Class of 2012

Right now, it's tempting to try to sum up the last four years but I've already done that here. 

Having survived eight semesters, exams, attendance, the heat, the travel, the submissions and more importantly, the mosquitoes, I think we should be proud that we all made it to the end in one piece. There were things in the college that irritated me. Perhaps, they were the challenges thrown at me to see if I could come through fire-proof. I made friends. Like, friends for life. I learnt some valuable lessons. Call them, lessons for life. 

Looking back, I wouldn't want to change one bit of what happened. I think, I actually liked it. Maybe, I loved it too but it wasn't easy. It wasn't easy to read those e-books, it was never easy to take notes, it was never easy to travel for nearly three hours everyday and sometimes taking the wrong buses, and it was never easy to look at your GPA every semester end. 

We struggled, endured, reveled and finally emerged. Truly, the tassel was worth the hassle! 

Dated 28.03.2013 at Anna University Grounds. 

For once the sun was outshone, not just any sun but the "Chennai Sun". Standing below were 1000s of students in their bright yellow cloaks challenging the sun's brightness. Why would our college make us wear these shiny yellow cloaks? Remember how our Science teachers once taught us how yellow reflects light while black absorbs it, perhaps, this was it. Or was it our way of saying,"Bring on the IPL!"? Whatever be it, yellow it was. We moaned about it initially but later it was our robe of pride. 

Relived college moments #1 

Hugs, screams, smiles and clicks. Making fun of each other without having second thoughts of how it might hurt the other person, trying to find out how leaving Chennai had changed a few, how people had grown fat, thin, tall and short. Some were getting married, some were changing companies, some were going abroad. Everyone had grown up and yet we were talking "God promise" and "family promise". You could be care-free, indecent and undisciplined because it was this crazy bunch that taught you all this in the last four years, after all. 

Relived college moments #2 

A couple of juniors turn up with a "Hi senior!" This senior-junior relationship that was unique to our college will stay close to our hearts forever. Put us in a crowd and ask us to spot our college juniors and we would do it hands down because we were taught to say, "Senior!" 

Relived college moments #3 

We were asked to enter the grounds for the ceremony at 4 P.M. Dude, but we had to take pics, capture moments and make up for all the lost talks. And around 4.40, we hear the announcement, "Closing gates 2 and 3." Everybody rushed in just when the gates were half closed. No, we saw it half open. For four years, we ran to our lectures just in time to beg for attendance. And we continued, yesterday as well. 

Relived college moments #4 

The ceremony begins and there were musical chairs being played around in order to make up for the pics that were not taken outside the gate in the last two hours. And a staff interrupts and shouts, "Where is your mannerism? Still behaving like students." And a friend says,"Graduation vandum thittu vangiachu. Ippo thaan full satisfaction." (We've come for our graduation and are being shouted. There is this full satisfaction only now.) 

Relived college moments #5 

The chief guests arrive. Their speeches begin. I can randomly point out to someone who was in the ground and prove it to you that they have no clue what the chief guest was saying. Remember the sleepy lecture hours where the first benchers alone took notes? Pretty much like that. 

Relived college moments #6 

The toppers were sitting right up there, in the front. A handful of them, all alone. We pitied them. They weren't having the fun that we were having sitting at the back. This is how we saw them for the last four years, didn't we? And this is how we justified why topping was never a good idea. 

Relived college moments #7 

After the ceremony, we quickly regrouped to take a class photo. Much like the good old days where grouping for college tours or late submissions was never a problem with my class. 

And I officially declare you all "Graduates!" marked the end of a ceremony which was all about the reunion than about the graduation. When did all this happen? The ever-busy canteen, the overly-crowded xerox shops during exams, walking on the road and completing records, the group studies, the random drawings and sudokus during lectures, the IVs, projects, the dark and sweaty hangars a.k.a examination halls, the non-stop stories... Days of no pressures and no responsibilities. I remember all of this like it happened yesterday and suddenly they say, I am 'Jenifer Sam, B.Tech'. 

One day, I will tell my kids that I once went to college and had FUN. And then, show them this picture:

 Class of 2012, you make an unmissable chapter in the book of my life. Thank you!

Outbound: The corporate version of college tours.

