A day at VTU

Everyday in our life brings us a new challenge. One such great challenge was posed to me on 18th December 2008. The challenge began when my dear friend, who had promised to come with me, suddenly resigned. So I had to make this journey to the far land all alone. Destination was VTU, Belgaum. VTU btw is Vishveshwaraya Technological University. The name which most of us have seen on our exam papers or on the results website, but none of us really know who or what or where this is!!. So I set out to look for VTU!
On reaching Belgaum, I was quite amazed to learn that Belgaum is after all not a small town at all! Its quite a big place with a few shopping malls to boast off! I always had a picture of Belgaum with VTU at the centre and a few houses other than the university campus. But Belgaum has more than just VTU in it! Anyway, moving on, I got a companion at Belgaum bus stand itself. Guy from Kashmir apparently but studied in Gulbarga and was in Mumbai on the 26th of Nov near Nariman point. So passing time wasnt a problem initially atleast. Stories flew from Kashmir to Mumbai to politics to apples to more politics and finally VTU. Once I reached the campus, I was awstruck by the sheer size of the VTU campus. After all how much space does the admin office of VTU really need!! But then V have all been paying a lot of fees. They need to be used up somewhere!. So VTU people have been building good looking buildings far away from people's view in Belgaum.! They have an amphi theatre which can accomodate atleast a thousand people if not more.... and all that in a place where there are not more than 100 people at any given point of time. Out of these hundred 10 are from various colleges who have come there to collect their degree certificates, like me!!!And the rest are the office people who have no reason to visit the amphi theatre! They also have a huge gym, quite well equipped and new. For whom, I donot know!!!!Coz its closed for the visitors! Also there is a indoor stadium kinda thing which also is closed for public. There also are a few scaled models of GSLV, ISRO models. Y?...I donot know!!!! The person who was incharge of getting the certificates done was very understanding. He collects our details at 10 am and askes us to come back at 4 30 in the evening. Thats what he does everyday so thats what he will do to us as well. Y such a thing when it can be done in an hour easily!!!?...I donot know!!!!..And if i failed to mention earlier, VTU campus is 15 kms from the city and there are a very few buses which come and go from this place. Hence I couldnt have gone out for a while and come back, coz I am not sure if I ll be able to come back once I leave the campus and move out! So I am forced to sit there with my Kashmiri friend and a few others like me, on the lawns of VTU and discuss Mumbai attacks! How interesting! Thank God I found a bunch of idiots like me there to give me company. Also there was a girl!!! Yes, a GIRL!! But then with her was her dad too. So no chance of flirting either. Just plain talk and smile. Y did she need her dad there with her! Didnt she know that she was the sole source of entertainment for a few young gentlemen like me out there !!! Didnt she anticipate that! I am guessing she did, but so did her dad!!!! Thats y he was there! Another dad was even smarter. He was wearing a wig I can tell U and had come alone even without his daughter! How convinient for the daughter!!!! So thanks to all these wonderful facts that I just mentioned above, I spent a day at VTU doing nothing! Nothing also might be an understatement coz I really did nothing at all!!!!!!!!! Sat through the day to finally get my cert at 5 30 and then back home next morning! An absolutely uneventful day of my life spent at VTU. I ll remember this day, until next time I go through a day where in I dont even travel and it goes this un eventful! Until then this ranks as the most boring day of my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!God knows Y i wrote this, but its gud to have record of my most boring day. Might come handy to compare it with another day in the future!;)

Responsible, Who is?....

Sad, what ever is happening in Mumbai. A city they say never stops came to a complete stand still as 10 or so terrorists do their duties to perfection. Just 15 people in a country of a billion population managed to rule a city for more than 24hrs and nobody could do anything about it. Well I would just say they were doing their job. Not that we could not have done much about it but we always say things once an event like this has occured. The point that struck me most was not what the terrorists did. Watching a news channel early in the morning, I saw a video shot at Mumbai central apparently, there was a police jeep that was hijacked by the terrorists and they open fired on the press standing in the area to cover the big news. When this incident happened, there is this one person shown in the video, who hurts his hand in the shooting. Now there are press people all over this place. I donot know if this person was from the press or just an onlooker. When he gets shot in the hand there are a few gearnalists standing very close to him and they rush to seize his hand. Well as I see it anybody in that stage would have tried to do some kind of first aid or even just hold the hand to make the person feel better. But instead this cameraman who seizes his hand actually puts it down and starts taking a video of the same. I was a little stunned seeing that. And not a single sole has said anything about it the whole day on these news channels. They are going on about the barbarism of the attacks and continuing to show the same visuals. Seemed a little strange to me.
And on a lighter note, I for the first time saw a really stylish looking terrorist who wore VERSACHE t shirt and was walking around so coolly on th eroads of Mumbai city as though he owned the place. As Arnob Mukharjee said,"The audasity of these terrorists is really something to take note off"!! And hey btw our PM and his lady incharge and off course our opposition leaders arrived in Mumbai just in the nick of time to make sure that they do the last bit of job left by the NSG. Dont they have any sense at all!. When the police has to worry about these terrorists and are having to work continuosly for 24hrs, the least these Bastards could do was to have their big show off back there in Delhi itself. It still would have counted as a 'Untied We Stand' show! Why do they care! All they need is the sympathy vote bank which they are trying to capture even in a situation like this! BASTARDS!!!!!!!

