NIT DGP...

Well time swifts past without our realization when the time is the best of all seasons. These four years at NIT Dgp is crawling to a hault and nostalgia is what overcomes me. Being the son of a Naval officer, I had traveled to different places across India, met and experienced varied people and also departed from them. But this time, the idea of departing from this insti simply makes me feel nostalgic. I really can't control it.

The Start Line:- I clearly remember those days when I was struggling to get admission into an good engineering college. I had fared terribly in IIT-JEE(kicked out in screening!) and WB-JEE(suffered ship-wreck due to maths!). The only thing that was left was AIEEE- something in which I was I worked hard to crack it and got thorough it. AIR:11649(OC), State Rank: 170. Finally in counselling time I chose NIT Dgp upon insistance of my father.(Though I was aiming for NITs of south and was actualy getting a seat in some branches!). I was happy with my selection with ECE @ NIT DGP. And then what? Kick started a memory of all times.

Fisrt Year:: I was droped at Hall 9, Room No:-114, by my father. I hated this city and this college at first site. Gosh, what filthy condition was of the hostels! The college was located in such a sparsely dense city with nothing outside the campus. Everything appeared "Dry"- from people to the ambiance. Man, how was i supposed to live over here! i knew i had to-no other way out.
Well, first year is truly called " First" year. We try so many different thing for the first time be it staying away from home to experiencing people of our age group so closely. Undoubtedly ragging was one of them. He he... I was so scared of ragging especially due to the physical raging part! but eventually I enjoyed it. It was the most memorable part of my college life- those pounding of heart while attending the call of a hot senior, those chaat sessions, those piles of notes and of course those " kael". Man ,never thought such hideous moments will be the most cherished ones. I changed after getting those exposures.

The Second Year:- It was a peaceful one but I must admit, a very silent one as well. I used to be lost in my own world of learning what was being taught in those 1 Hr of lectures. I was the most oblivious person of that wing. I aspired for getting good CGPA for only one semester(3 rd one ) and got it. I came to know about new people from different perspectives- some opportunistic, some cold, some interactive and yet some others were helpful. I also participated in Aarohan for the first time.

Third Year:- It was a cool one. I befriended some good batcmates and i feel lucky to have them as friends. During my stay with them I felt that I "lived" and I am not a person who only "existed" during exam seasons. I bagged my first job- "TCS" during this year. Yippeee......I belonged to the elite class of employed people...Ahh what a feeling it was!

The Final Year:- Toady i realize why it is called final year. Its truly final in every aspect...
It was the most happening and memorable year of my college days. I simply love it. When I returned from summer vacation to Hall 5, a whole new look was what the hostels were putting on! Awesome it was and more awesome was the opportunity to stay in the newly painted rooms! Of course, the battle for dream companies were on with everyone trying their best to grab the most lucrative offer.
Apart from these I was often discussed among the wingies for reasons that everyone knows! GOD! those chaat session still continues! Every time, all Of a sudden, my chair became hot chair. And then what? I was the stock of laughter for all. The best part was none laughed "at" me but laughed "with". He he...
And time passed and today i stand at the exit queue of this college ready to be shown the way to a whole new world. Well during these four years of my stay at NIT DGP I have learnt and tasted many things which I would remember always when I recollect my "Good old college ke din":-

Friends: I beilve I got few but valuable friends whom I can really rely upon. I always belive that it is better to have few trustworthy and helpful friends rather than a bunch of companions(I can't call those migratory birds as friends!). And this college couldn't change this proportion of the mixture! I hope to keep contact with these special people even after college.

Fun: It was fultu. I enjoyed in the ways I do. Those recstasy nights, "masti ke adda" session and pranks we played on each others (in class and in hostel) were pure fun!

Jobs: I am satisfied and have no complaints regarding the opportunity I got for the campus placement. I am happy and thankful to TPR's for their efforts. My one of the aims for coming to this college was fulfilled.

Career: I wanted to become an engineer and I believe I will. The degree that will be bestowed upon me by this college will definitely do that. Apart from this, I have also got to do higher studies in engineering- Thanks to some professors in the department who have helped me develop this interest in me. But I still realize how true is one pinching fact - NIT Dgp makes more of managers than engineers!

