Mumbai

I have been absent from this space for too long now. First it was the end of my four years at IITK. Yes, I graduated! Finally! Then I was at home for 15 days, slow net connection, too much of rest. I feared if I would type with my rusted fingers they would give a creaking noise :P. So, while there was always a blog to write, I wasn't writing. Then I moved to bangalore on 15th June to join Pothi.com as an intern. It was quite a learning experience. I must say there is a definite difference between working on a project for some club in your college and working on a project which is to be used by a much larger base. So, thats how 2 months passed by. I managed to develop a decently working product by the end of 2 months. You can have a look at it at blog2book.pothi.com. On 15th August, I flew back home only to return, this time to Mumbai. Yes, thats my home for now. I don't know for how long but it seems I am here to stay. Its been 6 weeks now since I arrived here. There are many new friends I have found and very little time to enjoy that friendship (job does that to you :) ). Anyways, Today I am writing this blog to detail the Mumbai experience.

1. Meeting with Shanu: He is a funny guy. He is a crazy guy. He is a confused guy. He is all those and one of the most intelligent guys I know. So meeting him was definitely good for me. It provided me an escape route from the routine life which I have already started to find boring.

2. First Salary: Yes, I got my first salary!! I felt good about it but I don't know it didn't feel that exciting :| . Maybe because I hadn't really devised any plans to spend it :) .

3. Independence, Freedom, Carefree attitude: All of these attributes have been responsible for defining my stay. These characterized my college life and now I find myself falling back to my old self to stay sane after a week's hard work. Of course, some serious stuff is going on but you got to keep the balance.

4. Love life: As always, nothing concrete. Let the games begin :) .

In Retrospect: Semester 2

Fresh from winter vacations, I was very happy about my second semester. I had decided to get a laptop so that I could devote more time to programming (thats what I thought :) ). That was the turning point. It did not matter because of the laptop and the accompanying pleasures but because I had started moving away from the curriculum. I had decided to do what made me happy. Thus started the golden period of my history at IITK. I started bunking classes. It seemed to me as if nothing else matters. How wrong I was. My academic performace took the plunge. First mid-sems came too soon for my comfort. I was, however, still not ready to realize what was wrong. The month of February arrived and with it the only thing that I had waited for since hearing about it - 'Techkriti'. I teamed up with Ashish Bhatia and we made it a point to test ourselves in all the software events. Three days passed and we had had no success. I had resigned myself to brood over it and my mid-sem's performance. Yet, while I was brooding on the last day, Ashish Bhatia pinged me on gtalk that the final software event was going to start. It was chaos. No, It's name was Chaos. When I reached Computer Centre, the event had already started, I was five minutes late. So I was brushed up on rules by Ashish and then we started solving. Believe it or not, we solved all the problems with more than half hour to spare. That was the moment which brought me back to my shell (pun intended, for geeks ;) ). I was high on my success in my first year. I decided going to classes is not as exciting and rewarding. So, yet again, I bunked classes and soon I recieved a call to visit Prof. Onkar Dixit who was the then Counselling Service Head. The reason was that my Physics tutor, Prof. M. K. Harbola, had decided to report my lack of attendance to counselling service. I did not like it then but today I greatly appreciate it. This way, cases of severe depression can be brought to notice and I believe that was his motive. So, as it happened, I met Prof. Onkar Dixit and he listened to my problem that I was not interested in my department. He went on to advice me that I should look at all the opportunities available which I had overlooked (of course, I had no idea what all department was about). When I reached for the second mid-sems, I was shouted at by Prof. Harbola. I dont remember what I told him but I guess it had something to do with being sorry :) . After second-mids, I decided it would not be good to stretch things too far and I started being the studious fellow who goes to classes. At the end of semester I had passed all my courses, much to my surprise. Of all my semesters here, second sem was the one with the most highs and lows.

In Retrospect: Semester 1

The time has arrived when I have to leave this place. The place where I lived for four years and which, I can easily say, has changed me in various aspects. There have been various experiences: good and bad but, in hindsight, they all helped me learn. I am trying to write down my memories and experiences of this place.