MY FIRST EVER DECISION

Well this is not what you really might think it is. This is different. This is different because its not the most obvious thing. If I say that my first ever decision was to join BMS College of Engineering, it becomes a very trivial fact. A very expected thing. People wouldn't take much notice of it really. And my first decision is something that you just cannot really think of. My first decision wasn't such an obvious thing. When I made the decision, I never really thought that its the first time I am doing something big! To ascertain the importance behind it, I would have to give a little bit of insight into why I actually talk about TAKING A DECISION!
Till the age of 10 most of us are not even aware of what really is happening in our lives. Parents form such an integral part of our life in that stage! Imagining what goes through an orphan at that stage of life is really disturbing. From 10 till 10th standard, my life was quite occupied by the competitions that haunt the students of today! Studies and sports were my personal favourites at that time. There was no time really to take a decision back then. Was more than happy to let my parents and teachers take the decisions of my life. Decisions included what to study, how to study, when to study, where to study, which sport to be part off and what best works for me?!. Since all these were happily done by others I never took up the burden of taking any decision at all. I simply focussed all my attention at the mad bull race of that age. Then came a time when we entered Pu college. Easily the best time for kids like me to get spoilt and take some false decisions. But then, thanks to the kind of friends I had and the kind of college that I was in, I was kept so busy with studies in those days that I hardly had the time to even think what I was doing. Never really had the option of choosing Science or Arts. Science was like the most obvious choice according to my marks they said. Had I even mentioned Arts or Commerce to anybody even as a joke they would catch me by my throat and strangle me to death. Science was written on my forehead and thus I managed to get into the most nerdy college of our city. Couldn't have asked for better environment to live my so called dreams. So 2 more years went by without a single decision of my life taken by me. This time it wa sthe turn of my parents again along with college lecturers and off course tution teachers. As though CET and board exam weren't enough, I was being inspired to take up JEE. JEE stands for Joint Entrance Test which is the selection exam for the IIT's. The college atmosphere was filled with questions from H C Verma and Khanna and Khanna, that my folks decided that I need not really take up the burden of thinking for myself also. So they took that up and let me fighting the great war of 2nd PUC. Henceforth no decisions were taken by me yet again in these 2 whole years.
After getting the desired result or may I say living up to the expectations of the world around, now I was ready for a new battle. Battle of Engineering. Again against expectations, the decision to get into BMS College of Engineering was taken mainly by my father. One of his friend's daughter had apparently done very well in this college and so had another son of my dad's brother's son's wife's cousin. So I was quite pushed into BMS College without much of a choice since they all said it was the best. So if getting into engineering wasn't my first decision, then what was it?
Engineering students from VTU will be very familiar with the system of Internals or internal assessment. In first semister I wrote them with such dedication. Something that people never associated me with, since second semister. But sincerity isn't what I am getting to. In VTU, scores of these internals are scored based on average of 2 best among 3 internals. That gave us the option of missing an internals. YES! Missing an exam till now was never really a choice! Every exam was treated like a battle which had to be won, no matter how ever good the army is! Now suddenly came the new choice of skipping the battle itself if the army isn't well prepared. A choice which led me to taking my first ever big decision of my life. A decision which would change the definition of the word exam in my dictionary. A decision that would solely be mine since telling it at home would lead to my mom taking a decision of throwing me out of the house. And yes I for the first time ever in my life decided to SKIP AN EXAM. Just an internal you might say, but to me it never was a choice before. For the first time ever I made a choice on my own, without parents, teachers, leacturers, friends involved in making the decision. I and I alone decided for the first time that I WILL NOT WRITE AN EXAM!
Bold move it proved to be later on though. Marks in internals were hard to come by. But i still am very proud of that day when I DECIDED to do so. Later I even decided to write internals as externals but thats a different story altogether. My first decision ever was made. I suddenly had the time to think for myself. What, where, when, how were now in my control. I now finally had grown up, matured enough, big enough to make mistakes and learn. Now its my turn to face the wheres, whens, whats, hows! Where, when, how will anyone remember me is now completely in my hands. What I do to the world is now my choice alone!:)

Judge me or Me judge???!!!

