Recently, we have all been reading about the huge wealth, or treasure, that has been discovered from the hidden bunkers in Sree Padmanabha Swami temple at Thiruvananthapuram. They have found out nearly 90000 Crores of Indian Rupees worth treasure in gold and other precious stones. Where did all these money come from?? A short note on the history of the temple and the erstwhile Travancore Kingdom will help us to understand that.
It all started on 3rd January, 1750, when the then King of Travancore, Marthanda Varma dedicated his land and himself to his tutelary diety - Padmanabha of Sree Padmanabha Temple, Thiruvananthapuram. After that, the Royal Family acted as servants to Lord Padmanabha and ruled their country in the name of the Lord.
During this time, the Travancore-Dutch war(1739 - 1753) was also raging on. Eventually, after the Battle of Colachel(10 Agust, 1741), where the Dutch Admiral Eustachius De Lannoy was captured and the Dutch force deteriorated. By 1757, with the help of British East India Company, they had conquered all of Suthern Kerala. Their kingdom extended from Kanyakumari in the south, to Edappaly(Currently in Ernakulam) in the north.
Marthanda Varma organized a perfect taxation system and started many irrigation systems and other aminities for the welfare of his people. In 1789, during the reign of Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma, who was known as Dharma Raja due to his strict values, the great Tipu Sultan attacked the Travancore Kingdom. But before breaching the Nedumkotta, they had to retreat because the British attacked Mysore and also, he was not able to cope up with the damp weather.
The kings would visit the temple daily and whenever they visit, they would gift something in gold to their diety. Also, these money were well accounted and stored in deep bunkers inside the temple. The kings said that the money belongs to Sree Padmanabha and not of the Royal Family. It is said that, before getting out of the temple, they took care to wash their legs because they didn't want to take out even a grain of sand from inside the temple.
The Kings of Travancore, unlike their counter-parts in the other Princely States of India, utilized only a small portion of their State's resources for their personal use. This was in sharp contrast with some of the North Indian Rajas. When contrasted with the examples of Rajas in the north-west of India who utilized more than half of their State's revenues for their own uses, the simplicity and frugality of the Rajas of Travancore, and their sincere devotion to their subjects, are highlighted. Since they spent most of the State's revenue for the benefit of the public, they were naturally much loved by their subjects. This was so even in the context of the high-handedness of some of their Dewans.The money which they didn't require was placed as gift to their Lord. This wealth has been accumulating in the temple for centuries.
In between, when the state faced a heavy draught and scarcity of money, some money was taken from this wealth as loan from their Lord and was given back with interest. All the transactions was accounted and well mainatined. Even the present heir of the Royal Family has insisted that, they have no right in Lord's wealth. All that money is Lord's and nothing is theirs.
Well, hope you people understood the source of the wealth. I would like to add something to this. And this is entirely different from the above context. In this part of the sub-continent, women were respected far more than any other place in the country at that time. In fact, in some of the families, only daughters succeeded their predecessor. I know that very well because I belong to such a family. Inspite of that, there was a very shameful incident about which even wikipedia has no clue.
This happened in the Travancore kingdom. During that time, low caste women were not allowed to cover their breasts when they go out. If they had to cover them, they had to pay a hefty tax known as "Mulakkaram"(Malayalam - മുലക്കരം when translated to English, it means Breast Tax). It was very high and varied according to the attractivness and size of their assets.
In Cherthala, there was a lady in her 30's. She was fair, attractive and was owner of pretty heavy assets. Her name was Nangeli and was the dream girl of every person in that locality. She was also intelligent and free. She used to cover her beautiful assets and used to roam freely and refused pay any tax for that. News spread and the village officer came to her house to collect the tax. At that time, her husband was also not at home. She asked him to wait. The custom was that the tax has to be placed on a plantain leaf in front of a lamp. She went inside and took a little time to come back. At last, she came and placed the tax on the leaf. When the officer looked into the leaf, he was shocked and was trembling with fear. It was her own breasts that she cut and placed as tax. the officer ran away. Later that night, Nangeli bid farewell to this world due to excessive blood loss. The very next day, the order abolishing the tax was made.
Though we remember many women on March 8, the International Women's Day, nobody seems to be caring about this brave young lady who sacrificed her life for protecting the modesty of women. Though, march 8 is a long way from now, I would like to take this opportunity to salute this woman.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The Indian Coffee House
A lot of people were asking me about my next post. I was not able to get enough thoughts or inspiration to write about anything. Finally, when i was having food yesterday in the hostel mess, it striked. A lot of nostalgic feelings come to me when i think about it. This is about a restaurant chain in Kerala, in fact, the biggest restaurant chain in the state.
First, let me tell a little bit about the history. Started by the British in the early 1940's, it was shut down by the Indian Government, due to a policy change in mid 1950's. The thrown out workers took over the branches. Under the leadership of a Communist leader, A K Gopalan, known as AKG, they formed a Co-operative society to run the shut restaurant chain. They renamed it as Indian Coffee House. The first Indian Coffee House was opened at New Delhi on 27 October 1957. Since then,it grewe little by little.
In 1958, Adv T K Krishnan and N S Parameswaran Pillai along with a thrown out employee of The Coffe House started the Kerala edition of the society at Thrissur. Inaugurated by A K Gopalan on 8 March 1958, it became the 4th branch of Indian Coffee House in the country. With nearly 51 branches and still growing, Kerala has the largest number of branches.
Why I said all these is for the people to understand the importance of Indian Coffee House (ICH) in the history and its evolution. This restaurant chain does not boasts any air conditioned cosy environment. I have noticed that whichever branch of ICH, I have been to, they all have the same set of furnitures. Same type of tables and the same model of plastic chairs. I even doubted that the chairs were exclusively made for ICH.
Coming to my personal experiences, I am very much personally attached to the ICH. I love the vegetable cutlets and Medhu Wadas served there. The waitors come in a royal dress with a crown on their head. The masala dosas served there were the favorites of the ladies who is in their mid 40's now.
