The Cal trips

People have been asking me what have i been doing in KGP days after i have completed my project evaluation and my reply is short and succinct ... "MASTI". Yes, and it includes three awesome trips to calcutta.

The first one and surely the most enjoyable one was the one with the depmates...yes, the bitwise trip. Bitwise (for the uninititated, it is an international online algorithm intensive programming contest, the best in world) ... it gives an excitement to CSE final year which can only be experienced and not expressed. And, one of my friends rightly said "U get to organise BITWISE only once in a lifetime" ... so we went for a masti worth remembering for a lifetime.

And, believe me it was pure fun, we went for Karting and ice-skating to clowntown (yes, not many ppl know there is an ice-skating arena in Kolkata) and I got a chance to experience both of these things for the first time in life.

We ended it with pizzas at pizza hut and ice-cream ... I enjoyed my ice cream very much, electric current was its name.

But, the best part about this trip was that everybody was loadless, no tension ...academic life at IIT was over, all of us never had so much fun together and all this was coming free to us, all expenses to BITWISE treat account.

Cost of trip: 22K (approx.)

Next in line, was the Lehman Lunch at Hotel Hyatt regency. My second lunch at a 5-star (yes, the first one was also by the grace of Lehman Brothers) .. believe there is nothing exotic about the food or service but yes, the ambience of the place, the feeling of just being there is awesome. Again had a fun time, talked to two VPs of the company, nice corporate talk, big career dreams and all .. when we talk abt millions while we do not even have bucks to pay for my coffee, yes i did not have even a penny in my pocket, all my expenses (taxi and all) being paid by others.

In sum, a nice experience ... something tht rich ppl only can have, was being offered to poor fresh grads, filling their eyes with big dreams.

Cost of trip: 23K (approx.)

Now, the third and final one, the cruise party to achievers by TIME ... met few to-be
IIMians... had a nice time, dancing and partying with few babes, on the ship... a summer night on the ship with music, booze and beauty ... not bad indeed. I could even shake my legs with music at times. It was followed by an OK-dinner and awesome Kulfis.

Cost of trip: not known (approx.)

In some, three nice trips, none at my own expense, I just wish there were some more down the way.

One Bedroom flat: An NRI engineer's diary

As the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in software
Engineer and joined a company based in USA, the land of braves and
opportunity. When I arrived in the USA, it was as if a dream had come
true. Here at last I was in the place where I wanted to be. I decided I
would be staying in this country for about Five years in which time I
would have earned enough money to settle down in India. My father was a
government employee and after his retirement, the only asset he
could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat.. I wanted to do some thing
more than him. I started feeling homesick and lonely as the time passed.
I used to call home and speak to my parents every week using cheap
international phone cards.

Two years passed, two years of Burgers at McDonald's and pizzas and
discos and 2 years watching the foreign exchange rate getting happy
whenever the Rupee value went down. Finally I decided to get married.

Told my parents that I have only 10 days of holidays and everything must
be done within these 10 days. I got my ticket booked in the cheapest
flight. Was jubilant an was actually enjoying shopping for gifts for all
my relatives and friends back home. If I miss anyone then there will be
talks. After reaching home I spent home one week going through all the
photographs of girls and as the time was getting shorter I was forced to
select one candidate. In-laws told me, to my
surprise, that I would have to get married in 2-3 days, as I will not
get anymore holidays soon and they cannot wait for long.

After the marriage, it was time to return to USA, after giving some
money to my parents and telling the neighbors to look after them, we (I
was lucky and managed to get the visa of my wife early) returned to USA.
My wife enjoyed this country for about two months and then she
started
feeling lonely. The frequency of calling India increased to twice in a
week sometimes 3 times a week as she also has to call her parents. Our
savings started diminishing. After two more years we started to have
kids. Two lovely kids, a boy and a girl, were gifted to us by
the
almighty. Every time I spoke to my parents, they asked me to come to
India so that they can see their grand-children.

Every year I decide to go to India. But part work, part monetary
conditions prevented it. Years went by and visiting India was a distant
dream.Then suddenly one day I got a message that my parents were
seriously sick. I tried but I couldn't get any holidays and was stuck
up
in the procedures and thus could not go to India. The next message I got
was my parents were passed away
and as there was no one to do the last rites the society members had
done whatever they could. I was depressed. My parents passed away
without seeing their grand children.

