Apurva Veda

Just Another Poem

2010-03-11T04:57:00.000-08:00

I was sleepy as usual in the class and so I started writing absolutely anything that kept coming to me with no story in mind. Here is the outcome.

An angel sleeping, a devil weeping.

A wind so silent, a sea so vibrant.

A time frozen cold, a sky colored gold.

Purity lying in dust, blood oozing out of earth.

The scattered ashes fly together;

She rises from the ashes.

A careless fire ignites the ocean;

The darkness flows into fire.

A deep sound rises from zero;

I press my ears to the sound.

DeAp we are and yours I am, said she;

And together we are since then!

The Revival

2010-02-04T23:31:00.001-08:00

Come such times in thy life,

When you know not and care not,

What are you destined to do,

This particular hour you live.

I face the same dilemma,

Seated here in some damp dingy classroom,

With a lean prof-like structure,

Doing opera and doing summersaults.

I wonder which reactions went wrong and rose he.

I wonder which evil powers brought me here.

I wonder if the matrix would ever set me free.

I wonder what more to wonder about.

Thus this earth-shaking thought I get,

To permute and combine words,

In a way that I could revive,

My hoary dying beloved blog.

Long and hard had I searched,

For an inspiration to write.

The drive comes this day,

Thanks to this heartless* beast.

Winds blow, lightening strike,

Skies light up, fairies dance.

From the ashes rises a Veda,

People curse and the narcissist laughs!

* The beast gave me a B in BTP and a C in MTP.

CFE Patel 2009 I

2009-04-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

C-201

Kundan Kumar

Woh hai rangeela.. Chail chabeela..

Woh hai natkhat.. woh kgp-tat

Phere lagaye.. murli bajaye..

Gopiyon ke sang raas rachaaye..

Murli bajaiyaa raas rachaiyaa shyam salona hai..

Jo hai albela madnaino wala, jiski deewani kgp ki har bala..

Woh kisna hai

DoSNa ke naam se jana jane wala, DC nick Kisna rakhne wala, Wo Kundan hai.

Ab tak to pata chal hi gaya hoga, bahut famous banda hai. Apni muskaan aur baaton se, har gopi ka dil jeet leta hai. Halaanki Tempo da ki nazro me to Krishn Sudama ki platonic story me bhi twist hai. Par Kisna ka dil to Radha ke paas hi hai. Bahut cool banda hai, load me nahi aata hai. Mehnati hai, EC ka God hai, par Radha ke saath kaafi peace bhi maarta hai.. short me, bhaiya, stud hai.

(by Debu)

C-202

Shiv Prakash Upadhyay

Shiv Prakash who? Oh right.. chachaaa!! That’s how the mortal beings know this creature as. This creature lives on chaai (would go to Bhaaskies for chaai after lunch even when it’s 100 degrees outside and he has already had chaai twice since morning); is the favorite pass-time of his department-mates; is the most loved toy of his wing-mates; hates any kind of bakchodi that goes around in this world of foolish mortals; doesn’t give a shit to looking for kangaroos even when somehow lands up in Australia; is the only person jiska ek personal tempo-shout hai (cha—chaaA.. cha—chaaA!). But banda stud bhi hai bhai.. stud in acads (mining ki aan, baan, shaan), huha percussionist, groups captain; patel hall mein bachpan mein pole-vault bhi kiya tha launde ne! So basically sab milke bolo.. hamaare pyaare chachaa ki.. YO!

(by me)

C-203

Debdutta Bhattacharya

alle le le.. cutie cutie!! He’s our honey bunch, sugar plum, pumpie umpy umpkin.. he’s our sweetie pie. He’s our cuppy cake, gum drop, snookum snookums.. he’s the apple of our eye (but ki fark painda hai, ab to iski gf hai!). The no of hair on his head follows the equation n=N*exp(-35t).. (but ki fark painda hai, ab to iski gf hai!). Poora Patel ispe fight maarta hai (but ki fark painda hai, ab to iski gf hai!). But banda stud bhi hai bhai.. AIR 49 (koi mazaak hai kya); profs ka eye-candy (aakhir profs bhi bande hain!); ex-G-sec Tech of Patel hall; drams bhi karta hai (don’t ask ki drams mein kya roles karta hai!). Nonetheless, an exceptionally sweet-looking (and sweet-smelling too!) person whom you can talk with anytime, laugh with anytime (and sleep with anytime!) but ki fark painda hai, ab to iski gf hai! :D

(by me)