I was a regular customer at the ICH, since I was 2 or 3. At that time, we were building our new house at the current location. We used to travel around 60 kms every weekend to inspect the progress of our house. There was an ICH right opposite to the Bus Station where we got down. As soon as I reach there, I used to cry like anything to get me a masala dosa from ICH. Most of the times, my dad obliged because my mom too liked the masala dosas there. The masala used in the masala dosa had a speciality. They use beetroot to the masala making it red in colour. Its tasty too. It seems that its their trademark and in no other restaurant will one find such a masala in a masala dosa.
Later, when I reached 12th, I had to go to school b y a ferry. I used to stay in hostel and used to come home monthly, every second saturday. When I come back, I usually miss the ferry, just by a second or two. At Vaikom, the ICH is situated very near to the ferry. So, I used to have cutlets from there. Interesting thing is that, the sauce they give with it is always runny. I always loved the onion and sauce combo. Thats how I liked the cutlets there. Later, I got admitted to an engineering college, where the college canteen used to be the Indian Coffee House. That made me more boded to the place. Good, tasty food at cheap price will be the dream of every college student who gets bored to the regular mess food but don't want to burn holes in their parents' pockets. ICH provided that. In a very short period of time, almost all the waitors there became friends with me.
Unfortunately, there is no ICH in my college now. Anyways, I will never forget the taste of the cutlets and masala dosas from there.
Sources : WIkipedia, The Indian Coffee House (Kerala) Website
Why I said all these is for the people to understand the importance of Indian Coffee House (ICH) in the history and its evolution. This restaurant chain does not boasts any air conditioned cosy environment. I have noticed that whichever branch of ICH, I have been to, they all have the same set of furnitures. Same type of tables and the same model of plastic chairs. I even doubted that the chairs were exclusively made for ICH.
Unfortunately, there is no ICH in my college now. Anyways, I will never forget the taste of the cutlets and masala dosas from there.
Indian Coffee House, Shimla
Indian Coffee House, Thiruvananthapuram
Sources : WIkipedia, The Indian Coffee House (Kerala) Website
Friday, May 6, 2011
Miscellaneous
Sorry for being away from the blog for quite a long time. I was busy with my academics which made me stay away from the blog. Also, there was an acute shortage of topics on which I could write. Nothing interested me. At the sme time, lot of things happened around us too in the gap. From India winning the world cup to Osama getting killed, India getting thrashed at the Copenhagen summit in the Endosulfan case and Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu getting killed in a chopper crash.
Talking about the Dorjee Khandu copter crash, this is the second time in 2 years that similiar things happen to the chief ministers of two different states both when written in short form as AP and are infected with maoists. Both states ruled by Congress governments.Soon after they found the body of the respective chief ministers, the party spokesperson took charge of the CM's office.
Let me talk about another thing. The Endosulfan comedy. I am from a state where the northern parts of the state are the experiencing the bad effects of the Endosulfan for the past 40 years or so. They started using Endosulfan in 1970s there. Since then, people have suffered a lot from the pesticide. Incidentally, the state government had banned the substance from using. But the state government didn't take any action against the plantation owners, which happens to be a public sector company called Plantation Corporation, who were illigaly using it in their cashew plantations. They used a helicopter to spray the pesticide on the cashew trees. If my memory is right, it was the congress which ruled the state while they banned the pesticide. Now, the central government is not agreeing to ban the substance stating that the pesticide cannot be banned because of isolated incidents. I don't know why they are telling so. Don't they have any interest in coming back to power in the next elections? Anyways, India was totally thrashed at Geneva and Copenhagen and the International ban is imposed with special permission for using it on 22 different varieties.
Last but not the least, I would like to point out something which I noticed after the victory of the Indian cricket team to reach the top of the world. The following are the renumerations and gifts received by the players and the supporting staff for their perfomance.
Talking about the Dorjee Khandu copter crash, this is the second time in 2 years that similiar things happen to the chief ministers of two different states both when written in short form as AP and are infected with maoists. Both states ruled by Congress governments.Soon after they found the body of the respective chief ministers, the party spokesperson took charge of the CM's office.
Let me talk about another thing. The Endosulfan comedy. I am from a state where the northern parts of the state are the experiencing the bad effects of the Endosulfan for the past 40 years or so. They started using Endosulfan in 1970s there. Since then, people have suffered a lot from the pesticide. Incidentally, the state government had banned the substance from using. But the state government didn't take any action against the plantation owners, which happens to be a public sector company called Plantation Corporation, who were illigaly using it in their cashew plantations. They used a helicopter to spray the pesticide on the cashew trees. If my memory is right, it was the congress which ruled the state while they banned the pesticide. Now, the central government is not agreeing to ban the substance stating that the pesticide cannot be banned because of isolated incidents. I don't know why they are telling so. Don't they have any interest in coming back to power in the next elections? Anyways, India was totally thrashed at Geneva and Copenhagen and the International ban is imposed with special permission for using it on 22 different varieties.
Last but not the least, I would like to point out something which I noticed after the victory of the Indian cricket team to reach the top of the world. The following are the renumerations and gifts received by the players and the supporting staff for their perfomance.
