Updates from Bangalore

After scrolling through atleast FIVE blogs today, getting scolded by my dear friends who happen to like my blog (yaiy!), and being prompted to quit calling myself a blogger, I've finally got back to blogging :)

Life has been good. I'm doing my so-called summer internship/project/research at IISc. (No, its not okay if you ask what the project is about). IISc is a great campus, trust me. For all the kgpians, here's a thought - why don't we get shifted to this campus? The grad students and Phds could anyway manage at Kharagpur, huh?

Here's a picture of the main administrative building, I like to call it the church. Doesn't it look like one? It's bigger than what it looks here from here. And there's a statue-cum-sitting joint in the front, where you can sit and watch the building in awe. Truly an experience with the wind flowing.

Beautifully captured by someone.

This is one of the walkpaths that take you the departments through the greener insider passages. Interestingly, some of these have a shed on their top so that you could take a nice walk while you avoid the sun yet not miss it completely. You're bound to feel romantic at this place!

A rare blue Verditer Flycatcher. You can also find ducks and swans in plenty around the campus.

Also, what could particularly strike some of you is - the mess FOOD isn't bad at all. And there are a couple of good restaurants and canteens around. Talking of food, those of you who have never tried typical south Indian rasam with jeera rice should not miss it the next time you get a chance! Did I tell you I'm a fan of south Indian food now?

Apart from the campus, I've found some really sweet people here. Jayanthi has been like a sister, helped me with the accommodation, mattresses, medicines and what not! And Gauri, who I met in my hostel when she was watching a movie in our TV room, cooked me maggi at 3 in the morning coz I was hungry! Thanks you guys ..

I'll post more about my 2 month long stay in Bangalore and a weekend in Mangalore soon. =)

07BT Goes to Mandarmani

This Sunday, 29 March i.e., 07 BT went for an awesome trip to Mandarmani (a spectacular beach about 3 hours from kgp). All credit goes to Sumeet Mohanty (SSM) for his insistence n a little bit of planning, Shirsesh for assissting him, Kalyan for assissting Shirsesh and unforgettably Swaty Gupta for convincing most of the batch to join. Thanks to all others for coming.

We hired a bus that day and left the main insti gate at around 10:30 PM. Was absolute fun in the bus with all the singing and the guitar. Yeah, Kalyan brought the guitar. If you want to know about his playing skills, you'd ask someone who knows about guitars. Though his teaching skills seemed to be exceptional. Heard him bloating up when he was explaining something to Asawari,
"Sab batayege ki kaunse chords play karna hai. Har koi batayega .. but ye koi nai batayega jo main bata raha hu .. Bass sun le.. "
A must-see look on Asawari's face who was sitting beside him!

Anyway it was fun with the guitar. Stairway to heaven. Yellow. Hotel California. Jagjit Singh. Euphoria and loads of Bollywood songs (including Kajrare!). Couple of Telugu, Punjabi n Bong songs were thrown in too.
How can I forget those smash hit, typical Kallu style parodies for so many of us. Excerpts, anyone? Sadly I don't remember much from there.
The only thing left to tell from the bus journey was how I saved Kalyan from ruining his whole trip over his broken guitar by meticulously locating key parts that he'd lost in the guitar itself.
Kalyan, you owe me three (or two?)



Then it was the BEACH. The Sand. The Sea. The Wind. Splendid, to say the least. The wind would've made me fly.

Beyond description.

You've to go there to find about it.



Dawn breaks. (Its difficult to tell whether its early morning or late evening.)


Some of the things that happened before we left off for breakfast. (only those I remember)
1. Me saving Kalyan (refer above)
2. Noopur losing her specs in the water. (Sadly, no pics)
3. Me hiding in the bus when everyone was playing in the water. (Again, no pics)
4. Noopur, Subhradeep, Shirsesh n Me enjoying a ride on the Marutaa. (below)



5. Asawari dozing off for the most of the time.
6. No more songs.
7. Truth n Truth. (Boring enough to be skipped).
8. People playing Football.