C-204

Sudhir Kumar

Dubbed, and ever since known as Sujju, after his much appreciated performance onstage, this guy is as simple as you can get them. Sujju to chali gayi, par Sujju rah gaya! ETMS ki shaan hai, iski awaaz me Soniyo ya Badan pe Sitaare sunke jhoomna nishchit hai. Rafi ka bahut bara fan hai, and he is sure to sway you off your feet with his voice. Wing ka rate-determining step hai, but still ultimate store house of energy, dekhke lagta hai Tempo da ke room se abhi GluconD peeke aaya hain- stage pe, room pe, wing mein kabhi haath ya pair ya sar bina hilaye rahta nahi hai. Taali bajane ka bhi bahut saukin hai, waise abhi humare saath hai, to log galti se paise nahi dete hain. Chahe jitni koshish kar lo, you can never LOSE argument with him, kyunki tum to hamesha sahi hoge. Bahut hi achha banda hai: Sincere, dedicated, lovable, friendly. Hamesha muskurata hai – kabhi dukhi dekha nahi hai, aur koi dekhna bhi nahi chahega. Hum sabki dua hai, Sujju ki zindagi uske haseen geeton ki tarah hi ho. Waise Sujju ke life ka motto hai: Simple living, high thinking and no spending!

(by Debu, add-ons by me)

C-205

Tejasvi Singh Kushwah

Janaab Teju ke naam se jane jaate hain. Waise to Gymkhana GSec the, par Kgp se zyada ghar me hi paye jaate hain. Kabhi kabhi chhutti mile to Kgp aa jaate hain. Haan, jab yahan rahte hain, to kamre ka darwaza hamesha band hi paya jata hai, par phone aur gtalk pe bandiyon ke liye hamesha samay rahta hai. Apne phone ke alawa inhe gym se bahut pyaar hai. Sharir-charcha khub karte hain, gym ja jake manspeshiyan fula baithe hain jinka sablog bahut anand uthate hain. Are haan, camera ke saamne rahne ke bahut saukin hain. Shayad inhe kisi mohtarma ne kaha hai ki janaab bahut ‘photogenic’ hain, jahan camera dikha, orkut ke photo ke liye daude chale aate hain. Khub ruchi le leke kangaal mazak, arthaat, PJ maarke khud hi hanste rehte hain. PJ (P+iJ) ke shehenshah bhi maane jate hain. Haan, basky khelne me God hain, aur practice session jaane ki to zaroorat hi nahi padhti inhe.. seeeedhe muqabale me pahunch jaate hain. Bhavuk hain, achchhe vaktaa hain, gaate bhi hain aur chitrapat pe kalakari bhi karte hain. Aur kya muskan hai!! Dekhne wale dil haare bina rah hi nahi pate, ab mohtaram ki kya galti hai..J

(by Debu)

C-206

Vinay Gautam

Dooor kahiin se aawaaz aayi ‘Maa Ke Maa Ke’,

‘Aa rahe hain wo’, kahaa hawaa ne fusfusaake,

Aaye wo ek haath mein Airtel aur doosre kaan pe Reliance ka phone lagaake,

Vinny, Bade Saahab, Lavy, inke har naam ki jaya-jayakaar ki devtaaon ne individually aake!

IIT Kharagpur ki 60 saal ki history mein isse badaa peace-maaru paida nahi hua! He knows it so very well how to pass a course with the least possible effort. Spends one-third time on the comp, same amount on sleeping and an equal amount on the phone. But banda stud bhi hai bhai..God poet.. an absolute God.. 2 secs ke andar 200 lines ki poem likh dega; IIT was not the right place for him (except that he met us!), should have been at the International School of Arts! Aur doley-sholey wala bhi hai.. hot commodity for girls! Possesses great spontaneity and sense of humour; sociable from the very core. Launda ek din laal batti ki gaadi mein ghoomega aur uss din yeh upar waali poem sach ho jaayegi.. amen!

(by me)

C-207

Ankik Dhar

Tempo.. naam to suna hoga! 21 years ago, when a space ship came to earth after a long journey in search of food, they forgot to take back one child with them. That child still wanders in CFE Patel and kills every night for chicken. It walks faster than any of its earthling-counterparts; makes voices at decibel levels thrice the normal human levels and holds special affinity for the male half of the human population. But banda stud bhi hai bhai.. he’s an absolute energy house (practices footer during the day (inter-iit hai bhai) and drams during the night), huha cg (jisme se aadhi however cheating karke aayi hai), stud physique (a hot commodity for girls whom he very comfortably bhagaaoes gaali deke). But whatever be the case, we love him, and why not; every child is special! Eeshh.. sento deshchi!!

