boomerang

Sultan of Swing !?!

2010-01-26T03:10:00.000-08:00

Innovation is not just one idea; it is a lot of them put in series. There are a lot of failures, ideas and many moments of problem solving involved to achieve that one thing, which ends up overshadowing it all (which actually is the purpose). Scott Berkun here delivers a great lecture on innovation or, as I put it, how to develop any idea. I have had my share of making, breaking, re-making and often reorganizing my thoughts with one of the ideas at work in past 12 months. I don’t believe it would change your world much, but it has definitely changed mine.

After having attempted unsuccessfully a number of times to develop something out of cricket, an unknown time ago, I copied some code from Google Visualizations into an html file and put it in front of my teammates in Mumbai. We discussed if that was possible, what could be done to reach there and possible resources. For next few days we would discuss it during our brunches at ICICI, but it was not before one of the rock climbing trips that one of them told me he has some hands on web data mining and if we could use it. I said maybe we could mine internet for data and do what we initially planned. I forgot it over other things at ICICI, but Sandy came up with the first skeleton app that made it possible! As soon as we shared the idea with the rest of the team in Bangalore, everyone was on board. It felt easy, such was the intuitive gut that I had that time. And with initial results from the actual models made by our team, it seemed in a hands approach. But as it turned out later, it wasn’t.

There is a direct relationship between the time you spend doing a thing and the amount of learning you are going to get from it. Though everything looked great from a high level, things almost fell apart when we analyzed them in pieces. To make things worse, we had exhausted a lot of time in developing this phase and then were left with only option – quick fixes. Quick fixes have a way of not working sometimes exactly between the times when you need them, they will screw your original solution so bad; you would feel shooting your foot was easier. Though we had something substantial in hand, it wasn’t ready for sure. We sat together again, challenged each other's ideas, helped implement promising ones. In one of these sittings, we almost totally scrapped earlier approaches, and still got good results. Mashed it up with the old approach, added a lot of common sense, challenging our own ideas this time. Many brain storming sessions and thousands of lines code later, it seemed to be doing fine (did I say fine, it rocks!). We bounced back as a team, I am quite sure it has, in pieces, something from everyone in Marketelligent, which makes it even more special.

Last week, we launched the first version of Mswinger, a dial displaying which way a cricket (ODI) match is swinging. Not saying Mswinger has 100% accuracy in gauging the swing, but we are not far from that figure either. We sure have set the bar pretty high for anyone else to match. You can track the upcoming ODIs with it and let me know your opinions.

My takeaways are very high from this project (as for everyone else IMO), innovation is a sequence of events done every day and never settling for something in between.

The Approach

2009-09-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

You don't have minute details here, but this pretty much summarizes my belief of work.

Kabhi screw driver nahi dekha kya?

2009-06-24T13:41:00.000-07:00

A sudden call from brother took me to almost a ritual trip to Dadar today. Dadar station has kind of become a meeting joint for us when we are in a hurry or when seeing off someone.

You get a seat easily in trains towards Churchgate during evening, but you seldom get two men, taking seats off! As it turns out, the chaps were trying to take out a mobile which slipped from pocket during those profound sleeps. Entire compartment had taken various position to not miss the smallest bit of the rescue, some people had even started making video (between did anyone tweet about it??). The owner of the mobile has skipped five stations now and desperately wanted to get off the train WITH the mobile. In the process, the fellows managed to unscrew some of the seats but couldn’t take off what lied beneath it (seat is not wood deep my friend!). It was a hard steel sheet, having the least spaces on sides, I am sure even Aamir Khan wouldn’t have slipped through it.

Some geek had suggested earlier to keep calling the mobile which might let us trace it through the otherwise opaque sheet and might eventually cause the vibrations to make it slide (wherever). But even after stripping the local of 3 seats, the scheme failed, only victory was the location of mobile with an error in accuracy of about 5 cm (that is a big error just in case you were wondering how tall is Aamir). The shear effort was visible in the guys clothes , made me jump into the scene (I love hogging attention). Now all eyes on me (some decently attractive female eye balls included), I saw an obvious solution to the problem – IF we could get a screw driver of a particular size, the problem was solved (my exclamation was like telling Pakistan that terrorists are their problem), they all shrugged in synchronization as though we were playing in an Opera. A lot of people made heavy sighs, and suggested that he get down on next station as the train wont go to yard for another 6 hours . I kept trying (cynics said I was trying to impress the girls) and in a moment of disgust, I just pulled the bottom of seat so hard that the vibrating mobile slid elegantly into my palm (yes you geeks, you can give we-said-so looks now). A lot of people sighed again (cynics said no girls were impressed, but I beg to differ). The guy took the mobile as if it was stolen (wait a min) and in one swift action of legs, jump outside the compartment, pushing a teenager, with a screw driver in his hand, getting up the train vigorously in the process.

Yes, he had the same exact size screw driver in his hand. Everyone started chuckling moments after realizing what has happened. The poor chap sitting on the just-kept-there seat remarked "Kabhi screw driver nahi dekha kya?"

PS: Hey, we all love Aamir, he wont be mean to me. In fact he wont be even 85% of what I am (because then he would have to be taller!!)

Play em smart

2009-06-21T05:14:00.000-07:00

My take on what might be a better way to take in form Pakistan bowling:

• Mohammed Aamer should not be taken lightly, he has taken crucial (better opener, high strike rate, good average) breakthroughs in the first 6 overs in all the matches except when they played SL.

• Aamer provides perfect platform for Afridi to bowl sliders, if a wicket falls around this time, promote a left hander (depends on the kind of pitch as well).

