I and PUNEET

Dear Blog,

How often do you miss a person so close to you – the second part of you, who always knows what to do when things are not going good, the patient part of you who thinks it’s you who will get what you deserve – the best. You try to hide things from him but then he knows everything – far more than what even you know. You try to act nonchalant but deep down you know it’s him who knows that things are not right. The heart and the soul of the living being rebel against the mind but in the end it’s the heart that wins the battle and the soul that experiences the victory. This second person is no outsider to you; you might not even attribute a physical form to him, he’s just surreal – too good to be true. There’s so much common in the two of you. Both of you always think about YOU. Both of you are happy (or sad) at YOUR achievement (or failure). 

One bad day, you find yourself lost in the crowd; lost amongst and because of so many things happening around you; lost because there is no one to see that you are lost; lost because you do not know if you know what you should know. And it is then that you look beside you and find him there, carrying your fears so that you are relieved of the burden... You look to him and you know he knows... You are no more lost. It is then that you realise that it was never you alone who chugged the beaten track. It was always you and your special friend you call PUNEET.

MMM

Diwali @ XL

There’s always something about XL that makes u put ur hands up in the air and say – WoW...

I have stayed in hostel for last four years now but the feeling of a home-away-from-home never came... This Diwali changed it all... Little did it matter that I have spent most of my Diwalis at home... Little did it matter that I’ve friends who I have known only for the last half a year... Little did it matter that I am in a small city like Jamshedpur which knows how to celebrate but without pomp and show... The only thing that mattered ultimately was that we all are Xlers... It was a Diwali that transcended the wall between the Profs and the students... the seniors and the juniors... the bummers and IRs...

Till the evening, I was sad... There was no Diwali in the atmosphere... there were no lights around... There was palpable tension of the oncoming SIP... The crackers were silent... And then the sun set... And this was a sunset that signalled the dawn of life in XL... Lights all around... Sounds of crackers... And slowly after a sober Lakshmi-Poojan, it was fun and frolic. Students dressed up in their best (Not the business suits pls...) came down to celebrate. The Profs opened up their doors to students and all classes were forgotten as students celebrated the welcome change from the mess food. There were delicacies from the south, savouries from the north, munch-ins from the west and the ever-so-wanted sweets from the east... I’ve stayed in residential campuses all my life but ask me if I’ve felt the feeling of being one big family as today and I’d give an emphatic NO as my reply..!!! After visiting the Profs’ house there was the PlaceCom GBM (Sssshhhhhh...). But that too was filled with enthu for the following cracker-show...

Then, for an hour, the only sounds were those of crackers and the only lights were those of lamps and sparklers. From the loud sounds of the “atom bomb” to the playful “aloo bomb”, from the bright aerial rockets to the sparkling lights... it was Diwali everywhere. And most noticeable of all, there was the light emanating from the bright faces... lit by joy... overshadowing the tiring hrs spent on CVs and preparation...

Antakshari followed... where winning was the last objective... and celebration was the first (ok not just the prized chocolate pack)!!!

Its 2:40 in the wee hours of the morning... and the crackers just keep going on... It’s the freshers’ time now... the terrace of GH1 plays host to them...

And while my family-in-Xl enjoys, I rejoice in their happiness... my dearest pal exercising put options, with roomy searching and finalising same, kiddo NOT getting smaller by the minute, and going ‘CR’azy about the sub-Prime crisis, the two hunks, fail to stay apart ;) I love you guys...

Happy again,

MMM

What part of NO do I understand?

What part of NO do I understand? Neither the N nor the O...

Why is it so difficult for me to say NO to me? Why do I have to see myself saying “Yes I can do it” to everything? There are things beyond me... If I were meant to do everything the world would have been so full and monotonous... There would have been only me around. The reason why others exist is because they can do somethings I can’t. The reason I exist is because there are things that I do others can’t. 

This realisation keeps coming to me but goes away faster than the arrival rate, hence before the next train of thought comes in, I’m already half way through and the realisation effectively fails to have effect.

Guidelines for anyone reading this: I do not get tired... I only feel so. There is always the extra amount of glucose left in my veins. I do sleep but only when I have nothing better to do and anything is better than sleeping. I do not know everything but not for long. I do not lie; it’s just that my version of truth is different from yours.

Guidelines for me: B***S***. Go to sleep...

Sleepyhead,

MMM

||Karmanyev adhikaraste, maa phaleshu kadachana||

Long back, Krishna told Arjun on the battlefield,

“Dude, listen up.. watcha talkin about rewards and consequences. Do u think doing good will get u good for sure and doing bad will bring harm to you no matter wat... Arre bhai.. there is no good or bad. U feel u are doing good but the other person may not see it as good. If not bad, it may be just seen as routine happening.

So wat shud u do? See doing good is in ur control. Do it. Hope it is seen as good and u get something in return (reward or award). Jyaada se jyaada kya hoga... award nahi hi milega na... but at least u’ll know ki tumne apne kaam kiya.. u tried... and if tht satisfaction is not good enuf, no reward ever will be. So don’t try for tht which is not in ur control. Wat u are good at will not be recognised. Wat good u do will be ignored... wat u’ll get will be a courteous reply saying u are good but we’re sorry... Wat u are bad at will be the titlebar on every screen but wat can u do?