- 1 Crore per member of the team - From BCCI
- 2 Crore for Dhoni and 1 Crore each for the 4 Delhi players - Delhi Govt
- Land or House in Mussoorie for Sachin and Dhoni - Uttarkhand CM
- 1 Lakh for Zaheer Khan - Shrirampur Municipal Council
- 1 Crore for Sachin and Zaheer - Maharashtra
- Free Lifetime First Class Railway Passes for all members - Railway
- 1 Crore for Yuvraj and Harbajan - Punjab Govt
- Ekalavya Award for Yousuf and Munaf - Gujarat Govt
- Honorary Doctorate for Dhoni - Jharkhand
- Land for Cricket Academy and School for Dhoni - Jharkhand Govt
- An Audi for Yuvraj
- Plots of land for all team members - A Rajkot Builder
- Housing sites for all the team members - Karnataka CM
- Best Sportperson Award for Sehwag, Nehra - Haryana Govt
You should know that all this is going to these people in a country where nearly 32% of the population live below the poverty line. Thousands of people are dying without food, shelter or proper sanitation. And these people are getting money, that too in crores, just that they simply won a game. Somebody had said aptly - "India is a rich country of poor people"
Monday, March 7, 2011
പേരില്ലാത്ത പോസ്റ്റ്
അടുത്തിടെ ഞാന് പബ്ലിഷ് ചെയ്ത പോസ്റ്റില് പറഞ്ഞ ഒരു പെണ്കുട്ടിയുടെ പുതിയ കുറെ ചിത്രങ്ങള് ഈയിടെ കാണാനിടയായി. അതില് ഒരു ചിത്രം എന്നെ വല്ലാണ്ട് ആകര്ഷിച്ചു. ഞാന് വീണ്ടും ആ പഴയ ഓര്മകളിലേക്ക് കൂപ്പുകുത്തി. അപ്പോള്, ഞാന് ആ കുട്ടിക്ക് എഴുതിയ ഒരു കത്തിന്റെ പ്രസക്ത ഭാഗങ്ങള് ആ കുട്ടിയുടെ സംമാതതോട് കൂടി ഇവിടെ നിങ്ങള്ക് മുന്പില് കാഴ്ച്ചവെക്കുകയാണ്. എങ്ങനെയുണ്ടെന്നു എന്നെ അറിയിക്കുക.
ഈ ഫോട്ടോ കണ്ടപ്പോള് എന്റെ മനസ്സിലുള്ള ആ പഴയ കുട്ടിയെ ഓര്മ വന്നു. നെറ്റിയില് ഭസ്മക്കുറിയും, രണ്ടു വശത്തുമായി വൃത്തിയായി പിന്നിയിട്ട കാര്കൂന്തലും,( ഇതില് അങ്ങനെ അല്ലെങ്കിലും) ഒക്കെയായി നിറപുഞ്ചിരിയോടെ വിദ്യാലയത്തിലേക്ക് വന്ന ആ പഴയ കുട്ടി. നെറ്റിയിലെ ആ ഭസ്മക്കുറി തനിക്കു ഒരു ശാലീനമായ ഒരു ഗ്രാമീണ പെണ്കുട്ടിയുടെ ഭാവം തരുന്നു. സത്യമായിട്ടും എന്നെ ആ പഴയ ഓര്മകളിലേക്ക് കൂട്ടിക്കൊണ്ടു പോകുകയാണ് ഈ ചിത്രം. ആ നാലുകെട്ടിന്റെ പശ്ചാത്തലം മേല്പറഞ്ഞ ഗ്രാമീണതക്ക് ആക്കം കൂട്ടുന്നു.
പിന്നെ, തനിക്കറിയുമോ എന്നെനിക്കറിയില്ല. എന്റെ ഒരു കൂട്ടുകാരനും തന്നെ ഭയങ്കര ഇഷ്ടമായിരുന്നു. എല്ലാരും കൂടെ അവനെ തന്റെ പേരും ചേര്ത്ത് കളിയാക്കാറുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. അത് കേള്ക്കുമ്പോള് അന്ന് ഭയങ്കര വിഷമം തോന്നിയിരുന്നു. പത്താം ക്ലാസ്സില് പഠിക്കുമ്പോഴാണ് ഞാന് ആദ്യമായി അവന്റെയും തന്റെയും പേര് ഒരുമിച്ചു ഞാന് ആദ്യമായി കേള്ക്കുന്നത്. ഞാന് അന്ന് വീട്ടില് വന്നതിനു ശേഷം പൊട്ടിക്കരഞ്ഞു പോയി!ഞാന് ഒന്പതാം ക്ലാസ്സില് പഠിക്കുമ്പോഴാണ് ഞാന് ആദ്യമായി തന്നെ ഒന്ന് തൊടുന്നത്. തനിക്കു അത് ഓര്മ പോലും കാണില്ല. അത്രയ്ക്ക് തിരക്കായിരുന്നു. Mercury house നു വേണ്ടി താന് നൃത്തം ചെയ്ത ദിവസം ആയിരുന്നു. വെള്ള ഷര്ട്ടും, കറുത്ത പാന്റ്സും ആയിരുന്നു അന്ന് തന്റെ വേഷം. മുടി അപ്പോഴും വൃത്തിയായി പിന്നിയിട്ടിരുന്നു എന്നാണ് എന്റെ ഓര്മ. തിരക്കിനിടയില് പെട്ട് എന്റെ അനിയത്തിയെ നഷ്ടപ്പെട്ട ടെന്ഷനില് ഞാന് ഓരോരുത്തരെയായി തള്ളി മാറ്റി നോക്കുന്നതിനിടയില് തനെയും ഞാന് തള്ളി മാറ്റി. അന്ന് ഞാന് എത്രമാത്രം സന്തോഷിച്ചു എന്നറിയാമോ. (അനിയത്തി വീട്ടില് എത്തി എന്ന് ഫോണ് ചെയ്തപ്പോള് മനസ്സിലായി. അപ്പോഴാണ് ഞാന് തന്നെ തൊട്ടതും മാറ്റിയതും ഒക്കെയായ കാര്യങ്ങള് ഓര്മ വരുന്നത്).
ഒരര്ത്ഥത്തില്, താന് മാത്രമാണ് എനിക്ക് ആ വിദ്യാലയത്തില് നിന്നും ഓര്ക്കാന് സുഖം തരുന്ന ഒരേ ഒരാള്. അക്കാര്യത്തില് ഞാന് തന്നോട് അങ്ങേയറ്റം കടപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു. ബാകി ആരും അത്ര സുഖമുള ഓര്മകളല്ല എനിക്ക് തന്നിട്ടുള്ളത്.
തന്റെ ഈ ഫോട്ടോ കണ്ടപ്പോഴാണ് എനിക്ക് ഈ ഓര്മകളെല്ലാം മനസ്സിലേക്ക് ഓടിയെത്തിയത്. തന് എന്റെ നല്ല ഒരു സുഹൃത്തായതുകൊണ്ടാണ് ഞാന് ഇതൊക്കെ തന്നോട് നേരിട്ട് ഇങ്ങനെ പറയുന്നത്. ഇതെല്ലം ഒരു കൗമാരക്കാരന്റെ മാനസികവിഹ്വലതകളായി കണക്കാക്കണം
മറുപടി തന്നില്ലെങ്കിലും കുഴപ്പമില്ല. നമ്മളുടെ സൗഹൃദം ഒരിക്കലും കൈവിടാതിരുന്നാല് മതി.