• Ajmal has taken 10 out of his 12 wickets after 13th over, he is not the man you want to go after at the end, take him on in the beginning itself when he is not bowling dusras.

• Gul has been near perfect with his full deliveries, play as straight as possible, however Pakistan have had problems with fine leg in the circle, get the drift?

• Now the most interesting part, whenever Pak has to push back the spin for couple of overs and bring Gul up, they end up losing the match (warm ups included). Teams have lost to Pakistan while stepping up between 7th to 13th overs, 3 of the lesser scoring shots matches between these overs resulted in Pakistan defeat.

Bottomline: Don’t throw wickets in the first six, get left handers to nudge ball around with Afridi & take on Ajmal here. Make Pakistan bring Gul as soon as possible (by not loosing wickets and maintaining a decent run rate).

PS: Of course on a given day Umar Gul can bowl out entire SLan team in 10 balls. This is a plain strategy under assumptions.

Blah - 2

2009-06-21T00:30:00.001-07:00

A combination of a new discovery, early Sunday morning juxtaposed with an early Saturday night.

What are you doing - II

2009-06-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

I have been reading, writing (mostly gibberish, wont publish. I litter electronically a lot). One of the thing we are (our team at Marketelligent) looking forward to, requires a lot of designing as far as its real application is concerned. You will like it if you consider it as an exercise to understand things and not predict. I am reading Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch (most people say I should have read it earlier, but I say it’s the perfect timing). Welch pushes me some distance every day in striving for more. A must read. My parents are here, so will be off internet (a welcome break!) for some time.

Tough days ahead, a lot of challenges springing up from all the places, but the sky always has silver linings.

PS: I am changing Boomerang in bits and pieces, with the help of zillion online blogs, without much effort. So just in case something is broken while you arrive here, take a second in letting me know.

"What are you doing?"

2009-05-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

Here’s a quick look into what I have been doing since September last year:
1. Moved to Mumbai (Malad W) and hafta admit that maximum city certainly has maximum to offer. Best city in India. Period.
2. Joined Twitter, and have been a sucker for it for past so many months. It has been a whole new revelation, starting with Mumbai attacks and moving onto a part of normal life. It might have been something else, but for now it is this free service used to answer one simple question-“What are you doing?” in 140 characters.
3. Learnt to travel by local trains, which is the awesomest way to travel in Mumbai (reader’s discretion requested).
4. Saw a lot of places, Marine Drive tops my list.
5. Gained around 15kgs (oh yeh!)
6. Learnt what it is to be a specialist for the first time.
7. Made first complete web thingy as a part of exploring technology (don’t squander your time with expectations)
8. Quit SMOKING completely and night outs (well almost).
9. Explored Konkan coastline.
10. Learnt what it is to be living in between two time zones at once, after all, Mumbai is not Miami.

There are many other things as well, but I will take my own time to unwind, these are from the top of my head.

Inquilaab definitely!

2009-05-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

When I first saw the tallies in the afternoon of 16th May 2009, I was pleasantly shocked. All along the course of these elections, I could see few things very clearly.

• BJP was living under the wrong impression that issues like Ram Mandir, weak PM and terrorism can get them somewhere. They just sorted their propaganda all wrong, with the real issues never getting to the front. Most of the people still don’t know that BJP went into elections with a promise to raise non taxable income up to 300k pa etc etc. The good results they were reaping were all because of the great efforts in planning and execution by the respective state governments. They were failing to strike a chord nationally.

• Congress, having had a share of allies gone bad and better state governments, were relatively better placed than any other party across the country. They were going alone in the elections across many states (including UP where Rahul Gandhi literally spent last 2-3 years working at the grass roots), which was a gamble for sure, but after having put some serious work among party cadres in all of these states, this was a safer bet. Brand Manmohan was looking like working as the most capable PM, with even Obama singing his praises everywhere, in the last 5 years people had somehow accepted the Madam-Manmohan combo. I thought 26//11 will at least not work against Congress, as everyone knew that all political parties, corporate and we, the normal junta, were not prepared for that kind of assault. The recession was a globally accepted phenomenon, pretty much like an earthquake or tsunami for an ordinary Indian.

• Third front, who were to surely play spoilsport according to me, had a number of advantages in their hands, with most of the rural politics in India still working under caste-religion propaganda, I was sure that UP will come up with all SP and BSP, and hence will play the largest role in all. The Sri Lankan Tamil crisis was (according to me)going to polarize voters and one of the Tamil dominated parties were to sweep, adding to the third front. However I was accurate about how Left parties were going to face some serious problems, with almost no real issues at hand and devoting most of the time at the end towards planning the third front, I believed they would be the worst hit.

But I hoped that my opinion about third front would be wrong. Though I could see the chinks in BJP cadres, I failed to realize how Congress can gain from this. Slowly but surely, we are off to a better political scenario in India (I know people would say me coming to conclusion with one election, but I beg to differ). And by no means I think this is because of media, which is probably the weakest of the four legs. 26/11 is Congress’s very own Kargil.

The policies and practices with which this nation was setup is going to give fruits sooner or later. Sometimes I wonder how many nations got freedom around the time we did, which adopted democracy, started with a very large poor, illiterate and ever growing population and reached where we are today. One must watch this talk by Nandan Nilekani at TED convention about India and its ideas.