One option is to sit and think over it... second option is to forget (though tht’ll be the toughest think to do) and proceed. In short do ur work... take if any reward comes ur way but u got no right to claim anything... nothing is urs... Machi, accept the fact.. its my way or the highway”

This has been my story for the last few days... filling up forms... hoping someone will think I’m good enuf... but the more I talk to ppl, I tend to realise I’m not. If not bad, i’m no more than routine... someone they can choose to ignore for want of better ppl. And by now I’ve become so immune to it all that I will chose to ignore if i’m not picked and proceed with my daily routine of fillin in more...

Mera number bhi aayega..
MMM

P.S: Self-prophecy turned out to be true...

I'm happy today

Dear Blog,

There are many reasons I’d be happy today... some told many untold... I’ll share the former here.

There is something in me that can’t tolerate sad people... and even more so, seeing people sad. And when I’m happy, I know I’ve seen a happy person or at least made an attempt (with some success) to make someone happy. And that was all that made me happy today...

To start off – saw the speech I had written for the MCN class and smiled to myself... said to myself, “I’m so damned if I am asked to speak today...!!!” and couldn’t help but smile... Made myself happy!!! Nice beginning for the day...

Then saw happy faces around (some, in spite of bashings received)... looked like some turtle-heads which had retracted to their shells for the tumultuous time had made their way out with a smile... Thoughts about the wonderful learning from the session we just had (and in general) and further smiles. Did it mean there were no hectic schedules for the day, negative!!! This is the power of the human mind. It can selectively filter moments of joy out of a raging ocean.

The last one, I dunno if it really qualifies to be here... We had gone on a “village trip” and seen some sad faces there. We were asked to propose solutions to turn them into smiles. A humorous and most certainly impractical one though, we presented a solution. TATA could not sell trucks as vehemently as we did. It may not have brought smiles that were intended but I felt satisfied that I did at least think of it. (It sure did bring smiles to the panel)

Do I not knw that these smiles I try to create are not the complete truth... But then wat is... So for the time being... I’ll be happy...

Well, happy till those smiles last. As they say, I’m living the dream, enjoying the life in the matrix,, floating on cloud nine...

MMM

Problem in Word 2007

Dear Blog,

Today I faced a strange problem in MS word. I could move the cursor in the text area using the keyboard but not the mouse. I could not point at any location on the screen using the mouse. As a result, selecting text using the mouse was not possible. However, the mouse worked just fine in the ribbon area. Also I can’t run any word document from the start menu as I normally do. Closing any document causes Word to stop working. Can’t figure the reason...

There is no virus on my comp as verified by two anti-viruses.

Last I knew, word was trying to update when the comp was accidentally shut down. I’m pretty sure the error is due to partial updating of the application and modification of the registry shud bring the functionality back but there are so many folders in registry relating to word in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Word
that I cant figure out wat to change... Any suggestions anyone? Next few days will see me using word 2007 on a very large scale due to the impending SIP process... Any help is welcome.

Waiting for a solution,

MMM

Memoirs from NITK...

Dear Blog,

Some memories never fade out, certain good ones and certain bad ones.
Bad ones... You try so hard to forget them that every time you decide you want to forget them, they are re-enforced. But today I’m not talking of them... Today I’ll talk only one sequence of good memories... a glimpse of my NITK memoirs... some good ones that I may never forget. They are so relieving that I keep getting reminded of them. Every time I see any related happening, I am reminded of them. Every time I log on to Gtalk, its these memories I meet...

It’s still the NITK guys (and gals) who occupy majority of my gtalk contact list. It’s still them who I talk to when I need any advice or help. The active google-group is a testimonial of the fact that my other classmates too share this feeling. Chindu never fails to come up wid the most ingenious PJ. Bulla (today i learnt he’s the CEO-to-be) can’t be less professional (we knw whr he learnt his professionalism from!!!). Prasanna (wen he’s not tryin to beat chindu at his game) and Nair have to come up wid their condi statements oh-so-often...

And my juniors... One part of me wants to remain 24x7 online for them... he’s SPOC for anything on Engi, ISTE or anything for that matter. They still are so dear to me for all the good times I shared with them. Probably I wasn’t as tensed about my placements as I was when I was told about the bleak scene this yr. The pics from the trips and treats will keep reminding me what they mean to me... And my sis from nowhere... the ever-so-bubbly chess-queen... who I met only in the final yr but wish had met earlier...

Then there's my spl gang (this merits another complete entry which shall come sometime soon)... all of whom are curently working with various corporates... How I miss those overnight F.R.I.E.N.D.S screenings... those DVD burning sprees... those arbit discussions about nothing... the infinite eggs at Sundar... The overnight PJ cracking with noone to beat sid or rathi... These memories are so special to me...

And there are always wanderlust and logik who keep me abreast with the latest in techie-geek world... and some other cool stuffs and issues too... And also Pachi, who I knw will remain the php-god till i meet Rasmus Lerdorf himself.