(by me)

CFE Patel 2009 II

2009-04-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

C-208

Apurva Gupta, nah.. Chintoo (or Chin2 as he prefers to call himself)

The most common visitor to all his neighbours rooms, this really caring and feel-at-home guy can feel at home in anyone’s room and treat their possesions as his own (read Jhaapna). Bahut badaa jhaapu. Germany se Rajaai jhaapke bhi pakdaa nahi gaya. Waise kabhi kuch bura nahi karta. Haan lekin ek baar daaru andar gayi to fir humein hi pata hai kya hota hai. Doesn’t drink much but jab bhi log use gaane nahi dete, matlab chillane nahi dete, tab pata nahi kya ho jata hai. Peeta hi chala jata hai, aur fir gaa gaa ke badla leta hai. Gaane record karke jabardasti sabko sunata bhi hai. Majority of his RAM is occupied by the innumerable chats with the opposite sex on gtalk. Vaise to mast synth bajata hai, baatein karta hai, sabko hasata hai. Pichhle teen saalo me hi itna kuch kiya hai ki likhte likhte jagah ki kami par jaegi, GSec ka kaam, illu karwana, robotix, saath hi itne pratiyogitaon me bhaag lena. Humare insti se pehli baar parliamentary debate me bhaag liya hai. Main to kehta hoon, ladka hira hai hira.. bas thodi opacity jyada hai!

(by Debu)

C-209

Siddarth Ajith

Did someone say magnifier? You get it; take away Sid! You ask him how many vowels are there and he’ll tell you fifteen and he’ll bloody say that so damn convincingly that you’ll have to go and check your grammar book. Gulps down 10 bottles of cold-drinks a day; watches bollywood songs seven hours a day, just missed getting a bravery award for climbing the “patel ka l***” in drunk condition. But banda stud bhi hai bhaai.. huha manager (TTG ki naiyya ka rudder); huha orator; huha movie database (ask him who is the father of the guy who wrote dialogues in some 1963 movie ‘Paap ka Ghadaa’ and he’ll tell you); comedy bhi theek-thaak kar leta hai (bas aajkal thoda rust ho gaya hai!); captain waptain (agar future mein kabhi Patel tech-hall kehlaya to Sid ko The Grand Old Man ka title milega). But whatever be the case, the question remains: uummm… tuuuuuu ek Sid kyun hai?!

(by me)

C-210

Soumya Ranjan Nanda

The fluctuations in Nanda’s mood are directly proportional to the fluctuations in the share market; and not just the Indian or the US share market, but agar Honolulu ke shares bhi down honge to isse load ho jaaayega! And hence finally, the unit ‘Nanda’ has been accepted internationally by ANSI as the unit of load (jab Lehman ka band bajaa to Lehman brothers ko 0.3 Nanda load hua and isko 1.3 Nanda load ho gaya!). But nonetheless, banda stud bhi hai bhai.. lately he’s come out of his ‘loaded’ image and spits on anyone’s face who calls him that, with the dialogue, “*** ke ****, dekh mujhe load ho gaya!”. God in finance funda and acads, DR 1 (however indu waise to deptt hone ke laayak hi nahi hai but isme iski kya galti). Hockey goalie (iska size dekhke doosri team waale iske paas bhi nahi fatakte). Overall an ever-smiling, social, (bulky,) stud, jiska BarCap ne kaat diya (muhaha!).. but ek din yeh NandaCap banaayega aur CFE ka naam roshan karega!

(by me)

C-211

Prasoon Agarwal

CFE ka sabse vyast insaan. Ye teen char jagah hi paya jata hai – Compu ke saamne, wing me phone liye ghoomte hue ya Bhasky me. Chai party ka ek mukhya neta. Phone pe ghanto kitne kathin muddo pe soch vichar aur vaad vivad karte hue paya jata hai. Aisa lagta hai jaise saari duniya ka bhaar iske maasum (aur kam height waale) kandho pe aa gaya ho! Humein poora bharosa hai, ek din duniya ke sabhi samsyaon ka hal zaroor nikal lega. Serious sa dikhne wala yeh praani jab hansta hai to itni zor se hansta hai.. ki bas bahut zor se hansta hai. Euro-trip maar ke aaya hai lekin kismat itni kharaab ki jis univ mein gaya wahaan uss samay kgp se bhi kam bandiyaan thi. Lekin ki gall hai.. banda hamesha khush rehta hai (instru jaise farzi deptt mein hoke bhi!) aur hum chahte hain ki yeh jabalpuria aise hi apni battisi iss jahaan ko dikhake psyche karte rahe!

