyar hai aah...
orkut se pyar hai aah...
kya mujhe pyar hai aah...
orkut se pyar hai aah ..

Roboze 1.0

Ah...a new day! And that too a Sunday. Sunday marks the beginning of a new week, but this sunday has been really special. For as the clock ticked towards the first day of the week, we (Sobu n me) were busy working on creating something new! Not new as in inventing something but indeed new in the sense we had never done anything like that beofre. What we were actually doing would be accurately described by "assembling the geared motor set for our robot." And since then there was no looking back. When our day ended(when it was about to start for mere mortals, ie around 6 am) Akash, Sobu nd me had created the first model ofour robot, Roboze and I had the homour and privilege of christening as Roboze 1.0!!!(simply coz I was too excited to do anything else at that time!) Well that's it for now....just wanted to share wid u all the joy that one feels at creating something, the joy of one's own hard work!Till Roboze 1.1....

Thoughts

Thoughts...everyone has thoughts and I am no exception. Thoughts keep comin and going, its like an infinite loop; thoughts enter your mind, you muse over them for a while and then they exit, but not without creating some mischief. These swirling thoughts would sometimes leave you full of pleasure, and you'll feel as if you own the world. But more often than not they will leave you in a strange state. Now strange state is itself a a strange term to describe that state and this is the state I am in right now. Would I call it anxiety, perhaps no; worried no again; confused, another no! Its just that kind of a feeling when you don't really understand what's happening to you and if you do know that you have no idea as to why its happening to you!
Lost in this labyrinth of thoughts, one has to search for that guiding beacon which would help us emerge from this swirling mist. And that's exactly what I'm doing now. My present condition is one in which I for the first time am finding it tough to make a decision. For i know that whatever decision I make now will decide the course of my life for the few years at least. It may even define the course of my life but am not sure whether that's the case or not; and one should never make the folly of trying to look into the depths of future.
At this point, I'm truly alone. I have no one to and seek guidance from. My parents have since the beginning left all decisions to me. It was my decision to not to drop an year, it was my decision to choose this college and it has been my decisions that has brought me to this point. So why trouble them unnecessarily and besides I'm sure they won't be able to grasp the true sense of the situation, not that I doubt their ability; its just not their cup of tea. Now you would say what are friends for? Indeed thats what they are for! But whom would I ask; the guy whose opinion I respect the most is himself facing a dillemna, and I have neither the inclination nor the patience to explain my condition to those "wise people".
Under normal circumstances I would have taken up a good book and read myself to sleep and during the sleep a solution would magically appear. (not kiddin! it really works for me!)However as luck would have it I'm out of decent books right now so I did the next best thing: I just poured my heart out.Let's see if it works...

The Afghan by Frederick Frosyth

So the master is back! But is he really the master this time? From a debutant, The Afghan would have been considered a superb effort, but coming from the veteran of The Day of the Jackal and The Fist of God, it doesn’t quite arouse the same feelings! The book it seems swings between extremes, on some points one can detect the Forsyth magic at its work, but at others one can feel the lack of attention on the author’s part.

The storyline is current and in sync with the present world situation. It talks of a terrorist threat to the world that would even make 9/11 look insignificant. As the western intelligence agencies get wind of a possible catastrophe being planned by Al-Qaeda, they are desperate for more information. But who would provide it to them? For they have no moles in Al-Qaeda, and the secret is so well guarded that only the elite amongst the elite of the Al-Qaeda hierarchy actually know about it.

It’s impossible to plant someone in the Al-Qaeda unless they manage to pass of a westerner as an Afghan among the Afghans. Colonel Mike Martin is a 25 year old veteran of war zones, but more importantly is dark, been raised in Iraq and can pass as Izmat Khan, the true Afghan!

Is it possible for the British Colonel to pass of as a former senior commander of the Taliban? Does he have the potential to pass a test, the failure in which would surely guarantee a death ticket, but not before a journey through hell.

Forsyth has made references to the use of latest technology in the book and it seems that the modern thriller is going to have more of technology and less of the old-fashioned thriller stuff. However there are some glaring mistakes, mistakes which I feel a bit more of research and some good technical editing could have easily removed. One more thing which we as Indians would be especially interested in, Kerala has been referred to as providing a fertile place for Islamist extremism to grow!!!

On the whole I would say that The Afghan is surely not up there with The Day of the Jackal, but it does merit one reading.

Rating: 6/10

Insems!

Well finally the ordeal is over! The 3 days, when the entire student community heads to the RC is now a thing of the past. (At least for the next month!) Well newys I am not writing this to discuss how the insems were or how badly I fared in them. It’s something much more than that.

