Doctrine of Life

Daree

2006-09-11T04:46:00.000-07:00

After the exams, I got a new face. Actually all credits should go to my sweet heart who wanted to know how I will look with a moustache. I thought of pleasing her with a whole beard. I am planning to keep this look as a gift to her.

My wall-mate has just shaven his head to prevent premature hairfall. We are making a great combination in the campus. People are asking why is this -ve correlation between our hairs?

While writing this post, I happened to ask google "beard and moustache" and came out with the following interesting links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beard

http://www.worldbeardchampionships.com/index.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/....../index.html

The Deadly Gang

2006-08-26T00:47:00.000-07:00

Enjoy this kewl creation by Siam. I helped in engineering the sound and flash creation.

Kappad Beach

2006-08-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

God I needed a break!! C’mon, need some cool time, somewhere where I wont be reminded of what classes I have tomorrow or which case to read or when is the class etc etc. And I got what I had wanted. Maren wanted to go to a new place to eat in the afternoon. Siam asked me if I was interested and I happily joined them.

On the way, I suggested that we should go to the Kappad beach. It had been a long time since I had gone to the beach. As always, Siam was reluctant to go but we convinced him. In the city, we had a very heavy lunch. The food was too good and I ate like a hungry pig. After the filling lunch, we reached Kappad by bus.

Kappad is around 16 kms from Calicut. For the people of Calicut (Kozhikode), this pleasant stretch of rock studded beach is Kappakkadavu. To the tourist it is one of the most charming of Kerala's beaches. Here, 501 years ago, 170 men led by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama (1460-1524) sailed in and stepped into Kerala to create a new chapter in history. Although, it is nothing compared to the beaches we have in Goa, it is perhaps the nearest place to go when you want to have a glimpse of the Arabian Sea while in Calicut. The Calicut beach for this matter is a dirty and smelly place.

Kappad is actually a village of fisherman, stretched along the coastline. During the high tide, the beach can be considered to be only 30 meters away from the sea –line while during the low tide, this increase to around 80 meters. The village stretches over a couple of kilometers. Along the coastline is an embankment of rocks. The houses are so close to the sea that one can even fish from the window if he has a long fishing rod :).

The whole afternoon, the three of us walked the stretch of sandy beach (around 2.5 kms). When we arrived, it was high tide and we were lucky enough to see a lot of activities in the place. There were many fishing boats. A few fishermen were trying there luck from the beach itself. It was nice to see how you can fish during high-tide. What these people do is that they put into the water a long stretch of nylon net (width of about ½ meters) with weights along the borders. By using a empty black jar-can, they mark the point in the water where they have laid the net. Now the high-tide brings with it all types of fishes towards the beach (please see the pictures) and these get caught in the net. After say 1 hour or so, just before the tide begins to recede, they pull out the net.

Fishing is a big industry of coastal Kerala. We spoke to Ram Babu, a local fisherman who runs a contract of buying fish from local fisherman and processing fish before transporting to Bombay for further processing before being exported. He says, everyone in this village is a fisherman. An individual earns between Rs.10 to Rs. 2000 a day from fishing. The government of Kerala has given some assistance to the local fisherman to improve the industry. They now can avail cheap loans from banks for mechanized boats.

Many of the fishing boats trawl around 100 kilometers into the ocean fishing for days together. It is a very tough job, says Ram Babu and each catch is a priced treasure. We also saw a large number of women who were cutting and packing the catch deposited by the fisherman at Ram Babu’s shed. There were two trucks waiting to deposit ice for refrigeration. Thus fishing also provides employment to a large number of villagers in Kappad.

At Kappad, there is also a resort. While we were returning from our adventure, we saw some foreigners who had come there for vacation. As the sun set, the sea became calm and the horizon became crimson. The scene was very beautiful and worth capturing. From the west, a cool evening mist was rising from the blue waters and engulfing the vast stretch of Kappad.

We were back to Calicut by 8:30 PM and so decide to have dinner at Mezbaan before going back to the campus.

For more kewl pictures from our Kappad trip, click here

The X-Effect

2006-07-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

If you have been a regular visitor to my blog, you must have been wondering why I wasn't doing any posting, right? Several reasons:

(1) The government's temporary ban of blogspot after the Mumbai local train blasts.
(2) My mid-terms.
(3) Nothing great to write about.
(4) My experiments with boredom, and..
(5) The X-Effect.

Perhaps, the last one is a more significant reason for my not writing anything new on my blog. For the last 3 weeks, I have been watching the X-files and I have completed 48 episodes of Season 1 and Season 2.

I find the TV serial as one of the finiest I have ever watched: unbeatable plot, mind blowing idea, great acting and wonderful picturization. I love the characters Mulder and Scully and despite all their differences, the professionalism these caharacters show. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are both FBI agents. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal while Scully is not. Together, they investigate paranormal cases which takes them all the way to alien conspiracies within the US government, risking both their lives and career.The best part of X-files is the unconventional finishing where the viewer is left to think that "the truth is still out there" for him to discover.

With each episode, I seem to be starting to believe that paranormality is an existing phenomena and where human knowledge of normality ends within the boundaries of the present theories of science, paranormality begins. In the X-files, most of the paranormal phenomena have been reasoned as "unnatural" distortion of natural science and beyond human comprehension. My believe is that since human knowledge is limited by the rigid boundaries of scientific reasoning, it won't be a wise decision to deny anything from occuring which our scienctific knowledge cannot reason.

