Saturday, December 26, 2009
A Quick Autopsy!
The biggest of them all being my first GPA 9 :D ( I seriously can’t help sounding eager/nerdy here for I waited too long for it and now, too excited to shut up about it :P )followed by my first ever Shaastra coordship made all the more special by the fact that a lot of fight went into it. The event under discussion here is ChemicalX. We did manage to rise to the occasion when participation went beyond bounds and people just didn’t stop coming well after we ran short of question papers. All’s well that ends well is what is popularly said! Ours was a pretty small team comprising 2 coordinators and a volunteer and it was a great experience to have been able to shape the event as we wished to with very little pressures from anybody outside our cosy small team. The fact that ChemicalX was just into its second edition very oddly grouped under ‘Unwind’ to much of my perplexity must have added to our much-cherished freedom. We managed to put a good show after all! [Looking forward to your comments on it, Varun! ;)]
Meeting film actor Boman Irani as a part of being an Extramural Lecture Series Coordinator is the next big event this semester. We got to interact with this charming, versatile and totally down-to-earth artist at very close quarters. Fighting mosquitoes at the BEGH chatting away to glory with one of the most sensible and sought–after actors of new school of Bollywood thinking has certainly been a helluva experience for me! And editing the department magazine has been an experience of its own sort. How strong the readership is still what I’m trying to figure out though! [:P]
As the 3rd semester drew to an end, came a chance to be a part of the placement team as a representative. It was again a paradigm-shifting sort of stint which did make my winter vacation a little more occupied than it otherwise would have been. It was fun work alongside presenting me with a chance to observe the placement scene from close. I also tried doing something by which I mean learning, more about Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) but I think there’s still a long, long, long way to go in this regard [:P] Now that it’s all over, I’m back to doing what I’m best at! Laying back with a book in hand, watching T.V like a maniac complete with quarrels over remote with my very sweet [:-/] sister and hogging on home food like there’s no tomorrow missing the friends and IIT once in a while.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Back into action!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
New Look!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
HP6-A Compulsive Lacklustre
Friday, July 17, 2009
Hooked to books n blah!!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
New York

Friday, July 10, 2009
Emotional Atyachar...
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Wimbledon Wisdom.....
Thursday, July 2, 2009
F.R.I.E.N.D.S
Those were the days when we talked about everything in focus...
But we parted for good I suppose...
And now I wait in the anticipation of good times to be back...
Can't wait to meet you all and bask in the warmth of the retrospect...
Talking to you is like falling back into that deep valley of nostalgia...
But only finding myself coming out of it with a renewed emotional paraphernalia...
To chase those dreams I never missed to make you all a part of...
P.S.This piece of amateur poetry,I dedicate to all my school friends who I eagerly wait to meet one of these days...My first poem for those people who saw me through many other firsts of my life...
Friday, June 19, 2009
Kane and Abel....

'Kane and Abel' is arguably the best work of Jeffrey Archer till date and I find myself more than willing in complying with this assumption.It is a gripping tale spanning about 60 years in the life of two people born on the same day under strikingly contrasting circumstances..It traces the lives of William Lowell Kane and Abel Rosnovski so very different from each other in every facet of life.Nevertheless,their paths were destined to cross and when they did,it was to be a curtain raiser to building a new enmity for life time only to be further complicated by political and family tensions. Abel Rasnovski's display of tremendous strength of character in times ranging from blindly optimistic to utterly hopeless is what appealed to me the most.This 'dumb Pole's' search for a new identity in the wake of WW1 destroying everything he ever seemed to possess including his rightful claim to his barony leads him on a trial of journeys which ultimately lead him to America where he starts off as a worker in a butcher shop to owning about 70 hotels before seeing one built on his own homeland.The Chicago Baron as he is called,never had anything easy at any point of his life ,his birth included while I found Kane's life a little more nice to lead all through what with all the opportunities falling right on his lap...I don't mean to imply that his life was sans any struggle or a simple cakewalk..Its just a matter of a sense of security he had as to what will become of his life be it the prep school he would join,the high school he would study at before securing a place at Harvard like everyone in his family ever did.He belonged to too important a family to lose out on any of these..He had had his share of bittersweet memories in life like losing father in Titanic crisis at an early age of 5 or having to put up with a swindling stepfather later or unexpected demise of a doting mother while he was still in teens or facing a major disappointment when he couldn't step into his late father's shoes as the chairman of Kane and Cabot etc...But all this can in no measure match an obscure and impoverished but intellectually well-gifted Abel's having to be a prisoner of war in his own estate seeing his brother murdered,father broken and dead and a sister molested by brutal soldiers right in front of his young eyes..It is the course of history that shaped Abel's life majorly as compared to Kane who always had a predictable,well-planned road to take at every juncture of life...Its through entirely different spectacle they've each seen the world as they grow up to become important flag-bearers of American rise to being a superpower.
Another lovely character that captivates your imagination is that of young and vivacious Florentyna, 'the prodigal daughter' of Abel Rosnovski and the centre of his world..Then there is Richard,another chip off the Kane block whose love for Florentyna and their eventual elopement to get married only widens the rift between Kane and Abel setting into motion an interesting set of events...
A mind-boggling political potboiler with occasional peeps into boardrooms..Truly,a memorable read it has been!!!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Hyderabad Blues....