After couple more years passed away, much to my children's dislike and
my wife's joy we returned to India to settle down. I started to look for
a suitable !
property,
but to my dismay my savings were short and the
property prices had gone up during all these years. I had to return to
the USA. My wife refused to come back with me and my children refused to
stay in India. My 2 children and I returned to USA after promising my
wife I would be back for good after two years.

Time passed by, my daughter decided to get married to an American and my
son was happy living in USA. I decided that enough is enough and
wound-up every thing and returned to India. I had just enough money to
buy a decent Two-be droom flat in a well-developed locality.

Now I am 60 years old and the only time I go out of the flat is for the
routine visit to the nearby place of worship. My faithful wife has also
left me and gone to the holy abode. Sometimes I wondered was it worth
all this? My father, even after staying in India, had!
a
house
to his name and I too have the same, nothing more.

I lost my parents and children for just ONE EXTRA BEDROOM.

Looking out from the window I see a lot of children dancing. This damned
cable TV has spoiled our new generation and the!
se
children are losing
their values and culture because of it. I get occasional cards from my
children asking I am alright.
Well at least they remember me.
Now perhaps after I die it will be the neighbors again who will be
performing my last rites, God Bless them. But the question still remains
'was all this worth it? I am still searching for an
answer................

PS: This post has been copied from http://www.egiridih.com/Forums.aspx but I did so because I really liked it and wanted it to be here.

NO DUES

Hi, have you ever passed out of a college, school or any other institution? Whenever you leave an organisation, even your job, it is customary to get a clearance from someone, generally an authority or two .. say your project head, and occassionally someone like a librarian. But, if you pass a gigantic institute like IIT Kharagpur, you will know how tough it is to get a NO DUES certificate.

Believe me, it is like a race ... everytime u feel like the bengali babus of the office are shouting at your face ... span style="font-style:italic;">run lola, run<. This form takes u to unseen and far-flung areas of campus like Rural Development Centre (never heard of it, despite being in KGP for 4 years?) ... isn't it a bit odd for a girl student to need NO DUES clearance from both air and army wings who could never have attended NCC (it is male only in KGP) .. come on, be at least a little logical .. yaar.

This NO DUES form contains only 7 signatures at first glance but the real nightmare is encountered when you take this form to department office and he hands you over another form needing 30 signatures...yes, it seems to grow like a recursion tree ... quite huge and quite frightening. But, this is not the end of the trauma, the real pain is when they ask you to look for the receipts of submitted fees, fees that you submitted around a year ago...Ohh god, I cant find my things which i threw somewhere in my room before sleeping last night and these people expect me to find those slips. I just do not follow why the hell did they ask me to fill six copies of cash receipts every time i submitted my fees .. one for accounts section, one for acads, one for bank, one for hall,one for HMC...and one for myself...so why do u worry what i do with MY COPY?

But, finally, I am done with all that, it took me nearly a week ...ahh, I feel so relieved. IIT KGP rocks, but its slow paced "cholbe na, korbe na, hobe na" sucks.

RESERVED

How often have u encountered this tag? RESERVED ... may be at some occassion for special dignitaries, some heads at some social functions ...in short for people who have earned it by their hard work. But, what when you apply for a job and return empty-handed because it is reserved. Even worse, when you cannot get education that you deserve just because someone having a caste label (SC/ST) had it reserved for him. This is what we have achieved in 50 years, instead of getting free and compulsory education for all, what we are doing is putting the boards of the few positions of excellence in the name of caste and tribe. Those people who worship Babasaheb Ambedkar (the chairperson of the constitution's drafting committee) often forget that the position and accolades achieved by him were without the crutches of reservation. They also forget that initially, reservation was proposed only for 10 years to undo the wrongs done to our under-privileged brothers and sisters. But, politicians have since then passed resolution unanimously to renew it every 10 years because none of the parties and politicians can bear the grave risk (or shall i say suicide step in this democracy where around 17% poplation is SC/ST and 8% votes can romp u to victory?) of being seen as anti-poor, anti-lowercaste, pro-uppercaste or say the worst of all, party of rich and influential?

