After Kung-Fu ,they have taken up shooting?

A giant panda goes into one of those expensive and pretentious restaurants serving French/Asian fusion cuisine and takes a table for one. The surprised waiter for that table explains unctuously that his name is Marcel, he will be your server tonight, and we 'ave a number of specials (he is French), etc., etc. The panda listens impassively to the list of $27 chili-pepper encrusted swordfish specials and so on, and then orders a delicately flavored dish of young bamboo tips and mixed greenery served with steamed jasmine rice. On finishing his meal, the panda gets up, reaches into his fur for a handgun, brings down the waiter with one shot, and calmly heads for the door.
The head waiter is near the door and exclaims in shock, "Oh, monsieur, what 'ave you done? You 'ave killed Marcel! Why 'ave you done zis, monsieur? You 'ad some problem? Ze service was not acceptable?"
The panda scowls at him and says, "I'm a fucking panda. Go look it up." He stalks out into the night.
The baffled staff huddle round the compact encyclopedic dictionary that they keep on the premises, and turning to Panda, giant, they read this:
Panda, giant. Large bear-like animal, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, with distinctive black and white markings, related to raccoon family. Rare; found only in bamboo forests of Tibet and western China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...7.5/10

Watchmen... my first graphic novel.I had not read a comic since 7th grade...and reading this novel-well it brought back those memories.I cannot rate it to its full potential...because I had it in the form of ebook (actual and legal one costs 3000+). I was not able see why is it so critically acclaimed, in the beginning. But as I approached the end,the picture became clearer ,and I started re-reading it ...then I realised..there were so many hidden things and clues and facts that I missed- Mostly because of the fact that I kept reading it...without focussing any attention to the graphics.The novel is set in alternate history,and the elements of our history embedded in it makes it grave and murthful at the same time . I would recommend against reading it(or any grahic novel) in ebook form.I read half the book,then re-read it,and then finished it..and in all the 408 pages book took about 15 days !)..
The book provided different views of the world(from each character)...and is implanted with great quotes ,which just fit in the situation in the story at that point. The ending is good,and unpredicatble.Its nt a typical Hero-saves-the-day ending, and the book highlights the philospohy that in every hero ,theres a villain and vice versa.
In addition to the main story line (already interlaced with multiple flashbacks), each chapter also includes supplemental material from the Watchmen universe – newspaper clippings, book excerpts, copies of letters, police documents, etc. Also interwoven into the story is the pirate-adventure comic Tales of the Black Freighter (which is being read by one of the characters as the story of Watchmen unfolds).

I've decided to put some excellent snippets from the book,which really moved me:
(wasnt able to upload in comic book style with images):

Rorschach: Stood in firelight, sweltering. Bloodstain on chest like map of violent new continent. Felt cleansed. Felt dark planet turn under my feet and knew what cats know that makes them scream like babies in night. Looked at sky through smoke heavy with human fat and God was not there. The cold, suffocating dark goes on forever and we are alone. Live our lives, lacking anything better to do. Devise reason later. Born from oblivion; bear children, hell-bound as ourselves, go into oblivion. There is nothing else. Existence is random. Has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long. No meaning save what we choose to impose. This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces. It is not God who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs. Itâs us. Only us. Streets stank of fire. The void breathed hard on my heart, turning its illusions to ice, shattering them. Was reborn then, free to scrawl own design on this morally blank world. Was Rorschach. Does that answer your Questions, Doctor?

Doctor Manhattan: Thermo-dynamic miracles... events with odds against so astronomical they're effectively impossible, like oxygen spontaneously becoming gold. I long to observe such a thing. And yet, in each human coupling, a thousand million sperm vie for a single egg. Multiply those odds by countless generations, against the odds of your ancestors being alive; meeting; siring this precise son; that exact daughter... Until your mother loves a man she has every reason to hate, and of that union, of the thousand million children competing for fertilization, it was you, only you, that emerged. To distill so specific a form from that chaos of improbability, like turning air to gold... that is the crowning unlikelihood. The thermo-dynamic miracle.
Laurie Juspeczyk: But...if me, my birth, if that's a thermodynamic miracle... I mean, you could say that about anybody in the world!.
Dr. Manhattan: Yes. Anybody in the world. ..But the world is so full of people, so crowded with these miracles that they become commonplace and we forget... I forget. We gaze continually at the world and it grows dull in our perceptions. Yet seen from the another's vantage point. As if new, it may still take our breath away. Come...dry your eyes. For you are life, rarer than a quark and unpredictable beyond the dreams of Heisenberg; the clay in which the forces that shape all things leave their fingerprints most clearly.

