On and on and on...

To make me feel happy :D

2007-11-04T16:46:00.000+05:30

Last Weekend

2007-10-19T14:08:00.000+05:30

What started out from a lazy pizza for dinner on friday night ended up being one of the most interesting, satisfying and happening weekends :)

The pizza was followed by bambai bhraman (for the hindi challenged, roaming around bombay). Me and Rahul 'Bulleted' to marine drive via the eastern express for some eating n chatting at Bachelors (i want to open a all night place named, Singles :D) and cruised back via the western express taking the regular stops [;-)] at worli et al. The night that started late ended almost into morning, with plans of biking to Pune with Chaman and Rahul in the afternoon already in place. Ofcourse the planned afternoon ride to pune started at around half past six in the evening :P

The moonless highway was like every other time, spell bounding. With stops for fuel and bike maintenance and chocolate fudge at Lonavala we were in a pune pub (Toons) at 11 with the local dudes, Daddu and Chawla accompanying us. After what seemed like less than a minute we were told "last order sir", after gaping at each other for a while we placed orders as if it were the last meal/drink we would ever get. The quick drinks coupled with the taxing bike ride made us happy enough to be the favourites of the crowd that was pushed out of the place along with us as we went from one group to the other asking 'what shit is this :P' and if there would be any place open now. Our efforts were finally rewarded, however the details would not quite be suitable for public announcement :D

The night was spent at Chawla's place who lives in a rather neat apartment in a building with BMW and Merc and CBR owners!! and... beat this... pays exactly half of what I do for my humble (really) abode!!!! By day break most people were asleep and I was pretty much unconsciously, more like in a trace, listening to world space crooning away with music that mostly was unheard of but definitely good. The chilling morning and the quiet world seen from the balcony with trees and even birds presented a reminiscing moment. Chilly mornings in quilts and minimal activity outdoors, :-), its been quite a while. Makes me look forward to my trip home for Diwali. Obviously a lot of other things also do :D ;-)

Once everyone was up and wanting to get running (yeah, most people had someone or the other to go meet) we headed to Marz-o-rin. Having finally eaten something, it had been over 24 hrs since my last proper meal on friday night, we chanced upon the super bike showroom (which btw, was our excuse for planning the trip) in one of the back alleys which we were leisurely strolling about. Only to be told that its closed on sundays, we however were let in for a 'quick' peek after we detailed our story of having travelled 200kms on bikes just for having a look at bikes there. Luckily for us someone was taking the delivery of his (fair assumption, what say?) newly bought Hayabusa which was revved and cleaned and readied for hitting the road right in front of us. Need I say, w-h-a-t a bike!

The pune trip was ended with me meeting Neha for lunch and coffee and random evening walk somewhere near the Osho ashram.

Having left at six (I wanted to stay longer, but jobs!!) I was back home eating ice-cream and geared up for monday and the week, before the clock struck twelve. The week ensuing has been also pretty interesting but abhi ke liye enough of logging life :-)

-------------------------------------

ps: Started writing this post wanting to write a lot of things that I felt last Sunday afternoon, but this has rather become a log of events. The thoughts will have to wait.

Wallah, Sakinaka!

2007-10-09T22:31:00.000+05:30

I work in Sakinaka. SAKI-NAKA. Here’s a few responses to this workplace which magically conjures up eternal sunshine for the spotless minds everyday. The autowallahs are the best! You walk upto them and inquire whether they would want to take you to Sakinaka.

Me: Sakinaka?
AutoWala: Few seconds of silence
Me: Sakinaka chalnege?
AutoWala: jerks his head with a smirk, what he means is: NO

After some repetitions of the same event, for the lack of another passenger, some guy dejectedly agrees to take you there. I personally love the challenge, you know. I count everyday the number of autos that refuse to go to sakinaka and make lists. It’s a way to keep me grounded :P. Also it presents an opprotunity to be crative, like this time:

Me: Sakinaka chaloge?
AutoWala: nahi
Me: Singapur le jaoge kya?
AutoWala: with the stupid Joey look, wo kahan hai?!
And then I board the rick as I say, chalo main rasta batata hoon. :D :D Got ya! little cheap thrills and triumphs in life :P

Losing yourself

2007-10-07T23:59:00.000+05:30

Closed places, mostly dark, flashing lights, infinite people, drinks and drunks, blaring music, the air conditioning trying to mind the heat. People trying to lose themselves in the sea of similars.

Water side, cool breeze, personalized music, staring into the infinite, kids playing familiar games, the setting sun in the background. People trying to lose something in the infinity.

Bustling - strolling, air conditioned - breezy, socializing - conversing, dancing - swaying, laughter - smiles.

:-/

xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

2007-10-06T13:01:00.000+05:30

The warning at the bottom of the of the page goes "Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)"

:))

Twenty 20

2007-09-25T00:31:00.000+05:30

Looks like the future of cricket is here! after a tough day at office, you reach the stadium, witness an explosive match where the ball keeps flying all over the place into the stands. And while its being fetched you have the dancers to keep the rhythm going!

All in all amazing fun!

And the icing on the cake, India with some awesome batting (Yuvraj on fire) and not too bad bowling won it all the way!!!

Just a little idea I would like to get people thinking on, did Anil Ambani have anything to do with the phenomenal success?! :-? :P

Two months...

2007-08-28T00:12:00.000+05:30

... thats as long as it has been since I started working at Deutsche Bank. Interesting times have ensued ever since. This is just a summary of what all should be documented:

Intercontinental - Final Presentation - Hawaiian Shack - passing out - Totos - people gone - Hard Rock Cafe - fussball - go carting - Naneghat - trying to be happy - Matheran - new people - old friends - highways (somehow those never go) - coffee - bandstand - hukka - the PDA - Ashok deluxe - calls and puts - interviews - demand (and supply) - Taj - VJs - money - movies - convocation - extravagance - London, NYC and Bombay - flat - books - very late nights - celeb brushes - The office party - .....

and to think there is still so much on the list to do!

Finished

2007-07-10T15:29:00.000+05:30

Five years packed into five bags and not even five minutes to write five lines about it all.

Like someone said "Its the end of an era!" :-)

Catching up with myself

2007-06-02T00:49:00.000+05:30

One more month to go at IIT Bombay. Will have my DDP defense (big words, I tell you!) on July 6 after joining Deutsche Bank on the 2nd of July. Hectic times I am supposing. Meanwhile I am still clueless about with who all and where I would be staying once out of here. BTW, five years (half a decade :O) coming to an end!! (mental note: this deserves an entire entry)

Am missing everyone at home. Looking forward to my trip to home from 8th to 17th of June. People in Jaipur, if you anyhow chance upon this... do catch up.

Loads of eating out these days. Among the notable are breakfast at Leela, frequent visits to Theobroma, Mocha and ghastly biking after a long night out at Sports Bar. Hukka's which have been out for a very very long time now are on the cards next. Working friends be warned, I would soon be asking for udhar :P

Thanks to CMU I finally know of a place that is by far the best sea-side in Bombay. TIFR. Reaching there (commuting) and getting in (security crap) is messy business, but the clean water, the fact that the only sound you hear is that of water crashing on the rocks which are neatly laid out to ease finding a good spot to sit and a walk along the cool breezy promenade make it totally worth the effort.

Moveez: Catching a new release every week has become a ritual and so has a movie a day on the comp. Next up are Pirates and Oceans. And like previous summers red lounge continues to be the favourite movie destination :D

And the rains are here :)

2007-06-01T03:39:00.000+05:30

The washed roads, fresh green sparkling leaves. Hope the rains are as much fun and bring as much joy as they always have.

Though it means a lot more dirty clothes and footwear all wet even before the first pair dries up, but what the heck... get soaked people!!

...more

2007-03-16T17:34:00.000+05:30

If it doesn't kill you it leaves you stronger.

ps: off late this blog has become a collection of fundaes :P
pps: need something to write about, suggestions?

Happy B'day

2007-03-10T19:00:00.000+05:30

finally.... :)

Q.?

2007-02-20T09:41:00.000+05:30

Did you ever try so hard, that your world fell apart?

In the end

2007-02-15T04:25:00.000+05:30

Ive put my trust, in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
Theres only one thing you should know...
I tried so hard,
And got so far,
But in the end, it doesnt even matter
I had to fall, to loose it all,
But in the end, it doesnt even matter

When there is a lot you want to say

2006-12-18T00:34:00.000+05:30

... its sometimes good to just keep shut. :-

About me

2006-10-29T23:41:00.001+05:30

"If there is one thing Piyush hates more than effort, it is wasted effort."

What would you like to have?