എന്ന് ഹൃദയപൂര്വം,
------------------------------ (ഒപ്പ്)
ആര്ക്കെങ്കിലും പറ്റിയ പേര് തോന്നുകയാണെങ്കില് ദയവായി താഴെ കമന്റ് ചെയ്തു സഹകരിക്കുക.
For all the people those who don't understand malayalam - get hold of someone who can read and understand malayalam. I am not going to translate it to anybody else.
Friday, March 4, 2011
The Stud
In my second post, I told you about a Professor in the Institute. Many people liked it and quite a few friends asked me to write about students. Well, I took a poll among my friends, to decide upon the person about whom, I should write my next blog. Two persons received maximum votes. Congratulations to both of them. Unfortunately, I had to ditch the name of one person, only because of the popularity reason. The person about whom, I am going to write is (in) famous even among the Professors for his antics and tactics.
He is a stud. He is the primary reason for many girls in Hostel 11 (that’s the girls hostel of my college, where most of the Post Graduate students stay) to lose their sleep. He even comes to their dreams to scare the hell out of them. It’s a treat to attend the lecture in which he is present. You can definitely expect fun in the class, from his mouth for sure. I can list out numerous incidents which prove this. Another fact that I came to know about him is that, he is a dropout from one of the best technical universities in the world. Don't know why.
Most of the incidents that come to my mind about him took place during the class. He is the TA of the Professor who is teaching us that particular subject. So, he is supposed to attend every lecture of that professor and take down the notes. He actually records the lecture in his Sony MP3 Recorder, which is quite old and has some battery problems too. He will be there in the first row itself, keenly listening to the class and passing odd comments at unimaginable contexts.
There is a person called Richard Ernest Bellman (August 26, 1920 – March 19, 1984), an Applied Mathematician from New York. He is famous for the invention of a process called Dynamic Programming in 1953, which is essential for us in this course. Our professor was talking about this person and his theory. Suddenly, our hero puts up his hand and says - “Bellman – nice name na!!”??????!!!!!!!
Another day, our professor was talking about the books we needed to refer for the subject and he had asked us to issue some books on the subject from the library. Most of the people got a book authored by a person Donald E Kirk. Our hero suddenly asks a question to the professor - “Are you a fan of Star Trek?” Professor thought for a while and he said no. The reply of the hero was more hilarious - “The hero of Star Trek is called Captain Kirk!!!!!!”
Last day, there was a talk by a distinguished Alumnus of the Institute. It was about the Brain-Machine Interface. Of course, our hero was present there too. The speaker was talking about the functioning of the brain neurons, and he said that, in one of his experiments, he was astonished to find that, in the primate he tested; one particular neuron was evoked when it was shown the picture of a particular actress. Our hero was visibly astonished and raised a question – “What sort of training did you give? What kind of dress is the actress wearing??” Why would that make a difference??????!!!!!
Well, talking about our hero’s connection with the girls, he spares no girl and scares the hell out of them. As I said earlier, he takes down every note and if he didn’t get to solve a problem in the class and he finds out that a girl in the class has done it... Poor girl!!! He will be turning up at around 11pm in front of Hostel 11, and calls the girl to get her note!! Can’t he wait for another few hours, so that he can ask her during the next day???
One of my friends was telling about another incident that took place with her. There is a restaurant in the campus, which is pretty good and expensive too, as per the student standard. But, our hero had his lunch and dinner from this restaurant daily. Had breakfast also been served there, he would have taken breakfast also from there. Back to the incident, she was a bit late and she missed her lunch from the hostel. She went to this restaurant, along with her pal and was waiting for the food. Our hero came in, saw these girls sitting, ordered a tea, pulled out a chair, and sat at the table, without even asking!! I don’t remember what he talked to them later, but as far as I know about him, it would have been utter nonsense.
Later in the night, she suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. Her roommate was knocking on the door. She actually had a nightmare. Our hero somehow got through the security and came to her room, in the middle of the night, to ask her the notebook!!! See, he even doesn’t let them sleep!!
There is another incident. This time, another girl was walking back to the hostel at around 11pm. She had some work in the lab or whatsoever, she was late. Suddenly, out of the dark, our hero comes out and began talking to her. About her ambitions, future plans ... He was asking her about whether, she would be going for a PhD or not... Did he think of proposing to her?? I don’t know. It would have been fun if such a thing did happen and she must have slapped his face off!!!
Well, due to some reason unfathomable, he was absent in today’s class. It was such a boring class you know... Without him, the class is like an underwear without an elastic!!! So, I dedicate this post to a man, who makes our classes funny!!!
That’s all for today. Keep reading and drop in your valuable comments...
He is a stud. He is the primary reason for many girls in Hostel 11 (that’s the girls hostel of my college, where most of the Post Graduate students stay) to lose their sleep. He even comes to their dreams to scare the hell out of them. It’s a treat to attend the lecture in which he is present. You can definitely expect fun in the class, from his mouth for sure. I can list out numerous incidents which prove this. Another fact that I came to know about him is that, he is a dropout from one of the best technical universities in the world. Don't know why.
Most of the incidents that come to my mind about him took place during the class. He is the TA of the Professor who is teaching us that particular subject. So, he is supposed to attend every lecture of that professor and take down the notes. He actually records the lecture in his Sony MP3 Recorder, which is quite old and has some battery problems too. He will be there in the first row itself, keenly listening to the class and passing odd comments at unimaginable contexts.
There is a person called Richard Ernest Bellman (August 26, 1920 – March 19, 1984), an Applied Mathematician from New York. He is famous for the invention of a process called Dynamic Programming in 1953, which is essential for us in this course. Our professor was talking about this person and his theory. Suddenly, our hero puts up his hand and says - “Bellman – nice name na!!”??????!!!!!!!
