Dhanbad Tales

I had to wake up the next day due to the commotion caused by Nidhi and Iti. They are usually up by 6 in the morning. I remember my school days when I too had this habit. Although now waking up at 6 seems a bit out of question, I still miss my school days and want my childhood back.

The whole morning we chatted on various topics including our current lives and future plans. It was more relevent for their side as Iti has just passed 12th and Nidhi is in 1st year. I had not much to say. I happened to know that Nidhi too is an avid Harry Potter fan and for the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon, it was the topic of discussion. Iti couldn't comprehend much what we said, but pretended to enjoy it too. I came to know that Nidhi has "Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix" book and I immediately mentioned my wish to read it.

She said : "If you are going to read it now, when will you talk with us?". So sweet of her. She gifted the book to me so that I can read it in my free time in KGP.

In the meanwhile Iti showed some of the greeting cards she had received for her birthday, new year, etc. She also showed the diaries of a few friends she has taken to fill in. For those who couldn't understand what it means, here's the explaination. As against the usual Slam Books we have to be filled in by friends, it appears that the girls use diaries as a substitute. It has its advantages and disadvantages. While the advantage is that people can write as much as they wish to (the entries I saw were easily 8~9 pages with 30~35 lines per page) , the disadvantage is that you might me at a loss of words to write anything as there's no guideline.

After seeing those, I must say that girls are a lot more sensitive and romantic than I thought. Even if writing for another girl, they have used such a great degree of emotion and romantic language that I couldn't have imagined of. Same was the case with the cards.

I wish I had a girlfriend.

In the evening we went to market but were disappointed to see very few shops open. Even the ones open had Holi related stuff to sell, so we had very few alternatives. We settled for eating Chat and Softy. The rest of the day went rather eventless.

The next day we woke up to say hello to Holi, the festival of colours. Nidhi and Iti planned to not play it initially, but were later forced to play when their grandfather insisted. In the meanwhile I learnt that long time back, my only Mausi died due to people recklessly playing Holi with all sorts of stuff like mud, cow-dung, cereals, etc. Since then onwards, thet didn't played it with that fervor. I also learnt that my Mamaji (Sunil Nandan Sahay) had worked in GE before moving to US.

By the time my Nidhi and Iti were back, they were unrecognizable and spent the next few hours cleaning themselves. We ate the customary Meat Curry for lunch. I played the Abir Holi in the evening as it is harmless to skin, easy to wear out, and people play it with decency. Nothing much happened the rest of the day.

The next day I started preparing to leave. Mamaji had gifted us (me and Ankur) a Leather Bag each. Nidhi and Iti were very saddened to learn that I am going. Nidhi didn't even eat her lunch that day.

I had to catch the 1455hrs train (Bhaga Adra Passenger), so I left a bit earlier around 2pm. On my way, I saw places where the gound level has dipped 4~5 metres owing to the fire that has been raging inside the grounds for the last few decades.

I caught the train and the journey to Adra was very comfortable. I reached Adra on time at 2pm. Here I found another of my friend from Kharagpur, Sudeep Banerjee. As I had no time to call Dhanbad, I took his help to send an SMS back.

I caught the Rupashi Bangla Express which leaves at 1620hrs. It was also full. I had to stand till Bankura station when I managed to get a seat. I reached Kharagpur by 7:30pm, but another surprise awaited us.

We decided to take a Taxi as there were many people. But we found that none of the taxis has any driver in them. Neither were there any Autorickshaws. The Cycle-rickshaws were also very few and they demanded obscenely high money. I was fortunate enough to manage getting a rickshaw, and there were three of us on-board. But the man was professional. He steered the rickshaw even faster than the ones carrying 2 people and we safely reached IIT. I was relieved to be back in RP Hall.

The Great Indian Railways

My weekend was full of adventure. Well, first of all it started on thursday instead of friday due to a real "Good" Friday. On the morning of 24th, my sleep was terminated by a call from my dear sister Nidhi, who asked :

"You are coming to Dhanbad, Na?".

Poor me. I got blackmailed by her innocence.