Whatsoever, the X-files is a great show to watch and enjoy. And if you are of the inquisitive types and enjoy reading science-fiction and detective stories, you will have several reasons of enjoying the episodes, besides just getting to know about various paranormal phenoman.

I am now about to catch up with Season 3 episodes.

Google Reveals

2006-07-15T07:41:00.000-07:00

Some of my great Google Earth views of IIM K campus are given below. Also see the latest statellite images of my alma mater IIT Guwahati and my home town. I precisely located my home in Guwahati on Google Earth. The views are stunning. Have fun :)

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IIM K
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IIT G
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My Home
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The First IIM K Party

2006-07-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

The first IIM K Party was on 2nd (Sunday). Although I wasn't partying that day because of the Brazil-France match, it was a great beginning. I just stole a bottle of beer and watched the match. Catch the glimpse of the great moments below :)

Zidane's Exit and Our Draw :)

2006-07-11T01:52:00.000-07:00

The loss of my favourite worldcup finalist team was very sad. But the most hurting part was played by my favourite star Zinedine Zidane. His unreasonable touch of fury over an abuse by the Italian defender Marco Materazzi which he replied by a violent head-butt on the Italian's chest for which he was shown the red-card. I could not belive my eyes that a professional and revered star of the game could do so. Zinedine Zidane hurt not only his team, but the sport of soccer itself.

But as the media says, the former Real Madrid star's moment of madness may have been provoked by Materazzi calling his sister a prostitute (read the story here), there could have been other ways to deal with such remarks. Zidane should have controlled his anger at this last minute of international football career of his life, that too in the worldcup finals. Some of the media says that the voilent action of Zidane should not be a surprise looking at the background he has come from (read more here). But a great player like him should know how to control his fury. It was to be his last act as a professional player and, with the French missing his prowess in the ensuing penalty shootout, Italy went on to claim the World Cup title.

Many of my friends, including myself, belive that Zidane was also driven by the frustration of the header miss in the second half. No one can deny that it could have been one of the most fantastic goal. But the Italians were more lucky. I still remember the cry of frustration by Zidane after his header was saved by the Italian goalkeeper Buffon.

But despite all, Zidane is really a talent to acknowlege for, and one of the best players that footabll has ever produced. This believe is equally shared by Pele who had earlier voted Zidane as his best. And I am happy that Zidane has been presented the Golden Balls...he deserves it (read more here). But whatsoever, his exit from international football will never be a happy ending.

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The inter-hostel football match kicked off yesterday. The first match was between Hostel D and Hostel A. Hostel A has the best players in their team. They have Debu and Sudip, who are enough to bring down any team alone. My team (hostel D) have more juniors in the team and we really don't know who plays good and who doesn't. So siam and I had some difficulty to form a good team. Although most of the work has been done by Siam and Jigme, I was nominated the "Kaptan" of the team.

The match was okay. We played well and scored the first goal, which went of the boots of Siam. But a simple defense folly help Hostal A get the equalizer 10 minutes before the final whistle. We had some advantage over Hostel A's team in the sense that Sudip, their main striker was hurt and not in form. Under relaxed rules where off-side was removed as the ground was very small, Debu and Sudip was strategically the main ingredients for A. However, the equalizer was just a lucky break for them and cannot be said a work of talent.

The match referee was a novice PGP10 guy who volunteered. But this fellow does not seem to have good hold over the rules. He made many wrong decisions for which both sides lost many good opputunities to score. I hope the referee in the next match when we play is someone better. We have our lesson from this first match. The next match is tomorrow against F. I am sure we will win this game.

IIM Darshan

2006-07-05T01:36:00.000-07:00

I hope you will like these photographs taken during last weekend by Siam and myself. The pictures shows you our beautiful IIM Kozhikode campus, so rightly called "God's Own Campus". It is monsoon this end and rains almost everyday. And when it rains, IIMK is no less then the heaven on earth.

The only sad thing in these pictures is that there appears a blot due to a "stupid" cystal on the lens cover of my camera which I am not able to remove. How my camera developed this disease is yet another sad story. Anyways, enjoy the shots :)

See and download more campus pictures here.

The Rain Effect

2006-06-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of K when it rains here. Monsoon is seriously the most beautiful and romantic season in Kerala. In fact, there is no Kerala, and for that matter IIM Kozhikode, without the Monsoon. These pictures were multicasted on LAN.

Click on the pictures to download :)

Radio BakarD Boys

2006-06-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

For last 3 months, my satellite radio powered by World Space had been silent while I was on my

summer internship. I renewed my subscription a few days back. But the problem was with the signal. I have shifted my room from D#1(ground floor) to D#41(second floor). In my previous room, I had no problem with the signal. But in my new room, I was not able to align the antenna as there are a lot of concrete obstactions and no place to keep the antenna.

Siam and I struggled to place the antenna but the reciever would only work if placed much further from the varanda. We decided to use a long pole to hang the antenna. Taking the help of the sweeper, we engineered to hang the antenna and utimately managed to recieve decent signal.

