A Day Out : Part-I

I wanted to write about this long time back when it actually happened. A series of very interesting incidents occurred during my trip to Madras (now Chennai :D) sometime back. I was accompanied by my cousin. It was a very delightful and the most looked-forward-to journey for us, because that was the first time when we travelled on our own - with literally nobody(t he concerned elders or male members of the family). We were very excited and thrilled to be together, travelling on our own. It was a totally different and new experience for us altogether.

We boarded the train at around 4:15P.M and after an hour or so, exchanged our seats with the lower side berth of an elderly man. It was great to sit on the same berth facing each other and talking about almost every topic under the sun. The train reached Egmore at 6A.M. next morning. All the chaos and noise in the compartment woke us up and we were on the platform with our backpacks eagerly waiting for an uncle who had to come for us, ready to start a new day.

We went to his house and got ready soon. We were given a bucket of tea, some cookies and Idli/Sambar/Chutney in breakfast. After the heavy drink and light food (:D), we started for Adyar accompanied by their cook (He's an amazing cook, by the way). Adyar was a good place to be in. At Adyar, we gave that man money and asked him to go buy return tickets for us at bus depot. We finished our work, which hardly lasted for 20 mins. and went to some other place. After a good one or two hours, we took the tickets, bid farewell to him and went to IIT Madras, which was nearby. IIT Madras was also a nice, cool place with all the greenery around though we didnt see much of the place. We caught up with a friend of ours and chatted our time away through evening. Our lunch comprising a-supposed-to-be-called and spoilt 'Apple pie' and a cold coffee, was very annoying.

It was around 5P.M. when we came out of the IIT. We then had to visit few family friends at Ashok Nagar. The autorickshaw fellows demanded a fairly large amount to take us there - 95Rs. Believe me, travelling in autos for a week in Chennai is enough to drain out your income. They have no meters and are very costly. We started waiting for a bus at the nearby bus-stop and learnt that we had to take a 5E bus to go to the desired place. After a nearly boring wait, we got into a 5E bus which looked similar to a political party lorry carrying all the junta for promotion or for shouting slogans. It was that rush with varied kinds of people. We had to stand and were squeezed to the extent possible. We gave our backpacks each to two women in a seat. The best part of it was that the conductor was standing at the rear entrance (end) of the bus and everybody who got in from the front made it a point to buy a ticket. It was like everybody passing money from one side in a long chain and getting the ticket back through the same chain. I and my cousin might have passed over a hundred rupees and nearly fifty tickets all through the while. We almost learnt numbers in Tamil because that's what they tell you when they give you the money- Like they say anji rupayi ticket (5Rs. ticket) but not the place. After a certain time, it became so annoying that my cousin sat down when she got a seat and I tried hard to ignore this chain business for sometime, but couldn't because everybody makes it a point to buy a ticket no matter how they do it. And, that was something which I liked- the sincerity with which they buy tickets.

After some time, I recognized the street where this particular family lives and asked my cousin to get down immediately. I somehow pushed my way through the crowd and got down at the next street as the driver didn't stop there. I got down and saw my cousin still struggling to make her way out. Meanwhile, the bus started and left the place leaving me behind. And, there I was there standing all alone on the road at 5:45P.M. I started walking briskly in the direction the bus had left. I walked to the end of the road and took a left turn thinking about all possibilities, when I saw my cousin waving her hands at me from a distance. I was vividly happy to see her. We smiled at each other feeling quite relieved. Suddenly I realized that something was missing - my backpack was not with me and she was carrying hers.

Where the hell is my bag?

I don't know. I thought you took it from that lady.

Oh! damn it. The bag has my digital camera worth 15,000 bucks!!!! And, the bus might have gone somewhere now.

Don't worry. We will trace the bus. It shouldn't have gone far off.

Run!!!


(to be continued...)

Patience

• Patience with others is 'Love'
• Patience with self is 'Hope'
• Patience with God is 'Faith'

(-Source unknown)

Thoughtful Imagination

It feels wonderful to have a good discussion. We had a very knowledgeable discussion sometime back.

“What do you think is the primary difference between an imagination and a thought?”

Each of us had their own answer. But, if there’s someone who can throw some light onto what the most logical answer could be, the work is made easy. We also talked about what an intuition could be, if a thought is something which evolves out of the process of thinking. And, these were the answers that surfaced after a very long yet a patient discussion.

As the description by a great person goes, you can never imagine something you haven’t seen, felt or heard about. And, this definitely seems true. An imagination is an end result whereas, thinking involves the steps one follows to achieve or realize the end result.

An intuition is something which could come true very often. In the sense, if I calculate something according to a formula and arrive at a value and say that this could be the correct one, then the real value may be decimally very close to what I obtain. Then, I say I intuitively arrived at that answer.

We also came up with many questions that had no answers because if there were any then the origin of the universe will no longer seem mysterious and beautiful. It goes something like this. Thinking constitutes a series of thoughts and one thought paves way for the next. So, when thoughts have a nexus with each other and if every thought depends on what you thought about a second (or a micro-second) before, then where does the first thought come from? What is the base for the first thought that strikes your mind? Any takes on it?

New Hope...

Happy Independence Day to all.

May this year be more inspiring and fulfiling. I would resume writing my blog and try to be consistent at it. :D

India Shining!

"Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw." Winston Churchill on the eve of Indian Independence

Read the whole article here

Scary picture

This is the scariest picture I have ever seen. The picture shows a missioner holding the hand of a kid who is about to die of hunger in Uganda.

Writing effects

Writing has always been an important tool for us to comunicate, and will always remain one. Recently, I heard a very good explanation on the effects of not writing well.

There's a panda living in the colder regions. It gets bored of a routine and isolated life and migrates to a densely populated place- inhabited by humans. It comes across a bar and asks the bar man for a drink. The bar man welcomes it and gives it more than what it asks for. After eating and drinking whole-heartedly, the panda thanks the bar man. Then, it takes the gun from the security guy, shoots the bar man and leaves smiling. The security guy runs behind the panda and asks it as to why it shot the bar man inspite of being treated well by him. The panda says, "Go look up the dictionary."

The security fellow finds the meaning of panda in dictionary and it reads, "Panda- Eats, shoots and leaves."

There lies the whole mistake- just that one comma. It should have been 'Eats shoots and leaves'. This makes clear the importance of writing properly.

One fine morning- An Interview

This was my second interview and I suppose, I had improved a lot since the first one. And, mainly that was because I wanted everything to go well this time. I was there to have someone judge my technical knowledge- no wonder I was being interviewed for a programming job- which I always thought I was bad at. But, may be I wasn't very true with my biased opinion regarding it because I could pull it off very easily. The reason could be anything- smartness, eagerness or frustation. I don't know!

This is how it went-

Indu: Good Morning, Sir!
Interviewer: Morning. Sit down.
Indu: Thank you, Sir.
Int: How are you?
I: Fine. Thank you.
Int: Tell me about yourself.
I: blah-blah-blah
Int: Nice. So, you have done your engineering in... (looking at my resume)
I: Control Systems
Int: Okay. (Asked about my college)
You wrote C, Java in software orientation.
I: Yes, Sir. I had these courses in my first year.
Int: Both?
I: C in first and Java in III-II
Int: Ok. Shall I ask questions from these. Or, do you have any favourite subject?
I: Control Systems
Int: Ok. Have you heard about open-loop and closed-loop?
I: Yes sir
Int: Which of these do you think is our recruitment process?
I: Sorry, sir...
Int: What does our recruitment process comprise of?
I: Test and interview
Int: So, what is it? open or closed?
I: Sir, I think it's completely an open-loop process because if it were a closed-loop, you would take feedback from the candidates after interviewing them. But, you don't take any kind of feedback from us. Based on what inputs/answers we give, you solely decide the output i.e., the result. So, it's an open-loop process.
Int: (Smiles) Good.
You know sampling theory?
I: Yes, sir.
(His mobile rings)
Int: Excuse me!
(Talks over phone for few minutes and returns)
Int: I am sorry.
I: It's Ok.
Int: Where were we?
I: Sampling theory...
Int: Yeah. So, can you explain it?
I: Yes Sir. (Blah-blah-blah)
Int: Good.
I: Sir, can I ask a question?
Int: ahh... Let me ask you first. You can ask later. (Smiles)
I: Yes sir. Of course. (Smile)
Int: I want to know more about your family background
I: blah-blah-blah.
Int: Any other siblings?
I: Only brother.
Int: What is he doing?
I: Working with (some) company as an analyst.
Int: MBA guy?
I: Yes sir.
Int: You don't have any plans of MBA? CAT?
I: I took CAT last year, Sir. No plans of taking it again in the future.
Int: Ok. GRE? any plans of going abroad?
I: No, sir. Not really.
Int: Good.
(Few more technical questions)
I: blah-blah-blah
Int: Good.
Hobbies?
I: blah-blah-blah
Int: You wrote painting. What kind of painting?
I: Sketching and oil painting.
Int: You bublished them somewhere? Or...
I: No sir. Just a hobby.
Int: You are an electronics graduate. will you be able to cope with the work in a software firm....?
I: Sir, I am a fast learner. And, considering the training sessions that I would be attending, I don't think learning anything will ever be a problem.
Int: Good.
Career orientation? Goals?
I: Short-term, long-term goals. Blah-blah-blah
Int: Good. Good.
Ok. Any particular technology preference?
I: No Sir.
Int: Any specific work location preference?
I: No Sir. Anything should be fine, I guess. (Smile)
Int: Good. (Smiles)
Now, any questions?
I: (Asked a couple)
Int: (Answers)
I: Ok, Sir.
Int: Ok, Miss. Very good. Thank you! (Smiles)
I: Thank you, Sir. Good day! (Smile)

Anonymity

'Enmity is better than anonymity.'

In enmity, you would at least know who's trying to attack you and think of appropriate reasons and answers. But, in the latter case, you would end up wondering what is happening and can do nothing but take the ordeal as it comes.

Good company

I had been trying relentlessly for the past few days to sign-in into my blogger account until I got through a few minutes ago. It was like a marathon- everytime I clicked on the Sign-in button, it used to get stuck there for a long time. It doesn't matter anymore, now that I am in.

I found two very good reasons to be in good company yesterday. I felt relieved, in the company of thousands of books, at the 18th annual All India Book Festival here, and the discount galore further boosted my purchase potential. I bought a few good books. And, there was a Lok Satta party counter at the entrance. I took some time to go through their agenda and activities, and finally filled in the membership form. It felt really good to see youngsters showing interest towards such developmental programmes. India needs responsible youth and to start with, it's better if one takes the responsibility upon oneself.