Engineering Dayz

I use to put down hope on paper boats and I use to see them float away, I use to keep them within myself and now I see them break away. Life becomes predictable and like any other bollywood cinema which I never use to believe and I wont still.

So, how are we going 2day? Guess its all the same as any other day or may be a little different than the monotonous one. Well, as per the fact that I am an Engineer..! [exclamation does mean something for VTU – Visveswaraya Technological University engineers. As for the “WHY?”, u’ll realize soon hopefully after reading through this atleast, if not till now] I may be bit late in sharing this “SWEET N SOUR” memories with my fellow mates but felt it worth doing so.

I swear in the name of all the VTU guides n texts I have referred to and all the college get-to-gethers I have attended till date, dayz at APSCE were & are still the best thing that has happened to me. Today, when I sit back and refresh my 'hard drive', all the memories just bubbled out. I felt very nostalgic.! as I watch all the wonderful snaps, which were clicked in sheer 'euphoria', on all the occasions which are worth a KOHINOOR..! [diamond I meant :P] & I simply have nothing else to say but to confess college dayz were & are THE BEST days of My Life!!"... Those 4 years has left behind memories to cherish which are undoubtedly worth remembering an entire life time.

So there I was sitting with my father in the midst of huge crowd filled with anxious students and their parents at the college reopening day waiting to hear from the DEAN about wut we hav got for our future soon after which a small meal arranged by college ofcourse. The next immediate thing happened before I knew was Queue formation for stationary..![prescribed texts by VTU for a sem were given to each student]; Soon after which… came a disastrous aakashavani listening to which I was dumbstuck..[wut the hell? Its jus opening day] but I had to rush for the classroom announced to meet our HOD, Mr. Sateesh Kumar for the 1^st time n had a glance at my future classmates. Next to which was obvious - running home.

So it was year 2K2, I was about to start for college. I was excited. I was scared. And I was not really sure what I was in for. I guess that’s part of the fun. It was also one of the most exhilarating times of my life as we all had the opportunity to step out on our own, mom & dad don’t get our report cards, we choose our schedule and our classes, we can stay up until all hours of the night…wut not.! We’ll get to meet a multitude of new people, and have opportunities to find out where our passions lie.

First year was like thorny way coz it had 1^st in it. Not that the subjects were tough but you know how its gonna be. That was like “to be remembered” sem, when the VTU papers were like walk in the park. It was hard in the sense everyone around me were weird then. Everyone trying to prove that they are better than the guy/grl whoz sitting next to them and vice-versa. And then if both of them [fellow mates] realize that the guy/grl next to them both is better than them 2 together, we tell him/her “Neen bidamma Kilaadi”[ no doubt we were sarcastic] . Most importantly I needed a very good memory to remember what lie I had told about myself to whom..![am damn sure it would be same with you as well].

Second year was way better than I imagined it to be then. Not in terms of subjects that we had to study but each one of us by then had realized: “the guy next to me is no better than me and the third guy is cool even though he is better!”, And that is when you tend to become human to others. I had the pleasure of being in Telecommunication department of the college which had a bit of everything, so it was good for me. Never to forget that it was this year that we had most of the tough subjects. A few of which worth mentioning are EC, LD, PE, S & S, CS and more. Now, all these subjects are just abbreviations, or at least they are remembered as that. What they stand for or how much sense they made us is not really considered. The ‘L-board’ lecturers didn’t make it easy rather they projected the difficulty of passing them. How can I forget those moments of joy that we guyz had in our 1^st excursion in 3^rd sem which made news among our batch mates & ever since then our class stood as role model for UNITY.

Third year was good fun as we were used to the semester routines and adding to that were annoying subjects. We all knew that we were in one of the tough streams of engineering but with friends around it was always fun & kinda got used to it. By then we also had a few parties n trips [will write about those shortly] and were the proud batch to organize Sports events and college day [stage performance] of that year [2005]. We also took the responsibility of organizing the send-off for our seniors which was a success as well… by then It was time for yet another blow by VTU [V Trouble U]- I mean to say the crap xams. Then comes the placement fever. This was a point of time when one can observe everyone getting truly serious. But then, there were some of us who never got serious jus like me.