A mail knocked on my inbox inviting three teams from the company to spend a couple of nights(20 and 21st of the month) in Coorg. 

"I shouldn't go. I hardly know anyone." "Coorg isn't a great place anyway. Chuck it!" 

After overcoming all these thoughts that clouded my mind and a forceful push from the friends, I finally decided to enter my name in the Excel sheet.

The company offered us a pretty good deal. 

1. Spend two days in mansion-like rooms. (Comparison being done with the match-box sized rooms in my PG.)

2. Hog unlimited food. One plate of entrée+main course followed by one and half plates of desserts was the order of the day. (Of the night too!)

3. Don't spend a penny from your pocket.

4. Two days of 'work from home Coorg'. This meant that the compensation working that had to be done on a Saturday for the Bharat Bandh on Thursday could be given a miss. 

The deal was too hard to resist.

We decided to leave Bangalore on Wednesday night before the bandh could take control of the city. Choosing to occupy the last seats in the bus for the night journey to Coorg was the weirdest decision we could have made. Sleepless night and body aches the next morning were the obviously visible results.

Entering the alloted room and meeting two complete strangers with whom you have to share your room for the next two days is certainly not a great way to begin the day. The morning was spent in trying to catch up on lost sleep and rushing to the breakfast area at 10.20 am because we were told that breakfast closed by 10.30. The rest of the day was mostly spent on trying to learn about coffee plantations, sleep, some indoor games, sleep, taking pics, sleep, exploring the resort, sleep, badminton, sleep and more sleep. Amidst all this, we just ensured we were on time for lunch to hog some yummy food. Spa and the pool were also other options for a few. 

That evening was eagerly awaited by most people because it was the DJ night. You could suddenly see a few girls change their outfits(they called it 'freshen up') and get ready to hit the dance floor. Deafening volumes and flashing lights. Most seemed to love it. If you could shake your body or swirl your glass or bang your head, you could take center stage. Personally, the best option for me was to have dinner and hit the bed early and that's exactly what I did.

The day that followed was awaited with a lot of enthusiasm as a trainer had arrived and had raised our levels of expectations by giving us a sneak peak into what was in store for us for the rest of the day. Seven teams were formed, each having a blend of varied experienced people from different scrum teams. Each team was awarded points for their diversity. Teams called themselves Mafia, The Invincible, Expendables, Storm Troopers, Dark Knights, Bandla Express and Fantastic 12. The games that were played slowly gathered momentum and everybody pitched in for their teams to ensure they scored maximum points. Some bit of googling (I know, it did help! ;) ) and some internal dealings with other teams came in handy to push up the scores. 

The fun quotient shot up when all teams were asked to build their own catapults with the given materials. You could see the technically inclined workaholics of various teams talking about having a design document and even performing regression testing on the built catapult. Pah! Celebrating when the other teams' catapults failed to deliver and cheering aloud when your team's catapult magically worked was a treat to watch.

At the end of the day, lessons were learnt and friends were made. Despite the trainer's attempt to be nice and say that the whole of SAP had won, let's just accept that the Dark Knights won. (Yay we! Yea, that's my team. Why else will I give it a special mention?!).

The day drew to a close with camp fire where the guy with the guitar was tortured to sing and the rest of us were also almost tortured to listen to him. Some of them went "super" high. Tired, drained out physically and mentally, some of us hit the bed immediately while a few continued in the merriment late into the night.

The next morning, we packed and left the place. Upon reaching home, it felt awesome to just have a shower in my own bathroom after having had showers in the freakiest bathrooms that my eyes had ever witnessed. A special mention of the bathrooms in the resort that had glass walls and were roofless. Off-the-wall experience! 

At the dawn of this trip, everybody around me seemed to be a stranger but as we returned, it did seem like we were all in familiar land. This Monday when I went to work, suddenly it felt like I knew most of them in the coffee corner and in my block. More smiles and greetings were exchanged. If the aim of this outbound was to achieve just this- knowing each other, then it certainly did not fail to fulfill my expectations. It was worth the two days spent. Afterall!

As strangers we met, as friends we parted.

Because there was 08.08.08..

Because there was an 08.08.08, four years later, a farewell speech just had to be there.

To 13.07.2008, because an 08.08.08 was on its way.

To the college, because you gave me a recognition.