2006-10-20T18:07:00.000+05:30

There is no food I would die for and there is no food I would die of :)

hmm

2006-10-16T18:54:00.000+05:30

The Lord of timing it perfectly bad. :)

Life

2006-10-12T10:30:00.000+05:30

One man's castles another man's ruins :)

Fade to Black

2006-10-11T14:14:00.000+05:30

This is haunting... read it till the end
____________________________
Life it seems, will fade away
Drifting further every day
Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters no one else
I have lost the will to live
Simply nothing more to give
There is nothing more for me
Need the end to set me free

Things are not what they used to be
Missing one inside of me
Deathly lost, this cant be real
Cannot stand this hell I feel
Emptiness is filling me
To the point of agony
Growing darkness taking dawn
I was me, but now hes gone

No one but me can save myself, but its too late
Now I cant think, think why I should even try

Yesterday seems as though it never existed
Death greets me warm, now I will just say good-bye

contemplating

2006-10-08T19:26:00.000+05:30

Whats more prevelant in the world, happiness or sorrow?
And is happiness merely lack of sorrow?
Whats worse, not knowing what happiness is or knowing and not being happy?

Madness

2006-10-04T06:35:00.000+05:30

80+ Kmph... Eastern express highway... strangers... mad rush... loser

Desperation? Fatigue? Insanity? Failure? Devastated.

:-|

2006-09-27T10:15:00.000+05:30

Just to see if anyone bothers checking in...

CLOSED

2006-08-24T02:43:00.000+05:30

The last few times I have wanted to write something I realized that I don't want to put down and document what I think. Though there has been a lot to write but I have chosen not to. Looks like its time to say goodbye.

Thank you everyone for reading this place.

adios
Piyush

Happy boy writes...

2006-07-13T19:19:00.000+05:30

Being good is useless,
its about whether you are good enough.

And the rains are here

2006-07-03T00:17:00.000+05:30

It has rained the entire day today (yes the bombay monsoons have arrived) and I have been wondering about the rainy day phenomena.

As a kid back at school, rains would get me an off from school on pretext of it being a 'rainy day'. Happiness is all I remember feeling on those days :)

The very simple 'rainy day' has dramatically changed since then. With varied experiences and memories in my kitty and IIT not giving in to rains as heavy as the one on 26th July 2005, the happiness has dried out and nostalgia, gloominess, lonliness, a remote sense of adventure, tinges of depression... all have crept in.

Interstingly most of the times one recalls have nothing to do with rainfall or even water! My guess is that water pouring down from the heavens above presents such a bland sight that one digs down into the the memory chest and comes up with moments that are cherished. And the realization of the fact that all these times are now history is what depresses.

Even more interesting was the realization that the right company can make the otherwise lonely and gloomy rainy day a treat. A trek, a nice little heart to heart talk, a phone call, a hug can just do the trick!

Rain or no rain, the knowledge of you being important to someone is all that you need to be really happy in life is what I concluded amidst all the report writing attempts through the day. Superficially looked at its just another manifestation of ego, but who cares, as long as I can figure out the path to happiness :-<

yes, the rains also turn on the philosophical crap mode :P :)

This pic is from a hill top on campus, the rain adventure we recently had :)

2006-06-24T11:09:00.000+05:30

No. 2

Good one :)

2006-06-10T22:19:00.000+05:30

A man returned from shopping to find his car had been badly dented, and the culprit was no where in sight. As he got closer he felt relieved when he saw a note had been placed under his windshield-wiper. Laughing at himself for doubting the honesty of the average person, he pulled the note loose and read it, it said :"THE PEOPLE WATCHING ME THINK I'M LEAVING MY NAME AND ADDRESS, BUT I'M NOT."

Smile away

2006-06-08T23:35:00.000+05:30

Its always so much easier to just smile :)

Evil!

2006-06-08T00:53:00.000+05:30

There is something about evil that attracts.

-- appended later

You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit

Someday

2006-05-20T13:27:00.000+05:30

I know there will come a day,
when we're older.

And we'll meet again,
at a reunion,
or a wedding.

And you'll smile and say something nice,
like "you look great",
or "I heard about the baby".

And I'll smile, and say something like,
"I hope you burn in hell.
Asshole"

Shamelessly stolen (:P) from I dont know where

compromises

2006-05-18T12:46:00.000+05:30

Nobody's Fault But Mine...

CRAP

Magic!

2006-05-06T12:03:00.000+05:30

How often does one get to ride a bike on a beach :D

not to forget all that preceded :P

The Third Person

2006-05-01T06:30:00.000+05:30

:-)
:-|
:-(

hurts and feels like shit!

Passing out

2006-04-22T14:23:00.000+05:30

Why do people carry so much emotional baggage... life is sufficiently complicated anyways!

Then again, am I being too heartless naming it 'baggage'.

"Sitting, Waiting, Wishing"

2006-03-16T19:18:00.000+05:30

Now I was sitting waiting wishing
That you believed in superstitions
Then maybe you'd see the signs
But Lord knows that this world is cruel
And I ain't the Lord, no I'm just a fool
Learning loving somebody don't make them love you

Must I always be waiting waiting on you?
Must I always be playing playing your fool?

I sing ya songs I dance a dance
I gave ya friends all a chance
Putting up with them wasn't worth never having you
And maybe you been through this before
But its my first time
So please ignore
The next few lines cause they're directed at you

I cant always be waiting waiting on you
I cant always be playing playing your fool
I keep playing your part
But its not my scene
Wont this plot not twist?
I've had enough mystery.
Keep building me up, then shooting me down
Well im already down
Just wait a minute
Just sitting waiting
Just wait a minute
Just sitting waiting

Well if I was in your position
Id put down all my ammunition
I'd wondered why'd it taken me so long
But Lord knows that I'm not you
And If I was I wouldn't be so cruel
Cause waiting on love ain't so easy to do

Must I always be waiting waiting on you?
Must I always be playing playing your fool?
No I cant always be waiting waiting on you
I cant always be playing playing your fool, foool

JACK JOHNSON, Grammy 2006 nominee

What a Match!!

2006-03-12T22:22:00.000+05:30

One-dayer in Johannesburg.

Australia won the toss and elected to bat, made 434 runs.
South Africa WIN making 438 with a wicket and a ball to spare.

872 runs scored in less than 100 overs!

One hell of a match :D

Nothing is Impossible!

One Year

2006-03-09T18:32:00.000+05:30

Since I started this blog. This being the 47th entry.

Was asked today if I had quit blogging, well I've not. Just short of ideas for now. Things have been brewing up but never took shape to be put down here. Soon...

Play on!!

2006-02-28T19:51:00.000+05:30

http://www.pandora.com/

Came across this awesome site that that suggests new songs based on what your favourites. Explore new music :D

Weekend

2006-02-26T22:48:00.000+05:30

Had midsemester exams this week, which were hardly of any importance to any of my freinds. Most of them are happily placed B.Techs. and some others (DDs) didnt have any exams at all!! The only ones to whom the exams mattered were the fourth year DDs like me, shweta, suneet and bansal. It was tough to study whatever bit we did.

The weekend following the exams was the regular weekend. Lots of ghoomna firna and loads of sleeping. Come to think of it, a regular week is also pretty much like the weekend minus the sleep.

And yes dinner at Dadu and Hinger's place on weekends is also becoming a regular feature :D Hinger cooks well, and today we had Dal Dhokli. Just like it is back home :)

Have two assignments to submit tomorrow, immediately after exams got over!! what a pain :(

ES403

2006-02-21T10:42:00.000+05:30

Environmental Science midsem today

time taken = 26 minutes
time allocated = 120 minutes

How often do you get to do that!! :D

?

2006-02-09T13:58:00.000+05:30

How do you not regret about mistakes that cannot be undone?

The Kiss

2006-02-05T21:54:00.000+05:30

She had always made fun of me.

Ever since the time we first met and I was too shy to share the chocolate mummy had bought for the two of us to embark on a friendship. Reason was never a requirement for her to make funny (in her opinion) remarks about me and burst out laughing, I remained silent. She would make fun of me about it and then go ahead and tie my shoelaces.

I was five years old. She was a year older and about three fingers taller than me. She could have easily taken me.

We were neighbours and her mom would let me sit in her lap and lay hands on the steering wheel of the Maruti Gypsy we would ride back from school in. In the evening mummy would take us both to the ice-cream parlour which she says has 'seen us both grow up'.

We had become friends instantly. Inseparable friends. We were together when I finally learnt how to tie my shoelaces, when she and I learnt to ride a bicycle, when she lost her first tooth, when she was bullied by some guy in her class, when her parents split, when she had her first period (the oddest day of my life so far), when I went for a movie in a theatre for the first time, when she was asked out on her first date…

And then her mom decided to stay with her grandparents in a different city.