Another day, our professor was talking about the books we needed to refer for the subject and he had asked us to issue some books on the subject from the library. Most of the people got a book authored by a person Donald E Kirk. Our hero suddenly asks a question to the professor - “Are you a fan of Star Trek?” Professor thought for a while and he said no. The reply of the hero was more hilarious - “The hero of Star Trek is called Captain Kirk!!!!!!”
Last day, there was a talk by a distinguished Alumnus of the Institute. It was about the Brain-Machine Interface. Of course, our hero was present there too. The speaker was talking about the functioning of the brain neurons, and he said that, in one of his experiments, he was astonished to find that, in the primate he tested; one particular neuron was evoked when it was shown the picture of a particular actress. Our hero was visibly astonished and raised a question – “What sort of training did you give? What kind of dress is the actress wearing??” Why would that make a difference??????!!!!!
Well, talking about our hero’s connection with the girls, he spares no girl and scares the hell out of them. As I said earlier, he takes down every note and if he didn’t get to solve a problem in the class and he finds out that a girl in the class has done it... Poor girl!!! He will be turning up at around 11pm in front of Hostel 11, and calls the girl to get her note!! Can’t he wait for another few hours, so that he can ask her during the next day???
One of my friends was telling about another incident that took place with her. There is a restaurant in the campus, which is pretty good and expensive too, as per the student standard. But, our hero had his lunch and dinner from this restaurant daily. Had breakfast also been served there, he would have taken breakfast also from there. Back to the incident, she was a bit late and she missed her lunch from the hostel. She went to this restaurant, along with her pal and was waiting for the food. Our hero came in, saw these girls sitting, ordered a tea, pulled out a chair, and sat at the table, without even asking!! I don’t remember what he talked to them later, but as far as I know about him, it would have been utter nonsense.
Later in the night, she suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. Her roommate was knocking on the door. She actually had a nightmare. Our hero somehow got through the security and came to her room, in the middle of the night, to ask her the notebook!!! See, he even doesn’t let them sleep!!
There is another incident. This time, another girl was walking back to the hostel at around 11pm. She had some work in the lab or whatsoever, she was late. Suddenly, out of the dark, our hero comes out and began talking to her. About her ambitions, future plans ... He was asking her about whether, she would be going for a PhD or not... Did he think of proposing to her?? I don’t know. It would have been fun if such a thing did happen and she must have slapped his face off!!!
Well, due to some reason unfathomable, he was absent in today’s class. It was such a boring class you know... Without him, the class is like an underwear without an elastic!!! So, I dedicate this post to a man, who makes our classes funny!!!
That’s all for today. Keep reading and drop in your valuable comments...
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Mobile Number Portability
This time, I would like to say something about my mobile operator. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited. I was fed up with the services that the great MTNL was offering me. MTNL is a network with unmatched business and calls that never get through. My parents, when they try to call me, always ended up either banging the phone or banging my ears, when they get through.
Yesterday, I got a message from the operator that I had 5 missed calls. I thought, ok. Lets see. Further, they asked me to send some message which will cost me ` 1. Whatever. I sent the message. I got 3 numbers. The first one, I recognized as my friend’s, who lives 3 floors above me. I called him, as I wanted to know why he called me. The message said that he had called me at 1008 hrs. I called him at around 2230 hrs. Still, I wanted to know, why he called me. He was astonished. He didn’t call me at all the whole day. Then, he checked his mobile’s Call Log. We found out an interesting thing. He called me 2 days back at 1008 hrs and the message is coming now!!!????? Nice network!!!
When I was back home, last year I think, I had my BSNL connection. BSNL is MTNL in other states. I sent a message to one of my friends. I was expecting reply from him. He didn’t reply. At last, I ringed up and asked. He told that he didn’t received any message. I had free messages, that is why I always send messages. A week or two later, he rang me up and was firing at me. I was astonished. What the hell happened?? He showed me the message he just got. It was the message that I had sent him earlier. Weeks ago!!!!!!!
Back to MTNL, there is another incident that took place last month. In January. I sent a message from my Reliance number to two of my classmates. One of our professors had announced a quiz. I wanted to inform those guys about that. They both use MTNL numbers. I just sent them a single message. I think they pit some High gain amplifier or a multiplier in series with it. I don’t know what it is. Anyways, my friends got the message 250 times. I repeat 250 times. ?????!!!!!!!!! In fact, my friend was saying, if I didn’t get enough marks in that quiz, I should be hanged because I was so enthusiastic about the quiz that, I informed the same thing 250times!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That day, I stopped sending them messages from my Reliance. No other person, I mean, persons who are subscribed to other operators, has complained to me about this. Long live MTNL!!!!!!!!!
At this juncture, I saw this.
I was relieved, excited. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I had my Mid Semester Exams coming in. So, I decided to wait to switch my operator till the exams get over. In the middle of exams, I saw this article in The Mumbai Mirror, dated 24th February, 2011. I had to rethink my option. Especially, when I heard this guy’s story.
I considered Mobile Number Portability for one reason. I need not waste any time sending messages to my friends, saying that I am changing my number. My total contacts would exceed 120. Notifying all of them is a very big pain in the a**. But, if the operators behave like this, what will I do??
Eventually, I have decided to change my operator and the number. No more bangings from my parents, friends and relatives, who try to call me and the great MTNL disappoints them all. Maybe. by the time, I publish this, I might have changed my number. If anybody is thinking about porting their number, give it a second thinking.
Thats all for now. Thank you for your comments on the previous posts.
Courtesy: For Video : INX Networks and istream.in
For The Article: The Times of India, Mumbai Mirror
Yesterday, I got a message from the operator that I had 5 missed calls. I thought, ok. Lets see. Further, they asked me to send some message which will cost me ` 1. Whatever. I sent the message. I got 3 numbers. The first one, I recognized as my friend’s, who lives 3 floors above me. I called him, as I wanted to know why he called me. The message said that he had called me at 1008 hrs. I called him at around 2230 hrs. Still, I wanted to know, why he called me. He was astonished. He didn’t call me at all the whole day. Then, he checked his mobile’s Call Log. We found out an interesting thing. He called me 2 days back at 1008 hrs and the message is coming now!!!????? Nice network!!!