To the road(s) of MIT, because dreams were birthed and friendship bonds were made stronger.

To the administration, because you made me realize that it is not a fair world all the time.

To the department, because I can't imagine myself sitting in front of anything but a computer in the field of engineering.

To the numerous projects done, because we are now proven last minute workers.

To fyp (final year project, as they call it), because you gave me those Calvin moments.

To the exams, because my writing skills just kept getting better.

To group studies, because I owe you all my marks.

To CEG, because your question papers were easier to answer than ours.

To the grades, because you taught me not to really care.

To placements, because I have a pay check today.

To facebook and twitter, because we mastered the art of wasting time.

To the labs, because we love our Gravity Master and Type Racer.

To the lectures, because we improved our drawing skills and got crazy over Sudokus.

To the prayer cell, because you gave me a reason to come to college.

To mitra/quill/csmit for giving me an opportunity to do what I love doing- write!

To the cultural fests, because you gave me an extra holiday.

To the travel from home to college and back, because you taught me to survive the Chennai traffic.

To the share autos, because you are the best mode of travel. And to the local trains, for the morning running race. Hey Bengaluru, now beat that!

To the hostel, because you always provided rescue-on-demand.

To the college canteen, because you gave me food at prices we could never imagine. And your meals, I eternally fell in love with.

To lunch hours, because lunch boxes were never ours. And our lunch days, what variety!

To the co-ops and kiosk, because you were our favorite hang-out spots.

To birthdays, because surprises were always flops.

To the treats, because they were never given and were never got.

To the college bunds, because you patiently heard and withstood all our endless chit-chats.

To GJ Park, because observations and assignments were copied sitting on your benches bearing all the mosquito bites.

To the library, because you were the best hide-out spot upon being late to college.

To Industrial Visits (read as ‘tours’), because they simply were the best things to happen during these four years. 

To the sincere first row/hostel and other studious friends, because four years without an arrear wouldn't have been possible without your notes.

To the 14MP camera and Picasa, because we no longer spent money on getting the notes Xerox-ed. E-notes all the way!

To the security uncle, because all my lost belongings were found in no time.

To the senior-junior relationship, because it was unique to our college. Yay we!

To the Castle twiends, because Tuesdays and Wednesdays couldn't have been any better in the last sem.

To the classmates, because yes, we had a lot of fun and we know it.

To the best mates, because college would have sucked without you guys.

To the family, because you were working behind the scenes always.

To my Jesus, because all this was a reality.

To 2008-02-'40', because you were my roll number and I have 40 reasons to be grateful for in these four years!

“To the four years of magic, days of inspiration, making something out of nothing;

the need to express, to communicate;

To going against the grain, going insane;

To loving tension, no pension, to more than one dimension;

To starving for attention, hating convention, hating pretension;

To no absolutes, to absolutes;

To choice, to the village voice;

To any passing fad, and to being 'us' and going mad.”

Viva La Vie Bohem!

What a ride! I remember stepping into college on the first day at 7:45 am for an 8:30 lecture, doesn't seem that long ago. And here I am, four years later, no longer a college girl but a working woman.

Hard to believe, tough to accept, left with no choice, don’t know what to expect.

“From college life to the corporate world,
From friends to colleagues,
From IVs to team outings..
Indeed, a transition in progress!”

P.S.: If you're still wondering what exactly happened on 08.08.08, I would like to proclaim that it was my first day in college.

P.P.S.: Here's a post I wrote on Lessons I Stumbled Upon In College, in case you want to give it a read.

"WE": One final hurrah!

"To go. Not to go." After these two phrases went around in a loop for a while, we finally did manage to get the permission to go on a North India tour, or as my college calls it, the Industrial Visit (minus the industry). Shhh... 

Some of my friends had to be constantly reminded that it was just a 9 day tour and that we were not shifting to the North forever. All hail the shopping spree that they went on! 

[Day 1]: An early morning 6am train was the biggest hurdle in between the tour and us. Waking up that early on a Saturday morning was next to impossible considering the time we reach college for an 8.30 class! But none of us stumbled and all of us managed to sneak into the train well ahead of the scheduled time. Although most of them went to sleep immediately after a hurried breakfast, we gradually gathered momentum by noon. Thanks to the deck of cards, dumb charades and the "rockstar" band for triggering hoots and whistles which made the passengers sitting next to us decently walk out of their places.