We were sitting on the shed on my terrace (our favourite place). Hadn't spoken for over an hour. We just sat there looking around, the houses, the play ground where we had wrestled and our old school in the distance. We didn’t look at each other. We didn’t want to cry.

Her mom called for her from the driveway, they were ready to leave. I said we'll be down in a minute.

I looked at her. And then I did something I had never expected to do. I kissed her. Kissed her for the longest possible time. But something was out of place. She wasn't responding. Her lips were still. I pulled her closer, kissed harder. Nothing. I withdrew when I felt her tear on my cheek. She was expressionless. Silent. I wanted her to be make fun of me and laugh. She kept silent.

Her mom called again. I was in a daze. She stood up, I said goodbye. She still didn't say a word and climbed down. I sat there for a while wondering if I had done something wrong and fearing if I had ruined the only friendship that had ever mattered to me?!!...

I was fourteen years old then. It was my first kiss.

--------------------------

I was waiting for her at the airport. We had not kept touch in the last ten years, no communication at all. She had found me through the internet. She was going to be in town for a few hours.

The cricket match on the television in the waiting area could’t help me deal with my anxiety. I was pacing around impaiently. Some random guy shared his opinion about the state of Indian cricket team to which I nodded and smiled while in my head I was wishing that the cricket ball breaks out of the screen and hits him square in the head.

My shirt was tugged at and I turned around. And before I knew it, I was being kissed. It was her, and we were kissing. We stopped when we heard loud applause, India had won the match and people were celebrating. She laughed, just the way she used to. I picked up her luggage and we left the airport, arm in arm.

“That was how I should have kissed you back then” she said as we were getting in my car. “I hope I made up for it”. I could only smile.

We seemed to have picked up right from where we left. Drove around talking about the past and the present. She cribbed about the loads of work she has to do and how her mother has been after her to get married. She works for a law firm, is about to marry some top notch consultant guy and having a baby in the next few years is high in her priority list. I still feel like a kid she can make fun of :)

Dropped her back at the airport, all the apprehension has vanished and I have regained a good friend. Also the memories of my first kiss have become fond :D

*******
Just a story people ;)

random words!

2006-02-02T02:31:00.000+05:30

"The truth was she did not want intimacy; she wanted conversation. Intimacy has a way of breeding silence, and silence she abhorred. There must be talk, and it must be general, and it must be about everything. It must not go too deep, and it must not be too clever, for if it went too far in either of these directions somebody was sure to feel out of it, and to sit balancing his tea cup, saying nothing."

~ The London Scene, six essays by Virginia Woolf

Read the extract at Guardian Unlimited.

:)

2006-01-25T00:00:00.000+05:30

January 2006

Keep Smiling!

The days gone by

2006-01-24T13:19:00.000+05:30

Techest 2k6
clicked about 700 pics
happening days
lack of food and sleep

:)

A Classy Internship

2006-01-17T20:31:00.000+05:30

**************

Hello people!! I write this coz its fun and it doesn’t bug me if people don’t read it. But it’s not done if you read and do not leave a comment. We can be friends and who knows you might someday help me get a job, the chances of it being the other way round are bleak though but think of it like this... you'll have done a good deed!! So do leave a comment, just anything, be it about your urge to kick my ass.

**************

The previous summer was a great learning experience for most of my friends who were doing internships at a number of prestigious organizations. Here is an assortment of tips, tricks, tactics and antics to soon gonna be interns who have lied their way through (resumes) to awesome places and are scared of the little or no relevant knowledge they have...

Dear Smartass Intern,

So you impressed your to be guide and saw your way in by lying about how you have dreamt of doing this since you were six and what a great opportunity it'll be for you to further your skills at what gives you almost orgasmic pleasure. You took immense pleasure about how much fun you would be having during the summers while they would be cooling heels back home. But now its showtime and you are getting sleepless nights as to how you would survive the summers with the lack of knowledge that handicaps you. Worry not, here is a crash course on survival techniques for the unintelligent intern which can almost get you the employee of the week award at this organization of yours if followed sufficiently well!!

Day One

Grab a good breakfast, because a) breakfast is the most important meal of the day, b) your office location might rule out the possibility of lunch c) your firm might be a place where frivolous stuff like lunch is smirked upon. A definite sign of such a lunch-frowning company are vending machines dispensing soups and snacks installed near the exits.

As per norms, the first day should be highly non-productive in which they get one of the full time engineers to give you boring hour long demos of operations in the plant/company. Having finished with the tour you would be left with manuals and technical documentation 'to get the feel of things'. Amuse yourself by highlighting words in the 500 page manual so that they link up to form funny sentences. Future interns will love you for it.

At times hold your head and scratch your beard to display intense concentration. When not doing so, hunch over a heavy book to ensure no one notices your eyelids drooping and grab a 20 min quicky (...thats a nap). Once you've had enough of lazing around flip to the index and locate the single hardest and most inscrutable term listed and confidently walk up to the boss/guide and grill him over it. With little luck he won't know what it is and would try to bluff his way around while being deeply impressed about you already hitting the toughest stuff.

Maneuver with the steps above till you are through your 8 hour day and then leave. You might as well spend another day or two juggling around in similar fashion.

Moving on to the more permanent tricks of the trade

College renders you totally unfit for working 8 hours a day. Thus the key lies in maximizing the 'Apparent Working Time' to 'Actual Working Time' ratio. Reach office 2 minutes early. Run in, open a few excel sheets on your computer, get half a mug of coffee and slouch in your seat. When everyone trickles in, they'll think that you came in really early because slouching is an indication of having been in a seat for a while, and half a coffee mug takes at least 15 minutes to achieve. This is the half beverage technique which can be used in several ways to create time-illusions.

The next opportunity to boost the all important ratio is at lunch. Leave after just about everyone has gone for lunch and come back miserably late, and no one will figure a thing because they'll assume you left really late. Befriending industrious colleagues might blow your cover as these guys would start inviting you to join them for quick 20 minute lunches.

The last and trickiest stunt for the day is when you leave. Leaving after everyone leaves is not an option because staying back is exactly what you wanna avoid. Instead, install a spare jacket, a backpack and a half finished bottle of coke at your work station (note another instance of the half beverage technique). About twenty minutes before quitting time, walk slowly towards the restroom and at the opportune moment dash out the exit before anyone spots you. When everyone leaves, they'll see the backpack, jacket and drink and think you are still at work and have just gone out to the loo. Depending on how dumb your coworkers are, this can add up to 40 minutes to your Apparent Working time. Coming in two minutes early the next day works out perfectly so that you can get rid of the evidence before anyone gets to work.

Getting some work done (thats why you are here dude!!)

The last thing you need to know is the Zen Art of producing results without having worked. Making everyone believe that you are working long hours and stumping the guide over obscure questions doesn't mean you can produce results. Unless lady luck is your girlfriend you would be assigned a project and loads mind numbingly boring data would be dumped over you. Few things need to be kept in mind, (i) don't get carried away and attempt a solution (ii) make sure the work isn't done before the deadline, it'll be even better if you can push those to later dates citing stuff like discrepancy in data etc. etc. etc.

Find 'a good man at heart' with some speech impediment or a very heavy accent and ask him a harmless doubt as to how to proceed about the problem. Put on your concentration face while this gentleman answers you and then tell him (with a helpless face) how you are unable to follow what he says. After a few more attempts, act slightly exasperated and turn the screen towards him, once he settles down to explain using an example your battle is half won. Make sure you keep nodding and make encouraging sounds like "aha, perfect!" punctuated with a few very thoughtful but skeptical "hmmm...." If you rise in confidence you can also throw in some generic help statements like "we should do this in a more object oriented way". Exercising the same routine a few times over, would, in all likelihood see you through. Finally, thank him profusely (always remember its to the credit of the 'good men' that companies hires interns) and buy him a coffee and take a break for you have just completed a good lot of work.

One last thing is to always have a pack of gum or mints at hand. Keep offering it to everyone. You would be recognized as a nice guy around, which helps in ways more than one.

Enjoy your internship and try not to work too hard.

Sincerely
Piyush Maheshwari

The author did his internship in Bangkok at Thai Organic Chemicals Pvt. Ltd.

still awake

2006-01-16T05:43:00.000+05:30

Read this somewhere...

how often have you waited for the doorbell
how often have you waited for a call
how often you walked among a million faces
all strangers in the mall

how often have you stared at those lights
how often have you sat there waiting for a breeze
how often have you dismissed those laughters
just to pretend your mind's at ease

how often have you put a hand in your pocket
walked back in at night
with dogs barking behind ..
creaks of the door and no one in sight

well its just one more such day
another such night
theres nothing much to say
just wish for sweet dreams and switch off the light

Breaking News

2006-01-15T02:02:00.000+05:30

A boy-girl ‘Break Up’ makes for nice gossip and is an interesting affair. More so if it happens to others. Not quite the same if it happens to oneself.