Back in those days when I was in school, I always thought I would come back a few years later as the chief guest of some event! Never imagined that such a thing would come down to reality so soon! I was invited back to Carmel High School to judge the mad ads event in the annual inter school fest called 'DRAPED THOUGHTS'. YES!..I received a formal invitation from them..
On reaching there it actually sunk in that I was suddenly an important person out there! The kind of welcome i received is beyond words. I was first taken to the principal's chamber. I have some fond memories of going in there back in school days to take whippings from her very famous CANE! It was as though I was ready to put my hand in front again to take one of those whippings, when she held my hand and shook it. It was as though my 10th standard self was standing right there and feeling proud at what I had just achieved! I was completely lost in the nostalgic moments from those days! I was easily one of the naughtiest students to ever study in that school, so most of my teachers and the school staff remember my face. Everyone in school gave me a hero's welcome as though they all had forgotten what had happened a few years ago. Chances are that they have but to my surprise they hadn't forgotten everything! There still were a few people who remembered me for some of my great heroics from back then. Most people remembered me because I was the best friend of the most famous kid in school ever! He still is! Anyway this blog is about me and not him so getting back to me, judging the event was fairly simple. 5 teams and 3 prizes. Did that with relative ease! The toughest part was standing there on stage and reflecting back on myself few years ago. From the most naughty student to being the judge, the journey has not been easy but WHAT THE HELL!!! nothing about me has changed! I still continue to be naughty, only that they don't know about it anymore!..;)

WAT A DAY!....:(

I was thinking of going away from sports today, but how do you neglect events of this magnitude and not write about them! Today is the day when Indian cricket got very poor and Timo Glock got very very rich!
Yes Indian cricket has just become very poor and its only going to get poorer in the next few days! Am not talking about the Board of cricket control in India! They aren't going to get poor in the next 100 years atleast!. I am talking about Anil Kumble's retirement! An absolute gem of a cricketer. There isn't anyone in the history of this game who would argue at the fact that he was the best fighter the game has ever seen! I remember times when I have seen India coming down to bowl and feeling 'Anil is in there, so there's always a chance he ll clean them up soon!'. Known for his dignified way of playing the game, Jumbo(as he is often called) got one of the best farewell I have seen any Indian cricketer get! The way he announced the decision was quite the way he has handled his career, i.e in a very simple manner. Simplicity of this cricketer is what got him to where he today is! He could have done what Saurav has done by announcing it early and making a big affair of the whole issue but he chose to go out the more honorable way! Seeing a man play, with a fractured jaw as in Antigua, or with 11 stitches in the left palm like in this match, I can only wonder what level of commitment this guy had promised to what most most people would say 'Just a Game after all'!!!!! His captaincy saw some amazing cricket played at Australia. A victory in Perth was a delight for any Indian cricket fan!
The country's youth will look up to Anil Kumble as an inspiration when it comes to attitude with which this game is played, for sheer determination and dedication, for the thorough gentleman attitude on and off field and most importantly for all those special magical moments which are associated with this great cricketer!

Fine that was the nice part of this post!..Now the part where I might just loose my cool a little. Arguably the most thrilling finish to a race I have seen in a very long time and ending up on the wrong side of it was never a part of the script! Sebastian Vettel had just run the 2 most crucial laps of his career ahead of Hamilton! When they crossed the line I jumped up with joy bringing the roof down at my place forgetting the fact that it was at 12.30 in the night when everyone was deep in sleep! Happiness was short lived though! Happiness had other plans really! She wanted to visit the other section of the crowd too! A drop of tear which was about to trickle down suddenly got confused in emotion! A happy tear that it was to be was turned into one of deep depression! Timo Glock! The man of the hour you can say had done the impossible and had gone a little unnoticed! He slows down his car just before making the last turn and lets Hamilton pass through to the 5th place which gives him the year's Driver's championship! Massa's family celebrated and so did the millions of Ferrari fans around the world without realizing what Glock had done! To watch the videos coming in live at that point was quite a parody of sorts since both Massa's supporters and Hamilton's supporters started rejoicing soon after the race! Later one continued and the other just had to contend with the race victory! A perfect race of sorts for Ferrari team finally looked like a team whose both cars had crashed out!
I wonder if Glock has overtaken Kimi Raikonnen as the most highly paid driver currently. And that payment is for not driving well i.e. And what's the reason he comes out with! Low on fuel load! A team which cant calculate its fuel load properly yet doesn't deserve to be in Formula1 at all! Absolute BS of a reason I would say! Though must admit Glock has played his cards extremely well! I guess he must has got out of his car after the race and dived straight into the next flight out of Brazil! If he stays in Brazil for the next 24hrs and he is bound to get murdered!
A thrilling end to the season none the less and quite a fitting finale to a season which has lacked spunk through out the year! Massa will have his chance next year where I am sure he ll come victorious! Till then all you Mclaren fans can rejoice the moment you have received thanks to a Toyota car's effort after 9 whole years! Remember this is not permanent and next year Ferrari will be back and back with a vengeance!