The 12 quotes of Watchmen (the ones that occupied the last panel of each chapter):

At midnight, all the agents and superhuman crew go out and round up everyone who knows more than they do- Bob Dylan
And I'm up while the dawn is breaking, even though my heart is aching. I should be drinking a toast to absent friends instead of these comedians- Elvis Costello
Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?- GENESIS chapter 18, verse 25
The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking...The solution to this problem lies in the heard of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker- Albert Einstein
Tyger, Tyger burning bright,In the forestsof the night,What immortal hand or eye,Could frame thy fearful symmetry-William Blake
Battle not with monsters lest ye become a monster.And if you gave into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you.-Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
I am a brother to dragons,and a companion to owls.My skin is black upon me,and my bones are burned with heat- JOB chapter 30, verse 29-30
On Hallowe'en the old ghosts come about us, and they speak to some, to others they are dumb- Hallowe'en ,Elanor Farjean
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being- C.G. Jung ...MEMORIES,DREAMS,REFLECTIONS
Outside in the distance a wild cat did growl, two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl- Bob Dylan
My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!- Ozymandias....Percy Bysshe Shelley
It would be a stronger world, a stronger loving world, to die in- John Cale

A collage of mixed emotions

Apparently I have nothing to write,but I still feel like writing something. I think I am capable and experienced enough to resist the temptation of calling myself a loser or start blabbing about She who must not be named.or about the dream of sg that I had.
Rather I think I oughta write about Winter Ball ,which, did live up to the expectation of not living upto the expectation.To describe in a few words..concise but not precise:
Old friends..lots of smiles-some fake,some genuine...An attempt to dance, to feel the ecstacy that others feel while dancing.In hindsight, I guess I should say a failed attempt.... Regret at not going with an empty stomach (I was able to try out only the gulab jamun,chocolate cake,an extraordinary mutton dish(but then, I've only eaten mutton on 2-3 occasions before), and an astonishingly delectable mushroom dish).
Bored of trying to dance,with stomach heavy ,and amused with the sights of old mates pixillated and drunk, I decided to make an early exit by 1.30 am.

As for other things , I finished reading Watchmen .So it was time for me to start another book, so I bought a copy of 'The Amulet of Samarkand'- 1st installment of Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy.I also read two short stories - 'Nightfall' and 'The Last Question' by Isaac Asimov.

As for movies watched recently:
Night at the Museum :7/10 (great entertainment)
Get over It :4/10 (watched only because of Kirsten Dunst..special note : pronounced K-ee-rstun, not Kurstun)
The Incredibles : 6/10
Casino Royale : 7.5/10 (my first bond movie)
She- Creature : 5/10

(This post was intended to be in the category of those which I write but to not publish and keep as a draft for myself)

Just observed that a Title is not necessary for posting(the post)


When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called GOD. (controversial,but I prefer speaking my mind rather than faking Im a believer)

I recently came across the most stupidest insanely thrown-in-your-face argument(scientific?!) that says GOD must exist.Its called the 'Watchmaker Analogy':
The watchmaker analogy, or watchmaker argument, is a teleological argument for the existence of God. By way of an analogy, the argument states that design implies a designer.

The watchmaker analogy consists of the comparison of some natural phenomenon to a watch. Typically, the analogy is presented as:
1. The complex inner workings of a watch necessitate an intelligent designer.
2. As with a watch, the complexity of X (a particular organ or organism, the structure of the solar system, life, the entire universe) necessitates a designer. (source:Wiki)


It really perplexes me how people do follow-up researches based on such lines of thought .Maybe it has an undercurrent of Great truth and elegance that is beyond my comprehension.
Besides all this, as an agnostic, its really gripping to read mythological stories purely from an entertainment point of view.

Let there be Light....

The time is running out...18 years have gone by,yet I have not learnt anything that might be new to human civilisation...I have not done anything that is original,that no human has ever done...I still have no idea what is going on. Why are we here? WHY Am I here? WHO am 'I' ? WHAT is 'HERE' ? The universe? What is the universe?... WHY is the universe? When I say the time is running out,what is TIME? Where did it all began ? WHY did it all began?What is 'began' altogether?What was there 'before' the beginning ? What was before 'before the begining' ?(sounds contradictory?..It is.)
I have,at best,anoter 60-70 years to make a difference.Otherwise mine will me just one of the zillion of stories of little earthlings ,who came,and disappeared after finite no. of years,without finding THE ANSWER.

Meanwhile,I guess I'll go watch a movie. ;)

To Kill A Mockingbird ...8/10

What do you call 2000 mockingbirds???
"Two Kilo Mockingbirds"(lol)
Ok.I agree it was a big big PJ.But dont make the mistake of relating the quality of the joke with the movie,because the movie more than just justified(pun intended) its #47 ranking on imdb.
I actually fell in love with the child actress in the movie ,Mary Badham.(*This is not a result of the acute shortage of girls in my life.Watch the movie,and then argue that she didnt deserve to be nominated for an Oscar*)....But,as unlucky as I can get with girls,the movie was made in 1962,and Mary Badham ,has attained a grandma's age.(LOL)She narrowly lost out on the Oscar,and she dint appear in any other movie for another 40 years,which is strange but respectable.As for the movie,it was not sentimental, thrilling, humourous, inspiring or anything like that.It was just a simple heartwarming movie,and the thing that amazes the most is how good a movie can get without losing its simplicity.
and by the way,it was my first Black and White English movie.