And now we were in Fourth & Final year which made us the senior most of the college and by then I had realized what are we tested on/for? Our ability to write pages of crappy [on-steroid] passages? Mugged-up vomit adorns University answer sheets. But, I couldn’t be unmindful, of those exceptional geniuses, that one-in-a-million guy/girl, who sees through. Who swims against the current, and emerges from the wreck. Who studied stuff with a reason & that reason, not being restricted to a secure job. By then the project fever was all around and also the “can’t wait to finish” feeling. And before we knew, we are done; it was time for the exchange of sentiments. All well dressed, lined up and waiting for the PHOTO-FINISH remembering those 4 yrs of “struggle between pen & pride”. Huff… not to forget saree made girlz look cute.

That’s about it. Before you get into the comfort zone with people around you, things change. That’s life I guess. And then you realize, if you have to do it all over again, it is very hard. It just takes such an effort to make it through all those pathetic subjects. Isn’t that true?

ILI-BILA Dweepa aka Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island our recent destiny is Western Australia's very own island getaway featuring a fantastic atmosphere and has awesome picturesque sceneries and some of the finest beaches and bays. It is located around 20 kms off the coast of Fremantle which happens to be the tip of Perth.

Well coming back to the topic, Rottnest Island is a special place for Western Australians and a popular destination for international visitors. The mediterranean style climate and indigenous flora and fauna of this Island is also provided with the finest backdrops to experience a special holiday experience.

Few places worth mentioning are the historic Oliver Hill Train, Underwater Explorer, sea kayaking, joy flights on the Rottnest Air Taxi [only if u r rich enough coz am not], some idiotic fun park, Rottnest Museum and lot more which are obviously not worthy.

Ok..so the journey by ferry took us around 40 minutes from Fremantle port, bloody salty sea water splashing all the way but it was fun though with aussi babes alongside who were wearing smallest possible pieces of clothes as we were blessed by the SUN god for that day. U can find some of the pics that were clicked around the island [not d naughty ones ofcourse] here.

The island is well spread around 11 kms long, and around 4.5 kms at its widest point. So we decided to hire cycles which had 18 combination of gears combined with disc brakes for additional safety and ofcourse good shock absorbers. It was around 25-30km ride around the island which took us well above 4 hours of leisurely peddling. U may find it funny "wuts all with Helmet for cycles..!?!" but thats the safety norms that we have to follow here which is annoying.

No wonder why I had a blue morning the following day as it was almost after 6 years that I peddled so much.

Sauver la 'e'

Dont get worried with the title as I am a bit french freak! as the saying "Kannadigarellaru Anya Bhaasha Priyaru", n so am I. Well it also kinda drapes the title! which actually means Save the 'e-Electrons'.

Coming to the point, everyone is talking about Global Warming these days. "Save The Environment" is everywhere - recycle water, recycle paper even recycle movie storylines! [will write about tat shortly]. While most are talking about "saving the planet"[might be a movie title], I am indeed very much concerned about saving the most important resource in the universe: The Electrons!

How? let me explain: Electrons do most of transporting these days. They travel over our phone wires and over our LAN cables and our TV Cable lines, delivering all the good stuff for our entertainment. But have you spared a thought for the poor electrons that do all the work? I have. And do you know what happens to them once they have delivered your email to your computer?

Obvious answer is tat they come to our phone/computer/TV and then get wasted! that's right - there are only a limited number of electrons on earth, and everytime you watch TV, you are consuming this precious resource of mother earth. These electrons just hang around your Phone/TV/Computer for a while and then just die!

All this is causing a massive electron shortage in this world. Have you wondered why all the TV serials and Movies are so crappy these days? That's because there aren't enough electrons left in this world these days to make good TV serials and movies. The Directors have to work with a limited number of electrons and the quality suffers.

