Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Snapshots of reality

Finally have reached the IIM Indore campus.

Too many things have been written about the rigour, the life etc at the IIMs etc. I'll just blog some not-so-routine ones.

My travel: I never have travelled continously for 12 hour types. So the joureny was absolutely tiresome. Add to that the fact that people just don't give a damn to reservations in these areas. Our supposedly 'reserved' compartment accomodated close to 13 instead of the usual 8. I'm hearing of late that such things are normal - as I found out, the hard way, once the train crossed the AP border. People get in without tickets, sit somewhere - I mean, anywhere - and get out. As simple as that. So much for freedom!

The Campus and the city: The campus looks real good. The scenery is idyllic - as you might expect to see from any hilltop. Indore, the city, is ok types. I've cruised through many important roads, and all I see is underdevelopment looming large. It, being the largest city in MP, is nowhere compared to the major South Indian cities. The city is awfully dirty at places. But then, I'm sure there would be good places too. :) Weather is ok types.

The hostel rooms: Since we are the first occupants in some of the rooms, they look really clean et good. They are spacious and rich - contains a big desk, furnished almirahs, bed, mattress (brand new ones!), designer lamps (trust me!), even a netlon and a curtain. Add to that the automatic washing machines, life should be cool as far as the stay is concerned.

Morning drills: We are supposed to undergo a mandatory Physical education and Stress Mgmt (read Yoga) course during the first term. It goes for about 2 odd hours (say 5.55 am to 8.20). The PE involves jogging and other exercises. Some of it is really taxing - physically, that is. Yoga is mixed types - some real tough ones making you whine out loud, and some cool relaxing ones. I guess this is some real good thing happening, due to the simple fact that left un-mandated, none of us are going to venture into these things ever in life. ;-)

Supposed to have the registration tomorrow. Inaugration is on Friday, and the Orientation is on Saturday. Classes start on Monday. Waiting to see whats in store. :)

Thats it for now.

Friday, June 18, 2004

Snoozing my way off

Boy! I'm having a real tuf time whiling away free time.

I wonder how I stayed during my school/college holidays. I guess I had a lot of friends in my town to boot. But now, I slowly am becoming a died-in-the-wool cheapstake sleeping all the way (8 hrs daily) to glory!

Here is a typical day of mine like:

Exercising regularly - although I have no intention of becoming a wrestler or the like.

Eating well - ofcourse :)

Reading:

In the past 4 days, I've completed
1) Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach: a supposed-to-be inspirational book that was given to me during my farewell. Well, these kinda books make a good and quick read, but doesn't inflict any damage on my routine. Wonder why.
2) Talking straight - Lee Iacocca: I know, I know, am reading this book so late. A nice book..a kinda must read. I'm a serious Iacocca fan.
3) The Joy of work - Dilbert: Needless to say, a real funny read. Wicked but funny, as mentioned in the paperback.
4) Fiesta (The Sun also rises) - Ernest Hemingway: Hmm, was a disappointment from Hemingway. I enjoyed some vintage Hemingway conversations peppered in the book, but then, romance novellas are never my cuppa tea. I'm feeling a bit snotty reading the book.
5) Started 1984 - George Orwell. Again, I'm late in taking this book.

Euro 2004 ofcourse. My favorites are Italy and France. Italy has been quite disappointing till now. Yesterdays match was a shocker.

Occasional bike rides, music, temple visits (serious!) and other newspapers, books fill my day.

I wonder what'll happen to me if I continue this routine. I really want something more interesting to do.

Friday, June 11, 2004

Resigned today

Today was my last day in Oracle.

Just 6 days short of completing 2 years here. I would've loved to complete atleast 2 years plus atleast 1 minute here, but I don't have the luxury of time.

I was really busy (??!!) these two days. Yesterday, I had the 'final' farewell words from all my teammates. Everybody was discussing the positive points I have. Most of them said I don't have negatives!!! To be honest, it was a bit like a dream to hear all that. I don't think I deserve all that [No humility this!]. As Iacoocca said in his book: I would really love to meet the person I'm supposed to be, as per the image I've created. :grin:

I also had a short farewell party from my iOpener [internal e-zine] team mates and was 'benizened' with some gifts from some of my very close friends.

Today, it was more like cleaning up my system, my mails, my desk stuff like that. For a record, my system was something like: A 17inch LCD, P4 2 GHz, 1 GB Ram, 40GB HDD, one of India's fastest web connections etc. fitted with RH Linux v9 as the primary OS. It worked like a breeze. [I guess I would love to reminesce about this in the future if I happen to read this :grin again: ]

I also went to MTR, one of the most famous restaurants in Bangalore. The meal costed 75 bucks, but there was some 15 items. I ate till my throat. Everything was nice except for Sambar and Rasam. [Bangy restaurants always add sugar in Sambars and Rasams, which I hate]. Then I sent a mail to everyone, for which most of them replied that my leaving was a surprise, which in turn was a surprise to me.

Neway, nice way to leave the company.

P.S: I still haven't recorded some of the 'goodie' feedbacks I received. Will do it soon. :grin for 3rd time:

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

Last minute moil

Last four days in my company. I was expecting myself to be a nostalgic. But alas, feelings always evade me. I'm only feeling great.

The past two weeks were really easy-go-jolly. I used to start work somewhere around 4 pm or 6 pm and would be done very soon. For the most part, I was busy using hard-core technology (for starters, I'm referring to Y!M), visiting PG, my blog building, hazaar websites etc. But things have really turned turtle this week. I have a 'to do' list that's lengthier than Amazon! I have to look at last minute transitions, some high tensile work related issues etc.