A true underdog story?

Check out the German Bundesliga and you're in for a surprise.Whos topping the league?Not the traditional Bayern Munich.nor Werder Bremen or Leverkusen.Nay,not the dark horses Hertha, Hamburg, Schalke or Dortmund either.
Right at the very top is a team that, up until a few months ago, hardly anyone in the country had ever heard of. It is a squad from a tiny village in Germany's south-west halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt, population 3,200.
The story began back in the early 1990’s . At that time, the club was nothing more than an amateur village team turning out in the eighth tier of the German football league system.The club reached the Regionalliga Sud (third tier) by basing their team on players developed through the club’s youth setup, and proceeded to attain respectable finishing positions in each of their first four seasons in the division.They finished 2nd in the third division in 06/07,and in the secnd division in 07/08.
It is a success story the likes of which Germany has never seen: Within just a few years, 1899 Hoffenheim has rocketed from regional league obscurity to its current status as one of the elite teams in the country. Football fans from all over Europe are now rooting for the club, attracted by its fairy tale rise up the table. A new book about the club has recently come out called "The Miracle of Hoffenheim," and the title's reference to Germany's dramatic 1954 World Cup victory -- known as the Miracle of Bern -- doesn't even feel overstated.
There are, of course, some detractors. As one might expect, the team's progress has been helped along by money -- a lot of money. Dietmar Hopp, a co-founder of the software giant SAP, has invested millions of euros in the team in recent years, allowing it to go on a shopping spree for players that could help it to the next level.
Still, comparing Hoffenheim to other clubs who have lucked into money -- such as Chelsea, which was purchased by Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich in 2003, or Manchester City, bought up by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi this year -- is off the mark. For one, rather than going after players the calibre of Robinho (brought in by Manchester City for €40 million) or spending hundreds of millions on the transfer market like Chelsea, Hoffenheim has gone for youth and potential.and previously unheard of players.Anyone heard of Demba Ba from Belgium,or Chinedu Obasi from Norway?
or Vedad Ibišević (pic,left), the Bosnian who they signed last season from a club named Alemannia Aachen(???!!! wtf) ,a player who has beaten the likes of Klose, Luca Toni, Ribery, Podolski and Schweinsteiger to the top of the scorer charts in the league.I am already a fan.
There is also another important difference: Dietmar Hopp actually comes from Hoffenheim, and once played on the team back when it was little more than the local village club. Now, Hopp owns 49 percent of the team, the maximum allowed under German league rules. And he is building a new stadium. The current village stadium, capacity 6,000, is much too small for a Bundesliga team, meaning Hoffenheim has thus far played its home games in nearby Mannheim. The new building, which will be finished early next year, will seat 10 times the population of Hoffenheim.

(Data taken from various football sites)

Time Pass

I have been reading stories of Greek Mytholgy,and I came across Bacchus(also called Dionysus),the god of wine(as many would recall from from 'Ode to the west wind' by Shelley).Now ,acc. to wiki,he is 'the inspirer of ritual madness', and the frenzy he induces is called, bakcheia.

Now I am wondering ,is this is the etymology and the origin of the famous word in our IIT lingo-"bakchodi" ? Nay,not probable.

Meanwhile,I finished 'The Kite Runner '.Totally amazing book.The way its written, especially the description of human emotions, is awe-inspiring.It provides a totally new dimension of thought and culture.Especially because the Afghan culture has never been portrayed in any book I read previously.The character buildup is strong,and the book is flawless-everything fits in.

The only thing that it lacked was self-discovery.No element was left unexplained,even those which could have been easily guessed by the readers.The writer connects the past and the present beautifully,and explains the connection ,though I felt it would have been better if the readers were left to figure out the connections.

and The Flashbacks.They totally capture your heart.The ending is great,and the book has been planned out well.Overall I would give it 8.5/10.

After reading a series of fantasy books,I was thinking how did I enjoy those non-fantasy novels?Now I know.I feel.

I also watched many movies in the past few days:Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,The Ghost Rider,Kung Fu Panda ,Crazy/Beautiful and WALL-E.

Watching WALL-E was another unique experience.Especially the subtleness of different elements in the movie.How,by only a few select words which the robots utter,we understand the whole depth of their emotions.The movie captured all the greatness of the Silent-Film era.The way it combines the element of Love,Artificial Intelligence and 'the future of mankind' ,is awesome.I loved the character of the The Cleaner Robot and the Cockroach(remember the study that says only they can survive a nuclear war? ).