The Gandhis are back people, if it was Sonia in the last elections; Rahul has definitely led Congress (I attribute this to his hard work in UP, when Mulayam ji thought of him as a kid and Modi as a dynasty product) to this victory. And with a lot of other young politicians rallying around, he is already among the PM race for 2014 (after NaMo of course!). For others this simply means years of tiring work (where it matters), like a Modi or Chauhan or Raman Singh, BJP needs to re-discover itself, Ram Mandir is no issue at all and hate speeches are off fashion.

PS: A general request to UPA from me – no more goof ups please.

PSS: I am no Congress or Rahul or Modi fan, I am just writing what I observe, which is relative of course.

Just like that.

2009-05-06T04:34:00.000-07:00

It was not something intentional, it happened to me like all the other things I never planned for. Each day of this journey I met dozens of Indians, with different, yet strikingly similar, history, culture and ambitions. From J&K to Andaman, this nation oozes out the stories of those who laid down their lives for the days to be. All along this journey, we faced shared dreams, roof and food. It was like an enchanted sabbatical from what is the usual life for individuals.
The sun would wash away the past every day, bringing hope of the distinct future for which each one of us was striving for, running faster each day, we would seldom sit down sing, dance, drink and swap stories. And at each turn, some of us left, just like that. We were thankful enough for them to have shared the other life with us, and soon many more will join the journey. We had bare minimum luggage, and yet so much was the burden of it all, it would drain us, test us and let us reveal to ourselves what we ever wanted to be and we would still continue to battle most of it for the dreams we cherished, hopes we protected. In the journey we often met the village elders, who shared their wisdom with us. They were as old as the wisdom I believe as nothing escaped them. They made us tea and we drank under the stars as the destined twins in the folklores. The dust would settle down at nighttime, but the distant voices of the animals in the cold revealed the darker world to us, it was often very enticing, joining the games.
We left signs of our presence here and there, maybe we affected the people around as well, but we tried our best to not get emotionally attached. A traveler is probably the best of human beings, he never expects anything from the people he meets, yet he goes lengths in helping others and sharing knowledge of the roads, villages and valleys he has been. Often people would ask us where we came from, what was our culture, what was our purpose; for them all of us were rounded stones from wind and water, so similar, so mixed in so many cultures that probably the real us has been lost somewhere. But that was what we had gone out to look out for, isn’t it. The real us is not in land, river or a village, we embody it all, it’s all us. I am the rain that wets the mountains, I am the flood that drowns millions, I am the sun & all the sunlight and I am one who lives everywhere. Yes indeed, I am.

We are up & running!!

2009-02-16T11:28:00.000-08:00

Hello people,

Have not been writing these days for a number of reasons (procrastination being the most obvious), but well a lot of things have happened, which is what the changed template and some more bits symbolize here. A lot of you have asked me to write again and I hope I could just do that.

The main reason to write this post have been a successful accomplishment: I have quit smoking (it has been months, literally), just wanted to share it with you all.

Have fun, hope to write more often then previous months.

Cheers
LA

Rut yeh tal jayegi, himmat fir aayegi.

2008-11-29T01:19:00.000-08:00

I am not going to write about who did this and what could have been done, we have an awful lot of analysts (including you) for that. I am just going to write what I felt all along. And what at times made me feel absolutely nothing. Ever since I came to Mumbai, I dreaded travelling, for all the names I knew here were somehow related to blasts. But all this while, the Mumbaikar was perforating in me, and today as Mumbai bleeds, I feel hollowed and disgusted to the core of being.

When it all began, I hoped it was a gang war of some kind and may be it’s already over as I hear news. But when the first scenes of AK-47 & CST arrived, I knew it had happened. It was such an effect that I could just sit with remote in one hand and type from other. I had no feelings until, they said ATS Chief is no more, and (literally) first thing that came to my mind was – They killed two IPS already!! I was shocked and alert; I went out to see my apartment window for any activity outside, drew the curtains and took my position on Twitter. The remaining days I saw, typed, conveyed only one thing - news. And in between kept pouring in what I believed was the emotional morphine everyone required, isn’t it strange that a crowd which is often attributed to impulsive and irresponsible behavior actually rallied for more than 60 hours (already & it still continues) just to pass on information like blood shortage, emergency numbers and calming down each other, assuring each other of support and letting no enmity creep in across any religious section (at least online), and I have reason to believe they carried it of with them to their work place and neighborhood all the while. What some people said appeared as an ugly face of media, who themselves still report that 2 terrorists were killed inside Taj this morning even after a press release by NSG Chief, was a deliberate, thoughtful, responsible and calming effort by millions across globe. Yes, we had an odd someone coming in bashing countries & religions, but it was really amazing to see no one waging verbal war but to simply block them. It is the longest discussion ever (#Mumbai) and it still continues.

An ATS chief, who takes a service revolver to combat AK47, a 31 year old MARCO dreaming from 3rd standard to join army, an NSG hawaldar who after being hit, doesn’t not leave his position so that his colleagues don’t face fire – what were these men made of? Is it not strange that they ate, breathe on the same soil as some Advani who at such situation was criticizing government instead of (for a millisecond) being a true India who stood by people who have made him. I don’t see anyone in politics that I could look to and feel – yes, he feels what I do. A terrorist has no religion/country, people who want to use them have a nation & religion. People asked me whether anything would change or not. I don’t know. But I would, I am going to be more honest & braver to my country and myself. I can’t change the world, I can change myself, and really this is where it all starts isn’t it. Some people died last week so that I could live more, I have to make this work, there is no other option.