Although I was not quite sure how I could make it, I felt that I should have gone to Dhanbad. But I had to say "No" to her as I knew that the day ahead has two labs, the second of which having 2 experiments to do instead of 1, making the job even more difficult. But seems like luck was by my side (or my sisters' side)!

After reaching the Hydraulics Lab, we were told by Prof. Maiti that we have to do only one experiment today instead of two. I knew that this was my opportunity. I decided to hurry on with the experiment, so that completing it before schedule, I can go on to catch the 1650hrs train.

But the experiment proved to be pain fully long. I was able to complete the experiment only by 4:10pm, and told my friends to do the submission on my behalf. I ran for my room, packed my luggage in a record time of 3 minutes, and left the room for the station. The only bit of planning that was a part of my plan was that I wrote "Adra-Bhaga" on my palm to remind me of the station names I can't afford to forget. In the meanwhile, I tried to contact Ankur to ask whether he would like to come, but he didn't answer the ring.

I embarked on an cycle-rickshaw for station, but didn't call anyone as I myself wasn't sure whether I would make it or not. Reaching the Railway Station on dot 1650hrs, I tried to vaguely recollect which train I was supposed to catch that will take me to Adra. My memory failed me and I had to buy a ticket of the 1710hrs Kharagpur-Adra Passenger that looked like a safe bet. Seated comfortably in a window seat of the train, I waited for it to move, as I called Ankur (This time just to inform(!) him that I am going to Dhanbad. It appeared that the last time I called him he was out for Snacks.) and Mamaji to tell my plans. Mamaji reasoned to tell that I may be fortunate enough to catch the Adra-Bhaga local. But this was not to be!

The train refused to move as the clock ticked by. I leant from fellow passengers that the train will proceed only after Neelanchal Express will depart (to the same location, Adra). I dimly recollected that this must have been the train I was supposed to catch on the first-hand. I decided to continue with my journey on the same train as I thought it to be a bit too risky to go for a ticket of Neelanchal, which was about to leave any minute. By the time the passenger train's wheel cranked, it was almost 5:45pm.

I waited as the train leisurely strolled towards its destination, but another surprise awaited me. One of the passenger told me that all the train on this route are running late because of a faulty line on a river bridge. I was already beginning to feel the heat of the problem as the train started halting on stations for unusually long time. The gentleman sitting opposite me was very doubtful of the possibility of my catching any train that day as he believed that there won't be any train remaining for the day by the time we reached Adra. Other passengers had similar views. To add to my misery was the fact that the train halted at a very remote station (Ondagram) for eternity. Bhaga being just under 40kms from Adra, there wasn't anything I could do as people were apprehensive of the possibility of even bus services running on the route during night-time. At this time I started preparing for spending the night at an unknown destination without eating dinner. Never in my whole life have I slept without eating anything, but if this was to continue a bit more, it was going to be my first time.

It was quite late by the time the train started. And in a while, we reached the aforementioned bridge. It was in a real bad shape. Nevertheless, the journey continued and I was happy as long as the train was moving. But another bad thing started happening. It started giving passes to other fast trains on the same route. I was fortunate to have a few knowledgable passengers who told me when the train halted at a station (Jhantipahari) that Purulia Express will also halt on this station for a while. As I had passenger ticket, I was not entitled to board an Express Train, but the way this passenger train was running, I had no other option.

When I got down on that station, to my surprise I saw many more familiar faces, the most familiar being Orko Kundu. He was going to Adra itself to meet his sister so he had lesser worries. The others were hoping to catch Patna bound South Bihar Express, though a few didn't even have a ticket, while the others were unsure of the time. They just hoped that the train gets delayed so that they can go on with their journey. I managed to find a place to sit on the train, while the others had to keep standing. Their misery didn't last long as Adra was just 35~40 minutes from that station.

Disembarking from the train, they found South Bihar Express standing on the platform and about to leave. I was again left on my own, and decided to first have something to eat. I found a snacks-stall, and found only boiled eggs worth trying. I bought 4 eggs and immediately ate two of them, keeping the other two for the rest of my journey.