A few (my favourite) excerpts from The Kite Runner:

“Salaam,” I said. “I’m sorry to be mozahem, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” “Salaam.” “Is General Sahib here today?” I said. My ears were burning. I couldn’t bring myself to look her in the eye. “He went that way,” she said. Pointed to her right. The bracelet slipped down to her elbow, silver against olive. “Will you tell him I stopped by to pay my respects?” I said. “I will.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Oh, and my name is Amir. In case you need to know. So you can tell him. That I stopped by. To... pay my respects.” “Yes.” I shifted on my feet, cleared my throat. “I’ll go now. Sorry to have disturbed you.” “Nay, you didn’t,” she said. “Oh. Good.” I tipped my head and gave her a half smile. “I’ll go now.” Hadn’t I already said that? “Khoda hãfez.” “Khoda hãfez.” I began to walk. Stopped and turned. I said it before I had a chance to lose my nerve: “Can I ask what you’re reading?” She blinked. I held my breath.

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I had this: that perhaps something, someone, somewhere, had decided to deny me fatherhood for the things I had done. Maybe this was my punishment, and perhaps justly so. It wasn’t meant to be, Khala Jamila had said. Or, maybe, it was meant not to be.

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My body was broken--just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later--but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed.

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And so it was that, about a week later, we crossed a strip of warm, black tarmac and I brought Hassan’s son from Afghanistan to America, lifting him from the certainty of turmoil and dropping him in a turmoil of uncertainty.
IT WOULD BE ERRONEOUS to say Sohrab was quiet. Quiet is peace. Tranquillity. Quiet is turning down the VOLUME knob on life. Silence is pushing the OFF button. Shutting it down. All of it. Sohrab’s silence wasn’t the self-imposed silence of those with convictions, of protesters who seek to speak their cause by not speaking at all. It was the silence of one who has taken cover in a dark place, curled up all the edges and tucked them under. He didn’t so much live with us as occupy space. And precious little of it.

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Why maggus are called Maggus

I feel that studying the way I studied(or most of us study) has trimmed my potential for creativity.I collide with the walls of facts,reason,logic , whenever my thoughts try to linger somewhere 'out of the box' .
Looking back,I can see the flaw in our education system.Endless mugging,learning facts without pondering on the background ,has left the innovative areas of our mind shattered.And I am not talking about mugging in the conventional sense.I mean the way of 'learning' promoted by our teachers uptil now.We are straightforward introduced to facts and discoveries and theorems ,and not encouraged to try and derive them on our own or, what might be even better- guess what all theorems would exist related to the given topic,based on our insight.
This seems impossible ,and I agree we are,at many stages, incapable of deriving theorems on our own- but such an exercise would help in building our understanding.
Some good teachers do tell the proofs and the derivations- but at no point of time we are encouraged to develop our own proof- or told alternate approaches- or explained why in particular instances some approach works ,and others dont. We are never told the background,the history,what led to the academicians to work towards that topic.
We are straightforward taught the applications-never has any teacher asked us to guess what the applications and the implications of a particular result or axiom or theorem might be.
To many all this would seem like an oppurtunity to put forward the common argument -"IITs are meant to produce engineers,not scientists".But what are engineers worth,if they lack innovation?What then,makes IITs,in particular,IIT faculty-different from any other college? We complain that we deserve to be a lot higher in world rankings.Why!?
Without an innovation based eductaion system,our world would be at a standstill.We would never progress towards newer horizons. Especially in an age where entertainment-based industry is flourishing and driving students away from research and science,towards money and fame.

Mathematical Beauty

Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty — a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show. The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as poetry.

- Bertrand Russell

Grades out...

Well it turned out that I missed a 10/10 in Maths,and ..well..nothing else matters...(sob sob)

MAL 115 :9
CYP 100 :9
CSL 101 :8 (Owe this to you pradeep)
CYL 110 :7
MEL 110 :7

Life in a Metro

As the Moon,Venus and Jupiter formed a beautiful celestial triangle in the night sky,I continued my suddenly-turned-insouciant life.Its not easy to believe that our first semester is already over--six months passed by in no time.
The week that went by was heavenly.No studies,two visits to Select City Walk,My first experience in a metro train,roaming around palika bazaar,playing baddy and tennis for hours ,till 2-3 am - and being with friends all this time.
Looking back at this semester,I am fully satisfied-and I have learnt a lot.The one thing I like most about IIT D is that the campus is always abuzz with some event or the other.There were all kinds of cultural and classical performances ,academic lectures and speeches,visits by eminent personalities(notable e.g. Bill Gates!) etc etc. and then there are those never-ending non comps and inter hostel comps.I'd definitely miss all these during the holidays.But then there are other things to lk forward to in Chandigrah- old friends,Christmas,and ...the grandest party(as ppl say) in Chandigarh- The SJOBA Winter Ball.

Just living it(life)

"Sometimes I get so weird
I even freak myself out
I laugh myself to sleep
It's my lullaby

To walk within the lines
Would make my life so boring
I want to know that I
Have been to the extreme

Is it enough to love?
Is it enough to breathe?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please.
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please."