All through watching the harsh reality over television, I just remember a song. Ironically, some Pakistanis composed it:

Kadam rukte nahi jab saath hon sada, kabhi marte nahi jo mann mai hon sada
Maani nahi humne haar, aa desh ko firse sawaar .. ki dil tun rona nahi
Khawab adhoore nahi, ki armaa saare tere honge poore kabhi…

Smoking Diaries

2008-03-05T01:23:00.000-08:00

“..killed 100 million people worldwide in the 20th century and could kill one billion people in the 21st unless governments act now to dramatically reduce it.

Governments around the world collect more than $200 billion in tobacco taxes every year but spend less than one fifth of 1 percent...”

- WHO Report on 7th February 2008

Some years back, I learnt something, which some people would say – is an integral part of present day me. It was actually a moment of adventure, to try out things tagged BAD by the majority. I never believed in popular opinions, they are biased, weak, needing support of the masses and diplomatic.

Smoking was cool for me at the beginning and I really got the kicks I wanted. But over the time, I believe, it has grown more psychological then physical. It is satisfying to have a pack & smoke 3-4 than having none and end up smoking a pack. Its that little red amber between two fingers and the lady figured smoke that actually matters. People say a lot of things bout smoking, good and bad, but not many have figured out WHY & WHY NOT. My personal experience says its bad, its very BAD in fact, especially if you are a sportsperson. It sucks your will, competitive edge anywhere and your stamina for sure. I lost my spirit somewhere between lighting a cigarette for fun and throwing away a filter for another.

I tried googling – How to quit, and the results were absurd, trust me. For someone like me such stuff never did or rather never would work. One thing which decelerates my smoking is – Basketball, for a simple reason that it requires huge efforts which leave your lungs incapable of taking in any smoke for a span of time (which might be in hours at times). Now this was strange in the beginning, but now I understand my body and its will to fight back. The numbers might nt impress you but they certainly cheer me up. This reminds me of Google again. Someday, someone at some place else, would read this only to get more disgusted, but I believe that would make a difference.

Asthma doesn't seem to bother me any more unless I'm around cigars or dogs. The thing that would bother me most would be a dog smoking a cigar.

- Steve Allen

What I have been doing

2008-03-04T07:43:00.000-08:00

Well..nothing much seriously. I still am trying to heal my body and start again with normal life. But in between, I had a chance to play basketball for Hall and luckily we won. We play some 5 more matches and people told me we are the favourites..now why would you tell that to a final year student who is so passionate bout the game and he might not be able to give his full efforts .. bt then I didnt tell them bout my condition. Fair enough.

Well before all this, Aarohan got over. And we had a whole lot of students cribbing over things they cant, wont even try to undestand. We earned some names for CCA and I liked one so dearly but since this is a "family" blog I wont tell you :P . They are still cribbing and I hope they will for months, and what concerns me is my happiness over their despair. I mean, sometimes I feel like giving them a call and telling them - I am actually enjoying this so please dont ever stop!!

Attended a lecture yesterday only to be told - attend lectures, take life seriously, I'll miss you students, dhishum, dhishum... but only then I realised it was my fault, the professor was actually right..why in this world did i go for that class? In between I made a TO DO lsit as well for the remaining days in the campus, which I would publish shortly.

Its really is strange to know that I will have to leave this campus in exacty - 59 days, 2 hours and 35 mins [thats if Mumbai Howrah Mail is on time]. I have always dreamt of a time when everything around would be mine, every individual would know me and it would be like LA World..and now that I have to leave this place, I feel I had the LA World here but never realise it. So..here is to everyone who ever talked, walked, laughed, ran, ate, shout, dance, sing, cheat, fight, embarass...with me. Will miss you guyz..and for that matter gurls as well, i mean if they know me ;)

Will catch up with you people soon..this is ALi_Sahab signing off!!

Cheerz

Bhaat!!

2007-10-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I write things which I cannot explain WHY later on, not that I dont want to..but because I dont know why I write them. I feel this is getting infectious with some friends also comming up with blogs, and me coming up with posts almost every week. So from now onwards I would not write anything which I cant comprehend (atleast). But then it hurts to leave this post like this.

So here is one of those pieces, these pieces are silly (insane suits btr) and generally have some sense almost alien to our lifes. Nevertheless I publish (reasons being the same -- its free and I had enough time to waste).

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As I sit here in this compartment, I see empty seats; abandoned for roadside worker. Most of the passengers are quite unlike every trip I made. There is a hint of laziness and happiness in their faces, they are content with what they did and got in return today.

They do simple things of extraordinary importance (polish shoe for someone going for a very important meeting with a client etc). Then often these hawkers with all sorts of snacks, tea and sweets; a small treat for those these compartment, mean everything. Its almost a festival and I feel great to be a part of it, they are chatting often discussing thir daily work and some politics as well. I was joined by these four students in last station, no one of them understand a word in hindi or english. But I had enough luck to get a piece of paper and a pen.We seem to be so different, but yet so similar are our senses to feel everything exactly in the same manner as other. In less than thirty mins I wll be there, by her. I hope, I could carry this experience to her without tampering its smallest detail.

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Im off to home, hope to see u soon.

HAPPY PUJAs!!!!!

cheerz
LA

Just Another Post.

2007-10-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

We came. We saw. We won. We forfeit.

I was always taught from childhood that winning is not everything. And I always believed that it was pure bullshit, winning was everything.