The vendor was a gentleman who enquired why I was in so hurry. I told him that I plan to reach Dhanbad. He told that all the trains to Bhaga have left and I should try reaching Dhanbad via Assansol. He told me that South Bihar Express goes via Assansol, and if I am lucky, I will catch it. I ran for the ticket counter and immediately bought a ticket to Dhanbad via Assansol, naturally after confirming what the vendor had said.

As I started my journey back, climbing the bridge to go on to Platform No. 4, I heard the announcement of the South Bihar Express leaving the station. Chill ran through my nerves as I ran as fast as I could. By the time I reached Platform No. 4, three such announcements had been made. I found the general bogie just in front of me, but it looked packed. I peeked in to see whether people are just standing on the gates or is the bogie actually full. The person on the gate whiffed my purpose and commented :

"Come on in. The Coach is Empty".

I ran along the direction of the train to find that even the Sleeper class is flooded with people. I decided to take the chance and boarded S4 Coach that atleast had the space to stand. Within a minute, the train whistled off to Assansol.

This coach was also packed to capacity. I barely managed to get a place to stand. But I was counting my days as the TTE was steadily marching his way towards me. I waited for doom to strike as he kept on checking tickets, alloting berths and imposing fine. When he reached our coach he was slowed a little. This was because almost everybody had a grievance.

Some of the people, I learnt, were KGP students who were going to Patna. The two boys had confirmed tickets, while the girls had wait-list ticket. One of them was a First Year B.Tech., while the other was a First Year M.Tech. Atleast they had a seat to sit on. There was another passenger in the adjoining bogie who boarded the train without a valid ticket and creating nuisance. He pleaded to the TTE in a very Bihari accent:

"I know that it is wrong to board the train without a valid ticket but what can I do! It so happened that today was to be the day I didn't had any money to buy tickets. You may have a look into my purse. Please understand."

The TTE looked at him with confusion and disbelief. But he was hardly able to do anything. He continued his work asking others for ticket. When he was busy asking tickets to some nearby passengers, with his back towards me, I decided to move on to the adjoining compartment. When he was done with checking ticket for the remaining passenges, he asked announcingly :

"There was a boy standing here. Where did he go?"

I froze, keeping my back towards him. Fortunately he didn't pursue his quest long and I heaved a sigh of relief.

I gathered from the fellow passengers that I may be fortunate enough to catch a train in Assansol as there still might be a couple of trains left in the night to come. But the trouble was that many of them were long distance trains and hence I might not be allowed to board them. I decided not to worry and continue till Assansol.

"Let's face the demons as they come. Why make your life hell when you are still living?" I said to myself.

I reached Assansol by about mid-night. I stepped down to plan the remainder of my journey. I enquired from a lacal standing on the platform whether any train bound for Dhanbad is due in the night. He pointed to the train stationed on the same platform. I was jubiliant. I confirmed it from a passenger sitting inside the train and to my relief, he too was going to Dhanbad. Within 10 seconds of my climbing the train, it rolled on. I felt like Harry Potter did when he first embarked on the Hogwarts Express.

But I had other worries cropping up. I had to switch off my mobile as there was no network connectivity till Assansol. To add to my misery was the fact that I had forgotton to bring my Mobile Charger which meant that I cannot afford to leave it on without any connectivity hoping it finds a network. I tried to contact Mamaji (in Dhanbad) but outgoing calls were not allowed. I was again losing hope. If I reach Dhanbad to find that all the STD PCO's are closed, how will I contact them? I didn't had their address to reach their on my own.

Here again the luck was on my side. As soon as I disconnected the call to the Reliance Service, the phone rang, call being from Dhanbad itself. I briefed them that I have left Assansol and am on my way to Dhanbad. He asked from which train am I coming. I was clueless. In the hurry, I had forgotton to see the name of my Hogwarts Express. I had to ask the fellow passengers to eventually tell him that I am coming from Ranchi bound Vananchal Express.

He said : "Excellent", which meant to me that I need not worry any more. Now the fact dawned on me that if WickC came with me, he would have reached home a lot earlier than he actually did.

I reached Dhanbad at around 1:15am and was readily welcomed by my Mamaji. The journey henceforth was quite pleasant, and after a tasty dinner, I said goodbye to the most memorable journey of my life spanning approximately 9 hours in 4 trains.