These avril lavigne lyrics echo my being-ordinary-phobia.Infact I am so being-ordinary-phobic that I fear that I am being ordinary in being being-ordinary-phobic.
and.....OK.I'll just cut the crap and go on with whats happening in my life.(which also fits in the definition of crap,but still..)
I am on a movie watching spree right now.The list goes on like this(in the last 24 hours):The Transformers,War of the worlds,Harry Potter and the Sorcerers stone,Good Will Hunting.
This is how I described Transformers to one of my friends:
"it was cool
except the actress
who was 'hot' "
As for Harry potter,watching this movie for ,maybe 6th time ,gave me the the usual Harry Potter series-is-so-wonderful feeling.I personally feel myself to be very lucky to be alive and in my teens during the release of these 7 books.I first heard of these books in my class 7 BQC elementary quiz --"Who writes the Harry Potter series of books"? and a few months after that I had a sudden realisation(after the movie realease) that these books are very very popular and I was a fool not to have heard of them.From then on,I have grown alongwith Harry Potter.When I first read the first book,I was 13(bday 26 july)-and harry was 11 (bday 31 july).Then harry caught up with me in the next two books,which I read while I was 13.In the 4th book,he turned elder.Curiously though,the next two books were released during late June-early July,and I got them as presents for my birthdays.So he equalled my age in 5th,6th and 7th books.
Its a weird feeling that there arent going to be any new harry potter books,the one I cant describe with my limited vocabulary,but its like Shit-I-am-not-going-to-have-that-same-feeling-while-reading-a-new-released-HP book.

Cartoons-I love them!

Sitting in front of the desktop in a pleasant winter afternoon, sipping my favourite tea(nothing can match the tea made my mom),while listening to my favourite songs---can it get cozier than that?
Right now I finished watching 6 back to back episodes of Fox Television's Spiderman. It was one of the first cartoons I watched back in fifth grade (thats when dad decided he had enough of DD1 and it was time for cable tv). I still remember a morning about 8 years ago when I first watched this cartoon.It was 8am-9am saturday show,and I was getting late for school.My memory fails when I try to remember which episode it was,but I get a feeling it was "attack of the spider slayer".
It was cool,fifth grade.Besides Spiderman,there were many others which still remain permanently etched in my memory---Tintin,for example.I first watched it at 7 am in the morning(Flight 714).Then there was Robocop, Swatkats ,Captain Planet,Johnny Quest,Dinosaucers, and ScoobyDoo! I used to wake up at 5 am every morning to watch The new Scooby Doo movies(1 hour)-- and when my mom used to scold me,dad would say that she should respect how religious I am,thoroughly devoted to my cartoon.
and then there was Hiedi.Simply Amazing.I used to hurry back from school on saturdays to watch this one(1pm-2pm).Even my dad and sister liked it.

After I had watched each episode of Spiderman about 4 times,Fox Kids decided to air new cartoons during 6th grade----Ironman,Dungeons and Dragons,Batman,Silver Surfer,Fantastic Four,X-Men,and some others. The Silver Surfer story really used to touch me(it still does).Just imagine an 11 year old boy getting emotional because of the sacrifice Silver Surfer made for his planet! Though I liked the concept and story line of X-Men,it got pretty confusing because the episodes were not shown in continuity.and it was irritating watching D&D because those guys always got very close to getting out of that world.(Those familiar with the story would understand).It was the same feeling which restrained me from watching Silvestre and Tweety,and why I still not like Tom and Jerry.I mean,come on! Let the cat eat its food for once.I used to watch a few episodes,firmly on the cat's side,but then switch off my TV in anger and disgust.
and how ironic it was that my friends named me "pussy cat" back then.(though it was for an entirely different reason-a corruption of piyush to push to pushy to pussy). and how ironic is it that my current nickname is puppy or dog!
Then there was the advent of a totally new genre of cartoons in 7th-anime-when the CT went through a changeover. G.I.JOE,Speed Racer and the awesome Toonami animes-Cardcaptors and Dragon Ball Z.gosh! Dragon Ball Z was too great to be a human creation.( not an overstatement) The concept,storyline,characters . I used to wake up till late midnight for the 12 am - 1 am back to back episodes.When the first saga was over(I dint know there were more),I thought shit,the story is over-it was amazing.But then the next saga started,and whoa ,it was even more gripping.It was more than disappointing when the CT stopped the show in the middle of the storyline.
There were many good shows after that,a new improved version of XMen, Justice League,another Spiderman(though not even close to the Fox Kids one),and Jackie Chan adventures.
After the CT went berserk and stopped all these shows,I turned to Disney.
Now,after 2 years of TVlessness during 11th and 12th,I have turned back to reliving those moments of 5th and 6th on the internet.It feels great.I digged out new episodes of Spiderman,and believe me or not,Dragon Ball Z was the one who helped me get over 'She who must not be named'.(Laugh out loud)
Meanwhile,I am desperately searching for English episodes of Heidi.

