Moments

If I had fought And not got caught I would have taught My little tot Rather than rot In a prison so hot. I resolved that I ought To find a slot For an escape plot When the gaurds would not Fire a gunshot. Help, I sought From the General's daught Whom I thought Was a sexpot. Either she forgot Or did boycott But I waited a lot at the fixed spot. Tired, I got Ready for a bloodshot When I bethought That I was on a cot And my mom had brought Tea in a teapot.

"Oh! Poor Sir!", I exclaimed, after coming out of the examination hall. "How much effort does he put to make me learn something from the course! To what extent will he advise!" It was the Minor II of yet another Selected Topics course by Prof PKB. I had written about my previous attempts with a similar course . This time I had decided to sit through the course. I was not even auditing it. I was not willing to give Prof PKB the trouble to evaluate my performance in the course, to be liberal in the marks distribution and to forcefully pass me in the course. "It pains him very much to fail a student. And that too a student for whom he is teaching the course without any earnings", I thought. "No. I cannot write a test in his course", I had decided. So when the time for the first minor came, I tried to mug up some Greek letters from the notes. All the preparation was last minute. After a night out full of cramming, I decided that I am not writing the ...

"All is well that ends well." This is a famous quote by William Shakespeare. Our trip to Kedarnath ended well, with all the team members retuning to Delhi in good health. But all was not well in the trip. Here is an account of my yet another memorable trip to the Himalayas. We were introduced to trips in the Himalayas by our mentor David John. After making a few successful trips to Valley of Flowers, Gangotri and Yamunotri, the next destination was surely Kedarnath. Planning a trip was best done by David himself. So, when he mailed us about a trip to Kedarnath during diwali holidays, all of us agreed to join him. As the time of the trip came, omens started showing up. Firstly, a lot of people who had committed to the trip backed off. In the end, there were only 5 of us - David, Lani, Tony, Bhargav and myself. A tour itinerary was made which had 2 days stay at Kedarnath with an 8kms trek to Vasuki Tal. But a week before our departure we came to know about the closing of the K...

It was 2.00AM. I had returned from the lab after having a hot Maggi and Soup from our institute Nescafe. The Dan Brown novel 'Angels and Demons' was lying on my table. I had already read about 50 pages of it on my PC. So I though of picking it up and read for a while. Sleeping at 2.00AM was not my habit for the past few years. The usual schedule, which I always try to correct, is to have night outs. But today, I was not in a mood to put yet another nightout. There had been series of nightouts in the past 3 days. A night of orkutting, a night of cdsdoc (some technical documentation) and a night of report writing. As I started reading the novel, I realised that it had been a long time since I read a novel. The mood set in. As pages went by, the speed of the novel made it hard to put down. Clock ticked by and by the time i completed page no 249 i saw a faint light of the dawn sneaking through my window. Then I decided to be awake till breakfast, and the reading continued. I had re...

A mail circulates through the vls05 group. It invites all members to a silver-jubilee birthday celebration of their beloved Villain. A birthday eagerly awaited by all. Though, everybody knew he was an aquarian, yet there was the spirit to give him the birthday bash. And that too his 25th! This being the 25th year of his life, the celebration had to be year long. Hence, today's party at our very own NESCAFE. A party with a purpose. And a party with a difference. NO Cake NO Candles NO Maggi NO Ice Tea NO Photos NO Bumps even!! Only Eclairs, Eclairs, Eclairs.... Each one got two eclairs for coming down to NESCAFE. Few of them who went escorted the birthday boy from the lab knew that the truth of Eclairs. But where is the fun when everything is known. So they decide to call others who were not in the lab, and told them a white lie. A birthday party. True. And they believed. Ha Ha Ha... Now let us see how many of them come down again next month when there shall be another silver-jubilee...