Semester 1: Awed. Free. Happy. These were the dominant feelings that I had from my first semester. When I stepped into this place, I had my own set of expectations and IITK easily surpassed them. During orientation, we were shown some of the facilities available here and I was impressed. I hadn't seen anything like these before. After the initial awe of the place, I came to realize the freedom the place offers. I was told I could do anything in my extra-curriculars as long as I did sufficiently good in academics. After orientation, various clubs made their pitch to attract the freshers. I easily skipped Electronics Club and Robotics Club knowing where my heart was, i.e. Programming Club. Unlike Electronics Club or Robotics Club, Programming Club didn't float any projects to work upon and I was disappointed, waiting for the time when they would. Soon, however, optional projects in ESC101 (Java) were announced and I decided to give it a go. The problem that I chose, Chess (with AI), was one of the toughest available and I was advised against it. Ankit Kala became my project partner and together we started, alone I finished ;) . I knew Kala wouldn't be able to help much because he did not have prior experience still he tried to sit by my side and understand what I was trying to do. I had never worked on such a project before and when it was complete and working, I can easily say, I have never been happier. Thus the first semester passed without any interesting incidence, leaving me happy and content. All of that was about to change in second semester.

Dedicated to my friends..

I know it pains to leave,

a friendship so strong and deep,

but treasured those moments will be,

of sorrow and glee.

Four years we dwelt here,

in a place away from our home,

four years we lived together,

to make for us a new home.

Now is the time to move on,

the time we waited for so long,

drawing near, we fear,

how will we live alone.

Remember, then, that it is you,

who changed our lives, so true,

Whereever you go, it is you,

who can outshine the successful few.

The Ghost of a Ship

Sail the sailors through the mist,

Ahoy! I see a ship adrift,

called the voice from the crow,

It stands still, ignoring the tidal flow.

Change the course,

the captain commanded,

Let us see and save,

what can be founded.

The ship rolled through the dividing ocean,

bouncing on the waves.

As it approached the stagnant vessel,

crew could see its sails.

Tattered and weathered,

like fresh from a storm,

The ship could do nothing more

but float on its own.

The sailors feared now,

for they had heard of such a ship,

one that floats in these waters,

though none but ghosts live on it.

So they moved away,

as fast as they could,

snatching the last hope of survival,

for die, the ghosts would.

The following lines were added later:

Thus once more the ship was seen,

it was told,

the ghosts ever more fiercer,

and the wood stale and old.

The sailors in these waters,

now numbered very few,

no ship would help another,

it was said there were ghosts anew.

Arunangshu Chattopadhya

Arunangshu or, as he likes to be called, AC has been a good friend to me from the day we met. We have had several courses together and studying for exams together builds a sort of camaraderie that is hard to replicate. I have always known AC for a man who strives to excel in what he does. He is not content to be an average guy. He does not accept defeat easily. He is a team leader, a movie buff, an excellent writer, a wannabe politician, ...... He has so many interests, so many hobbies, so many facets to his life that I cannot help but wonder what will this guy do in future? He, himself, has outlined so many career paths which include more educational qualifications that I won't be surprised to see him studying LLB 10 years down the line.

Above all these qualities, he is a great friend. However, I don't like him while playing AOE. He will always build his colony behind my back :D.

Alok 'Senti' 'Sanyam' Tommy

Alok 'Senti' 'Sanyam' 'Tommy'.. the name this guy earned when we were in our first year. All the parts of this name signify something about him. Of course, this name was earned after the incident which has been wonderfully described by Ashank. So, I will give you a complete description of this name.

'Senti'- This has nothing to do with the fact that Alok is a very sentimental person. So what if he can emotionally blackmail you. So what if he will get emotional when he thinks he is responsible for your sadness. We named him 'Senti' because we wanted to.

'Sanyam'- This has nothing to do with the preachings of Alok to exercise patience. It could never be related to the incident which Ashank described when Alok went on to exercise patience. We named him 'Sanyam' because we wanted to.

'Tommy'- We named him tommy because we wanted to.