(by Debu and me)

C-212

Pappu Kumar Bharti (Director, Vidyadrishti.com)

Itni kam umra me hi Director ka khitab pane wale ye hai humare wing ke Pappu Kumar Bharti ya PKBharti. Apni website ke liye kya dedication hai! Rarely aise log dikhte hain jo din raat kisi cheez pe kaam karte rahte hain. Haan, sutro se pata chala hai ki iske peeche kaaran hai – ‘Pappu enjoys the fringe benefits of socializing through his venture.’ Hum sabko aasha hai ki wo isme zaroor safal ho. Haan, inhe ekvachan se allergy hai, hamesha bahuvachan me hi baat karte hain, chahe saamne banda ek hi kyun na baitha ho. Acads mein God (peace maarne mein). Inke shrimukh se sadaa prem-bhare shabdo (!@#$%^&*) ki barsaat hoti rehti hai (aajkal short-forms mein bhi barsaat karte hain). Waise, Vidyadrishti desh ke kone kone tak fail jae, Pappu kisi din bara aadmi ban jae, Rolex ki ghari haatho me, gaari Mercedes wala… but.. Pappu can't dance shaala.. ‘Ooyee Shaalee ghu** du***!!!’

(by Debu, add-ons by me)

Chai-party

CFE ki story Chachaa ki Chai Party ke bina adhuri hai.

Party Symbol: Chai ka kullhad.

Adhyakshya – Chachaa (obviously!)

Varisth neta – Teju, Prasoon.

Sadasya – Sujju, Pappu, Nanda (part-time)

Yeh part din mein chaar baar Bhasky mein paayi jaati hai. Bahut dedicated hain iske kaaryakartaa – Dhoop, barish, thand, kisi cheez ki parwah nahi karte. Hum sabko ye afsos hai.. Inke jane ke baad bechaare Bhasky ka kya hoga.

(by Debu, add-ons by me)

This House Believes That...

2008-11-05T00:28:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen

This post is meant for all those kgpians who are anyhow involved in any damn literary activity on the campus. I’d be dealing with the following issues in order:

1. 1. The motivation behind this post

2. 2. The status quo

3. 3. Can we have some action please, ladies and gentlemen?

Coming to my first argument, that is, the motivation behind this post, I’d share with you, in short, my experience at the National Law School Debate.

I, along with 3 others from our insti, went to an international parliamentary debate competition at the NLSIU (National Law School of India University), Bengalooru. It was actually international, in the sense that the adjudicators were outsiders and a few teams (which were atleast 30 times better than the team of our best debaters) came from across the subcontinent. The team from IIT Kharagpur won 3 matches and lost 3, which actually was a decent achievement for any first timer team and we were praised by the adjudicators too, finally being placed somewhere around 25 out of 64 teams. Hence, to be precise, the motivation behind this post is the difference in the standards of professional debaters and those of ours.

Moving on to my second issue, that is, the status quo, I’d discuss with you, ladies and gentlemen, where we presently stand.

Well, what we currently have as the inter-hall debate is actually a mockery of itself (not to even mention the open IIT debate). We fight in sub-coms over the rules of this prestigious inter-hall debate of ours, and come out with something that a good debater from the US, or take for that matter even the Delhi University, won’t consider worth even laughing at. The problem lies in the fact that we repel the approach of any change to our so-called well-established system that itself is debatable and that actually stands far away isolated from where the world is moving, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is the motive behind this post: to initiate this change, for I now know what the status quo of the ‘earth minus IIT kgp’ system is.

For those of you who don’t know what parliamentary debating is, it is the most widely accepted form of debating today in the world, wherein two sides, one the proposition or the government and the other the opposition, debate on a topic revealed 15 minutes back, with alternate 7 minutes speeches from each side, giving and beating arguments in a very very structured manner. The dynamics and speed of this form of debate compel the debaters to bring every flucking piece of concentration, prior knowledge and on-spot reaction ability of theirs out in an environment where someone is sitting right before you to rape you openly with words and all that you can do to save yourself is to give the same fate back to her/him.

Getting to my final issue, ladies and gentlemen, I’d talk about the existence of that something that might creep into our to-think-about and to-do lists, after getting to know that in this domain of debating, even the best people of our institute actually stand nowhere before the best in the business and we can nowhere be satisfied but at the top spot. What we need to do and what I plan to do in the next semester is to start this culture of parliamentary debating in our institute using the platform of the upcoming debate club, firstly by teaching the interested speakers how to go for it, secondly by having regular practices and thirdly by going nationwide and participating in PDs all over to gain experience. The administration seems a bit supportive this year which is actually a decent signal and thus the debaters will not have to worry about anything else apart from debating.