Back Home

Its been a long long one and a half month.Rendezvous, Socials, Informals, Minors, all those quizzes, Football matches, Minor 2 etc etc.
Sunday was our last exam. and it marked the end of something which I truly enjoy-night-outs.
Studying, dicusssing stuff like god, aliens, other dimensions , making fun of other batchmates ,those visits to nescafe ,hanging out in the institute during the supposedly odd hours -- all this culminates into an experience found nowhere else. and when the exam gets over,your friends come to you smiling and seemingly very happy say "Aaj to phut gayee yaar".
As for my exams,they went normal,below average I would say.But I have learnt how to "not worry" about the results,and just enjoy life.
Meanwhile, tarasha has become the latest of my friends to "try" to make me active on some social networking site
pretty.tash:
what happened to the old piyush?
cut the crap and be active on facebook and orkut
and be a normal human once again

whoa!
anyways,for now, I am just relieved to be back home.

An Inspiring story

20 years back on September 6,1986 when five terrorists hijacked the US bound Pan Am Flight-73 flight at Karachi airport, and took control of the aircraft. One of the worst hijacks in aviation history it claimed 20 lives; this was the largest toll in a hijack until 9/11. The remaining 375 passengers and crewmembers would not have survived, if the airhostess Neerja Bhanot, was not there.

Neerja Bhanot identified herself as one of the airhostess, who was held at gunpoint and announced that the place had been hijacked. Unfortunately, the three-member cockpit crew of pilot, co-pilot and the flight engineer abandoned the aircraft, leaving 400 passengers and a 13-member cabin crew in the hands of brutal, thoughtless terrorists. Since Neerja was the cabin crew leader, she took over command. Neerja requested the passengers to be calm and obey the hijackers. She served coffee and sandwiches and her charming smile eased the tide of fear that had swept across their faces.

The leaders of the hijack identified himself as Mustaga. He ordered Neerja to collect the passports of all the passengers. Later she realized that the Americans were the main target of the terrorists and in a brilliant move she discreetly collected all the American passports and hid them. There couldn’t have been a better way to confuse the terrorists. By 9.pm when the auxiliary power unit failed entirely and the aircraft was plunged into darkness. Fearing an imminent raid by commandos, the hijackers shouted now is the holy war!! They fired their AK47, till they exhausted the bullets. By then Neerja had opened an emergency exit and a pan Am mechanic opened another. She used all her strength to guide and push people down the chute and while shielding three children; she absorbed the onslaught of bullets into her own body.

She would have escaped by the emergency exit first, but the angelic women gave up her life to save the innocents like a mother. After spent the bullets, and try to escape, the Mustafa and others captured by commandos and sentenced to life by a UA court. Neerja was brave in life, brave in death. The only stewardess, to have commanded an aircraft and held the hijackers at bay, was an Indian.

Neerja Bhanot was born on September 7, 1963, in Chandigarh. She did her early schooling at the local Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School. When the family moved to Bombay, she continued her studies at Bombay Scottish and then graduated from St. Xavier’s College. Neerja made a wonderful model as well as an airhostess. For her brave act India awarded her the Ashoka Chakra (Neerja is the first and only woman recipient of the this India’s highest civilian award for bravery). She was also awarded the "Tagme-e-Insaniyat" (Pakistan), the flight Safety Foundation Award and the Medal of Heroism of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (U.S.A.). Neerja's family put her insurance money in a trust, 'Neerja Bhanot Pan Am Trust’, to which Pan Am also contributed an equal amount. Every year, this trust honors airline crew that act beyond the call of duty and Indian women who show exemplary courage as well as compassion for their fellow humans. Neerja died at the age of 22 just 2 days shy of her 23rd birthday.

Interactions with Professors at IIT-D uptill now

Chemistry Lab
Professor(addressing the students,in what most people would describe as a whisper):
Today whe hav ......practical and all ohf you.....
A student:sir,we cant hear
Professor:What I am sayn.........something which no one was able to hear
Another student: Sir please talk a little loudly
Professor:People who dont want to,wont be able to listen.Its an attitude problem.Students these days...something something...I am talking loud enough for anyone...(whatever he said after that is known only to him)

Maths class MAN100:

Students gather in the classroom,waiting for someone looking like a typical geek professor to come and try to teach us something.
Half an hour later
Me:Sir,we all have gathered for our class,but theres no one there as yet.Could you please tell us who would teach us and how long should we wait.
Some Maths Prof:Am I supposed to take that course?
Me: I dont know,sir
Maths Prof:Well then,why have you come to me,go to your course advisers,or the HOD and ask them.I am only concerned with my courses.

5 mins later

HOD:Well even I dont know whos supposed to take your class.Go to the course advisors,son.
2 mins later
Course advisor 1's door is locked.
Course advisor 2 gone for lunch.
Course advisor 3 is doing some stuff on the computer.Enter RP.
Dr.Amitabh Tripathi(course adviser 3):Yes?
RP:Sir,we had a class...blah blah blah ..and no one is there.
Tripathi:so??what can I do for you?
RP:Sir,you are my course adviser.
Tripathi:So what?
RP(Dumb blank face)
Tripathi: Go and ask someone else.I am not responsible for this course.