And when I’m not online... there’s the lone silver ornament on my right hand... that reveals my true identity... I am and shall always remain, NITKIAN, Batch of 2008.

Missing my alma mater,
MMM

Google Zindabad

Dear Blog,
There was 3M and then there were none... For a long time, the world waited for a firm to have innovation in its blood. And then comes GOOGLE... Every few days you hear of something new from the stable... OK some of them are mere easter eggs but oh so believable!!!

Today I’ll list some of the google products (thankfully all are free!!!) I use regularly...

• I-Google: Lemme start with my personal homepage on browser... The very personalised search engine which gives me a snapshot of the world just as i log on to the net.
  

• G-Mail: Oh so unforgettable... the most revolutionary product from google... any IT pro worth his name is sure to have a gmail account in today’s world with so many other features being attached to it.. All my project reports find their way up the google servers as soon as they are finished upto the smallest of milestones. What better way to keep them safe than let google take care of the job!!!

• Google-docs: Spreadsheets, polls, my CV, important ppts.. all find their way up the net through this online free service... (Secret: All my passwords are stored in one google doc which i take care never to share ? and that is the only password I don’t give to anyone)

• Orkut, Youtube, Blogger: Lesser said the better...

• Google Groups: The best place to meet online for projects; reports, minutes. Every of my project groups ends up having a google group.

• Google Earth: People often wonder and marvel at my knowledge of Indian geography... Little do they know how frequent a user of google earth I am. Hear of a new place.. Google it!!!

• Google Scholar: Research articles, papers or just for the heck of knowing wat the world is doing with science and technology, scholar is the way...

• Google Chrome: Though still a baby when compared to the Mozilla browser, it is simple and fast. I miss my Mozilla pluggins and addons though...

• SMS Channels: My window to the world... I receive news updates, cricket scores, share trends, jokes... All on Mobile... and all without any service charges!!! Till few days back I thought google was out to destroy M#(%*S*#% with its online version of the counterpart’s paid offline versions, now it has decided to take on the mobile service providers too!!! With their premium services ‘free’d by google, their revenues will take a hit, though not ‘wholly or in full measure but very substantially’!!!

• Analytics @ Google: I’m sure not many have heard of it, let alone use it. This was a page I visited regularly when I manned the website of the college fest “Engineer ‘08” to know who was visiting my website. where were the publicity efforts working and where they were required to be stepped up...

• Google Apps: Have a webpage www.XXXXXX.com but not the space to host e-mails? Google Apps is the solution... The easiest (Do I need to mention free???) way of having e-mail ids of the form YYY@XXXXXX.com!!!

• And the latest addon to Gmail: Never used it yet but its gonna be so useful... How many mails do I send out late nights only to repent later...
  

A world without Google products is simply not imaginable for the net-maniacs like me... What if Google decided one day that its products would no more be free!!!

Dreading the day,
MMM

The joy of creation...

Dear Blog,

They say there is no joy which matches the joy of seeing ur creation perform well. Today was the day I felt that joy after a long time. Today was my first experience at organisation in XL – the Tiger 5s football tourney.

It was the first meeting of sportscom and the junior sportscom decided it wud not be just another sports event. This sportscom would beat tradition and do something innovative. And so was decided to hold 5-a-side football. There were starting problems, with members suggesting we go for a wholesome 4-course thing instead of just a starter. Due to shortage of available dates (thankfully) we stuck to the T20 version of football. But then, none of us knew the exact rules of futsal (the mini version of football). So we had to create them and hope no one found loopholes and flaws. After one trial session, we thought about how we could make teams score more goals and implement trick shots and passing stunts instead of playing a defensive game. And then came the most difficult phase of forming rules and putting them to test... First game in the tourney just vindicated out preparations. And then on, it was smooth sailing.

I dunno how I can describe what I felt on the success of the tourney. The joy of creation of all rules and the game in general far surpasses other joys i experiences during the day.

Obviously, the start of the next day was awesome owing largely to a meticulous preparation by a friend’s sweet roomy... Happy birthday :)

Rejoicing in the glory of a successful evening and the early morning,
MMM

My First love - Sleep

Dear Blog,

It was not a romantic evening. The sun was not crimson red. It wasn’t raining. Flowers were not blooming in full swing. Nor were the birds chirping. The vast horizon beyond the vast expanse of tree-dotted land was not the poetic blue. I was not in a silent park with butterflies sucking nectar from the multicoloured array of flowers set amongst the auburn autumn leaves. I was not sailing to a dreamland on a luxury cruise. There were no sounds of the sea waves crashing on the shore. No palm-groves to tie up my beach-side cabana... And for sure, I did not have my copy of F.R.I.E.N.D.S with me...

Yet my heart was beating fast, almost pounding. The breath was slow and jagged. The mind was on the roller coaster ride of my life. The stomach was growling with hunger for more, what, I never knew. The eyes seldom blinked as rapidly as they did then...

A swish in the air, fire in the sky, a booming sound and lo... I was awake again!!!

Waking up is rarely so bad,

MMM