[Day 2]: After spending an entire day in train, we finally got down but were not very sure if it was Agra. 

"Bhaiya, yeh Agra hai na?"

"Haan, haan." complemented the vendor's awkward look. 

And we turned in the opposite direction as if nothing had happened. The Agra-wale welcomed us with typical U.P. rowdy-ism just outside the station and we all went OMG! It was beauty and splendor and marvel after that. Taj Mahal. Everybody stood jaw-dropped. For a few of my friends, it is still the most unbelievable moment of the tour, they say. 

Agra Fort was next. The best view of the Taj is from here, I believe. Aurangzeb must have been very kind-hearted to imprison his dad here no? Ok, sorry! By the way, we did manage to get into a conversation with a few foreigners and what they think of us and our country really did make us feel proud.

<One of the Germans we spoke to at Agra Fort>

[Day 3]: Shimla. Long bus journey marking our first sleepless night. As we climbed up, my friends managed to teach me a situation song,"Naan pogiren mele mele, boologam en kaalin kile." The houses in these places reminded me of city blocks that I play on my phone. Colorful and uniform. The horse ride to the kufri top that evening was worth the wait. Having our hearts in our mouths when the horses took us to the edges, trying hard to pamper them so that they don't end up showing their acrobatic skills and being in awe of the dusk beauty in biting cold made our day.  

My horse was Sambha. Thank you, Sambha for the racy heart beats and the safe, yet thrilling ride.

[Day 4]: En route to Manali via Kullu. This day witnessed people taking turns to vomit. A song was composed in order to honor the frequent nauseating sensations that most of them experienced. The rest continued to sing and dance. Moments were captured and movements were recorded. The gushing water(at times, serene), the chill breeze, lush green trees, majestic mountains and bushy animals - I still don't believe I saw them all, all at once! 

The tea-break saw a poor dog become the victim to the love and affection showered by the dog-lovers of my class. The dog was named Jimmy, Bruno, Bruce, Balu and Barney(I don't remember the other names!). 

<Spot the dog. Advance apology!>

[Day 5]: Next stop, Manali. Snow. Snow. Snow. Personally, I enjoyed this day the most. Looking like astronauts, tripping down while climbing, throwing snow on each other, the failed attempt to make a snow man, skiing, falling, sliding down and the photo sessions. Enough said. After-effects included going numb, head aches, nauseating sensations and stomach swirls. According to our hotel receptionist, the best medicine was a glass of rum when I requested for a bucket of hot water. Err, no, thank you! 

That night witnessed some crazy singing and dance vibes around the camp fire. 

[Day 6]: Next halt, Kullu. Rafting in the ice-cold Beas river. Although the instructions on what to do if the raft overturns were slightly scary, exciting screams overpowered the otherwise silent scenery when the freezing water slapped us hard ensuring none of our body parts were left dry. 

The bus journey that followed witnessed the formation of the "set-state" gang. Crazy action dances, chinese whispers, songs compositions and interviews. The gang had an anthem which went like this:

Chan chala chal, chan chala chal, chan chala chal, chal. 

<Part of the set-state gang involved in some crazy actions>

We even have a mascot, you know. What a night!

[Day 7]: Destination Delhi. Sambhar, rasam and rice. We all grinned wide. Metro rail, random road side shopping, and pani puris. Seeing your friends bargain in broken Hindi is always fun. Karol Bagh to Rajiv Chowk and back. A big shout out to Pallika Bazaar and Bikaner sweets. 

[Day 8]: The next day unfurled with a bit of drama which was fun. India gate, Qutub Minar and the lotus temple. Lotus temple was a personal favorite for its architecture and tranquility. A sudden lull dawned over everybody the moment we took the bus to the station as the tour was coming to an end.

[Day 9]: Well, that was it. All this followed by the journey back home filled with the unveiling of many "secret" stories marked the end of a memorable trip with some really cool mates I made friends with in the last four years. Just as we approached Chennai, the traditional "Oh podu" gathered momentum and all the songs composed during the 9 days were revised. 

A big shout out to our organiser for giving us this memorable trip. He did take many a fall while planning and organising it. Here's a proof of it.