Let me go into flashback. A few years earlier in Jaipur. There’s this guy called Rohit studying in arguably the best school of the city. Well teachers are almost sure they have found the next genius, for you name it and the guy knows it. 5 time inter-house quiz champion, winner of various inter-school competitions. Period. Ok now, this wasn’t my pitch for trying to impress my non-existent girl friend. What it actually was an image, an image of myself, that I found staring back at me when I look down the portals of history.

And then there’s something else too; a question mark! A question mark as to what I have become, what have I done with my life and what is my future? What has happened to transform that studious guy into what I am today?

Well any ways I was discussing the insems that have just got over. After coming to the college, this was the first time that I felt that what I was doing wasn’t right. This doesn’t mean that I am going to revert back to that studious guy personality again nope dats not an alternative! However from these exams I learnt a lesson! I am not utilizing my potential! I don’t know whether joining AIESEC has to do something with it or not, but I feel that I have been wasting my time and now I want to make up for that. I wish to utilize every moment of my stay in this college. For at the end of the next three years, I wish to have a decent pointer, an excellent general awareness, a successful college magazine and an AIESEC legacy behind me! I know the road that lies in front of me is tough; in fact I don’t even know if there’s a road in front of me or not! But then whatever the case maybe, I’ll give myself a fair chance, I’ll do everything possible to achieve my aims. Amen!

Those were the Best Days of ma Life...

Almost everyone of has heard these words. And what do they remind us of? Bryan Adams, summer of 69! Well before the last weekend same was the case for me; but then something happened and it changed it all!

Around two weeks earlier I had entered into an organization, an organization named AIESEC and the this past weekend I attended my first ever AIESEC conference- the L-Cong! And trust me people words are not enough to describe those two days. It was something that you have to experience, to believe it.

During the conference I really got the opportunity to know what AIESEC really is, and it’s a lot more than any run of the mill youth organizations. The days were full of interesting sessions taken by professionals from TCS n Azure. The team game one by the TCS person was really great and I guess made us a more resourceful person in the process. Any ways for those who think that it was only work all the way are in for a pleasant surprise!

At AIESEC we believe in the dictum: Work like an animal and party like a beast! After the first day plenary ended at 9 pm, we all broke for dinner, and guess what? We were back by 10:30 and this time for the masti! The dance, the jives, the sculling competition…. It really was an awesome experience. One would say it would have been like any other party… but the answer’s a big NO. It was different, not only in the way it was conducted, but also in the spirit with which we absorbed, what quite a few of us would have termed as a cultural shock.

And how can I forget this! The dimension that made it certain without doubt that we will not forget this evening! For as the clock struck the midnight hour, the day changed form Saturday to Sunday, it was Venky’s (our LCP) bday! And how can a bday party be complete without some serious ass kickingJ. Well we were all part of a conspiracy to give Venky a nice time (pun intended). And am almost certain that Venky would agree to it! Any ways Venky was his usual self, and even performed babuji solo for us!

Anyways if we had thought that the L-Cong was over, we were grossly mistaken! For the second day was even better than the first day. What with us being allotted with our departments, the farewell to Noam and the surprise package: the AIESEC Baroda EB!

All in all it was an experience worth having! I am still sulking over the fact that I wouldn’t be able to go to the NLDS because of my insems…Oh ya one more thing! I forgot to mention my deptt. TN

TN too sexy for SN

Too sexy for YDEP

Too sexy for the non-exchangers…

TN.. TN… TN TN TN

7th September 2006

Are We Ashamed of Merit???

Every other day, we read accounts praising the Indian brain; we are awed by the pay packages that are being offered to the students of our elite institutes. Yet we also come across stories relating to the so called improvement of our educational system.

Why is it that we are so adamant to change the educational system which has enabled us to emerge as global leaders in the field of education? Recently there was a report that CBSE was going to introduce 20% project work in Mathematics for 10^th standard students. It was aimed at reducing the fear that this subjects induces in the minds of children. Already CBSE has done away with examinations and home assignments in the junior classes. All this is aimed at easing the pressure on the students.

Agreed there is pressure on the students but the educational system is in no way responsible for it. And besides by undertaking such steps we are only encouraging mediocrity. I fear that if we continue such measures that day is not far away when our students would be using a calculator to compute 7+5=12; just like their American counterparts.

Another issue which has been doing the rounds lately has been that of reservation and I am of the opinion that by increasing reservation we are doing nothing except diluting the quality of our premier institutes. It would do more harm than good. Reservation is not the panacea for all the ills that plague those who have not been able to reach the level of merit required for admission in the top notch institutes. Those who have reached the top have not become brilliant overnight; the foundation of the intelligent powers of these students would have been laid right from the primary school stage. Years of sustained effort has alone enabled them to rise to the pinnacles of success.

It’s high time that the politicians stop thinking of pleasing their vote banks and recognize the value of merit. The need of the hour is to preserve merit and not being ashamed of it.