Once the radio was up and running, we decided to try if we could shoutcast the sound in the LAN. And of course we succeeded!! To know how we did it, please read below. I think you also should be able to shoutcast live radios following these steps.

(1) I am using Absolute Sound Recorder v3.3.6 to capture the sound from the sound card of my laptop. This a great software in the sense that it can record and store sound in many formats besides capturing direct sound from the sound card. Download it from here.

(2) Connect your World Space reciever and take the line-out from the reciever and feed it into your computer through the line-in.

(3) Run Absolute Sound Recorder v3.3.6 and let all the default options work.

(4) Set-up your SHOUTcast server and let it run.

(5) Start WinAmp and connect to the SHOUTcast server which is running on your computer.

(6) Keep your radio volume at about 15 to avoid amplification problems and reduce noise.

(7) Multicast your server link and ask people to connect to your server in the LAN.

This is how we could SHOUTcast the sound of World Space satellite radio in the IIM K LAN. Now everybody is enjoying World Space for free at IIM K. I have christened my SHOUTcast radio as Radio BakarD ==> The Sound of WorldSpace. For IIM K public, the link is http://172.20.4.16:8000. Connect and enjoy!!

BakarD Blast!!

2006-06-26T06:18:00.000-07:00

Back to posting after a good break. It seems that the term heat is catching up, eh Anyways, all these days that I did not blog, I had some very fundu moments. I think I should write covering all those cool events.

Hey, the most celebrating incident was that Siam finally got through Business Laws (BL). The prof considered reviewing the grades and Siam along with some of the other guys, made it through The most funny part of this happy thing was that he made it just by a hair's width!! Anyways, it called for a party. So three "BakarD" (we the D hostelers), Rakesh, Neeraj, Siam and myself decided to go for dinner on 23th. As usual we went to our favourite restruarant Meezban in Calicut. We also had some nice time window shopping and loitering in stores at Shonur road stores.

Sunday was the time for the D hostel (BakarD) fresher's party. We are just 12 seniors and 32 juniors this year. Well, this means we seniors had a lot of load to take. And if there is a party, we are going to be drained out for sure. The other hostels (G, F, E, A, B and C) have fairly kewl ratio of juniors and seniors and the older guys are not much strained. Most of the hostels had already have their parties with gaiety and this put the BakarD seniors in great pressure. Thus now it was almost a prestige issue that we give a party as early as possible.

For more pictures of the BakarD party, please click here.

Hostel D is feeling the loss of some of the great party mongers of last year from '09 batch. Amongst the few left here now, most of them don't drink and party much. But despite all these, we the seniors decided to shower the junnies with all that we could do - booze, food and music. Akhil and Abhik was made the incharge of the food and booze section. I was for the logistics and Siam took up for the DJ. And when the party began, it was a great great show.

The party started at 10:30 PM. It was a great show time with the BakarD boys juniors. We began by worshipping the BakarD Dev (Hostel D gurdian deity). The "get-to-know" seesion was a great funtime. The D junnies seems to have a great profile. We have journalists, teachers, shairs, footballers, guitarists, singers and big big boozers. I am sure it is going to be a great time with these kewl guys. "Jai ho BakarD Dev".

Rambling Memories of Bhutan

2006-06-22T01:02:00.000-07:00

Yeah, as the topic says, this post is all about my rambling memories of the beautiful Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. I started my childhood in this country (for which I am really grateful to destiny). The Bhutan life was undoubtedly the golden era of my life. I spent 14 years in this country, in the bowls of the mighty Himalayas.

I can recall everything about this country, from my primary school classes to the long trekkings I participated in. My first school was at Deothang which is 18 kms north of the border town of Samdrup Jongkhar in the eastern part of the country. In this part, Bhutan is bordered with the Indian state of Assam (my home state). After two years in (then called) LKG+UKG, I came to Samdrup Jongkhar Primary School (SJPS). This school holds a lot of my golden memories. It is located in a very beautiful area, just beside a brook and surrounded by hills on the three side. I learnt to speak Nepali and Sarchopa (a local spoken dialect) while at SJPS. I had many Indian, Nepali and Bhutanese friends (sadly, I have no contacts with anyone of them right now). many teachers were of Indian and Nepali origins and were friends of my family.

Life at Samdrup Jongkhar was great. I used to go fishing in the brook with my friends and long hiking into the jungles. I had many dreams in those days about my youth (hahahaha :D). I wanted to be a rocket scientist :). I also founded a football club (called the Junior Rising Soccer Team) which is definitely dead now. We used to have regular matches in the school football ground. I passed my ICSE board class VI common exams from SJPS.

My next academic stop was at Mongar town, which is also in eastern Bhutan. (All these happened coz' my dad had his transferable job). I went to the Mongar High School here, which is located on a mountain peak, overlooking the great Mongar and Chamang Valley. The mighty Kuri-Chu, one of the swiftest rivers of the country flows through this valley.

My worked at Lingmethang, 30 kms by road down the valley. The Lingmethang village is a great picnic location and every weekend that I used to go there was nothing more than a picnic. Although, the village was 30 kms by road, my friends and I loved to hike down the valley. It was great fun. My mind is still flooded with the memories of the winding mule-tracks, the tall prayer flags and the chir-pine trees. O' how I miss all these.