Out of Dark Ages

2 days without LAN. Life starts looking like the good old dark ages! Thanks to a failed UPS, RP Hall was again thrown into the dark ages for two days. I had to visit RK Hall to check my mails.

The rains continue to lash KGP everyday. This creates a bit of coolness temporarily, but the next day this is compensated by an abnormally active sun.

Today we had the Fluid Machinery Class Test. But looking at the question Paper, one starts to wonder whether we are attempting JEE again! The whole question paper was based upon the long forgotten JEE funda, and had little to do with the course being studied by us. We were expected to solve Navier-Stokes Equation with all sorts of complexities with the clocks ticking death by the second. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, the light goes out and the test is declared to be over.

Today I am expecting a treat again, but this time from Vikas Chandan. Let's see if it holds as he is having Viral Fever. He hasn't come to class since the last 2 days, but turned up for the class test.

Debugging

Sunday was as peaceful as can be, except for the planned treat at night.

The treat was again cancelled(not postponed) due to illness of one of the chief guests! I half expected it. What I feel is that it was still the other chief guests' mysterious illness that persuaded the other chief guest to say it. Anyway, I have decided that further treat will be a strict NO from my side.

Poor WickC! He still thinks it to be true. And I feel sorry for what a bad day he had. Losing the competition, not being able to attend the lectures, treat cancelled, no reservation available for Holi, and on top of it the chance of his only sister's marriage in the middle of End-Sems.

The highlight of Sunday was the debugging of my good old Third Year Project, the bug of which has been elusive for the last 2 months! I decided to give the program another try in a desparate attempt to show it to my Guide. I put in some flags inside the code that will get printed to show the progress of the program. To my surprise the program worked!

I retried removing the flags, and the program crashed as usual. So I have to live with a creepy flag (a variable that gets printed actually), that is useless in the program code. I started with my further work on it to extend the capabilities further into the 'Graphics domain'.

Today (Monday) was another peaceful day. Only 2 lectures owing to cancellation of lectures by Prof. Ramanujam and unavailability of Prof. Maity.

Prof. Dhang assumed villainous role today by giving an assignment that required a lot of tedious and repitative work. It was a real horror.

I have decided to visit Jamshedpur with Ankur during the Holi vaccations. But the sad part is our beloved Bhabhiji will not be available as she is going to her mother's place. Let's expect that Sonu bhaiya is atleast present.

ResPecK fully

I love Fridays.

In the morning I get Uttapams to eat (the only breakfast I look forward to!), in the lunch I have Kadhi-Chawal (I love that too). The snacks and dinner are off, for which I today had 3 boiled eggs, and the usual Chicken Biryani for dinner. But the difference this time was that it was a treat from Nasir for getting his summer training at Saskan, Bangalore. He must have been very hurt when I refused his treat last time. He isn't (well actually nobody is) used to people refusing treat unless it relates to girls.

Thanks and sorry, Nasir.

I again wasted my evening today doing nothing. I actually don't even remember what I did while its hardly 6 hours past!

Today was RK's hall day "ResPecK" and was associated with too much chaos. First thanks to Addy, who put up his status inviting people to RK Hall, with all the people firing him for switching sides. He was also about to miss treat given by Palokee who got app. in Ohio University and some other university also.

Whether deliberately or not, the name ResPecK first appears like RP's Hall day rather than RK's!

I went to RK Hall for the sake of my friend WickC who was very happy to receive us as he was lonely with nobody coming to his place. We bhatted for a while after which Swati came (but Sneha nahi aayi). We bhatted again for a while after which I played the Sajjad Ali prank on Swati and directed WickC to take the photograph on the right moment. WickC did a great job, but fortunately for Swati, her hand came in the way of camera, saving grace! Addy was bit late to come and it was learned that the treat included 35 people! LS must have doubled its sale today. I must have hurt WickC today by circulating the love letter by Irodov to him! I hope he doesn't mind, but something tells me that he will feel hurt but won't say anything.