Department: I feel My department-ECE of NIT Dgp, was a very lenient and cool one. It was very cooperative and understanding. The professors did limit their expectation from students within the boundaries of student's capability but at the same time introduced us to world of electronics. In this regard I strongly feel that I should mention the name of Prof. Asish Kumar De ( our AKD Sir), who for me is truly GURU. Had it not been for him I wouldn't have learnt anything in ECE. Though many people cursed you for giving tons of notes, but I feel you were the only teacher whose teachings through your precious notes will remain with us for a long time. You are the father figure in the department.Thank you very much sir. I shall be indebted to you throughout my life.

College-Love/Sweet-heart: I have got none and I am happy for that...This issue of lady-love is still an elusive thing for me. Its something by which I was untouched during my college days though I got some friends who were girls. Thank god I am alone and happy. At least, I still can enjoy variety in my life.

Regrets: None!

Well, as a whole this togetherness with NIT Dgp was a cocktail of experience- Some good and some bad.The feelings and memories of college days are so strong that I will keep remembering the moments I spent here. Memories are the things to be cherished. But past can’t be changed; it can only be remembered as a good or bad time. If it is good, it can be remembered to make us feel good.
I am thankful to this college for all that it has given me. But one need gaps for continuity else life is stagnant. And this college has given me gaps as well. Some dreams were unfulfilled, some where just lost in the race. But whatever it is I believe that far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead...

My gratitude and best wishes to my friends, fellows and to this college. May all of us change for good and keep moving ahead because too low they build who build beneath the stars.

Down the memory lane...

I woke up to an evening whose dusky hues of sinking sun had drawn very gloomy patterns on the sky. The only date tree near my balcony stood still with its green leaves stretching out. A looked around and found myself in a “dry” concrete forest with no one but little children shouting and playing- the only sound that broke the screaming silence. I had never found the locality in such a mood!
After I returned back to my room I tried connecting to internet but unfortunately the network was down. Disappointed I flipped through my laptop’s content. I came across a photos folder upon opening which I found that it was my college folder. I saw it and closed the laptop and sat near the balcony. Feeble sun rays touched my face and that was what missing for the past to crop up in my mind. It grew and grew and finally engulfed me despite my resistance. After all, it was a full bunch of them and I was all alone!
I remembered my journey till that day. Long time yaar!! Really long!
Remembered the time.... 

when getting high meant on a swing , when drinking meant milk , when the only thing that could hurt were bruised knees, when the only things broken were your toys and when goodbyes only meant till tommorow…
I felt that the present moments are like colourful photos-some we simply flip across and some we frame it in our mind to cherish it for long time to come. But latter ones’ colour fades with time. It turns black and white. That’s what hurts! Wish I could hold on to those sweet memories. Wish I could relive them. But I forget that time has changed and so has people! We are all busy in our work and world. So little time we have got to go back and enjoy them.
I am waiting for the best to come yet. That’s the consolation I give me

I can...

I type this piece of writing to be motivated during the autumnal hours of my life.

"There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant,
are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn;
whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go."
- Richard Bach

We humans often want the ball to be in our court in every walks of life. I too wanted it. But when the gap is created it is then that we realise we were in a better position. These gaps are needed to make our life continous though I never like them despite knowing their importance. Its simply because I don't enjoy them. After having a tough project and and bossy time in my department I at last got the ticket to Kolkata- The city of JOY. I was santioned a leave for 5 days that too after making some people realise that 1960KM is really long distance. I didn't expect this particularly in govt. sector. My flight is at 12:05 PM and I am dying to catch it. Ami bari ashchiiiii...Yahooo!
Beautiful lines, isn’t it? When I first came across these thought provoking lines, I felt that it was something which I always felt in some lonely corner of my heart. But the pessimistic thought that I am looking at a “mistake” with redundant positive angle, often made me ignore its significance. It was this realization that kept me thinking for moment when I encountered these lines.
Most of us often grumble at the ever–available-to-blame luck for all failures we face in life. We think that it is simply not what our efforts were worthy of and we pass the verdict “ yaar, kismat hi kharab hai”. I myself have felt this quite a lot of time and more so when I found my peers/colleagues achieving what they had set out for.
I used to feel mentally agitated by the very sight of the distance I had to travel to reach my goal. This magnified small blockheads lying on the road. Consequences were more tension and stress which in turn distanced me from what I wanted. And the vicious circle continued. Being restlessness and sparing undue thought about the consequences, kept me shackled from capturing the rays of hope even in failures. It was all the more when I lonely traversed the road less traveled.
But slowly and sullenly, these dark hours taught me what I found useful latter. I am happy to realize it. It was persistence and constancy of goal!. It was a thing which I felt if not channelized in proper direction leads to untimely and unexpected results. But if done so with a positive attitude it works wonder-believe me. One of the important things I learnt was to be still in turbulence. Work your way with belief in yourself and light does falls on you. It needs constant effort. Now that’s something momentary and decays gradually. What boosts it is faith in you. You believe it and you achieve it!
The expectation to finish or fear to fail has nothing to do with the success. The joy is hidden in every moment. It can be extracted out by digging deep into the moment and getting lost into the task. It emerges out in your heart when the task is accomplished. But indirectly, any time which is not spent digging and searching is wasted on the surface speculating or fearing the unknown.
It’s rightly said that we always feel the queue in which we are standing move slowly compared to the others. So there is no point in grumbling at your situation. Some we can change and some we should adapt to. But which one to do is what we should learn.
We always have choices in whatever we do- we can complain at the rain drops for spoiling our journey or we can look at its drop as something that shows us the rainbow in sunshine…