<Sorry for the damage. No revenge, ok organiser?>

To all the passengers on the train who bore with us, especially that 'Anna', Thank You. 

To all my friends to whom Hindi meant starting a sentence with 'Bhaiya' and ending it with 'hai', thank you for all the just-for-laugh moments. 

To all the people involved in some sort of drama, thank you for the entertainment. 

To the cameras that patiently bore all our photographic skills(as we would like to call it) and for capturing all the will-never-come-back-again moments, thank you. 

To the body aches and the sun tans, thank you for now I know that I really did enjoy. 

To my country for giving me an opportunity to admire your diversity, thank you. 

To my classmates for giving me an opportunity to know you more and miss you even more in another month, THANK YOU! 

In our language, 

"Yeh was a memorable trip hai. Nandri hai!"

Rahul Dravid: From a female Indian fan

Caution : What should you not expect here? Statistics and an expert cricket analyst's point of view. Remember, it is from a GIRL and an INDIAN cricket fan. Allow this to sink in before you read any further.

I remember being this 11 year old girl trying to fight with my brother to let me watch 'Just Kids' on Sahara. He instead made me sit in front of the tv and watch the Natwest series. I started liking the game. Maybe because India was playing really well and we won a classic final. The test series followed. Now, this game being played in white was dull and boring. I tried not to like it but there was this man, who toiled hard, sweating excessively to save the game for India and in the process got to his double century at The Oval. He laid the foundation for what would turn out to be an epic tour for India. To me, he scored a lot of runs, he looked cute with all that sweat and he spoke great English. That's all I knew. I admired him for who he was.

Fast-forward by two years. I was 13 and Dravid got married. Not one girl in my class liked his decision. All of us were 13, just 13. We collected all possible info from the newspapers and news channels on who his wife was, how she looked, how lucky she was and... Ok, I leave it at that.

Then came the famous tour down under. And there was Adelaide. He stood, with his best friend and both of them determined to do what they do best. When Steve Waugh stuffed that red cherry in Dravid's pocket after he hit the winning runs with his trademark four, we liked it. While the guys were busy discussing what drive he played, we girls discussed how cute he looked when he punched his fists after the drive. The point is, all of us were talking about Dravid. Okay.

Then the historic Pakistan tour. Team India had landed in Pakistan and there was a picture of Dravid taking a pic of the airport in Khaleej Times(The newspaper we used to buy then). That was important to us. The one-day matches began. During the first one-dayer, when he was in his 90s, my friend called and we stayed on the line because we wanted to celebrate his century together. Damn! Shoaib Akhtar disturbed his stumps and Dravid was out on 99! We won, though. I am not even telling you how I celebrated his double ton at Rawalpindi which followed.

Maybe, I can just go on. I remember him in these matches like it happened yesterday. All of us do! And I am left wondering why does this same memory fail me during my exams! Ok, no deviating.

His interviews were never interesting. Seriously! He would never let out any secrets and he was bad at cracking jokes. I remember the interview with a news channel before the 2004 Pak tour. He was asked what his favorite song was. He thought for a while and came up with,"Probably, Jana Gana Mana.." Argh! This is all that he could come up with? But that did not mean I never watched his interviews. Every interview he gave on a news channel, I saw the telecast, the repeat, the re-repeat and then the re-re-repeat on youtube.

There was nothing flashy about him. Maybe, that's why we liked him. He is this gentleman who is yet to find himself associated with some controversy. The middle finger, looking into the bowlers eyes or the use of abusive language didn't mean anything to him. The opponent teams hated Dravid, the batsman but loved Dravid, the man. To be asked to write the foreword for Steve Waugh's autobiography is no small task. And then to deliver that Bradman oration with such class, only he could do it. Graeme Smith once said that Dravid is the most handsome looking batsman to be playing the game currently. We all nodded in agreement. When asked to comment on it, Dravid felt a little awkward and just smiled. He was this shy man, of whom Dhoni said during his initial days with the team,"He is always reading some book or the other, siting in one corner." That rubbed on his batting techniques too. Experts called him the perfect student and the bookish cricketer. He was never contend with whatever he achieved. Remember how he was so hard on himself after scoring that 90 at Perth? Sometimes, he is like these 9 pointers of my class who are never satisfied with what they score. After we trusted him more than anybody else. Even more than Sachin. We wanted more and more records from Sachin but when it came to winning a match, we still went back to Dravid. During the Melbourne test last year, when Sehwag got out in the second innings, my brother woke me up and said,"Jeni, Sehwag is gone." I replied,"Dravid is there no?" and went back to sleep. That was probably the first time that Dravid didn't live upto my/our expectations. And slowly this series saw the wall develop some cracks. Clearly visible ones. I didn't like it one bit when his stumps were disturbed.