Three days back (i.e. 5th October) we started our journey in LIT CUP. We did well to start, it brought lot of promise for the days ahead. We continued doing things and things continued to be doing us. But we had to win, anyhow. We fought hard (I even went to stage for JAM elimination..Can u imagine???) with a certain belief . We had learnt a lot from our previous defeats and we REALLY knew what victory meant. After all we (read this as I) had lost highest number of times in this campus(considering the number of events I participate in). But we backed each other, things didn’t go well any day. Number of flaws in the rules, or rather some rules was tore apart in several pieces by the other teams (and organizers), we remained calm and concentrated. Last day was better, there were fewer irregularities (though two of them cost us the CHAPIONS tag) and we thought that the game was not over (obviously, cuz we had not won!!).

Final stage was set, and it was according to us..THE QUIZ. And yet again, what we dream in our worst dreams, it happened. Then came the moment, it was the grand presentation. We went to stage as everyone else, but returned empty handed. We had forfeited the trophies and all other prizes. It was not well received (trust me), and the scene would get worse with all the student politics involved. Nevertheless I write this. I know this is getting (in)famous, but then there is no smoke without any fire (both ways).

Why I write this? I write this for myself (as always). Why publish it? Cuz I have a blog.

People have already started asking us whether this is going to affect our friendships in campus, my answer is – I don’t know. I had never thought this journey, our last LIT CUP, would end like this, but then no one knew. And we were competing with teams and an organization, not friends. I can keep on writing like this for ever and never being able to express the conflict of emotions, but then I find writing as constructing way of expressing disgust and disbelief.

“..this is not a tale of impressive deeds…it is a piece of two lives taken in a moment when they were together along a given path. With the identity of aspirations and a conjunction of dreams. Was our vision too narrow, too partial, too rushed? Were our conclusions too rigid? Maybe. I am not myself anymore..atleast not inside”

- Che Guevara (in Motorcycle Diaries)

..sometimes winning is not everything.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S - I

2007-09-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

Hey folks!!

Here are some articles from my friends who could have published them in their blogs, but ....they are MY friends - Lazy and Awful :D .

To start the series we have KHANDU aka RAVAN aka SIR. The world can be divided into two parts - people who FOLLOW his theories & people who are going to FOLLOW his theories. So I finish here, everyone is free to comment.

Cheerz
LA

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LAN - Life Altering Network

“Give a man a fish; he is fed for a day. Teach him to use the 'net, and he won't bother you for weeks”

Imagine how intricate life would be if you had to walk all the way to your next door neighbor just to ask him to accompany you to the mess or if he had an extra pen. Imagine those pitiable times when you type in ping 10.0.0.1 –t and the only reply you get is request timed out. There is a feeling of panic, you are scared and you don’t know what to do. But then you suddenly realize that you still have LAN connection and you switch on to the radiostation or the videostation, better if you could find a psycho gamer just like you.
These are just a few after-effects of the LAN and Internet extravaganza. Internet connects you to every corner of the world but it is also the only existing connection to every corner of your college. You ask someone a doubt (this effect is rarest) and the reply you get is either a 10 digit IP address or a web page link. Thanks to the magic of torrents and some innovative minds, now we don’t even have to make that rare trip to the idiot box in the common room. Everything from Indian idol to Koffee with Karan is at your finger tips or rather at your click. Then, for the not so stable minds there is the option of blood bath and massacre in the world of PC gaming. Our professors have been blaming the internet since a very long time for the poor attendance of students but I wonder if attendance was ever good even in the pre-net era. Students always had had some activities to compensate for classes and now the internet is this activity. Addiction can always be dangerous. It was the internet and the boundary wall of our college that coincidentally came up together. Some people who should be complaining are all the net café owners around the campus and 89cinemas.
Going by the tradition of Déjà vu, I hope nothing in this article will be thought of seriously. It would be difficult to survive in our college as the boy who killed the net.

- Rahul Khandelwal

u can stone him at khandu.rahul@gmail.com

2007-09-25T02:13:00.000-07:00

THE MEN IN BLUE --- NOW T20 CHAMPs

Subah ho gayi mamu!!

2007-09-07T03:20:00.000-07:00

STATUTORY WARNING: Not sleeping during night is harmful for health. The writer would not be responsible for any sleep during lectures or labs.

Try to resist the desire to sleep a night, try music, comp games, movies or maybe even studies to stay awake. You will need to gather best of your strengths to stay awake during the 2:30 AM – 4:30 AM period. Those who loose this battle to sleep can go for their dream world, and those who end up as winners, there is a prize. Take a walk.

The first thing you notice will be the fact that there are people who get up at 5 AM and go for jogs (my revelation came along in first year itself); some of them can be your good friends. Piece of advice, don’t look at them with shock. Second revelation, everyday many people from campus leave for CAL, no matter if it’s a weekday or end. Third, Ravi da makes the best and the really SPECIAL chai around that time. Fourth, Mr. President and Mr. Know-All turn up at Jhupps everyday sharp at 6. And campus is at its best, calm elaborate and inviting.