Oh Calcutta!!!

We humans often want the ball to be in our court in every walks of life. I too wanted it. But when the gap is created it is then that we realise we were in a better position. These gaps are needed to make our life continous though I never like them despite knowing their importance. Its simply because I don't enjoy them. After having a tough project and and bossy time in my department I at last got the ticket to Kolkata- The city of JOY. I was santioned a leave for 5 days that too after making some people realise that 1960KM is really long distance. I didn't expect this particularly in govt. sector. My flight is at 12:05 PM and I am dying to catch it. Ami bari ashchiiiii...Yahooo!

In the Introspect

I am writing this piece after a looooooooong time. The reason? Nothing moved me to share in my blog and i dont know if the forth coming segment is worth it

Actually it is kind of boring to share things on same line but I cant help in this regard. I have people to share happiness with but few or rather none to share darker/serious things that provoks my thoughts. I use this to speak it out.It is more easier that way.
I have realized in my life I am running from the moment i gained consciousness. A mad rat race to get more, get atop and being unsatisfied. Once in my college a professor had said that one should be happy but not satisfied. I tried to act upon it. I realized that for me as a person happiness and satisfaction can never exist alone in the long run. They have to be together.
Sometimes we do get a chance to stand and stare where and what the END is, that what is decided by the sustainer as the place that puts a brake, that which makes us realize that this life is to pass by some moments of dawning, some which we should bear in heart not in mind, some which keeps us rooted. After all we need to face and answer Him. Today was one such day-rather a nostalgic one, one which stirred my inner self. I realized that I have many things precious which i never realized ! I am fortunate to have them.

Break

" I think we are going to miss the vehicle, u know?" said an excited me on our way to Jalahalli bus stop. The thought that i was going to insult "Lord Sunday" on the very dawn of the day that too on Makar Sankranti, kept me from realizing that the punctuality I expected was impractical.(All of us worked in an organization where the "deadlines" were the biggest lies due to some or the other reasons!).
We boarded the bus and after a short two-piece journey , reached the place to board the Tavera. Our journey started shortly after a little waiting. We were a bunch of 6 people who direly needed to break free before their bosses had frustrated their mind, body and soul from top to bottom.
We headed towards Mandya district through NH209. On the way we paused our journey for refreshments and packed some snacks to be had latter on the way. Lied ahead vast expanse of cattle-fields that was bordered by mountains covered by patches of red and yellow trees and punctuated by small houses. I took a deep breath and inhaled that mesmerizing smell of mud and dry grasses scattered around the road which reminded me of my native place. Such found memories...wished I could turn back to the summer vacation of my school days.

Our first stop was an Anjneya temple following which we went to the banks of river Cauvery. It was actually a very mild, almost stagnant stretch of shallow water punctuated with rocks of different sizes. That was what some of us were looking for. But as soon as we parked our vehicle there, we were victims of the apes. Those creatures snatched a full bag of what they enjoyed the most. Yaa, u can guess it. I bet, they had discovered a booty after opening the bag. Never mind. Some of us had almost forgotten the joy of taking a plunge into river water. And then what! We had hit the water with full madness. We had carried a air ball with us and with it started the most fun-filled part in water. We played like children in the whirls of the water-splashing, and enjoying in every aspect possible. What fun...hehehe.