12th Aug 2003: Today was the day for which I had waited for long. At last I got married . As my friends left me in the bed room along with her , nervousness crept in. I had never imagined about this night. I had no plans. I didnt know what to do. I mustered up my strength for the ordeal and went near her . She was in a bright mood. Her eyes were sparkling. She had the charm of an angel. I sat down beside her . I held her hand in mine. The touch was heavenly. As I tapped on her hand with my fingers, she chuckled . We kept on looking at each other hand in hand. Time went by. Through the windows I could see a faint light of dawn. That was when I realised, I had put my FIRST NIGHT OUT. Glossary: Got Married - Got the lab keys Bedroom - VDTT Lab Her/She - Computer Her eyes - Monitor Her hand - Keyboard Chuckled - Sound of typing on the keyboard My first night out was spent in VDTT lab during the first semester of MTech. I was alone in the lab and finished 2 of my Data Structures assi...

This is not a sequence in a word building game. It is an interplay of Cause and Effect. Many times we all have heard stories of people missing their train or bus, especially when the journey is to be done in early mornings. Sometimes people dont catch the train, and sometimes they dont get down at the right station. All this because of SLEEP. People try to wake up at the proper time by the help of alarm clocks, but still it happens. One such incident happened with one of my friends, Raja, who was supposed to go to Bangalore today from Delhi. The cause of the MISS was the same , Yet the effect was not a TRAIN, but an AERO-PLANE. Raja's flight was scheduled to depart at 6.00 am. Though not so early in the morning, but for him it proved to be a little early. He slept so deeply that he didnt hear his alarm and got up at quarter before six. Air Deccan is known to run late like the trains in India. Raja thought of that possibility and rushed to the airport. He over-paid an auto to get th...

This is a travelogue by Anoop. 'I' refers to Anoop. and VG is me. Lachu refers to Sandeep. Dont get confused! I am using the liberty to put in on my blog without any copyright issues, because I was the one who typed his hand written 10 page document. Day 4 The day began at 5 (:-() with bed tea. After the camp routine we were ready to leave by 7.45. Our guide for the day was Surinder alias Salman. This guy sings so well and plays the flute so well and a true entertainer. Now about the stretch. We were to climb to Juda Talao at 8500 ft. in 4 kms. The climb was reasonably steep. For most of you who know me, I am still having a good lung capacity. We did a climb with lots of break. Every time we take rest Surinder was there with his Garwahli songs. "Lachi Tero Naam" is a popular tune in this place. Btw, on our way we met Parbina's sister Bina. It would be so unfair if I dont describe the route. Nature here was expressing her beauty through the innumerable conifers. My...

Day 2 The day began at 05.00 with bed tea. Our departure from the camp to Sankri was scheduled at 07.00. Before that we had to get ready, have breakfast and pack our lunch. After a long time, I had got up at 5 o'clock in the morning. But I have always been punctual. Whatever may be the time, if I am required to be ready to go somewhere, to catch a train or bus, I would be ready. The morning was cloudy. Last night it had rained for some time and that gave freshness and dampness to the air. The chartered bus which took HD23 to the base camp Sankri was there on time and after loading all the luggage on top of the bus, we were flagged off. All journey should have the blessings of the Lord. That is my belief. And so was the belief of many others. So as soon as the bus took off, Sharmaji initiated us to chant Om Namah Shivai. I should mention here that our faith in the Almighty was the reason for wonderful climate that awaited us. Now let me introduce you all to our group HD23. Guruji - ...

Har Ki Doon means Shiva's Valley. It is a place in UttarKashi district in Uttaranchal, India. It is a valley formed at the base of Swargarohini range in the Himalayas. Himalayas had always been an attraction to us (myself and Anoop). So when I saw an article about the National Himalayan Trekking Expedition 2006 organised by YHAI (Youth Hostel Association of India), we couldnt resist the temptation to join it. After a survey of their website www.yhaindia.org we decided to go for the Har Ki Doon Trek. Trekking to Swargarohini was a dream for David, one of our class mates, and he was the one who took us on our maiden trips to the Himalayas. We did a small canvassing of the trek in IIT and unfortunately were able to get only one more person to join us. He is Sandeep Laxman, popularly known as Scotty. The date on which to report at the camp at Dehradun was not yet decided. I dont know what we were waiting for! In the end 23rd of May was selected as Scotty had to leave to Bombay as soon...