Computer lab:

Teacher:Well,if you think you understood everything today,and got the commands of Linux ,you can go.
Me:Maam,may I leave?
Teacher:What! OK,So you got everthing right today?show me
Me:Ok maam
Teacher:Do this...do that and blah blah
I show every command,even the ones not taught.
Teacher:Ok good.Now you should just go to help directory and read more about these commands.
Me: !!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 mins later

Me: Maam,I used the command to create a new file named "Bloody boring practical",but instead the comp created 3 new files named Bloody,Boring and Practical.
Teacher(shocked at the audacity):Well,thats because you put spaces b/w the three words.You scan try underscore.
Me:Thank you,maam.May i leave now???
Teacher:no,just keep practicing.
2 mins later theres a file named Bloody_Boring_Practical in the directory.
After 5 mins:
Teacher:Hey! You know playing games are not allowed in this lab.(It was minesweeper)
Me:Sorry maam.May I leave now ,maam.
Teacher(with a sigh):ok go.


Chemistry Class:

5 mins into the class,a knock on the door,which was locked by prof.
Prof Kurur:Hey,You are late.Enter through the back door.
(Then addressing to the class)
"From now on every student who is late will enter through the back door,so I can know who is late,and I dont get disturbed by someone entering through the front door."

After 2 mins that student comes through the back door.
Prof Kurur:Now thats the differenece b/w a theorist ,and an experimantalist.Some scientists just put the theory,and then try to verify or test it.The experimantalists,on the other hand,first see the results,then come up with a theory,to explain those results.Your friend there did the experiment.He is the one more knowledgable than you now.You,who all just sat here,and just thought about the consequences of coming late.
Me:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Being a Facha...part 3

No. of Classes got late for :3
No. of non-males talked to :2
Girls shortlisted :0!
No of pens lost:3-4

The first week of classes will be over today,and I have had many weird experiences already.Example: No matter how hard you try --- like sitting besides the likes of abhinav,archit and anupam,havin a good 10 hours of sleep before coming to class,having a full 20 mins shower,coming by rickshaw etc. etc.----you are bound to fall asleep in CSL 101 class.That cozy AC room and the boring course,combined with Prof Sen's monotonous tone, nullify the effect of all your preparations.
To talk about other courses,I'd like to reaffirm that Im probably the dumbest fresher.Losing my watch,mobile,bag etc etc.Well the only other thing left to do,which I duly completed,was attending the wrong lecture!That happened on Monday.
I am sitting here right now because of an announcement that we dont have a mechanical class today,which I forgot,and...walked into an empty classroom.So I had nothing else to do and I stormed right into the CSC to blog and propound my myriad foolish acts.
OK.Enough with self-critisicm.
I made a new friend in my branch--her name is Preeti.But as it turned out,it was not a smart move.Because all my floormates starting connecting me with her,which was the most false(or falsest,whatever the word is) allegation I ever got.Especially RP,usne pareshaan kar diya meri kheench kheench ke (whatever that means).Maybe he just doesnt like the fact that I already have the number of two girls in the campus while he has none.Another thing I'd like to mention is that I have made a promise(to myself)that I wont make a gf in the first year.Thats why I emptied my shortlist.
I played chess yesterday,where,archit(although I dint play with him) reinforced the fact that he is a big show-off.I played 2 matches,winning one and got hammmered by a CS guy in the other. So my career record stands at 5-3-1.
I'll take a leave now,and write whenever something interesting happens,as is bound to because the weekend is up next.

Things not to do at IIT-D

1.Attend the wrong lecture
2.Forget taking your towel while going for a bath
3.Ask your 6 foot tall,broad rajput friend to wash your undergarments
4.Sit 3 hours in the libary doing sums like:
prove a*0=0

solution:
a*0 = a*(0+0) = a*o+a*0
adding 0 on both sides
a*0+ 0 = a*0+a*0+0
hence a*0 + 0 = a*0 + a*0
which gives us a*0=0
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(courtesy:Elementary Calculus by Kenneth A. Ross)

Being a Facha...part 2

Right now its the second day of my classes,and I just have another half hour before the start of my next class.
Yesterday we had 2 lectures,one of computer science and the other of quantum chemistry.The latter one was surprisingly interesting,and the fact that it was taught by the coolest professor I ever saw, helped.
I improved my chess record at IIT,winning 3 consecutive games against 2 opponents.It currently stands at 4-2-1(win-loss-draw),but that hides the true picture,because I trying to avoid playing with pradeep,who has already beaten me in the only match we played.It would be safe to say that the mosquito menace has reduced,maybe because of my new weapon-- The Tablefan.
I also issued Physical Chemistry by Peter Atkins from the library,and had an interesting experience during that,which you will find at the bottom of this post.
I used to write the section of THINGS TO DO in the end of the post,but now there are suddenly so much to do,that it would take me more time to write about it than actually do it.So,I thought of a new section,which is,perhaps, inspired by Five Point Someone.