I know none is ready to take the acerbic pill of going anti-reservation which is as much necessary for the upgradation of this society as much is a medicine for a patient. We have only two options: either take the medicine and enjoy the ongoing rise on development curve or promote reservation and take this country into wilderness and darkness. If someone has been following papers, he must not have missed how Kapil Sibbal felt the same, though I am sorry to know that he too does not have the guts to defend his statements and has retracted them for cheap popularity. After Murli Manohar joshi who tried tempering with the autonomy of IIT and IIMs, there is Mr. Arjun Singh, the senile man who will impose the burden of OBC reservation on this institutes of prominence. The politicians just seem to be getting worse everyday.

What they do not follow is reservation takes the country in a vicious circle and is eating this nation like a cancer. One person gets reservation, an incompetent engineer/manager from best of institutes like IIT/IIM ... a waste of tax payers' money .. the fellow cannot get himself a job in MNC (still they do not have reservation)..so govt. again comes to rescue, this incompetent fool makes merry with govt. money for no work, makes a mess of every job, still gets promotion (reservation) and his son again (with best of education and no brains) does no hard work because he knows he has a seat reserved in IIT and IIM...I do not blame the guy, did u ever rush to train after having a reserved ticket, just be on time.. the boy also just appears in JEE and CAT and gets in his reserved seat.

The loss is two-fold, what these SC/ST people face in these colleges is a feeling of unwelcomeness, a hatred, a mental and social boycott .. they need to work hard to get themselves accepted .. they feel like they are in a place where they do not belong.
And, then they are left behind in most competitions .. most jobs .. most class ranks... they feel that a label of laggard is being attached to them.

And, a poor deserving high-caste curses himself to death for being denied an equal oppurtunity and we must remember that a nation which does not respect its talent, is condemned to death and destruction.

Ek mamu chahiye

Do you remember when as a kid, your mummy tried to pamper you and or may be attempted to reconcile with you after the scolding she just gave, she used the age-old trick of refering to Chanda Mama. And, then had anyone asked u, tera mamu kaisa ho? An immediate reply would have come ... "Chanda Mama jaisa ho" ... but not any more, the new kids are already saying humara mamu mahesh bhatt jaisa ho and why not?

A fat lad, with an unshaven face, with an absurd name (some hashmi, khashmi...) gets to push his tongue in the mouth of the every new entrant in the bollywood circuit. And, why does he enjoy this priviledge ... yaar, mahesh bhatt uska mamu hai. This lad has already got a reputation for being the serial kisser, you cannot imagine the number of whistles that you get to hear in a B-class theatre when he makes an entry on the silver screen. I do not know why do people watch his movies. The only good thing in his movies has been music and I do not give any credit for it to the actor. If anyone enjoys to watch the videos of the songs of his movies, it is definitely not due to him but due to his ever-changing gorgeous partners dressed in skimpy clothes (or shall I say barely any clothes). The fellow does not know how to dance (have a look at the movies in which he has shabbily tried to shake his legs a few times), the dialogue delivery is poor and the only role he performs in every movie is same ... duping a mind-blowing beauty to fall in bed with him, whether it is the latest movie Gangsteror the old Murder which shot him to fame along with the legendary Mallika sherawat (she has gained more space in friday coloumns than even Aishwarya Roy), his role remains the same ... give a sleeping scene with the gorgeous female lead. Anyway, it is his fate that he gets a chance of putting the label "Kissed OK" (just like the ISI mark on products, tested OK) on every bollywood beauty from Mallika to Tanushree Dutta. why should we grumble? Sab mamu ka khel hai, isliye bus ek mamu chahiye.

Love u, Brother

Today is April 9,2006 (second sunday of April) and this is the day when hundreds of young boys and girls will flock to the examination centres all over India, with only one aim, one goal - admission to an IIT. I have experienced the anxiety, the fear and the restlessness and I cannot describe it here as it cannot be sketched in words but only felt. Some people call it exam-phobia, some people take it as the ability to remain cool in taxing situations, whatever it be, it is an awesome experience. I had my share of it four years ago and by the grace of almighty, did not need to feel it again. (Those who are thinking of CAT, believe me CAT is nowhere near JEE, also at the time of CAT you are much more mature and able to cope up with pressures).