You can try various modes to experiencing it, bicycle would be my suggestion. In this trip feel free to explore any and every part of the 186 acres. Let the child inside you try all the X-games stunts that you ever felt shy to try out infront of the mob which will be there exactly 135 minutes from 6. In the process let yourself be taken by the fact that not everyone would have the time and enthusiasm to experience what they call night out. Believe as if you rule the place and take all the space you want to anywhere. Let fresh air and morning sunlight make you miss all the morning drills you ever attended at school and which you will never be able to feel once you join the rat race of earning a livelihood. Along with this try greeting everyone you find on the way, you will get a positive response from everyone, take my word. While riding, make sure you sing some kinda cheerful song, makes riding that much less painful. If lost, try going in circles, its all spiral in the campus. Never ride close to stray dogs, they can chase you!! And the consequences can turn this experience into a nightmare. If you got company, the process is the best time for all the bhaats. Don’t talk about today, because you will confuse it with tomorrow. That’s one disadvantage of night outs, the boundary between today and tomorrow gets blurred. Try to ride from main building-hall9-hall4-techno-hall2-hall1-mainbuilding, its probably the best span of roads, trees and halls. They all look so natural, as if when they started building the campus back in September 1959 everything was in place. And after all this treat yourself with, masala/plain Maggie at the Jhupps. On your way to hall, be a bit poetic and write down few lines on this experience and don’t forget to post them for next Déjà vu, or maybe your blog or even your orkut ‘about me’ (yes, there are people who read them).

If after reading this you feel like doing it, Mr. President offers warm greetings and Mr. Know-All offers offline Wikipedia.

May be

2007-09-07T03:01:00.000-07:00

It will be a bright day. I will not study when I wake up. I will try to absorb the day as much as possible within myself. I will take a longer time to brush, even longer for a bath and when I am ready, I will strut to main building with just a pen in my hand. I would not look at the display board for a company name; rather I will watch every face that passes me in the corridor.

When I sit at my place, I will try to take a glimpse of everyone’s face before start writing. The occasion has occurred so many times, but never has been it so special. I would not feel the pressure of running time and moving invigilator. All that I would care for would be the moment. When finished, I will scribble on the desk “LA was here!” and then walk to the invigilator, handover sheets with a welcome handshake. Before moving out of the room, I will turn back to catch that glimpse once again, I hope the Professor wont mind. Every step I take from here to the main door will grow heavier. I might begin to choke but I won’t stop walking. I will step out in sun and continue staring every inch of the campus that would pass by me, the garden, the fountain, the memorial. And there, I would stop, to stare at the building. Though I never spent much time in it. But yet how remarkable its impact is going to be in my life. After I have captured that moment exactly, I will continue my walk. And people will continue greeting me; some would even come and hug, followed by lots of handshakes and many loud, happy voices. The gate would be visible, may be it will be finished by then, and my destination would be just steps away from it. I will walk to the sagging structure of bamboos and straw, our beloved jhupps and just let myself taken by all the nostalgia that would surround me then.

May be, it all will be like this on my last day in this campus....

Tuesday

2007-08-29T00:47:00.000-07:00

10:30 PM, Tuesday, August 30^th 2005.

Ten boys were celebrating a birthday in a highway restaurant. Our protagonist walks outside the restaurant, sits under a tree and dials a number. No answer. He dials again, with the same result following. He bends back to take the trunk’s support. He gazes the dull headlights of the approaching vehicles, wondering why he was not inside.

Suddenly he heard people arguing and with every passing moment the voices grew louder. Tucking his T-shirt in his jeans he stands up and starts walking towards the main door, voices growing even louder. As he approached the main door he saw chaos inside, nobody inside was on there seats, and before he could take one more step, it happened.

Next day, local newspaper ran front half page stories of what had happened inside. Some wrote about the damage the restaurant had received, some wrote about the brawl between mob and Police, and some even declared it a rebellion against system. But nobody wrote the truth. To be frank not many people knew what the truth was. Neither media nor police. But they wrote, and suddenly the issue was put up to National authorities. Actions were taken against all involved and within a week a national newspaper ran a story with the headline, ‘Dirty Dozen suspended’. Whatever it was, got publicized and people didn’t bother to know what happened next.

1:00 AM, Thursday, September 1^st 2005.

Though it was not comfortable as his night bed, he laid there in peace gazing stars, and the last thing he wanted was rain pouring down. He, or rather they, didn’t have a place to sleep other than the roof. Pebbles created music with each turn he made, and less of how stars disappeared in morning light was felt. It was quite. He dialed again and this time someone answered.

4:30 AM, Saturday, September 3^rd 2005.

It was unbelievable. Almost thousands of vehicles crossing the bridge and even more people running for what they called livelihood. He felt a bit crazy to be doing that. But nevertheless he continued, boarded the 5:35 local and away he was from the happenings in his world. It was like a transition from Muggle to the Magical world, and the local felt like the Hogwarts Express.

7:00 PM, Friday, October 7^th 2005.

Like many other days, he collected groceries and took a walk to his home. Something was bothering him. He reached home, put the groceries in place and then went to his mother. He sat by her looked her in eyes and from no where tears rolled down. And for an unknown stretch of time he cried in her lap and probably slept in the process.

8:15 AM, Monday, October 31^st 2005.

He walked past all his batch mates, almost running and took the last corner seat. All he wanted was the lecture to get over so that he could get to a saloon and get his beard shaved. And when it happened, he couldn’t recognize his face in the mirror. It took two rather lengthy months to make him look like this, older and unfamiliar.

9:00 PM, Tuesday, August 28^th 2007.

The highway restaurant. The tree. The mood and the unanswered call.

Life has really come up a full circle for him. He gazed the headlights again. But this time the voices came from inside. He stood up and started walking back. No police today, no media, not even a mob. It was just a long walk back, which he finished without even looking back.

The dates and the events has left a deep impression on him. He still recalls that night and the night outs. He doesn’t know whom to blame or whose fault it was; all that comes out of his mind are these dates and events. You might feel what happened must have been an important deciding factor. And in that case, our opinions differ. He was not a rebel, certainly not dirty. He was a boy like you and me. It was his decision to stand and fight for what was labeled unforgivable. And it was again he who decided to turn his back and walk away. A man is what his mistakes make him.