The reason why I am suddenly advocating PD at our place is not a first time exposure to something that seems glamorous or a non-excellent performance somewhere that we are not used to of giving, but (a) PD is the most widely accepted debating format at international level and we never think below that (right?), (b) we have the best people but just not the right guidance, (c) PD involves the real test of one’s wits and intelligence and smartness, (d) once you are a good parliamentary debater, words will be all that you’ll need to rip apart absolutely anyone and (e) PD is extreme fun (believe me on that!).

Hence, ladies and gentlemen, I sincerely hope that this thought doesn’t bury itself with this post, but gives us another domain to win over, the domain of real debating. I invite the people who are genuinely interested in PD to contact me and we can work over what I just proposed above. With that, I rest my case.

|\/| /-\ ~/_ [=

2008-09-05T00:49:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!
The torture is back! :D
Well, a friend of mine asked me to help her in answering a question in some scholarship form of hers where a pic of a maze was given and 400 words had to be written on it. Random! Right?
And so my reply to it goes as follows. Hardcore random and bullshit! But it's got some meaning too.. somewhere deeeep within! Read on!

A maze? You want me to write on a maze?

All’s a maze and everything amazes me! My world, my life, my mind!
This world is so harsh, so cruel, the life so mysterious. You start walking and you see three paths emerging and you know that one of them would be a dead end and the second would bring you back to the same point and you don’t know which is the third one! And so you keep walking and keep bouncing back from the dead ends and keep cursing the Almighty who made this maze when you hit the same starting point every seventh hour.

Your mind is no less cruel, your mind is no less harsh, your mind is no less sadist, your mind is no more yours! It amuses itself by confusing you and by irritating you by confusing you and by torturing you by irritating you by confusing you. It shows you eight paths and gives you ten valid reasons to follow each path and twelve valid reasons not to follow each path. Then you scratch your head and think and think more and pull your hair out of your over-burdened skull and finally choose a path and suddenly your mind gives you a ninth path, again with ten pros and twelve cons.

You wish that you were taller enough to see the way out, way taller than the walls of the maze. And so you strive hard, you flow your sweat and blood night and day and night, but all you see all around yourself is a maze and a larger maze and a much larger maze that never ends and you never grow tall enough.

And so the complexity of the maze inside your mind keeps growing, the paths keep intermingling amongst themselves and tightening their hold on your petty fragile self. You feel congested and suffocated and you crave for more and fresh air but all of it has already exhausted and all you find around yourself are the walls of the maze, growing taller and narrower, closing up on you, leaving you lesser space to walk and lesser air to breathe and lesser time to live and think and get confused and get irritated and get tortured.

And Bingo! That’s the way out! Yes! That’s the way out… to the next maze!

The Butterfly Effect

2008-06-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

If you think that it’s going to be about a yet another very stupid subject (like my previous posts), with all kinds of very stupid words, written again in a very stupid tone, your God just saved you. This post simply compares our country with some of the so-called developed countries. Now, is it going to be boring? I will make sure that it is not. Because what I am going to compare is the mentality of the people of these two almost different worlds.
Now, what could have motivated me of writing such a weird kind of piece? The answer: the German roads! Ehh… why? Because they are very very very clean. Now, probably you have an idea of the thousand-times-told-story-kinda-boring-and-predictable things that would follow, but I humbly request you not to stop reading.
From the very childhood, we are taught in the subjects of Moral Science and EVS (I still don’t know its full form though), that we should keep our country clean. So we mug it up hard. We should keep our country clean… We should keep our country clean… We should keep our country clean… and then we go out of the school, buy a Centre-Fresh, throw the wrapper on the road, run back home, spit the chewing gum outside our house and enter shouting, ‘Mom, we should keep our country clean!’ A reply of the same volume level hits our ears, ‘Better keep your house clean first and then think of the country, you useless creature!!’
And we grow up like that. The sense of responsibility lacks from the very beginning.
We live as ‘I, Me, Myself.’
‘I am leaving this hotel today anyways, so why bother about using the toilets in a clean manner.’ Yes, that happens.
‘If I throw this one coffee cup into the dustbin, the other thousand coffee cups lying around won’t fly back into the dustbin on their own and a single me cannot make the country clean.’ Yes, we think like that.
Fine. I don’t intend to make this a long monotonous school-principal’s speech. All I want to say is this.
Forget about the poor illiterate people who don’t even know the meaning of cleanliness or country. Forget about the rich illiterate people who don’t even know how to run the country even when they have the power. Forget about those rich literate people who don’t bother to look outside the windows of their imported cars because they don’t have time from being intimate with their darling well-dressed dogs. Don’t expect anything from them. Think about yourself and how you can bring about a change.
Bring about a change? WTF!
No buddy, I am not going to ask you to clean up the roads or join NGOs or put up awareness posters or to do something great for your country, neither am I going to ask you not to go and live abroad.
All that I urge for is that please keep the wrapper of the chocolate that you ate in your pocket till the time you find a dustbin even when the friend who is walking along with you has already thrown her/his wrapper on the road and is laughing at you.
May be you are a laughing stock for the first couple of times, then you are not paid any heed to the next couple of times (because it has been assumed that you are nuts), but if that person has any kinda self respect, a day will come when the same dustbin will be blessed with two wrappers instead of one!
And then, in the next say at least 70 years that you live for more, there would be millions of iterations like these that would result in may be very very slowly obtained but yes, some positive solutions. And that’s how the Chaos Theory or the Butterfly Effect works, right?
And then, you can dream of at least dying in a cleaner India! =)
With that, I sign off.