Later we went to Vikas Chandan's room who was busy preparing notices to be put up in all the Halls, etc. for Brahmakumari's work, while Saurabh Gupta and Dibyendu Konar were relaxing.

Poor chap!

He's invited us (me and Suman) to the Brahmakumari's function today and tomorrow, but I think he also knows what to expect.

Tomorrow Suman's parents are coming. Let's see what tomorrow has in store for me.

I can't catch cancer

I read an article today that taking tomato sauce in your food reduces the chance of getting Pancreas Cancer. This looks like a good news to me considering my great love for the same. I hope that the study extends the same results for other forms of cancer so that I can be assured of a healthy life.

Today was also the viva of Forming lab and I did pretty well, getting AA grade. I wasn't expecting it as I debated with the research scholars over their definition and conceptualization of Slipping and Sticking Friction. One thing that struck me most is that as soon as I entered the viva room, a research scholar asked,

"Are you from Bhopal?"

I was amazed and said "Yes", but kept minding my own business to not ask how he knew. Looks like he's also from Bhopal, but i don't remember seeing him anywhere.

There can't be any confusion over Prof. S.K. Pal's memory. He seems to remember the name of all students of the batch, a rare feat considering the only other person with such memory is Prof. Ramanujam who have been seeing all of us since 1st year.

WickC seems to be breaking all the shakles that restrain him from becoming a "Devdas". He has started acting like a 'majnoo' since the last few days, and seeing his blogs only heightens the fear. The hints in the blog is so clear that if by any chance she reads it, she will know for certain that its written about her. God help him.

Suman and Nasir can't seem to gather enough tempo to go to swimming. They haven't been to swimming in the last one week! According to Nasir : "It no longer solves the purpose."

I wonder what the purpose was and how was it fulfilled in the last sem.

Yesterday I got a mail from JBNSTS regarding this summer's Talent Enrichment Programme. They are going to Bangalore this time and what better opportunity can I have to join them being in Bangalore myself. I replied immediately saying that I can join them only on the weekends of 11th, 12th, 18th and 19th. Lets see if they allow me. Suman pointed out a good (I am not sure if its good or not) possibility that myself being available only on weekends when most of the institutions will be closed, I will be joining them only for picnics and fun. But the trouble is that I might be the only one from my batch and hence might feel lonely.

Vikas Chandan's GE training has been confirmed. He's got the letter and got his replacement in the form of Shailesh Chandrol. Chandrol's stars are high.

I haven't been to Carlos since the last 2 weeks and now I feel that I won't miss it any anymore.

Book Review : The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

At the beginning of a fiction novel, you either see a disclaimer saying that all the characters in the novel are ficticious, or you don't see anything. What Dan Bown chose to do was far ahead. He wrote with confidence that all the Organizations/Places mentioned in the story exist and gave a brief description to each of them. Doesn't look like a wise thing to do, especially in the Google age when we all can get much more information about them in under 20 seconds. What the author does write halfway through the book infact is a good piece of saying :
"What is History? Its just a fable agreed upon."

Nice work, huh?

If you have not read the book, my advice is "Read It". Chances are good that you won't regret. The theme that the author has chosen is very controversial. It deals with the the search for the Holy Grail, with reference to Jesus Christ. No wonder to the Catholic Church, this work will sound more, if not equally blasphemous than the work of Galileo or Copernicus.

But what steals the show for Dan Brown is the homework he has done to write this novel. Reading through the novel(which goes at breathneck pace throughout), you can hardly avoid appreciating the detail to which the author has gone to consolidate his point. The whole novel is filled with etymological refences to words in daily use but seldom considered for their roots.

I don't think that the author will find much audience for his conspiracy theory, but all-the-more, he has definitely found audience for his style of writing; The sales speaking for themselves. Let alone the conspiracy theory of the Holy Grail and the Sangreal documents, the novel is a treat to readers of mystery novels and history alike. The author had a daunting task of building a fiction on facts, which are all mixed up. And Dan Brown has come with flying colours. The suspense of the novel is very well hidden and explained. The cryptology "All Greek" to the public.