FIRST LOVE!

Since i have announced myself as a sports fanatic already i shall begin writing about all my favourite sportsmen first.
Well I don't really have one Sports person as an idol. I follow too many sports to actually have just one sporting hero! So lets start with every body's favourite these days- Formula 1. Just to go on the record again "FERRARI RULZ AND mclaren SUCKS". Yes Yes i know..i know you understood that I am a Ferrari fan. An ardent fan of MICHAEL SCHUMACHER and SCUDERIA FERRARI from the late nineties, I have felt the delight of winning the SEVEN world championships and at the same time felt the anguish in running on bridgestones in 2005 or felt the misery of having an engine failure in the season decider race in Japan. Having seen the ups and Downs of an illustrious Schumacher led Ferrari team, the mind just doesn't get adjusted to the Kimi and Masssa instead of a Schumi and anybody else! Anyways the great Schumi era is over and the new kids on the block are doing a decent job! Though 2008 hasn't been a very rosy year for the team, its done decently well and should claim the constructor's championship if nothing else. Ferrari and Mclaren rivalry is something that the formula 1 world has thrived on from ages. Personally being a Ferrari fan I was surrounded by a lot of Mclaren fans in my classroom. The Kudoors and the Abhays and the bettys and the karthiks have been some serious fans of the british team even after being such grave losers!...he he....;)...If i can forget my classmates, then generally I have been a little more fortunate with fan lore ,since Ferrari has the biggest fan base in formula 1. The intensity of competition was so fierce in my classroom that we have had some really heated arguments regarding races and race strategies, each one of us claiming to know better about the team's strategy even before the race! I have ended on the right side of the fight more often than not. Thats proven by the number of driver's championships Mclaren has one in the last 8years and the number that Ferrari has managed!..:)
Next sportsman on the list is Roger Federer. The master himself. Known for his magical backhand on the court, this tennis legend is probably my most favourite sportsman ever. The people's champ has 13 grandslams in the kitty and still counting!..:)..After losing the Wimbeldon this year to Rafael Nadal in a five set encounter(which to many is the best ever tennis match played till date), critics had written this champ out. But being the champ that he is, he just came right back without too much noise and won the US Open. Well this man impressed me the day I saw him beat Pete Sampras at the 2001 Wimbeldon but had never thought that same guy would come back and become the best player the game has ever seen. There was a time in 2004-05 when players were just thinking of ways to not play this Swiss master coz what comes out of the match would be outright humialiation for the opponent! He made top ten ranked players look like local club level players who were just doing all they can to just keep the ball in court! Ask Andy Roddick about it. He has been on the unlucky side so often with Federer that you almost feel sympathetic for him. Federer raised the level of the game so much that just trying to catch up with him was becoming impossible for the rest of the tennis fraternity! It took a very brave attempt like Marat Safin's in 2005 Australian open to dislodge the champ in the semi-finals. Thats the most valiant attempt I ever saw anybody put up in front of the master. BUt ask him to repeat that plight and u ll know why Roger Federer is the No.1 in the world. He has lost his no.1 ranking to Nadal this year but does that really mean anything to us fans of his? !He continues to be the no.1 in our hearts(such a cliche!) and we all know it for a fact that Nadal will see what Federer is made up of in Roland Garros next year when the battle continues for the no.1 ranking!
These were my two most favourie sportsmen. They are my favourite not just because they held the no.1 ranking in their respective sport's for a small time but because after being the no.1 they maintained that position for years to come. They gave the spory more popularity because of their presence! Very few sportsmen have been bigger than their sport itself. These 2 certainly are on top of the list!.

Well well!....I am back to wat i do the best!

Well i started blogging recently. Since i started the other one on a serious note i decided to write another which suits me more!. Since this is the First post all I wanna say is "FERRARI RULZ","ROGER IS THE ETERNAL NO.1", "TIGER KEEP ROARING" and "SACHIN CONTINUE BELTING". Well seeing this you must have understood that i am a complete sports fanatic. Though this blog is not about sports alone, it might be the most spoken about topic on this blog!..:)