Most boys don’t do a number of things. They don’t dress Barbie dolls in pink, they don’t cook unless mom isn't around, they don’t check out what other women are wearing, and they don’t talk about break ups. You know, it’s a girl thing. Sana tells Nisha about her breakup with Aman, starts sobbing and Nisha comforts Sana by holding her hand and telling her about Aman being a pig, softly. Boys are not to do it. Aman would say “I had a break up. I am fine.” and play some computer game on his system. Boys are supposed to be these heartless flings who are not pained by emotional mangling. They are supposed to be men, who are not supposed to cry, at least not in the company of any living thing.

So I don’t really know how most boys who have been in a break up feel about it. But I can try to talk about what I feel about mine. It is a personal thing, but then its been a while now and I have tried just about everything to make the 'I am fine' part true and 'move on'. All with little success though. Neha used to tell me that writing is powerful form of expression and can help you grow past a lot of experiences, so here I am giving it a shot.

This post in all likelihood is more for me than anyone else. My thoughts are all confused. But that’s why I need to put them down, in the hope of realizing what I feel. I may not make sense. Your Escape route – The little cross on the right top of this page.

‘Break up’, as a term, sounds too neat to be true. It’s not a Kit Kat chocolate bar which you ‘break’ into two pieces. It’s about ‘breaking’ something emotional which is shared between two people. You just don’t snap the chocolate bar into two pieces and feed one part to Johnnie and other part to Ronnie and go around as if the chocolate never existed.

A “break up” never really breaks up completely. I mention her to some very close friends. Some of them look at me like I just mentioned a plan to commit suicide after dinner. They tell me to get over her. I know they mean well and are my well wishers. But I don’t understand this ‘get over’ talk. Am I supposed to forget her, delete her like some unused file from a hard disk? I still remember my classmate’s mom who would drop me home after school in class first. I still remember the loads of watches dad bought me coz none would last more than a month. The same way, I remember her, and would remember her all my life.

I remember her. Sometimes I feel sad. At two in the morning, I am doing something on the comp and some soft, soulful track comes onto the winamp, and all those moments start coming back, and I just can’t concentrate on my work and have to change the track to some loud rock number which talks about guns and street fights and other unromantic issues. I still lie awake at night thinking of those times. But I am not the one to finger my wounds or write anguished poems about lost love.

All of us have some memories, and I have them too. That’s it. I am perfectly fine. I think I am at peace. I am fine with my past. Because it’s not my present.

Every experience changes one. I once called a beefy guy in my class ‘fatso’. The experience taught me that calling big people fatso leads to a week long body ache. So I have learnt some things from my break up. I have changed. And I like to believe, changed for the better.

I think I expect less from people around me. Some people interpret this more disturbingly, and say I have become emotionally closed. But I am not sad or cold and the people who interact with me would know that. I love people. But at a psychological level, I realize that to want anything from the person may lead to pain. You talk to this person, and you are not thinking ahead, because you don’t harbor any expectations from the person, and this helps you be in the moment and lends a lot more naturalness and ease to the interaction.

With time I have also figured out that it’s not like a cell phone balance where you have a limited balance sufficient to make fixed number of calls. Just because I care for Neha doesn’t mean I can’t care for another girl. I will honestly give my all to make happy the girl who spends her life with me. But I am a little scared. I want to love and take care of that person but want to be this strong guy who doesn’t need any love. Maybe I do need it, but I don’t want to believe that I do, because it makes me feel weak, and feel like a helpless kid who needs someone to love him, and makes me vulnerable to more hurt and pain.

For my parents , most of my friends , the people around me , I am the same , but I have changed , and I hope changed in a way where I can treat and love people with minimal expectations from them , in a more natural and peaceful manner .

All experiences change people. Just that some school bully leaves a black eye which shows and some people leave feelings and insights, which are not seen, but felt.

ps: dunno what made me write this, I am guessing it was this

Long time

2006-01-09T13:56:00.001+05:30

A great lot has happened since I last posted.

The Desert Odyssey - Having made and ditched plans for Laddakh, Nepal and Dehradoon I managed an excursion to the much undiscovered Thar. Accompanied by two friends, two cousins and equipped with tents, sleeping bags and compasses we embarekd upon our adventure.

The course for our tour was Barmer to Bikaner via Jaisalmer. Roughly about 500Kms on the national highway off which we took regular detours making our way through the sand. With the numerous stops, it took us two nights and three days to cover the entire stretch. The Indian Army patrolling the entire highway kept slowing us down. Another land mark on our journey was some random temple right in the middle of nowhere where we spent an evening. The best though was the chilling night, spent in a tent surrounded by nothing but sand. It was thrilling to find the entire landscape changed when we woke up the following morning.

The feeling of leaving footprints on sand that has never been set foot on by any other mortal cannot be done justice to with mere words.

Spent most of december meeting relatives and cousins who've gor married during the last three years. Also met classmates who've got married :) yes my classmates have been getting married while I have been scraping through courses all the time :-|

All in all a great December, a memorable holiday just as I had wanted it to be.

_____

New Year 2006

Wishing everyone a very happy new year! Have a rocking year everyone :)

The sem has started, lots of people have got jobs, awesome jobs all of them. Am looking forward to numerous treats and being surrounded by majorly lukkha fnal yearites in their last sem. Hoping to do well this sem despite all odds, a desparate requirement.

Blogging would be taking a backseat all this while, have written a short story though which I might be posting in a while.

The Big Picture

2005-11-19T23:38:00.000+05:30

Trying to get the nitty-gritties right is so consuming, one often forgets to stop for a minute and notice that life is terrific in its entirity. The simple things of life are most often overshadowed by the apperently more 'demanding' work.

And when we do get the time we busy ourselves with celebrations, wonder if these celebrations are more coz we dont wanna sit down and think for some unknown fear.

CAT tomorrow, best of luck to all :)

ps: Stickcricket has been providing some good ways to escape studying this endsem :P

The French News Reader :D

2005-11-18T18:13:00.000+05:30

Here is the woman on my desktop these days

God add :O

2005-11-09T16:34:00.000+05:30

Here is an extremely hilarious advertisement I came across :))

Me a Master of Fine Arts :P

2005-11-08T13:21:00.001+05:30

You Should Get a MFA (Masters of Fine Arts)

You're a blooming artistic talent, even if you aren't quite convinced.
You'd make an incredible artist, photographer, or film maker.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

Best T-shirt quote ever!!

2005-11-06T10:24:00.000+05:30

"I have lost my Teddy Bear, will you sleep with me"

The shirt was sported by a spanish female at a disc in Bangkok.

The Class

2005-10-25T22:52:00.000+05:30

“As I already told you,…” started Mr. Bhatnagar, our physics teacher. A perfectly fine opening line for a class, except it generated a spectrum of responses among the students (confusion underlying almost all) when he said that the first thing on the first day of the year.

The frontbenchers were agitated – “what did he say that I missed?!! Maybe it’ll appear on the test, maybe I’ll flunk, my parents are gonna kick me out on the roads. Ah the shame!! I’ll end up being a paan-waala, can already hear it ‘haan bhai, do katthai malai maar ke dena khatakhat’”.

The balcony seat occupants (these are the seats next to the window and are occupied by the ‘kewl’ guys who have the grit to use them as an exit in order to express their resentment against the ‘never to be used in life’ stuff taught in classrooms) are seen scratching their heads – “man, this +2 stuff goes right over the head. Couldn’t register a word of what he said. I should consider quitting and opening a paan ka dukaan, will also have an awesome website!! Wonder if chicks dig such shopkeepers :-?”

With all my buddies, I at the back of the class (yeah, have always been a backbencher) was oblivious to the proceedings of the class. Truly speaking I was more engrossed with the new tactics of cheating in exams that were being discussed by Audi, Tony and Prerana, ‘the stuff that is of use in life’.

Math followed physics, and thanks to Mrs. Trivedi the frontbenchers felt respite and the paan-waala idea were reinforced amongst my cool pals in the prestigious balcony seats. Mrs. Trivedi had her way of keeping the entire class involved and made people come up (in the order of seating) to the board and work out problems. Babita was busy using heads and counting to see when it would be her turn so that she could fall sick and take the day off, while Noman planned an undercover relocation operation to join those who were already past the pearly gates. Parijat was giving a crash course to the lucky few around him, and the falcon-eyed Uba was scanning the girl’s notebooks for solutions. When the ball rang, the latter rings were drowned by the sound of our collective exhalation.