People say getting into a company is tough. Trust me, going out is equally tough. I have to get about 20 to 30 signatures from all over the place, just like what we did in college, for proving that I've been good so far in the company. Fortunately, I really have been good.

I have to: cut 10 more CDs, service my bike, transfer things to native, pack things, bank accounts, shopping... Owe! So many things to do, and so less time. Why is it alwayz like this?

Thursday, June 03, 2004

Did you know? - Amazing facts!

I have a predilection to learn interesting and abnormal sounding facts for which I keep visiting interesting websites. Here is a compilation of some of what I found.

I achieved a dual purpose in recording these - 1) I'm using it for my blog :) and 2) I, as an editorial team member in my company's internal e-zine, used it in this month's edition of the e-zine. Double purpose!


Ruminate this!
We are about 1/4 inch taller whilst sleeping at night than in the day.

The truth about transportation
According to the studies based on transportation based deaths, accidents etc, bicycle is the most dangerous form of transport, and lifts are the safest ones. This is incredible, isn't it?

A tall order
Some species of Bamboo grow at a rate of 3 feet everyday. No!, they don't take Horlicks or Complan. :)

The natural missile
The fastest speed with which a drop of rain can hit us is around 30 kmph. If we are driving oblique to the direction of rainfall, the relative speed of rain makes it so powerful that it could really hurt us!

The Dalmation story
'101 Dalmations' was a pleasant movie to watch. But the life of Dalmations is a different story. 30% of Dalmations die of heart problems due to in-breeding (breeding within themselves). A wrong choice for a pleasant movie!

The snooze race
Koalas, on an average, sleep for 22 hours a day, 2 hours more that the sloth. Now, this is some competition to people who love slumber.

A journey to the centre of the earth
Grey whales of the Arctic travel 12,500 miles every year to Mexico, and then return back to the Arctic. Truly intrepid explorers these!

Escape velocity
This is a sitter for Physics enthusiasts. To escape the Earth's gravity a rocket needs to travel at 7 miles a second. Anything less, it can't go out of earth's atmosphere. As a rule, all rockets have to be faster than this.

A dry life
The driest inhabited place in the world is Aswan, Egypt where the annual average rainfall is 0.02 inches. I'm searching for a better term than drought - please let me know if you know one.

The Black Death
In the 14th century the Black Death killed 75,000,000 people. It was carried by fleas on the black rat. I suspect this has something to do with the origin of Zemmiphobia.

The whiff power
A dog's sense of smell is 1,000 times more sensitive than a human's. No wonder they are used to trace felons.

The not-so-mellifluous 'mellitus' problem
Diabetes Mellitus strikes 1 out of every 16 people.

The indefatigable
Camels can travel in scorching desert heat without water for 17 days.

A tribute to the creator
When Alexander Graham Bell expired, the entire telephone system in the US was shut down for a minute. A silent farewell.

The Utopia
Utopia, which is a word used almost everyday, is actually a large, smooth lying area in Mars. This certainly doesn't sound Utopian, does it?

Human Power
By the year 2010, a quarter of all the plants in the world are threatened to be extinct. The primary reason - needless to say: man, and the harmful byproducts that are slowly making earth as inhospitable as the other planets.

Courtesy: http://www.firstscience.com

Wednesday, June 02, 2004

D-Day : 60th anniversary - A tribute

June 6, 1944. Powers shifted. Justice saw a gleam of hope. The Second World War took a massive U turn. The Germans were rendered crippled. A sluice to a brave new world of freedom was opened. The world was no more the same after the day.

History is interesting. The world has seen an astronomical number of battles from eons ago. But no battle came close to World War II. The war for the first time saw new arrays of artillery, sophisticated battle machines, guns, night vision equipments, armour, hell unleashing tanks, radars, assault planes and the worst of all - the nuclear technology. This article is to remind us all of the D-Day, arguably one of the most important volte-faces the world has ever witnessed.

June 6 1944 was when the Axis of Evil - Germans, Italians and Japanese - were ruling the most of Europe, parts of Africa, Asia and South America. All hell was breaking loose. Most of the land belonging to the Allies was in the hands of Germans - which included France; parts of UK, Scandinavia, Asia and Allies controlled Africa. And in all the captured lands, some things were common - hunger, ill treatment, massacre, persecution, slaughter, injustice, famine, joblessness and disease. This just had to end. Otherwise, the world would have soon become a hell in itself. All the German occupied territories were heavily fortified, and frontline terror tanks - the invincible Panzers - were manning all the important landing points.

Fortunately, America and Canada was left healthy, and a part of UK was still doing business. The only way out for these Allies was to infiltrate the enemy territory at some point and launch a massive offensive. This had to be in the west since the Germans were already having a hard time with the Russians in the east. 'Operation Overlord' was launched. The Allies decided to launch an offensive like never before on five heavily fortified beaches in France. The operation involved deliberate disinformation, mock offensives at other places to distract the enemy, simultaneous usage of air and paratrooper powers, and a superior game play.

A part of this operation has been captured very well in the SS's masterpiece 'Saving Private Ryan'. This movie shows the fiercest fighting sequence that happened in the Omaha beach in Normandy, France. The other 4 beaches were captured with relative ease. Soon after the Allies infiltrated Normandy, France was freed. The occupation then moved towards Germany, and culminated when Hitler along with his lackeys committed suicide in his own bunker. The world was never the same after June 9, 1944.

A High five to the brave souls who laid down their lives to save the earth from evil.