Things not to do at IIT

1.Drop you cellphone in the hostel garden
2.Forget your watch in a friend's room
3.Get your bag accidently exchanged with someone else's at the library counter
4.Put your things in that stranger's bag
5.When you give the bag back to its owner,forget your keys while taking your things out of that bag
6.Even if you have to get the bag exchanged,do it with some hot girl you want to befriend,not with an Mtech 1st year auntie

Being a Facha..part 1

Mosquitoes killed:4-5(one is still in my book struggling b/w life and death)
Mosquito bites:11-12 (war is on!)
Girls shortlisted:6
No. of rooms slept in in last 2 days:4
B'day wishes from outside campus:7
Ppl whos lives are in danger for forgetting my b'day:3

Well it was my first week in what aman sarcastically desribes as "the premier insitute of india". and theres too much to tell.It was more interesting than my last 3 months put together.What a contrast it has been---- From that what seemed like an year of solitude to a whole new world altogether.Hundreds and thousands of new faces,loads of new friends,new places to explore,new thrills to experience,new professors to admire,new classes to sleep in, and a whole new set of girls to chase.
Let me start by introducing my roommates.The room that defines and reaffirms India's status of cultural unity.Welcome on board my blog --Pradeep George Mathias,the guy who doesnt know hindi and Raghvendra Pratap Singh,the Rajput from UP.
Pradeep is from Bangalore and his dad is a professor in IISc,Bangalore.He is supposed to represent India in The International Informatics Olympiad in Egypt next month.He doesnt speak hindi,and that, as you might guess,is a lot of fun.He is a Christian,and pretty studious and most importantly,modest.He might help me in my quest to improve my english,and maybe my gpa too,if I ever get out of track.
If ever someone had to choose a roommate very different from pradeep,and good in qualities that he lacked,he would choose Mr. Raghvendra Pratap Singh a.k.a RP or Raghu.He is strogly built guy,and the fact that he is a rajput is no contradiction.He is VERY fond of girls,got a good sense of humour(especially in pulling legs,if that makes a sense),has his headphones on all the time and has almost all the attributes of organisms called hunk in common slang.He was the one who taught me how to use the washing machine,and he is the only guy I know jo sid ki baja sakta hai without getting a reaction from him.
As of now,I have abandoned all plans I had of changing my room before coming here.
Yesterday I had my Intro with the seniors,and they made me aware of an all new designation I had. I am a "facha" a term derived from FRESHER BACHA.I am also a "matka",derived from MTech.And as a resident of Hostel Jwalamukhi I am an IC,a term which uptill a few years back described us as Instiute Champions,but,quiet expectedly,changed to INSTITUTE CHUTIYA.
to be continued...

All quiet on the Sports Front

It seems like ages ago when i last watched EPL-Thanks to two years of study without TV .The season starts in august- and by then i'll be in my college,where I suppose i'll hardly get time to watch news or just scores,let alone a full 90 mins match.Euro came and went in no time,and to be honest, it wasnt that interesting. Wimbledon was great and did quench my thirst a bit.Formula One has been a disappointment,unless Sutil or Fisichella quell their love for an early bath and decide to stay on the track for a little longer.As for cricket, the little entertainment the One-day format provided is further reduced,thanks to a certain event named IPL.Its not difficult to guess what will happen to the test cricket,if the recent drawn test match b/w SA and ENG is anything to go by.
I was just thinking that Hockey is so dour that it doesnt even deserve a mention here,but I just saw Indians hitting Paks with Hockey sticks in a match-----atleast the guys are clever enough to acknowledge that following the phrase "beating ur opponents" literally is way more appealing to the public.

"Welcome to England, if anyone is out of form or hasn't played in a while, don't worry, we've done everything we can to make sure you get into form as soon as possible."
Andrew Caddick's tongue-in-cheek response to the pitch in Taunton where the South African batsmen made merry in their tour opener


As for real life(I mean outside TV),today it felt particularly pleasant playing football.I was playing ok,and then I scored a hat trick inside two mins,surely have not done that before.and the first goal was from a header,the other two were one-on one counter attacks.added a fourth later on,again on the counter attack.
Well I went to play after promising mom that it would be the last time before I go to college,but I bet i wont be able to keep it by tomorrow.

"I was drinking my cup of tea and spat it out. We were watching live and then all ran into the dressing-room to watch it on the telly because we were not actually sure we'd just seen that."
Stuart Broad on the the reaction to Kevin Pietersen's switch-hit

The Beginning

well...here i go.hello.for years i have been thinking of making my own little diary.but for some reason or the other i hesitated.i took the initiative many times,but i always wrote not for myself,but for others.like i wud take care how it wud look if someone else reads it.
Now i've decided these posts are gonna be for me,and i will be fully honest.I cant just spend the golden teenage years of my life without putting it in writing.