Break!! Time to have fun, socialize and for some devoted ones, play handball! For the uninitiated handball is similar to squash with just the front wall, a tennis ball and the hand for a raquet. Any further attempt to describe the game would make the game as clear as quidditch is to a normal Potter reader.

Aakash, now unshackled, ran in the hallways like a bull on steroids – goring juniors, skidding all around, breaking switchboards, bulbs, holders…singing “tan ki shakti, mann ki shakti, Bournvita!” Now, if only the building maintenance would've made the connection, they’d have saved thousands of rupees by advising his folks to go easy on the dosage!

Pak-pak-pakya would head for the fields and be ready to challenge anything that moved to a race and prove his mettle…since the fateful day when he let us down in a 4x100 relay where he did a slo-mo run to showcase his moves for the benefit of the camera-less audience.

Joshi, (the tormented) would have the gang pouncing upon all his possessions with S.W.A.T like efficiency the moment he left the site. Every worldly possession the chap dared to bring to school would vanish in all directions – his lunch box in Jennis’s bag, the water bottle with Ankush and the bag itself on a bungee cord outside the window – simply genius!!

And what did the gang do when they didn’t feel like listening to the teacher blabber? OK, here goes:

Plan A: Cut class and disappear by intermingling with the so many already on the fields. The gang is a famous pack, neither their presence on the field nor absence in the class would go unnoticed… hmm, not gonna fly!

Plan B: Take permission for some official work and go do all this work in the footer field, or the basketball courts. But the basketball court is frequented by Father Jose, who could actually be head of security, Tihar Jail. Man, he had the eyes of a thousand hawks, would pick even a fly out of its place!! No, not gonna take that route.

Plan C: Idea! Unite the entire class under the spirit of freedom and instead of a political procession, moan and howl as if the very spirit of life would abandon them if they were fed with any more knowledge for the day and ask for an off. An intelligent choice of which teacher to try this with would almost guarantee success. Hehehe, brilliant! Cruel grins on the devils. Nobody could subject them to anymore classroom torture, NOBODY!!!

And hence the day would end on the fields with everyone engaging in whatever they wanted to, ranging form sports like football, basky, volley to spending time in the library looking at books with pictures (National Geographic most of the time) to sitting in front of the comp in the compy room doing nothing but chit-chatting with the ones accompanying you and for some even walking all around the school. A whole spectrum of ways to kill the time they had bought after much deliberation from the teacher.

And the final meeting ground for the entire class would be the cycle stand where all would gather to be the first who break free and reach home to be back for another just as entertaining day at St. Xaviers.

*********************************
Disclaimer: The information above has been modified to suit the mood and might vary from the facts at a number of occasions. Kindly bear with me :)

St. Xaviers Rocks

2005-10-23T17:42:00.000+05:30

Though I know most people wouldn't be interested, just couldn't resist the temptation.

Here are some really treasured pics, most haven't come out well after scanning but then that makes them feel old and from times when digital cameras weren't in place :)

The Classroom

Front steps

The Boyzzz

and with the gurlz

School

2005-10-22T17:43:00.000+05:30

This one’s dedicated to all my school friends. For the record, I am from St. Xavier’s Jaipur. The school also features in an advertisement these days, with Virender Sehwag promoting some brand on the steps (seen in the pic) leading to the building.

Come to think of it, all this is long gone in history, to the times when Jaipur didn’t have a Barista or CCD, had 6-digit telephone numbers, Statue Circle was the favourite evening hangout, Birla Planetarium was a splendour, ice-cream meant Milky Way, the main city was sooo far away!!

“Oye ladke naak mein se ungli nikaal!!” (Stop picking your nose) bellowed Rana (the PTI) from his pedestal just before the daily assembly/prayer. A bull of a man, dehati (rustic) to the core, he towered over us – a sea of puny little men/big boys in our blue, white and grey school uniforms. When you heard that bellow, you stood at attention, tucked in your shirt, checked your badge, belt, shoes, nails etc and put on your ‘It wasn’t me, sir’ face. While most of us were good at this regular business some of my buds with politically incorrect faces and a burning desire to prove to themselves and may be to the women about them having the guts to take on just any hardship that comes their way.

As always, they chose to continue with their engrossing exchange of ideas about this fair maiden that was at tuition with them. All this time Rana was charging towards them… and the white sea was parting to give him way on his seek & destroy mission. It was too late when the heroes (and to be martyrs) of our class realized his ominous presence. “Five rounds of the football field”, he said, followed by “get this note signed by your pitaji (father)”. Ah the embarrassment of having your parents involved which gets most heroes into peril, they start in unison “sir, sir… paleez, just this one time.. wont happen again, never….!!” Martyrdom of guts and coolness.

The melodrama carried on only till the National Anthem came to rescue and all had to shut their mouths and stand in attention to show respect to the nation.

After the daily helping of philosophical fundaes (for the enrichment of the mind) followed by some insights about the same and necessary announcements form Father Principal we headed back to our classrooms with the speakers churning out some classical melody which I always associated with the calm before the storm our teachers were gonna let loose in classrooms.

Being tall since ever, I had the privilege of watching the entire class march up the stairs, each one a distinct piece of art by the Lord Almighty. Leading the way, the least tall of the bunch, Sethi with energetic strides, followed by the classy Ms. Brandon trying to balance her Head Girl badge so that it stays upright. Drug lord Juned just about managing to drag himself up the stairs flashing his mischievous smile that leaves you guessing when he’d strike, Harsh in serious conversation with Malli about their gymming schedule and the new strategy to get that perfect body despite all the academic work load…. all this until we reach class and the all important attendance begins.

Once finished with it the teacher began with the grind…

More action from the classroom in the next entry!!

IIT Bombay v/s IIT Delhi

2005-10-21T18:00:00.000+05:30

Talking with a friend at IIT Delhi I happened to engage in the age old controversy today. “Which of IIT Bombay and Delhi is better?” A number of magazines have attempted to unravel the mystery time and again ending up with nothing but epithets like trash, shit, crap et cetera, especially amongst the “crème` de la crème`” of the nation :P:P

Putting all the time I have to some use I decided to analyse the case. In sync with the ongoing Googalization of the planet, I too resorted to Google for help with the never-ending debate.

Searching for “IIT Bombay” and “IIT Delhi” made Bombay win hands down (361,000 results to a dismal 162,000). :)

Enthused (read, with a lot more lukkha time at hand) I delved further for detailed ananlysis.

Results:

“IIT Bombay”, academics – “IIT Delhi”, academics: 79,000 - 41,000

"IIT Bombay", awards – “IIT Delhi”, awards: 84,500 - 37,600

"IIT Bombay", jobs – “IIT Delhi”, jobs: 54,000 - 49,700

"IIT Bombay", success – “IIT Delhi”, success: 32,000 - 23,700

IIT Bombay Rocks!!
….. so far :-|

"IIT Bombay", fun – “IIT Delhi”, fun 12,500 - 17,900

“IIT Bombay”, girls – “IIT Delhi”, girls: 10,300 - 21,700

“IIT Bombay”, sex – “IIT Delhi”, sex: 599 - 16,400!!! :O

Here is an insightful conclusion to be reached, which I am not quite able to do. People reading this are requested to do the needful :)

All I can say is Bombay rocks :), though this might be more out of prejudice but who cares :P

Management

2005-10-20T13:11:00.000+05:30

With so much of CAT all around, this stuff I found somewhere on the net is definitely worth a chukle!!

Lesson Number One
*********************
A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?" The crow answered "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested.
All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson Number Two
*********************
A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients."
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some m ore dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree.
Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.

Management Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

Lesson Number Three
***********************
When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss. The Brain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions." The feet said, "We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go." The hands said, "We should be Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money."
And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss.
So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work. Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the Feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered.
Eventually they all decided that asshole should be the Boss, so the motion was passed. All the other parts did all the work while the Boss just sat and passed out the shit!

Management Lesson: You don't need brains to be a Boss - any asshole will do.

Lesson Number Four
****************** ***
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold, the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field.
While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung and promptly dug him out and ate him!

Management Lessons:
1) Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy.
2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
3) And when you're in deep shit, keep your mouth shut!

Comeback

2005-10-19T16:13:00.000+05:30

Unable to make an entry for long now, I have been thinking hard to come up with something to write about which doesn't quite seem to be the appealing thing to do. Guess I should just write whatever comes to mind for now and get things rolling out here once again.