Ratings:
(Out of 10)

Plot : 8.5
Suspense : 9.0
Language : 7.5
Thrill : 9.5

Overall : 8.6

JKR Rocks

Saturday had been quite eventless for me to write much about. With the swimming pool closed (actually it opens only for the morning slot), I had not much choice left. So I settled for another of my favourite time-pass.

BOOKS

I had finished half of Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire before and then I didn't resume it for a while. Looked like some 2 weeks. So yesterday I took it back out of my shelf and completed it.

I must say that if there is some author who can write for the delight of chilren and adults alike, she is J.K. Rowling. All through her 4 novels I had mis-guessed the suspense. Here too in HP&GOF I couldn't imagine that Mad-Eye was infact Barty Crouch. And that Cedric would die.

I don't know if the movie makers have done anything about this novel because it will be a tough challenge to make a movie out of it.

First, it is very long book. Even in a time frame of 3 hours I believe it is not possible to squeeze the whole book in. If they do, they are going to miss on a lot of important events.

Secondly, the book is sad ending. As Harry Potter movies are traditionally for children (a contrast against the book, which although aims primarily at children gets well with the elders also), it will be wrong to show them sad ending stuff.

Well, we can give them a break. Walt Disney Corp does it all the time! But they are bound by the script. I don't know exactly what's for store in Order of Phoenix, but someone told me that Sirius Black will die. Obviously when one is writing about dark magic, something gruesome is inevitable.

I have also started reading Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, and mind you its seriously gripping. I am being forced to shorten my blog as I have to continue reading it.

Remembering The Past

Yes, the treat was cancelled. Sneha being the culprit. She was indisposed. I have heard many times of people getting indisposed on the pretext of giving treats, but this was the first case on receiving treat!

Initially I couldn't understand why on earth were we having a treat on thursday as on friday, both RP and SN have an off-day. But I was convinced by the fact that all people aren't like me! All weekends are booked for Hall-Days and they didn't want to miss any by going to the treats. Thursday swimming went quite eventless except for the fact that I developed strain near my ankle. But still, I again failed to do a 20m at a stretch. Oh God, the wait is painfully long.

Back from swimming I had to complete my CFW assignment on Rolling process. Although it was a solved example in a book, it had to be done on my own as the results used in the book were not derieved in the lecture class.

Later in the evening I went to Billoo's for dinner and ordered my usual Chicken Biryani. It was great. After dinner, I went to Chhota Tengra to collect my photographs that I had requested developing and printing. I seemed to finally like someone's work on my photographs. All the shop-owners of photography shop at Tech-Market don't do their work seriously. Here I got developing for Rs.15/- and printing on 6''x4'' @ Rs.4/- each. The prints also came good. In addition to that he gave a free album to hold the photographs.

On my way back, I met Avik Sarkar, Siddhartha Talapatra and Co. near Puri Gate and they asked me if I would like a booze. I plainly refused. Were they serious or not cannot be said for certain, but it is sure that they also decided otherwise and came with me to Tech Market where we separated. They had to buy Cold Drinks and I had to do Laundry stuff and a bit of shopping for the rainy day ahead. The rains lashed when we least expected it to and continued well into saturday as I write.

Going through the album, I can't help remembering all the good old moments I had spent with my friends. Starting from my trip to Indore(Photo with Shaunak, Supriya and Amrita. Anushree can't even hold the camera still while taking a photograph) to our own Home's House Warming ceremony. I remember spending time on the gate with Neha and Rolly, and can't help feeling sad for Neha who lost her mother just a month ago. I hope she could concentrate well for her JAM paper and passes with good marks. There is no use hoping anything for Rolly as she has a reputation of messing everything around. At best I hope she doesn't land into any trouble.

Then I remember the Nehli treat photographs followed by SF photographs. The photograph with Addy should have been taked from a closer distance. I remember Richard Stallman's publicity stunts at Kshitij and then my GE treat to the wing. The Saraswati Puja photographs went bad due to bad light. Then comes the Hall Day Photograph with Addy, Sneha, Swati and WickC. Swati seemed to be dozing off even at 10pm. But her smile is contagious for sure. Sneha on the other hand was wearing a beaming smile (Teeth Count = 32.00) that went well with her white dress. Addy and WickC seemed to be wearing fake smiles (I don't think that I was putting too much weight on them causing them pain!). WickC ordered the Hall Day photograph for remembering the good old days, while Addy on the other hand knew his limitations with such stuffs and decided to have the scan only as he would lose the photograph. I am a bit annoyed with the photographer who didn't print the first photo with my Bhopal friends.