Today, when Dravid announced his retirement, my heart sank, so did yours. In his last interview to CNN-IBN, before flying to Australia, when he was asked if Adelaide would be his last test, he smiled and said,"It will be my last test in Australia." We knew it was coming, it had to come but we did not want it to come. All that I could do when his voice cracked up today when he said that he was done was to applaud. All these memories from the Oval to Adelaide came rushing back. I suddenly felt patriotic, maybe because I was proud that this man is an Indian. With his virtues and values, he portrayed a better image of India to the world. Not everything comes with a price tag and Dravid has certainly been a priceless asset to Indian sports. 

Tomorrow morning when we wake up, I don't know which will be harder - For us to accept that Rahul Sharad Dravid will no longer be seen in those white shades or for him to accept that he need not hit the nets at six in the morning anymore.

Thank you for all the memories. We will miss you, the human being and then the cricketer. 

I am still thinking if the wrong Rahul has retired. Sigh!

P.S: I did not post a pic of his along with this post due to two reasons :

1. I felt the focus will shift to the pic and not to the post. ;)

2. I had difficulties in choosing a pic. :D

7/8 : For one last time...

I am yet to figure out which two subjects join Software Agents to give me my three electives for this sem and they say that this semester is over! This semester has given me the maximum Calvin moments, and I am finally glad that it's over. This sense of relief will last until my grades for this sem are out. Somehow, these exams don't tend to shake me these days. It's the results that have bothered me. But I must say that this semester was very very different from the rest of them. 

The sem started with the hunt for a job. This was fun. Go, come, go, come(in a loop) until one day when one company finally decided to give me a job maybe not because I was worth it but because it was high time that I attended some classes in college. The ceg canteen, parking lot and every other random road in that college now has a story with which I can relate to. Sitting and sharing what fun answers we wrote or how we desperately wanted to tell the interview guy,"Poda, answer and all I won't tell."(the Sarcasan way ;)) for reminding us of how we had wasted 3 years of college life, learning absolutely nothing were priceless moments. Oh! And the unexpectedly huge participation on Ants&Locusts group on facebook got me excited. :D

Just as I was feeling low for having to attend classes regularly from then on, a heavenly 3 weeks at home was on its way! When the rain gods decided to let us down by denying us holidays, the students decided to get their due by going on a strike and closing the college indefinitely. I still don't know why the strike had to be there in the first place and whether the problem is solved now. All I know is that those were 3 blissful weeks at home, chilling and relaxing.

Not satisfied with the long breaks that we got 'cos of the above two reasons, we managed to get a few by other means as well. Getting kicked out of the lab as a whole class where everybody gladly walked out, not even trying to have a puppy face was one such occasion! Then the entire class decided to obey the government as it declared a holiday due to rain although we very well knew that college was working that day. The lunch day, canceling of classes, group (not?)studying before assessments.. fun indeed.  

Amidst all this, out of the blue would come a message from the class representative (I dreaded this!).

The text would read : Zeroth review on so-so day.

Then I would start hunting for my team mates, we would gather up all our guts to go and pay a visit to the project guide. Having failed miserably in trying to get some inputs from the guide, we would decide to come up with our own stories for the presentation and the documentation. Done and dusted. Don't even ask how.

After a few days, another forwarded message for review 1. Same story repeats. Only difference, two pages from the wikipedia went into the documentation that we had prepared for the zeroth review to make it look lengthier. Done and dusted. Again, don't ask how.

Another forwarded message after a few days for review 2. Process repeats with some slight progress. The little knowledge that we gained from C/C++ came in handy and we called it implementation!

P.S : Our group is still on the hunt for a base paper and we have given three different titles(for the same work to be/not to be done!) in the three reviews so far.