We need to take the electron shortage seriously. Some reports say that we may run out of electrons as early as 2025! This is a complete disaster scenario. Without electrons, there is no TV, no Internet and no Phones! You have to do your part to conserve electrons! [I hav already started wit it]

You can start by recycling electrons - You can do this by forwarding this article to all your friends. When you send emails, you are recycling the electrons that came to your computer and sending them back to the internet, which is really a series of tubes for electrons to flow. Also, leave comments on all blogs, especially this one. This way, you can return some of the electrons back to the blogs where they originally came from.Try to reduce your electron usage. Instead of watching Saas-Bahu serials on TV, watch cartoons. Cartoons take 75% less electrons than other serials. The 'e' is often ignored but very precious resource of our planet.

Conclusion: It is our responsibility and duty to use electrons precisely. Together, we can save the planet from our selfish over-consumption of the electrons. Together, we can SAVE THE ELECTRONS FROM EXTINCTION!

Faking the passion - "CRICKET"

I had stopped following cricket for a while then. I used to be big on cricket back during my school n college dayz, but since the whole match-fixing thing broke out, I had lost interest. But the obviousness that all matches have been fixed doesn't seem to have affected the vast majority of the CRICKET fans. All of them continued to watch the game with exactly the same enthusiasm..!! exception being me.

The problem of being a non-cricket watching Indian is that many people think of that as being the same as being an orangutan - Almost human, but not quite..! yes I mean it.

Several people are scandalized when I tell them I don't follow cricket. This time at my work place during tea break, I walk into this tea room and everyone is talking about match that was played on the previous day N d chat goes lik this..

RON: "I think the umpire's 2nd decision was unwarranted. The ball was way outside leg."
Michael : "Ponting shouldn't have declared despite that - The reverse swing was appreciable. I still think it was outside leg"
"What do you think?"
Me: "I'm sorry, I don't follow cricket."

There is a stunned silence in the room as the enormity of my stupidity dissipates through the room. Everyone is looking at me as if I'm an Alien..!

Ron: "YOU DIDN'T WATCH YESTERDAY'S MATCH?"
Me: "err..hmmm....err...no? Did I miss something?"
Michael: "TRAITOR! KILL HIM! HANG HIM UPSIDE DOWN TO THE FAN!"
Rest of the Colleagues: "Yeeeessss!!! (chorus) Hang him! Hang him!"

It wasn't that bad, but hope you got the picture. I have since then learnt that saying you don't watch cricket n tat too being an Indian means you'll be treated like an outcast. So, I fake it.. not all d time but most of the time.. N the discussion went on....

RON: "...and so the ball was outside leg. It wasn't out. What do you think?"
Me: "Yes. That was the turning point of the match!"
RON: "Yes! And if that idiot umpire..."

"Turning point" is a good fake to use, because all incidents can be turning points of the match. People can't tell if you are faking it. But you have to be careful to use this strategy and not say too much. It can get you into trouble.

Mohammed: "What did you think of the match yesterday?"
Me: "It was a good match. Sachin's innings was eventful."
(Note the use of the generic "eventful". If Sachin scored 0, it was eventful, if he scored 100, it was still eventful. This normally works, except if you're so stupid that you didn't know Sachin is not playing)
RON: "Sachin is not playing in the T20 worldcup!"
Me: "Did I say Sachin? I meant Sourav."
RON: "Ganguly is not playing either. Did you really watch the match?"
Me: "Look there! its Aishwarya on the screen!"

my colleagues turned around to TV screen n I ran back to work...

Namskaara Howz U?

Title bagge too much tale kediskobedi.... as it has extremes of traditional Kannada of saying "Hello" and the other part of it being newest & trendy way of telling "Hegidira?" in terms of SMS or chatting or mails....etc.

Yenu artha aaglilva..?? dont worry maadkobedi..!! yet another famous KANGLISH saying applies to U :-) Vaake vaake nanna mattu nimma time waste madade... Naanu basically Karnaatakada adarallu Benagaloorina Kannadiga. Nanna primary haagu highschool haagu Enginering in Telecommunication vyasanga namma Bengaloorinalli mugisi ideega Australia khandada Perth nagaradalli am pursuing my higher education. N thats about me those of U want to know.
KANGLISH - swalpa Kannada Swalpa English.... :-)