I ended my Bhutan days in 1992 when I had completed class VII and had to join a school in India to complete matriculation. So we came to Gauhati, Assam. My dad is still in Bhutan, one year short of retirement.

Anyone interested to know more about the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan from me, please feel free to write to me or leave a comment on the blog. I will contact you with the information required. Tourism details about the country are available in here.

After the golden period of childhood in the bowls of the majestic Himalayas , I come to the plains where I miss the touch of its eternal bliss ..

CHILDHOOD DAISIES

Every little plant

Was a caring father;

The swift flowing river

Gave me motherly water;

The cool breeze was

My little sister – I jumped and played with her;

The little sweet flowers

Were my faithful lovers;

And like true lovers did they

Weep when I had to leave them alone;

The little chirping birds were

My most consoling friends;

They regale me with their music sweet

When in pensive mood I sat;

So many mates did I have,

And so much love they gave;

I did not know then that

There was a man so poor,

That he needed another man at core;

O my good parents, my lovely friends,

How I miss you now;

But I am so proud,

That your love I had found.

20^th May 2000

4th term starts...will go heavy :)

2006-06-21T05:43:00.000-07:00

Today I had 4 hours of class, starting from 10:40 am in the morning and contnued till 3:30 pm with a break for lunch. The first two hours was really boring. I was half asleep and half awake for most of the time. Almost all the students were doing the same I guess :).

I am really enjoying the SAPM class. The prof seems to be digging new interests out me. I follow his lecture with enthusiam. I really envy this guy. He has great elocution skills and good depth in the subject...at least he can direct the students in the right path. He is the man I am looking forward to for adding most value in my major this term.

There are some people who are having 10 hrs of class today, classes continuing till 10:30 in the evening, can you imagine? Thank God, I seem to have choosen the subjects very precisely. I don't think I can last for 10 hours in the classes, even if it is the most intereting course.

So, the real IIM life begins now. All formalities ends with my signing of the (bank) loan sheet. The profs have announced their repective projects and the dates of submissions. Hence studies must begin as soon as possible. That means that I have cut on some of my extra curricular activities and devote a bit of energy to my final days of academics....something perhaps I did not do in my first year. So I say, "BD, start your strategic planning right now...".

Anyway, blogging will continue...and so will the BD fundas.

Just Escaped and Kewl...

2006-06-19T01:23:00.000-07:00

The registration for the 4th term is over. Thank you God...I just escaped flunking two subjects...infact two vital ones. I must say it a narrow escape. Good God, you love me, eh !!

The Business Law guy has given 16 fuckas.... unimaginable!! As soon as I came to know, it gave me a shiver running through my nerves. I hoped that I am not one of them, although I thought my exams were not anyways bad. I had not checked the grades till Friday, though I reached campus on the 13th, lest I lose my few days of blind happiness. Thank you God that I remain happy still. But I am sad for some of my very kewl friends who had bad luck with this subject. There is some talk about the prof making some mistake in grading and people are hopeful that they might escape the fate...good God, help them!!

All the guys are back and the campus is lovely and lively again. There are 180 junnies joining while 60 are already in the campus for the preparatory course. I am not sure how the insti is going to accomodate them. Two of the hostels which we left in the foundation stage is still under construction and I envisage, they will take another month or so to complete. I doubt the administration might put two guys in single room for sometime...which is not going to be good :(.

With the beginning of the new term, everything seems to be new in the campus...new faces, new courses, new grass on the ground, new room and of course new books. Although I am hopeful for a kewl types 4th term with only 5 courses, I am not sure how will be torrents of assignements, projects and seminars. I am planning for a lot of activities this time and I hope I have them.

I got my first class beginning at 4 PM today...the Security Analysis and Portfolio Management (SAPM) course. As far as I am told, the prof likes to screw up. So I got to be careful not to mess up with him or the course. I know I am doing it the fundu way for the rest of the days...I hope the monsoon of joy never ends.. :)

Come back to life...

2006-06-17T03:04:00.000-07:00

Poem for all those friends who does not even care to write a mail...I miss you guys...

HI MY FRIENDS,

COME BACK TO LIFE...

HOW LONG WILL YOU KEEP MUMB

WITHOUT MAKING A SOUND?

WITHOUT YOUR SWEET PRESENCE

LIVING IS SUCH A DISGRACE,

WHEN WILL YOU ASK ME

WHAT PAIN DO I SUFFER?

WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER ME

FROM THIS GRIEVE FOR EVER?

WITHOUT YOUR HANDS

LIFE IS LIKE A CASTLE OF SAND ...

WHEN WILL YOU COME

AND CALL MY NAME

WHEN WILL OUR SONGS

FLOURISH AGAIN

HOW LONG WILL I JUST

PAINT PICTURES BLACK AND WHITE

I NEED YOU HERE NEAR ME,

SHOULD I ASK YOU FROM DESTINY?

SEE IT IS RAINING HERE

BUT WHERE IS THE DELIGHT?

THE GRASS IS GREEN

AND FLOWERS BLOOMING,

BUT WHERE ARE THE COLOURS?

WHO WILL PAINT THE PICTURES?

WITHOUT YOU WHO WILL SING,

WHO WILL PLAY,

COME O FRIENDS,

COME BACK TO LIFE AND STAY...