The last minute printouts, manipulations, preparing stories to be told while facing the project guide, the joy in seeing your other classmates struggle just as you are struggling.. it was all good, you know!

When all this seemed fun, there were quite a lot of moments of desperation too. Projects/assignments/observations/records/striving really really hard to reach college on time but failing miserably/extra hours in college/the travel to and fro college amidst that heavy traffic/saturday classes - enough reasons to make me bless my college with bad words. I would come home and then tweet out all my despair. 

All this happened and an entire semester flew. For most part, I am glad that it's over. The huge take-away from this semester is the astounding number of days that I got to stay away from classes.

Yet another semester done with. Today, as we all came out after the final exam for this semester and exchanged,"HAPPY HOLIDAYS. SEE YOU AFTER THE BREAK.", I just realized that this was the last time in college life that I was getting to say that 'cos by the time I get done with my next semester, I will be done with college life, out in the open, venturing into a whole new world. 


For one last time, 

• I have a vacation all to myself.
• I will be a college student.
• I will make new friends.(For most part, they will be called colleagues later on!)
• I will write exams.
• I can manipulate a project.
• I can go late to college.(Work places threaten you with salary cuts. Sigh!)
• I can be this irresponsible kid to my parents.
• Oh! I will pay for doing nothing useful. Ha!

Three and half years. You don't even know where that went, what you did. I still remember when I walked into college on my first day at 7:45am for an 8:30am lecture. Doesn't seem that long ago! 

So, here's to all my buddies,

"Happy holidays. Make the most of it. Relax. Viva La Vie Boheme!"

Bengaluru musings

A 3-day trip to Bangalore last week with a bunch of friends (Thanks to SAP for giving us a reason to miss college) gave us this opportunity to roam around that city far and wide and observe these Bangalore wale and their lifestyle. Here's what we found out from this trip :

1) People in Bangalore drink only COFFEE. Not just any coffee, only Cafe Coffee Day coffee. Every road in this city has a CCD. A road without  CCD in Bangalore is equivalent to a road with CCD in Chennai. Looks like 'A lot can happen over a Coffee' atleast for these Bangalore wale!

2) The time taken to travel from Bangalore to Whitefield(Ok! Whitefield is in Bangalore, but still..) is more that the time taken to travel from Mysore to Bangalore - courtesy Anil Kumble who was the guest speaker at the SAPTeched conference.

3) To add to my previous point, 85% of the Bangaloreans are on the road, 90% of whom are sitting inside cars waiting for the traffic to clear!! 

A thought to all my friends who have found a job for themselves in Bangalore : Don't even think of buying a car in that city. You can walk to your destinations at a much quicker pace! We just experienced it.

4) I still haven't figured out what is Bangalore's regional language. You speak in English, they respond. You speak in Hindi, they respond. Tamil, they respond. Telugu, they still respond. None of us in the group knew Kannada, so we don't know if those people really know Kannada. :P

5) Trains excite these people. Metro train in Bangalore was inaugurated during our 3-day trip. Huge queues outside stations, all to get a ride that lasts just 14 minutes. The next day, newspapers told us how college and school kids bunked classes to get a ride. A 70 year old man had said,"I don't know how much more I will live. Hence, I came to get a ride." Seriously?? A train ride??!! 

#Confession : We took a ride in the train on Day 2 just to see what excited them all. ;)

6) Do not try Tamil food in Bangalore or for that matter, in any other state. Nothing can beat dosa/idli/sambhar/chutney from Tamil Nadu. Sambhar is sweet and dosa is half oil, half batter in this city!

7) We tried hard to spot a thatha and paati(grandpa and grandma) going for a morning or an evening walk. This city has a young population. School kids were also a little rare to find, atleast in the area where we stayed. Freshers rule the city.

8) "Sweat" is not found in the Bangalore dictionary. The only time when we all shed a drop of sweat was when we came out of the 'scary house' in one of the malls. We double-checked and exchanged hi-fives because we were finally sweating in Bangalore.

9) Air-conditioners are the main show-pieces that adorn everything in this city. Every hotel room has one and every car has one but no body uses it because there is no need to use it. Such is the weather in that city.

10) Most of the restaurant names in the city are preceded with a "Bar and.." And this is probably the only thing about this city that saddens me!