Swades?

2008-05-29T01:37:00.000-07:00

Hello junta. Read on this story of mine. Why? Firstly, because I love you so much and therefore you are going to leave a nice comment for sure (isn’t it?), and secondly, you are going to find absolutely everything here – drama, thrill, pain, emotion, suspense. So fasten up your seat-belts and get ready to be the victim of this typical-Indian-movie-kinda-crispy-chilly story; because this is the story of my internship.

Phase 1

In the summers following my second year, I underwent a 45-days training at Bosch, Jaipur, which to a budding mechanical engineer was no less than an international-level experience, Bosch being a German MNC. So I like kinda made up my mind that in the next summers, I would definitely be flying off shores.

So came the month of September and boom… I joined the rat-race of mailing CVs worldwide. I had developed my own theories for this process of mailing that even worked quite well, in the sense that I got a lot of replies. Lets not talk about what those replies were although!

Or okay, let’s talk about them. These torturous replies rained over me from all over the globe, from institutes of all kinds, from profs of all ages, ranging in a wide scale of politeness. Some were just too sorry for not being able to recruit me. A few were either retired or about to retire. A lots were out of the country during summers and an equal number were very poor. And almost all thanked me from the cores of their hearts for my interest in their organization.

And then, also there was this giant called Illumination that ate up so many of my nights and days and took proper care of the fact that I should not get any time to waste it on mailing.

Fine. So that was Phase 1. Nothing special about it. An inherent part of the life of every IITian. Now comes the cream. Now comes… the phase 2.

Phase 2

All kinds of companies started coming to recruit students for summer internship and the department of mechanical engineering has always been a favorite amongst them. The first one to knock the doors was ITC.

I thought that I would be going to a foreign land anyways so why not have some good practice of group discussions and personal interviews. So I applied for ITC, not knowing that I might eat up a seat that somebody else would have got, which now I do realize and am sorry for that. But anyways, that was my first formal GD and I enjoyed going through it to the PI. Now emerged the big question: to go or not to go. I met a friend (name not disclosed due to official reasons), who had come from ITC for the selection. I knew him because we had worked together for one year in robotix. He told me that my CV was so well suited for their company that they would hire me even if I do some African dance in the interview, and after listening to me, he suggested me to keep trying for an FT (ie a foreign training if some non-IITian is reading this).

And so finally… I didn’t go for the ITC PI. The news spread like I had never imagined it would and thus made me the victim of the harsh thrashings of this cruel world. A few were kinda angry because I wasted a seat that somebody else might have got (sorry again L) and so many were calling me mad because at least they wouldn’t have even dreamt of leaving a chance of going into ITC. One guy, this neighbour of mine, said to me that there was nothing wrong in what I did because at least I had it clear in my mind what I had to do and that was what actually mattered. Love you Sid! J.

Then there was this very famous university of USA (I won’t disclose the name of course) that short-listed me for a special summer internship program that they have exclusively for IITians, and after making me wait for very long, crushed all my hopes. The bas***** had done the same with me the last year too.

So in a double mind, I started applying for Indian companies too. I used to go to almost all PPTs and people used to give me life threats if I even thought of applying to any one of them. The only person with the same fate as that of mine probably was Nimisha because even she didn’t go for the PI of HUL. So I always enjoyed meeting her in these PPTs!