HI MY FRIENDS

WHERE ARE YOU ALL,

WHY HAVE YOU LET

THIS SILENCE FALL?

WHERE ARE THOSE MAILS,

WHERE ARE THOSE LONG TALES?

WHY HAVE YOU PEOPLE

JUST VANISHED IN TIME?

WHEN WILL YOU COME

AND REPLISH AGAIN THIS EMPTY LIFE,

WITH JOY AND HAPPINESS,

AND SING AGAIN OLD RHYMES?

THOSE RHYMES OF OUR TOGETHERNESS,

OF THOSE OLDER TIMES ?

Google Spreadsheets::Rejoice Linux users

2006-06-15T23:37:00.000-07:00

This post is taken from on my Linux blog: http://linux-business.blogspot.com

Great news!! Google does magic again, and this time directly on the head of the gaint called Microsoft. The search engine dude is out with its web-based spreadsheet. The application is up for testing here. Google Spreadsheets is surely going to be a direct hit to MS Excel.

Although the program is not as sophisticated as MS Excel, but the idea is great and ingenuine which is bold enough to sent Micrsoft trembling. But the best part of it is that it is a web-based application and it goes along with you wherever there is Internet and you have access to it. Not only this, it is possible to collaborate work on realtime basis with guys editing it realtime over the Internet.

Sounds great, isn't it? Now let us discuss the drawbacks. Anything web demands bandwidth and realtime means huge bandwidth. Hence the application can be expected to be a bit slower than MS "Desktop" Excel. So clearly, you might not get much out of it without broadband.

Also, while Google Spreadsheets can import Excel and CSV files, you would most probably have issues when you’re already dealing with very large spreadsheets, as may be the case when you already have several hundred rows or columns of figures. But then again, you probably won’t have to handle such large sets of data online unless you really have to.

Whatsoever, when google does anything, it does give shivers to guys like Microsoft and joy to guys who wants the best things in the world for free. So Linux guys can rejoice for now that google is up with something which is absolutely free.

For now, the Google Spreadsheets is under "Lab" testing on limited basis. So if you want to be one to get a "taste" of the test, just visit the site and leave your email. Feel free to do that..click here to go directly to Google Spreadsheets.

From Mumbai to Calicut:: Mumbai Dude to Mallu Dude

2006-06-15T02:42:00.000-07:00

I took the Natravati Express from Lokmanya Tilak terminus at Kurla on 12th June for Calicut. As the train started to move, I somehow felt a tinge of saddness decending upon me...yes, I will miss Mumbai. My summer of 2006 has come to an end and I was going back to God' own country or rather God's own institute, IIM K.

The journey to K however was a wonderful experience. I did not know that Natravati takes the Konkan Railway's route. Konkan Railways is perhaps the most beautiful railroute in India. I had travelled this route by the Mangala Express. My first train journey to the south was really memorable one. I had never seen such natural beauty in my life. The route winds along the Western Ghats and the fertile belts of Maharastra and Karnataka. You will get to see many amazing scenes, waterfalls and a lot of greenery. I did not have a camera then or else I could have created a huge album of the sights.

The Delhi-Calicut route has the highest number of railway tunnels. I was told that there are around 52 tunnels, digging through the hills which had reduced the rail distance by around 40 kms. This rail track is perhaps the finest projects of the Indian Railways and deserves a heritage status.

Anways, my Natravati journey was made exciting by some fellow passengers in my compartment besides the natural beauty of the route. All of them were Malayalies travelling from Mumbai. These were very jolly people. One of the guys threw a jigsaw puzzle challenge he had created and I was asked to solve it first. I simply could not solve it in the stipulated time. But it was a nice time-pass.
These people made merry throughout the night. I had my berth at the top and I slept much. But these guys kept awake throughout the night, sharing jokes, various life experiences, songs and hobbies.

The train could stop on the way sometimes for a crossing thus giving me time to capture some of the beautiful sceneries. Besides, I kept using my camera whenever something great struck my eyes.

I got down at the Calicut station on the 13th morning only to find that there was a strike in the city over the gasoline price hike. I was wonedring how to reach the campus when an autowala came forward with a proposal to carry me to Kunnamangalam for Rs. 200, around Rs.100 more than the normal rate. I had no other option but to concede.

You know what greeted me as the autorickshaw turned for the hostel? See the picture..

For more amazing pictures of my journey, please check out my album here.

The Final Days of Mumbai Dude

2006-06-14T10:16:00.001-07:00

The 9th of June was my last day of work at Netscribes. The same day, Netscribes gave a great party at The Leela celebrating its 6th founding day. It was as if I was being given a scintillating farewell. It was an evening of joy. I got all my requisite documents for the completion of my summers. And thus merriment was high on spirits :).

[See more pictures here]

The next two days were also a celebration for me. Back at the Wilsonl, I either had movies to watch or had some lively chat with my room-mate or Nitin who were still hooked to their projects. Most of the guys had already left. I was missing the company of Siam who had left earlier.

On 10th, Karra (who had also finished his project) and I decided on how to spend the day. We decided on a shopping spree at Lower Parel Lifestyle store. Although I could not get anything to suit myself, Karra purchased some gifts for his brother-in-laws. In the evening, we went to capture the sun set from Nariman Point. The evening was a wonderful experience. After our photo session, we went to The Tea Center, a restraurant specializing in Indian tea. That was a "kewl" experience with Karra trying to tell me all about tea and how it is processed, thus letting me know about his penchant for tea.