When I was back home, last year I think, I had my BSNL connection. BSNL is MTNL in other states. I sent a message to one of my friends. I was expecting reply from him. He didn’t reply. At last, I ringed up and asked. He told that he didn’t received any message. I had free messages, that is why I always send messages. A week or two later, he rang me up and was firing at me. I was astonished. What the hell happened?? He showed me the message he just got. It was the message that I had sent him earlier. Weeks ago!!!!!!!
Back to MTNL, there is another incident that took place last month. In January. I sent a message from my Reliance number to two of my classmates. One of our professors had announced a quiz. I wanted to inform those guys about that. They both use MTNL numbers. I just sent them a single message. I think they pit some High gain amplifier or a multiplier in series with it. I don’t know what it is. Anyways, my friends got the message 250 times. I repeat 250 times. ?????!!!!!!!!! In fact, my friend was saying, if I didn’t get enough marks in that quiz, I should be hanged because I was so enthusiastic about the quiz that, I informed the same thing 250times!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That day, I stopped sending them messages from my Reliance. No other person, I mean, persons who are subscribed to other operators, has complained to me about this. Long live MTNL!!!!!!!!!
At this juncture, I saw this.
I was relieved, excited. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I had my Mid Semester Exams coming in. So, I decided to wait to switch my operator till the exams get over. In the middle of exams, I saw this article in The Mumbai Mirror, dated 24th February, 2011. I had to rethink my option. Especially, when I heard this guy’s story.
Eventually, I have decided to change my operator and the number. No more bangings from my parents, friends and relatives, who try to call me and the great MTNL disappoints them all. Maybe. by the time, I publish this, I might have changed my number. If anybody is thinking about porting their number, give it a second thinking.
Thats all for now. Thank you for your comments on the previous posts.
Courtesy: For Video : INX Networks and istream.in
For The Article: The Times of India, Mumbai Mirror
Saturday, February 26, 2011
My Association with Women
I would like to dedicate this post to a friend of mine who has been with me for the past 5 years since we met. This one is for you.
Today, I am going to talk about my crushes. Beautiful ladies with whom I have fantasised myself during various stages of my life. Also, there are two characters with whom I shared a very good friendship, but the people around me mistook us. These people are still good friends of mine. So, those who read this and recognize those persons, just keep it with you.
Back in my school days, I was a very introvert person. Didn’t talk to anybody at all. Going to school and coming back was the only thing that I did. During the school days, I think when I was in ninth standard, I had a crush on my classmate. Please do not ask me who is it, I won’t tell you. She was lovely, fair and very much attractive. What I liked in her was her attitude, and her personality. She always came well dressed to the school, with neatly ironed top, neatly dressed hair plaited in two on either side, always had a bhasmakkuri on her forehead. She always wore her padasaram outside her socks, which made the sound whenever she walks. I was afraid to say that to her, and I didn’t tell. That was the end of that. I didn’t have the guts in me to tell her. She is a good friend of mine till date. So, my dear friend, if you recognize yourself with the above descriptions, please contact me personally..... :)
After passing my 10th boards, I went to another school for my higher secondary studies. The school was located in a lonely, serene atmosphere – at the top of a hill. Hardly 600 students, I was recognized initially there. With a nerd look and staggering marks(I was a topper there, compared to others), and with the reputation of a pass out from the great ICSE syllabus, I was automatically involved in quizzes, science club, maths club and the computer science club activities. That gave me some energy in me to open up. I started talking to girls.
There, I had a crush on another girl. My batch-mate, but a different stream, she was daughter of a famous hotel cum bar chain in central Kerala. Short, fair, and a lovely face, she made me attracted towards her. I used to meet her everyday. Say “Hi”, “Bye”, Thats it. Still I couldn’t muster up the braveness to face her. Later, when I was in twelfth, I came to know that she is in love with someone. I was nearly broke. Had I enough courage to speak to her...... Currently, I have no idea where she is and what she is doing. No news about her even to her classmates..
In the same year, in my twelfth standard, another girl came to my class. She was very talkative and we became very good friends. She had a boyfriend who was in the class of my “crush”. She used to sit with me during the computer science class, in which there were only two girls. That was enough for my friends to declare that we were seeing each other. That was the first rumour that I had to encounter. Luckily, she and her boyfriend took this very lightly and knew actually what was happening.
After two failures, I was determined to approach the third one, whoever she is. With such a determined mind, I joined the college. There, I met this girl. I was having a soft corner for her. I approached her. At last, I was proposing to a girl. She gently rejected that, saying she doesn’t want a boy from her own class to be her boyfriend. Thankfully, that didn’t break my mind as such. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for rejecting me so gently that I didn’t feel to do anything nasty.
In the second year, two girls came to our batch as lateral entry. By this time, all my 4 classmate girls had their own boyfriends. The girl I proposed to was going around with my roommate by that time. Among the two lateral entrants, one girl was from my native place and already had a boyfriend. The other girl was a total introvert. She never talked to boys. When I looked at her, I could see the fear in her eyes, as if I am going to eat her. I decided to change that. How can a girl live in this time, with such a character? With the help of the other lateral entrant, I started to talk to her. She responded positively to my efforts and started talking to me. This created a rumour among my North Indian classmates that we were seeing each other. I didn’t mind. At the end of the last semester, she was almost talking to at least we the keralite guys. Unfortunately, after that, there was no news about her. Last time when I heard about her, I was told that she is going into sanyasa. May God help her.
Now, I am going to talk about a very special friend of mine who is a great friend of mine, and is with me through everything ever since we met each other. We have never studied together. She studied in a girls only school and did her Graduation from a women’s college. Currently doing her CA, I met her when she was in her final year of Graduation. I never thought that she would become my best friend ever. We met in Orkut, which is almost at its deathbed. I am grateful to Orkut for giving me her. We used to chat when we got free time. After some time, we exchanged our fone numbers. We started SMSing.. Still we SMS each other unless we have class. We start our SMS when we wake up, and stops, when either of us fall asleep. You people may think that, I have found out my soul-mate at last. In a sense, yes. But not as you think. We would never be in a relationship as everyone thinks. We are friends. Very intimate, yet very good friends. I can open my mind to her at any time and same is the case with her. So, I dedicate this post of mine to this great friend of mine.