Imagine how much we crave for a rain on a hot summer day. After a sultry evening, when you are enjoying a mug of iced tea, your eyes look heavenward for those lovely dark clouds. And suddenly, your heart fills with euphoria at the sight of a dark lining at the horizon. Your anxiety rises as the clouds rise higher in the sky. The sun plays hide and seek behind the clouds. A cool breeze caresses your cheeks. You are sure of a downpour that is going to happen soon. This was the condition that was there last sunday evening. The past few days were hot and humid. There was breeze in the night giving the feeling of an approaching rain. At least, it must have been raining somewhere around Delhi. At midnight, on sunday, we came out of our lab to go to NESCAFE. It was a junior's birthday. The smell of wet earth gave us the indication that it was drizzling. There was a strong wind. As we climbed down the stairs to the wind tunnel, we could see happy faces down there. Standing in the wind tunn...

Vaidya went to school in the school bus. Almost all the students preferred the bus as it was a cheap medium of transport. He used to board the bus at 6.45 am from a bus stop near his house. Shekhar also went the same way. So he would give Vaidya a call from the gate. His call was sort of the last moment till which Vaidya could wait. As soon as Shekhar called, Vaidya would be ready with his bag. He was so prompt that he would even leave breakfast halfway. Bus stop was the place where the friends circle of Vaidya grew. The day after he struck friendship with Shekhar, Vaidya was introduced to another friend Raj. Raj was a good friend of Shekhar's and studied in the same class. He lived with his grand parents as he was very dear to them. His parents also lived in the same town but in a different locality. Bus stop was the place where they daily met. Their day started with the gossip of the previous day. While waiting for the bus, they discussed about what happened in school, what they ...

The day began for me when I was woken up by Anoop at 12 o'clock at midnight. He says "I am through with the book, now you can start studying it." It was the notes of the Major exam that I had today*. This was the last exam of the semester and that too for a course which was an audited one. Let me briefly descibe about the course and my performance in the minors. The course is aptly titled 'Selected Topics in IEC' meaning 'Selected Topics in (Inevitably) Educator's Control'. Whatever the teacher wants to teach, can be taught under this course name, irrespective of the relevance of the course to the students who are supposed to take this course. That is a way in IIT by which the faculty can teach whatever they want. No prescribed syllabus, prescribed by seniors as 'Not to be taken'. I wont be that harsh on this course. It was a course on Applied Mathematics for ELECTRICAL Engineers. (Now for the benefit of all the readers I am not mentioning the ...

That day, Vaidya went to Shekhar's house in the evening. Shekhar greeted him with enthusiasm. He had already mentioned about their rendezvous to his mother. Shekhar's father also worked in the aluminium factory. He used to have duty at different shifts. Today, he was on duty when Vaidya visited their house. Shekhar had 4 sisters. Three of them were elder to him and one was younger. The oldest sister used to study in a college in the city. The other sisters went to a Hindi-medium school in Birlanagar. After getting aquainted with all the family members, Vaidya and Shekhar went out to play. Shekhar had a cricket bat. In those days, not every child had a cricket bat and owning a bat was a matter of prestige. So Shekhar chose to bat and Vaidya took the bowling end. Shekhar was a good batsman and hit a lot of runs and won in the end. (That is just an information) Cricket was the hobby for both of them. So a game of cricket became a daily routine. At 4.30 in the evening, Vaidya would...

One afternoon, Shekhar told Vaidya, "Come, let me show you my house". Vaidya attended 4th grade in the nearby school. Shekhar also studied in the same school. They used to return home in the same bus and got down at the same bus stop. Vaidya was the only son of his parents. His father used to work in the aluminium factory in Birlanagar for the past 20 years. Birlanagar is a small township located in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Vaidya and his mother used to live at his native place in South India. Last year, his father decided to bring them to Birlanagar. As Vaidya was brought up in the south, he didnt know how to speak Hindi, which was the local language in Birlanagar. This was the reason he never talked to Shekhar, though they walked back together daily from the bus stop. Vaidya was quick in learning hindi. Within a week, he could converse decently. So one day he started a dialogue with Shekhar. He learnt that Shekhar was also in 4th grade in the same school but in another sectio...