But, why did not I write it over all the past four years and what has made me come out of the slumber tonight? It is my younger brother appearing for the examination which changed my life and I wish it to change his life as well. Here I am sitting hundreds of Kms. away from him. And, this is my attempt to wish him luck, I am sure he will do well. A diligent and intelligent boy he is, he will not leave any stones unturned, but fate is unmanageable and to achieve exemplary success, the D-day must be your day.

Hey brother,I wish you all the best to break all barriers and reach the pinnacle of success, and may you start this journey with JEE. So, I request all my readers to wish him luck, the young lad needs your wishes.

Farewell

These are my last few days on the campus, I did not realise that until I got to see the notice "Final year Farewell". I was so much immersed in the comfortable KGP life that I did not notice that the time has come to bid adieu to all the friends I made during last 4 years. I could not help myself noticing the calligraphed italicised word "Farewell". I asked myself what does that mean? So, I decided to do some research and find out the genesis of the word, Farewell. But, even Google proved to be of little help and I sat myself on the path of making stupid guesses.

When someone was bidding farewell, was he saying "Hey, you fared well here for the last 4 years .. but you lazy bums, enough of it now, leave this place and get your ass moving ... face the real life, the dog-eat-dog world and try learning some useful lessons. Or was it a simple wish to all to fare well in future. I do not know, but what I know is that in a matter of few days I will be coerced to relinquish the cosy environment of KGP and will be thrown in all wilderness to face this cruel world all alone. I will miss my 24-hr internet connection and a LAN with terabytes of movies and tv series waiting to entertain you. I will miss my friends whom I could turn to for any advice and help, at any time of the day (no, I think any time of night would be more appropriate). Where will I get the endless bhaat sessions, the hot discussions on the mess table, short sweet jokes.

But, as they said there is a silver lining with every dark cloud and there is no exception here as well. I would surely not miss the mess food, believe me I cooked for myself a few times while I was in france and I cook better than that....I simply can't feel lucky enough that I am gonna get rid of it. Then, I will not miss all the cholbe na, hobe na and Korbe na, that seems to be a part of KGP life as well. I can never fathom why the tech. market opens only for a few hrs, are not these people interested to work hard to earn more money?


But, despite everything, this place has given a new meaning to my life. I learnt here that both success and failure are a part of life, one needs to accept both in the same stride. Finally, I feel I came here as a boy, and I will pass out as a man.

RDB in the air

RDB, yes none needs to say the full name because in this world of short cuts, RDB has carved a place for itself. Everyone is a fan of the movie (and takes pride in being a fan), some really good acting, nice music but that is all. I think, the movie has been over-hyped. Amir Khan seems to know that in this country, people are crazy only about two things, the country pride and the cricket ... and he has tried to encash their heart-felt sentiments to earn lots of wads of green notes. Did you not see how he implanted the story of cricket with the usual tale of struggle against Britisih empire in "Lagaan"? He was so much successful that even the PM of the nation took out 3 hrs from his busy schedule to watch the movie, those hrs. could have been used to clear so many pending projects needing his approval. But, all that is past.

The issue is why do we raise our cries of patriotism only after some cricket match or after coming out of theatres watching some bollywood drama like RDB? why do not we raise our voice against the still continuing use of MIGs. (we recently had an accident after the release of RDB). How many people remember the contribution of Satyendra Dubey, the IITian who sacrificed his life on the altars of martyrdom while fighting against the prevailing corruption in the system? When there is a wardrobe malfunction (nice term quoted by media indeed), the whole Maharashtra assembly seems to erupt in chaos over the question of moral degradation and the laggard policemen jump into action to complete the enquiry in record time. But, after years, nobody has bothered to ensure that the poor engineer who lost his life, gets the justice. Why are the corrupt thekedaars of Golden Quadrilateral still roaming unpunished?

Next time, you shout after watching a cricket match or RDB, remember it is no patriotism but plain entertainment.