It was fun on the beach. As you'd anyway expect.
Later, we had breakfast at a really CUTE resort. There were swings, you know. I remember Varun putting one of his feet at one side of a see-saw and three of the girls trying to balance on the other side. Huh!
Breakfast was fine. We were pretty sleepy by then. And the journey back was anything but fun coz of the Heat. All of us were sleeping while Kapil was giggling taking pics of everyone. Some of the less pathetic ones are put up here.






Don't we all look so GAY?


All in all it was a NICE trip.. really. 07 BT rocks yeah! Will look forward to going out with the whole batch again.

btw, another funny thing was Subhradeep's amazing outfit for the beach. Shirt, trousers, belts and shoes .. hehe
(Hey buddy, no offense meant)

The Dude.


Some more pics.

.. :)

Been a Long time.

Since I posted.
I started to read Shantaram on the journey back home. Before I start with the book, I must tell you that it was 27/11 that day. It took me a while to realize what had happened the previous night. It started with my dad calling me to be careful n alert as I was going to wait for him on the New Delhi railway station. Newspapers followed.

Then Gtalk status messages of people, which read
1."everyone okay? need any help anyone?"
2."f**k those bastards, Its my City!"
3.IIT kgp alumnus was one of them. 2005 archi batch.
etc.

Newspapers were flooded with how the Intelligence took us down. The politicians ruining the country blah blah.. I googled the recruitment procedures of the Indian Intelligence Agencies. It was appalling to find out that ordinary civil servants or university graduates were trained for a while and assigned those extraordinary jobs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_and_Analysis_Wing

Someone gave the link, Mumbai Under Attack

Then someone told about our neighbour's neice who went to the Oberoi under her hotel management training program. She was among the first ones to be shot.
Gradually, the feeling of fear,vulnerability and helplessness creeped in. It no longer felt safe. Anywhere.

While all this was happening, I saw the newspaper headlines changing this way, 'Mumbai Attacked', 'In Flames, And Fighting', 'Heads begin to roll, Patil out', '26/11 could have been stopped', 'Low IQ, Why India Fails', .. 'India Rising'
The last issue launched a 'Citizens Against Terror' initiative where citizens would post their suggestions on what India needs to do to fight terror. (fightingterror@hindustantimes.com)

Its yet to sink in completely. I'm not sure what to do.
'Don't think too much. These things happen and you need to let it go and focus on your life. There's not much you can do about it'
Doesn't work.
I can't let it go.
We can't let it go.

Howzzat!

Hey, check this out!
This was Maulik's first attempt with ambigrams.
Yeah! My name.. the Illuminati style! :D :D




Btw, I'm in kgp now. So, life is back with a bang! With my department, I am having lots of fun in the labs, pre-labs, post-labs, lab reports, lectures, assignments, et al. Oh, forgot to mention big time PJs. Lots of changes from the last time I was here, still, I'm lovin' it!

FAQs continued

1. The last movie you saw in the theatre?
Ans. I don't remember! Isn't that too harsh on a movie-buff like me? I have not seen a movie since like whatever and I don't get tickets when I go for Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na. I am going to watch it by this week, no matter what!

2. Your favorite hang out?
Ans. In Chandigarh, it would be my balcony at home. (weird eh?)
Bakes n Bites, or whatever its called, in kgp. (kgpians please don't laugh!)

3. Do you break traffic signals?
Ans. Yep, sometimes. I'm trying to avoid it now as I am supposed to set an example before my younger siblings.

4. You like music?
Ans. Have you ever met a person who says "No" to this question?

5. What attracts you in a man?
Ans. Sense of humour, honesty

6. Do you hate it when people don't use spoons while eating?
Ans. :P Sorry for the question!

7. Favorite smells?
Ans. The one of petrol!

8. Favorite Sounds?
Ans. That bells make in a temple.

9. Finish the statement, "If I had a lot of money I would .."
Ans. Invest. Spend some of it traveling around the world and shopping for myself.

10. If you had to color your hair, what color would they be?
Ans. Eeesh! No! I love my hair as they are. Still, if there was no option, I would try some shade of brown, darkest one!

PS: I wrote this while having yummy pyaaz-pudina paratha! :D