My CG was too low for HUL and even after clearing the GD and giving the best PI that I could have to Schlumberger, the bloody double-faced people didn’t took me because they couldn’t offer a PPO to the dual degree students. And then I didn’t even apply to normal companies like Reliance, Tata Steel and the like because to leave ITC and go for them would have been like to go on a lunch to some road-side dhaba with some XYZ bandi when you had already rejected an offer of a candle light dinner with Aishwarya (when she was unmarried) on a beach!!

The mailing process although continued, but no use!

Fine. So that was phase 2, full of hide tides and low tides, flowing in and out of my mind. Now begins the fun. Now begins… the phase 3.

Phase 3

I had lost all the hope by now. My God was in deep sleep and so my prayers (read screams) were not able to strike his ear drum with the required high amplitude. So suddenly a strange kind of love for my motherland emerged into my heart and I realized (with a sigh) that even India has a lot of good opportunities to offer! But I had already shown my longest finger to all the companies that came at my door. Hence now I started looking out for contacts in various companies and met a lot of seniors.

And now the rate of flow of time increases…

Seniors are Gods… they assure me of a good place… in Tech Mahindra, LnT or RTDC… Thanks Amod and Anurodh!… am relaxed… but still not satisfied… I mail… mail more… the alluring foreign lands… Hyundai, Honda, Bosch… I mail to all… no use… it’s March already… and then an angel appears… Swapnil…my friend from the 1^st year… says… Dude! I got an FT in Taiwan and my prof wants another chap and I am giving your name… could I be happier enough?… The prof calls me up and bingo… I have an FT now… can’t thank you enough Swapnil… Taiwan… ohkkk… not bad… but not very good either… LnT comes to the department… in dilemma again… to go or not to go… swadesh or videsh… I decide for swadesh… apply for LnT… sit for the GD… but then… oh no… am confused again… swadesh or videsh… I decide for videsh… don’t even move my lips in the GD… Taiwan… there I come… I get the tickets… I get the visa… make all plans with Swapnil… it's April 25... and then appears another angel… Nitin… my friend from class 7^th… says… Dude! I got FTs in Japan and Germany and I am going to Japan. Would you go to Germany?… phew… I say no thanks dude… I am satisfied with Taiwan with all things done… and then I think… saale Apurv… what the hell… what are you doing… it’s Germany… and I call him back and say yes… and it’s done… and now I have… I have… 2 FTs under my belt… phew… is that really me?… the same me who starved once for a single Indian training?… God is great!…and so are you Nitin =)!!!… I get the NOC in one day after lots of drama… thanks to Kishen… but it’s not over yet… it’s time to go to Taiwan… and I still don’t have the German visa… time to make a choice… and I take the risk… Prof in Taiwan gets the news that I met with an accident and I cancel the Taiwan tickets… no German visa yet… a week passes… I postpone Germany tickets… the wait continues… and then… then… it’s there… the visa… in my hands… a darling visa!!!

And so here I sit today, in my 10^th floor apartment in Germany, with a breath-taking view before my eyes, enjoying this paid holiday. Still can’t thank you people enough, Swapnil and Nitin. And yes, it’s all about luck, and okay, I was just lucky enough, but yes I was.

That is it, people… as Miyan Shah Rukh Khan would call it… Happiezz Endingzz… and so I take a leave with that. Tataa!!! Or as they call it in German here… Tschuss!!! =)

The Dream Begins

2008-05-26T05:44:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
This is my latest poem. I wrote it before coming to the IIT, 4 years back! I was quite naive back then!!
So go through it, don't laugh, and leave some nice comments!
Here it goes...

Tell me, I asked
How can I reach
There, where
There are no footsteps
And mine would be the first.

Tell me, I asked
When can I go
There, where
People go
When they sleep.

Tell me, I asked
What should I do
To be at those pinnacles
Which are higher
Than everyone's imagination.

Tell me, I asked.

And I was told
Rather, I was asked
To wake up
To get up
To walk out
To look out
For all that could guide me
For only they could lead me
To my heaven.

And so I looked for them
And so I found them
And so I followed them
Till the height they could reach.

And then all by myself
I climbed
Higher and higher
Because I knew
I could reach there.

And then, there I was,
There, where there were no footsteps
And I made them.
There, where people went in their dreams
And I showed them
That dreams do come true!

Kaisi hai?? =)

The G-Sec Speaks

2008-04-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

The first post.. Indeed it is special. And so here it goes. This is what the General Secretary - Social and Cultural, Patel Hall of Residence wrote for the hall magazine.