This story can have nine different angles and equal number of perspectives, probably even more. He chooses his as a lesson. Many people might wonder how I know so much about all this, others would know.

hmmmmm

2007-07-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

THE WAIT

It was 8:30.He waited impatiently.

His movements were limited by the impact of what he was about to witness.All his might and will finally collapsed to the knowledge of what was about to take his existence. Rain poured down on him as though washing each bit of his memories away, which probably will make his exit peaceful, yet painful. He held his breath low and tried to calm it down; he deserved every bit of it. Never though he thought that this would be his fate. Never did he believe that this would be his fate..

Moving forward, one hand tied to another at back, he knelt down. He could smell earth ,and his body which soon will be a part of it, just like thousands other who were never remembered again by anyone. Within days people wont talk about him, no one will know what brought his downfall. He would be just another man who was better dead than alive. It seems that death was not the refuge he was seeking. He wished to live, he felt remorse but no one cared. He was brought there to be executed. Only one thing would change the destiny, and yet it surprisingly was destiny itself. For the first time he heard the cries of children whose parents he killed. For the first time he heard the chaos he created. He betrayed people and they returned the favor. His existence contaminated his world for him. It was experiencing deja vu for he saw his fear not once but.. he prayed as everyone else in front of him did..he cried and begged for mercy..

A gunshot was heard.

Death is kind after all. There he was free of everything. The sin. The life.

It was 8:31.The wait was over.

Namesake

2007-06-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

"Whats in a name..."
- William Shakespeare

Never really thought bout it a lot..my introduction with it came along when I was a kid. What I could recall reminds me that I even tried to make one with my small cricket bat. It was kinda cool to tell colony freinds that I own one...howsoever irregular its shape was. I would keep it as close to me as possible...it was my prized possesion. I would parade around with it.

It would take more than an elder brother (never let him use it :P) to try it on trees. Only my
best friends could take a shot with a GOD promise of not breaking it. I always wondered why HIS always got back and my didnt...it would make me think for hours..rubbing it against stones never helped, but I kept trying.When my parents insisted of throwing it away, I hid it a sack behind the trees. And as always...it never came back.Few months back in March, a friend asked me to publish my writings...or to start a blog. I never believed that I could actually write something that someone else would enjoy reading. Nevertheless I logged in for registration and there came the NAME OF BLOG section...I didnt knew what to write. As a reader I love to read articles or essays or any piece of litreature if its name suggested its nature. It was then I started thinking...thought of many names (ALMIGHTY SPEAKS ....one of em :D..after my yahoo id) but they jus didnt strike a chord with myself. I left registration there and logged off. Few days later, at a friends room...I heard the song...it brought back the memoirs of what never came back... not even once...I tried hard ... but it never did....and I waited hoping it wud...someday.

I began compiling all my articles and writing new ones. I gave copies to friends for their views and hoped there views would inspire me. Some replied and though didnt write me off but yes it was not really inspiring. I hoped for better...wrote some more and went on with my 'collecting views/feedbacks' method and for a succesive second time things didnt work out well. In between I kept on thinking bout the name of my blog...I thought of naming it after some ever green kinda character but then I didnt relate myself to any of them. I hoped I will get a better name and slowly I approached end of March.

It was then I started reading my very old articles, it was like reading someone else's work. It was different from my style today... fairly innocent, mostly bout India and Subhash Chandra Bose. I was surprised by the amount of research I had done for these articles and even patted by back at times :D . With all this variabilites I saw a similartity, between myself today and the child I was reading of. They wrote as a dreamer...as an optimist to the last vein.They hoped ...hoped for good things and fought for them. Sometimes got hurt but never stopped trying. It was relaxing and suddenly it popped up in my mind again. And for the first time in my life.... I felt it coming back.

I wanted to run back to the sack, cuz the piece of wood it held was my source of inspiration. I wanted to sway it in air as a trophy, hold it tightly in my arms and keep it with me forever. I could realise its importance...for it taught me to hope, taught me not to worry bout failures ..taught me to celebrate failure as one more step towards success. I felt lighter...I no longer worried for anyone's feedback cuz what I wrote was not for success and failures it was beyond everything I could I ever imagine...it was by a child in me who just wanted to try . I could feel the swirling emotions inside me and barely stop myself from not running to my room where I sat...took few deep breathes and named my blog... BOOMERANG.

My child

2007-06-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

I was very worried that day, holding your mom's hand I prayed, prayed for something I didn't realize was so special for me. Prayers grew desperate and then I saw those small hands, much smaller than my smallest finger. We heard a cry and that was probably the last time I was very happy to see you cry..yes you no longer were an imagination, you were there.

Since your mom got pregnant we prayed for a daughter. We were young and stupid..two hostelers suddenly had a real child for daughter. It was different from everything else, your soft touch would scare us at times thinking we would hurt you, we never knew how hard should we hold you. We would watch you sleep for hours and still feel that its not enough. We would make you take your tongue out..wave your little baby hands..try to make you laugh swinging you around. And if in all this you started crying..your mother certainly would not let you be the only one crying and I had to calm both of you. You were our passion.