Today, I am going to talk about my crushes. Beautiful ladies with whom I have fantasised myself during various stages of my life. Also, there are two characters with whom I shared a very good friendship, but the people around me mistook us. These people are still good friends of mine. So, those who read this and recognize those persons, just keep it with you.
Back in my school days, I was a very introvert person. Didn’t talk to anybody at all. Going to school and coming back was the only thing that I did. During the school days, I think when I was in ninth standard, I had a crush on my classmate. Please do not ask me who is it, I won’t tell you. She was lovely, fair and very much attractive. What I liked in her was her attitude, and her personality. She always came well dressed to the school, with neatly ironed top, neatly dressed hair plaited in two on either side, always had a bhasmakkuri on her forehead. She always wore her padasaram outside her socks, which made the sound whenever she walks. I was afraid to say that to her, and I didn’t tell. That was the end of that. I didn’t have the guts in me to tell her. She is a good friend of mine till date. So, my dear friend, if you recognize yourself with the above descriptions, please contact me personally..... :)
After passing my 10th boards, I went to another school for my higher secondary studies. The school was located in a lonely, serene atmosphere – at the top of a hill. Hardly 600 students, I was recognized initially there. With a nerd look and staggering marks(I was a topper there, compared to others), and with the reputation of a pass out from the great ICSE syllabus, I was automatically involved in quizzes, science club, maths club and the computer science club activities. That gave me some energy in me to open up. I started talking to girls.
There, I had a crush on another girl. My batch-mate, but a different stream, she was daughter of a famous hotel cum bar chain in central Kerala. Short, fair, and a lovely face, she made me attracted towards her. I used to meet her everyday. Say “Hi”, “Bye”, Thats it. Still I couldn’t muster up the braveness to face her. Later, when I was in twelfth, I came to know that she is in love with someone. I was nearly broke. Had I enough courage to speak to her...... Currently, I have no idea where she is and what she is doing. No news about her even to her classmates..
In the same year, in my twelfth standard, another girl came to my class. She was very talkative and we became very good friends. She had a boyfriend who was in the class of my “crush”. She used to sit with me during the computer science class, in which there were only two girls. That was enough for my friends to declare that we were seeing each other. That was the first rumour that I had to encounter. Luckily, she and her boyfriend took this very lightly and knew actually what was happening.
After two failures, I was determined to approach the third one, whoever she is. With such a determined mind, I joined the college. There, I met this girl. I was having a soft corner for her. I approached her. At last, I was proposing to a girl. She gently rejected that, saying she doesn’t want a boy from her own class to be her boyfriend. Thankfully, that didn’t break my mind as such. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for rejecting me so gently that I didn’t feel to do anything nasty.
In the second year, two girls came to our batch as lateral entry. By this time, all my 4 classmate girls had their own boyfriends. The girl I proposed to was going around with my roommate by that time. Among the two lateral entrants, one girl was from my native place and already had a boyfriend. The other girl was a total introvert. She never talked to boys. When I looked at her, I could see the fear in her eyes, as if I am going to eat her. I decided to change that. How can a girl live in this time, with such a character? With the help of the other lateral entrant, I started to talk to her. She responded positively to my efforts and started talking to me. This created a rumour among my North Indian classmates that we were seeing each other. I didn’t mind. At the end of the last semester, she was almost talking to at least we the keralite guys. Unfortunately, after that, there was no news about her. Last time when I heard about her, I was told that she is going into sanyasa. May God help her.
Now, I am going to talk about a very special friend of mine who is a great friend of mine, and is with me through everything ever since we met each other. We have never studied together. She studied in a girls only school and did her Graduation from a women’s college. Currently doing her CA, I met her when she was in her final year of Graduation. I never thought that she would become my best friend ever. We met in Orkut, which is almost at its deathbed. I am grateful to Orkut for giving me her. We used to chat when we got free time. After some time, we exchanged our fone numbers. We started SMSing.. Still we SMS each other unless we have class. We start our SMS when we wake up, and stops, when either of us fall asleep. You people may think that, I have found out my soul-mate at last. In a sense, yes. But not as you think. We would never be in a relationship as everyone thinks. We are friends. Very intimate, yet very good friends. I can open my mind to her at any time and same is the case with her. So, I dedicate this post of mine to this great friend of mine.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Professor
I hope you liked the previous post. I received a lot of good comments from my friends. Among the feedback I received, one drew my attention. My friend pointed out about the professor about whom I talked about in the previous post. So, I thought I would write something about him this time.
One thing I would like to mention is that all the views expressed in my posts are solely mine and I sincerely doesn't intend to harm any of the persons mentioned in the posts. That’s why; I would like to keep the anonymity of the persons intact.
This professor of mine is a great person. Very much knowledgeable and intelligent, he is a total workaholic. He can be seen working almost 24x7 and complains that 24 hrs a day is not enough for him. There is a reason behind this. The scientist in him doesn't believe anything for granted. Even if its a simple elementary derivation, he has to prove it himself and test its credibility. I really would like to salute the integrity and sincerity he shows in his work. I would like to follow that.
Speaking of him, he has been working with one of the biggest aviation company in the world which manufactures civilian, military and space shuttles as well. He completed silver jubilee of his career there and returned to India to work for the country.
Maybe because of the experience he gained from his stint outside the country, he urges each and everyone of his student to work for the country and not for some capitalist barbarians.
I would take this opportunity to apologize to all those who might have got hurt reading my previous post. He has now become old, memory deteriorating faster than ever. He keeps forgetting things and thats the reason why he keep saying weird things.
As a student who has worked under him for nearly 6 months, I had learnt a lot from him. Its a great honour for me to be a student of such an enlightened mind.
One thing I would like to mention is that all the views expressed in my posts are solely mine and I sincerely doesn't intend to harm any of the persons mentioned in the posts. That’s why; I would like to keep the anonymity of the persons intact.