What have I been doing all this while?!! Lets see…. the last post I made was about some post mid-sem crap after which I have been on a ghoomna ghaamna spree. Airport, Colaba, Marine Drive, desserts, coffee, highways, nightouts have been a constant feature for about a fortnight now.

Was talking to Harki about the useless life I have been leading when he reminded me of the similar feelings he expressed at about the same hour of the night roughly a year back and all the “constructive” suggestions I gave him :P Once prompted I have been utilizing time of late :D

Started playing squash (yes, after a long long time of intending to do so). Read a few books viz. Siddharta, Brave New World, Catcher in the Rye. Currently reading The Class and Catch 22. Must also mention a new T.V. series that brought home quite some happiness :) “The O.C.” of which I watched about 55 episodes (45 mins each) in less than 10 days.

People all around have been mugging for either CAT or GRE both of which make me realize time and again that my vocab sucks. Have been trying to decide upon an effective way of changing that not to much success so far :(

So much for now, but before I quit I must lay down some stuff I’ll be writing about in days to come to ensure that I actually do.

Stories from school
Some book reviews
How and why O.C. rocks
Places one must go to in Bombay, treats/nightouts
CAT/GRE/Vocabulary

Truthfullness

2005-09-23T13:09:00.000+05:30

Being truthful is so damn tough!!

Despite the fact that I would love to be able to say whatever I want to I find it too tough a job. Just can't decide when to stop saying what I am expected to and say what I want to. Can't decide what's more important, being right or being truthful or is it right to just be truthful!!?

What crap... midsem finished today and like always I don't feel happy about it, 'cause I never felt unhappy about their starting. Somehow I don't have the energy to be excited and happy about any of this :P

Imagine

2005-09-17T15:30:00.000+05:30

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

- John Lennon

Triple Weekend

2005-08-18T15:59:00.000+05:30

The inertia of not having written anything for such a long time has prevented me to post despite the fact that I have a lot to write.

A triple weekend (for the uninitiated, it is when you have an additional day off with the weekend. This time it was Monday due to Independence Day) just went by. We planned a trek to Rajgadh on Saturday which was ditched after some advice from Prady which went like "people, especially teenagers are known to have suffered losses in the area. Losses including life" of course he did add "but its safe if u take care". Being a sat with two days off to follow it was absolutely unacceptable that we go nowhere, hence a bike trek to Matheran was agreed upon. Six of us (Harki, Viren, PC, Mukesh, Gajbhiye and me) on three bikes. The departure time was fixed at 5:00 AM. Needless to say that it was ridiculous, we managed to get out of the hostel at 8:30 AM :D

The ride up to the base of Matheran was swift (about 100 km in less than 2 hrs) and scenic. The rains made trekking impossible so the bikes were taken all the way to the top. Absolutely exhausted and totally drenched nobody had the enthu to go to all the points. Managed a few and were contented. The lake (Chharlott Lake which is the only source of water here in Matheran) was awesome. All of us were almost shivering due to the low temperature and the fact that we were wet to the core. Ate bhutta near the lake; was just too good :D By the time we came down it was about 5:00 in the evening.

The cloud cover at the top was so dense that we could hardly see anything below. This pic was taken on our way down once we were under the clouds.

After the ride back which involved a stop at BTC Vashi for dinner we reached IIT at 9 and each one of us was tired enough to fall asleep within an hour. All in all a very satisfying day!!

More pics

Writing from the class

2005-08-11T23:37:00.000+05:30

Wrote this in class today while I was supposed to be writing Laplace transforms :(

---
Been really long since I put an entry here. Not that I haven't had the time, nor is it because things haven't been happening. Have set out to write a number of times but never posted those thoughts that run through the mind. Having completed such an entry and going through it makes me feel that those thoughts would better be forgotten and not be permanently put down to be read time and again.

Classes have been on all the time (no! we didn't have an off even when the city was flooded because iitb was NOT). Am ensuring my physical presence in all the lectures to meet the institute requirements but am finding it increasingly tough to comprehend the words of wisdom uttered by the professors.

The Summers

2005-07-19T16:44:00.000+05:30

Completed the practical training and reached home last Wednesday evening. Now for an account of it all. This one is gonna be a long entry....

The Training. 60 days, 35 in Bangkok and 25 in Rayong (port city about 200 km SE of Bangkok. Houses the countries biggest industrial estate).

2 plants, Thai Organic Chemical Company (TOCC) and Thai epoxide and Allied Products Company (TEC). Six days a week, about eleven hours a day. Lots of work.

Learning, CFD, life in a chemical plant and life outside India. A little bit of Thai as well ;)

Friends, loads of them. A wide spectrum of people ranging in age, nationality, sex and religion.

The officers in both the plants were mostly Indians, the operators and others, all Thais. The Thai people worship the king as if he were God and the first thing I was told was never to utter a word against the king. Other than that Thais are cool and easygoing people. I understood that when I was told by a shopkeeper to go look at some other store for the mobile sim card that I wanted to buy as he was ‘busy’ having lunch then.

So lemme start from the very beginning. Was not given a filmi farewell with a pooja ki thali, tilak and all at the airport but yes mummy was apprehensive about the entire 'internship in Thailand' thing. Bangkok airport, baggage nowhere to be found and am not being able to locate a single official at the airport who could converse in English (yes, English is not at all popular in Thailand :O, language is an issue) After a lot of panicking a sweet old english lady helped me find my way to the lost and found counter where much to my relief some officials understood English. It took them more than two hours to locate my bags with the ones that were unloaded from a Swiss aircraft that had landed at just the same time as mine. Much to my amazement (and more to relief) the driver who had come to pick me up had the patience to wait all this time for me outside the terminal (easy going Thais). Now this driver (Boonjit) went on be a friend of mine, owner of a BMW, a major in archaeology, inspired by 'The Transporter' he is a regular transporter for the Aditya Birla Group. Owns a nice flat in Bangkok, plans to marry his girlfriend this July and join the archaeology department subsequently.

<a href="http://itspiyush.blogspot.com/2005/07/summers.html">Read more...a>

<a href="http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/piyush4u2u/album?.dir=c58b&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/piyush4u2u/my_photos">Photographsa>

:(

2005-06-11T14:32:00.000+05:30

Low? am I, I think yes.

Am feeling quite low today and like most such times, I have no clue as to what’s wrong. Have no work to do in a long time now, I should love this but I am not. May be I am missing home but that is so almost always so that should not make a difference, missing IIT/friends? Can't be, I never do. Can't comprehend what’s troubling me which is further adding to my irritation.

Had a dream last morning, made me extremely happy while I was asleep and made me scream and sulk after I woke up. Made me wish I could choose what dreams I have or at least what dreams I shouldn't. I thought I had left some good times behind and never cared to revisit them but yesterday the times were brought back to life while all life ought to be asleep. Not that I felt those times and longed for them but the memories did make me happy. What's wrong about sticking to memories that make you happy?!! May be its to avoid the realization of what has been lost that I want to get rid of memories.

Ah, I hate it when I fail to think clearly. Let me put this down straight: Going down the memory lane makes you happy but when you come back to your present the absence of the beautiful past makes you sad. Dilemma... dilemma....

An empty mind, the devil's workshop. I need to do some work, give me some work to do......... :O :O that’s the last thing I ought to be saying. Gosh! something is surely wrong with me :P

Internship

2005-06-04T13:50:00.000+05:30

Sitting here in the office located in the industrial estate near Bangkok this is the first time that I find myself lukkha enough to be writing a blog :) Boy I have been working the past three weeks phew!!! About ten hours a day, 6 days a week, and have no cribs so far.

A foreginer here, am pretty much enjoying it. And for once chemical engineering does not suck. Can pretty well understand what Harki meant when he said "try it once before you reject it".

Looking out through the window I can see lots of towers, reactors, chimneys... good lot of trees as well and a clear blue sea :) The view can hardly be described as anything less than breathtaking.

The place surely deserves further description but I also need to write about life after office ;)

The night life is extremely colourful, except for the thai rock that most places here play, puts a limit on the places one can go to. Have even started appreciating the quite melodious 'non-rock' thai music. The dazzlingly lit roads at night seem to energize people who venture out after a days tiring work. Have got some company as well now for night time adventures :D Arti, Gayatri, Jyoti, Dow, Saman, Bunjit, Annan quite a lot of new freinds :)

Hah, good days!! So far so good. Hope I continue to have the terrific time I am having and so does everyone doing PTs :)

hee haaa!!!

2005-05-07T22:35:00.000+05:30

Third year, Chemical Engineering. Finished.

Ha ha!!

2005-05-05T13:00:00.000+05:30

Finally finished the book "Da Vinci Code", back to back.