Of Seminars and Labs

I couldn't write blog or go swimming yesterday due to a particularly hectic day today. We had to write two practicals for the forming lab and in addition to them prepare a 5 minute seminar for IC Engine Lab Part.

The rest went eventlessly except for the Seminar, as most of you might have already guessed. Mine was the first group to present the Seminar. Our topic was "Electronic Fuel Injection(EFI)". I was to speak for 2.5 minutes, and Suman for the rest. I would say my greatest success was not getting inturrepted in between as many others had to suffer this fate. I went a bit fast with my part as I had to cover the parts of "Need for EFI", "Parts of EFI" and "Advantages / Disadvantages", but overall I was satisfied from my part. Aditya made a mistake of showing a wrong flow direction and the rest is history. On pointing it out, he lost his contnuity and in addition to it, lost some precious time. He deserved better. Rituraj's was a complete mess. It looked like he was news-reading! Shashi Bhushan seemed to be forcing an accent and was terribly slow to get to the point.

Everything was going alright until everything stopped. When all were finished with their presentations, Prof. Ramanujam came to the stage to give a shock. "It was the most rotten seminar I have ever seen in my whole life. You people don't care to understand what is required from the topic that you were supposed to talk on". I found it very much true. He told us that if we are to give a 5 minute seminar, we have to have 1 minute of material and 4 minutes for explaining. We didn't do that. In addition to it, we never gave time for others to understand what we say.

Abhimanyu nahi sudherega. Even after repeatedly riminding about his ill-manners, he still refuses to learn and coughs on people's faces. Someday this is going to land him into trouble as I am sure that most people will find him mannerless.

Today I was supposed to go out on a treat, but someone fell ill. Let's see if the treat stands.

Dhang Zindabad

Another day nears end as I write. Yesterday I had a fantastic day at the swimming pool, but I couldn't go today. This is because my Bio-mechanics professor Nirjhar Dhang decided to take an extra class at the end of his usual 2 hour lecture. We all were outraged, but couldn't do anything. But soon things turned out to be different as after the first hour, he offered Tea and Biscuits to all, and instead of usual 10 minutes break, gave a half an hour one! And after taking another one hour, he gave away snack packets for all. Hence, we had only 2 hour class overall and got so many benefits. Maybe I don't regret missing my swimming.

Vikas didn't come to Bio-mechanics class today. He had his GE interview. If he gets selected, he will be getting Rs.30,000/- for working for 3 months training. Although he deserves this, I feel sorry for the students who got better training than that alloted, but couldn't change because of reluctance of our T&P Incharge. I sometimes feel that the T&P Incharge post is more suited for Prof. Souvik Bhattacharyya rather than Suman Chakraborty. The former is a lot jollier and a lot more helpful than the latter.

Vivek still is sad about something and my gut feeling is that its because of Prasoon issue. He can't seem to forgive himself for hurting his dear friend. He's too sensitive.

Today we experienced super-sonic teaching in our Applied Thermodynamics class. Prof. Ramgopal was in so much hurry and speaking at so much speed that I seemed to feel that there are sonic booms coming out of his mouth. He gave an assignment which none of us has any clue how to do. He didn't even give complete data for the problem(We are expected to find it over the internet).

First Love

This is my first attempt to organize a diary of my thoughts. Let's see how much successful it can be.

Today was just another day at Swimming Pool. But somehow it was different for me. The obvious reason I can see is that today I learnt what mistake I have been consistantly doing at the pool. I always tried very hard. I became breathless and had to stop. Today I tried to swim slowly. Although I took approximately 1.5 times the time, I could do 18 metres at a stretch. This, although is shamelessly low distance, but I know that now I have opened my way for better berformance. I remember the story or Rabbit and the Tortoise. I have transformed into a tortoise!