This professor of mine is a great person. Very much knowledgeable and intelligent, he is a total workaholic. He can be seen working almost 24x7 and complains that 24 hrs a day is not enough for him. There is a reason behind this. The scientist in him doesn't believe anything for granted. Even if its a simple elementary derivation, he has to prove it himself and test its credibility. I really would like to salute the integrity and sincerity he shows in his work. I would like to follow that.
Speaking of him, he has been working with one of the biggest aviation company in the world which manufactures civilian, military and space shuttles as well. He completed silver jubilee of his career there and returned to India to work for the country.
Maybe because of the experience he gained from his stint outside the country, he urges each and everyone of his student to work for the country and not for some capitalist barbarians.
I would take this opportunity to apologize to all those who might have got hurt reading my previous post. He has now become old, memory deteriorating faster than ever. He keeps forgetting things and thats the reason why he keep saying weird things.
As a student who has worked under him for nearly 6 months, I had learnt a lot from him. Its a great honour for me to be a student of such an enlightened mind.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
My First Post
This is my first experience of writing a blog which consists of only my thoughts. My other blog was more technical and studies. All thought of me as a nerd and was considering me as such. So, I would like to venture into creative writing a little bit. I just want to jot down the thoughts that come to my mind now and then.
Well, before moving further, I would like to tell a few things about this blog. I am writing this blog just as a time-pass and I write whenever I get a free time. Also, If I write anything wrong or bad, feel free to tell me and I am open to suggestions. As one of my proffessors say, "I am always available. You should come up with doubts. I would be very happy to answer your doubts". And when we go to him with the doubts, he asks us to ask the doubts in the class. When we ask them in the class, he listens the question very carefully and keenly. He then, spends more than 15 minutes of the class searching for the answer to our query. After wasting so much time, he realises that he doesn't know the answer and he says "Lets not get stuck to this question. We shall continue with what I shall prepared for the day. I will clear your doubt in the next class." Anyways, I won't be a person like that, you can always receive a prompt reply in not less than a week. As I may have classes and other job to do, I will surely check my blog once in every week.
A few words about me. I am a Post Graduate student at the greatest technical institute of the country - Indian Institute of Technology, at the Financial Capital of the country, specialising in Rocket Science. Born and brought up as a mother's boy in the Venice of the East in the God's own Country, I couldn't enjoy most of my childhood as my mom was over-protective. After completing my Secondary schooling at a school which had nearly 3500 students, I joined another school, which had barely 600 students at that time, for my Higher Secondary studies. This made a dramatic change in me. The new school made a new man out of me. I was a shy and introvert person before joining here. In no time, I became the star of the school. Each and every kid knew about me. I was even elected as the best student of the school in a particular month!!!
After that, I joined the (in)famous Technical University of the state for my Engineering degree. I tried to enjoy in the first year, but many factors prevented me from enjoying. I actually became a free bird when I was in my third semester. In my second semester, I joined the drama team of the university and got a few prizes. Unfortunately, I was too much into acting that I failed for 3 papers in that semester. That made me stop acting as such. Later on, I was to known as The Junior HOD of the dept. Some called me "Peon" also. watever. When I completed the 8th semster, I had a history of 8 backpapers. Hence, I decided to go for GATE coaching at an institute in the City of Fortune.
While studying there, I wrote the back papers and attempted GATE from there itself. The City of Fortune really changed my fortune. Got 18th rank in GATE. Still I had to pass one paper to obtain my degree. At last, with the help of my HOD, I got the result of that last paper which I had passed making me an engineer.
With such a history, I came to this Institute, whose motto is "Knowledge is the Ultimate Goal", to study Rocket Science.
This is a short description of my life till now. Thats all for now. I have an exam - Mid Sem - tomorrow. So, feel free to comment and suggestions are always welcome.
Well, before moving further, I would like to tell a few things about this blog. I am writing this blog just as a time-pass and I write whenever I get a free time. Also, If I write anything wrong or bad, feel free to tell me and I am open to suggestions. As one of my proffessors say, "I am always available. You should come up with doubts. I would be very happy to answer your doubts". And when we go to him with the doubts, he asks us to ask the doubts in the class. When we ask them in the class, he listens the question very carefully and keenly. He then, spends more than 15 minutes of the class searching for the answer to our query. After wasting so much time, he realises that he doesn't know the answer and he says "Lets not get stuck to this question. We shall continue with what I shall prepared for the day. I will clear your doubt in the next class." Anyways, I won't be a person like that, you can always receive a prompt reply in not less than a week. As I may have classes and other job to do, I will surely check my blog once in every week.
A few words about me. I am a Post Graduate student at the greatest technical institute of the country - Indian Institute of Technology, at the Financial Capital of the country, specialising in Rocket Science. Born and brought up as a mother's boy in the Venice of the East in the God's own Country, I couldn't enjoy most of my childhood as my mom was over-protective. After completing my Secondary schooling at a school which had nearly 3500 students, I joined another school, which had barely 600 students at that time, for my Higher Secondary studies. This made a dramatic change in me. The new school made a new man out of me. I was a shy and introvert person before joining here. In no time, I became the star of the school. Each and every kid knew about me. I was even elected as the best student of the school in a particular month!!!
After that, I joined the (in)famous Technical University of the state for my Engineering degree. I tried to enjoy in the first year, but many factors prevented me from enjoying. I actually became a free bird when I was in my third semester. In my second semester, I joined the drama team of the university and got a few prizes. Unfortunately, I was too much into acting that I failed for 3 papers in that semester. That made me stop acting as such. Later on, I was to known as The Junior HOD of the dept. Some called me "Peon" also. watever. When I completed the 8th semster, I had a history of 8 backpapers. Hence, I decided to go for GATE coaching at an institute in the City of Fortune.
While studying there, I wrote the back papers and attempted GATE from there itself. The City of Fortune really changed my fortune. Got 18th rank in GATE. Still I had to pass one paper to obtain my degree. At last, with the help of my HOD, I got the result of that last paper which I had passed making me an engineer.
With such a history, I came to this Institute, whose motto is "Knowledge is the Ultimate Goal", to study Rocket Science.
This is a short description of my life till now. Thats all for now. I have an exam - Mid Sem - tomorrow. So, feel free to comment and suggestions are always welcome.
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