Some lines worth reiterating:

History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books - books that glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napolean once said, "What is history, but a fable agreed upon?"
By its very nature history is a one sided account.......
which always makes it worth the effort to uncover the other side of the story.

Every faith in the world is based on fabrication. That is the definition of faith - acceptance of that which we imagine to be true, that which we cannot prove. Every religion describes God thorough metaphor, allegory, and exaggeration, from the early Egyptians to the modern Sunday school. Metaphors are a way to help our minds process the unprocessible. The problems arise when we begin to believe literally in our own metaphors.
Those who truly understand their faiths understand the stories are metaphorical.
Religious allegory has become a part of the fabric of reality. And living in that reality helps millions of people cope and be better people.
"But it appears their reality is false."
No more false than that of a mathematical cryptographer who believes in the imaginary number 'i' because it helps her break codes.

Ha ha, I love this kind of intellectual crap that is so very right and thought provoking, yet is useless. Provides for a good topic of discussion and some conversation where you can show off your intellectual prowess.

Akash had called today just before he was about to leave for Delhi X-(. Said he was going to Corbett with flatmates, must be awesome!! I have never been out with freinds on any such adventure, lets see if that happens in the forthcoming year with a hell lot of lukkhas all around me. Was also a bit nervous about what would he be doing now that his three years of Economics Honours are over and he is a Graduate. One of those times when I feel thankful for being in a five-year course :D. Two more years to go before I have to worry about what would happen to me now.

Pursha, Shweta and a lot of other people must have flown today. Off to Germany!!! Must be a tragic flight, so many IITians on the same plane :P.

Well....

2005-05-03T02:29:00.000+05:30

Two days of utter nothingness now. All I have done is slept, read, ate; slept, read and ate some more.... Am reading Da Vinci Code and have reached half way through which is where I abandoned the book twice. Would be completing this time mostly.

Haven't met any freinds yet. Infact haven't even spoken to any. Just called Shikha who is utterly busy studying all the time, she has changed and I am glad for her. Continues to be dumb as before but that is how I like her. Hope she finds some time to meet me, am looking forward to meeting her after such a long time.

Wonder why am I not enthusiastic about meeting school freinds this time. Had great plans the night I was travelling but nothing now. Come to think of it, most people are busy still. Shilpi, Bhargava and Purva: exams. Nila, yet to finish her project. Akash, enjoying in Delhi having finished his final year exams. A Good lot of my classmates have finished their graduation :O!! Most others busy doing nothing X-(. Essentially the regular lukkha company is all tied up and me in no mood to try new company to hang out with.

But the best part of it all is I am not at all bored. Spend the morning looking at newspapers, bathing and lounging around. Once Nishu is back from school he keeps me busy jumping all over me with all his energy. Its fun to be a kid :). After BulBul returns its time for everybody home for a nice little afternoon nap while I entertain myself reading. Evening, chat with mummy sitting in the balcony enjoying the cool breeze, which is a welcome relief from the hot winds that ought to be blowing this time of the summers. And before you know it the day is almost over. Dinner at 7:30 and some night time TV and pre-goodnight masti with BulBul and Nishu followed by bedtime chit chat and everybody goes to sleep and I listen to some music, check mail, spam and read some more. Sleep around midnight, which is pretty late given everyone else is asleep for almost two hours now.

Nothing eventful happening. Everything is so cool, calm and peaceful. Seems like its all happening on its own with no effort at all. I like it this way. Life just flows, ah!! may be this is what they call living with the flow.

ps: ya ya, I know its the effort behind the scenes that I am too carefree to see. But hey common! at times one can afford the luxury of ignorance.

Home Sweet Home

2005-05-01T23:24:00.000+05:30

Okay, back into the home mode. But the nocturnal behaviour keeps me awake. Everyone is asleep and me online.

The Train Journey (Arghhh):

The train was late by 3 hours to begin with. It started at 6:30 when the scheduled departure was at 3:15. We spent the time at the Barista near National College. And to our surprise they didn't accept cards, just managed to scrape sufficient money for me Rathi and Harki to have a coffee each. The last coffee with Rathi in a long time to come.

Me and Harki were the only ones in the compartment till Borivali and had a good time dicussing the tactics of CS :D. At Borivali our co-passengers boarded. Two families, with a kid each; talk of 'good company'!! The next four hours were spent with me and Harki critically observing and commenting on everything our companions in the compartment did. The mobile phone girl who kept moving in and out of the A/C speaking on the phone also got her share of comments. Except for the ultra bad voice she was good looking. The foreigners in the coach also seemed to be enjoying the antics around them and were discussing stuff amongst them pretty much the way we were. Though I doubt if they were as critical about things as us. No conversation amounted to a meaningful and good timepaas primarily because none of what we talked of shaped into a discussion as Harki rightly put. It has become a habit of ours that only when things become discussions that they become entertaining else it is all, trivial talk.

Home (Finally):

We reached Jaipur at 3:30 more than 24 hrs after we left hostel and about four hours late. Home in another 15 mins.

Nothing changes at home, it is always the same. It makes me feel strange and relaxed at the same time, the unchanged and ever so familiar atmo at home. Same old activity early in the morning with BulBul and Nishu going to school, daddy returning from the morning walk, mummy and bhabhiji preparing for the days work ahead. The kaamwali moving around switching off the fans to disturb the sleep >:P, bhaiya reading the newspaper with his morning tea. Lunch and TV soaps when the bacchaas get back from school, the afternoon lull and lack of activity followed by sitting on the verandah on cane chairs in the evening while the kids go around with friends in the colony. All of this makes me feel relaxed because it gives me a hope that says living like this is still possible in today's world, the relaxed and easy paced life that I so much love. Strange, as I wonder at how I have changed since I went to Bombay that it makes me marvel and feel elated at the simple, straight forward ways of everyday life that were so much a part of my own life some three years back.

Am Back!

2005-04-29T03:07:00.000+05:30

Hah, been reeealy long since I wrote something. EXAMS. Finished now :) As for "kaise hue?" Like I tell everyone, "Finished and forgotten".

Have played CS (Counter Strike) for about eighteen hours in the last thirty. You bet its fun, especially when I have a sniper, am damn good with it :D. Its fun when the entire wing is playing and you can discuss what a brilliant shot you took at someone while you have dinner during a break.

Would be homeward bound in about 24hrs from now. Home.... after a long long time. Thinking of it, I have stayed here in Bombay for almost 700 days in two years now. :O. Would be home finally, much to the pleasure of mummy, daddy and everyone else back home and of course, mine. Have got a confirmed ticket because PP has to do some project and can't go, ha ha. Have also bought Zishaan's bike after much negotiation and just before he got a better offer, ha ha again. They call me a 'Lucky Bastard', I don't mind ;)

Going home is different this time in terms of the fact that things would have greatly changed by the time I return. Am talking of the changes in the wing. Rathi, Inani and Hinger would be gone. Harki and PP would be 5th year Dual Degree students while Viren, Nillu, PC, Gangal, Bharti, Rohit Singh... all would be final yearites. Basically each and every person would be totaal lukkha and me a fighting DD student in his fourth year. Boy is it gonna be fun, you bet!!! Am already talking of times when I return, abhi to gaya bhi nahi hoon :P. I just hope the train is on time and more importantly we have good company.

Wanted to meet a friend today before I go home but I don't think this friend is interested enugh, am wondering whether I should pester or just let it be. Mostly I'll go with my let it be attitude and not bother anyone. Have lots more to write about this but I doubt how private is this blog??!

Exams

2005-04-17T01:43:00.000+05:30

They are here!!!
Just 10 days of true hard work and i'll be through happily. But that hasn't happened the last five endsems I wrote.
I desparately hope I make it happen this time. God help me this one time please [-O<

Why guys like gals?

2005-04-11T20:42:00.000+05:30

Read this at some restaurant, reasons why guys like gals:

1.They will always smell good even if its just shampoo

2.The way their heads always find the right spot on our shoulder

3.How cute they look when they sleep

4.The ease in which they fit into our arms

5.The way they kiss you and all of a sudden everything is right in the world

6.How cute they are when they eat

7.The way they take hours to get dressed but in the end it makes it all worth while

8.Because they are always warm even when its minus 30 outside

9.The way they look good no matter what they wear

10.The way they fish for compliments even though you both know that you think she's the most beautiful thing on this earth

11.How cute they are when they argue

12.The way her hand always finds yours

13.The way they smile

14.The way you feel when you see their name on the call ID after you just had a big fight

15.The way she says "lets not fight anymore" even though you know that an hour later....

16.The way they kiss when you do something nice for them

17.The way they kiss you when you say "I love you"

18.Actually ... just the way they kiss you...