[See more pictures here]

The next day (11th June) was mixed with different flavours of Mumbai. I spend the morning with Karra watching MI3 at Regal. After the movie, he left for Panvel while I strolled the side walks looking at the various vendor stalls. It was nice to see many foriegners shopping and bargaining with the vendors.

In the evening, I patched up with Pratik who was telling me about his newly found love. Sanjeev was coming to see me and say good bye. I was to meet him at Churchgate station. So Pratik and I left for Churchgate. We met Sanjiv and his friend Dhiraj at Churchgate. We decided to celebrate our last meeting in Mumbai over beer. Pratik suggested that we go to his favourite bar New York just near Wilson. So we came back over to Chopatty.

At New York, it was a great time. It seemed as if Pratik and Sanjeev were long lost friends meeting after so many years. Sanjeev was really happy to meet a great boozer like Pratik as their wave-lenght was in perfect tandem. It was fun to watch them drink and chat while Dhiraj and myself kept to our capable limits. Pratik dedicated his favourite "Ya Ali" song to me while I dedicated "Bheegi Bheegi" song (from Gangster) to Sanjeev and Dhiraj who had come all the way from Andheri to say good bye to me.

[See more pictures here]

After New York's party, we went for a stroll on Chopatty beach. The cool evening breeze and a low tide was a perfect romantic match. We took some parting snaps. After seeing Sanjiv and Dhiraj off, I listened to Pratik's tale of love. So Mumbai had hit him hard. It reminded me of that song from Taxi No. 9-2-11 (Taxi number Nau-Do-Gyara) called "Mumbai Nagariya".

Thus ended my last three days of full-time masti.

Today is my last day at Netscribes

2006-06-09T02:21:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day in Netscribes. Two months of fundu time now seems to be drawing to a close. I had a very interesting time with the company. Summers here was a wholesome package: work, fun and friends. I will surely miss the moments.

Today is party-day for the 6th anniversary of the company. The birthday bash has been arranged at Leela. But I am taking the party as my farewell from Netscribes for my summers. I am going back with a lot of learnings, experiences and memories of good times, not only of Netscribes but of Mumbai too.

Drugs::Part I

2006-06-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

The latest drug drama of Rahul Mahajan and Vivek Moitra has created a wave of excitement in India about drugs and drug abuse. I have been reading about this in every newspaper I pick up for the last 3 days. But I doubt how many of us actually know about drugs, other than that they are banned by law the world over and would put you in prison for using or abetting their use. So I decided to explore the world of drugs in this post. I am sure this post is going to start a series on this blog about drugs. Anyone who would like to contribute more funda is welcome. Please write to me. By the way, if you are still not sure what type of drugs I am going to discuss,let me put it straight: I am going to talk about narcotics drugs which are different from the conventional medical drugs available from the medical stores.

In the first part of the series, I attempt to find out about what “drugs” are.

Let us start our discussion with the word narcosis. My WordWeb desktop dictionary says “Unconsciousness induced by narcotics or anaesthesia”. Tracing more on this, I find Wikipedia saying that the term narcotic has a Greek origin, derived from the word narkotikos, meaning "benumbing or deadening," originally referred to a variety of substances that induced sleep.

Hmmm…sounds interesting. So drugs or narcotic drugs (better), are substances that can modify the way the body and mind work. That is to say, they can bring about a whole range of changes from the nervous system to the chemical mechanisms of the body. Many people thus believe that using narcotics they can cure or heal many diseases of the mind and the body and hence start talking them. Since the narcotics bring about biological changes in the body, the body becomes the slave of these external chemicals and begins to show abnormal functionalities in their absence. This is when a person becomes addicted to narcotics and we call him a drug addict.

There are 364 different types of controlled substances in the US whose use and trade without authorisation is illegal (check here). Many of these are not widely known or used. The most famous of the drugs are Cocaine, Quinine, Marijuana, Opium, Heroin and Methamphetamine.

Narcotics can be administered in a variety of ways. Some are taken orally, transdermally (skin patches) or injected. They are also available in suppositories. As recreational drugs, they are often smoked, snorted, or self-administered by the more direct routes of subcutaneous ("skin popping") and intravenous ("mainlining") injection.

The market for the illegal narcotic drugs is very difficult to estimate. The drug trade is pernicious and large. United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime(UNODC) estimates its retail value at US$ 321bn. In 2005 World Drug Report, the UNODC estimates that 200 million people, or 5% of the global population age 15-64, have consumed illicit drugs at least once in the last 12 months.

Table::Extent of drug use (annual prevalence) estimates 2003/04*
	All Illicit drugs	Cannabis	Amphetamine-type stimulants		Cocaine	Opiates	of which heroin
			Amphetamines	Ecstasy
(million people)	200	160.9	26.2	7.9	13.7	15.9	10.6
in % of global population age 15-64	5.00%	4.00%	0.60%	0.20%	0.30%	0.40%	0.20%
Source: UNODC

The market for various drugs has been estimated by UNODC on the basis of treatment demands. Using the various sources, the UNODC has come up with the following map which shows the distribution of various drugs geographically. Click here to see map

According to the CIA World Fact book, the US is world's largest consumer of cocaine, shipped from Colombia through Mexico and the Caribbean. The consumption of methamphetamine from Mexico is rapidly increasing. the US is also a big market for of high-quality Southeast Asian heroin. It is also known as a illicit producer of cannabis, marijuana, depressants, stimulants, hallucinogen, and methamphetamine.