I’d take absolutely no pains in keeping this piece a short one. Because I want each and every Patelian of atleast the next 5 generations to read this.

Why? Did we win the GC? Nopes. Then?

Some hall that won the GC the last year wins it this year too. Congratulations. But what’s the big deal there?

Patel... We were second from the end the last year, and the very last the year before that. Patel was nothing more than an underdog. We were literally non-existent.

In my second year, I heard things like… ‘Patel ka secy hai yaar.. teri life mein tto peace hi hoga.’ In the first sub-com of this year, I got to hear… ‘Patel se kya load hoga kissi ko.’ Such was the image of this hall – harmless to anyone.

That was Patel. But, that was Patel.

Today, all of this is past; and the rest that happened this year… is history!

People from other halls have come to me and said,
‘Patel ko yeh kya ho gaya hai??’
‘Abey yaar Patel bahut load de raha hai ab’
‘Kuchh machaayaa hai Patel ne iss baar’
‘Yaar Patel is the only hall jiske efforts ki dil se taarif hoti hai hamaare common room mein’

This is Patel now, and thus I proudly say that

WE ARE INTO THE TOP 3 NOW!!!

And had there not been some very unfortunate decisions against us, we’d have been at the second spot with visible ease. The mere two seconds that deprived Kanwa and Arjit of a Gold in their passing-out year, our awesome awesome English drams performance that had to be satisfied with a petty Bronze, our again awesome awesome Western groups performance not getting a place even in the top 3, and many more like these. But nevertheless, IIT kgp knows now the caliber of Patel, and more importantly Patel itself knows now the caliber of Patel.

But all of this has taken months of planning and months of hardwork and scores of people giving scores of night-outs and day-outs.

Still, I’d specially like to mention, and acknowledge, the contributions of one person here. He was the sole guy who didn’t let the left-over traces of soc-cult culture die down in Patel the last year, produced a batch that had the capability of innovating and leading and created a platform that was worked upon this year. The vision, the innovation, the determination and regular scoldings =) of this person that kept everyone in motion were the keys that opened the path up for Patel this year. Sandy, had you not been there, it’d have been very difficult for us even imagining any scene like this. Patel owes this to you.

Time for a few more acknowledgments.

Kanwa, Akshay, Tuhin, Arjit, Parth… It has been rocking working with you guys.. the GODS!! Two superb groups performances and a shocking (for the other halls) GOLD. Awesome!
Amod, Tudu… The Goddest! (That speaks everything)
Singh, Nag… Your mere presence there, no matter for how long, has been motivating enough and a hint big enough of the fact that things have changed.
Raunak, Mandal Da, Sumit… Brilliant efforts, which we won’t let die.
The 3^rd years… We absofu*kinglutely ROCK guys !!
And finally the 2^nd yrs… You people have a tremendous amount of talent in your batch guys and you seriously deserve applause for that. Keep it up.

In my soap box when I was asked whether Patel would get the GC this year, I remember I replied that I won’t mind Patel winning the GC because rising that high from the very bottom seemed next to impossible. But I also said that my aim would be the third spot and even that sounded so difficult to achieve back then. But, we did it. And I am a satisfied G-sec in the end. =)

Here’s what the ex-ex-ex G-sec wrote to me.
‘It's nice to hear but we have still a long way to go, but path never ends and this milestone is seriously no less. What matters to me more is your last line that "the culture that has been developed this year is sure to continue and we'll ensure that." If this is going to continue I ensure GC is nothing in front of it. It will just follow.’
Same was told to me by the ex-ex G-sec.
And we are surely going to meet your expectations Rohit and Baba… surely!

Time to end this stuff I guess.

Ahem ahem… It has been a wonderful excellent awesome tenure and a most memorable one. All those painful 4^th positions, all those so-many silvers and bronze followed by all those thunderous tempo-shouts, all those infinitely-infinite chaos, all the Patel-vs-rest of IIT kgp fights in the sub-coms which I so much enjoyed winning =) and finally getting into the top 3 while giving the 2^nd spot-holders such lot trouble and leaving the others comfortably behind. Patel gets into the top 3 after God-knows-how-many years.

It has been one awesome tenure!

To the next G-sec: Naman, leave no threads loose for there’s more work to do for you. Best of luck dude.

To kgp: This was only the trailer folks. Keep waiting for more and better!

And to Patel: The stage is all set guys. All we have to do now is… not to lose the rhythm and… rock them all!