Followed by the water wandering, we had an interesting football match on the banks. The match was followed by lunch. We traveled back towards the main road during which two of our fellows had the weird idea of having their rears roasted on roof top of our vehicle. It was fun, at least for the onlookers.(The cattle around felt they had someone of their own kind riding by the roads.)

After lunch we headed towards the Mekedatu falls and sangam. After reaching the spot we spotted many BSF people in several battalions preparing so set up their camps. I wondered why they were carrying a spool of thread with blade on their caps. One of us made a funny guess- to get ready for an instant date! Well,we had to board a bus after crossing a rather shallow, rock laden stream of river. It was a 20 mins bus journey to the Mekedatu. After reaching there, it was a breath taking sight! Marvelous is what I would say. What works of the roaring water that carved its curved way through the rocks. It was a place like the one I saw in terrain pictures of other planets, except that it had water and people.
We enjoyed the spot, captured its beauty on camera and headed back to the rocky streams by bus. This time we sat on the roof top of the bus. It was a roller coaster ride through those rough unfinished roads bordered by bushy trees and shrubs. Finally we headed back to Bangalore city. It was really a memorable trip with friends- a respite from daily work.

First Anniversary

I should have posted this long back. But then better to be late (and listen to friends) than never do it. Here it goes...

1 year!

30 th September, 2010. Today I completed officially 1 yr of service in ISRO. Congrats!!

What a journey it has been! I recollect the changes -the constant force of nature-occured in my life.

This first year had been full of transitions for me, from college to professional life, from happening hostel life to not-so-happening-yet-eventful pseudo hostel life, from understanding people to packages (simulation and flight), from advantages to adverse stages and so on. Needless to say it has thrown very strong colours on the canvas of my professional life. When I look back I find that the most noticeable change that took place in me.

COOKING!!!!

OMG! I used to enter the kitchen, ask Maa and get whatever I liked. I never bothered sparing a thought about how is it made or what effort it takes to make one. I had not a slightest idea that life has some plans for me to realize it. Now in this “Omega land” I was forced to learn some kitchen-art (Phew! It was no less than learning martial arts-cutting, chopping,boiling, tossing and rather get tossed!). I had to accept it else I would have suffered from marasmus / Kwashiorkar if my diet was based on drinking ISAC sambhar and rasam (TOP SECRET:-Office canteen follows some patented recipes for preparing these items which are in house developed).

SUBORDINATES!!!

Well, I got a mixed bag of them- some technically very sound, some very cool, some very helpful and some are escapist. Some knew the art of going home at 5:00 pm, some had the zeal of continuing after that and some expected too much from firsties. Yet there were some other breed about whom the lesser spoken of, the better. (They 'no', you got to deal with them to understand them or rather obey them without understanding else you won't find a point to know why he wants so.)

BATCHMATES!!!

We were a bunch of 15 young people who joined ISAC. Though we were given different divisions to work in, there were occasions when I got to know some of them. There was one always basking “WELL in the HONEY “with an air of one of the coveted instis of country. (IITP-20 of ISACians can guess who am I talking of!). Then there is our PJ king! Big fat Dr. Karthikanada. I still can't bear his PJs during lunch hours in canteen, more so because of water sambhar. Hope one day I will get used to.” Mr. Aiyyy” is always found keeping keen eyes on the lady personnels. (Yeah, in desert you just need water without worrying if its drinkable or used one! Can’t help! Tyranny of age!) I hope he finds someone suitable.

If you happen to spot some bongs while strolling with this fellow, then he is none other than “Mr. Bangnet. Gosh! He enjoys exhibiting extraordinary powers in attracting bong people around him-in buses, malls, roads, restaurants, workplace, parks- whenever you want it get him there and relax!

Bengal-BengalURU!!!

Distance, my friend, its distance. Its something that makes you feel the pinch of what you have but hardly realize its significance. Yeah. Distance from city of joy, which I mostly felt will take ages to prosper thanks to socio-political environment, had made me realize what it has and none else. The richness of artistic and cultural love of people still makes it the cultural capital. Needless to say about the magic of the typical delicacies of that land. I miss them dearly here though its “URU”offers them too. Whatever you say -the MNC companies, Rock-savvy people here, employed busy-bodies, the pleasant weather -it lacks the warmth. The warmth has descended into the price of consumables to such an extent that it burns your pocket.

Now most of the people have become busy in the world and work.

A new year has begun. A promise of new experiences and revelations lies ahead. I hope I would accept the good and avoid the bad but most importantly am able to apply the common sense to distinguish between them and accept things I cannot change.