Afganisthan is world's largest producer of opium. But due to the recent wars, cultivation dropped 48% to 107,400 hectares in 2005. But better weather and lack of widespread disease returned opium yields to normal levels, meaning potential opium production declined by only 10% to 4,475 metric tons. The CIA estimates that if the entire poppy crop were processed, it would produce 526 metric tons of heroin. Afganisthan is also the source of hashish. There are many narcotics-processing labs throughout the country. 80-90% of the heroin consumed in Europe comes from Afghan opium. Due to high profits and lex government regulation, Afganisthan is the heart of heroin trafficking which is the source of funds to various terrorists groups operating from the country.

Although India is world's largest producer of licit opium for the pharmaceutical trade, but an undetermined quantity of opium is diverted to illicit international drug markets. India is also the transit point for the various illicit narcotics produced in neighbouring countries. India is well-known for the illicit production of methaqualone and it is considered vulnerable to narcotics money laundering through the hawala system.

Sources: CIA fact book, UNODC, Wikipedia and newspapers

Siam Leaves Today

2006-06-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

Siam leaves Machiken hall today. I know I would miss his company at dinner for the last 5 days. And also I will miss the weekends when we often made “Mumbai Darshan” programs or shopping programs. I know it will be boring. Today, I would reach my room at around 10 pm from office. If he would have been there, I would have informed him that I would be late and this buddy would have waited for me till I gave him a miss call or shouted his name from below his room. Then we would go to a near by hotel (preferably Crystal or New Heroes) for our most preferred stuffs which included veg-mushroom soup, aalu paalak, chappaties and baiganbharta. Today, I think I have to eat alone.

I would miss pestering him this coming weekend to accompany me to VT or a movie or water-kingdom or some other place. Even if Siam did not like to roam much, he would accompany me most of the times. It was a great joy during our stay in Mumbai and to find a great company in Siam in every occassion.

It was we two perhaps who watched the most movies during our stay in Wilson. I think I watched a movie (at least), almost everyday. Siam and I would go to the VT market to buy DVDs or exchange our old DVDs for new ones.

Anyway, now that Siam is on his way to home, the DVDs left with me by him will be my last days company here in Mumbai. I would be leaving Mumbai on 12th morning.

Sangam 2006::Mumbai Chapter

2006-06-01T23:57:00.000-07:00

Sangam 2006, the Alumni cum freshers’ meet of The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, which is held in all major cities of the country, was held in Mumbai on the 28th of May, at the Joss Restaurant in kala Ghoda. It was a great fun to meet the Alumni, the would-be junnies and batch-mates. The program was a short and sweet “get-to-know-each-other” type of party and was a grand success. Thanks to Milan and his team in the Alumni Committee. Great job Kozhians.

For more pictures of Sangam 2006 at Mumbai, please visit the Sangam 2006 album .

Mumbai Rains

2006-06-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

Mum just gave me a call. As soon as I picked up the phone, she asked me, “Where are you? Is it raining that side? They say, there is flood in Mumbai already..”. She must be watching the television, I guess. Yes, Mumbai rain. I read about it. Now, by the grace of God, I am seeing it. Just one day of rain, believe me, just one day and it looks like it has been raining for a month without stopping.

I had the great Mumbai rain experience yesterday. Nitin P, my Kozhian friend, had come to Netscribes to see me. We decided to go back to the hostels together. Nitin was already drenched when I met him. The worst part was that he was carrying his lappy and water was inside the bag!! he was very worried if his lappy would ever work again…

When we were outside the Trade Star building, it was raining cats and dogs. the traffic on the Andheri-Kurla road was stuck. We somehow crossed the divider to the other side of the road in the hope of catching a bus to the station. But all the buses were over-crowded that we decided to walk. Nitin had an umbrella but the poor thing could not save 3 souls – his, mine and the lappy’s.

I was in fact enjoying the first showers. My only concern was those huge lightening. It was as if one would just strike on my head. Baring this, walking to the station was really a joy for me. The only solace for Nitin was the beautiful women, all drenched to their skin and those coming out in full beauty of their figures. He was in Andheri for the first time and for me, everything was old now, except the rain.

We crossed the water-logged roads to the station from where we took a fast train to Mumbai central. Believe me, even the train compartments were flooded!! And to tell you the secret, we were traveling by first-class despite having second class tickets .

We shifted trains at Mumbai Central. At Grant Road, everything other than the plateform was under water. No taxi was ready to go to Wilson. So went up the fly-over and sat on a bus. But the traffic was so bad that we decided to walk to the hostel.

Phew!! God, what will happen to this city in the coming days?

Read more about Mumbai Rains and see pictures here.

My Mumbai Route Map

2006-06-01T02:58:00.000-07:00

Hey, this is my Mumbai route map. Everyday, I take a train (slow or fast) from Churni Road station for Andheri Station. Then I take bus no. 332 or 340 from Andheri Station to Netscribe office at J B nagar.