You started growing faster than we expected and we tried to keep up with you. It was hard to let you stay away from our eyes for even two hours when you joined first step of your schooling. And you, being your mothers daughter never cried to be there alone. You would never let us know that you missed us in school but your beautiful eyes would tell everything. The way you would fight with your mother for your daddy and hold her tightly when something I said would scare you. And I didn't realize how time went on and you came to me seeking advice for your career choice. You worked hard and performed extraordinarily. When you were leaving for university, we decided not to change the settings of your room, every curtain and plant was looked after by us. We would wait for your vacations...wait for all those tales bout your lectures and parties. We were proud to tell everyone that our daughter was doing so well at university and would never miss any opportunity to strut around as your parent.You completed your graduation and joined me in the office. I was really surprised at your skills which almost everytime surpassed mine...be it planning execution or negotiation you inherited it all from both of us so beautifully.

My mother used to say..with kids days are long but the years are short. Months passed and then came yesterday..when your mother told me about the guy you want to spend your life with. I am happy that you have found someone who will keep you happy.

Beta, my outburst yesterday was not that of a father who didn't like his daughter choosing someone she liked, it was of a father who is going to miss his daughter every time he goes back to that room that your mother and I have preserved. I didn't realize that we might keep on watching you while you sleep and feel its not enough but someday you will have your own life independent..with your husband and children.

I think its time I again try and keep up with ur pace of growing and shift roles from father to father in law. Hope my little kiddo will forgive me for it and come out of her room, her father wants to meet the lad.

loving
DAD

...it rained last night!!

2007-06-15T12:17:00.001-07:00

When I woke up this morning, I was greeted by cloudy sky and wet earth. It rained last night, washed away the dust from leaves of Bonsai in my garden. Feeling was fresh and cheerful and then suddenly a thought occured to me, to run around in the bushes, to laugh my heart out, to shout out loud like a child...to shout out your name.

To be away from you for this long has been an experience in itself. I remember reading an SMS from someone, it said " ... love is not to find someone to live with, it is to find someone you cant live without!!". I find this correct to the last word ... I wish I could have realised the last time I saw you was the last time for coming two months ... that when you praised me wasnt just because I m ME..that when you said that everything will be alright was really true..

Holding the coffee mug with both hands, I sat on the steps in garden..small droplets still dropping from flowers ... I wondered why in this world TIME MACHINE is fiction ... why cant I just jump back to time when you held my hand tightly, when I could see that smile on ur face ... where I could feel the warmth of being by you ... times when I can make you laugh over silly jokes and believe that I have a good sense of humour ... tough times when I could step up and hold you ... where we could fight over that silly advice I gave you and times when you came along as my saviour.

I still remember you standing on the last bench of our first day in new school, how brave were you to ask for help and how petrified was I to help you. Memories of our parting at that time are also vivid in my mind ... I choked for the first time in life for someone. We met again and history seemed to be repeating itself ... new place, new people, brave you - petrified me. We went on with life, learning and you remained the greatest source of my inspiration. And now today after being so habituated to your presence I realise that your absence can make me so not full of life. Each passing day brings new promises and challenges for both of us. Only you know how you have been taking yours ... I hope your lovely face would still be shining and you emerge victorious everywhere.

Time kept on with its pace and it was afternoon already. rain was beginning to pour down again. I slowly walked inside wishing I could tell you just one more time how much i love you.....

Inspired by a blog from my lil sis in kgp (Pagli palli :P)

Disclaimer

2007-06-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

When I was expelled from engineering for an year, distorted facts and imaginary stories played a big role. I have been lucky to have not been written down by anyone, anywhere (so far!). I keep these two as the thumb rule while writing, not to distort facts and not to add my imagination to something which might affect others.

I have not had any specific direction to the blog, and hence request you to verify usage of information (I might give you some sometime!) from credible sources (yeh like you are gonna check with Department of Truth or something). Also, any opinion expressed here doesn't reflect any of my employer.

Jokes apart, I dont want to harm anyone physically/emotionally, target anyone personally or as a firm or affect lives as such. The views are personal and have no reason to be propagated for harm. I also try to keep a check on the comments (as well as my posts) for any signs of what I am not trying to do (as mentioned above). In case, you find anything objectionable or hurting sentiments etc etc , please write to me at awasthy.lokesh@gmail.com

I hope we can continue what has become such a little bothering and yet creative bond between us.

Love & Peace

Lokesh Awasthy

death of a city

2007-05-08T16:07:00.000-07:00

Walking down the lane at Sadar today i felt something...the streets were not the same. There was a gloom all around, vehicles speeding up slowing down, all in a state of chaos. I have not been in Jabalpur for a better portion of last 5 years now, things have changed. I wanted to walk to TOP n TOWN and have a heavenly scoop of butter scotch..but then i realized...things have changed. Few months back I had the pleasure to view Jabalpur through Google Earth...and Sadar was really the icing on the cake. With the Great Garrison ground standing tall (if you could really do that in 2dimension :P)...the sight screens visible from well above 100 feets, marking down the boundary between my childhood and youth. What was visible from ground were innumerous vehicles, pollution and some over weight policemen screaming at poor garbage collectors. I missed the navity of the place.. I missed my childhood.

I started my bike and now i was heading towards river Narmada. The medieval time look of the banks was still maintained, you start feeling as if some Samrat Asoka might come out of river, or as if it was a creation of some great art director delivering his best!! Boats floating slowly, hundreds of small lights moving as though some wind was driving there flow and suddenly trucks can be seen, digging out sand at a rate which is much much faster than rate of replenishment :D...time was right to start bike n head for home. Between all this mountains, trees and greenery was missing....a city is known for the culture it has, for the life it sustains. In a race to be a metro I believe Jabalpur has sacrificed a lot and much needs to be done to bring back whats gone. For the generations to come we would never be able to say....Jabalpur "the SANSKARDHANI", Jabalpur "the city of OSHO"...