19.The way they fall into your arms when they cry

20.Then the way they apologize for crying over something hat silly

21.The way they hit you and expect it to hurt

22.Then the way they apologize when it does hurt. (even though we don't admit it)!

23.The way they say "I miss you"

24.The way you miss them

25.The way their tears make you want to change the world so that it doesn't hurt her anymore.....

:D

Confusion :-/

2005-04-01T12:50:00.000+05:30

Am not too sure of what I am thinking and not at all about what I am about to write. Nevertheless I have started writing, might say a lot not knowing where to stop and yet manage to say nothing of consequence.

There was some talk in class about success and respect and stuff that one aims for in life and the achievement of what makes one happy. It was in the lecture that followed that I could very well associate a seniors doubts.

Sometimes in life we get serious, and realize we should have been serious long way back. But I wonder, should anyone get serious at all ? Afterall, it seems we tend not to enjoy the little things which one should in everyday life. Or am I overdoing things? Overdoing the enjoying or being seroius, what? (maybe overdoing the thinking ;)) What is the secret to happiness? Aspire, aim and achieve, or be happy with what one has got? What do we live for? What is the final aim? Is there any? Is it the satisfaction in cherishing every moment of your life? Then why cry for something you couldn't achieve instead of being happy within? Is it so simple? Or is it out of our comprehension?

Here is how Ralph Waldo answered "How do you define success?"
To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!

Sounds impressive eh? But the questions don't seem to stop. Do I want Ralph Waldo to define success for me? Can't I have my own definition of success? My own criterion. Or may be have no criterion at all. Is that possible, to know if you succeeded without something to compare with? But why is it important to know if I am successful if I am happy anyways? I guess happiness is associated with the knowledge of being successful???!!!

Huh!!!! :))

Quizzes

2005-03-23T16:50:00.000+05:30

Quizzes are an integral part of life at IIT Bombay.

Traditionally the term implies some funfilled event where a few supposedly brainy guys are being grilled with questions that seem to be picked up from the most unheard of texts that were published by even more unheard of people, while you can sit back and thank the Lord Almighty for sparing you the trouble.

IIT Bombay gives a whole new dimension to the word "Quiz", which here means a mini test. Its a collection of few questions on a very small part of the course syllabus that needs to be solved in hardly any time and handed over for evaluation. Generally a low key affair that everyone encounters now and then. Thought of by most students as an affair small enough not to study for and important enough to score well in if one wants to score a good grade at the end of the semester. At times a series of such not so important tests (quizzes) also provide a reason for celebration to some, celebration that involves eating out or a beer/vodka for the alcohol lovers, esseentially an excuse to get away from the mess they call "Mess" here at IIT. I'll talk about the mess sometime later :D

For those who haven't guessed the reason for this post yet, well I had a quiz today. Technically speaking, post traumatic stress disorder syndrome.

Weekend

2005-03-20T22:55:00.000+05:30

The weekend just flew by, friday evening immediately after finishing lab I left for Pune with Chawla and Pursha. Reached Pursha's place at around 10:00PM, had dinner at some misc. restraurant followed by the worst cold coffee ever, at Apache.
Saturday was good with me and Pursha dropping Chawla at VIT and then indulging in some terrific lukkha :D. Two hours at Barista, two hours at E-Square and then another two hours watching 'The Forgotten'(good beginning and build up till the climax and then an absolutely disastrous finish) at E-Square. More than six hours after we left Chawla alone, he joined us for some food at McDonald's and more lukkha at CCD next to Pursha's house. After all this TP we got back home and had some more food watching movies and in bed. Saw The Leauge of extraordinary Gentlemen and Charlie's Angels, and I remember almost nothing of what happened in either.
Sunday we started leaving for Bombay at 2:00 PM and managed to leave only at 5:30 thanks to some commitments that Chawla and Pursha had one after the other; must say though, both of them kept me well entertained throughout for me not to notice the time. Somewhere during those extra incidental hours we spent in the city of Pune I learnt that India won the Kolkata Test against Pakistan :) and that Schumi lost at Sepang as well :( . Mixed Feelings.
And hence the weekend ended.
Back in my room at 9:30 with the entire hostel empty having gone to watch PAF (Performing Arts Festival) . But no more PAF talk. Have found out about the assignments to be submitted tomorrow and also have to study for the quiz on wednesday.

I feel like crying(for no reason that I can put in words) with lots of tears but the damned tears would just not flow :((

Word of caution

2005-03-18T00:01:00.000+05:30

This is it, from now on I am not going to let anyone affect me to such an extent that it makes me do things that I know are wrong, spoil my mood and in the process spoil the mood of people around as well.

Bikers of the night...

2005-03-17T15:04:00.001+05:30

After six hrs of lectures I was more than happy to join the gang when Torka asked me if I wanted to come for a ride at night. Chaman, Chawla, Torka and me; two bikes. We left with no idea as to where were we headed to.
Started at 10:00 PM.
10:30 Bandra Mocha, courtesy Chaman's 100 Kmph tryst with some guys on the Wester Express (needless to say we came out victorious with Chaman riding). No good crowd at Mocha.
Went to Bandstand to find no place at the Barista there. Chaman attempting wheelie with Chawla feeling happy about being behind Torka.
Reached Ghetto (Breach Candy) to discover only couples entry :P
10:50 Ice-cream at Bachelors on Marine Drive. Wheelie attemp successful, much to my horror.
11:00 VT Cafe' Mondegar. Nice place, few good faces but bad service and rude waiters.
12:00 Headed back but someone came up with the brilliant idea of going to Lonavala. Got the bikes fuelled and we were off. Fundoo and chilling ride with sudden rushes of adrenaline every time someone speeded past us and Chaman taking it as a challenge without fail on every occasion.
1:40 Lonavala. The nigth time valley was a beauty :) Thought of some special pepople for a moment, U-turn and back towards IIT.
3:30 Back in my room tired like hell and very dirty.
Thank God... No encounter with any cops.

Slept through the first two lectures in my room and the other two in the classroom. The prof. didn't even take attendance X-(

Now to do some work.... phew!!!

A long long day ends!!!!

2005-03-17T03:30:00.000+05:30

No time to write any details but its been a very long day..... details tomorrow :D

Is someone listening

2005-03-15T18:05:00.000+05:30

Got mumma's letter today. Reading just two lines "Happy b'day beta. And study well from now on". All her letters end that way "Study well", makes me feel real bad for not listening to her at times and at other times fills me with a sense of resentment. Why is that studying is so very important, doesn't she realise that there can be more to one's life than studying.... I want her to know that I miss her like hell and tell her about times when I need her near. The thought that it might trouble her prevents me from doing so.
I need someone whom I can trust and vent out all my rage and grudges. Lost those someones somewhere down the road not realising when it happened and now that I look back I see myself all on my own. I want to go back and cuddle up with them once again but I doubt if they would understand..... may be I'll just let things happen by themselves. Change they say happens all the time. May be these are the days when these people around me are changing and I am halfway through of letting go of them and admitting myself to the ones waiting for me ahead.

Jobless!!!

2005-03-12T23:16:00.000+05:30

With Techfest the past ten months flew by keeping me involved throughout. I never had time to sit down and indulge in questions that never lead to any answers..... it saved me a lot of trouble, I never had to sit down in my room and wonder what to do, always had something or the other to do and if I were free I knew I better study.
Now that Techfest is history and I once again have a lot of free time I am distressed and scrambling to find something that would keep me occupied and away from the guilt of not utilising time properly. Must say doing nothing ought to be more fun than its turning out to be :(
Have bought a new comp but that is not helping me much, just providing more ways of spending time away from people and in not very fruitful ways. Seriously I feel utterly blank when I try thinking of somehting I'd like to do and wouldn't mind doing all the time.... just can't think of even one such thing, makes me feel pathetic at times. All I do is build castles in the air being absolutely clueless as to where to start in order to make those dreams come true or may be I'm just too laid back and lazy to embark upon any new venture.
Thinking of what made me work the days that have gone by leads me to believe that may be I need a reason that goes beyond myself to work. I was not the only one doing Techfest and my being lax in my work would have hurt the dreams and expectations of twentyone other guys and that was a risk I just couldn't have afforded. Something like how I ride a bike very safe with someone sitting behind me and much more freely and carelessly when riding alone. I like the freedom of riding alone/doing/not doing things as per my will but am a better rider/sensible person with someone behind me.

Here I am....

2005-03-08T09:08:00.000+05:30

....joining the band wagon, blogging it seems is in!!! nevertheless have taken up this new thing as well just like all other stuff i do to avoid some other work. the confusion that occupies me all the time is what i think i wud put down most of the time which when read later might make some sense. lets see how often i post here :)