Hyderabad is a true testimony of resilience and co-existence which makes it stand out among the galaxy of other cities in the country. She is a truly enchanting beauty perched on the top of Deccan plateau epitomizing the phenomenon of evolving cities. She has come a long way from being an abode of Indo-Persian culture to being the most happening metropolis in India. It is a rare blend of traditional and ultra-modern values. Though it is slowly turning into the proverbial concrete jungle( which is ought to happen) people are still more than willing to walk that extra mile to strike an amazing balance between their family and professional lives. The spirit of Hyderabadis which drives them to bounce back every time they stumble is highly infectious. They work with verve and walk with a spring in the step. There are clustered apartments, congested traffic, irritating pollution all over. Yet, there is a certain degree of old world charm and openness in transactions among the people. This is the most endearing trait of the city which makes visitors go gaga over. You need to be a visitor to get the flavor of the city’s hospitality.
The city owes its ethnic and rustic beauty to the Nizams who ruled over it for a long time and added most of the beautiful buildings and monuments to this jewel. Juxtaposed bylanes of old city, the roadside paanwalas and chaiwalas stood the trying tests of time and urbanization but never gave up. The rustic charm of Hyderabad never fails to enchant you. This is a city of great artistic connoisseurs. My nostalgic memories of the city are entangled in the curves of jalebi and folds in the stony cloak of Buddha on theTank Bund . Haunting stink ofMusi , multitude of bangle stores that dazzle your eyes, unique and ethnic scents which never fail to tingle your nasal buds near Charminar (400 not out),piled-up match box like book stores in Koti etc., are very strange landmarks that evolved over course of time. Its charm is instead increasing by the day .Ancient monuments like Golconda , Qutb Shahi tombs , Salarjung museum etc. add that touch of royalty to this city patronized by Asif Jahi Nawabs. The sober milieu of the Secretariat of Andhra Pradesh doesn’t intimidate the frolic mood at neighbouring Lumbini park . Gokul chat-a one-stand stop to all the golguppa lovers to unwind from the tiring day at work still reminiscent of the scary bomb blast which did leave an ugly scar on its face yet duly up and about with the solidarity displayed by the city dwellers. An evening whiled away at the Tank Bund is always well-spent but never complete without the roadside bhelpuri and palli or sugar candy and sweet fried corn. You are always left craving for more. The marble marvel, Birla Mandir is another big crowd puller.
Hyderabadis are great patrons of art, literature, theatre and cinema (not only Tollywood which time and again managed to churn out unabashed scripts with larger-than-life heroes.Believe me, I am no big fan of them). Taramati Biradari, revived recently is hosting jewels of theatre plays and music concerts on a regular basis catering to the tastes of connoisseurs. This is a city cosmopolitan to its core thanks to world class companies like Microsoft, Dell, Infosys, Infotech, IBM, Novotel, HSBC etc. setting their regional offices up here increased the Hyderabadi soft power all over the globe. It is tipped to be the most happening software hub in India next only to Bangalore. It is a hub of sports which produced gem of players who made India proud on a host of occasions like tennis ace,Sania mirza,baddy champs Pullela Gopichand,Saina Nehwal, cricketing wizardsV.V.S.Laxman ,Mohd.Azharuddin , hockey pro,Mukesh Kumar etc.
Hyderabad, shaped up by rich history has been an inspiration for many a literary masterpieces. Be it William Dalrymple’s White Mughals which brilliantly captured the scintillating romance between East India company’s official James Kirkpatrick and Nizam princess Khair-un-Nisa or The Jewels of Nizam which accounts for the incalculable wealth of Hyderabadi emperors, they did manage to strike a right chord with the readers around the world. Summing it all up, Hyderabad is such a tantalizing blend of ironically contrasting features which makes it come across as a fully decked up bride making it all the more irresistible to the insiders and outsiders alike.
Art of lying...
the man's tenth Muse, his best and surest friend
The benefits of judicious lying,how injurious can unconditional truth-mongering be and well...how to perfect the art of scientific lying are all penned down by the same pen that gave us the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn...
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Unsolicited guests in the city....
Thursday, May 28, 2009
The month that was........
Elections in India see common man and super women rise to power like never before.It is the time when Ammas and Didis of Indian polity come into fore and dictate terms reducing scores of men to grapple at their feet for mercy....This particular general election caught my fancy specially for its debate on aging politicians and emergence of certain new fronts at national level...The argumentative Indian has once again vested power to rule him for the next 5 yrs in a party that is less complicated in principles and policies... I was quite surprised at myself observing stuff closely and bugging my father to understand what I observe this time rather than being laid-back....Well...Is this the sign of my coming off age???Maybe... I wish the Gandhis and the new cabinet all the luck in running the largest democracy of the world...
Then came IPL-entertainment ka asli baap-and managed to live true to the expectations of cricket buffs worldwide and its master strategist,Lalit Modi inspite of sudden venue change...Mr.Modi is a happy man for the second time and is letting his imagination run high with plans for 2 IPLs a year!!!Though my hugely and strongly opinionated uncle calls it shameful adulteration of cricket,I found myself,a not so great cricket maniac,hooked firmly to the T.V set inspite of irritatingly dumb-looking Mandira Bedi and outrageously hilarious Gaurav Kapoor trying to act as cricket experts...As always,T20 proved to be synonymous with oscillating prospects of each and every team involved with the game which made it all the more intriguing and unpredictable to give it an enigmatic charm...The Zoozoos appearing in the intercepting commercials weren't any less entertaining than the main show itself...When I first came to know that they were no creations of animation but live people under specially made perspex masks shot using high speed cameras to make them appear as they do,I was left in complete awe...Well..As an old adage goes, All's well that ends well...But we Indians can never get enough of this game,can we? The ICC T20 world cup is eagrly anticipated now and ready to keep jobless junta like me a little less jobless and distract not-so-jobless people too...
The next imporatant event that keeps me occupied these days is the French Open which all of the sudden became very optimistic for unconditional Federer fans like me...I find myself praying with crossed fingers as the D-day looms closer...Good luck Feddy!!!