Doggy in train

2006-06-01T02:09:00.000-07:00

While I was coming to office this morning by the Virar Fast local, a doggy got into the coach at Grant Road station. He was a beautiful dog with white and grey patches and hazel eyes.

This was a surprise visit by a non-human in the local train. I did not know where he wanted to go. But I was quite fascinated. People in the compartment were actually happy to see the visitor and everybody welcomed him. The train began to move. Some of the people asked those standing near the gates to guard him from jumping of the running train.

It was an interesting scene. I was wondering about this passanger. He needed not even think about a ticket for travelling. Travel for him was absolutely free. Are all dogs born free?

I actually admired the Mumbai public. They really have great love for animals. This doggy was given equal rights as anyother passenger. Some passenger were speaking to him, asking him where he wanted to go. I wished the dog would speak too. He just stood there, wagging his tail.

The train stopped at Mumbai Central plateform. The doggy was given the way out. He was the first passenger to alight. Passengers on the plateform seemed quite amused. Thank you Indian Railways for giving animals the right to travel by your trains.

~;;~LOVE ON THE WAY HOME~;;~

2006-05-31T04:21:00.000-07:00

[This is a poem written many years ago in IIT Guwahati by me. After coming to Mumbai, those beautiful moments seems to come back to me everyday...]
As I boarded the neck thronged bus,
I saw those black glittering eyes;
For two seconds, I kept looking,
But those busy big eyes rolled aside.

I sat behind that golden goddess;
I saw those black wavelets on her;
Ten thosands of hearts must have felt the same,
Ten thousand desires she did carry in them.

I wanted to feel her, touch her golden skin,
Wanted to feel the warmth of her breath,
To tell her my heart how I felt,
And kiss her nectered lips sweet.

She chatted with a friend all the way;
I felt her knowledge profound;
Such a beauty and such a mind,
Rare forms of goodness had I found.

Sometimes she did look behind,
And when I eyed deep inside her,
I would see the depth in her big black eyes:
Yes, thousands of grieve sticken hearts they must have pacified.

What name shall I call you, I know not;
O, love need no name, need she ?
And as I got off the bus, I eyed her once more;
There she sat, so subtle in her beauty,
She did look at me as if she wanted me to stay;
It did pain me to go, but I had to leave;
O, how I desired her to stop me;
But then the gift of her beauty do I share,
And I know I can love her anywhere.

The Summer of 2006: Netscribes

2006-05-31T01:54:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure about how would my summer progress before coming to Mumbai. But I must say that perhaps, I had the best summers from K.

I was placed at Netscribes, a knowledge solution provider in Mumbai. This company is really a great place to be at. Everything impressed me about this organization: people, culture, work place and the work. I had a great experience, both while working and not working. The best thing about Netscribes is it real kewl kewl culture...simply umbeatable!!

I was exposed to several live projects during my stay with the company. I started with a project dealing with General-Motors Corp, then moved into Islamic Banking and Bukeye Fabric Coating Company. I also did a study of the Global Semiconductor Industry (which I am planning to bring out as a report soon).

Working on the live projects actually gave me the feel of the demands in this sector, i.e knowledge solutions. Customers has various demands and a knowledge solution providers job is to fulfill these demands by providing a complete solution. Before coming here, I had no idea about the domain in which Netscribes works in. But now, I know that this is the sector which is going to boom (or bloom) now that the IT bubble has bursted.

I had a great opportunity to attend the induction program at Netscribes which was presided by the Netscribes CEO, Mr. Saurav Mukherjee. I was impressed by his words and method. I found him a man of skill and a great manager. He told the batch of new joinees about the trend of this industry called knowledge solutions. For the first time, I really came to know the difference between a service provider and a solution provider. I would like to discuss more about this topic in a later posting on this blog.

Other things I enjoyed about Netscribes is that it is a very resourceful company. Its IT infrastructure is fandu. They have subscription to Bloomberg and various other financial and information sites. They have good sitting arrangement and a real cool ambience were you can work with all your freedom.

At Netscribes, it was fun for more reasons than this. One important one being the company of good people I got (let me call them friends). Besides being knowledgeable in what they do, they are fun loving and helpful. I loved working with Manoj, Puneet, Amit, saurav, Mohit, Ravneet, Kejal, Venky and RK. Sanjeev, who joined a few days after me became my favourite companion at Netscribes besides becoming a good sutta partner.

The last thing I want to say about Netscribes is that its women folk is very beautiful.....

My program with Netscribes will end on 11th of June.

Welcome to my Doctrine of Life

2006-05-30T23:13:00.000-07:00

Like all starters, I will first say thank you for visiting my blog. There can be three reasons why you are here. Firstly, may be because I invited you to my blog. Secondly, you found this link somewhere and is interested to know more about me. Lastly, it must be our google, who thought you might find here what you were looking for .

As the name of the blog suggests, it is a personal blog and all posts, comments are strictly personal views. You will find ideas, views, stories, convictions, notions and at times, contradictions about many things which occur to me. You will read what my friends and collegues have to say about their own fundas about the things under discussion. You might also like to look for some of my pictures and other stufs that I produce.

Please feel free to criticise and suggest me on various topics that appear and needs to appear in my blog. I am ready for all brickbats.

So? Let me start...